New Teacher Assessment Literacy: Determining and Narrowing the Gaps

Assessment literacy is a fundamental prerequisite for effective student learning; therefore, determining and narrowing the gaps in teachers’ assessment literacy is an important educational endeavour.  The purpose of this research was to explore the gaps in new teacher assessment literacy within a rural Alberta school division. The researcher administered a modified assessment literacy inventory to teachers within their first four years of practice.  Results have indicated that gaps in new teacher assessment literacy exist in four of the nine standards used; choosing assessment methods, developing assessment methods, administering, scoring, and interpreting results, and using assessment results in decision making.  These findings reflect the need to improve the assessment literacy within this context and they hint at a more widespread issue.  This article offers recommendations to narrow the gaps with tailored professional development through professional learning communities

Multi-epoch infrared photometry of the star forming region G173.58+2.45

We present a multi-epoch infrared photometric study of the intermediate-mass star forming region G173.58+2.45. Photometric observations are obtained using the near-infrared $JHKL'M'$ filters and narrow-band filters centered at the wavelengths of H$_2$ (1-0) S(1) (2.122 $\mu$m) and [FeII] (1.644 $\mu$m) lines. The H$_2$ image shows molecular emission from shocked gas, implying the presence of multiple star formation and associated outflow activity. We see evidence for several collimated outflows. The most extended jet is at least 0.25 pc in length and has a collimation factor of $\sim$ 10, which may be associated with a binary system within the central cluster, resolved for the first time here. This outflow is found to be episodic; probably occurring or getting enhanced during the periastron passage of the binary. We also find that the variable star in the vicinity of the outflow source, which was known as a FU Ori type star, is probably not a FU Ori object. However, it does drive a spectacular outflow and the variability is likely to be related to accretion, when large clouds of gas and dust spiral in towards the central source. Many other convincing accretion-outflow systems and YSO candidates are discovered in the field.Comment: 15 pages, 9 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA

Validation of the scale of perceived self-efficacy of maternal parenting in Brizilian sample

Self-efficacy matches the belief that a person has that she is able to produce theresults she wants to achieve. The beliefs of self-efficacy that parents have about the baby emerge asa powerful predictor of positive parenting. Objective: this study aimed to evaluate the maternalself-efficacy behavior in hospitalized mothers and validate an instrument for measuring this conceptdeveloped and validated in England by Barnes and Adamson-Macedo, in 2007. Method: this cross-sectional exploratory study convenience cohort comprised 87 mothers of newborn babies, 26premature and 61 full-term infants. The scale Perceived Maternal Parenting Self-Efficacy (PMP S-E),which consists of 20 items that represent four subscales was tested for reliability and validity. Results:the internal consistency of the scale PAEPM reached a value of .86, the internal consistency andreliability estimates for each of the subscales also reached acceptable values. Exploratory FactorAnalysis (EFA) confirmed the validity of the construct and the scores of self-efficacy were normallydistributed for both subgroups and total sample. Conclusions: PMP S-E scale proved to be an easyapplication tool and psychometrically robust, reliable and valid for use with mothers of hospitalizednew-borns both premature as the term clinically stable. It is a reliable method of identifying mothersof babies who need more support from the hospital staff

Identifying Predictors of Diagnostic Instability of Autism Spectrum Disorder and Global Developmental Delay In Toddlers

Although Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is considered to be a lifelong condition, some toddlers experience diagnostic instability over time. In particular, some toddlers’ diagnosis changes between ASD and Global Developmental Delay (GDD). However, little is known about the subset of children who change diagnosis. In a total of 424 toddlers who either maintained or changed diagnosis, the current study identified predictors of change in diagnosis and severity in those who change from ASD to non-ASD (ASD-NON), ASD to GDD (ASD-GDD), non-ASD to ASD (NON-ASD), and GDD to ASD (GDD-ASD) between two years old and four years old. Initial ASD symptom severity and participation in intervention services were predictive of all transitions. Additionally, receptive language predicted ASD-NON transition and socioeconomic status predicted ASD-GDD transition. Implications for informing prognosis of children, identifying targets of intervention, refining of screening and diagnostic measures, and measuring change in severity regardless of categorical change are discussed

Modelling the effect of malaria endemicity on spatial variations in childhood fever, diarrhoea and pneumonia in Malawi

