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The federal adult education program serves over 2 million eligible adults who seek basic literacy and English language skills. Using administrative student-level panel data, this study provides the very first assessment of the relationships between adult education teacher characteristics and student achievement using hierarchical linear modeling design. Results show that students in classes with teachers with a bachelor's or higher degree have higher post-test scores. Having a part-time adult education teacher was associated with lower odds of students transitioning to postsecondary education. Compared to teachers specialized in English as a second language, having an adult secondary education teacher is correlated with an increase in test score gains as well as higher odds of transitioning to postsecondary education. We also identified student characteristics (age, disability status, attendance hours, race, and employment status) and program characteristics (size, quality, and setting) that are statistically significantly correlated with student learning and students' transition to postsecondary education.

Traditional optical waveguides or mediums are often silica-based materials, but their applications in biomedicine and healthcare are limited due to the poor biocompatibility and unsuitable mechanical properties. In term of the applications in human body, a biocompatible hydrogel system with excellent optical transparency and mechanical flexibility could be beneficial. In this review, we explore the different designs of hydrogel-based optical waveguides derived from natural and synthetic sources. We highlighted key developments such as light emitting contact lenses, implantable optical fibres, biosensing systems, luminating and fluorescent materials. Finally, we expand further on the challenges and perspectives for hydrogel waveguides to achieve clinical applications.

Using administrative data from Maine to quantify the effect of vocational rehabilitation (VR) services on employment outcomes for transition-age youth with disabilities, we exploited the variation in VR counselors' propensity to develop Individualized Plans for Employment (IPEs) for VR youth as an instrument for service receipt. We found that among the estimated 36 percent of VR clients on the margin of service receipt, having an IPE implemented increases quarterly employment rate by 15.4 percentage points and quarterly earnings by $1,442 (2018 dollars). We found heterogeneous program effects with individuals 18 or younger benefiting significantly more than those older than age 18 at the time of VR application. We estimate the annual real rate of return to be 10.2 percent for two years after VR case closure.

Despite an increase in special education enrollment, a stark gap in high school completion between students with and without disabilities persists. This study examined the impact of Unified Champion Schools (UCS), a Special Olympics program designed to foster social inclusion through three components--Unified Sports, Inclusive Youth Leadership, and Whole School Engagement--on high school graduation rates. Using a novel dataset and a difference-in-differences design, we found that implementing the UCS program increased the graduation rate by 1.1 percentage points for all students and 1.4 percentage points for students with disabilities. The increase in schooling outcomes for students with disabilities in UCS schools also was found to be positively correlated with perceptions about a more socially inclusive school environment.

Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) plays an important role in osteoarthritis (OA) development and progression. Here, a ROS-responsive nanocomposite scaffold called PPE@rGO-Pue was fabricated by electrospinning, wherein PCL served as the backbone, PEGDA-EDT as the ROS responsive motif, and rGO as puerarin (Pue) carrier. The electrospun nanofibers composed of PEGDA-EDT and rGO exhibits accelerated Pue release behavior in the response to H2O2 through dose-dependent manner in 2 weeks. The interactions of PEGDA-EDT and Pue dramatically inhibits ROS production and activates antioxidant enzymes such as CAT, GSS, SOD, and GSH. Furthermore, the expression of inflammatory factor IL-1β had decrease significantly. Subsequently, PPE@rGO-Pue had shown chondro-protective effect for OA, which was evidenced by the suppression of MMPs, resulting in matrix degradation and the increase of Col2a1 and GAG that attenuated the cartilage erosion. In summary, this ROS-responsive electrospun nanofibers with sustained release of Pue exhibited antioxidative, anti-inflammatory, and chondro-protective potentials, suggesting that it could be an excellent drug carrier for OA therapy. This work may shed light on the design of antioxidative biomaterials for OA.

