Teacher Perceptions On Teacher Leadership And Shared Vision In NC Schools: A Correlational Study Using The NC Teacher Working Conditions Survey

As the landscape of public education continues to evolve, so does the leadership and vision required to meet the needs of this ever-changing academic platform. No longer is academic research focusing solely on school leadership required to lead 21st century students and educators toward success, but rather it is focused on the plethora of factors that inform the development of thriving learning communities across our nation. While much of the educational discourse on leadership and vision speaks to the development of strategies, pedagogies, and leadership preparation for school leaders, there are deficiencies in the literature on teacher leadership and shared vision based on the perceptions of teachers. There is a gap in the educational research and scholarship where quantitative analyses on teacher perceptions of teacher leadership and shared vision across specific states are concerned. The purpose of this explanatory correlational study was to determine any relationship between background demographic variables (e.g. total years of employment, total years employed at current school, school position, and organization type) and teacher perceptions of the teacher leadership with shared vision as a control variable through a secondary data analysis of the North Carolina Teacher Working Conditions Survey (NCTWCS). The study sample population consisted of N=16,383 teacher and other staff respondents to the 2012 NCTWCS. The study results indicated that there was no statistical significance based on the correlation coefficients between total years employed as an educator and teacher perceptions of teacher leadership. The results did confirm, however, that there was statistical significance between total years employed at the current school and teacher perceptions of teacher leadership. The resulting analysis confirmed that there was also statistical significance between school position and teacher perceptions of teacher leadership in NC schools. Finally, the data affirmed that the nature of the relationship between total years employed as an educator and shared vision 3 was statistically significant, and that for every year employed as an educator, there was an increase in shared vision. The findings of this study exemplified the need for further research regarding teacher perceptions of teacher leadership and the implementation of shared vision at the school and district level

The effect of isothermal heat treatment on the ferrite grain size and properties of large carbon manganese steel castings

This investigation was a study of the applicability of isothermal annealing treatments to heavy section steel castings for the improvement of mechanical properties. The study showed that for a wide variety of cast C - Mn steels an isothermal anneal achieved superior properties in massive sections without an increase in heat treatment time

Evaluating the effectiveness of the Emergency Neurological Life Support educational framework in low-income countries.

BackgroundThe Emergency Neurological Life Support (ENLS) is an educational initiative designed to improve the acute management of neurological injuries. However, the applicability of the course in low-income countries in unknown. We evaluated the impact of the course on knowledge, decision-making skills and preparedness to manage neurological emergencies in a resource-limited country.MethodsA prospective cohort study design was implemented for the first ENLS course held in Asia. Knowledge and decision-making skills for neurological emergencies were assessed at baseline, post-course and at 6 months following course completion. To determine perceived knowledge and preparedness, data were collected using surveys administered immediately post-course and 6 months later.ResultsA total of 34 acute care physicians from across Nepal attended the course. Knowledge and decision-making skills significantly improved following the course (p=0.0008). Knowledge and decision-making skills remained significantly improved after 6 months, compared with before the course (p=0.02), with no significant loss of skills immediately following the course to the 6-month follow-up (p=0.16). At 6 months, the willingness to participate in continuing medical education activities remained evident, with 77% (10/13) of participants reporting a change in their clinical practice and decision-making, with the repeated use of ENLS protocols as the main driver of change.ConclusionsUsing the ENLS framework, neurocritical care education can be delivered in low-income countries to improve knowledge uptake, with evidence of knowledge retention up to 6 months

Repetitive proteins from the flagellar cytoskeleton of African trypanosomes are diagnostically useful antigens

Trypanosome infection of mammalian hosts leads, within days, to a strong early response against a small, distinct number of parasite proteins. One of these proteins is the variable surface glycoprotein (VSG). Most of the others are apparently non-variable, intracellular trypanosome proteins. Two of these antigens I2 and I17 are now characterized at the molecular level. Both exhibit a highly repetitive amino acid sequence organization, but they show no sequence similarity either to each other or to any other proteins known to date. Preliminary serological analyses indicate that both allow the early, sensitive and specific detection of infections with different species of trypanosomatids, making them interesting candidates for the development of diagnostic tools for trypanosomiasis detectio

NcGRA2 as a molecular target to assess the parasiticidal activity of toltrazuril against Neospora caninum

