Relationships Among Teachers\u27 Efficacy, Teachers\u27 Locus-of-control, and Student Achievement

The purpose of this study was to determine if teacher effectiveness, as measured by value-added gain scores on student achievement, was related to the teacher personality characteristics of efficacy and locus of control. The value-added mean gain scores for each teacher were correlated with teachers\u27 scores on the Rand Corporation Efficacy Scale and the Rose and Medway Teacher Locus of Control Scale. A multiple regression analysis was used to determine if these teacher characteristics along with selected demographic variables could be used as good predictors of achievement gain. The population consisted of 132 middle school teachers across five subject areas in one county in Northeast Tennessee. No correlation was found between either teacher efficacy or locus of control and mean gain scores. A statistically significant relationship was revealed between gender and teacher efficacy with females indicating higher scores than males. Pairwise correlational analysis also revealed that mathematics gain scores were significantly correlated with age, college major, experience, and certification. Multiple regression analysis was used to determine the extent to which the demographic variables and the personality variables were related to student achievement. The percent of variance in mathematics scores attributed to teacher age and major indicated that these two variables were good predictors of value-added gains. Neither the demographic nor the study variables entered into the regression formula for the other academic subjects studied

Quahogs in Eastern North America: Part II, History by Province and State

The northern quahog, Mercenaria mercenaria, ranges along the Atlantic Coast of North America from the Canadian Maritimes to Florida, while the southern quahog, M. campechiensis, ranges mostly from Florida to southern Mexico. The northern quahog was fished by native North Americans during prehistoric periods. They used the meats as food and the shells as scrapers and as utensils. The European colonists copied the Indians treading method, and they also used short rakes for harvesting quahogs. The Indians of southern New England and Long Island, N.Y., made wampum from quahog shells, used it for ornaments and sold it to the colonists, who, in turn, traded it to other Indians for furs. During the late 1600’s, 1700’s, and 1800’s, wampum was made in small factories for eventual trading with Indians farther west for furs. The quahoging industry has provided people in many coastal communities with a means of earning a livelihood and has given consumers a tasty, wholesome food whether eaten raw, steamed, cooked in chowders, or as stuffed quahogs. More than a dozen methods and types of gear have been used in the last two centuries for harvesting quahogs. They include treading and using various types of rakes and dredges, both of which have undergone continuous improvements in design. Modern dredges are equipped with hydraulic jets and one type has an escalator to bring the quahogs continuously to the boats. In the early 1900’s, most provinces and states established regulations to conserve and maximize yields of their quahog stocks. They include a minimum size, now almost universally a 38-mm shell width, and can include gear limitations and daily quotas. The United States produces far more quahogs than either Canada or Mexico. The leading producer in Canada is Prince Edward Island. In the United States, New York, New Jersey, and Rhode Island lead in quahog production in the north, while Virginia and North Carolina lead in the south. Connecticut and Florida were large producers in the 1990’s. The State of Tabasco leads in Mexican production. In the northeastern United States, the bays with large openings, and thus large exchanges of bay waters with ocean waters, have much larger stocks of quahogs and fisheries than bays with small openings and water exchanges. Quahog stocks in certified beds have been enhanced by transplanting stocks to them from stocks in uncertified waters and by planting seed grown in hatcheries, which grew in number from Massachusetts to Florida in the 1980’s and 1990’s

What do self-efficacy items measure? : Examining the discriminant content validity of self-efficacy items

© 2018 The British Psychological Society.Peer reviewedPostprin

Beta blocker use in subjects with type 2 diabetes mellitus and systolic heart failure does not worsen glycaemic control

