Secondary Mathematics Teachers’ Literacy Professional Learning: An Amalgamation of Adolescent Literacy, Mathematics Teaching, and Adult Learning

This study uses practitioner research to examine secondary mathematics teachers’ learning of literacy integration practices in the context of a district-wide literacy professional development series. The author, a secondary mathematics curriculum and instruction facilitator in a large, Midwestern suburban district, engaged in a two-year partnership with seventeen Mathematics Teacher Facilitators (MTFs) who taught literacy practices to their colleagues via a train-the-trainer model. This study provides an explicit rendering of professional development practices and ongoing, job-embedded learning vignettes of six MTF’s experiences in (a) teaching literacy practices to their colleagues and (b) how they learned and enacted these practices in their classrooms. Nested in calls by the Common Core State Standards for English-Language Arts (CCSS-ELA) and Response to Intervention (RTI) process, this research is a flagship for literacy integration professional development in mathematics. The MTFs’ detailed descriptions provide valuable information regarding the discipline-specific literacy practices of secondary mathematics and offer important considerations for staff developers, curriculum coordinators, including the author, literacy/instructional coaches, and administrators seeking to improve literacy integration. Adviser: Kathleen Wilso

Symptom cluster, healthcare use and mortality in patients with severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/108090/1/jocn12526.pd

Nightingale Discourse and “Author-ity”

This essay considers current discourses circulated by what I call the Spiritual School of Nightingale production that enlarge her authority through religious authorship. Since the 1990s, this School’s distinctive populist and academic wings have been bringing out editions of her (mostly) unpublished manuscripts on religion along with their own commentaries, which construct Nightingale as a deeply spiritual author and inspirational role model by reading her writings as proofs of the “faith [. . .] central to her life, work, and thought,” rather than as textual evidences that require nonpartisan sifting. This School, which is positioned to take over Nightingale studies, can be credited with reviving interest in her work; and religious ideas could hardly have been more important for her sense of vocation. Despite the value of these efforts, especially the recently-arrived Collected Works, taking her equivocal writing about “faith” on faith of their own is problematic because it generally forecloses probing more deeply into what else these expressions might have meant or been intended to signify. What this School’s under- and over-readings miss, I argue, is the tangled “more is less” problem with the exalted terms of Nightingale’s self-authoring and the high discourses of “author-ity” that she adopted in writing on religious subjects

Biochemical and Genetic Characterization of PspE and GlpE, Two Single-domain Sulfurtransferases of Escherichia coli

The pspE and glpE genes of Escherichia coli encode periplasmic and cytoplasmic single-domain rhodaneses, respectively, that catalyzes sulfur transfer from thiosulfate to thiophilic acceptors. Strains deficient in either or both genes were constructed. Comparison of rhodanese activity in these strains revealed that PspE provides 85% of total rhodanese activity, with GlpE contributing most of the remainder. PspE activity was four times higher during growth on glycerol versus glucose, and was not induced by conditions that induce expression of the psp regulon. The glpE/pspE mutants displayed no apparent growth phenotypes, indicating that neither gene is required for biosynthesis of essential sulfur-containing molecules. PspE was purified by using cation exchange chromatography. Two distinct active peaks were eluted and differed in the degree of stable covalent modification, as assessed by mass spectrometry. The peak eluting earliest contained the equivalent mass of two additional sulfur atoms, whereas the second peak contained mainly one additional sulfur. Kinetic properties of purified PspE were consistent with catalysis occurring via a double-displacement mechanism via an enzyme-sulfur intermediate involving the active site cysteine. Kms for SSO32- and CN- were 2.7 mM and 32 mM, respectively, and kcat was 64s-1. The enzyme also catalyzed transfer of sulfur from thiosulfate to dithiothreitol, ultimately releasing sulfide

Strategies for a Successful PhD Program: Words of Wisdom From the \u3cem\u3eWJNR\u3c/em\u3e Editorial Board

Nursing doctoral programs prepare students for research-focused careers within academic settings. The purpose of this Editorial Board Special Article is to provide PhD students and advisors with suggestions for making the most of their doctoral experience. Editorial Board members provide their individual insights on the skills and attributes students must acquire during the course of their doctoral education in order to succeed. The authors provide practical tips and advice on how to excel in a PhD program, including how to select an advisor and a dissertation committee, the importance of attending conferences to increase visibility and develop a network of colleagues, presenting and publishing research while still a student, and balancing work and personal life. Students who take full advantage of the opportunities available to them during the course of their doctoral programs will graduate well prepared to take on the multiple responsibilities of research, teaching, and leadership

