Reviewing and Renewing General Education: A Practical Guide

The process of reviewing and renewing a program of general education is complex, challenging, and often frustrating. This paper is presented with the aim of facilitating the process from inception to successful conclusion. Practical guidelines and suggestions, derived from long experience as faculty member, academic administrator, and consultant, are offered to assist those responsible for reviewing, evaluating, developing, and implementing general education curricula. Emphasis is placed on collaborative practices, ongoing open communication, thorough planning, and reliable information. It is assumed throughout, that pitfalls can be avoided, obstacles circumvented, and a climate of civility maintained despite the difficulty and scope of the task

Probing Behavior and Plant Damage of Two Biotypes of an Aphid in a Susceptible and a Resistant Barley

Botan

The use of a quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation for the measurement of protein–protein interactions: a qualitative and quantitative analysis of the interactions between molecular chaperones

Biotechnology research and innovation depends on the ability to understand the molecular mechanisms of biological processes such as protein–protein and protein–ligand interactions. Surface plasmon resonance (SPR) spectroscopy is now well established as a quantitative technique for monitoring biomolecular interactions. In this study, we examined the recently developed quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation (QCM-D) method as an alternative to SPR spectroscopy to investigate protein–protein interactions, in particular, for chaperone–co-chaperone interactions. In mammalian cells, the Hsp70/Hsp90 organizing protein (Hop) is a co-chaperone required for the association of the molecular chaperones, heat shock protein 70 (Hsp70) and heat shock protein 90 (Hsp90). The objective of this research was to characterize qualitatively and quantitatively the interaction of Hsp70 with Hop. A truncated version of Hop consisting of only the C-terminal region and lacking the Hsp70-binding domain (GST-C-Hop) was used as a non-Hsp70- binding control. Immobilized GST-Hop was found to bind Hsp70 successfully, displaying a QCM-D response consistent with formation of a complex that became slightly more flexible as the concentration of bound Hsp70 increased. GST-C-Hop did not bind to Hsp70, thereby validating the specificity of the GST-Hop interaction with Hsp70. The kinetics of the interaction was followed at different concentrations of Hsp70, and an apparent thermodynamic dissociation constant (KD value) in the micromolar range was determined that correlated well with the value derived previously using SPR. This study represents a proof-of-principle that QCM-D can be applied to the analysis of chaperone–co-chaperone interactions. The economic and technical accessibility of QCM-D makes it a valuable tool for analyses of chaperone interactions, and protein– protein interactions in general

Occupational Interest Patterns and Personality Styles of Freshman Student-Athletes

The existence and relationship of common personality styles and occupational orientations were explored. The study considered Holand's (1973) vocational theory and Strack's (1991) eight basic personality types. Student-athletes (n=36) and non-athletes (n=17) enrolled in a freshman seminar for physical education majors (males = 63%) completed the Personality Adjective Check List (Straclk, 1991) and the Strong Interest Inventory (Hansen & Campbell, 1985). The results suggest that student-athletes and non-athletes differ on several personality and occupacional variables and that personality sryle has an important relationship to occupational orientation and interests. A specific profile for athletes based on personality and vocational type did not emerge. Implications for athletic counseling professionals were discussed

Conceptualising sustainable leadership

Literature encompassing Sustainable Leadership and developing leaders sustainably are still in infancy (Lambert, 2011). Nevertheless indications identify leadership as a vital cog in achieving sustainable organisations. Sustainable leadership can allow a fast, resilient response which is competitive and appealing to all stakeholders (Avery and Bergsteiner, 2011). Arguably, organisations’ need to stop considering leadership as a control function (Casserley and Critchley, 2010; Crews, 2010) and instead focus on dialogue and mutual-interdependency between leaders and their followers (Barrand Dowding, 2012). This paper aims to explore and analyse the concept of sustainable leadership to present a conceptual framework surrounding sustainable leadership. Design/methodology/approachThis conceptual paper will review the existing frameworks of sustainable leadership and present a conceptualisation of the frameworks. This conceptualisation synthesises frameworks and literature surrounding the concept of sustainable leadership which involves work from seminal authors Casserley and Critchley (2010),Avery and Bergsteiner (2011), Hargreaves and Fink (2006), Davies (2009) and Lambert (2011). Seminal themes from the synthesised frameworks are presented to explore and unify the conceptualisation of sustainable leadership.FindingsWithin leadership literature, stakeholder approaches (Groves and LaRocca, 2011; Avery and Bergsteiner, 2011a); discourses underlining the importance of relationship between leaders and followers (Barr and Dowding, 2012); and discussions about theneed to develop reflexive and participative leadership models (Kopp and Martinuzzi, 2013) have become prominent. Sustainable leadership embraces all of these new components. The concept advocates organisations should shift emphasis from a traditional singular focus on finances, to a view that organisations are contributors to wider environmental and social influences (Crews, 2010; Avery and Bergsteiner, 2011a).Originality/valueThis paper explores the theoretical frameworks which surround sustainable leadership and will synthesise and present commonly referenced facets of the concept within the internal and external factors influencing sustainable leadership framework

