Getting Lost While Trying to Follow the Money: Special Education Finance in Charter Schools

Tracking the special education dollars that support services for students with disabilities attending public schools is complicated; attempting to track the funds to autonomous public charter schools is even more so. Public schools -- traditional and charter alike -- receive their operating revenues from three primary sources: local property taxes, state per-pupil allocations, and federal categorical-aid programs. The aggregate resources available to provide services to students with disabilities in public schools is a function of both 1) funding available to public schools generally, and 2) funding designated to support special education and related services in particular.Understanding how dollars flow to charter schools requires consideration of multiple and overlapping federal, state, and local district formulas and policies, and understanding how state policymakers have retrofitted these policies and procedures to include autonomous charter school

Rpp1 encodes a ULP1-NBS-LRR protein that controls immunity to Phakopsora pachyrhizi in soybean

Phakopsora pachyrhizi is the causal agent of Asian soybean rust. Susceptible soybean plants infected by virulent isolates of P. pachyrhizi are characterized by tan-colored lesions and erumpent uredinia on the leaf surface. Germplasm screening and genetic analyses have led to the identification of seven loci, Rpp1 – Rpp7, that provide varying degrees of resistance to P. pachyrhizi (Rpp). Two genes, Rpp1 and Rpp1b, map to the same region on soybean chromosome 18. Rpp1 is unique among the Rpp genes in that it confers an immune response (IR) to avirulent P. pachyrhizi isolates. The IR is characterized by a lack of visible symptoms, whereas resistance provided by Rpp1b – Rpp7 results in red-brown foliar lesions. Rpp1 maps to a region spanning approximately 150 Kb on chromosome 18 between markers Sct_187 and Sat_064 in L85-2378 (Rpp1), an isoline developed from Williams 82 and PI 200492 (Rpp1). To identify Rpp1, we constructed a bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) library from soybean accession PI 200492. Sequencing of the Rpp1 locus identified three homologous nucleotide binding site-leucine rich repeat (NBS-LRR) candidate resistance genes between Sct_187 and Sat_064. Each candidate gene is also predicted to encode an N-terminal ubiquitin-like protease 1 (ULP1) domain. Co-silencing of the Rpp1 candidates abrogated the immune response in the Rpp1 resistant soybean accession PI 200492, indicating that Rpp1 is a ULP1-NBS-LRR protein and plays a key role in the IR

De novo transcriptome of Phakopsora pachyrhizi uncovers putative effector repertoire during infection

Phakopsora pachyrhizi, which causes Asian soybean rust (ASR), secretes effector proteins to manipulate host immunity and promote disease. To date, only a small number of effectors have been identified from transcriptome studies. To obtain a more comprehensive understanding of P. pachyrhizi candidate secreted effector proteins (CSEPs), we sequenced the transcriptome using two next-generation sequencing technologies. Short-read Illumina RNA-Seq data was used for reducing base-calling errors for long-read PacBio Iso-Seq. After initial de novo assemblies for RNA-seq and error correction of transcripts for Iso-Seq followed by filtering, we obtained 8,528, 27,647, 26,895, and 17,141 non-plant, non-soybean transcripts at 3, 7, 10, and 14 days after inoculation, respectively. We identified a repertoire of CSEPs of which a majority was expressed during the later stages of infection, and many that could be bioinformatically associated with haustoria. This approach for identifying CSEPs improves our current understanding of the P. pachyrhizi effectorome, and these CSEPs are expected to be a valuable resource for future studies of P. pachyrhizi-soybean interactions

De novo transcriptome of Phakopsora pachyrhizi uncovers putative effector repertoire during infection

Phakopsora pachyrhizi, which causes Asian soybean rust (ASR), secretes effector proteins to manipulate host immunity and promote disease. To date, only a small number of effectors have been identified from transcriptome studies. To obtain a more comprehensive understanding of P. pachyrhizi candidate secreted effector proteins (CSEPs), we sequenced the transcriptome using two next-generation sequencing technologies. Short-read Illumina RNA-Seq data was used for reducing base-calling errors for long-read PacBio Iso-Seq. After initial de novo assemblies for RNA-seq and error correction of transcripts for Iso-Seq followed by filtering, we obtained 8,528, 27,647, 26,895, and 17,141 non-plant, non-soybean transcripts at 3, 7, 10, and 14 days after inoculation, respectively. We identified a repertoire of CSEPs of which a majority was expressed during the later stages of infection, and many that could be bioinformatically associated with haustoria. This approach for identifying CSEPs improves our current understanding of the P. pachyrhizi effectorome, and these CSEPs are expected to be a valuable resource for future studies of P. pachyrhizi-soybean interactions.This article is published as Elmore, Manjula G., Sagnik Banerjee, Kerry F. Pedley, Amy Ruck, and Steven A. Whitham. "De novo transcriptome of Phakopsora pachyrhizi uncovers putative effector repertoire during infection." Physiological and Molecular Plant Pathology 110 (2020): 101464. doi: 10.1016/j.pmpp.2020.101464.</p

Rpp1 encodes a ULP1-NBS-LRR protein that controls immunity to Phakopsora pachyrhizi in soybean

