Fostering holistic eye care for children with special educational needs: an interprofessional education program bridging optometry and education.

Purpose: This study outlines the initiation of an interprofessional education (IPE) program designed for optometry and education students. The program aimed to foster interdisciplinary collaboration and improve the management of eye health in children with special educational needs (SEN) - a vulnerable and underserved group.

Methods: This program incorporated lectures and workshops to impart essential knowledge about SEN and to develop the necessary attitudes and skills for conducting eye examinations.

Building and testing of a robotic intervention framework to enhancing the social engagement of children with autism spectrum disorder.

Purpose: Humanoid robot intervention programmes for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are being developed rapidly. This study aimed to develop and test a robotic intervention framework for children with ASD to ensure best practice.

Methods: In Phase I of this study, an initial framework was built based on a scoping review.

Effectiveness of Robotic Intervention on Improving Social Development and Participation of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder - A Randomised Controlled Trial.

Evidence-based robotic intervention programmes for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have been limited. As yet, there is insufficient evidence to inform therapists, teachers, and service providers on effectiveness of robotic intervention to enhance social development and participation of children with ASD in a real context. This study used a randomised controlled trial to test the efficacy of robotic intervention programmes in enhancing the social development and participation of children with ASD.

Building and Testing of a Conceptual Model to Describe and Measure the Health of People as Affected by Post-traumatic Stress Disorder During Social Unrest: A Confirmatory Factor Analysis and Structural Equation Modeling.

Background: Social unrest affects people's health and well-being. People's health-related needs during social unrest are concerns in both research and clinical practice. This study aimed to build and test a framework to describe and understand the health status and needs of people with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) during social unrest.

Effect of human library intervention on mental health literacy: a multigroup pretest-posttest study.

Background: Mental health literacy (MHL) is an evolving concept encompassing knowledge of mental illness, help-seeking options, perceived stigma, and discrimination. This study aimed to test the effectiveness of a human library intervention at enhancing MHL. A human library intervention was adopted to enhance MHL in this study.

Facilitating learning of community-based rehabilitation through problem-based learning in higher education.

Background: The quality of community-based rehabilitation (CBR) personnel is one of the key factors that contributes to the success of CBR programs. Integrating knowledge and practical skills in various stages of the learning process is essential in community-based rehabilitation. Problem-based learning (PBL) is a pedagogical strategy that uses real-world situations as the basis for developing knowledge and problem-solving skills.

Daily Vaginal Swabs and Mobile Phone Sex Report for Assessing HIV Virion Exposure Prospectively Among a Cohort of Young Sexually Active Women in South Africa (HVTN 915).

Background: Measurements of HIV exposure could help identify subpopulations at highest risk of acquisition and improve the design of HIV prevention efficacy trials and public health interventions. The HVTN 915 study evaluated the feasibility of self-administered vaginal swabs for detection of HIV virions to assess exposure.

Methods: Fifty 18- to 25-year-old sexually active HIV-seronegative women using contraception were enrolled in Soweto, South Africa.

Identifying evidence to define community-based rehabilitation practice in China using a case study approach with multiple embedded case study design.

Background: This study examined community-based rehabilitation (CBR) practice in China on the basis of the development of an evaluation system using current evidence in a real context.

Methods: A multiple embedded case study design was used to interpret both quantitative and qualitative data. In Part 1, a thematic analysis was conducted to identify the different levels of evidence available in CBR programs in China.

DataPackageR: Reproducible data preprocessing, standardization and sharing using R/Bioconductor for collaborative data analysis.

A central tenet of reproducible research is that scientific results are published along with the underlying data and software code necessary to reproduce and verify the findings. A host of tools and software have been released that facilitate such work-flows and scientific journals have increasingly demanded that code and primary data be made available with publications. There has been little practical advice on implementing reproducible research work-flows for large 'omics' or systems biology data sets used by teams of analysts working in collaboration.

Validation of two scales for measuring participation and perceived stigma in Chinese community-based rehabilitation programs.

Background: The World Health Organization has asserted the importance of enhancing participation of people with disabilities within the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health framework. Participation is regarded as a vital outcome in community-based rehabilitation. The actualization of the right to participate is limited by social stigma and discrimination.

