Discovering strategies of support to build distinguished school executives

According to Reeves (2006), "the demands of leadership almost invariably exceed the capacity of a single person to meet the needs at hand" (p. 32).This research study intended to identify challenges that school administrators face in their profession and how school district leaders can offer supportive strategies to alleviate these obstacles.Through a qualitative approach, interviews with school principals and district administrators in one school system were carried out to discover trend data that would validate the commonalities of principals' needs and describe potential solutions for district staff to implement. This research was specifically linked to the North Carolina School Executive Standards (SES) adopted by the State Board of Education as the new evaluation tool for school administrators.The seven leadership standards outlined in the SES served as a guide during interviews and prompted discussion in each function to determine the supportive mechanisms needed to build capacity for distinguished school executives.The purpose of this study was to benefit the thoughtful process of evaluation that will be required by districts in order to meet the expectations of the new evaluation model.The study should also contribute to the ongoing efforts of other scholarly works that attempt to identify the complexities of the principalship and the need for sustainable support

The criticism of The Red Badge of Courage

Stephen Crane's The Red Badge of Courage was first published in 1894. From 1895 until 1900 critics in America and England debated whether Crane's novel was good art. Many of these early critics either praised the book in trite cliches or attacked it for the wrong reasons. None seemed to understand Crane's purpose or technique. Crane died in 1900 and his war novel seemed to die with him, but from 1900 to 1950, The Red Badge was "rediscovered" twice. World War I, Thomas Beer's Stephen Crane (1923), Follett's twelve-volume edition of The Works of Stephen Crane (1925-27), and the recognition by American authors of the 1920's that Crane's art had kinship with their own caused the first revival of the book in the 1920's. Another world war and the reissue of Beer's biography (1941) resulted in resurgent interest in The Red Badge in the 1900's

Approaching adolescent movement quality in physical education

Musculoskeletal pain and injury experienced by adolescents leads to behavioral, physical, and psychological consequences. Adolescents with recurrent pain are also more likely to carry these issues into adulthood. Dysfunctional movement, a suggested contributing factor, appears to increase as adolescents experience puberty. The purpose of this study was to investigate dysfunctional movement among a group of 9th-grade physical education students and to determine if a standardized, functional movement warm-up (FMWU) would improve movement quality more than regular physical education. Forty-four 9th-grade students were randomly assigned to a FMWU group (n = 22) and a regular warm-up (RWU) group (n = 22). The FMWU group completed the assigned warm-up 3 times per week over the course of 9 weeks except for one week only including one session, for a total of 25 total sessions. The Functional Movement Screen (FMS) was used to assess movement quality pre and post. Additionally, the lead researcher took notes of observed dysfunction while scoring FMS tasks. FMWU participant perceptions were collected by survey and the teacher’s perceptions were collected through a semi-structured interview. The results indicate a high rate of dysfunction among the group of ninth-grade participants. The total composite FMS mean score was 12.20 (SD = 1.56). Additionally, 45.5% of participants had at least one asymmetry and 93.2% scored a 1 on at least one FMS task. A mixed-design (Group x Time) analysis of variance (ANOVA) on the total composite scores revealed a significant group by time interaction, F (1, 42) = 11.27, p = .002. Paired samples t-tests for the FMWU group revealed significant improvement for the total composite score, deep squat (DS), rotatory stability (RS), and scores of 1. All other measures of movement trended positively for the FMWU group except the inline lunge (ILL), which remained the same. Whereas, the RWU group slightly or significantly worsened in the DS, ILL, and active straight leg raise (ASLR), and the hurdle step (HS) and total composite score did not change. Observations support the effect of the FMWU and 60% of FMWU participants reported liking the warm-up. The findings of this study suggest there is a high rate of dysfunctional movement among 9th-grade adolescents and an intentionally designed FMWU is an efficient way to address movement quality in physical education

