Central to Lacrosse - Three Lacrosse Films have Intricate Ties to SU and the Onondaga Nation, Highlighting the Sport’s History and What it Means to Those who Play it

Three lacrosse films have intricate ties to SU and the Onondaga Nation, highlighting the sport’s history and what it means to those who play it

Standard setting lessons learned in the South African context: implications for international implementation

This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in International Journal of Testing on 28 December 2012, available online: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/15305058.2012.741085.Criterion-referenced assessments have become more common around the world, with performance standards being set to differentiate different levels of student performance. However, use of standard setting methods developed in the United States may be complicated by factors related to the political and educational contexts within another country. In this article, experience gained from conducting several standard setting studies in South Africa is shared. The legacy of the apartheid era, in which segregation and discrimination were institutionalized, affects the attitudes of South Africans toward assessment and placing students into performance levels. These issues played out as panelists were asked to make judgments related to students' likely performance in higher education. Although the instantiation of panelists' reluctance to label students may be different in South Africa compared to the United States or other countries, lessons can be learned about how the effects of these beliefs and anxieties may be addressed during standard setting activities

The anti-tumor effect of Apo2L/TRAIL on patient pancreatic adenocarcinomas grown as xenografts in SCID mice

BACKGROUND: Apo2L/TRAIL has considerable promise for cancer therapy based on the fact that this member of the tumor necrosis factor family induces apoptosis in the majority of malignant cells, while normal cells are more resistant. Furthermore, in many cells, when Apo2L/TRAIL is combined with chemotherapy, the effect is synergistic. The majority of this work has been carried out using cell lines. Therefore, investigation of how patient tumors respond to Apo2L/TRAIL can validate and/or complement information obtained from cell lines and prove valuable in the design of future clinical trials. METHODS: We have investigated the Apo2L/TRAIL sensitivity of patient derived pancreatic tumors using a patient tumor xenograft/ SCID mouse model. Mice bearing engrafted tumors were treated with Apo2L/TRAIL, gemcitabine or a combination of both therapies. RESULTS: Patient tumors grown as xenografts exhibited a spectrum of sensitivity to Apo2L/TRAIL. Both Apo2L/TRAIL sensitive and resistant pancreatic tumors were found, as well as tumors that showed heterogeneity of response. Changes in apoptotic signaling molecules in a sensitive tumor were analyzed by Western blot following Apo2L/TRAIL treatment; loss of procaspase 8, Bid and procaspase 3 was observed and correlated with inhibition of tumor growth. However, in a tumor that was highly resistant to killing by Apo2L/TRAIL, although there was a partial loss of procaspase 8 and Bid in response to Apo2L/TRAIL treatment, loss of procaspase 3 was negligible. This resistant tumor also expressed a high level of the anti-apoptotic molecule Bcl-X(L )that, in comparison, was not detected in a sensitive tumor. Importantly, in the majority of these tumors, addition of gemcitabine to Apo2L/TRAIL resulted in a greater anti-tumor effect than either therapy used alone. CONCLUSION: These data suggest that in a clinical setting we will see heterogeneity in the response of patients' tumors to Apo2L/TRAIL, including tumors that are highly sensitive as well as those that are resistant. While much more work is needed to understand the molecular basis for this heterogeneity, it is very encouraging, that Apo2L/TRAIL in combination with gemcitabine increased therapeutic efficacy in almost every case and therefore may be a highly effective strategy for controlling human pancreatic cancer validating and expanding upon what has been reported for cell lines