The prevention of poverty--a social study review

Thesis (M.A.)--Boston Universit

Review of Melancholia Africana by Nathalie Etoke, Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield, 2019

Melancholia Africana: The Indispensable Overcoming of the Black Condition by Nathalie Etoke, is equal parts ruminative meditation and urgent call to action for Black Africans and those in the diaspora. The titular concept, melancholia africana, is “an extensible concept that examines how sub-Saharans and people of African descent cope with loss, mourning, and survival in a practice of everyday life contaminated by the past.

Attitudes, Beliefs and Self-Efficacy of Elementary Teachers Towards Inclusive and Equitable Education in a Diverse Suburban School

Merging the two philosophies of inclusive and equitable education has significant advantages for all students in the general education classroom. Moving beyond the inclusion of students with disabilities, and focusing on all students, especially those historically marginalized or with diverse needs in today’s classrooms is crucial. This raises the importance about how teachers and school principals might further learn to better support all students in the general education classroom, and to make schools a more productive and engaging experience for all students, despite their diverse learning needs (Woodcock & Hardy, 2017). Therefore, examining teachers’ attitudes, beliefs, self-efficacy, and self-disclosed needs towards inclusive and equitable education is needed. According to Fuchs (2010), teachers’ attitudes and beliefs about inclusion influences teacher beliefs about their own ability to educate all learners. This focused small-scale qualitative study sought to examine the attitudes, beliefs, and self-efficacy of elementary teachers in a K-4 Pennsylvania diverse suburban elementary school. Specifically, the three research questions examined were: 1) What are the attitudes and beliefs of teachers towards inclusive and equitable education in a diverse suburban elementary school; 2) How does teacher efficacy affect their outcomes related to inclusive and equitable education in this school; and 3) What do elementary teachers report is needed in order to foster a more inclusive and equitable education for all of their students? Data were collected through an electronic survey, professional development efforts, classroom observations, document reviews, teacher feedback, and input from the school principal. The study revealed the attitudes, beliefs, self-efficacy, and self-disclosed needs of the teachers related to the diverse needs of their students

Clomazone efficacy in snap beans and dissipation in soil

Studies were conducted from 1991 to 1993 to determine the effects of clomazone on snap bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) growth and yield. Field experiments were conducted on Etowah, Sequatchie, and Lily soils. Clomazone was applied preemergence at 0, 0.28, 0.56, 0.84, or 1.12 kg ai/ha in a randomized complete block with treatments replicated four times. Snap beans were evaluated for chlorosis, density and yield. Data were subjected to analysis of variance and means were separated utilizing Fisher\u27s Least Significant Difference at the 0.05 probability level. Visual evaluations were made approximately 2, 4 and 6 wk after treatment in each experiment. Preliminary studies in 1991 indicated an increase in snap bean yield as clomazone rates increased. In 1992 and 1993, snap beans were injured by clomazone at 1.12 kg ai/ha with chlorosis reaching 50%. However, injury was not observed in each planting. Yields were reduced 30% when significant injury occurred. Clomazone dissipation under field conditions was also determined. Soil samples were obtained from field studies at approximately 0, 7, 14, 21, 28, 42 and 56 DAT. Clomazone was extracted and analyzed using high performance liquid chromatography. Clomazone degradation in soil empirically fit pseudo-first order kinetics. Degradation was initially rapid and then degraded gradually resulting in a decrease in concentration. Half-life values ranged from 16 to 53 d. Clomazone adsorption was directly related to organic matter content. Kd values were 0.92, 0.85, and 1.12 for the Etowah, Sequatchie and Lily soil, respectively. The effects of soil moisture (-1.5 and -0.033 mPa) and temperature (15 and 30 C) on clomazone degradation under controlled conditions were also evaluated. Clomazone degradation was slower under cool, dry conditions than warm conditions. Soil moisture had no influence on clomazone degradation except in the Sequatchie soil. After 84 d incubation, clomazone concentrations decreased 25% in the Sequatchie soil at 15 C compared with 75% in the Lily soil

