Thriving not just surviving: A review of research on teacher resilience

Retaining teachers in the early stages of the profession is a major issue of concern in many countries. Teacher resilience is a relatively recent area of investigation which provides a way of understanding what enables teachers to persist in the face of challenges and offers a complementary perspective to studies of stress, burnout and attrition. We have known for many years that teaching can be stressful, particularly for new teachers, but little appears to have changed. This paper reviews recent empirical studies related to the resilience of early career teachers. Resilience is shown to be the outcome of a dynamic relationship between individual risk and protective factors. Individual attributes such as altruistic motives and high self-efficacy are key individual protective factors. Contextual challenges or risk factors and contextual supports or protective factors can come from sources such as school administration, colleagues, and pupils. Challenges for the future are to refine conceptualisations of teacher resilience and to develop and examine interventions in multiple contexts. There are many opportunities for those who prepare, employ and work with prospective and new teachers to reduce risk factors and enhance protective factors and so enable new teachers to thrive, not just survive

Taking care of youth mentoring relationships: red flags, repair, and respectful resolution

Mentoring is portrayed in the literature as benefiting young people, but ineffective or early termination of youth mentoring relationships can be detrimental. Researchers have not adequately explored issues surrounding the breakdown of youth mentoring relationships. Underpinned by a socio-ecological perspective, in this exploratory study we consider the various contexts within which these important relationships exist and identify early warning signs or red flags that a mentoring relationship is struggling. We interviewed mentees, mentors, and coordinators from four Western Australian youth mentoring programs about their experiences of mentoring relationships. Our findings suggest that red flags and repair strategies may be specific to particular programs, and that program coordinators play an important role in supporting relationships. Our research will help youth mentoring programs work toward early intervention strategies or appropriate and respectful termination of a relationship

A BRiTE Journey: 2013–2019

Resilience is widely acknowledged as important for teacher success, yet how to assist pre-service teachers build the skills and strategies for professional resilience is a question often asked by teacher educators. This chapter overviews the design, development and features of a series of five online learning modules designed to support pre-service teacher resilience. The BRiTE modules were informed by an analysis of the literature and content created to address the key themes. Five modules were developed: Building resilience, Relationships, Wellbeing, Taking initiative and Emotions. Each module was designed to be interactive and personalised, enabling users to build their personal toolkit to support their resilience. Since their launch in 2015, the modules have been widely used by pre-service teachers, teachers and a range of stakeholders with over 14,000 registered users at the beginning of 2020. Potential for future use in supporting teacher resilience is discussed

Transcriptional signatures of somatic neoblasts and germline cells in <i>Macrostomum lignano</i>

The regeneration-capable flatworm <i>Macrostomum lignano</i> is a powerful model organism to study the biology of stem cells in vivo. As a flatworm amenable to transgenesis, it complements the historically used planarian flatworm models, such as <i>Schmidtea mediterranea</i>. However, information on the transcriptome and markers of stem cells in <i>M. lignano</i> is limited. We generated a de novo transcriptome assembly and performed the first comprehensive characterization of gene expression in the proliferating cells of <i>M. lignano</i>, represented by somatic stem cells, called neoblasts, and germline cells. Knockdown of a selected set of neoblast genes, including <i>Mlig-ddx39</i>, <i>Mlig-rrm1</i>, <i>Mlig-rpa3</i>, <i>Mlig-cdk1</i>, and <i>Mlig-h2a</i>, confirmed their crucial role for the functionality of somatic neoblasts during homeostasis and regeneration. The generated <i>M. lignano</i> transcriptome assembly and gene expression signatures of somatic neoblasts and germline cells will be a valuable resource for future molecular studies in <i>M. lignano</i>

A sigmoid functional response emerges when Cytotoxic T Lymphocytes start killing fresh target cells

Cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL)-mediated killing involves the formation of a synapse with a target cell, followed by delivery of perforin and granzymes. Previously, we derived a general functional response for CTL killing while considering that CTLs form stable synapses (i.e., single-stage) and that the number of conjugates remains at steady state. However, the killing of target cells sometimes requires multiple engagements (i.e., multistage). To study how multistage killing and a lack of steady state influence the functional response, we here analyze a set of differential equations as well as simulations employing the cellular Potts model, in both cases describing CTLs that kill target cells. We find that at steady state the total killing rate (i.e., the number of target cells killed by all CTLs) is well described by the previously derived double saturation function. Compared to single-stage killing, the total killing rate during multistage killing saturates at higher CTL and target cell densities. Importantly, when the killing is measured before the steady state is approached, a qualitatively different functional response emerges for two reasons: First, the killing signal of each CTL gets diluted over several targets and because this dilution effect is strongest at high target cell densities; this can result in a peak in the dependence of the total killing rate on the target cell density. Second, the total killing rate exhibits a sigmoid dependence on the CTL density when killing is a multistage process, because it takes typically more than one CTL to kill a target. In conclusion, a sigmoid dependence of the killing rate on the CTLs during initial phases of killing may be indicative of a multistage killing process. Observation of a sigmoid functional response may thus arise from a dilution effect and is not necessarily due to cooperative behavior of the CTLs

Quietly sharing the load? The role of school psychologists in enabling teacher resilience

