A Professional Learning Community with an Arabian Twist

This paper discusses how a western approach to a Professional Learning Community (PLC) can be implemented in an eastern setting, without taking out the essence of the culture. It is based on personal observations of how a community functions within a culture. This study seeks to explore the steps to implementing a structured PLC in which the already existing community produces empowered teachers who will be life-long learners. It describes the beginning stages of executing a PLC by enabling ordinary teachers to facilitate professional development meetings at a local, private school in the Kingdom of Bahrain

Inferential Intuitive and Analytic Thought Processes in Criminal Investigative Decision

According to previous researchers police detectives\u27 decisional thought processes correlate with investigative accuracy and these decisional thought processes consist of inferential intuitive and analytic thought processes. Researchers have established investigative decisional dual process use but have not established United States police detectives\u27 conceptualization of decisional inferential intuitive and analytic thought processes in criminal investigations in which they partook. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore 11 United States police detectives\u27 conceptualizations of decisional thought processes based on criminal investigations in which they partook. Dual process theory framed this study. Using narrative inquiry research, individual face-to-face interviews were analyzed thematically and structurally. The results of this analysis indicated significant themes associated with inferential intuitive and analytic thought process conceptualizations. Themes that were established were: (a) inferential intuitive starting points, (b) inferential intuitive information, (c) inferential intuitive experience driven, (d) inferential intuitive value, (e) inferential intuitive fallible, (f) analytic mandatory, (g) analytic purpose, (h) analytic collaborative. Police detectives, as well as society as a whole, may benefit from the results of this study through enhanced investigative training and education. Enhanced investigative training and education may result in a reduction of investigative decisional errors

Role of membrane environment and membrane-spanning protein regions in assembly and function of the Class II Major Histocompatibility complex

Class II Major Histocompatibility complex (MHC-II) is a polymorphic heterodimer that binds antigen-derived peptides and presents them on the surface of antigen presenting cells. This mechanism of antigen presentation leads to recognition by CD4 T-cells and T-cell activation, making it a critical element of adaptive immune response. For this reason, the structural determinants of MHC-II function have been of great interest for the past 30 years, resulting in a robust structural understanding of the extracellular regions of the complex. However, the membrane-localized regions have also been strongly implicated in protein-protein and protein-lipid interactions that facilitate Class II assembly, transport and function, and it is these regions that are the focus of this review. Here we describe studies that reveal the strong and selective interactions between the transmembrane domains of the MHC α, and invariant chains which, when altered, have broad reaching impacts on antigen presentation and Class II function. We also summarize work that clearly demonstrates the link between membrane lipid composition (particularly the presence of cholesterol) and MHC-II conformation, subsequent peptide binding, and downstream T-cell activation. We have integrated these studies into a comprehensive view of Class II transmembrane domain biology. [Abstract copyright: Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Gene regulatory factors of the sea urchin embryo. II. Two dissimilar proteins, P3A1 and P3A2, bind to the same target sites that are required for early territorial gene expression

Previous work demonstrated that a negative regulatory interaction mediated by factor(s) termed 'P3A' is required for correct territory-specific gene expression in the sea urchin embryo. A probe derived from a P3A target site in the skeletogenic SM50 gene of Strongylocentrotus purpuratus was used to isolate a cDNA clone coding for a factor that binds specifically to this site. This factor, called P3A1, contains two sequence elements that belong to the Zn finger class of DNA-binding motifs, and in these regions is most closely similar to the Drosophila hunchback factor. The P3A1 factor also binds to a similar target sequence in a second gene, CyIIIa, expressed in embryonic aboral ectoderm. Another sea urchin embryo protein factor, P3A2, has been isolated by affinity chromatography and cloned, as described in Calzone et al. Development 112, 335-350 (1991). P3A2 footprints the same target sites in the SM50 and CyIIIa genes as does P3A1, but lacks the Zn finger sequence motifs and in amino acid sequence is almost entirely dissimilar to P3A1. A deletion analysis of P3A2 delimited the DNA-binding region, revealing that five specific amino acids in the first P3A1 finger region and four in the second P3A1 finger region are also present in equivalent positions in P3A2. The P3A1 and P3A2 factors could function as regulatory antagonists, having evolved similar target specificities from dissimilar DNA-binding domains

Changes in Children’s Speech and Language Difficulties from Age Five to Nine: An Irish National, Longitudinal Study

In many countries, information on the prevalence of persistent speech and language disorders in early childhood is sparse due to the lack of nationally representative samples and longitudinal studies. Secondary analysis of data collected on over 7500 Irish children at ages 5 and 9 years, found that the prevalence of speech and language difficulties reported by the primary caregivers of Irish children decreased from one in six at age 5 to one in 12 at age 9. However, one in 20 children were reported to have difficulties at both ages. Regression analysis compared children with difficulties at both age 5 and age 9 to those who had been reported to have them at age 5 but no longer had such difficulties at age 9. Children with speech and language difficulties at both age 5 and age 9 were more likely to have two or more developmental impairments as well as current or past hearing impairments. Teachers and parents also reported a greater number of social-emotional difficulties. Family characteristics did not differ significantly across the two groupings. At best, up to one third of the children at ages 5 and 9 with speech and language difficulties had two or more contacts with a speech and language therapists in the preceding 12 month period. Increased support to these children, their parents and teachers would seem to be warranted

Attending Weak Signals: The Prevention of Work-related Illnesses

This article examines the characteristics of communication among managers, human resource (HR) experts, and occupational health care specialists, as they deal with such informal information as weak signals in the prevention of work-related illnesses, using a theoretical framework in which the prevention of work-related illness is analogous to theory on crisis management. This is a qualitative study in which individual and focus-group interviews were conducted in a Swedish context with occupational health care specialists, managers, and HR experts. The results suggest that organizational solutions have failed and continue to fail at controlling workers’ health problems, although the main difficulty is not in identifying the ‘right’ individually oriented weak signals. Rather, it is upper management’s reliance on formal information (e.g., statistics and surveys) – because of the difficulty in supplementing it with informal information (e.g., rumors and gossip) – that makes it difficult to improve traditional health and safety wor

Stenting versus gastrojejunostomy for management of malignant gastric outlet obstruction: comparison of clinical outcomes and costs

BACKGROUND: Although endoscopic stenting is increasingly performed, surgical gastrojejunostomy (GJ) is still considered the gold standard for relief of malignant gastric outlet obstruction (GOO). The aim of this study is to compare clinical outcomes and hospital costs between patients undergoing GJ or stenting for management of malignant GOO. METHODS: A retrospective claims analysis of the Medicare (MedPAR) database was conducted to identify all inpatient hospitalizations for GJ or endoscopic stenting for malignant GOO during 2007–2008. The main outcome measure evaluated using the MedPAR database was a comparison of the total length of hospital stay (LOS) and costs associated with both techniques. As MedPAR is a claims database that does not provide outcomes at patient level, a single-institution retrospective study was conducted to compare the rates of technical and treatment success, post-procedure LOS, and delayed complications per patient between the two techniques. RESULTS: The MedPAR claims data evaluated 425 stenting and 339 GJ hospitalizations. Compared with GJ, median LOS (8 vs. 16 days; p < 0.0001) and median cost (US $15,366 vs. US$27,391; p < 0.0001) per claim were both significantly lower for stenting. Stenting was more commonly performed at urban versus rural hospitals (89 % vs. 11 %; p < 0.0001), teaching versus non-teaching hospitals (59 % vs. 41 %, p = 0.0005), and academic institutions (56 % vs. 44 %; p = 0.0157). The institutional patient data analysis included 29 patients who underwent stenting and 75 who underwent surgical GJ. While both modalities were technically successful and relieved gastric outlet obstruction in all cases, compared with surgical GJ, the median post-procedure LOS was significantly lower for enteral stenting (1.5 vs. 10.7 days, p < 0.0001). There was no difference in rates of delayed complications between stenting and surgical GJ (13.8 % vs. 6.7 %; p = 0.26). CONCLUSIONS: While the technical and clinical outcomes of surgical GJ and endoscopic stenting appear comparable, stent placement is less costly and is associated with shorter length of hospital stay. Dissemination of endoscopic stenting beyond teaching, academic hospitals located in urban areas as a treatment for malignant GOO is important given its implications for patient care and resource utilization