Many education reformers see the merging of student data, predictive analytics, processing tools, and technology-based instruction as the key to the future of education and a means to further opportunity and equity in education. However, despite widespread discussion of the potential benefits and costs of using data in educational reform, it is difficult to determine who benefits from reforms since there has been little assessment of these programs and few oversight mechanisms.
Orphan nuclear receptor 4A2 (NR4A2/Nurr1) is a constitutively active transcription factor with potential roles in the onset and progression of inflammatory arthropathies. NR4A2 is overexpressed in synovium and cartilage from individuals with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), psoriatic arthritis, and osteoarthritis. This study documents the expression and tissue localization of NR4A2 and upstream regulator nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) in the human tumor necrosis factor-alpha (hTNF-α) transgenic mouse model of RA. Since TNF-α is a potent inducer of NR4A2 in vitro, we hypothesized that NR4A2 would also be upregulated and active during disease progression in this model. Expression levels of NR4A2, related receptors NR4A1 (Nur77) and 3 (NOR1), and NF-κB1 transcripts were quantified by RT-qPCR in hTNF-α and wild-type joints at three stages of disease. The protein distribution of NR4A2 and NF-κB subunit RelA (p65) was analyzed by quantitative immunohistochemistry. Global gene expression of 88 RA-related genes was also screened and compared between groups. Consistent with previous reports on the hTNF-α model, transgenic mice exhibited significant weight loss and severely swollen paws by 19 weeks of age compared to age-matched wild-type controls. NR4A1-3 and NF-κB1 were constitutively expressed at disease onset and in healthy joints. NF-κB1 transcript levels increased 2-fold in hTNF-α paws with established disease (12 weeks), followed by a 2-fold increase in NR4A2 at the late disease stage (19 weeks). NR4A2 and RelA proteins were overexpressed in inflamed synovium prior to symptoms of arthritis, suggesting that gene expression changes documented in whole paws were largely driven by elevated expression in diseased synovium. Broader screening of RA-related genes by RT-qPCR identified several differentially expressed genes in hTNF-α joints including those encoding inflammatory cytokines and chemokines, matrix-degrading enzymes and inhibitors, cell surface receptors, intracellular signaling proteins and transcription factors. Consensus binding sites for NR4A receptors and NF-κB1 were enriched in the promoters of differentially expressed genes suggesting central roles for these transcription factors in this model. This study is the first comprehensive analysis of NR4A2 in an animal model of RA and validates the hTNF-α model for testing of small molecules and genetic strategies targeting this transcription factor.
Based on ethnographic research, this paper examines the burden of search that individuals bear in navigating the plethora of open events surrounding the tech industry. It focuses on one learn-to-code Meetup, finding that attendees are pulled in by the hope embedded in the popular imaginary of coding, particularly the programming language Python, as a way to change their careers. While the gathering’s call labels it as a learning space,the study finds teaching happens rarely, instead drawing individuals who seek peers based on a Python affinity, in part to break the side-by-side-but-not together norms of urban mobile work. This paper argues that the hope of individual professional change spills over into the hope of sharing space with programmers and to find “local Python community”. However, given the porosity of events facilitated by online convening, the gathering falls short of attracting those already pertaining to that community itself.
This paper examines Mark Zuckerberg’s socio-technical optimistic imaginary of a connectivity of the entire world, focusing on Facebook’s Internet.org initiative. His vision of a connected world can be described as what Jasanoff and Kim (2015) call “sociotechnical imaginary,” which are not limited to nations, or heads of states, but can be conjured by corporations, social movements, and professional societies. The paper examines 50 short promotional videos, first-person narrated by individuals in their target countries. The themes found in the videos map to development discourse: female empowerment, education, entrepreneurship, and natural disaster relief. This paper argues that by merging Internet.org with connectivity, and connectivity with progress, Facebook utilizes the promotional aesthetic and narrative devices usually used by the development sector to position its initiative as a crucial step toward poverty alleviation and economic development.
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