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Social justice has become a common goal in school psychology, including in practice guidelines. However, there is a paucity of research reflecting a representative sample of US practitioners providing input on key social justice competency areas and how frequently they employ these competencies. Utilizing a national sample of 145 practitioners, this study addresses this gap. Framed around the National Association of School Psychologists' Practice Model, respondents indicated a wide range of competency areas as important to the role of school psychologist, as well as widespread efforts to utilize these strategies, particularly actions that were more individualistic and under their direct control. Implications for practice and future research are provided.

BackgroundTrachoma programs use the indicator trachomatous inflammation--follicular (TF) to monitor indication for and response to treatment for trachoma at the district level. Alternative indicators, including serologic markers, are increasingly being evaluated for trachoma surveillance. We evaluated seroprevalence of IgG antibodies to the Pgp3 antigen in two districts in Maradi, Niger thought to have low TF prevalence.MethodsData were collected as part of the baseline assessment of the Azithromycin Reduction to Reach Elimination of Trachoma (ARRET) trial in September 2021. A random sample of 80 communities was selected from Mayahi and Guidan Roumdji districts, both of which had TF prevalence

BACKGROUND: The risk of antibiotic resistance is complicated by the potential for spillover effects from one treated population to another. Azithromycin mass drug administration programs report higher rates of antibiotic resistance among treatment arms in targeted groups. This study aimed to understand the risk of spillover of antibiotic resistance to nontarget groups in these programs. METHODS: Data were used from a cluster-randomized trial comparing the effects of biannual azithromycin and placebo distribution to children 1-59 months old on child mortality rates. Nasopharyngeal samples from untreated children 7-12 years old were tested for genetic determinants of macrolide resistance (primary outcome) and resistance to other antibiotic classes (secondary outcomes). Linear regression was used to compare the community-level mean difference in prevalence by arm at the 24-month time point, adjusting for baseline prevalence. RESULTS: A total of 1103 children 7-12 years old in 30 communities were included in the analysis (15 azithromycin, 15 placebo). The adjusted mean differences in the prevalence of resistance determinants for macrolides, β-lactams, and tetracyclines were 3.4% (95% confidence interval, -4.1% to 10.8%; P = .37), -1.2% (-7.9% to 5.5%; P = .72), and -3.3% (-9.5% to 2.8%; P = .61), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: We were unable to demonstrate a statistically significant increase in macrolide resistance determinants in untreated groups in an azithromycin mass drug administration program. While the result might be consistent with a small spillover effect, this study was not powered to detect such a small difference. Larger studies are warranted to better quantify the potential for spillover effects within these programs.

Abstract Starch samples from eight legumes cultivars instar of one variety of Vigna unguiculata L. (Cowpea), one variety of Vigna subterrenea V. (Bambara groundnut) and six varieties of Phaseolus vulgaris L. (Common bean), grown in Cameroon were isolated, and their physicochemical and pasting properties were evaluated. The objectives of the study were to investigate the starch properties and processing characteristics of different bean varieties, and to establish the basic foundation of improving the functionality of beans and their starch grown in the region. The result revealed significant differences amongst the properties of the starches. The swelling power of the legume starch isolates put them in the category of highly restricted-swelling starch. This characteristic is desirable for the manufacture of value-added products such as noodles and composite blends with cereals. The pasting properties were determined using a rapid visco analyzer, and various legumes bean starches exhibited different pasting profiles. The high breakdown viscosity (BV) was founded for Cowpea and Bambara groundnut and confirmed their low. ability to resist heat and shear stress when compared to Common bean varieties studies. The factors which influence the pasting characteristics resulting to decrease in peak viscosity (PV), trough viscosity (TV) and final viscosity (FV) of starch are attributed to the interaction of starch with the protein, fat, etc. which depended to their variety.

mRNAs interact with RNA-binding proteins (RBPs) throughout their processing and maturation. While efforts have assigned RBPs to RNA substrates, less exploration has leveraged protein-protein interactions (PPIs) to study proteins in mRNA life-cycle stages. We generated an RNA-aware, RBP-centric PPI map across the mRNA life cycle in human cells by immunopurification-mass spectrometry (IP-MS) of ∼100 endogenous RBPs with and without RNase, augmented by size exclusion chromatography-mass spectrometry (SEC-MS). We identify 8,742 known and 20,802 unreported interactions between 1,125 proteins and determine that 73% of the IP-MS-identified interactions are RNA regulated. Our interactome links many proteins, some with unknown functions, to specific mRNA life-cycle stages, with nearly half associated with multiple stages. We demonstrate the value of this resource by characterizing the splicing and export functions of enhancer of rudimentary homolog (ERH), and by showing that small nuclear ribonucleoprotein U5 subunit 200 (SNRNP200) interacts with stress granule proteins and binds cytoplasmic RNA differently during stress.

Millions of doses of azithromycin are distributed each year for trachoma, yet the treatment efficacy of a single dose of azithromycin for ocular Chlamydia infection has not been well characterized. In this study, four villages in Niger received a mass azithromycin distribution for trachoma. All 426 children aged 0-5 years residing in the study villages were offered conjunctival swabbing every 6 months to test for ocular Chlamydia trachomatis. Among the children infected with ocular Chlamydia before treatment, 6% (95% CI: 2-15%) tested positive for ocular Chlamydia infection 6 months later, and 15% (95% CI: 7-28%) tested positive 12 months later. The most important predictor of post-treatment ocular Chlamydia infection was pretreatment ocular Chlamydia infection (relative risk: 3.5, 95% CI: 1.3-9.4). Although the 6-monthly monitoring schedule was suboptimal for testing the treatment efficacy of an antibiotic, these findings are nonetheless consistent with high treatment efficacy of a single dose of azithromycin and suggest that additional interventions might be most effective if targeted to those children infected prior to treatment.

