A Study Of The Implementation Of The Executive Ed. D. In Educational Leadership At The University Of Central Florida 2010-2013: A Professional Practice Doctorate

This study conducted at the University of Central Florida was of two-fold importance. First, information gathered via this study has served to continually improve the rigor and relevancy of the curriculum and program requirements to issues in education. Second, the research findings from this study served to move forward the national and increasingly international efforts to improve the Ed. D. and other professional practice doctorate programs. The review of literature was organized to present an introduction for the conceptual framework of the efforts to distinguish between the Ph. D. and Ed. D. and strengthen the education doctorate overall. The review presented discussions on the history of the doctorate, history and reform models for the professional doctorate, history of the education doctorate, the Ed. D. versus the Ph. D., differentiation of the education doctorates, and the future of the education doctorate. This study was conducted in the University of Central Florida’s Executive Ed. D. in Educational Leadership program, and employed a mixed methods approach. A series of four surveys were developed to gather both quantitative perception rating responses on a Likert scale of either one to four or one to five, as well as qualitative or open responses to enhance context. Means and standard deviations were analyzed to determine perception ratings, and one-way analyses of variance were conducted to determine differences in perceptions between cohorts and over time. This research illustrated that the perceptions of students in the Executive Ed. D. in Educational Leadership program were positive. Student respondents indicated that their reasons for applying to the program are reflected in the program design, the program is aligned well with iii the Carnegie Project on the Education Doctorate’s (CPED) Working Principles, and the program was meeting their needs at defined points in the program of study. Implications for practice include using admission and demographic information to inform instructional and advising processes, continuing to gather student perception ratings and open responses to keep the Executive Ed. D. in Educational Leadership at the University of Central Florida aligned with the CPED Working Principles and all programs with the students’ needs, and following up with graduates to gather perceptions on the perceived impact of their study. Recommendations for further research include continuing this study in a longitudinal format to gather perceptions and conduct tests for changes in perceptions over time prior to entering the program, at different points throughout the program, and after completing the program. Also, continuing to gather data on the variable of persistence, to determine relationships between whether or not a student remains enrolled in the program and predictor variables including GRE score, undergraduate GPA, and professional position. Similarly, gathering measurements of program viability including graduation rates and time to degree completion to compare with those measurements on program prior to being redesigned as well as evaluating relationships between admission requirements and time to degree completion and graduation rates

Perceptual Differentiation of African American and European American Children Based on Gender and Ethnicity of Listeners

Thomas and Reaser (2004) demonstrated that adult speakers can be perceptually differentiated by listeners with respect to gender and ethnicity. They presented data from various studies with respect to adult speakers, but no data for child speakers. It follows that there are cues in the acoustic signal that support making distinctions amongst adult speakers. Following the onset of puberty, these acoustic parameters begin to emerge, enabling listeners to reliably identify speaker characteristics in adulthood (Berger, 2008). The question remains, at what point across the pubertal transition does perceptual accuracy meet the level for adult speakers? The goal of our research is to examine how the gender and ethnicity of the listener affects the accuracy with which they are able to identify these same aspects of a child speaker. Undergraduate students completed a language background questionnaire and then listened to audio recordings of European American and African American children producing /h-vowel-d/ words and sentences. The participants listened to four blocks of recordings: forward words, reverse words, forward sentences, and reverse sentences, containing items spoken by children of each ethnicity, age, and gender. The listeners identified which ethnicity and gender they believed the speaker to be, as well as how confident they were of their choice. We expect that minority (African American, Hispanic, Native American, Pacific Islander, and Asian American) and female participants will have greater accuracy for all speakers. We also anticipate that accuracy of identification will improve as the age of the speaker increases due to the changing of the voice as a result of puberty. The study will provide greater knowledge of how the age of a child speaker impacts the ability of the listener to identify the speaker’s gender and ethnicity. The implications can be informative for individuals who work with children and in speech-related professions

Nurses’ education, knowledge and perceptions of peripheral intravenous catheter management: A web-based, cross-sectional survey

Background: Peripheral intravenous catheters (PIVCs) are the most used invasive medical device. Unfortunately, PIVCs fail for a variety of reasons and failure often results in serious adverse events leading to patient discomfort, infection, delays in treatment, increased healthcare costs, and even death. In Australia, qualified nurses assess, manage, and remove a PIVC as part of their clinical role. To date, no study has described the current state of knowledge and confidence (self-efficacy) about PIVCs from the perspectives of qualified nurses working in Australian hospital settings. Aims: To describe the current state of knowledge and confidence (self-efficacy) about PIVC management from the perspectives of qualified nurses working in Australian hospital settings. To explore how these related to the education received by these nurses. Methods: An online cross-sectional survey. Findings: Qualified nurses in Australia thought that education about PIVCs was important and that it should be underpinned by evidence-based guidelines. Knowledge Test score for the sample was 12.4/17 (SD 2.1), this equates to a mean grade of 73.0%. Respondents reported very high levels of confidence about caring for a patient with a PIVC in situ. Conclusion: Despite the frequent and increasing use of PIVCs and importantly the documented adverse events associated with poor assessment, management and inappropriate removal, qualified nurses’ knowledge and confidence remain poorly reported. We demonstrated fundamental gaps in qualified nurses’ knowledge in relation to assessment, management, and removal of PIVCs

