The role of sulfur in osmoregulation and salinity tolerance in cyanobacteria, algae, and plants

Organosulfur compounds are involved in osmoregulation and salinity tolerance in some cyanobacteria and photosynthetic eukaryotes. Glycinebetaine, the osmolyte of the halotolerant cyanobacterium, Aphanothece halophytica, requires the sulfonium compound. S-adenosyl-methionine (SAM) for its synthesis. Glutamate is the nitrogen source, SAM is the methyl carbon and serine the carbon backbone source of this unique osmolyte. Inhibitor studies suggest that photorespiration interacts with sulfur metabolism to control betaine synthesis in cyanobacteria. The limiting factor for SAM synthesis is formate from photorespiration. SAM is, in turn, the methyl donor for betaine synthesis from serine. The nitrogen component of serine is from glutamate. Betaine synthesis is hypothesized to be regulated via potassium. The biosynthesis of dimethyl-B-propiothetin (DMPT, which is the same as beta-dimethyl sulfonioprpionate) and diacylsulfoquinovosylglycerol were elucidated as having their roles in osmoregulation and salinity tolerance. The relation between these sulfolipids and the sulfur cycle was discussed

The Human Interaction Effect: An Ethnography of (Dis)Engagement in Teaching and Learning

Educators and students struggle with engagement in many educational settings and at all levels. A lack of engagement has been reported to contribute to an ever-widening gap between how students develop knowledge, skills, and abilities and how teachers provide instruction. At the onset of this study, the purpose was to understand how depth and sequence of experience influenced student engagement. During one calendar year, 42 undergraduate students between 18-25 years of age enrolled in an applied social science research methods course and agreed to participate in this study. Students enrolled in one or two of three academic semesters (spring, summer, and fall) with varying depths and sequences of experiences. I collected data through student interviews, observations, student and teacher reflexive journals, and classroom dialogues. Additionally, I considered aspects of students’ critical thinking abilities, personalities, and learning styles throughout the duration of the study. Results of this study included narrative themes that described the complex and unforeseen realities of (dis)engagement experienced by teachers and students. Conclusions included that all levels and sequences of experiences were engaging, but not all experiences were equally engaging. Further, I noted the environment to have a profound effect on the implementation of the depth and sequence of experiences: The design of the experiences was conceptualized for an in vitro environment, yet the experiences were carried out in an in vivo environment. Various perspectives of experiences existed, and individuals’ temporal, physical, and emotional proximity to specific experiences often influenced other students’ and teachers’ perspectives. At the conclusion of the study, it was evident that the scope of the study needed to be expanded beyond the influence of how depth and sequence of experience engaged and disengaged students and teachers. Although many researchers have proposed models for experiential teaching and learning, few have accounted for the abstract and malleable nature of models and rarely include the influence of temporal stability on (dis)engagement

Views of Coaching Practice Expressed by School-Based Coaches

This study reports on the views of coaching expressed by school-based coaches and coaching experts in response to observing the practice of a novice coach featured in a video. Researchers hypothesized that a coach participant\u27s observations about another coach\u27s practice would be a useful tool for examining participants\u27 beliefs about coaching. Researchers compared responses from school-based coaches to the responses of coaching experts and views expressed in leading coaching literature in order to examine the variation in school-based coaches\u27 views. Analysis of responses from both practicing coaches and coaching experts revealed eight themes that describe components of the videotaped coaching cycle: 1) coaching relationships; 2) the use of praise by the coach; 3) discussions of student learning; 4) how coaches respond to teachers\u27 questions; 5) how coaches prompt reflection; 6) how coaches address teacher knowledge and learning; 7) discussions of mathematics content; and, 8) facilitation of the coaching session. The analysis also revealed that these themes correspond to accepted domains of coaching knowledge reported in the coaching literature

Systematic Approach to Recruiting and Retention of Instrumental Students in Division One University Marching Band

This study examines recruitment and retention in Division One (D1) university marching bands, while understanding high school and university directors’ perspectives and impact on student choice. This project surveyed university band directors, seeking commonalities for recruiting and retention of instrumental students. Based on the results, universities will have better strategies on what, how, and why recruitment and retention issues should be addressed. Student enrollment is important to the well-being, development, and continuity of marching band programs. They may result in better recruitment and retention for other university ensembles, applied studios, the music department, and the university enrollment overall. This study may highlight what students need to be successful university students through participation in the university marching band

Origin and evolution of osmoregulatory mechanisms in blue-green algae (cyanobacteria) as a function of metabolic and structural complexity: Reflections of Precambrian paleobiology

Major accomplishments underlying the basic understanding of cyanobacterial resistance to salt tolerance and osmotic stress were made. The methodology proposed included: the tracing of the pathways of formation of osmoregulatory solutes by traditional methods involving C-14 labelled substrates; gas chromatography; amino acid analysis; X-ray analysis using scanning transmission electron microscopy; and most importantly, C-13 labelled substrates, followed by Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. It was found that the cyanobacteria employ a diversity of organic, osmoregulatory solutes. Osmoregulatory solutes were found to serve four functions: adjustment of water activity, noninhibition of enzymes; lowering of K sub m of enzymes to allow functioning at normal levels when the intracellular salt accumulates, and extending the pH optimum of enzymes as intracellular pH rises due to proton-potassium ion pump action during osmoregulation. Differences in osmoregulatory solutes may, but are not always, be attributed to differences in nutritional capabilities. The mechanism of osmoregulation and concomitant salt tolerance in halophilic cyanobacteria was elucidated. The activities of betaine and S-Adenosylhomocysteine hydrolase are discussed

