Is this a pattern?

In the current climate, pattern is an often-misused buzzword. However, there is no clear definition of pattern-ness, perhaps because patterns do not lend themselves to prescriptive, formal definitions. The authors propose a set of characteristics that can be used as a test for pattern-ness. Each characteristic in their test describes an essential aspect of a design pattern. Recognizing these characteristics will help software designers understand, use, and write better patterns

Thinking with/through The Contradictions of Social Justice in Teacher Education: Self-Reflection on NETDS Experience

Improving teacher quality has become the hallmark of Australian education reform with a plethora of measures introduced in teacher education to improve future teachers’ instructional competencies. This policy focus has also changed the discussion of strategies for addressing disadvantages in schools; improving teacher quality, as opposed to addressing structural inequalities in the system and larger society, has become the “solution.” This paper looks at the National Exceptional Teaching for Disadvantaged Schools (NETDS), which aims to channel high performing teacher education students to disadvantaged schools. Using the taxonomy of conservative, liberal and critical approaches to education reform, the paper first identifies the ideological contradictions inherent in the program, and then discusses, drawing on post-qualitative research literature, how the program coordinators negotiated the tensions and the moral/ethical dilemmas as we designed and implemented the program for a group of external students at University of New England

Synthesis and reactivity of enediynes

The discovery of a class natural products with anti-cancer properties, the enediynes, has stimulated interest in their research. Due to their cytotoxicity, these compounds are not feasible for use in cancer treatment, however, synthetic work has centered around improved stability, reduced toxicity and elucidation of the mechanism of the Bergman cyclization reaction. Protocols utilizing palladium-catalysed cross coupling reactions have been used extensively in the synthesis of enediyne analogues. Little work to date has investigated the effect of heteroatoms on the success of coupling reactions, thermal Bergman cyclizations and photochemically induced cyclizations. In this thesis, a synthetic study involving the coupling reactions o f nitrogenous aromatic halides, halotriflates and a series of alkynes will be presented. Several enediyne analogues were synthesized in moderate to high yields, isolated and characterized. In general, it was observed that nitrogen heteroatoms increase the reactivity toward Sonogashira coupling reactions. In order to examine the effect o f resonance and inductive effects on the reactivity under Sonogashira conditions, a series o f competitive reactions between m- or p-substituted aryl iodides and iodobenzene were performed. In general, electron withdrawing substituents in the m- or p-positions increased the reactivity, while electron donating substituents decreased it. It was observed that resonance effects have a larger effect on reactivity than inductive effects. Thermal and photochemical cyclization studies were performed for the nitrogenous aromatic enediynes synthesized. None o f the enediynes were observed to cyclize thermally, while only the TMS- and phenyl-substituted enediynes were observed to photochemically cyclize

Sedimentology and organic biogeochemistry of the Ordovician Redmans Formation, Bell Island, Newfoundland

Understanding the processes that control the sequestration of organic matter are critical to the reconstruction of atmospheric CO₂ levels on geological time scales. Muddy, high-energy coastlines are subject to frequent wave reworking, tide-controlled grain-size sorting, and bioturbation. These processes control the remineralization efficiency of organic particles and impact the total organic carbon content (TOC, wt %) and quality (δ¹³Corg, ‰) of sedimentary organic matter. The combination of detailed facies descriptions, in conjunction with geochemical analysis of mudstones and siltstones can be integrated into a paleoenvironmental framework that allows for detailed interpretation of facies control on organic matter geochemical signatures. This Masters thesis aims to develop a better understanding of the effects physical and biological seafloor processes have on geochemical variability within and between facies in the Early Ordovician, Redmans Formation from Bell Island, Newfoundland. Isotopic trends are used herein to determine if bulk organic carbon isotopic values can be applied to the correlation of global organic carbon signatures

Feasibility of Utilizing Social Media to Promote HPV Self‐Collected Sampling Among Medically Underserved Women in a Rural Southern City in the United States (U.S.)

Background: Social media (Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, Twitter) as communication channels have great potential to deliver Human papillomavirus self‐test (HPVST) intervention to medically underserved women (MUW) such as women of low income. However, little is known about MUW’s willingness to participate in HPVST intervention delivered through social media. We evaluated factors that contribute to MUW’s intention to participate in the social media‐related intervention for HPVST. Methods: A 21‐item survey was administered among women receiving food from a local food pantry in a U.S. southern state. Independent variables were social media usage facilitators (including confidentiality, social support, cost, and convenience), and barriers (including misinformation, time‐consuming, inefficient, and privacy concerns). Dependent variables included the likelihood of participating in social‐driven intervention for HPVST. Both variables were measured on a 5‐point scale. We used multinomial logistic regression to analyze the data. Results: A total of 254 women (mean age 48.9 ± 10.7 years) comprising Whites (40%), Hispanics (29%), Blacks (27%), and Other (4%) participated in the study. We found that over 44% of the women were overdue for their pap smears for the past three years, 12% had never had a pap smear, and 34% were not sure if they had had a pap smear. Over 82% reported frequent social media (e.g., Facebook) usage, and 52% reported willingness to participate in social media‐driven intervention for HPVST. Women who reported that social media provide privacy (Adjusted Odds Ratio (AOR) = 6.23, 95% CI: 3.56, 10.92), provide social support (AOR = 7.18, 95% CI: 4.03, 12.80), are less costly (AOR = 6.71, 95% CI: 3.80, 11.85), and are convenient (AOR = 6.17, 95% CI: 3.49, 10.92) had significantly increased odds of participating in social media intervention for HPVST. Conclusions: The findings underscore that the majority of the MUW are overdue for cervical cancer screening, regularly use social media, and are willing to participate in social media‐driven intervention. Social media could be used to promote HPV self‐testing among MUW

