Community opinion and satisfaction with the leadership at an urban community educational learning center during an organizational transformational process: a frontline perspective from community stakeholders

This study examined selected community stakeholders\u27 perception of the current leadership at their local community educational learning center during an organizational transformation and cultural change process. The transition from a community college to an educational learning center, mandated in 2006 by the Accredition Commission and agreed on by the Chancellor\u27s office, was facilitated by a community college of another district. This process appeared to produce mixed reactions from various educational learning center constituency groups. During the transformational process, opinions how the institutional leadership addressed the task of developing a trusting and meaningful relationship with community stakeholders surfaced. Based on the survey responses gathered from selected community stakeholders from various community-based organizations, this study identified prevalent perceptions regarding the current educational learning center\u27s leadership. Previously, there has been no research examining how community stakeholders feel about the current leadership, state take-over, and partnership phenomena born out of a college district losing its accreditation. Therefore, while researching how satisfied selected community stakeholders were with the current leadership under these unique circumstances, this study also offered an in-depth look at college operations, accreditation expectations, and community relations. The majority of stakeholders surveyed were generally concerned about the current type of leadership at their local educational learning center, and the manner in which the state take-over and partnership impacted the subject community college district stakeholders during the organizational transformation and cultural change process. While focusing on a transformational leadership theoretical framework, this dissertation revealed that generally, stakeholders had opinions that indicated they were not completely satisfied with the manner in which the organizational transformation and cultural change process is being conducted. The results of this study showed that community stakeholders were primarily dissatisfied with the type of leadership strategy facilitated during the transformational process; the manner in which communication is facilitated to the community and the quality of course program offerings. Opinions varied regarding campus services, facilities access and conditions. In the final chapter of this dissertation recommendations are offered to improve public and community relations under the unique circumstances of an organizational transformation and cultural change process of an urban community college

Genomic Analysis of Immune Response against Vibrio Cholerae Hemolysin in Caenorhabditis elegans

Vibrio cholerae cytolysin (VCC) is among the accessory V. cholerae virulence factors that may contribute to disease pathogenesis in humans. VCC, encoded by hlyA gene, belongs to the most common class of bacterial toxins, known as poreforming toxins (PFTs). V. cholerae infects and kills Caenorhabditis elegans via cholerae toxin independent manner. VCC is required for the lethality, growth retardation and intestinal cell vacuolation during the infection. However, little is known about the host gene expression responses against VCC. To address this question we performed a microarray study in C. elegans exposed to V. cholerae strains with intact and deleted hlyA genes. Many of the VCC regulated genes identified, including C-type lectins, Prion-like (glutamine [Q]/asparagine [N]-rich)-domain containing genes, genes regulated by insulin/ IGF-1-mediated signaling (IIS) pathway, were previously reported as mediators of innate immune response against other bacteria in C. elegans. Protective function of the subset of the genes up-regulated by VCC was confirmed using RNAi. By means of a machine learning algorithm called FastMEDUSA, we identified several putative VCC induced immune regulatory transcriptional factors and transcription factor binding motifs. Our results suggest that VCC is a major virulence factor, which induces a wide variety of immune response- related genes during V. cholerae infection in C. elegans

Group Identification as a Moderator of the Relationship Between Perceived Social Norms and Alcohol Consumption

Previous research has shown that social norms are among the strongest predictors of college student drinking. Among college students, perceiving that “others” drink heavier relative to themselves has been strongly and consistently associated with heavier drinking. Research has also shown that the more specifically “others” are defined, the stronger the association with one’s own drinking. The present research evaluated whether group identification as defined by feeling closer to specific groups moderates the associations between perceived drinking norms in the group and one’s own drinking. Participants included 3752 (61% Female) students who completed online assessments of their perceived drinking norms for four groups of students on their campus as well as identification with each group and participants’ own drinking behavior. Results indicated that greater identification with same-sex students, same-race students, and same-Greek-status students were associated with stronger relationships between perceived drinking norms in the specific groups and own drinking

The Natural Selection of Herpesviruses and Virus-Specific NK Cell Receptors

During the co-evolution of cytomegalovirus (CMV) and natural killer (NK) cells, each has evolved specific tactics in an attempt to prevail. CMV has evolved multiple immune evasion mechanisms to avoid detection by NK cells and other immune cells, leading to chronic infection. Meanwhile, the host has evolved virus-specific receptors to counter these evasion strategies. The natural selection of viral genes and host receptors allows us to observe a unique molecular example of “survival of the fittest”, as virus and immune cells try to out-maneuver one another or for the virus to achieve détente for optimal dissemination in the population

