Congruence and Divergence of Teacher-school Board Member Attitudes in Selected Kentucky School Districts 1973 and 1982

The problem of this study was to determine if significant differences existed between teachers and school board members in two school districts in Kentucky in their perceptions of 35 selected educational issues and procedures. The population studied included all teachers and board members in the two selected school districts. A study of the county school district in Kentucky was conducted in 1973 and in 1982. Study of the city school district in Kentucky was only conducted in 1982. Chi-square statistics were used to analyze the data. Fifteen null hypotheses were tested in this study. Attitudes of 1973 county teachers and board members were compared with those of 1982 county teachers and board members. Attitudes of 1982 city teachers and board members were compared with those of 1982 county teachers and board members. Attitudes of 1982 teachers were compared based upon the sex of the teachers, the age of the teachers, the formal training of the teachers, and the number of years teachers had taught in the school district. It was concluded that teachers and board members in both school districts studied perceived more items congruently than divergently when a broad range of issues and policy development procedures are considered; that county teachers and county board members in 1982 perceived issues and procedures more congruently than did city teachers and city board members; that county teachers and board members in 1982 perceived issues and procedures more congruently than their 1973 predecessors; the trend toward more congruent attitudes between teachers and board members appears to be more the result of change in the attitudes of the teachers than in the attitudes of the board members; and that board members in the selected school districts are more congruent in their attitudes than teachers in these same school districts. Analysis of the relationship of predictors with the NTE-WCET scores revealed that sex and teaching level did not correlate significantly. ACT composite scores, CAT Reading scores, CAT Math scores, CAT English scores, teacher education admission grade-point averages, and Professional Education sequence grade-point averages correlated significantly at the .0001 level. ACT composite scores and CAT Reading scores shared the greatest common variance with NTE-WCET scores at 74.23 percent and 61.88 percent respectively. Analysis of a significant correlation between the NTE-WCET scores and a combination of all eight predictors showed a significant correlation at the .0001 level. Analysis of the significance of each predictor to the R(\u272) increase showed that ACT composite scores, CAT Reading scores, and CAT English scores were significant at the .05 level

UafB is a serine-rich repeat adhesin of Staphylococcus saprophyticus that mediates binding to fibronectin, fibrinogen and human uroepithelial cells

Staphylococcus saprophyticus is an important cause of urinary tract infection (UTI), particularly among young women, and is second only to uropathogenic Escherichia coli as the most frequent cause of UTI. The molecular mechanisms of urinary tract colonization by S. saprophyticus remain poorly understood. We have identified a novel 6.84 kb plasmid-located adhesin-encoding gene in S. saprophyticus strain MS1146 which we have termed uro-adherence factor B (uafB). UafB is a glycosylated serine-rich repeat protein that is expressed on the surface of S. saprophyticus MS1146. UafB also functions as a major cell surface hydrophobicity factor. To characterize the role of UafB we generated an isogenic uafB mutant in S. saprophyticus MS1146 by interruption with a group II intron. The uafB mutant had a significantly reduced ability to bind to fibronectin and fibrinogen. Furthermore, we show that a recombinant protein containing the putative binding domain of UafB binds specifically to fibronectin and fibrinogen. UafB was not involved in adhesion in a mouse model of UTI; however, we observed a striking UafB-mediated adhesion phenotype to human uroepithelial cells. We have also identified genes homologous to uafB in other staphylococci which, like uafB, appear to be located on transposable elements. Thus, our data indicate that UafB is a novel adhesin of S. saprophyticus that contributes to cell surface hydrophobicity, mediates adhesion to fibronectin and fibrinogen, and exhibits tropism for human uroepithelial cells