No description available.

The purpose of this quantitative study was to determine if the number of Career and Technical Education (CTE) graduates who go on to postsecondary education or some other training program, to the military, or to employment upon high school graduation was significant in comparison to the state baseline for secondary placement. This study further compared CTE graduation rates to overall graduation rates. The graduation rates were compared based on gender as well. School systems that provided CTE courses and that had CTE concentrators for the 2007-2008 and 2008-2009 school years were used for this study. Eight school districts were chosen in the upper east Tennessee region and were evaluated using graduation data and secondary placement data from the Tennessee Department of Education Report Card. The research cited in this study supported the supposition that CTE graduates do in fact help to increase the overall graduation rates for school districts. This study focused on five research questions and each null hypothesis was tested using a one-sample chi-square test. Results indicated that there were positive significant differences for CTE concentrators who proceed to postsecondary education, military, and employment as compared to the state baseline for secondary placement. The study further revealed that the graduation rate for Tennessee CTE concentrators was higher than the overall graduation rate for the selected school districts in this study. Positive differences were also noted between the sample CTE graduation rate and the overall Tennessee CTE graduation rate as well as between those rates and the overall Tennessee graduation rate for all students. Further analysis revealed that no significant differences existed between male CTE graduates and female CTE graduates. The research findings suggested that CTE graduation rates can help improve a school district's overall graduation rate.

Clinical Researchers recently identified NFL players and US military veterans as high-risk populations for sustaining repetitive Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) and developing the neurodegenerative disease Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE). American culture celebrates military veterans as national heroes, and NFL players as popular athletes and social icons. Both subcultures are constructed around hyper-masculine ideals embedded in tenants of violence and aggression, suffer repeated TBIs due to this nature, and are ultimately at high-risk for developing CTE. The TBI/CTE phenomenon also affects family members who assume care-taking responsibilities for these first two populations as their loved one’s symptoms persist. The purpose of this research is to understand the TBI/CTE experiences of NFL players, military veterans, and their caretakers, and how all three populations intersect with mediatization and the social and medical legitimation of TBI/CTE in America. Using narratives from all three populations, I explore how power dynamics within the NFL and US military have intersected with modern media outlets and functioned to socio-medically legitimize a sick role for those who suffer from persistent symptoms of TBI and CTE.

CTE is a progressive neurodegenerative disease defined by p-tau lesions in characteristic locations of the brain, leading to cognitive impairment as well as mood and behavioral dysfunction. Exposure to repetitive head impacts is a major risk factor for developing CTE; however, additional risk factors and secondary modulating factors, which may expand available treatment and prevention options, are still being elucidated. Studies into the glymphatic system, a system of waste clearance in the brain thought to be activated during sleep, have implicated glymphatic dysfunction in the clearance of toxic proteins like amyloid-beta and hyperphosphorylated tau, as well as in cognitive decline in neurodegenerative disorders like Alzheimer’s Disease, bringing into question whether sleep, through impacting glymphatic clearance, may act as a modulating factor in the development of CTE. In the present study, we began to characterize the presence of sleep disorders and their co-morbid conditions in a cohort of former college football players to gain better insight into their prevalence and the health outcomes of those with sleep conditions. Our results found higher rates of sleep apnea in the study sample, as well as an association between diagnosis with sleep apnea and diagnosis with dementia, AD, MCI, CTE, and similar disorders. Sleep apnea was significantly associated with depression, anxiety, high cholesterol, and diabetes. Further research into whether sleep disorders exacerbate CTE pathology or clinical symptoms, and whether treatment of sleep symptoms leads to better outcomes for patients with CTE, is necessary to further elucidate a potential connection.

No description available.

No description available.

