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Peer review is useful for providing students with formative feedback, yet it is used less frequently in STEM classrooms and for supporting writing-to-learn (WTL). While research indicates the benefits of incorporating peer review into classrooms, less research is focused on students' perceptions thereof. Such research is important as it speaks to the mechanisms whereby peer review can support learning. This study examines students' self-reported approaches to and perceptions of peer review and revision associated with WTL assignments implemented in an organic chemistry course. Students responded to a survey covering how they approached peer review and revision and the benefits they perceived from participating in each. Findings indicate that the assignment materials guided students' approaches during both peer review and revision. Furthermore, students described various ways both receiving feedback from their peers and reading their peers' drafts were beneficial, but primarily connected their revisions to receiving feedback.

Genetically heterogeneous UM-HET3 mice born in 2020 were used to test possible lifespan effects of alpha-ketoglutarate (AKG), 2,4-dinitrophenol (DNP), hydralazine (HYD), nebivolol (NEBI), 16α-hydroxyestriol (OH_Est), and sodium thiosulfate (THIO), and to evaluate the effects of canagliflozin (Cana) when started at 16 months of age. OH_Est produced a 15% increase (p = 0.0001) in median lifespan in males but led to a significant (7%) decline in female lifespan. Cana, started at 16 months, also led to a significant increase (14%, p = 0.004) in males and a significant decline (6%, p = 0.03) in females. Cana given to mice at 6 months led, as in our previous study, to an increase in male lifespan without any change in female lifespan, suggesting that this agent may lead to female-specific late-life harm. We found that blood levels of Cana were approximately 20-fold higher in aged females than in young males, suggesting a possible mechanism for the sex-specific disparities in its effects. NEBI was also found to produce a female-specific decline (4%, p = 0.03) in lifespan. None of the other tested drugs provided a lifespan benefit in either sex. These data bring to 7 the list of ITP-tested drugs that induce at least a 10% lifespan increase in one or both sexes, add a fourth drug with demonstrated mid-life benefits on lifespan, and provide a testable hypothesis that might explain the sexual dimorphism in lifespan effects of the SGLT2 inhibitor Cana.

The learning and teaching of reading continues to be a source of contention in New Zealand education. In recent years, proponents of structured literacy approaches have argued for more attention to be paid to what they term the "science of reading". They have emphasised skill development and argued against the inclusion of other approaches. A singular focus on skill development comes at a cost however, as being a reader requires more than simply being able to read words. When we consider a broader view of what it means to be a reader, we need to consider the reader as a whole person, and their place in a wider social context. This article discusses the "science of reading" in relation to Self-Determination Theory and considers how pedagogical approaches can contribute to, or work against, the development of children's feelings of autonomy, relatedness, and competence in reading and their subsequent desire to read. A restricted focus and related pedagogies will have negative long-term impacts on individuals' ability to access the many and varied benefits of truly being a reader. Some of the approaches being promoted will likely exacerbate existing concerns such as declining rates of volitional reading and achievement. While necessary, being technically capable is not enough, children must also see the value in reading and its outcomes if they are going to choose to do it.

Objectives: This systematic review aimed to quantify differences in loneliness levels between autistic and neurotypical samples and investigate the association between loneliness and mental health in autistic individuals. Methods: Three meta-analyses were conducted. Studies were methodologically appraised using established tools. Results: Overall, 39 studies were included. The majority of these achieved moderate methodological quality ratings. The primary meta-analysis (N = 23) found autistic samples reported higher loneliness compared with neurotypical samples (Hedges' g = 0.89). The meta-analyses on the associations between loneliness and anxiety (N = 14) and depression (N = 11) in autistic samples found significant pooled correlations (r = 0.29 and r = 0.48, respectively). Conclusions: This review highlights numerous limitations within current autism and loneliness research. Nevertheless, loneliness in autism merits targeted clinical and research attention.

