High School Band Directors\u27 Experiences Using Social Media in the Classroom

While social media is becoming an innovative tool in education for teacher and student use, little is known about how social media is being used in the high school band room to communicate with students, increase student-connectedness, or improve classroom community. Using Vygotsky\u27s theory of social constructivism, Siemens\u27s theory of connectivism, and Wenger\u27s community of practice theory as a framework, this study explored the phenomenon of social media as used in the high school band room for communication, student-connectedness, and classroom community. Participants included 10 high school band directors located throughout the United States who shared their experiences through 1-on-1 semistructured interviews and focus group interviews. Data analysis included coding and categorizing responses from interviews and focus groups to identify themes. Results indicated social media use contributed to improved communication, increased student-connectedness, and improved classroom community in the high school band classroom, though challenges of access, cyber-bulling, and a lack of training in social media use for the classroom were also revealed as concerns by participants. These findings could impact social change by providing evidence to support appropriate use of social media in high school band programs and change teacher mindset to embrace the power of social media for communication, for student connectedness, and to improve classroom community as well as in teacher preparation programs to encourage incorporating social media as a plausible teaching tool

Characterization of Ips pini ipsdienol dehydrogenase (IDOL DH)

Ipsdienol is an important pheromone component for pine engraver beetle, Ips pini. Ipsdienol is a ten carbon monoterpenoid secondary alcohol and ipsdienone is the corresponding ketone. We are characterizing the activity of recombinant IDOL DH produced in Sf9 (insect) cells. The enzyme has a high stereospecificity: (-) ipsdienol was found to be a substrate while (+)-ipsdienol was neither a substrate nor inhibitor. Closely related monoterpenoids, such as nerol, geraniol, and citral, were neither substrates nor inhibitors. Smaller compounds, such as 2-propanol, also failed to act as an inhibitor or substrate. This indicates the binding site of this enzyme is highly selective. Failure to act as an inhibitor most likely indicates these compounds bind weakly (-)-Ipsdienol, ipsdienone, ipsenol, and ipsenone are substrates. Interestingly, menthone, a cyclic analog of ipsdienol, was found to have substrate activity. Results from gel permeation chromatography shows the active conformation of IDOL DH is a tetramer. Together these results suggest IDOLDH has a highly specific substrate binding site, and is a key component in pheromone biosynthesis

A Rac1-independent role for P-Rex1 in melanoblasts

No abstract available

Personal Characteristics of Preschool Children with Imaginary Companions�

The purpose of this study was to determine personal characteristics of 3, 4, and 5 year old preschool children with imaginary companions. Preschool children 3, 4, and 5 years old were interviewed in order to identify preschool children with imaginary companions as well as to obtain descriptive information about make-believe friends. The final sample consisted of 42 preschool children enrolled in either a university laboratory school or a private preschool. Twenty-one children reported an imaginary character (12 females and 9 males, with an age range of 46 to 65 ,months). These children were matched with 21 children who reported no imaginary,companions (12 females and 9 males, with an age range of 44 to 65 months). The Multidimensional Stimulus Fluency Measure was used to identify creative potential in the preschool children. The Kohn Social Competence Scale, a teacher rating, was used to assess the social and emotional functioning of the preschoolers. Mothers completed the Behavioral style Questionnaire, an assessment of the child's temperament. Results from the probit analyses revealed that five single independent variables (originality, interest-participation, cooperation-compliance, approach, and adaptability scores) did not significantly predict the presence of imaginary companions. However, children with imaginary companions scored significantly higher on the intensity dimension of the temperament scale than children without pretend friends. When the three temperament variables (intensity, approach, adaptability) were examined together within a model, results demonstrated that these temperament variables significantly predicted the presence of imagin-ary companions. Individual differences in temperament appear to be important characteristics in looking at pre-school children with makebelieve friends. Also, children with imaginary companions - ' scored significantly higher on the social competence scale than children without imaginary companions. Children with greater social skills may practice and rehearse their social interactions with imaginary companions.Family Relations and Child Developmen

TRAINING LOAD PRIOR TO INJURY IN PROFESSIONAL RUGBY LEAGUE PLAYERS: ANALYSING INJURY RISK WITH MACHINE LEARNING

This study explores the application of Global Positioning System tracking data from field training sessions and supervised machine learning algorithms for predicting injury risk of players across a single National Rugby League season. Previous work across a range of sporting codes has demonstrated associations between training loads and increased incidence of injury in professional athletes. Most of the work conducted has applied a reductionist approach, identifying training load characteristics as risk factors using generalised models to show population trends. This study demonstrates promising results by applying processing techniques and machine learning algorithms to analyse the injury risk associated with complex training load patterns. The accuracy of the algorithms are investigated along with the importance of training load predictors and data window sizes

Rho Family GTPases and Rho GEFs in Glucose Homeostasis.

