IslandScholar
Not a member yet
16367 research outputs found
Sort by
What do teacher-education college students know about parental involvement: A comparative study between the U.S. and Israel
No full textGiven that the professional literature provides ample evidence of the importance of parental involvement and its effect on learners’ academic outcomes and positive social/emotional states, the aim of this quantitative study was to understand and compare the perceptions of preservice teachers regarding parental involvement and family engagement in Israel and the U.S. Fisher’s Perception of Parental Involvement Scale (PPIS; Fisher, 2011) was used to survey 469 education-college students: 269 American students and 200 Israeli students. Analysis indicated that the model was a better fit for Israeli students and an acceptable fit for U.S. students. However, in general, Israeli and US students in teaching colleges agreed on many of the components of parental involvement. Some results differed by gender, age, level of education, and prior teaching experience. These results may suggest that the fundamental concepts that constitute the family engagement are not culturally bound, but rather may be common among different cultures and nations. Further research is required to confirm this. Notwithstanding, gaining a general understanding of pre- and in-service teachers’ perceptions regarding parental involvement and family engagement could prompt the colleges to expand their teacher-education programs to better address this important issue
Do better institutions broaden access to sanitation in sub-sahara Africa?
No full textInadequate access to sanitation remains a persistent issue in sub-Saharan African countries, affecting children, women, and workers. We employ dynamic panel estimation to uncover the empirical relationship between institutions and access to sanitation in sub-Sahara Africa. We find that control of corruption, regulatory quality, and voice and accountability increase access to sanitation. Moreover, a dichotomy exists between rural and urban areas in that efficient corruption control, rule of law, and government effectiveness facilitate access to sanitation in rural areas. However, only voice and accountability matter in urban areas. These findings generate important policy implications in achieving universal access to sanitation
Qualitative insider research in a government institution: Reflections on a study of policy capacity
No full textEmbarking on a qualitative Ph.D. research project in public administration is often daunting for novice researchers. For those students who consider adopting an emic or insider approach for their research, the ethical, methodological, and analytical challenges that lay ahead may seem insurmountable at times. In this article, I reflect on my experience as a Ph.D. student completing qualitative research with my colleagues to study policy capacity in a provincial government in Canada. I review how I constructed an ethical framework by integrating policy from Research Ethics Boards and government. Throughout the article, I deal primarily with ethical considerations and the personal and professional tensions associated with insider research. In addition to providing an overview of the literature on insider and emic research, I present ethical protocols that student-practitioners in other settings should consider when completing academic research with their colleagues in government institutions. Overall, the risks one must mitigate and minimize when completing insider research in government institutions are not substantially different from insider research in private institutions. While insider approaches in the study of public administration are not without their unique challenges, they do offer great potential in broadening and deepening emic knowledge of public administration practice
CpG-ODN induced antimicrobial immunity in neonatal chicks involves a substantial shift in serum metabolic profiles
No full textSynthetic CpG-ODNs can promote antimicrobial immunity in neonatal chicks by enriching immune compartments and activating immune cells. Activated immune cells undergo profound metabolic changes to meet cellular biosynthesis and energy demands and facilitate the signaling processes. We hypothesize that CpG-ODNs induced immune activation can change the host's metabolic demands in neonatal chicks. Here, we used NMR-based metabolomics to explore the potential of immuno-metabolic interactions in the orchestration of CpG-ODN-induced antimicrobial immunity. We administered CpG-ODNs to day-old broiler chicks via intrapulmonary (IPL) and intramuscular (IM) routes. A negative control group was administered IPL distilled water (DW). In each group (n = 60), chicks (n = 40) were challenged with a lethal dose of Escherichia