BACKGROUND: Co-morbidity with conditions such as fever, diarrhoea and pneumonia is a common phenomenon in tropical Africa. However, little is known about geographical overlaps in these illnesses. Spatial modelling may improve our understanding of the epidemiology of the diseases for efficient and cost-effective control. METHODS: This study assessed subdistrict-specific spatial associations of the three conditions (fever, diarrhoea and pneumonia) in relation to malaria endemicity. We used data from the 2000 Malawi demographic and health survey which captured the history of childhood morbidities 2 weeks prior to the survey date. The disease status of each child in each area was the outcome of interest and was modelled using a trivariate logistic regression model, and incorporated random effects to measure spatial correlation. RESULTS: The risk of fever was positively associated with high and medium malaria endemicity levels relative to low endemicity level, while for diarrhoea and pneumonia we observed marginal positive association at high endemicity level relative to low endemicity level, controlling for confounding covariates and heterogeneity. A positive spatial correlation was found between fever and diarrhoea (r = 0.29); while weak associations were estimated between fever and pneumonia (r = 0.01); and between diarrhoea and pneumonia (r = 0.05). The proportion of structured spatial variation compared to unstructured variation was 0.67 (95% credible interval (CI): 0.31-0.91) for fever, 0.67 (95 % CI: 0.27-0.93) for diarrhoea, and 0.87 (95% CI: 0.62-0.96) for pneumonia. CONCLUSION: The analysis suggests some similarities in subdistrict-specific spatial variation of childhood morbidities of fever, diarrhoea and pneumonia, and might be a result of shared and overlapping risk factors, one of which is malaria endemicity

Boston Hospitality Review: Fall 2016

The Heart of Successful Hotels: Going Beyond the Monopoly Game Strategy By Joseph Khairallah and Andrea Foster -- Fragments of the Past By Peter Szende and Annie Holcombe -- Hospitality Branding in the Age of the Millennial By Allen Adamson and Chekitan S. Dev -- In 2017 What Will a Restaurant Actually Be? A New Taxonomy By Christopher Muller -- The Unreal Thing: Faux Heritage at Disney By Bradford Hudson -- An Insider’s Look at the 2016 Philadelphia Democratic National Convention: Hospitality and Inclusion at Work By Erin Tucker, Leora Halpern Lanz, and Juan Lesme

Innovation: Integration of Random Variation and Creative Synthesis

Sarah Harvey has developed an important model called creative synthesis for the use of dialectical reasoning in creative endeavors. This model is put in direct opposition to the evolutionary model called random variation, which, according to Harvey, promotes incremental innovation, while creative synthesis promotes radical innovation. In emphasizing the affirmative stage of the dialectical process, creative synthesis offers a description of how groups can be consistently successful in creative endeavors through collective attention, enabling ideas, and building on similarities. We propose that creative synthesis is not a rival to but an extension of random variation and that the same dialectical reasoning used by Harvey allows us to integrate the two models into a more versatile hybrid: evolutionary synthesis. We contend that the hybrid model better reflects the complexity of reality and avoids the problem of routinization. It appears that innovation is all about Darwin and Marx.Keywords: Evolutionary Theory, Evolutionary synthesis, Creativity, Creative synthesis, Evolution, Innovation, Dialectics, Random variatio

Structure-activity relationships of the Human Immunodeficiency Virus type 1 maturation inhibitor PF-46396

This work was funded by the University of St Andrews and Society for Applied Microbiology New Lecturer Research Grant awarded to CSA, Wellcome Trust grant (093228) awarded to TKS.HIV-1 maturation inhibitors are a novel class of antiretroviral compounds, which consist of two structurally distinct chemical classes; betulinic acid derivatives and the pyridone-based compound PF-46396. It is currently believed that both classes act by a similar mode of action to generate aberrant non-infectious particles via inhibition of CA-SP1 cleavage during Gag proteolytic processing. In this study we utilized a series of novel analogues, with decreasing similarity to PF-46396, to determine the chemical groups within PF-46396 that contribute to antiviral activity, Gag binding and the relationship between these essential properties. A spectrum of antiviral activity (active, intermediate, inactive) was observed across the analogue series with respect to CA-SP1 cleavage and HIV-1 (NL4-3) replication kinetics in Jurkat T cells. We demonstrate that selected inactive analogues are incorporated into WT immature particles and that one inactive analogue is capable of interfering with PF-46396 inhibition of CA-SP1 cleavage. Mutations that confer PF-46396 resistance can impose a defective phenotype on HIV-1 that can be rescued in a compound-dependent manner. Some inactive analogues retained the capacity to rescue PF-46396-dependent mutants (SP1-A3V, SP1-A3T, CA-P157S), implying that they can also interact with mutant Gag. The structure-activity relationships observed in this study demonstrate that (i) the tert-butyl group is essential for antiviral activity, but not an absolute requirement for Gag binding, (ii) the trifluromethyl group is optimal but not essential for antiviral activity and (iii) the 2-aminoindan group is important for antiviral activity and Gag binding but not essential as its replacement is tolerated.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe