Digital Commons Network^™

The Role Of Controversial Issues In Moral Education: Approaches And Attitudes Of Christian School Educators, Samuel J. Smith

International Christian Community of Teacher Educators Journal

This study investigated the approaches and attitudes of Christian school teachers as they addressed controversial issues in moral education. Thirteen teachers from four schools were interviewed extensively. A hermeneutic phenomenological methodology was implemented. Participants conveyed that they attempted to remain pedagogically neutral in matters relating to denominational differences among Christian churches. While acknowledging that indoctrinative techniques may alienate students, teachers chose to indoctrinate selectively, especially in matters critical to the Christian faith. Issues impacting the classrooms included abortion, sex, doctrine, homosexuality, evolution, etc. Teachers rarely chose to remain neutral on controversial issues unless by doing so they sensed that they …

Teacher Vital Signs: A Two-Country Study Of Teacher Vitality, Delta Cavner Ed.D.

International Christian Community of Teacher Educators Journal

Defining teacher vitality as the vigor, energy, passion, and joy teachers bring to their classroom, students and colleagues; this article describes an international, comparative, qualitative, phenomenological study of teachers’ lived experiences to determine the elements influencing teacher vitality. This is a two-country, multiple-case study of twenty-one middle and high school teachers who had taught ten to twenty years. In order to serve as a confirmation of the universality of the elements of teacher vitality, the study was not only conducted in two different schools in Idaho, but also was replicated in two different schools in Austria. In each of the …

Estimating The Prevalence And Frequency Of The Adolescent Drug Use: Do The Models Fit The Measures?, John P. Hoffmann, Stephen J. Bahr

Faculty Publications

We critically review recent studies to examine the measurement schemes and empirical models used to examine adolescent drug use, with a particular eye toward determining whether differences between the prevalence and frequency of use have been addressed. Several theoretical models suggest that there are differences but we find relatively few studies that have considered prevalence versus frequency, even though selection effects that dictations these processes affect conclusions about predictors of drug use. Using data from the 2004 U.S. National Survey of Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), (n=16,235), we provide an empirical example of why distinguishing prevalence and frequency of use …

Social Relationships And Mortality Risk: A Meta-Analytic Review, Julianne Holt-Lunstad

Faculty Publications

Background

The quality and quantity of individuals' social relationships has been linked not only to mental health but also to both morbidity and mortality.

Objectives

This meta-analytic review was conducted to determine the extent to which social relationships influence risk for mortality, which aspects of social relationships are most highly predictive, and which factors may moderate the risk.

Data Extraction

Data were extracted on several participant characteristics, including cause of mortality, initial health status, and pre-existing health conditions, as well as on study characteristics, including length of follow-up and type of assessment of social relationships.

Results

Across 148 studies (308,849 …

Self-Regulation As A Mediator Between Sibling Relationship Quality And Early Adolescents’ Positive And Negative Outcomes, Laura M. Padilla-Walker, James M. Harper, Alexander C. Jensen Phd

Faculty Publications

The current study examined the role of adolescents’ self-regulation as a mediator between sibling relationship quality and adolescent outcomes, after controlling for the quality of the parent-child relationship. Participants were 395 families (282 two parent; 113 single parent) with an adolescent child (M age of child at Time 1 = 11.15, SD = .96, 49% female) who took part in [project name masked for blind review] at both Time 1 and Time 2. Path analysis via structural equation modeling suggested that sibling affection was longitudinally and positively related to self-regulation and prosocial behaviors, and negatively related to externalizing behaviors; while …

Differences In The Mechanism Of Collagen Lattice Contraction By Myofibroblasts And Smooth Muscle Cells, J. C. Dallon, H P. Ehrlich

Faculty Publications

Both rat derived vascular smooth muscle cells (SMC) and human myofibroblasts contain $\alpha$ smooth muscle actin (SMA), but they utilize different mechanisms to contract populated collagen lattices (PCLs). The difference is in how the cells generate the force that contracts the lattices. Human dermal fibroblasts transform into myofibroblasts, expressing $\alpha$-SMA within stress fibers, when cultured in lattices that remain attached to the surface of a tissue culture dish. When attached lattices are populated with rat derived vascular SMC, the cells retain their vascular SMC phenotype. Comparing the contraction of attached PCLs when they are released from the culture dish on …

