A Case Study of a Teacher-Student Mentor Adoption Program at the Elementary Level

The purpose of this study was to determine if positive teacher-to-student relationships impacted student academic performance. This case study involved examination of the results of data collected from 43 students who participated in a mentor adoption program initiated with the intent to enhance positive teacher-to-student relationships for the 2013- 2014 school year. Archival data of students who participated in the mentor adoption program were compared to data from a stratified group of students who did not participate in the mentor adoption program. Data from English language arts (ELA) and mathematics (MA) Missouri Assessment Program (MAP) scale scores, attendance rate, and number of discipline referrals were compiled and analyzed using paired-samples ttests. The results of the study showed students who participated in the mentor adoption program demonstrated a significant increase in MAP ELA scale scores, increase in MAP MA scale scores, and significant decrease in the number of discipline referrals. Students who did not participate in the mentor adoption program showed significant improvement only in MAP MA scale scores. Perceptual interview data were gathered and analyzed from 10 teachers who participated in the mentor adoption program to determine teacher perceptions and feelings about the program. The results indicated teachers believed the mentor adoption program had value and should be continued in Elementary School A. The analysis of these data showed student academic performance was significantly impacted by the use of a mentor adoption program in Elementary School A

REPLY TO COMMENTS OF NOLAN AND COOK

We appreciate and would like to respond to the comments made by Nolan and Cook. We make three points in our reply, which are directed at clarifying our position and responding to a few of Nolan and Cook\u27s assumptions. First, as a matter of clarification, the Palmer Drought Severity Index (PDSI) is not a measure of summer rainfall as Nolan and Cook (2010) imply. Instead it is a theoretical measure of soil-moisture, the value of which evolves over several months in response to fluxes of precipitation, evaporation, and runoff. In practice, PDSI is usually heavily weighted toward the precipitation side of the soil water balance. Second, with regard to archaeological facts, the known developmental trajectory of the greater Cahokia region is not quite as Nolan and Cook describe it. In their discussion of the timing of the precocious development of social complexity in the American Bottom, Nolan and Cook refer to the American Bottom during both the Edelhardt (A.D. 1000-1050) and Lohmann phases (A.D. 1050-1100) as being relatively wet but not the wettest areas in the Upper Mississippi and Ohio Valleys. However, Cahokia\u27s big bang dates to the end of the Edelhardt phase and continued through the Lohmann phase, so the overall climatic state of the Edelhardt phase is not at issue. Nolan and Cook\u27s Figure 2 supports the concept that the Cahokia area was extremely wet during the Lohmann phase as opposed to the Edelhardt phase

The structure of the substrate-free form of MurB, an essential enzyme for the synthesis of bacterial cell walls

AbstractBackground: The repeating disaccharide and pentapeptide units of the bacterial peptidoglycan layer are connected by a lactyl ether bridge biosynthesized from UDP-N-acetylglucosamine and phosphoenolpyruvate in sequential enol ether transfer and reduction steps catalyzed by MurA and MurB respectively. Knowledge of the structure and mechanism of the MurB enzyme will permit analysis of this unusual enol ether reduction reaction and may facilitate the design of inhibitors as candidate next-generation antimicrobial agents.Results The crystal structure of UDP-N-acetylenolpyruvylglucosamine reductase, MurB, has been solved at 3.0 å and compared with our previously reported structure of MurB complexed with its substrate enolpyruvyl-UDP-N-acetylglucosamine. Comparison of the liganded structure of MurB with this unliganded form reveals that the binding of substrate induces a substantial movement of domain 3 (residues 219–319) of the enzyme and a significant rearrangement of a loop within this domain. These ligand induced changes disrupt a stacking interaction between two tyrosines (Tyr190 and Tyr254) which lie at the side of the channel leading to the active site of the free enzyme.Conclusion The conformational change induced by enolpyruvyl-UDP-N-acetylglucosamine binding to MurB results in the closure of the substrate-binding channel over the substrate. Tyr190 swings over the channel opening and establishes a hydrogen bond with an oxygen of the α-phosphate of the sugar nucleotide substrate which is critical to substrate binding

Low Temperature Aqueous Electrospray Ionization Mass Spectrometry of Noncovalent Complexes

