BTSA program directors\u27 perceptions on the relationship between components of mentor assessment and effectiveness

California\u27s Beginning Teacher Support and Assessment program (BTSA) is a high stakes induction program; a new teacher\u27s completion of a BTSA induction program leads to the California clear credential. The cornerstone of the BTSA induction program is the mentor, also known as a support provider. Mentors provide a variety of services to new teachers including individualized formative assessment of practice and ongoing reflection on teaching skills. Effective mentors are critical to the success of new teachers and foundational to the induction program. Although BTSA programs are mandated by state induction standards to assess the quality of services provided by their support providers, the standards do not define quality. BTSA programs are free to create their own assessment criteria and assessment methods. This qualitative, descriptive study (a) examined the perceptions of BTSA program directors on the relationship between established forms of mentor criteria, methods of formative assessment, and formative feedback provided to mentors and (b) identified those components of mentor assessment that are perceived by BTSA program directors to be valuable in assessing mentor effectiveness. The study found that BTSA directors placed import on assessing mentors for personal dispositions, such as attitude and responsibility, as well as the quality of their work with their novice teachers. Directors perceived that formative feedback from either the BTSA director or peers was important in increasing mentor effectiveness. The directors\u27 perceptions of valued components of mentor assessment were shaped not only by the requirements regarding mentor assessment contained within Induction Standard 3 (California Commission on Teacher Credentialing, 2008), but by local culture, district goals, and existing models of educator assessments within each organization. BTSA directors, who led programs in high performing schools, valued assessing a mentor\u27s ability to build relationships with novices for the purpose of advancing the novices\u27 teaching practice and were more likely to endorse mentor self-assessment and reflection as major components of assessment. Conversely, BTSA directors who operated programs in under-performing schools valued mentor assessment components that evaluated the mentor\u27s ability to effect and advance the teaching practice of the novice. The latter programs perhaps provided mentors with more specific, explicit feedback

Molecular Mechanisms of Synaptic Vesicle Degradation

Neurons rely on precise spatial and temporal control of neurotransmitter release to ensure proper communication. Neurotransmission occurs when synaptic vesicles in the presynaptic compartment fuse with the plasma membrane and release their contents into the synaptic cleft, where neurotransmitters bind to receptors on the postsynaptic neuron. Synaptic vesicle pools must maintain a functional repertoire of proteins in order to efficiently release neurotransmitter. Indeed, the accumulation of old or damaged proteins on synaptic vesicle membranes is linked to synaptic dysfunction and neurodegeneration. Despite the importance of synaptic vesicle protein turnover for neuronal health, the molecular mechanisms underlying this process are unknown. In this thesis, we present work that uncovers key components that regulate synaptic vesicle degradation. Specifically, we identify a pathway that mediates the activity-dependent turnover of a subset of synaptic vesicle membrane proteins in mammalian neurons. This pathway requires the synaptic vesicle-associated GTPase Rab35, the ESCRT machinery, and synaptic vesicle protein ubiquitination. We further demonstrate that neuronal activity stimulates synaptic vesicle protein turnover by inducing Rab35 activation and binding to the ESCRT-0 component Hrs, which we have identified as a novel Rab35 effector. These actions recruit the downstream ESCRT machinery to synaptic vesicle pools, thereby initiating synaptic vesicle protein degradation via the ESCRT pathway. Interestingly, we find that not all synaptic vesicle proteins are degraded by this mechanism, suggesting that synaptic vesicles are not degraded as units, but rather that SV proteins are degraded individually or in subsets. Moreover, we find that lysine-63 ubiquitination of VAMP2 is required for its degradation, and we identify an E3 ubiquitin ligase, RNF167, that is responsible for this activity. Our findings show that RNF167 and the Rab35/ESCRT pathway facilitate the removal of specific proteins from synaptic vesicle pools, thereby maintaining presynaptic protein homeostasis. Overall, our studies provide novel mechanistic insight into the coupling of neuronal activity with synaptic vesicle protein degradation, and implicate ubiquitination as a major regulator in maintaining functional synaptic vesicle pools. These findings will facilitate future studies determining the effects of perturbations to synaptic homeostasis in neuronal dysfunction and degeneration

Tissue Banking: Relationship with Blood Donor and Organ Donor Card Status

Understanding the relationships among altruistic health acts may serve to aid therapeutic research advances. In this paper, we report on the links between two such behaviours—donating blood and carrying an organ donor card—and willingness to donate urological tissue to a tissue bank. Reasons for the differential willingness to do so are examined in this paper. A systematic sample of 259 new and returning attendees at a tertiary urology referral clinic in Ireland completed a self-report questionnaire in an outpatient setting. In addition to demographic details, details of known diagnosis of malignancy and family history of cancer; attitudes to tissue donation for research purposes were gauged using a 5-point Likert scale. Both blood donors and organ donor card carriers were more likely to be willing to donate tissue for research purposes. Blood donors were more likely want to know their overall results in comparison to nonblood donors and want their samples to be used for nonprofit research. Our hypothesis that being a blood donor would be a better predictor to donate urological tissue than being an organ donor card carrier borne out by the trends reported above

Human factors and patient safety in undergraduate healthcare education : A systematic review

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Women over 40, foreigners of color, and other missing persons in globalizing mediascapes: understanding marketing images as mirrors of intersectionality

