Virtual Provision for Gifted Secondary School Students: Keeping the Best and Brightest in the Bush

This evaluative research, using a mixed methods case study approach with triangulated design, investigated the perceived value of a virtual academically selective secondary school provision for Years 7–10 (age 12–16 years) that operated in Western NSW Region from 2010 until 2014. Students replaced regular curriculum study in the areas of English, mathematics and science at their local stategovernment- funded bricks-and-mortar school, with study that was conducted online with a cohort of academically gifted students from across similar schools in Western NSW Region. Perceived value by students and staff in the virtual provision as well as perceived value by parents and local state-government-funded secondary school Principals was positive, with students reporting a strong sense of belonging to the gifted cohort as well as their local school cohort, an improved skill-set to meet 21stcentury learning requirements and the capacity to harness their full potential through development of enabling skills such as organisation and study skills. Academic achievement of the virtual provision cohort in national or state-wide standardised tests matched those of metropolitan selective secondary school counterparts in literacy, numeracy and science understanding. All stakeholders agreed that the virtual provision did not suit all gifted learners, only those who were autonomous learners or were motivated to learn in a lightly supervised environment and who held a positive academic self-concept and as such were comfortable not being first in their class all the time. Some students found the challenge of many academically-able peers overwhelming as they had been the outstanding pupil all their school life. Unexpected benefits reported by parents of the students in the cohort included their choice to stay in employment in the regional, rural or remote areas, or to delay or abandon their plans to send their child to a metropolitan boarding school as their gifted childʼs learning needs were being met by the virtual provision. This decision added to the social fabric of the rural communities and their local school. Teachers in the virtual provision reported being re-invigorated in their career by having a virtual staffroom of like-minded peers who embraced challenge, were curriculum specialists in their area and endorsed technology-enhanced learning. This research contributes to the growing field of knowledge about the suitability of virtual school provisions for gifted secondary school students in rural, regional and remote settings. Keeping the best and brightest students and teachers in the , along with their families, is essential to ensuring dynamic and vibrant rural, regional and remote communities

Homeostatic Fault Tolerance in Spiking Neural Networks : A Dynamic Hardware Perspective

Fault tolerance is a remarkable feature of biological systems and their self-repair capability influence modern electronic systems. In this paper, we propose a novel plastic neural network model, which establishes homeostasis in a spiking neural network. Combined with this plasticity and the inspiration from inhibitory interneurons, we develop a fault-resilient robotic controller implemented on an FPGA establishing obstacle avoidance task. We demonstrate the proposed methodology on a spiking neural network implemented on Xilinx Artix-7 FPGA. The system is able to maintain stable firing (tolerance ±10%) with a loss of up to 75% of the original synaptic inputs to a neuron. Our repair mechanism has minimal hardware overhead with a tuning circuit (repair unit) which consumes only three slices/neuron for implementing a threshold voltage-based homeostatic fault-tolerant unit. The overall architecture has a minimal impact on power consumption and, therefore, supports scalable implementations. This paper opens a novel way of implementing the behavior of natural fault tolerant system in hardware establishing homeostatic self-repair behavior

Mass Antibiotic Treatment for Group A Streptococcus Outbreaks in Two Long-Term Care Facilities1

Outbreaks of invasive infections caused by group A β-hemolytic streptococcus (GAS) may occur in long-term care settings and are associated with a high case-fatality rate in debilitated adults. Targeted antibiotic treatment only to residents and staff known to be at specific risk of GAS may be an ineffective outbreak control measure. We describe two institutional outbreaks in which mass antibiotic treatment was used as a control measure. In the first instance, mass treatment was used after targeted antibiotic treatment was not successful. In the second instance, mass treatment was used to control a rapidly evolving outbreak with a high case-fatality rate. Although no further clinical cases were seen after the introduction of mass antibiotic treatment, persistence of the outbreak strain was documented in one institution >1 year after cases had ceased. Strain persistence was associated with the presence of a chronically colonized resident and poor infection control practices

Correction: Peak plasma interleukin-6 and other peripheral markers of inflammation in the first week of ischaemic stroke correlate with brain infarct volume, stroke severity and long-term outcome