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The prognostic benefits of beta-blockers (BB) in patients with systolic heart failure (SHF) are known but despite this, in patients with diabetes they are underutilized. The aim of this study was to assess the effect of beta-blockers (BB) on glycaemic control in patients with Type 2 Diabetes (T2DM) and systolic heart failure (SHF) stratified to beta-1 selective (Bisoprolol) vs. nonselective BB (Carvedilol).</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>This observational, cohort study was conducted in patients with T2DM and SHF attending an Australian tertiary teaching hospital's heart failure services. The primary endpoint was glycaemic control measured by glycosylated haemoglobin (HbA1c) at initiation and top dose of BB. Secondary endpoints included microalbuminuria, changes in lipid profile and estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>125 patients were assessed. Both groups were well matched for gender, NYHA class and use of guideline validated heart failure and diabetic medications. The mean treatment duration was 1.9 ± 1.1 years with carvedilol and 1.4 ± 1.0 years with bisoprolol (<it>p </it>= ns). The carvedilol group achieved a reduction in HbA1c (7.8 ± 0.21% to 7.3 ± 0.17%, <it>p </it>= 0.02) whereas the bisoprolol group showed no change in HbA1c (7.0 ± 0.20% to 6.9 ± 0.23%, <it>p </it>= 0.92). There was no significant difference in the change in HbA1c from baseline to peak BB dose in the carvedilol group compared to the bisoprolol group. There was a similar deterioration in eGFR, but no significant changes in lipid profile or microalbuminuria in both groups (<it>p </it>= ns).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>BB use did not worsen glycaemic control, lipid profile or albuminuria status in subjects with SHF and T2DM. Carvedilol significantly improved glycemic control in subjects with SHF and T2DM and this improvement was non significantly better than that obtained with bisoprolol. BB's should not be withheld from patients with T2DM and SHF.</p

Northern Bobwhite Demographics and Resource Selection Are Explained by Prescribed Fire with Grazing and Woody Cover in Southwest Missouri

Understanding the effects of landscape management on northern bobwhite (Colinus virginianus; hereafter, bobwhite) population growth requires information about seasonal- and stage-specific demographic parameters linked across the annual cycle. We review results to date from 3 years (2016–2018) of an intensive field study evaluating drivers of bobwhite population dynamics and resource selection during the breeding and non-breeding season in southwest Missouri, USA using data from adult and juvenile bobwhite fitted with radio-transmitters. Land cover of our study sites ranged from large blocks of native grasslands maintained with prescribed fire and grazing to more traditional management resulting in small patches of grasslands interspersed with food plots, disked idle areas, and woody cover. During the breeding season, relative probability of selection by broods increased in relation to proportion of native grass managed by grazing and burning and proportion of cropland. Brood survival was also greatest on native grasslands burned and grazed within the past 2 growing seasons. During the fall and winter, relative probability of selection by adults increased as woody edge density increased. Fall and winter survival increased as distance from trees increased and decreased as distance to shrubs increased. Our integrated population model indicated that the number of young hatched per female and adult breeding season survival were greatest on sites with the most native grassland managed by prescribed fire with grazing. However, non-breeding season survival was greater on sites with more agriculture or food plots and woody cover. Abundance declined across all sites from 2016 to 2019. Our work suggests that native grasslands managed by prescribed fire with grazing can provide quail habitat superior to traditional management that strived for a mixture of agriculture, woody cover, and grassland. The combination of conservation grazing and fire in native grasslands interspersed with shrubs may provide the greatest chance for bobwhite populations to persist in southwest Missouri and similar landscapes

No Plan B: the Achilles heel of high performance sport management

Research question: The severity and immediacy of funding cuts to UK National Governing Bodies of Sport (NGBs), driven by the ‘No Compromise’ policy framework for Olympic funding, triggers a cyclical need for turnaround management. Adept strategies during times of considerable challenge is stark, yet literature investigating turnaround management within NGBs remains limited. Consequently, this paper examines two questions: how do NGBs respond to UK Sport funding cuts and how are their responses enabled or restricted by their organisational context? Research methods: A case study methodology was used to develop in-depth insights into how three NGBs responded over a twelve-month period of turnaround management. This was informed by 21 semi-structured interviews with chief executives/presidents, performance managers/head coaches and elite athletes. The actions of the NGBs were analysed through a thematic analysis that made use of Boyne’s (2004) 3 Rs of turnaround strategy. Results and findings: The results highlight that NGBs’ turnaround strategies were constrained by extreme funding dependency and a prohibitive institutional environment that led to states of flux and a focus on short-term operational survival. As a result, the measures taken undermined future success. Implications: An embedded feature of the ‘No Compromise’ framework is severe funding cuts. This should be a significant theme in NGB strategy development. The evidence of this study is that NGBs do not prepare, nor react strategically, when faced with the prospect (or fact of) severe cuts. Consequently, the cases of turnaround management in this study signal the urgent need for further research into the impact of the ‘No Compromise’ framework on the management of NGBs