BACKGROUND: Randomized controlled trials found that twice-yearly mass azithromycin administration (MDA) reduces childhood mortality, presumably by reducing infection burden. World Health Organization (WHO) issued conditional guidelines for mass azithromycin administration in high-mortality settings in sub-Saharan Africa given concerns for antibiotic resistance. While prolonged twice-yearly MDA has been shown to increase antibiotic resistance in small randomized controlled trials, the objective of this study was to determine if macrolide and non-macrolide resistance in the gut increases with the duration of azithromycin MDA in a larger setting. METHODS AND FINDINGS: The Macrolide Oraux pour Réduire les Décès avec un Oeil sur la Résistance (MORDOR) study was conducted in Niger from December 2014 to June 2020. It was a cluster-randomized trial of azithromycin (A) versus placebo (P) aimed at evaluating childhood mortality. This is a sub-study in the MORDOR trial to track changes in antibiotic resistance after prolonged azithromycin MDA. A total of 594 communities were eligible. Children 1 to 59 months in 163 randomly chosen communities were eligible to receive treatment and included in resistance monitoring. Participants, staff, and investigators were masked to treatment allocation. At the conclusion of MORDOR Phase I, by design, all communities received an additional year of twice-yearly azithromycin treatments (Phase II). Thus, at the conclusion of Phase II, the treatment history (1 letter per 6-month period) for the participating communities was either (PP-PP-AA) or (AA-AA-AA). In Phase III, participating communities were then re-randomized to receive either another 3 rounds of azithromycin or placebo, thus resulting in 4 treatment histories: Group 1 (AA-AA-AA-AA-A, N = 51), Group 2 (PP-PP-AA-AA-A, N = 40), Group 3 (AA-AA-AA-PP-P, N = 27), and Group 4 (PP-PP-AA-PP-P, N = 32). Rectal swabs from each child (N = 5,340) were obtained 6 months after the last treatment. Each child contributed 1 rectal swab and these were pooled at the community level, processed for DNA-seq, and analyzed for genetic resistance determinants. The primary prespecified outcome was macrolide resistance determinants in the gut. Secondary outcomes were resistance to beta-lactams and other antibiotic classes. Communities recently randomized to azithromycin (groups 1 and 2) had significantly more macrolide resistance determinants than those recently randomized to placebo (groups 3 and 4) (fold change 2.18, 95% CI 1.5 to 3.51, Punadj < 0.001). However, there was no significant increase in macrolide resistance in communities treated 4.5 years (group 1) compared to just the most recent 2.5 years (group 2) (fold change 0.80, 95% CI 0.50 to 1.00, Padj = 0.010), or between communities that had been treated for 3 years in the past (group 3) versus just 1 year in the past (group 4) (fold change 1.00, 95% CI 0.78 to 2.35, Padj = 0.52). We also found no significant differences for beta-lactams or other antibiotic classes. The main limitations of our study were the absence of phenotypic characterization of resistance, no complete placebo arm, and no monitoring outside of Niger limiting generalizability. CONCLUSIONS: In this study, we observed that mass azithromycin distribution for childhood mortality among preschool children in Niger increased macrolide resistance determinants in the gut but that resistance may plateau after 2 to 3 years of treatment. Co-selection to other classes needs to be monitored. TRIAL REGISTRATION: NCT02047981 https://classic.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02047981.

One of the main purposes of technology integration was for effective teaching and learning. The model of technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK) was the suggested framework that could be applied in different facets of the teaching and learning process. Information communication tools (ICT) are the common infrastructures used for this process, and studies of TPACK application were mainly focused on normal desktop computers, and at the university level. However, there were uncommon studies of smart technologies such as SMART Board and SMART Notebook software at the secondary level, concerning TPACK applications. Against this background, the present study evaluated secondary school teachers on the TPACK applications in smart classrooms, as well as its effect on students' performance in chemistry. Through explanatory sequential mixed method design, results were highlighted and interpreted. These included lesson observation for quantitative data on four categories of knowledge: content knowledge, technological knowledge, technological pedagogical knowledge, and pedagogical content knowledge and students' performance in chemistry. While qualitative data about views were thematically analysed into strengths and challenges, as well as suggestions regarding TPACK applications and improving teaching and learning. The study involved seven teachers and 142 students, who were selected using a convenient sampling technique. The results revealed that teachers demonstrated the capacity to connect all categories of knowledge, develop, and conduct teaching where technology, pedagogy, and content interact. However, as the observed teachers acknowledged, it is challenging to overcome traditional teaching methods. This is due to several external factors, most notably the limited availability of digital equipment, and inadequate technology training, among others, which can improve the TPACK applications and promote students' engagement and learning. Further, the result of the intervention showed that teachers need continuous professional development, as it reflects significantly (p ?0.05) on students' performance in chemistry. These findings could serve as a foundation for creating policies that prioritise allocating funds to public schools for educational technology tools that will help teachers and students improve the teaching-learning process.