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Society faces emerging challenges that require re-envisioning what it means to know and use science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) and who are STEM scientists. We advocate for a transdisciplinary framework for participatory STEM learning based on the culmination of the authors' designing and complemented by reviews of extant works in youth STEM learning and engagement. Data literacy, geospatial reasoning, and community science are cornerstones in our framework because of their power to leverage and integrate the four STEM disciplines. Youth with their families are authors and designers in community problem-solving using data literacy and geospatial reasoning through participatory community science to question, analyze, and design solutions empowered by their lived experiences. Through partnerships with community organizations, families, youth, and STEM practitioners, we discuss how to develop and use tools and methods to design and build better spaces for youths' communities. Our aim is for more authentic, inclusive, and empowering learning opportunities that broaden youths' STEM participation. We describe our framework and the underlying commitments, design principles, expected outcomes, and limitations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article provides an overview of the history and the global emergence of the Zika virus (ZIKV) in 2018. It mentions that ZIKV was first discovered in a Rhesus monkey in the Zika Forest of Uganda in 1947, but not until its 2007 emergence did the flavivirus grab researchers' attention. In 2016, the World Health Organization declared officially ZIKV a Public Health Emergency of International Concern because of its consequences on developing fetuses.

Recent tragedies in our nation's schools--such as the Sandy Hook shooting in Newton, Connecticut and the Marysville-Pilchuck shooting near Seattle, Washington--have brought the school safety debate to the forefront of American politics. Issues of serious school violence receive intense media scrutiny. As a result, the school safety debate tends to incite emotional responses from legislatures, school districts, and parents alike. However, given that school safety concerns more than just mass shootings, emotionally charged legislation focused upon firearms is not the answer. Rather, school safety legislation needs to be school-centered. In response to the current guns-in-schools debate, this Note proposes that the proper way to address school safety is through state legislation that requires school resource officer programs and individual school safety plans, and creates a source of financial support for these increased safety measures. Recent legislation from Indiana and Connecticut serve as models for state policymakers to follow when responding to the issue of school safety through legislation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Filling the knowledge gap in the limited research on professional development leaders is an urgent issue if teacher learning is to be improved. This research and development project is studying how leaders learn to cultivate mathematically rich professional development environments. The authors adapted two frameworks from classroom-based research--sociomathematical norms and practices for orchestrating productive discussion--to support leaders' understanding of facilitation of mathematics professional development. In this article, the authors describe the use of these frameworks in their work and argue for a third framework--the mathematical knowledge for teaching. Based on the analysis of their work, they believe that mathematics professional development leaders need to cultivate particular sociomathematical norms for teacher explanation and employ practices for orchestrating discussions to achieve the purposeful development of teachers' specialized knowledge of mathematics for teaching. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite its essential role in educational reform, professional development typically does not receive adequate support in systemic reform efforts. This article presents an exception—a state that incorporated professional development as a central priority in its reform effort and four schools that used state resources to build their capacity for enacting the reform agenda. We describe central features of Kentucky''s approach to professional development, characterize elements of professional development within the four schools, and discuss how these elements promoted three dimensions of school capacity: individual teachers’ knowledge, skills, and dispositions; professional community; and program coherence. Based on this “image of the possible,” we offer recommendations for professional development that supports systemic, standards-based educational reform. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Characterizes the nature of students' understanding of mathematical proof by using Balacheff's (1987) four levels of proof, which includes naive empiricism, crucial experiment, generic example and thought experiment. Discussion on the four levels of proof; Determining the strengths and weaknesses of individual students' justifications; Transition to advanced understandings and uses of proof.

Since the 2013 Nobel Prize was awarded for the discovery of vesicle trafficking, a subgroup of nanovesicles called exosomes has been driving the research field to a new regime for understanding cellular communication. This exosome-dominated traffic control system has increased understanding of many diseases, including cancer metastasis, diabetes, and HIV. In addition to the important diagnostic role, exosomes are particularly attractive for drug delivery, due to their distinctive properties in cellular information transfer and uptake. Compared to viral and non-viral synthetic systems, the natural, cell-derived exosomes exhibit intrinsic payload and bioavailability. Most importantly, exosomes easily cross biological barriers, obstacles that continue to challenge other drug delivery nanoparticle systems. Recent emerging studies have shown numerous critical roles of exosomes in many biological barriers, including the blood–brain barrier (BBB), blood–cerebrospinal fluid barrier (BCSFB), blood–lymph barrier (BlyB), blood–air barrier (BAB), stromal barrier (SB), blood–labyrinth barrier (BLaB), blood–retinal barrier (BRB), and placental barrier (PB), which opens exciting new possibilities for using exosomes as the delivery platform. However, the systematic reviews summarizing such discoveries are still limited. This review covers state-of-the-art exosome research on crossing several important biological barriers with a focus on the current, accepted models used to explain the mechanisms of barrier crossing, including tight junctions. The potential to design and engineer exosomes to enhance delivery efficacy, leading to future applications in precision medicine and immunotherapy, is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]