‘Key skills' building in schools as a possible approach to reducing and preventing challenging behaviour

BackgroundBuilding ‘key skills’ may help prevent the development of challenging behaviour in children with an intellectual disability. The aim of this paper was to extend the current limited evidence in this area.MethodWe undertook two studies with children with an intellectual disability in school settings: (1) a cross-sectional replication study exploring the relationship between ‘key skills’ and challenging behaviour. (2) a longitudinal study follow-up exploring change in ‘key skill’ levels and challenging behaviour.ResultsThe replication study recruited 74 participants, those scoring lowest in ‘key skill’ had a 94% chance of having challenging behaviour; those with the highest scores had a 6% chance. The follow-up study recruited 39 participants, we found a significant increase in children’s ‘key skill’ level (p < .001) and a decrease in their challenging behaviour ((p = 0.046).ConclusionBuilding ‘key skills’ in children with an intellectual disability may help reduce or prevent challenging behaviour

Creating the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument : Discourse, Media, Place-making, and Policy Entrepreneurs

President George W. Bush established the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument in 2006. Environmental conservation efforts surrounding the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands began more than 100 years ago with President Theodore Roosevelt, yet creation of the Monument by executive order under the authority of the 1906 Antiquities Act occurred seemingly overnight. In a mere decade, protection of the islands progressed from Coral Reef Ecosystem Reserve in 2000 to Marine National Monument in 2006 to United Nations World Heritage Site in 2010. However, geographers have understood for decades that text, discourses, and cinema create a powerful sense of place and that geographic imagination can spur collective action. This case study offers coastal resource managers and ocean advocates broadly an in-depth examination into a well-orchestrated and successful environmental communication campaign.   This case study applied social, critical, and mediated discourse analysis techniques to several forms of data--56 media reports, 13 email surveys or telephone interviews, a collection of photographs in the book Archipelago: Portraits of Life in the World's Most Remote Island Sanctuary, and the documentary film Voyage to Kure--to reconstruct the genealogy of place-making by an elite network of scientists, writers, photographers, filmmakers, environmental advocates, and policymakers. Media reporting identified possible factors influencing the Monument's creation and informed survey questions. Discourse analysis of policymaker surveys suggest the existence of important, strategic communication networks between state and federal governments and interested groups inside and outside of government. Established models from the disciplines of environmental communication and political science helped interpret results, including John Kingdon's 2003 policy window concept. The effectiveness of Voyage to Kure is explained using Nichols' (2001) elements of documentary voice and Whiteman's (2004) coalition model of filmmaking.   The rise of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands to the top of a full 2006 political agenda resulted from a combination of factors and complicated interactions, all achieved through orchestrated communication efforts employing evocative media. The collective efforts of an elite network `made place' by envisioning the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands as a unique, fragile ecosystem--distinct geographic space inscribed with particular characteristics and meanings worthy of territorial boundaries and policy protections. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Office of National Marine Sanctuaries perhaps exercised the most control because its director and staff understood the power of persuasive media and managed communication between interested parties.   Comparing the media and policy entrepreneur narratives of the Monument's creation validates case study, discourse analysis, and multidisciplinary research approaches. Monument designation in 2006 can be explained by incorporating communication into Kingdon's policy window model; policy entrepreneurs within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and two White House administrations organized a sophisticated environmental communication campaign. Through a collection of photographs and compelling video, artists co-opted and reframed scientific information in the advocacy process, revisiting powerful strategies for communicating place and geography within the policy community and to the public.  Ph.D

DNMT3B in vitro knocking-down is able to reverse embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma cell phenotype through inhibition of proliferation and induction of myogenic differentiation

Aberrant DNA methylation has been frequently observed in many human cancers, including rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS), the most common soft tissue sarcoma in children. To date, the expression and function of the de novo DNA methyltransferase (DNMT) 3B in RMS have not yet been investigated. Our study show for the first time a significant up-regulation of DNMT3B levels in 14 RMS tumour samples and 4 RMS cell lines in comparison to normal skeletal muscle. Transfection of RD and TE671 cells, two in vitro models of embryonal RMS (ERMS), with a synthetic DNMT3B siRNA decreased cell proliferation by arresting cell cycle at G1 phase, as demonstrated by the reduced expression of Cyclin B1, Cyclin D1 and Cyclin E2, and by the concomitant up-regulation of the checkpoint regulators p21 and p27. DNMT3B depletion also impaired RB phosphorylation status and decreased migratory capacity and clonogenic potential. Interestingly, DNMT3B knock-down was able to commit ERMS cells towards myogenic terminal differentiation, as confirmed by the acquisition of a myogenic-like phenotype and by the increased expression of the myogenic markers MYOD1, Myogenin and MyHC. Finally, inhibition of MEK/ERK signalling by U0126 resulted in a reduction of DNMT3B protein, giving evidence that DNMT3B is a down-stream molecule of this oncogenic pathway.Taken together, our data indicate that altered expression of DNMT3B plays a key role in ERMS development since its silencing is able to reverse cell cancer phenotype by rescuing myogenic program. Epigenetic therapy, by targeting the DNA methylation machinery, may represent a novel therapeutic strategy against RMS

Crizotinib-induced antitumour activity in human alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma cells is not solely dependent on ALK and MET inhibition

BACKGROUND: Rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) is the most commonly diagnosed malignant soft tissue tumour in children and adolescents. Aberrant expression of Anaplastic Lymphoma Kinase (ALK) and MET gene has been implicated in the malignant progression of RMS, especially in the alveolar subtype. This observation suggests that crizotinib (PF-02341066), a kinase inhibitor against ALK and MET, may have a therapeutic role in RMS, although its antitumour activity in this malignancy has not yet been studied. METHODS: RH4 and RH30 alveolar RMS (ARMS) cell lines were treated with crizotinib and then assessed by using proliferation, viability, migration and colony formation assays. Multiple approaches, including flow cytometry, immunofluorescence, western blotting and siRNA-based knock-down, were used in order to investigate possible molecular mechanisms linked to crizotinib activity. RESULTS: In vitro treatment with crizotinib inhibited ALK and MET proteins, as well as Insulin-like Growth Factor 1 Receptor (IGF1R), with a concomitant robust dephosphorylation of AKT and ERK, two downstream kinases involved in RMS cell proliferation and survival. Exposure to crizotinib impaired cell growth, and accumulation at G2/M phase was attributed to an altered expression and activation of checkpoint regulators, such as Cyclin B1 and Cdc2. Crizotinib was able to induce apoptosis and autophagy in a dose-dependent manner, as shown by caspase-3 activation/PARP proteolytic cleavage down-regulation and by LC3 activation/p62 down-regulation, respectively. The accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) seemed to contribute to crizotinib effects in RH4 and RH30 cells. Moreover, crizotinib-treated RH4 and RH30 cells exhibited a decreased migratory/invasive capacity and clonogenic potential. CONCLUSIONS: These results provide a further insight into the molecular mechanisms affected by crizotinib in ARMS cells inferring that it could be a useful therapeutic tool in ARMS cancer treatment

Host cell invasion by Staphylococcus aureus stimulates the shedding of microvesicles

During severe sepsis, microvesicles that are positive for tissue factor (TF) are at increased levels within blood and in pulmonary lavage. These microvesicles potentially disperse TF, the major initiator of the coagulation cascade, throughout multiple organ systems, initiating fibrin deposition and resultant ischemia. The source of these microvesicles has remained incompletely defined. Although TF+ microvesicles are shed from cells that express nascent TF transcript in response to injury, recent findings revealed that circulating, full-length TF protein is detectable prior to these nascent transcripts. This finding suggested that the protein is released from constitutive sources as an acute response. We examined whether Staphylococcus aureus, the Gram-positive bacteria that is emerging as one of the most common etiologic agents in sepsis, is capable of stimulating the release of TF+ microvesicles from a pulmonary cell line that constitutively expresses TF protein. We found that host cell invasion stimulated an acute release of TF+ microvesicles and that these microvesicles mediated the transfer of the protein to TF-negative endothelial cells. We also found that transfer was inhibited by cholesterol-lowering simvastatin. Taken together, our findings reveal that S. aureus pathogenesis extends to the acute release of TF+ microvesicles and that inhibiting dispersal by this mechanism may provide a therapeutic target

The impact of pair programming on student performance, perception and persistence

This study examined the effectiveness of pair programming in four lecture sections of a large introductory programming course. We were particularly interested in assessing how the use of pair programming affects student performance and decisions to pursue computer science related majors. We found that students who used pair programming produced better programs, were more confident in their solutions, and enjoyed completing the assignments more than students who programmed alone. Moreover, pairing students were significantly more likely than non-pairing students to complete the course, and consequently to pass it. Among those who completed the course, pairers performed as well on the final exam as non-pairers, were significantly more likely to be registered as computer science related majors one year later, and to have taken subsequent programming courses. Our findings suggest that not only does pairing not compromise students ’ learning, but that it may enhance the quality of their programs and encourage them to pursue computer science degrees. 1

Pharmacological targeting of the ephrin receptor kinase signalling by GLPG1790 in vitro and in vivo reverts oncophenotype, induces myogenic differentiation and radiosensitizes embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma cells

EPH (erythropoietin-producing hepatocellular) receptors are clinically relevant targets in several malignancies. This report describes the effects of GLPG1790, a new potent pan-EPH inhibitor, in human embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma (ERMS) cell lines

Macrosystems ecology: Understanding ecological patterns and processes at continental scales

Macrosystems ecology is the study of diverse ecological phenomena at the scale of regions to continents and their interactions with phenomena at other scales. This emerging subdiscipline addresses ecological questions and environmental problems at these broad scales. Here, we describe this new field, show how it relates to modern ecological study, and highlight opportunities that stem from taking a macrosystems perspective. We present a hierarchical framework for investigating macrosystems at any level of ecological organization and in relation to broader and finer scales. Building on well-established theory and concepts from other subdisciplines of ecology, we identify feedbacks, linkages among distant regions, and interactions that cross scales of space and time as the most likely sources of unexpected and novel behaviors in macrosystems. We present three examples that highlight the importance of this multiscaled systems perspective for understanding the ecology of regions to continents

The Grizzly, September 9, 1998

Campus Mourns Loss of Colleague and Friend • Ursinus Loses Distinguished Alum and Benefactor • New Additions to Corson • Ursinus Welcomes New Resident Directors, Dyess and Ray • Renowned Psychologist to Speak on Research • Black History Figure of the Week: Peter Salem (1750-1816) • Opinion: Bill Clinton and the Hype About Sexual Harassment • 10 + 29 = Bridge Success • UC Bio Rocks • Independence in Avignon • Labyrinth Brings Relaxation • Mice Research Helping Humans • Ursinus Football Off to Rocky Start • Field Hockey in Full Swing • This Week in Soccer • UC Volleyball Blanks Rosemonthttps://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/grizzlynews/1422/thumbnail.jp