Digital Commons Network^™

Tmc Library Holiday Hours; New Class Offered At The Library: Creating Your Own Ebooks; New Mobile Resources Library Guide, Vol, 10 (11), Texas Medical Center Library

Insider Express (2003-2013)

No abstract provided.

Resource Review Of Walking The Equity Talk: A Guide For Culturally Courageous Leadership In School Communities, Tamara M. Chung Constant, Laura A. Valdiviezo

Journal of Applied Research on Children: Informing Policy for Children at Risk

Resource Review of: Walking the Equity Talk: A Guide for Culturally Courageous Leadership in School Communities by Robert Brownell II.

Related Resources, Children At Risk

Journal of Applied Research on Children: Informing Policy for Children at Risk

Related Resources for Volume 3, Issue 2: Measuring Success in Public Education.

The New Futuro College Plan: Facilitating College Access, Elizabeth Romero

Journal of Applied Research on Children: Informing Policy for Children at Risk

Built on a free, bilingual, "high-touch, high-tech" platform, New Futuro has created a robust community of Latino students and parents, non-profit organizations, education institutions, government agencies, and corporations to connect those that need help with those that provide it. One of the resources developed by New Futuro is a proprietary 10-Steps College Plan that provides structured information targeted to Latino students and families to help them prepare, apply and pay for college.

The Problem With Value-Added Measurement, Gary Rubinstein

Journal of Applied Research on Children: Informing Policy for Children at Risk

Measuring student learning through standardized tests is a lot harder than modern education reformers would have you believe.

The Need For Balanced Methods Of Measuring Performance, Michelle Rhee

Journal of Applied Research on Children: Informing Policy for Children at Risk

Michelle Rhee weighs in on measuring success in pubic education.

Commentary On "Alternative Strategies For Identifying High-Performing Charter Schools In Texas", Robin J. Lake

Journal of Applied Research on Children: Informing Policy for Children at Risk

In the last few years policy makers and practitioners nationally have shown much interest in identifying, recognizing, and replicating successful charter schools, many of which are showing that they can educate low-income and otherwise at-risk students remarkably well. However past efforts to identify high performing schools have been problematic. Using these systematic, rigorous value-added methods, the authors identify 44 Open Enrollment charter schools that merit a “high-performer” rating. Nearly all of those campuses identified serve a disadvantaged student population. The article also finds that most of those high performers are highly cost-effective, earning high ratings on the cost-efficiency measures. The …

Commentary On "Expanded Learning Time In Schools", Mike Feinberg

Journal of Applied Research on Children: Informing Policy for Children at Risk

As co-founder of KIPP, I know from experience and research that more time in school works. A well-designed extended-time program can help underserved students catch up academically, and prepare them for the rigors of higher education. Implementing extended time more widely poses challenges, but there are also creative solutions to these challenges.

Commentary On: "For Safety's Sake: A Case Study Of School Security Efforts And Their Impact On Education Reform", Harris Sokoloff

Journal of Applied Research on Children: Informing Policy for Children at Risk

Invited commentary on the article "For Safety’s Sake: A Case Study of School Security Efforts and their Impact on Education Reform" by Rachel Garver and Pedro Noguera.

The Relationship Of Provincial Economic Level And Child Injury Mortality In Thailand: A Cross-Sectional Analysis In A Middle Income Country, Adisak Plitponkarnpim, Ragnar Andersson, Kristen A. Conner, Huiyun Xiang, Gary Smith

Journal of Applied Research on Children: Informing Policy for Children at Risk

The objective of this cross-sectional study was to examine the relationship of provincial economic development indices with incidences of child injury mortality in Thailand from 1999 - 2001. All injury deaths among children age 1-14 years were included. The independent variables included gross provincial product per capita (GPP/c), poverty and inequality indices, material and social deprivation indices, population in rural/ urban areas, and migration. Due to multicollinearity of such variables, the 76 provinces were categorized by GPP/c quartile, and means of overall injury, drowning, and transport-related mortality rates were compared among quartile groups. Spearman’s rho correlation between GPP/c and injury …

