English-for-teaching:rethinking teacher proficiency in the classroom

The expansion of English teaching in state education systems places increasing demands on English language teachers and how they are trained. A major thrust of these efforts has focused on improving teachers' English language proficiency. This expectation is manifested in policy and pedagogical directives that teachers 'teach English in English'. We argue for a reconceptualization of teacher language proficiency, not as general English proficiency but as a specialized subset of language skills required to prepare and teach lessons. This concept of English-for-Teaching as a bounded form of English for Specific Purposes (ESP) for the classroom builds on what teachers know about teaching, while introducing and confirming specific classroom language. This article describes how the construct was developed and then describes sample classroom tasks and the language needed to enact them in three major areas: managing the classroom, understanding and communicating lesson content, and assessing students and giving feedback.

Television Watching, Diet Quality, and Physical Activity and Diabetes among Three Ethnicities in the United States

Diabetes is a world-wide epidemic associated with multiple environmental factors. Prolonged television viewing (TV) time has been related to increased risk of obesity and type 2 diabetes in several studies. TV viewing has been positively associated with cardiovascular disease risk factors, lower energy expenditure, over-eating high-calorie and high-fat foods. The objective of this study was to assess the associations of hours of TV viewing with dietary quality, obesity and physical activity for three ethnic minorities with and without type 2 diabetes. Diet quality and physical activity were inversely related to prolonged TV viewing. African Americans and participants with type 2 diabetes were more likely to watch more than 4 hours of TV per day as compared to their counterparts. Diet quality was inversely associated with physical activity level. Future studies are needed to establish the risk factors of prolonged TV watching in adult populations for the development of diabetes or diabetes-related complications. Although strategies to reduce TV watching have been proven effective among children, few trials have been conducted in adults. Intervention trials aimed at reducing TV viewing targeting people with type 2 diabetes may be beneficial to improve dietary quality and physical activity, which may reduce diabetes complications.

Current State of Management/Union Relations in Hospitality Sector

Labor management relations in the hospitality sector is an important aspect of effective management. Increasingly, unions are becoming proactive in organizing hospitality workers. This manifests itself in strikes, boycotts, picketing, sexual harassment complaints, and complaints to OSHA regarding safety and health workplace violations. This research monitors the current scene with respect to labor management relations and analyzes work issues that have been brought up for third-party resolution by NLRB staff or arbitrators. The study reports on 66 NLRB cases and 104 arbitration cases. Issues brought before the NLRB include mostly contract interpretations. In arbitration, there were mostly discipline issues, including work rule violations, disorderly conduct, poor performance and employee theft. Quite often, the proposed job action on the part of the employer was discharge. In NLRB cases, the employee usually prevailed, while in arbitration the employer usually prevailed.

Television Watching, Diet Quality, Physical Activity and Diabetes Among Three Ethnicities in the United States

Diabetes is a world-wide epidemic associated with multiple environmental factors. Prolonged television viewing (TV) time has been related to increased risk of obesity and type 2 diabetes in several studies. TV viewing has been positively associated with cardiovascular disease risk factors, lower energy expenditure, over-eating high-calorie and high-fat foods. The objective of this study was to assess the associations of hours of TV viewing with dietary quality, obesity and physical activity for three ethnic minorities with and without type 2 diabetes. Diet quality and physical activity were inversely related to prolonged TV viewing. African Americans and participants with type 2 diabetes were more likely to watch more than 4 hours of TV per day as compared to their counterparts. Diet quality was inversely associated with physical activity level. Future studies are needed to establish the risk factors of prolonged TV watching in adult populations for the development of diabetes or diabetes-related complications. Although strategies to reduce TV watching have been proven effective among children, few trials have been conducted in adults. Intervention trials aimed at reducing TV viewing targeting people with type 2 diabetes may be beneficial to improve dietary quality and physical activity, which may reduce diabetes complications.

Contemporary Global Spirituality

Professor Nathan Katz of the School of International and Public Affairs at Florida International University lectures on the claims of spirituality and religiosity of Americans in today's society. Lecture was held at the Moye Chapel of the Coral Gables Congregational Church on April 18, 2014.

