A Policy Approach to Educational Leadership in the State Legislature.

This study investigated legislative expert influence in the context of educational policy decisions. Institutional and behavioral approaches to legislative study were compared. In a chi square analysis of all legislative education enrollments in the 1993 Regular Session of the Louisiana Legislature, legislation introduction success was positively associated with author\u27s level of credential and reputation expertise. Relative importance of type of expertise was indeterminable and some influence was unaccountable in the analysis. The policy approach, based on Theodore Lowi\u27s theory that policy predicts politics, integrated the prior approaches. Lowi\u27s distributive-regulatory-redistributive schema informed the independent policy variables, while influence, role, and subsystem theories were bases for the independent information source and legislator expertise variables. The political phenomenon was the dependent measure of legislative educational expert influence. A legislative simulation was conducted in the 1993 Regular Session with two groups of 24 legislators, who were comparable on social-demographic background but contrasted on membership on the education policy committees. Interviews included administration of the Legislative Reference and Resource Survey, in which three types of educational policy and five categories of information sources were manipulated, producing influence assessments on a 0-3 scale, specific named information sources, and other data concerning the internal flow of information. In a three-factor analysis of variance performed on scale scores, distributive policy produced overall (high) potential for influence, significantly different from that produced in regulatory (moderate) and redistributive policy (low). Legislature and constituency were most influential, differing significantly from staff and agencies and also from interest groups. Legislators with expertise valued agencies more than did their non-expert peers, who depended upon constituency more. In qualitative data analysis, distributive policy produced high diversity and many experts. Redistributive and regulatory policies produced succeedingly lower diversity scores and fewer and different experts, suggesting greater potential influence for any one expert. Redistributive and regulatory issues were more salient for legislators than distributive issues, and a pattern of situational leadership prevailed. Legislative educational leadership was concluded as the premiere source of policy information, its influence relative to the policy context

Relationship of Reverse Culture Shock and Peer Interaction in the Social Development of School Age Missionary Children

Both the construct of repatriation and the research concerning repatriation are relatively new in the fields of family science and psychology. Printed information on repatriation started appearing in 1925, yet the vast majority of articles from 1925 to date are written informally in trade journals, church papers, and newspapers and are in narrative, autobiographical, biographical, or general information form (Austin, 1983). The topics of repatriation and the stress surrounding repatriation have personal significance for persons who have had the opportunity to experience this unique transition during their life cycle. In the past 30 years, the advent of relatively efficient and affordable international travel, advances in communication technology, expansion in the concepts of foreign aid and development, and expansion in international government and business interests have created a large expatriate community residing abroad (Stelling, 1991). The 1990 United States Census Data reported 922,819 American citizens as residing outside the United States and all its territories (US G. P.O., 1995). While the issues surrounding repatriation have come to the attention of multinational corporations, federal programs employing civilian and military personnel, study abroad and traveling scholar programs, and missionary societies, little definitive research on any aspect of reentry has been conducted. Repatriation can be defined as the transition period of returning to one's country and culture of origin after having resided outside the home culture for an extended period of time (Austin, 1983; Moore, 1982; Stelling, 1991). Synonyms for repatriation used in research and lay articles include reentry, reacculturation, remigration, and readaptation. Repatriation issues which concern international employers and employees center around the concept of reverse culture shock and its possible effects on individual workers and their family as a unit in terms of social, emotional, and work contexts (Kendall, 1981 ; Murray, 1973; Tucker & Wight, 1981; Smith, 1975). Stelling (1991)defines reverse culture shock as " ... the stressful experience of encountering or reencountering one's country and culture of origin after becoming accustomed to a foreign culture" (p. 1). Reverse culture shock is a concept used to help professionals, lay personnel, families, and individuals define and understand feel ings and emotions experienced by repatriating citizens. The possible outcomes of reverse culture shock include, but are not limited to: (a) hostility toward the American culture and a romantic idealization of the travel experience; (b) feelings of alienation or estrangement from Americans; (c) preoccupation with one's travel experience; (d) the feeling of having no role or position of importance at home and; (e) anger, depression or anxiety regarding changes in home life which occurred during travel (Austin, 1983 & 1986; Austin & Jones, 1987; Locke & Feinsod, 1982; Moore, Jones, & Austin, 1987; Shultz, 1986; Stelling, 1991). Three basic theoretical frameworks and models have been developed to show the processes involved in repatriation, though no known published studies on reentry have used the reentry theories or models as part of their theoretical framework. These rudimentary theories include: the W-curve hypothesis, a stage theory (Gullahorn & GuUahorn, 1963; Martin, 1984); a coping styles theory (Adler, 1980); and a culture learning theory (Martin, 1984). While few research studies on repatriation have been published (Austin, 1983), these publications can be divided into two main categories: (1) adult repatriation and (2) child repatriation

