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The Rural Outreach Chemistry for Kids (R.O.C.K.) program was designed as a service-learning project for students at Saint Francis University to serve the local communities by organizing chemistry activities in high schools. It was initiated in 1995 and has involved a large number of Saint Francis University students and local high school students. This article presents an evaluation of the R.O.C.K. program and discussion of its findings. The evaluation was conducted using multiple evaluation designs to assess the impact of the program on high school students' interest in science and Saint Francis students' learning process and their views on service-learning. The results indicate that the program was effective and had positive impact on both high school and Saint Francis students who participated.

Adeno-associated virus (AAV) vectors are used to deliver therapeutic transgenes, but host immune responses may interfere with transduction and transgene expression. We evaluated prophylactic corticosteroid treatment on AAV5-mediated expression in liver tissue. Wild-type C57BL/6 mice received 6 × 1013 vg/kg AAV5-HLP-hA1AT, an AAV5 vector carrying a human α1-antitrypsin (hA1AT) gene with a hepatocyte-specific promoter. Mice received 4 weeks of daily 2 mg/kg prednisolone or water starting day −1 or 0 before vector dosing. Mice that received prophylactic corticosteroids had significantly higher serum hA1AT protein than mice that did not, starting at 6 weeks and persisting to the study end at 12 weeks, potentially through a decrease in the number of low responders. RNAseq and proteomic analyses investigating mechanisms mediating the improvement of transgene expression found that prophylactic corticosteroid treatment upregulated the AAV5 coreceptor platelet-derived growth factor receptor alpha (PDGFRα) on hepatocytes and downregulated its competitive ligand PDGFα, thus increasing the uptake of AAV5 vectors. Evidently, prophylactic corticosteroid treatment also suppressed acute immune responses to AAV. Together, these mechanisms resulted in increased uptake and preservation of the transgene, allowing more vector genomes to be available to assemble into stable, full-length structures mediating long-term transgene expression. Prophylactic corticosteroids represent a potential actionable strategy to improve AAV5-mediated transgene expression and decrease intersubject variability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mosquitoes are one of the most important medical insects, and accurate identification of species is an important foundation for prevention and control. However, there are many difficulties in morphological identification. The convenience of obtaining mitochondrial (mt) genome sequences and comprehensive published data make it a prominent advantage for molecular identification as a DNA barcode. In order to further evaluate the role of different mt gene sequences as DNA barcodes in the identification of mosquitoes, we took Anopheles as an example in this study, and selected 5 species with the most published mt genome sequences in the GenBank database, and randomly downloaded 5 sequences for each species. Through evolutionary rate, genetic distance, barcode gap and phylogenetic analysis, the reliability of all 13 mt protein coding genes as DNA barcodes for species identification is compared. The results indicate that among the 13 protein coding genes in the mt genome of Anopheles mosquitoes, the ND5 gene has the fastest evolutionary rate, while the COI gene is the most conservedgene. Except for the COIII gene, all other genes can be used as DNA barcodes for molecular identification, but the barcode gap of the ND4L gene is not significant, which may lead to inaccurate identification. Among the remaining mt genes, there are significant barcode gaps between ATP8, COI, COII, CytB, and ND5 genes, and these genes have strong stability both within and between species which are preferred as DNA barcodes. The ATP6, ND1, ND2, ND3, ND4, and ND6 genes exhibit intraspecific or (and) interspecific non-conservation and can be used as candidate DNA barcode sequences. This research provides a reference basis for the scientific selection of DNA barcode sequences for the identification of mosquitos. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Studies have consistently found that parental and peer drinking behaviors significantly influence adolescent drinking behavior and that adolescent drinking has a significant effect on their drinking-and-driving behavior. Building upon these studies, the present article assesses whether parental and peer drinking behaviors have direct and indirect effects on adolescent drinking and driving as well as whether they moderate the effect of adolescent drinking on their drinking-and-driving behavior. Methods: The assessment is conducted using data collected from the Buffalo Longitudinal Survey of Young Men (BLSYM) with Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) regression analyses. Results: The data reveal that peer drinking has direct and indirect effects on adolescent drinking-and-driving behavior when adolescent drinking behavior is controlled. It also moderates the effect of adolescent drinking behavior on their drinking and driving. However, parental drinking does not have these direct and interactive effects, although it may have an indirect effect on adolescent drinking and driving via adolescent drinking behavior. Conclusions: These findings imply that peer drinking behavior should be considered seriously in prevention and intervention for reducing the risk of adolescent drinking-and-driving behavior. (Contains 4 tables and 2 footnotes.)

This study represents an attempt to test Braithwaite's theory of reintegrative shaming with an operationalization scheme of two variables--disapproval of delinquent behavior (shaming) and forgiveness of the transgressor (reintegration) by parents and peers. The study combines measures of delinquency disapproval and forgiveness of the transgressor by parents and peers to capture the concept of reintegrative shaming. Using data collected from the first two waves of the National Youth Survey, the study finds no effect of either parental reintegrative shaming or peer reintegrative shaming on predatory delinquency in either wave when the effects of other important variables are held constant. However, the data reveal that parental forgiveness and peer shaming alone have significant and negative effects on the likelihood of being involved in predatory offenses in both waves. In contrast, peer forgiveness shows a significant and positive effect on predatory offense involvement in the first wave. The findings provide support to some elements of Braithwaite's theory but not to the key hypothesis, assuming that reintegrative shaming is a significant predictor of predatory offenses. Implications of the findings and suggestions for future research are discussed. (Contains 4 tables and 4 notes.)