bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Teachers as significant others: gender differences in secondary school pupils' perceptions
Authors: Tatar Moshe 
Published: May 2011

Background. Numerous studies refer to the impact of parents and friends as significant others for adolescents. Given the unique nature of the relationships between teachers and their pupils and their intensive everyday interactions, the present study focuses on a not yet covered topic, namely the meanings that adolescents attach to the significance of their teachers.Aims. This study was aimed at examining gender differences in secondary school pupils' perceptions regarding positive and negative aspects of the significance of their teachers, and to investigate the possible different domains in which teachers as compared with parents and friends might be significant for the adolescents.Samples. A total of 297 Israeli secondary school pupils (approximately 57 per cent girls and 43 per cent boys) studying in 12 tenth grade classes (age modal 16) participated in this study.Methods. A questionnaire dealing with pupils' perceptions of significant teachers was administered. Pupils were asked to indicate the extent to which significant teachers are characterised by various descriptors (it was defined for the pupils that a significant teacher is one whom the pupil perceives as having an important influence on her/him). In addition pupils were asked to answer two open‐ended questions regarding the domains in which teachers, as compared to their parents and their friends, might be significant for them.Results. Findings showed that the most frequently mentioned characteristics of significant teachers were: teachers who ‘take pupils seriously’, ‘have confidence in them’, ‘make it easier for them to understand things' and ‘push them to do well’. It was also found that girls, more than boys, characterise significant teachers as facilitating learning and relationships; and that boys, more than girls, perceive significant teachers as obstructing their personal development.Conclusions. Our findings allude to the high potential that teachers may have for impact on their pupils, beyond the domain of learning alone, and provide support for the existence of differential perceptions of significant teachers among boys and girls. These gender differences were explained in terms of the different character of teachers' interaction with the two sexes, and the fact that in the Israeli educational system more than 80 per cent of the teaching staff are women.
The effect of cognitive style on learning to write a letter of complaint
Authors: Munro John , Howes David 
Published: May 2011

Background. Cognitive style has been shown to influence several areas of academic learning.Aims. This study examines the influence of one aspect of cognitive style, the verbal‐imagery dimension, on the ability to learn to write a specific type of text, the letter of complaint, taught using genre‐based teaching procedures.Samples. A group of 41 post‐compulsory secondary school students (23 females and 18 males) aged between 15 years 6 months and 16 years 9 months.Methods. The study employed a time series design in which the influence of cognitive style on acquiring components of the text type was monitored during learning. Students wrote letters of complaint under six conditions that matched genre‐based teaching procedures; pre‐ and immediately post exposure to teaching, retention and transfer with and without access to exemplary models of the genre. Prior to involvement, students were assessed as displaying either a verbal, imagery or medial cognitive preference.Results. Cognitive style influenced learning the text type only when there was access to models of it; verbal preferrers used these models better than the imagery preferrers. This influence was greatest for the components of the letter associated with a knowledge of verbal conventions. As well, its influence was greater during the initial learning than on its long term retention.Conclusions. The findings suggest that, in learning to write a genre, cognitive style has a greater influence on the processing of the information presented during teaching than on its long term retention.
Teachers as targets of bullying by their pupils: a study to investigate incidence
Authors: Terry Andrew A. 
Published: May 2011

Background. The relationship between teachers and pupils as a possible medium for bullying behaviour has not figured significantly in research into this area, despite possible consequences with regard to levels of aggressive behaviour generally within schools.Aims. It was argued that bullying might not be restricted to peer‐abuse, but that it may manifest across the peer divide, which for the purposes of this study has been referred to as ‘cross‐peer abuse’. The study specifically examined the ‘cross‐peer abuse’ of teachers by their pupils, and primarily aimed to establish incidence. Secondary considerations were also mooted, however, concerning gender differences, and length of service.Samples. This study acquired data regarding the incidence of bullying against teachers by pupils (N=101) from the teaching staff of seven urban high schools.Methods. Questionnaires were distributed to teaching staff. The questionnaire was explicit in its definition of bullying, in order to pre‐empt subjective perceptions of the behaviour.Results. The results indicate a probability that an incidence of cross‐peer abuse — definable as bullying against teachers by their pupils — exists, both from teachers' self reported data, and that reported regarding their colleagues. Higher incidence for females was found not to be the case. Predictions that less experienced teachers may be more at risk were supported.Conclusions. The results are sufficiently convincing to suggest that the problem is more pervasive than anticipated, and would warrant more substantive research. If, as has been implied by some research, bullying follows a cyclic pattern, then the role of the teacher within that cycle may be regarded as significant. As an additional stress factor for teachers, there may be significant implications for future legal redress, if bully‐abuse by pupils could be established as an intrinsic part of such medical difficulties.
The effectiveness of parents in promoting the development of road crossing skills in young children
Authors: Thomson J.A. , Ampofo‐Boateng K. , Lee D.N. , Grieve R. , Pitcairn T.K. , Demetre J.D. 
Published: May 2011

