Teachersʼ practices and beliefs regarding the promotion of literacy in multilingual educational environments: the example of a Kindergarten

Στην παρούσα έρευνα επιδιώξαμε να διερευνήσουμε και να αναδείξουμε αντιλήψεις και πρακτικές των εκπαιδευτικών για την προώθηση του εγγραμματισμού των παιδιών σε ένα πολυπολιτισμικό-πολύγλωσσο περιβάλλον. Σκοπός της έρευνας ήταν να συγκριθούν οι δηλωθείσες πρακτικές των εκπαιδευτικών δύο τμημάτων νηπιαγωγείου του κέντρου της Αθήνας, με αυτές, που παρατηρήθηκαν να εφαρμόζονται στο σχολικό τους πλαίσιο, για να εντοπιστεί κατά πόσο οι αντιλήψεις, που ασπάζονται, ταυτίζονται ή όχι με τις μεθόδους που αξιοποιούν και το βαθμό που αυτές προσαρμόζονταν στο συγκεκριμένο εκπαιδευτικό πλαίσιο. Το θεωρητικό πλαίσιο της έρευνας, ακολουθεί τις σύγχρονες παιδαγωγικές αντιλήψεις για την προσέγγιση του εγγραμματισμού. Τα ερευνητικά εργαλεία ήταν η παρατήρηση με στόχο την καταγραφή των πρακτικών των εκπαιδευτικών, οι σχάρες παρατήρησης, που συμπληρώθηκαν απ’ τις ίδιες, σχετικά με τον προφορικό και το γραπτό λόγο των παιδιών, ώστε να διερευνηθεί η γνώση των ιδιαιτεροτήτων του πλαισίου τους και ημιδομημένες συνεντεύξεις, ώστε να είναι εφικτή η σύγκριση μεταξύ των απόψεων και των πρακτικών τους. Από την έρευνα προέκυψε ότι και οι δύο εκπαιδευτικοί αξιοποίησαν στην πλειοψηφία των πρακτικών τους παραδοσιακές μεθόδους εγγραμματισμού, παρόλο που μέσα από τις συνεντεύξεις τους έδειξαν να ενστερνίζονται τουλάχιστον εν μέρει τις σύγχρονες παιδαγωγικές αντιλήψεις. Από τις σχάρες παρατήρησης προέκυψε ότι οι εκπαιδευτικοί δεν έχουν σαφή εικόνα για το πλαίσιό τους, κάτι που ενδεχομένως συμβάλλει στην απόσταση που εντοπίσαμε ανάμεσα στο λόγο και στην πράξη.The purpose of the current study is to investigate and highlight teachers’ beliefs and practices regarding the promotion of children’s literacy in a multicultural and multilingual environment. The research focuses on two kindergarten classrooms at a school located in the center of Athens. More specifically, the goals of this study were a) to compare the stated practices of the participating kindergarten teachers with their observed practices in the classroom context b) to establish whether the teachers’ theoretical orientation is consistent in practice with their adopted methods and c) to determine the extent to which those methods are adapted to the respective educational setting. The theoretical framework of the current survey follows the contemporary pedagogical approach to literacy. The following research materials are used: a) the observation and recording of teachers’ instructional practices, b) observation checklists pertaining to the students’ oral and written communication skills, completed directly by the teachers and analyzed in this research to examine the extent to which the teachers are aware of the particularities of their classes and c) semi-structured interviews that enable sound comparisons between the teachers’ convictions and instruction methods. The findings of this study show that both kindergarten teachers employ traditional methods of literacy in most of their instructional practices, even though they espouse -at least partially- modern pedagogical approaches, as revealed by the interviews. In addition, the checklists demonstrate that the teachers do not have a clear understanding of their classes’ unique characteristics, which could be one of the reasons for the observed inconsistency between teachers’ beliefs and practices

Regulators of complement activity mediate inhibitory mechanisms through a common C3b‐binding mode

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Insight into mode-of-action and structural determinants of the compstatin family of clinical complement inhibitors