AbstractIn the present study we describe conditions that permit the characterization of noncovalent protein–substrate complexes in aqueous solution by microspray electrospray ionization-mass spectrometry (ESI-MS), using a heated transfer capillary at low temperature (45 °C). Specifically, we examined the binding of calmodulin to two polypeptides; the calmodulin-binding domain of calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CamK-II) and melittin. Calmodulin, a well known calcium-binding protein, binds to a number of small amphipathic peptides in a calcium-dependent manner. Our results directly show that both peptides form equimolar complexes with calmodulin only in the presence of calcium. The stoichiometry necessary for the formation of each complex was 1:1:4 for calmodulin:peptide (melittin or CamK-II):Ca2+, respectively. Furthermore, it is demonstrated that the detection of the complex in ESI-MS is source temperature dependent

Significant geographical differences in prevalence of mutations associated with Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium vivax drug resistance in two regions from Papua New Guinea

Drug resistance remains a major obstacle to malaria treatment and control. It can arise and spread rapidly, and vary substantially even at sub-national level. National malaria programmes require cost-effective and timely ways of characterizing drug-resistance at multiple sites within their countries.; An improved multiplexed post-PCR ligase detection reaction-fluorescent microsphere assay (LDR-FMA) was used to simultaneously determine the presence of mutations in chloroquine resistance transporter (crt), multidrug resistance 1 (mdr1), dihydrofolate reductase (dhfr) and dihydropteroate synthase (dhps) genes in Plasmodium falciparum (n = 727) and Plasmodium vivax (n = 574) isolates collected in 2006 from cross-sectional community population surveys in two geographically distinct regions (Madang and East Sepik) of Papua New Guinea (PNG) where strong regional differences in in vivo aminoquinoline and antifolate therapeutic efficacy had previously been observed. Data were compared to those of a follow-up survey conducted in 2010.; Despite some very low parasite densities, the assay successfully amplified all P. falciparum and P. vivax loci in 77 and 69 % of samples, respectively. In 2006, prevalences of pfdhfr (59R-108 N) double mutation/wild type pfdhps haplotype, pfcrt SVMNT haplotype (72S-76T double mutation), and 86Y pfmdr1 mutation all exceeded 90 %. For P. vivax, 65 % carried at least two pvdhfr mutations, 97 % the 647P pvdhps mutation and 54 % the 976F pvmdr1 mutation. Prevalence of mutant haplotypes was higher in Madang than East Sepik for pfcrt SVMNT (97.4 vs 83.3 %, p = 0.001), pfdhfr (59R-108 N) (100 vs 90.6 %, p = 0.001), pvdhfr haplotypes (75.8 vs 47.6 %, p = 0.001) and pvmdr1 976F (71.2 vs 26.2 %, p < 0.001). Data from a subsequent Madang survey in 2010 showed that the prevalence of pfdhps mutations increased significantly from <5 % to >30 % (p < 0.001) as did the prevalence of pvdhfr mutant haplotypes (from 75.8 to 97.4 %, p = 0.012).; This LDR-FMA multiplex platform shows feasibility for low-cost, high-throughput, rapid characterization of a broad range of drug-resistance markers in low parasitaemia infections. Significant geographical differences in mutation prevalence correlate with previous genotyping surveys and in vivo trials and may reflect variable drug pressure and differences in health-care access in these two PNG populations

Correlation of Late-Pleistocene Lake-Level Oscillations in Mono Lake, California, with North Atlantic Climate Events

Oxygen-18 (18O) values of sediment from the Wilson Creek Formation, Mono Basin, California, indicate three scales of temporal variation (Dansgaard-Oeschger, Heinrich, and Milankovitch) in the hydrologic balance of Mono Lake between 35,400 and 12,900 14C yr B.P. During this interval, Mono Lake experienced four lowstands each lasting from 1000 to 2000 yr. The youngest low stand, which occurred between 15,500 and 14,000 14C yr B.P., was nearly synchronous with a desiccation of Owens Lake, California. Paleomagnetic secular variation (PSV) data indicate that three of four persistent low stands occurred at the same times as Heinrich events HI, H2, and H4. 18O data indicate the two highest lake levels occurred ~18,000 and ~13,100 14C yr B.P., corresponding to passages of the mean position of the polar jet stream over the Mono Basin. Extremely low values of total inorganic carbon between 26,000 and 14,000 14C yr B.P. indicate glacial activity, corresponding to a time when summer insolation was much reduced