The dynamic nature of student discipline and discipline disparities.

Researchers have long used end-of-year discipline rates to identify punitive schools, explore sources of inequitable treatment, and evaluate interventions designed to stem both discipline and racial disparities in discipline. Yet, this approach leaves us with a "static view"-with no sense of how disciplinary responses fluctuate throughout the year. What if daily discipline rates, and daily discipline disparities, shift over the school year in ways that could inform when and where to intervene? This research takes a "dynamic view" of discipline. It leverages 4 years of atypically detailed data regarding the daily disciplinary experiences of 46,964 students from 61 middle schools in one of the nation's largest school districts. Reviewing these data, we find that discipline rates are indeed dynamic. For all student groups, the daily discipline rate grows from the beginning of the school year to the weeks leading up to the Thanksgiving break, falls before major breaks, and grows following major breaks. During periods of escalation, the daily discipline rate for Black students grows significantly faster than the rate for White students-widening racial disparities. Given this, districts hoping to stem discipline and disparities may benefit from timing interventions to precede these disciplinary spikes. In addition, early-year Black-White disparities can be used to identify the schools in which Black-White disparities are most likely to emerge by the end of the school year. Thus, the results reported here provide insights regarding not only when to intervene, but where to intervene to reduce discipline rates and disparities.

Critical Faculty and Peer Instructor Development: Core Components for Building Inclusive STEM Programs in Higher Education.

First-generation college students and those from ethnic groups such as African Americans, Latinx, Native Americans, or Indigenous Peoples in the United States are less likely to pursue STEM-related professions. How might we develop conceptual and methodological approaches to understand instructional differences between various undergraduate STEM programs that contribute to racial and social class disparities in psychological indicators of academic success such as learning orientations and engagement? Within social psychology, research has focused mainly on student-level mechanisms surrounding threat, motivation, and identity. A largely parallel literature in sociology, meanwhile, has taken a more institutional and critical approach to inequalities in STEM education, pointing to the macro level historical, cultural, and structural roots of those inequalities. In this paper, we bridge these two perspectives by focusing on critical faculty and peer instructor development as targets for inclusive STEM education. These practices, especially when deployed together, have the potential to disrupt the unseen but powerful historical forces that perpetuate STEM inequalities, while also positively affecting student-level proximate factors, especially for historically marginalized students.

Association between sex and survival after non-traumatic out of hospital cardiac arrest: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Existing studies have shown conflicting results regarding the relationship of sex with survival after out of hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA). This systematic review evaluates the association of female sex with survival to discharge and survival to 30 days after non-traumatic OHCA. METHODS: We searched Medline, Embase, CINAHL, Web of Science, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, and Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews from inception through June 2021 for studies evaluating female sex as a predictor of survival in adult patients with non-traumatic cardiac arrest. Random-effects inverse variance meta-analyses were performed to calculate pooled odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CI). The GRADE approach was used to assess evidence quality. RESULTS: Thirty studies including 1,068,788 patients had female proportion of 41%. There was no association for female sex with survival to discharge (OR 1.03, 95% CI 0.95-1.12; I2 = 89%). Subgroup analysis of low risk of bias studies demonstrated increased survival to discharge for female sex (OR 1.20, 95% CI 1.18-1.23; I2 = 0%) and with high certainty, the absolute increase in survival was 2.2% (95% CI 0.1-3.6%). Female sex was not associated with survival to 30 days post-OHCA (OR 1.02, 95% CI 0.92-1.14; I2 = 79%). CONCLUSIONS: In adult patients experiencing OHCA, with high certainty in the evidence from studies with low risk of bias, female sex had a small absolute difference for the outcome survival to discharge and no difference in survival at 30 days. Future models that aim to stratify risk of survival post-OHCA should focus on sex-specific factors as opposed to sex as an isolated prognostic factor.

Context matters for preschool discipline: Effects of distance learning and pandemic fears.

The COVID-19 pandemic transformed the context and delivery of early childhood education, yet little is known about its impact on exclusionary discipline (e.g., suspension, expulsion), which nationally representative evidence has shown disproportionately impacts Black boys. Using one experiment, we test how preschool providers respond to three hypothetical vignettes about a Black boy's behaviors. Participants (N = 60) were randomly assigned to read vignettes set in either distance learning or in-person classroom contexts. Then, participants completed measures about discipline and COVID-19. Results indicated there was an interaction between context and the sequence of vignettes on providers' troubled feelings and endorsements of discipline. Providers showed heightened troubled feelings and endorsements of discipline severity in the distance learning context, as compared to an in-person context, as vignettes progressed. Additionally, the more providers feared COVID-19, the more they felt troubled over the course of the vignettes across conditions. Practitioners can use this research to inform consultative interventions that mitigate discipline by directly addressing providers' pandemic fears and classroom contexts. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

A scalable empathic supervision intervention to mitigate recidivism from probation and parole.

