Creating a Community Classroom: Strategies to Promote Inclusion and Reduce Bullying in Early Childhood

Research suggests that young children with disabilities often fall victim to bullying because of a lack of social competence and social skills necessary for consistent engagement with peers. This article focuses on a comprehensive approach to classroom management and offers important strategies for a multilevel positive behavioral support plan. The positive behavioral support plan is embedded in the daily curriculum and includes strategies that enhance cooperative learning and socialization experiences, increases academic readiness, and supports academic success

Evaluation of a Health Education Intervention for Rural Preschool and Kindergarten Children in the Southeastern United States: A Cluster Randomized Trial

This research employed a matched-pairs randomized field experiment design to evaluate a classroom-based health education intervention for pre-Kindergarten and Kindergarten children in a rural region of the southeastern United States. Schools were matched on demographic characteristics, then one school from each pair was randomly assigned to the treatment group and one to the delayed treatment group. The intervention included a field trip experience and an integrated curriculum designed to increase knowledge about nutrition, physical activity, and sleep. Staff conducted individual assessments of changes in knowledge with a random sample of children from each classroom (252 children from treatment classrooms; 251 children from delayed treatment classrooms). We used a multilevel linear regression with maximum likelihood estimation to incorporate the effects of clustering at the classroom and school level while examining the effects of the intervention on individual assessment change scores. During the intervention period, an estimated 3,196 children (treatment: 1,348 students in 68 classrooms in 10 schools; delayed treatment: 1,848 students in 86 classrooms in 10 schools) participated in the intervention. Children in the treatment group had significantly larger assessment change scores than children in the delayed treatment group. Findings suggest significant beneficial effects of the intervention on health knowledge

Development and Piloting of a Novel Evaluation Tool for Childhood Obesity Prevention Programs

Childhood obesity remains chronic and high in the U.S., driven by factors including poor dietary habits and lack of physical activity. Interventions that address multiple causal factors may be the most appropriate strategy to address rising childhood obesity rates. The Cooperative Extension Service offers programs across the country to address causal factors of childhood obesity, but few coordinated or concerted efforts have been made to determine overlap, reduce duplication, or identify best practices in programming. To fill this gap, the National Institute of Food and Agriculture Multistate Project W3005 Extension Workgroup sought to develop a novel tool to compare programs with components related to childhood obesity prevention. This manuscript details the iterative process used to develop the Childhood Obesity Prevention Program in Extension Rubric (COPPER), provides findings from the pilot process, and reveals the broad application and potential of this tool within Extension and nutrition education. The newly developed COPPER tool is multi-functional and may be beneficial in program development, implementation, adoption, and/or adaptation of programs in new settings. This tool will be useful for Extension, public health, and other community organizations focused on issues central to childhood obesity targeting children, parents, and/or caregivers

Illegal Killing of Nongame Wildlife and Recreational Shooting in Conservation Areas

Illegal killing of nongame wildlife is a global yet poorly documented problem. The prevalence and ecological consequences of illegal killing are often underestimated or completely unknown. We review the practice of legal recreational shooting and present data gathered from telemetry, surveys, and observations on its association with illegal killing of wildlife (birds and snakes) within conservation areas in Idaho, USA. In total, 33% of telemetered long‐billed curlews (Numenius americanus) and 59% of other bird carcasses found with known cause of death (or 32% of total) were illegally shot. Analysis of spatial distributions of illegal and legal shooting is consistent with birds being shot illegally in the course of otherwise legal recreational shooting, but snakes being intentionally sought out and targeted elsewhere, in locations where they congregate. Preliminary public surveys indicate that most recreational shooters find abhorrent the practice of illegal killing of wildlife. Viewed through this lens, our data may imply only a small fraction of recreational shooters is responsible for this activity. This study highlights a poorly known conservation problem that could have broad implications for some species and populations of wildlife

The impact of music festival attendance on young people's psychological and social well being

Although the social, emotional, physical and cognitive benefits of engagement in music are well known, little research has been conducted on the psychological benefits of music in the context of music festivals. This article draws on theoretical constructs from the field of positive psychology to interpret the impact of music festival attendance on participants' psychological and social well-being. Qualitative and quantitative data were collected from a focus group and questionnaire survey with young festival-goers aged 18-29 years. Four facets of the music festival experience were identified that were associated with well-being outcomes. These are explored and discussed with reference both to participants' focus group comments and statistical analysis of questionnaire responses. A conceptual model is presented in order to guide further research in this area, and enable both festival organizers and attendees to take optimal advantage of the potential of music festivals to impact positively on young adults' psychological and social well-being

Regulation of ␣4␤2 Nicotinic Receptor Desensitization by Calcium and Protein Kinase C

