Online mentoring for Sam V. Curtis Elementary

The purpose of this thesis was to create an Online Mentoring website that would benefit teachers by helping them to feel more confident and efficient through their first couple of years teaching. Its focus is to provide new teachers access to all information involving its processes, procedures and expectations within a specific school site

The Impact Of Autobiographical And Vicarious Events On Narrative Identity

The primary aim of this dissertation was to elucidate the process by which we incorporate the life events of others (vicarious events) into our own lives and, by extension, into our own sense of identity. It was hypothesized that vicarious events from within a person\u27s social network can be as germane to identity development as autobiographical events if the vicarious event involves someone with whom the person is socially-close rather than socially-distant and is an event in which the self was more proximal (shared events) than distal (witnessed or hearsay). The extent to which age, gender, dispositional empathy, and the degree of self-other overlap accounted for individual differences in both social closeness and proximity of the self to the event were also investigated. Participants (N = 64; Mage = 22.59, SD = 4.84, range = 18-44) completed a semi-structured interview in which they were asked to recall and write descriptions of three autobiographical and six vicarious events (a shared, witnessed, and hearsay event for inner and middle circle convoy members) associated with a moral value and completed a social convoy model. Results indicated that autobiographical events were rated significantly higher on event phenomenology and event centrality in comparison to vicarious events overall. Among vicarious events, highest ratings of event phenomenology and event centrality were found for events involving socially-close rather than socially-distant relationships, and in events in which the self was more proximal (e.g., shared events) than distal (e.g., witnessed or hearsay events). Older emerging adult females rated all seven event types as higher in event phenomenology and event centrality as compared to younger emerging adult females and males. Dispositional empathy was not associated with event phenomenology or centrality across the seven events. Higher ratings of self-other overlap predicted higher levels of centrality for shared events within close and distant social relationships. For impact, however, as ratings of self-other overlap increased, less proximal events (e.g., witnessed and hearsay events) were rated higher relative to the sample as a whole. Contrary to expectations, no associations were confirmed between self-other overlap and recall, rehearsal, or belief for either socially-close or socially-distant relationships. These results suggest that events which occur in close social relationships and which are attended to simultaneously or in-the-moment with another person appear to foster the perception of the self and other as a unified agent as compared to events in less socially-close relationships, and in events in which the self was more distal than proximal. These story type effects differed as a function of several individual difference factors (e.g., age and gender) and relationship factors (e.g., self-other overlap). Taken together, these findings demonstrate that vicarious events within close social relationships and in events in which the self was most proximal (e.g., shared events) appears to play a salient role in shaping both memory and identity processes during emerging adulthood

High-Frequency Gradiometry

Part 1: Two large explosions were recorded by a dense array of strong-motion accelerometers and rotational seismometers in northeastern Taiwan. The objective of this experiment was to test the response of the experimental Eentec rotational seismometers against calculated array rotations. Computed array rotation rates are seen to have little variation across the array, but point rotation rate measurements show significant deviations with each other and with the array rotation rates in the range of 3-5 Hz. It is not likely that the differences seen in the point and array-computed rotation rates are due to nonlinear or heterogeneous site conditions under each array element since these effects should also be seen in the acceleration data used to determine rotation rate.Part 2: Three experiments were performed to investigate whether off-the-shelf geophones and seismographs can be used to perform meaningful gradiometry measurements. A standard linear refraction experiment was performed to investigate the slowness of P and Rayleigh waves from hammer sources to compare with measurements taken from two gradiometer designs. One design consists of four, six-instrument gradiometers in a linear array to test the location abilities of the entire gradiometer array. A second gradiometer experiment involved superimposed cells to explore precision in calculation of spatial gradients. We conclude that off-the-shelf equipment can be used to construct small, dense gradiometer arrays.Part 3: Data from a dense array in Belmont County, Ohio were analyzed with seismic-wave gradiometry techniques in an effort to directly image structure associated with mined areas under the array. In particular, work concentrated on examining how two of the wave parameters, phase slowness and propagation azimuth, varied with position in the array. The parameters are found to be locally inconsistent when comparing shots of varying azimuths, but they are similar for shots at the same distance and azimuth, indicating a great deal of wave scattering within and outside of the dense array deployment. It is difficult to ascribe phase velocity or wave propagation azimuth directly to structure under small gradiometers

Good transitions : lessons from the ‘Transitions West Midlands’ project

Transitions West Midlands (TWM) is a collaborative project, funded by the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA), that brings together staff and students from a group of institutions (further and higher education) who have been working together for the past four years through the West Midlands Post '92 Research Forum. TWM aims to offer new insights into the first-hand experiences of students making the move or preparing to make the move from Further Education (FE) to Higher Education (HE) within the West Midlands region. The case study approach has enabled us to explore students' expectations of, and reflections on, transition as they move within and between the four participating institutions. The project was driven by three key questions: How do prospective students from under-represented groups in HE understand/perceive their support needs prior to transition? How do HE students from under-represented groups self-define the enablers and barriers to effective transition? How do HE and FE institutions best support students from under-represented groups as they progress through the various stages of transition from FE to HE

How do we teach clinicians where the resources for best evidence are?

The Sinai Health System (SHS) Library created an online tool kit that groups electronic resources into tiers based on the hierarchy of evidence, in a step-by-step approach. Mobile application options are available for most of the resources. The goal is to provide a simple, practical teaching tool to help clinicians easily find quality health information from the vast offerings of publishers. Since its publication in 2008, the original tool kit received positive feedback from medical students and in-house clinical staff. As well, the tool kit has been incorporated into the teachings of the Royal College of Surgeons and Physicians of Ontario, Ministry of Public Health, and various hospital and patient libraries across the Greater Toronto Area. The SHS Library encourages other libraries and institutions to adapt the tool kit for their users. In the future, this tool kit will be revised to tailor to the research needs of nursing and allied health staff

Soluble levels of receptor for advanced glycation endproducts and dysfunctional high-density lipoprotein in persons infected with human immunodeficiency virus: ACTG NWCS332.

The role of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) function and advanced glycation end products (AGEs) in HIV-related atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (CVD) is unclear. Both glycation and oxidation (HDLox) are major modifications of HDL that can alter its composition and function. Therefore, we explored the longitudinal association of HDLox with progression of glycation, as evaluated by measurement of circulating forms of receptor for AGE that predict morbidity (soluble Receptors for Advanced Glycation Endproducts [sRAGE], endogenous secretory Receptors for Advanced Glycation Endproducts [esRAGE]), in people with HIV-1 (PWH; HIV-1) and uninfected (HIV-1) individuals.We retrospectively assessed if levels of plasma sRAGE and esRAGE and HDL function (reduced antioxidant function is associated with increased HDL lipid hydroperoxide content; HDLox) in a subset of participants (n = 80) from a prospective 3-year study (AIDS Clinical Trials Group A5078). Primary outcomes were baseline and yearly rates of change over 96 of 144 weeks (Δ) in HDLox in HIV-1 versus uninfected HIV-1 controls (noted as HIV-1).Higher baseline levels of sRAGE in PWH on effective anti-retroviral therapy and with low CVD risk, but not in HIV-1 persons, were independently associated with higher HDLox. EsRAGE, but not sRAGE, had consistent inverse relationships with ΔHDLox in both HIV-1 and HIV-1 persons at baseline. In HIV-1 but not in HIV-1 persons, ΔHDLox had positive and inverse relationships with ΔRAGE and ΔesRAGE, respectively.Glycation and oxidation of HDL may contribute to impaired HDL function present in PWH

A Generalised Formula for Calculating the Resilience of Random Key Predistribution Schemes

A commonly used metric for comparing the resilience of key predistribution schemes is \fail_s, which measures the proportion of network connections which are `broken\u27 by an adversary which has compromised $s$ nodes. In `Random key predistribution schemes for sensor networks\u27, Chan, Perrig and Song present a formula for measuring the resilience in a class of random key predistribution schemes called $q$-composite schemes. We present a correction to this formula for schemes where more than one key may be used to secure a link between a pair of nodes. Our corrected formula features an additional parameter which makes it applicable to a wider variety of random key predistribution schemes, including the original Eschenauer Gligor scheme. We also present a simplification of the formula for calculating connectivity. We refer to the recent paper by Yum and Lee which also claims to correct the original formula for the $q$-composite scheme. However the resulting formula is complicated, computationally demanding, and hard to understand. The formula which we propose and prove is easily computable and can be applied to a wider range of schemes

Gender balance in committees and how it impacts participation : evidence from Costa Rica's legislative assembly

Artículo originalWe examine participation by women and men in legislatures in a critical case. Previous studies found that women often participate less than men in committee hearings and plenary debates. Yet these studies were conducted in cases where women held a fairly small share of seats and generally did not hold leadership positions or have seniority – factors expected to decrease participation. We use data from the Costa Rican Legislative Assembly (2010-2012) to assess whether women still participate less than men when placed in conditions of (near) institutional equality. Costa Rica has a successful 40% gender quota, a woman president, and no immediate reelection to the Assembly so all deputies lack seniority, thus many sex barriers have been broken in Costa Rican politics. In this apparently favorable environment, do women deputies participate equally with men? We answer this question using data from two standing committees, which offer variance on the percentage of women in attendance at each session. Empirical findings suggest that women participate as much as men in committee, even when the number of women on the committee is few. We also find that committee leaders are very active participants, which underscores the importance for women of obtaining committee leadership positions