Strategies, Obstacles, and Methods Related to Conducting Building Bond Campaigns in Rural Illinois Unit (K-12) School Districts

This study was designed to determine (a) the strategies used by school district personnel in rural Illinois unit school districts to help pass school building bond issues, (b) the obstacles that school district personnel in rural Illinois unit school districts faced when trying to pass building bond issues, and (c) the methods used by school district personnel in rural Illinois unit school districts to overcome the obstacles. The study took place during the spring of 1998. The study included a survey that was sent to the superintendents of the 88 small and medium sized (less than 1,800 students) rural Illinois unit school districts (grades K-12) which attempted to pass school building bond issues from 1991-1997. Fifty-nine superintendents (67%) responded to the survey. The results indicated that 15 out of the 16 strategies surveyed were used by at least 40% of the superintendents that responded. These results indicate that school districts are taking a proactive role in their efforts to obtain voter approval. The results also indicated that district personnel can expect to face many obstacles as they attempt to pass a building bond issue. The obstacles were sorted into eight categories: (a) cost impact on taxpayers, (b) recent reassessment of property, (c) a split board, (d) potential of school consolidation, (e) informing the taxpayers with the same message, (f) apathy and lack of trust, (g) scope of the project, and (h) anti-tax group. Additional results indicated that several methods are available to help overcome obstacles related to a successful building bond campaign. Two or more methods used by school district personnel were presented for each of the eight obstacles faced by districts attempting to pass building bond issues. The findings led the researcher to recommend five areas that school district personnel need to use as a focus: (a) the timing of the bond issue, (b) involving the community in the planning and implementation of the building bond campaign, (c) developing a strong public relations program, (d) having strong educational leadership, and (e) thorough planning of the building bond campaign

Strategies, Obstacles, and Methods Related to Conducting Building Bond Campaigns in Rural Illinois Unit (K-12) School Districts

This study was designed to determine (a) the strategies used by school district personnel in rural Illinois unit school districts to help pass school building bond issues, (b) the obstacles that school district personnel in rural Illinois unit school districts faced when trying to pass building bond issues, and (c) the methods used by school district personnel in rural Illinois unit school districts to overcome the obstacles. The study took place during the spring of 1998. The study included a survey that was sent to the superintendents of the 88 small and medium sized (less than 1,800 students) rural Illinois unit school districts (grades K-12) which attempted to pass school building bond issues from 1991-1997. Fifty-nine superintendents (67%) responded to the survey. The results indicated that 15 out of the 16 strategies surveyed were used by at least 40% of the superintendents that responded. These results indicate that school districts are taking a proactive role in their efforts to obtain voter approval. The results also indicated that district personnel can expect to face many obstacles as they attempt to pass a building bond issue. The obstacles were sorted into eight categories: (a) cost impact on taxpayers, (b) recent reassessment of property, (c) a split board, (d) potential of school consolidation, (e) informing the taxpayers with the same message, (f) apathy and lack of trust, (g) scope of the project, and (h) anti-tax group. Additional results indicated that several methods are available to help overcome obstacles related to a successful building bond campaign. Two or more methods used by school district personnel were presented for each of the eight obstacles faced by districts attempting to pass building bond issues. The findings led the researcher to recommend five areas that school district personnel need to use as a focus: (a) the timing of the bond issue, (b) involving the community in the planning and implementation of the building bond campaign, (c) developing a strong public relations program, (d) having strong educational leadership, and (e) thorough planning of the building bond campaign

Teachers’ Perceptions of Their Roles in Blended Learning Environments

Schools are widely implementing blended learning, defined as a combination of face to face instruction and computer-assisted instruction, to increase student achievement. Given that the computer is taking on a component of instruction, there is some evidence that the role of the teacher is changing. The purpose of this study is to understand the perceptions of primary teachers about their role and possible role change in a blended learning environment. A qualitative study using transcendental phenomenology was conducted among a group of primary teachers who teach reading and math in grades K-4. Role theory was applied to illuminate whether the role of teachers has changed and whether the role was more or less intense. The findings of the study show that teacher roles are indeed changing in a blended learning environment. Teachers are using student learning data differently to target their instruction, creating new ways to motivate students as independent learners engaged in computer-based learning, and planning their lessons differently. The findings of this study did not show role de-intensification, given that teachers are doing more and new work with the new information about students and their learning from the software. The results of this study can be used to inform the construction of pre-service teacher training, as well as teacher professional development in schools so that teachers have the tools they need to be successful in this new type of classroom. Keywords: blended learning, teacher role, primary teachers, role intensificatio

