Building Capacity for Quality Leadership with English Language Learners

Waxman, Téllez, and Walberg (2004) advocated that school leaders must assist staff developers in providing English language learner (ELLs)-related professional development that includes “demonstration of theories of language, sustained coaching, and evaluation programs measuring teacher implementation and impact” (p 2-3). These professional development goals are central to the leader’s purposeful expansion of teachers’ knowledge, skills, and dispositions concerning the unique needs of ELLs and communicating the importance of the effective curricular integration of well-planned and embedded strategies designed to meet the needs of the often marginalized ELL population. School leaders must be willing to provide a systematic program of professional development that concentrates on teachers’ attitudes toward change; an understanding of the campus’s vision for the success of all students and its focus on student learning; the nurturing of an environment of trust, collaboration, and the critical importance of the campus as a learning as a professional community

PYR/PYL/RCAR abscisic acid receptors regulate K⁺ and Cl^- channels through reactive oxygen species-mediated activation of Ca²⁺ channels at the plasma membrane of intact Arabidopsis guard cells.

The discovery of the START family of abscisic acid (ABA) receptors places these proteins at the front of a protein kinase/phosphatase signal cascade that promotes stomatal closure. The connection of these receptors to Ca<sup>2+</sup> signals evoked by ABA has proven more difficult to resolve, although it has been implicated by studies of the pyrbactin-insensitive <i>pyr1/pyl1/pyl2/pyl4</i> quadruple mutant. One difficulty is that flux through plasma membrane Ca<sup>2+</sup> channels and Ca<sup>2+</sup> release from endomembrane stores coordinately elevate cytosolic free Ca<sup>2+</sup> concentration ([Ca<sup>2+</sup>]<sub>i</sub>) in guard cells, and both processes are facilitated by ABA. Here, we describe a method for recording Ca<sup>2+</sup> channels at the plasma membrane of intact guard cells of Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana). We have used this method to resolve the loss of ABA-evoked Ca<sup>2+</sup> channel activity at the plasma membrane in the <i>pyr1/pyl1/pyl2/pyl4</i> mutant and show the consequent suppression of [Ca<sup>2+</sup>]<sub>i</sub> increases in vivo. The basal activity of Ca<sup>2+</sup> channels was not affected in the mutant; raising the concentration of Ca<sup>2+</sup> outside was sufficient to promote Ca<sup>2+</sup> entry, to inactivate current carried by inward-rectifying K<sup>+</sup> channels and to activate current carried by the anion channels, both of which are sensitive to [Ca<sup>2+</sup>]<sub>i</sub> elevations. However, the ABA-dependent increase in reactive oxygen species (ROS) was impaired. Adding the ROS hydrogen peroxide was sufficient to activate the Ca<sup>2+</sup> channels and trigger stomatal closure in the mutant. These results offer direct evidence of PYR/PYL/RCAR receptor coupling to the activation by ABA of plasma membrane Ca<sup>2+</sup> channels through ROS, thus affecting [Ca<sup>2+</sup>]<sub>i</sub> and its regulation of stomatal closure

Lewy Body Dementia Association\u27s Research Centers of Excellence Program: Inaugural Meeting Proceedings.

The first Lewy Body Dementia Association (LBDA) Research Centers of Excellence (RCOE) Investigator\u27s meeting was held on December 14, 2017, in New Orleans. The program was established to increase patient access to clinical experts on Lewy body dementia (LBD), which includes dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) and Parkinson\u27s disease dementia (PDD), and to create a clinical trials-ready network. Four working groups (WG) were created to pursue the LBDA RCOE aims: (1) increase access to high-quality clinical care, (2) increase access to support for people living with LBD and their caregivers, (3) increase knowledge of LBD among medical and allied (or other) professionals, and (4) create infrastructure for a clinical trials-ready network as well as resources to advance the study of new therapeutics

Evolutionary trade-offs associated with loss of PmrB function in host-adapted <i>Pseudomonas aeruginosa</i>

Pseudomonas aeruginosa colonises the upper airway of cystic fibrosis (CF) patients, providing a reservoir of host-adapted genotypes that subsequently establish chronic lung infection. We previously experimentally-evolved P. aeruginosa in a murine model of respiratory tract infection and observed early-acquired mutations in pmrB, encoding the sensor kinase of a two-component system that promoted establishment and persistence of infection. Here, using proteomics, we show downregulation of proteins involved in LPS biosynthesis, antimicrobial resistance and phenazine production in pmrB mutants, and upregulation of proteins involved in adherence, lysozyme resistance and inhibition of the chloride ion channel CFTR, relative to wild-type strain LESB65. Accordingly, pmrB mutants are susceptible to antibiotic treatment but show enhanced adherence to airway epithelial cells, resistance to lysozyme treatment, and downregulate host CFTR expression. We propose that P. aeruginosa pmrB mutations in CF patients are subject to an evolutionary trade-off, leading to enhanced colonisation potential, CFTR inhibition, and resistance to host defences, but also to increased susceptibility to antibiotics.</p

Negative Priming Under Rapid Serial Visual Presentation

Negative priming (NP) was examined under a new paradigm wherein a target and distractors were temporally separated using rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP). The results from the two experiments revealed that (a) NP was robust under RSVP, such that the responses to a target were slower when the target served as a distractor in a previous trial than when it did not; (b) NP was found regardless of whether the distractors appeared before or after the targets; and (c) NP was stronger when the distractor was more distinctive. These findings are generally similar to those on NP in the spatial search task. The implications for the processes causing NP under RSVP are discussed in the current paper

A new subspecies of Trypanosoma cyclops found in the Australian terrestrial leech Chtonobdella bilineata

