The impact of NQT induction programmes on the enhancement of teacher expertise, professional development, job satisfaction or retention rates: a systematic review of research literature on induction

This report is the result of a preliminary study undertaken by the Induction Review Group between January and March 2003 which essentially involved a mapping exercise to identify the range and type of research studies addressing the research question, ‘How does current research characterise the impact of induction programmes on new teachers in relation to enhancing teaching expertise, professional development, job satisfaction and retention rates?’ Results of the initial in-depth review are reported in Chapter 4. The Review Group plans further refinements of the mapping exercise and other in-depth reviews drawing on it

The Successes and Failures of Presidential Policy on Commercial Air Travel

Este anteproyecto nos presenta un elemento arquitectónico con características que cumplen con requisitos funcionales, ambientales, tecnológicos y constructivos para el desarrollo del municipio de San Benito Petén. Su prefiguración está basada por el método de abstracción de la forma del casco del San Benito y su descomposición en once pasos, que van desde la forma de sus curvas a la solidificación del todo, logrando en su separación de ejes, el giro de la circulación de los ambientes que integran la nueva propuesta arquitectónica, que nos da la integración de espacios interiores como exteriores. Propone las áreas académicas, administración, área de educación vocacional, área deportiva, auditorio, etc

Accountability and responsibility: 'Rogue' school leaders and the induction of new teachers in England

This paper considers the professional responsibility of schools in England to provide effective induction practices in the context of a central government mandated policy. It looks at individual schools as ‘habitats’ for induction and the role of school leaders and LEAs as facilitators or inhibitors. Notions of professional responsibility and public accountability are used to analyse the small number of ‘rogue’ school leaders who, within the new legislative framework, treat new teachers unprofessionally and waste public resources. A typology of ‘rogue’ schools that are in some way deviant in transgressing induction requirements is developed and the various sanctions that can be deployed against such schools are examined. How LEAs handle their monitoring and accountability role and manage deviant schools is considered. Finally, suggestions are made for improvements, such as the need to clarify professional responsibility and refine systems of professional accountability

Cleared to land in the desert: commercial air travel's role in the growth and development of Las Vegas as a world-class travel destination

Title from PDF of title page, viewed on Aug. 4, 2011Dissertation advisor: John HerronVitaIncludes bibliographical references (p. 222-229)Thesis (Ph.D.)--Dept.of History and Dept. of Political Science. University of Missouri--Kansas City, 2011This study provides a history of commercial aviation in Las Vegas, focusing on the powerful influence commercial air travel had with the financial help of the federal government on Las Vegas‟s growth and development as a world-class travel destination. It especially emphasizes how the airline industry was the catalyst for Las Vegas‟s transformation from an isolated desert town into a world-famous tourist city. Such a study is important to show while Las Vegas‟s story is unique it is a microcosm of a broader regional and national story where airlines played an influential role in the economic growth and development of other western and national cities. Through the use of primary and secondary sources, my dissertation proves that in order to properly understand the history of transportation in the American West, commercial aviation must be included in the story.The airlines come to Las Vegas -- A symbiotic relationship forms -- Jets in the consumer age -- Airline deregulation and the mega-resorts -- Still growing during tough times -- Conclusio

The covalent structure of Acanthamoeba actobindin

Actobindin is a protein from Acanthamoeba castellanii with bivalent affinity for monomeric actin. Because it can bind two molecules of actin, actobindin is a substantially more potent inhibitor of the early phase of actin polymerization than of F-actin elongation. The complete amino acid sequence of 88 residues has been deduced from the determined sequences of overlapping peptides obtained by cleavage with trypsin, Staphylococcus V8 protease, endoproteinase Asp-N, and CNBr. Actobindin contains 2 trimethyllysine residues and an acetylated NH2 terminus. About 76% of the actobindin molecule consists of two nearly identical repeated segments of approximately 33 residues each. This could explain actobindin's bivalent affinity for actin. The circular dichroism spectrum of actobindin is consistent with 15% alpha-helix and 22% beta-sheet structure. A hexapeptide with sequence LKHAET, which occurs at the beginning of each of the repeated segments of actobindin, is very similar to sequences found in tropomyosin, muscle myosin heavy chain, paramyosin, and Dictyostelium alpha-actinin. A longer stretch in each repeated segment is similar to sequences in mammalian and amoeba profilins. Interestingly, the sequences around the trimethyllysine residues in each of the repeats are similar to the sequences flanking the trimethyllysine residue of rabbit reticulocyte elongation factor 1 alpha, but not to the sequences around the trimethyllysine residues in Acanthamoeba actin and Acanthamoeba profilins I and II

Supporting induction: relationships count

This article examines the structural changes to the induction of teachers in Scotland using the perceptions of a group of final year student teachers. This group would be the first probationer teachers to experience revised arrangements for new teacher induction in 37 years. Their preferences and concerns are highlighted, as the new procedures roll out in schools nationwide, in an attempt to stress the importance of relationships to the success of the induction scheme. The argument put forward in this article is based on the notion that personal intelligence is central to effective relationships and therefore crucially important in the context of this mentoring relationship. The views of our sample provide evidence to suggest that the quality of interactions between the mentor and the probationer teacher are paramount in providing a good induction experience. These views are substantiated by experiences in England and in induction literature elsewhere. A synthesis of this evidence is used to make recommendations for those involved in supporting induction in schools, local authorities or teacher education institutions

An adapted mindfulness-based stress reduction program for elders in a continuing care retirement community: quantitative and qualitative results from a pilot randomized controlled trial.

