Massachusetts Schooling Matters: Good News, Contributing Factors, Challenges, Persistent Problems

Massachusetts public schools have performed at the highest levels on national and international benchmarked reading, mathematics, and science assessments. The Commonwealth’s population demographics related to educational attainment, employment, and family income coupled with factors within the control of the state, districts, or schools, such as highly qualified and unionized teachers, average school-district size, defined time on learning, universal health care coverage for all children, state funding for pre-K–12 schooling, curriculum articulation through statewide standards, and high participation in college admissions exams, have contributed to academic success. Massachusetts schools, however, still face challenges in narrowing existing achievement gaps, reducing the emphasis on large-scale standardized assessments as the sole determinant of school and district performance, and fully committing to a social justice agenda in which all students, especially those living in poverty, receive the comprehensive education promised by the Education Reform Act of 1993. This article concludes with five recommendations for policymakers focused on funding priorities, enhancing teacher workforce development, expanding learning time, and educating the whole child

Options for informal environmental management : the agricultural industry highlighted

The original article can be found at: http://www3.interscience.wiley.com Copyright John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.Discussions are frequently found in the environmental press regarding the possible advantages to an organisation should they implement a formal environmental management system such as BS 7750, ISO 14001 and the EC Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS). It is also widely recognised that these formal systems, although theoretically applicable to all, are often seen by many organisations as being too unwieldy, too prescriptive, frequently too expensive and often too public. However, there are many alternative options available to organisations who do not wish to commit themselves to a formal accredited system. This paper discusses the various options currently in use for informal environmental management in agriculture with particular reference to a computerised system being developed at the University of Hertfordshire. Application examples are taken from the agricultural industry.Peer reviewe

Student wellness during curriculum implementation of a lifestyle medicine approach within the Social-Ecological Model: a longitudinal study