Origin and evolution of osmoregulatory mechanisms in blue-green algae as a function of metabolic and structural complexity: Reflections of precambrian paleobiology

Twenty-four of the twenty-nine cyanobacteria proposed for culture were successfully cultured. Betaines are discussed

The Relationships Between Nursing Staff Knowledge of Personhood and Resident Cognitive Status

The purpose of this pilot study was to explore the relationships between nursing staff knowledge of extended care resident personhood and resident cognitive status. Eighty nursing staff from two similar extended care facilities in Arkansas completed a self-administered questionnaire to assess their knowledge of 21 residents, including information related to residents’ past jobs/careers; likes/dislikes/ interests; family members; other non-specific knowledge; and total knowledge. The Brief Interview for Mental Status (BIMS) was used to evaluate resident cognitive impairment. Results of a Pearson correlation demonstrate a positive correlation between (1) staff knowledge of residents’ families, and (2) total knowledge of residents with resident cognitive status. Findings suggest that nursing staff utilize creative interventions and exert intentional efforts to obtain resident information to preserve personhood and provide PCDC

Effects of Active Comprehension Instruction on Attitudes and Motivation in Reading

Numerous studies have shown that training students in self-questioning enhances comprehension (Andre and Anderson, 1979; Nolte and Singer, 1985; Palincsar, 1984; Singer and Donlan, 1982; Yopp, 1987). As Singer (1978) and Yopp (1988) have argued, the process of self-questioning, or active comprehension, facilitates comprehension because it requires students to use their metacognitive capacities and activates their background knowledge

At Issue: Improving Your Teaching Using Synergistic Andragogy

Synergistic Andragogy (SA) is related to the concept of Synergogy as presented by Mouton and Blake (1984). Synergogy, much like SA, is an alternative mode of education. Mouton and Blake define synergogy as a “systematic approach to learning in which the members of small teams learn from one another through structured interactions” (Mouton 1984, p. xii). Synergogy focuses on learner motivation and involvement, whereas Synergistic Andragogy (SA) focuses on the learning experience and its potentially powerful outcomes. SA is a type of learning which occurs through the interaction of two or more groups of adult learners such that the combined effect is greater than the sum of individual group learning. SA combines two concepts, synergy and andragogy, to create a process that adult educators can use in a variety of environments to create a powerful learning process. Synergism brings two or more forces together based on the belief that joint efforts and combined energies are greater than individual efforts. Research suggests that the value, performance, and power of teams, groups, and collectives are often stronger than individuals acting alone (Katzenbach & Smith, 2003). Andragogy was popularized by Malcolm Knowles, who argued that the adult learning process is significantly different than a child’s learning process (Knowles, 1984). Knowles eventually summarized six key assumptions about adult learners, which he said are the foundation of adult learning. The purpose of this article is to describe an exercise in how SA was executed over one semester through a six step model. The foundations of SA and how we integrated organizational sustainability as the theme is discussed in more detail elsewhere (Kroth, Taylor, & Lindner, in press)

Um olhar dentro da formação em Matemática: funções, conteúdos e dinâmicas

Mathematics classroom coaching is used across the United States as a means for improving instruction, with the ultimate goal of improving student learning. The job assignments of coaches can vary widely across schools and districts.  Regardless of the various forms that coaching can take, there is the consistent expectation that a coach’s day-to-day work will positively influence classroom instruction. The study reported here attempts to gain a more complete picture of the job of an elementary mathematics coach based on the observation of seven coaches in five different districts for a day. We report the variety of ways we observed elementary mathematics coaches interact with teachers, and what roles and responsibilities they take on. Our analysis of these data led us to create a template for conducting observations of mathematics classroom coaching, which could be used by researchers seeking to conduct studies about coaching or by administrators seeking to document the day-to-day work of coaches.entrenamientos en el área de matemáticas se utilizan extensivamente Estados Unidos con el objetivo final de mejorar el aprendizaje de los estudiantes. Las asignaciones de trabajo de los entrenadores varían ampliamente entre escuelas y distritos. Independientemente de las diversas formas que puede tomar los programas de entrenamiento, existe la expectativa que el trabajo de los entrenadores va a influir positivamente la enseñanza en los salones de clase. Este estudio intenta obtener una imagen más completa del trabajo de los entrenadores de matemáticas utilizando observaciones de siete entrenadores en cinco distritos diferentes. Presentamos la variedad de formas que observamos entrenadores de matemáticas elementales interactuando con docentes, los roles y responsabilidades asumen. Nuestro análisis de estos datos nos llevó a crear una plantilla para la realización de observaciones de entrenamientos de matemáticas, que podría ser utilizada por investigadores o por administradores tratando de documentar el trabajo diario de los entrenadores. treinamentos na área da matemática são usados extensivamente nos Estados Unidos com o objetivo final de melhorar a aprendizagem dos alunos. Atribuições de trabalho treinadores variam muito entre as escolas e distritos. Independentemente das várias maneiras que os programas de treinamento podem ter, há uma expectativa de que o trabalho dos treinadores vai afetar positivamente o ensino em sala de aula. Este estudo tenta obter uma imagem mais completa do trabalho dos treinadores de matemática por meio de observações de sete treinadores em cinco distritos diferentes. Apresentamos a variedade de formas que os treinadores de matemática interagem com os professores, os papéis e as responsabilidades assumidas. Nossa análise desses dados levou-nos a criar um modelo para fazer observações de formação matemática, que poderia ser usado por pesquisadores e administradores que tentam documentar o cotidiano de trabalho dos treinadores.