In table 3, the correlation coefficient between peak plasma cortisol and mRS at 3 months (column 4, row 5), should read 0.48, not 0 [1]

Histoplasmosis Cluster, Golf Course, Canada

We report a cluster of 4 cases of acute histoplasmosis (1 culture proven and 3 with positive serology, of which 2 were symptomatic) associated with exposure to soil during a golf course renovation. Patients in western Canada with compatible symptoms should be tested for histoplasmosis, regardless of their travel or exposure history

Saskatchewan Northern Health Authorities, Saskatchewan Correspondence and reprints: Dr James Irvine, Population Health Unit, Athabasca Health Authority, Keewatin Yatthé Health Region and Mamawetan Churchill River Health Region, Box 6000, LaRonge, Saskatch

A 51-year-old Aboriginal woman from northern Saskatchewan presented to a local family medical clinic in early October 2006 with a three-day history of left knee pain. Her vital signs included a blood pressure of 114/70 mmHg, a heart rate of 100 beats/min and a respiratory rate of 20 breaths/min. Her temperature was not documented. On examination, her knee was warm and painful, and an effusion was noted. Approximately six weeks prior, she had fallen on her right knee while walking. This injury was complicated by hemarthrosis and effusion, requiring needle drainage on two occasions. In addition, she had a history of pain, swelling and erythema involving her shoulder joint. Her past history was significant for alcohol abuse and unstable social and housing conditions. The laboratory results showed the followingwhite blood cell (WBC) count 9.8×10 9 /L (normal 0.2×10 9 /L to 10×10 9 /L); granulocyte count 8.8×10 9 /L (normal 2×10 9 /L to 7.8×10 9 /L); hemoglobin (Hb) level 102 g/L (normal 120 g/L to 180 g/L) and platelet count 68×10 9 /L (normal 150×10 9 /L to 450×10 9 /L). A presumptive diagnosis of inflammatory arthritis was made, and she was given indomethacin 50 mg three times a day for her symptoms. Two days later, the patient became progressively more confused, disoriented and unresponsive to questions. She was brought by ambulance to the local emergency department where her temperature was 38.8°C, pulse 98 beats/min, blood pressure 140/83 mmHg and respiratory rate 32 breaths/min. Her Glasgow coma scale score was 6. She was unresponsive to verbal commands but responsive to painful stimuli. Bruising was noted on both legs, and a large area of erythema was noted around the left knee. Her respiratory examination was unremarkable. Laboratory results showed the following -WBC count 3. 135 U/L) and creatine kinase isoenzyme -MB level 28 U/L (normal 0 U/L to 16 U/L). An evolving neurological condition was thought to be the primary diagnosis. Initial management included intravenous fluid (200 mL/h), cefotaxime 2 g administered intravenously, and blood cultures. She was transferred by air to the Royal University Hospital in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. During the 1 h flight to Saskatoon, the area of erythema on her left leg tripled in size, and 3 L of intravenous fluids and dopamine were required to stabilize her blood pressure. On arrival, she was noted to be diffusely rigid with no response to painful stimuli. Her temperature was 39°C. She had rigors, peripheral mottling, absence of peripheral pulses, bronchial breath sounds over the right middle lobe, and erythema and target-like lesions over her left knee. Laboratory evaluation on admission showed the following -WBC count 3.

Genomic Profiling of Childhood Tumor Patient-Derived Xenograft Models to Enable Rational Clinical Trial Design.

Accelerating cures for children with cancer remains an immediate challenge as a result of extensive oncogenic heterogeneity between and within histologies, distinct molecular mechanisms evolving between diagnosis and relapsed disease, and limited therapeutic options. To systematically prioritize and rationally test novel agents in preclinical murine models, researchers within the Pediatric Preclinical Testing Consortium are continuously developing patient-derived xenografts (PDXs)-many of which are refractory to current standard-of-care treatments-from high-risk childhood cancers. Here, we genomically characterize 261 PDX models from 37 unique pediatric cancers; demonstrate faithful recapitulation of histologies and subtypes; and refine our understanding of relapsed disease. In addition, we use expression signatures to classify tumors for TP53 and NF1 pathway inactivation. We anticipate that these data will serve as a resource for pediatric oncology drug development and will guide rational clinical trial design for children with cancer