Calico: a multi-programming-language, multi-context framework designed for computer science education

The Calico project is a multi-language, multi-context programming framework and learning environment for computing education. This environment is designed to support several interoperable programming languages (including Python, Scheme, and a visual programming language), a variety of pedagogical contexts (including scientific visualization, robotics, and art), and an assortment of physical devices (including different educational robotics platforms and a variety of physical sensors). In addition, the environment is designed to support collaboration and modern, interactive learning. In this paper we describe the Calico project, its design and goals, our prototype system, and its current use

A 2-step approach to myeloablative haploidentical stem cell transplantation: a phase 1/2 trial performed with optimized T-cell dosing.

Studies of haploidentical hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) have identified threshold doses of T cells below which severe GVHD is usually absent. However, little is known regarding optimal T-cell dosing as it relates to engraftment, immune reconstitution, and relapse. To begin to address this question, we developed a 2-step myeloablative approach to haploidentical HSCT in which 27 patients conditioned with total body irradiation (TBI) were given a fixed dose of donor T cells (HSCT step 1), followed by cyclophosphamide (CY) for T-cell tolerization. A CD34-selected HSC product (HSCT step 2) was infused after CY. A dose of 2 × 10(8)/kg of T cells resulted in consistent engraftment, immune reconstitution, and acceptable rates of GVHD. Cumulative incidences of grade III-IV GVHD, nonrelapse mortality (NRM), and relapse-related mortality were 7.4%, 22.2%, and 29.6%, respectively. With a follow-up of 28-56 months, the 3-year probability of overall survival for the whole cohort is 48% and 75% in patients without disease at HSCT. In the context of CY tolerization, a high, fixed dose of haploidentical T cells was associated with encouraging outcomes, especially in good-risk patients, and can serve as the basis for further exploration and optimization of this 2-step approach. This study is registered at www.clinicaltrials.gov as NCT00429143

Novel TNF Receptor-1 Inhibitors Identified as Potential Therapeutic Candidates for Traumatic Brain Injury

Background: Traumatic brain injury (TBI) begins with the application of mechanical force to the head or brain, which initiates systemic and cellular processes that are hallmarks of the disease. The pathological cascade of secondary injury processes, including inflammation, can exacerbate brain injury-induced morbidities and thus represents a plausible target for pharmaceutical therapies. We have pioneered research on post-traumatic sleep, identifying that injury-induced sleep lasting for 6 h in brain-injured mice coincides with increased cortical levels of inflammatory cytokines, including tumor necrosis factor (TNF). Here, we apply post-traumatic sleep as a physiological bio-indicator of inflammation. We hypothesized the efficacy of novel TNF receptor (TNF-R) inhibitors could be screened using post-traumatic sleep and that these novel compounds would improve functional recovery following diffuse TBI in the mouse. Methods: Three inhibitors of TNF-R activation were synthesized based on the structure of previously reported TNF CIAM inhibitor F002, which lodges into a defined TNFR1 cavity at the TNF-binding interface, and screened for in vitro efficacy of TNF pathway inhibition (IκB phosphorylation). Compounds were screened for in vivo efficacy in modulating post-traumatic sleep. Compounds were then tested for efficacy in improving functional recovery and verification of cellular mechanism. Results: Brain-injured mice treated with Compound 7 (C7) or SGT11 slept significantly less than those treated with vehicle, suggesting a therapeutic potential to target neuroinflammation. SGT11 restored cognitive, sensorimotor, and neurological function. C7 and SGT11 significantly decreased cortical inflammatory cytokines 3 h post-TBI. Conclusions: Using sleep as a bio-indicator of TNF-R-dependent neuroinflammation, we identified C7 and SGT11 as potential therapeutic candidates for TBI

TRY plant trait database – enhanced coverage and open access

Plant traits - the morphological, anatomical, physiological, biochemical and phenological characteristics of plants - determine how plants respond to environmental factors, affect other trophic levels, and influence ecosystem properties and their benefits and detriments to people. Plant trait data thus represent the basis for a vast area of research spanning from evolutionary biology, community and functional ecology, to biodiversity conservation, ecosystem and landscape management, restoration, biogeography and earth system modelling. Since its foundation in 2007, the TRY database of plant traits has grown continuously. It now provides unprecedented data coverage under an open access data policy and is the main plant trait database used by the research community worldwide. Increasingly, the TRY database also supports new frontiers of trait‐based plant research, including the identification of data gaps and the subsequent mobilization or measurement of new data. To support this development, in this article we evaluate the extent of the trait data compiled in TRY and analyse emerging patterns of data coverage and representativeness. Best species coverage is achieved for categorical traits - almost complete coverage for ‘plant growth form’. However, most traits relevant for ecology and vegetation modelling are characterized by continuous intraspecific variation and trait–environmental relationships. These traits have to be measured on individual plants in their respective environment. Despite unprecedented data coverage, we observe a humbling lack of completeness and representativeness of these continuous traits in many aspects. We, therefore, conclude that reducing data gaps and biases in the TRY database remains a key challenge and requires a coordinated approach to data mobilization and trait measurements. This can only be achieved in collaboration with other initiatives

