A Comparison Study of ASTM-IFA (ICR) Method, the Pronetic Method and Dynal Method for Detection and Enumeration of Giardia and Cryptosproidium in Source Waters in Kentucky

A thesis presented to the faculty of the College of Science and Technology at Morehead State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Science in Biology by Lisa Curtis Hawkins on November 28, 2000

Writing Conference Purpose and How It Positions Primary-Grade Children as Authoritative Agents or Passive Observers

A common practice in today’s primary-grade classrooms, teacher-student writing conferences are considered a vital component of instruction by accomplished writing teachers and advocates of process writing. Moreover, what teachers say and how they say it shapes those opportunities for student learning that are possible in classrooms. As such, building an understanding of the talk that ensues during primary-grade writing conferences, those purposes that such talk serves overall, and the significance of its pedagogical appropriateness is essential. Findings from a multiple-case study of conference enactment in both a kindergarten and a first-grade classroom illuminate the varying degrees of authoritative and dialogic discourses made available to child participants during conference interactions. These findings range from enactments that empower students to co-construct ideas and meaning with their teachers as dialogic partners (e.g., conferencing as verbal rehearsal, conferencing as criterion-specific collaboration), to those more indicative of traditional recitation patterns in which students are given little space to contribute to the conversation (e.g., conferencing as transcription activity, conferencing as find-and-fix correction). Findings also suggest the importance of conference purpose and writing-process phase in determining the role child writers are invited to assume within a given conference interaction

Loss of Function of E-Cadherin in Embryonic Stem Cells and the Relevance to Models of Tumorigenesis

E-cadherin is the primary cell adhesion molecule within the epithelium, and loss of this protein is associated with a more aggressive tumour phenotype and poorer patient prognosis in many cancers. Loss of E-cadherin is a defining characteristic of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), a process associated with tumour cell metastasis. We have previously demonstrated an EMT event during embryonic stem (ES) cell differentiation, and that loss of E-cadherin in these cells results in altered growth factor response and changes in cell surface localisation of promigratory molecules. We discuss the implication of loss of E-cadherin in ES cells within the context of cancer stem cells and current models of tumorigenesis. We propose that aberrant E-cadherin expression is a critical contributing factor to neoplasia and the early stages of tumorigenesis in the absence of EMT by altering growth factor response of the cells, resulting in increased proliferation, decreased apoptosis, and acquisition of a stem cell-like phenotype

Preparing Elementary Writing Teachers: An Inquiry-Driven, Field-Based Approach to Instruction

Pre-service teachers’ [PSTs] preparation for teaching writing is foundational to writing instruction in elementary schools and children’s writing. Prior research has identified elements in writing-focused methods coursework that support their preparation. In this article, an innovative component in a stand-alone writing teacher preparation course that incorporated the research-based elements is showcased: a process for deconstructing and modeling inquiry-driven writing pedagogy. This process includes five phases: (1) using mentor texts during initial immersion, (2) using mentor texts to study structure, (3) using mentor texts to study writer’s craft, (4) using mentor texts to study sentence structure, sentence fluency, and language, and (5) final editing and “going public.” PSTs were engaged as writers of Slice-of-Life stories using this process before being asked to use the same approach in their field work. Research related to using such experiences with PSTs is also shared

Stress, Motivation and Professional Satisfaction among Health Care Workers in HIV/AIDS Care and Treatment Centers in Urban Tanzania: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Shortages of health care workers (HCWs) represents a serious challenge to ensuring effective HIV care in resource-limited settings (RLS). Stress, motivation, and job satisfaction have been linked with HCW retention and are important in addressing HCW shortages. In this cross-sectional study HCW stress, motivation and perceived ability to meet patient needs were assessed in PEPFAR-supported urban HIV care and treatment clinics (CTCs) in Tanzania. A self-administered questionnaire measuring motivation, stress, and perceived ability to and meet patient needs was given to HCWs at 16 CTCs. Scales measuring HCW satisfaction, motivation, and stress were developed using principle components analysis. Hierarchical linear models were used to explore the association of HCW and site characteristics with reported satisfaction, stress, motivation, and ability to meet patients' needs.\ud Seventy-three percent (279) of HCWs completed the questionnaire. Most (73%) HCWs reported minimal/no work-related stress, with 48% reporting good/excellent motivation, but 41% also reporting feeling emotionally drained. Almost all (98%) reported feeling able to help their patients, with 68% reporting work as rewarding. Most reported receipt of training and supervision, with good availability of resources. In the multivariate model, direct clinical providers reported lower motivation than management (p < 0.05) and HCWs at medium-sized sites reported higher motivation than HCWs at larger sites (p < 0.05). HCWs at small and medium sites were more likely to feel able to help patients than those from larger sites (p < 0.05 and p < 0.001 respectively). Despite significant patient loads, HCWs in these PEPFAR-supported CTCs reported high levels of motivation, job satisfaction, ability to meet patients' needs, low levels of stress but significant emotional toll. Understanding the relationship between support systems such as strong supervision and training and these outcomes is critical in designing interventions to improve motivation, reduce stress and increase retention of HCWs

First-nation Australian children’s interpretation of a pictorial questionnaire designed to assess physical literacy

