IgA and Differentiation-associated Transcription Factors in Chronic Otitis Media with Effusion

ObjectivesInadequate antibody responses to pathogens may lead to the recurrence of otitis media with effusion (OME). Although B-cell production by antibodies is controlled by transcription factors, the status of these factors has not been assessed in patients with OME.MethodsExpression of immunoglobulin was measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Expression of transcription factors Bcl-6, Blimp-1, Pax-5, and XBP-1 was assessed by RT-PCR in the middle-ear fluid of 29 children with >4 OME episodes in 12 months or >3 episodes in 6 months (the OME-prone group) and in 32 children with <3 OME episodes in 12 months (OME group). The relationship between recurrence of OME and expression levels of immunoglobulins and transcription factors in middle-ear fluid was determined.ResultsThe concentration of IgA in middle-ear fluid was significantly lower in the OME-prone than in the OME group, as was the expression of mRNA encoding the transcription factors Blimp-1 and XBP-1 (P<0.05 each). Expression of mRNA encoding the transcription factors Bcl-6 and Pax-5 was more intense in the OME-prone than in the OME group, but these differences were not significant (P>0.05).ConclusionLower concentrations of IgA, Blimp-1 and XBP-1 in middle ear fluid of patients with OME may be related to OME recurrence and chronicity

Sharing Teaching Ideas: The Extension-Reduction Strategy: Activating Prior Knowledge

In a beginning calculus class consisting of firstyear college students, an assigned problem required students to find the volume of a cup with unequal radii at the top and bottom. Not one student in the class offered any ideas directed toward solving this problem.</jats:p

Letter to John Oberholtzer About School Savings Banks

A letter written to John Oberholtzer seeing if he could ask Sara Oberholtzer about a school savings bank pamphlet. Document found at The Historical Society of Pennsylvania.https://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/oberholtzer_gallery/1032/thumbnail.jp

A Quality Inequality

The inequality involving the arithmetic and geometric means is a powerful tool in dealing with applications of mathematics. Indeed, it is the cornerstone of a relatively new area of applied mathematics known as geometric programming. The purposes of this article are to discuss briefly this inequality and to demonstrate two “real world” applications that secondary teachers in in-service institutes have found interesting and useful. The mathematics used is directly accessible to secondary teachers and students.</jats:p

Geometric Growth and The Hand-Held Calculator

A secondary school teacher that I worked with told me of his method of introducing geometric growth (geometric series) in the secondary classroom.</jats:p

Mathematical Insight: Changing Perspective

Many great ideas in mathematics have resulted from examining problems and solutions from different perspectives or directions, but one-dimensional thinking in solving a problem is all too familiar. A number of approaches to teaching and learning mathematics, especially those involving algorithms of some form, lend themselves to a reinforcement of one direction in solving problems. Mathematical insight gained by changing perspective is occasionally suggested in specific problems, but the “big picture” of mathematical exploration, conjecture, and proof requires a deeper commitment to this process. This article focuses on problems that can benefit from a change in perspective by looking forward and backward. In particular, the transition from basic mathematical manipulations to higher-order levels of reasoning requires an awareness of such processes.</jats:p