Data Mountain: Self-Monitoring, Goal Setting, and Positive Attributions to Enhance the Oral Reading Fluency of Elementary Students With or at Risk for Reading Disabilities.

Data Mountain is a self-determination program that has shown early promise in enhancing the oral reading fluency (ORF) of students with or at risk for reading disabilities (RD). This program supports self-determined learning behaviors through explicit teaching of self-monitoring, goal setting, and positive attributions. The present study tested the effects of Data Mountain on the ORF of 81 students with or at risk for RD in second through fifth grades, randomly assigned to one of three conditions: Data Mountain delivered in small groups, Data Mountain delivered individually, or a comparison condition. Results from hierarchical linear modeling indicated that treatment students read an average of 31 more words per minute with a growth rate twice that of comparison students (p < .01). The transferable possibilities of Data Mountain to provide students with an opportunity to learn self-determination skills and support ORF is significant to the field of special education.

The Kawasaki Disease Comparative Effectiveness (KIDCARE) trial: A phase III, randomized trial of second intravenous immunoglobulin versus infliximab for resistant Kawasaki disease.

BACKGROUND: Although intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) is effective therapy for Kawasaki disease (KD), the most common cause of acquired heart disease in children, 10-20% of patients are IVIG-resistant and require additional therapy. This group has an increased risk of coronary artery aneurysms (CAA) and there has been no adequately powered, randomized clinical trial in a multi-ethnic population to determine the optimal therapy for IVIG-resistant patients. OBJECTIVES: The primary outcome is duration of fever in IVIG-resistant patients randomized to treatment with either infliximab or a second IVIG infusion. Secondary outcomes include comparison of inflammatory markers, duration of hospitalization, and coronary artery outcome. An exploratory aim records parent-reported outcomes including signs, symptoms and treatment experience. METHODS: The KIDCARE trial is a 30-site randomized Phase III comparative effectiveness trial in KD patients with fever ≥36 h after the completion of their first IVIG treatment. Eligible patients will be randomized to receive either a second dose of IVIG (2 g/kg) or infliximab (10 mg/kg). Subjects with persistent or recrudescent fever at 24 h following completion of the first study treatment will cross-over to the other treatment arm. Subjects will exit the study after their first outpatient visit (5-18 days following last study treatment). The parent-reported outcomes, collected daily during hospitalization and at home, will be compared by study arm. CONCLUSION: This trial will contribute to the management of IVIG-resistant patients by establishing the relative efficacy of a second dose of IVIG compared to infliximab and will provide data regarding the patient/parent experience of these treatments.

Overexpression of CuZn-SOD prevents lipopolysaccharide-induced endothelial dysfunction.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Inflammation is thought to be a major contributor to carotid artery disease. Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) activates inflammatory mechanisms thought to contribute to endothelial dysfunction by mechanisms that are not well defined. The goal of this study was to determine whether overexpression of CuZn-SOD protects against LPS-induced increases in superoxide and endothelial dysfunction. METHODS: Carotid arteries from CuZn-SOD transgenic (SOD-Tg) and nontransgenic (non-Tg) littermates were examined in vitro. Superoxide levels were measured using lucigenin-enhanced chemiluminescence. RESULTS: In non-Tg mice, LPS (0.5 microg/mL for 22 hours) produced marked impairment of vasorelaxation in response to the endothelium-dependent dilator acetylcholine (ACh). For example, 100 micromol/L ACh relaxed carotid arteries from non-Tg mice by 86+/-6% and 38+/-8% after treatment with vehicle and LPS, respectively. In contrast, LPS did not significantly impair responses of carotid artery to ACh in SOD-Tg mice, and LPS had no effect on relaxation responses to the endothelium-independent dilator nitroprusside in carotid artery from non-Tg or SOD-Tg mice. LPS-induced increases in superoxide, as measured using lucigenin-enhanced chemiluminescence, were higher in vessels from non-Tg mice than from SOD-Tg mice. CONCLUSIONS: These results indicate that LPS increases superoxide and impairs endothelium-dependent relaxation. Overexpression of the CuZn isoform of SOD effectively prevents LPS-induced oxidative stress and endothelial dysfunction in the carotid artery.

