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“Lesson study” has garnered considerable attention from educational researchers and practitioners as a promising method for improving instruction. At its core, lesson study reflects a collaborative inquiry process, grounded in cycles of planning, enacting, and reflecting, that promotes teacher learning through active engagement in lesson refinement. In this article, we leverage lesson study as an exemplar case to foreground an examination and application of theory-based evaluation. We overview a novel evaluation framework contextualized to this multidimensional instructional program and draw out the contributions of theory-based evaluation to the study of program effects. To ground the description of this framework, we summarize representative findings from our ongoing evaluation of a lesson study-based instructional program and discuss processes for selecting, using, and managing evidence sources as well as determining causal strands supporting program outcomes. We conclude by discussing lessons learned and implications for theory-based evaluation of complex programs.

 

The zygomatic root, along with other key craniofacial features, is hypothesized to play a crucial role in strengthening the face in response to stresses and strains related to feeding. As such, it has been cited as indicative of dietary specialization among fossil taxa, although it remains unknown how variable zygomatic arch root position is among living primates, and whether its positioning predicts differences in diet. We test whether primates that consume more mechanically challenging foods possess more anteriorly positioned zygomatic roots compared to those consuming less challenging foods. Zygomatic root position, as defined by the zygomaxillare landmark, was identified and recorded from digital images and physical specimens of adult primate crania. Data were collected from 33 haplorhine species (n = 722). Published data were used to assign species to a dietary type based on patterns of overall consumption along with reliance on especially challenging foods. Pairwise comparisons between mechanically challenging (hard and/or tough) and less mechanically challenging (soft) consumers found significant differences (p < 0.05) in the position of the zygomatic root in 17 of 20 pairs, 11 of which supported the prediction that a more mechanically challenging diet is associated with a more anteriorly placed zygomatic root. PGLS analysis found no significant effect of phylogeny on root position. This suggests that a more anteriorly positioned zygomatic root is useful for identifying dietary specialization in some taxa but is not required for consuming a mechanically challenging diet given that other craniofacial and behavioral factors can facilitate the consumption of such foods.

 

We present an interview study of 6th grade math and science teachers’ expressed goals for engaging their students with data. We explored this across disciplinary boundaries to contribute to a body of knowledge that can support the development of a more coherent experience for students across math and science classes. Our teachers were all highly motivated to engage their students with data, and all wanted their students to see things with their data models. However, we observed consequential differences in the kinds of things they wanted students to see. Here we describe these differences and discuss potential implications for practice. 

Mammalian axonal development begins in embryonic stages and continues postnatally. After birth, axonal proteomic landscape changes rapidly, coordinated by transcription, protein turnover, and post-translational modifications. Comprehensive profiling of axonal proteomes across neurodevelopment is limited, with most studies lacking cell-type and neural circuit specificity, resulting in substantial information loss. We create a Cre-dependent APEX2 reporter mouse line and map cell-type-specific proteome of corticostriatal projections across postnatal development. We synthesize analysis frameworks to define temporal patterns of axonal proteome and phosphoproteome, identifying co-regulated proteins and phosphorylations associated with genetic risk for human brain disorders. We discover proline-directed kinases as major developmental regulators. APEX2 transgenic reporter proximity labeling offers flexible strategies for subcellular proteomics with cell type specificity in early neurodevelopment, a critical period for neuropsychiatric disease. 

Cardiovascular disease is the cause of death in ≈50% of hemodialysis patients. Accumulation of uremic solutes in systemic circulation is thought to be a key driver of the endothelial dysfunction that underlies elevated cardiovascular events. A challenge in understanding the mechanisms relating chronic kidney disease to cardiovascular disease is the lack of in vitro models that allow screening of the effects of the uremic environment on the endothelium. Here, a method is described for microfabrication of human blood vessels from donor cells and perfused with donor serum. The resulting donor‐derived microvessels are used to quantify vascular permeability, a hallmark of endothelial dysfunction, in response to serum spiked with pathophysiological levels of indoxyl sulfate, and in response to serum from patients with chronic kidney disease and from uremic pigs. The uremic environment has pronounced effects on microvascular integrity as demonstrated by irregular cell–cell junctions and increased permeability in comparison to cell culture media and healthy serum. Moreover, the engineered microvessels demonstrate an increase in sensitivity compared to traditional 2D assays. Thus, the devices and the methods presented here have the potential to be utilized to risk stratify and to direct personalized treatments for patients with chronic kidney disease.

 

Abstract Estuaries may be uniquely susceptible to the combined acidification pressures of atmospherically driven ocean acidification (OA), biologically driven CO 2 inputs from the estuary itself, and terrestrially derived freshwater inputs. This study utilized continuous measurements of total alkalinity (TA) and the partial pressure of carbon dioxide (pCO 2 ) from the mouth of Great Bay, a temperate northeastern U.S. estuary, to examine the potential influences of endmember mixing and biogeochemical transformation upon estuary buffering capacity ( β – H ). Observations were collected hourly over 28 months representing all seasons between May 2016 and December 2019. Results indicated that endmember mixing explained most of the observed variability in TA and dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC), concentrations of which varied strongly with season. For much of the year, mixing dictated the relative proportions of salinity‐normalized TA and DIC as well, but a fall season shift in these proportions indicated that aerobic respiration was observed, which would decrease β – H by decreasing TA and increasing DIC. However, fall was also the season of weakest statistical correspondence between salinity and both TA and DIC, as well as the overall highest salinity, TA and β – H . Potential biogeochemically driven β – H decreases were overshadowed by increased buffering capacity supplied by coastal ocean water. A simple modeling exercise showed that mixing processes controlled most monthly changes in TA and DIC, obscuring impacts from air–sea exchange or metabolic processes. Advective mixing contributions may be as important as biogeochemically driven changes to observe when evaluating local estuarine and coastal OA.