The purpose of this study was to test the feasibility and effectiveness of an adapted 8-week Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program for elders in a continuing care community. This mixed-methods study used both quantitative and qualitative measures. A randomized waitlist control design was used for the quantitative aspect of the study. Thirty-nine elderly were randomized to MBSR (n = 20) or a waitlist control group (n = 19), mean age was 82 years. Both groups completed pre-post measures of health-related quality of life, acceptance and psychological flexibility, facets of mindfulness, self-compassion, and psychological distress. A subset of MBSR participants completed qualitative interviews. MBSR participants showed significantly greater improvement in acceptance and psychological flexibility and in role limitations due to physical health. In the qualitative interviews, MBSR participants reported increased awareness, less judgment, and greater self-compassion. Study results demonstrate the feasibility and potential effectiveness of an adapted MBSR program in promoting mind-body health for elders

Characterisation of cardiac health in the reduced uterine perfusion pressure model and a 3D cardiac spheroid model, of preeclampsia

BACKGROUND: Preeclampsia is a dangerous cardiovascular disorder of pregnancy that leads to an increased risk of future cardiovascular and metabolic disorders. Much of the pathogenesis and mechanisms involved in cardiac health in preeclampsia are unknown. A novel anti-angiogenic protein, FKBPL, is emerging as having a potential role in both preeclampsia and cardiovascular disease (CVD). Therefore, in this study we aimed to characterise cardiac health and FKBPL regulation in the rat reduced uterine perfusion pressure (RUPP) and a 3D cardiac spheroid model of preeclampsia. METHODS: The RUPP model was induced in pregnant rats and histological analysis performed on the heart, kidney, liver and placenta (n ≥ 6). Picrosirius red staining was performed to quantify collagen I and III deposition in rat hearts, placentae and livers as an indicator of fibrosis. RT-qPCR was used to determine changes in Fkbpl, Icam1, Vcam1, Flt1 and Vegfa mRNA in hearts and/or placentae and ELISA to evaluate cardiac brain natriuretic peptide (BNP45) and FKBPL secretion. Immunofluorescent staining was also conducted to analyse the expression of cardiac FKBPL. Cardiac spheroids were generated using human cardiac fibroblasts and human coronary artery endothelial cells and treated with patient plasma from normotensive controls, early-onset preeclampsia (EOPE) and late-onset preeclampsia (LOPE); n = 3. FKBPL and CD31 expression was quantified by immunofluorescent labelling. RESULTS: The RUPP procedure induced significant increases in blood pressure (p < 0.001), collagen deposition (p < 0.001) and cardiac BNP45 (p < 0.05). It also induced a significant increase in cardiac FKBPL mRNA (p < 0.05) and protein  expression  (p < 0.01). RUPP placentae also exhibited increased collagen deposition and decreased Flt1 mRNA expression (p < 0.05). RUPP kidneys revealed an increase in average glomerular size (p < 0.05). Cardiac spheroids showed a significant increase in FKBPL expression when treated with LOPE plasma (p < 0.05) and a trend towards increased FKBPL expression following treatment with EOPE plasma (p = 0.06). CONCLUSIONS: The rat RUPP model induced cardiac, renal and placental features reflective of preeclampsia. FKBPL was increased in the hearts of RUPP rats and cardiac spheroids treated with plasma from women with preeclampsia, perhaps reflective of restricted angiogenesis and inflammation in this disorder. Elucidation of these novel FKBPL mechanisms in cardiac health in preeclampsia could be key in preventing future CVD

Fatigue evaluation in maintenance and assembly operations by digital human simulation

Virtual human techniques have been used a lot in industrial design in order to consider human factors and ergonomics as early as possible. The physical status (the physical capacity of virtual human) has been mostly treated as invariable in the current available human simulation tools, while indeed the physical capacity varies along time in an operation and the change of the physical capacity depends on the history of the work as well. Virtual Human Status is proposed in this paper in order to assess the difficulty of manual handling operations, especially from the physical perspective. The decrease of the physical capacity before and after an operation is used as an index to indicate the work difficulty. The reduction of physical strength is simulated in a theoretical approach on the basis of a fatigue model in which fatigue resistances of different muscle groups were regressed from 24 existing maximum endurance time (MET) models. A framework based on digital human modeling technique is established to realize the comparison of physical status. An assembly case in airplane assembly is simulated and analyzed under the framework. The endurance time and the decrease of the joint moment strengths are simulated. The experimental result in simulated operations under laboratory conditions confirms the feasibility of the theoretical approach