The Effects of One-on-One Interventions on Kindergarten Students.

This 2023 study focuses on the impact that one-on-one interventions have on the academic achievement of kindergarten students. My focus is on whether one-on-one interventions play a significant role in the outcome of student scores on trimester achievement assessments, or if one-on-one interventions do not show success in student progress. Students will be assessed daily for 20 days on interventions in areas they are struggling with. The research took place in a Minnesota school, specifically five Kindergarten students who are in the same classroom. The data and results will follow

How Participation in a Peer-Led Writing Center Impacts Struggling Students’ Self-Efficacy and Motivation

Many secondary students struggle with writing, both in terms of skill and confidence. This qualitative case study follows six students who have a history of struggling in English Language Arts class as they undergo a tutoring intervention based on the writing center model of peer tutoring. Students were observed in seven writing sessions which took place at multiple stages of the writing process and with informational, narrative, and analytical writing assignments. Through interview and observation, the researcher examines how students’ self-efficacy and motivation shift over the course of the intervention. Students who began with low self-efficacy and low motivation were shown to have increased in both components through the tutoring process; students with high self-efficacy and low motivation did not experience the same positive impact

Smarter Programming of the Female Condom: Increasing Its Impact on HIV Prevention in the Developing World

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relative value of the female condom for HIV prevention within heterosexual relationships in the developing world. In the last ten years, the world has witnessed both historic financial commitments to HIV/AIDS and new prevention options, including biomedical prevention research, male circumcision, and a dramatic scale-up of voluntary counseling and testing. At the same time, where HIV remains at epidemic levels in many countries, there has been a growing commitment to treatment access alongside prevention programs. However, portions of populations, particularly youth and women, remain highly vulnerable to HIV infection. Accordingly, the global health community can benefit from a better understanding of how existing prevention options should be effectively and efficiently delivered to reduce HIV in the developing world. This report provides guidance for the global health community for considering how the female condom fits within the set of prevention interventions currently available

Investigation of the Hsp90 C-terminal Binding Site, Novel Inhibitors and Isoform-Dependent Client Proteins

The heat shock proteins represent an important class of pro-survival proteins that are intimately involved in cell survival, adaptation to cellular stress, and protein management. Heat shock protein 90 kDa (Hsp90) is a molecular chaperone responsible for the post-translational maturation of nascent polypeptides. Many of the Hsp90-dependent client proteins are involved in oncogenic processes, and accordingly, Hsp90 has emerged as a promising target for anti-cancer therapies. Unfortunately, the clinical evaluation of Hsp90 inhibitors has been met with dosing, scheduling, and toxicity issues. The Hsp90 inhibitors that have reached clinical trials bind to the Hsp90 N-terminal ATP-binding site and demonstrate pan-Hsp90 inhibition, as they bind to and inhibit all four human Hsp90 isoforms. This characteristic may rationalize the undesired toxicities related to Hsp90 inhibition. Interestingly, the identification and characterization of isoform specific client proteins has not been extensively explored. In addition, N-terminal Hsp90 inhibition results in the induction of the heat shock response, whereby the expression of Hsp90 and other heat shock proteins is induced. This attribute of N-terminal inhibitors results in the clinically observed dosing and scheduling detriments as levels of Hsp90 increase with administration of the drug. Described herein is the design, synthesis and biological evaluation of novel Hsp90 inhibitors that avoid the above mentioned therapeutic liabilities of currently known Hsp90 inhibitors. The identification and characterization of an Hsp90-isoform dependent client protein and an Hsp90-isoform selective inhibitor is also presented

Investigating the Effectiveness of Prehospital Recognition and Administration of Intravenous Antibiotics in Septic Patients

Objective: To compare the 30-day mortality rate of suspected sepsis patients who received prehospital (Emergency Medical Services- EMS) antibiotic administration in an ambulance as compared to antibiotic administration in the hospital. Design: Systematic literature review. Methods: Research was conducted in PubMed and Google Scholar with the search terms: sepsis, antibiotics, prehospital, EMS, ambulance. The 3 articles selected were chosen after removing articles not from a randomized control trial, no antibiotic administration, and not a free article. Results: From our meta-analysis of the three studies, we concluded that providing antibiotics before arriving at the hospital for patients with suspected septic infections. The Alam et al study demonstrated that there was no reduction in mortality when comparing prehospital administration of intravenous antibiotics to those who received their antibiotics in-hospital. Jones et al also showed no improvement in mortality rates in the treatment group but did find a statistically significant reduction in the 3-month readmission rate among the treatment group. In the third study, Chamberlain concluded that prehospital administration of intravenous antibiotics does in fact reduce 28- day mortality but correlating mortality with mean intensive-care unit (ICU) length of stay. Conclusion: 30-day mortality is not improved with early antibiotic administration in septic patients