Commercial Sexual Exploitation And Missing Children In The Coastal Region Of Sao Paulo State, Brazil, Gilka Jorge Figaro Gattás, Claudia Figaro-Garcia, Tatiana Savoia Landini, Richard J. Estes

Journal of Applied Research on Children: Informing Policy for Children at Risk

The commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC) has emerged as one of the world’s most heinous crimes. The problem affects millions of children worldwide and no country or community is fully immune from its effects. This paper reports first generation research of the relationship that exists between CSEC and the phenomenon of missing children living in and around the coastal regions of the state of Sao Paulo, Brazil, the country’s richest State. Data are reported from interviews and case records of 64 children and adolescents, who were receiving care through a major youth serving non-governmental organization (NGO) located in the …

When Policy Opportunity Is Not Enough: College Access And Enrollment Patterns Among Texas Percent Plan Eligible Students, Catherine Horn, Stella M. Flores

Journal of Applied Research on Children: Informing Policy for Children at Risk

In 1998, Texas initiated a bold new statewide university admission policy aimed at increasing college access for traditionally underserved students in the state. House Bill 588 (known as the Texas Top 10 Percent Plan (TTPP)) guaranteed automatic admission to the college or university of their choice for all top performing students in Texas public high schools. Fourteen years after the plan’s implementation, we see great strides and complexities in understanding student outcomes as a result of the percent plan. However, the legal controversy over the percent plan both in Texas and other states incorporating similar yet distinctly motivated alternative admissions …

Alternative Strategies For Identifying High-Performing Charter Schools In Texas, Lori L. Taylor, Paige C. Perez

Journal of Applied Research on Children: Informing Policy for Children at Risk

The Obama administration's recurring policy emphasis on high-performing charter schools begs the obvious question: how do you identify a high-performing charter school? That is a crucially important policy question because any evaluation strategy that incorrectly identifies charter school performance could have negative effects on the economically and/or academically disadvantaged students who frequently attend charter schools. If low-performing schools are mislabeled and allowed to persist or encouraged to expand, then students may be harmed directly. If high-performing schools are driven from the market by misinformation, then students will lose access to programs and services that can make a difference in their …

Expanding Learning Time In Schools: Considering The Challenges Of Implementation And The Potential Impact, David Farbman

Journal of Applied Research on Children: Informing Policy for Children at Risk

Considering the broader context of school reform that is seeking education strategies that might deliver substantial impact, this article examines four questions related to the policy and practice of expanding learning time: (a) why do educators find the standard American school calendar insufficient to meet students’ educational needs, especially those of disadvantaged students? (b) how do educators implement a longer day and/or year, addressing concerns about both educational quality and costs? (c) what does research report about outcomes of expanding time in schools? and (d) what are the future prospects for increasing the number of expanded-time schools? The paper examines …

Comparing Campus Discipline Rates: A Multivariate Approach For Identifying Schools With Significantly Different Than Expected Exclusionary Discipline Rates, Eric A. Booth, Miner P. Marchbanks Iii, Dottie Carmichael, Tony Fabelo

Journal of Applied Research on Children: Informing Policy for Children at Risk

Campus behavior management is important for ensuring classroom order and promoting positive academic outcomes. Previous studies have shown the importance of individual student and campus personnel characteristics and campus context for explaining campus discipline rates (e.g., rates of suspension and expulsion). Assessing campus discipline rates, while controlling for these individual and campus characteristics, is important for the monitoring, evaluation, and intervention role of policymakers as well as state and federal level education agencies.

