English as a foreign language (EFL) literacy is necessary for the career success of non-English speaking students. Many students lack adequate EFL literacy skills which may indicate a gap between EFL ...literacy instruction theory and practice. Teachers' self-efficacy regarding their ability to teach reading and writing, years of teaching experience, and/or native language may influence their selection of components for EFL literacy instruction. This study examines these components as they are perceived by teachers. One hundred and sixty-seven Israeli EFL elementary school teachers completed online questionnaires. Findings showed a weak correlation between teachers' self-efficacy and their instructional approach. Teaching experience and teachers' native language did not influence their selection of EFL literacy instructional components or their sense of self-efficacy regarding their ability to teach reading and writing. Providing theoretical knowledge in teacher education to all types of EFL teachers may lead to more effective literacy instruction.
Islet transplantation has shown promise as a curative therapy for type 1 diabetes (T1D). However, the side effects of systemic immunosuppression and limited long‐term viability of engrafted islets, ...together with the scarcity of donor organs, highlight an urgent need for the development of new, improved, and safer cell‐replacement strategies. Induction of local immunotolerance to prevent allo‐rejection against islets and stem cell derived β cells has the potential to improve graft function and broaden the applicability of cellular therapy while minimizing adverse effects of systemic immunosuppression. In this mini review, recent developments in non‐encapsulation, local immunomodulatory approaches for T1D cell replacement therapies, including islet/β cell modification, immunomodulatory biomaterial platforms, and co‐transplantation of immunomodulatory cells are discussed. Key advantages and remaining challenges in translating such technologies to clinical settings are identified. Although many of the studies discussed are preliminary, the growing interest in the field has led to the exploration of new combinatorial strategies involving cellular engineering, immunotherapy, and novel biomaterials. Such interdisciplinary research will undoubtedly accelerate the development of therapies that can benefit the whole T1D population.
An overview of different local immunomodulatory approaches in β cell replacement therapies is provided. Strategies in islet/β cell modification with immunomodulatory proteins immobilized on the cell surface or released to the local microenvironment, biomaterial platforms presenting or delivering immunomodulatory signals, and co‐transplantation of immunomodulatory cells are discussed.
Hydrogels have long been explored as attractive materials for biomedical applications given their outstanding biocompatibility, high water content, and versatile fabrication platforms into materials ...with different physiochemical properties and geometries. Nonetheless, conventional hydrogels suffer from weak mechanical properties, restricting their use in persistent load‐bearing applications often required of materials used in medical settings. Thus, the fabrication of mechanically robust hydrogels that can prolong the lifetime of clinically suitable materials under uncompromising in vivo conditions is of great interest. This review focuses on design considerations and strategies to construct such tough hydrogels. Several promising advances in the proposed use of specialty tough hydrogels for soft actuators, drug delivery vehicles, adhesives, coatings, and in tissue engineering settings are highlighted. While challenges remain before these specialty tough hydrogels will be deemed translationally acceptable for clinical applications, promising preliminary results undoubtedly spur great hope in the potential impact this embryonic research field can have on the biomedical community.
Design strategies to construct tough hydrogels are outlined here, and promising advances in their use for soft actuators, drug delivery vehicles, adhesives, coatings, and in tissue engineering are highlighted. Translating promising research to clinical settings remains challenging but further advancements in the field will undoubtedly positively impact the biomedical community.
The development of new diabetes treatment strategies has garnered much interest given that conventional management therapies for type 1 diabetes fail to provide optimal glycemic control while ...creating a high burden of self-care to patients. Stimuli-responsive, “closed-loop” systems are particularly attractive due to their ability to mimic dynamic ß cell function by releasing insulin in response to fluctuating glucose levels in real-time and with minimal patient discomfort. In this short review, we focus on stimuli-responsive, reservoir-based insulin delivery devices. We explore and evaluate systems that are either physiologically or externally triggered. While obstacles remain before such technologies can be translated to clinical settings, further optimization of delivery systems forebodes that these technologies will have a tremendous impact on type 1 diabetes treatment.
Type 1 diabetes therapies that afford tighter glycemic control in a more manageable and painless manner for patients has remained a central focus of next-generation diabetes therapies. In many of ...these emerging technologies, namely, self-regulated insulin delivery and cell replacement therapies, hydrogels are employed to mitigate some of the most long-standing challenges. In this Review, we summarize recent developments in the use of hydrogels for both insulin delivery and insulin-producing cell therapies for type 1 diabetes management. We first outline perspectives in glucose sensitive hydrogels for smart insulin delivery, pH sensitive polymeric hydrogels for oral insulin delivery, and other physiochemical signals used to trigger insulin release from hydrogels. We, then, investigate the use of hydrogels in the encapsulation of insulin secreting cells with a special emphasis on hydrogels designed to mitigate the foreign body response, provide a suitable extracellular microenvironment, and improve mass transfer through oxygen supplementation and vascularization. Evaluations of limitations and promising directions for future research are also considered. Continuing interdisciplinary and collaborative research efforts will be required to produce hydrogels with instructive biochemical microenvironments necessary to address the enduring challenges of emerging type 1 diabetes therapies.
Israel is one of many countries in which English is not the spoken language. In these countries, it is of the utmost importance for students to acquire literacy in English as a foreign language (EFL) ...to support their entry into higher education and enhance their social and business opportunities. However, many students do not acquire adequate literacy skills by the conclusion of their elementary school years. To obtain these skills, the curriculum as reflected in EFL textbooks must include extensive and accurate content related to the constructs of the English language. This study aimed to explore to what extent literacy instruction components, as defined by research, are incorporated into textbooks that are commonly used for teaching EFL in elementary schools in Israel according to teacher self-reports. The textbook examination was based on the research-based literacy components aligned with the Science of Reading for English as a first language and on additional EFL literacy instruction components. The findings indicate that textbooks inadequately cover theory-based instructional materials for each of the literacy components. The conclusions of this study can be used to raise awareness regarding how EFL literacy instruction in Israel may be improved by providing theory-based textbooks.
