Sustaining the Heart: Attracting Latino Families to Inner-City Catholic Schools

More than ever, the challenges facing Catholic schools and Catholic school leaders require a “readiness to renew and adapt” (Vatican Council II, 1965). The skills and dispositions developed through applied action research—inquiry that is systematic, practitioner driven, and change oriented—are integral to the formation of teachers and leaders who will meet these challenges head on and strengthen Catholic schools for generations to come. The following action research project was conducted by a Catholic school leader who is a recent graduate of the Mary Ann Remick Leadership Program at the University of Notre Dame. The article you will read is one product of the comprehensive, four-course action research sequence that is a hallmark of the Remick Leadership Program, and is discussed in greater detail in the focus section overview. As you read on, you will notice that action research is highly contextualized—responsive to the specific needs in a particular school community—but also reflective of the broader educational research literature, and the rich traditions and teachings of our Catholic faith. We hope this action research inquiry informs your own practice, and inspires you to pursue mission driven and data informed leadership practices to bring about positive change in your own school or community.Like many urban Catholic schools, St. Mary of Carmel Catholic School in Dallas, Texas, is faced with many challenges: filling empty seats; supporting increased costs; and, possible closure. The small parish is primarily Latino, but few parish families are enrolled in the school. This action research project used in-depth interviews to examine parishioner-parent perspectives on the importance of Catholic education in the Latino community. Understanding the perspectives of parishioner-parents is a key step toward the ultimate goal of developing a marketing plan that attracts and engages Latino families. Participant interviews show that Latino parents believe Catholic schools are better than area Dallas Independent School District (DISD) schools in academics and preparing students for high school, and better than other religious education programs in teaching the Catholic faith. Ultimately, the study showed that these Latino parents strongly desire to send their children to Catholic schools

An Examination of the Relationships Between Organizational Factors and Information Technology Satisfaction and Use: A Study of Undergraduate Faculty.

This study used quantitative analyses to determine whether organizational factors affected information technology satisfaction and use. The participants in this study were limited to undergraduate faculty who taught at baccalaureate-only institutions. The sample consisted of 2,443 faculty from public and private institutions throughout the United States. The source of the data was the National Center for Educational Statistics. The major constructs included institutional characteristics, employment characteristics, disciplinary characteristics, demographic characteristics, research and teaching characteristics, and organizational satisfaction characteristics. The relationships between these constructs and faculty satisfaction with information technology and faculty use of information technology were examined by using bivariate analyses, multiple linear regression analyses and multiple binary logistic regression analyses. The results showed that elements of institutional characteristics, employment characteristics, demographic characteristics, research and teaching characteristics, organizational satisfaction characteristics affected faculty satisfaction with information technology and faculty use of information technology. In the final models, after controlling for the other variables used in this study, disciplinary characteristics did not exhibit any consistent patterns. The results suggest that time constraints significantly affected information technology satisfaction and use. Satisfaction with information technology was positively associated with information technology use for newer technologies, but not for technologies that were already widely used.Ph.D.EducationUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/78740/1/asuhy_1.pd

Established PABPN1 intranuclear inclusions in OPMD muscle can be efficiently reversed by AAV-mediated knock-down and replacement of mutant expanded PABPN1

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Statin pharmacogenomics: pursuing biomarkers for predicting clinical outcomes

Indicated for treating hyperlipidemias and for the prevention of cardiovascular disease (CVD), statins rank among the most commonly prescribed drug classes. While statins are considered to be highly effective in preventing atherosclerotic events, a substantial portion of treated patients still progress to overt CVD. Genetic factors are thought to contribute substantially to treatment outcome. Several candidate genes have been associated with statin dose requirements and treatment outcomes, but a clinically relevant pharmacogenomics test to guide statin therapy has not yet emerged. Here we define basic pharmacogenomics terminology, present strong candidate genes (CETP, HMGCR, SLCO1B1, ABCB1, and CYP3A4/5), and discuss the challenges in developing much-needed statin pharmacogenomics biomarkers for predicting treatment outcomes

