Guidelines for Selecting Professional Development for Early Childhood Teachers

Engaging teachers of young children in effective in-service professional development is a critical component of establishing high quality early childhood education. However, not all professional development offerings are effective in imparting new knowledge, enhancing teacher practice, or improving child outcomes, making it difficult for teachers and directors to select professional development that will benefit their centers. This paper critically reviews the research literature on professional development for early childhood education to identify what features of professional development make a difference for teacher interactions and children’s learning and development. Guidance is provided for selecting professional development opportunities which meet the needs of children and teachers. Recommendations for how to create an ongoing professional development program within an early childhood center by creating a professional learning community are also made. Such an approach supports the center to become a place that values learning and continued education for all professionals

Objectification theory predicts college women’s attitudes toward cosmetic surgery

This study investigated cosmetic surgery attitudes within the framework of objectification theory. One hundred predominantlyWhite, British undergraduate women completed self-report measures of impression management, global selfesteem, interpersonal sexual objectification, self-surveillance, body shame, and three components of cosmetic surgery attitudes. As expected, each of the objectification theory variables predicted greater consideration of having cosmetic surgery in the future. Also, as expected, sexual objectification and body shame uniquely predicted socialmotives for cosmetic surgery, whereas self-surveillance uniquely predicted intrapersonal motives for cosmetic surgery. These findings suggest that women’s acceptance of cosmetic surgery as a way to manipulate physical appearance can be partially explained by the degree to which they view themselves through the lenses of sexual and self-objectification

Family functioning differences across the deployment cycle in British Army families: the perceptions of wives and children

Introduction Military deployment can have an adverse effect on a soldier’s family, though little research has looked at these effects in a British sample. We investigated wives’ of UK serving soldiers perceptions of marital and family functioning, across three stages of the deployment cycle: currently deployed, post-deployment and pre-deployed, plus a non-military comparison group. Uniquely, young (aged 3.5 – 11 years) children’s perceptions of their family were also investigated, using the Parent-Child Alliance (PCA) coding scheme of drawings of the family. Materials and Methods Two hundred and twenty British military families of regular service personnel from the British Army’s Royal Armoured Corps (RAC), were sent survey packs distributed with a monthly welfare office newsletter. Wives were asked to complete a series of self-report items, and the youngest child in the family between the ages of 3.5 and 11 years was asked to draw a picture of their family. Complete data were available for 78 military families, and an additional 34 non-military families were recruited via opportunity sampling. Results Results indicated wives of currently deployed and recently returned personnel were less satisfied with their family and its communication, and children’s pictures indicated higher levels of dysfunctional PCA, whilst pre-deployed families responded similarly to non-military families. Marital satisfaction was similar across all groups except pre-deployed families who were significantly more satisfied. Non-military and pre-deployed families showed balanced family functioning, and currently and recently deployed families demonstrated poor family functioning. In comparison to non-military families, pre-deployed families showed a large ‘spike’ in the rigidity subscale of the FACES IV. Conclusion Wives’ perceptions of family functioning, but not marital satisfaction, differed between the deployment groups. The results from the coded children’s drawings correlated with the self-report measures from the wife/mother, indicating that children’s drawings could be a useful approach when working with younger children in this area. It is tentatively suggested that the differences across deployment stage on family functioning could be mediated not only by communication difficulties between deployed personnel and their families, but also by its effect on the children in the family. Larger-scale longitudinal research is needed to investigate this further

Endocuff Vision Reduces Inspection Time Without Decreasing Lesion Detection in a Randomized Colonoscopy Trial

Background & Aims Mucosal exposure devices improve detection of lesions during colonoscopy and have reduced examination times in uncontrolled studies. We performed a randomized trial of Endocuff Vision vs standard colonoscopy to compare differences in withdrawal time (the primary end point). We proposed that Endocuff Vision would allow complete mucosal inspection in a shorter time without impairing lesion detection. Methods Adults older than 40 years undergoing screening or surveillance colonoscopies were randomly assigned to the Endocuff group (n=101, 43.6% women) or the standard colonoscopy group (n=99; 57.6% women). One of 2 experienced endoscopists performed the colonoscopies, aiming for a thorough evaluation of the proximal sides of all haustral folds, flexures, and valves in the shortest time possible. Inspection time was measured with a stopwatch and calculated by subtracting washing, suctioning, polypectomy and biopsy times from total withdrawal time. Results There were significantly fewer women in the Endocuff arm (P = .0475) but there were no other demographic differences between groups. Mean insertion time with Endocuff was 4.0 min vs 4.4 min for standard colonoscopy (P = .14). Mean inspection time with Endocuff was 6.5 min vs 8.4 min for standard colonoscopy (P < .0001). Numbers of adenomas detected per colonoscopy (1.43 vs 1.07; P = .07), adenoma detection rate (61.4% vs 52%; P = .21), number of sessile serrated polyps per colonoscopy (0.27 vs 0.21; P = .12), and sessile serrated polyp detection rate (19.8% vs 11.1%; P = .09) were all higher with Endocuff Vision. Results did not differ significantly when we controlled for age, sex, or race. Conclusion In a randomized trial, we found inclusion of Endocuff in screening or surveillance colonoscopies to decrease examination time without reducing lesion detection