Climatic and Resource Determinants of Forest Elephant Movements

As a keystone megafaunal species, African forest elephants (Loxodonta cyclotis) influence the structure and composition of tropical forests. Determining the links between food resources, environmental conditions and elephant movement behavior is crucial to understanding their habitat requirements and their effects on the ecosystem, particularly in the face of poaching and global change. We investigate whether fruit abundance or climate most strongly influence forest elephant movement behavior at the landscape scale in Gabon. Trained teams of “elephant trackers” performed daily fruit availability and dietary composition surveys over a year within two relatively pristine and intact protected areas. With data from 100 in-depth field follows of 28 satellite-collared elephants and remotely sensed environmental layers, we use linear mixed-effects models to assess the effects of sites, seasons, focal elephant identification, elephant diet, and fruit availability on elephant movement behavior at monthly and 3-day time scales. At the month-level, rainfall, and to a lesser extent fruit availability, most strongly predicted the proportion of time elephants spent in long, directionally persistent movements. Thus, even elephants in moist tropical rainforests show seasonal behavioral phenotypes linked to rainfall. At the follow-level (2–4 day intervals), relative support for both rainfall and fruit availability decreased markedly, suggesting that at finer spatial scales forest elephants make foraging decisions largely based on other factors not directly assessed here. Focal elephant identity explained the majority of the variance in the data, and there was strong support for interindividual variation in behavioral responses to rainfall. Taken together, this highlights the importance of approaches which follow individuals through space and time. The links between climate, resource availability and movement behavior provide important insights into the behavioral ecology of forest elephants that can contribute to understanding their role as seed dispersers, improving management of populations, and informing development of solutions to human-elephant conflict

Mechanisms of CFTR Functional Variants That Impair Regulated Bicarbonate Permeation and Increase Risk for Pancreatitis but Not for Cystic Fibrosis

CFTR is a dynamically regulated anion channel. Intracellular WNK1-SPAK activation causes CFTR to change permeability and conductance characteristics from a chloride-preferring to bicarbonate-preferring channel through unknown mechanisms. Two severe CFTR mutations (CFTRsev) cause complete loss of CFTR function and result in cystic fibrosis (CF), a severe genetic disorder affecting sweat glands, nasal sinuses, lungs, pancreas, liver, intestines, and male reproductive system. We hypothesize that those CFTR mutations that disrupt the WNK1-SPAK activation mechanisms cause a selective, bicarbonate defect in channel function (CFTRBD) affecting organs that utilize CFTR for bicarbonate secretion (e.g. the pancreas, nasal sinus, vas deferens) but do not cause typical CF. To understand the structural and functional requirements of the CFTR bicarbonate-preferring channel, we (a) screened 984 well-phenotyped pancreatitis cases for candidate CFTRBD mutations from among 81 previously described CFTR variants; (b) conducted electrophysiology studies on clones of variants found in pancreatitis but not CF; (c) computationally constructed a new, complete structural model of CFTR for molecular dynamics simulation of wild-type and mutant variants; and (d) tested the newly defined CFTRBD variants for disease in non-pancreas organs utilizing CFTR for bicarbonate secretion. Nine variants (CFTR R74Q, R75Q, R117H, R170H, L967S, L997F, D1152H, S1235R, and D1270N) not associated with typical CF were associated with pancreatitis (OR 1.5, p = 0.002). Clones expressed in HEK 293T cells had normal chloride but not bicarbonate permeability and conductance with WNK1-SPAK activation. Molecular dynamics simulations suggest physical restriction of the CFTR channel and altered dynamic channel regulation. Comparing pancreatitis patients and controls, CFTRBD increased risk for rhinosinusitis (OR 2.3, p<0.005) and male infertility (OR 395, p<<0.0001). WNK1-SPAK pathway-activated increases in CFTR bicarbonate permeability are altered by CFTRBD variants through multiple mechanisms. CFTRBD variants are associated with clinically significant disorders of the pancreas, sinuses, and male reproductive system.Fil: LaRusch, Jessica. Univeristy of Pittsburgh. School of Medicine; Estados UnidosFil: Jung, Jinsei. Yonsei University College of Medicine; Corea del SurFil: General, Ignacio. University of Pittsburgh; Estados Unidos. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Lewis, Michele D.. Mayo Clinic. Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology; Estados UnidosFil: Park, Hyun Woo. Yonsei University College of Medicine; Corea del SurFil: Brand, Randall E.. Univeristy of Pittsburgh. School of Medicine; Estados UnidosFil: Gelrud, Andres. Univeristy of Pittsburgh. School of Medicine; Estados UnidosFil: Anderson, Michelle A.. University of Michigan; Estados UnidosFil: Banks, Peter A.. Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Division of Gastroenterology; Estados UnidosFil: Conwell, Darwin. Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Division of Gastroenterology; Estados UnidosFil: Lawrence, Christopher. Medical University of South Carolina; Estados UnidosFil: Romagnuolo, Joseph. Medical University of South Carolina; Estados UnidosFil: Baillie, John. University of Duke; Estados UnidosFil: Alkaade, Samer. St. Louis University. School of Medicine; Estados UnidosFil: Cote, Gregory. Indiana University; Estados UnidosFil: Gardner, Timothy B.. Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center; Estados UnidosFil: Amann, Stephen T.. North Mississippi Medical Center; Estados UnidosFil: Slivka, Adam. Univeristy of Pittsburgh. School of Medicine; Estados UnidosFil: Sandhu, Bimaljit. Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center; Estados UnidosFil: Aloe, Amy. Univeristy of Pittsburgh. School of Medicine; Estados UnidosFil: Kienholz, Michelle L.. Univeristy of Pittsburgh. School of Medicine; Estados UnidosFil: Yadav, Dhiraj. Univeristy of Pittsburgh. School of Medicine; Estados UnidosFil: Barmada, M. Michael. Univeristy of Pittsburgh. School of Medicine; Estados UnidosFil: Bahar, Ivet. Univeristy of Pittsburgh. School of Medicine; Estados UnidosFil: Lee, Min Goo. Yonsei University College of Medicine; Corea del SurFil: Whitcomb, David C.. Univeristy of Pittsburgh. School of Medicine; Estados UnidosFil: North American Pancreatitis Study Group. No especifica

