The Role of the School District in High-Performance Title One Schools in South Texas

A mixed research study was designed and conducted to identify effective characteristics of high-performing, high-poverty schools. Four South Texas Title 1 schools identified as High Performing Schools by the Texas Education Agency in 2016 were selected for the study. To be selected, these schools were also required to meet or exceed a set of criteria applied by the researchers. An effective school model, comprised of eleven characteristics and school processes, was developed based on a synthesis of effective school research and served as the theoretical framework for the study. The characteristics include Culture, Leadership, Instruction, Improvement, Home and Community Relations, Curriculum, Environment, Professional Development, Vision/Mission, Resources, and Staff. Data was collected from professional school staff, principals, and parents related to the essentiality of the eleven effective characteristics and processes used by the schools. Onsite data collection from each school included a staff survey, focus group session, principal interview, and a parent survey. Results supported the essentiality of the eleven school characteristics synthesized from previous effective schools’ studies. The results also yielded valuable school district strategies that supported the High-Performing Reward Title 1 schools. These strategies included the provision of active specialized support by district staff, district curriculum designed by district teachers during the summer, instructional resources selected through teacher input, flexibility in implementing district supports, professional development during summer and the school year to meet individual teacher needs, district-designed student assessment, an intradistrict and inter-district competitive school environment focused on student achievement, and parent initiatives aligned to local needs

HERV-H RNA is abundant in human embryonic stem cells and a precise marker for pluripotency

BACKGROUND: Certain post-translational modifications to histones, including H3K4me3, as well as binding sites for the transcription factor STAT1, predict the site of integration of exogenous gamma-retroviruses with great accuracy and cell-type specificity. Statistical methods that were used to identify chromatin features that predict exogenous gamma-retrovirus integration site selection were exploited here to determine whether cell type-specific chromatin markers are enriched in the vicinity of endogenous retroviruses (ERVs). RESULTS: Among retro-elements in the human genome, the gamma-retrovirus HERV-H was highly associated with H3K4me3, though this association was only observed in embryonic stem (ES) cells (p < 10(-300)) and, to a lesser extent, in induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells. No significant association was observed in nearly 40 differentiated cell types, nor was any association observed with other retro-elements. Similar strong association was observed between HERV-H and the binding sites within ES cells for the pluripotency transcription factors NANOG, OCT4, and SOX2. NANOG binding sites were located within the HERV-H 5(′)LTR itself. OCT4 and SOX2 binding sites were within 1 kB and 2 kB of the 5(′)LTR, respectively. In keeping with these observations, HERV-H RNA constituted 2% of all poly A RNA in ES cells. As ES cells progressed down a differentiation pathway, the levels of HERV-H RNA decreased progressively. RNA-Seq datasets showed HERV-H transcripts to be over 5 kB in length and to have the structure 5(′)LTR-gag-pro-3(′)LTR, with no evidence of splicing and no intact open reading frames. CONCLUSION: The developmental regulation of HERV-H expression, the association of HERV-H with binding sites for pluripotency transcription factors, and the extremely high levels of HERV-H RNA in human ES cells suggest that HERV-H contributes to pluripotency in human cells. Proximity of HERV-H to binding sites for pluripotency transcription factors within ES cells might be due to retention of the same chromatin features that determined the site of integration of the ancestral, exogenous, gamma-retrovirus that gave rise to HERV-H in the distant past. Retention of these markers, or, alternatively, recruitment of them to the site of the established provirus, may have acted post-integration to fix the provirus within the germ-line of the host species. Either way, HERV-H RNA provides a specific marker for pluripotency in human cells

Intense uptake evidenced by 18F-FDG PET/CT without a corresponding CT finding — dream or reality?