ABSTRACT Neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) desensitization is hypothesized to be a trigger for long-term changes in receptor number and function observed after chronic administration of nicotine at levels similar to those found in persons who use tobacco. Factors that regulate desensitization could potentially influence the outcome of long-lasting exposure to nicotine. The roles of Ca 2ϩ and protein kinase C (PKC) on desensitization of ␣4␤2 nAChRs expressed in Xenopus laevis oocytes were investigated. Nicotine-induced (300 nM; 30 min) desensitization of ␣4␤2 receptors in the presence of Ca 2ϩ developed in a biphasic manner with fast and slow exponential time constants of f ϭ 1.4 min (65% relative amplitude) and s ϭ 17 min, respectively. Recovery from desensitization was reasonably well described by a single exponential with rec ϭ 43 min. Recovery was largely eliminated after replacement of external Ca 2ϩ with Ba 2ϩ and slowed by calphostin C ( rec ϭ 48 min), an inhibitor of PKC. Conversely, the rate of recovery was enhanced by phorbol-12-myristate-13-acetate ( rec ϭ 14 min), a PKC activator, or by cyclosporin A (with rec ϭ 8 min), a phosphatase inhibitor. ␣4␤2 receptors containing a mutant ␣4 subunit that lacks a consensus PKC phosphorylation site exhibited little recovery from desensitization. Based on a twodesensitized-state cyclical model, it is proposed that after prolonged nicotine treatment, ␣4␤2 nAChRs accumulate in a "deep" desensitized state, from which recovery is very slow. We suggest that PKC-dependent phosphorylation of ␣4 subunits changes the rates governing the transitions from "deep" to "shallow" desensitized conformations and effectively increases the overall rate of recovery from desensitization. Longlasting dephosphorylation may underlie the "permanent" inactivation of ␣4␤2 receptors observed after chronic nicotine treatment

Safety and efficacy of low-dose sirolimus in the PIK3CA-Related Overgrowth Spectrum

Purpose PIK3CA-related overgrowth spectrum (PROS) encompasses a range of debilitating conditions defined by asymmetric overgrowth caused by mosaic activating PIK3CA variants. PIK3CA encodes the p110α catalytic subunit of phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase (PI3K), a critical transducer of growth factor signaling. As mTOR mediates the growth-promoting actions of PI3K, we hypothesized that the mTOR inhibitor sirolimus would slow pathological overgrowth. Methods Thirty-nine participants with PROS and progressive overgrowth were enrolled into open-label studies across three centers, and results were pooled. For the primary outcome, tissue volumes at affected and unaffected sites were measured by dual energy X-ray absorptiometry during 26 weeks of untreated run-in and 26 weeks of sirolimus therapy. Results Thirty participants completed the study. Sirolimus led to a change in mean percentage total tissue volume of –7.2% (SD 16.0, p = 0.04) at affected sites, but not at unaffected sites (+1.7%, SD 11.5, p = 0.48) (n = 23 evaluable). Twenty-eight of 39 (72%) participants had ≥1 adverse event related to sirolimus of which 37% were grade 3 or 4 in severity and 7/39 (18%) participants were withdrawn consequently. Conclusion This study suggests that low-dose sirolimus can modestly reduce overgrowth, but cautions that the side-effect profile is significant, mandating individualized risk–benefit evaluations for sirolimus treatment in PROS

Mapping the drivers of parasitic weed abundance at a national scale : a new approach applied to Striga asiatica in the mid‐west of Madagascar

The parasitic weed genus Striga causes huge losses to crop production in sub‐Saharan Africa, estimated to be in excess of $7 billion per year. There is a paucity of reliable distribution data for Striga ; however, such data are urgently needed to understand current drivers, better target control efforts, as well as to predict future risks. To address this, we developed a methodology to enable rapid, large‐scale monitoring of Striga populations. We used this approach to uncover the factors that currently drive the abundance and distribution of Striga asiatica in Madagascar. Two long‐distance transects were established across the middle‐west region of Madagascar in which S. asiatica abundance in fields adjacent to the road was estimated. Management, crop structure and soil data were also collected. Analysis of the data suggests that crop variety, companion crop and previous crop were correlated with Striga density. A positive relationship between within‐field Striga density and the density of the nearest neighbouring fields indicates that spatial configuration and connectivity of suitable habitats is also important in determining Striga spread. Our results demonstrate that we are able to capture distribution and management data for Striga density at a landscape scale and use this to understand the ecological and agronomic drivers of abundance. The importance of crop varieties and cropping patterns is significant, as these are key socio‐economic elements of Malagasy cropping practices. Therefore, they have the potential to be promoted as readily available control options, rather than novel technologies requiring introduction

Gemini Observations of Galaxies in Rich Early Environments (GOGREEN) I : survey description

We describe a new Large Program in progress on the Gemini North and South telescopes: Gemini Observations of Galaxies in Rich Early Environments (GOGREEN). This is an imaging and deep spectroscopic survey of 21 galaxy systems at 1 10 in halo mass. The scientific objectives include measuring the role of environment in the evolution of low-mass galaxies, and measuring the dynamics and stellar contents of their host haloes. The targets are selected from the SpARCS, SPT, COSMOS, and SXDS surveys, to be the evolutionary counterparts of today's clusters and groups. The new red-sensitive Hamamatsu detectors on GMOS, coupled with the nod-and-shuffle sky subtraction, allow simultaneous wavelength coverage over lambda similar to 0.6-1.05 mu m, and this enables a homogeneous and statistically complete redshift survey of galaxies of all types. The spectroscopic sample targets galaxies with AB magnitudes z' <24.25 and [3.6] mu m <22.5, and is therefore statistically complete for stellar masses M* greater than or similar to 10(10.3) M-circle dot, for all galaxy types and over the entire redshift range. Deep, multiwavelength imaging has been acquired over larger fields for most systems, spanning u through K, in addition to deep IRAC imaging at 3.6 mu m. The spectroscopy is similar to 50 per cent complete as of semester 17A, and we anticipate a final sample of similar to 500 new cluster members. Combined with existing spectroscopy on the brighter galaxies from GCLASS, SPT, and other sources, GOGREEN will be a large legacy cluster and field galaxy sample at this redshift that spectroscopically covers a wide range in stellar mass, halo mass, and clustercentric radius.Peer reviewe