The Impact of the Positive Action Program on Fourth-grade Student Achievement and Behavior

An applied project submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Education Specialist at Morehead State University by Jennifer McCoy on October 25, 2013

Shifting from a System of Grades to a Culture of Learning: Moving toward a More Equitable Culture of Assessment

Upon identifying a problem of practice centering on students and staff alike focusing on points and grades instead of learning, a small team of teachers were assembled to participate in a cycle of inquiry. The purpose of this cycle of inquiry was to research and test the effectiveness of an intervention related to assessment. The team selected a student self-assessment in the form of an exit slip. Qualitative methods were used to code teacher responses while they implemented the exit slip with students. The team ultimately found that they were able to use the exit slip feedback from the students to inform their instruction. They also found value in the cycle of inquiry process

Annotated Bibliography: The Reference Desk: Grand Idea or Gone Down the River?

This bibliography is from a panel presentation at the 2017 ACL Conference. The goal of this panel was to explore different rationales or sets of values that illustrated the continuation of the reference desk and reference service as essential to the success of the academic community. We discovered that “what to do with reference” is far from a settled question. We discovered passionate arguments, diverse models, and an array of data. In this current stage of figuring out the value of academic libraries to the campus as a whole and to students in particular, it seemed that there was limited hard data connecting Reference services to how they met students’ needs. How do we make ourselves valuable, important, essential, and useful? Maybe we need to change our model? If so, how do we examine ourselves and our environment appropriately to make this happen? What factors should we examine? Which ones must we keep? What things can we discard or change? When students come to seek assistance, they generally need the short, instant, and personal help, without having to attend a whole training session or class. Individual and personalized guidance for their immediate need is the most important factor for them. How do libraries provide that

A Case Examination of Factors Impacting Charges in Vehicular Heatstroke

Abstract — Since the 1990s, preventing vehicular heatstroke has been the focus of many public health campaigns. Parents are implored to never leave their young children unattended in the car, and to check the backseat before getting out of the car. Despite the increase in awareness about child fatalities due to hyperthermia, children continue to be left or forgotten in vehicles with tragic consequences. Interestingly, the decision to charge the negligent caregiver in cases of vehicular heatstroke is not widely studied. While some evidence indicates that case factors (e.g., intentionality and caregiver intoxication) are relevant in the decision to charge defendants in vehicular heat stroke fatalities. Less is known about how extra-legal factors (e.g., race and socioeconomic status) impact legal decisions in these cases. The current study examined 425 cases of vehicular heatstroke that occurred in the United States between 2000 and 2016. The goal of the study was to examine how case factors impacted decisions to charge the caregiver

Extensive Genomic Diversity among Bovine-Adapted Staphylococcus aureus: Evidence for a Genomic Rearrangement within CC97

peer-reviewedStaphylococcus aureus is an important pathogen associated with both human and veterinary disease and is a common cause of bovine mastitis. Genomic heterogeneity exists between S. aureus strains and has been implicated in the adaptation of specific strains to colonise particular mammalian hosts. Knowledge of the factors required for host specificity and virulence is important for understanding the pathogenesis and management of S. aureus mastitis. In this study, a panel of mastitis-associated S. aureus isolates (n = 126) was tested for resistance to antibiotics commonly used to treat mastitis. Over half of the isolates (52%) demonstrated resistance to penicillin and ampicillin but all were susceptible to the other antibiotics tested. S. aureus isolates were further examined for their clonal diversity by Multi-Locus Sequence Typing (MLST). In total, 18 different sequence types (STs) were identified and eBURST analysis demonstrated that the majority of isolates grouped into clonal complexes CC97, CC151 or sequence type (ST) 136. Analysis of the role of recombination events in determining S. aureus population structure determined that ST diversification through nucleotide substitutions were more likely to be due to recombination compared to point mutation, with regions of the genome possibly acting as recombination hotspots. DNA microarray analysis revealed a large number of differences amongst S. aureus STs in their variable genome content, including genes associated with capsule and biofilm formation and adhesion factors. Finally, evidence for a genomic arrangement was observed within isolates from CC97 with the ST71-like subgroup showing evidence of an IS431 insertion element having replaced approximately 30 kb of DNA including the ica operon and histidine biosynthesis genes, resulting in histidine auxotrophy. This genomic rearrangement may be responsible for the diversification of ST71 into an emerging bovine adapted subgroup

Reflexiones sobre el populismo y la polarización en América Latina y sus consecuencias para la democracia

En la última década, el populismo y la polarización han disparado las alarmas de las amenazas a la democracia en todo el mundo. Una literatura emergente considera que la hiperpolarización es un factor clave que contribuye a la erosión democrática y a la creciente autocratización (Carothers & O’Donahue, 2019; McCoy & Somer, 2018; Levitsky & Ziblatt, 2018; Haggard & Kaufman, 2021). En América Latina, el populismo de izquierda y de derecha ha sido un elemento básico del debate popular y académico durante, al menos, las dos últimas décadas, especialmente a partir de la elección de Hugo Chávez en 1998 y cuyo mandato empezó en 1999. Por el contrario, en Estados Unidos el debate académico se centró en la polarización política durante las últimas tres décadas, pero solo comenzó a incorporar el populismo con la elección de Donald Trump, en 2016. Incluso entonces, quienes estudian política comparada, a menudo latinoamericanistas, dominaron el análisis del populismo (Hawkins & Littvay, 2019; Weyland & Madrid, 2019; Inglehart & Norris, 2016; McCoy, 2016)

Phenothiazine normalizes the NADH/NAD+ ratio, maintains mitochondrial integrity and protects the nigrostriatal dopamine system in a chronic rotenone model of Parkinson's disease

Producción CientíficaImpaired mitochondrial function has been associated with the etiopathogenesis of Parkinson's disease (PD). Sustained inhibition of complex I produces mitochondrial dysfunction, which is related to oxidative injury and nigrostriatal dopamine (DA) neurodegeneration. This study aimed to identify disease-modifying treatments for PD. Unsubstituted phenothiazine (PTZ) is a small and uncharged aromatic imine that readily crosses the blood-brain barrier. PTZ lacks significant DA receptor-binding activity and, in the nanomolar range, exhibits protective effects via its potent free radical scavenging and anti-inflammatory activities. Given that DAergic neurons are highly vulnerable to oxidative damage and inflammation, we hypothesized that administration of PTZ might confer neuroprotection in different experimental models of PD. Our findings showed that PTZ rescues rotenone (ROT) toxicity in primary ventral midbrain neuronal cultures by preserving neuronal integrity and reducing protein thiol oxidation. Long-term treatment with PTZ improved animal weight, survival rate, and behavioral deficits in ROT-lesioned rats. PTZ protected DA content and fiber density in the striatum and DA neurons in the SN against the deleterious effects of ROT. Mitochondrial dysfunction, axonal impairment, oxidative insult, and inflammatory response were attenuated with PTZ therapy. Furthermore, we have provided a new insight into the molecular mechanism underlying the neuroprotective effects of PTZ