Teacher resilience is associated with positive student outcomes and plays an important role in teacher retention and well-being. School ecologies can enable the resilience of teachers, with prior research illustrating the importance of supportive colleagues, strong leadership, and positive school culture. There is limited research, however, exploring the role of school psychologists in supporting or enabling teacher resilience. Using data from experienced Australian school psychologists and teachers, this exploratory qualitative study examines the role of school psychologists in enabling teacher resilience. Findings show that school psychologists directly and indirectly support teacher resilience, although teachers perceive school psychologists’ main role as work with individual students. Issues pertaining to variations in access and particular roles of school psychologists are discussed. Although further research is needed to clarify and promote the role of school psychologists, this study points to them potentially playing an important role in school ecologies that enable teacher resilience

Investigating CTL Mediated Killing with a 3D Cellular Automaton

Cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) are important immune effectors against intra-cellular pathogens. These cells search for infected cells and kill them. Recently developed experimental methods in combination with mathematical models allow for the quantification of the efficacy of CTL killing in vivo and, hence, for the estimation of parameters that characterize the effect of CTL killing on the target cell populations. It is not known how these population-level parameters relate to single-cell properties. To address this question, we developed a three-dimensional cellular automaton model of the region of the spleen where CTL killing takes place. The cellular automaton model describes the movement of different cell populations and their interactions. Cell movement patterns in our cellular automaton model agree with observations from two-photon microscopy. We find that, despite the strong spatial nature of the kinetics in our cellular automaton model, the killing of target cells by CTLs can be described by a term which is linear in the target cell frequency and saturates with respect to the CTL levels. Further, we find that the parameters describing CTL killing on the population level are most strongly impacted by the time a CTL needs to kill a target cell. This suggests that the killing of target cells, rather than their localization, is the limiting step in CTL killing dynamics given reasonable frequencies of CTL. Our analysis identifies additional experimental directions which are of particular importance to interpret estimates of killing rates and could advance our quantitative understanding of CTL killing

Subtle, CXCR3-dependent, chemotaxis of cytotoxic cells within infected tissues allows efficient target localization

Toxicolog

Dynamic modeling of mitochondrial membrane potential upon exposure to mitochondrial inhibitors

Mitochondria are the main bioenergetic organelles of cells. Exposure to chemicals targeting mitochondria therefore generally results in the development of toxicity. The cellular response to perturbations in cellular energy production is a balance between adaptation, by reorganisation and organelle biogenesis, and sacrifice, in the form of cell death. In homeostatic conditions, aerobic mitochondrial energy production requires the maintenance of a mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP). Chemicals can perturb this MMP, and the extent of this perturbation depends both on the pharmacokinetics of the chemicals and on downstream MMP dynamics. Here we obtain a quantitative understanding of mitochondrial adaptation upon exposure to various mitochondrial respiration inhibitors by applying mathematical modeling to partially published high-content imaging time-lapse confocal imaging data, focusing on MMP dynamics in HepG2 cells over a period of 24 h. The MMP was perturbed using a set of 24 compounds, either acting as uncoupler or as mitochondrial complex inhibitor targeting complex I, II, III or V. To characterize the effect of chemical exposure on MMP dynamics, we adapted an existing differential equation model and fitted this model to the observed MMP dynamics. Complex III inhibitor data were better described by the model than complex I data. Incorporation of pharmacokinetic decay into the model was required to obtain a proper fit for the uncoupler FCCP. Furthermore, oligomycin (complex V inhibitor) model fits were improved by either combining pharmacokinetic (PK) decay and ion leakage or a concentration-dependent decay. Subsequent mass spectrometry measurements showed that FCCP had a significant decay in its PK profile as predicted by the model. Moreover, the measured oligomycin PK profile exhibited only a limited decay at high concentration, whereas at low concentrations the compound remained below the detection limit within cells. This is consistent with the hypothesis that oligomycin exhibits a concentration-dependent decay, yet awaits further experimental verification with more sensitive detection methods. Overall, we show that there is a complex interplay between PK and MMP dynamics within mitochondria and that data-driven modeling is a powerful combination to unravel such complexity.Toxicolog

Transitional psychiatry in the Netherlands:Experiences and views of mental health professionals

BACKGROUND: Psychopathology manifests itself primarily in late adolescence and continues into adulthood. Continuity of care is essential during this phase of life. The current care service distinguishes between child/adolescent (CAMHS) and adult mental health services (AMHs). The separation of services can interfere with the continuity of care. AIM: To map professionals' experiences of and views on the transition and associated problems that young people can experience as they are transferred from CAMHS to AMHS. METHOD: We distributed an online questionnaire among professionals providing mental health care to young people (aged 15-25) with psychiatric problems. RESULTS: The questionnaire was completed by 518 professionals. Decisions relating to transition were generally based on the professional's own deliberations. The preparation consisted mainly of discussing changes with the adolescent and his or her parents. The majority of transition-related problems were experienced in CAMHS, particularly with regard to collaboration with AMHS. Respondents were of the opinion that the developmental age ought to be the determining factor in the decisionmaking process with regard to transition and they considered it important that developmentally appropriate services should be available in order to bridge the gap. CONCLUSION: Professionals in CAMHS and AMHS are encountering problems in preparing the transitional phase and in organising the required structural collaboration between the two separate services. The problems relate mainly to coordination, communication and rules and regulations. Professionals are keen to improve the situation and want to see greater flexibility. In their view, there should be a wider range of specialised facilities for young people, enabling them to benefit from transitional psychiatry.</p