Why Aren't They Teaching? A study of why some University of Alaska teacher education graduates aren't in classrooms

Alaska Statute 14.40.190(b), passed as Senate Bill 241 in 2008, requires the University of Alaska (UA) Board of Regents to submit a report each regular session titled Alaska’s University for Alaska’s Schools that “describes the efforts of the university to attract, train, and retain qualified public school teachers.” In 2012 this report documented that approximately 50% of UA initial teacher preparation graduates did not teach in Alaska public schools after completing their programs. Unfortunately, the data available could not tell us the reasons why so many graduates were not employed as teachers. In response to legislators’ questions about this, the three UA Education deans (with support from the Center for Alaska Education Policy Research) made a commitment to conduct a 2012 research project to understand why graduates of UA initial teacher preparation programs did or did not teach in Alaska public schools after completing their programs. This project was conducted in response to that commitment

Critical Perspectives on Creative Women’s Entrepreneurship

For this project, a Good w/ Food dinner series was hosted for creative women entrepreneurs. A salient insight that stands out in this research is that the systemic challenges faced by creative women entrepreneurs -- such as the lack of appropriate supports structures, inadequate governmental policies, and lack of recognition of the types of work that creative entrepreneurs actually engage in -- is compounded by additional intersectional issues, such as gender discrimination in the available programming and entrepreneurial support structures. This reinforced the importance of this research and the need for the Women Entrepreneurship Knowledge Hub network to develop programming that addresses the systemic challenges faced by creative women entrepreneurs. The format of the dinners allowed participants to gain value by actively building authentic social relationships, while developing an understanding of the creative entrepreneurship ecosystem as it occurs through the lived experiences of participants at all stages of their careers. Insights from this project have been used to inform future program development and advocacy work done by OCAD University and the WEKH network

The perspective of current and retired world class, elite and national athletes on the inclusion and eligibility of transgender athletes in elite sport

There has been limited empirical study allowing athletes to voice their opinions on transgender participation in elite sport. This study surveyed 175 national, elite and world class athletes eligible to compete in the female category regarding transgender inclusion and eligibility. The study compared current Olympic versus current Olympic Recognised sports, elite versus world class, and current versus retired Olympic sport athletes. Most athletes favoured biological sex categorisation (58%) and considered it unfair for trans women to compete in the female category, except for precision sports. This view was held most strongly by world class athletes regarding their own sport (77% unfair, 15% fair). For trans men inclusion in the male category, most athletes considered it fair, except for Olympic sport athletes regarding contact sports (49% unfair, 27% fair) and sports heavily reliant on physical capacity (53% unfair, 29% fair). Notwithstanding those views, athletes (81%) believed sporting bodies should improve inclusivity for transgender athletes. Opinion varied somewhat according to career stage, competitive level and sport type. Nevertheless, athletes in the present study favoured categorisation by biological sex and did not support trans women eligibility for the female category in sports reliant on performance-related biological factors that differ between sexes

The dynamic surface of C. difficile : understanding surface proteins and their potential as vaccine candidates

Clostridium difficile is the leading cause of hospital acquired diarrhoea. With extended hospitalisation, a high mortality rate and the risk of recurrence, C. difficile infection presents a burden to both patients and the healthcare system. Symptoms of disease are primarily mediated by the two major toxins released by C. difficile and are the focus of current vaccine studies. Little is known of surface proteins in C. difficile, their role in colonisation and their potential as antigens to reduce severity of disease. The surface of C. difficile is composed of a peptidoglycan cell wall and an external S-layer. In many Gram positive bacteria a membrane bound enzyme, sortase, covalently attaches specific proteins to the cell wall. In this study, seven potential sortase substrates were identified and shown to be expressed in C. difficile 630, and at least four were shown to be localised to the cell wall. The substrate CD0183 was shown to need its LPxTG like domain for correct sorting onto the cell wall by sortase, which was shown to be a probable cysteine protease. An efficient cell wall extraction protocol was developed alongside two novel assays for studying the sortase mechanism which could provide future insights into this mechanism of protein sorting. The highly conserved S-layer protein Cwp2 is co-transcribed with CD2790 and cwp66 and its promoter is important for the expression of cwp66, especially during exponential growth. Slayer proteins were shown to potentially reduce colonisation and disease in a multicomponent vaccine, with Cwp2 in particular identified as an antigen which can prevent diarrhoeal symptoms of disease in hamsters. Thus S-layer proteins are potentially important components of a vaccine against C. difficile infection.Open Acces

