Salmonella enterica serotype Dublin is a cattle-adapted bacterium that typically causes bloodstream infections in humans. To summarize demographic, clinical, and antimicrobial drug resistance ...characteristics of human infections with this organism in the United States, we analyzed data for 1968-2013 from 5 US surveillance systems. During this period, the incidence rate for infection with Salmonella Dublin increased more than that for infection with other Salmonella. Data from 1 system (FoodNet) showed that a higher percentage of persons with Salmonella Dublin infection were hospitalized and died during 2005-2013 (78% hospitalized, 4.2% died) than during 1996-2004 (68% hospitalized, 2.7% died). Susceptibility data showed that a higher percentage of isolates were resistant to >7 classes of antimicrobial drugs during 2005-2013 (50.8%) than during 1996-2004 (2.4%).
The purpose of this research study was to assess the impact of professional learning on teachers' reported beliefs about students identified as twice exceptional (2e) and students from culturally, ...economically, and linguistically diverse (CLED) populations, using a semi-randomized experimental design intervention. Teachers in the experimental condition participated in professional learning opportunities featuring curriculum materials, lessons, and activities highlighting support for students identified as 2e or from CLED populations. Teachers in the control condition received no intervention. Across 16 United States' schools, 53 grade 3 classroom teachers were selected to complete two sets of pre-intervention and post-intervention surveys assessing their reported beliefs about students identified as 2e or from CLED populations. The results indicated that all teachers consistently reported accurate and positive beliefs about the characteristics and needs of these populations, both prior to and after participation in relevant professional learning opportunities. Although analyses revealed main effects of condition and time for certain scales, the reported interaction terms suggested that the professional learning opportunities did not specifically increase questionnaire scores for teachers in the experimental condition. The implications of these findings regarding professional learning and efforts to improve equity in gifted and talented education are discussed.
Background:
Disparities in hospice and palliative care (PC) for African Americans have been linked to mistrust toward the healthcare system, racial inequalities, and cultural preferences. ...Spirituality has been identified as important to African Americans in general. Less is known about the influence of spirituality on African American illness experiences.
Objective:
The goal of this study was to understand older African Americans’ perspectives on how spirituality influences chronic illness experiences to inform the development of a culturally tailored PC intervention.
Methods:
In partnership with 5 churches in the Denver metropolitan area, we conducted focus groups with African American older adults (n = 50) with chronic health conditions and their family caregivers. Transcripts were analyzed using a deductive approach. The theoretical framework for this study draws on psychology of religion research.
Results:
Themes referenced participants’ spiritual orienting systems, spiritual coping strategies, and spiritual coping styles. Psycho-spiritual struggles, social struggles, and sources of social support were also identified. Findings suggest African Americans’ spirituality influences chronic illness experiences. Participants relied on their spirituality and church community to help them cope with illness. In addition, social struggles impacted the illness experience. Social struggles included mistrust toward the healthcare system and not being connected to adequate resources. Participants expressed a need to advocate for themselves and family members to receive better healthcare. Churches were referred to as a trusted space for health resources, as well as spiritual and social support.
Objective
Glial cell line–derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) exerts potent trophic influence on midbrain dopaminergic neurons. This randomized controlled clinical trial was designed to confirm ...initial clinical benefits observed in a small, open‐label trial using intraputamenal (Ipu) infusion of recombinant human GDNF (liatermin).
Methods
Thirty‐four PD patients were randomized 1 to 1 to receive bilateral continuous Ipu infusion of liatermin 15μg/putamen/day or placebo. The primary end point was the change in Unified Parkinson Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS) motor score in the practically defined off condition at 6 months. Secondary end points included other UPDRS scores, motor tests, dyskinesia ratings, patient diaries, and 18F‐dopa uptake.
Results
At 6 months, mean percentage changes in “off” UPDRS motor score were −10.0% and −4.5% in the liatermin and placebo groups, respectively. This treatment difference was not significant (95% confidence interval, −23.0 to 12.0, p = 0.53). Secondary end point results were similar between the groups. A 32.5% treatment difference favoring liatermin in mean 18F‐dopa influx constant (p = 0.019) was observed. Serious, device‐related adverse events required surgical repositioning of catheters in two patients and removal of devices in another. Neutralizing antiliatermin antibodies were detected in three patients (one on‐study and two in the open‐label extension).
Interpretation
Liatermin did not confer the predetermined level of clinical benefit to patients with PD despite increased 18F‐dopa uptake. It is uncertain whether technical differences between this trial and positive open‐label studies contributed in any way this negative outcome. Ann Neurol 2006
There is a critical need for Americans to study foreign languages to support the United States' participation in a global economy, commitment to national security, and actions in the political arena. ...However, there is a lack of American students learning what the US Department of State refers to as "critical languages," which are less commonly studied languages crucial to national security and the economy. The commonly accepted rate of unemployment among Americans who are blind or have low vision is slightly more than 70%, according to Erickson, Lee, and von Schrader (2017). Given that the majority of persons who are blind are unemployed in the United States, mastery of the Russian language may lead to gainful employment, given the demand for such linguistically skilled individuals. Thus, this article describes the procedures that will allow braille readers to use assistive technology to study the Russian language. Because most effective instruction for foreign language study is based on the multiple modalities of reading, writing, and listening, using a screen reader with a refreshable braille display is an advisable method for braille readers to study a foreign language. The work of Kapperman, Koster, and Burman (2018) and Kapperman, Kelly, and Foster (2019) demonstrated the effectiveness of using the screen readers Job Access With Speech (JAWS) and NonVisual Desktop Access (NVDA) with a refreshable braille display for students who are blind to study foreign languages. Their methods, which are possible to execute by students who are blind without input from individuals who are sighted, form the basis of this article. This article builds on their work and extends it to encompass the study of a foreign language that does not use the Latin alphabet: Russian, which uses the Cyrillic alphabet in print and the Russian braille code in braille. English-speaking braille readers learning Russian can access foreign language content using JAWS or NVDA together with a refreshable braille display, using the methods described in this article.
