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The need for self-directed learning for professional development drives an increase in the delivery of easy to use 'just-in-time' resources that respond to the often-dynamic workplace and work culture. This is especially important in the era of globalisation, when the number of employees, who are culturally diverse, increases each year. Most medium and large companies operate in an international environment, and this is due to the expansion of international enterprises with branches in various countries that requires cooperation with foreign clients, and the employment of foreign nationals in their companies. In order to guarantee the effectiveness of workings in companies, there is a need for continuous education in the aspect of the cultural diversity. This paper explores micro-learning, which focuses on delivering brevity through bite-sized learning units or short-term learning activities. Learning content in this case can take many forms, from text to interactive multimedia. These contents are often created on demand, which can sometimes be less contextualised and pedagogically informed. Based on a case study of the need for training on cultural risks in multi-cultural organisations, this paper focuses on the design of mini-games as playful learning resources for supporting an online learning platform that has been developed as a response to this training need. Fifteen mini-games have been developed to complement eight main topics related to cultural risks and to promote reflection, practice and the self-assessment of knowledge acquired through the platform. The main eight topics represent the risk areas identified that include cultural awareness, understanding different cultures, communication, learning styles, hierarchy, team-working, qualities in the working place, and stereotypes through a survey carried out with personnel (n=154) from multi-cultural organisations across five countries - Cyprus, Italy, Latvia, Poland, and the UK. The discussions include unpacking the mapping of pedagogical and gameful design considerations based on Arnab et al.'s (2015) Learning Mechanics-Game Mechanics Mapping (LMGM) model. The paper also discusses the findings from the testing of the online platform across 5 countries including 166 participants (two-step testing). The insights provided will be valuable to researchers, practitioners, designers, and developers of micro-learning resources.

Background: Since COVID-19, remote consultation (by telephone and video) has become widespread. This study investigated the experience of using remote consultation in Specialist Intellectual Disability Community services. Method: A total of 126 health staff working across eight Specialist Intellectual Disability Community teams in the NHS Health Board of Greater Glasgow and Clyde were asked to complete a short Likert-scale survey about remote consultation. Results: There were 61 (48%) respondents from a range of disciplines. Overall, respondents were positive about remote consultation but found it was often inadequate to complete a full patient assessment. Moving forwards, respondents wanted around 60% of all consultations to remain face-to-face. It was significantly more difficult to engage and communicate with patients with more severe levels of disability. Conclusions: Remote consultation has been successful, but there is still a need for face-to-face assessment in intellectual disability services, particularly when working with people with more severe levels of disability.

Drawing on both extensive professional and deeply personal experience, Sarah Werner Andrews' vision of working with children carries profound respect and love throughout her guiding insight. She shares an understanding of those children who are the most challenging and provides a framework that allows us to embrace these and all children. Acknowledging the confusion and frustration that teachers often feel in the face of helping children that are difficult to understand, she sends the message that in order to gain insight and help each child, we must work to help ourselves by opening our minds and embracing the challenges and differences that each child offers. By embracing differences, the true child can be seen, and the child will guide the adult in the quest to help him. [This talk was presented at the NAMTA conference titled "Children on the Edge: Creating a Path for Happy, Healthy Development," January 12-15, 2017 in New Orleans, LA.]

"The children who demand more attention than others, who are disruptive, unmotivated, oppositional, aggressive, or do not give us the positive feedback we get from others…This is where we dig in and find compassion, and understanding, and the knowledge that no child wants to be disruptive, oppositional, or aggressive. They do this because they are hurt, and we are here to help." Sarah Werner Andrews provides an approach to the children who pose a challenge because they themselves are facing challenges. She offers practical tools and approaches that are first based on positive relationships, then on the relationship with the environment, and finally on positive, collaborative interventions. [This talk was presented at the NAMTA conference titled "Children on the Edge: Creating a Path for Happy, Healthy Development," January 12-15, 2017 in New Orleans, LA.]

This article represents an amazing reversal of linguistic analysis. Usually Montessori language is translated into "state" terminology. In this case, Sarah Werner Andrews puts state quality assessment terms into Montessori language. For example, domains for school readiness include 1) physical wellbeing and motor development, 2) social and emotional development, 3) approach to learning, 4) language development, 5) cognition and general knowledge. Sarah's use of rich Montessori theory and descriptive language brings Montessori to the essential state keys for expected government proof of quality. [This talk was presented at the NAMTA conference titled "The Social Relevance of the Montessori First Plane: Engaging Families, Building Partnerships, and Finding Common Ground with the Wider Early Childhood Community" in Dallas, TX, January 15-18, 2015.]

Parents as partners is a slight digression in title from the grace and courtesy theme of the journal, but it builds its argument around the concept of cooperative relations between the parents and the school. Sarah speaks of the perception of the teacher and parents as each being unique and particular to the life and personality of each child. The teacher must see the positive in the child and have a natural respect and dignity so both want to act for the greater good and, likewise, must treat the parents as wanting to make their own contribution to their child as part of the whole-child community. Sarah goes on to suggest that diverse views of the same child are one of the most valuable offerings of a school. These varying perspectives override the linear view that assumes one perspective, which can be one-dimensional, reductionist, and can lead to labeling. [This talk was presented at the NAMTA conference titled "Grace, Courtesy, and Civility Across the Planes," Portland, OR, March 13-16, 2014.]

Linking joy and engagement together, Sarah Werner Andrews points out how happiness is a factor of real imaginary work possibilities and not just coercion. Choice and expression of work are central to the child when work is self-motivated but does not always succeed. Practice alongside risk is a factor for all real work, mistakes are important, and a growth mindset justifies making mistakes from time to time. The social, emotional, cognitive, and physical wellness contribute to a positive approach for developing the self, and joyful engagement can become the common core for Montessori schools as they guide the child through human development and into the world around us. [This talk was presented at the NAMTA conference titled "Montessori from Birth to Six: In Search of Community Values," Minneapolis, MN, November 7-10, 2013.]

The VH6-1 class of antibodies includes some of the broadest and most potent antibodies that neutralize influenza A virus. Here, we elicit and isolate antiidiotype antibodies against germline versions of VH6-1 antibodies, use these to sort human leukocytes, and isolate a new VH6-1-class member, antibody L5A7, which potently neutralized diverse group 1 and group 2 influenza A strains. While its heavy chain derived from the canonical IGHV6-1 heavy chain gene used by the class, L5A7 utilized a light chain gene, IGKV1-9, which had not been previously observed in other VH6-1-class antibodies. The cryo-EM structure of L5A7 in complex with Indonesia 2005 hemagglutinin revealed a nearly identical binding mode to other VH6-1-class members. The structure of L5A7 bound to the isolating anti-idiotype antibody, 28H6E11, revealed a shared surface for binding anti-idiotype and hemagglutinin that included two critical L5A7 regions: an FG motif in the third heavy chain-complementary determining region (CDR H3) and the CDR L1 loop. Surprisingly, the chemistries of L5A7 interactions with hemagglutinin and with anti-idiotype were substantially different. Overall, we demonstrate anti-idiotype-based isolation of a broad and potent influenza A virus-neutralizing antibody, revealing that anti-idiotypic selection of antibodies can involve features other than chemical mimicry of the target antigen. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BackgroundThe recommendation by the American Society of Transplantation for annual trivalent inactivated influenza vaccination greater than 3 to 6 months post-kidney transplantation provides a unique opportunity to test the in vivo impact of immunosuppression on recall T- and B-cell responses to influenza vaccination.MethodsThis study took advantage of recent breakthroughs in the single-cell quantification of human peripheral blood B-cell responses to prospectively evaluate both B- and T-cell responses to the seasonal (2010 and 2011) influenza vaccine in 23 stable renal transplant recipients and 22 healthy controls.Results and conclusionThe results demonstrate that the early B-cell response to influenza vaccination, quantified by the frequency of influenza-specific antibody-secreting cells (ASC) in peripheral blood, was significantly reduced in stable transplant recipients compared to healthy controls. The magnitude of the seroresponse and the rate of seroconversion were also blunted. The influenza-specific interferon-gamma (IFNγ) T-cell response was significantly reduced in transplant recipients; however, there was no correlation between the magnitude of the influenza-specific IgG ASC and IFNγ responses. The induction of memory T- and B-cell responses to influenza vaccination supports the recommendation to vaccinate while the blunted responses demonstrate the efficacy of immunosuppression in controlling memory responses individual transplant recipients.

Antigenic drift, the gradual accumulation of amino acid substitutions in the influenza virus hemagglutinin (HA) receptor protein, enables viral immune evasion. Antibodies (Abs) specific for the drift-resistant HA stem region are a promising universal influenza vaccine target. Although anti-stem Abs are not believed to block viral attachment, here we show that complement component 1q (C1q), a 460-kilodalton protein with six Ab Fc-binding domains, confers attachment inhibition to anti-stem Abs and enhances their fusion and neuraminidase inhibition. As a result, virus neutralization activity in vitro is boosted up to 30-fold, and in vivo protection from influenza PR8 infection in mice is enhanced. These effects reflect increased steric hindrance and not increased Ab avidity. C1q greatly expands the anti-stem Ab viral escape repertoire to include residues throughout the HA, some of which cause antigenic alterations in the globular region or modulate HA receptor avidity. We also show that C1q enhances the neutralization activity of non–receptor binding domain anti–SARS-CoV-2 spike Abs, an effect dependent on spike density on the virion surface. These findings demonstrate that C1q can greatly expand Ab function and thereby contribute to viral evolution and immune escape. Editor's summary: Antibodies (Abs) targeting the stem region of the influenza hemagglutinin (HA) receptor are a promising approach for a universal influenza (IAV) vaccine. The serum complement protein C1q is known to increase the functionality of antiviral Abs, but how C1q influences Ab-driven viral evolution is not understood. Kosik et al. found that C1q binding to HA stem-bound Ab sterically blocked IAV attachment and increased the frequency and diversity of escape mutations in the HA gene via amino acid substitutions. C1q enhanced virus neutralization mediated by anti-stem Abs, as well as non–RBD-specific anti–SARS-CoV-2 Abs. These findings show that C1q expands the viral escape repertoire while increasing virus neutralization. —Hannah Isles [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increased alcohol consumption during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic is projected to impact alcohol-related liver disease (ALD) morbidity and mortality. Inter-hospital escalation-of-care referral requests to our tertiary-care hepatology unit were analyzed from January 2020 through December 2022. Most requests to our center were for ALD with an increase in requests from intermediate care units, suggestive of higher acuity illness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In response to calls to improve the quantitative training of undergraduate biology students, there have been increased efforts to better integrate math into biology curricula. One challenge of such efforts is negative student attitudes toward math, which are thought to be particularly prevalent among biology students. According to theory, students' personal values toward using math in a biological context will influence their achievement and behavioral outcomes, but a validated instrument is needed to determine this empirically. We developed the Math-Biology Values Instrument (MBVI), an 11-item college-level self-­report instrument grounded in expectancy-value theory, to measure life science students' interest in using math to understand biology, the perceived usefulness of math to their life science career, and the cost of using math in biology courses. We used a process that integrates multiple forms of validity evidence to show that scores from the MBVI can be used as a valid measure of a student's value of math in the context of biology. The MBVI can be used by instructors and researchers to help identify instructional strategies that influence math-biology values and understand how math-biology values are related to students' achievement and decisions to pursue more advanced quantitative-based courses.