Mejores prácticas de desarrollo profesional docente en Estados Unidos

This paper discusses best practices in teachers’ professional development (PD) in the United States (U.S.). We begin by presenting a conceptual framework for effective professional development, which suggests five key features that make professional development effective—content focus, active learning, coherence, sustained duration, and collective participation. We then describe the findings from recent U.S. research that has tested the five features, with an emphasis on the results of rigorous randomized control trials. We discuss several insights gained from this work and that have helped refine the framework. They are that (a) changing procedural classroom behavior is easier than improving content knowledge or inquiry-oriented instruction techniques; (b) teachers vary in response to the same PD; (c) PD is more successful when it is explicitly linked to classroom lessons; (d) PD research and implementation must allow for urban contexts (e.g., student and teacher mobility); and (e) leadership plays a key role in supporting and encouraging teachers to implement in the classroom the ideas and strategies they learned in the PD. We then examine three major trends in how professional development for teachers is evolving in the U.S.—a move away from short workshops, linking teacher PD to evaluations, and the use of video technology to improve and monitor the effects of PD. Finally, we discuss the challenges faced by districts and schools in implementing effective professional development.Este artículo analiza las mejores prácticas de desarrollo profesional docente (DPD) en los Estados Unidos de América (USA). Comenzamos presentando un marco conceptual sobre DPD, que sugiere la existencia de cinco características clave que favorecen un DPD efectivo: foco en el contenido, aprendizaje activo, coherencia, duración sostenida, y participación colectiva. Continuamos describiendo los resultados de recientes investigaciones que han puesto a prueba dichas cinco características en USA, enfatizando los resultados de rigurosos estudios experimentales aleatorizados. Discutimos las lecciones aprendidas a partir de dichos estudios, que nos han permitido refinar nuestro marco teórico sobre el DPD efectivo. Hemos aprendido que (a) cambiar el comportamiento de los profesores en clase es más fácil que mejorar sus conocimientos disciplinares o las estrategias instruccionales de alto nivel; (b) los profesores varían en respuesta al mismo DPD; (c) DPD es más exitoso cuando está explícitamente conectado con la práctica docente; (d) la investigación y la implementación del DPD debe tener en cuenta las condiciones de las áreas urbanas (e.g., la movilidad de estudiantes y profesores); y (e) los líderes juegan un rol fundamental apoyando y animando a los profesores para que apliquen en sus clases las ideas y estrategias aprendidas en DPD. Después examinamos tres tendencias generales en la evaluación reciente del DPD en USA—un descenso en el uso de cursos y talleres de corta duración, la conexión del DPD con las evaluaciones del profesorado, y el uso de video-tecnología para mejorar y supervisar los efectos del DPD. Finalmente, discutimos las dificultades que los distritos y las escuelas encuentran para implementar DPD efectivo

Case Studies of Sustainable Water Resources Development, Rio Grande Basin, New Mexico

The complexity of sustainable development and the complexities within New Mexico make it impossible to examine all aspects of the issue within this collection of student papers. The six case studies that follow do show the complexity of the issues. Two papers deal with the urban water supplies for Los Alamos (Chapter 1) and Santa Fe (Chapter 5). For the immediate future both cities can supply their needs but both will have to seek new sources in the long term. The surrounding traditional communities may chose to sell their water rights in order to satisfy this demand. Two papers are about watershed management. The Spring Creek watershed (Chapter 3) will be logged, and the impacts of the logging are examined. Because locals will do the logging, the economic benefits will go to a traditional community. In La Cañada watershed (Chapter 4) overgrazing has caused significant erosion and recommendations are made on how to correct this problem. The Cochiti Dam paper (Chapter 2) deals directly with the equities involved in constructing dams and the impacts they have on traditional communities. The paper on wastewater treatment in Albuquerque\u27s North Valley (chapter 6) examines alternatives to traditional treatment methods.https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/wr_fmr/1008/thumbnail.jp

Synthesis and Characterization of Novel Organometallic Complexes

https://scholarworks.seattleu.edu/fss-2019/1010/thumbnail.jp

Silencing DUX4 Expression in FSHD Cells by CRISPR

Facioscapulohumeral Muscular Dystrophy (FSHD) is an autosomal dominant neuromuscular disease affecting 1 in 20,000 to 1 in 15,000 individuals and is characterized by progressive weakness in the facial, scapular, humeral, truncal, and lower extremity muscles (Tawil and Van Der Maarel Muscle Nerve 2006). FSHD is associated with the contraction of the D4Z4 microsatellite repeat below a threshold number of repeats (Wijmenga et al., Nat. Genet, 1992), allowing the transcription of the DUX4 gene contained within the last repeat (Snider et al., PLoS Gen, 2010). The disease only develops when DUX4 is expressed from a chromosome with the permissive 4qA allele, which contains a polyadenylation signal (PAS) that stabilizes the DUX4 transcript (Lemmers et al., Science, 2010). We are using CRISPR technology to investigate the possibility that disruption of the PAS in cells derived from FSHD patients could prevent expression of the DUX4 protein and restore the cell to a less affected phenotype. We will then take advantage of the high reprogramming efficiency of FSHD cells and generate iPSC from FSHD muscle cells with the repressed DUX4 allele, and determine if they have a similar phenotype to iPS cells derived from non-affected individuals. Finally, we will use the highly-engraftable iPS cells in xenograft experiments to determine if the DUX4-silenced iPSCs repopulate injured muscle more efficiently than unaltered FSHD-derived iPSC, and evaluate their potential for use as therapeutics

