Support Mechanisms as Influences of Success in the Certification Process of the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards

This study examined the types of support received by National Board Certified Teachers, the importance of the support, and the relationship between receipt of support and achievement of certification by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. Qualitative and quantitative methods of gathering data were used during this study. Six National Board Certified Teachers were interviewed by telephone and emergent category analysis was performed on these data to determine the types of support these teachers received. The results were used to create the survey for this study which was sent to a random sample of teachers who had completed the National Board certification process. This survey asked respondents to rank the importance of each support mechanism, whether they received the given type of support, whether they achieved certification, and respondents were asked to give demographic information. Each of the support mechanisms was perceived to be important by the respondents. Significance was found between achievement of certification and reading for content and collegial support. No significance was found for receipt of mentoring, financial support, proofreading, time release, family support, use of technology, time line, logistical information, and workshops. Ancillary findings included significance among types of support based on sex, race, years of experience, type of school district, and percentage of free and reduced lunch eligible students

What Is the Golden Calf?

The golden calf episode in Exodus is both popular and perplexing. While it has a shared ancient Near Eastern heritage of understanding divine presence, it chooses to undermine that heritage to promote its particular agenda. This study clarifies the text by situating it more firmly in its ancient Near Eastern context and by addressing the biblical adaptations that emerge when we address each of the chapter’s distinct voices. I also consider the importance of perspective—what each character sees and how that vision affects the character’s viewpoint—and the importance of divine visibility both in Exodus 32 and in the larger non-Priestly narrative

Finding the right title for your article: Advice for academic author.

On reading the title of an article the reader can sometimes wonder what the author is trying to say, as the title seems so far removed from the research covered in the article.  Do such authors forget that many readers of health and medical journals browse the list of contents (in a paper or electronic format) and use titles to select the article that attracts attention? Academic authors are often not clear enough in the titles of their articles, and hence may not attract as large a readership as possible.   Any author would want their article to be read and cited, and to stand out in a crowded Table of Contents or a list of papers found in a search on electronic databases.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/nje.v4i1.10138 Nepal Journal of Epidemiology 2014;4 (1): 344-347</jats:p

Heat Capacity in Magnetic and Electric Fields Near the Ferroelectric Transition in Tri-Glycine Sulfate

Specific-heat measurements are reported near the Curie temperature ($T_C$~= 320 K) on tri-glycine sulfate. Measurements were made on crystals whose surfaces were either non-grounded or short-circuited, and were carried out in magnetic fields up to 9 T and electric fields up to 220 V/cm. In non-grounded crystals we find that the shape of the specific-heat anomaly near $T_C$ is thermally broadened. However, the anomaly changes to the characteristic sharp $\lambda$-shape expected for a continuous transition with the application of either a magnetic field or an electric field. In crystals whose surfaces were short-circuited with gold, the characteristic $\lambda$-shape appeared in the absence of an external field. This effect enabled a determination of the critical exponents above and below $T_C$, and may be understood on the basis that the surface charge originating from the pyroelectric coefficient, $dP/dT$, behaves as if shorted by external magnetic or electric fields.Comment: 4 Pages, 4 Figures. To Appear in Applied Physics Letters_ January 200

Giant Magnetoelectric Effect in a Multiferroic Material with a High Ferroelectric Transition Temperature

We present a unique example of giant magnetoelectric effect in a conventional multiferroic HoMnO3, where polarization is very large (~56 mC/m2) and the ferroelectric transition temperature is higher than the magnetic ordering temperature by an order. We attribute the uniqueness of the giant magnetoelectric effect to the ferroelectricity induced entirely by the off-center displacement of rare earth ions with large magnetic moments. This finding suggests a new avenue to design multiferroics with large polarization and higher ferroelectric transition temperature as well as large magnetoelectric effects

