Drug Problem: Environmental Solution

The goal of this paper is to highlight the impact of illegal drugs on the environment; the interrelated aspects of criminal law and environmental law as they apply to illegal drugs; and the effectiveness of using environmental solutions aimed at redressing the current drug problem

Mycobacterial Infections and the Inflammatory Seesaw

Eicosanoids can have either proinflammatory effects or anti-inflammatory effects. Tobin and colleagues use a forward genetic screen in zebrafish to identify a key eicosanoid enzyme, leukotriene A4 hydrolase (LTA4H), that controls susceptibility to mycobacterial infection. They also demonstrate that polymorphisms in LTA4H are associated with susceptibility to mycobacteria in humans

Volunteer Research and Knowledge Competency Codebook: A Tool for Identifying Volunteer Needs

Extension personnel are tasked with ensuring that 4-H volunteers have competencies identified in the Volunteer Research and Knowledge Competency (VRKC) Taxonomy, 4-H youth development\u27s foundational volunteer skills framework. The VRKC Codebook is a qualitative analysis tool for accurately identifying VRKC-aligned needs expressed in volunteer needs assessment data. The codebook and accompanying guide were developed following a statewide volunteer needs assessment in which a need for VRKC-based evaluation tools emerged. 4-H educators can use the codebook and guide to efficiently detect areas of need that may otherwise be overlooked, empowering them to provide practical and impactful education and support systems better aligned with the unique research-based needs of their local volunteers

Zoom Around the World: Using Videoconferencing Technology for International Trainings

This article describes an innovative model of educational programming used by our team of U.S. Extension educators for an international development project in Burundi, Africa. Our team designed a model to provide ongoing professional development trainings at a distance using Zoom, a videoconferencing platform. Over a 2-year period, we conducted 18 Zoom trainings with Burundian educators. On the basis of participant evaluation data and the literature, we present key principles for using distance technology in international development projects. Given the current economy and budget cuts in Extension, videoconferencing provides an opportunity for Extension to remain engaged internationally

Problem Solving the Hungarian Way

Lajos Pósa (pronounced Posha) is one of the most prominent mathematics educators in Hungary.The authors introduce readers to the Pósa method for teaching mathematics, an approach consistent withexploratory methods promoted in the United States. The authors present two scenarios (with extensions)that were posed during the workshop, both with different strategies and goals

TLR9 regulates Th1 responses and cooperates with TLR2 in mediating optimal resistance to Mycobacterium tuberculosis

To investigate the role of Toll-like receptor (TLR)9 in the immune response to mycobacteria as well as its cooperation with TLR2, a receptor known to be triggered by several major mycobacterial ligands, we analyzed the resistance of TLR9−/− as well as TLR2/9 double knockout mice to aerosol infection with Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Infected TLR9−/− but not TLR2−/− mice displayed defective mycobacteria-induced interleukin (IL)-12p40 and interferon (IFN)-γ responses in vivo, but in common with TLR2−/− animals, the TLR9−/− mice exhibited only minor reductions in acute resistance to low dose pathogen challenge. When compared with either of the single TLR-deficient animals, TLR2/9−/− mice displayed markedly enhanced susceptibility to infection in association with combined defects in proinflammatory cytokine production in vitro, IFN-γ recall responses ex vivo, and altered pulmonary pathology. Cooperation between TLR9 and TLR2 was also evident at the level of the in vitro response to live M. tuberculosis, where dendritic cells and macrophages from TLR2/9−/− mice exhibited a greater defect in IL-12 response than the equivalent cell populations from single TLR9-deficient animals. These findings reveal a previously unappreciated role for TLR9 in the host response to M. tuberculosis and illustrate TLR collaboration in host resistance to a major human pathogen