The Greater Boston Housing Report Card 2009: Positioning Boston in a Post-Crisis World

Presents an annual survey of Greater Boston's market conditions, including economic and demographic trends; housing production; rents; home prices; housing affordability; foreclosures; and public spending in support of housing. Analyzes implications

Transforming Writing Teachers: Two Professional Development Possibilities

This article focuses on two professional development opportunities, The National Writing Project and Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction, that provide transformative experiences for teachers. These two programs offer opportunities for meaningful, situated, and complex professional development that focus on the person and the professional

Being Kind to Ourselves and Our Students in Times of Crisis

The authors share pieces of their conversations about teaching in a time of COVID-19 and suggest that we are all just doing the best we can

Facilitating Discussion of Theory and Practice in Education Seminars

Field experience seminars, discussion-based courses paired with school-based practicum experiences, provide a space for teacher candidates to discuss the theories they study in their university classes and the practices they observe and implement in their school placements. This article describes an action research study that examines teaching techniques that promote discussion in English education seminar courses. The purpose of this research was to collaboratively develop teaching approaches that would help teacher candidates bridge ideas about theory and practice in their development as aspiring teachers. The conversations that challenged the teacher candidates to think critically and theoretically about their classrooms were transformative moments in our seminar classes

Episode 6 - Honest Repentance and the Law

In this week’s episode we talk with Dr. David Maxwell, professor of systematic theology at Concordia Seminary, St Louis. Maxwell recently wrote a series of sermons exploring the ways in which our understanding of the law, faith, and salvation influence our ability to repent. This episode explores the first concept in the series, titled LAW. “The image is that the Bible’s like an anvil on your chest that crushes the life out of you…this is the kind of thing that I think makes people want to hide.” Dr. Maxwel

Insights from citizen science into the spatiotemporal dynamics of Batesian mimicry in the context of climate change

Climate has a demonstrable impact on species distributions, with changes in climatic oscillations often producing complex downstream effects due to species-specific tolerances to changes in temperature and precipitation. In general, barring physiological or environmental barriers, species are predicted to migrate polewards, and possibly also upwards in elevation, in response to general equatorial warming (Walther et al. 2002). A major challenge to substantiating this predicted relationship between temperature and distribution, especially for highly mobile or nomadic species, has been the lack of suitable techniques for tracking species distributions with sufficiently high resolution to assess for evidence of range shifts over decadal timescales. However, the recent rise in the volume and availability of citizen science data has demonstrated its strong potential as a tool for elucidating responses to environmental change on large temporal and spatial scales (Champion et al. 2018; Hurlbert & Liang 2012; Soroye et al. 2018). Here we assessed the strengths and weaknesses of three different citizen science datasets in addressing questions relating to historical range shifts in two butterfly species endemic to the eastern United States: the pipevine swallowtail (Battus philenor) and its Batesian mimic, the red-spotted purple (Limenitis arthemis astyanax). Motivated by the prediction that there would be a quantifiable northward latitudinal range shift in both B. philenor and L. a. astyanax in response to historical regional warming, we ultimately analyzed twenty-four years of observational survey data from the North American Butterfly Association and found evidence to suggest that, surprisingly, from 1998 to 2021, there is no indication of a directional range shift in either the model or its mimic. However, consistent with expectations from classic mimicry theory we found evidence of a tight historical correlation between the ranges of B. philenor and L. a. astyanax over the years surveyed. Furthermore, we found that the annual variance in the ratio of models to mimics is significantly lower at the model’s northern range limit than in other parts of its range. This suggests that phenological coupling between these two species is subject to more intense selection at the range edges and that climate-induced changes in phenology likely have stronger fitness consequences in areas where the model species, Battus philenor, is relatively rare. Taken together, our results support the potential of citizen science data as a powerful resource for tracking historical spatiotemporal changes in highly vagile insect populations, particularly in tracking patterns linked to the long-term effects of climate change

Senior Teacher Induction: an Alternative Apprenticeship Model for Pre Service Teacher

This paper reports on a case study on the role of Senior Teacher Induction (STI) in promoting pre service teachers\u27 pedagogical competence at STKIP Al Hikmah Surabaya. This study is an attempt to promote an alternative apprenticeship model for pre service teachers. Students in STKIP Al Hikmah have been permitted to enter host schools since the first semester. STKIP Al Hikmah incorporated blended learning approach within the curriculum. Activities in campus and at host schools were fully integrated. Students spent half of their time at host schools. They sat in classes taught by senior teachers. They had to observe activities done by the senior teacher such as how the teacher opened the class, how the teacher explained the materials, how the teacher interacted with his students, how the teacher managed the class, how the teacher assessed the students\u27 performance and so on. The students had to discuss with senior teachers after class for further information dealing with the class observation. Then, the students were asked to search any relevant references to support their findings. They had to note the result of the observation. Then, consult it to his supervising lecturer for comments and feedbacks. In addition, the students were challenged to design and modify their own teaching version. Eventually, they had to present their report in general stadium. The result of the research showed that 1) Senior Teacher Induction (STI) enabled to raise students\u27 pedagogical interest and involved them in class interaction in advance; 2) STI enabled the students to observe teaching skills they have to achieve as being future teacher

Influence of PEG Chain Length of Functionalized Magnetic Nanoparticles on the Cytocompatibility and Immune Competence of Primary Murine Macrophages and Dendritic Cells

A major drawback of nanoparticles (NPs) for biomedical applications is their preferential phagocytosis in immune cells, which can be avoided by surface modifications like PEGylation. Nevertheless, examinations of different polyethylene glycol (PEG) chain lengths on the competence of immune cells as well as possible immunotoxic effects are still sparse. Therefore, primary murine macrophages and dendritic cells were generated and incubated with magnetic nanoporous silica nanoparticles (MNPSNPs) modified with different mPEG chains (2 kDa, 5 kDa, and 10 kDa). Cytotoxicity, cytokine release, and the formation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) were determined. Immune competence of both cell types was examined and uptake of MNPSNPs into macrophages was visualized. Concentrations up to 150 µg/mL MNPSNPs showed no effects on the metabolic activity or immune competence of both cell types. However, ROS significantly increased in macrophages incubated with larger PEG chains, while the concentration of cytokines (TNF-α and IL-6) did not indicate a proinflammatory process. Investigations on the uptake of MNPSNPs revealed no differences in the onset of internalization and the intensity of intracellular fluorescence. The study gives no indication for an immunotoxic effect of PEGylated MNPSNPs. Nevertheless, there is still a need for optimization regarding their internalization to ensure an efficient drug delivery

Cancer Therapy and Exercise Intolerance: The Heart Is But a Part: JACC: CardioOncology State-of-the-Art Review.

The landscape of cancer therapeutics is continually evolving, with successes in improved survivorship and reduced disease progression for many patients with cancer. Improved cancer outcomes expose competing comorbidities, some of which may be exacerbated by cancer therapies. The leading cause of disability and death for many early-stage cancers is cardiovascular disease (CVD), which is often attributed to direct or indirect cardiac injury from cancer therapy. In this review, the authors propose that toxicities related to conventional and novel cancer therapeutics should be considered beyond the heart. The authors provide a framework using the oxygen pathway to understand the impact of cancer treatment on peak oxygen uptake, a marker of integrative cardiopulmonary function and CVD risk. Peripheral toxicities and the impact on oxygen transport are discussed. Consideration for the broad effects of cancer therapies will improve the prediction and identification of cancer survivors at risk for CVD, functional disability, and premature mortality and those who would benefit from therapeutic intervention, ultimately improving patient outcomes