Developing personal relationships in care homes: realising the contributions of staff, residents and family members

Personal relationships are all integral part of living, working and visiting in care homes, but little research has made relationships the main focus of enquiry, and there have been few studies of the perspectives of residents, staff and family members. The study reported here sought to redress this neglect. Using a constructivist approach, the nature and types of relationships between residents, staff and family members were explored in three care homes in England using combined methods including participant observation, interviews and focus groups. The data collection and analysis Occurred iteratively Over 21 months and three types of relationships were identified: 'pragmatic relationships' that primarily focus oil the instrumental aspects of care; 'personal and responsive relationships' that engage more fully with the particular needs of individual residents; and 'reciprocal relationships' that recognise the roles of residents, staff and family members in creating a sense of community within the home. This paper explores the contributions made by staff; residents and family members in the development of these relationships. The findings enhance our understanding of the role of inter-personal relationships in care home settings and of the factors that condition them. The implications for developing improved practice in care ponies are also considered

Objectively measured physical activity and fat mass in a large cohort of children

Background Previous studies have been unable to characterise the association between physical activity and obesity, possibly because most relied on inaccurate measures of physical activity and obesity. Methods and Findings We carried out a cross sectional analysis on 5,500 12-year-old children enrolled in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children. Total physical activity and minutes of moderate and vigorous physical activity (MVPA) were measured using the Actigraph accelerometer. Fat mass and obesity (defined as the top decile of fat mass) were measured using the Lunar Prodigy dual x-ray emission absorptiometry scanner. We found strong negative associations between MVPA and fat mass that were unaltered after adjustment for total physical activity. We found a strong negative dose-response association between MVPA and obesity. The odds ratio for obesity in adjusted models between top and the bottom quintiles of minutes of MVPA was 0.03 (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.01-0.13, p-value for trend < 0.0001) in boys and 0.36 (95% CI 0.17-0.74, p-value for trend = 0.006) in girls. Conclusions We demonstrated a strong graded inverse association between physical activity and obesity that was stronger in boys. Our data suggest that higher intensity physical activity may be more important than total activity

Analysis of methods

Information is one of an organization's most important assets. For this reason the development and maintenance of an integrated information system environment is one of the most important functions within a large organization. The Integrated Information Systems Evolution Environment (IISEE) project has as one of its primary goals a computerized solution to the difficulties involved in the development of integrated information systems. To develop such an environment a thorough understanding of the enterprise's information needs and requirements is of paramount importance. This document is the current release of the research performed by the Integrated Development Support Environment (IDSE) Research Team in support of the IISEE project. Research indicates that an integral part of any information system environment would be multiple modeling methods to support the management of the organization's information. Automated tool support for these methods is necessary to facilitate their use in an integrated environment. An integrated environment makes it necessary to maintain an integrated database which contains the different kinds of models developed under the various methodologies. In addition, to speed the process of development of models, a procedure or technique is needed to allow automatic translation from one methodology's representation to another while maintaining the integrity of both. The purpose for the analysis of the modeling methods included in this document is to examine these methods with the goal being to include them in an integrated development support environment. To accomplish this and to develop a method for allowing intra-methodology and inter-methodology model element reuse, a thorough understanding of multiple modeling methodologies is necessary. Currently the IDSE Research Team is investigating the family of Integrated Computer Aided Manufacturing (ICAM) DEFinition (IDEF) languages IDEF(0), IDEF(1), and IDEF(1x), as well as ENALIM, Entity Relationship, Data Flow Diagrams, and Structure Charts, for inclusion in an integrated development support environment

The importance of mangroves to people: a call to action

This global synthesis report serves as a call to action to decision makers. It provides a science-based synthesis of the different types of goods and services provided by mangroves and the associated risks in losing these services in the face of ongoing global habitat loss and degradation. The report provides management and policy options at the local, regional and global level with the aim of preventing further losses through effective conservation measures, sustainable management and successful restoration. In addition to the report, key figures and maps are available to download as individual files

The importance of mangroves to people: a call to action

This global synthesis report serves as a call to action to decision makers. It provides a science-based synthesis of the different types of goods and services provided by mangroves and the associated risks in losing these services in the face of ongoing global habitat loss and degradation. The report provides management and policy options at the local, regional and global level with the aim of preventing further losses through effective conservation measures, sustainable management and successful restoration. In addition to the report, key figures and maps are available to download as individual files

