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Thank you for this important report. I observed K12 from a different angle, taking a close look at the history curriculum for kindergarten, first, and second grades. The results are sometimes hilarious but mostly distressing. Their professional advice when a parent reported that the child didn't understand a lesson was "Do it again." "The K12 Virtual Primary School History Curriculum: A Participant’s-eye View": http://nepc.colorado.edu/files/EPSL-0404-117-EPRU.pdf

Uptake of Prions into Plants http://www.abstractsonline.com/Plan/ViewAbstract.aspx?sKey=cf0f185d-6f87-40f8-af8c-19d631e62561&cKey=219cd4d8-9980-4835-82cb-7649156010fa&mKey={40C89FC9-A586-491D-A3C7-B0F26504839B} Prion2013 Friday, August 09, 2013 ***CWD TSE prion, plants, vegetables, and the potential for environmental contamination http://chronic-wasting-disease.blogspot.com/2013/08/cwd-tse-prion-plants-vegetables-and.html PRION2013 CONGRESSIONAL ABSTRACTS CWD Sunday, August 25, 2013 HD.13: CWD infection in the spleen of humanized transgenic mice Liuting Qing and Qingzhong Kong Case Western Reserve University; Cleveland, OH USA Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is a widespread prion disease in free-ranging and captive cervid species in North America, and there is evidence suggesting the existence of multiple CWD strains. The susceptibility of human CNS and peripheral organs to the various CWD prion strains remains largely unclear. Current literature suggests that the classical CWD strain is unlikely to infect human brain, but the potential for peripheral infection by CWD in humans is unknown. We detected protease-resistant PrpSc in the spleens of a few humanized transgenic mice that were intracerebrally inoculated with natural CWD isolates, but PrpSc was not detected in the brains of any of the CWD-inoculated mice. Our ongoing bioassays in humanized Tg mice indicate that intracerebral challenge with such PrpSc-positive humanized mouse spleen already led to prion disease in most animals. ***These results indicate that the CWD prion may have the potential to infect human peripheral lymphoid tissues. Oral.15: Molecular barriers to zoonotic prion transmission: Comparison of the ability of sheep, cattle and deer prion disease isolates to convert normal human prion protein to its pathological isoform in a cell-free system Marcelo A.Barria,1 Aru Balachandran,2 Masanori Morita,3 Tetsuyuki Kitamoto,4 Rona Barron,5 Jean Manson,5 Richard Kniqht,1 James W. lronside1 and Mark W. Head1 1National CJD Research and Surveillance Unit; Centre for Clinical Brain Sciences; School of Clinical Sciences; The University of Edinburgh; Edinburgh, UK; 2National and OIE Reference Laboratory for Scrapie and CWD; Canadian Food Inspection Agency; Ottawa Laboratory; Fallowfield. ON Canada; 3Infectious Pathogen Research Section; Central Research Laboratory; Japan Blood Products Organization; Kobe, Japan; 4Department of Neurological Science; Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine; Sendai. Japan; 5Neurobiology Division; The Roslin Institute and R(D)SVS; University of Edinburgh; Easter Bush; Midlothian; Edinburgh, UK Background. Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) is a known zoonotic prion disease, resulting in variant Creurzfeldt- Jakob disease (vCJD) in humans. In contrast, classical scrapie in sheep is thought to offer little or no danger to human health. However, a widening range of prion diseases have been recognized in cattle, sheep and deer. The risks posed by individual animal prion diseases to human health cannot be determined a priori and are difficult to assess empirically. The fundamemal event in prion disease pathogenesis is thought to be the seeded conversion of normal prion protein (PrPC) to its pathological isoform (PrPSc). Here we report the use of a rapid molecular conversion assay to test whether brain specimens from different animal prion diseases are capable of seeding the conversion of human PrPC ro PrPSc. Material and Methods. Classical BSE (C-type BSE), H-type BSE, L-type BSE, classical scrapie, atypical scrapie, chronic wasting disease and vCJD brain homogenates were tested for their ability to seed conversion of human PrPC to PrPSc in protein misfolding cyclic amplification (PMCA) reactions. Newly formed human PrPSc was detected by protease digestion and western blotting using the antibody 3F4. Results. C-type BSE and vCJD were found to efficiently convert PrPC to PrPSc. Scrapie failed to convert human PrPC to PrPSc. Of the other animal prion diseases tested only chronic wasting disease appeared to have the capability ro convert human PrPC to PrPSc. The results were consistent whether the human PrPC came from human brain, humanised transgenic mouse brain or from cultured