Teachers\u27 Perceptions of the Nine Defining Characteristics of Catholic Identity in Ursuline Secondary Schools of the USA

Catholic schools are integral to the Catholic Church’s mission of evangelization. A Catholic educational institution is a place to encounter the living God who is Jesus Christ. Education is the concern and task of the Church, called to serve humankind from the heart of God. This study examined the perceptions of teachers working in Roman Union, Ursuline secondary schools of the Central Province of the United States regarding the extent to which the nine defining characteristics of Catholic identity were present in their respective schools and classrooms. For this research, Catholic identity was operationally defined using the seminal Catholic education document, National Standards and Benchmarks for Effective Catholic Elementary and Secondary Schools (Ozar et al., 2012). Based upon the precipitous decrease of men and women in religious congregations across the US, no longer could the sisters, priests, or brothers provide the “Catholic” element of distinctiveness in schools; now the torch of Catholic identity needs to be borne by lay teachers. This study utilized quantitative research. The survey, Defining Characteristics of Catholic Schools, measured teachers’ perceptions of Catholic identity in their schools and their classrooms sited in Roman Union, Ursuline-governed secondary schools of the Central Province in the United States. Based on survey questions and statistically cumulative data, the teachers’ (N= 139) respondents (n=49) yielded a 35% response rate. Accordingly, the data revealed that the teachers of the Roman Union Ursuline secondary schools of the Central Province of the United States “agree” that the defining characteristics of Catholic identity were operative in their schools and classrooms. Additionally, the survey data identified means and statistical variance in two categories: (a) the role and authority of the Bishop in teachers’ classrooms; (b) teachers’ professional education on the educational mission of the Catholic Church. As illustrated by this study, teachers in Ursuline schools support, observe, and protect the Catholic identity of their respective schools. The data showed Ursuline secondary school teachers embrace and proclaim the Gospel in their classrooms

Mobilisation and remobilisation of a large archetypal pathogenicity island of uropathogenic Escherichia coli in vitro support the role of conjugation for horizontal transfer of genomic islands

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>A substantial amount of data has been accumulated supporting the important role of genomic islands (GEIs) - including pathogenicity islands (PAIs) - in bacterial genome plasticity and the evolution of bacterial pathogens. Their instability and the high level sequence similarity of different (partial) islands suggest an exchange of PAIs between strains of the same or even different bacterial species by horizontal gene transfer (HGT). Transfer events of archetypal large genomic islands of enterobacteria which often lack genes required for mobilisation or transfer have been rarely investigated so far.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>To study mobilisation of such large genomic regions in prototypic uropathogenic <it>E. coli </it>(UPEC) strain 536, PAI II₅₃₆was supplemented with the <it>mob</it>_RP4region, an origin of replication (<it>oriV</it>_<it>R6K</it>), an origin of transfer (<it>oriT</it>_<it>RP4</it>) and a chloramphenicol resistance selection marker. In the presence of helper plasmid RP4, conjugative transfer of the 107-kb PAI II₅₃₆construct occured from strain 536 into an <it>E. coli </it>K-12 recipient. In transconjugants, PAI II₅₃₆existed either as a cytoplasmic circular intermediate (CI) or integrated site-specifically into the recipient's chromosome at the <it>leuX </it>tRNA gene. This locus is the chromosomal integration site of PAI II₅₃₆in UPEC strain 536. From the <it>E. coli </it>K-12 recipient, the chromosomal PAI II₅₃₆construct as well as the CIs could be successfully remobilised and inserted into <it>leuX </it>in a PAI II₅₃₆deletion mutant of <it>E. coli </it>536.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our results corroborate that mobilisation and conjugal transfer may contribute to evolution of bacterial pathogens through horizontal transfer of large chromosomal regions such as PAIs. Stabilisation of these mobile genetic elements in the bacterial chromosome result from selective loss of mobilisation and transfer functions of genomic islands.</p

Mobilisation and remobilisation of a large archetypal pathogenicity island of uropathogenic Escherichia coli in vitro support the role of conjugation for horizontal transfer of genomic islands

Background: A substantial amount of data has been accumulated supporting the important role of genomic islands (GEIs) - including pathogenicity islands (PAIs) - in bacterial genome plasticity and the evolution of bacterial pathogens. Their instability and the high level sequence similarity of different (partial) islands suggest an exchange of PAIs between strains of the same or even different bacterial species by horizontal gene transfer (HGT). Transfer events of archetypal large genomic islands of enterobacteria which often lack genes required for mobilisation or transfer have been rarely investigated so far. Results: To study mobilisation of such large genomic regions in prototypic uropathogenic E. coli (UPEC) strain 536, PAI II536 was supplemented with the mobRP4 region, an origin of replication (oriVR6K), an origin of transfer (oriTRP4) and a chloramphenicol resistance selection marker. In the presence of helper plasmid RP4, conjugative transfer of the 107-kb PAI II536 construct occured from strain 536 into an E. coli K-12 recipient. In transconjugants, PAI II536 existed either as a cytoplasmic circular intermediate (CI) or integrated site-specifically into the recipient’s chromosome at the leuX tRNA gene. This locus is the chromosomal integration site of PAI II536 in UPEC strain 536. From the E. coli K-12 recipient, the chromosomal PAI II536 construct as well as the CIs could be successfully remobilised and inserted into leuX in a PAI II536 deletion mutant of E. coli 536. Conclusions: Our results corroborate that mobilisation and conjugal transfer may contribute to evolution of bacterial pathogens through horizontal transfer of large chromosomal regions such as PAIs. Stabilisation of these mobile genetic elements in the bacterial chromosome result from selective loss of mobilisation and transfer functions of genomic islands