Structural Biology: Parkin’s Serpentine Shape Revealed in the Year of the Snake

SummaryParkin is an E3 ubiquitin ligase, mutations in which are responsible for autosomal recessive juvenile parkinsonism. Recently, several structures of Parkin have been solved, revealing its serpentine shape and modes of auto-inhibition

Identification of Multiple Phosphoinositide-Linked Receptors on Human SK-N-MC Neuroepithelioma Cells

:The biochemical and pharmacological characteristics of receptor-stimulated phosphoinositide (PPI) hydrolysis in human SK-N-MC neuroepithelioma cells have been examined. Of 11 ligands tested, the addition of four, i.e., nor-epinephrine, oxotremorine-M, endothelin-1, and ATP, each resulted in an increased release (three-to eightfold) of inositol phosphates from [ 3 H]inositol-prelabeled cells. Agonist-stimulated PPI turnover was sustained for at least 30 min and required the addition of Ca 2+ for full effect. An increased release of inositol phosphates could also be elicited by the addition of the Ca 2+ ionophore, ionomycin. All four agonists enhanced the release of radiolabeled inositol mono-and bis-phosphates, inositol 1,3,4-trisphosphate, and inositol tetra-kisphosphate. Increases in inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate were smaller and only consistently observed in the presence of norepinephrine or oxotremorine-M. Norepinephrine-stim-ulated PPI turnover was potently inhibited by prazosin, WB-4101, and 5-methylurapidil ( K 1 , < 2.5 n M ), but was relatively insensitive to chloroethylclonidine pretreatment. This pharmacological profile is consistent with the involvement of an Α 1A -receptor subtype. The presence of an M 1 muscannic cholinergic receptor is also indicated, because pirenzepine blocked oxotremorine-M-stimulated inositol phosphate release ( K 1 = 35 n M ) with a 30-fold greater potency than the M 2 -selective antagonist, AF-DX 116. Of the three endothelins tested, only the addition of endothelin-1 and endothelin-2 promoted PPI hydrolysis, whereas endothelin-3 was essentially inactive. A P 2 nucleotide receptor of broad agonist specificity is also present on these cells and activates PPI turnover in the absence of a generalized increase in plasma membrane permeability. These results indicate that SK-N-MC cells express at least four PPI-linked receptors. Because the functional coupling of three of these receptors, i.e., Α 1A -adrenergic, endothelin, and P 2 nucleotide, has not been extensively characterized previously in neural tissues, the SK-N-MC cell line may provide a useful model system for studies of these receptors and their regulation.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/66097/1/j.1471-4159.1991.tb06357.x.pd

Female Sex Development and Reproductive Duct Formation Depend on Wnt4a in Zebrafish.

In laboratory strains of zebrafish, sex determination occurs in the absence of a typical sex chromosome and it is not known what regulates the proportion of animals that develop as males or females. Many sex determination and gonad differentiation genes that act downstream of a sex chromosome are well conserved among vertebrates, but studies that test their contribution to this process have mostly been limited to mammalian models. In mammals, WNT4 is a signaling ligand that is essential for ovary and Müllerian duct development, where it antagonizes the male-promoting FGF9 signal. Wnt4 is well conserved across all vertebrates, but it is not known if Wnt4 plays a role in sex determination and/or the differentiation of sex organs in nonmammalian vertebrates. This question is especially interesting in teleosts, such as zebrafish, because they lack an Fgf9 ortholog. Here we show that wnt4a is the ortholog of mammalian Wnt4, and that wnt4b was present in the last common ancestor of humans and zebrafish, but was lost in mammals. We show that wnt4a loss-of-function mutants develop predominantly as males and conclude that wnt4a activity promotes female sex determination and/or differentiation in zebrafish. Additionally, both male and female wnt4a mutants are sterile due to defects in reproductive duct development. Together these results strongly argue that Wnt4a is a conserved regulator of female sex determination and reproductive duct development in mammalian and nonmammalian vertebrates