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Purpose: To determine the feasibility and pilot a sleep education program in New Zealand high school students. Methods: A parallel, two-arm randomized controlled pilot trial was conducted. High school students (13 to 16 years) were randomly allocated to either a classroom-based sleep education program intervention (n = 15) or to a usual curriculum control group (n = 14). The sleep education program involved four 50-minute classroom-based education sessions with interactive groups. Students completed a 7-day sleep diary, a sleep questionnaire (including sleep hygiene, knowledge and problems) at baseline, post-intervention (4 weeks) and 10 weeks follow-up. Results: An overall treatment effect was observed for weekend sleep duration ( F 1,24 = 5.21, p = 0.03). Participants in the intervention group slept longer during weekend nights at 5 weeks (1:37 h:min, p = 0.01) and 10 weeks: (1:32 h:min, p = 0.03) compared to those in the control group. No differences were found between groups for sleep duration on weekday nights. No significant differences were observed between groups for any of the secondary outcomes (sleep hygiene, sleep problems, or sleep knowledge). Conclusions: A sleep education program appears to increase weekend sleep duration in the short term. Although this program was feasible, most schools are under time and resource pressure, thus alternative methods of delivery should be assessed for feasibility and efficacy. Larger trials of longer duration are needed to confirm these findings and determine the sustained effect of sleep education on sleep behavior and its impact on health and psychosocial outcomes. Commentary: A commentary on this article appears in this issue on page 793. Citation: Kira G, Maddison R, Hull M, Blunden S, Olds T. Sleep education improves the sleep duration of adolescents: a randomized controlled pilot study. J Clin Sleep Med 2014;10(7):787–792.

This study focuses on the status of critical theory in the undergraduate literature classrooms of five universities in order to determine what future secondary English teachers are experiencing in four areas: disciplinary paradigms, literary texts, critical approaches, and pedagogical practices. Research, which identified a disjunction between postmodern theories and the teaching of literature in secondary English classrooms (Applebee, 1989b), suggested that this gap would close if prospective English teachers experienced an integration of theory and practice in their undergraduate literary studies, which are the strongest influence on teachers' subject matter knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge (Grossman, 1988). Since critical theories carry implications for disciplinary and course organization, selection of texts, critical approaches in the classroom, and pedagogical practices, these are the areas of focus for this qualitative study, which researches the status of these four areas. Data include university catalogs and schedules of classes from the five universities, book lists for undergraduate English classes, observations of classes, and interviews with professors. The findings suggest that underlying each of the four areas is a foundation of authority which derives from tradition. In terms of disciplinary paradigms, this authority is the institution, which privileges the literature strand and the traditional core of literature courses. In terms of the literary texts, the canon is the authority which defines the core of the literature program. In terms of critical theory, the approaches of the New Critical and genetic theories continue to form the foundation for literary criticism in the classroom. In terms of pedagogy, certain behaviors define a professorial role conception related to authority. However, within each of these areas are nontraditional approaches which expand the range of the traditional. These nontraditional approaches are reflected in the special topics courses, in the use of noncanonical texts, in the foregrounding of critical theory, and in the pedagogical methods which cede authority to students. Additionally, traditional and nontraditional approaches reflected an alignment with regard to authority. The study suggests that by experiencing a variety of approaches and observing this alignment, prospective teachers will bring a similar range of critical and pedagogical approaches to their secondary English classrooms.

\"Hup, oop, reep, four . . .\"...

Extrachromosomal circular DNA (eccDNA) facilitates adaptive evolution by allowing rapid and extensive gene copy number variation and is implicated in the pathology of cancer and ageing. Here, we demonstrate that yeast aged under environmental copper accumulate high levels of eccDNA containing the copper-resistance gene CUP1. Transcription of the tandemly repeated CUP1 gene causes CUP1 eccDNA accumulation, which occurs in the absence of phenotypic selection. We have developed a sensitive and quantitative eccDNA sequencing pipeline that reveals CUP1 eccDNA accumulation on copper exposure to be exquisitely site specific, with no other detectable changes across the eccDNA complement. eccDNA forms de novo from the CUP1 locus through processing of DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) by Sae2, Mre11 and Mus81, and genome-wide analyses show that other protein coding eccDNA species in aged yeast share a similar biogenesis pathway. Although abundant, we find that CUP1 eccDNA does not replicate efficiently, and high-copy numbers in aged cells arise through frequent formation events combined with asymmetric DNA segregation. The transcriptional stimulation of CUP1 eccDNA formation shows that age-linked genetic change varies with transcription pattern, resulting in gene copy number profiles tailored by environment.

