Latina Female Superintendents Securing Positions in Small Rural School Districts

Underrepresentation of women in the position of school superintendent has been identified as an equity issue in the field of education. National demographics show that approximately 73% of school superintendents are male as compared to only 27% female. Of these female superintendents, Latina and nonwhite female superintendents make up a small percentage of this group (Kominiak, 2016) and scarce in the literature. This research study revealed that Latina superintendents were attracted to small rural districts with a familial environment with high levels of parental and community involvement. They shared the perspective that small rural communities seemed to be more receptive to having a Latina superintendent than larger, more urban school districts. Gender discrimination occurred in some, but not all participant cases

FROM SCHOOL TO HOME: UNDERSTANDING THE EXPERIENCES OF PARENTS AND LEARNERS IN MODULAR LEARNING

The emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic brought a major shift in the delivery of instruction. Parents and learners were caught unprepared for this situation. As such, this study aimed to describe the experiences of parents and learners in modular learning. Following a phenomenological approach, 10 parents and 30 learners from the Schools Division of the City of Batac underwent unstructured interviews via home visits, phone calls, and messenger calls. It adopted the Hycner transcription analysis methodology for the data analysis. Findings revealed that parents’ experiences could be described along four themes: multiple roles, learning management challenges, home learning strategies, and support systems. Meanwhile, learners’ experiences were revealed by these four themes: learning preferences, learning struggles, learning strategies, and learning support. Interestingly, these experiences magnify the need for attention to shared responsibility, understanding, cooperation, commitment, and compassion for modular learning to succeed in the context of a pandemic. Furthermore, the findings could serve as a basis for providing comprehensive and inclusive educational policies that facilitate the adjustments of learners and parents in a new learning setup. As such, schools can create and implement more adoptive, relevant, and inclusive institutional plans, projects, activities, and programs for the attainment of optimum learning gains. &nbsp

The Large Aperture GRB Observatory

The Large Aperture GRB Observatory (LAGO) is aiming at the detection of the high energy (around 100 GeV) component of Gamma Ray Bursts, using the single particle technique in arrays of Water Cherenkov Detectors (WCD) in high mountain sites (Chacaltaya, Bolivia, 5300 m a.s.l., Pico Espejo, Venezuela, 4750 m a.s.l., Sierra Negra, Mexico, 4650 m a.s.l). WCD at high altitude offer a unique possibility of detecting low gamma fluxes in the 10 GeV - 1 TeV range. The status of the Observatory and data collected from 2007 to date will be presented.Comment: 4 pages, proceeding of 31st ICRC 200

Water Cherenkov Detectors response to a Gamma Ray Burst in the Large Aperture GRB Observatory

In order to characterise the behaviour of Water Cherenkov Detectors (WCD) under a sudden increase of 1 GeV - 1 TeV background photons from a Gamma Ray Burst (GRB), simulations were conducted and compared to data acquired by the WCD of the Large Aperture GRB Observatory (LAGO). The LAGO operates arrays of WCD at high altitude to detect GRBs using the single particle technique. The LAGO sensitivity to GRBs is derived from the reported simulations of the gamma initiated particle showers in the atmosphere and the WCD response to secondaries.Comment: 5 pages, proceeding of the 31st ICRC 200

State Orthogonalization by Building a Hilbert Space: A New Approach to Electronic Quantum Transport in Molecular Wires

Quantum descriptions of many complex systems are formulated most naturally in bases of states that are not mutually orthogonal. We introduce a general and powerful yet simple approach that facilitates solving such models exactly by embedding the non-orthogonal states in a new Hilbert space in which they are by definition mutually orthogonal. This novel approach is applied to electronic transport in molecular quantum wires and is used to predict conductance antiresonances of a new type that arise solely out of the non-orthogonality of the local orbitals on different sites of the wire.Comment: 4 pages 1 figur

Widely tunable erbium-doped fiber laser based on multimode interference effect

A widely tunable erbium-doped all-fiber laser has been demonstrated. The tunable mechanism is based on a novel tunable filter using multimode interference effects (MMI). The tunable MMI filter was applied to fabricate a tunable erbium-doped fiber laser via a standard ring cavity. A tuning range of 60 nm was obtained, ranging from 1549 nm to 1609 nm, with a signal to noise ratio of 40 dB. The tunable MMI filter mechanism is very simple and inexpensive, but also quite efficient as a wavelength tunable filter

The role of GDP-L-galactose phosphorylase in the control of ascorbate biosynthesis

