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The question of how education research can be 'useful' is an enduring and challenging one. In recent years, this question has been approached by universities through a widespread 'impact' agenda. In this article, we explore the tensions between usefulness and impact and present six stories that reflect on research use with communities. These stories engage issues of the risk of usefulness, the time that is needed to work collaboratively for research usefulness, whether theories developed in universities can be useful to communities for understanding the problems they face, who has the power to steer research to serve their purposes, and how community collective action can enhance the usefulness of research. The article concludes with a section that reflects on the importance of continuing to engage with the debates about research use in often highly commercially oriented university environments. This article brings together diverse voices that wrestle with the politics of research use beyond the neat, linear narratives of change that impact agendas tend to portray. These illustrations of the ethical dilemmas encountered through navigating research use with communities contribute to an ongoing conversation about refusing capitalist and colonialist logics of research extraction while working within institutions often driven by such logics.

Human prenatal skin is populated by innate immune cells, including macrophages, but whether they act solely in immunity or have additional functions in morphogenesis is unclear. Here we assembled a comprehensive multi-omics reference atlas of prenatal human skin (7-17 post-conception weeks), combining single-cell and spatial transcriptomics data, to characterize the microanatomical tissue niches of the skin. This atlas revealed that crosstalk between non-immune and immune cells underpins the formation of hair follicles, is implicated in scarless wound healing and is crucial for skin angiogenesis. We systematically compared a hair-bearing skin organoid (SkO) model derived from human embryonic stem cells and induced pluripotent stem cells to prenatal and adult skin1. The SkO model closely recapitulated in vivo skin epidermal and dermal cell types during hair follicle development and expression of genes implicated in the pathogenesis of genetic hair and skin disorders. However, the SkO model lacked immune cells and had markedly reduced endothelial cell heterogeneity and quantity. Our in vivo prenatal skin cell atlas indicated that macrophages and macrophage-derived growth factors have a role in driving endothelial development. Indeed, vascular network remodelling was enhanced following transfer of autologous macrophages derived from induced pluripotent stem cells into SkO cultures. Innate immune cells are therefore key players in skin morphogenesis beyond their conventional role in immunity, a function they achieve through crosstalk with non-immune cells.

With the prominence of assessments in education, there is an increasing need to create new forms of assessment that more accurately reflect the needs of the entire student population, particularly neurodivergent learners. To address this challenge, this paper explores the potential for using eye tracking data in a game-based learning environment to assess student's implicit knowledge. Data was collected from a sample of 66 neurodivergent college students playing the physics game Impulse while their eye movements and game play behaviors were recorded. The results indicate that gaze allocation patterns were predictive of students' physics knowledge and aligned with previously identified behavior indicators of learning. These findings provide evidence for further development of eye movement-based assessments in computer-based instruction and demonstrate how these data can be collected, organized, and analyzed.

Work-integrated learning (WIL) is a well-established educational strategy with acknowledged benefits for student learning and employability. This paper explores and documents Intensive WIL, where students undertake short or condensed WIL experiences, ranging from 35 to 400 hours. Four case studies from different universities, designed for different purposes, using either placement or project approaches, and with different student cohorts, showcase the flexibility and adaptability of this model of WIL. Drawing on existing quality frameworks developed for WIL, a new, dedicated set of quality indicators was developed to evaluate examples of intensive WIL, as demonstrated in the case studies. This new framework places greater emphasis on the WIL experience itself, which has had little previous attention. The study confirms that given the right conditions, and used for the right purposes, Intensive WIL delivers quality experiences for students. Unique challenges of Intensive WIL include: sourcing projects with appropriate scope and complexity that are achievable and from which students will learn; ensuring students have command of previous theoretical concepts, as there may be little time to get them up to speed during Intensive WIL; ensuring all stakeholders understand their roles and responsibilities for smooth operation; and effective communication between workplace and university staff, as there is less time to recover from any difficult situations that may arise.