Incarceration is a pervasive issue in the United States that is enormously costly to families, communities, and society at large. The path from prison back to prison may depend on the relationship a person has with their probation or parole officer (PPO). If the relationship lacks appropriate care and trust, violations and recidivism (return to jail or prison) may be more likely to occur. Here, we test whether an "empathic supervision" intervention with PPOs-that aims to reduce collective blame against and promote empathy for the perspectives of adults on probation or parole (APPs)-can reduce rates of violations and recidivism. The intervention highlights the unreasonable expectation that all APPs will reoffend (collective blame) and the benefits of empathy-valuing APPs' perspectives. Using both within-subject (monthly official records for 10 mo) and between-subject (treatment versus control) comparisons in a longitudinal study with PPOs in a large US city (NPPOs = 216; NAPPs =∼20,478), we find that the empathic supervision intervention reduced collective blame against APPs 10 mo postintervention and reduced between-subject violations and recidivism, a 13% reduction that would translate to less taxpayer costs if scaled. Together, these findings illustrate that very low-cost psychological interventions that target empathy in relationships can be cost effective and combat important societal outcomes in a lasting manner.

Promoter methylation of ADAMTS1 and BNC1 as potential biomarkers for early detection of pancreatic cancer in blood.

BACKGROUND: Despite improvements in cancer management, most pancreatic cancers are still diagnosed at an advanced stage. We have recently identified promoter DNA methylation of the genes ADAMTS1 and BNC1 as potential blood biomarkers of pancreas cancer. In this study, we validate this biomarker panel in peripheral cell-free tumor DNA of patients with pancreatic cancer. RESULTS: Sensitivity and specificity for each gene are as follows: ADAMTS1 87.2% and 95.8% (AUC = 0.91; 95% CI 0.71-0.86) and BNC1 64.1% and 93.7% (AUC = 0.79; 95% CI 0.63-0.78). When using methylation of either gene as a combination panel, sensitivity increases to 97.3% and specificity to 91.6% (AUC = 0.95; 95% CI 0.77-0.90). Adding pre-operative CA 19-9 values to the combined two-gene methylation panel did not improve sensitivity. Methylation of ADAMTS1 was found to be positive in 87.5% (7/8) of stage I, 77.8% (7/9) of stage IIA, and 90% (18/20) of stage IIB disease. Similarly, BNC1 was positive in 62.5% (5/8) of stage I patients, 55.6% (5/9) of stage IIA, and 65% (13/20) of patients with stage IIB disease. The two-gene panel (ADAMTS1 and/or BNC1) was positive in 100% (8/8) of stage I, 88.9% (8/9) of stage IIA, and 100% (20/20) of stage IIB disease. The sensitivity and specificity of the two-gene panel for localized pancreatic cancer (stages I and II), where the cancer is eligible for surgical resection with curative potential, was 94.8% and 91.6% respectively. Additionally, the two-gene panel exhibited an AUC of 0.95 (95% CI 0.90-0.98) compared to 57.1% for CA 19-9 alone. CONCLUSION: The methylation status of ADAMTS1 and BNC1 in cfDNA shows promise for detecting pancreatic cancer during the early stages when curative resection of the tumor is still possible. This minimally invasive blood-based biomarker panel could be used as a promising tool for diagnosis and screening in a select subset of high-risk populations.

Implementing a community bullying awareness intervention in an adolescent psychiatric unit: a feasibility study.

PROBLEM: Adolescents with a mental health diagnosis are at risk of involvement in bullying. We tested the feasibility of a bullying awareness group intervention in an established inpatient psychiatric unit milieu. METHODS: Adolescents admitted to an urban inpatient adolescent psychiatric unit were eligible to attend two sequential 1-hour Bullying Awareness intervention group sessions. Data were collected before the first session (T1), post-both sessions (T2), and following discharge from the unit (T3). FINDINGS: A total of 65 adolescents were enrolled; most were female (66.2%), African-American (60%), and in grades 10 to 12 (57%). Intervention feasibility was achieved as >80% of participants completed all components of the intervention and 100% completed all study questionnaires at T1 and T2. Feasibility of the follow-up (T3) was not achieved. Bullying knowledge scores improved significantly from T1 to T2. CONCLUSIONS: The intervention is feasible to implement in an inpatient adolescent psychiatry unit and can improve adolescents' bullying knowledge.

Polycomb repressive complex 2 regulates MiR-200b in retinal endothelial cells: potential relevance in diabetic retinopathy.

