Fighting Fire With Fire: The Use of A Multimedia WebQuest in Increasing Middle-School Students’ Understandings of Cyberbullying

Cyberbullying, the use of personal and information and communication technologies to harass or intimidate others, is an increasingly pervasive problem in schools. This mixed- methods study explored the effectiveness of a multimedia WebQuest in teaching 156 middle-school students about the dangers of cyberbullying and examined the role of gender in learning about cyber-harassment. Set within a constructivist framework, the study provides an innovative, technological intervention for cyberbullying education for use with adolescents and is instrumental in reshaping public policy surrounding cyberbullying education and prevention. The dissertation study occurred in two phases. Phase I, WebQuest Construction, was qualitative in nature and employed stakeholder focus groups to assess middle-school students’ knowledge and awareness surrounding cyberbullying. Data from the focus groups informed the construction of the WebQuest. The second phase, Data Collection from Students, was quantitative in nature and was composed of a pre-test, WebQuest treatment, and post-test. Data analyses for Phase II included paired-sample t tests, repeated-measures analyses of variance, and descriptive statistics that focused on three dependent variables, namely awareness, safety, and knowledge. Findings indicated statistically significant increases in awareness and knowledge from the pre-test to post-test among the middle-school aged participants, while the slight increase in safety from pre to post-test was not significant. The findings support the need for school communities to begin engaging in conversation surrounding the best ways to teach students about cyberbullying’s dangers through the use of technology and issue a call for a re-examination of constructivist learning theory

Comparing the Effects of Storybook Reading and Storytelling on Preschoolers\u27 and Kindergartners\u27 Ability to Answer Comprehension Questions

The purpose of this study was to compare preschoolers\u27 and kindergartners\u27 ability to comprehend a story as a result of either having read to them from a book or having orally told them a story. A second purpose of this study was to examine each age group individually to see if age played a factor in their comprehension of the stories with relation to the two methods of presenting the stories. The books were introduced before they were presented. Two methods of presentation were used: reading a story from the book, or telling a story orally, without the book. In a one-on-one setting, both books were presented by the researcher to each child. The order of the books and the method of presentation of each book were carefully chosen by the researcher in order to prevent any bias as a result of one book always being presented before the other, or one book being presented using one method more than the other. The researcher presented some questions and comments during the stories and each child was asked three comprehension questions at the end of each story. The same researcher conducted both the read aloud and storytelling sessions. The comprehension scores were-compared by using a two-way analysis of variance. The results showed no significant differences in their comprehension scores

Dynamics of chromatin remodelling during plant cell differentiation

Cell differentiation is the process by which a pluripotent cell acquires a determined, specialised state. This process relies on the precise spatiotemporal control of gene expression, which is partly regulated at the level of chromatin architecture. Chromatin is a complex of nucleic acids and histone proteins which compresses DNA to fit in the cell nucleus. The structure of chromatin modulates the ability of eukaryotic cells to respond to developmental cues. It does so by regulating the accessibility of DNA to transcription factors and the RNA polymerase transcriptional machinery. Histone post-translational modifications are key contributors to the regulation of chromatin architecture during development. This thesis investigates the key histone modifications associated with plant cell differentiation, and the role of auxin, cytokinin and brassinosteroids in guiding chromatin changes during plant cell differentiation. This entailed conducting numerous experiments on the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana, including observing the effect of loss of function of histone-modifying enzymes on root cell differentiation and cytokinin response. In addition, this thesis examined the effect of disturbing the balance of phytohormones on VASCULAR-RELATED NAC-DOMAIN 7 (VND7)- induced xylem transdifferentiation. Finally, protein-protein interaction assays were conducted to identify molecular interactions between hormone signalling genes and histone-modifying enzymes. These experiments revealed that some loss-of-function mutants had a significantly different root meristem size to the wildtype and an impeded cytokinin response. This highlights the regulatory role of chromatin architecture in cell differentiation and indicates that hormone signals may guide histone-modifying enzymes during cell differentiation. Furthermore, disrupting the phytohormone balance resulted in defective VND7-induced xylem transdifferentiation, suggesting that a specific hormonal framework may be necessary to promote VND7 activity. Finally, the negative regulator of brassinosteroid signalling, BR-INSENSITIVE 2 (BIN2), was found to interact with histone methyltransferases SU(V AR)3–9-RELA TED 5 (SUVR5), SU(VAR)3–9 HOMOLOG 5 (SUVH5) and CURLY LEAF (CLF)

