The business of teaching: Vocational educators’ experiences of marketization reforms

This thesis investigates how public sector teachers experience marketization reforms. Many of the principles embedded within these neoliberal reforms appear to be antithetical to the traditional values of the educational field. Thus, the imposition of these changes is met with hostility, disparagement and resistance. This thesis aims to examine this policy enactment process, in which long-term public educators are charged with enacting neoliberal government policy. Vocational education is the object of the research, as one of the primary ‘testing grounds’ for neoliberal policy reform in the Australian context. Previous research has mapped the macro-level economic impacts of marketization on the sector, as well as examining policy documents to ‘read off’ the impacts on the educators within it. However, there is a limited amount of research that gathers and foregrounds the perspectives of educators actually undergoing marketization reforms. As such the current project aimed to utilise a mixed-methods approach to provide a space for teachers to identify their concerns with, and explain their experiences of, marketization reforms. The thesis draws on Bourdieu’s field theory and Legitimation Code Theory to analyse documentary, survey and interview data. This data is used to construct a broad understanding of responses to reforms across the field, before focusing in on the three case study areas of the research: nursing, trades and hospitality. The study demonstrates how teachers in different areas of the field characterize marketization reforms in very different ways, effecting their ability to adapt to new ways of working. Teachers appeared to draw on their experiences from their associated industry in order to interpret and evaluate reforms, suggesting that the dual-identity of teachers in vocational education was an important factor in how they responded to changes. These findings support further research on vocational educators’ construction of this dual identity and on their experiences of change in the sector, to better inform both research into marketization reforms and the practicalities of enacting policy in the sector

Explaining ourselves (to ourselves) : english teachers, professional identity and change

This article discusses the professional identity of English teachers. It draws on discussions held at the International Federation for the Teaching of English conference. Issues addressed include professional standards formulated by teachers of English in the United States: the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, and, in Australia: the Standards for Teachers of English Language and Literacy in Australian (STELLA); the way in which the professional identities of teachers are crucially bound up with their disciplinary fields; and the need for English teachers to confront the conditions of their work.<br /

Coordinated circadian timing through the integration of local inputs in Arabidopsis thaliana.

Individual plant cells have a genetic circuit, the circadian clock, that times key processes to the day-night cycle. These clocks are aligned to the day-night cycle by multiple environmental signals that vary across the plant. How does the plant integrate clock rhythms, both within and between organs, to ensure coordinated timing? To address this question, we examined the clock at the sub-tissue level across Arabidopsis thaliana seedlings under multiple environmental conditions and genetic backgrounds. Our results show that the clock runs at different speeds (periods) in each organ, which causes the clock to peak at different times across the plant in both constant environmental conditions and light-dark (LD) cycles. Closer examination reveals that spatial waves of clock gene expression propagate both within and between organs. Using a combination of modeling and experiment, we reveal that these spatial waves are the result of the period differences between organs and local coupling, rather than long-distance signaling. With further experiments we show that the endogenous period differences, and thus the spatial waves, can be generated by the organ specificity of inputs into the clock. We demonstrate this by modulating periods using light and metabolic signals, as well as with genetic perturbations. Our results reveal that plant clocks can be set locally by organ-specific inputs but coordinated globally via spatial waves of clock gene expression

IAEA Commissioning Expedition of Linear Accelerator

https://openworks.mdanderson.org/sumexp22/1006/thumbnail.jp

Pain Management in the Neonatal Piglet During Routine Management Procedures. Part 1: A Systematic Review of Randomized and Non-Randomized Intervention Studies

Routine procedures carried out on piglets (i.e. castration, tail docking, teeth clipping, and ear notching) are considered painful. Unfortunately the efficacy of current pain mitigation modalities is poorly understood. The aim of this systematic review was to synthesize the existing primary scientific literature regarding the effectiveness of pain management interventions used for routine procedures on piglets. The review question was, \u27In piglets under twenty-eight days old, undergoing castration, tail docking, teeth clipping, and/or methods of identification that involve cutting of the ear tissue, what is the effect of pain mitigation compared with no pain mitigation on behavioral and non-behavioral outcomes that indicate procedural pain and post-procedural pain?\u27 A review protocol was designed a priori. Data sources used were Agricola (EBSCO), CAB Abstracts (Thomson Reuters), PubMed, Web of Science (Thomson Reuters), BIOSIS Previews (Thomson Reuters), and ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Full Text. No restrictions on year of publication or language were placed on the search. Eligible studies assessed an intervention designed to mitigate the pain of the procedures of interest and included a comparison group that did not receive an intervention. Eligible non-English studies were translated using a translation service. Two reviewers independently screened titles and abstracts for relevance using pre-defined questions. Data were extracted from relevant articles onto pre-defined forms. From the 2203 retrieved citations forty publications, containing 52 studies met the eligibility criteria. In 40 studies, piglets underwent castration only. In seven studies, piglets underwent tail docking only. In one study, piglets underwent teeth clipping only, and in one study piglets underwent ear notching only. Three studies used multiple procedures. Thirty-two trial arms assessed general anesthesia protocols, 30 trial arms assessed local anesthetic protocols, and 28 trial arms assessed non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) protocols. Forty-one trial arms were controls where piglets received either placebo or no treatment. Forty-five outcomes were extracted from the studies, however only the results from studies that assessed cortisol (six studies), β-endorphins (one study), vocalisations (nine studies), and pain-related behaviors (nine studies) are reported. Other outcomes were reported in only one or two studies. Confident decision making will likely be difficult based on this body of work because lack of comprehensive reporting precludes calculation of the magnitude of pain mitigation for most outcomes

The impact of patient participation direct enhanced service on patient reference groups in primary care: a qualitative study.