coli, two days post-CpG-ODN administration. CpG-ODN administered chicks had significantly higher survival (P < 0.05), significantly lower cumulative clinical scores (P < 0.05), and lower bacterial loads (P < 0.05) compared to the DW control group. In parallel experiments, we compared NMR-based serum metabolomic profiles in neonatal chicks (n = 20/group, 24 h post-treatment) treated with IM versus IPL CpG-ODNs or distilled water (DW) control. Serum metabolomics revealed that IM administration of CpG-ODN resulted in a highly significant and consistent decrease in amino acids, purines, betaine, choline, acetate, and a slight decrease in glucose. IPL CpG-ODN treatment resulted in a similar decrease in purines and choline but less extensive decrease in amino acids, a stronger decrease in acetate, and a considerable increase in 2-hydroxybutyrate, 3-hydroxybutyrate, formic acid and a mild increase in TCA cycle intermediates (all P < 0.05 after FDR adjustment). These perturbations in pathways associated with energy production, amino acid metabolism and nucleotide synthesis, most probably reflect increased uptake of nutrients to the cells, to support cell proliferation triggered by the innate immune response. Our study revealed for the first time that CpG-ODNs change the metabolomic landscape to establish antimicrobial immunity in neonatal chicks. The metabolites highlighted in the present study can help future targeted studies to better understand immunometabolic interactions and pinpoint the key molecules or pathways contributing to immunity.Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of CanadaWestern Economic Diversification CanadaChicken Farmers of SaskatchewanCanadian Poultry Research CouncilAlberta Livestock and Meat Agency Ltd.Genome AlbertaCanada Foundation for Innovatio
The development of market-driven identities in young people: A socio-ecological evolutionary approach
No full textWith the transition toward densely populated and urbanized market-based cultures over the past 200 years, young people’s development has been conditioned by the ascendancy of highly competitive skills-based labor markets that demand new forms of embodied capital (e.g., education) for young people to succeed. Life-history analysis reveals parental shifts toward greater investment in fewer children so parents can invest more in their children’s embodied capital for them to compete successfully. Concomitantly, the evolution of market-based capitalism has been associated with the rise of extrinsic values such as individualism, materialism and status-seeking, which have intensified over the last 40–50 years in consumer economies. The dominance of extrinsic values is consequential: when young people show disproportionate extrinsic relative to intrinsic values there is increased risk for mental health problems and poorer well-being. This paper hypothesizes that, concomitant with the macro-cultural promotion of extrinsic values, young people in advanced capitalism (AC) are obliged to develop an identity that is market-driven and embedded in self-narratives of success, status, and enhanced self-image. The prominence of extrinsic values in AC are synergistic with neuro-maturational and stage-salient developments of adolescence and embodied in prominent market-driven criterion such as physical attractiveness, displays of wealth and material success, and high (educational and extra-curricular) achievements. Cultural transmission of market-driven criterion is facilitated by evolutionary tendencies in young people to learn from older, successful and prestigious individuals (prestige bias) and to copy their peers. The paper concludes with an integrated socio-ecological evolutionary account of market-driven identities in young people, while highlighting methodological challenges that arise when attempting to bridge macro-cultural and individual development
The American lobster genome reveals insights on longevity, neural, and immune adaptations
No full textThe American lobster, Homarus americanus, is integral to marine ecosystems and supports an important commercial fishery. This iconic species also serves as a valuable model for deciphering neural networks controlling rhythmic motor patterns and olfaction. Here, we report a high-quality draft assembly of the H. americanus genome with 25,284 predicted gene models. Analysis of the neural gene complement revealed extraordinary development of the chemosensory machinery, including a profound diversification of ligand-gated ion channels and secretory molecules. The discovery of a novel class of chimeric receptors coupling pattern recognition and neurotransmitter binding suggests a deep integration between the neural and immune systems. A robust repertoire of genes involved in innate immunity, genome stability, cell survival, chemical defense, and cuticle formation represents a diversity of defense mechanisms essential to thrive in the benthic marine environment. Together, these unique evolutionary adaptations contribute to the longevity and ecological success of this long-lived benthic predator.SERC Discovery GrantPEI-Atlantic Shrimp Corp. Inc. grantsNSERC Discovery Grant AcceleratorNSERC-Strategic Projects GrantHuman Frontiers Science ProgramNational Science FoundationNational Institutes of HealthRussian Ministry of Science and High Educatio
