Characterization of the Innate Immune Response in Sea Lamprey and Its Suppression in Ictalurid Catfish

The sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus) belongs to the most primitive class of fish and has only innate immunity. Mannose-binding C-type lectin (MBL) was initially isolated by mannan-agarose affinity chromatography from sea lamprey plasma. The affinity-purified and 2-ME reduced lamprey MBL showed two bands of 35 kDa and 65 kDa by SDS-PAGE and Western blotting using guinea pig anti-MBL IgG as the primary antibody. N-terminal amino acid sequencing by Edman degradation for the first 10 residues gave XXXTKGCPDA. Lamprey plasma contained 261 µg of MBL/mL of plasma. Plasma protein concentration was 40.1 mg/mL. Lamprey plasma was present them in plasma at 6.5 µg MBL/mg total protein. The sea lamprey MBL specifically binds to the mannose on the surface of the pathogen Aeromonas salmonicida. Plasma concentration of lamprey lysozyme was 5 µg lysozyme/mg total protein. Lysozyme and an antifungal peptide were isolated by low molecular weight gel filtration chromatography from sea lamprey plasma. Lysozyme and antifungal activity for each fraction were determined by well diffusion assay using Gram-positive bacteria, Gram-negative bacteria and two fungal species. The molecular weight of lamprey lysozyme was 14.3 kDa. The sea lamprey lysozyme was effective against Gram-positive bacteria but not against Gram-negative bacteria or fungi. Molecular weight of the antifungal peptide was approximately 3,000 Daltons. Antifungal plasma acitivity was seen against Penicillium notatum and Aspergillus flavus. Decreased immunity from stress can lead to increased susceptibility of fish to infectious diseases. Thirty catfish were intraperitoneally injected with prednisolone acetate (PA) to stimulate a long-term stress response. Blood samples were obtained from each catfish before and for five weeks after PA injection for a total of six weeks. Sera were assayed for total protein, albumin, globulin, albumin/globulin ratios (A/G), glucose, lysozyme and MBL. Total protein concentrations decreased 50% by week six in the PA-injected catfish when compared with pre-bled sera. Lysozyme and MBL levels all increased the week following PA injection and then decreased 40-50% by week six in the stressed catfish. Catfish with the highest pre-bled total serum protein concentrations survived the longest. Chemical-induced stress affected protein synthesis by significantly decreasing both serum and innate protein concentrations

Survey of Assessing Pain in Clinical Practice and Applicability of a New Assessment

ABSTRACT SURVEY OF ASSESSING PAIN IN CLINICAL PRACTICE AND APPLICABILITY OF A NEW ASSESSMENT by Michelle Konz The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, 2016 Under the Supervision of Professor Joyce Engel, PhD Aims The purpose of this study is to identify pain assessments that are being used to measure an individual’s pain experience and to discover how occupational therapists are currently assessing pain in youths who have complex communication needs with a developmental disability (DD). Methods Phase 1: A literature review was conducted through the use of electronic databases to research 17 different methods of pain assessment to create descriptive charts to aide in pain assessment. Phase 2: A 13-question survey was completed by 19 occupational therapists selected through a convenience sample, to determine how pain is currently being assessed for youths who have complex communication needs. Results Phase 1: Three charts were compiled of pain assessments. Each pain assessment has different aspects, but no one measure covers all pain domains and are not accessible. Phase 2: The results indicated that 12 out of 19 respondents do not assess pain. Conclusion In Phase 1, it was determined current pain assessments do not gather a holistic report of pain experiences and are not fully accessible. Survey results suggest that pain is not assessed by more than half of the OTs in this study. Creation of a new pain assessment should be completed in order to fulfill the need of an accessible self-report assessment for youths who have complex communication needs with a DD. Keywords: Occupational therapy, pain assessment, self-report, disability, youth

Master Teacher Perceptions on the Impact Mentoring Programs Have on Teacher Retention

The problem investigated in this phenomenological study was the high teacher attrition in K-12 schools, which has caused a negative impact on classroom performance, and it has also demonstrated the inability to retain effective teachers. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to understand master teachers’ perceptions of the impact the Project RISE Mentoring Program has on retaining beginning teachers. The self-determination theory was used as the theoretical framework for this study. The research design and methods for this phenomenological study utilized an in-depth semistructured interview protocol to collect qualitative data from participants. Twelve master teachers from two Rio Grande Valley High Schools from the same district participated in this study; they were interviewed on the Project RISE Mentoring Program, and they described their perceptions and lived experiences of mentoring beginning teachers and the impact they had on teacher retention. During the analysis of the data, 11 themes emerged: (a) effective skills sets used to build relationships, (b) professional development opportunities for master teachers, (c) supporting beginning teachers, (d) motivational factors for being master teachers, (e) master teachers’ impact on teacher retention, (f) perceptions of Project RISE Mentoring Program, (g) mentoring using a coaching cycle of reflection, (h) positive outcomes of mentoring, (i) master teachers’ relatability with mentees, (j) importance of mentoring beginning teachers, and (k) release time for mentoring support. The results from this phenomenological study concluded that master teachers do impact teacher retention by providing ongoing mentoring and support to beginning teachers

The Influences of Sea-Surface Temperature Uncertainty on Cool-Season High-Shear, Low Cape Severe Weather Event Predictability in the Southeast United States

