Perceptions of New Hampshire teachers and supervisors regarding teacher supervision

This study examined the perceptions of New Hampshire teachers and supervisors regarding teacher present and ideal systems for teacher supervision. Teacher supervision was defined as being inclusive of district practices which promote teacher growth and development and those which are used to make evaluative judgments about teachers\u27 performance. The study sample included 73 supervisors and 305 teachers randomly selected from 45 school districts. The sample districts were selected using a stratified random sampling process in which the stratification variables were district wealth as reflected in the district\u27s equalized valuation per pupil and geographic region. Data were collected through the use of two matched surveys, one for supervisors and one for teachers. The surveys contained 37 Likert scale items and 3 open-response questions designed to measure participants perceptions regarding the structural (practices) and cultural (characteristics) and effectiveness of their present teacher supervision system and those of a system they would consider ideal. Data from the survey were segregated first into three sub-divisions--items relating to the structural dimension, items relating to the cultural dimension, and items regarding effectiveness. Within each of the dimensions, data were further sorted by role (supervisor, teacher) and by scale (present, ideal) into four subscales. Effectiveness data were sorted by role into two subscales. Differences between supervisors and teachers on the present and ideal scales of the structural and cultural dimensions were evaluated using a repeated measures ANOVA and t-test. The analysis revealed a significant difference between supervisors and teachers on present scales but not on the ideal scales. A one-way ANOVA was used to examine differences between supervisors and teachers regarding teacher supervision system effectiveness. Supervisors and teachers again differed significantly at the $p\u3c.01$ level on the present scale but not on the ideal scale. These results suggest that New Hampshire supervisors and teachers share a common perception of the practices and characteristic of an ideal teacher supervision system, but differ in their perceptions of their present teacher supervision systems. Supervisors perceived their present systems as being more reflective of the ideal and more effective in achieving its intended purposes. Implications of these findings are discussed

Willingness of Private Physicians to Be Involved in Smallpox Preparedness and Response Activities

Background. The public health system continues its efforts to prepare for bioterrorist events, such as a smallpox outbreak, but may need to call on other health professionals to ensure sufficient capacity to implement preparedness plans. Objective. The goal was to understand the willingness of primary care physicians to participate in possible smallpox pre- or post-event activities. Methods. A 23-question mail survey was sent to a national random sample of 727 internists and 720 family physicians. After three mailings, a one-page version of the survey was sent to nonrespondents. Results. Response rates were 26% for questions common to both surveys and 22% for questions on the longer survey only. Respondents to the survey expressed moderate support for participating in certain smallpox pre- and post-event activities. Under a pre-event scenario, many providers would be willing to vaccinate first responders in their practice, and roughly one-third would be willing to vaccinate patients in their practice or to work in a public health clinic as a vaccinator. Most physicians, however, would be unwilling to be vaccinated themselves. Under post-event conditions, most providers would be willing to vaccinate their own patients, and many would vaccinate other community members in their practice. Conclusions. Despite the low response rate, information from this study on the smallpox preparedness activities in which physicians are most willing to participate can help to inform efforts by public health officials and private physicians to collaborate on bioterrorism preparedness efforts.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/63165/1/bsp.2005.3.16.pd

Mercury Orbiter: Report of the Science Working Team

The results are presented of the Mercury Orbiter Science Working Team which held three workshops in 1988 to 1989 under the auspices of the Space Physics and Planetary Exploration Divisions of NASA Headquarters. Spacecraft engineering and mission design studies at the Jet Propulsion Lab were conducted in parallel with this effort and are detailed elsewhere. The findings of the engineering study, summarized herein, indicate that spin stabilized spacecraft carrying comprehensive particles and fields experiments and key planetology instruments in high elliptical orbits can survive and function in Mercury orbit without costly sun shields and active cooling systems