Bleeding Meckel’s diverticulum in a 4-month-old infant: Treatment with laparoscopic diverticulectomy. A case report and review of the literature

A bleeding Meckel’s diverticulum is presented in a 4-month-old African American infant. This event is rare at this age, and our patient is only the second 4-month-old infant reported in the English literature. The infant presented with painless frank rectal bleeding, the blood being maroon-colored, and clots were found in the diaper. There was also anemia, with an hemoglobin of less than 8 gm/dl. The color of the blood suggested a bleeding site in the ileo-cecal region, a Meckel’s diverticulum was suspected, which was then confirmed by an isotope scan. A typical Meckel’s diverticulum was found on laparoscopic surgery, was excised, and the infant made an uneventful recovery

A Comparative Study Of Online Retailing: U.S. Vs. E.U. Consumer Attitudes Toward Product Country Of Origin

As a first-mover into the use of the Internet for e-commerce, many U.S. retailers have found another tool that it has added to the plethora of methods it can use to reach customers.  Although in an early stage of development, the growth of e-commerce is likely to mushroom.  Trailing the U.S. in Internet marketing, retailers in the European Union (E.U.) are quickly realizing its potential to increase revenues and profits.  This study focuses on two aspects of online retailing by contrasting the perceptions of U.S. and E.U. consumers on the use of the Internet for shopping, and contrasting their views with respect to where a product originates.  The study surveyed 268 people from either the U.S., E.U., and from a handful of other locations.  From the gathered data set findings and conclusions were made that should be of interest to professionals in academe or the commercial business sector

Duplex specific nuclease-amplified detection of microRNA using compact quantum dot-DNA conjugates

Advances in nanotechnology have provided new opportunities for the design of next-generation nucleic acid biosensors and diagnostics. Indeed, combining advances in functional nanoparticles, DNA nanotechnology, and nuclease-enzyme-based amplification can give rise to new assays with advantageous properties. In this work, we developed a microRNA (miRNA) assay using bright fluorescent quantum dots (QDs), simple DNA probes, and the enzyme duplex-specific nuclease. We employed an isothermal target-recycling mechanism, where a single miRNA target triggers the cleavage of many DNA signal probes. The incorporation of DNA-functionalized QDs enabled a quantitative fluorescent readout, mediated by Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET)-based interaction with the DNA signal probes. Our approach splits the reaction in two, performing the enzyme-mediated amplification and QD-based detection steps separately such that each reaction could be optimized for performance of the active components. Target recycling gave ca. 3 orders of magnitude amplification, yielding highly sensitive detection with a limit of 42 fM (or 1.2 amol) of miR-148, with excellent selectivity versus mismatched sequences and other miRNAs. Furthermore, we used an alternative target (miR-21) and FRET pair for direct and absolute quantification of miR-21 in RNA extracts from human cancer and normal cell lines

DDR2 controls breast tumor stiffness and metastasis by regulating integrin mediated mechanotransduction in CAFs

Biomechanical changes in the tumor microenvironment influence tumor progression and metastases. Collagen content and fiber organization within the tumor stroma are major contributors to biomechanical changes (e., tumor stiffness) and correlated with tumor aggressiveness and outcome. What signals and in what cells control collagen organization within the tumors, and how, is not fully understood. We show in mouse breast tumors that the action of the collagen receptor DDR2 in CAFs controls tumor stiffness by reorganizing collagen fibers specifically at the tumor-stromal boundary. These changes were associated with lung metastases. The action of DDR2 in mouse and human CAFs, and tumors in vivo, was found to influence mechanotransduction by controlling full collagen-binding integrin activation via Rap1-mediated Talin1 and Kindlin2 recruitment. The action of DDR2 in tumor CAFs is thus critical for remodeling collagen fibers at the tumor-stromal boundary to generate a physically permissive tumor microenvironment for tumor cell invasion and metastases

