Capturing more than poverty: School free and reduced-price lunch data and household income

Linking K-12 data on students and teachers to Internal Revenue Service (IRS) information allows us to answer questions that are difficult to answer using survey data or educational administrative data alone. We describe two research projects that demonstrate the importance of using linked administrative data to further research on education and inform policy discussions. In the first research project, using linked IRS income tax data to school administrative records for all 8th graders in one California public school district and all K-12th graders in Oregon public schools, we examine how well free and reduced price lunch (FRPL) enrollment captures student disadvantage. We find that FRPL categories capture relatively little variation in household income. However, FRPL captures elements of educational disadvantage that IRS-reported household income data do not. In the second research project, using data on teachers from a large California school district linked to IRS records and the Business Register, we examine what teachers do after they leave teaching. Preliminary findings suggest that many teachers leave the workforce after they leave teaching. Teachers that continue to work after leaving our school district often do so in a nearby school district, and often see a modest increase in their earnings in their new positions

Identification of candidates for cyclotide biosynthesis and cyclisation by expressed sequence tag analysis of Oldenlandia affinis

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Cyclotides are a family of circular peptides that exhibit a range of biological activities, including anti-bacterial, cytotoxic, anti-HIV activities, and are proposed to function in plant defence. Their high stability has motivated their development as scaffolds for the stabilisation of peptide drugs. <it>Oldenlandia affinis</it> is a member of the Rubiaceae (coffee) family from which 18 cyclotides have been sequenced to date, but the details of their processing from precursor proteins have only begun to be elucidated. To increase the speed at which genes involved in cyclotide biosynthesis and processing are being discovered, an expressed sequence tag (EST) project was initiated to survey the transcript profile of <it>O. affinis</it> and to propose some future directions of research on in vivo protein cyclisation.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Using flow cytometry the holoploid genome size (1C-value) of <it>O. affinis </it>was estimated to be 4,210 - 4,284 Mbp, one of the largest genomes of the Rubiaceae family. High-quality ESTs were identified, 1,117 in total, from leaf cDNAs and assembled into 502 contigs, comprising 202 consensus sequences and 300 singletons. ESTs encoding the cyclotide precursors for kalata B1 (<it>Oak1</it>) and kalata B2 (<it>Oak4</it>) were among the 20 most abundant ESTs. In total, 31 ESTs encoded cyclotide precursors, representing a distinct commitment of 2.8% of the <it>O. affinis </it>transcriptome to cyclotide biosynthesis. The high expression levels of cyclotide precursor transcripts are consistent with the abundance of mature cyclic peptides in <it>O. affinis</it>. A new cyclotide precursor named <it>Oak5 </it>was isolated and represents the first cDNA for the bracelet class of cyclotides in <it>O. affinis</it>. Clones encoding enzymes potentially involved in processing cyclotides were also identified and include enzymes involved in oxidative folding and proteolytic processing.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The EST library generated in this study provides a valuable resource for the study of the cyclisation of plant peptides. Further analysis of the candidates for cyclotide processing discovered in this work will increase our understanding and aid in reconstructing cyclotide production using transgenic systems and will benefit their development in pharmaceutical applications and insect-resistant crop plants.</p

Two Stories to Tell: Different Student Outcome Measures Correlate with Different Instructor Adaptations to COVID-19

The coronavirus pandemic severely disrupted college students’ learning experiences. A growing body of research is attempting to examine the impact of faculty efforts to support students during this difficult time. However, different outcomes measures might lead to varying inferences about the impact of instructors’ adaptations to their pedagogy. We explore this potential for varying inferences through a mixed-methods study of 11 courses taught at a Hispanic-Serving Institution in the United States in Spring 2020. First, using qualitative analytical methods, we identify five types of instructional adaptations made by faculty. Second, we use quantitative methods to uncover associations between these instructional adaptations and a variety of course outcome measures. While all of these instructional adaptations were perceived as beneficial by students, only one--ensuring access to instructor time--was significantly correlated with students’ reported motivational and personal gains from their coursework. However, only a different adaptation—ensuring access to class resources—was significantly correlated with reduced equity gaps measured through course grades. We discuss the implications of these findings for researchers, practitioners, and policymakers

Demonstrating the Use of Linked Data to Advance Education Research

Linking K-12 data on students and teachers to Internal Revenue Service (IRS) information allows us to answer questions that are difficult to answer using survey data or educational administrative data alone. We describe two research projects that demonstrate the importance of using linked administrative data to further research on education and inform policy discussions. In the first research project, using linked IRS income tax data to school administrative records for all 8th graders in one California public school district and all K-12th graders in Oregon public schools, we examine how well free and reduced price lunch (FRPL) enrollment captures student disadvantage. We find that FRPL categories capture relatively little variation in household income. However, FRPL captures elements of educational disadvantage that IRS-reported household income data do not. In the second research project, using data on teachers from a large California school district linked to IRS records and the Business Register, we examine what teachers do after they leave teaching. Preliminary findings suggest that many teachers leave the workforce after they leave teaching. Teachers that continue to work after leaving our school district often do so in a nearby school district, and often see a modest increase in their earnings in their new positions