A Search for the Counter-Immune Mechanisms of Mycobacterium Tuberculosis

Tuberculosis is characterized by dynamic interactions between M. tuberculosis (Mtb) and the human immune response. The cytokine IFN-γ triggers macrophage production of bactericidal nitric oxide by inducible nitric oxide synthase (NOS2) and is essential for mammalian control of Mtb infection. Mice lacking NOS2 are unable to control replication of Mtb and rapidly succumb to infection. The persistent nature of TB infection suggests that Mtb has evolved counter-immune mechanisms to survive in the face of NOS2 and other pathways downstream of IFN-γ. A differential signature-tagged transposon mutagenesis screen was conducted to identify mutants attenuated in NOS2-/- mice, but retaining virulence in IFN-γ-/- mice. Such mutants may be deficient in counter-immune responses to IFN-γ -dependent, NOS2-independent immune pathways. Four mutants with the phenotype of interest were pulled from a screen of 96: pks6/Rv0405 - a polyketide synthase, Rv0072 - a membrane spanning domain of a putative glutamine transporter, Rv2958c - a glycosyl-transferase, and pstA1/Rv0930 - a membrane spanning domain of an inorganic phosphate transporter. Monotypic IV infections confirmed that these mutants replicate freely in the tissues of IFN-γ-/- mice and kill these mice with similar kinetics to wild-type Mtb. In contrast, the mutants have little or no growth advantage in NOS2-/- mice and are highly attenuated in these mice. It was discovered that none of the four mutants were producing a key mycobacterial surface lipid: phthiocerol dimycocerate (PDIM). In vivo phenotypes of the mutants were reproduced in a PDIM deficient strain cloned from a subpopulation pre-existing in the parent stock. Hence it was discovered that PDIM deficiency causes IFN-γ dependent, NOS2 independent attenuation of H37Rv. Moreover, the PDIM deficient strains demonstrated NOS2 dependent attenuation as well as early IFN-γ independent attenuation. Autonomously from PDIM, the pstA1 mutant is impaired for survival during WT and NOS2-/- macrophage infection and during in vitro Pi starvation. It is also deficient for uptake of orthophosphate and is hyper-sensitive to H202, SDS, and acidified nitrite exposure. Phosphate starvation of H37Rv induces hypersensitivity to H202 and SDS suggesting that disruption of pstA1 may disrupt metabolism and/or gene regulation in a manner consistent with the effects of phosphate starvation

Maternal Knowledge Of Danger Signs Of Pregnancy

The focus of this descriptive study was nurse practitioners\u27 attitudes and management practices regarding emergency contraception

Improving Student Engagement Through Instructional Design During the COVID-19 Pandemic

This Improvement Science Dissertation in Practice (ISDiP) aimed to investigate the improvement of student engagement through instructional design of remote and hybrid learning models in the second school year of the COVID-19 Pandemic using an improvement science dissertation in practice (ISDiP) framework. The ISDiP follows a district network improvement community (NIC) at a high poverty K-8 public school district in Washington state as they planned, implemented, studied, and reflected on the educational outcomes of initiating the instructional models with upper elementary grade level students during the final term of the 2020-2021 school year. Through a 90-day cycle, the NIC developed and implemented four systemic instructional design strategies for improvement of behavioral, academic, emotional, and cognitive student engagement. These strategies included small group instruction, social and emotional learning, family engagement, and weekly Professional Learning Community (PLC) meetings for teachers. This research identified positive indicators of improved student engagement and the analysis of the data collected in this study indicated positive educational outcomes were accomplished

From \u27Quackery to Mainstream\u27: An Exploratory Study of News Media Framing During the Diffusion of Acupuncture, 1968-2002, using Bibliometric Counts and Computer-assisted Content Analysis

