A qualitative study of the roles, functions, and leadership strategies of central office administrators in district improvement initiatives

Central office administrators are charged with the implementation of various education initiatives each year with the desired end result being an improvement in student performance. The purpose of this study is to discover how central office administrators exhibit leadership, carry out their roles, and perform their functions in district-wide improvement initiatives. Readers will gain a better understanding of how central office administrators work and lead from their positions in the school district. The participants shared their feelings and gave feedback on their direct experiences as central office administrators who are charged with the responsibility of implementing district-wide improvement initiatives. In order to collect and analyze rich data about central office employees, a qualitative study was conducted where there were no preconceived theories. Data were collected through the tape recorded interviews of 12 central office administrators from four different school districts and the collection of relevant documents that pertain to the roles and functions of their jobs. The participants were categorized according to the similarities in their job titles and the findings from the interview data were presented for comparison. The document reviews were used to compare against the information gained from the participants. The three main takeaways from this study were that central office administrators have placed a high value on collaboration, communication, and strategic leadership in order to effectively implement district-wide improvement initiatives. Practitioners can reflect on the newly-gained information from the emerging themes from these interviews and document reviews to propose new studies for research

In silico investigations of the ionotropic cannabinoid receptor TRPV1

Whether caused by inflammation or dysfunctional nerves, chronic pain affects nearly 10% of the world’s population. Since there are few treatments that are effective while being noninvasive and non-addictive, new targets are being explored. Found in the peripheral nervous system, the transient receptor potential subfamily vanilloid type 1 (TRPV1) ion channel can be activated by a plethora of exogenous and endogenous stimuli including the spicy compound found in chili peppers, capsaicin, as well as temperatures above 43oC and acidic conditions. TRPV1, having the ability to be modulated by cannabinoid ligands, acts as an ionotropic cannabinoid receptor (ICR). Chapter II reviews cannabinoid ligands that can modulate ionotropic cannabinoid receptors, including TRPV1. The endocannabinoid anandamide has been shown to have a similar binding affinity to TRPV1 as capsaicin and can rapidly desensitize the channel producing an analgesic effect. Models of the open and closed structures of TRPV1 were constructed for use in molecular dynamics simulations. Chapter III details the construction of the models, as well as observed interactions between the endogenous ligand anandamide and TRPV1 in a novel location across 10+ µs of simulation time. TRPV2, a close cousin of TRPV1 and another ICR, was recently resolved with the phytogenic cannabinoid cannabidiol (CBD). From Chapter II, CBD is shown to modulate some, though not all, ICRs. Chapter IV focuses on the cryo-EM structure of TRPV2 resolved with CBD (PDB: 6U88) and analyzes the putative binding site via sequence alignment and structural analyses, comparing these features to the comparable site among the other ICRs, lending credence to this novel CBD binding site in other ICRs. Chapter V focuses on the results of additional long timescale MD simulations of TRPV1 in the presence of anandamide. In two independent runs, anandamide was observed to activate TRPV1 in a novel location between helices S1-S4. The colocalization of canonical cannabinoid receptor CB2 and TRPV1 presents an interesting dynamic, especially when considering the crosstalk of the two receptors presumed to exist. CB2 and TRPV1 are implicated various disorders, making them prime targets for the identification and development of dual modulators. Chapter VI describes a virtual screening protocol used to screen ChEMBL indexed CB2 and TRPV1 agonists at the opposing receptor, leading to the identification of moieties that may be relevant in dual modulatory ligands

A descriptive analysis of high school music teacher evaluation in the Commonwealth of Virginia

