The multifaceted role of astrocytes in regulating myelination

Astrocytes are the major glial cell of the central nervous system (CNS), providing both metabolic and physical support to other neural cells. After injury, astrocytes become reactive and express a continuum of phenotypes which may be supportive or inhibitory to CNS repair. This review will focus on the ability of astrocytes to influence myelination in the context of specific secreted factors, cytokines and other neural cell targets within the CNS. In particular, we focus on how astrocytes provide energy and cholesterol to neurons, influence synaptogenesis, affect oligodendrocyte biology and instigate cross-talk between the many cellular components of the CNS

Micro- and nanoplastic pollution of freshwater and wastewater treatment systems

Plastic waste is a widespread and persistent global challenge with negative impacts on the environment, economy, human health and aesthetics. Plastic pollution has been a focus of environmental research over the past few decades, particularly in relation to macroplastics that are easily visible by the naked eye. More recently, smaller plastic waste at the micro- and nanoscale has become of increasing concern, resulting in extensive investment in research to advance knowledge on the sources, distribution, fate and impact of these materials in aquatic systems. However, owing to their small sizes and a lack of unified methods, adequate quantitative and qualitative assessment has been difficult. Furthermore, most of the microplastic surveys available to date have focussed in the marine environment while scarce knowledge exists of freshwater systems. Because the majority of marine debris originates on land, the role of wastewater treatment systems and natural fluvial vectors in delivering these emerging contaminants to the environment should be explored. Considering fundamental aspects pertaining to microplastic sources, distribution, mobility and degradation in these systems is crucial for developing effective control measures and strategies to mitigate the discharge of these particles to the sea

Human olfactory mesenchymal stromal cell transplants promote remyelination and earlier improvement in gait co-ordination after spinal cord injury

Autologous cell transplantation is a promising strategy for repair of the injured spinal cord. Here we have studied the repair potential of mesenchymal stromal cells isolated from the human olfactory mucosa after transplantation into a rodent model of incomplete spinal cord injury. Investigation of peripheral type remyelination at the injury site using immunocytochemistry for P0, showed a more extensive distribution in transplanted compared with control animals. In addition to the typical distribution in the dorsal columns (common to all animals), in transplanted animals only, P0 immunolabelling was consistently detected in white matter lateral and ventral to the injury site. Transplanted animals also showed reduced cavitation. Several functional outcome measures including end-point electrophysiological testing of dorsal column conduction and weekly behavioural testing of BBB, weight bearing and pain, showed no difference between transplanted and control animals. However, gait analysis revealed an earlier recovery of co-ordination between forelimb and hindlimb stepping in transplanted animals. This improvement in gait may be associated with the enhanced myelination in ventral and lateral white matter, where fibre tracts important for locomotion reside. Autologous transplantation of mesenchymal stromal cells from the olfactory mucosa may therefore be therapeutically beneficial in the treatment of spinal cord injury

Direction-Projection-Permutation for High Dimensional Hypothesis Tests

Motivated by the prevalence of high dimensional low sample size datasets in modern statistical applications, we propose a general nonparametric framework, Direction-Projection-Permutation (DiProPerm), for testing high dimensional hypotheses. The method is aimed at rigorous testing of whether lower dimensional visual differences are statistically significant. Theoretical analysis under the non-classical asymptotic regime of dimension going to infinity for fixed sample size reveals that certain natural variations of DiProPerm can have very different behaviors. An empirical power study both confirms the theoretical results and suggests DiProPerm is a powerful test in many settings. Finally DiProPerm is applied to a high dimensional gene expression dataset

Supporting fathers to engage with their children's learning and education : an under-developed aspect of the Parent Support Adviser pilot

The Parent Support Adviser (PSA) role, piloted in 2006-2008 in 20 Local Authorities (LAs) in England, offered preventative and early intervention support to families where there were concerns about children‟s school attendance or behaviour. Overall, this was a highly successful initiative in terms of supporting parental engagement with their children‟s schools. However, this article presents evidence drawn from 162 interviews (with PSAs, their line managers and coordinators in 12 case study LAs) showing that there was one key area in the PSA pilot that was less successful – the engagement of fathers. The article examines views about how to engage fathers and of the barriers explaining the overall absence of fathers from the PSA project. It highlights the dissonance between policy and practitioner guidance on the one hand and practice on the other with regard to the relative failure to engage fathers with this important initiative

Evaluation of the impact of the DFE investment in initiatives designed to improve teacher workforce skills in relation to SEN and disabilities: 1st interim report

"This is the 1st Interim Report of a longitudinal study to evaluate the impact of investment by the Department for Education (DfE) to improve teacher workforce skills in relation to special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). The evaluation started in December 2008 and this report covers work carried out over the period January 2009 – July 2010. The evaluation continues until March 2011." - Page 1

Better communication research project : language and literacy attainment of pupils during early years and through KS2 : does teacher assessment at five provide a valid measure of children's current and future educational attainments?