An estimation of lameness in Sable Island horses using radiographic evaluation of the distal phalanx and hoof capsule
No full textLaminitis is a painful condition that causes lameness in horses. However, monitoring this condition in feral horses is logistically difficult. Laminitis can be detected postmortem, as inflammation of the sensitive laminae of the hoof changes the relative location of the bony structures within the hoof capsule. Thus, evaluation of cadavers may be used to estimate laminitis prevalence in feral populations of horses. The objective of this study was to estimate the prevalence of laminitis in feral horses inhabiting the Sable Island National Park Reserve, Canada, using radiographic imagery on the hooves of naturally deceased horses. Radiographic indicators evaluated included coronary band extensor process distance (CE), capsular rotation (CR), palmar angle (PA), ratio of the dorsal hoof wall thickness to the length of the distal phalanx (DHWT:P3) and sole depth (SLD). Each value measured indicated the following prevalence of laminitis: CE 0% (97.5% Confidence Interval (CI) 0–4.51%), 8.75% CR (95%CI 3.59–17.2%), PA 25% (95% CI 15.99–35.94%), DHWT:P3 6.25% (95%CI 2.06–14.0%) and 65% SLD (95% CI 53.52–75.33%). The majority of indices measured for laminitis were low. These findings suggest that laminitis is fairly infrequent in the Sable Island horses evaluated in this study
Corporate communication as a governance mechanism: A content analysis of corporate public disclosures
No full textCorporate communication efforts have mainly been viewed as a by-product of governmental regulations and board of directors’ oversight. In this paper, we examine the role of corporate communication as a stand-alone governance mechanism. We introduce a new business-related dictionary and conduct automated textual analysis of over 150,000 electronic documents filed by a sample of firms listed on the S&P/TSX Composite Index from 1999 to the end of 2014. Our findings demonstrate the governing role of corporate communication by documenting the adverse market effects of deviations from the expected level of communication. Moreover, as a governance mechanism, corporate communication shows substitution/complementary relationships with other established governance mechanisms. In addition, we find a non-linear relationship between a firm’s communication efforts and its value and risk levels. Results are robust after controlling for major corporate events (M&A, spin-offs, financial distress and bankruptcy, and significant lawsuits). These findings contribute to corporate governance literature and the understanding of agency theory predictions of communications and disclosures’ economic effects
Quantifying key parameters related to the life cycle of Caligus rogercresseyi
No full textThe salmon louse Caligus rogercresseyi (Boxshall and Bravo 2000) is a common ectoparasite of farmed salmonids in Chile. Sea lice can negatively impact the growth of hosts, adversely affecting aquaculture productivity. Unlike Lepeophtheirus salmonis (Krøyer, 1838), whose life cycle parameters have been well studied due to its importance in the Northern Hemisphere, for C. rogercresseyi no single source exists that quantifies the parameters required to model this ectoparasite's life cycle. Given that different species of sea lice have substantially different biological characteristics, it is important to parameterize the life cycle of C. rogercresseyi using appropriate observational data, rather than simply trying to adapt parameters developed for L. salmonis. Using data from existing literature, we quantified the development and survival rates for each stage in the C. rogercresseyi life cycle. We illustrate how development rates are affected by water temperature and explore the important impacts of salinity on rates of survival. We present equations that can be used to model development periods and survival proportions given certain water temperature and salinity profiles. While key parameters to quantitatively model the life cycle of C. rogercresseyi are presented, further research is required to adequately model the complete population dynamics of this ectoparasite on Chilean salmon farms and consequently to support decision-making to achieve effective control and mitigation