Background. Young children show poor judgment when asked to select a safe place to cross the road, frequently considering dangerous sites to be safe. Correspondingly, child pedestrian accidents are over‐represented at such locations. Increasing the child's ability to recognise such dangers is a central challenge for road safety education.Aims. Practical training methods have proved effective in improving such judgments but are labour‐intensive, time‐consuming and therefore difficult to implement on a realistic scale. The study examined the possibility that volunteers from the local community might be capable of using such methods to promote children's pedestrian competence.Sample. Sixty children from the Primary 1 (Reception) classes of three Glasgow schools took part. Volunteers were ordinary parents from the same areas. None had ‘formal’ experience of working with children other than through being parents.Method. Volunteers received experience of training children at courses organised in each school. Children learned in small groups, receiving two sessions of roadside training followed by four on a table‐top model. Pre‐ and post‐tests allowed the effectiveness of training to be assessed.Results. Significant improvements relative to controls were found in all children following training. Improvements proved robust and no deterioration was observed two months after the programme ended. Comparison with a previous study in which training was undertaken by highly qualified staff showed that the volunteers were as effective as ‘expert’ trainers.Conclusions. Parent volunteers can significantly increase the pedestrian competence of children as young as five years. They constitute a most valuable ‘resource’ in road safety education. The opportunities afforded by involving the local community in educational interventions should be further explored.
Field independence, cultural context and academic achievement: a commentary
Authors: Bagley Christopher , Mallick Kanka 
Published: May 2011

Background. This review of literature on cross‐cultural aspects of perceptual disembedding skills takes as a starting point a commentary on the Spanish work on field dependence‐independence and scholastic achievements (Tinajero & Páramo, 1997).Aims. To place findings from cross‐cultural psychology on field independence in the context of current literature on multicultural education.Methods. A review of literature, and in particular a review of the authors' studies in this field.Results. It appears that because of the wide variation in abilities in perceptual disembedding between cultures, and the malleability of cognitive styles in migrant children, the concept of cognitive style is more usefully deployed as an indicator of process and change in migration and multicultural education than as a description of basic cognitive processes. Those factors which have influenced change in the direction of children's greater perceptual disembedding skills (urbanisation, migration, exposure to computers and computer games) may also be related to some of the factors responsible for the increase in mean levels of intelligence seen in children in the developed world. The paradox of very high mean scores on the Children's Embedded Figures Test found in studies of Japanese and Chinese 9‐ to 11‐year‐olds, in the absence of identifiable factors which could explain why children in group oriented cultures have such marked abilities in perceptual disembedding, is considered.Conclusion. Multicultural educational practices should not be framed on the presumption that particular ethnic groups possess a particular kind of cognitive style. It is the teacher in the multicultural classroom who should have a field independent cognitive style, so that he or she can accommodate different learning styles in classroom tasks.
ACOUSTICAL STANDARDS NEWS
Authors: Blaeser Susan B. , Schomer Paul D. 
Published: May 2011

American National Standards (ANSI Standards) developed by Accredited Standards Committees S1, S2, S3, and S12 in the areas of acoustics, mechanical vibration and shock, bioacoustics, and noise, respectively, are published by the Acoustical Society of America (ASA). In addition to these standards, ASA publishes catalogs of Acoustical Standards, both National and International. To receive copies of the latest Standards catalogs, please contact Susan B. Blaeser.
Comments are welcomed on all material in Acoustical Standards News.
This Acoustical Standards News section in JASA, as well as the National and International Catalogs of Acoustical Standards, and other information on the Standards Program of the Acoustical Society of America, are available via the ASA home page: http://acousticalsociety.org.
Immune Response of Chicken Gut to Natural Colonization by Gut Microflora and to Salmonella enterica Serovar Enteritidis Infection
Authors: Crhanova Magdalena , Hradecka Helena , Faldynova Marcela , Matulova Marta , Havlickova Hana , Sisak Frantisek , Rychlik Ivan 
Published: May 2011

