Principals\u27 Knowledge of Special Education Policy and Procedure and the Special Education Teachers\u27 Intent

Teacher shortage has been a growing problem. With the increase of teacher shortages, some areas are being impacted more intensely. Special education is one of the areas most impacted by the shortages. Common reasons exist as to why teachers are leaving the field or profession. These reasons may be personal or professional related. Some of the professional reasons for leaving pertain to the school’s administration and the way special education teachers are treated. Principal support is cited as one of the primary indicators of teacher satisfaction. Literature supports the analysis that a principal’s leadership heavily determines a teacher’s job satisfaction. The theory of planned behavior is used to weigh the teacher’s attitude and intention. This paper seeks to determine if there is a correlation between the teacher’s attitude towards the principal’s knowledge of special education policy and procedure and the teacher’s intent to stay in the current school or placement

Methods for Quantitative Local Structure Analysis of Crystalline Materials Employing High Performance Computing

A fundamental computational methodology was investigated to extract quantitative local structure information from single crystal diffuse scattering data. The principles of a highly efficient, parallelizable local structure analysis using massively parallel computing resources at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) are demonstrated on an organic hydrocarbon compound containing stacking faults, Tris(bicyclo[2.1.1]hexeno)benzene. A probabilistic model of the stacking variations with a five layer interaction depth was developed. The final model structure motif statistics are verified using the steady state distribution of Markov matrix representing the four to five layer transitions. The computations revealed that highly parallelizable “structure-clones” could replace less computationally efficient “structure lots”. Further testing of the method is under way, using a new comprehensive modeling software suite ZODS (Zürich Oak Ridge Disorder Simulations) developed in Zürich, on synchrotron and lab X-Ray data of a highly efficient light-upconversion member of the NaLnF44 [Sodium Lanthanide tetra fluoride] family. Initially, a synchrotron data set was collected at the high resolution Swiss-Norwegian Beam Line at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility and is being analyzed. High resolution neutron diffraction data were recently collected at the time-of-flight Laue single crystal diffractometer TOPAZ at the Spallation Neutron Source at ORNL using the newly available event-mode processing. Currently, exploration of the event-mode data treatment and event based corrections for data preparation are under way. Simultaneous massively parallel local structure simulations of NaLaF4 [Sodium Lanthanum tetra fluoride] using ZODS on the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center are in progress. A step-wise modeling approach was adopted. The largest contributors to the X-Ray diffuse scattering, La2 [Lanthanum 2] and Na2 [Sodium 2] column neighbor interactions were modeled first, followed by F1 [Fluorine 1] shift from its average position toward La [Lanthanum] and away from Na [Sodium]. This work provides a basis for streamlining diffuse scattering analysis and yields a quantitative interpretation of the local atomic arrangement of crystalline materials, which may provide valuable information for interpreting their structure property relationships

Evaluation of a two-way, HIPAA-compliant text-messaging platform in a health system specialty pharmacy