Purpose The student-life experience is an ideal time to implement lifelong wellness behaviors needed for the professional role. The ongoing effects of the COVID pandemic have amplified the need for Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) educational programs to train an emerging workforce that can, through personal wellness, withstand the stressors of personal and professional lives. The study purpose is to: a) evaluate the change in student wellness from matriculation to mid-program to completion after implementation of a curriculum based on a lifestyle medicine approach within the Social-Ecological Model, and b) compare student wellness between cohorts that matriculated before and during the COVID pandemic. Methods/Description We implemented curricular interventions to promote student wellness and professional formation in the fall of 2019. Students first study healthy behaviors for themselves, followed by learning experiences around the professional formation as a healthy clinician, and finally health promotion for patients and communities. We also modified program policies (e.g., holistic admissions, attendance, tutoring, faculty advising) to be student-centered. Three student cohorts in the DPT program at a Midwest academic medical center agreed to participate. Cohort19 (C19, n = 66) matriculated in 2019, Cohort20 (C20, n=66) in 2020, and Cohort21 (C21, n=64) in 2021. Participants completed the Five Factor Wellness Inventory (FFW) at matriculation into the 32-month program. C19 and C20 completed the FFW midway through the program as planned. Remaining assessments will occur as scheduled at program midpoint and completion. The FFW inventory is the gold standard for identifying central factors for healthy living. The wellness score is composed of 5 “Selfs” (Essential, Social, Creative, Physical, and Coping) made up of 17 domains where the acceptance of personal responsibility and choice have positive effects on well-being. A one-way ANOVA was used to compare FFW scores of all 3 cohorts at matriculation. Paired sample t-tests were used to compare results of C19 and C20 at mid-program and over time (matriculation and mid-program). Results/Outcomes The curriculum revisions and policy modifications were implemented in fall 2019. There were unexpected COVID-directed health measures beginning in March 2020 resulting in a move to more virtual activities that were not planned in our curriculum and new pressures related to student wellness. Three cohorts of DPT students (C19, C20, C21) completed the FFW at matriculation. Additionally, C19 and C20 completed the FFW at mid-program. The response rate for the FFW across all cohorts and time points was 100%. Comparison across cohorts: At matriculation, one of 17 FFW domain scores was found to be significantly different across cohorts. The score for the exercise domain (physical self) was significantly higher (p=.046) for C19 (pre-COVID) compared to C21. However, at mid-program for C19 and C20 (both during COVID), scores were significantly lower in C19 compared to C20 in five domains: culture (p=.004) and gender identification (p=.005) (essential self), nutrition (p=.037) (physical self), leisure (p=.020) and self-worth (p=.035) (coping self). Comparison over time: A comparison of FFW scores between matriculation and mid-program for C19 showed a significant increase in self-care scores (p\u3c.001 ) (essential self). For C20 scores significantly increased at mid-program in the coping self domains of leisure (p=.001) and stress management (p=.025), friendship (p=.018) (social self), and nutrition (p=.001) (physical self) leading to a significant improvement in overall FFW score (p=.037). Conclusions To optimally train a health workforce, faculty are studying methods to promote student wellness as part of student professional formation along with the curriculum for the PT of the future. Our study shows higher wellness scores in several domains in cohorts matriculating after COVID compared to before. This finding is interesting as it could indicate students entering professional school were potentially more prepared in terms of healthy behaviors due to the public health news surrounding COVID . Our study shows that components of student wellness may be improving due, in part , to the curriculum interventions and policies supporting wellness. These are important findings especially given the intended curriculum delivery was interrupted by directed health measures beginning in March 2020. The future direction is to continue to assess outcome measures through the end-of-program. In addition, we are analyzing additional measures of wellness such as psychological capital of hope, confidence, resilience and optimism, and social capital measuring connections with others for a sense of belonging. Our curriculum and supportive policies could be a model to demonstrate how student wellness can be aligned with a lifestyle medicine approach within the individual, relationship, community and society components of the Social-Ecological Model. REFERENCES Bezner JR. Promoting Health and Wellness: Implications for Physical Therapist Practice. Phys Ther. 2015; 95(10):1433-1444. Brooke, T., Brown, M., Orr, R., & Gough, S. (2020). Stress and burnout: exploring postgraduate physiotherapy students’ experiences and coping strategies. BMC Medical Education, 20(1), 1-11. Centers for Disease Control.Social Ecological Model. https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/about/social-ecologicalmodel.html; Materials developed by Dahlberg LL, Krug EG. Violence: a global public health problem. In: Krug E, Dahlberg LL, Mercy JA, Zwi AB, Lozano R, eds. World Report on Violence and Health.Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organization; 2002:1-21. Coffey DS, Eliot K, Goldblatt E, et al. A multifaceted systems approach to addressing stress within health professions education and beyond [discussion paper]. National Academy of Medicine website. https://nam.edu/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Multifacted-Systems-Approach-to-Addressing-Stress-Within-Health-Professions-Education-and-Beyond.pdf Published January 30, 2017. Dean D. (2009) Physical therapy in the 21st century (Part II): Evidence-based practice within the context of evidence-informed practice, Physiotherapy Theory and Practice, 25:5-6, 354-368. Douris, P. C., D\u27Agostino, N. A., Mathew, S. K., Anderson, R. P., Bauman, K. M., Tiangtham, S. A., ... & Hall, C. A. (2020). The physiological and psychological effects of the first year of an entry-level physical therapist education program on students. Journal of Physical Therapy Education, 34(3), 186-191. Myers JE, Sweeny TJ. Five Factor Wellness Inventory. Mindgarden https://www.mindgarden.com/99-five-factor-wellness-inventory. Accessed 3.15.202

