Sustaining a Balanced Calendar in Hopewell City Public Schools

As the first school division in Virginia to implement a division-wide year-round school calendar, Hopewell City Public schools requested assistance in evaluating the impact of their work. In light of the COVID-19 pandemic the division paused implementation, shifting the focus of the study from evaluation to providing recommendations for structural, philosophical, and fiscal changes to the year round calendar initiative and its associated communication plan that would positively impact the long term sustainability of the initiative. The study employed a mixed methods approach including survey and focus group data along with an extensive literature review, and internal document and analysis. Findings suggested that creating structures to ensure sound instructional leadership during intersession instruction and the creation of career and life readiness pathways through vertical and horizontal intersession planning are critical in driving positive student outcomes. Additional findings identified a community where members that indicated they understood the initiative were more likely to support the initiative, and a cost analysis found stable and sustainable fiscal management. These findings were used first to inform a recommendation for a distributed leadership approach to monitoring student progress and effective intersession pedagogy. Further, recommendations informed the development of a communication plan designed to increase awareness and sustainable community support by celebrating and showcasing growth in students’ life and career readiness skills. By ensuring the recommended instructional and communication conditions Hopewell City Public Schools will be able to sustain internal and external support for the Balanced Calendar initiative over time

Improving Case Definitions for Severe Malaria

The authors discuss a study by Philip Bejon et al. that adopted a new approach to balancing the sensitivity and specificity of criteria for defining severe malaria

Summary of the Very Large Hadron Collider Physics and Detector Workshop

One of the options for an accelerator beyond the LHC is a hadron collider with higher energy. Work is going on to explore accelerator technologies that would make such a machine feasible. This workshop concentrated on the physics and detector issues associated with a hadron collider with an energy in the center of mass of the order of 100 to 200 TeV

Perspectives of people in Mali toward genetically-modified mosquitoes for malaria control

Background: Genetically-modified (GM) mosquitoes have been proposed as part of an integrated vector control strategy for malaria control. Public acceptance is essential prior to field trials, particularly since mosquitoes are a vector of human disease and genetically modified organisms (GMOs) face strong scepticism in developed and developing nations. Despite this, in sub-Saharan Africa, where the GM mosquito effort is primarily directed, very little data is available on perspectives to GMOs. Here, results are presented of a qualitative survey of public attitudes to GM mosquitoes for malaria control in rural and urban areas of Mali, West Africa between the months of October 2008 and June 2009. Methods: The sample consisted of 80 individuals - 30 living in rural communities, 30 living in urban suburbs of Bamako, and 20 Western-trained and traditional health professionals working in Bamako and Bandiagara. Questions were asked about the cause of malaria, heredity and selective breeding. This led to questions about genetic alterations, and acceptable conditions for a release of pest-resistant GM corn and malaria-refractory GM mosquitoes. Finally, participants were asked about the decision-making process in their community. Interviews were transcribed and responses were categorized according to general themes. Results: Most participants cited mosquitoes as one of several causes of malaria. The concept of the gene was not widely understood; however selective breeding was understood, allowing limited communication of the concept of genetic modification. Participants were open to a release of pest-resistant GM corn, often wanting to conduct a trial themselves. The concept of a trial was reapplied to GM mosquitoes, although less frequently. Participants wanted to see evidence that GM mosquitoes can reduce malaria prevalence without negative consequences for human health and the environment. For several participants, a mosquito control programme was preferred; however a transgenic release that satisfied certain requirements was usually acceptable. Conclusions: Although there were some dissenters, the majority of participants were pragmatic towards a release of GM mosquitoes. An array of social and cultural issues associated with malaria, mosquitoes and genetic engineering became apparent. If these can be successfully addressed, then social acceptance among the populations surveyed seems promising

Practical Implementation of a General Numerical Lifting-Line Method

A general numerical lifting-line method provides corrections to overcome the singularities inherent in the lifting-line downwash integrals in certain cases. These singularities have previously limited the scope of lifting-line theory to straight wings not in sideslip; in all other cases, more traditional numerical approaches to solving Prandtl\u27s hypothesis fail to grid converge. However, this general numerical lifting-line method grid converges even for swept wings and wings in sideslip. In the current work, we apply the general numerical lifting-line method to any number of wings with arbitrary geometry. We also provide a dimensional derivation of the basic general numerical lifting-line equations and discuss how airfoil section properties can be corrected for sweep. We develop a linearized system of equations and a nonlinear improvement method to solve the general numerical lifting-line equations. Results show that placing the lifting-line on the wing locus of aerodynamic centers, as done by others, may not yield the most accurate results. Comparisons with published data reveal that the general numerical lifting-line method can accurately predict the lift distribution for swept wings

A long-term follow-up of safety and clinical efficacy of NTCELL® [Immunoprotected (Alginate-encapsulated) porcine choroid plexus cells for xenotransplantation] in patients with Parkinson's disease.