Phakopsora pachyrhizi is the causal agent of Asian soybean rust. Susceptible soybean plants infected by virulent isolates of P. pachyrhizi are characterized by tan-colored lesions and erumpent uredinia on the leaf surface. Germplasm screening and genetic analyses have led to the identification of seven loci, Rpp1 – Rpp7, that provide varying degrees of resistance to P. pachyrhizi (Rpp). Two genes, Rpp1 and Rpp1b, map to the same region on soybean chromosome 18. Rpp1 is unique among the Rpp genes in that it confers an immune response (IR) to avirulent P. pachyrhizi isolates. The IR is characterized by a lack of visible symptoms, whereas resistance provided by Rpp1b – Rpp7 results in red-brown foliar lesions. Rpp1 maps to a region spanning approximately 150 Kb on chromosome 18 between markers Sct_187 and Sat_064 in L85-2378 (Rpp1), an isoline developed from Williams 82 and PI 200492 (Rpp1). To identify Rpp1, we constructed a bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) library from soybean accession PI 200492. Sequencing of the Rpp1 locus identified three homologous nucleotide binding site-leucine rich repeat (NBS-LRR) candidate resistance genes between Sct_187 and Sat_064. Each candidate gene is also predicted to encode an N-terminal ubiquitin-like protease 1 (ULP1) domain. Co-silencing of the Rpp1 candidates abrogated the immune response in the Rpp1 resistant soybean accession PI 200492, indicating that Rpp1 is a ULP1-NBS-LRR protein and plays a key role in the IR.This is a manucript of an artilce published as Pedley, Kerry F., Ajay K. Pandey, Amy Ruck, Lori M. Lincoln, Steven A. Whitham, and Michelle A. Graham. "Rpp1 encodes a ULP1-NBS-LRR protein that controls immunity to Phakopsora pachyrhizi in soybean." Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions (2018). doi: 10.1094/MPMI-07-18-0198-FI.</p

Special Considerations for Advanced Heart Failure Surgeries: Durable Left Ventricular Devices and Heart Transplantation

Heart transplantation and durable left ventricular assist devices (LVADs) represent two definitive therapies for end-stage heart failure in the modern era. Despite technological advances, both treatment modalities continue to experience unique risks that impact surgical and perioperative decision-making. Here, we review special populations and factors that impact risk in LVAD and heart transplant surgery and examine critical decisions in the management of these patients. As both heart transplantation and the use of durable LVADs as destination therapy continue to increase, these considerations will be of increasing relevance in managing advanced heart failure and improving outcomes

Antibody responses to vaccination among South African HIV-exposed and unexposed uninfected infants during the first 2 years of life

CITATION: Reikie, B. A. et al. 2013. Antibody responses to vaccination among South African HIV-exposed and unexposed uninfected infants during the first 2 years of life. Clinical and Vaccine Immunology, 20(1):33–38, doi: 10.1128/CVI.00557-12.The original publication is available at http://cvi.asm.orgHIV-exposed but uninfected (HEU) infants born to HIV-infected mothers from areas in the world with a high burden of infectious disease suffer higher infectious morbidity and mortality than their HIV unexposed uninfected (HUU) peers. Vaccination provides protection from infection. The possibility exists that altered response to vaccination contributes to the higher rate of infection in HEU than in HUU infants. While short-term, cross-sectional studies support this notion, it is unclear whether or not HEU infants develop long-term protective immune responses following theWHOextended program on immunization (EPI). Vaccine-specific antibody responses were compared between HEU and HUU infants from 2 weeks until 2 years of age in a longitudinal South African cohort. Total IgG and antibodies specific for Bordetella pertussis, Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib), tetanus toxoid, hepatitis B virus (HepB), and measles virus were measured at multiple time points throughout the first 2 years of life. Prevaccine antibodies (maternal antibodies passively acquired) specific for tetanus were lower in HEU than in HUU infants, while prevaccine antibodies to HepB were higher in HEU than in HUU infants. Both groups responded similarly to tetanus, Hib, and HepB vaccination. HEU demonstrated stronger pertussis vaccine responses, developing protective titers 1 year earlier than HUU patients, and maintained higher anti-tetanus titers at 24 months of age. Vaccine-induced antibodies to measles virus were similar in both groups at all time points. Our results suggest that the current EPI vaccination program as practiced in South Africa leads to the development of vaccine-specific antibody responses that are equivalent in HEU and HUU infants. However, our data also suggest that a large fraction of both HEU and HUU South African infants have antibody titers for several infectious threats that remain below the level of protection for much of their first 2 years of life.http://cvi.asm.org/content/20/1/33.abstract?sid=24f0e5f0-2fcf-4d33-a180-dc6acb659f99Publisher's versio

Innate immune responses and gut microbiomes distinguish hiv-exposed from hiv-unexposed children in a population-specific manner

In both high-and low-income countries, HIV-negative children born to HIV-positive mothers (HIVexposed, uninfected [HEU]) are more susceptible to severe infection than HIV-unexposed, uninfected (HUU) children, with altered innate immunity hypothesized to be a cause. Both the gut microbiome and systemic innate immunity differ across biogeographically distinct settings, and the two are known to influence each other. And although the gut microbiome is influenced by HIV infection and may contribute to altered immunity, the biogeography of immune-microbiome correlations among HEU children have not been investigated. To address this, we compared the innate response and the stool microbiome of 2-y-old HEU and HUU children from Belgium, Canada, and South Africa to test the hypothesis that region-specific immune alterations directly correlate to differences in their stool microbiomes.We did not detect a universal immune or microbiome signature underlying differences between HEU versus HUU that was applicable to all children. But as hypothesized, population-specific differences in stool microbiomes were readily detected and included reduced abundances of short-chain fatty acid producing bacteria in Canadian HEU children. Furthermore, we did not identify innate immune-microbiome associations that distinguished HEU from HUU children in any population. These findings suggest that maternal HIV infection is independently associated with differences in both innate immunity and the stool microbiome in a biogeographical population-specific way.SCOPUS: ar.jinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishe