The Effects of Teacher Training On Pre-Service Elementary Education Majors\u27 Conceptual Framework of Reading

What is known about the training of teachers? Does training make a difference? If training makes a difference, what type of training? What variables influence the training? What guarantee is there that training will transfer to the actual teaching situation? These are questions that were asked before, during and after the studies presented in this article. The purpose of the studies was to investigate whether a reading methods course and/or student teaching can influence an individual\u27s conceptual framework of reading

Engaging with young children’s voices: implications for practitioners’ pedagogical practice

The paper seeks to extend the knowledge and understanding of how engaging with young children’s voices in a meaningful way, can alter practitioners’ pedagogical practice and thus create environments for learning that are more inclusive. It draws on the findings of a research study that explored practitioners’ (teachers, nursery nurses and teaching assistants) views about engaging with young children’s voices of perceived notions of inclusion in pedagogical activities in the early years classes of two schools in the North of England. It adopted a qualitative methodological approach that operates within constructivist and interpretivist paradigms. The study revealed that practitioners retain some resistance to responding to the voices of young children and that internal and external pressures influence their decision-making. Moreover, it signifies the necessity for greater emphasis on the importance of engaging with children’s voices in the training of newly qualified teachers, and the ongoing professional development for all practitioners in early childhood education

Decreased progesterone receptor isoform expression in luteal phase fallopian tube epithelium and high-grade serous carcinoma

We previously reported that BRCA1/2-mutated fallopian tube epithelium (FTE) collected during the luteal phase exhibits gene expression profiles more closely resembling that of high-grade serous carcinoma (HGSC) specimens than FTE collected during the follicular phase or from control patients. Since the luteal phase is characterised by high levels of progesterone, we determined whether the expression of progesterone receptor (PR) and PR-responsive genes was altered in FTE obtained from BRCA mutation carriers during the luteal phase of the menstrual cycle. RT-qPCR confirmed a decreased expression of PR mRNA in FTE during the luteal phase relative to follicular phase, in both BRCA1/2 mutation carriers and control patients. Immunohistochemistry using isoform-specific antibodies confirmed a low level of both PR-A and PR-B in HGSC and a lower level of staining in FTE samples obtained during the luteal phase compared with the follicular phase. No significant difference in PR-A or PR-B staining was found based on patient BRCA mutation status. Analysis of our previously reported gene expression profiles based upon known PR-A- and PR-B-specific target genes did not partition samples by BRCA mutation status, indicating that overall FTE PR response is not altered in BRCA mutation carriers. HGSC samples grouped separately from other samples, consistent with the observed loss of PR expression. These findings indicate no overall difference in PR signalling in FTE as a function of BRCA mutation status. Thus, the molecular similarity of BRCA1/2-mutated luteal phase FTE and HGSC likely results from an altered response to luteal phase factors other than progesterone

Decadal changes and delayed avian species losses due to deforestation in the northern Neotropics

How avifauna respond to the long-term loss and fragmentation of tropical forests is a critical issue in biodiversity management. We use data from over 30 years to gain insights into such changes in the northernmost Neotropical rainforest in the Sierra de Los Tuxtlas of southern Veracruz, Mexico. This region has been extensively deforested over the past half-century. The Estación de Biología Tropical Los Tuxtlas, of the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), protects a 640 ha tract of lowland forest. It became relatively isolated from other forested tracts between 1975 and 1985, but it retains a corridor of forest to more extensive forests at higher elevations on Volcán San Martín. Most deforestation in this area occurred during the 1970s and early 1980s. Forest birds were sampled on the station and surrounding areas using mist nets during eight non-breeding seasons from 1973 to 2004 (though in some seasons netting extended into the local breeding season for some species). Our data suggested extirpations or declines in 12 species of birds subject to capture in mist nets. Six of the eight species no longer present were captured in 1992–95, but not in 2003–2004. Presence/absence data from netting and observational data suggested that another four low-density species also disappeared since sampling began. This indicates a substantial time lag between the loss of habitat and the apparent extirpation of these species. Delayed species loss and the heterogeneous nature of the species affected will be important factors in tropical forest management and conservation

