Multicultural perspectives : a case study of staff development in an urban elementary school.

This case study reported on the process of designing, implementing, and evaluating a low-cost, school-based staff development program for teachers at the Ulysses Byas elementary school in Roosevelt, New York serving a predominantly African American population. The study was designed to provide teachers with useful resources for building multicultural curriculum into their regular school program. Action research methodology was used in this case study as a vehicle for the staff development program. The success of this project was contingent upon voluntary participation by staff members who perceived the information and activities of use in their classroom. Prior to this study, the researcher gathered information about teachers\u27 needs and then reviewed numerous studies pertaining to multicultural education and possible answers. A series of four workshops were held. The workshops focused on providing opportunities for teachers: (a) to understand the concept of multicultural education; (b) to acquire some basic cultural knowledge about ethnic diversity; (c) to learn to analyze their own and students\u27 ethnic attitudes and values; and (d) to develop different methodological skills for implementing multicultural education in their classroom activities. Staff development workshops relating to multicultural education among elementary teachers were successful because of the support gained from the school district, administrators, the building principal, the auxiliary staff and the participants. Effective Staff development procedures facilitated a number of essential processes and practices: (1) Opening dialogue among colleagues and administrators. (2) Allowing individual teachers to attend workshops during their work day. (3) Increasing peer interaction and sharing of ideas and knowledge among colleagues. (4) Introducing activities that address the basic concerns and needs of staff and students. (5) Elevating teacher morale by enhancing teacher professionalism. (6) Allowing staff to work collaboratively and supportively to implement school change. (7) Increasing teacher cultural literacy and comfort with cultural diversity in the classroom. Although this project took place within a particular setting, the planning processes, staff development activities may be adapted to other settings

Occupational Therapy with an Adventurous Twist

The purpose of this scholarly project is to increase knowledge and awareness of adventure therapy (AT) for occupational therapists (OTs) practicing in mental health settings or who are interested in practicing in mental health settings within the United States. Currently, there is a lack of knowledge and awareness of AT by OTs practicing within the United States. This lack of knowledge and awareness is due to a lack of research, especially research focused on AT implementation by OTs. The process for gathering data and creating the scholarly project was first, identifying a problem, then searching CINAHL, PubMed, PsychInfo, and Academic Search Premier utilizing a variety of search terms. The product created is a workshop specific to AT and AT interventions for OTs practicing in mental health settings or who are interested in practicing in mental health settings. The product was designed specifically for the instructor of the workshop, preferably an OT, as a step by step of how to present the content, lead a rock climbing group activity, and facilitate discussion related to the group activity and overall workshop. It is recommended that more research be completed on AT in the future, not only to strengthen this scholarly product, but also to strengthen the rationale and evidence behind utilizing AT as a valid and effective intervention in OT practice

Evolution of Occupational Therapy Practice: Life History of Catherine Bailey, MOT, OTR/L

Purpose: This project gathered information about the history and evolution of OT practice in North Dakota and Wyoming through life histories of individuals who have been influential in developing occupational therapy (OT) in these two states. Catherine Bailey was selected to participate; she has been practicing for approximately 40 years and has influenced OT practice in the state of Wyoming. Method: Data was collected through participant interview. The interview was audio recorded and transcribed. Data was then coded and collapsed into categories with corresponding themes. The researchers utilized the Kawa Model (Turpin and Iwama, 2011) and a timeline provided by Catherine to guide their research. This allowed the researchers to gain a rich understanding of the participant\u27s life. Findings: Catherine feels that OT becomes a lifestyle in which education, life-long learning, and multidisciplinary client-centered practice are keys to success. OT is easily integrated into all aspects of life

Evolution of Occupational Therapy Practice: Life History of Catherine Bailey, MOT, OTR/L

Purpose: This project gathered information about the history and evolution of OT practice in North Dakota and Wyoming through life histories of individuals who have been influential in developing occupational therapy (OT) in these two states. Catherine Bailey was selected to participate; she has been practicing for approximately 40 years and has influenced OT practice in the state of Wyoming. Method: Data was collected through participant interview. The interview was audio recorded and transcribed. Data was then coded and collapsed into categories with corresponding themes. The researchers utilized the Kawa Model (Turpin and Iwama, 2011) and a timeline provided by Catherine to guide their research. This allowed the researchers to gain a rich understanding of the participant\u27s life. Findings: Catherine feels that OT becomes a lifestyle in which education, life-long learning, and multidisciplinary client-centered practice are keys to success. OT is easily integrated into all aspects of life.https://commons.und.edu/ot-oral-histories-posters/1012/thumbnail.jp

The Legionella pneumophila IcmSW Complex Interacts with Multiple Dot/Icm Effectors to Facilitate Type IV Translocation

