1,359 research outputs found
Attributes And Characteristics That Contribute To Successful Female Leadership In Secondary Education
132 leavesThe current research indicates that gender underrepresentation in upper management is a broad,
global issue. According to data from the Iowa Department of Education (2010), most female
principals (50.4%) are at the elementary level while only 23.7% female principals are at the
secondary level and 76.3% males. The underrepresentation of females can be noted in business,
the armed forces, higher education, around the world, and in public education. Limited research
has been done on women in educational leadership, with even less in regard to women leadership
at the secondary level. Based on the large number of females represented in the teaching
occupation, it would seem logical that the proportion of female leaders in education would be
reflective of the profession as a whole, whether it is at the elementary, secondary level, or central
office. Through the lens of Critical Feminist Theory and multiple case qualitative design, this
researcher examined the lives and experiences of four women who have maintained successful
and effective careers in secondary education. By gathering in-depth information of actual
successful secondary female principals the researcher was able to add to the current literature and
accomplish four objectives: (a) Create an awareness of the skill set, style, and background
needed that allows a female educator to consider and pursue a secondary principalship, (b) Offer
necessary information for female educators who pursue a secondary principalship to be aware
and prepared for the obstacles and challenges they will encounter, (c) Encourage females who
fear advancement in secondary education due to stereotypes and/or leave the profession due to
negative experiences, and (d) Provide substantive information to administrator preparation
programs that will assist in designing instruction to support women interested in becoming
secondary principals
Family Medicine needs assessment: Studying the clinical work of general practitioners in Ethiopia
Background and Objective: Some universities in sub-Saharan Africa have initiated Family Medicine (FM) residency programs. This study was conducted by FM colleagues at Addis Ababa University (AAU) in Ethiopia and the University of Toronto, Canada to inform the FM residency curriculum at AAU. It was designed to determine the clinical problems that family physicians in Ethiopia may encounter.Methods: We used a mixed methods approach: Modified time-motion study and brief interviews. We observed 46 general practitioners (GPs) across ten sites in Ethiopia. Trained observers recorded time-motion data while GPs conducted their daily work. This data was supplemented by brief interviews with the GPs.Findings: Clinical encounters occupied 82% of GP work. The common symptoms were digestive-abdominal pain (21% visits), respiratory-cough (16%), and general-fever and chills (16%). The common diagnoses were infectious (22% visits), genitourinary (12%), circulatory (10%), and endocrine (10%). Challenges identified were lack of clinical resources (57% of GPs), difficulties in communication (48%) and excessive workload (33%). Most common requests were for information technology (78%) and HIV (46%) training.Conclusion: The profile of common symptoms and diagnoses indicated the competencies family physicians in the regions should have. This information will be used to develop an appropriate FM curriculum at AAU
Confirmation that variants in TTI2 are responsible for autosomal recessive intellectual disability
TTI2 (MIM 614126) has been described as responsible for autosomal recessive intellectual disability (ID; MRT39, MIM:615541) in only two inbred families. Here, we give an account of two individuals from two unrelated outbred families harbouring compound heterozygous TTI2 pathogenic variants. Together with severe ID, progressive microcephaly, scoliosis and sleeping disorder are the most striking features in the two individuals concerned. TTI2, together with TTI1 and TELO2, encode proteins that constitute the triple T heterotrimeric complex. This TTT complex interacts with the HSP90 and R2TP to form a super-complex that has a chaperone function stabilising and maturing a number of kinases, such as ataxia-telangiectasia mutated and mechanistic target of rapamycin, which are key regulators of cell proliferation and genome maintenance. Pathogenic variants in TTI2 logically result in a phenotype close to that caused by TELO2 variants
Using smartâmessaging to enhance mindfulnessâbased cognitive therapy for cancer patients: A mixed methods proof of concept evaluation
Objective
Depression and anxiety lead to reduced treatment adherence, poorer quality of life, and increased care costs amongst cancer patients. Mindfulnessâbased cognitive therapy (MBCT) is an effective treatment, but dropout reduces potential benefits. Smartâmessage reminders can prevent dropout and improve effectiveness. However, smartâmessaging is untested for MBCT in cancer. This study evaluates smartâmessaging to reduce dropout and improve effectiveness in MBCT for cancer patients with depression or anxiety.MethodsFiftyâone cancer patients attending MBCT in a psychoâoncology service were offered a smartâmessaging intervention, which reminded them of prescribed betweenâsession activities. Thirty patients accepted smartâmessaging and 21 did not. Assessments of depression and anxiety were taken at baseline, sessionâbyâsession, and oneâmonth followâup. Logistic regression and multilevel modelling compared the groups on treatment completion and clinical effectiveness. Fifteen postâtreatment patient interviews explored smartâmessaging use.ResultsThe odds of programme completion were eight times greater for patients using smartâmessaging compared with nonâusers, controlling for age, gender, baseline depression, and baseline anxiety (OR = 7.79, 95% CI 1.75 to 34.58, p = .007). Smartâmessaging users also reported greater improvement in depression over the programme (B = â2.33, SEB = .78, p = .004) when controlling for baseline severity, change over time, age, and number of sessions attended. There was no difference between groups in anxiety improvement (B = â1.46, SEB = .86, p = .097). In interviews, smartâmessaging was described as a motivating reminder and source of personal connection. ConclusionsSmartâmessaging may be an easily integrated telehealth intervention to improve MBCT for cancer patients
Autonomous synthesis of thin film materials with pulsed laser deposition enabled by in situ spectroscopy and automation
Synthesis of thin films has traditionally relied upon slow, sequential
processes carried out with substantial human intervention, frequently utilizing
a mix of experience and serendipity to optimize material structure and
properties. With recent advances in autonomous systems which combine synthesis,
characterization, and decision making with artificial intelligence (AI), large
parameter spaces can be explored autonomously at rates beyond what is possible
by human experimentalists, greatly accelerating discovery, optimization, and
understanding in materials synthesis which directly address the grand
challenges in synthesis science. Here, we demonstrate autonomous synthesis of a
contemporary 2D material by combining the highly versatile pulsed laser
deposition (PLD) technique with automation and machine learning (ML). We
incorporated in situ and real-time spectroscopy, a high-throughput methodology,
and cloud connectivity to enable autonomous synthesis workflows with PLD.
