Maximal heart rate declines linearly with age independent of cardiorespiratory fitness levels

There have been many conflicting observations between the linear or curvilinear decline in maximal heart rate (HR_max) with age. The aim of this study was to determine if linear or curvilinear equations would better describe the decline in HR_max with age in individuals of differing cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) levels. Treadmill cardiopulmonary exercise test (CPX) results from participants (1510 men and 1134 women; 18–76 years) free of overt cardiovascular disease were retrospectively examined using cross-sectional and longitudinal study designs. Participants completing ≥2 CPX with ≥1 year between test dates were included in the longitudinal analysis (325 men and 150 women). Linear and quadratic regressions were applied to age and HR_max for the whole cohort and respective CRF groups (high, moderate, and low, relative to age and gender normative values). To test for differences among linear, quadratic, and polynomial equations, the change in R² (cross-sectional analysis) and Bayesian information criterion (BIC) (longitudinal analysis) from the linear to the more complex models were calculated. The quadratic or polynomial regression in the cross-sectional analysis, marginally improved the variance in HR_max explained by age compared to the linear regression for the whole cohort (0.2%), moderate fit group (0.3%), and low fit group (0.8%). With no improvements in the high fit group. BIC did not improve for any CRF category in the longitudinal analysis. In conclusion, the minimal differences among linear, quadratic, and polynomial equations in the respective CRF groups, emphasizes the use of linear prediction equations to estimate HR_max.     

Two- and Three-Year Achievement Results From the Memphis Restructuring Initiative

The purpose of this study was to analyze student achievement data from the first 3 years of the Memphis Restructuring Initiative (MRI). The MRI represents one of the first efforts by an urban school district to move past traditional top-down versus bottom-up reform debates by providing systemic support for outside-in/inside-out implementation and local co-construction of externally-developed reform designs in schools. Analyses of academic achievement focus on a state-of-the-art measure of value added assessments. At the end of 3 years the reforming schools had produced generally positive gains relative to locally matched control schools. Those results varied somewhat by reform type and by level of poverty in the communities being served. Based on the research methods used and the results, implications for future research and practice in educational reform are discussed.     

School Library Media Specialist-Teacher Collaboration: Characteristics, Challenges, Opportunities

The most successful school library media specialists are those who collaborate with teachers as full partners in the instructional process. Without assertive action by the school library media specialist, however, school administrators and teachers are likely to be more aware of the media specialist’s administrative role than the roles of teacher, instructional partner, and information specialist. Reductions to library media staff and finding common planning time are examples of serious challenges, but these are not insurmountable. In the context of well-planned instructional projects, collaboration with teachers is a primary way that school library media professionals can demonstrate that their work is a vital part of the academic life of their schools, and a positive factor in improving student achievement.     

Surgeons as medical school educators: an untapped resource

Despite extensive experience teaching residents, surgeons are an untapped resource for educating medical students. We hypothesized that by involving surgeons as teachers earlier in the medical school curriculum, medical students' interest in surgery will increase and their opinions of surgeons will improve. Five programs designed to involve surgeons as educators in the medical school curriculum were implemented. The first program, started in 2008, introduced surgical faculty into the first-year medical student anatomy dissection laboratories. Other programs initiated in 2008 included: Surgical Clinical Correlates in Anatomy, which involved faculty teaching through cadaver surgery; Clinical Pathologic Conferences in Anatomy, a surgeon-led conference based on clinical cases; and a women's faculty-student mentorship program. Table Rounds, a surgeon-led anatomy review that used clinical scenarios to quiz students was begun in 2009. All five programs were successfully integrated into the medical school curriculum. While student opinion of surgeons as educators improved, there were no significant changes in student interest in surgery as a career nor change in performance on written examinations over the Anatomy content covered by the surgeons. Surgical faculty and trainees can be integrated into the medical school curriculum. Involving surgeons as educators earlier in the medical school curriculum may have longer term effects than could be observed in this study. At a minimum, the experience improved student opinion of surgeons as educators.     

Achievement and Climate Outcomes for the Knowledge is Power Program in an Inner-City Middle School

This study was designed to examine the effects of a whole school reform, the Knowledge is Power Program (KIPP), specifically designed to raise academic achievement of at-risk urban middle school students by establishing an extended school day and year, a rigorous curriculum, after-school access to teachers, and increased family-school connections. In our mixed-methods design, qualitative (interview and observation) and quantitative (survey and achievement test) measures are employed to determine first-year program implementation and student outcomes for the KIPP:DIAMOND (Daring Individual Achievers Making Outstanding New Dreams) Academy (KIPP:DA), an inner-city school in a large, high-poverty urban district. For the achievement analyses, 49 KIPP:DA students were individually matched to highly comparable control students of the same ethnicity, socioeconmic status, gender, and ability, who attended different district schools in the same neighborhood. Statistically significant and educationally meaningful advantages for KIPP:DA students were found on 4 out of 6 standardized tests. The achievement results are interpreted in relation to the key program elements, the positive school climate established, and the quality of the 1st-year implementation.     

Toward collaborator selection and determination of data ownership and publication authorship in research collaborations

This study examined factors that might affect researchers' willingness to collaborate with a specific researcher and the priorities given to those factors. In addition, it investigated how researchers determined the ownership of collaborative project data and how they determined the order of authorship on collaborative publications in condensed matter physics. In general, researchers rated their intrinsic motivations the highest, such as the quality of ideas a potential collaborator might have and their satisfaction with a past collaboration, followed by their extrinsic motivations, such as the complementary knowledge, skills, or resources the collaborator could provide. In addition, researchers who had a greater number of collaborative projects and researchers who had served as a project PI or co-PI valued the deep-level, personality-related characteristics of a collaborator higher than did those who had not. Younger researchers were more risk averse and more concerned with a collaborator's reputation and the possible cost of a collaboration decision. Additionally, younger researchers indicated more often than older researchers that they did not know whether their project teams followed any rules or norms or engaged in negotiation to determine the order of authorship on collaborative publications.     

Coteaching in Counselor Education: Preparing Doctoral Students for Future Teaching

This phenomenological study explored 10 counselor education doctoral students' coteaching experiences with faculty members. Three coteaching structures identified from the data were relational, operational, and developmental. A definition of coteaching supported by the findings is presented. Implications for counselor education programs, limitations, and directions for future research are discussed.     

Ethene/norbornene copolymerization by [Me2Si(3-tertBuCp)(NtertBu)]TiCl2/MAO-catalyst

Ethene/norbornene copolymerization by the catalyst system [Me₂Si(3-^tertBuCp)(N^tertBu)]TiCl₂/MAO was investigated in detail at 30 °C, 60 °C, and 90 °C. A mass flow controller was used in this work to obtain kinetic data and investigate temperature's effects on activity, norbornene incorporation, copolymerization parameter, microstructure, glass transition temperature, and molar masses were described. High copolymerization valuesr _ξ and high alternation are determined. The number of isotactic alternating sequences is much higher than that of the syndiotactic alternating sequences.