The purpose of this empirical study was to present a detailed description and interpretation of what happens in schools to beginning teachers who are prepared to enact reform-based practices in mathematics and science...
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The purpose of this empirical study was to present a detailed description and interpretation of what happens in schools to beginning teachers who are prepared to enact reform-based practices in mathematics and science. The focus was on a select sample of graduates from the Maryland Collaborative for Teacher Preparation [MCTP], a statewide reform-based undergraduate teacher preparation program funded by the National Science Foundation. Interpretative research methodology was used to conduct a cultural case study of the beginning teachers' first 2 years of practice (first year, N = 5;second year, N = 3). We documented differential experiences and perceptions of the beginning teachers from both inside (emic) and outside (etic) perspectives. Documented discussion centered on an analytical framework suggested elsewhere. Findings were framed in two components: the individual's intentions, needs, and capabilities;and the institutional demands, affordances, and constraints. The major insight was that the beginning teachers' perception of their school culture was a major factor in whether reform-aligned mathematics and science teaching was regularly implemented by the beginning teachers. In instances where the beginning teachers' perceived that their school cultures offered a lack of support for their intent to implement reform-based practices the beginning teachers exhibited differing social strategies (resistance, moving on, and exit). Therefore, to sustain reform (and, by extension, to retain beginning mathematics and science teachers), a key implication is to place additional attention on the use of the school culture perspective to improve teacher preparation and induction experiences. (C) 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
The development of an educational interface for hands-on student experience with computational fluid dynamics (CFD) for undergraduate and engineering courses and laboratories is discussed. The design of the educationa...
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The development of an educational interface for hands-on student experience with computational fluid dynamics (CFD) for undergraduate and engineering courses and laboratories is discussed. The design of the educational interface teaches students CFD methodology and procedures through interactive implementation that automates the CFD process following a step-by-step approach. Generalizations of CFD for pipe, nozzle and airfoil flows facilitate their use at different universities with different applications, conditions and exercise notes. Evaluation indicates areas of strength and strategies for improvements and more effective implementation.
Phencyclidine (PCP) administration elicits positive and negative symptoms that resemble those of schizophrenia and is widely accepted as a model for the study of this human disorder. Group II metabotropic glutamate re...
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Phencyclidine (PCP) administration elicits positive and negative symptoms that resemble those of schizophrenia and is widely accepted as a model for the study of this human disorder. Group II metabotropic glutamate receptor (mGluR) agonists have been reported to reduce the behavioral and neurochemical effects of PCP. The peptide neurotransmitter, N-acetylaspartylglutamate (NAAG), is a selective group II agonist. We synthesized and characterized a urea-based NAAG analogue, ZJ43. This novel compound is a potent inhibitor of enzymes, glutamate carboxypeptidase II (K-i = 0.8 nm) and III (K-i = 23 nm) that deactivate NAAG following synaptic release. ZJ43 (100 pm) does not directly interact with NMDA receptors or metabotropic glutamate receptors. Administration of ZJ43 significantly reduced PCP-induced motor activation, falling while walking, stereotypic circling behavior, and head movements. To test the hypothesis that this effect of ZJ43 was mediated by increasing the activation of mGluR3 via increased levels of extracellular NAAG, the group II mGluR selective antagonist LY341495 was co-administered with ZJ43 prior to PCP treatment. This antagonist completely reversed the effects of ZJ43. Additionally, LY341495 alone increased PCP-induced motor activity and head movements suggesting that normal levels of NAAG act to moderate the effect of PCP on motor activation via a group II mGluR. These data support the view that NAAG peptidase inhibitors may represent a new therapeutic approach to some of the components of schizophrenia that are modeled by PCP.
Transplantation of neural stem cells (NSCs) can replace lost neurons and improve the functional deficits. Cell transplantation strategies have been tried in the epileptic disorder, but the effect of exogenous NSCs is ...
