Curriculum, instruction, and promoting college and career readiness for incarcerated youth: A literature review.

Access to high-quality curriculum and instruction is essential for all youth incarcerated in juvenile corrections facilities. In a landmark 2014 collaboration between the U.S. Departments of Education and Justice Guiding Principles for Providing High-Quality Education in Juvenile Justice Secure Care Settings were established. Principle independent variable (IV) identified the importance of access to rigorous and relevant curricula and evidence-based instruction that promotes college- and career-readiness. To explore research progress since publication of the Guiding Principles, a systematic review of research was conducted. The review identified eight peer-reviewed studies relevant to curriculum and instruction published since 2014. Employing a variety of research designs, the studies focused on literacy (n = 5) and instruction (n = 3). Quality indicators, based on modified forms of Mulcahy et al. (2016) single case design, Gersten et al. (2005) group design, and Miles et al. (2019) qualitative standards, were used to evaluate the studies. Results revealed a lack of replicable information pertinent to participants and intervention, as well as a lack of fidelity. Of grave concern is that only four of the participants included across all studies were female. Research that adheres to quality indicators, is described with replicable precision, and is representative of females is needed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Twenty Important Research Questions in Microbial Exposure and Social Equity.

Social and political policy, human activities, and environmental change affect the ways in which microbial communities assemble and interact with people. These factors determine how different social groups are exposed to beneficial and/or harmful microorganisms, meaning microbial exposure has an important socioecological justice context. Therefore, greater consideration of microbial exposure and social equity in research, planning, and policy is imperative. Here, we identify 20 research questions considered fundamentally important to promoting equitable exposure to beneficial microorganisms, along with safeguarding resilient societies and ecosystems. The 20 research questions we identified span seven broad themes, including the following: (i) sociocultural interactions; (ii) Indigenous community health and well-being; (iii) humans, urban ecosystems, and environmental processes; (iv) human psychology and mental health; (v) microbiomes and infectious diseases; (vi) human health and food security; and (vii) microbiome-related planning, policy, and outreach. Our goal was to summarize this growing field and to stimulate impactful research avenues while providing focus for funders and policymakers.

Aberrant synthesis of indole-3-acetic acid in Saccharomyces cerevisiae triggers morphogenic transition, a virulence trait of pathogenic fungi.

Many plant-associated microbes synthesize the auxin indole-3-acetic acid (IAA), and several IAA biosynthetic pathways have been identified in microbes and plants. Saccharomyces cerevisiae has previously been shown to respond to IAA by inducing pseudohyphal growth. We observed that IAA also induced hyphal growth in the human pathogen Candida albicans and thus may function as a secondary metabolite signal that regulates virulence traits such as hyphal transition in pathogenic fungi. Aldehyde dehydrogenase (Ald) is required for IAA synthesis from a tryptophan (Trp) precursor in Ustilago maydis. Mutant S. cerevisiae with deletions in two ALD genes are unable to convert radiolabeled Trp to IAA, yet produce IAA in the absence of exogenous Trp and at levels higher than wild type. These data suggest that yeast may have multiple pathways for IAA synthesis, one of which is not dependent on Trp.