Double-Blinded, Vehicle-Controlled Proof of Concept Study to Investigate the Recurrence of Inflammatory and Noninflammatory Acne Lesions Using Tretinoin Gel (Microsphere) 0.04% in Male Patients after Oral Isotretinoin Use

Background. Although isotretinoin orally is commonly used for moderate to severe or scarring acne, it is not a cure. Unfortunately recurrence is unpredictable and varies within the acne population. Objectives. Using a proof of concept study, determine the recurrence of acne after isotretinoin use in male patients. Methods. Twenty males aged 18–45 years old were enrolled. Subjects successfully completed a treatment of acne vulgaris with oral isotretinoin (120–150 mg/kg/course). Subjects were randomized 1 to 1. The study duration was 24 weeks. The primary endpoint measured was the absolute change in lesion counts from baseline to weeks 16 and 24. Local tolerability assessments were measured. Results. There were favorable changes in all outcomes measured. Overall, there was a 38.7% lower lesion count with tretinoin 0.04% microsphere gel use versus vehicle. The active product was well tolerated with great patient satisfaction. There were no significant safety issues. The limitations included the low number of patients enrolled, average age, and percentage of patients lost to follow-up. Conclusion. In summary, the results favored tretinoin 0.04% microsphere gel in the prevention of recurrent acne after isotretinoin use in male patients over 18 years old over a six-month period

Creating SAFE spaces for online learning in enabling maths courses

AIMS Transition Maths is a foundational maths unit offered fully online in pre-degree programs at the University of Tasmania, as well as through Open Universities Australia. The unit aims to prepare non-traditional and underrepresented students (such as first-in-family or of low socio-economic status) for tertiary study. Many of our students lack access to technology and established support networks; they often lack core mathematical skills and frequently recount previous negative experiences of formal maths education. These are both risk factors for maths anxiety (Khasawneh & Gosling, 2021). PEDAGOGICAL CONTEXT Our teaching approach is grounded in adult learning theory (Tate, 2012) and evidence-based practices (Brown, Roediger, & McDaniel, 2014) that lead to efficient learning for time poor students. We provide a rich suite of resources with a coherent structure and clear workflow for familiarity of process which assists with reducing anxiety. The workflow is closely aligned with weekly online contact sessions to enable real-time interactions which are designed to nurture a growth mindset where mistakes are celebrated as learning opportunities for all, rather than being seen as a failure of the individual. This has been shown to assist students with anxiety or depression to better cope with the stresses of university life (Dweck, 2017; p.38). We also use a differentiated instruction model and assessment framework to empower students to select the difficulty level at which they wish to work. LEARNING MODEL To overcome the isolation which can arise in online learning environments we focus on building relationships of trust through multimodal communication, both synchronous and asynchronous. We use team-teaching to create a learning community where participants have shared goals, space, and agency to decide how best to go about their learning (Hord, 2009). Activity-based sessions encourage group work and peer collaboration, and the presence of two teachers enables timely assistance, helping us to sustain the lively learning environment. Self-reflection is promoted at regular waypoints to ensure students achieve mathematical fluency and avoid the ‘illusion of knowing’ (Oakley, 2014). REFLECTION With a focus on open communication and relationship building we create safe spaces for effective online mathematics learning. Students report increasing confidence and they specifically acknowledge how motivated they became with our online team-teaching approach. REFERENCES Brown, P., Roediger, H., & McDaniel, M. (2014) Make it stick, Cambridge, MA: The Belknap Press. Dweck, C. (2017) Mindset: Changing the way you think to fulfil your potential, London: Robinson. Hord, S. (2009). Professional Learning Communities. Journal of Staff Development, 30(1), 40-43. Khasawneh, E., & Gosling, C. (2021). What impact does maths anxiety have on university students?, BMC Psychology, 9. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-021-00537-2 Oakley, B. (2014) A mind for numbers: How to excel at maths & science, New York: TarcherPerigee. Tate, M. (2012) “Sit & get” Won’t grow dendrites brain, London: SAGE Publications

Phonological Awareness across Child Populations: How Bilingualism and Dyslexia Interact

Phonological awareness is a complex and multifaceted skill which plays an essential role in the development of an individual\u2019s language and literacy abilities. Phonological skills are indeed dramatically impaired in people with dyslexia, at any age and across languages, whereas their development in bilinguals is less clear. In addition, the interaction between bilingualism and dyslexia in this domain is still under-investigated. The aim of this paper is to provide new experimental evidence on this topic by exploring the phonological competence in Italian of monolingual and bilingual children with and without dyslexia. To this purpose, we developed three tasks, assessing nonword repetition, rhyme detection and spoonerisms, which we administered to 148 10-year- old children in two distinct studies. In Study 1, we found that two groups of L2 Italian typically developing bilinguals, having either Arabic or Romanian as L1, performed similarly to Italian monolinguals in all measures, pointing to absence of both bilingualism-related and L1-related effects in these tasks. In Study 2, we administered the same tasks to four groups of children: Italian monolinguals with dyslexia, Italian monolingual typically developing children, L2 Italian bilinguals with dyslexia and L2 Italian bilingual typically developing children. Results showed that children with dyslexia, both monolingual and bilingual, exhibited significantly more difficulties than typically developing children in all three tasks, whereas bilinguals, consistent with Study 1, performed similarly to their monolingual peers. In addition, no negative effects of bilingualism in dyslexia were found, indicating that being bilingual does not provide additional difficulties to children with dyslexia