This study aimed to examine the efficacy of school-based e-cigarette preventive interventions via a systematic review and meta-analysis. We searched Medline, Embase, PsycINFO, Scopus, CINAHL, Cochrane, and clinical trial registries for studies published between January 2000 and June 2023 using keywords for e-cigarettes, adolescents, and school. Of 1566 double-screened records, 11 met the criteria of targeting adolescents, evaluating an e-cigarette preventive intervention, being conducted in a secondary school, using a randomized controlled trial (RCT), cluster RCT, or quasi-experimental design, and comparing an intervention to a control. Pre-specified data pertaining to the study design, outcomes, and quality were extracted by one reviewer and confirmed by a second, and where necessary, a third reviewer. Meta-analyses found no evidence that school-based interventions prevented e-cigarette use at the longest follow-up, which ranged between 6 and 36 months post-intervention (OR = 0.43, 95% CI = 0.16, 1.12; p = 0.09). However, subgroup analyses identified significant effects at post-test and when studies with < 12-month follow-up were omitted. No effect was found for tobacco use at the longest follow-up (OR = 1.01, 95% CI = 0.65, 1.59, p = 0.95); however, reductions in past 30-day tobacco use (OR = 0.59, 95% CI = 0.39, 0.89, p = 0.01) which encompassed e-cigarettes in some studies were identified. Narrative synthesis supported these mixed results and found some school-based interventions prevented or reduced e-cigarette and/or tobacco use; however, some increased use. School-based interventions were also associated with improved knowledge (SMD = - 0.38, 95% CI = - 0.68, - 0.08, p = 0.01), intentions (SMD = - 0.15, 95% CI = - 0.22, - 0.07, p = 0.0001), and attitudes (SMD = - 0.14, 95% CI = - 0.22, - 0.06; p = 0.0007) in the short term. Overall, the quality of evidence was low-to-moderate. School-based interventions hold the potential for addressing e-cigarette use, however, can have null or iatrogenic effects. More high-quality research is needed to develop efficacious interventions, and schools must be supported to adopt evidence-based programs. This is the first systematic review and meta-analysis to examine the efficacy of school-based preventive interventions for e-cigarette use. It provides crucial new knowledge about the efficacy of such interventions in preventing e-cigarette use and improving other outcomes (e.g., tobacco use, knowledge, intentions, attitudes, and mental health) among adolescents and the key characteristics associated with efficacious interventions. Our findings have important practical implications, highlighting future research directions for the development and evaluation of e-cigarette preventive interventions, along with the need to provide support to schools to help them identify and adopt evidence-based programs.

Over the past two decades, family structures have diversified. International migration has led to a rise in the number of families in which at least one parent is foreign-born. Increases have also been observed in both the rate of partnership separation, leading to a greater number of single-parent households and an increase in the number of families where grandparents have assumed caring responsibilities for their grandchildren. Evidence indicates a strong relationship between family structure and children's educational outcomes. Parental involvement is well documented as a key ingredient for the educational success of children. Drawing on Taiwanese multi-wave survey data (Taiwan Assessment of Student Achievement) and a machine-learning-based propensity score algorithm for multiple treatments, this paper aims to determine the various relationships between children from different household structures (two-parent households, skipped generation households, single-parent households, and immigrant households) and their cognitive knowledge (measured by test scores). Key findings reveal that children from skipped generation households achieve the lowest performance scores and that those from immigrant households tend to perform even better than children from traditional two-parent households in certain disciplines. Our results suggest that policy interventions targeted at providing remedial education and/or financial assistance are needed to support children from skipped generation families to redress existing educational disadvantages in Taiwan.

Curriculum-based measurement in reading (CBM-R) is a commonly used tool for universal screening and progress monitoring in K-12 education and is one that can add value to decision-making. However, the social validity of this measure among teachers is often questioned. Reasons some teachers have traditionally opposed the use of CBM-R have included lack of time, resources, and concerns with the face validity of CBM-R. Further exploration of factors that predict teacher acceptability of CBM-R is anticipated to offer guidance for improving data-based decision-making in schools. The purpose of this study was to extend existing research on teacher acceptability of CBM-R by exploring the extent to which the specific reading skills teachers value and their perceptions of available time are related to their CBM-R acceptability. First to sixth-grade teachers (N = 164) from a midwestern state completed a corresponding survey. Multiple regression analyses indicated that teachers' perceptions of time and values positively predicted the acceptability of CBM-R for both universal screening and progress monitoring purposes. Related implications for improving data-based decision-making will be offered.

Reflection plays a critical role in learning. Game-based learning environments have significant potential to elicit and support student reflection by prompting learners to think critically about their own learning processes and performance. Stealth assessment models, used for unobtrusively assessing student competencies from evidence of game interaction data and facilitating learning through adaptive feedback, can be enhanced by incorporating evidence from students' written reflections. We present a deep learning-based stealth assessment framework that predicts depth of student reflections and science content post-test scores during game-based learning. With the increasing adoption of AI techniques in decision-making processes, it is important to evaluate the fairness of these models. To address this concern, we investigate encoded bias in our stealth assessment model with respect to student gender and prior game-playing experience in deep learning-based stealth assessment models and examine the impact of debiasing on the models' predictive performance. We evaluate the predictive performance of the deep learning-based stealth assessment models and measure encoded bias with the Absolute Between-ROC Area (ABROCA) statistic using gameplay data from 119 students collected in a series of classroom studies with a reflection-enriched game-based learning environment for middle school microbiology, Crystal Island. The results demonstrate the effectiveness of deep learning-based stealth assessment models and multiple debiasing techniques for deriving algorithmically fair stealth assessment models.

Healthcare Professionals Working in Schools (HPWS) are responsible for providing health services to students and play a role in providing education to prevent illnesses, including tickborne diseases (TBD). Providing TBD education to children has been shown to increase prevention behaviors and knowledge of TBD symptoms, but little is known regarding the current state of TBD awareness among HPWS. In spring 2019 we conducted a cross-sectional knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) survey of HPWS in two states with a high incidence of Lyme disease (LD) to inform design of TBD prevention programs. The survey queried general knowledge of TBDs, school practices regarding TBDs, and availability of TBD resources. Overall, higher confidence, experience, risk perception, prior training on TBD, and more years employed as a HPWS were independently associated with knowledge of LD transmission, symptoms, and correct tick removal practices. State and local health departments should consider prioritizing engagement with HPWS to provide educational opportunities about tickborne diseases.

