New Lessons: The Power of Educating Adolescent Girls

Offers data and analysis on the impact of education on adolescent girls' lives and highlights promising approaches. Calls for evaluating girl-friendly education programs, compiling data on non-formal schools, and improving curricula, access, and supports

Work Motivation and Perceived Organizational Effectiveness in Middle Schools.

The primary purpose of this study was to determine the linkage between work motivation derived from the expectancy theory and perceived organizational effectiveness derived from the Parsonian framework. School characteristics of community type, school size, and school socioeconomic status were used as predictor variables in the study. A secondary purpose was to examine these linkages in middle schools and to examine changes over time. Mixed methodologies, including quantitative and qualitative research techniques, were employed. The data were analyzed using the school and the individual teacher as units of analyses. To test the hypotheses, a multiple regression procedure was employed. The quantitative results of this study, based on a survey in 30 middle schools which included the perceptions of 659 middle school teachers, showed that work motivation and the three school characteristics were significant predictors of perceived organizational effectiveness when using the individual teacher as the unit of analysis. School size was found to be the best predictor of the criterion variable when using the school or the individual teacher as the unit of analysis. In the four middle schools selected as case study schools, middle school teachers were observed and interviewed at the end of the first semester The findings are presented as case analyses and as a cross case analysis between schools. The four case studies were conducted to further investigate the perceptions of middle school teachers on work motivation and organizational effectiveness. The case studies supported the hypotheses and added additional depth to the study. The interview questions revealed additional findings about teacher expectations, student effect on effort levels, and middle school teachers need for feedback. Although the cross case analysis revealed many differences between the schools, the schools were generally divided into the following groups: schools with teachers with high forces of work motivation and schools with teachers with low forces of work motivation. The groups were similar in teacher certification and experience, mean ages of teachers, and teacher expectations. As organizational effectiveness becomes more accepted as a multi-dimensional concept and with accurate measures of these complex variables, greater understandings of schools as organizations are possible

Schwannomatosis of the Spinal Accessory Nerve: A Case Report.

Schwannomatosis is a distinct syndrome characterized by multiple peripheral nerve schwannomas that can be sporadic or familial in nature. Cases affecting the lower cranial nerves are infrequent. Here, the authors present a rare case of schwannomatosis affecting the left spinal accessory nerve. Upon genetic screening, an in-frame insertion at codon p.R177 of the Sox 10 gene was observed. There were no identifiable alterations in NF1, NF2, LZTR1, and SMARCB1. This case demonstrates a rare clinical presentation of schwannomatosis in addition to a genetic aberration that has not been previously reported in this disease context

Serotyping of Toxoplasma gondii Infection Using Peptide Membrane Arrays.

The intracellular parasite Toxoplasma gondii can cause chronic infections in most warm-blooded animals, including humans. In the USA, strains belonging to four different Toxoplasma clonal lineages (types 1, 2, 3, and 12) are commonly isolated, whereas strains not belonging to these lineages are predominant in other continents such as South America. Strain type plays a pivotal role in determining the severity of Toxoplasma infection. Therefore, it is epidemiologically relevant to develop a non-invasive and inexpensive method for determining the strain type in Toxoplasma infections and to correlate the genotype with disease outcome. Serological typing is based on the fact that many host antibodies are raised against immunodominant parasite proteins that are highly polymorphic between strains. However, current serological assays can only reliably distinguish type 2 from non-type 2 infections. To improve these assays, mouse, rabbit, and human infection serum were reacted against 950 peptides from 62 different polymorphic Toxoplasma proteins by using cellulose membrane peptide arrays. This allowed us to identify the most antigenic peptides and to pinpoint the most relevant polymorphisms that determine strain specificity. Our results confirm the utility of previously described peptides and identify novel peptides that improve and increase the specificity of the assay. In addition, a large number of novel proteins showed potential to be used for Toxoplasma diagnosis. Among these, peptides derived from several rhoptry, dense granule, and surface proteins represented promising candidates that may be used in future experiments to improve Toxoplasma serotyping. Moreover, a redesigned version of the published GRA7 typing peptide performed better and specifically distinguished type 3 from non-type 3 infections in sera from mice, rabbits, and humans

Approaches to Manipulating the Dimensionality and Physicochemical Properties of Common Cellular Scaffolds

A major hurdle in studying biological systems and administering effective tissue engineered therapies is the lack of suitable cell culture models that replicate the dynamic nature of cell-microenvironment interactions. Advances in the field of surface chemistry and polymer science have allowed researchers to develop novel methodologies to manipulate materials to be extrinsically tunable. Usage of such materials in modeling tissues in vitro has offered valuable insights into numerous cellular processes including motility, invasion, and alterations in cell morphology. Here, we discuss novel techniques devised to more closely mimic cell-tissue interactions and to study cell response to distinct physico-chemical changes in biomaterials, with an emphasis on the manipulation of collagen scaffolds. The benefits and pitfalls associated with using collagen are discussed in the context of strategies proposed to control the engineered microenvironment. Tunable systems such as these offer the ability to alter individual features of the microenvironment in vitro, with the promise that the molecular basis of mechanotransduction in vivo may be laid out in future

Knowledge Management and Innovation on Firm Performance of United States Ship Repair

With the decreasing labor forces throughout the United States, if leadership of the ship repair industry does not incorporate knowledge sharing and innovation into their daily business practices, knowledge will be lost during employee departures and turnover of teams from project-to-project, resulting in decreasing firm performance within their organizations. This was a correlation study to determine if there was a correlation between knowledge management, innovation, and firm performance. Data were collected from 69 CEO/Presidents, Human Resource personnel, or members in leadership positions of the Virginia Ship Repair Association in the mid-Atlantic region of the United States. The theoretical framework for this study was the unified model of dynamic knowledge creation with the key constructs of the socialization, externalization, combination, and internalization process; places of knowledge sharing, whether they are virtual, physical, or mental; and leadership. Data collection occurred through an online survey. Multiple linear regression analyses significantly predicted the dependent variable, F(2, 66) = 17.33, p = .000, R2 = .344. Increasing knowledge sharing and innovation practices provides for positive social change for the personnel of these organizations, since the skills they learn within their organizations are immediately usable in their personal endeavors in their churches, neighborhoods, and family relationships and are transferrable to those they interact with outside of their organizations

Differential screening identifies transcripts with depot-dependent expression in white adipose tissues

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The co-morbidities of obesity are tied to location of excess fat in the intra-abdominal as compared to subcutaneous white adipose tissue (WAT) depot. Genes distinctly expressed in WAT depots may impart depot-dependent physiological functions. To identify such genes, we prepared subtractive cDNA libraries from murine subcutaneous (SC) or intra-abdominal epididymal (EP) white adipocytes.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Differential screening and qPCR validation identified 7 transcripts with 2.5-fold or greater enrichment in EP <it>vs</it>. SC adipocytes. Boc, a component of the hedgehog signaling pathway demonstrated highest enrichment (~12-fold) in EP adipocytes. We also identified a dramatic enrichment in SC adipocytes <it>vs</it>. EP adipocytes and in SC WAT <it>vs</it>. EP WAT for transcript(s) for the major urinary proteins (Mups), small secreted proteins with pheromone functions that are members of the lipocalin family. Expression of Boc and Mup transcript was further assessed in murine tissues, adipogenesis models, and obesity. qPCR analysis reveals that EP WAT is a major site of expression of Boc transcript. Furthermore, Boc transcript expression decreased in obese EP WAT with a concomitant upregulation of Boc transcript in the obese SC WAT depot. Assessment of the Boc binding partner Cdon in adipose tissue and cell fractions thereof, revealed transcript expression similar to Boc; suggestive of a role for the Boc-Cdon axis in WAT depot function. Mup transcripts were predominantly expressed in liver and in the SC and RP WAT depots and increased several thousand-fold during differentiation of primary murine preadipocytes to adipocytes. Mup transcripts were also markedly reduced in SC WAT and liver of <it>ob/ob </it>genetically obese mice compared to wild type.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Further assessment of WAT depot-enriched transcripts may uncover distinctions in WAT depot gene expression that illuminate the physiological impact of regional adiposity.</p