Bcl-2 inhibition of T-cell proliferation is related to prolonged T-cell survival.

Bcl-2 promotes oncogenesis by inhibiting cell death. Bcl-2 also inhibits proliferation and suppresses tumorigenesis in some settings. To clarify the role of the antiproliferative function of Bcl-2, mice expressing a mutant form of Bcl-2 reported to lack antiproliferative activity were generated (tyrosine 28 to alanine, Bcl-2-Y28A). As expected, both wild type (WT) and Bcl-2-Y28A inhibited apoptosis similarly. In contrast to previous results in cell lines, Bcl-2-Y28A inhibited T-cell proliferation identical to WT-Bcl-2. Significantly, both Bcl-2-Y28A and WT-Bcl-2 inhibited proliferation of T cells isolated from older animals, but not proliferation of T cells from immature mice. Instead, inhibition of cell activation correlated with T-cell size, p27 levels, and RNA content, all indicators of quiescent G0 arrest. Consistent with this model, Bcl-2 inhibition of T-cell proliferation was reversed by expression of Bax, again correlating cell proliferation with cell size. These experiments do not support genetically separate effects of Bcl-2 on apoptosis and proliferation. Instead, the data support a model in which Bcl-2 and Bax regulate T-cell proliferation by changes in T-cell size and by increasing the markers of quiescent G0 arrest. These changes likely result from prolonged T-cell survival.

Increased superoxide and vascular dysfunction in CuZnSOD-deficient mice.

Increased superoxide is thought to play a major role in vascular dysfunction in a variety of disease states. Superoxide dismutase (SOD) limits increases in superoxide; however, the functional significance of selected isoforms of SOD within the vessel wall are unknown. We tested the hypothesis that selective loss of CuZnSOD results in increased superoxide and altered vascular responsiveness in CuZnSOD-deficient (CuZnSOD(-/-)) mice compared with wild-type (CuZnSOD(+/+)) littermates. Total SOD activity was reduced (P<0.05) by approximately 60% and CuZnSOD protein was absent in aorta from CuZnSOD(-/-) as compared with wild-type mice. Vascular superoxide levels, measured using lucigenin (5 micro mol/L)-enhanced chemiluminescence and hydroethidine (2 micro mol/L)-based confocal microscopy, were increased (approximately 2-fold; P<0.05) in CuZnSOD(-/-) mice as compared with wild-type mice. Relaxation of the carotid artery in response to acetylcholine and authentic nitric oxide was impaired (P<0.05) in CuZnSOD(-/-) mice. For example, maximal relaxation to acetylcholine (100 micro mol/L) was 50+/-6% and 69+/-5% in CuZnSOD(-/-) and wild-type mice, respectively. Contractile responses of the carotid artery were enhanced (P<0.05) in CuZnSOD(-/-) mice in response to phenylephrine and serotonin, but not to potassium chloride or U46619. In vivo, dilatation of cerebral arterioles (baseline diameter=31+/-1 micro m) to acetylcholine was reduced by approximately 50% in CuZnSOD(-/-) mice as compared with wild-type mice (P<0.05). These findings provide the first direct insight into the functional importance of CuZnSOD in blood vessels and indicate that this specific isoform of SOD limits increases in superoxide under basal conditions. CuZnSOD-deficiency results in altered responsiveness in both large arteries and microvessels.

Alterations of the portal protein, gpB, of bacteriophage lambda suppress mutations in cosQ, the site required for termination of DNA packaging.

The cosQ site of bacteriophage lambda is required for DNA packaging termination. Previous studies have shown that cosQ mutations can be suppressed in three ways: by a local suppressor within cosQ, an increase in the length of the lambda chromosome, and missense mutations affecting the prohead's portal protein, gpB. In the present work, revertants of a set of lethal cosQ mutants were screened for suppressors. Seven new cosQ suppressors affected gene B, which encodes the portal protein of the prohead. All seven were allele-nonspecific suppressors of cosQ mutations. Experiments with several phages having two cosQ suppressors showed that the suppression effects were additive. Furthermore, these double suppressors had minimal effects on the growth of cosQ(+) phages. These trans-acting suppressors affecting the portal protein are proposed to allow the mutant cosQ site to be more efficiently recognized, due to the slowing of the rate of translocation.