School leaders need effective, affordable approaches to retain their teacher workforce. We investigated a promising, low-cost option for school leaders to encourage teacher retention: subject-area ...specialization in elementary grades (K–5). Using data on North Carolina elementary grades teachers and schools in the 2011–2012 through 2015–2016 academic years, we track the incidence of subject-area specialization, assess whether teaching in a specialist role promotes retention, and examine whether subject-area specialization is an effective retention strategy for certain schools and teachers. Descriptive analyses show specialization is common in upper elementary grades and has become a more widely used assignment strategy over time. Retention analyses indicate that elementary grades teachers are more likely to return to the same school after becoming a specialist. These results vary by school and teacher characteristics, suggesting that specialization may be a more effective retention strategy in urban schools, in non-high-need schools, and for Black teachers.
School leaders need effective, affordable approaches to retain their teacher workforce. We investigated a promising, low-cost option for school leaders to encourage teacher retention: subject-area ...specialization in elementary grades (K-5). Using data on North Carolina elementary grades teachers and schools in the 2011-2012 through 2015-2016 academic years, we track the incidence of subject-area specialization, assess whether teaching in a specialist role promotes retention, and examine whether subject-area specialization is an effective retention strategy for certain schools and teachers. Descriptive analyses show specialization is common in upper elementary grades and has become a more widely used assignment strategy over time. Retention analyses indicate that elementary grades teachers are more likely to return to the same school after becoming a specialist. These results vary by school and teacher characteristics, suggesting that specialization may be a more effective retention strategy in urban schools, in non-high-need schools, and for Black teachers.
ABSTRACT
Psoriasis is characterized by keratinocyte hyperproliferation, erythema, as well as a form of pruritus, involving cutaneous discomfort. There is evidence from both clinical and murine models ...of psoriasis that chemical or surgical depletion of small‐diameter sensory nerves/nociceptors benefits the condition, but the mechanisms are unclear. Hence, we aimed to understand the involvement of sensory nerve mediators with a murine model of psoriasis and associated spontaneous behaviors, indicative of cutaneous discomfort. We have established an Aldara model of psoriasis in mice and chemically depleted the small‐diameter nociceptors in a selective manner. The spontaneous behaviors, in addition to the erythema and skin pathology, were markedly improved. Attenuated inflammation was associated with reduced dermal macrophage influx and production of reactive oxygen/nitrogen species (peroxynitrite and protein nitrosylation). Subsequently, this directly influenced observed behavioral responses. However, the blockade of common sensory neurogenic mechanisms for transient receptor potential (TRP)V1, TRPA1, and neuropeptides (substance P and calcitonin gene‐related peptide) using genetic and pharmacological approaches inhibited the behaviors but not the inflammation. Thus, a critical role of the established sensory TRP‐neuropeptide pathway in influencing cutaneous discomfort is revealed, indicating the therapeutic potential of agents that block that pathway. The ongoing inflammation is mediated by a distinct sensory pathway involving macrophage activation.—Kodji, X., Arkless, K. L., Kee, Z., Cleary, S. J., Aubdool, A. A., Evans, E., Caton, P., Pitchford, S. C., Brain, S. D. Sensory nerves mediate spontaneous behaviors in addition to inflammation in a murine model of psoriasis. FASEB J. 33, 1578–1594 (2019). www.fasebj.org
Epigenetic modifiers (EM; methionine, choline, folate, and vitamin B
) are important for early embryonic development due to their roles as methyl donors or cofactors in methylation reactions. ...Additionally, they are essential for the synthesis of nucleotides, polyamines, redox equivalents, and energy metabolites. Despite their importance, investigation into the supplementation of EM in ruminants has been limited to one or two epigenetic modifiers. Like all biochemical pathways, one-carbon metabolism needs to be stoichiometrically balanced. Thus, we investigated the effects of supplementing four EM encompassing the methionine-folate cycle on bovine embryonic fibroblast growth, mitochondrial function, and DNA methylation. We hypothesized that EM supplemented to embryonic fibroblasts cultured in divergent glucose media would increase mitochondrial respiration and cell growth rate and alter DNA methylation as reflected by changes in the gene expression of enzymes involved in methylation reactions, thereby improving the growth parameters beyond Control treated cells. Bovine embryonic fibroblast cells were cultured in Eagle's minimum essential medium with 1 g/L glucose (Low) or 4.5 g/L glucose (High). The control medium contained no additional OCM, whereas the treated media contained supplemented EM at 2.5, 5, and 10 times (×2.5, ×5, and ×10, respectively) the control media, except for methionine (limited to ×2). Therefore, the experimental design was a 2 (levels of glucose) × 4 (levels of EM) factorial arrangement of treatments. Cells were passaged three times in their respective treatment media before analysis for growth rate, cell proliferation, mitochondrial respiration, transcript abundance of methionine-folate cycle enzymes, and DNA methylation by reduced-representation bisulfite sequencing. Total cell growth was greatest in High ×10 and mitochondrial maximal respiration, and reserve capacity was greatest (
< 0.01) for High ×2.5 and ×10 compared with all other treatments. In Low cells, the total growth rate, mitochondrial maximal respiration, and reserve capacity increased quadratically to 2.5 and ×5 and decreased to control levels at ×10. The biological processes identified due to differential methylation included the positive regulation of GTPase activity, molecular function, protein modification processes, phosphorylation, and metabolic processes. These data are interpreted to imply that EM increased the growth rate and mitochondrial function beyond Control treated cells in both Low and High cells, which may be due to changes in the methylation of genes involved with growth and energy metabolism.
Diets deficient in fibre are reported globally. The associated health risks of insufficient dietary fibre are sufficiently grave to necessitate large-scale interventions to increase population intake ...levels. The Danish Whole Grain Partnership (DWP) is a public–private enterprise model that successfully augmented whole-grain intake in the Danish population. The potential transferability of the DWP model to Slovenia, Romania and Bosnia-Herzegovina has recently been explored. Here, we outline the feasibility of adopting the approach in the UK. Drawing on the collaborative experience of DWP partners, academics from the Healthy Soil, Healthy Food, Healthy People (H3) project and food industry representatives (Food and Drink Federation), this article examines the transferability of the DWP approach to increase whole grain and/or fibre intake in the UK. Specific consideration is given to the UK’s political, regulatory and socio-economic context. We note key political, regulatory, social and cultural challenges to transferring the success of DWP to the UK, highlighting the particular challenge of increasing fibre consumption among low socio-economic status groups – which were also most resistant to interventions in Denmark. Wholesale transfer of the DWP model to the UK is considered unlikely given the absence of the key ‘success factors’ present in Denmark. However, the DWP provides a template against which a UK-centric approach can be developed. In the absence of a clear regulatory context for whole grain in the UK, fibre should be prioritised and public–private partnerships supported to increase the availability and acceptability of fibre-rich foods.
After declining steadily for almost two decades, the rate of firearm suicide among adolescents (aged 15–19 years) has increased nearly every year since 2007. At the same time, overall levels of ...household firearm ownership have been declining. In this paper, we examined whether and how types of firearms in the homes of adolescents have changed over time, and the extent to which such changes are associated with trends in firearm suicides among adolescents. Our analyses focused on understanding these trends among Black and White male and female adolescents to better understand longstanding race-gender differences in firearm ownership and firearm suicide. With combined data from the General Social Survey (GSS) and the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), the findings show that handgun ownership in Black and White households increased over the last four decades, while overall levels of firearm ownership declined. Increases in handgun ownership were predictive of increased firearm suicide rates among White adolescents, especially among males. We found no significant relationship between firearm suicide among Black adolescents and firearm ownership among Black households, regardless of gun type, which is potentially unsurprising given that firearm ownership is substantially lower in Black households compared to White households. Possibly reflecting race and gender differences in household gun ownership, our findings also show that rates of firearm suicide were lower for Black and female adolescents and highest for White male adolescents. Taken together, these findings provide new evidence on the relationship between trends in firearm ownership and adolescent firearm suicide and address important questions about the influence of race and gender for understanding firearm suicide among adolescents.