Many Gram-negative pathogens use a type IV secretion system (T4SS) to deliver effector proteins into eukaryotic host cells. The fidelity of protein translocation depends on the efficient recognition of effector proteins by the T4SS. Legionella pneumophila delivers a large number of effector proteins into eukaryotic cells using the Dot/Icm T4SS. How the Dot/Icm system is able to recognize and control the delivery of effectors is poorly understood. Recent studies suggest that the IcmS and IcmW proteins interact to form a stable complex that facilitates translocation of effector proteins by the Dot/Icm system by an unknown mechanism. Here we demonstrate that the IcmSW complex is necessary for the productive translocation of multiple Dot/Icm effector proteins. Effector proteins that were able to bind IcmSW in vitro required icmS and icmW for efficient translocation into eukaryotic cells during L. pneumophila infection. We identified regions in the effector protein SidG involved in icmSW-dependent translocation. Although the full-length SidG protein was translocated by an icmSW-dependent mechanism, deletion of amino terminal regions in the SidG protein resulted in icmSW-independent translocation, indicating that the IcmSW complex is not contributing directly to recognition of effector proteins by the Dot/Icm system. Biochemical and genetic studies showed that the IcmSW complex interacts with a central region of the SidG protein. The IcmSW interaction resulted in a conformational change in the SidG protein as determined by differences in protease sensitivity in vitro. These data suggest that IcmSW binding to effectors could enhance effector protein delivery by mediating a conformational change that facilitates T4SS recognition of a translocation domain located in the carboxyl region of the effector protein

Impact of the surface roughness on the electrical capacitance

A new hybrid approach consists to use the advantages of both systems namely the high geometric aspects of the electrodes of the ultracapacitor and the high dielectric strength of polymer materials used in dielectric capacitors. The surface roughness of the electrodes of the ultracapacitor is manufactured with nano-porous materials; activated carbon and carbon nanotubes (CNTs). Many compositions of both carbonaceous materials are tested with different insulating materials (liquid and solid) to constitute the hybrid capacitor. It appears that the capacitance increases with the carbonaceous composition: An increasing from 15 to 40% is observed as compared to a plane capacitor, it can be twice with a 100 wt% of CNTs content. But, the impregnation of the insulating material in the surface roughness remains the key point of the realization of the hybrid capacitor. The roughness accessibility is a major property to optimize in order to improve the impregnation of the insulating material to increase the electrical capacitance

High Power Discharge Lamps and Their Photochemical Applications: An Evaluation of Pulsed Radiation

International audienc

Influence of carbonaceous electrodes on capacitance and breakdown voltage for hybrid capacitor

This paper presents a new type of capacitor and deals with a hybrid approach where the advantages of two systems, dielectric capacitors and the ultracapacitor are combined. The objective is to increase the capacitance and the energy storage capability, while or at least preserving or decreasing the volume of the passive components. In this aim, the surface area and structural properties of ultracapacitor electrodes and the high dielectric strength of a polymer material are associated. The surface roughness of the carbonbased electrodes, namely (activated carbon—AC, and carbon nanotubes—CNTs), has a good impact on the capacitance. However, the surface roughness also depends on the composition of carbonaceous materials and so does the capacitance. Moreover, the choice of the dielectric material is the key parameter. The better the impregnation of the roughness is, the better is the increase of the capacitance. Since the final objective is to improve the electrical energy stored by the capacitor, the effect of surface roughness on the breakdown voltage is also evaluated

Coxiella burnetii and Leishmania Mexicana Residing Within Similar Parasitophorous Vacuoles Elicit Disparate Host Responses

Coxiella burnetii is a bacterium that thrives in an acidic parasitophorous vacuole (PV) derived from lysosomes. Leishmania mexicana, a eukaryote, has also independently evolved to live in a morphologically similar PV. As Coxiella and Leishmania are highly divergent organisms that cause different diseases, we reasoned that their respective infections would likely elicit distinct host responses despite producing phenotypically similar parasite-containing vacuoles. The objective of this study was to investigate, at the molecular level, the macrophage response to each pathogen. Infection of THP-1 (human monocyte/macrophage) cells with Coxiella and Leishmania elicited disparate host responses. At 5 days post-infection, when compared to uninfected cells, 1057 genes were differentially expressed (746 genes up-regulated and 311 genes downregulated) in C. burnetii infected cells, whereas 698 genes (534 genes up-regulated and 164 genes down-regulated) were differentially expressed in L. mexicana infected cells. Interestingly, of the 1755 differentially expressed genes identified in this study, only 126 genes (∼7%) are common to both infections. We also discovered that 1090 genes produced mRNA isoforms at significantly different levels under the two infection conditions, suggesting that alternate proteins encoded by the same gene might have important roles in host response to each infection. Additionally, we detected 257 micro RNAs (miRNAs) that were expressed in THP-1 cells, and identified miRNAs that were specifically expressed during Coxiella or Leishmania infections. Collectively, this study identified host mRNAs and miRNAs that were influenced by Coxiella and/or Leishmania infections, and our data indicate that although their PVs are morphologically similar, Coxiella and Leishmania have evolved different strategies that perturb distinct host processes to create and thrive within their respective intracellular niches

Partial discharge (DP) prevention within power converter busbars dedicated to hybrid aircraft propulsion

The postdoctoral position associated to this WP covered the period from January to December 2018. It was focused on the second aim of WP5, dedicated to better understanding of partial discharge inside power electronics converters designed for the future hybrid aircrafts expected to 2025/2035 period