The Marginalization of Social Studies in Missouri: An Analysis of Elementary Instructional Time and High School Standardized Assessment Scores

Social studies education plays a vital role in an evolving American society. Through social studies, students are equipped with skills to become active and informed citizens in a democracy (National Council for Social Studies, 2017a). With the implementation of the No Child Left (NCLB) Act in 2001, educational reforms have increasingly emphasized student performance in mathematics, communication arts, and science (Libresco, 2015). As a result, instructional time has been drastically shifted to these subjects (Heafner & Fitchett, 2015). This mixed-methods study was conducted to explore the impact of NCLB and subsequent federal education policies on the marginalization of social studies in Missouri. As part of the study, the number of instructional minutes spent in elementary social studies in Missouri public schools was examined to determine if there was a significant correlation between elementary social studies instructional minutes and high school state assessment scores in American Government. Surveys and interviews were conducted to gather teacher perspectives on the role of social studies education in American society. The results of the study indicated a significant difference between elementary instructional minutes in mathematics, communication arts, and social studies, but not a significant difference between science and social studies. A significant correlation was not found between the elementary minutes of social studies instruction and high school student performance on mandated assessments in American Government. During the interviews, Missouri secondary social studies teachers expressed alarm at the marginalization of social studies in elementary schools and what it could mean for society in the long term. The scope of the study was limited, however, and more studies are encouraged to further examine the effects of social studies marginalization

Formulation and evaluation of polymeric micelles for improved oral delivery of tenofovir disoproxil fumarate and zidovudine using poly-lactic-co-glycolic acid nanoparticles

Magister Pharmaceuticae - MPharmBackground: Tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF) and Zidovudine (AZT) are both nucleotide and nucleoside analogue reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NtRTIs and NRTIs), respectively. They are used for the management and prevention of the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infection. These drugs are faced with oral delivery challenges such as low intestinal permeability and extensive first pass liver metabolism for TDF and AZT, respectively. Their use may also be limited by dose-dependent adverse effects, which may result in treatment failure when patients become non-compliant and non-adherent to their prescribed antiretroviral (ARV) regimen. Non-compliance and non-adherence to ARV regimen may lead to drug resistance and a need for change in regimen, which can be very expensive, not only financially but in terms of morbidity and mortality. To solve such issues, a new drug can be formulated, or an existing drug can be modified. The development and formulation of a new drug is time consuming and expensive, especially with no available data and a high probability of failure. Modifying existing drugs is a cheaper, less time-consuming option with lower probability of failure. Such modification can be achieved via non-covalent interactions using various methods such as preparation of nano-particulates with polymeric micelles (a non-covalent interaction). Polymeric micelles offer a variety of polymers to choose from for drug modification purposes. Purpose: The aim of this study was to formulate polymeric nanoparticles of TDF and AZT using different ratios of poly-lactic-co-glycolic acid (PLGA), characterize the formulated nanoparticles (using the following analyses: particle size, zeta potential, encapsulation efficiency, hot stage microscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, differential scanning calorimetry, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy), analyze for stability during storage (2-8˚C) and determine the release rate of the active pharmaceutical ingredients in the formulated nanoparticles. Methods: Nanoparticles were prepared using a modified version of the double emulsion (water-in-oil-in-water) solvent evaporation and diffusion method. Two ratios of PLGA (50:50 and 85:15) were used to prepare four formulations (two each of TDF and AZT). Thereafter, the physicochemical and pharmaceutical properties of the formulations were assessed by characterizing the nanoparticles for particle size, zeta potential, polydispersity index, percentage yield, release profile and particle morphology, using the suggested analytical techniques. Results: For TDF-PLGA 85:15, TDF-PLGA 50:50, AZT-PLGA 85:15 and AZT-PLGA 50:50, nanoparticles of 160.4±1.7 nm,154.3±3.1 nm,127.0±2.32 nm and 153.2±4.3 nm, respectively, were recovered after washing. The polydispersity index (PDI) values were ≤0.418±0.004 after washing, indicating that the formulations were monodispersed. The zeta potential of the particles was -5.72±1 mV, -19.1 mV, -12.2±0.6 mV and -15.3±0.5 mV for TDF-PLGA 85:15, TDF-PLGA 50:50, AZT-PLGA 85:15 and AZT-PLGA 50:50 respectively after washing. The highest percentage yield was calculated to be 79.14% and the highest encapsulation efficiency obtained was 73.82% for AZT-PLGA 50:50, while the particle morphology showed spherical nanoparticles with signs of coalescence and aggregation for all formulated nanoparticles. The release profiles were biphasic; that is, an initial burst which indicated the presence of surface API followed by sustained release. Comparing the release profiles of AZT and TDF at pH 1.2 and 7.4, it was indicative that more AZT was released at pH 1.2 while more TDF was released at pH 7.4. On computing the release data further into various mathematical models, the Weibull model was found to be the best fit. The loaded nanoparticles showed an increase in stability after washing; however, they showed signs of gradual decrease in stability after 10 days of storage at 2-8°C. Conclusions: Relatively small, spherical and smooth nanoparticles were formulated. The nanoparticle release profile was indicative of sustained release; however, there was no conclusive indication that 48 hours duration was sufficient to release all encapsulated drug. Further studies with an increased API or polymer ratio in the formulation needs to be performed to determine if the encapsulation efficiency can be improved and in-vivo studies are required for a better understanding of the API release from formulations as well as its absorption in the body