Previously, it was suggested that haemadipsid leeches represent an important vector of trypanosomes amongst native animals in Australia. Consequently, Chtonobdella bilineata leeches were investigated for the presence of trypanosome species by polymerase chain reaction (PCR), DNA sequencing and in vitro isolation. Phylogenetic analysis ensued to further define the populations present. PCR targeting the 28S rDNA demonstrated that over 95% of C. bilineata contained trypanosomes; diversity profiling by deep amplicon sequencing of 18S rDNA indicated the presence of four different clusters related to the Trypanosoma (Megatrypanum) theileri. Novy-MacNeal-Nicolle slopes with liquid overlay were used to isolate trypanosomes into culture that proved similar in morphology to Trypanosoma cyclops in that they contained a large numbers of acidocalcisomes. Phylogeny of 18S rDNA/GAPDH/ND5 DNA sequences from primary cultures and subclones showed the trypanosomes were monophyletic, with T. cyclops as a sister group. Blood-meal analysis of leeches showed that leeches primarily contained blood from swamp wallaby (Wallabia bicolour), human (Homo sapiens) or horse (Equus sp.). The leech C. bilineata is a host for at least five lineages of Trypanosoma sp. and these are monophyletic with T. cyclops; we propose Trypanosoma cyclops australiensis as a subspecies of T. cyclops based on genetic similarity and biogeography considerations

LSST: from Science Drivers to Reference Design and Anticipated Data Products

(Abridged) We describe here the most ambitious survey currently planned in the optical, the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST). A vast array of science will be enabled by a single wide-deep-fast sky survey, and LSST will have unique survey capability in the faint time domain. The LSST design is driven by four main science themes: probing dark energy and dark matter, taking an inventory of the Solar System, exploring the transient optical sky, and mapping the Milky Way. LSST will be a wide-field ground-based system sited at Cerro Pach\'{o}n in northern Chile. The telescope will have an 8.4 m (6.5 m effective) primary mirror, a 9.6 deg$^2$ field of view, and a 3.2 Gigapixel camera. The standard observing sequence will consist of pairs of 15-second exposures in a given field, with two such visits in each pointing in a given night. With these repeats, the LSST system is capable of imaging about 10,000 square degrees of sky in a single filter in three nights. The typical 5$\sigma$ point-source depth in a single visit in $r$ will be $\sim 24.5$ (AB). The project is in the construction phase and will begin regular survey operations by 2022. The survey area will be contained within 30,000 deg$^2$ with $\delta<+34.5^\circ$, and will be imaged multiple times in six bands, $ugrizy$, covering the wavelength range 320--1050 nm. About 90\% of the observing time will be devoted to a deep-wide-fast survey mode which will uniformly observe a 18,000 deg$^2$ region about 800 times (summed over all six bands) during the anticipated 10 years of operations, and yield a coadded map to $r\sim27.5$. The remaining 10\% of the observing time will be allocated to projects such as a Very Deep and Fast time domain survey. The goal is to make LSST data products, including a relational database of about 32 trillion observations of 40 billion objects, available to the public and scientists around the world.Comment: 57 pages, 32 color figures, version with high-resolution figures available from https://www.lsst.org/overvie

Plasma glial fibrillary acidic protein in autosomal dominant Alzheimer\u27s disease: Associations with Aβ-PET, neurodegeneration, and cognition

Background: Glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) is a promising candidate blood-based biomarker for Alzheimer\u27s disease (AD) diagnosis and prognostication. The timing of its disease-associated changes, its clinical correlates, and biofluid-type dependency will influence its clinical utility. Methods: We evaluated plasma, serum, and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) GFAP in families with autosomal dominant AD (ADAD), leveraging the predictable age at symptom onset to determine changes by stage of disease. Results: Plasma GFAP elevations appear a decade before expected symptom onset, after amyloid beta (A ) accumulation and prior to neurodegeneration and cognitive decline. Plasma GFAP distinguished A -positive from A -negative ADAD participants and showed a stronger relationship with A load in asymptomatic than symptomatic ADAD. Higher plasma GFAP was associated with the degree and rate of neurodegeneration and cognitive impairment. Serum GFAP showed similar relationships, but these were less pronounced for CSF GFAP. Conclusion: Our findings support a role for plasma GFAP as a clinical biomarker of A -related astrocyte reactivity that is associated with cognitive decline and neurodegeneration. Highlights: Plasma glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) elevations appear a decade before expected symptom onset in autosomal dominant Alzheimer\u27s disease (ADAD). Plasma GFAP was associated to amyloid positivity in asymptomatic ADAD. Plasma GFAP increased with clinical severity and predicted disease progression. Plasma and serum GFAP carried similar information in ADAD, while cerebrospinal fluid GFAP did not

Lewy Body Dementia Association’s Research Centers of Excellence Program: Inaugural Meeting Proceedings

Abstract The first Lewy Body Dementia Association (LBDA) Research Centers of Excellence (RCOE) Investigator’s meeting was held on December 14, 2017, in New Orleans. The program was established to increase patient access to clinical experts on Lewy body dementia (LBD), which includes dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) and Parkinson’s disease dementia (PDD), and to create a clinical trials-ready network. Four working groups (WG) were created to pursue the LBDA RCOE aims: (1) increase access to high-quality clinical care, (2) increase access to support for people living with LBD and their caregivers, (3) increase knowledge of LBD among medical and allied (or other) professionals, and (4) create infrastructure for a clinical trials-ready network as well as resources to advance the study of new therapeutics.https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/148286/1/13195_2019_Article_476.pd