The USG STEM II Initiative at Georgia Perimeter College

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STEM II Initiative-Updates from Participating Institutions (Part 2)

STEM II Initiative – Updates from Participating Institutions (Part 2) is made up of a series of “sampler sessions” so that interested individuals can get an overview but not comprehensive coverage. Dr. Pamela Gore will begin this session by discussing the STEM II Initiative at Georgia Perimeter College. Second, Dr. Dabney Dixon will talk about the STEM II Initiative at Georgia State University. Third, Dr. Charles Kutal will provide information concerning the STEM II Initiative at the University of Georgia. Fourth, Dr. Farooq Khan and Dr. Myrna Gantner will discuss what is happening with the STEM II Initiative at the University of West Georgia

Zuber-Jarrell House

Prepared by the Fall 1994 Conservation of Historic Building Materials class. This Historic Structure Report contains the history of the Zuber-Jarrell House, the existing conditions of the interior, exterior, infrastructure and grounds of the home, and a master plan of recommendations for the site. The main purpose of this report is to provide a restoration and management plan (presented in Section 3.0) that responds to both the historic character of the property as well as to the intentions expressed by its owner.https://scholarworks.gsu.edu/history_heritagepreservation/1046/thumbnail.jp

Supplying Pharmacist Home Visit and Anticoagulation Professional Consultation During Transition of Care for Patients With Venous Thromboembolism

OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to assess the feasibility, satisfaction, and effectiveness of a care transition intervention with pharmacist home visit and subsequent anticoagulation expert consultation for patients with new episode of venous thromboembolism within a not-for-profit health care network. METHODS: We randomized patients to the intervention or control. During the home visit, a clinical pharmacist assessed medication management proficiency, asked open-ended questions to discuss knowledge gaps, and distributed illustrated medication instructions. Subsequent consultation with anticoagulation expert further filled knowledge gaps. At 30 days, we assessed satisfaction with the intervention and also measured the quality of care transition, knowledge of anticoagulation and venous thromboembolism, and anticoagulant beliefs (level of agreement that anticoagulant is beneficial, is worrisome, and is confusing/difficult to take). RESULTS: The mean +/- SD time required to conduct home visits was 52.4 +/- 20.5 minutes and most patients agreed that the intervention was helpful. In general, patients reported a high-quality care transition including having been advised of safety issues related to medications. Despite that, the mean percentage of knowledge items answered correctly among patients was low (51.5 versus 50.7 for intervention and controls, respectively). We did not find any significant difference between intervention and control patients for care transition quality, knowledge, or anticoagulant beliefs. CONCLUSIONS: We executed a multicomponent intervention that was feasible and rated highly. Nevertheless, the intervention did not improve care transition quality, knowledge, or beliefs. Future research should examine whether alternate strategies potentially including some but not all components of our intervention would be more impactful

Combination Early-Phase Trials of Anticancer Agents in Children and Adolescents

PURPOSEThere is an increasing need to evaluate innovative drugs for childhood cancer using combination strategies. Strong biological rationale and clinical experience suggest that multiple agents will be more efficacious than monotherapy for most diseases and may overcome resistance mechanisms and increase synergy. The process to evaluate these combination trials needs to maximize efficiency and should be agreed by all stakeholders.METHODSAfter a review of existing combination trial methodologies, regulatory requirements, and current results, a consensus among stakeholders was achieved.RESULTSCombinations of anticancer therapies should be developed on the basis of mechanism of action and robust preclinical evaluation, and may include data from adult clinical trials. The general principle for combination early-phase studies is that, when possible, clinical trials should be dose- and schedule-confirmatory rather than dose-exploratory, and every effort should be made to optimize doses early. Efficient early-phase combination trials should be seamless, including dose confirmation and randomized expansion. Dose evaluation designs for combinations depend on the extent of previous knowledge. If not previously evaluated, limited evaluation of monotherapy should be included in the same clinical trial as the combination. Randomized evaluation of a new agent plus standard therapy versus standard therapy is the most effective approach to isolate the effect and toxicity of the novel agent. Platform trials may be valuable in the evaluation of combination studies. Patient advocates and regulators should be engaged with investigators early in a proposed clinical development pathway and trial design must consider regulatory requirements.CONCLUSIONAn optimized, agreed approach to the design and evaluation of early-phase pediatric combination trials will accelerate drug development and benefit all stakeholders, most importantly children and adolescents with cancer.</p

The Critical Role of Chemokine (C–C Motif) Receptor 2-Positive Monocytes in Autoimmune Cholangitis

The therapy of primary biliary cholangitis (PBC) has lagged behind other autoimmune diseases despite significant improvements in our understanding of both immunological and molecular events that lead to loss of tolerance to the E2 component of pyruvate dehydrogenase, the immunodominant autoepitope of PBC. It is well known that Ly6Chi monocytes are innate immune cells infiltrating inflammatory sites that are dependent on the expression of C–C motif chemokine receptor 2 (CCR2) for emigration from bone marrow. Importantly, humans with PBC have a circulating monocyte pro-inflammatory phenotype with macrophage accumulation in portal tracts. We have taken advantage of an inducible chemical xenobiotic model of PBC and recapitulated the massive infiltration of monocytes to portal areas. To determine the clinical significance, we immunized both CCR2-deficient mice and controls with 2OA-BSA and noted that CCR2 deficiency is protective for the development of autoimmune cholangitis. Importantly, because of the therapeutic potential, we focused on inhibiting monocyte infiltration through the use of cenicriviroc (CVC), a dual chemokine receptor CCR2/CCR5 antagonist shown to be safe in human trials. Importantly, treatment with CVC resulted in amelioration of all aspects of disease severity including serum total bile acids, histological severity score, and fibrosis stage. In conclusion, our results indicate a major role for Ly6Chi monocytes and for CCR2 in PBC pathogenesis and suggest that inhibition of this axis by CVC should be explored in humans through the use of clinical trials