Pap Test Follow-up Pattern Among American Indian Women in Arizona

Objective: To quantify the loss to follow-up rate after abnormal Pap test results at the Phoenix Indian Medical Center, an Indian Health Service regional facility, and identify barriers to follow-up from the patients’ point of view. Materials and Methods: Patient records were used to identify women who had abnormal Pap tests in 2002 and to document the status of their follow-up care. Women who had no clinical record of follow-up were contacted by telephone to arrange a follow-up appointment and to request participation in a structured qualitative interview to identify barriers to follow-up at the individual, family, community, and health care system levels. Structured qualitative interviews were conducted with 15 women. Results: Of the 930 women with abnormal Pap test results in 2002, 11.1% received follow-up care at PIMC in accordance with the recommended time frame stipulated inclinical protocols; 74.6% received follow-up care at PIMC, but not in accordance with protocols; 2.6% were followed-up at another facility, 1% had moved out of the area, 3.5% were never treated, and we were unable to contact 6.6%. Most of the barriers to follow-up were related to communicating the need for follow-up and providing access to care within a time frame appropriate for clinical care. Conclusion: While these findings place an important additional responsibility and burden on the health care system serving American Indian women, our research outreach efforts suggest that given the availability of appropriate resources, these barriers can be overcome

Southeast Asian Refugees in Western Massachusetts: Seen but Not Heard

The United States has a long and valued tradition of receiving people from other lands as a result of social and political turmoil. This policy has been reaffirmed frequently in the last quarter century with the arrival of refugees from such geographically diverse locations as Eastern Europe, Cuba, Southeast Asia, and Central America. Perhaps, Southeast Asians have experienced greater national and personal tragedy than any other group of refugees arriving in this country in recent memory. It is specifically this population and their resettlement and adjustment to life in Western Massachusetts which is the subject of this report. These issues are discussed in six separate sections. The introduction provides a general background for Southeast Asian refugee resettlement and the goals and methods of the IRNA project; Section II presents a brief outline of refugee resettlement at the national, state and local levels with more specific details on the geographic and demographic aspects of this population in Western Massachusetts. An assessment of refugee adjustment and needs is profiled in Section III followed by evaluations of these general issues from the perspective of service providers and community-level refugee resettlement organizations in Section IV. Policy and Program Implications and concluding remarks are provided in the final section

Ecological Strategies of Soil Bacteria and Archaea

Soil is essential for much of life on earth. Microbes are ubiquitous in this environment – billions of microbial cells can occupy one gram of soil. Soil microbes participate in carbon sequestration, nutrient cycling, and soil formation - all critical ecosystem processes, yet are poorly understood. A key factor in this knowledge gap is the low proportion of cultivated soil microbes – by one estimate 1/3 of soil dwelling bacteria and archaea do not have a cultured representative of their phylum. In my thesis research, I have studied the bacteria and archaea that live in soil using culture-independent techniques; specifically studying the unique ecological strategies they employ to excel in what can be a challenging habitat. First, I described how microbial communities change with soil depth; I found that as soil depth increases soil microbes become even more mysterious - candidate phyla and uncultured groups flourish in the low nutrient environment of deep soils. Here, I assembled two genomes from the candidate phylum AD3 and describe the strategies it employs to survive in deep soils. Second, I examined one particular soil bacterium - Ca. Udaeobacter copiosus. I show that Ca. U. copiosus is incredibly abundant and widespread in soils across the globe, all while relying on a reduced genome with many putative auxotrophies. This observation stands in contrast to prevailing theories that to succeed in soil, bacteria and archaea must possess vast metabolic versatility to take advantage of the diverse, yet limited nutrient sources characteristic of soil. Lastly, I describe a rearrangement of the rRNA operon where the 16S and 23S rRNA genes are “unlinked” and transcribed separately. I show that this rearrangement is common in many environmental bacteria and archaeal groups, and is especially widespread in soil - in one sample 41% of rRNA genes were unlinked. Together, these studies shed a measure of light on the uncultivated majority dwelling in soil, showing that uncultured environmental taxa adopt unique strategies to succeed in this environment, and in some cases harbor biology that stands apart from what we have learned from model organisms like Bacillus subtilis and Escherichia coli