BACKGROUND: Microplastics are a pervasive contaminant cycling through food webs--leading to concerns regarding exposure and risk to humans. OBJECTIVES: We aimed to quantify and characterize anthropogenic particle contamination (including microplastics) in fish caught for human consumption from the Humber Bay region of Lake Ontario. We related quantities of anthropogenic particles to other factors (e.g., fish size) that may help in understanding accumulation of microplastics in fish. METHODS: A total of 45 samples of six fish species collected from Humber Bay in Lake Ontario near Toronto, Ontario, Canada, were examined for anthropogenic particles in their gastrointestinal (GI) tracts and fillets. Using microscopy and spectroscopy, suspected anthropogenic particles were identified and characterized. RESULTS: We observed anthropogenic particles in the GI tracts and fillets of all species. Individual fish had a mean[+ or -] standard deviation of 138 [+ or -] 231 anthropogenic particles, with a single fish containing up to 1,508 particles. GI tracts had 93 [+ or -] 226 particles/fish (9.8 [+ or -] 32.6 particles/gram), and fillets had 56 [+ or -] 61 particles/fish (0.5 [+ or -] 0.8 particles/gram). Based on a consumption rate of 2 servings/week, the average yearly human exposure through the consumption of these fish fillets would be 12,800 [+ or -] 18,300 particles. DISCUSSION: Our findings suggest that consumption of recreationally caught freshwater fish can be a pathway for human exposure to microplastics. The elevated number of particles observed in fish from Humber Bay highlights the need for large-scale geographic monitoring, especially near sources of microplastics. Currently, it is unclear what the effects of ingesting microplastics are for humans, but given that recreationally caught freshwater fish are one pathway for human exposure, these data can be incorporated into future human health risk assessment frameworks for microplastics. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP13540, Introduction It has been well documented that microplastics, pieces of plastic 1 [micro]m-5 mm in size, are a pervasive contaminant in the environment globally. (1) More recently, scientists have demonstrated [...]

Background: Prescription opioid use places a considerable economic burden on health care systems. Older patients undergoing surgical procedures for painful conditions commonly receive opioids pre- and postoperatively, and are susceptible to adverse reactions. This study explores predictors of prolonged postoperative opioid use among older patients after lumbar spine surgery and the consequences in terms of health care utilization and costs. Methods: We conducted a retrospective population-based cohort study using Ontario administrative data from older adults undergoing spine surgery between 2006 and 2017. Data were analyzed from 90 days preoperatively to 1 year after hospital discharge, with last postoperative opioid prescriptions stratified into 90-day increments. We used multivariable ordinal logistic regression to identify predictors of long-term opioid use and generalized linear modelling to examine resource utilization and health care costs (2021 Canadian dollars). Results: Of 15 109 patients included, 40.8% received preoperative opioid prescriptions. Preoperative opioid use strongly predicted prolonged postoperative use (odds ratio [OR] 4.47, 95% confidence interval [CI] 4.16-4.79), with 48.3% of patients who received preoperative opioids continuing to use opioids for longer than 9 months, relative to 12.7% of those without preoperative use. Several other risk factors for prolonged use were identified. Patients receiving long-term postoperative opioids incurred greater health care costs relative to those with opioids prescribed for fewer than 90 days (OR 1.49, 95% CI 1.44-1.54). Conclusion: Among older adults undergoing spine surgery, preoperative opioid use was a strong predictor of prolonged postoperative use, which was associated with increased health care costs. These results form an important baseline for future studies evaluating strategies to reduce opioid use targeting older surgical populations. Contexte : L'utilisation d'opio des vendus sur ordonnance impose un tr s lourd fardeau aux syst mes de sant . On les prescrit souvent en p riode pr - et postop ratoire aux malades g s qui subissent des interventions chirurgicales pour des maladies douloureuses et cela comporte des risques de r actions ind sirables. Cette tude explore les pr dicteurs d'une utilisation prolong e des opio des en p riode postop ratoire chez des personnes g es op r es la colonne vert brale et son impact sur l'utilisation des ressources sanitaires et les co ts associ s. M thodes : Nous avons proc d une tude de cohorte populationnelle r trospective partir des donn es administratives de l'Ontario concernant les adultes g s ayant subi une chirurgie de la colonne entre 2006 et 2017. Les donn es ont t analys es pour la p riode allant de 90 jours avant l'intervention 1 an suivant le cong hospitalier, et les derni res ordonnances postop ratoires d'opio des ont t stratifi es par tranches de 90 jours. Nous avons utilis l'analyse de r gression logistique multivari e ordinale pour identifier les pr dicteurs d'une utilisation prolong e des opio des et un mod le lin aire g n ralis pour examiner l'utilisation des ressources sanitaires et les co ts associ s (dollars canadiens de 2021). R sultats : Parmi les 15 109 personnes incluses, 40,8% avaient re u une ordonnance d'opio des avant leur intervention. L'utilisation d'opio des en p riode pr op ratoire s'est r v l tre un fort pr dicteur d'utilisation postop ratoire prolong e (rapport des cotes [RC] 4,47, intervalle de confiance [IC] de 95% 4,16-4,79), et 48,3% des malades ayant re u des opio des en p riode pr op ratoire ont continu de les utiliser pendant plus de 9 mois, contre 12,7% des malades qui n'en avaient pas pris. Plusieurs autres facteurs de risque d'utilisation prolong e ont t identifi s. Les malades qui ont re u des opio des ont engendr des d penses en soins de sant plus lev es que les malades qui on en avait prescrit pour moins de 90 jours (RC 1,49, IC de 95% 1,44-1,54). Conclusion : Chez les adultes g s soumis une chirurgie de la colonne, l'utilisation pr op ratoire d'opio des a t un fort pr dicteur d'utilisation postop ratoire prolong e, qui a t associ e une hausse des co ts de soins de sant . Ces r sultats constituent une importante base de connaissances pour les futures tudes qui valueront des strat gies de r duction du recours aux opio des l'intention de la patient le chirurgicale g e., Opioid use in North America has been declared a public health crisis, with Canada and the United States currently positioned as the 2 largest consumers of prescription opioids in the [...]

