Evaluating the first year roll-out of the Imibala Gifted And Talented Enrichment Programme of the Imibala Trust in The Western Cape

The following dissertation details an evaluation conducted on a giftedness programme. The introduction of giftedness programmes can be traced as far back as 1922 where Terman was one of the first people to document and formalise the link between one's innate ability and their performance on a number of outcomes. Since then many other theorists Renzulli (1977) and Subotnik, Olszewski-Kubilius, and Worrell (2011) have expanded on the definition of giftedness to include not only one's innate ability but development of potential through a specialised environment that encourages the gifted learner to enhance their ability. In 2013, a programme evaluation student at the University of Cape Town, Reitumetse Mogorosi, conducted research for the Imibala Trust to assist with the design of the Gifted and Talented Enrichment (GATE) Programme. The Imibala Trust had for some time (with the support of the Metropole East Education Department) decided to pilot such a programme that aimed to serve gifted disadvantaged children in the Helderberg region. As a result of Mogorosi's work the GATE personnel were provided with an evaluation report that detailed a plausible programme theory for their programme; the activities that the GATE programme should include in its design; the selection process to be followed to recruit the identified target audience; and the importance of engaging relevant stakeholders in the programme. Following Mogorosi's (2014) report, the GATE programme was piloted in 2014. In 2014, a second masters' student from the University of Cape Town evaluated the pilot implementation of the GATE programme. This dissertation is an account of that evaluation study. The evaluator conducted two forms of evaluation, namely a process evaluation and a short-term outcome evaluation. The process evaluation aimed to establish whether the GATE personnel had implemented the programme as planned; while the short-term outcome evaluation aimed to determine whether the participants in the GATE programme perceived any changes as a result of the programme

Universities and Schools - what is a fair engagement?

Just as HAICU were reflecting on making changes to the programme on working with teachers, changes at Department of Education (DOE) made it difficult for NGOs and Universities to work within schools in the way they had previously done so. The new National Policy changes indicated HAICU would need a new method of working with schools which would be limited to working with teachers only, connecting teachers to knowledge around HIV/AIDS, gender and stigma and supporting teachers in their multiple roles of addressing HIV prevention and education. A number of HIV/AIDS prevention projects were then aimed at after school sites such as youth centres where education could be combined with testing, and service provision at schools was limited to nurse visits (but no HIV testing in schools). In 2013 HAICU developed and implemented a programme working with educators who teach Life Orientation and who could implement the learnings in the schools. An initial needs assessment with the teachers showed that stigma continued to prevail in school contexts, gendered roles were still practiced and educators play support roles for HIV positive students. Based on this assessment HAICU developed a four session intervention. The topics included HIV school policy and implementation, rape, HIV treatment and HIV social behavior change communication. The topics chosen addressed the primary needs identified by the educators in the programme. By engaging with the topics, the educators identified that they would need to continue learning about these topics beyond the initial four sessions. After the training HAICU conducted a focus group with the educators to ascertain what kinds of progress, if at all the educators had made in implementing the learning. The following paragraphs detail the discussion in the focus group

Pigs lacking the SRCR5 domain of CD163 protein demonstrate heritable resistance to the PRRS virus and no changes in animal performance from birth to maturity

Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) is one of the world’s most persistent viral pig diseases, with a significant economic impact on the pig industry. PRRS affects pigs of all ages, causing late-term abortions and stillbirths in sows, respiratory disease in piglets, and increased susceptibility to secondary bacterial infection with a high mortality rate. PRRS disease is caused by a positive single-stranded RNA PRRS virus (PRRSV), which has a narrow host-cell tropism limited to monocyte–macrophage lineage cells. Several studies demonstrated that the removal of CD163 protein or, as a minimum, its scavenger receptor cysteine-rich domain 5 (SRCR5) precludes the viral genome release, conferring resistance to PRRSV in live animals. Today, very limited information exists about the impact of such edits on animal performance from birth to maturity in pigs. Using CRISPR–Cas9 with dual-guide RNAs and non-homologous end joining (NHEJ), first-generation (E0) pigs were produced with a deletion of exon 7 in the CD163 gene. The selected pigs were bred to produce the next three generations of pigs to establish multiple lines of pigs homozygous for the edited allele, thereby confirming that the CD163 gene with removed exon 7 was stable during multiple breeding cycles. The pigs were evaluated relative to non-edited pigs from birth to maturity, including any potential changes in meat composition and resistance to PRRSV. This study demonstrates that removing the SRCR5 domain from the CD163 protein confers resistance to PRRSV and, relative to unedited pigs, resulted in no detected differences in meat composition and no changes in the growth rate, health, and ability to farrow. Together, these results support the targeted use of gene editing in livestock animals to address significant diseases without adversely impacting the health and well-being of the animals or the food products derived from them