Late HIV diagnosis is associated with increased AIDS-related morbidity and mortality as well as an increased risk of HIV transmission. In this study, we quantified and characterized missed opportunities for earlier HIV diagnosis in British Columbia (BC), Canada. Retrospective cohort. A missed opportunity was defined as a healthcare encounter due to a clinical manifestation which may be caused by HIV infection, or is frequently present among those with HIV infection, but no HIV diagnosis followed within 30 days. We developed an algorithm to identify missed opportunities within one, three, and five years prior to diagnosis. The algorithm was applied to the BC STOP HIV/AIDS population-based cohort. Eligible individuals were ≥18 years old, and diagnosed from 2001-2014. Multivariable logistic regression identified factors associated with missed opportunities. Of 2119 individuals, 7%, 12% and 14% had ≥1 missed opportunity during one, three and five years prior to HIV diagnosis, respectively. In all analyses, individuals aged ≥40 years, heterosexuals or people who ever injected drugs, and those residing in Northern health authority had increased odds of experiencing ≥1 missed opportunity. In the three and five-year analysis, individuals with a CD4 count <350 cells/mm3 were at higher odds of experiencing ≥1 missed opportunity. Prominent missed opportunities were related to recurrent pneumonia, herpes zoster/shingles among younger individuals, and anemia related to nutritional deficiencies or unspecified cause. Based on our newly-developed algorithm, this study demonstrated that HIV-diagnosed individuals in BC have experienced several missed opportunities for earlier diagnosis. Specific clinical indicator conditions and population sub-groups at increased risk of experiencing these missed opportunities were identified. Further work is required in order to validate the utility of this proposed algorithm by establishing the sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values corresponding to the incidence of the clinical indicator conditions among both HIV-diagnosed and HIV-negative populations.

Despite the overall positive outcomes in hospitalization and mortality rates from the COVID-19 vaccines, COVID-19 infections remained prevalent around the world highlighting the need for alternative control strategies. Passive immunization with chicken IgY has long served as a feasible countermeasure, which gained further popularity in the research community during the recent pandemic. Here we demonstrate for the first time the scalability of anti-COVID-19 IgY production for effective distribution and potential use in large populations. Over 70,000 chickens were immunized against the SARS-CoV-2 S1 antigen to produce eggs containing anti-S1 IgY. The resulting egg yolk powder was formulated into commercially acceptable tablets for human consumption. QC and stability testing showed that the purified IgY and tablets maintained activity and stability for over a year. The resulting large batch of IgY tablets demonstrated equal immunoreactivity and virus neutralization potential against all leading COVID-19 variants. Our results demonstrate the feasibility of manufacturing egg yolk powder into edible tablets, and that can now be employed to block viral infectivity and transmission against all major COVID-19 variants affordably and effectively in both developed and developing countries.

\"We believe this should not be a day of business as usual,\" Sister Bernie Galvin, a 70-year-old Catholic nun, said after arriving at the Bechtel Corp. on Beale Street at 6:30 a.m. Protesters blocked entrances to the construction firm's building in part because the company is likely to bid for U.S. government contracts to rebuild Iraq after the war. Peace rallies remained relatively peaceful in the rest of the Bay Area on Thursday. On the Berkeley campus, more than 100 students were arrested after they refused to leave the administration building. Union janitors joined more than 100 demonstrators outside San Jose's federal building, chanting \"Health Care, not Warfare!\" Students rallied peacefully at San Jose State. And about 200 demonstrators marched from a gathering at Stanford University to Palo Alto City Hall to join hundreds more. \"Stop Bush before he kills again\" read one sign. \"Stop mad cowboy disease,\" read another. (Knight Ridder Newspapers correspondents Kellie Schmitt, Jessica Portner, Sean Webby, Shawn Neidorf, Jessie Seyfer, Marilee Enge, Ken McLaughlin, Sandra Gonzales, Kim Vo, Howard Mintz and Yomi S. Wronge contributed to this report.)

Transarterial chemo-embolisation (TACE) is an established treatment for patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). As the majority have pre-existing liver disease, only patients with adequate liver function undergo TACE. Liver maximum capacity (LiMAx), using C 13 -Methacetin, is a novel method to assess liver function prior to major oncologic resections. We evaluated the safety and feasibility of using LiMAx to assess the changes in liver function with TACE and whether it could predict post-intervention complications. The prospective study was conducted between November 2021 and March 2023 on patients undergoing TACE for HCC at the University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, UK. Patients underwent LiMAx assessment on three occasions: 1–2 weeks before, 4–6 weeks after, and 12–14 weeks following TACE. This was compared with well-established biochemical analyses. Thirty non-consecutive patients were included, with a median LiMAx value of 278 g/kg/h (range 44–688) on visit 1, 30% had a LiMAx value < 140 g/kg/h. There was no significant difference in the pre- and post-TACE LiMAX values (median difference − 6%). One patient presented with symptoms consistent with post-intervention liver decompensation with a pre-TACE LiMAx value of 95 g/kg/h. LiMAx correlated with established biochemical scoring systems of liver functions such as Child-Pugh ( r =-0.4055, p  = 0.0262) and UKELD ( r =-0.4166, p  = 0.0220). LiMAx assessment is a safe, feasible and non-invasive measurement of liver function. Despite low LiMAx values in some patients, there was no incidence of post-procedural liver decompensation. Future research should aim at identifying patients with Child-Pugh B disease with adequate liver function, based on LiMAx assessments, who may benefit from TACE.