Biomarcatori farmacogenomici per la predizione di efficacia e sicurezza delle statine

Le statine, indicate per il trattamento delle iperlipidemie e per la prevenzione delle malattie cardiovascolari, sono fra le classi di farmaci pi\uf9 frequentemente prescritte. A dispetto della loro ormai riconosciuta efficacia, una percentuale rilevante dei pazienti trattati con questi farmaci continua a progredire verso la malattia cardiovascolare conclamata. \uc8 quindi pensiero comune che diversi fattori genetici possano contribuire sostanzialmente al risultato di questo trattamento terapeutico. Effettivamente, diversi geni candidati sono stati associati al dosaggio di statina necessario e al risultato terapeutico. Ci\uf2 nonostante, non esiste ad oggi alcun test farmacogenomico specifico che permetta di guidare il medico nelle scelte riguardanti la terapia con questi farmaci. Nel presente articolo, oltre a definire la terminologia di base della farmacogenomica, saranno descritti i geni candidati di maggior interesse (CETP, HMGCR, SLCO1B1, ABCB1 e CYP3A4/5) e i pi\uf9 recenti studi effettuati al fine di soddisfare la crescente richiesta di nuovi marcatori farmacogenomici capaci di predire la risposta al trattamento con una statina.Statins have high efficacy for treating hyperlipidemia and are widely prescribed. While most patients benefit from statins, some experience cardiovascular events despite statin pharmacotherapy and others experience adverse effects. Patient response to statins is genetically influenced, and polymorphisms in many genes have been associated with statin dose requirements and clinical outcomes. However, a clinically relevant pharmacogenomics test to guide statin therapy has not yet materialized. This article provides a basic overview of pharmacogenomics, describes several key genes (CETP, HMGCR, SLCO1B1, ABCB1, and CYP3A4/5) influencing the pharmacology of statins, and highlights the difficulties in developing actionable genetic assays to help guide statin pharmacotherapy

The Transformation of Enterovirus Replication Structures: a Three-Dimensional Study of Single- and Double-Membrane Compartments

All positive-strand RNA viruses induce membrane structures in their host cells which are thought to serve as suitable microenvironments for viral RNA synthesis. The structures induced by enteroviruses, which are members of the family Picornaviridae, have so far been described as either single- or double-membrane vesicles (DMVs). Aside from the number of delimiting membranes, their exact architecture has also remained elusive due to the limitations of conventional electron microscopy. In this study, we used electron tomography (ET) to solve the three-dimensional (3-D) ultrastructure of these compartments. At different time points postinfection, coxsackievirus B3-infected cells were high-pressure frozen and freeze-substituted for ET analysis. The tomograms showed that during the exponential phase of viral RNA synthesis, closed smooth single-membrane tubules constituted the predominant virus-induced membrane structure, with a minor proportion of DMVs that were either closed or connected to the cytosol in a vase-like configuration. As infection progressed, the DMV number steadily increased, while the tubular single-membrane structures gradually disappeared. Late in infection, complex multilamellar structures, previously unreported, became apparent in the cytoplasm. Serial tomography disclosed that their basic unit is a DMV, which is enwrapped by one or multiple cisternae. ET also revealed striking intermediate structures that strongly support the conversion of single-membrane tubules into double-membrane and multilamellar structures by a process of membrane apposition, enwrapping, and fusion. Collectively, our work unravels the sequential appearance of distinct enterovirus-induced replication structures, elucidates their detailed 3-D architecture, and provides the basis for a model for their transformation during the course of infection

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus nonstructural proteins 3, 4, and 6 induce double-membrane vesicles

Coronaviruses (CoV), like other positive-stranded RNA viruses, redirect and rearrange host cell membranes for use as part of the viral genome replication and transcription machinery. Specifically, coronaviruses induce the formation of double-membrane vesicles in infected cells. Although these double-membrane vesicles have been well characterized, the mechanism behind their formation remains unclear, including which viral proteins are responsible. Here, we use transfection of plasmid constructs encoding full-length versions of the three transmembrane-containing nonstructural proteins (nsps) of the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) coronavirus to examine the ability of each to induce double-membrane vesicles in tissue culture. nsp3 has membrane disordering and proliferation ability, both in its full-length form and in a C-terminal-truncated form. nsp3 and nsp4 working together have the ability to pair membranes. nsp6 has membrane proliferation ability as well, inducing perinuclear vesicles localized around the microtubule organizing center. Together, nsp3, nsp4, and nsp6 have the ability to induce double-membrane vesicles that are similar to those observed in SARS coronavirus-infected cells. This activity appears to require the full-length form of nsp3 for action, as double-membrane vesicles were not seen in cells coexpressing the C-terminal truncation nsp3 with nsp4 and nsp6. IMPORTANCE Although the majority of infections caused by coronaviruses in humans are relatively mild, the SARS outbreak of 2002 to 2003 and the emergence of the human coronavirus Middle Eastern respiratory syndrome (MERS-CoV) in 2012 highlight the ability of these viruses to cause severe pathology and fatality. Insight into the molecular biology of how coronaviruses take over the host cell is critical for a full understanding of any known and possible future outbreaks caused by these viruses. Additionally, since membrane rearrangement is a tactic used by all known positive-sense single-stranded RNA viruses, this work adds to that body of knowledge and may prove beneficial in the development of future therapies not only for human coronavirus infections but for other pathogens as well

Statistical Estimation of T1 Relaxation Time Using Conventional Magnetic Resonance Imaging

Quantitative T1 maps estimate T1 relaxation times and can be used to assess diffuse tissue abnormalities within normal-appearing tissue. T1 maps are popular for studying the progression and treatment of multiple sclerosis (MS). However, their inclusion in standard imaging protocols remains limited due to the additional scanning time and expert calibration required and susceptibility to bias and noise. Here, we propose a new method of estimating T1 maps using four conventional MR images, which are intensity- normalized using cerebellar gray matter as a reference tissue and related to T1 using a smooth regression model. Using leave-one-out cross-validation, we generate statistical T1 maps for 61 subjects with MS. The statistical maps are less noisy than the acquired maps and show similar accuracy. Tests of group differences in normal-appearing white matter across MS subtypes give similar results using both methods, but tests performed using statistical maps are more powerful

Subversion of Cellular Autophagosomal Machinery by RNA Viruses

Infection of human cells with poliovirus induces the proliferation of double-membraned cytoplasmic vesicles whose surfaces are used as the sites of viral RNA replication and whose origin is unknown. Here, we show that several hallmarks of cellular autophagosomes can be identified in poliovirus-induced vesicles, including colocalization of LAMP1 and LC3, the human homolog of Saccharomyces cerevisiae Atg8p, and staining with the fluorophore monodansylcadaverine followed by fixation. Colocalization of LC3 and LAMP1 was observed early in the poliovirus replicative cycle, in cells infected with rhinoviruses 2 and 14, and in cells that express poliovirus proteins 2BC and 3A, known to be sufficient to induce double-membraned vesicles. Stimulation of autophagy increased poliovirus yield, and inhibition of the autophagosomal pathway by 3-methyladenine or by RNA interference against mRNAs that encode two different proteins known to be required for autophagy decreased poliovirus yield. We propose that, for poliovirus and rhinovirus, components of the cellular machinery of autophagosome formation are subverted to promote viral replication. Although autophagy can serve in the innate immune response to microorganisms, our findings are inconsistent with a role for the induced autophagosome-like structures in clearance of poliovirus. Instead, we argue that these double-membraned structures provide membranous supports for viral RNA replication complexes, possibly enabling the nonlytic release of cytoplasmic contents, including progeny virions, from infected cells