Abstract Background Osteoarthritis (OA) is common musculoskeletal disorders associated with overgeneration of free radicals, and it causes joint pain, inflammation, and cartilage degradation. Lignin as a natural antioxidant biopolymer has shown its great potential for biomedical applications. In this work, we developed a series of lignin-based nanofibers as antioxidative scaffolds for cartilage tissue engineering. Results The nanofibers were engineered by grafting poly(lactic acid) (PLA) into lignin via ring-opening polymerization and followed by electrospinning. Varying the lignin content in the system was able to adjust the physiochemical properties of the resulting nanofibers, including fiber diameters, mechanical and viscoelastic properties, and antioxidant activity. In vitro study demonstrated that the PLA-lignin nanofibers could protect bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem/stromal cells (BMSCs) from oxidative stress and promote the chondrogenic differentiation. Moreover, the animal study showed that the lignin nanofibers could promote cartilage regeneration and repair cartilage defects within 6 weeks of implantation. Conclusion Our study indicated that lignin-based nanofibers could serve as an antioxidant tissue engineering scaffold and facilitate the cartilage regrowth for OA treatment. Graphical Abstract

Solvents are essential for chemical synthesis and material preparation; however, traditional solvents face challenges in meeting safety and sustainability standards. Consequently, there is a growing focus on environmentally friendly solvent systems for polymeric materials, with deep eutectic solvents (DESs) standing out as promising alternatives owing to their eco-friendly attributes. In this review, we summarize studies on this novel solvent system in a broad range of applications, where DESs play multiple roles in polymer synthesis and corresponding material fabrication. In detail, we focus on the utilization of DESs in the synthesis of green polymers and related functional polymeric materials ranging from soft materials such as gels and nanofibers to membranes, films, and complex architectures generated from various techniques such as 3D printing, electrospinning, and self-assembly, together with their properties. Moreover, we discuss the green credentials through sustainability analysis and life-cycle assessment of DES-based polymeric materials. We believe this review will inspire more investigation into the use of DESs for functional green polymeric materials towards a sustainable future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Supramolecular hydrogels have attracted considerable interest due to their unique stimuli‐responsive and self‐healing properties. However, these hydrogel systems are usually achieved by covalent grafting of supramolecular units onto the polymer backbone, which in turn limits their reprocessability. Herein, we prepared a supramolecular hydrogel system by forming dynamic covalent crosslinks between 4‐carboxyphenylboronic acid (CPBA) and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA). The system was then further crosslinked with either calcium ions or branched polyethylenimine (PEI) to generate hydrogels with distinctly different properties. Incorporation of calcium ions resulted in the formation of hydrogels with higher storage modulus of 7290 Pa but without self‐healing properties. On the other hand, PEI‐crosslinked hydrogel (PVA‐CPBA‐PEI) exhibited >2000% critical strain value, demonstrated high stability over 52 days and showed sustained antibacterial effect. A combination of supramolecular interactions and dynamic covalent crosslinks can be an alternate strategy to fabricate next‐generation hydrogel materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The literature on racial differences in vocational rehabilitation (VR) services has not been updated for over a decade. Using the 2017 individual-level U.S. national RSA-911 data, supplemented with the 2017 American Community Survey and publicly available information from the Kaiser Family Foundation, we investigated racial differences at each step of the VR process—application, eligibility, service provision, and employment outcomes at closure. At the first step, application, White individuals with disabilities were less likely to apply than their African American, American Indian/Alaska Native, and Hispanic counterparts, and more likely to apply than their Asian counterparts. For the remaining three steps, the results were inverted: the White subgroup had higher eligibility rates, service rates, and employment rates than the African American, American Indian/Alaska Native, and Hispanic subgroups, and lower rates than the Asian subgroup. These findings suggest that racial and ethnic differences continue to exist in the VR process despite several legislative acts and policy efforts. Within each racial and ethnic minority group, we also found large variation in application rates and employment rates across states, which indicates a need for developing performance measures and standardized guidelines for state VR agencies to better serve individuals with disabilities from racial and ethnic minorities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]