Effects of extreme behaviors and outbursts in kindergarten classrooms

This study explored extreme behaviors and violent outburst in kindergarten classrooms and the affect they had on other students as observed by their teachers. A mixed methods study design was used, and included a survey and interviews. Quantitative data was collected to understand what teachers are experiencing as a group, and qualitative data expanded on those experiences. The data revealed the variety of extreme behaviors exhibited by some students, and the ways other students and staff both in the classroom and at the school site are affected by them. One of the primary findings is that a lot of time is spent on classroom evacuations and various class activities after an extreme behavior event, which takes away from instructional time

The Future of Audit

At a time when increased independence requirements for auditors, legal backing for auditing standards, and increased audit documentation requirements have occurred, this book examines key issues in the market for audit services in Australia. It investigates issues including: the understandability of audit and the state of the audit expectations gap; auditors’ business acumen and industry expertise; the auditors’ use of materiality; whether or not the increasingly prescriptive nature of auditing is creating a distraction from the ‘real’ audit task and stifling auditors’ judgement; whether or not CLERP 9 reforms involving audit partner rotation and restrictions on non-audit service provision are efficient and effective and reactions to the increasing scrutiny of auditors and audit firms by regulators. With its thorough coverage of contemporary issues, this book intersperses the authors’ summaries, interpretations and recommendations with the perceptions, expressed in their own words in order to faithfully convey their candid assessments, of users of audit reports, purchasers and suppliers of the audit product, auditing standard setters and regulators of the audit market

The Future of Audit

At a time when increased independence requirements for auditors, legal backing for auditing standards, and increased audit documentation requirements have occurred, this book examines key issues in the market for audit services in Australia. It investigates issues including: the understandability of audit and the state of the audit expectations gap; auditors’ business acumen and industry expertise; the auditors’ use of materiality; whether or not the increasingly prescriptive nature of auditing is creating a distraction from the ‘real’ audit task and stifling auditors’ judgement; whether or not CLERP 9 reforms involving audit partner rotation and restrictions on non-audit service provision are efficient and effective and reactions to the increasing scrutiny of auditors and audit firms by regulators. With its thorough coverage of contemporary issues, this book intersperses the authors’ summaries, interpretations and recommendations with the perceptions, expressed in their own words in order to faithfully convey their candid assessments, of users of audit reports, purchasers and suppliers of the audit product, auditing standard setters and regulators of the audit market

Developing and Validating the Youth Conduct Problems Scale-Rwanda: A Mixed Methods Approach

This study developed and validated the Youth Conduct Problems Scale-Rwanda (YCPS-R). Qualitative free listing (n = 74) and key informant interviews (n = 47) identified local conduct problems, which were compared to existing standardized conduct problem scales and used to develop the YCPS-R. The YCPS-R was cognitive tested by 12 youth and caregiver participants, and assessed for test-retest and inter-rater reliability in a sample of 64 youth. Finally, a purposive sample of 389 youth and their caregivers were enrolled in a validity study. Validity was assessed by comparing YCPS-R scores to conduct disorder, which was diagnosed with the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview for Children, and functional impairment scores on the World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule Child Version. ROC analyses assessed the YCPS-R’s ability to discriminate between youth with and without conduct disorder. Qualitative data identified a local presentation of youth conduct problems that did not match previously standardized measures. Therefore, the YCPS-R was developed solely from local conduct problems. Cognitive testing indicated that the YCPS-R was understandable and required little modification. The YCPS-R demonstrated good reliability, construct, criterion, and discriminant validity, and fair classification accuracy. The YCPS-R is a locally-derived measure of Rwandan youth conduct problems that demonstrated good psychometric properties and could be used for further research

MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS MIX OF TAROT READERS IN SEMARANG

Tarot reading has been around for a long time in Indonesia but has become popular in recent years. Many tarot readers have to find ways to introduce or promote their tarot reading business in order to reach more people. The purpose of this study is to find out the marketing communications mix tarot readers use to market their tarot reading business. In addition, this study also looks for the most-frequently employed marketing communications mix and which is more likely to attract clients. In this study, the writer used qualitative methods and interviewed seven tarot readers in Semarang. The results show that the marketing communications mix the tarot readers use are sales promotion, Public Relations (PR) and publicity, online and social media marketing, mobile marketing, and personal selling. The most-frequently employed marketing communications mix is online and social media marketing. Then, the marketing communications mix that is more likely to attract clients are sales promotion and online and social media marketing