It is well-established that language skills are amongst the best predictors of educational success. Consistent with this, findings from a population-based longitudinal study of parents and children in the UK indicate that language development at the age of two years predicts children’s performance on entering primary school. Moreover, children who enter school with poorly developed speech and language are at risk of literacy difficulties and educational underachievement is common in such children. Whatever the origin of children’s problems with language and communication, the poor educational attainment of children with language learning difficulties is an important concern for educational polic

Direction-Projection-Permutation for High-Dimensional Hypothesis Tests

High-dimensional low sample size (HDLSS) data are becoming increasingly common in statistical applications. When the data can be partitioned into two classes, a basic task is to construct a classifier that can assign objects to the correct class. Binary linear classifiers have been shown to be especially useful in HDLSS settings and preferable to more complicated classifiers because of their ease of interpretability. We propose a computational tool called direction-projection-permutation (DiProPerm), which rigorously assesses whether a binary linear classifier is detecting statistically significant differences between two high-dimensional distributions. The basic idea behind DiProPerm involves working directly with the one-dimensional projections of the data induced by binary linear classifier. Theoretical properties of DiProPerm are studied under the HDLSS asymptotic regime whereby dimension diverges to infinity while sample size remains fixed. We show that certain variations of DiProPerm are consistent and that consistency is a nontrivial property of tests in the HDLSS asymptotic regime. The practical utility of DiProPerm is demonstrated on HDLSS gene expression microarray datasets. Finally, an empirical power study is conducted comparing DiProPerm to several alternative two-sample HDLSS tests to understand the advantages and disadvantages of each method. Susan Wei, Department of Statistics and Operations Research, University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3260 (E-mail: [email protected] ). Chihoon Lee, Assistant Professor, Department of Statistics and Operations Research, University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3260 and currently at Department of Statistics, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523-1877 (E-mail: [email protected] ). Lindsay Wichers, Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, School of Public Health, University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3260 and currently at Environmental Media Assessment Group, MD B243-01, National Center for Environmental Assessment, Office of Research and Development, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, NC 27711 (E-mail: [email protected] ), J. S. Marron, Department of Statistics and Operations Research, University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3260 (E-mail: [email protected] )

Centre of mass acceleration-derived variables detects differences between runners of different abilities and fatigue-related changes during a long distance over ground run

Background: Wireless accelerometers provide a method of performing running assessments in sports-specific environments. The purpose of this study was to investigate differences in running movement using centre of mass acceleration-derived variables between runners of varying skill levels and examine fatigue-related changes during a long distance over ground run. Methods: Ninety-two runners performed a self-selected paced long distance over ground run, with a tri-axial accelerometer attached to their low back. Runners were divided into four groups (elite, advanced, intermediate and slow) based on their finishing run time. Spatiotemporal (contact time, flight time, step frequency), dynamic postural stability (ratio of root mean square of accelerations), dynamic loading (peak impact and braking accelerations) and variability (step and stride regularity), were derived from acceleration data. Speed and acceleration-derived variables were used to investigate between group differences and within group fatigue-related changes. Results: Faster runners (elite and advanced groups) exhibited significantly shorter contact times and higher step frequencies than the slow group. Fatigue-related changes throughout the run were only observed amongst the slower runners (intermediate and slow groups). The main changes in the intermediate group were an increase in ratio of root mean square in mediolateral acceleration, and a decrease in speed in the slow group. Conclusion: The shorter contact times and higher step frequencies and no fatigue-related changes exhibited by the faster runners indicate an efficient running movement pattern. Fatigue-related changes in the slower runners were a decrease in postural dynamic stability in mediolateral direction in the intermediate group and a decrease in speed in the slow group which impacted on performance. These runners would benefit from exercise interventions and pacing strategies to reduce these fatigue-related changes and improve performance