Early Education Essentials Illustrations of Strong Organizational Practices in Programs Poised for Improvement

Extensive evidence demonstrates that high-quality, well-implemented early childhood education (ECE) positively impacts the learning trajectories of children, especially those from vulnerable populations. Yet many early childhood programs across the nation struggle to implement high-quality programming and, consequently, fail to sufficientlyadvance children's early learning. A growing body of research on school improvement demonstrates that strong organizational conditions will be necessary to lift stagnant levels of quality in early childhood settings. But this begs the question: What do strong organizational conditions look like in ECE settings?The Ounce of Prevention Fund, in partnership with UChicago Consortium, developed and validated the Early EducationEssentials surveys to provide the field with reliable and valid measurement of organizational conditions. As part of ourmeasurement work, we spent time observing and talking with leaders, teachers and families in ECE programs whosesurvey responses indicated that their essential supports were either very strong or very weak. Differences in their organizational climate and conditions were stark and unmistakable. Simply put, strongly organized programs created contexts far more supportive of teaching, learning and family engagement than the contexts created by weakly organized programs. In this paper, we describe those strong organizational contexts and how they empowered leaders, teachers and families to aspire to and realize higher-quality practices and better outcomes for young children

The CX3C-Chemokine Fractalkine (CX3CL1) is Detectable in Serum of Patients Affected by the Inflammatory Diseases Allergic Rhinitis and/or Asthma

Fractalkine (FKN) is a chemokine able to mediate the initial capture, firm adhesion, and activation of circulating leukocytes. Many tissues express FKN mRNA and FKN expression is increased during inflammatory conditions. To assess a possible involvement in allergic airway disease, we detected serum levels of FKN in a group of patients affected by allergic rhinitis and/or asthma and found high serum levels of FKN in all patients and in only 26% of healthy donors at lower concentrations. The present results underscore the potential role that this chemokine may play in the pathogenesis of respiratory allergic diseases

Interleukin-2-induced Renal Dysfunction In Cancer-patients Is Reversed By Low-dose Dopamine Infusion

Recombinant interleukin-2 (rIL-2) is widely used in patients with advanced cancer to enhance killer cell functions. However, the main drawback of rIL-2 therapy is the frequent development of oliguric acute renal failure (ARF), presumably due to a vascular leak syndrome. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of low-dose dopamine infusion on this form of ARF, Nine patients with metastatic renal cancer and previous unilateral nephrectomy were treated with a continuous intravenous infusion of rIL-2 (3 x 10(6) Cetus units/m(2)/d) for 5 days (study A). After 1 week, all the patients repeated the same cycle, but with the addition of a continuous intravenous infusion of dopamine (2 mu g/min/kg body weight) that was started at the third day of treatment (study B), During study A, all patients showed a progressive (up to 34%) decrease of creatinine clearance. After rIL-2 withdrawal, these alterations persisted and were associated with a reduction in urinary output, sodium urinary excretion, and plasma protein, In study B, dopamine administration after renal function impairment (Delta glomerular filtration rate = -44%) led to a prompt improvement of creatinine clearance, Creatinine clearance showed a further significant enhancement after the withdrawal of both drugs, reaching a value within the baseline range on the third day of follow-up, Similarly, the decline in urinary output and sodium excretion during rIL-2 was promptly counteracted by dopamine; in addition, after withdrawal of rIL-2 and dopamine, plasma protein levels were normalized, In conclusion, our data suggest that rIL-2-induced ARF in cancer patients is due to renal hypoperfusion mainly caused by a reduction in oncotic pressure, Importantly, intravenous infusion of dopamine at low dosage is effective in reversing this form of renal impairment; such a therapeutic approach, while reducing recovery time, avoids dose reduction or discontinuation of rIL-2 treatment. (C) 1995 by the National Kidney Foundation, Inc