This exploratory study examines how the news media coverage of acupuncture changed during the first three and one-half decades of diffusion in the United States. It specifically looks at amount of coverage and framing. In doing so, this study is one f the few to date to examine framing during the diffusion process. This study compares changes in news media coverage to major milestones in diffusion in an attempt to determine if media lead or follow in the diffusion of an innovation at the societal level. Acupuncture was introduced to mainstream American culture in the 1970s. This study examines its diffusion at the macro, or societal, level of diffusion using a longitudinal approach over a 35-year period. The research methods used are bibliometric counts, computer-assisted content analysis, cluster analysis, and interpretative analysis. Research focuses on the national print news media with the bibliometric counts involving the New York Times, medical journals, and The Reader’s Guide to Periodical Literature, and framing analysis involving The New York Times, Newsweek, and the Washington Post. This study concluded that both the amount of coverage and framing of acupuncture changed significantly over a 35-year period and that the media sometimes led and sometimes followed in the diffusion process. There were two significant peaks in amount of coverage over the 35 years. The first and largest occurred during the early 1970s and began with the “trigger event” of New York Times columnist James Reston receiving a successful postoperative acupuncture treatment while traveling in China with Kissinger. It appears that this “trigger event” set the media agenda in the 1970s, and that the media were instrumental in introducing acupuncture to the American public. It also appears that the media helped to set the policy for many states, which began taking regulatory and legislative action concerning acupuncture about one year after the peak in coverage began. The second peak in amount of coverage occurred in 1997 when a panel appointed by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) endorsed acupuncture for some health conditions. In the 1990s, it appears that the media agenda followed the federal government’s policy agenda. Framing changes in news media coverage of acupuncture most often followed milestones of diffusion, and they almost always involved an increase in or sometimes the beginning of a particular frame. The most notable examples follow: The frame involving the study of acupuncture and the frame involving its regulation and legislation both began shortly after Reston’s treatment. The “Alternative Medicine” frame began with the establishment of an NIH office to study complementary and alternative medicine. A frame involving the safety, effectiveness, and usefulness of acupuncture increased incrementally after each of the three positive actions by the federal government in the 1990s. There was one notable case when frame changes occurred before a milestone. In the late 1980s and in 1990, the media focused on the use of acupuncture to treat drug addiction. This focus may gave possibly had an influence, by increasing acupuncture’s credibility with policy elites, on the passage of legislation in 1991, which mandated the establishment of an NIH office to study complementary and alternative medicine. This study also found that framing evolved in such a way that three phases of media coverages could be identified. The first, which occurred in the 1970s, is the “Introduction” phase. The stories contain themes that might result from the introduction of any innovation and include the subthemes “Uses,” “Regulation,” and “Caution and Skepticism.” The second phase, which occurred in the 1980s, is named “Unmet Need” because the stories involve experimentation with using the innovation, acupuncture, to treat drug addiction, a need that was not being satisfactorily met by Western medicine at the time. The third, the “Legitimacy” phase, occurred in the 1990s. In this phase, the media frame acupuncture with a legitimacy that they did not give to it before. This is attributed to the positive actions toward acupuncture taken by the federal government coupled with the media’s tendency toward supporting the ruling interests of society. Overall, it appears that the media led the way in introducing acupuncture to mainstream American culture in the 1970s. During this time, it focused on themes logical for any society trying to understand a new innovation: its uses, its regulation, and caution and skepticism toward an unknown. Although there was a small and possibly influential cluster of stories in the late 1980s and in 1990 that focused on the use of acupuncture in addressing the unmet need of treatment for drug addiction, acupuncture was not a significant topic again until 1997 when an NIH panel gave its endorsement. At this time, the media followed the federal government’s lead in the diffusion process. The amount of coverage increased by media framing became more positive in response to this legitimizing action by the federal government

Effects of soil pH on the efficacy and persistence of several imidazolinone and sulfonylurea herbicides