Developmental delay in Rett syndrome: data from the natural history study

Background: Early development appears normal in Rett syndrome (OMIM #312750) and may be more apparent than real. A major purpose of the Rett Syndrome (RTT) Natural History Study (NHS) was to examine achievement of developmental skills or abilities in classic and atypical RTT and assess phenotype-genotype relations in classic RTT. Methods: Developmental skills in four realms, gross and fine motor, and receptive and expressive communication from initial enrollment and longitudinal assessments for up to 7 years, were assessed from 542 females meeting criteria for classic RTT and 96 females with atypical RTT divided into two groups: 50 with better and 46 with poorer functional scores. Data were analyzed for age at acquisition and loss of developmental features and for phenotype-genotype effects. Acquired, lost, and retained skills were compared between classic RTT and atypical RTT with better or poorer functional scores using Fisher's Exact test. To examine if the mean total score from the Motor Behavioral Assessment during follow-up differed for acquiring a skill, we used a generalized estimating equation assuming compound symmetry correlation structure within a subject. A general linear model was used to examine whether the mean age of acquisition or loss of a developmental skill differed by mutation type. P values <0.05 were considered significant and were two-sided without adjustment for multiple testing. Statistical analyses utilized SAS 9.3 (SAS Institute, Cary, NC, USA). Results: Early developmental skills or abilities were often acquired albeit later than normal. More complex motor and communication acquisitions were delayed or absent. Clinical severity was less in those achieving the respective skill. Individuals with R133C, R294X, and R306C point mutations and 3′ truncations tended to have better developmental outcomes. Conclusions: Early developmental skills were acquired by many, but clear differences from normal emerged, particularly in skills expected after age 6 months. When comparing clinical severity, greater acquisition of specific skills was associated with specific mutations, confirming the impression that these mutations confer milder developmental abnormalities. These data may serve for planning and interpretation of early intervention studies in RTT. Trial registration This NHS study, clinicaltrials.gov (NCT00296764), represents the largest group of RTT participants assessed repeatedly by direct examination

Longitudinal cohort study of depression, post-traumatic stress, and alcohol use in South African women who attend alcohol serving venues

CITATION; Abler, L.A. et al. 2014. Longitudinal cohort study of depression, post-traumatic stress, and alcohol use in South African women who attend alcohol serving venues. BMC Psychiatry, 14(1):224, doi:10.1186/s12888-014-0224-9.The original publication is available at http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-244X/14/224Background: In South Africa, alcohol use poses a public health burden. Hazardous alcohol use often co-occurs with psychological distress (e.g., depression and post-traumatic stress). However, the majority of the research establishing the relationship between alcohol use and psychological distress has been cross-sectional, so the nature of co-occurring changes in psychological distress and alcohol use over time is not well characterized. The objective of this study is to examine the longitudinal relationship between psychological distress and alcohol use among South African women who attend alcohol serving venues. Methods Four waves of data were collected over the course of a year from 560 women in a Cape Town township who attended drinking venues. At each assessment wave, participants reported depressive symptoms, post-traumatic stress symptoms, and alcohol use. Multilevel growth models were used to: 1) assess the patterns of alcohol use; 2) examine how depressive symptoms uniquely, post-traumatic stress symptoms uniquely, and depressive and post-traumatic stress symptoms together were associated with alcohol use; and 3) characterize the within person and between person associations of depressive symptoms and post-traumatic stress symptoms with alcohol use. Results Women reported high levels of alcohol use throughout the study period, which declined slightly over time. Post-traumatic stress symptoms were highly correlated with depressive symptoms. Modeled separately, both within person and between person depressive and post-traumatic stress symptoms were uniquely associated with alcohol use. When modeled together, significant between person effects indicated that women who typically have more post-traumatic stress symptoms, when controlling for depressive symptoms, are at risk for increased alcohol use; however, women with more depressive symptoms, controlling for post-traumatic stress symptoms, do not have differential risk for alcohol use. Significant within person effects indicated an interaction between depressive and post-traumatic stress symptoms; women reported more alcohol use than usual at times when they had higher post-traumatic stress symptoms, and this increase in alcohol use was further exacerbated for women who also had higher depressive symptoms than usual. Conclusions These findings suggest that interventions targeting post-traumatic stress, especially when post-traumatic stress is comorbid with depression, may reduce alcohol use among South African women who drink.Publishers' Versio

A simple rule governs the evolution and development of hominin tooth size

The variation in molar tooth size in humans and our closest relatives (hominins) has strongly influenced our view of human evolution. The reduction in overall size and disproportionate decrease in third molar size have been noted for over a century, and have been attributed to reduced selection for large dentitions owing to changes in diet or the acquisition of cooking1, 2. The systematic pattern of size variation along the tooth row has been described as a ‘morphogenetic gradient’ in mammal, and more specifically hominin, teeth since Butler3 and Dahlberg4. However, the underlying controls of tooth size have not been well understood, with hypotheses ranging from morphogenetic fields3 to the clone theory5. In this study we address the following question: are there rules that govern how hominin tooth size evolves? Here we propose that the inhibitory cascade, an activator–inhibitor mechanism that affects relative tooth size in mammals6, produces the default pattern of tooth sizes for all lower primary postcanine teeth (deciduous premolars and permanent molars) in hominins. This configuration is also equivalent to a morphogenetic gradient, finally pointing to a mechanism that can generate this gradient. The pattern of tooth size remains constant with absolute size in australopiths (including Ardipithecus, Australopithecus and Paranthropus). However, in species of Homo, including modern humans, there is a tight link between tooth proportions and absolute size such that a single developmental parameter can explain both the relative and absolute sizes of primary postcanine teeth. On the basis of the relationship of inhibitory cascade patterning with size, we can use the size at one tooth position to predict the sizes of the remaining four primary postcanine teeth in the row for hominins. Our study provides a development-based expectation to examine the evolution of the unique proportions of human teeth

Effects of antiplatelet therapy on stroke risk by brain imaging features of intracerebral haemorrhage and cerebral small vessel diseases: subgroup analyses of the RESTART randomised, open-label trial

Background Findings from the RESTART trial suggest that starting antiplatelet therapy might reduce the risk of recurrent symptomatic intracerebral haemorrhage compared with avoiding antiplatelet therapy. Brain imaging features of intracerebral haemorrhage and cerebral small vessel diseases (such as cerebral microbleeds) are associated with greater risks of recurrent intracerebral haemorrhage. We did subgroup analyses of the RESTART trial to explore whether these brain imaging features modify the effects of antiplatelet therapy

A national survey of managed honey bee 2013-2014 annual colony losses in the USA

Honey bee colony losses are a major concern in the USA and across the globe. Long-term data on losses are critical for putting yearly losses in context. US colony loss surveys have been conducted yearly since the winter of 2006–2007. Here, we report the results from the eighth annual survey on winter losses and the second annual survey of summer and annual losses. There were 7425 valid respondents (7123 backyard, 190 sideline, and 112 commercial beekeepers) managing 497,855 colonies, 19 % of the total US colonies. Total losses reported were 19.8% [95% CI 19.3–20.3 %] over the summer, 23.7 % [95% CI 23.3–24.1 %] over the winter, and 34.1 % [95 % CI 33.6–34.6 %] for the whole year. Average losses were 15.1 % [95 % CI 14.5–15.7 %] over the summer, 44.8 % [95 % CI 43.9–45.7 %] over the winter, and 51.1 % [95 % CI 50.2–51.6 %] for the whole year. While total winter loss was one of the lowest reported in 8 years, 66%of all beekeepers had higher losses than they deemed acceptable.Keywords: survey, honey bee, mortality, USA, colony lossesKeywords: survey, honey bee, mortality, USA, colony losse

Sloan Digital Sky Survey IV: Mapping the Milky Way, Nearby Galaxies, and the Distant Universe

We describe the Sloan Digital Sky Survey IV (SDSS-IV), a project encompassing three major spectroscopic programs. The Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment 2 (APOGEE-2) is observing hundreds of thousands of Milky Way stars at high resolution and high signal-to-noise ratios in the near-infrared. The Mapping Nearby Galaxies at Apache Point Observatory (MaNGA) survey is obtaining spatially resolved spectroscopy for thousands of nearby galaxies (median $z\sim 0.03$). The extended Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (eBOSS) is mapping the galaxy, quasar, and neutral gas distributions between $z\sim 0.6$ and 3.5 to constrain cosmology using baryon acoustic oscillations, redshift space distortions, and the shape of the power spectrum. Within eBOSS, we are conducting two major subprograms: the SPectroscopic IDentification of eROSITA Sources (SPIDERS), investigating X-ray AGNs and galaxies in X-ray clusters, and the Time Domain Spectroscopic Survey (TDSS), obtaining spectra of variable sources. All programs use the 2.5 m Sloan Foundation Telescope at the Apache Point Observatory; observations there began in Summer 2014. APOGEE-2 also operates a second near-infrared spectrograph at the 2.5 m du Pont Telescope at Las Campanas Observatory, with observations beginning in early 2017. Observations at both facilities are scheduled to continue through 2020. In keeping with previous SDSS policy, SDSS-IV provides regularly scheduled public data releases; the first one, Data Release 13, was made available in 2016 July