INTRODUCTION: In 2019, we published the results of a Phase IIb randomized controlled trial of putaminal encapsulated porcine choroid plexus cell (termed NTCELL®) administration in patients with Parkinson's disease. This study failed to meet its primary efficacy end-point of a change in UPDRS part III score in the 'off' state at 26-weeks post-implant. However, a number of secondary end-points reached statistical significance. We questioned whether with longer follow-up, clinically significant improvements would be observed. For this reason, we decided to follow-up all patients periodically to week 104. Herein, we report the results of this long-term follow-up. METHODS: All 18 patients included in the original study were periodically re-assessed at weeks 52, 78 and 104 post-implant. At each time-point, motor and non-motor function, quality of life and levodopa equivalent daily dose was assessed using a standardized testing battery. RESULTS: At week 104, no significant differences in UPDRS part III scores in the 'off' state were observed in any of the treatment groups compared to baseline. Only a single serious adverse event - hospitalisation due to Parkinson's disease rigidity not responding to changes in medications - was considered potentially related to the implant procedure. There was no evidence of xenogeneic viral transmission. CONCLUSION: Un-blinded, long-duration follow-up to week 104 post-implantation showed no evidence that putaminal NTCELL® administration produces significant clinical benefit in patients with moderately advanced Parkinson's disease

The political identities of neighbourhood planning in England

The rise of neighbourhood planning has been characterised as another step in a remorseless de-politicisation of the public sphere. A policy initiated by the Coalition Government in England to create the conditions for local communities to support housing growth, neighbourhood planning appears to evidence a continuing retreat from political debate and contestation. Clear boundaries are established for the holistic integration of participatory democracy into the strategic plan-making of the local authority. These boundaries seek to take politics out of development decisions and exclude all issues of contention from discussion. They achieve this goal at the cost of arming participatory democracy with a collective identity around which new antagonisms may develop. Drawing on the post-political theories of Chantal Mouffe this paper identifies the return of antagonism and conflict to participation in spatial planning. Key to its argument is the concept of the boundary or frontier that in Mouffe’s theoretical framework institutionalises conflict between political entities. Drawing on primary research with neighbourhood development plans in England the paper explores how boundary conditions and boundary designations generate antagonism and necessitate political action. The paper charts the development of the collective identities that result from these boundary lines and argues for the potential for neighbourhood planning to restore political conflict to the politics of housing development

Hasbara 2.0: Israel’s Public Diplomacy in the Digital Age

The Internet has been a counter-public space for Palestinian liberation politics for over a decade, and digital technologies have become an increasingly important tool for solidarity groups across the world. However, the Israeli state and Zionist supporters worldwide are harnessing the same technologies and platforms to mobilize technology primarily to increase pro-Israel sentiments. The aims of this article are to examine hasbara [Israeli public diplomacy] through an exploration of similar diplomacy programmes; to illustrate how social media have affected the basic algorithms of hasbara; and to probe the assertions of hasbara in the light of pro-Palestinian solidarity. Through a study of public diplomacy, this article critically analyzes hasbara as a site of contestation and a method that is hampered by contradictions. On the one hand, there has been a massive growth in hasbara in recent years—indicated by the increase in funding for it and by its professionalized and centralized character; and on the other hand, hasbara has attracted sharp critiques in Israel for its reputed failures. To understand this contradiction, hasbara must be placed within the context of Israel’s settler-colonialism, which sets the state apart from other ‘post-conflict’ states. This article reviews the methods utilized in hasbara, as well as their readjustment in the context of recent wars. Events in 2014 illustrate that hasbara actually destabilizes Israel’s diplomacy. Online journalism and the suppression of solidarity for Palestine together stimulate more criticism and, in turn, help to shift public opinion. Paradoxically, therefore, adjustments (‘hasbara 2.0’) have underlined the image of Israel as a colonial power engaged in violent occupation

Cord blood IgG and the risk of severe Plasmodium falciparum malaria in the first year of life

Young infants are less susceptible to severe episodes of malaria but the targets and mechanisms of protection are not clear. Cord blood antibodies may play an important role in mediating protection but many studies have examined their association with the outcome of infection or non-severe malaria. Here, we investigated whether cord blood IgG to Plasmodium falciparum merozoite antigens and antibody-mediated effector functions were associated with reduced odds of developing severe malaria at different time points during the first year of life. We conducted a case-control study of well-defined severe falciparum malaria nested within a longitudinal birth cohort of Kenyan children. We measured cord blood total IgG levels against five recombinant merozoite antigens and antibody function in the growth inhibition activity and neutrophil antibody-dependent respiratory burst assays. We also assessed the decay of maternal antibodies during the first 6months of life. The mean antibody half-life range was 2.51months (95% confidence interval (CI): 2.19-2.92) to 4.91months (95% CI: 4.47-6.07). The rate of decline of maternal antibodies was inversely proportional to the starting concentration. The functional assay of antibody-dependent respiratory burst activity predicted significantly reduced odds of developing severe malaria during the first 6months of life (Odds ratio (OR) 0.07, 95% CI: 0.007-0.74, P=0.007). Identification of the targets of antibodies mediating antibody-dependent respiratory burst activity could contribute to the development of malaria vaccines that protect against severe episodes of malaria in early infancy