Teacher professional development variously supports ongoing skill development, new knowledge, and systems change. In New Zealand, the implementation of major assessment reforms in senior secondary ...schools provided opportunity to investigate teacher professional development as a function of the particular stage of an educational reform. Multi-method data sources including teacher surveys and school case studies were employed to evaluate professional development during the embedding stage of a standards-based assessment system, revealing a positive relationship between professional satisfaction and teacher involvement in setting priorities for the professional development. Other positive features were networking, personalized learning, and facilitator expertise. This research illustrates the importance of tailoring professional learning to implementation phase of an organizational change.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK
Cartilage or bone regeneration approaches based on the direct injection of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) at the lesion site encounter several challenges, related to uncontrolled cell spreading and ...differentiation, reduced cell viability and poor engrafting. This work presents a simple and versatile strategy based on the synergic combination of in-situ forming hydrogels and spheroids of adipose stem cells (SASCs) with great potential for minimally invasive regenerative interventions aimed to threat bone and cartilage defects. Aqueous dispersions of partially degalactosylated xyloglucan (dXG) are mixed with SASCs derived from liposuction and either a chondroinductive or an osteoinductive medium. The dispersions rapidly set into hydrogels when temperature is brought to 37 °C. The physico-chemical and mechanical properties of the hydrogels are controlled by polymer concentration. The hydrogels, during 21 day incubation at 37 °C, undergo significant structural rearrangements that support cell proliferation and spreading. In formulations containing 1%w dXG cell viability increases up to 300% for SASCs-derived osteoblasts and up to 1000% for SASCs-derived chondrocytes if compared with control 2D cultures. The successful differentiation into the target cells is supported by the expression of lineage-specific genes. Cell-cell and cell-matrix interactions are also investigated. All formulations resulted injectable, and the incorporated cells are fully viable after injection.
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•Partially degalactosilated xyloglucan (dXG) dispersed in inductive media rapidly set into gels at 37°C•The physical networks undergo significant reorganization during incubation for 21 days•Gels provide control of stem cell differentiation towards a single cell lineage•1%w dXG gels show 300% viability for osteocytes and 1000% in chondrocytes after 21 days.•Cells mixed with the gels and injected through small gauge syringe needles retain viability
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
Purpose
This study was conducted to assess the role of atrial function by cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) for the evaluation of diastolic physiology in patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy ...(HCM) compared to healthy controls.
Materials and methods
We enrolled 23 consecutive patients affected by HCM and 43 healthy subjects as age-matched control cases (CC). CMR was performed through acquisition of cine steady-state free precession sequences using a 1.5-T scanner. Image postprocessing was carried out using Tracking Tool software.
Results
Atrial volumes were significantly higher in patients with HCM compared to CC: maximum atrial volume (
p
= 0.007) and minimum atrial volume (
p
= 0.01). A statistically significant difference was also observed in atrial ejection fraction in patients with HCM (
p
< 0.0001). The atrial volume curves defined as cavity volume over time (d
V
/t) showed significant differences: early atrial peak emptying rate (PERE) (maximum rate of emptying independent of atrial contraction) in HCM was −146 ± 53 ml/s versus −227 ± 86 ml/s in CC (
p
< 0.0001); active atrial peak emptying rate (PERA) (maximum rate of emptying secondary to atrial contraction) in HCM was −256 ± 80 ml/s versus −216 ± 104 ml/s in CC (
p
= 0.05); the atrial PER
E
/
A
ratio in HCM was 0.6 ± 0.2 versus 1.05 ± 0.5 in CC (
p
< 0.0001).
Conclusions
This study demonstrated that in HCM patients with early diastolic dysfunction the parameters of left atrial function assessed by CMR are impaired before the ventricular diastolic indexes such as the early peak filling rate and the active peak filling rate.