Systems or metrics exist that measure other student outcomes (i.e., academic performance) with controls for individual and campus characteristics, but none exist that monitor these differences for …

For Safety’S Sake: A Case Study Of School Security Efforts And Their Impact On Education Reform, Rachel Garver, Pedro Noguera

Journal of Applied Research on Children: Informing Policy for Children at Risk

Several studies have shown that the need to create safe and orderly schools has increasingly been addressed in a manner that disconnects these priorities from broader concerns related to student success, school culture, and child development. In this paper, we explore the consequences of expanding security procedures in response to an incident involving interracial conflict at an urban high school in the United States. We offer this case study to demonstrate how the primacy placed on safety and security resulted in the neglect of other important educational goals, such as academic engagement and a positive school culture. Through an analysis …

The Comprehensive Assessment Of Leadership For Learning: A Next Generation Formative Evaluation And Feedback System, Carolyn Kelley, Richard Halverson

Journal of Applied Research on Children: Informing Policy for Children at Risk

Recent developments in federal policy have prompted the creation of state evaluation frameworks for principals and teachers that hold educators accountable for effective practices and student outcomes. These changes have created a demand for formative evaluation instruments that reflect current accountability pressures and can be used by schools to focus school improvement and leadership development efforts. The Comprehensive Assessment of Leadership for Learning (CALL) is a next generation, 360-degree on-line assessment and feedback system that reflect best practices in feedback design. Some unique characteristics of CALL include a focus on: leadership distributed throughout the school rather than as carried out …

Measuring Success In Public Education: Whether Wanted Or Not, Robert D. Sanborn, Angelo P. Giardino

Journal of Applied Research on Children: Informing Policy for Children at Risk

Robert Sanborn and Angelo Giardino's introduction for Volume 3, Issue 2: Measuring Success in Public Education.

A Path Forward: Evidence-Based Approaches To Educational Policy And Practice, Robert Balfanz

Journal of Applied Research on Children: Informing Policy for Children at Risk

In the complex landscape of public education, participants at all levels are searching for policy and practice levers that can raise overall performance and close achievement gaps. The collection of articles in this edition of the Journal of Applied Research on Children takes a big step toward providing the tools and tactics needed for an evidence-based approach to educational policy and practice.

How Will Houston Deal With A Pandemic? New Class: Tracking Your Publications, Vol. 10 (10), Texas Medical Center Library

Insider Express (2003-2013)

No abstract provided.

Commentary On "Child Welfare Workers’ Perceptions Of The Influence Of The Organizational Environment On Permanency Decisions For Families", Eileen R. Giardino

Journal of Family Strengths

Invited commentary on "Child Welfare Workers’ Perceptions of the Influence of the Organizational Environment on Permanency Decisions for Families".

Forgotten People, Forgotten Diseases. Lecture And Book Signing By Dr. Peter Hotez; Tmc Library Wins 2012 Alfred P. Sloan Award, Vol. 10 (9), Texas Medical Center Library

Insider Express (2003-2013)

No abstract provided.

Lecture And Book Signing By Dr. Peter Hotez; Keep Your Copyright! New Class Offered At The Library, Vol 10 (8), Texas Medical Center Library

Insider Express (2003-2013)

No abstract provided.

Systems Biology Approaches To Probe Gene Regulation In Bacteria, Diogo F. Troggian Veiga

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

Mechanisms that allow pathogens to colonize the host are not the product of isolated genes, but instead emerge from the concerted operation of regulatory networks. Therefore, identifying components and the systemic behavior of networks is necessary to a better understanding of gene regulation and pathogenesis. To this end, I have developed systems biology approaches to study transcriptional and post-transcriptional gene regulation in bacteria, with an emphasis in the human pathogen Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb).

First, I developed a network response method to identify parts of the Mtb global transcriptional regulatory network utilized by the pathogen to counteract phagosomal stresses …

Bayesian Adaptive Designs For Early Phase Clinical Trials, Chunyan Cai

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

My dissertation focuses mainly on Bayesian adaptive designs for phase I and phase II clinical trials. It includes three specific topics: (1) proposing a novel two-dimensional dose-finding algorithm for biological agents, (2) developing Bayesian adaptive screening designs to provide more efficient and ethical clinical trials, and (3) incorporating missing late-onset responses to make an early stopping decision.