Media diversity studies regularly invoke the notion of marketing images as mirrors of racism and sexism. This article develops a higher-order concept of marketing images as “mirrors of intersectionality.” Drawing on a seven-dimensional study of coverperson diversity in a globalizing mediascape, the emergent concept highlights that marketing images reflect not just racism and sexism, but all categorical forms of marginalization, including ableism, ageism, colorism, fatism, and heterosexism, as well as intersectional forms of marginalization, such as sexist ageism and racist multiculturalism. Fueled by the legacies of history, aspirational marketing logics, and an industry-wide distribution of discriminatory work, marketing images help to perpetuate multiple, cumulative, and enduring advantages for privileged groups and disadvantages for marginalized groups. In this sense, marketing images, as mirrors of intersectionality, are complicit agents in the structuration of inequitable societies

An occupational therapy intervention for residents with stroke related disabilities in UK care homes (OTCH): cluster randomised controlled trial

Objective To evaluate the clinical efficacy of an established programme of occupational therapy in maintaining functional activity and reducing further health risks from inactivity in care home residents living with stroke sequelae. Design Pragmatic, parallel group, cluster randomised controlled trial. Setting 228 care homes (>10 beds each), both with and without the provision of nursing care, local to 11 trial administrative centres across the United Kingdom. Participants 1042 care home residents with a history of stroke or transient ischaemic attack, including those with language and cognitive impairments, not receiving end of life care. 114 homes (n=568 residents, 64% from homes providing nursing care) were allocated to the intervention arm and 114 homes (n=474 residents, 65% from homes providing nursing care) to standard care (control arm). Participating care homes were randomised between May 2010 and March 2012. Intervention Targeted three month programme of occupational therapy, delivered by qualified occupational therapists and assistants, involving patient centred goal setting, education of care home staff, and adaptations to the environment. Main outcome measures Primary outcome at the participant level: scores on the Barthel index of activities of daily living at three months post-randomisation. Secondary outcome measures at the participant level: Barthel index scores at six and 12 months post-randomisation, and scores on the Rivermead mobility index, geriatric depression scale-15, and EuroQol EQ-5D-3L questionnaire, at all time points. Results 64% of the participants were women and 93% were white, with a mean age of 82.9 years. Baseline characteristics were similar between groups for all measures, personal characteristics, and diagnostic tests. Overall, 2538 occupational therapy visits were made to 498 participants in the intervention arm (mean 5.1 visits per participant). No adverse events attributable to the intervention were recorded. 162 (11%) died before the primary outcome time point, and 313 (30%) died over the 12 months of the trial. The primary outcome measure did not differ significantly between the treatment arms. The adjusted mean difference in Barthel index score at three months was 0.19 points higher in the intervention arm (95% confidence interval −0.33 to 0.70, P=0.48). Secondary outcome measures also showed no significant differences at all time points. Conclusions This large phase III study provided no evidence of benefit for the provision of a routine occupational therapy service, including staff training, for care home residents living with stroke related disabilities. The established three month individualised course of occupational therapy targeting stroke related disabilities did not have an impact on measures of functional activity, mobility, mood, or health related quality of life, at all observational time points. Providing and targeting ameliorative care in this clinically complex population requires alternative strategies

Research priorities for the management of broken bones of the upper limb in people over 50: A UK priority setting partnership with the James Lind Alliance

Objective. To determine research priorities for the management of broken bones of the upper limb in people over 50 which represent the shared priorities of patients, their families, carers and healthcare professionals. Design/setting. A national (UK) research priority-setting partnership. Participants. People aged 50 and over who have experienced a fracture of the upper limb; carers involved in their care; family and friends of patients; healthcare professionals involved in the treatment of these patients. Methods. Using a multiphase methodology in partnership with the James Lind Alliance over 15 months (September 2017 – December 2018), a national scoping survey asked respondents to submit their research uncertainties. These were amalgamated into a smaller number of research questions. The existing evidence was searched to ensure that the questions had not already been answered. A second national survey asked respondents to prioritise the research questions. A final shortlist of 25 questions was taken to a multistakeholder workshop where a consensus was reached on the top 10 priorities. Results. There were 1898 original uncertainties submitted by 328 respondents to the first survey. These original uncertainties were refined into 51 research questions of which 50 were judged to be true uncertainties following a review of the research evidence. There were 209 respondents to the second (interim prioritisation) survey. The top 10 priorities encompass a broad range of uncertainties in management and rehabilitation of upper limb fractures. Conclusions. The top 10 UK research priorities highlight uncertainties in how we assess outcomes, provide information, achieve pain control, rationalise surgical intervention, optimise rehabilitation and provide psychological support. The breadth of these research areas highlights the value of this methodology. This work should help to steer research in this area for the next 5-10 years and the challenge for researchers now is to refine and deliver answers to these research priorities

First reported case in an Irish flock of MCF- like systemic necrotizing vasculitis in sheep associated with ovine herpesvirus 2

Abstract Background Ovine gammaherpesvirus 2 (OvHV-2) is the causative agent of sheep associated malignant catarrhal fever (MCF). As sheep are the adapted host for OvHV-2, it is generally presumed that infection is not associated with disease in this species. However, a recent case review combined in-situ hybridisation, PCR and histopathology and correlated the viral distribution with systemic necrotizing vasculitis and concluded OvHV-2 was the likely agent responsible for sporadic, MCF-like vascular disease in sheep. Case presentation Using similar methods this case study reports on the findings of the first reported cases in an Irish Flock of MCF- like systemic necrotizing vasculitis in sheep associated with OvHV-2. Sheep A, a 16-month-old Texel-cross hogget displayed signs of ill- thrift, Sheep B, a nine-month-old Belclare-cross lamb, was found dead having displayed no obvious symptoms. Both cases occurred on the same farm, however the animals were not related. Lymphohistiocytic vasculitis of various tissues was the predominant histopathological finding in both animals. Conclusion By combining histopathology, PCR and in-situ hybridisation results, MCF- like systemic necrotizing vasculitis associated with OvHV-2 has been diagnosed for the first time in an Irish flock