Background: The Physical Literacy in Children Questionnaire (PL-C Quest) is a pictorial tool designed to measure children’s self-reported physical literacy. It measures 30 elements within the four domains (physical, psychological, cognitive, and social) of the Australian Physical Literacy Framework (APLF). The development study of the PL-C Quest only included children from non-Indigenous backgrounds living in a metropolitan city. Hence, little is known about how Indigenous children living in regional and rural areas understand and engage with the items. Purpose: The study aims to determine if Indigenous children living in regional and rural areas in Australia understand the items in the PL-C Quest (test content) and if they cognitively engaged with the items (response processes) as intended by the APLF definitions. Methods: The study followed a qualitative descriptive approach. The PL-C Quest includes an orange cartoon bunny carrying out 30 scenarios with accompanying statements. Each scenario has one bunny rabbit doing the activity well and the other bunny not so well. Cognitive interviews were conducted based on verbal probing using Tourangeau’s four-stage cognitive model (comprehension, retrieval, judgment, and response). In the regional town, nine Indigenous children were interviewed one on one in after-school sessions. In the rural town, 12 Indigenous children enrolled in the school programme of a sports provider were interviewed in pairs or small groups. All individual and group interviews were audio recorded and transcribed verbatim. All transcripts were coded using the NVivo12 software. Each cognitive action of Tourangeau’s model, comprehension, retrieval, judgment, and response, became a coding category. Responses coded into each category were further categorised into sub-categories. For instance, ‘Understood as intended’, ‘Partially understood’, and ‘Misunderstood’ were subcategories for comprehension; ‘skills’ and ‘past events and experiences’ were for retrieval; ‘confident and unconfident’ were for judgement; and ‘justify’ and ‘unable to justify’ were subcategories for response category. Once the first author completed the analysis of the children’s responses to items, the other two authors’ part of the data collection confirmed the accuracy of the coding. Findings: Overall, children in both sites understood most of the content of the items as intended. In addition, they could retrieve relevant information when responding to the items. For example, a few children reflected on their ability to play a ball-throwing Indigenous game and carry younger siblings when responding to the items, ‘Object Manipulation’ and ‘Strength’, respectively. Also, most children confidently selected the bunny that represented them more in all 30 items and were able to justify their responses. Conclusion: The study is the first to generate validity evidence for the PL-C Quest when used with Indigenous children in regional and rural Australia. The findings demonstrate that this pictorial scale may be a suitable tool to collect data about the physical literacy of Indigenous children living in regional and rural areas–subject to further testing with a larger population. Future research may provide evidence on other sources of validity. For instance, whether these domains uphold the measured construct, physical literacy (internal structure), with Indigenous children.</p

An Economic Evaluation of Preclinical Testing Strategies Compared to the Compulsory Scrapie Flock Scheme in the Control of Classical Scrapie

Cost-benefit is rarely combined with nonlinear dynamic models when evaluating control options for infectious diseases. The current strategy for scrapie in Great Britain requires that all genetically susceptible livestock in affected flocks be culled (Compulsory Scrapie Flock Scheme or CSFS). However, this results in the removal of many healthy sheep, and a recently developed pre-clinical test for scrapie now offers a strategy based on disease detection. We explore the flock level cost-effectiveness of scrapie control using a deterministic transmission model and industry estimates of costs associated with genotype testing, pre-clinical tests and the value of a sheep culled. Benefit was measured in terms of the reduction in the number of infected sheep sold on, compared to a baseline strategy of doing nothing, using Incremental Cost Effectiveness analysis to compare across strategies. As market data was not available for pre-clinical testing, a threshold analysis was used to set a unit-cost giving equal costs for CSFS and multiple pre-clinical testing (MT, one test each year for three consecutive years). Assuming a 40% within-flock proportion of susceptible genotypes and a test sensitivity of 90%, a single test (ST) was cheaper but less effective than either the CSFS or MT strategies (30 infected-sales-averted over the lifetime of the average epidemic). The MT strategy was slightly less effective than the CSFS and would be a dominated strategy unless preclinical testing was cheaper than the threshold price of £6.28, but may be appropriate for flocks with particularly valuable livestock. Though the ST is not currently recommended, the proportion of susceptible genotypes in the national flock is likely to continue to decrease; this may eventually make it a cost-effective alternative to the MT or CSFS

Modeling early haematologic adverse events in conformal and intensity-modulated pelvic radiotherapy in anal cancer

AbstractBackground and purposeTo determine if there are differences between dose to pelvic bone marrow (PBM) using intensity modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) under UK guidance versus conformal radiotherapy (CRT) per ACT II protocol and if differences translate to rates of early haematological adverse events grade 3 or greater (HT3+).Methods and materialsTwo groups of 20+ patients, treated under IMRT and CRT regimes respectively, were identified. All patients underwent weekly blood cell count: haemoglobin (HgB), white cell count (WCC), absolute neutrophil count (ANC) and platelets (plats).Percent volume of PBM and sub structures receiving 5–25Gy were tested for statistical significance. Regression models were used to test for correlation to blood counts. NTCP modeling was also performed.ResultsPMB dose metrics showed a significant increase in the IMRT group. Regression analysis showed iliac and lumbosacral PBM dose metrics to associate with reduced nadir ANC and WCC. NTCP at HT3+ was 0.13 using IMRT relative to 0.07 using CRT (p<0.05).ConclusionWhilst this is a relatively small retrospective study and lacks information on the distribution of active PBM, IMRT treatment has been shown to significantly increase PMB irradiation. PBM dose metrics have been shown to be predictive of WCC and ANC suppression. NTCP modeling predicts much high risk of HT3+. Paradoxically, actual rates of HT3+ were comparable suggesting that differences in the distributions of dose metrics maybe a significant factor and/or that there are insufficiency in the NTCP modeling