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A crisis of literacy has emerged among high school students in the United States. In order to encourage students' engagement with literacy education, there is a need for an integrated curriculum of English Language Arts (ELA). An integrated language arts curriculum would allow students to learn literacy and reading skills while engaging with a motivating context. Meanwhile, esports has grown as a worldwide culture, expanding to more than just players and spectators to include a whole ecosystem of stakeholders. As esports grow in popularity and acceptance, educators have looked to connect the skills developed in esports with academic and career opportunities. We found esports to be a viable content area for the integrated curriculum because esports is favored among many students and involves reading activity as an essential part of participation. In this paper, we present the development of the first high school integrated curriculum that uses esports as its main content. Over two years, we developed the first high school curriculum that integrated esports as its main content. Spanning four years, the curriculum melds ELA standards, Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) practices, career-technical education (CTE), and social-emotional learning (SEL) under the umbrella of esports. For each step, we present the rationale in the design process, and challenges have arisen during the curriculum design process. We detail how the curriculum ties each set of standards together and report on first implementation efforts. Additionally, we present how teacher feedback and student workshops led to the design of club toolkits, supplemental material for teachers and school clubs.

It is vital to foster children's ability to cooperate with others, communicate effectively, and exercise self-control. These competencies represent a set of transferrable skills required in many aspects of daily life and along any career path. In Hong Kong, a play-based training programme was launched to support parents to target these areas of social competence. The programme taught 414 parents to use group games that foster social skills development in children aged 4-5 years. Parents completed culturally-appropriate questionnaires before the programme started, one week after the programme ended, and three months after the programme ended. Paired sample "t"-test analyses revealed significant improvements in children's social skills. Implications for using play-based social learning experiences are discussed.

Background Monovalent Omicron XBB.1.5–containing vaccines were approved for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) 2023–2024 immunizations. Methods This ongoing, open-label, phase 2/3 study evaluated messenger RNA (mRNA)-1273.815 monovalent (50-µg Omicron XBB.1.5 spike mRNA) and mRNA-1273.231 bivalent (25-µg each Omicron XBB.1.5 and BA.4/BA.5 spike mRNAs) vaccines, administered as fifth doses to adults who previously received primary series, third doses of an original mRNA COVID-19 vaccine, and fourth doses of an Omicron BA.4/BA.5 bivalent vaccine. Interim safety and immunogenicity 29 days after vaccination are reported. Results Participants (randomized 1:1) received 50-µg of mRNA-1273.815 (n = 50) or mRNA-1273.231 (n = 51); median intervals (interquartile range) from prior BA.4/BA.5 bivalent doses were 8.2 (8.1–8.3) and 8.3 (8.1–8.4) months, respectively. Fold increases in neutralizing antibody (nAb) against the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) variants from prebooster nAb levels were numerically higher against XBB.1.5, XBB.1.16, EG.5.1, BA.2.86, and JN.1 than BA.4/BA.5, BQ.1.1, or D614G on day 29. Monovalent vaccine also cross-neutralized FL.1.5.1, EG.5.1, BA.2.86, HK.3.1, HV.1, and JN.1 variants in a participant subset (n = 20) 15 days after vaccination. Reactogenicity was similar to that of mRNA-1273 vaccines. Conclusions XBB.1.5-containing mRNA-1273 vaccines elicit robust, diverse nAb responses against more recent SARS-CoV-2 variants, including JN.1, supporting the XBB.1.5-spike update for COVID-19 vaccines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BackgroundIn order to perform selective CH functionalization upon visible light irradiation, Ru(II)-diimine functionalized P450 heme enzymes have been developed. The sL407C-1 enzyme containing the Ru(bpy)2PhenA (bpy=2,2'-bipyridine and PhenA=5-acetamido-1,10-phenanthroline) photosensitizer (1) covalently attached to the non-native single cysteine L407C of the P450BM3 heme domain mutant, displays high photocatalytic activity in the selective CH bond hydroxylation of several substrates.MethodsA combination of X-ray crystallography, site-directed mutagenesis, transient absorption measurements and enzymatic assays was used to gain insights into its photocatalytic activity and electron transfer pathway.ResultsThe crystal structure of the sL407C-1 enzyme was solved in the open and closed conformations revealing a through-space electron transfer pathway involving highly conserved, F393 and Q403, residues. Several mutations of these residues (F393A, F393W or Q403W) were introduced to probe their roles in the overall reaction. Transient absorption measurements confirm rapid electron transfer as heme reduction is observed in all four hybrid enzymes. Compared to the parent sL407C-1, photocatalytic activity was negligible in the dF393A-1 enzyme while 60% increase in activity with total turnover numbers of 420 and 90% product conversion was observed with the dQ403W-1 mutant.ConclusionsIn the sL407C-1 enzyme, the photosensitizer is ideally located to rapidly deliver electrons, using the naturally occurring electron transfer pathway, to the heme center in order to activate molecular dioxygen and sustain photocatalytic activity.General significanceThe results shed light on the design of efficient light-driven biocatalysts and the approach can be generalized to other members of the P450 superfamily.