Environments conducive to severe weather and tornadoes occur throughout the southeastern United States, particularly during the cold-season. Throughout the cold-season, severe weather in this region predominantly occurs in environments characterized by high-shear, low-CAPE (HSLC). An important aspect to the production of severe weather in HSLC environments in the southeast United States is that air parcels that help contribute to the limited positive-buoyancy generation originate over areas such as the Gulf of Mexico, western Caribbean Sea, and western Atlantic Ocean. These relatively warm bodies of water, particularly outside of the cooler coastal shelf regions, allow the air parcels to warm and moisten via latent heat and surface sensible fluxes. It is hypothesized that the forecasts of cold-season severe weather in the southeastern United States are sensitive to the treatment of the underlying ocean surface, which influences the simulated representation of the surface heat exchange between the air and sea. We aimed to address and quantify these sensitivities by conducting numerical simulations for eight identified cold-season southeastern United States severe weather cases initialized using several different sea-surface temperature (SST) analyses. An ensemble of forecasts using varying atmospheric and SST analyses is also conducted for the case with the largest variability in forecast skill between SST initializations to quantify the contributions of initial atmospheric and SST uncertainty to subsequent forecast uncertainty. Neighborhood-based forecast verification techniques based off updraft helicity swaths are used to quantify these uncertainties

Parent involvement and positive behaviour for learning in two Australian schools

Positive Behaviour for Learning (PBL) is a proactive and preventative approach for teaching appropriate behaviour in the school setting to promote positive academic and social performance. The PBL approach is based on the Positive Behaviour Intervention and Support (PBIS) model from the United States of America (www.pbis.org) and in 2005 was initially introduced to schools in the geographical region of South Western Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. This study investigated parent involvement in PBL in two primary schools in South Western Sydney. Research across many decades has demonstrated that parents have a significant influence on the behaviour, academic performance and school attendance levels of their children (Alvarez-Valdivia et al., 2013; Bowlby, 1951; Bronfenbrenner, 1979; Christenson & Hurley, 1997; Cooper & Crosnoe, 2007; Henderson & Mapp, 2002; Monti, Pomerantz & Roisman, 2014; Vincent & Tomlinson, 1997). Accordingly, the NSW Department of Education (NSW DoE) policies (NSW DET, 1996, 2006(a); NSW Education Act, 1990) and PBL literature (www.pbl.schools.nsw.edu.au) all emphasise the importance of parents, as partners with teachers, in the shared responsibility of educating children. There is a deficiency of implementation guidelines, aligned to Department policies and PBL literature that promote parent involvement in schools. Furthermore, such guidelines may not provide the necessary flexibility to support parent involvement across all schools due to the variability of school systems and contexts. Therefore, the implementation of PBL into Australian schools in the twenty-first century to promote the positive social and academic performance of students, and the knowledge that parents are a significant influence on student performance, it is critical to investigate the role of parents in PBL. Parent participation in PBL could be a factor that contributes to the fidelity of PBL processes and the overall sustainability of the positive behaviour systems. To date, there is a lack of Australian studies that have investigated parent involvement in PBL. Consequently, this study will contribute to Australian and international knowledge about parent involvement in PBL and, more widely, within schools. This study employed a qualitative methodology. The participants were teachers, parents and students from two South Western Sydney primary schools. The students were interviewed in focus group discussions, while the teachers and parents were interviewed according to their preference for an individual or group discussion. A semi-structured interview and the researcher’s reflective listening technique enabled participants to elaborate on particular themes which provided an in-depth understanding of parent involvement in PBL and more widely within the schools. Findings of the analysis showed that teachers believed parents had been involved in PBL implementation, however, the data showed that parents had gained knowledge about PBL vicariously through their children and not as a result of being involved in PBL implementation processes. The nature and extent of parent involvement were further explored more broadly within the two schools. Barriers to parent involvement and stakeholder perspectives to promote and improve parent involvement in general were identified

Phenomenological Study of Expectations of Business Owner/Operators for Tourism Investments in the City of Holdingford, Minnesota

The advancement of new technology, specific to transportation modes has altered the influence of some “Main Streets;” transitioning from “essential” to “optional” destinations. Thus, the prominence of “Main Streets” in non-urbanized cities, as a point of commerce and facilitator of social activities, has been in a state of flux (Southworth, 2005). Based on William H. Whyte’s research, The Social Life of Small Urban Space (1980), Project for Public Spaces (PPS) has launched a new campaign ‘Streets as Places.’ This program suggests that through design, the/a ‘street’ can exceed the primary function of mobility and be a catalyst for civic engagement. It is less clear whose responsibility it is to lead investments along the street, as these spaces are potentially utilized by tourists and patrons. To examine this role, additional research was conducted to understand the perceived value of “Main Street” and the entity responsible for future investments in relation to tourism and aesthetics within the public space. The City of Holdingford served the geographic study area to better understand variations in the perspective of business owner/operators with the community on aesthetic investments along “Main Street.” This research assessed the perceived value of an existing non-urban “Main Street,” as a generator of commerce, specific to tourism by business owners/operators; determined the expectations of community business leaders to support investments within the shared, public spaces; and proposed recommendations towards the future development of “Main Street” as a tourism resource in non-urban communities