Community care clinicians' experiences and perceptions of Waterlow pressure ulcer risk assessment

Background Pressure ulcer risk assessment tools play a pivotal role in meeting the challenge of the zero pressure ulcer agenda. Clinicians should use their clinical judgement in combination with a validated pressure ulcer assessment tool when detecting and managing patient pressure ulcer development risk. The assessment tool, therefore, should effectively, and reliably direct pressure relieving equipment resources. This is particularly important when considering the influence of the pressure ulcer assessment tool on patterns of care and allocation of resources. Aim To undertake a service evaluation and identify a quality improvement opportunity, surrounding pressure ulcer assessment, prevention, and care practices within one community health services NHS Trust. Method An online questionnaire was purposed-developed to capture the perceptions and experiences of the Trusts clinicians surrounding the assessment, prevention, and management of pressure ulcers using the Waterlow pressure ulcer risk assessment tool. Questionnaire content was developed in collaboration with a panel of Trust employed healthcare and research experts. Data analysis adhered to the principles of an inductively informed six-phase recursive Thematic Analysis. Results Two interrelated themes reflected the clinicians' perceptions and experiences: Confidence in Waterlow Supporting Clinical Decision-Making and Defensively Nursing. Some perceived Waterlow as useful, although flawed tool. Others perceived the use of Waterlow to have negatively influenced working practices by developing 'nursing by numbers' care practices and a propensity for over-prescription of pressure relieving resources. Conclusion The results provide important elucidation surrounding pressure ulcer care practices and provide evidence to support quality improvement innovation within the Trust

Face engagement during infancy predicts later face recognition ability in younger siblings of children with autism

Face recognition difficulties are frequently documented in children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). It has been hypothesized that these difficulties result from a reduced interest in faces early in life, leading to decreased cortical specialization and atypical development of the neural circuitry for face processing. However, a recent study by our lab demonstrated that infants at increased familial risk for ASD, irrespective of their diagnostic status at 3 years, exhibit a clear orienting response to faces. The present study was conducted as a follow-up on the same cohort to investigate how measures of early engagement with faces relate to face-processing abilities later in life. We also investigated whether face recognition difficulties are specifically related to an ASD diagnosis, or whether they are present at a higher rate in all those at familial risk. At 3 years we found a reduced ability to recognize unfamiliar faces in the high-risk group that was not specific to those children who received an ASD diagnosis, consistent with face recognition difficulties being an endophenotype of the disorder. Furthermore, we found that longer looking at faces at 7 months was associated with poorer performance on the face recognition task at 3 years in the high- risk group. These findings suggest that longer looking at faces in infants at risk for ASD might reflect early face-processing difficulties and predicts difficulties with recognizing faces later in life

Face engagement during infancy predicts later face recognition ability in younger siblings of children with autism

Face recognition difficulties are frequently documented in children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). It has been hypothesized that these difficulties result from a reduced interest in faces early in life, leading to decreased cortical specialization and atypical development of the neural circuitry for face processing. However, a recent study by our lab demonstrated that infants at increased familial risk for ASD, irrespective of their diagnostic status at 3 years, exhibit a clear orienting response to faces. The present study was conducted as a follow-up on the same cohort to investigate how measures of early engagement with faces relate to face-processing abilities later in life. We also investigated whether face recognition difficulties are specifically related to an ASD diagnosis, or whether they are present at a higher rate in all those at familial risk. At 3 years we found a reduced ability to recognize unfamiliar faces in the high-risk group that was not specific to those children who received an ASD diagnosis, consistent with face recognition difficulties being an endophenotype of the disorder. Furthermore, we found that longer looking at faces at 7 months was associated with poorer performance on the face recognition task at 3 years in the high- risk group. These findings suggest that longer looking at faces in infants at risk for ASD might reflect early face-processing difficulties and predicts difficulties with recognizing faces later in life