ABSTRACT

In commercial poultry production, there is a lack of natural flora providers since chickens are hatched in the clean environment of a hatchery. Events occurring soon after hatching are therefore of particular importance, and that is why we were interested in the development of the gut microbial community, the immune response to natural microbial colonization, and the response to
Salmonella enterica
serovar Enteritidis infection as a function of chicken age. The complexity of chicken gut microbiota gradually increased from day 1 to day 19 of life and consisted of
Proteobacteria
and
Firmicutes
. For the first 3 days of life, chicken cecum was protected by increased expression of chicken β-defensins (i.e., gallinacins 1, 2, 4, and 6), expression of which dropped from day 4 of life. On the other hand, a transient increase in interleukin-8 (IL-8) and IL-17 expression could be observed in chicken cecum on day 4 of life, indicating physiological inflammation and maturation of the gut immune system. In agreement, the response of chickens infected with
S
. Enteritidis on days 1, 4, and 16 of life shifted from Th1 (characterized mainly by induction of gamma interferon [IFN-γ] and inducible nitric oxide synthase [iNOS]), observed in younger chickens, to Th17, observed in 16-day-old chickens (characterized mainly by IL-17 induction). Active modification of chicken gut microbiota in the future may accelerate or potentiate the maturation of the gut immune system and increase its resistance to infection with different pathogens.
Histopathological alterations of the parathyroid glands in haemodialysis patients with secondary hyperparathyroidism refractory to cinacalcet hydrochloride
Authors: Sumida Keiichi , Nakamura Michio , Ubara Yoshifumi , Marui Yuji , Tanaka Kiho , Takaichi Kenmei , Tomikawa Shinji , Inoshita Naoko , Ohashi Kenichi 
Published: May 2011

BackgroundCinacalcet treatment for secondary hyperparathyroidism (SHPT) has demonstrated parathyroid size regression and morphological changes, such as cystic degeneration and hypovascularisation, on ultrasonography.; However, there have been very few reports regarding the histopathological alterations of hyperplastic parathyroid glands in patients with SHPT after administration of cinacalcet. The aim of this study was to elucidate the effects of cinacalcet for histopathological alterations on the parathyroid glands.MethodsA total of 92 hyperplastic parathyroid glands were obtained from 24 dialysis patients with severe SHPT who underwent total parathyroidectomy and were enrolled in this study. Patients were divided into those treated with and without cinacalcet (cinacalcet group and conventional group, respectively; both n=12). The areas of oxyphil cells, cystic degeneration, haemorrhagic changes and haemosiderin deposition were assessed semiquantitatively.ResultsTotal maximal parathyroid gland weight and maximal-to-minimal parathyroid gland weight ratio were significantly higher in the cinacalcet group compared with the conventional group (1798.7±1658.3 mg vs 764.2±471.1 mg, p=0.018, 15.8±13.9 vs p=0.047, 6.6±4.2, respectively). Significant increases were observed in oxyphil cell area (61.7%±17.1% vs 36.7%±15.6%, p=0.001) and haemosiderosis score (1.50±1.24 vs 0.42±0.51, p=0.029) in the former rather than the latter group.ConclusionsThese results suggest that cinacalcet may induce specific qualitative alterations of hyperplastic parathyroid glands in patients with severe SHPT.
Excessive dynamic airway collapse for the internist: new nomenclature or different entity?
Authors: Kalra Ankur , Abouzgheib Wissam , Gajera Mithil , Palaniswamy Chandrasekar , Puri Nitin , Dellinger Richard Phillip 
Published: May 2011

ABSTRACT
Excessive dynamic airway collapse (EDAC) refers to abnormal and exaggerated bulging of the posterior wall within the airway lumen during exhalation. This condition is pathological if the reduced airway lumen is &lt;50% of the normal. It is a relatively new disease entity that is recognised more easily now with the increased use of multi-detector row CT. EDAC is often asymptomatic and diagnosed incidentally. Although the term excessive dynamic airway collapse is often used interchangeably with tracheobronchomalacia, both entities represent morphologically and physiologically distinct processes. Considering the confusion between the two entities, the prevalence of stand-alone EDAC remains unclear. The prevalence of tracheobronchomalacia and EDAC depends upon the patient population, associated comorbidities and underlying aetiologies, diagnostic tools used and criteria used to define the airway collapse. This review defines EDAC and describes its pathophysiology, precipitating factors, associated symptoms and potential treatments.
Rhizosphere soil microorganism populations and community structures of different watermelon cultivars with differing resistance to Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. niveum
Authors: An Meijun , Zhou Xingang , Wu Fengzhi , Ma Yafei , Yang Ping 
Published: May 2011