Two-Photon Na+ Imaging Reports Somatically Evoked Action Potentials in Rat Olfactory Bulb Mitral and Granule Cell Neurites

Dendrodendritic synaptic interactions are a hallmark of neuronal processing in the vertebrate olfactory bulb. Many classes of olfactory bulb neurons including the principal mitral cells (MCs) and the axonless granule cells (GCs) dispose of highly efficient propagation of action potentials (AP) within their dendrites, from where they can release transmitter onto each other. So far, backpropagation in GC dendrites has been investigated indirectly via Ca2+ imaging. Here, we used two-photon Na+ imaging to directly report opening of voltage-gated sodium channels due to AP propagation in both cell types. To this end, neurons in acute slices from juvenile rat bulbs were filled with 1 mM SBFI via whole-cell patch-clamp. Calibration of SBFI signals revealed that a change in fluorescence Delta F/F by 10% corresponded to a Delta[Na+](i) of similar to 22 mM. We then imaged proximal axon segments of MCs during somatically evoked APs (sAP). While single sAPs were detectable in similar to 50% of axons, trains of 20 sAPs at 50 Hz always resulted in substantial Delta F/F of similar to 15% (similar to 33 mM Delta[Na+](i)). Delta F/F was significantly larger for 80 Hz vs. 50 Hz trains, and decayed with half-durations tau(1/2) similar to 0.6 s for both frequencies. In MC lateral dendrites, AP trains yielded small Delta F/F of similar to 3% (similar to 7 mM Delta[Na+](i)). In GC apical dendrites and adjacent spines, single sAPs were not detectable. Trains resulted in an average dendritic Delta F/F of 7% (16 mM Delta[Na+](i)) with tau(1/2) similar to 1 s, similar for 50 and 80 Hz. Na+ transients were indistinguishable between large GC spines and their adjacent dendrites. Cell-wise analysis revealed two classes of GCs with the first showing a decrease in Delta F/F along the dendrite with distance from the soma and the second an increase. These classes clustered with morphological parameters. Simulations of Delta[Na+](i) replicated these behaviors via negative and positive gradients in Na+ current density, assuming faithful AP backpropagation. Such specializations of dendritic excitability might confer specific temporal processing capabilities to bulbar principal cell-GC subnetworks. In conclusion, we show that Na+ imaging provides a valuable tool for characterizing AP invasion of MC axons and GC dendrites and spines

School Culture, Equity, and Student Academic Performance in a Rural Appalachian School

The authors provide an overview of a culture-equity audit conducted in a rural Appalachian school. The purpose was to collect information that would assist the school to optimize student academic performance. School culture is critical to establishing successful school learning environments. It provides one of the most significant foundations for successful student achievement (Cleveland, Powell, Saddler, &Tyler, 2008). Some studies suggest that educational leaders could play significant roles in culture building (Deal, 1990, 1994; Levine, 1989; Parish & Aquila, 1996; Pritchard et al., 2005). A culture audit provides an opportunity to learn about the culture of a school or district. Equity audits use quantitative indicators to examine teacher quality and programmatic inequities in schools systematically (Skrla, Scheurich, Garcia, & Nolly, 2006). Culture audits provide critical data to reveal educational inequities among diverse school groups. Unfortunately, equity audits alone may not sufficiently capture the idiosyncrasies of exclusive school cultures that contribute to more subtle discrimination and poor student achievement. A culture-equity audit may be conducted for this reason. Researchers from a regional American university in the mid-west conducted an equity-culture audit for a rural Appalachian school with the aim of supporting student achievement. This article provides an overview of the audit and recommendations for reform

Hypoxia-induced transcriptional stress is mediated by ROS-induced R-loops

Hypoxia is a common feature of solid tumors and is associated with poor patient prognosis, therapy resistance and metastasis. Radiobiological hypoxia (<0.1% O2) is one of the few physiologically relevant stresses that activates both the replication stress/DNA damage response and the unfolded protein response. Recently, we found that hypoxia also leads to the robust accumulation of R-loops, which led us to question here both the mechanism and consequence of hypoxia-induced R-loops. Interestingly, we found that the mechanism of R-loop accumulation in hypoxia is dependent on non-DNA damaging levels of reactive oxygen species. We show that hypoxia-induced R-loops play a critical role in the transcriptional stress response, evidenced by the repression of ribosomal RNA synthesis and the translocation of nucleolin from the nucleolus into the nucleoplasm. Upon depletion of R-loops, we observed a rescue of both rRNA transcription and nucleolin translocation in hypoxia. Mechanistically, R-loops accumulate on the rDNA in hypoxia and promote the deposition of heterochromatic H3K9me2 which leads to the inhibition of Pol I-mediated transcription of rRNA. These data highlight a novel mechanistic insight into the hypoxia-induced transcriptional stress response through the ROS–R-loop–H3K9me2 axis. Overall, this study highlights the contribution of transcriptional stress to hypoxia-mediated tumorigenesis

