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Class climate has been focused in the context of school research for decades. One central facet of class climate is cohesion. Whereas there are well-elaborated instruments to assess cohesion in different contexts (e.g., sport and therapy), such an instrument is missing for the school context. The aim of the current article is to present an instrument to measure different facets of group cohesion in classes of primary and grammar schools. The factorial structure of the instrument is analyzed using data from Grades 2 to 7 (N ˜ 3052 from 146 classes) by means of confirmatory factor analysis. Furthermore, tests of measurement invariance across the different levels of education (primary vs. grammar school) are undertaken. Results support configural as well as partial metric and scalar invariance between students of primary and grammar schools. Further, cohesion in primary schools is significantly higher than in grammar schools. Limitations of the study and implications for future research in the context of school are discussed.

The functional and causal relationships among the inferotemporal face patches remain elusive. Here, using fMRI and pharmacological inactivation, the authors discover an antero-posterior bidirectional and fundal-lateral parallel organization of these face patches.

There has been a slight increase in the number of studies focused on the strategies used to introduce content-based instruction to students with moderate/severe disability. However, interventions for students with significant intellectual disability (ID) are lacking adapted materials to make instruction available in all major academic areas including social studies. This multiple baseline study examined the effects of adapted videos for improving factual comprehension of non-fiction clips by four high school students with significant ID. Video adaptations included picture/word-based closed captions and interactive video searching for answers. According to the visual analyses, students performed better with adapted and interactive video clips. Furthermore, social validity interviews revealed that all students enjoyed the adapted and interactive videos and found them beneficial. Limitations and directions for future research in the area of adapted and interactive video instruction are discussed.

OBJECTIVE:Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a complex pathology in which several dysfunctions, including alterations in metabolic pathways, mitochondrial functionality and unbalanced lipid import/export, lead to lipid accumulation and progression to inflammation and fibrosis. The enzyme glycine N-methyltransferase (GNMT), the most important enzyme implicated in S-adenosylmethionine catabolism in the liver, is downregulated during NAFLD progression. We have studied the mechanism involved in GNMT downregulation by its repressor microRNA miR-873-5p and the metabolic pathways affected in NAFLD as well as the benefit of recovery GNMT expression. METHODS:miR-873-5p and GNMT expression were evaluated in liver biopsies of NAFLD/NASH patients. Different in vitro and in vivo NAFLD murine models were used to assess miR-873-5p/GNMT involvement in fatty liver progression through targeting of the miR-873-5p as NAFLD therapy. RESULTS:We describe a new function of GNMT as an essential regulator of Complex II activity in the electron transport chain in the mitochondria. In NAFLD, GNMT expression is controlled by miR-873-5p in the hepatocytes, leading to disruptions in mitochondrial functionality in a preclinical murine non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) model. Upregulation of miR-873-5p is shown in the liver of NAFLD/NASH patients, correlating with hepatic GNMT depletion. Importantly, NASH therapies based on anti-miR-873-5p resolve lipid accumulation, inflammation and fibrosis by enhancing fatty acid β-oxidation in the mitochondria. Therefore, miR-873-5p inhibitor emerges as a potential tool for NASH treatment. CONCLUSION:GNMT participates in the regulation of metabolic pathways and mitochondrial functionality through the regulation of Complex II activity in the electron transport chain. In NAFLD, GNMT is repressed by miR-873-5p and its targeting arises as a valuable therapeutic option for treatment.

Comprehensive characterization of AML-associated T cells during disease progression is essential to identify relevant immune escape mechanisms and new immunotherapeutic approaches. Investigating the processes that lead to an immunosuppressive environment under progression of AML is difficult in humans, because by the time of diagnosis the disease is often progressed far beyond the initial stages. Therefore, to investigate T-cell phenotypes during progression a C57BL/6 mouse model was used. The CD3+ T cells were characterized by performing multiparametric flow analyses at different time points (day 0 = healthy mice, day 7, day 14, and day 21). The study revealed that the spleen is highly infiltrated by reg CD4+ T cells at day 21 of AML progression. These spleen-infiltrating reg CD4+ T cells mainly showed an effector memory differentiation with high expression and co-expression of the checkpoint molecules TIGIT, PD-1, OX40, and the two ectoenzymes CD39 and CD73. Substantial expression of the checkpoint molecules was restricted to the central memory and effector memory compartments. Furthermore, functional evaluation of TIGIT was performed. Blocking TIGIT resulted in a significantly increased lysis of C1498 AML cells in cocultures with AML-primed CD3+ T cells. Together these data confirm that the expression of the checkpoint receptor TIGIT is relevant for dysfunction of AML-associated T cells and, thus, represents a suitable target for future immunotherapeutic approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]