A guide to performance practice: Sonnets from the Portuguese by Libby Larsen

The purpose of this study is to present a performance guide to the interpretation of Libby Larsen's Sonnets from the Portuguese (1991). Singers and pianists can find ways that are sensitive to and expressive of the poetry when performing these songs. Thorough study and preparation of the poetry and music, as well as understanding the compositional style of the composer, contribute to a scholarly and artistic performance of these art songs. The result is a performance that can create a strong emotional impact through expression of the true meaning of the text. When preparing for a performance of this song cycle, three distinguishing fundamental elements that must be considered are the original singer, text, and language. Arleen Augér (1939-1993), world-renowned soprano, commissioned Larsen to compose Sonnets from the Portuguese. Larsen set to music the poetry of Elizabeth Barrett Browning in collaboration with Augér and conductor, Joel Revzen to compose this song cycle. Initially, Larsen composed eight songs in this cycle. The remaining two songs have been used in other formats. "Beloved, Thou Hast Brought Me Many Flowers" is now part of a song cycle for mezzo soprano, and "Because thou hast the powers" is part of Larsen's String Symphony movement, "Elegance." Originally orchestrated, the piano reduction is performed most frequently and it is the piano-vocal version that is the focus of this document. This study provides an examination of the poetry and music. It also explores the composer's methods and compositional process with a focus on the inception of the cycle and its musical expression of the text. Written from the perspective of a performer under the guidance of the composer, this comprehensive study will serve as a resource for singers and accompanists planning future performances of this cycle. It is the task of the singer and pianist to coordinate and bring to fruition Larsen's musical and interpretive demands. Several methods were used in writing this study: personal interviews with the composer, close readings of the sonnets, and performing the cycle. Information was drawn from published materials, secondary sources relating to the topic, the poetry, the score, a recording, and personal insight as a performer. The study is organized into an Introduction and four chapters including Understanding the Poet, The Composer, Larsen's Compositional Approach and Performance Analysis, and an Insight to Sonnets from the Portuguese

Heart Health Literacy Tables: Exploring Cardiology and Medical Terminology with the Community

This paper measures the degree of medical literacy in Robeson County and to better improve the understanding of various cardiovascular ailments. This will be done through numerous Heart Health Literacy Tables held at a local venue, Golden Corral (Lumberton, NC). Blood pressures will be administered on-site for willing participants, American Heart Association literature will be provided and explained, and comparisons will be drawn between the data collected and national values. Trends were seen, such as a greater participation of women, a higher incidence of hypertension in African Americans than other ethnicities (in contrast to their population sizes), and an upward trend in participation with respect to age. Overall, results corresponded nicely with national averages, with the exception that we had a larger percentage of Native American volunteers. This can be attributed to the proximity of the literacy table venue to the Lumbee Tribe population (Pembroke, NC). Strategies for improved methodology in communicating with patients, bridging the literacy gap, and blood pressure measurements are given as well

Stories of the Greensboro massacre

The dawn of the 1980s proved to be a troubling period in many southern cities in America because of racial conflict, class inequities, and frayed politics. These tensions often overlapped and, at times, were fatal. One of the most tragic examples of extreme racial violence occurred in Greensboro, North Carolina, on November 3, 1979, when the multi-racial Communist Workers Party (CWP) attended a demonstration to protest against the notorious Ku Klux Klan (KKK). The procession, referred to as a "Death to Klan" march, was scheduled to begin in a public housing, predominately black working-class community called Morningside Homes. As the marchers were gathering, a group of Nazis and Klansmen drove through the protest site in a nine-car caravan and unloaded eighty-eight seconds of gunfire. As a result, five people were killed including one African American woman, three Caucasian men, and a Cuban American male, all of whom were a part of the CWP. This event, which was dubbed the 1979 Greensboro Massacre, has remained a contentious topic over the past thirty years. However, while the story appears to be straightforward, it will be demonstrated through this study that it is more complex than it appears. This work will present this one event through the lens of the personal stories of those who were directly involved in the tragedy. There were four main groups: the Communist Workers Party, the Ku Klux Klan, the Greensboro Police Department, and the residents of Morningside Homes. They all have positions within the story of the 1979 Greensboro Massacre, and when considering their interpretations, it is clear that there is no such thing as a single truth of this event. In fact, there are multiple truths. This work, however, is not relativistic on the issue of responsibility for the violence. Where possible, the perspectives of each group have been interwoven with the "facts" given in the criminal and civil trials as well as FBI files. What has become clear is that, with the exception of the residents, each party had a responsibility for the 1979 tragedy. This study will discuss the realities of each group at the time the massacre happened, what they think now about the decisions that were made by those who were involved, and the way they continue to understand and recall this event. How the people who took part in the 1979 Greensboro Massacre "remember" is not only important for how one may view and understand the murders in years to come, but it is also important for putting to rest many of the misunderstandings and unsubstantiated claims that are often associated with the event. By way of the evidence, this emotionally driven topic will reveal how all of those involved in that fateful November conflict felt threatened, were victimized, and have often been misinterpreted

Learning to Extract Motion from Videos in Convolutional Neural Networks

This paper shows how to extract dense optical flow from videos with a convolutional neural network (CNN). The proposed model constitutes a potential building block for deeper architectures to allow using motion without resorting to an external algorithm, \eg for recognition in videos. We derive our network architecture from signal processing principles to provide desired invariances to image contrast, phase and texture. We constrain weights within the network to enforce strict rotation invariance and substantially reduce the number of parameters to learn. We demonstrate end-to-end training on only 8 sequences of the Middlebury dataset, orders of magnitude less than competing CNN-based motion estimation methods, and obtain comparable performance to classical methods on the Middlebury benchmark. Importantly, our method outputs a distributed representation of motion that allows representing multiple, transparent motions, and dynamic textures. Our contributions on network design and rotation invariance offer insights nonspecific to motion estimation