Ultrathin WSe2 films were grown using co-ablation of two targets and showed a
10x increase in throughput over traditional PLD workflows. Gaussian process
regression and Bayesian optimization were used with in situ Raman spectroscopy
to autonomously discover two distinct growth windows and the process-property
relationship after sampling only 0.25% of a large 4D parameter space. Any
material that can be grown with PLD could be autonomously synthesized with our
platform and workflows, enabling accelerated discovery and optimization of a
vast number of materials
Coronary-artery bypass surgery in patients with ischemic cardiomyopathy
BACKGROUND
The survival benefit of a strategy of coronary-artery bypass grafting (CABG) added to
guideline-directed medical therapy, as compared with medical therapy alone, in patients
with coronary artery disease, heart failure, and severe left ventricular systolic
dysfunction remains unclear.
METHODS
From July 2002 to May 2007, a total of 1212 patients with an ejection fraction of 35%
or less and coronary artery disease amenable to CABG were randomly assigned to
undergo CABG plus medical therapy (CABG group, 610 patients) or medical therapy
alone (medical-therapy group, 602 patients). The primary outcome was death from any
cause. Major secondary outcomes included death from cardiovascular causes and death
from any cause or hospitalization for cardiovascular causes. The median duration of
follow-up, including the current extended-follow-up study, was 9.8 years.
RESULTS
A primary outcome event occurred in 359 patients (58.9%) in the CABG group and in
398 patients (66.1%) in the medical-therapy group (hazard ratio with CABG vs. medical
therapy, 0.84; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.73 to 0.97; P=0.02 by log-rank test). A
total of 247 patients (40.5%) in the CABG group and 297 patients (49.3%) in the
medical-therapy group died from cardiovascular causes (hazard ratio, 0.79; 95% CI,
0.66 to 0.93; P=0.006 by log-rank test). Death from any cause or hospitalization for
cardiovascular causes occurred in 467 patients (76.6%) in the CABG group and in 524
patients (87.0%) in the medical-therapy group (hazard ratio, 0.72; 95% CI, 0.64 to 0.82;
P<0.001 by log-rank test).
CONCLUSIONS
In a cohort of patients with ischemic cardiomyopathy, the rates of death from any
cause, death from cardiovascular causes, and death from any cause or hospitalization
for cardiovascular causes were significantly lower over 10 years among patients who
underwent CABG in addition to receiving medical therapy than among those who received
medical therapy alone. (Funded by the National Institutes of Health; STICH [and
STICHES] ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT00023595.
Biomarker testing in oncology - Requirements for organizing external quality assessment programs to improve the performance of laboratory testing:revision of an expert opinion paper on behalf of IQNPath ABSL
In personalized medicine, predictive biomarker testing is the basis for an appropriate choice of therapy for patients with cancer. An important tool for laboratories to ensure accurate results is participation in external quality assurance (EQA) programs. Several providers offer predictive EQA programs for different cancer types, test methods, and sample types. In 2013, a guideline was published on the requirements for organizing high-quality EQA programs in molecular pathology. Now, after six years, steps were taken to further harmonize these EQA programs as an initiative by IQNPath ABSL, an umbrella organization founded by various EQA providers. This revision is based on current knowledge, adds recommendations for programs developed for predictive biomarkers by in situ methodologies (immunohistochemistry and in situ hybridization), and emphasized transparency and an evidence-based approach. In addition, this updated version also has the aim to give an overview of current practices from various EQA providers
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