Beyond Swastika and Jim Crow - a Black-Jewish Dialogue

The Coral Gables Museum hosts a panel discussion on the subject of the challenges and struggles faced by both African American and Jewish communities in South Florida. Panelists include Rabbi Solomon Schiff, former Executive Director of the Greater Miami Rabbinical Association Ms. Bea Hines, religion columnist for the Miami Herald Rev. Gregory Pope, Instructor in Religious Studies at Florida International University Dr. Oren Stier, Associate Professor and Director of Holocaust Studies at Florida Internationa University and moderator Dr Nathan Katz, Distinguished Professor and Director of Jewish Studies at Florida International University

Mechanistic Models of Anti-HIV Microbicide Drug Delivery

A new modality for preventing HIV transmission is emerging in the form of topical microbicides. Some clinical trials have shown some promising results of these methods of protection while other trials have failed to show efficacy. Due to the relatively novel nature of microbicide drug transport, a rigorous, deterministic analysis of that transport can help improve the design of microbicide vehicles and understand results from clinical trials. This type of analysis can aid microbicide product design by helping understand and organize the determinants of drug transport and the potential efficacies of candidate microbicide products.

Microbicide drug transport is modeled as a diffusion process with convection and reaction effects in appropriate compartments. This is applied here to vaginal gels and rings and a rectal enema, all delivering the microbicide drug Tenofovir. Although the focus here is on Tenofovir, the methods established in this dissertation can readily be adapted to other drugs, given knowledge of their physical and chemical properties, such as the diffusion coefficient, partition coefficient, and reaction kinetics. Other dosage forms such as tablets and fiber meshes can also be modeled using the perspective and methods developed here.

The analyses here include convective details of intravaginal flows by both ambient fluid and spreading gels with different rheological properties and applied volumes. These are input to the overall conservation equations for drug mass transport in different compartments. The results are Tenofovir concentration distributions in time and space for a variety of microbicide products and conditions. The Tenofovir concentrations in the vaginal and rectal mucosal stroma are converted, via a coupled reaction equation, to concentrations of Tenofovir diphosphate, which is the active form of the drug that functions as a reverse transcriptase inhibitor against HIV. Key model outputs are related to concentrations measured in experimental pharmacokinetic (PK) studies, e.g. concentrations in biopsies and blood. A new measure of microbicide prophylactic functionality, the Percent Protected, is calculated. This is the time dependent volume of the entire stroma (and thus fraction of host cells therein) in which Tenofovir diphosphate concentrations equal or exceed a target prophylactic value, e.g. an EC50.

Results show the prophylactic potentials of the studied microbicide vehicles against HIV infections. Key design parameters for each are addressed in application of the models. For a vaginal gel, fast spreading at small volume is more effective than slower spreading at high volume. Vaginal rings are shown to be most effective if inserted and retained as close to the fornix as possible. Because of the long half-life of Tenofovir diphosphate, temporary removal of the vaginal ring (after achieving steady state) for up to 24h does not appreciably diminish Percent Protected. However, full steady state (for the entire stromal volume) is not achieved until several days after ring insertion. Delivery of Tenofovir to the rectal mucosa by an enema is dominated by surface area of coated mucosa and whether the interiors of rectal crypts are filled with the enema fluid. For the enema 100% Percent Protected is achieved much more rapidly than for vaginal products, primarily because of the much thinner epithelial layer of the mucosa. For example, 100% Percent Protected can be achieved with a one minute enema application, and 15 minute wait time.

Results of these models have good agreement with experimental pharmacokinetic data, in animals and clinical trials. They also improve upon traditional, empirical PK modeling, and this is illustrated here. Our deterministic approach can inform design of sampling in clinical trials by indicating time periods during which significant changes in drug concentrations occur in different compartments. More fundamentally, the work here helps delineate the determinants of microbicide drug delivery. This information can be the key to improved, rational design of microbicide products and their dosage regimens.

Potential Cost-effectiveness of Early Identification of Hospital-acquired Infection in Critically Ill Patients.