Muc5b Is the Major Polymeric Mucin in Mucus from Thoroughbred Horses With and Without Airway Mucus Accumulation

Mucus accumulation is a feature of inflammatory airway disease in the horse and has been associated with reduced performance in racehorses. In this study, we have analysed the two major airways gel-forming mucins Muc5b and Muc5ac in respect of their site of synthesis, their biochemical properties, and their amounts in mucus from healthy horses and from horses with signs of airway mucus accumulation. Polyclonal antisera directed against equine Muc5b and Muc5ac were raised and characterised. Immunohistochemical staining of normal equine trachea showed that Muc5ac and Muc5b are produced by cells in the submucosal glands, as well as surface epithelial goblet cells. Western blotting after agarose gel electrophoresis of airway mucus from healthy horses, and horses with mucus accumulation, was used to determine the amounts of these two mucins in tracheal wash samples. The results showed that in healthy horses Muc5b was the predominant mucin with small amounts of Muc5ac. The amounts of Muc5b and Muc5ac were both dramatically increased in samples collected from horses with high mucus scores as determined visually at the time of endoscopy and that this increase also correlated with increase number of bacteria present in the sample. The change in amount of Muc5b and Muc5ac indicates that Muc5b remains the most abundant mucin in mucus. In summary, we have developed mucin specific polyclonal antibodies, which have allowed us to show that there is a significant increase in Muc5b and Muc5ac in mucus accumulated in equine airways and these increases correlated with the numbers of bacteria

Crafting organization

The recent shift in attention away from organization studies as science has allowed for consideration of new ways of thinking about both organization and organizing and has led to several recent attempts to \u27bring down\u27 organizational theorizing. In this paper, we extend calls for organization to be represented as a creative process by considering organization as craft. Organizational craft, we argue, is attractive, accessible, malleable, reproducible, and marketable. It is also a tangible way of considering organization studies with irreverence. We draw on the hierarchy of distinctions among fine art, decorative art, and craft to suggest that understanding the organization of craft assists in complicating our understanding of marginality. We illustrate our argument by drawing on the case of a contemporary Australian craftworks and marketplace known initially as the Meat Market Craft Centre (\u27MMCC\u27) and then, until its recent closure, as Metro! &Dagger; Stella Minahan was a board member and then the Chief Executive Officer of the Metro! Craft Centre.<br /

Whole genome sequence analysis suggests intratumoral heterogeneity in dissemination of breast cancer to lymph nodes.

BACKGROUND: Intratumoral heterogeneity may help drive resistance to targeted therapies in cancer. In breast cancer, the presence of nodal metastases is a key indicator of poorer overall survival. The aim of this study was to identify somatic genetic alterations in early dissemination of breast cancer by whole genome next generation sequencing (NGS) of a primary breast tumor, a matched locally-involved axillary lymph node and healthy normal DNA from blood. METHODS: Whole genome NGS was performed on 12 µg (range 11.1-13.3 µg) of DNA isolated from fresh-frozen primary breast tumor, axillary lymph node and peripheral blood following the DNA nanoball sequencing protocol. Single nucleotide variants, insertions, deletions, and substitutions were identified through a bioinformatic pipeline and compared to CIN25, a key set of genes associated with tumor metastasis. RESULTS: Whole genome sequencing revealed overlapping variants between the tumor and node, but also variants that were unique to each. Novel mutations unique to the node included those found in two CIN25 targets, TGIF2 and CCNB2, which are related to transcription cyclin activity and chromosomal stability, respectively, and a unique frameshift in PDS5B, which is required for accurate sister chromatid segregation during cell division. We also identified dominant clonal variants that progressed from tumor to node, including SNVs in TP53 and ARAP3, which mediates rearrangements to the cytoskeleton and cell shape, and an insertion in TOP2A, the expression of which is significantly associated with tumor proliferation and can segregate breast cancers by outcome. CONCLUSION: This case study provides preliminary evidence that primary tumor and early nodal metastasis have largely overlapping somatic genetic alterations. There were very few mutations unique to the involved node. However, significant conclusions regarding early dissemination needs analysis of a larger number of patient samples