Standardization as emerging content in technology education at all levels of education

Integration of standardization into different levels of technology education has surfaced as a critical issue for educational practitioners and policy makers at national and regional (APEC, EU) level. In this paper, we describe and analyze empirical data collected from 118 educational experiences and practices about technology standards and standardization in 21 countries of a regional variety. Specifically, this research examines standardization education programs these countries have implemented, and explores suggestive indications for the design and development of an educational policy for standardization. Online surveys, offline interviews, face-to-face meetings and case studies have been used to determine the way these standardization education programs are segmented and implemented in different contexts. The findings are consolidated into a framework for standardization education. The framework presents an applicable combination of target groups (who), appropriate learning objectives (why), probable program operators (where), prospective contents modules (what), and preferred teaching methods (how). This framework may contribute to planning and implementing more inclusive standardization education programs

The ILAE classification of seizures and the epilepsies: Modification for seizures in the neonate. Position paper by the ILAE Task Force on Neonatal Seizures

Seizures are the most common neurological emergency in the neonatal period and in contrast to those in infancy and childhood, are often provoked seizures with an acute cause and may be electrographic‐only. Hence, neonatal seizures may not fit easily into classification schemes for seizures and epilepsies primarily developed for older children and adults. A Neonatal Seizures Task Force was established by the International League Against Epilepsy (ILAE) to develop a modification of the 2017 ILAE Classification of Seizures and Epilepsies, relevant to neonates. The neonatal classification framework emphasizes the role of electroencephalography (EEG) in the diagnosis of seizures in the neonate and includes a classification of seizure types relevant to this age group. The seizure type is determined by the predominant clinical feature. Many neonatal seizures are electrographic‐only with no evident clinical features; therefore, these are included in the proposed classification. Clinical events without an EEG correlate are not included. Because seizures in the neonatal period have been shown to have a focal onset, a division into focal and generalized is unnecessary. Seizures can have a motor (automatisms, clonic, epileptic spasms, myoclonic, tonic), non‐motor (autonomic, behavior arrest), or sequential presentation. The classification allows the user to choose the level of detail when classifying seizures in this age group

Does Cognitive Impairment Explain Behavioral and Social Problems of Children with Neurofibromatosis Type 1?

Thirty NF1-patients (mean age 11.7 years, SD = 3.3) and 30 healthy controls (mean age 12.5 years, SD = 3.1) were assessed on social skills, autistic traits, hyperactivity-inattention, emotional problems, conduct problems, and peer problems. Cognitive control, information processing speed, and social information processing were measured using 5 computer tasks. GLM analyses of variance showed significant group differences, to the disadvantage of NF1-patients, on all measures of behavior, social functioning and cognition. General cognitive ability (a composite score of processing speed, social information processing, and cognitive control) accounted for group differences in emotional problems, whereas social information processing accounted for group differences in conduct problems. Although reductions were observed for group differences in other aspects of behavior and social functioning after control for (specific) cognitive abilities, group differences remained evident. Training of cognitive abilities may help reducing certain social and behavioral problems of children with NF1, but further refinement regarding associations between specific aspects of cognition and specific social and behavioral outcomes is required

A single residue substitution in the receptor-binding domain of H5N1 hemagglutinin is critical for packaging into pseudotyped lentiviral particles

© 2012 Tang et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.Background: Serological studies for influenza infection and vaccine response often involve microneutralization and hemagglutination inhibition assays to evaluate neutralizing antibodies against human and avian influenza viruses, including H5N1. We have previously characterized lentiviral particles pseudotyped with H5-HA (H5pp) and validated an H5pp-based assay as a safe alternative for high-throughput serological studies in BSL-2 facilities. Here we show that H5-HAs from different clades do not always give rise to efficient production of H5pp and the underlying mechanisms are addressed. Methodology/Findings: We have carried out mutational analysis to delineate the molecular determinants responsible for efficient packaging of HA from A/Cambodia/40808/2005 (H5Cam) and A/Anhui/1/2005 (H5Anh) into H5pp. Our results demonstrate that a single A134V mutation in the 130-loop of the receptor binding domain is sufficient to render H5Anh the ability to generate H5Anh-pp efficiently, whereas the reverse V134A mutation greatly hampers production of H5Cam-pp. Although protein expression in total cell lysates is similar for H5Anh and H5Cam, cell surface expression of H5Cam is detected at a significantly higher level than that of H5Anh. We further demonstrate by several independent lines of evidence that the behaviour of H5Anh can be explained by a stronger binding to sialic acid receptors implicating residue 134. Conclusions: We have identified a single A134V mutation as the molecular determinant in H5-HA for efficient incorporation into H5pp envelope and delineated the underlying mechanism. The reduced binding to sialic acid receptors as a result of the A134V mutation not only exerts a critical influence in pseudotyping efficiency of H5-HA, but has also an impact at the whole virus level. Because A134V substitution has been reported as a naturally occurring mutation in human host, our results may have implications for the understanding of human host adaptation of avian influenza H5N1 virusesThis work was supported by grants from the Research Fund for the Control of Infectious Diseases of Hong Kong (RFCID#08070972), the Area of Excellence Scheme of the University Grants Committee (grant AoE/M-12/-06 of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China), the French Ministry of Health, and the RESPARI project of the Institut Pasteur International Network

Smoking onset and the time-varying effects of self-efficacy, environmental smoking, and smoking-specific parenting by using discrete-time survival analysis

This study examined the timing of smoking onset during mid- or late adolescence and the time-varying effects of refusal self-efficacy, parental and sibling smoking behavior, smoking behavior of friends and best friend, and parental smoking-specific communication. We used data from five annual waves of the ‘Family and Health’ project. In total, 428 adolescents and their parents participated at baseline. Only never smokers were included at baseline (n = 272). A life table and Kaplan–Meier survival curve showed that 51% of all adolescents who did not smoke at baseline did not start smoking within 4 years. The risk for smoking onset during mid- or late adolescence is rather stable (hazard ratio between 16 and 19). Discrete-time survival analyses revealed that low refusal self-efficacy, high frequency of communication, and sibling smoking were associated with smoking onset one year later. No interaction effects were found. Conclusively, the findings revealed that refusal self-efficacy is an important predictor of smoking onset during mid- or late adolescence and is independent of smoking-specific communication and smoking behavior of parents, siblings, and (best) friend(s). Findings emphasize the importance of family prevention programs focusing on self-efficacy skills

Bioavailability in soils

The consumption of locally-produced vegetables by humans may be an important exposure pathway for soil contaminants in many urban settings and for agricultural land use. Hence, prediction of metal and metalloid uptake by vegetables from contaminated soils is an important part of the Human Health Risk Assessment procedure. The behaviour of metals (cadmium, chromium, cobalt, copper, mercury, molybdenum, nickel, lead and zinc) and metalloids (arsenic, boron and selenium) in contaminated soils depends to a large extent on the intrinsic charge, valence and speciation of the contaminant ion, and soil properties such as pH, redox status and contents of clay and/or organic matter. However, chemistry and behaviour of the contaminant in soil alone cannot predict soil-to-plant transfer. Root uptake, root selectivity, ion interactions, rhizosphere processes, leaf uptake from the atmosphere, and plant partitioning are important processes that ultimately govern the accumulation ofmetals and metalloids in edible vegetable tissues. Mechanistic models to accurately describe all these processes have not yet been developed, let alone validated under field conditions. Hence, to estimate risks by vegetable consumption, empirical models have been used to correlate concentrations of metals and metalloids in contaminated soils, soil physico-chemical characteristics, and concentrations of elements in vegetable tissues. These models should only be used within the bounds of their calibration, and often need to be re-calibrated or validated using local soil and environmental conditions on a regional or site-specific basis.Mike J. McLaughlin, Erik Smolders, Fien Degryse, and Rene Rietr