A Case Study of Second-Career Alternatively Certified Science Teachers: What Research and Educational Experiences and Understanding of Nature of Science Do They Bring to Classroom Practices?

This multiple case study examined second-career lateral entry middle school science teachers to see what research and educational experiences and understanding of nature of science they bring to their classroom practices. I examined four alternatively certified, second-career middle school science teachers in a large urban southeastern school district. I found in this study that these teachers understanding of nature of science as displayed through their classroom practices was impacted by their scientific research experiences and exposure to direct instruction of nature of science (NOS). This study determined each participants understanding of nature of science through the Views of Nature of Science (VNOS) B Test and found out how they acquired their NOS through a background questionnaire and a semi-structured interview. I observed each classroom to determine if these teachers were implementing NOS classroom practices. This study had mixed results and found that two of the four teachers were more informed about the NOS and demonstrated these practices in their classrooms. This study explains how these teachers acquired their NOS and what practices they demonstrated in their classroom

The banking industry in North Carolina, 1955-1975 : a discussion of its changing structure

The problem of clearly understanding the market structure of banking in North Carolina is addressed in "The Banking Industry in North Carolina, 1955-1975: A Discussion of Its Changing Structure." For clarity, the problem is divided into three parts: describing the regulatory structure and how its several parts have effected the banking market; establishing that North Carolina's banking market is strongly oligopolistic; and examining this structural change and the problems associated with the effects of concentration of market power. The procedure involved various methods of investigation. Reviewing the regulatory structure established the patterns these agencies exhibited during the past two decades that facilitated market concentration. Data collected from these agencies illustrated the facts of market concentration and the trends of structural change. Finally, a review of the literature of the effects of concentration presents the different problems created by market power

North Carolina kindergarten teachers and developmentally appropriate instructional practices : a phenomenological study

The purpose of this study was to understand the experiences of kindergarten teachers as they worked to implement a developmentally appropriate approach to teaching. Their stories included details related to the support they receive as well as detailed descriptions of the many barriers faced during a time when accountability is very high. As teachers with a high value for developmentally appropriate practice, they experienced cognitive dissonance when circumstances arose to limit their ability to use the best practices they favored. These practices included differentiation of instruction; provision for active and meaningful learning experiences; small group instruction; the use of centers that supported language development; problem solving; development of social skills; literacy and numeracy skills; as well as learning through play—all practices carefully planned to recognize and honor how children learn best. Mandates requiring the teachers to use scripted curriculum programs were a strong source of the dissonance. These programs were designed to reflect a more academically structured approach to teaching. Instruction was required to be delivered in a whole group setting, with little effort to differentiate instruction. Learning was more passive in nature with children being required to sit for long blocks of time working at tables or desks completing worksheets. The teachers found creative ways to tweak the mandated curriculum to make them more age and grade appropriate. Other barriers reported by teachers included the lack of professional development aligned specifically to their needs, the lack of collegial collaboration, and the inappropriate expectations of parents and first grade teachers. Teachers indicated that they wanted their administrators to be knowledgeable about early childhood education and child development. They wanted to receive meaningful feedback to help them improve their instructional practice. The teachers reported feeling that kindergarten did not appear to be a highly valued component of the educational program. It did appear to them that more attention and more resources were regularly aimed at tested grade levels. The teachers were also concerned about not having a voice in decisions that directly affected them. The major source of support for the teachers came from a group organized by the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction known as The Power of Kindergarten. The teachers in the study were among the members of this group. Strong collegiality, gaining a sense of professional empowerment, and focused professional development were reported by the teachers as being important outcomes of their experiences with Power of K

Nationwide Insecticide Susceptibility Screening Against Six Active Ingredients

Presented for World Environmental Health Day, September 26, 2016 in Greenville, North Carolina.Mosquitoes may develop resistance to insecticide active ingredients after repeated exposures. Thus, it is crucial that mosquito populations be tested for resistance to confirm efficacy of control, inform management decisions, and protect public and environmental health. Nationwide Insecticide Susceptibility Screening Against Six Active Ingredients Objectives 1) Determine a baseline of resistance for six active ingredients commonly used in mosquito control in the United States. 2) Assess the extent to which resistance differs between active ingredients and mosquito genera.This study was funded by Bayer Crop Science

