Early Childhood Teachers\u27 Perception of Their Principal\u27s Leadership and the Relationship on Their Own Job Satisfaction and Self-efficacy

The purpose of this study was to determine if a correlation exists between Early Childhood teachers’ sense of job satisfaction and their sense of self-efficacy. Teachers in this study participated voluntarily and answered a set of questionnaires that collected data regarding their current opinions and perceptions of their school principal’s leadership, job satisfaction, and self-efficacy beliefs

Assessment Of Foodnet Population Survey Respondents As A Control Group To Determine Stec Risk Factors

Introduction: Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) are important foodborne pathogens, causing approximately 30 deaths a year in the US. Case-control studies to monitor risk factors are challenging; finding representative controls can be labor-intensive. The FoodNet Population Survey (FNPS) is conducted periodically and asks about foodborne disease risk factors. Objectives: To determine leading risk factors for STEC in Connecticut using the 2006 FNPS participant responses as controls. Methods: Cases were reported STEC cases in Connecticut 2000-2009 who were interviewed for risk factors following onset. Controls were respondents to the Connecticut portion of the 2006 FNPS. Comparable questions for exposure to dietary, travel and recreational risk factors in the 7 days before illness onset (cases) or interview (controls) were included. FNPS questions that were non-identical to case questions were examined when similar composite variables could be created. Results: Data from 559 cases and 1,801 controls on 14 variables were included. Statistically significant risk factors, stratified by age, included `ground beef\u27 for the 6-17 year and ≥18 age groups (OR 2.24, 95% C.I 1.47-3.43; OR 1.8, 95% C.I. 1.35-2.43, respectively), `pink burger patties\u27 in the 6-17 year group (OR 2.07, 95% C.I. 1.01-4.25), and for all age groups, `traveling outside of the U.S.\u27 (age-adjusted OR 6.66, 95%C.I. 3.36-13.19) and `visiting a petting zoo\u27 (age-adjusted OR 4.06; 95% C.I. 3.28-7.92). Among similar but not identical variables, poultry was a risk factor for adults while consumption of lettuce, spinach and sprouts were risk-reducing factors in various age categories. Conclusions: Several known STEC risk factors (ground beef, pink burger, travel, petting zoo) were confirmed, but several other findings are suspect. FNPS participants\u27 responses show potential for use as controls but FNPS questions need to be matched to those asked cases

Preclinical Development of a Novel Antileishmanial Agent OJT007: Bioanalytical Assay, in Vitro Studies and Pharmacokinetics