The Rose-Colored Glasses of Geriatric Fall Patients: Inconsistencies Between Knowledge of Risk Factors for and Actual Causes of Falls

Background: Falls are the leading cause of fatal injury, and most common cause of non-fatal trauma, among older adults. We sought to elicit older patient\u27s perspectives on fall risks for the general population as well as contributions to any personal falls to identify opportunities to improve fall education. Methods: Ten patients with a history of falls from inpatient trauma and outpatient geriatric services were interviewed. Transcripts were analyzed independently by five individuals using triangulation and constant comparison (NVivo11, QSR International) to compare fall risks to fall causes. Results: All patients reported that either they (9/10 participants) or someone they knew (8/10) had fallen. Despite this, only two personally worried about falling. Patient perceptions of fall risks fell into seven major themes: physiologic decline (8/10); underestimating limitations (7/10); environmental hazards (7/10), lack of awareness/rushing (4/10), misuse/lack of walking aids (3/10); positional transitions (2/10), and improper footwear (1/10). In contrast, the most commonly reported causes of personal falls were lack of awareness/rushing (7/10), environmental hazards (3/10), misuse/lack of walking aids (2/10), improper footwear (2/10), physiologic decline (2/10), underestimating limitations (1/10) and positional transitions (1/10). In general tended to attribute their own falls to their surroundings and were less likely to attribute physical or psychological limitations. Conclusion: Despite participants identifying falls as a serious problem, they were unlikely to worry about falling themselves. Participants were able to identify common fall risks. However, when speaking about personal experience, they were more likely to blame environmental hazards or rushing, and minimized the role of physiologic decline and personal limitations

Humanistic counselling plus pastoral care as usual versus pastoral care as usual for the treatment of psychological distress in adolescents in UK state schools (ETHOS):a randomised controlled trial

Background About one in seven adolescents have a mental health disorder in England, UK. School counselling is one of the most common means of trying to address such a problem. We aimed to determine the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of school-based humanistic counselling (SBHC) for the treatment of psychological distress in young people in England, UK. Methods We did a two-arm, individually randomised trial in 18 secondary state-funded schools across the Greater London area of the UK. Participants were randomly assigned (1:1) using a centrally secure randomisation procedure with random permuted blocks to either SBHC plus schools' pastoral care as usual (PCAU), or PCAU alone. Participants were pupils aged 13–16 years who had moderate-to-severe levels of emotional symptoms (measured by a score of ≥5 on the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire Emotional Symptoms scale) and were assessed as competent to consent to participate in the trial. Participants, providers, and assessors (who initially assessed and enrolled participants) were not masked but testers (who measured outcomes) were masked to treatment allocation. The primary outcome was psychological distress at 12 weeks (Young Person's Clinical Outcomes in Routine Evaluation measure [YP-CORE]; range 0–40), analysed on an intention-to-treat basis (with missing data imputed). Costs were assessed at 24 weeks (Client Service Receipt Inventory and service logs). The trial was registered with ISRCTN, number ISRCTN10460622. Findings 329 participants were recruited between Sept 29, 2016, and Feb 8, 2018, with 167 (51%) randomly assigned to SBHC plus PCAU and 162 (49%) to PCAU. 315 (96%) of 329 participants provided data at 12 weeks and scores were imputed for 14 participants (4%). At baseline, the mean YP-CORE scores were 20·86 (SD 6·38) for the SBHC plus PCAU group and 20·98 (6·41) for the PCAU group. Mean YP-CORE scores at 12 weeks were 16·41 (SD 7·59) for the SBHC plus PCAU group and 18·34 (7·84) for the PCAU group (difference 1·87, 95% CI 0·37–3·36; p=0·015), with a small effect size (0·25, 0·03–0·47). Overall costs at 24 weeks were £995·20 (SD 769·86) per pupil for the SBHC plus PCAU group and £612·89 (1224·56) for the PCAU group (unadjusted difference £382·31, 95% CI £148·18–616·44; p=0·0015). The probability of SBHC being more cost-effective reached 80% at a willingness to pay of £390 for a 1-point improvement on the YP-CORE. Five serious adverse events occurred for four participants in the SBHC plus PCAU group, all involving suicidal intent. Two serious adverse events occurred for two participants in the PCAU group, one involving suicidal intent. Interpretation The addition of SBHC to PCAU leads to small reductions in psychological distress, but at an additional economic cost. SBHC is a viable treatment option but there is a need for equally rigorous evaluation of alternative interventions. Funding This work was supported by the Economic and Social Research Council (grant reference ES/M011933/1)