Capacity building: a study of career academies and student career self-efficacy.

The phrase “College and Career Readiness” echoes throughout the halls of schools and districts across the United States. Politicians pass legislation aimed at ensuring the readiness of every student graduating from high school. Despite these efforts, the United States is falling further behind in a global race for economic wellbeing and academic preparedness based on one of the most respected global measures of student achievement, the Programme for International Student Assessment (Murphy & Adams, 1998; Tucker, 2016). Even as the social fabric of the country changes and the number of Students of Color and students in poverty increase, there have been few changes in the educational model. As pressure from businesses and communities to improve student outcomes in order to improve the country’s economic outlook increases, schools and districts are forced to look to new educational models that deliver on the goal of College and Career Readiness for all (Zhao, 2015). I employed a sequential mixed methods case study approach to investigate the effects of career academy high schools on the development of students’ career self-efficacy. In Phase I, the Academies of Lexington (an arm of Fayette County Public Schools) career academy implementation team collected data using a Google Survey of graduating seniors from a single career academy high school. The team adapted the Career Decision Self-Efficacy Scale survey, which has a 5-item Likert scale to measure the students’ sense of career self-efficacy, as well as open-ended reflection questions, to collect data about student perceptions of the benefits of career academies and the development of their career self-efficacy. Using univariate analysis of variance (ANOVA) and analysis of covariance (ANCOVA), I explored the mean differences in perceived career self-efficacy across demographic groups, measured in two levels: white students and Students of Color. Using a multi-stage coding process, I examined recurrent themes in student answers. In Phase II, I used the mean differences and recurrent themes to develop prompts for a Group Level Assessment of seniors graduating from a career academy high school. This study discusses the results and effects of the career academy model on students’ perceived self-efficacy, as well as implications for future research

Natural Product Heme Oxygenase Inducers as Treatment for Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease

Heme oxygenase (HO) is a critical component of the defense mechanism to a wide variety of cellular stressors. HO induction affords cellular protection through the breakdown of toxic heme into metabolites, helping preserve cellular integrity. Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a pathological condition by which the liver accumulates fat. The incidence of NAFLD has reached all-time high levels driven primarily by the obesity epidemic. NALFD can progress to nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), advancing further to liver cirrhosis or cancer. NAFLD is also a contributing factor to cardiovascular and metabolic diseases. There are currently no drugs to specifically treat NAFLD, with most treatments focused on lifestyle modifications. One emerging area for NAFLD treatment is the use of dietary supplements such as curcumin, pomegranate seed oil, milk thistle oil, cold-pressed Nigella Satvia oil, and resveratrol, among others. Recent studies have demonstrated that several of these natural dietary supplements attenuate hepatic lipid accumulation and fibrosis in NAFLD animal models. The beneficial actions of several of these compounds are associated with the induction of heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1). Thus, targeting HO-1 through dietary-supplements may be a useful therapeutic for NAFLD either alone or with lifestyle modifications

Selective reduction of coliforms in constructed wetlands

The University Archives has determined that this item is of continuing value to OSU's history

Examining The Perceptions Of Brand Images Regarding Competing MBA Programs

In today’s economic environment, it is crucial to create a strong, consistent brand image within a graduate business program. This study examines the perceptions that students at Southeastern Louisiana University hold about its MBA program and the MBA programs of its main competitors. A focus group was conducted to indentify competitors and factors used to compare MBA programs. A questionnaire was designed and distributed and the results were analyzed using perceptual maps

Analytic Characteristic Functionals and Some Characterization Problems in Probability Theory

Mathematic

Reconsidering the quantization of electrodynamics with boundary conditions and some measurable consequences

We show that the commonly known conductor boundary conditions $E_{||}=B_\perp=0$ can be realized in two ways which we call 'thick' and 'thin' conductor. The 'thick' conductor is the commonly known approach and includes a Neumann condition on the normal component $E_\perp$ of the electric field whereas for a 'thin' conductor $E_\perp$ remains without boundary condition. Both types describe different physics already on the classical level where a 'thin' conductor allows for an interaction between the normal components of currents on both sides. On quantum level different forces between a conductor and a single electron or a neutral atom result. For instance, the Casimir-Polder force for a 'thin' conductor is by about 13% smaller than for a 'thick' one.Comment: 22 pages, basic statement weakened, conclusions changed, misprints correcte

Identification of Binding Regions of Bilirubin in the Ligand-Binding Pocket of the Peroxisome Proliferator-Activated Receptor-A (PPARalpha)

Recent work has shown that bilirubin has a hormonal function by binding to the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-α (PPARα), a nuclear receptor that drives the transcription of genes to control adiposity. Our previous in silico work predicted three potential amino acids that bilirubin may interact with by hydrogen bonding in the PPARα ligand-binding domain (LBD), which could be responsible for the ligand-induced function. To further reveal the amino acids that bilirubin interacts with in the PPARα LBD, we harnessed bilirubin’s known fluorescent properties when bound to proteins such as albumin. Our work here revealed that bilirubin interacts with threonine 283 (T283) and alanine 333 (A333) for ligand binding. Mutational analysis of T283 and A333 showed significantly reduced bilirubin binding, reductions of 11.4% and 17.0%, respectively. Fenofibrate competitive binding studies for the PPARα LBD showed that bilirubin and fenofibrate possibly interact with different amino acid residues. Furthermore, bilirubin showed no interaction with PPARγ. This is the first study to reveal the amino acids responsible for bilirubin binding in the ligand-binding pocket of PPARα. Our work offers new insight into the mechanistic actions of a well-known molecule, bilirubin, and new fronts into its mechanisms