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EMUNI, FIS, FZAB, GEOZS, GIS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, MFDPS, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, SBMB, SBNM, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK, VKSCE, ZAGLJ
The reactions of fac-Re(CO)3(bpy)(MeOH)(PF6), bpy = 2.2‘-bipyridine, with the TCNX ligands (TCNE = tetracyanoethene, TCNQ = 7,7,8,8-tetracyano-p-quinodimethane, and TCNB = 1,2,4,5-tetracyanobenzene) ...in CH2Cl2 gave very different results. No reaction was observed with TCNB whereas TCNE produced very labile intermediates which converted under mild conditions to structurally characterized {(μ-CN)fac-Re(CO)3(bpy)2}(PF6) with an eclipsed conformation relative to the almost linear Re−CN−Re axis (Re−N(NC) 2.134(8) Å, Re−C(CN) 2.098(8) Å). With TCNQ, a stable tetranuclear complex {(μ4-TCNQ)Re(CO)3(bpy)4}(BF4)4 was obtained. Its structural, electrochemical, and spectroscopic analysis indicates only negligible charge transfer from the rhenium(I) centers to the extremely strong π acceptor TCNQ. Evidence includes a calculated charge of only −0.09 for coordinated TCNQ according to the empirical structure/charge correlation of Kistenmacher, a high-energy nitrile stretching band νCN = 2235 cm-1, and unprecedented large anodic shifts >0.7 V of the reduction potentials. DFT calculations were used to confirm and explain the absence of electron delocalization from the electron-rich metals to the TCNQ acceptor bridge. Correspondingly, the X-band and high-frequency (285 GHz) EPR data (g = 2.007) as well as the IR and UV−vis−NIR spectroelectrochemical results (marginal νCO shifts, TCNQ•- chromophore bands) support the almost exclusive confinement of the added electron in {(μ4-TCNQ)Re(CO)3(bpy)4}3+ to the TCNQ bridge.
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IJS, KILJ, NUK, PNG, UL, UM
Cardiovascular Disease is the number one cause of death in the World. Although advances in treatment and intervention have reduced the mortality rate in patients with coronary artery disease, the ...number of patients with refractory myocardial ischemia and congestive heart failure is rapidly increasing. “Cellular therapy” represents an important new approach in the treatment of cardiovascular disease and the scientific community needs to establish not only the appropriate type and timing of cellular administration but also the diagnostic gold standard to better enable the study of subjects before and after cellular therapy
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IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UL, UM, UPUK
Single mothers are commonly characterized as low-income welfare recipients. In 2010, close to 30% of single mother households were below the poverty line (U.S. Census Bureau, 2010a) conversely ...leaving 70% of single mothers above the poverty line. Being a married working mother is challenging and comes with the need of several supports. With the growing divorce rate and the introduction of women choosing to become single mothers, the numbers of single working mothers are growing rapidly. In order to be a successful single mother certain factors need to be accounted for. This study focused on single mothers who are in high profile professional positions and looked at what supports it took; both internally and externally, to sustain their situations. Some highly regarded, prestigious positions that fell into this category include, but are not limited to, school administrators, writers/authors, successful entrepreneurs, attorneys, doctors, professors, upper level managers/supervisors, and executive directors. Also, this study looked at character traits of the identified mothers to see if there was an inner predisposition that positions them to be able to thrive in difficult situations. The findings suggest that in order for single mothers to succeed they need to establish a strong support network, have a flexible career and demonstrate strong leadership skills ranging from a Lazier Fair approach to a transformative one with a strong mentoring influence and affinity. The results from this study indicate that this population identified as resilient, passionate, and focused about their professional and personal lives. These single mothers are motivated by a high level of passion for both their work, and parenting their children, including providing a comfortable lifestyle and rich involvement in their children’s lives. Their use of support varied and formed a naturally occurring continuum spanning from “no support”, to “support is essential”. This population reported their relational style either increased or decreased in their willingness to seek out and accept assistance from others. In leadership style, this group of single mother professionals scored extremely high in having tendencies towards Transformational leadership and surprisingly, even higher in having tendencies towards Laissez-faire leadership.
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