Growth Mindset: Associations with Apprehension, Self-Perceived Competence, and Beliefs about Public Speaking

The relationships among growth mindset for public speaking (i.e., the implicit theory that public speaking abilities can be developed and improved) and beliefs about the nature of public speaking, public speaking apprehension (PSA), and self-perceived public speaking competence (SPPSC) were investigated in intensive and traditional formats of a general education public speaking course. In general, growth mindset was associated with lower PSA, higher SPPSC, and more sophisticated beliefs about public speaking. Mindset remained somewhat stable, PSA significantly decreased, and SPPSC significantly increased from the beginning to the end of the course. More sophisticated beliefs about public speaking as an expressive, transformational, and audience-centric endeavor also tended to increase. However, there were several important differences between intensive and traditional formats. In particular, changes in the intensive format were more consistent across variables and had larger effect sizes

K-12 School Administrator Candidates’ Perceptions of Their Roles in Supporting Teachers to Address Adverse Childhood Experiences

This study of a K-12 administrator preparation program adds to the research literature on trauma-informed education by addressing a gap in the literature on K-12 administrator candidates’ knowledge of the meaning of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and what their roles are in supporting teachers who have students with ACEs. K-12 school administrator candidates (N = 102) completed a survey designed by these researchers on this topic. The concept of ACEs is addressed as part of trauma-informed education from the K-12 administrator candidates’ point of view using a concurrent mixed methods case study approach at one administrator preparation program. Implications and recommendations for school administrator preparation programs are discussed

Interspecies somatic cell nuclear transfer is dependent on compatible mitochondrial DNA and reprogramming factors

Interspecies somatic cell nuclear transfer (iSCNT) involves the transfer of a nucleus or cell from one species into the cytoplasm of an enucleated oocyte from another. Once activated, reconstructed oocytes can be cultured in vitro to blastocyst, the final stage of preimplantation development. However, they often arrest during the early stages of preimplantation development; fail to reprogramme the somatic nucleus; and eliminate the accompanying donor cell’s mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) in favour of the recipient oocyte’s genetically more divergent population. This last point has consequences for the production of ATP by the electron transfer chain, which is encoded by nuclear and mtDNA. Using a murine-porcine interspecies model, we investigated the importance of nuclear-cytoplasmic compatibility on successful development. Initially, we transferred murine fetal fibroblasts into enucleated porcine oocytes, which resulted in extremely low blastocyst rates (0.48%); and failure to replicate nuclear DNA and express Oct-4, the key marker of reprogramming. Using allele specific-PCR, we detected peak levels of murine mtDNA at 0.1460.055% of total mtDNA at the 2-cell embryo stage and then at ever-decreasing levels to the blastocyst stage (,0.001%). Furthermore, these embryos had an overall mtDNA profile similar to porcine embryos. We then depleted porcine oocytes of their mtDNA using 10 mM 29,39- dideoxycytidine and transferred murine somatic cells along with murine embryonic stem cell extract, which expressed key pluripotent genes associated with reprogramming and contained mitochondria, into these oocytes. Blastocyst rates increased significantly (3.38%) compared to embryos generated from non-supplemented oocytes (P,0.01). They also had significantly more murine mtDNA at the 2-cell stage than the non-supplemented embryos, which was maintained throughout early preimplantation development. At later stages, these embryos possessed 49.9962.97% murine mtDNA. They also exhibited an mtDNA profile similar to murine preimplantation embryos. Overall, these data demonstrate that the addition of species compatible mtDNA and reprogramming factors improves developmental outcomes for iSCNT embryos

Geospatial relationships of air pollution and acute asthma events across the Detroit–Windsor international border: Study design and preliminary results

The Geospatial Determinants of Health Outcomes Consortium (GeoDHOC) study investigated ambient air quality across the international border between Detroit, Michigan, USA and Windsor, Ontario, Canada and its association with acute asthma events in 5- to 89-year-old residents of these cities. NO2, SO2, and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) were measured at 100 sites, and particulate matter (PM) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) at 50 sites during two 2-week sampling periods in 2008 and 2009. Acute asthma event rates across neighborhoods in each city were calculated using emergency room visits and hospitalizations and standardized to the overall age and gender distribution of the population in the two cities combined. Results demonstrate that intra-urban air quality variations are related to adverse respiratory events in both cities. Annual 2008 asthma rates exhibited statistically significant positive correlations with total VOCs and total benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylene (BTEX) at 5-digit zip code scale spatial resolution in Detroit. In Windsor, NO2, VOCs, and PM10 concentrations correlated positively with 2008 asthma rates at a similar 3-digit postal forward sortation area scale. The study is limited by its coarse temporal resolution (comparing relatively short term air quality measurements to annual asthma health data) and interpretation of findings is complicated by contrasts in population demographics and health-care delivery systems in Detroit and Windsor