Effects Of A Collaborative, Technology-based Intervention Involving School Principals To Retain Early-career Teachers: A Scaled, Quantitative Research Study

Statistics have shown that at least 50% of all teachers leave the profession within the first five years, with higher departure rates in certain subjects (e.g. science and mathematics, special education, English language development) (Ingersoll, 2003) and in under-resourced schools with traditionally underserved students of color (Redding & Henry, 2018). Moreover, lack of administrative support is cited as a significant factor in teacher job satisfaction (Borman & Dowling, 2008; Donaldson, 2013). To investigate principal and early-career teacher attitudes regarding support, an intervention was conducted to investigate the degree that a single, brief meeting involving school principals and their early-career teachers had on feelings of support. Informing policy-makers and practitioners alike, results of this pilot study indicated that, 45 days after the intervention, teacher and principal participants reported a general increase in perceived levels of support, relative to control participants

Seasonal Variation of Power Distribution in Niger State of Nigeria using Markov Model with Non-Stationary Transition Probabilities

This paper presents the application of Markov chain model with non-stationary transition probabilities to study the monthly data of the power distribution in Niger state in the wet, Dry-Hot and Hamatten/Dry- Hot seasons. The result indicates an optimal power distribution of over 150,000MWwith probability 0.49 during the wet season, 0.25 during the hot-dry season and 0.19 in the hot-cold season respectively. The variation of power distribution directly affects the electricity consumers. Markov chain model could be used as a predictive tool for determining the power distribution pattern at different seasons in the Study area. These predictions might be used for the management of (NCC) for effective distribution of megawatts.Keywords: Markov Chain, Transition probability, Non-stationary, Power Distributio

Pre-service secondary mathematics teachers\u27 definitions of mathematics terms in their video-lesson presentations: A deductive content analysis

Taking into account the nature of mathematics as an exact science and the essential role of mathematics teachers’ knowledge of fundamental mathematics definitions; the authors investigated the pre-service secondary mathematics teachers (PSMTs) knowledge of a good mathematics definition in their group video-lesson presentations related to algebra; geometry; descriptive statistics; and number theory. The quality of their definitions can provide a glimpse of their preparedness to teach mathematics at the secondary level. Drawing on Leikin and Zazkis’ (2010) framework to analyze teacher- generated definitions; and Borasi’s (1992) characterizations of a good definition; the authors developed an analytical framework to analyze a total 109 definitions from 90 different mathematical terms. Results reveal that 57 or 52 % of the definitions were weak and suggest PSMTs lack of precision needed in stating definitions of mathematical terms. This could be attributed to PSMTs’ lack of knowledge about the characteristics of a good definition of a mathematical term; and lack of rigor in the use of English language to clearly express the precise meaning of their definitions. The authors recommend PSMTs to be exposed more to activities that would develop their skill in defining. Follow-up studies are also recommended that would further guide mathematics educators in designing intervention programs for the development and improvement of PSMTs’ skills in crafting good mathematical definitions

Adrenal Vein Cortisol to Metanephrine Ratio for Localizing ACTH-Independent Cortisol-Producing Adenoma: A Case Report

Context: Finding the source of adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH)-independent cortisol-producing adenoma in the patients with subclinical Cushing syndrome (SCS) and bilateral adrenal nodules is sometimes challenging. Computed tomography (CT) and positron emission tomography are helpful, but adrenal venous sampling (AVS) is the gold standard approach. However, interpretation of AVS is important to improve the accuracy of decision-making for surgery. We report a case and review of the literature to assess the benefit of using adrenal vein cortisol to metanephrine ratio to determine the source of cortisol production in SCS and bilateral nodules. Evidence Acquisition: Three authors searched PubMed for data on patients with SCS who had AVS procedure and measurements of cortisol and catecholamines. Case Description: A 51-year-old woman with SCS and hypertension crisis presented to our clinic. Paraclinical investigations revealed that she had an ACTH-independent cortisol-producing adenoma and her CT scan showed bilateral adrenal nodules. After AVS, cortisol (high to low) lateralization ratio could not determine the source of cortisol production but the cortisol to metanephrine ratio localized the source to the left side, which included the larger nodule according to CT measurements. Left adrenalectomy led to clinical and paraclinical improvement. Conclusion: There is a possibility of co-secretion of other steroids accompanied with cortisol in the setting of ACTH-independent SCS. Moreover, cortisol measurement alone and interpretation of AVS results based on cortisol values may not help lateralizing the source of cortisol production with bilateral adrenal nodules. Therefore, we suggest applying cortisol to metanephrine ratio with the same gradient (gradient \u3e 2.3, highest to lowest concentration) when the source of cortisol production cannot be determined by cortisol lateralization ratio