The Difference of Body Exposure: Images of Females and Males in Three Top Teen Magazines.

This study examined differences of how females and males were represented in three top teen magazines. Depiction of female and male bodies in the magazines was explored by the cropping of the photographs. The images were examined to determine if emphasis was placed on the face or the body. The researcher used the Body Index Scale coding instrument. A simple random sample of 1200 images in the three top teen magazines was analyzed. The study did not show any statistical significance on hypotheses one, which stated that photographic images of females will be cropped lower on the body than images of males. However, there were significant findings on how images were cropped in relation to story type. The significance of this study was showing how images of females and males are cropped differently in teen magazines. This finding could affect the way adolescent girls think and feel about their appearance

Teachers’ Perspectives on Extended Learning Activities during a Balanced Calendar in a Rural Setting

For over a century, most public schools across the United States have operated in a traditional nine-month calendar. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to examine teachers’ perspectives regarding the influence of the extended learning activities on student achievement. A small rural school system adopted a balanced school calendar that included two intersession weeks, one in the fall and one in the spring. Students were provided enrichment and remediation extended learning activities during the intersession weeks. The theory guiding this study is Bandura’s (1977, 1986) self-efficacy theory. The researcher conducted on-site interviews with teachers. Additional data collection included focus groups and document analysis. Data were analyzed using Moustakas’ (1994) systematic approach to construct a composite description of the meanings and convey the overall essence of the experience. Teachers felt that the extended learning activities influenced student achievement in numerous ways. Teachers believed the extended learning activities provided great opportunities for students as an enrichment effort. Teachers shared the importance of putting time and effort into planning fun, hands-on, and engaging activities

Cultivating Compassion in Undergraduate College Students: Rhetoric or Reality?