REVIEW: EFEKTIVITAS DAN KARAKTERISASI SINTESIS NANOPARTIKEL EMAS MENGGUNAKAN LIMBAH BUAH

abstrak Limbah telah menjadi masalah lokal dan global yang berdampak pada umat manusia, satwa liar, dan bahkan lingkungan. Salah satu limbah yang cukup diperhatikan yaitu limbah pangan, dengan komoditas terbesarnya adalah limbah buah. Tanpa adanya program pengelolaan limbah yang efisien dan efektif, limbah tersebut dapat menimbulkan risiko kesehatan dan dampak negatif terhadap lingkungan. Salah satu cara pengelolaan limbah tersebut adalah dengan memanfaatkannya sebagai bahan baku pembentukan nanopartikel (NPs). Salah satu jenis nanopartikel yaitu nanopartikel logam (MNP) emas. Nanopartikel emas (AuNPs) telah mendapat perhatian besar karena sifatnya yang inert dan tidak beracun, potensi aktivitas antibakteri, dan sifat katalitik oksidatif. Berbagai metode digunakan untuk mensintesis NP, yaitu secara fisik, kimia, dan biologi. Metode biologi merupakan metode yang lebih menguntungkan dibandingkan metode kimia dan fisika karena metode ini sederhana, aman, hemat biaya, dan menghasilkan bahan yang lebih stabil dan relatif dapat direproduksi. Sumber daya yang digunakan dalam metode biologi adalah ekstrak tumbuhan, jamur, bakteri, dan alga. Senyawa alami seperti flavonoid, alkaloid, dan senyawa nutrisi lainnya berperan sebagai zat pereduksi dan penstabil dalam reaksi bioreduksi sintesis MNP. Senyawa alami banyak ditemukan pada limbah makanan, khususnya limbah buah. Systematic review ini bertujuan untuk menganalisis kemungkinan berbagai limbah buah sebagai bioreduktor dalam sintesis AuNPs dan menganalisis karakteristik AuNPs yang telah disintesis menggunakan limbah buah. Systematic review ini dilakukan dengan beberapa tahapan, yaitu identifikasi masalah, pembuatan desain konseptual berupa diagram tulang ikan, pengumpulan literatur utama, peninjauan isi literatur, dan analisis dan tabulasi literatur yang digunakan. Dari systematic review yang dilakukan, didapatkan bahwa dalam proses dan hasil AuNPs dipengaruhi oleh proses ekstraksi limbah buah serta faktor lain seperti suhu, waktu, dan pH. Selain itu, limbah buah satu dengan yang lain memiliki komponen bioaktif yang berbeda yang akan memengaruhi hasil AuNPs. Kesimpulan dari systematic review yang dilakukan adalah berbagai macam limbah buah berpotensi menjadi bioreduktor tidak peduli komponen limbah buah yang digunakan seperti kulit, pulp, biji, dan cob. Selain itu, AuNPs yang telah disintesis mempunyai ukuran yang bervariasi tergantung pada limbah buah, sebagian besar berbentuk spherical, mengandung unsur emas, dan mempunyai gugus fungsi yang dihasilkan dari limbah buah setelah dikarakterisasi menggunakan SEM (scanning electron microscope) atau TEM (transmission electron microscope), EDX (energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy), dan FTIR (Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy)

Environmental regulation and corporate strategies to reduce diesel vehicle emissions