Towards a Synthetic Chloroplast

The evolution of eukaryotic cells is widely agreed to have proceeded through a series of endosymbiotic events between larger cells and proteobacteria or cyanobacteria, leading to the formation of mitochondria or chloroplasts, respectively. Engineered endosymbiotic relationships between different species of cells are a valuable tool for synthetic biology, where engineered pathways based on two species could take advantage of the unique abilities of each mutualistic partner.We explored the possibility of using the photosynthetic bacterium Synechococcus elongatus PCC 7942 as a platform for studying evolutionary dynamics and for designing two-species synthetic biological systems. We observed that the cyanobacteria were relatively harmless to eukaryotic host cells compared to Escherichia coli when injected into the embryos of zebrafish, Danio rerio, or taken up by mammalian macrophages. In addition, when engineered with invasin from Yersinia pestis and listeriolysin O from Listeria monocytogenes, S. elongatus was able to invade cultured mammalian cells and divide inside macrophages.Our results show that it is possible to engineer photosynthetic bacteria to invade the cytoplasm of mammalian cells for further engineering and applications in synthetic biology. Engineered invasive but non-pathogenic or immunogenic photosynthetic bacteria have great potential as synthetic biological devices

CATALISE: A multinational and multidisciplinary Delphi consensus study. Identifying language impairments in children

Delayed or impaired language development is a common developmental concern, yet thereis little agreement about the criteria used to identify and classify language impairments inchildren. Children's language difficulties are at the interface between education, medicineand the allied professions, who may all adopt different approaches to conceptualising them.Our goal in this study was to use an online Delphi technique to see whether it was possibleto achieve consensus among professionals on appropriate criteria for identifying childrenwho might benefit from specialist services. We recruited a panel of 59 experts representingten disciplines (including education, psychology, speech-language therapy/pathology, paediatricsand child psychiatry) from English-speaking countries (Australia, Canada, Ireland,New Zealand, United Kingdom and USA). The starting point for round 1 was a set of 46statements based on articles and commentaries in a special issue of a journal focusing onthis topic. Panel members rated each statement for both relevance and validity on a sevenpointscale, and added free text comments. These responses were synthesised by the firsttwo authors, who then removed, combined or modified items with a view to improving consensus.The resulting set of statements was returned to the panel for a second evaluation(round 2). Consensus (percentage reporting 'agree' or 'strongly agree') was at least 80 percentfor 24 of 27 round 2 statements, though many respondents qualified their responsewith written comments. These were again synthesised by the first two authors. The resultingconsensus statement is reported here, with additional summary of relevant evidence, and aconcluding commentary on residual disagreements and gaps in the evidence base.</p

Dasatinib in pediatric patients with chronic myeloid leukemia in chronic phase:results from a phase II trial

PurposeSafe, effective treatments are needed for pediatric patients with chronic myeloid leukemia in chronic phase (CML-CP). Dasatinib is approved for treatment of adults and children with CML-CP. A phase I study determined suitable dosing for children with Philadelphia chromosome-positive (Ph+) leukemias.MethodsCA180-226/NCT00777036 is a phase II, open-label, nonrandomized prospective trial of patients < 18 years of age receiving dasatinib. There are three cohorts: (1) imatinib-resistant/intolerant CML-CP, (2) imatinib-resistant/intolerant CML in accelerated/blast phase or Ph+ acute lymphoblastic leukemia (n = 17), and (3) newly diagnosed CML-CP treated with tablets or powder for oral suspension. Major cytogenetic response > 30% for imatinib-resistant/intolerant patients and complete cytogenetic response (CCyR) > 55% for newly diagnosed patients were of clinical interest.ResultsOf 113 patients with CML-CP, 14 (48%) who were imatinib-resistant/intolerant and 61 (73%) who were newly diagnosed remained on treatment at time of analysis. Major cytogenetic response > 30% was reached by 3 months in the imatinib-resistant/intolerant group and CCyR > 55% was reached by 6 months in the newly diagnosed CML-CP group. CCyR and major molecular response by 12 months, respectively, were 76% and 41% in the imatinib-resistant/intolerant group and 92% and 52% in newly diagnosed CML-CP group. Progression-free survival by 48 months was 78% and 93% in the imatinib-resistant/intolerant and newly diagnosed CML-CP groups, respectively. No dasatinib-related pleural or pericardial effusion, pulmonary edema, or pulmonary arterial hypertension were reported. Bone growth and development events were reported in 4% of patients.ConclusionIn the largest prospective trial to date in children with CML-CP, we demonstrate that dasatinib is a safe, effective treatment of pediatric CML-CP. Target responses to first- or second-line dasatinib were met early, and deep molecular responses were observed. Safety of dasatinib in pediatric patients was similar to that observed in adults; however, no cases of pleural or pericardial effusion or pulmonary arterial hypertension were reported