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Transplantation of neural stem cells (NSCs) can replace lost neurons and improve the functional deficits. Cell transplantation strategies have been tried in the epileptic disorder, but the effect of exogenous NSCs is unknown. In this study, we attempted to test the anti-epileptogenic effect of NSCs in adult rats with status epilepticus. Experimental status epilepticus was induced by lithium-pilocarpine injection, and beta galactosidase-encoded human NSCs were transplanted intravenously on the next day of status epilepticus. Spontaneous recurrent seizures were monitored with Racine's seizure severity scale. Immunohistochemistry with anti-beta gal, Tuj-1, NeuN, GFAP, CNPase, GluR2, parvalbumin, and GABA were performed and extracellular field excitatory postsynaptic potentials (fEPSP) were recorded. Human NSCs suppressed spontaneous recurrent seizure formation and transplanted NSCs were differentiated into GABA-immunoreactive interneurons in the damaged hippocampus. Amplitude of fEPSP in the hippocampal CA1 was reduced, which was reversed by picrotoxin. These findings suggest that NSCs could be differentiated into inhibitory interneurons and decrease neuronal excitability, which could prevent spontaneous recurrent seizure formation in adult rats with pilocarpine-induced status epilepticus. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Although use of the Internet as a vehicle for HIV/STI research is increasing, its viability to recruit at-risk populations such as Hispanic men who have sex with men (HMSM) to participate in community-based HIV studie...
Although use of the Internet as a vehicle for HIV/STI research is increasing, its viability to recruit at-risk populations such as Hispanic men who have sex with men (HMSM) to participate in community-based HIV studies is in its infancy. We report on the first 171 participants enrolled in an ongoing study exploring use of the Internet to recruit Hispanic men who have sex with men ( HMSM) living in Miami-Dade County, Florida to participate in community-based studies. We report our initial success with chat-room recruitment and describe the sexual and drug use practices of the initial set of participants who were recruited through the Internet. In addition, we describe the formative work conducted to develop the Internet recruitment procedures we are testing. In two months, we spent 211 hours recruiting in chat-rooms and engaged 735 chatters. One hundred and seventy-six men came to our community sites;172 (98%) were eligible and completed an audio computer-assisted self-interview. In the previous six months, 94.7% of participants had anal sex;48.9% did not use condoms for anal sex or used them inconsistently;and 48.5% had used club drugs. Six-month use rates for individual drugs were: poppers (31.6%), cocaine (15.8%), ecstasy (14%) and crystal methamphetamines (11.7%). Use of club drugs was significantly associated with unprotected insertive and unprotected receptive anal sex. These initial findings point to the Internet's potential as a tool for recruiting at-risk Hispanic MSM for community studies.
Motivation: The ability to identify protein-protein interaction sites and to detect specific amino acid residues that contribute to the specificity and affinity of protein interactions has important implications for p...
Motivation: The ability to identify protein-protein interaction sites and to detect specific amino acid residues that contribute to the specificity and affinity of protein interactions has important implications for problems ranging from rational drug design to analysis of metabolic and signal transduction networks. Results: We have developed a two-stage method consisting of a support vector machine (SVM) and a Bayesian classifier for predicting surface residues of a protein that participate in protein-protein interactions. This approach exploits the fact that interface residues tend to form clusters in the primary amino acid sequence. Our results show that the proposed two-stage classifier outperforms previously published sequence-based methods for predicting interface residues. We also present results obtained using the two-stage classifier on an independent test set of seven CAPRI (Critical Assessment of PRedicted Interactions) targets. The success of the predictions is validated by examining the predictions in the context of the three-dimensional structures of protein complexes.
The purpose of this phenomenological qualitative study was to describe the lived experience of people who had a neobladder constructed. Men and women with direct and personal knowledge of the experience were interview...
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The purpose of this phenomenological qualitative study was to describe the lived experience of people who had a neobladder constructed. Men and women with direct and personal knowledge of the experience were interviewed. Analyses of transcribed verbatim narratives were conducted. Major and minor themes with clustered subthemes were identified. Selected themes included diagnosing cancer detesting the idea of the bag, coping with stressful events, managing tubes and drains, responding to incontinence, keeping the neobladder healthy, and seeing cancer as a lifelong threat.
In the aftermath of Hurricane Floyd in 1999, a Community Advisory Committee requested assistance from its university partners (University of North Carolina) to address stress and increased risk for intimate partner vi...
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In the aftermath of Hurricane Floyd in 1999, a Community Advisory Committee requested assistance from its university partners (University of North Carolina) to address stress and increased risk for intimate partner violence (IPV). Collected from 12 study work sites, baseline data indicated that IPV rates were higher among blue-collar women in eastern North Carolina than national population-based rates suggest. IPV victims reported higher levels of perceived stress, psychological distress, somatic complaints, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms than did nonvictimized coworkers. As for the relationship of the flood to IPV, no significant increase in IPV incidence occurred after the flood. Regardless of their flood experience, however, IPV victims consistently reported greater stress, PTSD symptoms, and somatic and psychological problems. Moreover, IPV victims may be at higher risk for stress-mediated chronic illnesses and for using negative coping behaviors. This study uses an established trusting relationship between researchers and community members to explore community needs and inform intervention design.
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