With the addition of the compstatin-based complement C3 inhibitor pegcetacoplan, another class of complement targeted therapeutics have recently been approved. Moreover, compstatin derivatives with enhanced pharmacodynamic and pharmacokinetic profiles are in clinical development (e.g., Cp40/AMY-101). Despite this progress, the target binding and inhibitory modes of the compstatin family remain incompletely described. Here, we present the crystal structure of Cp40 complexed with its target C3b at 2.0-Å resolution. Structure-activity-relationship studies rationalize the picomolar affinity and long target residence achieved by lead optimization, and reveal a role for structural water in inhibitor binding. We provide explanations for the narrow species specificity of this drug class and demonstrate distinct target selection modes between clinical compstatin derivatives. Functional studies provide further insight into physiological complement activation and corroborate the mechanism of its compstatin-mediated inhibition. Our study may thereby guide the application of existing and development of next-generation compstatin analogs

A Molecular Insight into Complement Evasion by the Staphylococcal Complement Inhibitor Protein Family

Staphylococcus aureus possesses an impressive arsenal of complement evasion proteins that help the bacterium escape attack of the immune system. The staphylococcal complement inhibitor (SCIN) protein exhibits a particularly high potency and was previously shown to block complement by acting at the level of the C3 convertases. However, many details about the exact binding and inhibitory mechanism remained unclear. In this study, we demonstrate that SCIN directly binds with nanomolar affinity to a functionally important area of C3b that lies near the C terminus of its -chain. Direct competition of SCIN with factor B for C3b slightly decreased the formation of surface-bound convertase. However, the main inhibitory effect can be attributed to an entrapment of the assembled convertase in an inactive state. Whereas native C3 is still able to bind to the blocked convertase, no generation and deposition of C3b could be detected in the presence of SCIN. Furthermore, SCIN strongly competes with the binding of factor H to C3b and influences its regulatory activities: the SCIN-stabilized convertase was essentially insensitive to decay acceleration by factor H and the factor I- and H-mediated conversion of surface-bound C3b to iC3b was significantly reduced. By targeting a key area on C3b, SCIN is able to block several essential functions within the alternative pathway, which explains the high potency of the inhibitor. Our findings provide an important insight into complement evasion strategies by S. aureus and may act as a base for further functional studies. The Journal of Immunology, 2009, 183: 2565–2574. T he bacterium Staphylococcus aureus is a widely dissem-inated and persistent human pathogen that has a long-standing and increasingly negative impact on human health. It is a primary etiologic agent of numerous disorders tha

Teachersʼ practices and beliefs regarding the promotion of literacy in multilingual educational environments: the example of a Kindergarten