Physician Anxiety and Burnout: Symptom Correlates and a Prospective Pilot Study of App-Delivered Mindfulness Training

BACKGROUND: Physician burnout is on the rise, yet little is known about its relationship to anxiety. Mindfulness-based stress reduction has demonstrated decreases in anxiety, yet physicians have reported reluctance to engage in it due to significant time commitments. OBJECTIVE: The aims of this study are to assess whether app-based mindfulness training can reduce anxiety in physicians and to explore if anxiety and burnout are correlated, thus leading to a reduction in both anxiety and burnout. METHODS: This was a nonrandomized pilot study comprised of 34 physicians who worked in a large US health care network and reported having anxiety. The intervention was an app-based mindfulness program. The main outcome measure was anxiety, measured by the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7). The secondary outcome measures assessed burnout: cynicism and emotional exhaustion items from the Maslach Burnout Inventory. RESULTS: GAD-7 scores decreased significantly at posttreatment (1 month after treatment initiation, 48% reduction, P \u3c .001) and at the 3-month follow-up (57% reduction, P \u3c .001). There was a significant correlation between anxiety and burnout (cynicism: r=.43; P=.01; emotional exhaustion: r=.71; P \u3c .001). There was also a significant decrease in cynicism (50% reduction, P=.003 at posttreatment; 50% reduction, P=.009 at follow-up) and emotional exhaustion at both time points (20% reduction, P \u3c .001 at posttreatment; 20% reduction, P=.003 at follow-up). CONCLUSIONS: This pilot study is the first to test an app-based mindfulness training program targeted at reducing anxiety with physicians and to demonstrate that in physicians, anxiety is correlated with burnout. These findings suggest that this may be an effective tool to reduce anxiety and burnout in physicians. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04137081; https://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04137081. published in JMIR mHealth and uHealth (http://mhealth.jmir.org), 01.04.2020

Multiplexer/Demultiplexer Loading Tool (MDMLT)

The purpose of the MDMLT is to improve the reliability and speed of loading multiplexers/demultiplexers (MDMs) in the Software Development and Integration Laboratory (SDIL) by automating the configuration management (CM) of the loads in the MDMs, automating the loading procedure, and providing the capability to load multiple or all MDMs concurrently. This loading may be accomplished in parallel, or single MDMs (remote). The MDMLT is a Web-based tool that is capable of loading the entire International Space Station (ISS) MDM configuration in parallel. It is able to load Flight Equivalent Units (FEUs), enhanced, standard, and prototype MDMs as well as both EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory) and SSMMU (Solid State Mass Memory Unit) (MASS Memory). This software has extensive configuration management to track loading history, and the performance improvement means of loading the entire ISS MDM configuration of 49 MDMs in approximately 30 minutes, as opposed to 36 hours, which is what it took previously utilizing the flight method of S-Band uplink. The laptop version recently added to the MDMLT suite allows remote lab loading with the CM of information entered into a common database when it is reconnected to the network. This allows the program to reconfigure the test rigs quickly between shifts, allowing the lab to support a variety of onboard configurations during a single day, based on upcoming or current missions. The MDMLT Computer Software Configuration Item (CSCI) supports a Web-based command and control interface to the user. An interface to the SDIL File Transfer Protocol (FTP) server is supported to import Integrated Flight Loads (IFLs) and Internal Product Release Notes (IPRNs) into the database. An interface to the Monitor and Control System (MCS) is supported to control the power state, and to enable or disable the debug port of the MDMs to be loaded. Two direct interfaces to the MDM are supported: a serial interface (debug port) to receive MDM memory dump data and the calculated checksum, and the Small Computer System Interface (SCSI) to transfer load files to MDMs with hard disks. File transfer from the MDM Loading Tool to EEPROM within the MDM is performed via the MILSTD- 1553 bus, making use of the Real- Time Input/Output Processors (RTIOP) when using the rig-based MDMLT, and via a bus box when using the laptop MDMLT. The bus box is a cost-effective alternative to PC-1553 cards for the laptop. It is noted that this system can be modified and adapted to any avionic laboratory for spacecraft computer loading, ship avionics, or aircraft avionics where multiple configurations and strong configuration management of software/firmware loads are required