Intermittent exotropia: are we underminusing by not overminusing?

In this invited commentary, the authors discuss whether the use of minus lenses to aid control of intermittent exotropia has an alternative method of action. Conventional theory suggests that the lenses induce accommodation and therefore accommodative convergence to reduce the angle of deviation. We discuss evidence which suggests that convergence is induced to control the primary deviation and that the minus lenses allow this control by correcting refractive blur caused by additional vergence accommodation

An Examination of the Effect of the Implementation of a Trauma-Informed School Initiative on the Attitudes of the Staff in a School

The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological case study was to investigate the change in the attitudes of teachers pre and post implementation of a trauma-informed school initiative in a school in the Eastern Grand Region of Tennessee. As adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) have become more recognizable in school age children by teachers and school staff members due to an increase in knowledge about ACEs, there has been an increase in the number of trauma-informed initiatives undertaken by schools across the United States. Due to the challenges associated with the implementation of trauma-informed initiatives in schools, it is important for administrators to have knowledge of the areas that need to be focused on the most to help the initiative be more successful. The attitudes of the school staff members offer a unique glimpse into the initiative\u27s strength. The researcher used a qualitative methodology of individual teacher interviews, focus group interviews, and examination of school attendance and discipline to contribute to the study\u27s results. The data from the interviews were coded and analyzed, and the results revealed common themes that emerged. Regarding Research Question 1, one theme that emerged was teachers have been adequately trained. A second theme that emerged regarding Question 1 was more training needed in the future. With reference to Research Question 2, a theme that emerged was growth in acceptance of the initiative. Secondarily, the belief that additional work still needs to be done 3 to bring apprehensive staff on board with the initiative was another theme from Question 2. Regarding Research Question 3, making better use of the reset room and other resources that are available to the staff was a primary theme. A separate theme of needing to provide the staff with additional tools to use with the students emerged as well from Question 3. This study supplied the field with additional information by providing specific information about teacher perceptions on trauma-informed practices and barriers to teacher commitment in a school that is a few years into the implementation process and contributed additional knowledge of barriers to teacher commitment of trauma-informed approaches in schools

Photochemical reactions of lignin: Opportunities for valorisation

Lignin is the second most abundant biopolymer after cellulose and is the largest bio-based source of aromatic compounds. However, its heterogeneous and recalcitrant structure makes it difficult to depolymerise for use in renewable chemicals production. Photochemical reactions can be performed at mild conditions and can achieve efficient reaction pathways without the use of additional reagents. The potential efficiency gains in terms of energy and use of materials have led to renewed interest in photochemistry research, as we seek to improve the environmental sustainability of industry.Concepts for valorisation of lignin through heterogenous and homogenous photocatalysis are currently being investigated. Although this photocatalyst research has shown some encouraging results, the synthesis, separation, and recycling of catalysts would add significant costs to a process. If it were possible to induce direct photochemical reactions with ultraviolet light, the difficulties associated with catalysis could be avoided, and it would bring a photochemical lignin valorisation concept closer to feasibility.This thesis deals with the topic of how ultraviolet light can induce changes in lignin. The contents in Paper I describe our early work, which demonstrated that UV light causes changes to functional groups in lignin and that UV light can be used to extract lignin from sawdust. In our more recent experiments, we use 280 nm light from UV-LEDs using a homemade 3D printed photoreactor, the details of which are covered in Paper II. The results presented here also include a comparison between acetonitrile and aqueous NaOH as solvents for the photoreactions. The evaluation of whether benzophenone can be used as a photosensitiser to increase the reaction rate or yield toward desired products in reactions of Kraft lignin and 2-(benzyloxy)phenol, a model compound used to represent an ether bond between two phenolic rings, is covered in Paper III. We also needed to access whether our conclusions are robust against changes in lignin concentration and light intensity, and an analysis of this is included in the results and discussion. Lignin has also been observed to act as a photocatalyst. The beginning of an investigation into this phenomenon is covered in this thesis using the photooxidation of methanol to formate as an example. 1H NMR is the primary analysis technique used in this work. Results based on GC-MS and diffusion NMR are included to demonstrate their intended use in future work. The analysis across all areas focuses on using the analysis methods to estimate reaction rates and selectivity toward certain products, and aims to understand the connections between these results and the details of the reactions.The results gathered so far have laid the groundwork for understanding the complex relationships between the properties of lignin, reaction conditions, and changes which occur upon irradiation with UV light. The end of the thesis discusses future plans for increasing our understanding of these photoreactions

