KNITTING CODE: EXAMINING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN KNITTING AND COMPUTATIONAL THINKING SKILLS USING THE NEXUS OF PRACTICE

Due to the rise of careers in STEM-related fields, there is a growing need for schools to produce people to fill these positions. One area of STEM that is growing is computer science/coding. Due to this demand, schools need to be intentional about exposing students to computer science/coding. There are a variety of new tools to introduce students to this field. One growing belief is that knitting can teach computer science/coding to students. The goal of this study was to see if knitting can serve as an introduction to teach students computation skills. Kitting has historically been used to code information, and numerous statements have been made that knitting can teach computer coding. The rationale behind this thought is that both fields have similar components and can serve to make coding more accessible to a broader audience. Suppose students that generally would not identify with computer science/coding due to perceived social norms develop an interest in knitting. In that case, they could use what they learned as a foundation to develop an interest in computer coding. This is based on Scollon\u27s Nexus of Practice (2001), which studies how practices are linked together. This theory believes that combining different practices makes a possible crossover from one practice to another. As a result, what may not have been accessible at first due to biases or identity, may become more accessible. This study will focus on whether knitting can teach students computational skills and change students’ identity towards computer science/coding. There is limited research on the relationship between knitting and coding. This case study attempted to determine if knitting could teach coding. The research was conducted during two three-week summer enrichment programs. Results revealed that teaching computer coding through knitting was comparable to traditional instruction. While not necessarily better, this shows that knitting can teach computation skills and improve identity. This could be important for encouraging students that would not typically study computer science/coding to enter the field

Explicit and implicit self-esteem and aggression: Differential effects of agency and communion

Previous work has shown that self-esteem is related to aggression and violence. However, self-esteem is a multidimensional construct, and so we isolated self-esteem related to agency (e.g., competence and assertiveness) and self-esteem related to communion (e.g., warmth and morality) using both explicit and implicit techniques and examined their relationship to two forms of aggression (proactive and reactive aggression) in two samples. In an undergraduate sample (N = 130), high levels of explicit agency were associated with increased aggression but only for those with low implicit agency. On the other hand, high levels of either explicit or implicit communion showed reduced proactive aggression, while high levels of explicit communion were also associated with low levels of reactive aggression. In a community sample of people with problems due to homelessness (N = 101), we found that high levels of explicit communion were also associated with lower levels of both forms of aggression. The results show that different aspects of self-esteem, namely agency and communion, have quite different relationships to aggression and that implicit measures of these self-evaluations are also important constructs in the prediction of aggression. Implicit measures of self-esteem could be used by clinicians to understand the motivations behind an individual’s aggression and its management

Safety and efficacy of autologous haematopoietic stem-cell transplantation with low-dose cyclophosphamide mobilisation and reduced intensity conditioning versus standard of care in refractory Crohn's disease (ASTIClite): an open-label, multicentre, randomised controlled trial

Background: A previous controlled trial of autologous haematopoietic stem-cell transplantation (HSCT) in patients with refractory Crohn's disease did not meet its primary endpoint and reported high toxicity. We aimed to assess the safety and efficacy of HSCT with an immune-ablative regimen of reduced intensity versus standard of care in this patient population. Methods: This open-label, multicentre, randomised controlled trial was conducted in nine National Health Service hospital trusts across the UK. Adults (aged 18–60 years) with active Crohn's disease on endoscopy (Simplified Endoscopic Score for Crohn's Disease [SES-CD] ulcer sub-score of ≥2) refractory to two or more classes of biological therapy, with no perianal or intra-abdominal sepsis or clinically significant comorbidity, were recruited. Participants were centrally randomly assigned (2:1) to either HSCT with a reduced dose of cyclophosphamide (intervention group) or standard care (control group). Randomisation was stratified by trial site by use of random permuted blocks of size 3 and 6. Patients in the intervention group underwent stem-cell mobilisation (cyclophosphamide 1 g/m2 with granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) 5 μg/kg) and stem-cell harvest (minimum 2·0 × 106 CD34+ cells per kg), before conditioning (fludarabine 125 mg/m2, cyclophosphamide 120 mg/kg, and rabbit anti-thymocyte globulin [thymoglobulin] 7·5 mg/kg in total) and subsequent stem-cell reinfusion supported by G-CSF. Patients in the control group continued any available conventional, biological, or nutritional therapy. The primary outcome was absence of endoscopic ulceration (SES-CD ulcer sub-score of 0) without surgery or death at week 48, analysed in the intention-to-treat population by central reading. This trial is registered with the ISRCTN registry, 17160440. Findings: Between Oct 18, 2018, and Nov 8, 2019, 49 patients were screened for eligibility, of whom 23 (47%) were randomly assigned: 13 (57%) to the intervention group and ten (43%) to the control group. In the intervention group, ten (77%) participants underwent HSCT and nine (69%) reached 48-week follow-up; in the control group, nine (90%) reached 48-week follow-up. The trial was halted in response to nine reported suspected unexpected serious adverse reactions in six (46%) patients in the intervention group, including renal failure due to proven thrombotic microangiopathy in three participants and one death due to pulmonary veno-occlusive disease. At week 48, absence of endoscopic ulceration without surgery or death was reported in three (43%) of seven participants in the intervention group and in none of six participants in the control group with available data. Serious adverse events were more frequent in the intervention group (38 in 13 [100%] patients) than in the control group (16 in four [40%] patients). A second patient in the intervention group died after week 48 of respiratory and renal failure. Interpretation: Although HSCT with an immune-ablative regimen of reduced intensity decreased endoscopic disease activity, significant adverse events deem this regimen unsuitable for future clinical use in patients with refractory Crohn's disease. Funding: Efficacy and Mechanism Evaluation Programme, a Medical Research Council and National Institute for Health Research partnership

