To Hell with you, Charlie : The UAW has a long history of confronting sexual harassment

[Excerpt] Possibly no union was better poised to meet the challenge of sexual harassment after Anita Hill\u27s testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee than the United Auto Workers. For half a century the UAW has addressed sexual discrimination on the job. This commitment, though wavering at times was sustained by the determined women who worked on the international staff, the strong women on the shop floor who battled second class citizenship, and the civil rights and women\u27s movements that both pressured and supported the union\u27s efforts. Thus, when the nation turned its attention to sexual harassment in 1991, the UAW was ready

A 5-Year Projection of the Number of Children Reaching Age 18 While in Foster Care

Estimates the number of children aging out of foster care in 2009-13. Examines recent trends by age of entry into foster care and outlines how changes in the number entering care, their age distribution, and duration of care affect projections

Improving Retention of Science Student Teachers

Our on-going research aims to try and find out why some Science graduates on one year (PGCE) teacher training courses are not successful in completing the course. The course itself has been judged ‘Outstanding’ (Ofsted, 2010), so we have focused on the student teachers (trainees). Some key characteristics of trainees ‘at risk’ of being unsuccessful were identified in a variety of ways, including data analysis of records for trainees who left the course early and those who successfully completed the course, focus groups, questionnaires and case studies. Loss of trainees during PGCE courses appears to be a characteristic across many providers of initial teacher education for Science in the UK. Key factors emerging include gender, age, previous experiences/careers, support (or otherwise) of family/partner, caring issues (children/parents), subject knowledge, attendance at a subject knowledge enhancement course and more. If characteristics of ‘at risk’ trainees can be identified, strategies can be put into place to identify applicants, who might be at risk, at the selection stage and to support them during the course to reduce the drop-out rate. Recent work, described in the paper, appears to be improving our retention. Further research is needed to confirm and extend our current approach, which could, perhaps, be applied in other institutions and across other disciplines

Population ecology, desiccation, and food resources with respect to angle of substrate for two limpets, Collisella (Acmaea) digitalis and Collisella (Acmaea) scabra

Two common limpets, Collis~ (Acmaea) digitalis and Collisella (Acmaea) scabra have overlapping distributions in the upper int.ertidal .spray zone. Haven (1971) found that Q. digitalis is more abundant on vertical surfaces while Q. scabra dominates horizontal surfaces. He assumed this preference to be due to differential abilities to withstand desiccation. In this study I report field work demonstrating a high correlation between the-ratio of abundance of Q. digitalis/ Q. scabra and angle of slope of substrate. Length (mm) of Q. scabra declines linearly with angle, but Q. digitalis shows no such trends. Results of laboratory measurements of angle of substrate and small and large members of the species do not alone explain the size distribution and abundance relationships found be·tween the two species in the field .• Although resistance to desiccation may play a part in determining distribution and abundance, especially in the upper intertidal, it is clear that other factors may be important, such as food resources. Fecal pellets were used as a technique to study food resource partioning. Limpet size and abundance is related to the availability of microalgae on a particular slope of substrate. Differences in the amount of movement between the two species may be. related to time and distance traveled in foraging for food. The ratio of abundances of these limpets and its relation to substrate angle needs to be studied from the point of view of competitive interactions with respect to food resource partioning, since these species seem to have tolerances to desiccation greatly exceeding environmental stress conditions