Differentiating patterns of violence in the family

The feasibility and prevalence of Reciprocal, Hierarchical and Paternal patterns of family aggression hypothesised by Dixon and Browne (2003) were explored within a sample of maltreating families. The psychological reports of 67 families referred to services for alleged child maltreatment that evidenced concurrent physical intimate partner violence and child maltreatment were investigated. Of these, 29 (43.3%) cases were characterised by hierarchical; 28 (41.8%) Reciprocal and 10 (14.9%) Paternal patterns. Significant differences in the form of child maltreatment perpetrated by mothers and fathers and parent dyads living in different patterns were found. In Hierarchical sub-patterns, fathers were significantly more likely to have been convicted for a violent and/or sexual offence than mothers and were significantly less likely to be biologically related to the child. The findings demonstrate the existence of the different patterns in a sample of families involved in the Child Care Protection process in England and Wales, supporting the utility of a holistic approach to understanding aggression in the family

Public perceptions of 'negging': lowering women’s self-esteem to increase the male attractiveness and achieve sexual conquest

Purpose: ‘Negging’ can be described as the purposeful lowering of a woman’s self-esteem to increase perceived attractiveness of the man in order to achieve sexual conquest. Negging has evolved over time. Whilst ‘Original’ negging was intended to be a harmless tool for attracting women, more recently dating companies have been teaching men ‘Evolved’ negging in a potentially damaging way, which could escalate into an abusive intimate relationship. Design: An online survey involving vignettes depicting negging between strangers with three conditions; ‘Original’, ‘Evolved’ and ‘Control’ was completed by 308 participants. Participants were asked how harmful, acceptable, and how likely to escalate each scenario was. A fourth vignette described ‘Evolved’ negging between partners. Results: Mixed methods ANOVA indicated that participants perceived all negging as being significantly more harmful than control ‘pick-up’ lines. ‘Evolved’ negging was considered to be more likely to escalate in seriousness than ‘Original’ negging. Conclusions: Despite the public viewing negging as harmful and with the potential to escalate in seriousness, women are still being targeted in this manner and the industry ‘teaching’ negging is growing despite controversy. This study aims to increase general awareness of negging in order to minimise harm caused to women who are ‘picked-up’ through this technique. To this end, directions for future research are highlighted. Originality: This paper is one of the first empirical studies in the area of negging. The perceived, and potential, harm caused can be studied in light of these novel findings with the aim of protecting women from harm

Nudibranch Range Shifts associated with the 2014 Warm Anomaly in the Northeast Pacific

Abstract.—The Northeast Pacific Ocean was anomalously warm in 2014, despite ENSO-neutral conditions in the tropical Pacific. We documented northern range shifts associated with this anomaly for 30 species of nudibranchs and other shallow-water, benthic heterobranch gastropods from southern California to southern Oregon. Nine of these (Placida cremoniana, Trapania velox, Doriopsilla fulva, Janolus anulatus, J. barbarensis, Flabellina cooperi, Anteaeolidiella chromosoma, A. oliviae, and Noumeaella rubrofasciata) were recorded from new northernmost localities, while the remainder were found at or near northern range limits established mainly during past El Niño events. All 30 species have planktotrophic larval development, and six were observed spawning at northern localities, increasing the likelihood that their ranges will continue to shift poleward as the strong 2015-16 El Niño develops. Notable among these was Okenia rosacea, usually found south of San Francisco and last observed in Oregon as a single specimen found during the 1997-98 El Niño. In 2015 this bright pink nudibranch reached high densities and was observed spawning throughout northern California and into southern Oregon. Okenia rosacea is therefore poised to exploit abundant prey resources previously out of its reach in northern Oregon and Washington. Our results not only demonstrate a striking biological response to the 2014 warm anomaly in the North Pacific Ocean, but also support early physical indications of a larger regional climate shift, one reinforced by long-term global warming. Combined with historical data, these results highlight how shallow-water nudibranchs, with their planktotrophic larvae, short life cycles, conspicuous coloration, and accessibility are excellent biological indicators of ocean climate in the region