Effect of cytomegalovirus infection on breastfeeding transmission of HIV and on the health of infants born to HIV-infected mothers

Cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection can be acquired in utero or postnatally through horizontal transmission and breastfeeding. The effect of postnatal CMV infection on postnatal HIV transmission is unknown

Evaluating Nurses' Implementation of an Infant-Feeding Counseling Protocol for HIV-Infected Mothers: The Ban Study in Lilongwe, Malawi

A process evaluation of nurses’ implementation of an infant-feeding counseling protocol was conducted for the Breastfeeding, Antiretroviral and Nutrition (BAN) Study, a prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV clinical trial in Lilongwe, Malawi. Six trained nurses counseled HIV-infected mothers to exclusively breastfeed for 24 weeks postpartum and to stop breastfeeding within an additional four weeks. Implementation data were collected via direct observations of 123 infant feeding counseling sessions (30 antenatal and 93 postnatal) and interviews with each nurse. Analysis included calculating a percent adherence to checklists and conducting a content analysis for the observation and interview data. Nurses were implementing the protocol at an average adherence level of 90% or above. Although not detailed in the protocol, nurses appropriately counseled mothers on their actual or intended formula milk usage after weaning. Results indicate that nurses implemented the protocol as designed. Results will help to interpret the BAN Study’s outcomes

Adherence to extended postpartum antiretrovirals is associated with decreased breast milk HIV-1 transmission

Estimate association between postpartum antiretroviral adherence and breastmilk HIV-1 transmissio

Plasma Micronutrient Concentrations Are Altered by Antiretroviral Therapy and Lipid-Based Nutrient Supplements in Lactating HIV-Infected Malawian Women

Background: Little is known about the influence of antiretroviral therapy with or without micronutrient supplementation on the micronutrient concentrations of HIV-infected lactating women in resource-constrained settings

SARS-CoV-2-specific immune responses and clinical outcomes after COVID-19 vaccination in patients with immune-suppressive disease

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) immune responses and infection outcomes were evaluated in 2,686 patients with varying immune-suppressive disease states after administration of two Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccines. Overall, 255 of 2,204 (12%) patients failed to develop anti-spike antibodies, with an additional 600 of 2,204 (27%) patients generating low levels (<380 AU ml−1). Vaccine failure rates were highest in ANCA-associated vasculitis on rituximab (21/29, 72%), hemodialysis on immunosuppressive therapy (6/30, 20%) and solid organ transplant recipients (20/81, 25% and 141/458, 31%). SARS-CoV-2-specific T cell responses were detected in 513 of 580 (88%) patients, with lower T cell magnitude or proportion in hemodialysis, allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation and liver transplant recipients (versus healthy controls). Humoral responses against Omicron (BA.1) were reduced, although cross-reactive T cell responses were sustained in all participants for whom these data were available. BNT162b2 was associated with higher antibody but lower cellular responses compared to ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 vaccination. We report 474 SARS-CoV-2 infection episodes, including 48 individuals with hospitalization or death from COVID-19. Decreased magnitude of both the serological and the T cell response was associated with severe COVID-19. Overall, we identified clinical phenotypes that may benefit from targeted COVID-19 therapeutic strategies

Fludarabine, cytarabine, granulocyte colony-stimulating factor, and idarubicin with gemtuzumab ozogamicin improves event-free survival in younger patients with newly diagnosed aml and overall survival in patients with npm1 and flt3 mutations

Purpose To determine the optimal induction chemotherapy regimen for younger adults with newly diagnosed AML without known adverse risk cytogenetics. Patients and Methods One thousand thirty-three patients were randomly assigned to intensified (fludarabine, cytarabine, granulocyte colony-stimulating factor, and idarubicin [FLAG-Ida]) or standard (daunorubicin and Ara-C [DA]) induction chemotherapy, with one or two doses of gemtuzumab ozogamicin (GO). The primary end point was overall survival (OS). Results There was no difference in remission rate after two courses between FLAG-Ida + GO and DA + GO (complete remission [CR] + CR with incomplete hematologic recovery 93% v 91%) or in day 60 mortality (4.3% v 4.6%). There was no difference in OS (66% v 63%; P = .41); however, the risk of relapse was lower with FLAG-Ida + GO (24% v 41%; P < .001) and 3-year event-free survival was higher (57% v 45%; P < .001). In patients with an NPM1 mutation (30%), 3-year OS was significantly higher with FLAG-Ida + GO (82% v 64%; P = .005). NPM1 measurable residual disease (MRD) clearance was also greater, with 88% versus 77% becoming MRD-negative in peripheral blood after cycle 2 (P = .02). Three-year OS was also higher in patients with a FLT3 mutation (64% v 54%; P = .047). Fewer transplants were performed in patients receiving FLAG-Ida + GO (238 v 278; P = .02). There was no difference in outcome according to the number of GO doses, although NPM1 MRD clearance was higher with two doses in the DA arm. Patients with core binding factor AML treated with DA and one dose of GO had a 3-year OS of 96% with no survival benefit from FLAG-Ida + GO. Conclusion Overall, FLAG-Ida + GO significantly reduced relapse without improving OS. However, exploratory analyses show that patients with NPM1 and FLT3 mutations had substantial improvements in OS. By contrast, in patients with core binding factor AML, outcomes were excellent with DA + GO with no FLAG-Ida benefit