NHS policy documents continue to make a wide-ranging commitment to patient involvement. The Patient Participation Direct Enhanced Service (PP-DES), launched in 2011, aimed to ensure patients are involved in decisions about the range and quality of services provided and commissioned by their practice through patient reference groups (PRGs). The aim of this exploratory study is to review the impact of the PP-DES (2011-13) on a sample of PRGs and assess how far it has facilitated their involvement in decisions about the services of their general practices.The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Collaboration for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care (CLAHRC) for Leicestershire, Northamptonshire and Rutland (LNR)

Supporting the inclusion and retention of autistic students: Exploring teachers' and paraeducators' use of evidence-based practices in public elementary schools

Introduction: Educators in public schools are required to serve students in their least restrictive environment. While many evidence-based practices (EBPs), defined as practices and strategies shown by research to have meaningful effectson outcomes for autistic students are documented in the literature, less is known about EBP use among educators in public schools. Methods: Eighty-six general and special education teachers and para educators completed a survey about familiarity, training, and EBP use for included autistic children. Results: Across roles, educators reported familiarity (98.8%), use (97.7%), and training (83.7%) in reinforcement. They reported the least familiarity with behavioral momentum (29.1%), training in both video modeling and peer-mediated instruction and intervention (18.6%), and use of video modeling (14.0%). Follow-up interviews (n = 80) highlighted mixed understanding of EBP definitions and use. Discussion: Implications for inclusive education are discussed including autism-specific EBP training within pre-service teacher preparation programs

Chiral (SO)–N–(SO) Sulfoxide Pincer Complexes of Mg, Rh, and Ir: N–H Activation and Selective Sulfoxide Reduction upon Ligand Coordination

Multigram quantities of the optically pure amino−bis-sulfoxide ligand (S,S)-bis(4-tert-butyl-2-(ptolylsulfinyl) phenyl)amine ((S,S)-3) are accessible by in situ lithiation of bis(2-bromo-4-tert-butylphenyl)amine (1) followed by a nucleophilic displacement reaction with Andersen’s sulfinate 2. Deprotonation of (S,S)-3 with MgPh2 yields the magnesium amido−bis-sulfoxide salt (S,S)-4 quantitatively. Metathetical exchange of (S,S)-4 with [RhCl(COE)2]2 affords the optically pure pseudo-C2-symmetric Rh(I)−amido bissulfoxide pincer complex mer-(R,R)-[Rh(bis(4-(tert-butyl)-2- (p-tolylsulfinyl)phenyl)amide)(COE)] (mer-(R,R)-5). This complex reacts with 3 equiv of HCl to give the facial Rh(III) complex fac-(S,R,R)-[Rh(bis(4-(tert-butyl)-2-(p-tolylsulfinyl)- phenyl)amine)Cl3] (fac-(S,R,R)-6), in which one of the sulfoxide functions has been reduced to the sulfide and in which the resulting sulfoxide−sulfide−amine ligand is facially coordinated. The same complexes 5 and 6 form in a 1:2 ratio in a disproportionation reaction when [RhCl(COE)2]2 is treated with 2 equiv of neutral ligand 3. N−H activation is directly observed in the reaction of [IrCl(COE)2]2 with 3, affording the amido−hydrido−Ir(III) complex [Ir(bis(4-(tert-butyl)-2-(ptolylsulfinyl) phenyl)amide)(Cl)(H)(COE)] (8)

Novel venom gene discovery in the platypus

Background: To date, few peptides in the complex mixture of platypus venom have been identified and sequenced, in part due to the limited amounts of platypus venom available to study. We have constructed and sequenced a cDNA library from an active platypus venom gland to identify the remaining components.Results: We identified 83 novel putative platypus venom genes from 13 toxin families, which are homologous to known toxins from a wide range of vertebrates (fish, reptiles, insectivores) and invertebrates (spiders, sea anemones, starfish). A number of these are expressed in tissues other than the venom gland, and at least three of these families (those with homology to toxins from distant invertebrates) may play non-toxin roles. Thus, further functional testing is required to confirm venom activity. However, the presence of similar putative toxins in such widely divergent species provides further evidence for the hypothesis that there are certain protein families that are selected preferentially during evolution to become venom peptides. We have also used homology with known proteins to speculate on the contributions of each venom component to the symptoms of platypus envenomation.Conclusions: This study represents a step towards fully characterizing the first mammal venom transcriptome. We have found similarities between putative platypus toxins and those of a number of unrelated species, providing insight into the evolution of mammalian venom