human cells and the effect was more pronounced for PrPC with methionine at codon 129 compared with that with valine. Conclusion. Our results show that none of the tested animal prion disease isolates are as efficient as C-type BSE and vCJD in converting human prion protein in this in vitro assay. ***However, they also show that there is no absolute barrier ro conversion of human prion protein in the case of chronic wasting disease. PRION2013 CONGRESSIONAL ABSTRACTS CWD Sunday, August 25, 2013 ***Chronic Wasting Disease CWD risk factors, humans, domestic cats, blood, and mother to offspring transmission http://chronic-wasting-disease.blogspot.com/2013/08/prion2013-chronic-wasting-disease-cwd.html Sunday, July 21, 2013 *** As Chronic Wasting Disease CWD rises in deer herd, what about risk for humans? http://chronic-wasting-disease.blogspot.com/2013/07/as-chronic-wasting-disease-cwd-rises-in.html > sCJDMM1-2 should be considered as a separate entity at this time. > All of the Heidenhain variants were of the methionine/ methionine type 1 molecular subtype. http://creutzfeldt-jakob-disease.blogspot.com/2009/08/characteristics-of-established-and.html http://cjdusa.blogspot.com/2009/09/co-existence-of-scrapie-prion-protein.html PRION2013 CONGRESSIONAL ABSTRACTS CWD Thursday, August 08, 2013 Characterization of the first case of naturally occurring chronic wasting disease in a captive red deer (Cervus elaphus) in North America http://chronic-wasting-disease.blogspot.com/2013/08/characterization-of-first-case-of.html Sunday, September 01, 2013 hunting over gut piles and CWD TSE prion disease http://chronic-wasting-disease.blogspot.com/2013/09/hunting-over-gut-piles-and-cwd-tse.html Wednesday, September 04, 2013 ***cwd - cervid captive livestock escapes, loose and on the run in the wild... http://chronic-wasting-disease.blogspot.com/2013/09/cwd-cervid-captive-livestock-escapes.html Tuesday, September 10, 2013 Review and Updates of the USDA-APHIS Veterinary Services (VS) National Chronice Wasting Disease (CWD) Program 2012-2013 http://chronic-wasting-disease.blogspot.com/2013/09/review-and-updates-of-usda-aphis.html Sunday, August 11, 2013 Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease CJD cases rising North America updated report August 2013 Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease CJD cases rising North America with Canada seeing an extreme increase of 48% between 2008 and 2010 http://creutzfeldt-jakob-disease.blogspot.com/2013/08/creutzfeldt-jakob-disease-cjd-cases.html Friday, August 16, 2013 *** Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) biannual update August 2013 U.K. and Contaminated blood products induce a highly atypical prion disease devoid of PrPres in primates http://creutzfeldt-jakob-disease.blogspot.com/2013/08/creutzfeldt-jakob-disease-cjd-biannual.html Sunday, September 08, 2013 Iatrogenic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease via surgical instruments and decontamination possibilities for the TSE prion http://creutzfeldt-jakob-disease.blogspot.com/2013/09/iatrogenic-creutzfeldt-jakob-disease.html Tuesday, September 17, 2013 USAHA 116TH ANNUAL MEETING October 18 – 24, 2012 CWD, Scrapie, BSE, TSE prion (September 17, 2013) http://transmissiblespongiformencephalopathy.blogspot.com/2013/09/usaha-116th-annual-meeting-october-18.html *** The potential impact of prion diseases on human health was greatly magnified by the recognition that interspecies transfer of BSE to humans by beef ingestion resulted in vCJD. While changes in animal feed constituents and slaughter practices appear to have curtailed vCJD, there is concern that CWD of free-ranging deer and elk in the U.S. might also cross the species barrier. Thus, consuming venison could be a source of human prion disease. Whether BSE and CWD represent interspecies scrapie transfer or are newly arisen prion diseases is unknown. Therefore, the possibility of transmission of prion disease through other food animals cannot be ruled out. There is evidence that vCJD can be transmitted through blood transfusion. There is likely a pool of unknown size of asymptomatic individuals infected with vCJD, and there may be asymptomatic individuals infected with the CWD equivalent. These circumstances represent a potential threat to blood, blood products, and plasma supplies. http://cdmrp.army.mil/prevfunded/nprp/NPRP_Summit_Final_Report.pdf Wednesday, September 25, 2013 Wisconsin Hunters will again be able to have adult deer tested for chronic wasting disease CWD http://chronic-wasting-disease.blogspot.com/2013/09/wisconsin-hunters-will-again-be-able-to.html Friday, September 27, 2013 Uptake of Prions into Plants Presentation Abstract http://chronic-wasting-disease.blogspot.com/2013/09/uptake-of-prions-into-plants.html kind regards, terry