What are the pros and cons of electronically monitoring inhaler use in asthma?: a multistakeholder perspective

Introduction Electronic monitoring devices (EMDs) are the optimal method for collecting objective data on inhaler use in asthma. Recent research has investigated the attitudes of patients with asthma towards these devices. However, no research to date has formally considered the opinions of stakeholders and decision-makers in asthma care. These individuals have important clinical requirements that need to be taken into account if EMDs are to be successfully provisioned, making collecting their opinions on the key barriers facing these devices a valuable process. Methods Three rounds of surveys in a Delphi format were used to assess the most important pros and cons of EMDs for asthma care in a sample of 31 stakeholders which included healthcare professionals and members of clinical commissioning groups. Results The respondents identified 29 pros and 32 cons. Pros that were rated as most important included new visual evidence to aid clinical discussions with a patient and an increase in patient involvement and motivation. The cons that were rated as most important included a need for more clinical evidence of the effectiveness of EMDs, as well as better clarity over who has responsibilities in managing, interpreting and discussing data with a patient. Conclusions The research provides a guide for EMD developers by highlighting where these devices may provide the most benefit as well as prioritising the key issues that need addressing if they are to be used effectively in everyday asthma care

Prevalence of liver fluke (Fasciola hepatica) in wild Red Deer (Cervus elaphus): coproantigen ELISA is a practicable alternative to faecal egg counting for surveillance in remote populations

Red deer (Cervus elaphus) are hosts of liver fluke (Fasciola hepatica); yet, prevalence is rarely quantified in wild populations. Testing fresh samples from remote regions by faecal examination (FE) can be logistically challenging; hence, we appraise frozen storage and the use of a coproantigen ELISA (cELISA) for F. hepatica surveillance. We also present cELISA surveillance data for red deer from the Highlands of Scotland. Diagnoses in faecal samples (207 frozen, 146 fresh) were compared using a cELISA and by FE. For each storage method (frozen or fresh), agreement between the two diagnostics was estimated at individual and population levels, where population prevalence was stratified into cohorts (e.g., by sampling location). To approximate sensitivity and specificity, 65 post-slaughter whole liver examinations were used as a reference. At the individual level, FE and cELISA diagnoses agreed moderately (κfrozen = 0.46; κfresh = 0.51), a likely reflection of their underlying principles. At the population level, FE and cELISA cohort prevalence correlated strongly (Pearson’s R = 0.89, p < 0.0001), reflecting good agreement on relative differences between cohort prevalence. In frozen samples, prevalence by cELISA exceeded FE overall (42.8% vs. 25.8%) and in 9/12 cohorts, alluding to differences in sensitivity; though, in fresh samples, no significant difference was found. In 959 deer tested by cELISA across the Scottish Highlands, infection prevalence ranged from 9.6% to 53% by sampling location. We highlight two key advantages of cELISA over FE: i) the ability to store samples long term (frozen) without apparent loss in diagnostic power; and ii) reduced labour and the ability to process large batches. Further evaluation of cELISA sensitivity in red deer, where a range of fluke burdens can be obtained, is desirable. In the interim, the cELISA is a practicable diagnostic for F. hepatica surveillance in red deer, and its application here has revealed considerable geographic, temporal, sex and age related differences in F. hepatica prevalence in wild Scottish Highland red deer

Electronic monitoring of adherence to inhaled medication in asthma

The main treatment of asthma is inhaled corticosteroids. However adherence to these medications in asthma is often poor, with low adherence associated with excessive health care costs and an increased risk of emergency room visits and mortality. Although various methods are used to indirectly assess adherence, all have significant limitations whether used in clinical or research practice. The recent development of electronic monitoring devices (EMDs) for use with inhalers presents an exciting opportunity to easily and accurately measure inhaler adherence. This article summarises the current devices available; for each device features and limitations are considered, followed by a review of both the current clinical literature and data on reliability and accuracy. An overall summary is also provided to aid comparison of capabilities between devices and future issues pertaining to the use of EMDs are discussed, including barriers to adoption, stakeholder involvement, novel methods of communicating adherence data, recording of data and cloud storage. Finally key areas that still require investigation are highlighted