DataSheet1_Pigs lacking the SRCR5 domain of CD163 protein demonstrate heritable resistance to the PRRS virus and no changes in animal performance from birth to maturity.pdf

Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) is one of the world’s most persistent viral pig diseases, with a significant economic impact on the pig industry. PRRS affects pigs of all ages, causing late-term abortions and stillbirths in sows, respiratory disease in piglets, and increased susceptibility to secondary bacterial infection with a high mortality rate. PRRS disease is caused by a positive single-stranded RNA PRRS virus (PRRSV), which has a narrow host-cell tropism limited to monocyte–macrophage lineage cells. Several studies demonstrated that the removal of CD163 protein or, as a minimum, its scavenger receptor cysteine-rich domain 5 (SRCR5) precludes the viral genome release, conferring resistance to PRRSV in live animals. Today, very limited information exists about the impact of such edits on animal performance from birth to maturity in pigs. Using CRISPR–Cas9 with dual-guide RNAs and non-homologous end joining (NHEJ), first-generation (E0) pigs were produced with a deletion of exon 7 in the CD163 gene. The selected pigs were bred to produce the next three generations of pigs to establish multiple lines of pigs homozygous for the edited allele, thereby confirming that the CD163 gene with removed exon 7 was stable during multiple breeding cycles. The pigs were evaluated relative to non-edited pigs from birth to maturity, including any potential changes in meat composition and resistance to PRRSV. This study demonstrates that removing the SRCR5 domain from the CD163 protein confers resistance to PRRSV and, relative to unedited pigs, resulted in no detected differences in meat composition and no changes in the growth rate, health, and ability to farrow. Together, these results support the targeted use of gene editing in livestock animals to address significant diseases without adversely impacting the health and well-being of the animals or the food products derived from them.</p

Creating Diverse and Inclusive Scientific Practices for Research Datasets and Dissemination

Diversity, equity, and inclusivity (DEI) are important for scientific innovation and progress. This widespread recognition has resulted in numerous initiatives for enhancing DEI in recent years. Although progress has been made to address gender and racial disparities, there remains to be biases that limit the opportunities for historically underrepresented individuals to succeed in academia. As members of the Organization for Human Brain Mapping (OHBM) Diversity and Inclusivity committee (DIC), we identified the most challenging and imminent obstacles towards improving DEI practices in the broader neuroimaging field. These obstacles include the lack of diversity in and accessibility to publicly available datasets, barriers in research dissemination, and/or barriers related to publishing. In order to increase diversity and promote equity and inclusivity in our scientific endeavors, we suggest potential solutions that are practical and actionable to overcome these barriers. We emphasize the importance of the enduring and unwavering commitment required to advance DEI initiatives consistently. By doing so, the OHBM and perhaps other neuroscience communities will strive towards a future that is not only marked by scientific excellence but also characterized by diversity, inclusivity and equitable opportunities for all including historically underrepresented individuals internationally

Effective self-management for early career researchers in the natural and life sciences

\u3cp\u3eEarly career researchers (ECRs) are faced with a range of competing pressures in academia, making self-management key to building a successful career. The Organization for Human Brain Mapping undertook a group effort to gather helpful advice for ECRs in self-management.\u3c/p\u3