The emergence of novel techniques in biology and material science, coupled with greater understandings of cell–material interactions, have given rise to the creation of living materials and ...bioarchitectures imbued with engineered living behaviors. These multidimensional materials and constructs capable of performing programmable and time‐ or stimuli‐dependent activities, namely 4D behaviors, may do so as a result of material features alone, or as a product of incorporated biological or cellular agents. This review discusses fabrication strategies employed in the development of 4D living materials and examples of their 4D activities driven by cellular events or processes. The fabrication strategies investigated throughout are focused on those that facilitate the responsive, functional transformation of the 3D structure with the time that extends beyond changes driven solely by material features, and enable an increase in the cell‐dependent functional capacity of the construct. Living materials comprised of cells and their own products, as well as both cells and added non‐living materials are investigated. Further, the authors analyze how material complexities and biological complexities have thus far been interfaced to allow for intricate living behaviors, and discuss the design considerations and challenges encountered in developing living materials. Finally, the future directions of living materials are outlined.
Living materials, or materials that are hylozoic by design, are designed constructs with time‐ or stimuli‐dependent behaviors that can be driven or facilitated by dynamic cellular agents. Composed of cells, cells and their secreted materials, or cells combined with added material components, living materials can perform 4D activities such as actuation, locomotion, and shape or appearance change.
Reducing biofouling while increasing lubricity of inserted medical catheters is highly desirable to improve their comfort, safety, and long-term use. We report here a simple method to create thin ...(∼30 μm) conformal lubricating hydrogel coatings on catheters. The key to this method is a three-step process including shape-forming, gradient cross-linking, and swell-peeling (we label this method as SGS). First, we took advantage of the fast gelation of agar to form a hydrogel layer conformal to catheters; then, we performed a surface-bound UV cross-linking of acrylamide mixed in agar in open air, purposely allowing gradual oxygen inhibition of free radicals to generate a gradient of cross-linking density across the hydrogel layer; and finally, we caused the hydrogel to swell to let the non-cross-linked/loosely attached hydrogel fall off, leaving behind a surface-bound, thin, and mostly uniform hydrogel coating. This method also allowed easy incorporation of different polymerizable monomers to obtain multifunctionality. For example, incorporating an antifouling, zwitterionic moiety sulfobetaine in the hydrogel reduced both in vitro protein adsorption and in vivo foreign-body response in mice. The addition of a biocidal N-halamine monomer to the hydrogel coating deactivated both Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) and Escherichia coli (E. coli) O157:H7 within 30 min of contact and reduced biofilm formation by 90% compared to those of uncoated commercial catheters when challenged with S. aureus for 3 days. The lubricating, antibiofouling hydrogel coating may bring clinical benefits in the use of urinary and venous catheters as well as other types of medical devices.
Acquiring literacy in English as a foreign language (EFL) is important for language development. However, many students enter middle school without adequate EFL literacy skills. This may indicate a ...gap between EFL literacy instruction theory and the classroom practice that is occurring in elementary school classrooms. The aim of this study was to explore the components of EFL literacy instruction as perceived by teachers. The study investigated whether perceptions of classroom practices are theoretically based, thus shedding light on the gap between EFL literacy theory and practice. The participants were 167 EFL elementary school teachers, who submitted anonymous online questionnaires regarding their reported EFL teaching in year one, two, three, four, and five of elementary school. The research was based on the five pillars of literacy instruction for English as a first language (National Reading Panel, 2000) and additional EFL components (August & Shanahan, 2006). Results of this study showed that EFL teachers expressed views that may indicate a gap between teachers’ practices and most cutting-edge research. The study concluded that providing EFL elementary school teachers with theoretical knowledge may lead to more productive literacy programs and may improve classroom practices.
Automated delivery of insulin based on continuous glucose monitoring is revolutionizing the way insulin‐dependent diabetes is treated. However, challenges remain for the widespread adoption of these ...systems, including the requirement of a separate glucose sensor, sophisticated electronics and algorithms, and the need for significant user input to operate these costly therapies. Herein, a user‐centric glucose‐responsive cannula is reported for electronics‐free insulin delivery. The cannula—made from a tough, elastomer‐hydrogel hybrid membrane formed through a one‐pot solvent exchange method—changes permeability to release insulin rapidly upon physiologically relevant varying glucose levels, providing simple and automated insulin delivery with no additional hardware or software. Two prototypes of the cannula are evaluated in insulin‐deficient diabetic mice. The first cannula—an ends‐sealed, subcutaneously inserted prototype—normalizes blood glucose levels for 3 d and controls postprandial glucose levels. The second, more translational version—a cannula with the distal end sealed and the proximal end connected to a transcutaneous injection port—likewise demonstrates tight, 3‐d regulation of blood glucose levels when refilled twice daily. This proof‐of‐concept study may aid in the development of “smart” cannulas and next‐generation insulin therapies at a reduced burden‐of‐care toll and cost to end‐users.
Here, a glucose‐responsive cannula is presented for automated insulin delivery without the use of electronics. This cannula, composed of a resilient elastomer‐hydrogel hybrid, changes its permeability in response to glucose levels. Tested in diabetic mice, it effectively maintains blood glucose levels within target ranges for ≈3 d, offering a potential solution for user‐centric insulin delivery.
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