Treating patients with novel biological agents is becoming a leading trend in oncology. Unlike cytotoxic agents, for which toxicity and efficacy monotonically increase with dose, biological agents may exhibit non-monotonic patterns in their dose-response relationships. Using a trial with two biological agents as …

Genetic Predictors Of Clinical Outcomes In Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Patients, Xia Pu

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related mortality in the US. Emerging evidence has shown that host genetic factors can interact with environmental exposures to influence patient susceptibility to the diseases as well as clinical outcomes, such as survival and recurrence. We aimed to identify genetic prognostic markers for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), a major (85%) subtype of lung cancer, and also in other subgroups. With the fast evolution of genotyping technology, genetic association studies have went through candidate gene approach, to pathway-based approach, to the genome wide association study (GWAS). Even in the era of GWAS, pathway-based …

Characterization And Treatment Of A Novel Mouse Model Of Tsc-Associated Autism, Rachel Michelle Reith

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

Tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC) is a dominant tumor suppressor disorder caused by mutations in either TSC1 or TSC2. The proteins of these genes form a complex to inhibit the mammalian target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1), which controls protein translation and cell growth. TSC causes substantial neuropathology, often leading to autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) in up to 60% of patients. The anatomic and neurophysiologic links between these two disorders are not well understood. However, both disorders share cerebellar abnormalities. Therefore, we have characterized a novel mouse model in which the Tsc2 gene was selectively deleted from cerebellar Purkinje cells (Tsc2f/-;Cre). …

Evaluation Of The Effectiveness Of Anisotropic Analytical Algorithm In Flattened And Flattening-Filter-Free Beams For High Energy Lung Dose Delivery Using The Radiological Physics Center Lung Phantom, Roman Repchak, David Scott Followill

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

The effectiveness of the Anisotropic Analytical Algorithm (AAA) implemented in the Eclipse treatment planning system (TPS) was evaluated using theRadiologicalPhysicsCenteranthropomorphic lung phantom using both flattened and flattening-filter-free high energy beams. Radiation treatment plans were developed following the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group and theRadiologicalPhysicsCenterguidelines for lung treatment using Stereotactic Radiation Body Therapy. The tumor was covered such that at least 95% of Planning Target Volume (PTV) received 100% of the prescribed dose while ensuring that normal tissue constraints were followed as well. Calculated doses were exported from the Eclipse TPS and compared with the experimental data as measured using thermoluminescence detectors …

Understanding The Influence Of Photon Energy On 6mv Non Reference Dosimetry And Ct Dosimetry Using Tld And Osld, Sarah B. Scarboro

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

Measurement of the absorbed dose from ionizing radiation in medical applications is an essential component to providing safe and reproducible patient care. There are a wide variety of tools available for measuring radiation dose; this work focuses on the characterization of two common, solid-state dosimeters in medical applications: thermoluminescent dosimeters (TLD) and optically stimulated luminescent dosimeters (OSLD).

There were two main objectives to this work. The first objective was to evaluate the energy dependence of TLD and OSLD for non-reference measurement conditions in a radiotherapy environment. The second objective was to fully characterize the OSLD nanoDot in a CT environment, …

The New Role Of Proprotein Convertase Subtilisin/Kexin Type 9: A Connection Of Proprotein Convertase Subtilisin/Kexin Type 9, Apolipoprotein B, And Autophagy, Hua Sun

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

Plasma low-density lipoprotein (LDL) levels are positively correlated with the incidence of coronary artery disease. In the circulation, the plasma LDL clearance is mainly achieved by the uptake via LDL receptor (LDLR). Proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9) is a newly discovered gene, playing an important role in LDL metabolism. Gain-of-function mutations of PCSK9 lead to hypercholesterolemia and loss-of-function mutations of PCSK9 are associated with decrease of LDL cholesterol. The effects of PCSK9 on cholesterol levels are the consequence of a strong interaction between the catalytic domain of PCSK9 and epidermal growth factor-like repeat A (EGF-A) domain of …