Assessing Learning-Centered Leadership: Connections to Research, Professional Standards, and Current Practices

Describes an assessment model designed to evaluate school leaders' performance. Unlike existing tools, this new system will assess both individuals and teams, and focuses specifically on instructional leadership and behaviors that improve learning

Observations of Plant Diseases in Iowa from 1924-1926

The diseases of plants especially those diseases due to the invasion of parasites are always markedly influenced by the environment and therefore any discussion of their occurrence in a stated period must also involve a discussion of the weather during that period. According to the reports of Reed,1 the season of 1924 was characterized by a dry, cool spring, a rainy June and a cool summer. August was normal in temperature but with frequent heavy rains and September was unusually and persistently cool

Modeling Range Dynamics In Heterogeneous Landscapes: Invasion Of The Hemlock Woolly Adelgid In Eastern North America

Range expansion by native and exotic species will continue to be a major component of global change. Anticipating the potential effects of changes in species distributions requires models capable of forecasting population spread across realistic, heterogeneous landscapes and subject to spatiotemporal variability in habitat suitability. Several decades of theory and model development, as well as increased computing power and availability of fine-resolution GIS data, now make such models possible. Still unanswered, however, is the question of how well this new generation of dynamic models will anticipate range expansion. Here we develop a spatially explicit stochastic model that combines dynamic dispersal and population processes with fine-resolution maps characterizing spatiotemporal heterogeneity in climate and habitat to model range expansion of the hemlock woolly adelgid (HWA; Adelges tsugae). We parameterize this model using multiyear data sets describing population and dispersal dynamics of HWA and apply it to eastern North America over a 57-year period (1951–2008). To evaluate the model, the observed pattern of spread of HWA during this same period was compared to model predictions. Our model predicts considerable heterogeneity in the risk of HWA invasion across space and through time, and it suggests that spatiotemporal variation in winter temperature, rather than hemlock abundance, exerts a primary control on the spread of HWA. Although the simulations generally matched the observed current extent of the invasion of HWA and patterns of anisotropic spread, it did not correctly predict when HWA was observed to arrive in different geographic regions. We attribute differences between the modeled and observed dynamics to an inability to capture the timing and direction of long-distance dispersal events that substantially affected the ensuing pattern of spread.Organismic and Evolutionary Biolog

Development and reproducibility of a computed tomography-based measurement of renal sinus fat

BACKGROUND: Renal sinus fat may mediate obesity-related vascular disease, although this fat depot has not been assessed in a community-based sample. We sought to develop a protocol to quantify renal sinus fat accumulation using multi-detector computed tomography (MDCT). METHODS: Protocol development was performed in participants in the Framingham Offspring cohort who underwent MDCT. Volumetric renal sinus fat was measured separately within the right and left kidneys, and renal sinus fat area within a single MDCT scan slice was measured in the right kidney. Due to the high correlation of volumetric and single-slice renal sinus fat in the right kidney (Pearson correlation [r] = 0.85, p < 0.0001), we optimized a single-slice protocol to capture renal sinus fat in the right kidney alone. Pearson correlation coefficients were used to compare to assess the correlation of volumetric and single-slice renal sinus fat in the right kidney with other measures of adiposity. Inter- and intra-reader reproducibility was assessed using intra-class correlation coefficients. RESULTS: Single-slice measurements were obtained in 92 participants (mean age 60 years, 49% women, median renal sinus fat 0.43 cm(2)). Intra- and inter-reader intra-class correlation coefficients were 0.93 and 0.86, respectively. Single-slice renal sinus fat was correlated with body mass index (r = 0.35, p = 0.0006), waist circumference (r = 0.31, p = 0.003), and abdominal visceral fat (r = 0.48, p < 0.0001). Similar correlations were observed for volumetric renal sinus fat in the right kidney. CONCLUSIONS: Measuring renal sinus fat is feasible and reproducible using MDCT scans in a community-based sample

Interstitial lung disease:A review of classification, aetiology, epidemiology, clinical diagnosis, pharmacological and non-pharmacological treatment

IInterstitial lung diseases (ILDs) refer to a heterogeneous and complex group of conditions characterized by inflammation, fibrosis, or both, in the interstitium of the lungs. This results in impaired gas exchange, leading to a worsening of respiratory symptoms and a decline in lung function. While the etiology of some ILDs is unclear, most cases can be traced back to factors such as genetic predispositions, environmental exposures (including allergens, toxins, and air pollution), underlying autoimmune diseases, or the use of certain medications. There has been an increase in research and evidence aimed at identifying etiology, understanding epidemiology, improving clinical diagnosis, and developing both pharmacological and non-pharmacological treatments. This review provides a comprehensive overview of the current state of knowledge in the field of interstitial lung diseases

Education in the working-class home: modes of learning as revealed by nineteenth-century criminal records

The transmission of knowledge and skills within the working-class household greatly troubled social commentators and social policy experts during the first half of the nineteenth century. To prove theories which related criminality to failures in working-class up-bringing, experts and officials embarked upon an ambitious collection of data on incarcerated criminals at various penal institutions. One such institution was the County Gaol at Ipswich. The exceptionally detailed information that survives on families, literacy, education and apprenticeships of the men, women and children imprisoned there has the potential to transform our understanding of the nature of home schooling (broadly interpreted) amongst the working classes in nineteenth-century England. This article uses data sets from prison registers to chart both the incidence and ‘success’ of instruction in reading and writing within the domestic environment. In the process, it highlights the importance of schooling in working-class families, but also the potentially growing significance of the family in occupational training