Evaluating the provision of flexible learning for children at risk of primary school dropout in Malawi

Communities in Malawi selected 15 children deemed "at-risk" - predominantly orphans - in Class 6 of each of 20 intervention schools to receive learning materials, support from the community and a school "buddy." An experimental evaluation found that dropout was reduced by 45% across intervention schools compared to 20 control schools. The program had spillover effects, indirectly reducing dropout among older pupils in the class not deemed at-risk. These findings imply that age, and not orphanhood, was the main indicator of dropout risk and that when targeting criteria are considered carefully, flexible learning programs can reduce dropout substantially among vulnerable children. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

A role for β3-integrins in linking breast development and cancer

Pregnancy induces a rapid and controlled expansion of mammary stem cells. In this issue of Developmental Cell, Desgrosellier et al. (2014) show that β3-integrin is required downstream of hormonal signaling and TGFβ2 to regulate mammary stem cell number and alveolar development specifically during early pregnancy

Insulin-like growth factor binding protein 5 and apoptosis in mammary epithelial cells

Insulin-like growth factors (IGFs) are important survival signals that can protect a range of cell types from apoptosis. Although IGF bioavailability is modulated by high affinity interactions with IGF-binding proteins (IGFBPs), there is currently no experimental evidence that IGFBPs regulate the survival function of IGFs in the mammary gland. We have examined IGFBP expression during mammary gland development and studied the effects of IGFBPs on IGF-mediated survival and signalling in mammary epithelial cells in culture. IGFBP-5 protein was greatly increased during days 1-3 of mammary gland involution, when levels of apoptosis are dramatically elevated to remodel the gland after lactation. Primary cultures of mammary epithelial cells (MECs) expressed IGFBP-5 from their basal surface suggesting that IGFBP-5 is suitably located to inhibit IGF signalling. Addition of exogenous IGFBP-5 and IGFBP-3 to MECs suppressed IGF-I-mediated survival, resulting in threefold greater apoptosis in cells incubated with IGF-I and IGFBP-5 compared with IGF-I alone. Examination of signalling pathways involved in apoptosis revealed that phosphorylation of PKB and the forkhead transcription factor, FKHRL1, was induced by IGFs, but that phosphorylation was blocked by IGFBP-5 and IGFBP-3. This study provides evidence that IGFBP-5 plays an important role in the regulation of apoptosis in the mammary gland

Regulation of mammary differentiation by extracellular matrix involves protein-tyrosine phosphatases

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Cytokeratin expression of amplified human in vitro oral epithelial cells for surgical reconstruction

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