Student wellbeing is regarded as a salient priority across higher education. Given the growing participation of higher education students in work-integrated learning, it is important to explore how student wellbeing is being supported in this critical learning environment. While student wellbeing must be considered across all educational contexts, wellbeing may be most challenged when working and learning online. The purpose of this research, therefore, was to explore ways in which student wellbeing is supported by program coordinators when students are engaging in online work-integrated learning (eWIL). Seventeen program coordinators across Canada were interviewed and data were analyzed thematically. Thematic analysis generated three main themes: program coordinators' perspectives on their role in supporting student wellbeing, wellbeing supports offered to students engaged in WIL, and intersectional considerations for supporting student wellbeing. These findings advance the discussion of innovative and tailored approaches needed to support student wellbeing in online work-integrated learning environments.

Behavior analysts collaborating within interdisciplinary teams are likely to find themselves at difficult crossroads. Some of these crossroads include implementing alternative treatments, defining and determining risk and harm, and evaluating research and interventions. The purpose of this paper is to highlight some of these crossroads and provide guidelines on successfully navigating them. We contend that it is possible to navigate these crossroads while minimizing harm or risk for the client, adhering to the principles of science and behavior analysis, and remaining respectful of all members of the interdisciplinary team. That is, we can maintain the scientific tenets of philosophic doubt, empiricism, and experimentation, while remaining humble, and ensuring our clients access the most effective interventions available.

Leaf and colleagues (2016) provided a definition and description of progressive applied behavior analysis (ABA) in the context of autism treatment in which a behavior analyst takes a structured, yet flexible, approach to treatment that is responsive to the learner and includes on-going, in-the-moment analysis of teaching. Since Leaf and colleagues' publication, there have been many research and dissemination advancements across the domains outlined in the original paper. This includes advancements in the types of progressive procedures implemented, instructional arrangements, progressive reinforcement strategies, preventive functional analysis, progressive discrete trial teaching, data collection, progressive curriculum development, and staff training. The purpose of this paper is to highlight these advances citing peer-reviewed research where possible. Although many advancements have occurred, there is still a great need in the field of ABA for more clinicians and researchers to evaluate and implement procedures associated with the progressive approach to ABA. The paper will conclude with a call to action for behavior analysts to move away from rigid, protocolized, and conventional ABA practices and move towards implementing progressive ABA.