Dysregulation of glucose homeostasis leading to metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes is the cause of an increasing world health crisis. New intriguing roles have emerged for Rho family GTPases and their Rho guanine nucleotide exchange factor (GEF) activators in the regulation of glucose homeostasis. This review summates the current knowledge, focusing in particular on the roles of Rho GEFs in the processes of glucose-stimulated insulin secretion by pancreatic β cells and insulin-stimulated glucose uptake into skeletal muscle and adipose tissues. We discuss the ten Rho GEFs that are known so far to regulate glucose homeostasis, nine of which are in mammals, and one is in yeast. Among the mammalian Rho GEFs, P-Rex1, Vav2, Vav3, Tiam1, Kalirin and Plekhg4 were shown to mediate the insulin-stimulated translocation of the glucose transporter GLUT4 to the plasma membrane and/or insulin-stimulated glucose uptake in skeletal muscle or adipose tissue. The Rho GEFs P-Rex1, Vav2, Tiam1 and β-PIX were found to control the glucose-stimulated release of insulin by pancreatic β cells. In vivo studies demonstrated the involvement of the Rho GEFs P-Rex2, Vav2, Vav3 and PDZ-RhoGEF in glucose tolerance and/or insulin sensitivity, with deletion of these GEFs either contributing to the development of metabolic syndrome or protecting from it. This research is in its infancy. Considering that over 80 Rho GEFs exist, it is likely that future research will identify more roles for Rho GEFs in glucose homeostasis

P-Rex1 Controls Sphingosine 1-Phosphate Receptor Signalling, Morphology, and Cell-Cycle Progression in Neuronal Cells.

P-Rex1 is a guanine-nucleotide exchange factor (GEF) that activates Rac-type small G proteins in response to the stimulation of a range of receptors, particularly G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs), to control cytoskeletal dynamics and other Rac-dependent cell responses. P-Rex1 is mainly expressed in leukocytes and neurons. Whereas its roles in leukocytes have been studied extensively, relatively little is known about its functions in neurons. Here, we used CRISPR/Cas9-mediated P-Rex1 deficiency in neuronal PC12 cells that stably overexpress the GPCR S1PR1, a receptor for sphingosine 1-phosphate (S1P), to investigate the role of P-Rex1 in neuronal GPCR signalling and cell responses. We show that P-Rex1 is required for the S1P-stimulated activation of Rac1 and Akt, basal Rac3 activity, and constitutive cAMP production in PC12-S1PR1 cells. The constitutive cAMP production was not due to increased expression levels of major neuronal adenylyl cyclases, suggesting that P-Rex1 may regulate adenylyl cyclase activity. P-Rex1 was required for maintenance of neurite protrusions and spreading in S1P-stimulated PC12-S1PR1 cells, as well as for cell-cycle progression and proliferation. In summary, we identified novel functional roles of P-Rex1 in neuronal Rac, Akt and cAMP signalling, as well as in neuronal cell-cycle progression and proliferation

Recruitment, retention, and reporting of variables related to ethnic diversity in randomised controlled trials : An umbrella review

Peer reviewe

"We are not invited" : Australian focus group results on how to improve ethnic diversity in trials.

We thank The RECONSIDER Extension Group for their advice and feedback on this manuscript. The group members are: • Hayat Ahmed, MSc, Multi-Regional Clinical Trials Center of Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard University (MRCT Centre), Cambridge, US; • Nita Bhandari, PhD, Centre for Health Research and Development, Society for Applied Studies, New Delhi, India; • Barbara E. Bierer, MD, MRCT Centre, Harvard Medical School, Cambridge, US; • Owen Chinembiri, MA, Macmillan Cancer Support, London, UK; • Kenzie A. Cameron, PhD, MPH, Departments of Medicine, Medical Education, Medical Social Sciences and Preventive Medicine, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, US; • Daniel Coase, MA, Federation of Ethnic Communities Councils of Australia, Canberra, Australia; • Maria Cuervas, MPH, Public contributor, Santiago, Chile; • Shoba Dawson, PhD, Sheffield Centre for Health and Related Research, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK; • Robert M. Golub, MD, Department of Medicine and Preventive Medicine, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, US; • Farrokh Habibzadeh, MD, Global Virus Network, Shiraz, Iran; • Merilyn Heuschkel, MPH, Strategic Research Initiatives, NHMRC Clinical Trials Centre, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia; • Lindsey Jasicki, Clinical Trials Program Manager, Cancer Institute New South Wales, Sydney, Australia; • Lillian Leigh, LLM, Public contributor, Sydney, Australia; • Tianjing Li, PhD, University of Colorado, Aurora, US; • Lawrence Mbuagbaw, PhD, Health Research Methods, Evidence, and Impact, McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada; • Raylynn Benn, BSc, Migrant and Refugee Health Partnership, The Social Policy Group, Canberra, Australia; • John Norrie, MSc, Edinburgh Clinical Trials Unit, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Scotland; • Mayra Ouriques, MIPH, Cancer Institute New South Wales, Sydney, Australia; • George Papadopolous, MBBS (Hons), Public contributor, Melbourne, Australia; • Dawn Richards, PhD, Patient and Public Engagement, Clinical Trials Ontario, Toronto, Canada; • Nandi Siegfried, DPhil, South African Medical Research Council, Cape Town, South Africa; • Nicola Straiton, PhD, Nursing Research Institute, St Vincent's Health Network Sydney and Australian Catholic University, Sydney, Australia; • Jvan Yazdani, PhD, Public contributor, Aberdeen, Scotland; • John Zalcberg, PhD, Department of Medical Oncology, Alfred Health, Cancer Research Program, School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Monash University, Non-executive Board Director, Australian Clinical Trials Alliance.Peer reviewe