This is the final version. Available from American Society of Plant Biologists via the DOI in this record. Sequence data were sourced from The Arabidopsis Information Resource (https://www.arabidopsis.org/) under the following accession numbers: AT2G39770 for GMP, AT5G28840 for GME, AT4G26850 for GGP, AT3G02870 for GPP, AT4G33670 for L-GalDH, and AT3G47930 for L-GalLDH.The enzymes involved in L-ascorbate biosynthesis in photosynthetic organisms (the Smirnoff-Wheeler [SW] pathway) are well established. Here, we analyzed their subcellular localizations and potential physical interactions and assessed their role in the control of ascorbate synthesis. Transient expression of C terminal-tagged fusions of SW genes in Nicotiana benthamiana and Arabidopsis thaliana mutants complemented with genomic constructs showed that while GDP-D-mannose epimerase is cytosolic, all the enzymes from GDP-D-mannose pyrophosphorylase (GMP) to L-galactose dehydrogenase (L-GalDH) show a dual cytosolic/nuclear localization. All transgenic lines expressing functional SW protein green fluorescent protein fusions driven by their endogenous promoters showed a high accumulation of the fusion proteins, with the exception of those lines expressing GDP-L-galactose phosphorylase (GGP) protein, which had very low abundance. Transient expression of individual or combinations of SW pathway enzymes in N. benthamiana only increased ascorbate concentration if GGP was included. Although we did not detect direct interaction between the different enzymes of the pathway using yeast-two hybrid analysis, consecutive SW enzymes, as well as the first and last enzymes (GMP and L-GalDH) associated in coimmunoprecipitation studies. This association was supported by gel filtration chromatography, showing the presence of SW proteins in highmolecular weight fractions. Finally, metabolic control analysis incorporating known kinetic characteristics showed that previously reported feedback repression at the GGP step, combined with its relatively low abundance, confers a high-flux control coefficient and rationalizes why manipulation of other enzymes has little effect on ascorbate concentration.Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC)Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC)panish Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Deporte para la formación del Profesorado UniversitarioI Plan Propio de Investigación, Transferencia y Divulgación Científica de la Universidad de Málaga, The Ministerio de Economía, Industria y CompetitividadEuropean Regional Development Fund (ERDF)panish “Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad/FEDER”Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidade

CDK4 Phosphorylates AMPKα2 to Inhibit Its Activity and Repress Fatty Acid Oxidation

The roles of CDK4 in the cell cycle have been extensively studied, but less is known about the mechanisms underlying the metabolic regulation by CDK4. Here, we report that CDK4 promotes anaerobic glycolysis and represses fatty acid oxidation in mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs) by targeting the AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK). We also show that fatty acid oxidation (FAO) is specifically induced by AMPK complexes containing the α2 subunit. Moreover, we report that CDK4 represses FAO through direct phosphorylation and inhibition of AMPKα2. The expression of non-phosphorylatable AMPKα2 mutants, or the use of a CDK4 inhibitor, increased FAO rates in MEFs and myotubes. In addition, Cdk4(-/-) mice have increased oxidative metabolism and exercise capacity. Inhibition of CDK4 mimicked these alterations in normal mice, but not when skeletal muscle was AMPK deficient. This novel mechanism explains how CDK4 promotes anabolism by blocking catabolic processes (FAO) that are activated by AMPK

Differential Effects of High-Carbohydrate and High-Fat Diet Composition on Metabolic Control and Insulin Resistance in Normal Rats

The macronutrient component of diets is critical for metabolic control and insulin action. The aim of this study was to compare the effects of high fat diets (HFDs) vs. high carbohydrate diets (HCDs) on metabolic control and insulin resistance in Wistar rats. Thirty animals divided into five groups (n = 6) were fed: (1) Control diet (CD); (2) High-saturated fat diet (HSFD); (3) High-unsaturated fat diet (HUFD); (4) High-digestible starch diet, (HDSD); and (5) High-resistant starch diet (HRSD) during eight weeks. HFDs and HCDs reduced weight gain in comparison with CD, however no statistical significance was reached. Calorie intake was similar in both HFDs and CD, but rats receiving HCDs showed higher calorie consumption than other groups, (p < 0.01). HRSD showed the lowest levels of serum and hepatic lipids. The HUFD induced the lowest fasting glycemia levels and HOMA-IR values. The HDSD group exhibited the highest insulin resistance and hepatic cholesterol content. In conclusion, HUFD exhibited the most beneficial effects on glycemic control meanwhile HRSD induced the highest reduction on lipid content and did not modify insulin sensitivity. In both groups, HFDs and HCDs, the diet constituents were more important factors than caloric intake for metabolic disturbance and insulin resistance