Field and greenhouse experiments were conducted in 1988 and 1989 to determine the influence of soil pH on the persistence of imazaquin (2- [4,5-dihydro-4-methyl-4-(1-methylethyl)-5-oxo-lH-imidazol-2-yl]-3- quinolinecarboxylic acid), imazethapyr ± (2-[4,5-dihydro-4-methyl-4-(1- methylethyl)-5-oxo-1H-imidazol-2yl]-5-ethyl-3-pyridinecarboxylic acid), and chlorimuron (2-[[[[(4-chloro-6-methoxy-2-pyrimidinyl)amino]carbonyl]amino]sulfonyl]benzoic acid). The concentrations were determined by using a standard response curve comparing the radicle length of corn \u27Pioneer 3369A\u27, treated with a known concentration of each herbicide, to the radicle length of corn from the treated areas in field samples. Field studies were conducted at three locations in Tennessee representing West, Middle, and East Tennessee. The initial soil pH at all locations was 4.9 to 5.2. Soil pH was altered to 5.2, 5.5, 6.5, and 7.2 using hydrated lime (Ca(OH)2) . Herbicide treatments included imazaquin at 0.14 kg ai ha-1, imazethapyr at 0.07 kg ai ha-1, and chlorimuron-ethyl at 0.05 kg ai ha-1. The experimental design used was a randomized complete block with a split-plot factorial arrangement of treatments, each replicated four times. The pH\u27s were assigned to the main plots and herbicides were assigned to the split plots. All herbicides were incorporated using a field cultivator with S-tines followed by revolving baskets. Soybeans \u27Asgrow 5474\u27 were planted at all locations. Soil samples were taken 0, 8, 16, 32, 64, and 128 days after initial application. The soil samples were placed in a freezer and were used in the greenhouse portion of this experiment. The soil was allowed to air dry for 24 h, screened, and then placed in an acetate tube (15.24 cm in length). The tube was capped, placed in a tray filled with water and was allowed to sit for approximately one hour before planting pregerminated seed. Regression analysis was then performed for all herbicides at all locations with concentrations being regressed against time. Results from the greenhouse bioassay indicate that soil pH significantly affected herbicide persistence. Imazaquin appears to be affected more by low soil pH than does imazethapyr. However, both herbicides dissipate quite rapidly from 0 to 32 days after application. There appears to be no significant difference in imazaquin persistence at pH 5.2 or 5.5. Imazethapyr appears to be more persistent when soil moisture is limited. Chlorimuron proved to be more persistent at pH 7.2 than at any other pH. Soil moisture conditions in 1989 were very high at all locations. Imazethapyr dissipated or moved out of the top 15 cm within 64 days. Crop injury was observed in 1989 with all herbicides. Rainfall occurred shortly after application and appears to have increased the amount of herbicide in the soil solution, making it more readily available for uptake by soybeans

Opportunities For The Development Of Social Values Through Group Musical Activities

Music has made great strides as a recognized subject in the high school curriculum, since the turn of the century. From its status as an extra-curricular activity of minor importance, it has won recognition to such an extent that it has been accepted in many places on equal footing with the academic subjects. Probably no group of activities has had as widespread a development as those extra activities involving music. Vocal music organizations, bands, orchestras and other added interests are accepted in a majority of our elementary and high schools of Texas, as well as in other states. It is these group musical organizations, which are found most commonly in our schools that direct our attention. Purpose The purpose of this study is to further expand the social values accruing to those who participate in many opportunities which are provided through group musical activities. When the various types of musical activities are examined, it is hoped that these opportunities will justify themselves as normal social acts, involving valuable socialized activity day by day. Statement of the Problem The problem deals with the group development, in its relation to the society of which the child will be a part. The overall picture is to show how the modern school seeks to provide opportunities through musical group activities in the elementary and high schools that will afford students the satisfaction of working together. What opportunities exist, and the values of which must be developed in order to render an individual socially effective? How may these values be developed