Spectral Studies of Hydrogen Bonding in Alcohols

The phenomenon of hydrogen bonding in alcohols has been known since the early 1900\u27s. Using three series of alcohols, benzyl alcohols, norbornanols and substituted naphthalene alcohols, it was hoped that some meaningful data could be presented to help clarify and expand some of the theories on alcohol association. The techniques to be utilized were ir and nmr spectroscopies. The synthetic route for those compounds that were not available as alcohols involved reduction of the corresponding acids to alcohols by use of lithium aluminum hydride. The strengths of the various types of hydrogen bonds, intramolecular and intermolecular, were detected by nmr and ir techniques at various concentrations. The 8-substituted-1-hydroxymethyl-naphtalene slope values (8-Br = 25, 8-C1 = 26, 8-0CH3 = 13, and 8-CH3 = 32) made it difficult to interpret the intersections on the basis of nmr alone. It appears that in the nmr studies we observe this difficulty, due to steric, electronic and polarizability effects, of forming the hydrogen bond, and only in the ir data do we get an idea of the actual strength of the hydrogen bond formed. It was observed for 3-endo-phenyl-2-endo-norbornanol that the slope value (8.3) and ir frequency shift (10 cm-1) correlate well with the steric interactions involved in the cis-di-endo compound. The slope values and frequency shifts give us an idea of the strength of the intramolecular association and the energy relationship between the monomer and dimer. The hydrogen bonding appears to lower the energy of the monomer relative to that of the dimer by virtue of the internal bonds

Planning Professional Development: What Educators Know about Formative Instructional Practices

Formative instructional practices (FIP) are the formal and informal ways that teachers and students gather and respond to evidence of student learning. Although they might have been practicing formative instruction on a daily basis, many teachers rarely thought about how formative instructional practice features were already a part of their work. Teachers often displayed content standards, informed students of learning targets, and maintained learning records, but they may not have consistently analyzed records of student learning to make instructional decisions. Both novice educators and educators who already have strong classroom management and instructional skills are likely to benefit from professional learning around practices that encourage more student ownership of learning. In order to design a content relevant FIP PD program, it was critical to have an understanding of what teachers knew about formative instructional practices, and where their strength and weakness were. This study aimed to initiate these processes by asking, “What is educators’ baseline knowledge about FIP as measured by the FIP Knowledge Inventory?” The results of 2,528 educators on a FIP Knowledge Inventory showed an average of 61.84% correct responses or 15.46 points out of a possible 25 points. Item analysis indicated that teachers were weaker in two areas than they were in other principles of FIP: 1) providing effective feedback to students, and 2) promoting student ownership of their learning. This has implications for future teacher PD design and purposeful practices to transform knowledge to classroom instruction

How useful is high-sensitivity CRP as a risk factor for coronary artery disease?

Little evidence supports the use of the high-sensitivity C-reactive protein assay (hs-CRP) as a screening test for cardiovascular disease (CVD) in the healthy adult population. There is significant debate about its use in populations at moderate risk for cardiovascular disease, with some evidence suggesting its use if the results of the test will alter treatment recommendations (strength of recommendation [SOR]: C, based on extrapolation of consistent level 2 studies). Research to date is inadequate to determine the role of hs-CRP in risk-stratification of patients when considered in light of other standard risk factors

What is the best treatment for diabetic neuropathy?

Tricyclic antidepressants, anticonvulsants, and capsaicin reduce the pain of diabetic neuropathy; limited data suggests that lidocaine patches may also be efficacious. Both tricyclic antidepressants and anticonvulsants are superior to placebo in relieving painful diabetic neuropathy. Compared with placebo, patients taking tricyclic antidepressants report reduced pain (number needed to treat [NNT] for at least 50% reduction= 3.5) (strength of recommendation [SOR]: A). Similarly, patients taking anticonvulsants report reduced pain (NNT for at least 50% reduction in pain=2.7) (SOR: A)

Is screening for lead poisoning justified?

Evidence is insufficient to recommend for or against universal screening of young children for lead poisoning in high- prevalence communities (strength of recommendation [SOR]: C). In low-prevalence communities, evidence is insufficient to recommend for or against a targeted screening approach, employing locale-specific demographic risk factors and personal risk questionnaires to inform screening decisions (SOR: C). Although evidence does not suggest that treatment of individuals with elevated blood lead levels improves individual outcomes, public health strategies aimed at decreasing lead in the environment appear to have resulted in a significant decline in the number of children with elevated blood lead levels in recent decades. One could thus argue that screening may identify communities with high rates of lead poisoning, where environmental strategies could be targeted. Because the epidemiology of lead poisoning continues to change, local and state health authorities must continuously update information on which to base decisions about screening