•During 1976–2018, overall gun ownership fell but handgun ownership increased among US households with adolescent children.•Increased rates of handgun ownership were predictive of firearm suicide among White adolescents, particularly among males.•No type of firearm ownership was predictive of trends in firearm suicide among Black male and female adolescents.•Rates of both handgun ownership in Black households and firearm suicide among Black male adolescents have risen since 2016.
We examined the formation, participation, and functional specialization of virus-reactive Foxp3(+) regulatory T cells (Tregs) in a mouse model of influenza virus infection. "Natural" Tregs generated ...intrathymically, based on interactions with a self-peptide, proliferated in response to a homologous viral Ag in the lungs and, to a lesser extent, in the lung-draining mediastinal lymph nodes (medLNs) of virus-infected mice. In contrast, conventional CD4(+) T cells with identical TCR specificity underwent little or no conversion to become "adaptive" Tregs. The virus-reactive Tregs in the medLNs and the lungs of infected mice upregulated a variety of molecules associated with Treg activation, as well as acquired expression of molecules (T-bet, Blimp-1, and IL-10) that confer functional specialization to Tregs. Notably, however, the phenotypes of the T-bet(+) Tregs obtained from these sites were distinct, because Tregs isolated from the lungs expressed significantly higher levels of T-bet, Blimp-1, and IL-10 than did Tregs from the medLNs. Adoptive transfer of Ag-reactive Tregs led to decreased proliferation of antiviral CD4(+) and CD8(+) effector T cells in the lungs of infected hosts, whereas depletion of Tregs had a reciprocal effect. These studies demonstrate that thymically generated Tregs can become activated by a pathogen-derived peptide and acquire discrete T-bet(+) Treg phenotypes while participating in and modulating an antiviral immune response.
Fetal programming is established early in life, likely through epigenetic mechanisms that control gene expression. Micronutrients can act as epigenetic modifiers (EM) by modulating the genome through ...mechanisms that include DNA methylation and post-translational modification of chromatin. Among the EM, methionine, choline, folate, and vitamin B12 have been suggested as key players of DNA methylation. However, the effects of supplementing these four EM, involved in the methionine folate cycle on DNA methylation, are still under investigation. This manuscript provides the genome-wide DNA methylation dataset (GSE180362) of bovine embryonic fibroblast cells exposed to different supplementation levels of glucose and methionine, choline, folate, and vitamin B12 (collectively named as Epigenetic Modifiers - EM). The DNA methylation was measured using MSP-I digestion and Reduced Representation Bisulfite Sequencing. Bioinformatics analyses included data quality control, read mapping, methylation calling, and differential methylation analyses. Supplementary file S1 and data analysis codes are within this article. To our knowledge, this is the first dataset investigating the effects of four EM in bovine embryonic fibroblast DNA methylation profiles. Furthermore, this data and its findings provide information on putative candidate genes responsive to DNA methylation due to EM supplementation.
To determine whether pentoxifylline (PTX) slows the decline of muscle strength and function in ambulatory boys with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD).
This was a multicenter, randomized, ...double-blinded, controlled trial comparing 12 months of daily treatment with PTX or placebo in corticosteroid-treated boys with DMD using a slow-release PTX formulation (~20 mg/kg/day). The primary outcome was the change in mean total quantitative muscle testing (QMT) score. Secondary outcomes included changes in QMT subscales, manual muscle strength, pulmonary function, and timed function tests. Outcomes were compared using Student t tests and a linear mixed-effects model. Adverse events (AEs) were compared using the Fisher exact test.
A total of 64 boys with DMD with a mean age of 9.9 ± 2.9 years were randomly assigned to PTX or placebo in 11 participating Cooperative International Neuromuscular Research Group centers. There was no significant difference between PTX and the placebo group in total QMT scores (p = 0.14) or in most of the secondary outcomes after a 12-month treatment. The use of PTX was associated with mild to moderate gastrointestinal or hematologic AEs.
The addition of PTX to corticosteroid-treated boys with DMD at a moderate to late ambulatory stage of disease did not improve or halt the deterioration of muscle strength and function over a 12-month study period.
This study provides Class I evidence that treatment with PTX does not prevent deterioration in muscle function or strength in corticosteroid-treated boys with DMD.
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