The future role of middle leaders in secondary schools: a survey of middle leaders in secondary schools in England

A survey of middle leaders' perceptions of their current and future role and training needs, drawing on a sample of heads of department at one third of the secondary schools in England

Distributed Leadership: A Review of Literature

A review of empirical research studies of distributed leadership from public and private sector settings completed since 1995

Language exclusionary behavior and attitudes toward immigrants

Immigrants often speak languages that natives do not understand, leading to intentional or inadvertent ostracism, which in turn may increase perceptions of threat. For example, English language participants excluded from a conversation in Spanish report more negative reactions than participants excluded in English (Hitlan, Kelly, & Zarate, 2010). Integrated threat theory (ITT) suggests that there are four threats that lead to prejudice toward outgroups such as immigrants: realistic threat, symbolic threat, intergroup anxiety, and negative stereotypes (Stephan, Ybarra, & Bachman, 1999). The current study expanded upon prior research by ostracizing participants in English, Spanish, or Arabic and then measuring participants\u27 attitudes toward immigrants using measures of these four ITT concepts. Further, the personality trait of social dominance orientation (SDO) correlates with unfavorable attitudes toward immigrants (Esses, Jackson, & Armstrong, 1998). People high in SDO want their social group to dominate and subordinate groups they consider inferior, so they may be particularly bothered by language-based ostracism. In this study, I also examined whether SDO moderated the effects of ostracism in situations where participants were ostracized. Eighty-five college students participated in a computer-based chat with a confederate posing as two other participants. Each participant was randomly assigned to one of four conditions: Spanish-language exclusion, Arabiclanguage exclusion, English-language exclusion, or English-language inclusion (control group). Excluded participants reported feeling less accepted than included participants. Furthermore, participants in the Spanish and Arabic exclusion conditions reported feeling less accepted than the participants in the English exclusion condition. Unexpectedly, language-based exclusion did not affect attitudes toward immigrants and the effects were not moderated by SDO. However, participants who were higher in SDO reported greater realistic threat, symbolic threat, and negative stereotypes. Although language-based exclusion decreases feelings of acceptance, it may not change or create negative attitudes toward immigrant populations

The effects of lentils as low glycemic, high protein, pre-exercise meals on metabolism and perfomrance during a simulated soccer tournament

Research investigating the effects of pre-exercise meals with varying glycemic indices on exercise performance in intermittent sports is scarce. This study determined whether whole foods of low glycemic index (GI) resulted in a metabolic and performance advantage, in comparison to high GI foods, when eaten prior to extended intermittent cardiovascular exercise, such as tournament soccer play. Consenting trained participants (10 males, 4 females, 25.8 ± 7.3 y) completed two simulated soccer tournaments separated by at least seven days. Each testing day included two 90-minute soccer matches separated by a three hour break. Using a randomized cross-over design, low-GI, lentil-based meals (GI~42) or high-GI, potato-based meals (GI~78) matched for caloric value were consumed two hours prior to and then within one hour after the first soccer match. Blood glucose, lactate, insulin, free fatty acids, and respiratory gases were measured throughout the post-prandial and testing periods. Ratings of perceived exertion (RPE) and gastrointestinal symptoms were also recorded. Performance was measured by the distance covered during five one-minute sprints, separated by two minute and thirty second rest intervals, at the end of each match. Peak post-prandial blood glucose was higher (

Environmental economics and valuation: towards a practical investment framework for Catchment Management Authorities in New South Wales

The Catchment Management Authorities in New South Wales have programs that are collectively investing $436 million over four years to achieve catchment-wide natural resource/environmental improvements. In this paper, we consider the question of how to best allocate these resources so as to increase the well-being of the public within catchments and the state. We consider the current approaches used by CMAs and make a case for Benefit-Cost Analysis as an alternative means of assessing ex ante questions of priority setting at the catchment level and for project appraisal. A major issue for BCA is the estimation of potential benefits from project investments, particularly the estimation of values that catchment communities and those living outside the catchments place on the non-use benefits associated with environmental improvements. We discuss alternative means of eliciting such values and propose the stated-preference method of Choice Modelling as a means of overcoming this Benefit-Cost Analysis shortcoming, because it incorporates advances in non-market valuation.environmental, economics, choice modelling, non-use values, investment framework, Environmental Economics and Policy,

Requirements for Office Tools Used By Administrative Managers and Professional s

This case study reports observations on the work patterns of eighteen administrative managers and professionals as they use and anticipate using computer-based function at the San Jose Research Laboratory. The purpose of this research is to understand what it is that these people do in ca rry i ng out their roles, and based on that understanding, to interpret requi rements for office tool s. Data was gathered through structured interviews based on use of the Critical Success Factor method and the Office Analysi s Methodol ogy. General requirements are described responding to the observed variety and diversity of tasks within jobs: 1) reliable system operation, 2) stable frame of reference, 3) invisible placement of function, 4) locating data stored in diverse sources, 5) flexible access to various services, 6) support for rapid scanning, 7) minding and reminding, and 8) stringing together diverse functions

1082 Free-breathing single-shot DENSE myocardial strain imaging using deformable registration

Free-breathing scans are often desirable in patients who find breath-holding difficult. We present a new approach for free-breathing myocardial strain imaging with displacement-encoding (DENSE) [1]. It acquires images with a single-shot sequence and removes respiratory motion using deformable registration

Probing the Reaction Mechanism of the D-ala-D-ala Dipeptidase, VanX, by Using Stopped-Flow Kinetic and Rapid-Freeze Quench EPR Studies on the Co(II)-Substituted Enzyme

In an effort to probe the reaction mechanism of VanX, the D-ala-D-ala dipeptidase required for high-level vancomycin resistance in bacteria, stopped-flow kinetic and rapid-freeze quench EPR studies were conducted on the Co(II)-substituted enzyme when reacted with d-ala-d-ala. The intensity of the Co(II) ligand field band at 550 nm decreased (ε550 = 140 to 18 M-1 cm-1) when VanX was reacted with substrate, suggesting that the coordination number of the metal increases from 5 to 6 upon substrate binding. The stopped-flow trace was fitted to a kinetic mechanism that suggests the presence of an intermediate whose breakdown is rate-limiting. Rapid-freeze quench EPR studies verified the presence of a reaction intermediate that exhibits an unusually low hyperfine constant (33 G), which suggests a bidentate coordination of the intermediate to the metal center. The EPR studies also identified a distinct enzyme product complex. The results were used to offer a detailed reaction mechanism for VanX that can be used to guide future inhibitor design efforts

Solution Center

poster abstractThe IUPUI Solution Center, a division of the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research, was created in 2004 through IUPUI funding and generous support from the Lilly Endowment. The Solution Center mission is to serve as IUPUI’s “Front Door” to the community to assist in the economic development of Central Indiana by connecting the university’s intellectual capital to the pressing demands of business, government, and the nonprofit sector. Drawing on the talent of IUPUI’s faculty and students, the Solution Center facilitates partnerships designed to build human capital, respond to external challenges, and retain the best and brightest baccalaureate and graduate degreed professionals in the state. The center works in concert with OVCR to coordinate meaningful research collaborations between students, faculty, community organizations, and companies. The cornerstone of the Solution Center’s work with the community is its ability to serve as a knowledgeable and informed point of contact for thousands of businesses, nonprofit, and government leaders, connecting them to the talent and expertise of IUPUI for internships, community-based research, and business assistance projects. Equally important to our success in the community is the IUPUI Venture Fund program that allows us to grant match funding to organizations in order to create and sustain meaningful, challenging, and career-relevant internships and applied projects