Attitudes towards science: a review of the literature and its implications

This article offers a review of the major literature about attitudes to science and its implications over the past 20 years. It argues that the continuing decline in numbers choosing to study science at the point of choice requires a research focus on students? attitudes to science if the nature of the problem is to be understood and remediated. Starting from a consideration of what is meant by attitudes to science, it considers the problems inherent to their measurement and what is known about students' attitudes towards science and the many factors of influence such as gender, teachers, curricula, cultural and other variables. The literature itself points to the crucial importance of gender and the quality of teaching. Given the importance of the latter we argue that there is a greater need for research to identify those aspects of science teaching that make school science engaging for pupils. In particular, a growing body of research on motivation offers important pointers to the kind of classroom environment and activities that might raise pupils' interest in studying school science and a focus for future research

Concussions and Student Sports: A \u27Silent Epidemic\u27

An issue that has gained attention concerns concussions among student–athletes in elementary and secondary schools. In fact, in light of the “silent epidemic” of concussions among student–athletes, in the six month period ending in August of 2011, the number of states that enacted statutes on concussion management jumped from eleven to thirty–one and the list of jurisdictions with laws in place continues to grow. Based on the significance of concussion management, the remainder of this article is divided into two sections. The first part of the article examines the background on concussions while the second offers recommendations for concussion management and prevention. The article ends with a brief conclusion

Evaluation of a Peer-to-Peer Approach to Improve the Reach of Farmers’ Markets among Low-income Populations

Farmers’ markets have been implemented to improve access to nutritious foods, yet use is low among people receiving Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits. This study’s objectives were to assess the feasibility of implementing the FreshLink Ambassador intervention to promote use of farmers’ markets located in high SNAP neighborhoods, describe information dissemination by Ambassadors, and evaluate intervention impact on SNAP use. The theory-based and data-driven intervention trained nine community residents as FreshLink Ambassadors in 2017; eight completed the study. Ambassadors conducted weekly outreach disseminating coupons to promote use of three intervention markets. Four comparison markets were selected to evaluate impact on SNAP use. SNAP sales from 2016 to 2017, standardized per vendor per market day open, were compared using paired and cluster-adjusted t-tests, p \u3c .05. FreshLink Ambassadors conducted 155 outreach events reaching 1,138 people through coupon dissemination. The coupon redemption rate was 13.9%; redemption was significantly higher for people 50+ years of age, without children in the household, not currently receiving SNAP benefits, and living in the zip code with an intervention market. Intervention versus comparison markets had greater improvements in standardized SNAP sales ($0.73 vs.$0.44). These changes were not statistically significant but may be practically significant for farmers’ market operations. Findings provide evidence that implementation of the peer-to-peer outreach approach was feasible and coupon redemption rates exceeded industry standards indicating the “product” promoted by FreshLink Ambassadors was considered advantageous. Future research is warranted to evaluate different strategies intended to promote social access to farmers’ markets within a broader agenda to advance health equity

Priority Setting in Musculoskeletal Disorders: A Focus on Osteoarthritis

No abstract supplie

Analysis of phosphatases in ER-negative breast cancers identifies DUSP4 as a critical regulator of growth and invasion.

Estrogen receptor (ER)-negative cancers have a poor prognosis, and few targeted therapies are available for their treatment. Our previous analyses have identified potential kinase targets critical for the growth of ER-negative, progesterone receptor (PR)-negative and HER2-negative, or "triple-negative" breast cancer (TNBC). Because phosphatases regulate the function of kinase signaling pathways, in this study, we investigated whether phosphatases are also differentially expressed in ER-negative compared to those in ER-positive breast cancers. We compared RNA expression in 98 human breast cancers (56 ER-positive and 42 ER-negative) to identify phosphatases differentially expressed in ER-negative compared to those in ER-positive breast cancers. We then examined the effects of one selected phosphatase, dual specificity phosphatase 4 (DUSP4), on proliferation, cell growth, migration and invasion, and on signaling pathways using protein microarray analyses of 172 proteins, including phosphoproteins. We identified 48 phosphatase genes are significantly differentially expressed in ER-negative compared to those in ER-positive breast tumors. We discovered that 31 phosphatases were more highly expressed, while 11 were underexpressed specifically in ER-negative breast cancers. The DUSP4 gene is underexpressed in ER-negative breast cancer and is deleted in approximately 50 % of breast cancers. Induced DUSP4 expression suppresses both in vitro and in vivo growths of breast cancer cells. Our studies show that induced DUSP4 expression blocks the cell cycle at the G1/S checkpoint; inhibits ERK1/2, p38, JNK1, RB, and NFkB p65 phosphorylation; and inhibits invasiveness of TNBC cells. These results suggest that that DUSP4 is a critical regulator of the growth and invasion of triple-negative breast cancer cells

Digital and data literacy:Models for data training and upskilling for the future creative industries

In this chapter we explore models for training and upskilling people in the creative industries in data, technology and entrepreneurial skills, situating this in the wider skills and training context. We will particularly look at the challenges of delivering training in the creative sector where innovation and problem solving are core skills, but capacity for continuous professional development is frequently limited by the nature of employment/freelancer working and existing data and business literacy

Priorities for Governing Large-scale Infrastructure in the Tropics

National governments, International Financial Institutions, and the G-20 have intensified investments of infrastructure to boost economic growth in the wake of economic recessions and the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. This infrastructure enables investments in large-scale agriculture, ranching, mining, and oil and gas extraction which tend to intensify the current inequalities. These activities is slated to occur in tropical forests and on lands historically occupied by Indigenous, Afro-Descendant, Traditional and other rural peoples. This has unprecedented negative impact on the ecosystem, the biodiversity as well as on the peoples. This article calls for a \u27three-leg\u27 agenda to align infrastructure, development, and sustainability. The first one deals for the stakeholders and society at large to rethink our understanding of the relationships between infrastructure and development. The second one involves with infrastructure planning and decision-making which must be based on territorially-based planning that includes all voices that are affected by these changes. Lastly, approaches to infrastructure planning must greatly expand the scope for public debate and oversight of what infrastructure is needed