Turning Teachers into Action Researchers in their Classrooms

Action research is often called the teacher’s research and often feels like a common sense approach to solving problems, but not all pre-service teachers begin careers knowing how to use this methodology to improve their own practice. This article offers a rationale for teaching pre-service teachers the skills and action research methodology as a tool for professional improvement based on the experiences of the authors engaging in a reflective process for teaching. While not generalizable, it is hoped that lessons learned may be applied by other faculty in teacher education programs

Turning Teachers into Action Researchers in their Classrooms

Action research is often called the teacher’s research and often feels like a common sense approach to solving problems, but not all pre-service teachers begin careers knowing how to use this methodology to improve their own practice. This article offers a rationale for teaching pre-service teachers the skills and action research methodology as a tool for professional improvement based on the experiences of the authors engaging in a reflective process for teaching. While not generalizable, it is hoped that lessons learned may be applied by other faculty in teacher education programs

The Value of Blood-Based Measures of Liver Function and Urate in Lung Cancer Risk Prediction: A Cohort Study and Health Economic Analysis

BACKGROUND: Several studies have reported associations between low-cost blood-based measurements and lung cancer but their role in risk prediction is unclear. We examined the value of expanding lung cancer risk models for targeting low-dose computed tomography (LDCT) to include blood measurements of liver function and urate. METHODS: We analysed a cohort of 388,199 UK Biobank participants with 1,873 events and calculated the c-index and fraction of new information (FNI) for models expanded to include combinations of blood measurements, lung function (forced expiratory volume in 1 second - FEV1), alcohol status and waist circumference. We calculated the hypothetical cost per lung cancer case detected by LDCT for different scenarios using a threshold of ≥ 1.51% risk at 6 years. RESULTS: The c-index was 0.805 (95%CI:0.794-0.816) for the model containing conventional predictors. Expanding to include blood measurements increased the c-index to 0.815 (95%CI: 0.804-0.826;p<0.0001;FNI:0.06). Expanding to include FEV1, alcohol status, and waist circumference increased the c-index to 0.811 (95%CI:0.800-0.822;p<0.0001;FNI:0.04). The c-index for the fully expanded model containing all variables was 0.819 (95%CI:0.808-0.830; p<0.0001;FNI:0.09). Model expansion had a greater impact on the c-index and FNI for people with a history of smoking cigarettes relative to the full cohort. Compared with the conventional risk model, the expanded models reduced the number of participants meeting the criteria for LDCT screening by 15-21%, and lung cancer cases detected by 7-8%. The additional cost per lung cancer case detected relative to the conventional model was £1,018 for the addition of blood tests and £9,775 for the fully expanded model. CONCLUSION: Blood measurements of liver function and urate improved lung cancer risk prediction compared with a model containing conventional risk factors. However, there was no evidence that model expansion would improve the cost per lung cancer case detected in UK health care settings

The value of blood-based measures of liver function and urate in lung cancer risk prediction: A cohort study and health economic analysis

BACKGROUND: Several studies have reported associations between low-cost blood-based measurements and lung cancer but their role in risk prediction is unclear. We examined the value of expanding lung cancer risk models for targeting low-dose computed tomography (LDCT), including blood measurements of liver function and urate. METHODS: We analysed a cohort of 388,199 UK Biobank participants with 1873 events and calculated the c-index and fraction of new information (FNI) for models expanded to include combinations of blood measurements, lung function (forced expiratory volume in 1 s - FEV1), alcohol status and waist circumference. We calculated the hypothetical cost per lung cancer case detected by LDCT for different scenarios using a threshold of ≥ 1.51 % risk at 6 years. RESULTS: The c-index was 0.805 (95 %CI:0.794-0.816) for the model containing conventional predictors. Expanding to include blood measurements increased the c-index to 0.815 (95 %CI: 0.804-0.826;p < 0.0001;FNI:0.06). Expanding to include FEV1, alcohol status, and waist circumference increased the c-index to 0.811 (95 %CI: 0.800-0.822;p < 0.0001;FNI: 0.04). The c-index for the fully expanded model containing all variables was 0.819 (95 %CI:0.808-0.830;p < 0.0001;FNI:0.09). Model expansion had a greater impact on the c-index and FNI for people with a history of smoking cigarettes relative to the full cohort. Compared with the conventional risk model, the expanded models reduced the number of participants meeting the criteria for LDCT screening by 15-21 %, and lung cancer cases detected by 7-8 %. The additional cost per lung cancer case detected relative to the conventional model was £ 1018 for adding blood tests and £ 9775 for the fully expanded model. CONCLUSION: Blood measurements of liver function and urate made a modest improvement to lung cancer risk prediction compared with a model containing conventional risk factors. There was no evidence that model expansion would improve the cost per lung cancer case detected in UK healthcare settings