Perceptions of Self-Efficacy & Support Among Secondary Early-Career Teachers and their Principals During the COVID-19 Pandemic

In response to challenges faced by middle and high school educators during the COVID-19 pandemic, a study was conducted in the Spring of 2021 involving 33 early-career mathematics teachers and eight supervising school principals in the State of California. These participants completed detailed surveys which provided demographic information, as well as perceptions of support, efficacy and job satisfaction. Findings show a variety of associations among teacher perceptions of support and their efficacy and job satisfaction in the face of challenging circumstances. As it related to principal support and recognition, principal participants expressed confidence in their ability to support teachers as a result of the pandemic, including understanding best practices for evaluating teachers for online teaching. Additionally, while agreeing that teachers at their schools needed more professional development in instructional practice, participating school principals felt they supported their teachers as they adapted instruction due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This study aspires to inform practitioners and policymakers alike in their understanding of teachers and their principals as they responded to significant challenges as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic

Difference in Plumage Color Used in Species Recognition between Incipient Species Is Linked to a Single Amino Acid Substitution in the Melanocortin‐1 Receptor

This is the publisher's version, also available electronically from http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/600084Many studies demonstrate that differences in mating signals are used by incipient species in recognizing potential mates or sexual competitors (i.e., species recognition). Little is known, however, about the genetic changes responsible for these differences in mating signals. Populations of the Monarcha castaneiventris flycatcher vary in plumage color across the Solomon Islands, with a subspecies on Makira Island having chestnut bellies and blue‐black upper parts (Monarcha castaneiventris megarhynchus) and a subspecies on neighboring satellite islands being entirely blue‐black (melanic; Monarcha castaneiventris ugiensis). Here we show that a single nonsynonymous point mutation in the melanocortin‐1 receptor (MC1R) gene is present in all melanic birds from one island (Santa Ana) but absent in all chestnut‐bellied birds from Makira Island, implicating this mutation in causing melanism. Birds from a second satellite island (Ugi) do not show the same perfect association between this MC1R variant and plumage color, suggesting an alternative mechanism for melanism on this island. Finally, taxidermic mount presentation experiments in Makira (chestnut) and Santa Ana (melanic) suggest that the plumage difference mediates species recognition. Assuming that the signals used in species recognition are also used in mutual mate choice, our results indicate that a single amino acid substitution contributes to speciation

Geometric Semantic Grammatical Evolution

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Springer via the DOI in this record.Geometric Semantic Genetic Programming (GSGP) is a novel form of Genetic Programming (GP), based on a geometric theory of evolutionary algorithms, which directly searches the semantic space of programs. In this chapter, we extend this framework to Grammatical Evolution (GE) and refer to the new method as Geometric Semantic Grammatical Evolution (GSGE). We formally derive new mutation and crossover operators for GE which are guaranteed to see a simple unimodal fitness landscape. This surprising result shows that the GE genotypephenotype mapping does not necessarily imply low genotype-fitness locality. To complement the theory, we present extensive experimental results on three standard domains (Boolean, Arithmetic and Classifier)

Differential investment in visual and olfactory brain regions is linked to the sensory needs of a wasp social parasite and its host

Obligate insect social parasites evolve traits to effectively locate and then exploit their hosts, whereas hosts have complex social behavioral repertoires, which include sensory recognition to reject potential conspecific intruders and heterospecific parasites. While social parasites and host behaviors have been studied extensively, less is known about how their sensory systems function to meet their specific selective pressures. Here, we compare investment in visual and olfactory brain regions in the paper wasp Polistes dominula, and its obligate social parasite P. sulcifer, to explore the links among sensory systems,brain and behavior. Our results show significant relative volumetric differences between these two closely related species, consistent with their very different life histories. Social parasites show proportionally larger optic lobes and central complex to likely navigate long-distance migrations and unfamiliar landscapes to locate the specific species of hosts they usurp. Contrastingly, hosts have larger antennal lobes and calyces of the mushroom bodies compared with social parasites, as predicted by their sensory means to maintain social cohesion via olfactory signals, allocate colony tasks, forage, and recognize conspecific and heterospecific intruders. Our work suggests how this tradeoff between visual and olfactory brain regions may facilitate different sensory adaptations needed to perform social and foraging tasks by the host, including recognition of parasites, or to fly long distances and successful host localizing by the social parasite