The study examined determinants of primary school choice among parents in Malaysia, and the decision maker and social influences in the school choice. It draws on qualitative data from semi-structured interviews with 43 middle-class parents from three ethnic groups (Chinese, Malay, and Indigenous). Results showed that school proximity and ethnicity-related reasons are leading factors influencing parental school choice. Medium of instruction, school academic reputation, and feeder to a preferred secondary school appear to be separate reasons but act as a proxy to ethnicity as the primary factor determining the choice of Chinese- or Malay-medium primary school by parents. The results also showed that mothers are more likely to make school choice decisions than fathers, but the reasons for school choice are similar. The primary social influences on their school choice come from friends and education personnel in preschools and schools. The Indigenous parents tend to be more subject to social pressure in making school choices than the Chinese and Malay parents, who mostly enroll their children in Chinese- and Malay-medium primary schools, respectively. However, these findings on school choice and ethnic segregation are limited to this sample and constrained by the socio-political context of the education system.

Transformative changes in urban economies are raising vital questions about minority representation. Given that cities are sites of political power for communities of color, gentrification and the housing affordability crisis threaten to deteriorate decades of progress. This article considers the impact of these economic and demographic shifts on minority candidate supply and success. Collecting data on 166 city councils across several decades, we find that White population growth is associated with reductions in local political power for Black and Latino councilors. We also observe modest evidence that local economic improvements may not have deleterious effects on the diversity of city councils. We probe these findings using data on local elections, as well as over 380,000 tweets from city councilors, and uncover evidence of a candidate supply mechanism in the case of "racial gentrification" and a credit-claiming mechanism in the case of "economic gentrification." We conclude by discussing the political implications of the cross-cutting effects we observe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study examined whether, when, and how motivational messaging can boost the response rate of postal surveys for physicians based on Higgin's regulatory focus theory, accounting for its cost-effectiveness. A three-arm, blinded, randomized controlled design was used. A total of 3,270 doctors were randomly selected from the registration list. Results showed that motivational messaging was effective in boosting response rate among younger physicians at relatively low cost when the messages were sent during the delivery of generic invitation letter and questionnaire. However, message framing had no significant impact on postal surveys' response rate. Future postal surveys can consider using motivational messaging to maximize survey participation in physician population without incurring much extra cost.

Hong Kong has introduced a senior intake admission scheme which is similar to the US model of credit transfer from community college programmes to university bachelor programmes. The study aimed to assess the outcomes, in terms of generic capabilities, of introducing a senior intake articulation scheme to a bachelor of nursing curriculum in Hong Kong. One hundred and seventy-four nursing students completed and returned the Student Engagement Questionnaire. The senior intake students reported significantly higher scores in creative thinking, active learning, teaching for understanding, feedback to assist learning, and relationship between teachers and students than the mainstream students. Self-managed learning and relationship with other students were positively and significantly related to academic performance. The senior intake students appeared to adjust well in university education. Greater effort should be made to nurture their relationship with other students and a review of the denseness of the mainstream curriculum is warranted.