Disease-specific, neurosphere-derived cells as models for brain disorders

There is a pressing need for patient-derived cell models of brain diseases that are relevant and robust enough to produce the large quantities of cells required for molecular and functional analyses. We describe here a new cell model based on patient-derived cells from the human olfactory mucosa, the organ of smell, which regenerates throughout life from neural stem cells. Olfactory mucosa biopsies were obtained from healthy controls and patients with either schizophrenia, a neurodevelopmental psychiatric disorder, or Parkinson's disease, a neurodegenerative disease. Biopsies were dissociated and grown as neurospheres in defined medium. Neurosphere-derived cell lines were grown in serum-containing medium as adherent monolayers and stored frozen. By comparing 42 patient and control cell lines we demonstrated significant disease-specific alterations in gene expression, protein expression and cell function, including dysregulated neurodevelopmental pathways in schizophrenia and dysregulated mitochondrial function, oxidative stress and xenobiotic metabolism in Parkinson's disease. The study has identified new candidate genes and cell pathways for future investigation. Fibroblasts from schizophrenia patients did not show these differences. Olfactory neurosphere-derived cells have many advantages over embryonic stem cells and induced pluripotent stem cells as models for brain diseases. They do not require genetic reprogramming and they can be obtained from adults with complex genetic diseases. They will be useful for understanding disease aetiology, for diagnostics and for drug discovery

Social support, educational, and behavioral modification interventions for improving household disaster preparedness in the general community-dwelling population: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Background: The efficacy of household emergency preparedness interventions for community-dwelling, non-institutionalized people is largely unknown. Objective: To ascertain the state of the science on social support, educational, and behavioral modification interventions to improve all-hazard household disaster preparedness. Design: Systematic review and meta-analysis. Methods: Databases, trial registers, reports, and websites were searched, and citation trails followed utilizing replicable methods. Individual, cluster, and cross-over randomized controlled trials of non-institutionalized, community-dwelling populations and non-randomized controlled trials, controlled before-after, and program evaluation studies were included. At least two review authors independently screened each potentially relevant study for inclusion, extracted data, and assessed the risk of bias. Risk of bias was assessed using Cochrane’s RoB2 tool for randomized studies and ROBINS-I tool for nonrandomized studies. Meta-analyses were applied using a random-effects model. Where meta-analysis was not indicated, results were synthesized using summary statistics of intervention effect estimates and vote counting based on effect direction. The evidence was rated using GRADE. Results: 17 studies were included with substantial methodological and clinical diversity. No intervention effect was observed for preparedness supplies (OR = 6.12, 95% 0.13 to 284.37) or knowledge (SMD = 0.96, 95% CI −0.15 to 2.08) outcomes. A small positive effect (SMD = 0.53, 95% CI 0.16 to 0.91) was observed for preparedness behaviors, with very low certainty of evidence. No studies reported adverse effects from the interventions. Conclusion: Research designs elucidating the efficacy of practical yet complex and multi- faceted social support, educational, and behavioral modification interventions present substantial methodological challenges where rigorous study design elements may not match the contextual public health priority needs and resources where interventions were delivered. While the overall strength of the evidence was evaluated as low to very low, we acknowledge the valuable and informative work of the included studies. The research represents the seminal work in this field and provides an important foundation for the state of the science of household emergency preparedness intervention effectiveness and efficacy. The findings are relevant to disaster preparedness practice and research, and we encourage researchers to continue this line of research, using these studies and this review to inform ongoing improvements in study designs

Thar She Blows! A Novel Method for DNA Collection from Cetacean Blow

Background: Molecular tools are now widely used to address crucial management and conservation questions. To date, dart biopsying has been the most commonly used method for collecting genetic data from cetaceans; however, this method has some drawbacks. Dart biopsying is considered inappropriate for young animals and has recently come under scrutiny from ethical boards, conservationists, and the general public. Thus, identifying alternative genetic collection techniques for cetaceans remains a priority, especially for internationally protected species. Methodology/Principal Findings: In this study, we investigated whether blow-sampling, which involves collecting exhalations from the blowholes of cetaceans, could be developed as a new less invasive method for DNA collection. Our current methodology was developed using six bottlenose dolphins, Tursiops truncatus, housed at the National Aquarium, Baltimore (USA), from which we were able to collect both blow and blood samples. For all six individuals, we found that their mitochondrial and microsatellite DNA profile taken from blow, matched their corresponding mitochondrial and microsatellite DNA profile collected from blood. This indicates that blow-sampling is a viable alternative method for DNA collection. Conclusion/Significance: In this study, we show that blow-sampling provides a viable and less invasive method for collection of genetic data, even for small cetaceans. In contrast to dart biopsying, the advantage of this method is that it capitalizes on the natural breathing behaviour of dolphins and can be applied to even very young dolphins. Both biopsy and blow-sampling require close proximity of the boat, but blow-sampling can be achieved when dolphins voluntarily bowride and involves no harmful contact