Pre - Service Teachers’ Perceptions of Disability as Represented in Children’s Television Programs--RESEARCH

As colleges and universities prepare pre-service teachers to teach in inclusive classrooms, it is important to understand college students’ schema of diversity. Part of creating an inclusive classroom culture is to understand how children view similarities and differences in others, and how to create a culture of acceptance. One way to create a culture of understanding is to use media representations and popular children’s television shows as a springboard for conversation and acceptance, but before pre-service teachers can use media, they have to first understand the characteristics and qualification criteria for students with disabilities, and also how the community at large perceives children with disabilities. This research investigated pre-service teachers’ understanding of proportionality and equality in children’s television programming. University undergraduate students applying to or already admitted into teacher education programs watched several hours of children’s television programs and answered questions about the number of characters they observed with disabilities, as well as the way these characters and their disabilities were presented in the show. The research showed that pre-service teachers disproportionately identified more television characters as having disabilities. Implications for practice include increasing early knowledge of IDEA categories and focusing on positive inclusive models in children’s programming and media

Decitabine-Vorinostat combination treatment in acute myeloid leukemia activates pathways with potential for novel triple therapy

Despite advancements in cancer therapeutics, acute myeloid leukemia patients over 60 years old have a 5-year survival rate of less than 8%. In an attempt to improve this, epigenetic modifying agents have been combined as therapies in clinical studies. In particular combinations with Decitabine and Vorinostat have had varying degrees of efficacy. This study therefore aimed to understand the underlying molecular mechanisms of these agents to identify potential rational epi-sensitized combinations. Combined Decitabine-Vorinostat treatment synergistically decreased cell proliferation, induced apoptosis, enhanced acetylation of histones and further decreased DNMT1 protein with HL-60 cells showing a greater sensitivity to the combined treatment than OCI-AML3. Combination therapy led to reprogramming of unique target genes including AXL, a receptor tyrosine kinase associated with cell survival and a poor prognosis in AML, which was significantly upregulated following treatment. Therefore targeting AXL following epi-sensitization with Decitabine and Vorinostat may be a suitable triple combination. To test this, cells were treated with a novel triple combination therapy including BGB324, an AXL specific inhibitor. Triple combination increased the sensitivity of OCI-AML3 cells to Decitabine and Vorinostat as shown through viability assays and significantly extended the survival of mice transplanted with pretreated OCI-AML3 cells, while bioluminescence imaging showed the decrease in disease burden following triple combination treatment. Further investigation is required to optimize this triple combination, however, these results suggest that AXL is a potential marker of response to Decitabine-Vorinostat combination treatment and offers a new avenue of epigenetic combination therapies for acute myeloid leukemia

The boundary Riemann solver coming from the real vanishing viscosity approximation