The treatment of Neospora caninum infection in the bovine host is still at an experimental stage. In contrast to the in vivo situation, a wide range of compounds have been intensively investigated in cell-culture-based assays. Tools to demonstrate efficacy of treatment have remained conventional including morphological and cell biological criteria. In this work, we present a molecular assay that allows the distinction between live and dead parasites. Live parasites can be detected by measuring the mRNA level of specific genes, making use of the specific mRNA available in live cells. The NcGra2 gene of N. caninum, which is known to be expressed in both tachyzoites and bradyzoites, was used to establish a quantitative real-time RT-PCR, for monitoring parasite viability. Validation of the system in vitro was achieved using Neospora-infected cells that had been treated for 2-20 days with 30μg/ml toltrazuril. NcGRA2-RT-real time PCR demonstrated that a 10-day toltrazuril-treatment exerted parasitostatic activity, as assessed by the presence of NcGRA2-transcripts, whereas after a 14-day treatment period no NcGRA2-transcripts were detected, showing that the parasites were no longer viable. Concurrently, extended culture for a period of 4 weeks in the absence of the drug following the 14-day toltrazuril treatment did not lead to further parasite proliferation, confirming the parasiticidal effect of the treatment. This assay has the potential to be widely used in the development of novel drugs against N. caninum, with a view to distinguishing between parasiticidal and parasitostatic efficacy of given compound

Bawdy City: Commercial Sex, Capitalism, and Regulation in Nineteenth-Century Baltimore

This dissertation examines the development and policing of Baltimore’s commercial sex trade between 1800 and 1880. Using a core source base of Baltimore City court dockets, newspaper and census records, estate inventories, appellate court decisions, Alms-House medical and admissions records, and medical journals, it reveals that nineteenth-century Baltimore was home to a variety of businesses and entrepreneurs who supported themselves by commodifying sex. The sex trade grew more profitable and diverse as Baltimore developed as a capitalist city, and prostitution, venereal medicine, and (later) risqué print materials were all deeply embedded within the broader urban economy. Commercial sex developed in tandem with the shifting spatial and labor arrangements of capitalism, and it in turn fueled the economic and cultural development of the city. As commercial sex expanded at mid-century, moralists, middle-class Baltimoreans, and political opportunists voiced increasingly strong opposition to prostitution and obscenity. Local authorities were tasked with deciding how best to police the sex trade. This dissertation argues they developed a bifurcated approach. Lawmakers and police eventually assumed a suppressive stance toward the trades in abortion, anti-venereal medicine, and obscene print, all of which promoted sexuality that was simultaneously too public and too covert. At the same time that they cracked down on other forms of commercial sex, however, local authorities tolerated bawdy houses and indoor prostitution and integrated them into a well-established regulatory system that operated through the city courts. Prostitution was tremendously profitable and significant to the social life of the city, and bawdy houses represented the best possible version of it. Not only did bawdy houses line the pockets of a wide array of Baltimoreans (directly or indirectly) but they kept sex out of sight even as they produced legible sexual subjectivities. In the latter part of the nineteenth century, Baltimore police officials pioneered the spatial segregation of bawdy houses in an attempt to preserve them in the face of increasing public opposition

Public policy towards unemployment: 1937-1941

The following essay will examine what type of public policy, if any, was pursued to combat the high levels of unemployment that plagued the American economy from early 1937 until the signing of the Lend Lease Act in 1941. The writer will attempt to explain why Roosevelt failed to bring unemployment to a more acceptable level during these years. The following chapters include detailed analysis of federal relief programs, the isolationist movement, fiscal and monetary policy, all vital components of public policy towards unemployment

Safer Systems, Safer Care: Bringing the Tools and Strategies to Clinical Service Areas Through Applied Patient Safety Programs

AbstractAlong with creating and supporting a trained network of Patient Safety Managers across the U.S. Veterans Health Administration, the National Center for Patient Safety brings an increased, shared awareness of patient safety goals and strategies to disciplines of healthcare, beginning with the biomedical engineers at VHA facilities. This presentation outlines a ‘roadmap’ for the journey to high reliability healthcare and shares the training approach and results to date. This roadmap is modelled after that used at NASA and contains four development phases beginning with an awareness of human limitations and ending with proactive analysis to anticipate causes of safety episodes. The goal of the roadmap is to systematically ensure the care given to patients is done as safely as possible by incorporating best practices from mature industries