Expression of the Thyroid Hormone Receptor Gene, erbAα, in B Lymphocytes: Alternative mRNA Processing is Independent of Differentiation but Correlates with Antisense RNA Levels

The erbAα gene encodes two α-thyroid hormone receptor isoforms, TRα1 and TRα2, which arise from alternatively processed mRNAs, erbAα1 (α1) and erb α2 (α2). The splicing and alternative polyadenylation patterns of these mRNAs resemble that of mRNAs encoding different forms of immunoglobulin heavy chains, which are regulated at the level of alternative processing during B cell differentiation. This study examines the levels of erbAα mRNA in eight B cell lines representing four stages of differentiation in order to determine whether regulation of the alternatively processed α1 and α2 mRNAs parallels the processing of immunoglobulin heavy chain mRNAs. Results show that the pattern of α1 and α2 mRNA expression is clearly different from that observed for immunoglobulin heavy chain mRNAs. B cell lines display characteristic ratios of α1/α2 mRNA at distinct stages of differentiation. Furthermore, expression of an overlapping gene, Rev-ErbAα (RevErb), was found to correlate strongly with an increase in the ratio of α1/α2 mRNA. These results suggest that alternative processing of erbAα mRNAs is regulated by a mechanism which is distinct from that regulating immunoglobulin mRNA. The correlation between RevErb and erbAα mRNA is consistent with negative regulation of α2 via antisense interactions with the complementary RevErb mRNA

The ethics of narrative art: Philosophy in schools, compassion and learning from stories

Following neo-Aristotelians Alasdair MacIntyre and Martha Nussbaum, we claim that humans are story-telling animals who learn from the stories of diverse others. Moral agents use rational emotions, such as compassion, which is our focus here, to imaginatively reconstruct others’ thoughts, feelings and goals. In turn, this imaginative reconstruction plays a crucial role in deliberating and discerning how to act. A body of literature has developed in support of the role narrative artworks (i.e. novels and films) can play in allowing us the opportunity to engage imaginatively and sympathetically with diverse characters and scenarios in a safe protected space that is created by the fictional world. By practising what Nussbaum calls a ‘loving attitude’, her version of ethical attention, we can form virtuous habits that lead to phronesis (practical wisdom). In this paper, and taking compassion as an illustrative focus, we examine the ways that students’ moral education might usefully develop from engaging with narrative artworks through Philosophy for Children (P4C), where philosophy is a praxis, conducted in a classroom setting using a Community of Inquiry (CoI). We argue that narrative artworks provide useful stimulus material to engage students, generate student questions, and motivate philosophical dialogue and the formation of good habits, which, in turn, supports the argument for philosophy to be taught in schools

Optimization and Structural Characterization of Dimethyl Trisulfide (DMTS) Oxidation Product

Cyanide poisoning is a public concern, and there are many shortfalls in current cyanide treatments. Dimethyl trisulfide (DMTS) is a cyanide antidote candidate that overcomes these shortfalls. Currently, there are limited published reports related to the analysis of DMTS. Therefore, an analytical method to detect and analyze DMTS from a biological matrix is vital for it to become available as a therapeutic agent against cyanide poisoning. The motivation of this project is to develop an HPLC-MS/MS method for analysis of DMTS and its degradation products; however, DMTS is difficult to ionize, a requirement for MS analysis, due to its nonpolar nature. In this study, DMTS was oxidized to a more polar compound that should enable its MS-MS analysis. The oxidation reaction was optimized to maximize product yield and, therefore, improve the accuracy of the analytical technique. The optimized oxidation reaction increased the yield of oxidized DMTS by 17.4% and decreased the amount of un-oxidized DMTS by 88.5%. In addition, initial characterization of the reaction product was preformed, using GC-MS. The preliminary results indicated the DMTS was fully oxidized

Organizational Capacity Survey: Capturing an Extension System\u27s Current State and Pinpointing Areas for Improvement

An organizational capacity survey (OCS) can reveal gaps in what an organization is doing and what an organization\u27s employees feel the organization should be doing. Mississippi State University (MSU) Extension conducted an OCS to assess perceptions of MSU Extension\u27s vision and commitment, plan of work, working relationships, diversity and pluralism, public value, personnel knowledge and expertise, and training needs. Questions were designed to measure perceptions of how MSU Extension is currently and how it should be ideally. This design allowed discrepancy scores to be calculated to identify areas in which capacity development was needed or desired that could then be addressed through state-based professional development