Networks among agricultural stakeholders in the southwestern highlands of Uganda

The aim of this study was to explore the interactions that exist among agricultural stakeholders in the southwestern highlands of Uganda as a way of identifying opportunities and gaps for operation of Innovation Platforms (IPs) under the proof of concept of Integrated Agricultural Research for Development (IAR4D) research project. The specific objectives were to (i) characterize the agricultural stakeholders in the study sites (ii) determine the nature, diversity and relative importance of horizontal and vertical networks that exist among stakeholders in the Southwestern Highlands of Uganda. Data were collected from both stakeholder analysis and household interviews in Kabale and Kisoro Districts. Results show that extension staff, local governments and farmer groups accounted for approximately 75% of all categories of stakeholders in the area. Most of these organizations started after 10 to 15 years ago following the return of relative political stability in Uganda. Generally, stakeholder interactions in site with limited ARD intervention are more limited compared to their high-intervention counterparts. Sites with “good” market access have more institutions operating there but majority are isolated from each other. At household level, an individual household has networks with approximately two different organizations most of which are farmer groups or credit associations. The greatest proportion of horizontal networks that a household has is with fellow farmers. In order to make the value chain complete, establishment of IPs should pay special attention to including the private sector such as input and produce dealers. Facilitating IP actors to identify critical challenges and opportunities, and effectively articulate them will ensure cohesion. It is also critical to periodically monitor and evaluate stakeholders in terms of the quality of the networks to minimize conflict situations

Balancing Selection Maintains a Form of ERAP2 that Undergoes Nonsense-Mediated Decay and Affects Antigen Presentation

A remarkable characteristic of the human major histocompatibility complex (MHC) is its extreme genetic diversity, which is maintained by balancing selection. In fact, the MHC complex remains one of the best-known examples of natural selection in humans, with well-established genetic signatures and biological mechanisms for the action of selection. Here, we present genetic and functional evidence that another gene with a fundamental role in MHC class I presentation, endoplasmic reticulum aminopeptidase 2 (ERAP2), has also evolved under balancing selection and contains a variant that affects antigen presentation. Specifically, genetic analyses of six human populations revealed strong and consistent signatures of balancing selection affecting ERAP2. This selection maintains two highly differentiated haplotypes (Haplotype A and Haplotype B), with frequencies 0.44 and 0.56, respectively. We found that ERAP2 expressed from Haplotype B undergoes differential splicing and encodes a truncated protein, leading to nonsense-mediated decay of the mRNA. To investigate the consequences of ERAP2 deficiency on MHC presentation, we correlated surface MHC class I expression with ERAP2 genotypes in primary lymphocytes. Haplotype B homozygotes had lower levels of MHC class I expressed on the surface of B cells, suggesting that naturally occurring ERAP2 deficiency affects MHC presentation and immune response. Interestingly, an ERAP2 paralog, endoplasmic reticulum aminopeptidase 1 (ERAP1), also shows genetic signatures of balancing selection. Together, our findings link the genetic signatures of selection with an effect on splicing and a cellular phenotype. Although the precise selective pressure that maintains polymorphism is unknown, the demonstrated differences between the ERAP2 splice forms provide important insights into the potential mechanism for the action of selection

Monetary Cost of the MyPlate Diet in Young Adults: Higher Expenses Associated with Increased Fruit and Vegetable Consumption

Background. Cost is a commonly reported barrier to healthy eating. This is a secondary research analysis designed to examine the food expenditures of young adults on a university campus following the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) MyPlate guidelines for fruits and vegetables. Methods. Meal receipts and dietary intake were recorded weekly. Anthropometrics and clinical assessments were recorded before intervention. Researchers rated compliance based on the participant’s dietary food log, receipt matching, food pictures, and reports during weekly 1-hour consultations. Results. Fifty-three young adults (18–30 years old) at-risk of, or diagnosed with, metabolic syndrome (MetS) were enrolled in the study, with 10 excluded (n = 43) from analyses due to enrollment in a fixed cost university campus dining meal plan. A two sample t-test assessed differences in food costs and regression analysis determined associations between food cost and diet compliance while controlling for confounding factors of age, sex, and body mass index (BMI). Diet compliant subjects (n = 38) had higher weekly food cost at $95.73 compared to noncompliant subjects (n = 5) who spent$66.24 (). A regression analysis controlling for age, sex, BMI, and geographical region also indicated cost differences based on diet compliance (). Conclusion. Results indicate an ∼$29.00 per week increase in food cost when eating the recommended amount of fruit and vegetables. These findings can contribute to research incentive design, program planning cost, and determining effective interventions to improve diet in this population