Glucose-induced augmented vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) production is a key event in diabetic retinopathy. We have previously demonstrated that downregulation of miR-200b increases VEGF, mediating structural and functional changes in the retina in diabetes. However, mechanisms regulating miR-200b in diabetes are not known. Histone methyltransferase complex, Polycomb Repressive Complex 2 (PRC2), has been shown to repress miRNAs in neoplastic process. We hypothesized that, in diabetes, PRC2 represses miR-200b through its histone H3 lysine-27 trimethylation mark. We show that human retinal microvascular endothelial cells exposed to high levels of glucose regulate miR-200b repression through histone methylation and that inhibition of PRC2 increases miR-200b while reducing VEGF. Furthermore, retinal tissue from animal models of diabetes showed increased expression of major PRC2 components, demonstrating in vivo relevance. This research established a repressive relationship between PRC2 and miR-200b, providing evidence of a novel mechanism of miRNA regulation through histone methylation.

Reprint of: miRNA-1 regulates endothelin-1 in diabetes.

AIMS: MicroRNAs (miRNAs) play important roles in several biological processes. In this study, we investigated the role of miR-1, an endothelin-1 (ET-1) targeting miRNA, in endothelial cells (ECs) and tissues of diabetic animals. ET-1 is known to be of pathogenetic significance in several chronic diabetic complications. MAIN METHODS: PCR array was used to identify alterations of miRNA expression in ECs exposed to glucose. miR-1 expression was validated by TaqMan real-time PCR assay. Human retinal ECs (HRECs) and human umbilical vein ECs (HUVECs) exposed to various glucose levels with or without miR-1 mimic transfection, and tissues from streptozotocin-induced diabetic animals after two months of follow-up, were examined for miR-1 expression, as well as ET-1 and fibronectin (FN) mRNA and protein levels. KEY FINDINGS: Array analyses showed glucose-induced alterations of 125 miRNAs (out of 381) in ECs exposed to 25 mM glucose compared to 5 mM glucose. Fifty-one miRNAs were upregulated and 74 were downregulated. 25 mM glucose decreased miR-1 expression and increased ET-1 mRNA and protein levels. miR-1 mimic transfection prevented HG-induced ET-1 upregulation. Furthermore, glucose induced upregulation of FN, which is mediated partly by ET-1, was also prevented by such transfection. Diabetic animals showed decreased miR-1 expression in the retina, heart and kidneys. In parallel, ET-1 mRNA expressions were increased in these tissues of diabetic animals, in association with upregulation of FN. SIGNIFICANCE: These results indicate a novel glucose-induced mechanism of tissue damage, in which miR-1 regulates ET-1 expressions in diabetes. Identifying such mechanisms may lead to RNA based treatment for diabetic complications.

miRNA-1 regulates endothelin-1 in diabetes.

AIMS: MicroRNAs (miRNAs) play important roles in several biological processes. In this study, we investigated the role of miR-1, an endothelin-1 (ET-1) targeting miRNA, in endothelial cells (ECs) and tissues of diabetic animals. ET-1 is known to be of pathogenetic significance in several chronic diabetic complications. MAIN METHODS: PCR array was used to identify alterations of miRNA expression in ECs exposed to glucose. miR-1 expression was validated by TaqMan real-time PCR assay. Human retinal ECs (HRECs) and human umbilical vein ECs (HUVECs) exposed to various glucose levels with or without miR-1 mimic transfection, and tissues from streptozotocin-induced diabetic animals after two months of follow-up, were examined for miR-1 expression, as well as ET-1 and fibronectin (FN) mRNA and protein levels. KEY FINDINGS: Array analyses showed glucose-induced alterations of 125 miRNAs (out of 381) in ECs exposed to 25mM glucose compared to 5mM glucose. Fifty-one miRNAs were upregulated and 74 were downregulated. 25mM glucose decreased miR-1 expression and increased ET-1 mRNA and protein levels. miR-1 mimic transfection prevented HG-induced ET-1 upregulation. Furthermore, glucose induced upregulation of FN, which is mediated partly by ET-1, was also prevented by such transfection. Diabetic animals showed decreased miR-1 expression in the retina, heart and kidneys. In parallel, ET-1 mRNA expressions were increased in these tissues of diabetic animals, in association with upregulation of FN. SIGNIFICANCE: These results indicate a novel glucose-induced mechanism of tissue damage, in which miR-1 regulates ET-1 expressions in diabetes. Identifying such mechanisms may lead to RNA based treatment for diabetic complications.

The in vitro mass-produced model mycorrhizal fungus, Rhizophagus irregularis, significantly increases yields of the globally important food security crop cassava.

The arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis is formed between arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) and plant roots. The fungi provide the plant with inorganic phosphate (P). The symbiosis can result in increased plant growth. Although most global food crops naturally form this symbiosis, very few studies have shown that their practical application can lead to large-scale increases in food production. Application of AMF to crops in the tropics is potentially effective for improving yields. However, a main problem of using AMF on a large-scale is producing cheap inoculum in a clean sterile carrier and sufficiently concentrated to cheaply transport. Recently, mass-produced in vitro inoculum of the model mycorrhizal fungus Rhizophagus irregularis became available, potentially making its use viable in tropical agriculture. One of the most globally important food plants in the tropics is cassava. We evaluated the effect of in vitro mass-produced R. irregularis inoculum on the yield of cassava crops at two locations in Colombia. A significant effect of R. irregularis inoculation on yield occurred at both sites. At one site, yield increases were observed irrespective of P fertilization. At the other site, inoculation with AMF and 50% of the normally applied P gave the highest yield. Despite that AMF inoculation resulted in greater food production, economic analyses revealed that AMF inoculation did not give greater return on investment than with conventional cultivation. However, the amount of AMF inoculum used was double the recommended dose and was calculated with European, not Colombian, inoculum prices. R. irregularis can also be manipulated genetically in vitro, leading to improved plant growth. We conclude that application of in vitro R. irregularis is currently a way of increasing cassava yields, that there is a strong potential for it to be economically profitable and that there is enormous potential to improve this efficiency further in the future.

Oxidative-stress-induced epigenetic changes in chronic diabetic complications.

Oxidative stress plays an important role in the development and progression of chronic diabetic complications. Diabetes causes mitochondrial superoxide overproduction in the endothelial cells of both large and small vessels. This increased superoxide production causes the activation of several signal pathways involved in the pathogenesis of chronic complications. In particular, endothelial cells are major targets of glucose-induced oxidative damage in the target organs. Oxidative stress activates cellular signaling pathways and transcription factors in endothelial cells including protein kinase C (PKC), c-Jun-N-terminal kinase (JNK), p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK), forkhead box O (FOXO), and nuclear factor kappa-B (NF-κB). Oxidative stress also causes DNA damage and activates DNA nucleotide excision repair enzymes including the excision repair cross complimenting 1(ERCC1), ERCC4, and poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP). Augmented production of histone acetyltransferase p300, and alterations of histone deacetylases, including class III deacetylases sirtuins, are also involved in this process. Recent research has found that small noncoding RNAs, like microRNA, are a new kind of regulator associated with chronic diabetic complications. There are extensive and complicated interactions and among these molecules. The purpose of this review is to demonstrate the role of oxidative stress in the development of diabetic complications in relation to epigenetic changes such as acetylation and microRNA alterations.

MicroRNAs: the underlying mediators of pathogenetic processes in vascular complications of diabetes.

Diabetes mellitus causes chronic complications primarily affecting the vasculature of various organs, risking patients for renal failure, vision loss and heart failure. A newly discovered class of molecules, microRNAs, may be important in the genesis of these pathologic processes. microRNAs regulate gene expression at the post-transcriptional level by inhibiting target messenger RNA translation. In disease states, however, the expression of microRNAs often is altered, resulting in further altered expression (mostly overexpression) of downstream target genes. Interestingly, restoring microRNA expression to normal levels can correct downstream effects and prevent diabetes-associated changes. Investigations into microRNA involved in various pathogenetic processes mediating diabetic nephropathy, retinopathy and cardiomyopathy are highlighted in this review. Future directions of microRNA in therapeutics and diagnostics are also discussed. It is our intent to help the reader appreciate the diverse interactions microRNAs have in cellular signalling and how understanding epigenetic elements, such as microRNAs, potentially can yield new therapeutic strategies.

Mycoplasma pneumoniae associated with hemolytic anemia, cold agglutinins, and recurrent arterial thrombosis.

A 40-year-old white male developed Mycoplasma pneumoniae pneumonia (IgM titer 1:256) as well as autoimmune hemolytic anemia due to cold agglutinins (titer of 1:512). Four days after admission to the hospital, he developed an acute superior mesenteric artery (SMA) thrombosis. Four feet of ischemic small bowel were resected. A follow-up angiogram again showed SMA thrombosis and a left popliteal artery thrombosis. The patient was returned to the operating room and underwent thrombectomy of the affected arteries. The following day, he again developed a left popliteal artery thrombosis requiring thrombectomy. Plasmapheresis, Coumadin and prednisone were implemented. No further thrombotic events occurred. Hypercoagulability workup was negative. Pathology samples revealed vasculitis. Based on a negative hypercoagulability workup, nonrecurrence of thrombotic events after treatment, and in the absence of any structural abnormalities of the affected arteries, an autoimmune phenomenon with damage to the endothelium was thought to have played a role in the mechanism of thrombosis.