When African-American families choose an African-centered charter school in place of a traditional public school for their children, what motivating factors inform that decision?

A qualitative study was designed to explore and contextualize the motivating factors leading Black families to withdraw their children from traditional public schools and enroll them into an African-centered charter school. The study also sought evidence of the motivating factors identified by Black parents and families at the school of choice. The study was rooted in liberatory/emancipatory educational research and synthesized congruent conceptual themes generated in the literature. The study was composed of six cultural indicators that focused on culturally affirmative and emancipatory concepts of education and emerged from a blended framework specifically designed for the study by synthesizing congruent conceptual themes discussed in the educational research of Shujaa, Gordon, and Ladson-Billings. The six Cultural Indicators that informed the data analysis were: 1) culturally affirmative/culturally relevant classrooms; 2) instruction designed to guide students to be self reflective, gain self knowledge, and discover authentic self; 3) academically rigorous programs scaffold onto students’ prior understanding, knowledge of the world, and cultural identity; 4) interpersonal relationships are fostered; emphasis on creating learning communities and de-emphasis on the individual and competition; 5) hidden curriculum dismantled; students gain ability to critically read and evaluate what is being presented by dominant societal institutions; and 6) teachers and students purposely dialogue about strategies to influence popular and intellectual culture through social and economic justice activities. The study focused on an African-centered charter school in its first year of operation. The research analyzed the narratives of families who exited the traditional public school and documented the disengagement and isolation Black parents, families, and educators experience in traditional public schools. Family narratives revealed that five of the six Cultural Indicators informed the family decision-making process and the choice to exchange the traditional public school setting for a charter school. The study concludes that the motivating factors are real and complex, provides suggestions for educational practice, and discusses implications for future research

Climate impacts on eastern Bering Sea foodwebs: a synthesis of new data and an assessment of the Oscillating Control Hypothesis

Abstract Hunt, G. L., Coyle, K. O., Eisner, L. B., Farley, E. V., Heintz, R. A., Mueter, F., Napp, J. M., Overland, J. E., Ressler, P. H., Salo, S., and Stabeno, P. J. 2011. Climate impacts on eastern Bering Sea foodwebs: a synthesis of new data and an assessment of the Oscillating Control Hypothesis. – ICES Journal of Marine Science, 68: 1230–1243. Walleye pollock (Theragra chalcogramma) is an important component of the eastern Bering Sea ecosystem and subject to major fisheries. The Oscillating Control Hypothesis (OCH) predicted that recruitment of pollock year classes should be greatest in years with early ice retreat and late blooms in warm water, because more energy would flow into the pelagic (vs. benthic) community. The OCH further predicted that, with pollock population growth, there should be a shift from bottom-up to top-down regulation. New data support the predictions that in those years with early ice retreat, more primary production accrues to the pelagic compartment and that large numbers of age-0 pollock survive to summer. However, in these years, production of large crustacean zooplankton is reduced, depriving age-0 pollock of lipid-rich prey in summer and autumn. Consequently, age-0 pollock energy reserves (depot lipids) are low and predation on them is increased as fish switch to age-0 pollock from zooplankton. The result is weak recruitment of age-1 recruits the following year. A revised OCH indicates bottom-up constraints on pollock recruitment in very warm periods. Prolonged warm periods with decreased ice cover will likely cause diminished pollock recruitment and catches relative to recent values

CT or Invasive Coronary Angiography in Stable Chest Pain.

Background: In the diagnosis of obstructive coronary artery disease (CAD), computed tomography (CT) is an accurate, noninvasive alternative to invasive coronary angiography (ICA). However, the comparative effectiveness of CT and ICA in the management of CAD to reduce the frequency of major adverse cardiovascular events is uncertain. Methods: We conducted a pragmatic, randomized trial comparing CT with ICA as initial diagnostic imaging strategies for guiding the treatment of patients with stable chest pain who had an intermediate pretest probability of obstructive CAD and were referred for ICA at one of 26 European centers. The primary outcome was major adverse cardiovascular events (cardiovascular death, nonfatal myocardial infarction, or nonfatal stroke) over 3.5 years. Key secondary outcomes were procedure-related complications and angina pectoris. Results: Among 3561 patients (56.2% of whom were women), follow-up was complete for 3523 (98.9%). Major adverse cardiovascular events occurred in 38 of 1808 patients (2.1%) in the CT group and in 52 of 1753 (3.0%) in the ICA group (hazard ratio, 0.70; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.46 to 1.07; P = 0.10). Major procedure-related complications occurred in 9 patients (0.5%) in the CT group and in 33 (1.9%) in the ICA group (hazard ratio, 0.26; 95% CI, 0.13 to 0.55). Angina during the final 4 weeks of follow-up was reported in 8.8% of the patients in the CT group and in 7.5% of those in the ICA group (odds ratio, 1.17; 95% CI, 0.92 to 1.48). Conclusions: Among patients referred for ICA because of stable chest pain and intermediate pretest probability of CAD, the risk of major adverse cardiovascular events was similar in the CT group and the ICA group. The frequency of major procedure-related complications was lower with an initial CT strategy. (Funded by the European Union Seventh Framework Program and others; DISCHARGE ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT02400229.)