We study a family of initial boundary value problems associated to mixed hyperbolic-parabolic systems: v^{\epsilon} _t + A (v^{\epsilon}, \epsilon v^{\epsilon}_x ) v^{\epsilon}_x = \epsilon B (v^{\epsilon} ) v^{\epsilon}_{xx} The conservative case is, in particular, included in the previous formulation. We suppose that the solutions $v^{\epsilon}$ to these problems converge to a unique limit. Also, it is assumed smallness of the total variation and other technical hypotheses and it is provided a complete characterization of the limit. The most interesting points are the following two. First, the boundary characteristic case is considered, i.e. one eigenvalue of $A$ can be $0$. Second, we take into account the possibility that $B$ is not invertible. To deal with this case, we take as hypotheses conditions that were introduced by Kawashima and Shizuta relying on physically meaningful examples. We also introduce a new condition of block linear degeneracy. We prove that, if it is not satisfied, then pathological behaviours may occur.Comment: 84 pages, 6 figures. Text changes in Sections 1 and 3.2.3. Added Section 3.1.2. Minor changes in other section

Missing the forest (plot) for the trees? A critique of the systematic review in tobacco control

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The systematic review (SR) lies at the core of evidence-based medicine. While it may appear that the SR provides a reliable summary of existing evidence, standards of SR conduct differ. The objective of this research was to examine systematic review (SR) methods used by the Cochrane Collaboration ("<it>Cochrane</it>") and the Task Force on Community Preventive Services ("the <it>Guide</it>") for evaluation of effectiveness of tobacco control interventions.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We searched for all reviews of tobacco control interventions published by Cochrane (4^thquarter 2008) and the <it>Guide</it>. We recorded design rigor of included studies, data synthesis method, and setting.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>About a third of the Cochrane reviews and two thirds of the Guide reviews of interventions in the community setting included uncontrolled trials. Most (74%) Cochrane reviews in the clinical setting, but few (15%) in the community setting, provided pooled estimates from RCTs. Cochrane often presented the community results narratively. The Guide did not use inferential statistical approaches to assessment of effectiveness.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Policy makers should be aware that SR methods differ, even among leading producers of SRs and among settings studied. The traditional SR approach of using pooled estimates from RCTs is employed frequently for clinical but infrequently for community-based interventions. The common lack of effect size estimates and formal tests of significance limit the contribution of some reviews to evidence-based decision making. Careful exploration of data by subgroup, and appropriate use of random effects models, may assist researchers in overcoming obstacles to pooling data.</p

Lack of Awareness of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) Infection: Problems and Solutions With Self-reported HIV Serostatus of Men Who Have Sex With Men

Background. Lack of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection awareness may be a driver of racial disparities in HIV infection amongmen who have sex withmen (MSM). Lack of awareness is typicallymeasured by comparing HIV test result to self-reported HIV status. This measure may be subject to reporting bias and alternatives are needed. Methods. The InvolveMENt study examined HIV disparities between black and whiteMSM from Atlanta. Among HIV-positive participants who did not report knowing they were positive, we examined other measures of awareness: HIV viral load (VL)/mL (low VL), antiretroviral (ARV) drugs in blood, and previous HIV case surveillance report. Results. Using self-report only, 32% (62 of 192) of black and 16% (7 of 45) of white MSM were not aware of their HIV infection (P = .03). Using self-report and low VL, 25% (48 of 192) black and 16% (7 of 45) white MSM lacked awareness (P = .18). Using self-report and ARVs, 26% (50 of 192) black and 16% (7 of 45) white MSM lacked awareness (P = .14). Using self-report and surveillance report, 15% (28 of 192) black and 13% (6 of 45) white MSM lacked awareness (P = .83). Conclusions. Self-report only may overestimate true lack of awareness of HIV status for black MSM. If, as our data suggest, black MSM are not less likely to be aware of their HIV infection than are white MSM, then this factor is not a substantial driver of HIV disparity. Future HIV research that depends on accuratemeasurement of HIV status awareness should consider including additional laboratory and case surveillance data

Some Like It Fat: Comparative Ultrastructure of the Embryo in Two Demosponges of the Genus Mycale (Order Poecilosclerida) from Antarctica and the Caribbean

0000-0002-7993-1523© 2015 Riesgo et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License [4.0], which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. The attached file is the published version of the article