A Literature Review of Family Engagement with African Immigrant and Refugee Families

In recent years, the ethnic and cultural diversity of the U.S. has increased as large numbers of immigrants and refugees have resettled here. Many of the recent immigrants and refugees have arrived from African countries, and human scientists and Extension professionals must be prepared to engage with the families. To inform the work of professionals, a comprehensive search of the literature on family engagement in K-12 education and out-of-school time with African families was conducted using multiple keywords in several database searches. Two books and three peer-reviewed journal articles were identified that focused on family engagement with African families. After reviewing the publications, three relevant themes for professionals seeking engagement with African families were identified: (a) culture, (b) potential challenges, and (c) program components. These themes and their subthemes are explored, and recommendations are made for Extension professionals to increase their engagement with African families in family life programs

Tools for Inclusion: Evaluating Your Agency and Its Services: A Checklist for Job Seekers with Disabilities

It is important to evaluate employment services and decide if you are getting the results that you are looking for. You should have high expectations! If you are currently using an agency for help with employment, this checklist can help you make sure you are getting what you need

Systematic comparison of bacterial feeding strains for increased yield of Caenorhabditis elegans males by RNA interference-induced non-disjunction

AbstractRare Caenorhabditis elegans males arise when sex chromosome non-disjunction occurs during meiosis in self-fertilizing hermaphrodites. Non-disjunction is a relatively rare event, and males are typically observed at a frequency of less than one in five hundred wild-type animals. Males are required for genetic crosses and phenotypic analysis, yet current methods to generate large numbers of males can be cumbersome. Here, we identify RNAi reagents (dsRNA-expressing bacteria) with improved effectiveness for eliciting males. Specifically, we used RNAi to systematically reduce the expression of over two hundred genes with meiotic chromosome segregation functions, and we identified a set of RNAi reagents that robustly and reproducibly elicited male progeny

Guidelines for screening and management of late and long-term consequences of myeloma and its treatment

A growing population of long-term survivors of myeloma is now accumulating the ‘late effects’ not only of myeloma itself, but also of several lines of treatment given throughout the course of the disease. It is thus important to recognise the cumulative burden of the disease and treatment-related toxicity in both the stable and active phases of myeloma, some of which is unlikely to be detected by routine monitoring. We summarise here the evidence for the key late effects in long-term survivors of myeloma, including physical and psychosocial consequences (in Parts 1 and 2 respectively), and recommend the use of late-effects screening protocols in detection and intervention. The early recognition of late effects and effective management strategies should lead to an improvement in the management of myeloma patients, although evidence in this area is currently limited and further research is warranted

Molecular changes in the postmortem parkinsonian brain

Parkinson disease (PD) is the second most common neurodegenerative disease after Alzheimer disease. Although PD has a relatively narrow clinical phenotype, it has become clear that its etiological basis is broad. Post-mortem brain analysis, despite its limitations, has provided invaluable insights into relevant pathogenic pathways including mitochondrial dysfunction, oxidative stress and protein homeostasis dysregulation. Identification of the genetic causes of PD followed the discovery of these abnormalities, and reinforced the importance of the biochemical defects identified post-mortem. Recent genetic studies have highlighted the mitochondrial and lysosomal areas of cell function as particularly significant in mediating the neurodegeneration of PD. Thus the careful analysis of post-mortem PD brain biochemistry remains a crucial component of research, and one that offers considerable opportunity to pursue etiological factors either by ‘reverse biochemistry’ i.e. from defective pathway to mutant gene, or by the complex interplay between pathways e.g. mitochondrial turnover by lysosomes. In this review we have documented the spectrum of biochemical defects identified in PD post-mortem brain and explored their relevance to metabolic pathways involved in neurodegeneration. We have highlighted the complex interactions between these pathways and the gene mutations causing or increasing risk for PD. These pathways are becoming a focus for the development of disease modifying therapies for PD. Parkinson's is accompanied by multiple changes in the brain that are responsible for the progression of the disease. We describe here the molecular alterations occurring in postmortem brains and classify them as: Neurotransmitters and neurotrophic factors; Lewy bodies and Parkinson's-linked genes; Transition metals, calcium and calcium-binding proteins; Inflammation; Mitochondrial abnormalities and oxidative stress; Abnormal protein removal and degradation; Apoptosis and transduction pathways

Tools for Inclusion: Evaluating Your Agency and Its Services: A Checklist for Job Seekers with Disabilities

It is important to evaluate employment services and decide if you are getting the results that you are looking for. You should have high expectations! If you are currently using an agency for help with employment, this checklist can help you make sure you are getting what you need

Collaboration Across the Pond: Engaging in Reflective Team Research Using Zoom

This presentation will describe the online collaboration among the members of two research teams across two geographic regions in the US. The focus of the collaboration was on a mixed-method investigation examining the interracial dating experiences of African American/Black women. The team consisted of multiple graduate, post-graduate, and undergraduate students across five states whose development was facilitated by peer social learning and formal mentorship of the faculty leads. Through a telecommunications platform, Zoom, the collaborative team built rapport which enabled the utilization of capacities and resources of our members’ surrounding community (i.e. participant sampling, institutional resources, methodological expertise). Rapport, trust, and cohesiveness enhanced and widened the collaboration’s research endeavor