Custom-fit radiolucent cranial implants for neurophysiological recording and stimulation

Background: Recording and manipulating neural activity in awake behaving animal models requires long-term implantation of cranial implants that must address a variety of design considerations, which include preventing infection, minimizing tissue damage, mechanical strength of the implant, and MRI compatibility. New method: Here we address these issues by designing legless, custom-fit cranial implants using structural MRI-based reconstruction of the skull and that are made from carbon-reinforced PEEK. Results: We report several novel custom-fit radiolucent implant designs, which include a legless recording chamber, a legless stimulation chamber, a multi-channel microdrive and a head post. The fit to the skull was excellent in all cases, with no visible gaps between the base of the implants and the skull. The wound margin was minimal in size and showed no sign of infection or skin recession. Comparison with existing methods: Cranial implants used for neurophysiological investigation in awake behaving animals often employ methyl methacrylate (MMA) to serve as a bonding agent to secure the implant to the skull. Other designs rely on radially extending legs to secure the implant. Both of these methods have significant drawbacks. MMA is toxic to bone and frequently leads to infection while radially extending legs cause the skin to recede away from the implant, ultimately exposing bone and proliferating granulation tissue. Conclusions: These radiolucent implants constitute a set of technologies suitable for reliable long-term recording, which minimize infection and tissue damage.National Eye Institute (EY017291)National Eye Institute (EY017292)National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (National Research Service Award, EY020692

A Constrained Sequential-Lamination Algorithm for the Simulation of Sub-Grid Microstructure in Martensitic Materials

We present a practical algorithm for partially relaxing multiwell energy densities such as pertain to materials undergoing martensitic phase transitions. The algorithm is based on sequential lamination, but the evolution of the microstructure during a deformation process is required to satisfy a continuity constraint, in the sense that the new microstructure should be reachable from the preceding one by a combination of branching and pruning operations. All microstructures generated by the algorithm are in static and configurational equilibrium. Owing to the continuity constrained imposed upon the microstructural evolution, the predicted material behavior may be path-dependent and exhibit hysteresis. In cases in which there is a strict separation of micro and macrostructural lengthscales, the proposed relaxation algorithm may effectively be integrated into macroscopic finite-element calculations at the subgrid level. We demonstrate this aspect of the algorithm by means of a numerical example concerned with the indentation of an Cu-Al-Ni shape memory alloy by a spherical indenter.Comment: 27 pages with 9 figures. To appear in: Computer Methods in Applied Mechanics and Engineering. New version incorporates minor revisions from revie

172. Risk Factors for 30-Day Mortality in Patients with Staphylococcus aureus Bacteremia at a Community Hospital: A Prospective Case–Control Study

Background: Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia (SAB) is associated with 30-day all-cause mortality rates approaching 20–30%. The purpose of this case–control study was to evaluate risk factors for 30-day mortality in patients with SAB at a community hospital. Methods: As part of an antimicrobial stewardship program (ASP) initiative mandating Infectious Diseases consultation for episodes of SAB, our ASP prospectively monitored all cases of SAB at a 341-bed community hospital in Jefferson Hills, PA from April 2017–February 2019. Cases included patients with 30-day mortality from the initial positive blood culture. Only the first episode of SAB was included; patients were excluded if a treatment plan was not established (e.g., left against medical advice). Patient demographics, comorbidities, laboratory results, and clinical management of SAB were evaluated. Inferential statistics were used to analyze risk factors associated with 30-day mortality. Results: 100 patients with SAB were included; 18 (18%) experienced 30-day mortality. Cases were older (median age 76.5 vs. 64 years, P \u3c 0.001), more likely to be located in the intensive care unit (ICU) at time of ASP review (55.6% vs. 30.5%, P = 0.043), and less likely to have initial blood cultures obtained in the emergency department (ED) (38.9% vs. 80.5%, P \u3c 0.001). Variables associated with significantly higher odds for 30-day mortality in univariate analysis: older age, location in ICU at time of ASP review, initial blood cultures obtained at a location other than the ED, and total Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI). Variables with P \u3c 0.2 on univariate analysis were analyzed via multivariate logistic regression (Table 1). Conclusion: Results show that bacteremia due to MRSA and total CCI were not significantly associated with 30-day mortality in SAB, whereas older age was identified as a risk factor. Patients with initial blood cultures obtained at a location other than the ED were at increased odds for 30-day mortality on univariate analysis, which may raise concern for delayed diagnosis