Systemic Role for Vitamin D in the Treatment of Psoriasis and Metabolic Syndrome

The novel discovery of the systemic role of vitamin D in the modulation of the immune system especially the Type 1 helper T cell (Th1) pathway reveals its potential for treating Th1 inflammatory diseases. Psoriasis has been recently established to be a systemic disease centered on inflammation and involvement of cytokines of the Th1 pathway. There is an increased prevalence of metabolic syndrome in patients with psoriasis. Metabolic syndrome also involves a proinflammatory state. This paper proposes the idea of the potential use of oral vitamin D to treat psoriasis and metabolic syndrome concurrently. We propose there is merit in more clinical trials investigating the use of vitamin D to treat both psoriasis and metabolic syndrome through its anti-inflammatory effects. On application to psoriasis management and prognosis, the goal is to decrease the risk for cardiovascular disease and decrease disease morbidity and mortality

Supporting bilingualism in vulnerable populations

Although bilingualism is generally appraised and supported by society, many more doubts arise when it comes to children suffering from neurodevelopmental disorders. The concern that the exposure to two languages might deteriorate the linguistic development of children, together with the advice to simplify the linguistic environment and to adopt a monolingual approach, leads many families to abandon their home language and sacrifice bilingualism. Scientific research, however, has shown that this fear is ungrounded and that children with developmental disorders can become successful bilingual speakers, if they are provided with appropriate linguistic exposure. The aim of this paper is that of providing a state-of-the-art of the literature on this topic, by reviewing studies conducted on the interaction between bilingualism and neurodevelopmental disorders, focusing in particular on the interaction between bilingualism and developmental language disorder (DLD), developmental dyslexia and autism spectrum disorder. We discuss issues related to the early identification of DLD and dyslexia among bilinguals and we report the results of studies showing that bilingualism does not exacerbate the difficulties of children with developmental disorders, but on the contrary it can be beneficial for them, at the cognitive, linguistic and socio-cultural level. Finally, we provide some recommendations for parents, educators and practitioners, focusing on the importance of supporting the family language in all of its components, including literacy, for a complete and harmonic bilingual growth

Recommendations for multilingualism and developmental communicative disorders

This report investigates two topics that are gaining growing interest in bilingual research, concerning on the one side the identification of language and reading disorders in bilingual children and, on the other side, the interaction between bilingualism and these disorders in children who have been officially diagnosed as communicatively impaired. Our research suggests that bilingualism, far from being a disadvantage, can offer linguistic and cognitive benefits that extend also to impaired children. We build on these results to indicate some best practices and recommendations for parents, educators and health professionals that deal with children suffering from specific communicative impairments

The effectiveness of reading intervention in adults with developmental dyslexia: A systematic review

Developmental Dyslexia is a lifelong condition characterized by reading and spelling deficits that persist into adulthood, negatively affecting the individual’s academic and professional careers. Although numerous studies have been conducted to assess the effectiveness of reading interventions in children, providing promising results, research on adults is still sparse. The aim of this paper was that of summarizing and extending the current knowledge about the effectiveness of reading intervention programs proposed to adults with dyslexia, providing a systematic review of the available research. The literature search comprised an electronic search in the databases ERIC, PsycINFO, Scopus and ProQuest, and an examination of the references of previous studies. Eight studies met the inclusion criteria and were analyzed in detail, discussing the participants’ profile, the main features of the proposed interventions and their effectiveness on different reading components, also including reading comprehension, spelling and phonological abilities. Results indicate that providing a literacy training can produce significant gains also in adults with dyslexia and that further research in this domain is needed, especially in languages with different orthographic and writing systems, to guarantee to struggling readers a concrete opportunity to enhance their reading skills and enjoy a better quality of life

Üleminek eestikeelsele õppele. Vene dominantkeelega Tartu lastevanemate hoiakute uurimisest

Koostöös Tartu linnavalitsusega oleme toetanud alates 2022. aasta sügisest Tartus viit eesti-vene kakskeelset haridusasutust eestikeelsele õppele ülemineku ettevalmistuses. Artiklis tutvustame oma uuringut, mille eesmärk on selgitada välja Tartu kakskeelsete haridusasutuste vene dominantkeelega lastevanemate ootused ja võimalikud kartused seoses eestikeelse õppega. Ühtlasi kaasasime vanemaid üleminekuprotsessis tõstatunud probleemidele sobilike lahenduste otsimisel. Artiklis esitame haridusasutuste tõlgenduse lastevanemate võimalikest hoiakutest. Tulemused esitame kahes alapeatükis: 1) lastevanemate teadlikkus eestikeelsele haridusele üleminekust; 2) lastevanemate võimalikud hirmud ja probleemid seoses õppekeele muutusega. Esile tõusevad õpilaste akadeemiline edasijõudmine, teises keeles õppimise keerukus, õpilaste enesemääratluse ning päritolukeele ja -kultuuri küsimused ning haridusasutuste ja vanemate vaheline asjaajamiskeel.Võtmesõnad: üleminek eestikeelsele haridusele, Tartu venekeelsed haridusasutused, lastevanemad, kaasamine, keelehoiaku