Detection of TMPRSS2 : ERG fusion gene in circulating prostate cancer cells

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-Share Alike 3.0 license (CC BY-NC SA)Aim: To investigate the existence of TMPRSS2:ERG fusion gene in circulating tumor cells (CTC) from prostate cancer patients and its potential in monitoring tumor metastasis. Methods: We analyzed the frequency of TMPRSS2: ERG and TMPRSS2:ETV1 transcripts in 27 prostate cancer biopsies from prostatectomies, and TMPRSS2:ERG transcripts in CTC isolated from 15 patients with advanced androgen independent disease using reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) was applied to analyze the genomic truncation of ERG, which is the result of TMPRSS2:ERG fusion in 10 of the 15 CTC samples. Results: TMPRSS2: ERG transcripts were found in 44% of our samples, but we did not detect expression of TMPRSS2:ETV1. Using FISH analysis we detected chromosomal rearrangements affecting the ERG gene in 6 of 10 CTC samples, including 1 case with associated TMPRSS2:ERG fusion at the primary site. However, TMPRSS2:ERG transcripts were not detected in any of the 15 CTC samples, including the 10 cases analyzed by FISH. Conclusion: Although further study is required to address the association between TMPRSS2:ERG fusion and prostate cancer metastasis, detection of genomic truncation of the ERG gene by FISH analysis could be useful for monitoring the appearance of CTC and the potential for prostate cancer metastasis.Peer reviewedFinal Published versio

Integration of Transcriptome, Gross Morphology and Histopathology in the Gill of Sea Farmed Atlantic Salmon (Salmo salar) : Lessons from Multi-site Sampling

Funding statement The study was supported by the Scottish Aquaculture Innovation Centre (SAIC grant SL 2017 08, ‘Nutritional Aspects of Gill Disease in Atlantic Salmon’) and co-funded by BioMar and Scottish Sea Farms (SSF). ACKNOWLEDGMENTS We thank SSF farm personnel for accommodating our research, performing gross morphology scoring and helping with sampling. Edinburgh Genomics is partly supported through core grants from NERC (R8/H10/56), MRC (MR/K001744/1), and BBSRC (BB/J004243/1). We also thank two reviewers for their comments on the earlier draft of the article. EK dedicates this paper to her late mother, Irena Król.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Comparison of TNFα to Lipopolysaccharide as an Inflammagen to Characterize the Idiosyncratic Hepatotoxicity Potential of Drugs: Trovafloxacin as an Example

Idiosyncratic drug reactions (IDRs) are poorly understood, unpredictable, and not detected in preclinical studies. Although the cause of these reactions is likely multi-factorial, one hypothesis is that an underlying inflammatory state lowers the tolerance to a xenobiotic. Previously used in an inflammation IDR model, bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS) is heterogeneous in nature, making development of standardized testing protocols difficult. Here, the use of rat tumor necrosis factor-α (TNFα) to replace LPS as an inflammatory stimulus was investigated. Sprague-Dawley rats were treated with separate preparations of LPS or TNFα, and hepatic transcriptomic effects were compared. TNFα showed enhanced consistency at the transcriptomic level compared to LPS. TNFα and LPS regulated similar biochemical pathways, although LPS was associated with more robust inflammatory signaling than TNFα. Rats were then codosed with TNFα and trovafloxacin (TVX), an IDR-associated drug, and evaluated by liver histopathology, clinical chemistry, and gene expression analysis. TNFα/TVX induced unique gene expression changes that clustered separately from TNFα/levofloxacin, a drug not associated with IDRs. TNFα/TVX cotreatment led to autoinduction of TNFα resulting in potentiation of underlying gene expression stress signals. Comparison of TNFα/TVX and LPS/TVX gene expression profiles revealed similarities in the regulation of biochemical pathways. In conclusion, TNFα could be used in lieu of LPS as an inflammatory stimulus in this model of IDRs