Changing Student Demographics and Suburban School Leadership

Principals and superintendents serving in four suburban school districts in Wisconsin experiencing significant increases in the numbers of students who identify as Hispanic or African American were studied to identify how these leaders were working to meet the needs of all learners in increasingly diverse public school contexts. This study aimed to answer three primary research questions: What resources, supports and strategies are employed by principals in suburban school districts experiencing significant demographic changes related specifically to increases in the number of students who identify as African American or Hispanic that helped them be successful in their roles? What do these school leaders need from their superintendents in order to successfully deliver on the promise of creating school environments within which all students succeed? How are superintendents in these suburban contexts increasing their competencies and supporting principals in proactively leading through racial demographic shifts in a society that has typically marginalized such groups of students? Leadership dispositions, knowledge, skills, and resources identified by building administrators necessary to successfully meet the challenge of actualizing success for all students are discussed and include growth mindset, a deep understanding of change management, a willingness to confront and disrupt, and a reliance upon peer collaboration. The superintendent/principal relationship is analyzed for relevance and impact on principal effectiveness and issues currently faced by district administrators serving in increasingly diverse suburban school districts are outlined. Results of this study illuminate opportunities for future research and implications on current practice in the field of educational administration

An Extended Theoretical Framework for the Concept of the Derivative

This paper extends the theoretical framework for exploring student understanding of the concept of the derivative, which was developed by Zandieh (2000). We expand upon the con-cept of a physical representation for the derivative by extending Zandieh’s map of the territory to provide higher resolution in regions that are of interest to those operating in a physical context. We also introduce the idea of ”thick ” derivatives, which are ratios of small but not infinitesimal changes, which are practically equivalent to the true derivative. Key words: derivative, theoretical framework, physical, experiment In this theoretical report we extend the theoretical framework for exploring student understand-ing of the concept of the derivative which was developed by Zandieh (2000). We expand upon the concept of a physical representation for the derivative. As with Zandieh’s original framework, this work is not meant to explain how or why students learn as they do, nor to propose a learning trajectory. Rather, this work extends Zandieh’s map of the territory, to provide higher resolution in regions that are of interest to those working with derivatives in a physical context. In addition to focusing on the physical context, we discuss challenges that have arisen in applying Zandieh’

Population Pharmacokinetics and Safety of Ceftolozane-Tazobactam in Adult Cystic Fibrosis Patients Admitted with Acute Pulmonary Exacerbation

ABSTRACT Ceftolozane-tazobactam has potent activity against Pseudomonas aeruginosa , a pathogen associated with cystic fibrosis (CF) acute pulmonary exacerbations (APE). Due to the rapid elimination of many antibiotics, CF patients frequently have altered pharmacokinetics. In this multicenter, open-label study, we described the population pharmacokinetics and safety of ceftolozane-tazobactam at 3 g every 8 h (q8h) in 20 adult CF patients admitted with APE. Population pharmacokinetics were determined using the nonparametric adaptive grid program in Pmetrics for R. A 5,000-patient Monte Carlo simulation was performed to determine the probability of target attainment (PTA) for the ceftolozane component at 1.5 g and 3 g of ceftolozane-tazobactam q8h across a range of MICs using a primary threshold exposure of 60% free time above the MIC ( fT >MIC). In these 20 adult CF patients, ceftolozane and tazobactam concentration data were best described by 2-compartment models, and ceftolozane clearance (CL) was significantly correlated with creatinine clearance ( r = 0.71, P MIC, ceftolozane-tazobactam regimens of 1.5 g and 3 g q8h should achieve PTAs of ≥90% at MICs up to 4 and 8 μg/ml, respectively. Ceftolozane-tazobactam at 3 g q8h was well tolerated. These observations support additional studies of ceftolozane-tazobactam for Pseudomonas aeruginosa APE in CF patients. (This study has been registered at ClinicalTrials.gov under identifier NCT02421120.

Management of KPC-Producing Klebsiella pneumoniae Infections

Klebsiella pneumoniae carbapenemase (KPC)-producing K. pneumoniae (KPC-KP) has become one of the most important contemporary pathogens, especially in endemic areas

Piperacillin/tazobactam resistance in a clinical isolate of Escherichia coli due to IS26-mediated amplification of blaTEM-1B

© 2020 The Authors. Published by Springer. This is an open access article available under a Creative Commons licence. The published version can be accessed at the following link on the publisher’s website: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-18668-2A phenotype of Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae, resistant to piperacillin/tazobactam (TZP) but susceptible to carbapenems and 3rd generation cephalosporins, has emerged. The resistance mechanism associated with this phenotype has been identified as hyperproduction of the β-lactamase TEM. However, the mechanism of hyperproduction due to gene amplification is not well understood. Here, we report a mechanism of gene amplification due to a translocatable unit (TU) excising from an IS26-flanked pseudo-compound transposon, PTn6762, which harbours blaTEM-1B. The TU re-inserts into the chromosome adjacent to IS26 and forms a tandem array of TUs, which increases the copy number of blaTEM-1B, leading to TEM-1B hyperproduction and TZP resistance. Despite a significant increase in blaTEM-1B copy number, the TZP-resistant isolate does not incur a fitness cost compared to the TZP-susceptible ancestor. This mechanism of amplification of blaTEM-1B is an important consideration when using genomic data to predict susceptibility to TZP.This work was supported by the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine Director’s Catalyst Fund awarded to A.T.M.H. and T.E. A.P.R. would like to acknowledge funding from the AMR Cross-Council Initiative through a grant from the Medical Research Council, a Council of UK Research and Innovation (Grant number; MR/S004793/1), and funding from the National Institute for Health Research. (Grant Number; NIHR200632).Published versio

Changing Student Demographics and Suburban School Leadership

Principals and superintendents serving in four suburban school districts in Wisconsin experiencing significant increases in the numbers of students who identify as Hispanic or African American were studied to identify how these leaders were working to meet the needs of all learners in increasingly diverse public school contexts. This study aimed to answer three primary research questions: What resources, supports and strategies are employed by principals in suburban school districts experiencing significant demographic changes related specifically to increases in the number of students who identify as African American or Hispanic that helped them be successful in their roles? What do these school leaders need from their superintendents in order to successfully deliver on the promise of creating school environments within which all students succeed? How are superintendents in these suburban contexts increasing their competencies and supporting principals in proactively leading through racial demographic shifts in a society that has typically marginalized such groups of students? Leadership dispositions, knowledge, skills, and resources identified by building administrators necessary to successfully meet the challenge of actualizing success for all students are discussed and include growth mindset, a deep understanding of change management, a willingness to confront and disrupt, and a reliance upon peer collaboration. The superintendent/principal relationship is analyzed for relevance and impact on principal effectiveness and issues currently faced by district administrators serving in increasingly diverse suburban school districts are outlined. Results of this study illuminate opportunities for future research and implications on current practice in the field of educational administration