Characteristics and prevalence of hardcore smokers attending UK general practitioners

BACKGROUND: Smoking remains a public health problem and although unsolicited GPs' advice against smoking causes between one and three percent of smokers to stop, a significant proportion of smokers are particularly resistant to the notion of stopping smoking. These resistant smokers have been called "hardcore smokers" and although 16% of smokers in the community are hardcore, little is known about hardcore smokers presenting to primary care physicians. Consequently, this study reports the characteristics and prevalence of hardcore smokers attending UK GPs. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey using data from two different research projects was conducted. Data for this analysis had been collected from surgery consultation sessions with 73 GPs in Leicestershire, England, (42 GPs from one project). Research assistants distributed pre-consultation questionnaires to 4147 adults attending GPs' surgery sessions. Questionnaires identified regular smokers, the proportion of hardcore smokers and their characteristics. Non-hardcore and hardcore smokers' ages, gender and nicotine addiction levels were compared. RESULTS: 1170 regular smokers attended surgery sessions and, 16.1% (95% CI, 14.1 to 18.4) were hardcore smokers. Hardcore smokers had higher levels of nicotine addiction than others (p = 0.000), measured by the Heaviness of Smoking Index and were more likely to be male [50.5% hardcore versus 35.3% non-hardcore, (OR = 1.88, 95% CI = 1.4 to 2.6)] but no age differences were observed between groups. CONCLUSION: A significant minority of the smokers who present in general practice are resistant to the notion of smoking cessation and these smokers are more heavily nicotine addicted than others. Although clinical guidelines suggest that GPs should regularly advise all smokers against smoking, it is probable that hardcore smokers do not respond positively to this and help to make up the 97%–99% of smokers who do not quit after being advised to stop smoking by GPs. General practitioners need to find approaches for raising the issue of smoking during consultations in ways that do not reinforce the negative opinions of hardcore smokers concerning smoking cessation

Planet Populations as a Function of Stellar Properties

Exoplanets around different types of stars provide a window into the diverse environments in which planets form. This chapter describes the observed relations between exoplanet populations and stellar properties and how they connect to planet formation in protoplanetary disks. Giant planets occur more frequently around more metal-rich and more massive stars. These findings support the core accretion theory of planet formation, in which the cores of giant planets form more rapidly in more metal-rich and more massive protoplanetary disks. Smaller planets, those with sizes roughly between Earth and Neptune, exhibit different scaling relations with stellar properties. These planets are found around stars with a wide range of metallicities and occur more frequently around lower mass stars. This indicates that planet formation takes place in a wide range of environments, yet it is not clear why planets form more efficiently around low mass stars. Going forward, exoplanet surveys targeting M dwarfs will characterize the exoplanet population around the lowest mass stars. In combination with ongoing stellar characterization, this will help us understand the formation of planets in a large range of environments.Comment: Accepted for Publication in the Handbook of Exoplanet

Altered splicing of the BIN1 muscle-specific exon in humans and dogs with highly progressive centronuclear myopathy

Amphiphysin 2, encoded by BIN1, is a key factor for membrane sensing and remodelling in different cell types. Homozygous BIN1 mutations in ubiquitously expressed exons are associated with autosomal recessive centronuclear myopathy (CNM), a mildly progressive muscle disorder typically showing abnormal nuclear centralization on biopsies. In addition, misregulation of BIN1 splicing partially accounts for the muscle defects in myotonic dystrophy (DM). However, the muscle-specific function of amphiphysin 2 and its pathogenicity in both muscle disorders are not well understood. In this study we identified and characterized the first mutation affecting the splicing of the muscle-specific BIN1 exon 11 in a consanguineous family with rapidly progressive and ultimately fatal centronuclear myopathy. In parallel, we discovered a mutation in the same BIN1 exon 11 acceptor splice site as the genetic cause of the canine Inherited Myopathy of Great Danes (IMGD). Analysis of RNA from patient muscle demonstrated complete skipping of exon 11 and BIN1 constructs without exon 11 were unable to promote membrane tubulation in differentiated myotubes. Comparative immunofluorescence and ultrastructural analyses of patient and canine biopsies revealed common structural defects, emphasizing the importance of amphiphysin 2 in membrane remodelling and maintenance of the skeletal muscle triad. Our data demonstrate that the alteration of the muscle-specific function of amphiphysin 2 is a common pathomechanism for centronuclear myopathy, myotonic dystrophy, and IMGD. The IMGD dog is the first faithful model for human BIN1-related CNM and represents a mammalian model available for preclinical trials of potential therapies