Sensory Over-Responsivity (SOR) is an increasingly recognized challenge among children with neurodevelopmental concerns (NDC). To investigate, we characterized the incidence of auditory and tactile over-responsivity (AOR, TOR) among 82 children with NDC. We found that 70% of caregivers reported concern for their child's sensory reactions. Direct assessment further revealed that 54% of the NDC population expressed AOR, TOR, or both -- which persisted regardless of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) diagnosis. These findings support the high prevalence of SOR as well as its lack of specificity to ASD. Additionally, AOR is revealed to be over twice as prevalent as TOR. These conclusions present several avenues for further exploration, including deeper analysis of the neural mechanisms and genetic contributors to sensory processing challenges.

Hazardous alcohol consumption is highly prevalent for men who have sex with men (MSM). The 4 treatments currently approved by the Food and Drug Administration for alcohol use are reaching an alarmingly low percentage of people who would benefit from a reduction in their alcohol use. There is increasing interest in alternative methods of treatment, such as herbal supplements, to address hazardous drinking. However, research on the acceptability of alternative pharmacotherapies among MSM remains limited. We examined the prevalence and correlates of expressing interest in using herbal supplements for alcohol treatment among MSM with hazardous alcohol consumption. We conducted a secondary data analysis from a cross-sectional study of MSM who use alcohol, conducted from March 2015 to July 2017 in San Francisco, California, to assess the overall prevalence of interest in using herbal supplements to help reduce alcohol consumption. Associations between expressing interest in herbal supplements and demographic, social, and clinical characteristics were examined using bivariate and multivariable logistic regression models. One-third (66/200, 33%) of the participants expressed interest in an herbal supplement for reducing alcohol consumption. In the multivariable analyses, weekly binge drinking (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 2.85, 95% CI 1.17-6.93), interest in abstaining from alcohol use (aOR 5.04, 95% CI 1.46-17.40), higher severity of alcohol dependence score (aOR 1.22, 95% CI 1.04-1.41), and interest in naltrexone (aOR 3.22, 95% CI 2.12-4.91) were independently associated with higher odds of being interested in using an herbal supplement to reduce alcohol consumption, adjusting for age, race or ethnicity, and education. We found that MSM who have hazardous drinking habits, more severe alcohol dependence, and interest in pharmacotherapy were more likely to express interest in using an herbal supplement for reducing alcohol consumption. To our knowledge, this is the first study that has evaluated correlates of interest in herbal supplements for alcohol use among MSM. As researchers implement novel alcohol treatment studies, they should focus on recruitment efforts among MSM with a motivation to reduce their alcohol use patterns.

Influenza viruses continually evolve new antigenic variants, through mutations in epitopes of their major surface proteins, hemagglutinin (HA) and neuraminidase (NA). Antigenic drift potentiates the reinfection of previously infected individuals, but the contribution of this process to variability in annual epidemics is not well understood. Here, we link influenza A(H3N2) virus evolution to regional epidemic dynamics in the United States during 1997-2019. We integrate phenotypic measures of HA antigenic drift and sequence-based measures of HA and NA fitness to infer antigenic and genetic distances between viruses circulating in successive seasons. We estimate the magnitude, severity, timing, transmission rate, age-specific patterns, and subtype dominance of each regional outbreak and find that genetic distance based on broad sets of epitope sites is the strongest evolutionary predictor of A(H3N2) virus epidemiology. Increased HA and NA epitope distance between seasons correlates with larger, more intense epidemics, higher transmission, greater A(H3N2) subtype dominance, and a greater proportion of cases in adults relative to children, consistent with increased population susceptibility. Based on random forest models, A(H1N1) incidence impacts A(H3N2) epidemics to a greater extent than viral evolution, suggesting that subtype interference is a major driver of influenza A virus infection ynamics, presumably via heterosubtypic cross-immunity.

IntroductionTau-positron emission tomography (PET) outcome data of patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) cannot currently be meaningfully compared or combined when different tracers are used due to differences in tracer properties, instrumentation, and methods of analysis.MethodsUsing head-to-head data from five cohorts with tau PET radiotracers designed to target tau deposition in AD, we tested a joint propagation model (JPM) to harmonize quantification (units termed "CenTauR" [CTR]). JPM is a statistical model that simultaneously models the relationships between head-to-head and anchor point data. JPM was compared to a linear regression approach analogous to the one used in the amyloid PET Centiloid scale.ResultsA strong linear relationship was observed between CTR values across brain regions. Using the JPM approach, CTR estimates were similar to, but more accurate than, those derived using the linear regression approach.DiscussionPreliminary findings using the JPM support the development and adoption of a universal scale for tau-PET quantification.HighlightsTested a novel joint propagation model (JPM) to harmonize quantification of tau PET. Units of common scale are termed "CenTauRs". Tested a Centiloid-like linear regression approach. Using five cohorts with head-to-head tau PET, JPM outperformed linearregressionbased approach. Strong linear relationship was observed between CenTauRs values across brain regions.