PDJ Clark, PharmD, PGY1 Pharmacy Practice ResidentAdam Saulles, PharmD, CSP, BCACP; Tara Berkson, PharmD, BCACP Providence Health and Services, Portland, Oregon Evaluation of a two-way, HIPAA-compliant text-messaging platform in a health system specialty pharmacy Specialty medications, including those used to treat Multiple Sclerosis (MS), represent a growing proportion of prescription drug expenditures in the United States. MS is a chronic, progressive condition that requires maintenance therapy with disease-modifying medications. Many patients with MS rely on specialty pharmacies to obtain, dispense, and perform the necessary monitoring for these complex medication regimens. A study performed in 2017 by Munsell et al, demonstrated that only ~50% of patients with MS are adherent to prescribed regimens when initiating disease-modifying therapy. Routine pharmacy outreach could potentially help improve medication adherence in a population at high risk of disease progression secondary to non-adherence. Prior to July 2019, this health system specialty pharmacy only contacted MS patients via phone call to perform refill coordination and pharmacist follow-up. This strategy has been effective, but is not without flaws. Oftentimes, patients prefer not to receive phone calls or are unavailable during pharmacy business hours. This can lead to repeat outreach phone calls from caregivers and gaps in therapy. In July 2019, a HIPAA-compliant messaging platform was implemented. With this program, patients can respond to refill inquiries at their convenience and provide typed responses to medication-related safety, adherence, and efficacy follow-up questions sent by specialty pharmacists. This project seeks to identify whether implementation of the aforementioned messaging platform has had a quantifiable benefit on patient outreach and workflow outcomes within a health system specialty pharmacy setting. This single center, retrospective cohort analysis evaluated adult patients with a diagnosis of MS and at least 2 dispenses of disease-modifying medications. Data was collected via the electronic health record and the implemented text messaging application. The primary outcome is time between pharmacy technician outreach and medication refill. Secondary outcomes include medication adherence reported as medication possession ratio (MPR), the proportion of patients enrolled in the specialty pharmacy’s patient management program, patient satisfaction, and pharmacy phone call volume. Between group differences were described using simple descriptive statistics and T-tests, where applicable. A total of 335 patient had fills prior to and post-implementation of the text messaging platform, and 313 had multiple fills in each category, allowing for calculation of MPR. Response time (HH:MM ± 95% Confidence interval) was significantly decreased with utilization of text-message refill reminders (32:03 ± 7:09 vs 68:34 ± 11:37; phttps://digitalcommons.psjhealth.org/pharmacy_PGY1/1002/thumbnail.jp

Shifting the language of ‘invasion’ ecology: two-eyed seeing as a framework for discourse regarding introduced species

Discourse used in the field of invasion ecology has significant impacts on society\u27s perception, yet communication related to “invasives” is rife with problematic, exclusionary language. We provide potential solutions, including a repositioned perspective that may facilitate better relationships with the natural world by applying the two-eyed seeing framework. Our discussion calls for a paradigm shift for deeper understandings of human and more-than-human relationships. Ultimately, we advocate for respectful, considerate, and intentional language and stewardship

Physeal Growth Plate Fractures: Implications for the Pediatric Athlete

Pediatric musculoskeletal trauma accounts for most childhood injuries. The anatomy and physiology of the pediatric skeleton is unique as is its response to trauma. The pediatric skeleton has periods of rapid growth; therefore the effect of trauma to the musculoskeletal system may have significant long-term complications

Linking the University with the Community: An Experiential Learning Project to Promote Arts Entrepreneurship

Teaching students entrepreneurial skills and the utility of cross-disciplinary teams is difficult if only classroom exercises are employed. In this program, university students worked together with commercial artists and business-persons residing in our declining downtown region to assist in the organization, planning and management of an established regional arts festival and to launch a new feature of the festival based on digital animation. Through experiential learning, students gained an appreciation for “real-life” budgets, deadlines, responsibilities and an appreciation of working on cross-disciplinary teams while the community observed first-hand the benefits of students trained in digital media, entrepreneurship and project management

Hypothiocyanous acid oxidation of tubulin cysteines inhibits microtubule polymerization

Thiol oxidation is a probable outcome of cellular oxidative stress and is linked to degenerative disease progression. In addition, protein thiol redox reactions are increasingly identified as a mechanism to regulate protein structure and function. We assessed the effect of hypothiocyanous acid on the cytoskeletal protein tubulin. Total cysteine oxidation by hypothiocyanous and hypochlorous acids was monitored by labeling tubulin with 5-iodoacetamidofluorescein and by detecting higher molecular weight inter-chain tubulin disulfides by Western blot under nonreducing conditions. Hypothiocyanous acid induced nearly stoichiometric oxidation of tubulin cysteines (1.9 mol cysteine/mol oxidant) and no methionine oxidation was observed. Because disulfide reducing agents restored all the polymerization activity that was lost due to oxidant treatment, we conclude that cysteine oxidation of tubulin inhibits microtubule polymerization. Hypothiocyanous acid oxidation of tubulin cysteines was markedly decreased in the presence of 4% glycerol, a component of the tubulin purification buffer. Due to its instability and buffer- and pH-dependent reactivity, hypothiocyanous acid studies require careful consideration of reaction conditions. (C) 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved

Investigating the feasibility and utility of bedside balance technology acutely after pediatric concussion : A pilot study

Objective: To examine postural instability in children acutely after concussion, using the Wii Balance Board (WBB). We hypothesized that children with traumatic brain injury would have significantly worse balance relative to children without brain injury. Design: Prospective case–control pilot study. Setting: Emergency department of a tertiary urban pediatric hospital. Participants: Cases were a convenience sample 11-16 years old who presented within 6 hours of sustaining concussion. Two controls, matched on gender, height, and age, were enrolled for each case that completed study procedures. Controls were children who presented for a minor complaint that was unlikely to affect balance. Interventions: Not applicable. Main Outcome Measures: The participant's postural sway expressed as the displacement in centimeters of the center of pressure during a timed balance task. Balance testing was performed using 4 stances (single or double limb, eyes open or closed). Results: Three of the 17 (17.6%) cases were too dizzy to complete testing. One stance, double limbs eyes open, was significantly higher in cases versus controls (85.6 vs 64.3 cm, P = 0.04). Conclusions: A simple test on the WBB consisting of a 2-legged standing balance task with eyes open discriminated children with concussion from non-head-injured controls. The low cost and feasibility of this device make it a potentially viable tool for assessing postural stability in children with concussion for both longitudinal research studies and clinical care. Clinical Relevance: These pilot data suggest that the WBB is an inexpensive tool that can be used on the sideline or in the outpatient setting to objectively identify and quantify postural instability

Investigating the feasibility and utility of bedside balance technology acutely after pediatric concussion : A pilot study

Objective: To examine postural instability in children acutely after concussion, using the Wii Balance Board (WBB). We hypothesized that children with traumatic brain injury would have significantly worse balance relative to children without brain injury. Design: Prospective case–control pilot study. Setting: Emergency department of a tertiary urban pediatric hospital. Participants: Cases were a convenience sample 11-16 years old who presented within 6 hours of sustaining concussion. Two controls, matched on gender, height, and age, were enrolled for each case that completed study procedures. Controls were children who presented for a minor complaint that was unlikely to affect balance. Interventions: Not applicable. Main Outcome Measures: The participant's postural sway expressed as the displacement in centimeters of the center of pressure during a timed balance task. Balance testing was performed using 4 stances (single or double limb, eyes open or closed). Results: Three of the 17 (17.6%) cases were too dizzy to complete testing. One stance, double limbs eyes open, was significantly higher in cases versus controls (85.6 vs 64.3 cm, P = 0.04). Conclusions: A simple test on the WBB consisting of a 2-legged standing balance task with eyes open discriminated children with concussion from non-head-injured controls. The low cost and feasibility of this device make it a potentially viable tool for assessing postural stability in children with concussion for both longitudinal research studies and clinical care. Clinical Relevance: These pilot data suggest that the WBB is an inexpensive tool that can be used on the sideline or in the outpatient setting to objectively identify and quantify postural instability

Divergent Values: A Family Critical Race Theory Analysis of Families of Color and Their Perceptions of Teachers and Teaching as a Profession

In seeking strategies for diversifying the U.S. public school teacher workforce, education policymakers and teacher education programs need to meaningfully consider input from the families of PK-12 Students of Color. Using a Family Critical Race Theory (FamilyCrit) analysis, this article examines the educational experiences and related perspectives of Families of Color about teachers and the teaching profession. Findings reveal that Families of Color perceive teaching as a form of caring and teachers as extended family members. Families of Color wrestled with a divergence of values in encouraging their children to pursue their passions, while concomitantly confronting economic injustices. Findings challenge dominant narratives that Families of Color do not have college or career aspirations for their children