Στην παρούσα έρευνα επιδιώξαμε να διερευνήσουμε και να αναδείξουμε αντιλήψεις και πρακτικές των εκπαιδευτικών για την προώθηση του εγγραμματισμού των παιδιών σε ένα πολυπολιτισμικό-πολύγλωσσο περιβάλλον. Σκοπός της έρευνας ήταν να συγκριθούν οι δηλωθείσες πρακτικές των εκπαιδευτικών δύο τμημάτων νηπιαγωγείου του κέντρου της Αθήνας, με αυτές, που παρατηρήθηκαν να εφαρμόζονται στο σχολικό τους πλαίσιο, για να εντοπιστεί κατά πόσο οι αντιλήψεις, που ασπάζονται, ταυτίζονται ή όχι με τις μεθόδους που αξιοποιούν και το βαθμό που αυτές προσαρμόζονταν στο συγκεκριμένο εκπαιδευτικό πλαίσιο. Το θεωρητικό πλαίσιο της έρευνας, ακολουθεί τις σύγχρονες παιδαγωγικές αντιλήψεις για την προσέγγιση του εγγραμματισμού. Τα ερευνητικά εργαλεία ήταν η παρατήρηση με στόχο την καταγραφή των πρακτικών των εκπαιδευτικών, οι σχάρες παρατήρησης, που συμπληρώθηκαν απ’ τις ίδιες, σχετικά με τον προφορικό και το γραπτό λόγο των παιδιών, ώστε να διερευνηθεί η γνώση των ιδιαιτεροτήτων του πλαισίου τους και ημιδομημένες συνεντεύξεις, ώστε να είναι εφικτή η σύγκριση μεταξύ των απόψεων και των πρακτικών τους. Από την έρευνα προέκυψε ότι και οι δύο εκπαιδευτικοί αξιοποίησαν στην πλειοψηφία των πρακτικών τους παραδοσιακές μεθόδους εγγραμματισμού, παρόλο που μέσα από τις συνεντεύξεις τους έδειξαν να ενστερνίζονται τουλάχιστον εν μέρει τις σύγχρονες παιδαγωγικές αντιλήψεις. Από τις σχάρες παρατήρησης προέκυψε ότι οι εκπαιδευτικοί δεν έχουν σαφή εικόνα για το πλαίσιό τους, κάτι που ενδεχομένως συμβάλλει στην απόσταση που εντοπίσαμε ανάμεσα στο λόγο και στην πράξη.The purpose of the current study is to investigate and highlight teachers’ beliefs and practices regarding the promotion of children’s literacy in a multicultural and multilingual environment. The research focuses on two kindergarten classrooms at a school located in the center of Athens. More specifically, the goals of this study were a) to compare the stated practices of the participating kindergarten teachers with their observed practices in the classroom context b) to establish whether the teachers’ theoretical orientation is consistent in practice with their adopted methods and c) to determine the extent to which those methods are adapted to the respective educational setting. The theoretical framework of the current survey follows the contemporary pedagogical approach to literacy. The following research materials are used: a) the observation and recording of teachers’ instructional practices, b) observation checklists pertaining to the students’ oral and written communication skills, completed directly by the teachers and analyzed in this research to examine the extent to which the teachers are aware of the particularities of their classes and c) semi-structured interviews that enable sound comparisons between the teachers’ convictions and instruction methods. The findings of this study show that both kindergarten teachers employ traditional methods of literacy in most of their instructional practices, even though they espouse -at least partially- modern pedagogical approaches, as revealed by the interviews. In addition, the checklists demonstrate that the teachers do not have a clear understanding of their classes’ unique characteristics, which could be one of the reasons for the observed inconsistency between teachers’ beliefs and practices

Restoration of Complement-Enhanced Neutralization of Vaccinia Virus Virions by Novel Monoclonal Antibodies Raised against the Vaccinia Virus Complement Control Protein

The vaccinia virus complement control protein (VCP) is secreted by infected cells and has been shown to inhibit complement activation through interactions with C3b/C4b. It contains four short consensus repeat (SCR) domains. It has been suggested that all four SCRs are required for VCP's activity. To elucidate which SCR domains are involved in abolishing complement-enhanced neutralization of vaccinia virus virions, we generated and characterized a panel of mouse monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) raised against VCP. Ten MAbs were isolated and all recognized VCP on Western blots under reducing conditions as well as native-bound VCP in a sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Three of the 10 MAbs (2E5, 3D1, and 3F11) inhibited VCP's abolition of complement-enhanced neutralization of vaccinia virus virions. These MAbs blocked the interaction of VCP with C3b/C4b. The seven remaining MAbs did not alter VCP function in the complement neutralization assay and recognized VCP bound to C3b/C4b. To understand MAb specificity and mode of interaction with VCP, we mapped the MAb binding regions on VCP. The seven nonblocking MAbs all bound to the first SCR of VCP. One of the blocking MAbs recognized SCR 2 while the other two recognized either SCR 4 or the junction between SCRs 3 and 4, indicating that structural elements involved in the interaction of VCP with C3b/C4b are located within SCR domains 2 and 3 and 4. These anti-VCP MAbs may have clinical significance as therapeutic inhibitors of VCP's complement control activity and may also offer a novel approach to managing vaccinia virus vaccine complications that occur from smallpox vaccination