Fusarium wilt is an increasingly serious disease of watermelon that reduces crop productivity. Changes in microorganism populations and bacterial and fungal community structures in rhizosphere soil of watermelon cultivars resistant or susceptible to Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. niveum were investigated using a plate culture method and PCR–DGGE analysis. Plate culture showed that populations of culturable bacteria and actinomycetes were more abundant in the rhizosphere of the resistant watermelon cultivar than the susceptible cultivar, but the fungi population had the opposite pattern. Populations of Penicillium , Fusarium , and Aspergillus were significantly lower in the resistant cultivar than the susceptible cultivar at the fruiting and uprooting stages (p < 0.05). Pattern matching analysis generated the dendrogram of the DGGE results indicating the relatedness of the different resistant watermelon cultivars and their corresponding rhizosphere microbial communities. Further sequencing analysis of specific bands from DGGE profiles indicated that different groups of bacteria and fungi occurred in the rhizosphere of different watermelon cultivars. Our results demonstrated that plant genotype had a significant impact on soil microbial community structure, and the differences in the rhizosphere microbial community may contribute to the differences in resistance to F. oxysporum f. sp. niveum.
Local bacteriophage isolates showed anti-Escherichia coliO157:H7 potency in an experimental ligated rabbit ileal loop model
Authors: Alam Muntasir , Akhter Marufa Zerin , Yasmin Mahmuda , Ahsan Chowdhury Rafiqul , Nessa Jamalun 
Published: May 2011

Escherichia coli O157:H7 is considered among the most important recently emerged food-borne bacteria causing severe hemorrhagic diarrhea. Antibiotic treatment is not recommended as a prospective curative agent against this pathogen. Therefore, potency assessment of the local lytic phage isolates infecting E. coli O157:H7 as an alternate remedy to antibiotics was the principal concern of this study. Phage isolates against E. coli O157:H7 were checked by polymerase chain reaction for the presence of the virulence genes stx1 and stx2, and the safe phages were further screened in vitro for their capacity as biocontrol agents. Two bacteriophage strains, namely PAH6 and P2BH2, that had expressed potential antibacterial activity (P < 0.05) in vitro were selected for in vivo testing in ligated rabbit ileal loop models. Both phage isolates were capable of decreasing fluid accumulation in rabbit ileal loops along with reducing bacterial growth (r = 0.992). Combined application of the phages was found most satisfactory, reducing seven log cycles of bacterial growth. Consistent results in both in vivo and in vitro experiments demonstrate the applicability of bacteriophages as a rapid response tool against E. coli O157:H7. To our knowledge, this is the first successful application of the rabbit ileal loop test for therapeutic evaluation of bacteriophages.
Cdr2p contributes to fluconazole resistance in Candida dubliniensis clinical isolates
Authors: Borecká Silvia , Pinjon Emmanuelle , Sullivan Derek J. , Kuchler Karl , Blaško Jaroslav , Kulková Naďa , Bujdáková Helena 
Published: May 2011

The development of resistance to azole antifungals used in the treatment of fungal infections can be a serious medical problem. Here, we investigate the molecular mechanisms associated with reduced susceptibility to fluconazole in clinical isolates of Candida dubliniensis , showing evidence of the trailing growth phenomenon. The changes in membrane sterol composition were studied in the presence of subinhibitory fluconazole concentrations. Despite lanosterol and eburicol accumulating as the most prevalent sterols after fluconazole treatment, these ergosterol precursors still support growth of Candida isolates. The overexpression of ABC transporters was demonstrated by immunoblotting employing specific antibodies against Cdr1p and Cdr2p. The presence of a full-length 170 kDa protein Cdr1p was detected in two isolates, while a truncated form of Cdr1p with the molecular mass of 85 kDa was observed in isolate 966/3(2). Notably, Cdr2p was detected in this isolate, and the expression of this transporter was modulated by subinhibitory concentrations of fluconazole. These results suggest that C. dubliniensis can display the trailing growth phenomenon, and such isolates express similar molecular mechanisms like that of fluconazole-resistant isolates and can therefore be associated with recurrent infections.
Hedgehog-Producing Cancer Cells Respond to and Require Autocrine Hedgehog Activity
Authors: Singh Samer , Wang Zhiqiang , Liang Fei Dennis , Black Kendall E. , Goetz John A. , Tokhunts Robert , Giambelli Camilla , Rodriguez-Blanco Jezabel , Long Jun , Lee Ethan , Briegel Karoline J. , Bejarano Pablo A. , Dmitrovsky Ethan , Capobianco Anthony J. , Robbins David J. 
Published: May 2011

Abstract
A number of Smoothened (SMO) pathway antagonists are currently undergoing clinical trials as anticancer agents. These drugs are proposed to attenuate tumor growth solely through inhibition of Hedgehog (HH), which is produced in tumor cells but acts on tumor stromal cells. The pivotal argument underlying this model is that the growth-inhibitory properties of SMO antagonists on HH-producing cancer cells are due to their off-target effects. Here, we show that the tumorigenic properties of such lung cancer cells depend on their intrinsic level of HH activity. Notably, reducing HH signaling in these tumor cells decreases HH target gene expression. Taken together, these results question the dogma that autocrine HH signaling plays no role in HH-dependent cancers, and does so without using SMO antagonists. Cancer Res; 71(13); 4454–63. ©2011 AACR.