School Choice and the Necessity of Vision, A Literature Review

School-choice has met opposition at the state level of politics in recent years despite growing support for all the policies covered under that broad category — Educational Savings Accounts, Tax-Credit scholarships, charter schools, and vouchers to name the primary policy options — from the voting public as well as the parents with children in schools. Because the predominant audience for reviews has been directed to state legislators, there is a gap that needs filling. That gap should be aimed at federal legislators and executive members to re-consider the purpose of the United States\u27 universal public education in order that we might strengthen weaknesses of choice programs, strengthen strong performers, bolster those in the middle, and, ultimately, improve the traditional public school options. The literature on school-choice can be divided into four categories: (1) Statistical Analysis of the efficacy of programs, (2) Curriculum reform, (3) Social reform, and (4) Social imaginary reform. A clear understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of each literature type naturally leads to a realization that states and localities are in need of some help to infuse their struggling schools with funding, offer tweaks to their middling programs, and to allow their strong districts to keep doing what they are doing well. The current system that funds localities do not help traditional public schools in high-poverty areas. Ideally, this literature review unveils the weaknesses of the funding system for education would accomplish a few things: It would clarify the purpose of education and allow for localities or states to make that decision, It would generate research for potential funding mechanisms for under-funded schools, It would alleviate the stress on existing schools in under-funded districts by encouraging successful school-choice options, and It would clarify the most successful school-choice policies to apply The implications for policy are simple, school-choice is a viable option to relieve stress on existing schools that are performing poorly. Finding ways to encourage a both/and process that funds struggling schools and provides options for parents whose children are stuck in failing schools would best serve the people

The Office

This newsletter was created by the Fall 2016 Honors English Class from Stephen F. Austin State University. Throughout the semester students were asked to define and interpret the terms work and labor. Through our individual research on different aspects of work and labor, we hope to expand the general spectrum of what encompasses these topics. Works and labor are two important aspects of our culture. They are umbrella terms that encompass many occupational fields and serve as a uniting factor in modern-day society. Aspects of work and labor are observable in an assortment of environments, whether it be through schoolwork as children or salary-paying jobs as adults. Because the global employment industry as a whole has such strong relations to work and labor ingrained in how duties are completed, there is a wide range of areas where they are applicable. Here, in this newsletter, many different aspects of these terms will be discussed. There are more elements to work and labor than many realize. Through the works included in our newsletter, we hope to expand the general understanding of work, labor, and the components that make them what they are

Sipuleucel-T (Provenge®): Therapeutic Use and Financial Implications

Although mortality rates have been declining, prostate cancer accounts for a large percentage of cancer diagnoses around the world. Sipuleucel-T (Provenge®), an autologous cellular immunotherapy targeted against the antigen expressed in most prostate cancers, has been shown to increase the median survival rate of castration-resistant prostate cancer. Even so, the therapeutic risks and benefits, as well as financial implications, all currently play a role in the governmental decision to reimburse for this new therapy

Specialization for rapid excitation in fast squid tentacle muscle involves action potentials absent in slow arm muscle

Author Posting. © Company of Biologists, 2019. This article is posted here by permission of Company of Biologists for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Journal of Experimental Biology 223(3), (2019): jeb.218081, doi: 10.1242/jeb.218081.An important aspect of the performance of many fast muscle fiber types is rapid excitation. Previous research on the cross-striated muscle fibers responsible for the rapid tentacle strike in squid has revealed the specializations responsible for high shortening velocity, but little is known about excitation of these fibers. Conventional whole-cell patch recordings were made from tentacle fibers and the slower obliquely striated muscle fibers of the arms. The fast-contracting tentacle fibers show an approximately 10-fold greater sodium conductance than that of the arm fibers and, unlike the arm fibers, the tentacle muscle fibers produce action potentials. In situ hybridization using an antisense probe to the voltage-dependent sodium channel present in this squid genus shows prominent expression of sodium channel mRNA in tentacle fibers but undetectable expression in arm fibers. Production of action potentials by tentacle muscle fibers and their absence in arm fibers is likely responsible for the previously reported greater twitch–tetanus ratio in the tentacle versus the arm fibers. During the rapid tentacle strike, a few closely spaced action potentials would result in maximal activation of transverse tentacle muscle. Activation of the slower transverse muscle fibers in the arms would require summation of excitatory postsynaptic potentials over a longer time, allowing the precise modulation of force required for supporting slower movements of the arms.This work was supported by the National Science Foundation (IOS 1557754 to W.F.G. and IOS 0951067 to W.M.K.).2021-01-0

Investigating the Feasibility of a Restaurant Delivery Service to Improve Food Security among College Students Experiencing Marginal Food Security, a Head-to-Head Trial with Grocery Store Gift Cards

Restaurant delivery services have gained in popularity among college students; however, students participating in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) are not allowed to redeem their benefits via restaurant delivery services. This mixed-methods head-to-head crossover trial assessed whether college students experiencing marginal food security prefer benefits via a grocery store gift card (as a proxy for traditional SNAP benefits) or via a restaurant delivery service gift card of equivalent value, and which type of benefit is more effective at improving food security status. Thirty college students experiencing marginal food security were recruited to receive $80 in cash equivalent benefits to spend over a two-month period in the form of grocery store gift cards and restaurant delivery service gift cards. Participants completed surveys and interviews to measure their food security status and share their experiences with each benefit type. After four months of benefits, 48.3% of participants improved their food security status. However, neither type of benefit was statistically better at improving food security status. Most participants preferred grocery store benefits (89.7%) over restaurant delivery service benefits (10.3%). However, more research is needed to explore whether allowing SNAP recipients to redeem their benefits with restaurant delivery services is a viable mechanism to address food challenges among college students experiencing marginal food security

Adjuvanted HIV-1 vaccine promotes antibody-dependent phagocytic responses and protects against heterologous SHIV challenge.

To augment HIV-1 pox-protein vaccine immunogenicity using a next generation adjuvant, a prime-boost strategy of recombinant modified vaccinia virus Ankara and multimeric Env gp145 was evaluated in macaques with either aluminum (alum) or a novel liposomal monophosphoryl lipid A (MPLA) formulation adsorbed to alum, ALFA. Binding antibody responses were robust and comparable between arms, while antibody-dependent neutrophil and monocyte phagocytotic responses were greatly enhanced by ALFA. Per-exposure vaccine efficacy against heterologous tier 2 SHIV mucosal challenge was 90% in ALFA-adjuvanted males (P = 0.002), while alum conferred no protection. Half of the ALFA-adjuvanted males remained uninfected after the full challenge series, which spanned seven months after the last vaccination. Antibody-dependent monocyte and neutrophil phagocytic responses both strongly correlated with protection. Significant sex differences in infection risk were observed, with much lower infection rates in females than males. In humans, MPLA-liposome-alum adjuvanted gp120 also increased HIV-1-specific phagocytic responses relative to alum. Thus, next-generation liposome-based adjuvants can drive vaccine elicited antibody effector activity towards potent phagocytic responses in both macaques and humans and these responses correlate with protection. Future protein vaccination strategies aiming to improve functional humoral responses may benefit from such adjuvants