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, Technology, Management, and Policy Program, 2006.Includes bibliographical references.Environmental regulations are typically portrayed as an outside force stimulating development of environmental technologies in regulated industries. In reality, firms influence regulation by communicating their technological progress, which helps form a basis for future standards. Because of differences in each firm's technological capability and environmental performance, regulations affect the competitive position of firms. Firms with advanced technologies stand to gain competitive benefit from more stringent environmental regulations, and may therefore choose to introduce a more costly but cleaner technology ahead of regulation. Such a competitive regulatory strategy has the potential to bring competitive benefits to the lead firm(s) and environmental benefits to the public. This research explains the conditions under which competitive regulatory strategies are pursued in the diesel vehicle and fuel industry. Growing public concern about the health effects of diesel exhaust has led countries to implement several cycles of increasingly stringent emission and fuel regulations over the past two decades.(cont.) Taking a comparative case study approach, this work studies multiple regulatory cycles for light-duty vehicles, heavy-duty engines, and diesel fuel sulfur in the European Union, Japan, and the United States. For each region's regulatory cycles, cases of corporate behavior, including early adoption, first-mover behavior, and noncompliance, are identified and analyzed for their context, motivation, influence on regulatory policy, and public and private effects. Source material consists of documentary sources, descriptive statistics, and semi-structured interviews with experts. This methodology generates multiple cases for comparison across countries, cycles, sectors, and firms. While early- and first-mover behavior was observed in the regulatory cycles, firms do not aggressively pursue competitive regulatory strategies. They are guided by other motivations, such as fiscal incentives, diesel market share protection, and technology development/testing. A weak business case, risk aversion, industry pressure, and lack of supporting infrastructure pose strong disincentives.(cont.) The final recommendations address issues pertinent to regulators, firms, and environmental groups: fiscal incentives as an effective means to encourage rapid technology adoption; environmental NGOs as a vehicle for communicating technological progress; use of technology demonstrations by lead firms to show regulatory readiness; and combination of short-term and long-term targets with mechanisms to encourage technology-based competition.by Christine Bik-Kay Ng.Ph.D

Regulation of thyroid hormone-induced development \u3cem\u3ein vivo\u3c/em\u3e by thyroid hormone transporters and cytosolic binding proteins

Differential tissue sensitivity/responsivity to hormones can explain developmental asynchrony among hormone-dependent events despite equivalent exposure of each tissue to circulating hormone levels. A dramatic vertebrate example is during frog metamorphosis, where transformation of the hind limb, brain, intestine, liver, and tail are completely dependent on thyroid hormone (TH) but occurs asynchronously during development. TH transporters (THTs) and cytosolic TH binding proteins (CTHBPs) have been proposed to affect the timing of tissue transformation based on expression profiles and in vitro studies, but they have not been previously tested in vivo. We used a combination of expression pattern, relative expression level, and in vivo functional analysis to evaluate the potential for THTs (LAT1, OATP1c1, and MCT8) and CTHBPs (PKM2, CRYM, and ALDH1) to control the timing of TH-dependent development. Quantitative PCR analysis revealed complex expression profiles of THTs and CTHBPs with respect to developmental stage, tissue, and TH receptor β (TRβ) expression. For some tissues, the timing of tissue transformation was associated with a peak in the expression of some THTs or CTHBPs. An in vivo overexpression assay by tail muscle injection showed LAT1, PKM2, and CRYM increased TH-dependent tail muscle cell disappearance. Co-overexpression of MCT8 and CRYM had a synergistic effect on cell disappearance. Our data show that each tissue examined has a unique developmental expression profile of THTs and CTHBPs and provide direct in vivo evidence that the ones tested are capable of affecting the timing of developmental responses to TH

Gene Expression Analysis Reveals New Possible Mechanisms of Vancomycin-Induced Nephrotoxicity and Identifies Gene Markers Candidates

Vancomycin, one of few effective treatments against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, is nephrotoxic. The goals of this study were to (1) gain insights into molecular mechanisms of nephrotoxicity at the genomic level, (2) evaluate gene markers of vancomycin-induced kidney injury, and (3) compare gene expression responses after iv and ip administration. Groups of six female BALB/c mice were treated with seven daily iv or ip doses of vancomycin (50, 200, and 400 mg/kg) or saline, and sacrificed on day 8. Clinical chemistry and histopathology demonstrated kidney injury at 400 mg/kg only. Hierarchical clustering analysis revealed that kidney gene expression profiles of all mice treated at 400 mg/kg clustered with those of mice administered 200 mg/kg iv. Transcriptional profiling might thus be more sensitive than current clinical markers for detecting kidney damage, though the profiles can differ with the route of administration. Analysis of transcripts whose expression was changed by at least twofold compared with vehicle saline after high iv and ip doses of vancomycin suggested the possibility of oxidative stress and mitochondrial damage in vancomycin-induced toxicity. In addition, our data showed changes in expression of several transcripts from the complement and inflammatory pathways. Such expression changes were confirmed by relative real-time reverse transcription–polymerase chain reaction. Finally, our results further substantiate the use of gene markers of kidney toxicity such as KIM-1/Havcr1, as indicators of renal injury