Developmental interneuron subtype deficits after targeted loss of Arx

Abstract Background Aristaless-related homeobox (ARX) is a paired-like homeodomain transcription factor that functions primarily as a transcriptional repressor and has been implicated in neocortical interneuron specification and migration. Given the role interneurons appear to play in numerous human conditions including those associated with ARX mutations, it is essential to understand the consequences of mutations in this gene on neocortical interneurons. Previous studies have examined the effect of germline loss of Arx, or targeted mutations in Arx, on interneuron development. We now present the effect of conditional loss of Arx on interneuron development. Results To further elucidate the role of Arx in forebrain development we performed a series of anatomical and developmental studies to determine the effect of conditional loss of Arx specifically from developing interneurons in the neocortex and hippocampus. Analysis and cell counts were performed from mouse brains using immunohistochemical and in situ hybridization assays at 4 times points across development. Our data indicate that early in development, instead of a loss of ventral precursors, there is a shift of these precursors to more ventral locations, a deficit that persists in the adult nervous system. The result of this developmental shift is a reduced number of interneurons (all subtypes) at early postnatal and later time periods. In addition, we find that X inactivation is stochastic, and occurs at the level of the neural progenitors. Conclusion These data provide further support that the role of Arx in interneuron development is to direct appropriate migration of ventral neuronal precursors into the dorsal cortex and that the loss of Arx results in a failure of interneurons to reach the cortex and thus a deficiency in interneurons.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/134595/1/12868_2016_Article_265.pd

No Neutron Star Companion To The Lowest Mass SDSS White Dwarf

SDSS J091709.55+463821.8 (hereafter J0917+4638) is the lowest surface gravity white dwarf (WD) currently known, with log g = 5.55 +/- 0.05 (M ~ 0.17 M_sun; Kilic et al. 2007a,b). Such low-mass white dwarfs (LMWDs) are believed to originate in binaries that evolve into WD/WD or WD/neutron star (NS) systems. An optical search for J0917+4638's companion showed that it must be a compact object with a mass >= 0.28 M_sun (Kilic 2007b). Here we report on Green Bank Telescope 820 MHz and XMM-Newton X-ray observations of J0917+4638 intended to uncover a potential NS companion to the LMWD. No convincing pulsar signal is detected in our radio data. Our X-ray observation also failed to detect X-ray emission from J0917+4638's companion, while we would have detected any of the millisecond radio pulsars in 47 Tuc. We conclude that the companion is almost certainly another WD.Comment: 4 pages, 1 table; to appear in the Astrophysical Journal Letter

A Catalog of Spectroscopically Confirmed White Dwarfs from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 4

We present a catalog of 9316 spectroscopically confirmed white dwarfs from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 4. We have selected the stars through photometric cuts and spectroscopic modeling, backed up by a set of visual inspections. Roughly 6000 of the stars are new discoveries, roughly doubling the number of spectroscopically confirmed white dwarfs. We analyze the stars by performing temperature and surface gravity fits to grids of pure hydrogen and helium atmospheres. Among the rare outliers are a set of presumed helium-core DA white dwarfs with estimated masses below 0.3 Msun, including two candidates that may be the lowest masses yet found. We also present a list of 928 hot subdwarfs.Comment: Accepted by the Astrophysical Journal Supplements, 25 pages, 24 figures, LaTeX. The electronic catalog, as well as diagnostic figures and links to the spectra, is available at http://das.sdss.org/wdcat/dr4

Dressings and securements for the prevention of peripheral intravenous catheter failure in adults (SAVE): a pragmatic, randomised controlled, superiority trial

Background: Two billion peripheral intravenous catheters (PIVCs) are used globally each year, but optimal dressing and securement methods are not well established. We aimed to compare the efficacy and costs of three alternative approaches to standard non-bordered polyurethane dressings. Methods: We did a pragmatic, randomised controlled, parallel-group superiority trial at two hospitals in Queensland, Australia. Eligible patients were aged 18 years or older and required PIVC insertion for clinical treatment, which was expected to be required for longer than 24 h. Patients were randomly assigned (1:1:1:1) via a centralised web-based randomisation service using random block sizes, stratified by hospital, to receive tissue adhesive with polyurethane dressing, bordered polyurethane dressing, a securement device with polyurethane dressing, or polyurethane dressing (control). Randomisation was concealed before allocation. Patients, clinicians, and research staff were not masked because of the nature of the intervention, but infections were adjudicated by a physician who was masked to treatment allocation. The primary outcome was all-cause PIVC failure (as a composite of complete dislodgement, occlusion, phlebitis, and infection [primary bloodstream infection or local infection]). Analysis was by modified intention to treat. This trial is registered with the Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry, number ACTRN12611000769987. Findings: Between March 18, 2013, and Sept 9, 2014, we randomly assigned 1807 patients to receive tissue adhesive with polyurethane (n=446), bordered polyurethane (n=454), securement device with polyurethane (n=453), or polyurethane (n=454); 1697 patients comprised the modified intention-to-treat population. 163 (38%) of 427 patients in the tissue adhesive with polyurethane group (absolute risk difference −4·5% [95% CI −11·1 to 2·1%], p=0·19), 169 (40%) of 423 of patients in the bordered polyurethane group (–2·7% [–9·3 to 3·9%] p=0·44), 176 (41%) of 425 patients in the securement device with poplyurethane group (–1·2% [–7·9% to 5·4%], p=0·73), and 180 (43%) of 422 patients in the polyurethane group had PIVC failure. 17 patients in the tissue adhesive with polyurethane group, two patients in the bordered polyurethane group, eight patients in the securement device with polyurethane group, and seven patients in the polyurethane group had skin adverse events. Total costs of the trial interventions did not differ significantly between groups. Interpretation: Current dressing and securement methods are commonly associated with PIVC failure and poor durability, with simultaneous use of multiple products commonly required. Cost is currently the main factor that determines product choice. Innovations to achieve effective, durable dressings and securements, and randomised controlled trials assessing their effectiveness are urgently needed