Analysis of collection of hemolytic uremic syndrome-associated enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli

Multilocus sequence typing of 169 non-O157 enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC) isolated from patients with hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) demonstrated 29 different sequence types (STs); 78.1% of these strains clustered in 5 STs. From all STs and serotypes identified, we established a reference panel of EHEC associated with HUS (HUSEC collection).</p

Phylogeny and disease association of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli O91

The diversity and relatedness of 100 Shiga toxin–producing Escherichia coli O91 isolates from different patients were examined by multilocus sequence typing. We identified 10 specific sequence types (ST) and 4 distinct clonal groups. ST442 was significantly associated with hemolytic uremic syndrome

Measurement of the cosmic ray spectrum above 4×10184{\times}10^{18} eV using inclined events detected with the Pierre Auger Observatory

A measurement of the cosmic-ray spectrum for energies exceeding $4{\times}10^{18}$ eV is presented, which is based on the analysis of showers with zenith angles greater than $60^{\circ}$ detected with the Pierre Auger Observatory between 1 January 2004 and 31 December 2013. The measured spectrum confirms a flux suppression at the highest energies. Above $5.3{\times}10^{18}$ eV, the "ankle", the flux can be described by a power law $E^{-\gamma}$ with index $\gamma=2.70 \pm 0.02 \,\text{(stat)} \pm 0.1\,\text{(sys)}$ followed by a smooth suppression region. For the energy ($E_\text{s}$) at which the spectral flux has fallen to one-half of its extrapolated value in the absence of suppression, we find $E_\text{s}=(5.12\pm0.25\,\text{(stat)}^{+1.0}_{-1.2}\,\text{(sys)}){\times}10^{19}$ eV.Comment: Replaced with published version. Added journal reference and DO

Energy Estimation of Cosmic Rays with the Engineering Radio Array of the Pierre Auger Observatory

The Auger Engineering Radio Array (AERA) is part of the Pierre Auger Observatory and is used to detect the radio emission of cosmic-ray air showers. These observations are compared to the data of the surface detector stations of the Observatory, which provide well-calibrated information on the cosmic-ray energies and arrival directions. The response of the radio stations in the 30 to 80 MHz regime has been thoroughly calibrated to enable the reconstruction of the incoming electric field. For the latter, the energy deposit per area is determined from the radio pulses at each observer position and is interpolated using a two-dimensional function that takes into account signal asymmetries due to interference between the geomagnetic and charge-excess emission components. The spatial integral over the signal distribution gives a direct measurement of the energy transferred from the primary cosmic ray into radio emission in the AERA frequency range. We measure 15.8 MeV of radiation energy for a 1 EeV air shower arriving perpendicularly to the geomagnetic field. This radiation energy -- corrected for geometrical effects -- is used as a cosmic-ray energy estimator. Performing an absolute energy calibration against the surface-detector information, we observe that this radio-energy estimator scales quadratically with the cosmic-ray energy as expected for coherent emission. We find an energy resolution of the radio reconstruction of 22% for the data set and 17% for a high-quality subset containing only events with at least five radio stations with signal.Comment: Replaced with published version. Added journal reference and DO

Measurement of the Radiation Energy in the Radio Signal of Extensive Air Showers as a Universal Estimator of Cosmic-Ray Energy

We measure the energy emitted by extensive air showers in the form of radio emission in the frequency range from 30 to 80 MHz. Exploiting the accurate energy scale of the Pierre Auger Observatory, we obtain a radiation energy of 15.8 \pm 0.7 (stat) \pm 6.7 (sys) MeV for cosmic rays with an energy of 1 EeV arriving perpendicularly to a geomagnetic field of 0.24 G, scaling quadratically with the cosmic-ray energy. A comparison with predictions from state-of-the-art first-principle calculations shows agreement with our measurement. The radiation energy provides direct access to the calorimetric energy in the electromagnetic cascade of extensive air showers. Comparison with our result thus allows the direct calibration of any cosmic-ray radio detector against the well-established energy scale of the Pierre Auger Observatory.Comment: Replaced with published version. Added journal reference and DOI. Supplemental material in the ancillary file

Influence of Melarsoprol in therapy of african Trypanosomiasis on glucosemetabolism in humans

Die afrikanische Schlafkrankheit füht unweigerlich zum Tod wenn sie unerkannt und somit unbehandelt bleibt. Zur Therapie stehen nur sehr wenige Medikamente zur Verfügung, wovon die meisten bereits seit mehr als 50 Jahren im Einsatz sind. Unter der Therapie treten in ca. 5-10% der Fälle Enzephalopathien auf, die in vielen Fällen tödlich verlaufen. Bisher ist nicht sicher, wie der dahinterstehende Pathomechanismus verläuft. Zu dieser Frage wurden Untersuchungen des Glukosemetabolismus an Patienten im 2. Stadium der Schlafkrankheit durchgeführt. Es zeigte sich ein signifikanter Anstieg des durchschnittlichen Glukoseniveaus im Verlauf der Therapie. Des weiteren wurden unterschiedliche Verläufe von arzneimittel-induzierter Enzephalopathie klinisch beobachtet und beschrieben.Human african Trypanosomiasis is a letal desease if left untreated. Most of the medicals used in late stage trypanosomiasis are older than 50 years. In 5-10% of the patients treatment induced encephalopathies occur which often lead to death. Therefore we investigated the glucosemetabolism in late stage patients treated with melarsoprol. a significant increasion of the blood glucose level was shown. Further clinical descriptions of treatment induced encephalopathies were made