While American colleges and universities are unparalleled in their ability to produce disciplinary-based knowledge through research and scholarship, their ability to encourage students to use the information and methods about which they are learning to create positive social change has lagged. Aware of the magnitude of today\u27s global issues and dissatisfied with the current disparity between the world\u27s reality and university curricula, scholars have begun to re-imagine the role of higher education in forming the leaders who will face our most pressing problems. Founded to provide education integrated with the formation of values, a significant number of Catholic colleges and universities claim the cultivation of compassion as a primary purpose. The mission statements of such institutions frequently reference goals such as preparing leaders dedicated to compassionate service (University of San Diego, 2004). The ambition of such statements, however, is unmatched by a rigorous examination of the reality of those objectives. Despite the massive amounts of research conducted on the impact of college on students, almost no empirical work has been done on whether students grow in compassion. Therefore, this explanatory sequential mixed methods study investigated whether University of San Diego undergraduates demonstrated change in compassion across their first two years of study. This study found that the majority of USD students do change in compassion during their first two undergraduate years, but not all in the preferred direction. While half of the students demonstrated an increase in compassion, 35% decreased in compassion and another 15% remained unchanged. Regression analyses established that community service and immersion trips were associated with an increase in compassion while Greek life and community service-learning were associated with a decrease in compassion. Student interviews revealed the importance of, among other facets of university life, campus involvement, community service experience, peer influences, financial pressures, and disorientating experiences. These results extend the work already done on how college affects students by focusing on a heretofore under-examined construct - compassion. This research also contributes to an improved understanding of how universities might better structure their co-curricular offerings in order to achieve their goal of cultivating compassion in their students

The Spirituality of Immersion: Solidarity, Compassion, Relationship

While the term spirituality can be problematic, obscuring as much as revealing, immersion experiences cannot be understood fully without exploring the contours of what can only be described as spirituality. To the extent that they work, immersions effect change when they speak to the deepest longings of the heart. While manifesting in many different ways, the spirituality of immersion revolves around three major components: solidarity, compassion, and relationship. The spirituality of immersion is a developed relationality, a desire to enter into richer, wider, more expansive relationships with others, which naturally leads into deeper relationship with God

Repeated divergent selection on pigmentation genes in a rapid finch radiation

Instances of recent and rapid speciation are suitable for associating phenotypes with their causal genotypes, especially if gene flow homogenizes areas of the genome that are not under divergent selection. We study a rapid radiation of nine sympatric bird species known as capuchino seedeaters, which are differentiated in sexually selected characters of male plumage and song. We sequenced the genomes of a phenotypically diverse set of species to search for differentiated genomic regions. Capuchinos show differences in a small proportion of their genomes, yet selection has acted independently on the same targets in different members of this radiation. Many divergent regions contain genes involved in the melanogenesis pathway, with the strongest signal originating from putative regulatory regions. Selection has acted on these same genomic regions in different lineages, likely shaping the evolution of cis-regulatory elements, which control how more conserved genes are expressed and thereby generate diversity in classically sexually selected traits.Fil: Campagna, Leonardo. Cornell University; Estados Unidos. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Repenning, Márcio. Pontificia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul. Museu de Ciências e Tecnologia; BrasilFil: Silveira, Luís Fábio. Universidade de Sao Paulo; BrasilFil: Fontana, Carla Suertegaray. Pontificia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul; BrasilFil: Tubaro, Pablo Luis. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales "Bernardino Rivadavia"; ArgentinaFil: Lovette, Irby. Cornell University; Estados Unido

Correlated patterns of genetic diversity and differentiation across an avian family

Comparative studies of closely related taxa can provide insights into the evolutionary forces that shape genome evolution and the prevalence of convergent molecular evolution. We investigated patterns of genetic diversity and differentiation in stonechats (genus Saxicola), a widely distributed avian species complex with phenotypic variation in plumage, morphology, and migratory behavior, to ask whether similar genomic regions have become differentiated in independent, but closely related, taxa. We used whole-genome pooled sequencing of 262 individuals from 5 taxa and found that levels of genetic diversity and divergence are strongly correlated among different stonechat taxa. We then asked if these patterns remain correlated at deeper evolutionary scales and found that homologous genomic regions have become differentiated in stonechats and the closely related Ficedula flycatchers. Such correlation across a range of evolutionary divergence and among phylogenetically independent comparisons suggests that similar processes may be driving the differentiation of these independently evolving lineages, which in turn may be the result of intrinsic properties of particular genomic regions (e.g., areas of low recombination). Consequently, studies employing genome scans to search for areas important for reproductive isolation or adaptation should account for corresponding regions of differentiation, as these regions may not necessarily represent speciation islands or evidence of local adaptation