The Gesneriaceae consists of around 150 genera and c. 3750 species with a predominantly tropical and subtropical distribution across all continents. Although previous studies have proposed an American origin of Gesneriaceae, the biogeographic history of this pantropical plant family is still unclear, particularly in the Old World. To address this, we assembled the most comprehensively sampled matrix of Gesneriaceae with 143 Gesneriaceae genera and 355 species, including key samples from Sri Lanka analysed here for the first time. We generated molecular phylogenies based on four plastid gene regions (ndhF, matK, rps16 and trnL-F), obtained fossil-calibrated trees, and reconstructed ancestral areas and dispersal routes using Bayesian methods. Our results confirm the origin for the family in the Early Palaeocene (67. Ma) in the region of present day Central America & Andean South America, and that diversity in the Old World originated from a longdistance dispersal event from South America around 59 Ma, most likely to the Indian plate, which was an island at the time. This lineage then dispersed to Malesia and later East Asia, which would ultimately become a major centre of diversity and source of many dispersals to other regions. Our results thus highlight the Indian plate as a likely key player in the early diversification of Old World Gesneriaceae, even though it is now more diverse elsewhere, and hence offer novel insights into this plant family’s dispersal routes and areas of diversification in the Old World.

Target validation remains a challenge in drug discovery, which leads to a high attrition rate in the drug discovery process, particularly in Phase II clinical trials. Consequently, new approaches to enhance target validation are valuable tools to improve the drug discovery process. Here, we report the combination of site-directed mutagenesis and electrophilic fragments to enable the rapid identification of small molecules that selectively inhibit the mutant protein. Using the bromodomain-containing protein BRD4 as an example, we employed a structure-based approach to identify the L94C mutation in the first bromodomain of BRD4 [BRD4(1)] as having a minimal effect on BRD4(1) function. We then screened a focused, KAc mimic-containing fragment set and a diverse fragment library against the mutant and wild-type proteins and identified a series of fragments that showed high selectivity for the mutant protein. These compounds were elaborated to include an alkyne click tag to enable the attachment of a fluorescent dye. These clickable compounds were then assessed in HEK293T cells, transiently expressing BRD4(1)WT or BRD4(1)L94C, to determine their selectivity for BRD4(1)L94C over other possible cellular targets. One compound was identified that shows very high selectivity for BRD4(1)L94C over all other proteins. This work provides a proof-of-concept that the combination of site-directed mutagenesis and electrophilic fragments, in a mutate and conjugate approach, can enable rapid identification of small molecule inhibitors for an appropriately mutated protein of interest. This technology can be used to assess the cellular phenotype of inhibiting the protein of interest, and the electrophilic ligand provides a starting point for noncovalent ligand development.

This study reports on a four-year project to embed academic literacy within one core course of a Bachelor of Education program. It involves an interdisciplinary collaboration between learning advisors, as literacy specialists, and lecturers, as subject specialists. It examines their roles and responsibilities and lecturers' perspectives when handing over the teaching of academic literacy to them. Data encompasses interviews with lecturers, meeting notes, and cohort statistics about assessment grades. Discourse analysis with theory from Systemic Functional Linguistics identifies the shifting contributions of the collaborators and how lecturers evaluate their experiences. Findings suggest that handover is smooth when it is done gradually and involves intensive prior collaboration. However, the contrasting views of the lecturers raise questions about what is optimal for students. Although limited, data indicates that reductions in resubmission rates and students achieving in the minimal passing range co-occur with the addition of mini videos about reading and writing critically.

This paper reports on a two-week Earth Science programme, designed and delivered by the New Zealand Crown Research Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences Limited (GNS Science) referred to as the GeoCamp. This initiative has offered 10- to 13-year-old students learning experiences outside the classroom in several regions throughout New Zealand. The programme discussed in this paper was held in the Wairarapa region in the south-east of the North Island. We examined 23 students' attitudinal changes toward scientists and science. Data collection reported in this paper occurred on the first day of the programme and six months later, when students were asked to draw annotated diagrams of scientists. Our results indicate that students participating in the camp broadened their views of scientists from being stereotypically eccentric chemists in lab coats, to those being aligned with real-world scientists, i.e. not being eccentric, some being females, some working outdoors, and being collaborative. They also recognized that scientists engage in a diverse range of work, and suggested some specific problems that they would like to solve if they were to be scientists. We suggest that these results reveal affective learning outcomes of this Education Outside the Classroom (EOTC) approach.

