Teaching All of God's Children: Attitudes of Catholic School Principals Towards Children with Disabilities

Nationally, a significant number of children with disabilities attend Catholic schools across the country. The National Center for Educational Statistics shows that during the 2001-2002 school year, 2.2% of students attending parochial, private and diocesan schools were placed into special education programs (U.S., 2001). Although Catholic schools are not mandated to accept students with disabilities, the acceptance by the Catholic Church of these students is consistent with Church teachings. The purpose of this study was to advance the knowledge and understanding of the extent to which Catholic schools in Kansas include students with disabilities, the provisions provided for these students, the type of students served in each of the disability categories, and the attitudes of the principals toward inclusion of students with disabilities in their schools. Additionally, the study examined the influence of principals' attitudes on the principals' placement recommendations and services provided. A survey was used to collect information from 115 Kansas Catholic elementary and high schools. Responses were received from 71 of the 115 schools (67%). The survey was divided into six sections which included: school demographics, services provided, principals' characteristics, experiences, placement recommendations and attitudes towards inclusion of students with disabilities in general and specifically in Catholic schools. Analyses of the data were obtained by running descriptive statistics and ANOVAs. The results of the study revealed that 97.2% of the Catholic schools in Kansas enroll students with disabilities in their schools. Surprisingly, 55% of the Catholic schools reported having 1-3 certified special education teachers on their staff. Catholic schools in Kansas serve students in each of the disability categories. Enrolling students with intellectual and developmental disabilities (including Down Syndrome) resulted in a mixed response from principals with 33.8% having currently or previously enrolled these students to 47.7% never enrolled but would if asked to 18.5% stated they would not enroll students with this disability. The principals in the study were more reluctant to enroll students in the disability categories of blindness/visually impaired, multiple disabilities, and especially traumatic brain injured/neurological impairments with 41.5% stating they would not enroll students in this category. The local education agency plays an integral part in providing services for students enrolled in Catholic schools. 94.3% of the principals reported that they receive services from the LEA for the students with disabilities enrolled in their schools. 61% provide services in the general education classroom from a teacher assistant and 45% of the schools provide supplemental services such as: speech, physical therapy, and occupational therapy within their schools. The principals' attitudes were measured using two different scales, one looking at the overall general attitudes towards inclusion and the other more specifically attitudes toward inclusion in Catholic schools. Overall, the principals in the study reported a positive attitude toward inclusion of students with disabilities with a mean attitude score of 2.84. When asked the question of how they felt about the inclusion of students with disabilities in Catholic schools, the response was even more positive with a mean attitude score of 4.27. Of the responding schools 86% of the principals stated that students with disabilities should not be placed in public schools but should remain enrolled in the Catholic schools. The study also revealed that the more severe the disability and the more aggressive the student the less likely principals are to include these students in the regular Catholic school classroom. Recommendations for further research and implications for Catholic schools are included

Modification of the L1-CAM carboxy-terminus in pancreatic adenocarcinoma cells

The neural cell adhesion molecule L1 has recently been shown to be expressed in pancreatic adenocarcinoma (PDAC) cells. In this report, we demonstrate that L1 is expressed by moderately- to poorly-differentiated PDAC cells in situ, and that L1 expression is a predictor of poor patient survival. In vitro, reduced reactivity of an anti-L1 carboxy-terminus-specific antibody was observed in the more poorly differentiated fast-growing (FG) variant of the COLO357 population, versus its well-differentiated slow-growing (SG) counterpart, even though they express equivalent total L1. The carboxy-terminus of L1 mediates binding to the MAP kinase-regulating protein RanBPM and mutation of T1247/S1248 within this region attenuates the expression of malignancy associated proteins and L1-induced tumorigenicity in mice. Therefore, we reasoned that the differential epitope exposure observed might be indicative of modifications responsible for regulating these events. However, epitope mapping demonstrated that the major determinant of binding was actually N1251; mutation of T1247 and S1248, alone or together, had little effect on C20 binding. Moreover, cluster assays using CD25 ectodomain/L1 cytoplasmic domain chimeras demonstrated the N1251-dependent, RanBPM-independent stimulation of erk phosphorylation in these cells. Reactivity of this antibody also reflects the differential exposure of extracellular epitopes in these COLO357 sublines, consistent with the previous demonstration of L1 ectodomain conformation modulation by intracellular modifications. These data further support a central role for L1 in PDAC, and define a specific role for carboxy-terminal residues including N1251 in the regulation of L1 activity in PDAC cells

Structure and diversity trends at Fagus timberline in central Italy

Structure and diversity trends (β-diversity and species richness) across the Fagus sylvatica timberline in the central Apennines were investigated. Twenty-three belt transects were laid out across the upper forest line in the Simbruini Mountains. Number of species, plant cover, and height of different layers were recorded in each quadrat. The moving split-window method was used to detect ecological discontinuities across beech timberlines. We show how β-diversity changes along timberlines and we put forward some hypotheses about the possible dynamics of these transitions. Fourmodels resulted from the analysis of β-diversity trends: two β-diversity peaks indicated a transition where shrubs, mainly Juniperus communis ssp. alpina, (two high peaks) or beech scrub (two small peaks) formed a mantle that could allow forest expansion. One high β-diversity peak referred to an anthropo-zoogenic boundary maintained by disturbance, without the presence of a mantle. A little peak indicated a gradual transition at the upper potential timberline limit where beech forest had lost its typical floristical composition and structural characteristics

High reliability adhesive bonding of metal and composite components

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 2001.Includes bibliographical references (p. 115-118).by Barbara A. Huppe.S.M