A case of wild-type rubella-associated cutaneous granuloma in ataxia telangiectasia.

Granulomatous skin disease is known to be associated with various primary immunodeficiencies, including ataxia telangiectasia (AT). Recent reports of persistence of live vaccine strain rubella within such cutaneous granulomas have raised concern regarding the safety of vaccination. Here we report a case of cutaneous granuloma in association with AT, demonstrating wild type, rather than vaccine strain rubella. This supports the persistence of rubella as a causative mechanism, but suggests it is not vaccine strain-specific, and thus may impact the decision of those considering not vaccinating this subset of children.

Confidence of pediatric trainees in dermatologic conditions, preferred learning styles, and suggested improvements to training.

Dermatological conditions in children often present initially to general pediatricians. Senior pediatric trainees in the UK were surveyed regarding their experience and confidence in diagnosis and management with skin conditions, and their satisfaction with postgraduate training. Confidence was reasonable in common conditions but lower for emergencies, reflecting a lack of exposure, and satisfaction with training was low. On the job learning and clinic attendance were felt to be most beneficial, alongside learning from specialist review, however dermatologists were not found to be accessible. Informal learning methods are key within postgraduate education and educators must maximise learning opportunities. Dermatologists can play a vital role by encouraging trainees to learn from feedback following specialist review.

Service-Learning through conference-based, interdisciplinary workshops on Age-Friendly design.

For three consecutive years, the Age-Friendly Design Committee (AFDC) of the Academy for Gerontology in Higher Education (AGHE) used AGHE's annual meeting as a platform to conduct community-based service-learning workshops focusing on age-friendly design. These workshops assembled local stakeholders, conference attendees from multiple disciplines, and landscape and architectural designers to discuss age-friendly design issues and solutions for local environments. Each workshop provided hands-on design experience and the opportunity for AGHE participants to contribute to conference host communities by using their gerontological expertise to translate knowledge into practice. Local stakeholders learned the value of gerontological input when considering design issues. We describe the process of incorporating service-learning into the conference experience through age-friendly design workshops and how these bring together students, faculty, and design professionals from different backgrounds and disciplines to address local age-friendly design issues.

The PLORAS Database: A data repository for Predicting Language Outcome and Recovery After Stroke.

The PLORAS Database is a relational repository of anatomical and functional imaging data that has primarily been acquired from stroke survivors, along with standardized scores on a wide range of sensory, motor and cognitive abilities, demographic details and medical history. As of January 2015, we have data from 750 patients with an expected accrual rate of 200 patients per year. Expansion will accelerate as we extend our collaborations. The main aim of the database is to Predict Language Outcome and Recovery After Stroke (PLORAS) on the basis of a single structural (anatomical) brain scan that indexes the stereotactic location and extent of brain damage. Predictions are made for individual patients by indicating how other patients with the most similar brain damage, cognitive abilities and demographic details recovered their language skills over time. Predictions are validated by longitudinal follow-ups of patients who initially presented with speech and language difficulties. The PLORAS Database can also be used to predict recovery of other cognitive abilities on the basis of anatomical brain scans. The functional imaging data can be used to understand the neural mechanisms that support recovery from brain damage; and all the data can be used to understand the main sources of inter-subject variability in structure-function mappings in the human brain. Data will be made available for sharing, subject to: funding, ethical approval and patient consent.