The number of children educated within maintained Special Educational Needs (SEN) Schools, known as special schools, in England has continued to rise since 2006, yet the 'pupil voice' of children and young people with severe learning difficulties and those attending special schools remains limited in current research. Drawing on Gramsci's theory of cultural hegemony (see Jones, 2006), this study aimed to provide an under-represented group with the opportunity to express attitudes and opinions towards their physical education (PE) lessons. The research adopted a participant-focused methodology and used a task-based approach, where participants could complete a series of activities suitable to individual needs. The tasks included a drawing activity, a PE likes and dislikes activity and a storyboard with the following sentence starters: 'I like', 'I don't like', 'I feel', 'I want to' and 'I think'. PE took on multiple forms, including therapy sessions and team games, thus suggesting that PE was not narrowly defined as one specific form of education for the pupils. Participants were able to express strong opinions towards the type of activities they liked and disliked and were able to demonstrate a basic understanding of the benefits of PE in relation to health. Results indicate that team-based sports were popular and culturally valued. However, participants were often bored of repetitive PE lessons and well-liked therapy-related exercise often replaced PE classes. Older participants (16 years +) attending sixth form were frustrated that PE or the ability to be physically active during the school day was no longer part of their education, suggesting that perhaps PE lessons were not always culturally valued within the school. Finally, due to the lack of opportunities for adults with special education needs in the wider community, participants no longer had access to the types of physical activity they had enjoyed in school.

Increasing rates of gender-based and sexual abuse, coupled with a rise in misogynistic influencers online, have become a growing issue in UK and Irish schools. This paper reports on the findings of a post lockdown study in England and Ireland that piloted workshops on gender-based and sexual violence. While most student responses were positive, we found that roughly 10% of girls and 20% of boys were resistant. In this paper, we explore these critical responses, focusing specifically on male resistance. Our findings indicate that new strategies, which avoid the concept of 'toxic masculinity', are needed to help boys move from defensive to empathetic engagements. We also find that the neoliberal, meritocratic ethos of many schools has fostered a problematic framing of gender-based violence as gender neutral. We conclude that it is vital to adopt an intersectional, whole-school approach to educating about sexual violence, which acknowledges male victimhood, while also emphasizing gendered privileges.

Reading is one of many things vying for young people's attention. In the case of volitional reading, young people between 8 and 15 are following trends of less enjoyment of reading and declining time spent reading. There are complex explanations for patterns of decline in their volitional reading related to how choice is afforded within social and material relations. This article offers a glimpse into the motivations for young people's volitional reading through placing a socio-material lens on descriptive statistics. Affect theory provides new ways of comprehending and using patterns in children and young people's relationships to reading, recognising these as mutable and contingent relations within reading assemblages. Reading affect in volitional reading describes felt experiences of encountering other bodies (human and nonhuman) through reading. The secondary data from the Growing Up in New Zealand longitudinal cohort measures the physical, social, and cultural dimensions of over 6000 children in Aotearoa New Zealand. Descriptive statistical analyses showed relationships between reading enjoyment and frequency at age 8 and over 60 variables from throughout their life course. We comprehend reading affect by applying our socio-material lens to variables related to reading enjoyment assembled within a rough approximation of the complex arrangements of young people's lives at home and in out of home experiences. Through reflecting upon associations identified in statistics, we find potential in encounters with other people and things to draw young people back into reading, rather than act as distractions.

Appealing to students' affect in academic settings, such as demonstrating chemistry's relevance to their life, is one strategy instructors may use to support students' in learning. This study investigates the types of connections that students make to organic chemistry when responding to an open-ended writing assignment. Students enrolled in an introductory level organic chemistry course were asked to choose and write about an organic molecule they felt was important to their life, in doing so students wrote about the molecule's relevance to their life. Analysis of the writing was supported by semi-structured interviews with a subset of the students in which they discussed their approach to completing the assigment. Conclusions from this study suggest that students successfully made connections between their chosen molecule and their life. Considered through the lens of relevance, students can both seek and find relevance in organic chemistry topics on a personal, societal, or vocational level; and therefore may reinforce their comprehension and appreciation of chemistry.