Managing Opportunities and Challenges of Co-Authorship

Research with the largest impact on practice and science is often conducted by teams with diverse substantive, clinical, and methodological expertise. Team and interdisciplinary research has created authorship groups with varied expertise and expectations. Co-authorship among team members presents many opportunities and challenges. Intentional planning, clear expectations, sensitivity to differing disciplinary perspectives, attention to power differentials, effective communication, timelines, attention to published guidelines, and documentation of progress will contribute to successful co-authorship. Both novice and seasoned authors will find the strategies identified by the Western Journal of Nursing Research Editorial Board useful for building positive co-authorship experiences

Four Kinds of Hard: An Understanding of Cancer and Death among Latino Community Leaders

Early integration of palliative care after a diagnosis of cancer improves outcomes, yet such care for Latino populations is lacking in rural regions of the United States. We used a participatory action research design with Latino community leaders from emerging immigrant communities in North Carolina to explore sociocultural perspectives on cancer and death. Thematic analysis was conceptualized as Four Kinds of Hard represented by four themes: Receiving an Eviction Notice, Getting in the Good Book, Talking is (Sometimes) Taboo, and Seeing Their Pain Makes us Suffer. These themes captured fears of deportation, coping with cancer through faithfulness, ambivalence about advance care planning, and a desire to spare families from suffering. Findings suggest strategies to improve conversations about end-of-life wishes when facing advanced illness and death. This study demonstrates the importance of training Latino community leaders to improve palliative care and bridge service gaps for Latino families living in emerging rural communities.OA publication support through Carolina Consortium agreement with Sag

Effect of Choline Forms and Gut Microbiota Composition on Trimethylamine-N-Oxide Response in Healthy Men

Background: Trimethylamine-N-oxide (TMAO), a choline-derived gut microbiota-dependent metabolite, is a newly recognized risk marker for cardiovascular disease. We sought to determine: (1) TMAO response to meals containing free versus lipid-soluble choline and (2) effects of gut microbiome on TMAO response. Methods: In a randomized, controlled, double-blinded, crossover study, healthy men (n = 37) were provided meals containing 600 mg choline either as choline bitartrate or phosphatidylcholine, or no choline control. Results: Choline bitartrate yielded three-times greater plasma TMAO AUC (p = 0.01) and 2.5-times greater urinary TMAO change from baseline (p = 0.01) compared to no choline and phosphatidylcholine. Gut microbiota composition differed (permutational multivariate analysis of variance, PERMANOVA; p = 0.01) between high-TMAO producers (with ≥40% increase in urinary TMAO response to choline bitartrate) and low-TMAO producers (with \u3c40% increase in TMAO response). High-TMAO producers had more abundant lineages of Clostridium from Ruminococcaceae and Lachnospiraceae compared to low-TMAO producers (analysis of composition of microbiomes, ANCOM; p \u3c 0.05). Conclusion: Given that phosphatidylcholine is the major form of choline in food, the absence of TMAO elevation with phosphatidylcholine counters arguments that phosphatidylcholine should be avoided due to TMAO-producing characteristics. Further, development of individualized dietary recommendations based on the gut microbiome may be effective in reducing disease risk

Altered Lung Morphogenesis, Epithelial Cell Differentiation and Mechanics in Mice Deficient in the Wnt/β-Catenin Antagonist Chibby

The canonical Wnt/β-catenin pathway plays crucial roles in various aspects of lung morphogenesis and regeneration/repair. Here, we examined the lung phenotype and function in mice lacking the Wnt/β-catenin antagonist Chibby (Cby). In support of its inhibitory role in canonical Wnt signaling, expression of β-catenin target genes is elevated in the Cby−/− lung. Notably, Cby protein is prominently associated with the centrosome/basal body microtubule structures in embryonic lung epithelial progenitor cells, and later enriches as discrete foci at the base of motile cilia in airway ciliated cells. At birth, Cby−/− lungs are grossly normal but spontaneously develop alveolar airspace enlargement with reduced proliferation and abnormal differentiation of lung epithelial cells, resulting in altered pulmonary function. Consistent with the Cby expression pattern, airway ciliated cells exhibit a marked paucity of motile cilia with apparent failure of basal body docking. Moreover, we demonstrate that Cby is a direct downstream target for the master ciliogenesis transcription factor Foxj1. Collectively, our results demonstrate that Cby facilitates proper postnatal lung development and function