Pathogens have been a strong driving force for natural selection. Therefore, understanding how human genetic differences impact infection-related cellular traits can mechanistically link genetic ...variation to disease susceptibility. Here we report the Hi-HOST Phenome Project (H2P2): a catalog of cellular genome-wide association studies (GWAS) comprising 79 infection-related phenotypes in response to 8 pathogens in 528 lymphoblastoid cell lines. Seventeen loci surpass genome-wide significance for infection-associated phenotypes ranging from pathogen replication to cytokine production. We combined H2P2 with clinical association data from patients to identify a SNP near CXCL10 as a risk factor for inflammatory bowel disease. A SNP in the transcriptional repressor ZBTB20 demonstrated pleiotropy, likely through suppression of multiple target genes, and was associated with viral hepatitis. These data are available on a web portal to facilitate interpreting human genome variation through the lens of cell biology and should serve as a rich resource for the research community.
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•Heritable variation in 79 cellular responses to infection with 8 pathogens was assessed•Phenotypes segregate in biologically meaningful clusters•17 significant genome-wide associations with infection phenotypes were identified•Integration with clinical GWAS revealed SNPs associated with IBD and hepatitis
Approaches are needed for a deeper understanding of how human genetics impacts disease susceptibility. Wang et al. present a catalog of cellular genome-wide association studies comprising 79 phenotypes in response to 8 pathogens. Combining this with clinical association data and experimental validation revealed mechanisms and connections to disease.
Methods commonly used to enhance the language-learning experiences of students who are visually impaired (that is, those who are blind or have low vision), are not sufficient for foreign language ...learning. There are several challenges involved in the study of foreign languages by students who are visually impaired. One of the most pressing of these challenges is that teachers of students with visual impairments provide braille copies of all instructional materials in the foreign language. If the teacher is not familiar with the foreign language the student is studying, it becomes even more difficult to provide the required workbooks, textbooks, and other materials to be transcribed into the foreign language. Likewise, those teachers who are unfamiliar with the foreign language may not know how to pronounce the special accented letters when providing instruction to their students regarding the braille symbols used to represent these letters. The authors recommend a Windows-based computer equipped with one of the latest versions of Job Access with Speech (JAWS) and a Focus braille display. In the instructions provided, the authors assume that the computer user has sufficient knowledge to download books from Bookshare. If this is not the case, the authors recommend that detailed instructions be acquired from the Bookshare website (www.bookshare.org). JAWS comes "out of the box" from the manufacturer with preinstalled software that allows it to recognize eight different languages in addition to English when the cursor moves over content that has been "tagged" for the language in question. The steps that need to be taken to enable JAWS to recognize foreign languages in Bookshare books are also provided in detail. Using the steps outlined in this article, students who are visually impaired can have full access to published materials written in various foreign languages.
Purpose
Chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting (CINV) is common among cancer patients. Early identification of patients at risk for CINV may help to personalize anti-emetic therapies. To date, few ...studies have examined the combined contributions of patient-reported and genetic risk factors to CINV. The goal of this study was to evaluate these risk factors.
Methods
Prior to their first chemotherapy infusion, participants completed demographic and risk factor questionnaires and provided a blood sample to measure genetic variants in
ABCB1
(rs1045642) and
HTR3B (
rs45460698) as well as
CYP2D6
activity score. The M.D. Anderson Symptom Inventory was completed at 24 h and 5-day post-infusion to assess the severity of acute and delayed CINV, respectively.
Results
Participants were 88 patients (55% female,
M
= 60 years). A total of 23% experienced acute nausea and 55% delayed nausea. Younger age, history of pregnancy-related nausea, fewer hours slept the night prior to infusion, and variation in
ABCB1
were associated with more severe acute nausea; advanced-stage cancer and receipt of highly emetogenic chemotherapy were associated with more severe delayed nausea (
p
values < 0.05). In multivariable analyses,
ABCB1
added an additional 5% predictive value beyond the 13% variance explained by patient-reported risk factors.
Conclusions
The current study identified patient-reported and genetic factors that may place patients at risk for acute nausea despite receipt of guideline-consistent anti-emetic prophylaxis. Additional studies examining other genetic variants are needed, as well as the development of risk prediction models including both patient-reported and genetic risk factors.
This study investigated the use of assistive technology by students in the United States who are visually impaired through a secondary analysis of a nationally representative database. It found that ...the majority of students were not using assistive technology. Implications for interventions and potential changes in policy or practice are discussed.
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