Descriptive Drinking Norms: For Whom Does Reference Group Matter?

Objective: Perceived descriptive drinking norms often differ from actual norms and are positively related to personal consumption. However, it is not clear how normative perceptions vary with specificity of the reference group. Are drinking norms more accurate and more closely related to drinking behavior as reference group specificity increases? Do these relationships vary as a function of participant demographics? The present study examined the relationship between perceived descriptive norms and drinking behavior by ethnicity (Asian or White), sex, and fraternity/sorority status. Method: Participants were 2,699 (58% female) White (75%) or Asian (25%) undergraduates from two universities who reported their own alcohol use and perceived descriptive norms for eight reference groups: typical student ; same sex, ethnicity, or fraternity/sorority status; and all combinations of these three factors. Results: Participants generally reported the highest perceived norms for the most distal reference group (typical student), with perceptions becoming more accurate as individuals\u27 similarity to the reference group increased. Despite increased accuracy, participants perceived that all reference groups drank more than was actually the case. Across specific subgroups (fraternity/sorority members and men) different patterns emerged. Fraternity/sorority members reliably reported higher estimates of drinking for reference groups that included fraternity/ sorority status, and, to a lesser extent, men reported higher estimates for reference groups that included men. Conclusions: The results suggest that interventions targeting normative misperceptions may need to provide feedback based on participant demography or group membership. Although reference group-specific feedback may be important for some subgroups, typical student feedback provides the largest normative discrepancy for the majority of students

Pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic modelling approaches in paediatric infectious diseases and immunology.

Pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic (PKPD) modelling is used to describe and quantify dose-concentration-effect relationships. Within paediatric studies in infectious diseases and immunology these methods are often applied to developing guidance on appropriate dosing. In this paper, an introduction to the field of PKPD modelling is given, followed by a review of the PKPD studies that have been undertaken in paediatric infectious diseases and immunology. The main focus is on identifying the methodological approaches used to define the PKPD relationship in these studies. The major findings were that most studies of infectious diseases have developed a PK model and then used simulations to define a dose recommendation based on a pre-defined PD target, which may have been defined in adults or in vitro. For immunological studies much of the modelling has focused on either PK or PD, and since multiple drugs are usually used, delineating the relative contributions of each is challenging. The use of dynamical modelling of in vitro antibacterial studies, and paediatric HIV mechanistic PD models linked with the PK of all drugs, are emerging methods that should enhance PKPD-based recommendations in the future