Collagen Q (ColQ) is a key multidomain functional protein of the neuromuscular junction (NMJ), crucial for anchoring acetylcholinesterase (AChE) to the basal lamina (BL) and accumulating AChE at the NMJ. The attachment of AChE to the BL is primarily accomplished by the binding of the ColQ collagen domain to the heparan sulfate proteoglycan perlecan and the COOH-terminus to the muscle-specific receptor tyrosine kinase (MuSK), which in turn plays a fundamental role in the development and maintenance of the NMJ. Yet, the precise mechanism by which ColQ anchors AChE at the NMJ remains unknown. We identified five novel mutations at the COOH-terminus of ColQ in seven patients from five families affected with endplate (EP) AChE deficiency. We found that the mutations do not affect the assembly of ColQ with AChE to form asymmetric forms of AChE or impair the interaction of ColQ with perlecan. By contrast, all mutations impair in varied degree the interaction of ColQ with MuSK as well as basement membrane extract (BME) that have no detectable MuSK. Our data confirm that the interaction of ColQ to perlecan and MuSK is crucial for anchoring AChE to the NMJ. In addition, the identified COOH-terminal mutants not only reduce the interaction of ColQ with MuSK, but also diminish the interaction of ColQ with BME. These findings suggest that the impaired attachment of COOH-terminal mutants causing EP AChE deficiency is in part independent of MuSK, and that the COOH-terminus of ColQ may interact with other proteins at the BL.

Survey researchers are sometimes tasked with sifting through possible ways of phrasing a question in order to discover the wording that maximizes the proportion of respondents who answer in a particular way. One example occurs when a political interest group seeks to phrase a ballot measure on a given topic in a way that will garner as much voter supportas possible. The present study illustrates how adaptive sample allocation can be used quickly and efficiently for this purpose. Using the example of a ballot measure on ranked choice voting, we show that adaptive design was better suited to identify the most promising ballot wording than a more conventional static design. We provide an open-source software R package and instructions for survey researchers seeking to implement adaptive experiments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Choline acetyltransferase (ChAT) is required for the biosynthesis of acetylcholine, the molecular mediator that inhibits cytokine production in the cholinergic anti‐inflammatory pathway of the vagus nerve inflammatory reflex. Abundant work has established the biology of cytoplasmic ChAT in neurons, but much less is known about the potential presence and function of ChAT in the extracellular milieu. Objectives: We evaluated the hypothesis that extracellular ChAT activity responds to inflammation and serves to inhibit cytokine release and attenuate inflammation. Methods: After developing novel methods for quantification of ChAT activity in plasma, we determined whether ChAT activity changes in response to inflammatory challenges. Results: Active ChAT circulates within the plasma compartment of mice and responds to immunological perturbations. Following the administration of bacterial endotoxin, plasma ChAT activity increases for 12–48 h, a time period that coincides with declining tumor necrosis factor (TNF) levels. Further, a direct activation of the cholinergic anti‐inflammatory pathway by vagus nerve stimulation significantly increases plasma ChAT activity, whereas the administration of bioactive recombinant ChAT (r‐ChAT) inhibits endotoxin‐stimulated TNF production and anti‐ChAT antibodies exacerbate endotoxin‐induced TNF levels, results of which suggest that ChAT activity regulates endogenous TNF production. Administration of r‐ChAT significantly attenuates pro‐inflammatory cytokine production and disease activity in the dextran sodium sulfate preclinical model of inflammatory bowel disease. Finally, plasma ChAT levels are also elevated in humans with sepsis, with the highest levels observed in a patient who succumbed to infection. Conclusion: As a group, these results support further investigation of ChAT as a counter‐regulator of inflammation and potential therapeutic agent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]