Current treatments for cutaneous leishmaniasis suffer from toxic side effects, high cost, parenteral administration, and drug resistance. Thus, there is a critical need to develop oral drugs for the treatment of leishmaniasis. OJT007 is a novel class of drug with potent antiproliferative effects against Leishmania Major. The purpose of this project is to conduct preclinical drug development studies for OJT007 including bioanalytical assay development, pre-formulation studies, in vitro hepatic drug metabolism and in vivo pharmacokinetics. A sensitive, specific, and reproducible ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) method was developed and validated. The separation was achieved on a UPLC BEH C18 column (2.1 × 50 mm, 1.7 μm) using a mobile phase consisting of 0.1% formic acid in acetonitrile and 0.1% formic acid in water as gradient elution at a flow rate of 0.4 mL/min. The mass analysis was performed with a 4000 QTRAP® mass spectrometer using multiple-ion reaction monitoring (MRM) in the positive mode, with the transition of m/z 325 → m/z 205 for OJT007 and m/z 350 → m/z 101 for voriconazole (as internal standard). Rat plasma and urine were extracted for OJT007 by protein precipitation in acetonitrile for quantification. Plasma protein binding of OJT007 was determined using the ultrafiltration method. In vitro phase I and II hepatic metabolism of OJT007 was evaluated in rat liver microsomes using standard reaction protocols. OJT007 metabolites were identified by LC-MS/MS using Q1MI, product ion, precursor ion and neutral loss scan and by β-glucuronidase hydrolysis. The OJT007 glucuronidation rates were determined by quantifying OJT007 glucuronide using UPLC, and the kinetic parameters of OJT007 were determined by measuring the initial glucuronidation rates. . Oral bioavailability of OJT007 was evaluated using a crossover study design. Serial plasma samples were collected at predetermined time points. Total urine samples were also collected from each rat for 24 hours after each dose. The pharmacokinetic parameters were calculated using Phoenix WinNonlin® 8.3 software. The intra- and inter-day precision and accuracy were within the acceptable limit of ≤20% for LLOQ and ≤15% for high, medium and low QC. The extraction recovery in rat plasma and urine samples were 95.1% and 83%, respectively. OJT007 exhibited a matrix factor in plasma and urine of 7.96% and 12.4%, respectively. The fraction of OJT007 bound to plasma protein had a mean value of 99.1%, suggesting the drug is highly bound to plasma proteins. OJT007 is glucuronidated rapidly in rat liver microsomes to form a mono-glucuronide, which was confirmed by LC-MS/MS and β-glucuronidase hydrolysis. The kinetic parameters of glucuronidation Vmax and Km were 1.125 nmol/min/mg and 10.73 μM., respectively. After intravenous administration, OJT007 displayed a bi-exponential disposition with a rapid distribution followed by a slower elimination. The mean AUC, volume of distribution, and clearance were 2.06 h.mg/L, 6.90 L/Kg and 2.30 L/hr/Kg, respectively. Following oral administration, OJT007 was rapidly absorbed with a tmax of 1.4 hours. After oral dosing the mean AUC, volume of distribution, and clearance were 0.45 h.mg/L, 78.6 L/Kg and 23.19 L/hr/Kg, respectively. Mean oral bioavailability of OJT007 in the co-solvent formulation was 10.9%. The mean percentage of OJT007 dose excreted unchanged in urine after 24 hours following intravenous and oral administration was less than 1%, suggesting OJT007 was extensively metabolized in vivo. A sensitive, specific and reproducible LC-MS/MS method was developed and validated to quantify OJT007 in rat plasma and urine. The method was successfully used for pharmacokinetic studies. This is the first time that oral bioavailability of OJT007 after oral administration in rat is determined. These results may prove valuable for further preclinical and clinical evaluation of OJT00

Episodic Reasoning for Vision-Based Human Action Recognition

Smart Spaces, Ambient Intelligence, and Ambient Assisted Living are environmental paradigms that strongly depend on their capability to recognize human actions. While most solutions rest on sensor value interpretations and video analysis applications, few have realized the importance of incorporating common-sense capabilities to support the recognition process. Unfortunately, human action recognition cannot be successfully accomplished by only analyzing body postures. On the contrary, this task should be supported by profound knowledge of human agency nature and its tight connection to the reasons and motivations that explain it. The combination of this knowledge and the knowledge about how the world works is essential for recognizing and understanding human actions without committing common-senseless mistakes. This work demonstrates the impact that episodic reasoning has in improving the accuracy of a computer vision system for human action recognition. This work also presents formalization, implementation, and evaluation details of the knowledge model that supports the episodic reasoning

Seeking Help for Children Who Have Experienced Trauma in Venezuela: A Literature Review of School-Based Interventions and Teacher Recommendations

The main purpose of this research synthesis was to determine recommendations that promote the development of a trauma-informed approach in Venezuelan schools to address the traumatic effects of political unrest in young children through a systematic review of existent intervention programs. After conducting an initial search, four studies were identified that studied the effectiveness of an intervention program in schools targeting trauma in children younger than 14 years old. Results showed that there were four categories that all studies incorporated. All intervention programs used an assessment tool to determine PTSD presence and symptomatology, as well as other domains that could be impacted. The assessment was used to determine the need for extensive intervention and to record the effectiveness of the program. The development of the intervention program was carefully established. Approaches varied in length, intervention provider, curriculum used, and ages, yet all focused on either Cognitive Behavioral Therapy or Play Therapy as the foundation. Third, teachers were trained and received support throughout the study. Training included education on the repercussions of trauma, symptomatology, and ways to address the need of children. Clinicians provided ongoing classroom support to improve the environment. Finally, in three of the studies, parents received training on trauma symptomatology and the effects of trauma. Parents learned strategies to work with their children and were able to take part in the intervention. Even though the understanding of trauma in childhood populations dates back to World War II, there is a lack of tiered intervention programs provided in schools for children at risk. In Venezuela today, children experience an ongoing environment of toxic stress paired with systemic oppression trauma. Thus, there is a need for an intervention program to reach large groups of children that does not generate an economic burden on parents. This study provides a comprehensive analysis of effective methods that can be used for a further intervention program. New policies need to be established to ensure that the most vulnerable populations receive all the services needed to succeed in the future and that the socioeconomic gap is narrowed

