Influencing Children Through the Art of Storytelling Using a Medically-Informed Children's Book.

INTRODUCTION: The purpose of this study is to demonstrate how children learn about a health topic from an interactive reading session. Due to the large number of children with allergies, the specific topic chosen for this research study was peanut allergies. The goal of the project was to educate children on a leading, medically-relevant health topic through a story about a child with a peanut allergy. METHODS: For the purposes of the research project, author Mykayla Vollmer wrote, illustrated, and published the children's book "A Party Without Peanuts: How Food Allergies Affect Friends." The children's book was then read in a group setting at local third grade classrooms and students were provided adequate time to ask questions following the reading session. The students were assessed through both pre- and post-read surveys to evaluate knowledge gained during the session. Specific topics discussed in the reading include allergies, anaphylaxis, preventative measures, and treatments. RESULTS: There was a total of 65 pre- and post- read surveys matched in data analysis. There was a significant increase from a pre-read score of 5.38 (76.92%) to a post-read score of 6.38 (91.21%) for the overall survey with a mean difference of 1.0. In addition to comparing the overall results of the study, each question in the survey was assessed on an individual basis. 4 of the 7 questions demonstrated a significant change in percent of students who answered correctly following the reading session. CONCLUSIONS: The overall findings of the study demonstrated that through interactive readings sessions students significantly increased their scores between pre- and post-read questionnaires. This study serves to encourage the use of children's books as an educational tool for young learners.

Educating Children Through the Art of Storytelling Using a Medically-Informed Children's Book.

INTRODUCTION: The purpose of this study is to demonstrate how children learn about a health topic from an interactive reading session. Due to the large number of children with allergies, the specific topic chosen for this research study was peanut allergies. The goal of the project was to assess how students learn from a children's book. METHODS: For the purposes of the research project, Vollmer wrote, illustrated, and published the children's book "A Party Without Peanuts: How Food Allergies Affect Friends". The children's book was then read in a group setting in third-grade classrooms and a question-and-answer session was held. The students were assessed through both pre- and post-read surveys to evaluate knowledge gained during the session. Specific topics discussed include allergies, anaphylaxis, preventative measures, and treatments. RESULTS: There was a total of 65 pre- and post- read surveys matched in data analysis. There was a significant increase from a pre-read score of 5.38 (76.92%) to a post-read score of 6.38 (91.21%) for the overall survey with a mean difference of 1.0. In addition, each individual question was assessed and it was found that 4 of the 7 questions demonstrated a significant change in percent of students who answered correctly following the reading. CONCLUSION: The overall findings of the study demonstrated that through interactive reading sessions students significantly increased their scores between pre- and post-read questionnaires. This study serves to encourage the use of children's books as an educational tool for young learners.

Influencing Children Through the Art of Storytelling Using a Medically-Informed Children's Book.

INTRODUCTION: The purpose of this study is to demonstrate how children learn about a health topic from an interactive reading session. Due to the large number of children with allergies, the specific topic chosen for this research study was peanut allergies. The goal of the project was to educate children about a leading, medically relevant health topic through a story about a child with a peanut allergy. METHODS: For the purposes of the research project, author Mykayla Vollmer wrote, illustrated, and published the children's book, A Party Without Peanuts: How Food Allergies Affect Friends. The children's book was then read, in a group setting, at local third grade classrooms and students were provided adequate time to ask questions following the reading session. The students were assessed through both pre- and post-read surveys to evaluate knowledge gained during the session. Specific topics discussed in the reading include allergies, anaphylaxis, preventative measures, and treatments. RESULTS: There were 65 pre- and post-read surveys matched in data analysis. There was a significant increase from a pre-read score of 5.38 (76.92%) to a post-read score of 6.38 (91.21%) for the overall survey with a mean difference of 1.0. In addition to comparing the overall results of the study, each question in the survey was assessed on an individual basis. 4 of the 7 questions demonstrated a significant change in percentage of students who answered correctly following the reading session. CONCLUSION: The overall findings of the study demonstrated that through interactive reading sessions students significantly increased their scores between pre- and post-read questionnaires. This study serves to encourage the use of children's books as an educational tool for young learners.

Selective Targeting of Class I Histone Deacetylases in a Model of Human Osteosarcoma.

Dysregulation of histone deacetylases (HDACs) is associated with the pathogenesis of human osteosarcoma, which may present an epigenetic vulnerability as well as a therapeutic target. Domatinostat (4SC-202) is a next-generation class I HDAC inhibitor that is currently being used in clinical research for certain cancers, but its impact on human osteosarcoma has yet to be explored. In this study, we report that 4SC-202 inhibits osteosarcoma cell growth in vitro and in vivo. By analyzing cell function in vitro, we show that the anti-tumor effect of 4SC-202 involves the combined induction of cell-cycle arrest at the G2/M phase and apoptotic program, as well as a reduction in cell invasion and migration capabilities. We also found that 4SC-202 has little capacity to promote osteogenic differentiation. Remarkably, 4SC-202 revised the global transcriptome and induced distinct signatures of gene expression in vitro. Moreover, 4SC-202 decreased tumor growth of established human tumor xenografts in immunodeficient mice in vivo. We further reveal key targets regulated by 4SC-202 that contribute to tumor cell growth and survival, and canonical signaling pathways associated with progression and metastasis of osteosarcoma. Our study suggests that 4SC-202 may be exploited as a valuable drug to promote more effective treatment of patients with osteosarcoma and provide molecular insights into the mechanism of action of class I HDAC inhibitors.