The Outcomes and Impact of a Post-Earthquake Rehabilitation Program in China: A Qualitative Study.

This study evaluated the outcomes and impact of a post-earthquake rehabilitation program in Sichuan, China. A case-study approach was adopted to conduct an in-depth examination of the program. The results show that the program effectively enhanced the functional outcomes of earthquake survivors.

Outcomes and impact of community-based rehabilitation programmes in Chinese communities.

Purpose: To identify the most common and most valued outcomes of community-based rehabilitation (CBR) in Chinese communities and to map these to the CBR evaluation framework.

Method: A multiple, embedded case study design was used. Four CBR programmes in China met the criteria for inclusion and participated.

Constitutive MAP kinase activation in hematopoietic stem cells induces a myeloproliferative disorder.

Myelodysplastic syndromes/myeloproliferative neoplasms (MDS/MPNs) are a group of myeloid neoplasms in which abnormal activation of the Ras signaling pathway is commonly observed. The PI3K/Akt pathway is a known target of Ras; however, activation of the PI3K/Akt pathway has been shown to lead to neoplastic transformation of not only myeloid but also lymphoid cells, suggesting that pathways other than the PI3K/Akt pathway should play a central role in pathogenesis of Ras-mediated MDS/MPN. The MEK/ERK pathway is another downstream target of Ras, which is involved in regulation of cell survival and proliferation.

A framework for evaluating community-based rehabilitation programmes in Chinese communities.

Purpose: The primary aim of this study was to develop an evaluation framework that could effectively describe the quality of community-based rehabilitation (CBR) practice in Chinese communities.

Method: This study adopted a case study approach to build and validate a CBR evaluation framework. Core elements of CBR programmes were defined from the literature to form an Initial Framework.

Role of Ras/Raf/MEK/ERK signaling in physiological hematopoiesis and leukemia development.

Recent research on hematological malignancies has shown that malignant cells often co-opt physiological pathways to promote their growth and development. Bone marrow homeostasis requires a fine balance between cellular differentiation and self-renewal; cell survival and apoptosis; and cellular proliferation and senescence. The Ras/Raf/MEK/ERK pathway has been shown to be important in regulating these biological functions.

When East meets Wests: community-based rehabilitation in Chinese communities.

Purpose: Community-based rehabilitation (CBR) has been practiced in mainland China for over three decades. This study reviews the development of CBR and describes its practice in Chinese communities in order to discuss current controversies within CBR practice internationally and in the Chinese context.

Method: Review of literature.

HIV-1 envelope protein binds to and signals through integrin alpha4beta7, the gut mucosal homing receptor for peripheral T cells.

Infection with human immunodeficiency virus 1 (HIV-1) results in the dissemination of virus to gut-associated lymphoid tissue. Subsequently, HIV-1 mediates massive depletion of gut CD4+ T cells, which contributes to HIV-1-induced immune dysfunction. The migration of lymphocytes to gut-associated lymphoid tissue is mediated by integrin alpha4beta7.

HIV-1 gp120 induces NFAT nuclear translocation in resting CD4+ T-cells.

The replication of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in CD4+ T-cells is strongly dependent upon the state of activation of infected cells. Infection of sub-optimally activated cells is believed to play a critical role in both the transmission of virus and the persistence of CD4+ T-cell reservoirs. There is accumulating evidence that HIV can modulate signal-transduction pathways in a manner that may facilitate replication in such cells.

Targeted lysis of HIV-infected cells by natural killer cells armed and triggered by a recombinant immunoglobulin fusion protein: implications for immunotherapy.

Natural killer (NK) cells play an important role in both innate and adaptive antiviral immune responses. The adaptive response typically requires that virus-specific antibodies decorate infected cells which then direct NK cell lysis through a CD16 mediated process termed antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC). In this report, we employ a highly polymerized chimeric IgG1/IgA immunoglobulin (Ig) fusion protein that, by virtue of its capacity to extensively crosslink CD16, activates NK cells while directing the lysis of infected target cells.