Antecedents and outcomes of personnel perceptions of the effectiveness of career management practices in the New Zealand Defence Force : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Psychology at Massey University

This research examined antecedents and outcomes of perceptions of the effectiveness of career management practices (PECMP) using a military sample. Past research has shown mixed results regarding the relationship between experiencing career management practices and organisational commitment and turnover intentions; however positive relationships have been found when perceptions of career management are measured. This present study hypothesised that PECMP would be positively related to commitment (affective and continuance) and job satisfaction and negatively related to turnover intentions. Based on the literature a number of variables were hypothesised as antecedents of PECMP. A sample of 436 Regular Force New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) personnel responded to a NZDF attitude survey, which measured commitment, job satisfaction, turnover intentions, PECMP and 13 proposed antecedents of PECMP. Regression analysis showed that PECMP was positively related to affective commitment and job satisfaction but not to continuance commitment. Job satisfaction and affective and continuance commitment were negatively related to turnover intentions, with affective commitment the strongest contributor. PECMP was higher when career management was perceived as fair, sufficient feedback was given, personnel felt satisfied with their past career development, expectations were met, personnel felt they had input into their career development and personnel perceived the NZDF valued their career development. The study also found that one-to-two times per year was perceived as sufficient contact with a career manager and that the frequency of contact influenced attitudes towards the career manager. Personnel who defined their career as the military, opposed to their trade, were more affectively committed to the NZDF but not less likely to intend to leave. Personnel viewed career success differently (laterally and hierarchically), but this did not influence PECMP or career development satisfaction. This study provides empirical support for the benefits of effective career management in the reduction of voluntary turnover in the military via its influence on affective commitment and in turn, intentions to leave. The study also identifies features of best practice career management that should be used when designing and, most importantly, implementing career management

To transduce a zebra finch: interrogating behavioral mechanisms in a model system for speech.

The ability to alter neuronal gene expression, either to affect levels of endogenous molecules or to express exogenous ones, is a powerful tool for linking brain and behavior. Scientists continue to finesse genetic manipulation in mice. Yet mice do not exhibit every behavior of interest. For example, Mus musculus do not readily imitate sounds, a trait known as vocal learning and a feature of speech. In contrast, thousands of bird species exhibit this ability. The circuits and underlying molecular mechanisms appear similar between disparate avian orders and are shared with humans. An advantage of studying vocal learning birds is that the neurons dedicated to this trait are nested within the surrounding brain regions, providing anatomical targets for relating brain and behavior. In songbirds, these nuclei are known as the song control system. Molecular function can be interrogated in non-traditional model organisms by exploiting the ability of viruses to insert genetic material into neurons to drive expression of experimenter-defined genes. To date, the use of viruses in the song control system is limited. Here, we review prior successes and test additional viruses for their capacity to transduce basal ganglia song control neurons. These findings provide a roadmap for troubleshooting the use of viruses in animal champions of fascinating behaviors-nowhere better featured than at the 12th International Congress

A Sing-Song Way of Vocalizing: Generalization and Specificity in Language and Birdsong.

Spoken languages such as German are extremely discrete, whereas others such as Portuguese are melodic or "sing-song" wherein identifying a word relies on what comes before and after. Perhaps surprisingly, birdsong also exhibits specificity and generalization as articulated by Tian and Brainard (2017)

Genome-wide patterns of polymorphism in an inbred line of the African malaria mosquito Anopheles gambiae.

Anopheles gambiae is a major mosquito vector of malaria in Africa. Although increased use of insecticide-based vector control tools has decreased malaria transmission, elimination is likely to require novel genetic control strategies. It can be argued that the absence of an A. gambiae inbred line has slowed progress toward genetic vector control. In order to empower genetic studies and enable precise and reproducible experimentation, we set out to create an inbred line of this species. We found that amenability to inbreeding varied between populations of A. gambiae. After full-sib inbreeding for ten generations, we genotyped 112 individuals--56 saved prior to inbreeding and 56 collected after inbreeding--at a genome-wide panel of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). Although inbreeding dramatically reduced diversity across much of the genome, we discovered numerous, discrete genomic blocks that maintained high heterozygosity. For one large genomic region, we were able to definitively show that high diversity is due to the persistent polymorphism of a chromosomal inversion. Inbred lines in other eukaryotes often exhibit a qualitatively similar retention of polymorphism when typed at a small number of markers. Our whole-genome SNP data provide the first strong, empirical evidence supporting associative overdominance as the mechanism maintaining higher than expected diversity in inbred lines. Although creation of A. gambiae lines devoid of nearly all polymorphism may not be feasible, our results provide critical insights into how more fully isogenic lines can be created

Parents with Criminal Record History and Their Experiences Navigating Parental Involvement in an Urban Elementary School: A Case Study

This dissertation examined the experiences of parents with criminal record history who want to participate in their child’s education. A convergent mixed methods design aided the researcher to quantitatively measure levels of involvement within a high poverty, urban elementary school with the Parent Survey of Family and Community Involvement in the Elementary and Middle Grades (Sheldon & Epstein, 2007) and qualitatively with an embedded case study (Yin, 2014) with parents (n=3) as embedded units of analysis. Participants in the case study had to navigate around a rejected volunteer background check and restrictive school district policy to be involved in the education of their student. Parental involvement was analyzed through Epstein’s (1995) deductive framework of six types of parental involvement. The study was bound by student enrollment in a high poverty, urban elementary school in the Southeastern region of the United States. Findings are presented in three themes to demonstrate how parents experience involvement despite criminal record history and navigating conditions of concentrated poverty

