Secondary School Counselors’ Perceptions of Service-Learning: Gaps between State Policy, Counselors’ Knowledge, and Implementation

The purpose of this study was a state-level investigation of school counselors’ knowledge of their role in the implementation of service-learning policy using survey research methods. The respondents reported having little knowledge of the policy, not having implemented it statewide, and not having been trained in service-learning pedagogy. Based on these results, this article provides implications for consideration when states develop educational policies that impact school counselors’ work

Pb isotopic variability in melt inclusions from the EMI–EMII–HIMU mantle end-members and the role of the oceanic lithosphere

Melt inclusions from four individual lava samples representing the HIMU (Mangaia Island), EMI (Pitcairn Island) and EMII (Tahaa Island) end member components, have heterogeneous Pb isotopic composition larger than that defined by the erupted lavas in each island. The broad linear trend in ^(207)Pb/^(206)Pb–^(208)Pb/^(206)Pb space produced by the melt inclusions from Mangaia, Tahaa and fPitcairn samples reproduces the entire trend defined by the Austral chain, the Society islands and the Pitcairn island and seamount groups. The inclusions preserve a record of melt composition of far greater isotopic diversity than that sampled in whole rock basalts. These results can be explained by mixing of a common depleted component with the HIMU, EMI and EMII lavas, respectively. We favor a model that considers the oceanic lithosphere to be that common component. We suggest that the Pb isotopic compositions of the melt inclusions reflect wall rock reaction of HIMU, EMI and EMII melts during their percolation through the oceanic lithosphere. Under these conditions, the localized rapid crystallization of olivine from primitive basalt near the reaction zone would allow the entrapment of melt inclusions with different isotopic composition

Maternal effects on anogenital distance in a wild marmot population

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Globally elevated titanium, tantalum, and niobium (TITAN) in ocean island basalts with high 3He/4He

Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2008. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Geochemistry Geophysics Geosystems 9 (2008): Q04027, doi:10.1029/2007GC001876.We report evidence for a global Ti, Ta, and Nb (TITAN) enriched reservoir sampled by ocean island basalts (OIBs) with high 3He/4He ratios, an isotopic signature associated with the deep mantle. Excesses of Ti (and to a lesser degree Nb and Ta) correlate remarkably well with 3He/4He in a data set of global OIBs, demonstrating that a major element signature is associated with the high 3He/4He mantle. Additionally, we find that OIBs with high 3He/4He ratios have moderately radiogenic 187Os/188Os (>0.135). The TITAN enrichment and radiogenic 187Os/188Os in high 3He/4He OIBs indicate that they are melts of a mantle domain that hosts a nonprimitive (nonchondritic) component. The observation of TITAN enrichment in the high 3He/4He mantle may be important in balancing the Earth's budget for the TITAN elements. Understanding the origin of the TITAN enrichment is important for constraining the evolution of the enigmatic high 3He/4He mantle domain.Funds for helium measurements were provided by NSF-OCE to M.D.K. Funds for major and trace element analyses were provided by NSF-EAR 0509891 to S.R.H

Assessing the effectiveness of business support services in England: evidence from a theory based evaluation

In England, publicly supported advisory services for small firms are organised primarily through the Business Link (BL) network. Based on the programme theory underlying this business support services we develop four propositions and test these empirically using data from a new survey of over 3,000 English small firms. Our empirical results provide a broad validation of the programme theory underlying BL assistance for small firms in England during 2003, and more limited support for its effectiveness. More specifically, we find strong support for the value of BL operators maintaining a high profile as a way of boosting take-up. We also find some support for the approach to market segmentation adopted by BL allowing more intensive assistance to be targeted on younger firms and those with limited liability status. In terms of the outcomes of BL support, and allowing for issues of sample selection, we find no significant effects on growth from ‘other’ assistance but do find positive and significant employment growth effects from intensive assistance. This provides partial support for the programme theory assertion that BL support will lead to improvements in business growth performance and stronger support for the proposition that there would be differential outcomes from intensive and other assistance. The positive employment growth outcomes identified here from intensive assistance, even allowing for sample selection, suggest something of an improvement in the effectiveness of the BL network since the late 1990s

Type 2 diabetes mellitus and antibiotic-resistant infections: A Systematic Review and meta-analysis

Background: Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) has been associated with infectious diseases; however, whether T2DM is associated with bacterial-resistant infections has not been thoroughly studied. We ascertained whether people with T2DM were more likely to experience resistant infections in comparison to T2DM-free individuals. Methods: Systematic review and random-effects meta-analysis. The search was conducted in Medline, Embase, and Global Health. We selected observational studies in which the outcome was resistant infections (any site), and the exposure was T2DM. We studied adult subjects who could have been selected from population-or hospital-based studies. I-squared was the metric of heterogeneity. We used the Newcastle-Ottawa risk of bias scale. Results: The search retrieved 3,370 reports, 97 were studied in detail and 61 (449,247 subjects) were selected. Studies were mostly cross-sectional or case-control; several infection sites were studied, but mostly urinary tract and respiratory infections. The random-effects meta-analysis revealed that people with T2DM were two-fold more likely to have urinary tract (OR= 2.42; 95% CI: 1.83-3.20; I-squared 19.1%) or respiratory (OR= 2.35; 95% CI: 1.49-3.69; I-squared 58.1%) resistant infections. Although evidence for other infection sites was heterogeneous, they consistently suggested that T2DM was 66associated with resistant infections. Conclusions: Compelling evidence suggests that people with T2DM are more likely to experience antibiotic-resistant urinary tract and respiratory infections. The evidence for other infection sites was less conclusive but pointed to the same overall conclusion. These results could guide empirical treatment for patients with T2DM and infections

Long-wavelength approximation for string cosmology with barotropic perfect fluid

The field equations derived from the low energy string effective action with a matter tensor describing a perfect fluid with a barotropic equation of state are solved iteratively using the long-wavelength approximation, i.e. the field equations are expanded by the number of spatial gradients. In the zero order, a quasi-isotropic solution is presented and compared with the general solution of the pure dilaton gravity. Possible cosmological models are analyzed from the point of view of the pre-big bang scenario. The second order solutions are found and their growing and decaying parts are studied.Comment: 19 pages, 1 figur