RATIONALE: Limitations in methods for the rapid diagnosis of hospital-acquired infections often delay initiation of effective antimicrobial therapy. New diagnostic approaches offer potential clinical and cost-related improvements in the management of these infections. OBJECTIVES: We developed a decision modeling framework to assess the potential cost-effectiveness of a rapid biomarker assay to identify hospital-acquired infection in high-risk patients earlier than standard diagnostic testing. METHODS: The framework includes parameters representing rates of infection, rates of delayed appropriate therapy, and impact of delayed therapy on mortality, along with assumptions about diagnostic test characteristics and their impact on delayed therapy and length of stay. Parameter estimates were based on contemporary, published studies and supplemented with data from a four-site, observational, clinical study. Extensive sensitivity analyses were performed. The base-case analysis assumed 17.6% of ventilated patients and 11.2% of nonventilated patients develop hospital-acquired infection and that 28.7% of patients with hospital-acquired infection experience delays in appropriate antibiotic therapy with standard care. We assumed this percentage decreased by 50% (to 14.4%) among patients with true-positive results and increased by 50% (to 43.1%) among patients with false-negative results using a hypothetical biomarker assay. Cost of testing was set at $110/d. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: In the base-case analysis, among ventilated patients, daily diagnostic testing starting on admission reduced inpatient mortality from 12.3 to 11.9% and increased mean costs by $1,640 per patient, resulting in an incremental cost-effectiveness ratio of $21,389 per life-year saved. Among nonventilated patients, inpatient mortality decreased from 7.3 to 7.1% and costs increased by $1,381 with diagnostic testing. The resulting incremental cost-effectiveness ratio was $42,325 per life-year saved. Threshold analyses revealed the probabilities of developing hospital-acquired infection in ventilated and nonventilated patients could be as low as 8.4 and 9.8%, respectively, to maintain incremental cost-effectiveness ratios less than $50,000 per life-year saved. CONCLUSIONS: Development and use of serial diagnostic testing that reduces the proportion of patients with delays in appropriate antibiotic therapy for hospital-acquired infections could reduce inpatient mortality. The model presented here offers a cost-effectiveness framework for future test development.

Relación entre el nivel de escolaridad alcanzado y el patrón de actividad física en una población de la Provincia de Buenos Aires, Argentina

Introducción. Los hábitos y estilos de vida caracterizan el perfil de riesgo para las enfermedades crónicas no transmisibles. La actividad física regular es un componente importante para configurar una vida saludable pero existen condicionamientos socioculturales para mantener un estilo de vida activo. Objetivo. Conocer los patrones de actividad física de una población e identificar la relación entre el nivel de actividad física y los años de escolaridad alcanzados. Material y método. Población 2177 individuos entre 15 y 64 años de edad de ambos sexos distribuidos en 5 rangos etarios. Se aplicóun cuestionario estructurado autoadministrado, basado en recomendaciones del Countrywide Integrated non comunicable diseases Intervention (CINDI) Programe, de la OMS. Variables analizadas: Nivel educacional, grado de dependencia laboral, actividad física laboral (AFL), actividad física de tiempo libre (AFTL), actividad física de transporte (AFT). Las variables cualitativas fueron probadas por el test de chi cuadrado. Resultados. El nivel de escolaridad alcanzado muestra una relación significativa con el nivel de AFTL. La prevalencia de AFTL baja en varones fue del 65 y en mujeres del 69. Conclusión. La población es mayormente inactiva en su tiempo libre. Los años de escolaridad se relacionan inversamente con el nivel de actividad física laboral y directamente con el nivel de actividad física de tiempo libre

¿Las buenas prácticas, serán tan buenas y replicables?

La presente ponencia pertenece al proyecto de investigación Comisión Universitaria sobre Discapacidad: Cimientos para la construcción de una Universidad Pública Accesible, a desarrollarse entre los años 2014 y 2015, en el marco del programa de incentivos a la investigación (Ministerio de Educación de la Nación ? Universidades Nacionales) . Lo expuesto en esta comunicación forma parte de los resultados parciales obtenidos a partir de un análisis preliminar sobre ciertas voces y términos rastreados por los integrantes del equipo a través del análisis de distintos protocolos, manuales, informes y guías en pos de favorecer la accesibilidad y la inclusión de las personas con discapacidad en la Educación Superior. En tal sentido y al decir de Bourdieu (2008) la forma de designar, nominar, titular, implica ?poder? que guarda necesariamente un posicionamiento, un discurso y una práctica por lo cual, después de un largo debate entre los integrantes del equipo de investigación , opinamos que el término buenas prácticas no es el más pertinentes, ya que toda experiencia es un proceso único y en este caso atravesado y constituido por una relación de subjetividades y trayectorias también únicas, en tal sentido intentamos, proponemos dejar de lado el "uso" de las buenas prácticas para poder abrir caminos hacia la aplicación simplemente de "Prácticas Sociales"