Widened pulse pressure is a potential risk factor for significant cognitive impairment among community-dwelling Chinese younger old people

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Duration of Effectiveness of Permethrin-Treated Clothing to Prevent Mosquito Bites Under Simulated Conditions

Presented for World Environmental Health Day, September 26, 2016 in Greenville, North Carolina.Biological hazards such as exposure to ticks and mosquitoes can affect worker health. Permethrin is a repellant/insecticide approved for human use by the Environmental Protection Agency. Permethrin-treated clothing is commercially available to the public. Permethrin-treated clothing (50% cotton/50% nylon) has been shown to retain repellency through 70 washings. Work attire differs between state and consulting foresters, park rangers, etc.; hence, variation in protection from vector borne disease may existThis study was funded by the Southeast Center for Agricultural Health and Injury Prevention (# 3049025288-14-060)

Effects of Blood Meal Source on Aedes albopictus Life Table Characteristics and Vector Competence for Dengue Virus

Presented for World Environmental Health Day, September 26, 2016 in Greenville, North Carolina.Commercially available blood can be used as an alternative to live animals to feed mosquitoes; however, the extent to which alternative blood sources affect mosquito vector competence for dengue virus (DENV, familyFlaviviridae, genus Flavivirus) is unknown and may have implications for evaluating results of laboratory vector competence experiments. We aim to improve mosquito colony propagation techniques and inform future research using artificial blood delivery methods to assess vector competence. Objective •To determine the extent to which commercially available blood source affects life table characteristics and vector competence of Aedes albopictusfor DENV

Global stratospheric fluorine inventory for 2004-2009 from Atmospheric Chemistry Experiment Fourier Transform Spectrometer (ACE-FTS) measurements and SLIMCAT model simulations

Fluorine-containing species can be extremely effective atmospheric greenhouse gases. We present fluorine budgets using organic and inorganic species retrieved by the ACE-FTS satellite instrument supplemented with output from the SLIMCAT 3-D chemical transport model. The budgets are calculated between 2004 and 2009 for a number of latitude bands: 70-30° N, 30-00°l N, 00° N-30° S, and 30-70° S. At lower altitudes total fluorine profiles are dominated by the contribution from CFC-12, up to an altitude of 20 km in the extra-tropics and 29 km in the tropics; above these altitudes the profiles are dominated by hydrogen fluoride (HF). Our data show that total fluorine profiles at all locations have a negative slope with altitude, providing evidence that overall fluorine emissions (measured by their F content) have been increasing with time. Total stratospheric fluorine is increasing at a similar rate in the tropics: 32.5 ± 4.9 ppt yr (1.31 ± 0.20% per year) in the Northern Hemisphere (NH) and 29.8 ± 5.3 ppt yr (1.21 ± 0.22% per year) in the Southern Hemisphere (SH). Extra-tropical total stratospheric fluorine is also increasing at a similar rate in both the NH and SH: 28.3 ± 2.7 ppt per year (1.12 ± 0.11% per year) in the NH and 24.3 ± 3.1 ppt per year (0.96 ± 0.12% per year) in the SH. The calculation of radiative efficiency-weighted total fluorine allows the changes in radiative forcing between 2004 and 2009 to be calculated. These results show an increase in radiative forcing of between 0.23 ± 0.11% per year and 0.45 ± 0.11% per year, due to the increase in fluorine-containing species during this time. The decreasing trends in the mixing ratios of halons and chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), due to their prohibition under the Montreal Protocol, have suppressed an increase in total fluorine caused by increasing mixing ratios of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs). This has reduced the impact of fluorine-containing species on global warming

Alternative splicing modifies the effect of mutations in COL11A1 and results in recessive type 2 Stickler syndrome with profound hearing loss.

BACKGROUND: Stickler syndromes types 1, 2 and 3 are usually dominant disorders caused by mutations in the genes COL2A1, COL11A1 and COL11A2 that encode the fibrillar collagens types II and XI present in cartilage and vitreous. Rare recessive forms of Stickler syndrome exist that are due to mutations in genes encoding type IX collagen (COL9A1 type 4 Stickler syndrome and COL9A2 type 5 Stickler syndrome). Recently, recessive mutations in the COL11A1 gene have been demonstrated to result in fibrochondrogenesis, a much more severe skeletal dysplasia, which is often lethal. Here we demonstrate that some mutations in COL11A1 are recessive, modified by alternative splicing and result in type 2 Stickler syndrome rather than fibrochondrogenesis. METHODS: Patients referred to the national Stickler syndrome diagnostic service for England, UK were assessed clinically and subsequently sequenced for mutations in COL11A1. Additional in silico and functional studies to assess the effect of sequence variants on pre-mRNA processing and collagen structure were performed. RESULTS: In three different families, heterozygous COL11A1 biallelic null, null/missense or silent/missense mutations, were found. They resulted in a recessive form of type 2 Stickler syndrome characterised by particularly profound hearing loss and are clinically distinct from the recessive types 4 and 5 variants of Stickler syndrome. One mutant allele in each family is capable of synthesising a normal α1(XI) procollagen molecule, via variable pre-mRNA processing. CONCLUSION: This new variant has important implications for molecular diagnosis and counselling families with type 2 Stickler syndrome

Assessing the effectiveness of Enhanced Psychological Care for patients with depressive symptoms attending cardiac rehabilitation compared with treatment as usual (CADENCE): A pilot cluster randomised controlled trial

© 2018 The Author(s). Background: Around 17% of people attending UK cardiac rehabilitation programmes have depression. Optimising psychological wellbeing is a rehabilitation goal, but provision of psychological care is limited. We developed and piloted an Enhanced Psychological Care (EPC) intervention embedded within cardiac rehabilitation, aiming to test key areas of uncertainty to inform the design of a definitive randomised controlled trial (RCT) and economic evaluation. Methods: An external pilot randomised controlled trial (RCT) randomised eight cardiac rehabilitation teams (clusters) to either usual care of cardiac rehabilitation provision (UC), or EPC in addition to UC. EPC comprised mental health care coordination and patient-led behavioural activation with nurse support. Adults eligible for cardiac rehabilitation following an acute coronary syndrome and identified with new-onset depressive symptoms during an initial nurse assessment were eligible. Measures were performed at baseline and 5- and 8-month follow-ups and compared between EPC and UC. Team and participant recruitment and retention rates, and participant outcomes (clinical events, depression, anxiety, health-related quality of life, patient experiences, and resource use) were assessed. Results: Eight out of twenty teams were recruited and randomised. Of 614 patients screened, 55 were eligible and 29 took part (5%, 95% CI 3 to 7% of those screened), with 15 patient participants cluster randomised to EPC and 14 to UC. Nurse records revealed that 8/15 participants received the maximum number of EPC sessions offered; and 4/15 received no sessions. Seven out of fifteen EPC participants were referred to another NHS psychological service compared to none in UC. We followed up 27/29 participants at 5 months and 17/21 at 8 months. The mean difference (EPC minus UC) in depressive symptoms (Beck Depression Inventory) at follow-up (adjusting for baseline score) was 1.7 (95% CI - 3.8 to 7.3; N = 26) at 5 months and 4.4 (95% CI - 1.4 to 10.2; N = 17) at 8 months. Discussion: While valued by patients and nurses, organisational and workload constraints are significant barriers to EPC implementation. There remains a need to develop and test new models of psychological care within cardiac rehabilitation. Our study offers important data to inform the design of future trials of similar interventions