Low Blood Sugar Impacts Athletic Performance in Kids with Diabetes

Low blood sugar has a negative effect on the athletic ability of adolescents with type 1 diabetes. It also affects their ability to respond to visual stimuli.York's Knowledge Mobilization Unit provides services and funding for faculty, graduate students, and community organizations seeking to maximize the impact of academic research and expertise on public policy, social programming, and professional practice. It is supported by SSHRC and CIHR grants, and by the Office of the Vice-President Research & Innovation. [email protected] www.researchimpact.c

An overview of the Salish Sea Marine Survival Project: U.S.-Canada integration

The Salish Sea Marine Survival Project (Project) is a multi-year transboundary effort to determine the primary factors affecting juvenile salmon and steelhead survival in the Salish Sea. The Project, coordinated by nonprofits Long Live the Kings (U.S.) and the Pacific Salmon Foundation (Canada), brings together multidisciplinary expertise from over 20 Federal and State agencies, Tribes, academia and nonprofit organizations on both sides of the U.S.-Canada border. Through the development of a comprehensive, ecosystem-based research framework; coordinated data collection and standardization; and improved information sharing, the Project will help managers better understand the critical relationship between salmon and the Salish Sea. This transboundary initiative began in 2012 and will last seven years. Foundational reports include the Pacific Salmon Foundation’s Strait of Georgia Chinook and Coho Proposal (2009) and subsequently the Hypotheses and Preliminary Research Recommendations for Puget Sound (2012). In November 2012, a workshop with 90 participants was held to receive feedback from the broader scientific community regarding the critical elements of a US-Canada research program. The foundational and workshop summary reports are available at the Project web site (www.marinesurvivalproject.org). Science teams are now using this information to develop and implement the necessary research. We will present an overview of the Salish Sea Marine Survival Project, describing its history, leading hypotheses for poor survival, current status in research development and implementation, and how this work will contribute to Salish Sea sustainable resource management and recovery efforts. We will highlight the multi-disciplinary, collaborative nature of this project and the role of non-governmental organizations in aiding this large-scale initiative

Can lizard embryos survive climate warming? Thermal constraints on the physiology of developing Eastern fence lizards

Sublethal stressors will likely mediate an organism’s response to climate change. Mobile animals can change their behavior to maintain temperatures within preferred ranges. However, animals in immobile life stages are particularly vulnerable to warming. For example, lizard embryos experience recurrent thermal stress as they develop in shallow nests with daily temperature fluctuations. Nesting temperatures above 41.5°C can be lethal to Eastern fence lizard (Sceloporus undulatus) embryos. Although that is beyond the range experienced at current nest sites, rapid warming will push nest conditions toward critical limits. Therefore, it is important to examine the effects of sublethal high nest temperatures on developing lizards. We reared S. undulatus embryos under three thermal regimes—one to simulate contemporary nest conditions with a maximum daily temperature (Tmax) of 32.1°C, and two regimes to simulate warming scenarios in which the Tmax was raised to 35.6°C and 39.1°C. We tracked changes in physiology and survival through embryonic development, and we measured growth and metabolic rates of surviving hatchlings. Results showed reduced embryo survival and decreased hatchling growth for lizards reared under sublethal warming, suggesting that thermal constraints on the physiology of developing Eastern fence lizards may limit the persistence of the species under climate warming

High Frequency of Cytomegalovirus-Specific Cytotoxic T-Effector Cells in HLA-A*0201-Positive Subjects during Multiple Viral Coinfections

How the cellular immune response copes with diverse antigenic competition is poorly understood. Responses of virus-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) were examined longitudinally in an individual coinfected with human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1), Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), and cytomegalovirus (CMV). CTL responses to all 3 viruses were quantified by limiting dilution analysis and staining with HLA-A*0201 tetrameric complexes folded with HIV-1, EBV, and CMV peptides. A predominance of CMV-pp65-speciflc CTL was found, with a much lower frequency of CTL to HIV-1 Gag and Pol and to EBV-BMLF1 and LMP2. The high frequency of CMV-speciflc CTL, compared with HIV-1- and EBV-specific CTL, was confirmed in an additional 16 HLA-A*0201-positive virus-coinfected subjects. Therefore, the human immune system can mount CTL responses to multiple viral antigens simultaneously, albeit with different strength