Associations of sedentary behaviour patterns with cardiometabolic risk in children: the sit less for health study

A thesis submitted to the University of Bedfordshire, in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science by ResearchThis study investigated the association between patterns of sedentary behaviour and cardiometabolic risk in children aged 11–12-years-old. Inclinometer and accelerometer determined sedentary behaviour patterns were measured in 118 (51 males) school children, in addition to cardiometabolic risk markers. Data were analysed using partial correlations and multiple linear regression. After adjustment for potential confounding variables, prolonged sedentary time was significantly negatively associated with weight (β=-.681), waist circumference (WC) (β=-.557), body mass index (BMI) (β=-.675) and body fat% (β=-.685) and significantly positively associated with total cholesterol (TC) (β=.410) and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL) (β=.432). The number of breaks in sedentary time was significantly negatively associated with weight (β=-.661), WC (β=-.597), BMI (β=-.601) and body fat% (β=-.546) and significantly positively associated with TC (β=.334) and HDL (β=.415). Total standing time was significantly negatively associated with weight (β=-.270), WC (β=-.272) and body fat% (β=-.286) and significantly positively associated with HDL (β=.312). This study provides evidence that the number of breaks in sedentary time and total standing time are beneficially associated with cardiometabolic risk in children aged 11–12-years-old. However, the associations of other sedentary behaviour variables cardiometabolic risk is mixed and thus requires further research

Overcoming Barriers: De-Tracking to Teach for Social Justice

How do we overcome tracking in mathematics to actualize the goals of teaching for social justice? Tracking is a racist educational structure that puts limits on the effectiveness of teaching for social justice. This essay presents arguments for de-tracking with explanation of how tracking negatively impacts Black and Latinx students. Readers will learn about schools and districts that have de-tracked students juxtaposed with the barriers that keep most schools from dismantling tracking. This essay calls upon schools and researchers to further investigate locally why schools do not work through these barriers to spark action and eliminate tracking

In vitro expression as a signal amplification system.

There is a growing demand for assay systems which permit detection of substances present at very low concentrations or in very small sample volumes. To this end we have used in vitro expression as part of an effective signal amplification system. In vitro expression contributes two levels of amplification; transcription of a DNA label to generate multiple mRNAs and translation of the mRNAs to generate multiple protein molecules which are used to initiate signal generation. We used a DNA label encoding the alpha-peptide of beta-galactosidase in an immunoassay. This label was linked to an analyte-specific antibody and, following immune complex formation, the immobilised label was expressed in vitro and alpha-complementation was performed. This assay facilitated detection of 3 fmol of analyte immobilised on the microtitre well surface. Various strategies were employed in attempts to increase the expression efficiency of the DNA label, including: (i) switching from a prokaryotic to a eukaryotic expression system, (ii) incorporation of a T7 promoter, (iii) addition of 5\u27-untranslated leader sequences and (iv) addition of downstream [dA/dT]30 sequences. In no case was an improvement in expression observed. A DNA label, containing the coding sequence for apoacquorin under the control of the T7 promoter and a downstream [dA/dT]30 sequence, was engineered and used in sensitive nucleic acid hybridisation assays. Cell-free expression of this template in a eukaryotic system, followed by aequorin regeneration, permitted production of, on average, 156 aequorin molecules per DNA. The DNA label, linked to a DNA probe and used in captured target and sandwich hybridisation assays, allowed detection of 0.5 and 0.25 amol of target DNA, respectively. We expanded the concept of expression as part of an amplification system in a technique for production of protein from traces of DNA. An isothermal, transcription-dependent amplification system was developed and linked to in vitro translation. The devised system allowed production of approximately 21 million molecules of aequorin from each DNA template in two hours. This work demonstrates that in vitro expression of an appropriate DNA can form part of an extremely efficient amplification system which may be successfully incorporated in a variety of applications.Dept. of Philosophy. Paper copy at Leddy Library: Theses & Major Papers - Basement, West Bldg. / Call Number: Thesis1999 .W55. Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 61-09, Section: B, page: 4581. Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Windsor (Canada), 1999

Efficacy of NILD Educational Therapy

National Institute for Learning Disabilities (NILD) Educational Therapy™ (NILD therapy) was developed in the 1960s and was first used in private schools in 1973. Since then, the use of NILD therapy has spread to more than 900 programs both in the U.S. and abroad. Despite the widespread use of NILD therapy, little research has been done to support the program. The seven studies investigating NILD therapy, all unpublished, have been lacking in empirical rigor and are subject to charges of potential bias because all were conducted by researchers with connections with NILD. The current study was designed to investigate the efficacy of NILD therapy in an empirically viable manner and without affiliation with the NILD organization. For this study, archival records from 135 children who have been enrolled in NILD therapy were obtained from private schools in Portland, Oregon, Kandem, Germany, and Manila, Philippines. Records from 25 students from the Portland, Oregon and Germany schools who were found eligible for NILD therapy but did not enroll were also obtained. Initial and retest IQ and achievement scores of the NILD group were analyzed. Significant improvement was found on achievement subtest standard scores as well as Full Scale IQ. However, a comparison of NILD and non-NILD students on initial and retest group achievement scores was found non-significant. Thus, this study provides equivocal support for NILD therapy and highlights the need for further controlled research in this area