Understanding Successful Japanese Language Programs: Utah Case Study

Recent world events have caused Americans to reassess national political, economic, and educational priorities, resulting in a shift towards Asia. The schools in response have begun to introduce less commonly taught languages, such as Japanese and Chinese. Many Utah public schools have tried to implement less commonly taught language programs. Some have succeeded, and other others have not. The purpose of this study was to understand how and why some schools were able to successfully integrate less commonly taught language programs, and why others were not.The results of this study suggest that the factors relating to students’ interests and the teacher/administrator relationship were the most important positive factors affecting the success of the Japanese programs with staying power. It was also found that the factors relating to funding issues and student enrollment were the most important negative factors affecting the failure of the long-term Japanese programs that were eliminated

The draft genome and transcriptome of Cannabis sativa

Background: Cannabis sativa has been cultivated throughout human history as a source of fiber, oil and food, and for its medicinal and intoxicating properties. Selective breeding has produced cannabis plants for specific uses, including high-potency marijuana strains and hemp cultivars for fiber and seed production. The molecular biology underlying cannabinoid biosynthesis and other traits of interest is largely unexplored. Results: We sequenced genomic DNA and RNA from the marijuana strain Purple Kush using shortread approaches. We report a draft haploid genome sequence of 534 Mb and a transcriptome of 30,000 genes. Comparison of the transcriptome of Purple Kush with that of the hemp cultivar 'Finola' revealed that many genes encoding proteins involved in cannabinoid and precursor pathways are more highly expressed in Purple Kush than in 'Finola'. The exclusive occurrence of \u3949-tetrahydrocannabinolic acid synthase in the Purple Kush transcriptome, and its replacement by cannabidiolic acid synthase in 'Finola', may explain why the psychoactive cannabinoid \u3949-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) is produced in marijuana but not in hemp. Resequencing the hemp cultivars 'Finola' and 'USO-31' showed little difference in gene copy numbers of cannabinoid pathway enzymes. However, single nucleotide variant analysis uncovered a relatively high level of variation among four cannabis types, and supported a separation of marijuana and hemp. Conclusions: The availability of the Cannabis sativa genome enables the study of a multifunctional plant that occupies a unique role in human culture. Its availability will aid the development of therapeutic marijuana strains with tailored cannabinoid profiles and provide a basis for the breeding of hemp with improved agronomic characteristics.Peer reviewed: YesNRC publication: Ye

Results at 2 Years after Gene Therapy for RPE65-Deficient Leber Congenital Amaurosis and Severe Early-Childhood–Onset Retinal Dystrophy

PurposeTo provide an initial assessment of the safety of a recombinant adeno-associated virus vector expressing RPE65 (rAAV2-CB-hRPE65) in adults and children with retinal degeneration caused by RPE65 mutations.DesignNonrandomized, multicenter clinical trial.ParticipantsEight adults and 4 children, 6 to 39 years of age, with Leber congenital amaurosis (LCA) or severe early-childhood–onset retinal degeneration (SECORD).MethodsPatients received a subretinal injection of rAAV2-CB-hRPE65 in the poorer-seeing eye, at either of 2 dose levels, and were followed up for 2 years after treatment.Main Outcome MeasuresThe primary safety measures were ocular and nonocular adverse events. Exploratory efficacy measures included changes in best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA), static perimetry central 30° visual field hill of vision (V30) and total visual field hill of vision (VTOT), kinetic perimetry visual field area, and responses to a quality-of-life questionnaire.ResultsAll patients tolerated subretinal injections and there were no treatment-related serious adverse events. Common adverse events were those associated with the surgical procedure and included subconjunctival hemorrhage in 8 patients and ocular hyperemia in 5 patients. In the treated eye, BCVA increased in 5 patients, V30 increased in 6 patients, VTOT increased in 5 patients, and kinetic visual field area improved in 3 patients. One subject showed a decrease in BCVA and 2 patients showed a decrease in kinetic visual field area.ConclusionsTreatment with rAAV2-CB-hRPE65 was not associated with serious adverse events, and improvement in 1 or more measures of visual function was observed in 9 of 12 patients. The greatest improvements in visual acuity were observed in younger patients with better baseline visual acuity. Evaluation of more patients and a longer duration of follow-up will be needed to determine the rate of uncommon or rare side effects or safety concerns

Prediction of cis-regulatory elements controlling genes differentially expressed by retinal and choroidal vascular endothelial cells