The Effects of High Literacy Demands in Mathematics on International Students

Project Maths is an ambitious reform of Irish post-primary education. It involves changes to what students learn in mathematics, how they learn it and how they will be assessed. There is a much greater emphasis placed on student understanding of mathematical concepts, with increased use of contexts and applications that will enable students to relate mathematics to their everyday experiences. The assessment reflects the different emphasis on problem solving and applications in the teaching and learning of mathematics and there is a much greater emphasis on reading and understanding the problems. Hence there is a greater emphasis on student’s English language proficiency. This study aims to investigate the effect of Project Maths on international students studying in Ireland who do not speak English as their first language. As part of the study participants completed two sample examinations, one which comprised of mathematical word problems and the other which was technically the same examination but was mathematical procedure and skill based only. The results show a statistically significant difference between the mean scores of students in both examinations, with students performing better when the majority of language and context in questions was removed. This highlights the impact that literacy skills can play in the mathematics classroom

The Effects of High Literacy Demands in Mathematics on International Students

Project Maths is an ambitious reform of Irish post-primary education. It involves changes to what students learn in mathematics, how they learn it and how they will be assessed. There is a much greater emphasis placed on student understanding of mathematical concepts, with increased use of contexts and applications that will enable students to relate mathematics to their everyday experiences. The assessment reflects the different emphasis on problem solving and applications in the teaching and learning of mathematics and there is a much greater emphasis on reading and understanding the problems. Hence there is a greater emphasis on student’s English language proficiency. This study aims to investigate the effect of Project Maths on international students studying in Ireland who do not speak English as their first language. As part of the study participants completed two sample examinations, one which comprised of mathematical word problems and the other which was technically the same examination but was mathematical procedure and skill based only. The results show a statistically significant difference between the mean scores of students in both examinations, with students performing better when the majority of language and context in questions was removed. This highlights the impact that literacy skills can play in the mathematics classroom

Teacher efficacy beliefs at the horizon between primary and secondary school mathematics education

A belief in one’s ability to enact change is central to personal motivation, and thus the way we behave (Bandura, 1993). More particularly, mathematics teaching efficacy beliefs encompass the extent to which a teacher believes that his/her teaching is capable of bringing about change in the mathematical understanding of his/her students, and the extent to which teaching in general supports the learning of mathematics for all students. Bandura (1993) further posits that teachers with a low sense of efficacy are less inclined to support students in responding constructively to challenge and may thus undermine students’ sense of self efficacy in relation to mathematics. This is particularly significant when students’ transition from primary to secondary school, a change that frequently has a negative impact on students’ achievement and enthusiasm for mathematics (Grootenboer & Marshman, 2016). This cross border research study sought to capture the mathematics efficacy beliefs of 6th class and Year 7 teachers in Ireland (Ire) and Northern Ireland (NI), respectively, as well as 1st Year and Year 8 teachers through the use of a questionnaire. Altogether, a representative sample of 428 primary teachers responded, 298 from Ire and 130 from NI and 248 secondary mathematics teachers, 173 from Ire and 75 from NI. The findings show a disparity in relation to teachers’ impressions of mathematics. Primary school teachers (57.8% NI, 57.5% Ire) consider mathematics easier than most subjects to teach with only around 10% of secondary teachers agreeing (8.1% NI, 12.9% Ire) (chi sq p<0.0001). All teachers reported a high sense of self-efficacy in relation to answering students’ questions in class as well as teaching all strands across the mathematics curriculum. Primary teachers were more likely to consider that students were well prepared in all strands of the curriculum upon exiting primary school than secondary teachers. This disagreement is more pronounced when considering Algebra than in any other strand (89% primary, 11% secondary). Particularly significant is that in NI, 72% of secondary teachers as opposed to 51.5% of primary teachers agreed that students have their minds made up about mathematics before they start in secondary school (p=0.006) pointing to a lower outcome expectancy. These findings are particularly pertinent considering that the national Growing Up in Ireland study capturing the transition of students from primary school concluded that the quality of students’ interaction with secondary teachers emerged as having a significant relationship with attitudes to mathematics (ESRI, 2017, 52)