Recent Cases

If the instant case, rather than Northway, is to become the accepted rule in the area of discounting, consumers and state lenders will be protected while the national bank-lenders will be burdened only slightly, if at all. National banks located in states that permit state lenders to discount loans at the maximum rate, with-out regard to the actual yield, will not be affected. National banks located in states that permit state lenders to discount only to the extent that the actual yield is within the statutory maximum will need to change their practices merely by charging the statutory rate only when it becomes due, or by charging a lower rate in advance that yields an effective rate not in excess of the maximum. Furthermore, the impact of the instant decision on national banks will be practically limited to consumer loans, because of the usual exemption of corporations from usury laws and of section 85\u27s higher alternative rate for business or agricultural loans. This limited restriction on the national banks will be justified by its beneficent effect on the borrower and on the competing state lenders, who have always been subject to the state restrictions. Linda A. Bunsey ======================= With the instant decision, federal defamation law has advanced within the space of ten years from no constitutional privilege, even for the press in defending against a public person, to the realized prospect of a constitutional privilege so sweeping that it prevents recovery of an element of damages by a public person who has been defamed by an individual. Specifically, the instant court\u27s holding completes a four-part scheme for liability and damages in defamation actions: under Supreme Court decisions, a private figure must prove negligence to receive compensatory damages and actual malice to receive punitive damages, and a public figure must prove actual malice to recover compensatory damages; under the instant decision, a public figure is almost totally precluded from recovering punitive damages. As the Sullivan Court in large measure adopted the minority position concerning fair comment and liability, so too the Maheu court in large measure adopted the minority position concerning punitive damages. Nevertheless, the instant decision was solidly based: the court fully considered the Supreme Court\u27s prior concerns with encouraging debate and discouraging self-censorship, shielding reputation and privacy, and, most importantly, scrutinizing the need for punitive damages. David M. Thompson ============================ In rejecting the State\u27s reliance upon the stated rule of the Brady trilogy and Tollett, the instant Court noted the suggestion originally made in a McMann footnote that an exception might exist if the applicable state law permitted appeal from adverse pretrial rulings despite a subsequent guilty plea. Under New York procedure, a defendant who chooses to plead guilty does not deliberately by-pass state appellate review of certain constitutional claims, and the State acquires no legitimate expectation of finality in the ensuing conviction. As to these constitutional claims, the plea does not constitute a break in the chain, but operates merely as a procedural device to secure review of the adverse pretrial ruling without the necessity of a time-consuming and expensive trial. The Court held that because the respondent\u27s guilty plea was entered in reliance upon a guarantee of the availability of further appellate review of his constitutional claims, it was essentially different from guilty pleas entered in other states that result in an absolute conviction and a waiver of all further state review. Charles K. Campbell, Jr. ======================================== In determining whether the challenged statute met the procedural requirements of the fourteenth amendment, the instant Court looked to the statutory safeguards protecting the debtor\u27s property interest in the absence of prior notice and hearing. Comparing the instant statute to the Fuentes statutes, the Court asserted that the same constitutional infirmities were present. Each statute allowed the seizure of property without prior notice and opportunity for a hearing by the issuance of a writ by a court clerk after the filing of an affidavit containing conclusory allegations. The instant Court restated its belief set forth in Sniadach and Fuentes that even a temporary deprivation of property does not put the seizure beyond scrutiny under due process requirements. The Court then asserted that the Georgia statute had none of the saving characteristics of the Louisiana sequestration statute upheld in Mitchell. According to the Court, the Mitchell statute survived challenge because of the presence of safeguards which imposed judicial control over the process of issuance of the writ; required the creditor\u27s affidavit to contain factual allegations; and provided for an immediate post-seizure hearing at which the debtor could seek dissolution of the writ. Keith B. Simmons ============================== The instant court rejected arguments based mainly on the vague wording of the statute and relied on two basic policies-(1)to compel pro rata distributions of unneeded funds that will be taxable to shareholders and (2) to avoid constructions that lead to inconsistent results in similar fact situations. Also, the court seemed to contemplate two theories of liability available to the Commissioner-first, that the corporation was availed of by permitting funds not used in the redemption to remain accumulated, and secondly, that the corporation was availed of through the redemption itself. The arguments based on the equivalency of the phrases to accumulate and to remain accumulated , the purpose of Congress to reach any corporation with an undue accumulation, and the relevance of past accumulations, plus the remand for determination of whether an unreasonable accumulation actually occurred, relate to the first theory. Other arguments used by the court relate more to the second theory-the repeated idea that preferential distribution of unneeded funds is not a congressionally approved method of abating the penalty tax with respect to those funds, the mention of corporations formed for the proscribed purpose that may be liable without regard to actual accumulation, and especially the concluding statement that the judgment concerning 1967 made liability in 1968 apparent. Thomas C. Hundle

Design errors in vital sign charts used in consultant-led maternity units in the United Kingdom.

BACKGROUND: Paper-based charts remain the principal means of documenting the vital signs of hospitalised pregnant and postnatal women. However, poor chart design may contribute to both incorrect charting of data and clinical responses. We decided to identify design faults that might have an adverse clinical impact. METHODS: One hundred and twenty obstetric early warning charts and escalation protocols from consultant-led maternity units in the United Kingdom and the Channel Islands were analysed using an objective and systematic approach. We identified design errors that might impede their successful use (e.g. generate confusion regarding vital sign documentation, hamper the recognition of maternal deterioration, cause a failure of the early warning system or of any clinical response). RESULTS: We found 30% (n=36/120) of charts contained at least one design error with the potential to confuse staff, render the charts difficult to use or compromise patient safety. Amongst the most common areas were inadequate patient identification, poor use of colour, illogical weighting, poor alignment and labelling of axes, and the opportunity for staff to 'game' the escalation. CONCLUSIONS: We recommend the urgent development of an evidence-based, standardised obstetric observation chart, which integrates 'human factors' and user experience. It should have a clear layout and style, appropriate colour scheme, correct language and labelling, and the ability for vital signs to be documented accurately and quickly. It should incorporate a suitable early warning score to guide clinical management

Anomalous Paramagnetic Effects in the Mixed State of LuNi2B2C

Anomalous paramagnetic effects in dc magnetization were observed in the mixed state of LuNi2B2C, unlike any reported previously. It appears as a kink-like feature for H > 30 kOe and becomes more prominent with increasing field. A specific heat jump at the corresponding temperature suggests that the anomaly is due to a true bulk transition. A magnetic flux transition from a square to an hexagonal lattice is consistent with the anomaly.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure