An Evaluation of Novice Teachers’ Perceptions Regarding Teacher Induction and Teacher Leadership

Abstract Background Classroom teachers have the most influence on student learning (Goldrick, 2009). In order for new teachers to be effective, they require support through comprehensive induction programs during the first three years of teaching (Stanulis & Floden, 2009). Induction and enculturation will happen with or without a formal program, and states and school districts have the opportunity to be at the forefront, developing quality, comprehensive systems of support that will set the stage for a life-long career of effective teaching (Feiman-Nemser, 2001). Problem In examining the literature on a leadership pathway for novice teachers, there appears to be little information on the inclusion of teacher leadership components in induction programs. Few studies reporting on comprehensive, systematic teacher leadership pathways include specific leadership components for novice teachers in their first three years of teaching. Purpose The purpose of the study was to examine novice teachers’ awareness, beliefs, and perceptions regarding inclusion of, and participation in, a teacher leadership pathway. The goal of the research was to investigate: (1) development of teacher leadership, (2) attributes novices perceive they possess and (3) leadership roles and opportunities in which novice teachers are engaged and the subsequent benefits. Findings from the study were aimed to contribute to research that supports cultivating teacher leadership early and comprehensively. A quantitative research study was determined to be the most effective design for gathering comprehensive feedback from novice teachers in numerous Minnesota school districts. Findings [I]t is clear that most induction programs neglect to include a leadership pathway for novice teachers, often times preparing teachers for survival when schools are complex and in need of constant reform (Moir & Gless, 2001). Instead, these programs must also have as part of their vision a new image of the successful teacher whose leadership capacity is developed from the moment the teacher enters a classroom. Induction programs have the potential to become one of the most powerful forces for educational change and professional renewal in the history of public education. The opportunity is there, and the most effective programs will be those that clearly recognize this potential (Moir & Gless, 2001, p. 111). Key Search Words: Novice, Teacher, Induction, Minnesota, School, Leadership, Leaders, Development, Teaching, Training, Professional, Effectivenes

Honor Thy Father and Mother: Defining and Solving the Problem of Old Age in the United States, 1945-1961

In the twentieth century, Americans got old. The average lifespan grew from forty-eight to seventy-eight years of age and new policy questions and ethical challenges accompanied this demographic transition. How should old age be defined? Who would care for the nation's elders? What should older Americans give back to their communities and what should they expect from their government? Where would the infirm elderly live? Where would they die? This project returns to the middle of the twentieth century when experts within universities, foundations, social welfare organizations, and the federal government took on these questions and sought lasting solutions to the mounting problem of old age. More specifically, Honor Thy Father and Mother investigates how "old age" came to be defined as a social problem worthy of federal attention in the 1950s and how that federal attention shaped a national discussion on the nature and needs of the elderly. From the 1930s to the 1950s, the definition and problems of old age were in flux. Scientists, social workers, policy makers, doctors, and religious leaders challenged the viability of chronology as a medical and political marker of old age and questioned the wisdom of seeking longevity over a purposeful and dignified end. Their perspectives, while present in scientific, medical, and political discourse, did not translate into broad, well-funded federal programs. In their stead, the government threw its financial and administrative weight behind what I call the Medical Security Solution: initiatives such as bio-medical research and Medicare, which sought to cure the diseases of old age and relieve financial insecurity by covering the health care costs of social security recipients. Honor Thy Father and Mother explores how the Medical Security Solution captured the attention of policy makers, activists for the aged, and senior citizens in the middle of the twentieth century and what ideas were lost in this process. This project offers a needed history of the assumptions that continue to frame, and limit, public discussions on care for the elderly

Role of copper efflux in pneumococcal pathogenesis and resistance to macrophage-mediated immune clearance

In bacteria, the intracellular levels of metals are mediated by tightly controlled acquisition and efflux systems. This is particularly true of copper, a trace element that is universally toxic in excess. During infection, the toxic properties of copper are exploited by the mammalian host to facilitate bacterial clearance. To better understand the role of copper during infection, we characterized the contribution of the cop operon to copper homeostasis and virulence in Streptococcus pneumoniae. Deletion of either the exporter, encoded by copA, or the chaperone, encoded by cupA, led to hypersensitivity to copper stress. We further demonstrated that loss of the copper exporter encoded by copA led to decreased virulence in pulmonary, intraperitoneal, and intravenous models of infection. Deletion of copA resulted in enhanced macrophage-mediated bacterial clearance in vitro. The attenuation phenotype of the copA mutant in the lung was found to be dependent on pulmonary macrophages, underscoring the importance of copper efflux in evading immune defenses. Overall, these data provide insight into the role of the cop operon in pneumococcal pathogenesis

On the Thermodynamics of Hot Hadronic Matter

The equation of state of hot hadronic matter is obtained, by taking into account the contribution of the massive states with the help of the resonance spectrum $\tau (m)\sim m^3$ justified by the authors in previous papers. This equation of state is in agreement with that provided by the low-temperature expansion for the pion intracting gas. It is shown that in this picture the deconfinement phase transition is absent, in agreement with lattice gauge calculations which show the only phase transition of chiral symmetry restoration. The latter is modelled with the help of the restriction of the number of the effective degrees of freedom in the hadron phase to that of the microscopic degrees of freedom in the quark-gluon phase, through the corresponding truncation of the hadronic resonance spectrum, and the decrease of the effective hadron masses with temperature, predicted by Brown and Rho. The results are in agreement with lattice gauge data and show a smooth crossover in the thermodynamic variables in a temperature range $\sim 50$ MeV.Comment: 21 pages, LaTeX, 3 postscript figure

Predictors of Heavy Episodic Drinking and Weekly Drunkenness Among Immigrant Latinos in North Carolina

Few studies have examined correlates of heavy drinking among rural immigrant Latino men. This analysis identified correlates of typical week drunkenness and past 30-day heavy episodic drinking, within a sample of immigrant Latino men in rural North Carolina (n = 258). In the bivariate analyses, Mexican birth, entering the United States as an adult, and year-round employment were associated with increased odds of typical week drunkenness, and higher acculturation and affiliation with a religion with strict prohibitions against drinking alcohol were associated with lower odds of typical week drunkenness. Being older, Mexican birth, and entering the United States as an adult were associated with increased odds of heavy episodic drinking, and affiliation with a religion with strict prohibitions against drinking alcohol was associated with decreased odds of heavy episodic drinking. In multivariable modeling, only religious affiliation was associated with typical week drunkenness. Mexican birth, entering the United States as an adult and were associated with increased odds of heavy episodic drinking, and affiliation with a religion with strict prohibitions against drinking alcohol and completing high school was associated with lower odds of heavy episodic drinking. The health of minority men in the United States has been neglected, and immigrant Latino men comprise a particularly vulnerable population. This analysis provides initial data on some factors associated with heavy drinking within a population about whom little is known. Future studies should examine moderating or mediating factors between age, acculturation, religiosity, and heavy drinking that might be targets for behavioral interventions

Actions of Camptothecin Derivatives on Larvae and Adults of the Arboviral Vector Aedes aegypti

Mosquito-borne viruses including dengue, Zika, and Chikungunya viruses, and parasites such as malaria and Onchocerca volvulus endanger health and economic security around the globe, and emerging mosquito-borne pathogens have pandemic potential. However, the rapid spread of insecticide resistance threatens our ability to control mosquito vectors. Larvae of Aedes aegypti were screened with the Medicines for Malaria Venture Pandemic Response Box, an open-source compound library, using INVAPP, an invertebrate automated phenotyping platform suited to high-throughput chemical screening of larval motility. We identified rubitecan (a synthetic derivative of camptothecin) as a hit compound that reduced A. aegypti larval motility. Both rubitecan and camptothecin displayed concentration dependent reduction in larval motility with estimated EC50 of 25.5 ± 5.0 µM and 22.3 ± 5.4 µM, respectively. We extended our investigation to adult mosquitoes and found that camptothecin increased lethality when delivered in a blood meal to A. aegypti adults at 100 µM and 10 µM, and completely blocked egg laying when fed at 100 µM. Camptothecin and its derivatives are inhibitors of topoisomerase I, have known activity against several agricultural pests, and are also approved for the treatment of several cancers. Crucially, they can inhibit Zika virus replication in human cells, so there is potential for dual targeting of both the vector and an important arbovirus that it carries

Low-n-6 and low-n-6 plus high-n-3 diets for use in clinical research

Few trials have evaluated the metabolic effects and health outcomes of lowering dietary n-6 PUFA. The objectives of the present paper were (1) to report the methods employed to lower dietary n-6 PUFA, while either increasing or maintaining n-3 PUFA intake and (2) to validate our methods with 24 h recalls and erythrocyte fatty acid analyses. A total of sixty-seven subjects were randomised to either (1) an average-n-3 PUFA, low-n-6 PUFA (L6) intervention designed to lower linoleic acid (LA; ≤2·5 % of energy (en%)) and arachidonic acid (≤60 mg/d), while maintaining an average US intake of n-3 PUFA or (2) a high-n-3 PUFA, low-n-6 PUFA (H3-L6) intervention designed to lower n-6 LA, while increasing the n-3 PUFA α-linolenic acid (ALA; ≥1·5 en%) and EPA + DHA (≥1000 mg/d). Pre- and intra-intervention nutrient intakes were estimated with six 24 h dietary recalls per subject. Both groups achieved the targeted reductions in dietary LA to ≤2·5 en% (median LA 2·45 (2·1, 3·1); P<0·001). Intakes of n-3 PUFA did not change for the L6 group. Target increases in n-3 ALA (median 1·6 en%, (1·3, 2·0), P<0·001) and EPA + DHA (1482 mg, (374, 2558), P<0·001) were achieved in the H3-L6 group. Dietary changes were validated by corresponding changes in erythrocyte n-6 and n-3 fatty acid composition. Dietary LA can be lowered to ≤2·5 en%, with or without concurrent increases in dietary n-3 PUFA, in an outpatient clinical trial setting using this integrated diet method

Collision times in pi-pi and pi-K scattering and spectroscopy of meson resonances

Using the concept of collision time (time delay) introduced by Eisenbud and Wigner and its connection to on-shell intermediate unstable states, we study mesonic resonances in pi-pi and pi-K scattering. The time-delay method proves its usefulness by revealing the spectrum of the well-known rho- and K*-mesons and by supporting some speculations on rho-mesons in the 1200 MeV region. We use this method further to shed some light on more speculative meson resonances, among others the enigmatic scalars. We confirm the existence of chiralons below 1 GeV in the unflavoured and strange meson sector.Comment: 22 pages LaTex, 8 figure

Telomere disruption results in non-random formation of de novo dicentric chromosomes involving acrocentric human chromosomes

Copyright: © 2010 Stimpson et al.Genome rearrangement often produces chromosomes with two centromeres (dicentrics) that are inherently unstable because of bridge formation and breakage during cell division. However, mammalian dicentrics, and particularly those in humans, can be quite stable, usually because one centromere is functionally silenced. Molecular mechanisms of centromere inactivation are poorly understood since there are few systems to experimentally create dicentric human chromosomes. Here, we describe a human cell culture model that enriches for de novo dicentrics. We demonstrate that transient disruption of human telomere structure non-randomly produces dicentric fusions involving acrocentric chromosomes. The induced dicentrics vary in structure near fusion breakpoints and like naturally-occurring dicentrics, exhibit various inter-centromeric distances. Many functional dicentrics persist for months after formation. Even those with distantly spaced centromeres remain functionally dicentric for 20 cell generations. Other dicentrics within the population reflect centromere inactivation. In some cases, centromere inactivation occurs by an apparently epigenetic mechanism. In other dicentrics, the size of the alpha-satellite DNA array associated with CENP-A is reduced compared to the same array before dicentric formation. Extrachromosomal fragments that contained CENP-A often appear in the same cells as dicentrics. Some of these fragments are derived from the same alpha-satellite DNA array as inactivated centromeres. Our results indicate that dicentric human chromosomes undergo alternative fates after formation. Many retain two active centromeres and are stable through multiple cell divisions. Others undergo centromere inactivation. This event occurs within a broad temporal window and can involve deletion of chromatin that marks the locus as a site for CENP-A maintenance/replenishment.This work was supported by the Tumorzentrum Heidelberg/Mannheim grant (D.10026941)and by March of Dimes Research Foundation grant #1-FY06-377 and NIH R01 GM069514

Dietary omega-6 fatty acid lowering increases bioavailability of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids in human plasma lipid pools

Dietary linoleic acid (LA, 18:2n-6) lowering in rats reduces n-6 polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) plasma concentrations and increases n-3 PUFA (eicosapentaenoic (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA)) concentrations