Targeted and Genome-Scale Methylomics Reveals Gene Body Signatures in Human Cell Lines

Cytosine methylation, an epigenetic modification of DNA, is a target of growing interest for developing high throughput profiling technologies. Here we introduce two new, complementary techniques for cytosine methylation profiling utilizing next generation sequencing technology: bisulfite padlock probes (BSPPs) and methyl sensitive cut counting (MSCC). In the first method, we designed a set of ~10,000 BSPPs distributed over the ENCODE pilot project regions to take advantage of existing expression and chromatin immunoprecipitation data. We observed a pattern of low promoter methylation coupled with high gene body methylation in highly expressed genes. Using the second method, MSCC, we gathered genome-scale data for 1.4 million HpaII sites and confirmed that gene body methylation in highly expressed genes is a consistent phenomenon over the entire genome. Our observations highlight the usefulness of techniques which are not inherently or intentionally biased in favor of only profiling particular subsets like CpG islands or promoter regions

Analysis of temporal trends in potential COVID-19 cases reported through NHS Pathways England.

The National Health Service (NHS) Pathways triage system collates data on enquiries to 111 and 999 services in England. Since the 18th of March 2020, these data have been made publically available for potential COVID-19 symptoms self-reported by members of the public. Trends in such reports over time are likely to reflect behaviour of the ongoing epidemic within the wider community, potentially capturing valuable information across a broader severity profile of cases than hospital admission data. We present a fully reproducible analysis of temporal trends in NHS Pathways reports until 14th May 2020, nationally and regionally, and demonstrate that rates of growth/decline and effective reproduction number estimated from these data may be useful in monitoring transmission. This is a particularly pressing issue as lockdown restrictions begin to be lifted and evidence of disease resurgence must be constantly reassessed. We further assess the correlation between NHS Pathways reports and a publicly available NHS dataset of COVID-19-associated deaths in England, finding that enquiries to 111/999 were strongly associated with daily deaths reported 16 days later. Our results highlight the potential of NHS Pathways as the basis of an early warning system. However, this dataset relies on self-reported symptoms, which are at risk of being severely biased. Further detailed work is therefore necessary to investigate potential behavioural issues which might otherwise explain our conclusions

Ensembl regulation resources

New experimental techniques in epigenomics allow researchers to assay a diversity of highly dynamic features such as histone marks, DNA modifications or chromatin structure. The study of their fluctuations should provide insights into gene expression regulation, cell differentiation and disease. The Ensembl project collects and maintains the Ensembl regulation data resources on epigenetic marks, transcription factor binding and DNA methylation for human and mouse, as well as microarray probe mappings and annotations for a variety of chordate genomes. From this data, we produce a functional annotation of the regulatory elements along the human and mouse genomes with plans to expand to other species as data becomes available. Starting from well-studied cell lines, we will progressively expand our library of measurements to a greater variety of samples. Ensembl's regulation resources provide a central and easy-to-query repository for reference epigenomes. As with all Ensembl data, it is freely available at http://www.ensembl.org, from the Perl and REST APIs and from the public Ensembl MySQL database server at ensembldb.ensembl.org.Database URL: http://www.ensembl.org.Wellcome Trust grant: (WT098051); National Human Genome Research Institute grants: (U41HG007234, 1U01 HG004695); Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council grant: (BB/L024225/1); European Molecular Biology Laboratory; European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme; European Research Council

Visiting Trainees in Global Settings: Host and Partner Perspectives on Desirable Competencies

Background: Current competencies in global health education largely reflect perspectives from high-income countries (HICs). Consequently, there has been underrepresentation of the voices and perspectives of partners in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) who supervise and mentor trainees engaged in short-term experiences in global health (STEGH). Objective: The objective of this study was to better understand the competencies and learning objectives that are considered a priority from the perspective of partners in LMICs. Methods: A review of current interprofessional global health competencies was performed to design a web-based survey instrument in English and Spanish. Survey data were collected from a global convenience sample. Data underwent descriptive statistical analysis and logistic regression. Findings: The survey was completed by 170 individuals; 132 in English and 38 in Spanish. More than 85% of respondents rated cultural awareness and respectful conduct while on a STEGH as important. None of the respondents said trainees arrive as independent practitioners to fill health care gaps. Of 109 respondents, 65 (60%) reported that trainees gaining fluency in the local language was not important. Conclusions: This study found different levels of agreement between partners across economic regions of the world when compared with existing global health competencies. By gaining insight into host partners' perceptions of desired competencies, global health education programs in LMICs can be more collaboratively and ethically designed to meet the priorities, needs, and expectations of those stakeholders. This study begins to shift the paradigm of global health education program design by encouraging North–South/East–West shared agenda setting, mutual respect, empowerment, and true collaboration