Cultured endothelial cells of the human retina and choroid demonstrate distinct patterns of gene expression. We hypothesized that differential gene expression reflected differences in the interactions of transcription factors and respective cis-regulatory motifs(s) in these two endothelial cell subpopulations, recognizing that motifs often exist as modules. We tested this hypothesis in silico by using TRANSFAC Professional and CisModule to identify cis-regulatory motifs and modules in genes that were differentially expressed by human retinal versus choroidal endothelial cells, as identified by analysis of a microarray data set. Motifs corresponding to eight transcription factors were significantly (p < 0.05) differentially abundant in genes that were relatively highly expressed in retinal (i.e., glucocorticoid receptor, high mobility group AT-hook 1, heat shock transcription factor 1, p53, vitamin D receptor) or choroidal (i.e., transcription factor E2F, Yin Yang 1, zinc finger 5) endothelial cells. Predicted cis-regulatory modules were quite different for these two groups of genes. Our findings raise the possibility of exploiting specific cis-regulatory motifs to target therapy at the ocular endothelial cells subtypes responsible for neovascular age-related macular degeneration or proliferative diabetic retinopathy

Manipulation of Plant Defense Responses by the Tomato Psyllid (Bactericerca cockerelli) and Its Associated Endosymbiont Candidatus Liberibacter Psyllaurous

Some plant pathogens form obligate relationships with their insect vector and are vertically transmitted via eggs analogous to insect endosymbionts. Whether insect endosymbionts manipulate plant defenses to benefit their insect host remains unclear. The tomato psyllid, Bactericerca cockerelli (Sulc), vectors the endosymbiont “Candidatus Liberibacter psyllaurous” (Lps) during feeding on tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.). Lps titer in psyllids varied relative to the psyllid developmental stage with younger psyllids harboring smaller Lps populations compared to older psyllids. In the present study, feeding by different life stages of B. cockerelli infected with Lps, resulted in distinct tomato transcript profiles. Feeding by young psyllid nymphs, with lower Lps levels, induced tomato genes regulated by jasmonic acid (JA) and salicylic acid (SA) (Allene oxide synthase, Proteinase inhibitor 2, Phenylalanine ammonia-lyase 5, Pathogenesis-related protein 1) compared to feeding by older nymphs and adults, where higher Lps titers were found. In addition, inoculation of Lps without insect hosts suppressed accumulation of these defense transcripts. Collectively, these data suggest that the endosymbiont-like pathogen Lps manipulates plant signaling and defensive responses to benefit themselves and the success of their obligate insect vector on their host plant

Psychopathic leadership a case study of a corporate psychopath CEO

This longitudinal case study reports on a charity in the UK which gained a new CEO who was reported by two middle managers who worked in the charity, to embody (respectively) all or most of the ten characteristics within a measure of corporate psychopathy. The leadership of this CEO with a high corporate psychopathy score was reported to be so poor that the organisation was described as being one without leadership and as a lost organisation with no direction. This paper outlines the resultant characteristics of the ensuing aimlessness and lack of drive of the organisation involved. Comparisons are made to a previous CEO in the same organisation, who was reportedly an authentic, effective and transformational leader. Outcomes under the CEO with a high corporate psychopathy score were related to bullying, staff withdrawal and turnover as effective employees stayed away from and/or left the organisation. Outcomes also included a marked organisational decline in terms of revenue, employee commitment, creativity and organisational innovativeness. The paper makes a contribution to both leadership and to corporate psychopathy research as it appears to be the first reported study of a CEO with a high corporate psychopathy score

CropPol: a dynamic, open and global database on crop pollination

Seventy five percent of the world's food crops benefit from insect pollination. Hence, there has been increased interest in how global change drivers impact this critical ecosystem service. Because standardized data on crop pollination are rarely available, we are limited in our capacity to understand the variation in pollination benefits to crop yield, as well as to anticipate changes in this service, develop predictions, and inform management actions. Here, we present CropPol, a dynamic, open and global database on crop pollination. It contains measurements recorded from 202 crop studies, covering 3,394 field observations, 2,552 yield measurements (i.e. berry weight, number of fruits and kg per hectare, among others), and 47,752 insect records from 48 commercial crops distributed around the globe. CropPol comprises 32 of the 87 leading global crops and commodities that are pollinator dependent. Malus domestica is the most represented crop (32 studies), followed by Brassica napus (22 studies), Vaccinium corymbosum (13 studies), and Citrullus lanatus (12 studies). The most abundant pollinator guilds recorded are honey bees (34.22% counts), bumblebees (19.19%), flies other than Syrphidae and Bombyliidae (13.18%), other wild bees (13.13%), beetles (10.97%), Syrphidae (4.87%), and Bombyliidae (0.05%). Locations comprise 34 countries distributed among Europe (76 studies), Northern America (60), Latin America and the Caribbean (29), Asia (20), Oceania (10), and Africa (7). Sampling spans three decades and is concentrated on 2001-05 (21 studies), 2006-10 (40), 2011-15 (88), and 2016-20 (50). This is the most comprehensive open global data set on measurements of crop flower visitors, crop pollinators and pollination to date, and we encourage researchers to add more datasets to this database in the future. This data set is released for non-commercial use only. Credits should be given to this paper (i.e., proper citation), and the products generated with this database should be shared under the same license terms (CC BY-NC-SA). This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved

Report from the Annual Conference of the British Society of Echocardiography, November 2017, Edinburgh International Conference Centre, Edinburgh

No abstract available