Although 18F-fluoro-deoxy-glucose (FDG) positron emission tomography (PET) has been widely validated and extensively used in the latest years in clinical practice, interpretation of PET/CT images can be affected by several pitfalls. We here present a case of intense lung uptake in a patient without a corresponding finding on CT images, probably due to a microembolism produced during the injection process and located in small vascular structures of the lung parenchyma

The Role of the School District in High-Performance Title One Schools in South Texas

A mixed research study was designed and conducted to identify effective characteristics of high-performing, high-poverty schools. Four South Texas Title 1 schools identified as High Performing Schools by the Texas Education Agency in 2016 were selected for the study. To be selected, these schools were also required to meet or exceed a set of criteria applied by the researchers. An effective school model, comprised of eleven characteristics and school processes, was developed based on a synthesis of effective school research and served as the theoretical framework for the study. The characteristics include Culture, Leadership, Instruction, Improvement, Home and Community Relations, Curriculum, Environment, Professional Development, Vision/Mission, Resources, and Staff. Data was collected from professional school staff, principals, and parents related to the essentiality of the eleven effective characteristics and processes used by the schools. Onsite data collection from each school included a staff survey, focus group session, principal interview, and a parent survey. Results supported the essentiality of the eleven school characteristics synthesized from previous effective schools’ studies. The results also yielded valuable school district strategies that supported the High-Performing Reward Title 1 schools. These strategies included the provision of active specialized support by district staff, district curriculum designed by district teachers during the summer, instructional resources selected through teacher input, flexibility in implementing district supports, professional development during summer and the school year to meet individual teacher needs, district-designed student assessment, an intra-district and inter-district competitive school environment focused on student achievement, and parent initiatives aligned to local needs

Interazione tra chemioterapici e anticoagulanti

Patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma are at increased risk of bleeding, which must be taken into account if the thromboembolic risk profile requires anticoagulant therapy. Patients treated with sunitinib, especially if with a history of hypertension or coronary artery disease, have a higher risk of cardiovascular events, therefore they should be monitored closely for evidence of worsening arterial hypertension or signs of left ventricular dysfunction. The development of some complications associated with sunitinib increases the thromboembolic risk of patients, who often have to resort to anticoagulant therapy. In the absence of specific guidelines for the management of thromboembolic risk in cancer patients, the therapeutic choice must be guided by the evidence available in the literature to support the individual pharmacological classes. We describe her the case of a patient treated with sunitinib for clear cell renal cell carcinoma, with different comorbidities. The case provides interesting clues for optimal prophylaxis of cardioembolism in cancer patient with atrial fibrillation (Cardiology)

Estructura y composición de las comunidades de macroinvertebrados en la cuenca alta del río Caquetá

La presente investigación se realizó entre los meses de marzo a septiembre del año 2009 y describe la estructura de la comunidad de macroinvertebrados acuáticos en un río altoandino, de la cuenca andino amazónica ubicado en el macizo Colombiano en el departamento del Cauca. Nuestros resultados muestran una baja riqueza de taxa de macroinvertebrados que sin embargo son abundantes para algunas familias, especialmente: Baetidae (Baetodes, Camelobaetidios), Simuliidae, Chironomidae. Mediante herramientas estadísticas de análisis multivariado, se demostró que la densidad y la riqueza de las poblaciones de macroinvertebrados están influenciadas por las variaciones de descarga hidráulica generadas por los procesos asociados a las actividades agropecuarias en este caso el monocultivo de papa y la ganadería extensiva, a través de la evaluación de la comunidad de macroinvertebrados bentónicos y parámetros físico químicos, asociados a tres sectores de la cuenca alta del río Caquetá que presentan diferentes grados de perturbación antrópica. Se discute la alteración de la comunidad bentónica con relación al cambio en el uso del suelo y pérdida de la cobertura vegetal en la cuenca. Se colectaron un total de 1 518 individuos correspondientes a ocho órdenes, pertenecientes a doce familias de 16 géneros

Extraosseous myocardial uptake incidentally detected during bone scan: report of three cases and a systematic literature review of extraosseous uptake

Bone scintigraphy is widely considered as an important technique able to investigate various pathological conditions of the skeletal system. Many unexpected extraosseous uptakeshave been reported in literature. We present here three casesof unexpected 99mTc-oxidronate (HDP) myocardial extraosseous uptakes in patients undergoing bone scan for staging purposes. In particular, we present the first reported case ofa myocardial uptake in a patient with IgM-related amyloidosis. Subsequently, we perform a review of the existing literature about extraosseous uptakes