Factors Influencing Teacher Efficacy in a Pennsylvania Juvenile Detention Center Education Program

This dissertation describes the factors influencing teacher efficacy among teachers currently or recently working in a juvenile detention center education program in southeastern Pennsylvania. The single-case study examined the barriers and facilitators to high teacher efficacy in that school setting, since these factors were previously unknown. The research population for the study consisted of all teachers who are working or who have worked within the past five years at the juvenile detention center education program (n=9). Research was conducted using the Teachers’ Sense of Efficacy Scale (Tschannen-Moran & Hoy, 2001), a questionnaire, and in-person interviews. The following were found to be barriers to high teacher efficacy at the juvenile detention center: student misbehavior, classroom distractions, student groupings of mixed ability levels, limited assessment options, negative student attitudes, and limited background information about students. The following were found to be facilitators of high teacher efficacy at the juvenile detention center: positive learning climate, presence of detention officers, classroom rules and expectations, differentiated instruction, relevant lessons, educational activities, and rapport with students

Long-Term Aerobic Exercise Regimens Can Help Improve Behavioral Symptoms in Children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

Background: Attention deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD) is a complex and common neuropsychiatric disorder characterized by inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity. Though there is an abundance of literature investigating ADHD, the disorder remains difficult to understand, as it has genetic, metabolic, dietary, neurological, emotional, and parental components. Current preferred treatment of ADHD is a combined approach of behavioral therapy and stimulants but pharmacologic treatment has limitations in efficacy and can have a negative side effect profile. Physicians have had long believed anecdotally that exercise regimens may be helpful in managing symptoms of ADHD in children. This paper will discuss recent research that supports this belief. Methods: Exhaustive search of available medical literature was conducted using Google Scholar and MEDLINE-PubMed. Keywords used were: “exercise and ADHD”, “physical activity and ADHD”, and “ADHD and cardio”. Results: A total of 24 studies were reviewed for inclusion in this discussion. Three papers were selected. All of these papers showed encouraging evidence that supports the use of exercise to help manage ADHD symptoms. The studies were all moderate in strength and further research is necessary to help apply the use of exercise in the treatment of ADHD in clinical practice. Conclusion: Exercise can be a useful tool to help manage symptoms of inattention and hyperactivity in children. Further research is necessary to help determine how much exercise is required, of what type (cardio vs strength, short vs long duration), and how it may be used as an adjunct to pharmacologic treatment. Keywords: “exercise and ADHD”, “physical activity and ADHD”, and “ADHD and cardio”

Classroom Level Effects of Children’s Prior Participation in Child Care

Previous research indicates that children who spend many hours in early child care exhibit more externalizing behavior problems than children who spend less time in child care. Concern has been expressed regarding the cumulative effect of these problem behaviors on elementary school classes. We collected information about children’s child-care histories from parents of first through fourth graders (N = 429) and about classroom functioning from their teachers (N = 31). We analyzed associations between the proportion of children in the class who had spent many hours in care prior to school entry and teachers’ reports of the time they spent in instruction and management, the difficulty they had in teaching and managing the class and the frequency of students’ positive and negative behavior in the classroom. No significant associations were found to support the contention that prior child-care participation negatively affects classroom functioning

Situated encounters with socially engaged art in community-based design

With the increased relevance of digital technologies in civil life comes the challenge of how to design research for citizen engagement. Drawing from three reflexive case studies presenting socially engaged arts (SEA) projects, we describe how, as artists, collaborators and researchers, we engaged in socially inclusive community-based projects. We argue that our roles required us to be both flexible and to adopt critical openness in practices of collaborative social facilitation. We conclude with insights to inform community-based research and enable nurturing and inclusive engagement in research design for the exploration of near-future digital technologies

Scalable iPSC-based platform to produce tissue-specific Extracellular Vesicles

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A genomic analysis and transcriptomic atlas of gene expression in Psoroptes ovis reveals feeding- and stage-specific patterns of allergen expression

Background: Psoroptic mange, caused by infestation with the ectoparasitic mite, Psoroptes ovis, is highly contagious, resulting in intense pruritus and represents a major welfare and economic concern for the livestock industry Worldwide. Control relies on injectable endectocides and organophosphate dips, but concerns over residues, environmental contamination, and the development of resistance threaten the sustainability of this approach, highlighting interest in alternative control methods. However, development of vaccines and identification of chemotherapeutic targets is hampered by the lack of P. ovis transcriptomic and genomic resources. Results: Building on the recent publication of the P. ovis draft genome, here we present a genomic analysis and transcriptomic atlas of gene expression in P. ovis revealing feeding- and stage-specific patterns of gene expression, including novel multigene families and allergens. Network-based clustering revealed 14 gene clusters demonstrating either single- or multi-stage specific gene expression patterns, with 3075 female-specific, 890 male-specific and 112, 217 and 526 transcripts showing larval, protonymph and tritonymph specific-expression, respectively. Detailed analysis of P. ovis allergens revealed stage-specific patterns of allergen gene expression, many of which were also enriched in "fed" mites and tritonymphs, highlighting an important feeding-related allergenicity in this developmental stage. Pair-wise analysis of differential expression between life-cycle stages identified patterns of sex-biased gene expression and also identified novel P. ovis multigene families including known allergens and novel genes with high levels of stage-specific expression. Conclusions: The genomic and transcriptomic atlas described here represents a unique resource for the acarid-research community, whilst the OrcAE platform makes this freely available, facilitating further community-led curation of the draft P. ovis genome

The Offender Personality Disorder pathway for women in England and Wales: a hopeful new development?

The Offender Personality Disorder (OPD) pathway was jointly commissioned by Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) and NHS England in 2011. Representing one of the most significant recent developments in mental health and criminal justice, the pathway provides psychologically-informed and relationally-focused treatment for high risk offenders with personality disorder. Acknowledging the gender differences that exist in terms of the psychosocial and criminogenic needs of offenders, the OPD pathway provides female-specific services, delivering “wraparound” support for eligible women throughout their sentences, in custody and in the community. The OPD pathway for women is seeking to make a valuable contribution to managing this population of female offenders who are among the most vulnerable individuals in the criminal justice system, but who pose a high risk to the public. The pathway constitutes an innovative development in terms of delivering improved outcomes for this challenging and complex offender group, but knowledge about its impact will require close on-going evaluation