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An innovative system-building initiative known as the STEM Learning Ecosystems Community of Practice (SLECoP) is transforming U.S. STEM education through cross-sector partnerships between schools, afterschool and summer programs, libraries, museums, and businesses, among others. Although logic models exist to describe how SLEs can make positive contributions toward youth STEM learning in theory, it is unknown how individual SLEs are motivated or equipped to collect the evidence needed to demonstrate their value or abilities to solve the problems they were formed to address. The present study describes the results of a 34-item qualitative survey--completed by leaders of 37 SLEs from four U.S. regions--designed to understand where SLEs are in their evaluation planning, implementing, and capacity-building processes. We found that most SLEs were championed by the extended education sector, and all were highly motivated to conduct evaluation and assessment. Most communities reported a willingness to create a shared vision around data collection, which will help researchers and practitioners track, understand, and improve STEM quality and outcomes in and out of school.

AbstractObjectiveMethodsResultsConclusionsThe present study seeks to explore the relationship between sexual fluidity and suicidal thoughts (STs) and behaviors (STBs) among adults in early and middle adulthood.This study utilized data from Waves IV and V of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (ADD Health). Participants were categorized into four groups: (1) heterosexual at both waves, (2) sexual minority (SM) at Wave IV but heterosexual at Wave V, (3) heterosexual at Wave IV and SM at Wave V, and (4) SM at Wave IV and Wave V.Hierarchical logistic regression revealed that sexual fluidity between Waves IV and V was associated with STs. Those who were heterosexual-identifying at Wave IV but identified as an SM at Wave V were close to four times as likely to report STs at Wave V than were those who identified as heterosexual at both waves. Those who were an SM at Waves IV and V were almost twice as likely to report STs compared to those who were heterosexual at both waves. Additionally, χ2 results showed that suicide attempts (SAs) and sexual fluidity were associated. Similarly, SA prevalence was highest during periods in which participants identified as SMs.Transitioning into a sexually minoritized status is associated with increased risk of STBs, whereas transitioning into a nonminoritized status was not. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In spite of declines in working memory and other processes, older adults generally maintain good ability to understand and remember spoken sentences. In part this is due to preserved knowledge of linguistic rules and their implementation. Largely overlooked, however, is the support older adults may gain from the presence of sentence prosody (pitch contour, lexical stress, intra-and inter-word timing) as an aid to detecting the structure of a heard sentence. Methods: Twenty-four young and 24 older adults recalled recorded sentences in which the sentence prosody corresponded to the clausal structure of the sentence, when the prosody was in conflict with this structure, or when there was reduced prosody uninformative with regard to the clausal structure. Pupil size was concurrently recorded as a measure of processing effort. Results: Both young and older adults' recall accuracy was superior for sentences heard with supportive prosody than for sentences with uninformative prosody or for sentences in which the prosodic marking and causal structure were in conflict. The measurement of pupil dilation suggested that the task was generally more effortful for the older adults, but with both groups showing a similar pattern of effort-reducing effects of supportive prosody. Conclusions: Results demonstrate the influence of prosody on young and older adults' ability to recall accurately multi-clause sentences, and the significant role effective prosody may play in preserving processing effort. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: This study shows the first evidence for pannexin 1 channels as a new target to develop medications for alcohol use disorder (AUD). Due to its history of long‐term safe clinical use and preclinical evidence of reducing excessive alcohol intake in rodents, probenecid has clinical potential for AUD. Methods: We conducted a Phase I/IIa randomized, double‐blind, placebo‐controlled, crossover trial investigating the safety, tolerability, and efficacy of an oral dose of probenecid (2 g) when administered with alcohol (0.08 g/dL) in individuals who regularly consume alcohol to the 0.08 g/dL level (N = 35) and in individuals with mild to severe AUD. Alcohol pharmacokinetics and subjective responses were evaluated to assess potential interactions between probenecid and alcohol. Alcohol craving, inflammatory biomarkers, cognitive assessments, and hemodynamics were assessed as additional alcohol research domains. All outcomes were assessed both in the ascending and descending limb of alcohol intoxication using Generalized Estimating Equation. Results: Probenecid did not exert any significant effect on alcohol pharmacokinetics and did not affect alcohol stimulation or sedation. Probenecid, compared to placebo, significantly decreased alcohol craving during the alcohol ascending limb. Inflammatory biomarkers, cognitive performance following alcohol ingestion, and hemodynamics were likewise not affected by probenecid administration. Analysis of sex as a biological variable revealed no differences of probenecid compared to placebo. Conclusions: Taken together, our data support the potential of probenecid for treatment of AUD and suggest that pannexin 1 channels represent a novel emerging therapeutic target for the development of new pharmacotherapies for treating AUD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although autoimmune disorders are a significant source of morbidity and mortality in older individuals, the mechanisms governing age-associated increases in susceptibility remain incompletely understood. Central T cell tolerance is mediated through presentation of self-antigens by cells constituting the thymic microenvironment, including epithelial cells, dendritic cells, and B cells. Medullary thymic epithelial cells (mTECs) and B cells express distinct cohorts of self-antigens, including tissue-restricted self-antigens (TRAs), such that developing T cells are tolerized to antigens from peripheral tissues. We find that expression of the TRA transcriptional regulator Aire, as well as Aire-dependent genes, declines with age in thymic B cells in mice and humans and that cell-intrinsic and cell-extrinsic mechanisms contribute to the diminished capacity of peripheral B cells to express Aire within the thymus. Our findings indicate that aging may diminish the ability of thymic B cells to tolerize T cells, revealing a potential mechanistic link between aging and autoimmunity.

It is well documented that engagement in arts and cultural activities contributes to improving and maintaining the health and well-being of older people. Despite this, many health and social care professionals do not recognize or accept arts and cultural activities as relevant to their care remit. To address this, a team of 17 individuals comprising older service users, and staff from a range of health and social care, arts, and museum and archive services in North East England worked collaboratively to design and develop the Museum Health and Social Care Service (MHSCS). MHSCS is a resource and training package that reinforces the care and clinical benefits of arts and cultural activities to older people's health and wellbeing, aimed at supporting health and social care professionals to acknowledge and use these activities as integral to care delivery.

Prenatal substance use (PSU) is a serious perinatal health issue in the United States with consequential health effects. To address this issue and protect children from the detrimental effects of substance exposure during pregnancy, the US government amended the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act to provide funding to states with protocol to notify child protective services of PSU cases and develop treatment plans for affected families. Although well-intentioned, this statute resulted in diverse inter- and intrastate interpretations and implementation of PSU regulations nationwide, ultimately leading to mass confusion about who the policy applies to and when it should be applied. PSU policies are largely punitive in nature, which has led to null or adverse effects on perinatal outcomes. Treatment-prioritizing policies present hope for supporting birthing parents who use substances; however, their potential benefits are obstructed by fear and confusion instilled by coexisting punitive policies, stigma of disclosing substance use during pregnancy, variable or lack of screening methods, and insufficient knowledge about PSU health risks and counseling methods. Precis: Punitive prenatal substance use policies may result in adverse perinatal outcomes. Treatment-oriented protocols and legislation should be prioritized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Australian Scleroderma Interest Group (ASIG) algorithm for screening pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) in systemic sclerosis (SSc) requires only respiratory function tests and serum N‐terminal pro‐brain natriuretic peptide as first‐tier tests, and is recommended in international guidelines. In this communication, we present the findings of the application of the ASIG screening algorithm to a Singaporean cohort undergoing prospective annual screening for PAH, which shows a high negative predictive value. The ASIG algorithm may offer an alternative to more complex and costly SSc‐PAH screening algorithms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]