Relación entre el nivel de escolaridad alcanzado y el patrón de actividad física en una población de la Provincia de Buenos Aires, Argentina

Introducción. Los hábitos y estilos de vida caracterizan el perfil de riesgo para las enfermedades crónicas no transmisibles. La actividad física regular es un componente importante para configurar una vida saludable pero existen condicionamientos socioculturales para mantener un estilo de vida activo. Objetivo. Conocer los patrones de actividad física de una población e identificar la relación entre el nivel de actividad física y los años de escolaridad alcanzados. Material y método. Población 2177 individuos entre 15 y 64 años de edad de ambos sexos distribuidos en 5 rangos etarios. Se aplicóun cuestionario estructurado autoadministrado, basado en recomendaciones del Countrywide Integrated non comunicable diseases Intervention (CINDI) Programe, de la OMS. Variables analizadas: Nivel educacional, grado de dependencia laboral, actividad física laboral (AFL), actividad física de tiempo libre (AFTL), actividad física de transporte (AFT). Las variables cualitativas fueron probadas por el test de chi cuadrado. Resultados. El nivel de escolaridad alcanzado muestra una relación significativa con el nivel de AFTL. La prevalencia de AFTL baja en varones fue del 65 y en mujeres del 69. Conclusión. La población es mayormente inactiva en su tiempo libre. Los años de escolaridad se relacionan inversamente con el nivel de actividad física laboral y directamente con el nivel de actividad física de tiempo libre

¿Las buenas prácticas, serán tan buenas y replicables?

La presente ponencia pertenece al proyecto de investigación Comisión Universitaria sobre Discapacidad: Cimientos para la construcción de una Universidad Pública Accesible, a desarrollarse entre los años 2014 y 2015, en el marco del programa de incentivos a la investigación (Ministerio de Educación de la Nación ? Universidades Nacionales) . Lo expuesto en esta comunicación forma parte de los resultados parciales obtenidos a partir de un análisis preliminar sobre ciertas voces y términos rastreados por los integrantes del equipo a través del análisis de distintos protocolos, manuales, informes y guías en pos de favorecer la accesibilidad y la inclusión de las personas con discapacidad en la Educación Superior. En tal sentido y al decir de Bourdieu (2008) la forma de designar, nominar, titular, implica ?poder? que guarda necesariamente un posicionamiento, un discurso y una práctica por lo cual, después de un largo debate entre los integrantes del equipo de investigación , opinamos que el término buenas prácticas no es el más pertinentes, ya que toda experiencia es un proceso único y en este caso atravesado y constituido por una relación de subjetividades y trayectorias también únicas, en tal sentido intentamos, proponemos dejar de lado el "uso" de las buenas prácticas para poder abrir caminos hacia la aplicación simplemente de "Prácticas Sociales"

Amino acid racemization for several DSDP samples (Table 1)

Kinetic parameters for the epimerization of isoleucine in multispecific foraminiferal asemblages were used to establish the effects of burial depth and the geothermal gradient on the extent of reaction. It was observed that with a little as thirty meters of burial in a normal thermal regime there were differences between the extent of epimerization measured and that which would have been predicted for thermal equilibrium with bottom water temperatures. As would be expected, these differences are greatest when the heat flow (the geothermal gradient) and/or the sedimentation rates are highest. These effects were observed in most of the DSDP samples studied, and have been used to estimate the average heat flux since the time of sample deposition. Occasional anomalous effects were observed which could not be related to past or present heat flux. These were determined to be due to such geologic occurrences as slumping and reworking or to recent sample contamination. Other problems emerged related to bottom water temperatures including changes over geologic time which are unknown and could not be deduced. Thus, the presence of epimerization anomalies in DSDP cores as noted above limits the effectiveness of amino acid geochronology in such cores, unless these anomalies can be recognized as ab initio.