A study of the evaluation process of school superintendents in North Carolina

The problem of this study was to determine the effectiveness of the evaluation process used by school boards in the North Carolina Public School System to evaluate the performance of their school superintendents. Following a review of the related literature, an opinionnaire was prepared for distribution to the superintendents and chairpersons of school boards of randomly selected school administrative units. The data obtained from these sources were compiled and analyzed

Expression of Mir-21 and Mir-143 in Cervical Specimens Ranging from Histologically Normal through to Invasive Cervical Cancer

MicroRNA expression is severely disrupted in carcinogenesis, however limited evidence is available validating results from cell-line models in human clinical cancer specimens. MicroRNA-21 (mir-21) and microRNA-143 (mir-143) have previously been identified as significantly deregulated in a range of cancers including cervical cancer. Our goal was to investigate the expression patterns of several well-studied microRNA species in cervical samples and compare the results to cell line samples.We measured the expression of mir-21 and mir-143 in 142 formalin-fixed, paraffin embedded (FFPE) cervical biopsy tissue blocks, collected from Dantec Oncology Clinic, Dakar, Senegal. MicroRNA expression analysis was performed using Taqman-based real-time PCR assays. Protein immunohistochemical staining was also performed to investigate target protein expression on 72 samples. We found that mir-21 expression increased with worsening clinical diagnosis but that mir-143 was not correlated with histology. These observations were in stark contrast to previous reports involving cervical cancer cell lines in which mir-143 was consistently down-regulated but mir-21 largely unaffected. We also identified, for the first time, that cytoplasmic expression of Programmed Cell Death Protein 4 PDCD4; a known target of mir-21) was significantly lower in women with invasive cervical carcinoma (ICC) in comparison to those with cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (2-3) or carcinoma in situ (CIN2-3/CIS), although there was no significant correlation between mir-21 and PDCD4 expression, despite previous studies identifying PDCD4 transcript as a known mir-21 target.Whilst microRNA biomarkers have a number of promising features, more studies on expression levels in histologically defined clinical specimens are required to investigate clinical relevance of discovery-based studies. Mir-21 may be of some utility in predictive screening, given that we observed a significant correlation between mir-21 expression level and worsening histological diagnosis of cervical cancer

First Genome-Wide Association Study of Latent Autoimmune Diabetes in Adults Reveals Novel Insights Linking Immune and Metabolic Diabetes

OBJECTIVELatent autoimmune diabetes in adults (LADA) shares clinical features with both type 1 and type 2 diabetes; however, there is ongoing debate regarding the precise definition of LADA. Understanding its genetic basis is one potential strategy to gain insight into appropriate classification of this diabetes subtype.RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODSWe performed the first genome-wide association study of LADA in case subjects of European ancestry versus population control subjects (n = 2,634 vs. 5,947) and compared against both case subjects with type 1 diabetes (n = 2,454 vs. 968) and type 2 diabetes (n = 2,779 vs. 10,396).RESULTSThe leading genetic signals were principally shared with type 1 diabetes, although we observed positive genetic correlations genome-wide with both type 1 and type 2 diabetes. Additionally, we observed a novel independent signal at the known type 1 diabetes locus harboring PFKFB3, encoding a regulator of glycolysis and insulin signaling in type 2 diabetes and inflammation and autophagy in autoimmune disease, as well as an attenuation of key type 1-associated HLA haplotype frequencies in LADA, suggesting that these are factors that distinguish childhood-onset type 1 diabetes from adult autoimmune diabetes.CONCLUSIONSOur results support the need for further investigations of the genetic factors that distinguish forms of autoimmune diabetes as well as more precise classification strategies.Peer reviewe

Ideal expectations and real perceptions reported by presidents, members of boards of trustees, and administrative staff members relative to leadership behaviors of selected Christian college presidents

The purpose of the study was to determine the nature and extent of differences in expectations and perceptions reported by presidents, members of boards of trustees, and administrative staff members relative to Christian college presidential leadership behavior. Study participants included fourteen presidents, ninety-three members of boards of trustees, and one hundred and two administrative staff members from fourteen charter member colleges of the Christian College Coalition.Each participant completed the Leader Behavior Description Questionnaire - Ideal in order to report expectations relative to ideal presidential leader behaviors. Each participant also completed the Leader Behavior Description Questionnaire - 1957 in order to report perceptions relative to actual presidential leadership behaviors. The Leader Behavior Description Questionnaires measure perceptions and expectations relative to two dimensions of leadership behaviors, Initiating Structure and Consideration.- Initiating Structure refers to leadership behaviors which define and establish patterns of organization, channels of communication, and methods of procedure. Consideration refers to leadership behaviors which encourage friendship, mutual trust, respect, and warmth between the leader and his subordinates:Four different scores were generated from responses provided by each participant. The four scores related to ideal presidential Initiating Structure behaviors, ideal presidential Consideration behaviors, actual presidential Initiating Structure behaviors, and actual presidential Consideration behaviors. Mean scores were, calculated for responses from each of the three reference groups relative to each of the four dimensions of leadership.Seven null hypotheses were developed in order to facilitate the determination of differences in expectations and perceptions relative to presidential leadership behaviors as reported by the three reference groups. The .05 level was established as the critical probability level for rejection of hypotheses, and significant findings were reported at both the .05 and .01 levels.Group mean scores were treated by means of the analysis of variance statistical technique in order to determine the statistical significance of differences between scores.Ten major findings resulted from the analysis of data:1. Presidents and staff members reported similar expectations relative to ideal Christian college presidential Initiating Structure behaviors.2. Reported expectations of trustees relative to ideal Christian college presidential Initiating Structure behaviors were statistically significantly higher than the expectations relative to ideal Christian college presidential Initiating Structure behaviors reported by either presidents of staff members.3. Presidents, trustees, and staff members reported virtually the same level of expectations relative to ideal Christian college presidential Consideration behaviors.4. Reported expectations of presidents relative to ideal Christian college presidential Consideration behaviors were statistically significantly higher than the expectations reported relative to ideal Christian college presidential Iniating Structure behaviors.5. Trustees reported virtually the same level of expectations relative to both ideal Christian college presidential Consideration behaviors and ideal Christian college presidential Initiating Structure behaviors.6. Reported expectations of staff members relative to ideal Christian college presidential Consideration behaviors were statistically significantly higher than the expectations reported relative to ideal Christian college presidential Initiating Structure behaviors.7. Presidents and staff members reported similar perceptions relative to actual Christian college presidential Initiating Structure behaviors.8. Reported perceptions of trustees relative to actual Christian college presidential Initiating Structure behaviors were statistically significantly higher than perceptions relative to actual Christian college presidential Initiating Structure behaviors reported by either presidents or staff members.9. Presidents and trustees reported similar perceptions relative to actual Christian college presidential Consideration behaviors.10. Reported perceptions of staff members relative to actual Christian college presidential Consideration behaviors were statistically lower than perceptions relative to actual Christian college presidential Consideration behaviors reported by either presidents or trustees.Three general conclusions were drawn:1. Christian colleges are unique educational communities with common religious ties which tend to produce a family-like atmosphere among members of the college community. The atmosphere appears to influence community member perceptions relative to the leadership role of Christian college presidents.2. The leadership role of Christian college presidents is perceived differently by members of boards of trustees and administrative staff members in spite of religious homogeneity among community members.3. Christian college presidents interact in different communication patterns and organizational settings with members of boards of trustees than with administrative staff members.Thesis (D. Ed.