The purpose of this descriptive analysis study was to investigate high school music teachers’ levels of satisfaction with the teacher evaluation practices used by administrators and music supervisors in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Virginia high school music teachers (n = 76) were surveyed to collect data used to determine their levels of satisfaction with their evaluation and what, if any, factors are related to their levels of satisfaction. The satisfaction level was measured using a researcher-constructed Teacher Evaluation Satisfaction Survey (TESS). Participants responded to prompts on satisfaction with the process, personnel, and product of evaluation. Slightly over half the participants reported satisfaction with the process (M = 3.5), personnel (M = 3.4), and product (M = 3.1) of their evaluation. Linear regression analysis showed a significant difference in levels of satisfaction with the process of their evaluation (F(2,52) = 60.82, p &lt; .001, R2 = .70) by participants who believed that their evaluation highlighted teacher practices and that their evaluation criteria were appropriate. Similarly, participants who indicated a level of trust with their evaluator who had experience with non-tested grades and subjects showed a significant difference in levels of satisfaction with the evaluation personnel (F(2,51) = 53.17, p &lt; .001, R2 = .68,). Participants who believed that their evaluation accurately summarized their performance and led to improvements in student learning showed a significant difference in levels of satisfaction with the product of their evaluation (F(2,51) = 37.05, p &lt; .001, R2 = .59). [This abstract may have been edited to remove characters that will not display in this system. Please see the PDF for the full abstract.]]]> 2022 Music teachers $x Evaluation High school teachers$z Virginia English http://libres.uncg.edu/ir/uncg/f/Muller_uncg_0154D_13710.pdf oai:libres.uncg.edu/38645 2023-02-03T20:10:05Z UNCG Meeting the career development needs of Black women aspiring to become principals NC DOCKS at The University of North Carolina at Greensboro Newsome, Tiffany A. <![CDATA[The career development needs of Black women who aspire to become principals are multi-dimensional. With the limited body of research on career development for African American women in school leadership, it is important to address how African American women can successfully navigate the unique experiences and challenges related to school leadership. While women have made much progress in leadership, the impact of intersectionality for black women means that they are subject to race and gender discrimination and held to higher standards. Consequently, Black women struggle to overcome such negative career mobility experiences. However, this study emphasizes mentorship as one aspect that is critical to meeting the career development needs of African American women who aspire to become principals. The purpose of this action research practitioner inquiry qualitative study is to better understand the career needs of African American women aspiring to the principalship in K-12 education and to develop a program that adequately meets those needs. This study utilizes Black Feminist Thought (BFT) as a lens to understand and validate this phenomenon, especially when it comes to the lived experiences of African American women. I conducted two focus group interviews using a semi-structured research guide. One group consisted of six credentialed African American women who are current assistant principals, program facilitators, or other teacher leaders in the Agape School district. The other group consisted of seven current principals in the same district. All participants identified as current Black female educators with a master’s or post-master’s Certificate in School Administration. My data analysis process incorporated a four-step process outlined by Hesse-Biber and Leavy (2006). I found that both Black principals and Black aspiring women principals deeply desire support from the district, their peers, and other experienced principals. While mentorship is one component that Black women perceive will help them combat promotional delays, participants really need to feel safe, respected, and valued for the experiences that they bring to the K-12 environment. Without strong mentorship and professional development from other black principals, Black women will not feel adequately to assume the principalship

Control of Vascular Smooth Muscle Cell Growth by Connexin 43

Connexin 43 (Cx43), the principal gap junction protein in vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs), regulates movement of ions and other signaling molecules through gap junction intercellular communication (GJIC) and plays important roles in maintaining normal vessel function; however, many of the signaling mechanisms controlling Cx43 in VSMCs are not clearly described. The goal of this study was to investigate mechanisms of Cx43 regulation with respect to VSMC proliferation. Treatment of rat primary VSMCs with the cAMP analog 8Br-cAMP, the soluble guanylate cyclase (sGC) stimulator BAY 41-2272 (BAY), or the Cx inducer diallyl disulfide (DADS) significantly reduced proliferation after 72 h compared with vehicle controls. Bromodeoxyuridine uptake revealed reduction (p < 0.05) in DNA synthesis after 6 h and flow cytometry showed reduced (40%) S-phase cell numbers after 16 h in DADS-treated cells compared with vehicle controls. Cx43 expression significantly increased after 270 min treatment with 8Br-cAMP, 8Br-cGMP, BAY or DADS. Inhibition of PKA, PKG or PKC reversed 8Br-cAMP-stimulated increases in Cx43 expression, whereas only PKG or PKC inhibition reversed 8Br-cGMP- and BAY-stimulated increases in total Cx43. Interestingly, stimulation of Cx43 expression by DADS was not dependent on PKA, PKG or PKC. Using fluorescence recovery after photobleaching, only 8Br-cAMP or DADS increased GJIC with 8Br-cAMP mediated by PKC and DADS mediated by PKG. Further, DADS significantly increased phosphorylation at MAPK-sensitive Serine (Ser)255 and Ser279, the cell cycle regulatory kinase-sensitive Ser262 and PKC-sensitive Ser368 after 30 min while 8Br-cAMP significantly increased phosphorylation only at Ser279 compared with controls. This study demonstrates that 8Br-cAMP- and DADS-enhanced GJIC rather than Cx43 expression and/or phosphorylation plays important roles in the regulation of VSMC proliferation and provides new insights into the growth-regulatory capacities of Cx43 in VSM

Investigation of attentional bias in obsessive compulsive disorder with and without depression in visual search

Copyright: © 2013 Morein-Zamir et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are creditedWhether Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is associated with an increased attentional bias to emotive stimuli remains controversial. Additionally, it is unclear whether comorbid depression modulates abnormal emotional processing in OCD. This study examined attentional bias to OC-relevant scenes using a visual search task. Controls, non-depressed and depressed OCD patients searched for their personally selected positive images amongst their negative distractors, and vice versa. Whilst the OCD groups were slower than healthy individuals in rating the images, there were no group differences in the magnitude of negative bias to concern-related scenes. A second experiment employing a common set of images replicated the results on an additional sample of OCD patients. Although there was a larger bias to negative OC-related images without pre-exposure overall, no group differences in attentional bias were observed. However, OCD patients subsequently rated the images more slowly and more negatively, again suggesting post-attentional processing abnormalities. The results argue against a robust attentional bias in OCD patients, regardless of their depression status and speak to generalized difficulties disengaging from negative valence stimuli. Rather, post-attentional processing abnormalities may account for differences in emotional processing in OCD.Peer reviewedFinal Published versio

Evaluation of benazepril in cats with heart disease in a prospective, randomized, blinded, placebo-controlled clinical trial

© 2019 The Authors. Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine. Background: Heart disease is an important cause of morbidity and mortality in cats, but there is limited evidence of the benefit of any medication. Hypothesis: The angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor benazepril would delay the time to treatment failure in cats with heart disease of various etiologies. Animals: One hundred fifty-one client-owned cats. Methods: Cats with heart disease, confirmed by echocardiography, with or without clinical signs of congestive heart failure, were recruited between 2002 and 2005 and randomized to benazepril or placebo in a prospective, multicenter, parallel-group, blinded clinical trial. Benazepril (0.5-1.0 mg/kg) or placebo was administered PO once daily for up to 2 years. The primary endpoint was treatment failure. Analyses were conducted separately for all-cause treatment failure (main analysis) and heart disease-related treatment failure (supportive analysis). Results: No benefit of benazepril versus placebo was detected for time to all-cause treatment failure (P =.42) or time to treatment failure related to heart disease (P =.21). Hazard ratios (95% confidence interval [CI]) from multivariate analysis for benazepril compared with placebo were 1.00 (0.57-1.74) for all-cause failure, and 0.99 (0.50-1.94) for forward selection and 0.93 (0.48-1.81) for bidirectional selection models for heart disease-related failure. There were no significant differences between groups over time after administration of the test articles in left atrium diameter, left ventricle wall thickness, quality of life scores, adverse events, or plasma biochemistry or hematology variables. Conclusions and Clinical Relevance: Benazepril was tolerated well in cats with heart disease, but no evidence of benefit was detected

The Prognostic Role of RASSF1A Promoter Methylation in Breast Cancer: A Meta-Analysis of Published Data

promoter methylation status and both disease free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) in female breast cancer.Eligible studies were identified through searching the PubMed, Web of Science and Embase databases. Studies were pooled and summary hazard ratios (HR) with corresponding confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated. Funnel plots were also carried out to evaluate publication bias. promoter methylation status with OS in 1439 patients. The hazard estimates ranged from 1.21–6.90 with a combined random-effects estimates of 3.47 (95%CI 1.44–8.34). OS reported in multivariate analysis was evaluated in four series comprising 1346 cases and the summarized random-effects HR estimate was 3.35 (95%CI 1.14–9.85). Additionally, no publication bias was detected for both OS and DFS. promoter methylation

Time-Dependent Subcellular Distribution and Effects of Carbon Nanotubes in Lungs of Mice

BACKGROUND AND METHODS:Pulmonary deposited carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are cleared very slowly from the lung, but there is limited information on how CNTs interact with the lung tissue over time. To address this, three different multiwalled CNTs were intratracheally instilled into female C57BL/6 mice: one short (850 nm) and tangled, and two longer (4 μm and 5.7 μm) and thicker. We assessed the cellular interaction with these CNTs using transmission electron microscopy (TEM) 1, 3 and 28 days after instillation. RESULTS:TEM analysis revealed that the three CNTs followed the same overall progression pattern over time. Initially, CNTs were taken up either by a diffusion mechanism or via endocytosis. Then CNTs were agglomerated in vesicles in macrophages. Lastly, at 28 days post-exposure, evidence suggesting CNT escape from vesicle enclosures were found. The longer and thicker CNTs more often perturbed and escaped vesicular enclosures in macrophages compared to the smaller CNTs. Bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) showed that the CNT exposure induced both an eosinophil influx and also eosinophilic crystalline pneumonia. CONCLUSION:Two very different types of multiwalled CNTs had very similar pattern of cellular interactions in lung tissue, with the longer and thicker CNTs resulting in more severe effects in terms of eosinophil influx and incidence of eosinophilic crystalline pneumonia (ECP)

Covariation in Plant Functional Traits and Soil Fertility within Two Species-Rich Forests

The distribution of plant species along environmental gradients is expected to be predictable based on organismal function. Plant functional trait research has shown that trait values generally vary predictably along broad-scale climatic and soil gradients. This work has also demonstrated that at any one point along these gradients there is a large amount of interspecific trait variation. The present research proposes that this variation may be explained by the local-scale sorting of traits along soil fertility and acidity axes. Specifically, we predicted that trait values associated with high resource acquisition and growth rates would be found on soils that are more fertile and less acidic. We tested the expected relationships at the species-level and quadrat-level (20×20 m) using two large forest plots in Panama and China that contain over 450 species combined. Predicted relationships between leaf area and wood density and soil fertility were supported in some instances, but the majority of the predicted relationships were rejected. Alternative resource axes, such as light gradients, therefore likely play a larger role in determining the interspecific variability in plant functional traits in the two forests studied

Effect of Broccoli Sprouts and Live Attenuated Influenza Virus on Peripheral Blood Natural Killer Cells: A Randomized, Double-Blind Study

Enhancing antiviral host defense responses through nutritional supplementation would be an attractive strategy in the fight against influenza. Using inoculation with live attenuated influenza virus (LAIV) as an infection model, we have recently shown that ingestion of sulforaphane-containing broccoli sprout homogenates (BSH) reduces markers of viral load in the nose. To investigate the systemic effects of short-term BSH supplementation in the context of LAIV-inoculation, we examined peripheral blood immune cell populations in non-smoking subjects from this study, with a particular focus on NK cells. We carried out a randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled study measuring the effects of BSH (N = 13) or placebo (alfalfa sprout homogenate, ASH; N = 16) on peripheral blood mononuclear cell responses to a standard nasal vaccine dose of LAIV in healthy volunteers. Blood was drawn prior to (day-1) and post (day2, day21) LAIV inoculation and analyzed for neutrophils, monocytes, macrophages, T cells, NKT cells, and NK cells. In addition, NK cells were enriched, stimulated, and assessed for surface markers, intracellular markers, and cytotoxic potential by flow cytometry. Overall, LAIV significantly reduced NKT (day2 and day21) and T cell (day2) populations. LAIV decreased NK cell CD56 and CD158b expression, while significantly increasing CD16 expression and cytotoxic potential (on day2). BSH supplementation further increased LAIV-induced granzyme B production (day2) in NK cells compared to ASH and in the BSH group granzyme B levels appeared to be negatively associated with influenza RNA levels in nasal lavage fluid cells. We conclude that nasal influenza infection may induce complex changes in peripheral blood NK cell activation, and that BSH increases virus-induced peripheral blood NK cell granzyme B production, an effect that may be important for enhanced antiviral defense responses