Resistencia mecánica de la albañilería estructural y mortero con cemento sustituido en 10% y 15% por relaves

El presente trabajo de investigación tuvo como objetivo general determinar la resistencia mecánica de un mortero para la albañilería estructural cuando se sustituye el cemento en 10% y 15% por relave minero proveniente de la Planta de Tratamiento Minera Huinac SAC. Se realizaron pruebas de laboratorio para determinar propiedades físicas de los agregados finos y determinar las propiedades físicas de los agregados finos. agregados finos fluidez del mortero, pH, peso específico mediante el método de desplazamiento y composición química del relave mediante el procedimiento de fluorescencia de rayos X de dispersión de energía (FRXDE). Con los resultados de laboratorio, se construyeron 09 pilares y 09 muretes con el empleo de ladrillo de arcilla KK de 18 huecos, distribuidos en 03 muestras patrón, 03 muestras con 10% de relave y 03 muestras con 15% de relave; para ser sometidos a los ensayos de compresión axial, resultando los siguientes valores P-Patrón = 8.748 kg/cm2, P-10% = 6.729 kg/cm2 y P-15% = 5.511 kg/cm2; y compresión diagonal, resultando los siguientes valores M-Patrón = 39.745 kg/cm2, M-10% = 30.670 kg/cm2 y M-15% = 30.679 kg/cm2. Concluyendo que cuando se utiliza para la prueba de esfuerzo de compresión axial, si hay relave en un 10% y 15% en el mortero, reduce de manera similar la resistencia mecánica de éste, en comparación al mortero sin relave; y para los ensayos de esfuerzo al corte, en el mortero, la presencia de relave en un 10%, reduce en un 23% la resistencia mecánica del mortero a diferencia de la presencia de relave en un 15%, que reduce la resistencia mecánica del mortero en un 37%. Significando que, a mayor presencia de sustitución de cemento por relave, menor será la resistencia mecánica en el compuesto estructural de albañilería.Tesi

A meta-analysis of resuscitative endovascular balloon occlusion of the aorta (REBOA) or open aortic cross-clamping by resuscitative thoracotomy in non-compressible torso hemorrhage patients

Background The objective of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to determine the effect of REBOA, compared to resuscitative thoracotomy, on mortality and among non-compressible torso hemorrhage trauma patients. Methods Relevant articles were identified by a literature search in MEDLINE and EMBASE. We included studies involving trauma patients suffering non-compressible torso hemorrhage. Studies were eligible if they evaluated REBOA and compared it to resuscitative thoracotomy. Two investigators independently assessed articles for inclusion and exclusion criteria and selected studies for final analysis. We conducted meta-analysis using random effect models. Results We included three studies in our systematic review. These studies included a total of 1276 patients. An initial analysis found that although lower in REBOA-treated patients, the odds of mortality did not differ between the compared groups (OR 0.42; 95% CI 0.17–1.03). Sensitivity analysis showed that the risk of mortality was significantly lower among patients who underwent REBOA, compared to those who underwent resuscitative thoracotomy (RT) (RR 0.81; 95% CI 0.68–0.97). Conclusion Our meta-analysis, mainly from observational data, suggests a positive effect of REBOA on mortality among non-compressible torso hemorrhage patients. However, these results deserve further investigation