Synthesis Of Nucleoside 5′-O-Α,Β-Methylene-Β-Triphosphates And Evaluation Of Their Potency Towards Inhibition Of Hiv-1 Reverse Transcriptase, Yousef Ahmadibeni, Chandravanu Dash, M. J. Hanley, S. F. J. Le Grice, Hitesh K. Agarwal, Keykavous Parang

Pharmacy Faculty Articles and Research

A polymer-bound α,β-methylene-β-triphosphitylating reagent was synthesized and subjected to reactions with unprotected nucleosides, followed by oxidation, deprotection of cyanoethoxy groups, and acidic cleavage to afford nucleoside 5′-O-α,β-methylene-β-triphosphates. Among all the compounds, cytidine 5′-O-α,β-methylene-β-triphosphate inhibited RNase H activity of HIV-1 reverse transcriptase with a Ki value of 225 μM.

5¢-O-B,G-Methylenetriphosphate Derivatives Of Nucleoside, Yousef Ahmadibeni, Chandravanu Dash, S. F. J. Le Grice, Keykavous Parang

Pharmacy Faculty Articles and Research

The solid-phase synthesis of 5¢-O-b,g-methylenetriphosphates of nucleosides 1–5 is described, where a 4-acetoxy-3-arylbenzyloxy group was used as a linker.

Synthesis, Antiviral And Contraceptive Activities Of Nucleoside-Sodium Cellulose Sulfate Acetate And Succinate Conjugates, Hitesh K. Agarwal, Anil Kumar, Gustavo F. Doncel, Keykavous Parang

Pharmacy Faculty Articles and Research

Chemical conjugates between sodium cellulose sulfate (CS), displaying contraceptive and HIV-entry inhibiting properties, and nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs) (3′-azido-2′,3′-dideoxythymidine (AZT), 3′-fluoro-2′,3′-dideoxythymidine (FLT), or 2',3'-dideoxy-3'-thiacytidine (3TC)) were designed to simultaneously provide contraceptive and anti-HIV activity. Two linkers, acetate and succinate, were used to conjugate the nucleoside analogs with CS. The conjugates containing cellulose sulfate-acetate (CSA) (e.g., AZT-CSA and FLT-CSA) were found to be more potent than CS and other conjugates (e.g., AZT-succinate-CS, and FLT-succinate-CS). The presence of both sulfate and the acetate groups on cellulose were critical for generating maximum anti-HIV activity. In addition to showing equal potency against wild-type …

Synthesis And Evaluation Of Conformationally Constrained Peptide Analogues As The Src Sh3 Domain Binding Ligands, Rakesh Tiwari, Alex Brown, Seetha Narramaneni, Gongqin Sun, Keykavous Parang

Pharmacy Faculty Articles and Research

Src kinase activity is regulated by the interaction of SH3 domain with protein sequences that are rich in proline residues. Identification of more potent SH3 domain binding ligands that can regulate Src kinase activity is a subject of major interest. Conformationally constrained peptides have been previously used for improving the binding potency of the Src SH2 domain binding peptide ligands and peptide substrates of the substrate-binding site of Src. A series of peptide analogues of Ac-VSLARRPLPPLP (1, Ac-VSL-12, Kd = 0.34 M) were synthesized by introducing conformational constraints to improve the binding affinity towards the Src SH3 domain. Peptides synthesized …

Strategies For The Scientific Progress Of The Developing Countries In The New Millennium: The Case Of Serbia In Comparison With Slovenia And South Korea, Vuk Uskoković, Milica Ševkušić, Dragan P. Uskoković

Pharmacy Faculty Articles and Research

The underlying premise of this essay is the hypothesis that quality and significance of scientific research in any given society could be used as mirrors reflecting its true prosperity. By comparing the two cases of comparatively prosperous scientific management of South Korea and Slovenia, with the example of Serbia, illustrating the poor scientific and industrial productivity typically faced by the developing countries, a few general guidelines for the evolution of a society towards higher scientific and social prominence are outlined. It is argued that the most favourable pattern of growth should be based on the parallel progress in control of …