This qualitative case study is designed to document the impact of No Child Left Behind (NCLB) on career and technical education (CTE) in Pennsylvania. The research was conducted utilizing a qualitative case study protocol on two specific CTE Centers in the suburban Philadelphia area. The study centered on the following question. Has compliance to the accountability components of NCLB impacted the delivery of secondary education in CTE centers in the Pennsylvania? The study identified the changes that have occurred to selected CTE centers in the NCLB era. The assessment mandates of federal policy NCLB are narrowly focused in academic curriculum. The data used to answer the questions was accumulated through interviews with facility staff and the examination of archival records at the two specific centers to be researched. This study determined the impacts of NCLB on the facilities. The impacts included; decreased enrollment, increased academic and testing focus, reduction in technical budgets, increase in academic budgets, increase of special education students, staff changes for the increase of academic areas, morale issues, program changes, shifts in staff development, facility changes, negative publicity and public image due to academic reporting in the media. Questions for future study. What are the costs, financial and opportunity related to the reduction in CTE for increased academics? How many students have been denied the opportunity of attending or completing CTE programs? Why there isn't an alignment of NCLB and IDEA goals? What is the emotional impact to our students who keep getting told they are below basic? The conclusion from this study suggests that the public education system in this country needs to be more centered on actual student outcomes and preparing students with marketable skills and not based on the narrow focus of academic test scores. / Educational Leadership

Previous literature has exposed the impact of concerns and beliefs on a teacher's decision to adopt online teaching methods, and in particular for Graphic Communications teachers, the extent to which their concerns and beliefs influence whether or not they decide to teach online. The potential problem that may exist is that of Graphic Communications teachers' concerns and beliefs are playing a role in impeding their transitioning to teaching in the online environment. The purpose of this study was to examine how teacher concerns and beliefs might be affecting a Graphic Communications teacher's adoption of online teaching. Although there are a multitude of factors that may inhibit Graphic Communications teachers from teaching online, this study sought to document the extent to which teacher concerns and beliefs toward online teaching impact their decision to adopt these practices. This study included a purposeful sample of 79 Graphic Communications educators across the United States and Canada. Data collected from the Graphic Communications Teachers Beliefs Towards Teaching Online (GCTBTTO) survey were analyzed using the Stages of Concern scoring device, simple means, and sample correlation coefficients to examine participant concerns and beliefs towards online teaching and the relationship between their concerns and beliefs. A theme analysis of open-ended responses about teaching online provided further assessment of participant beliefs and concerns towards the innovation. Findings from this study revealed Graphic Communications teachers who had taught online had higher levels of external concerns and stronger beliefs towards teaching online. Graphic Communications teachers who had not taught online had higher levels of internal concerns and average beliefs towards teaching online. T-tests revealed the difference in concerns between the sub-groups of teachers was significant across all stages except Management, where online and non-online teachers had similar management concerns about online teaching. For online teachers, task value and cost beliefs were found to have a moderately strong negative correlation to concerns in the Awareness stage, with no significant relationship between expectancy/ability beliefs and any stages of concern. For teachers not teaching online, task value and cost beliefs had a strong positive correlation with their Collaboration concerns, and expectancy/ability beliefs were strongly positively related to their Refocusing concerns. These findings also revealed that most Graphic Communications teachers do not believe hands-on courses which require manipulation of machinery can be taught online, although online teachers are teaching these types of classes with hybrid methods of instruction. The findings from this study provide implications for change facilitators and their consideration of faculty concerns and beliefs. The recommendations for this study suggest ways in which researchers, educators, and change facilitators can address concerns and beliefs in order to develop new innovative teaching methods for hands-on classes. / Ed. D.

Experiential opportunities at the secondary level give students the 'intimate and necessary relation between the processes of actual experience and education' (Dewey, 1938, p. 19-20). Career and Technical Education classes (CTE) and co-curricular experiences, one type of experiential learning, underpin and cultivate student curiosity and often channel interests into STEM-related post-secondary disciplines and career choices. There is little existent research on the characteristics of exemplary experiential learning opportunities and the impact on stakeholders. This study is intended to identify the qualities and characteristics of an exemplary secondary experience through the lived experiences of the stakeholders; students, STEM-related teachers, and CTE/STEM Administrators. A qualitative research design was used to examine characteristics and implications for students of four STEM-related programs throughout Virginia. Conclusions from the study include fundamental principles for providing exemplary experiential STEM-related learning opportunities. These principles include: providing hands-on, real world learning opportunities for students, providing learning opportunities that will enhance student ownership in their learning, providing unique and comprehensive career exploration opportunities for students, providing a schedule for teachers that will give them time to plan, deliver, and manage exemplary experiential learning opportunities, providing continual teacher and administrator in-service training relative to planning and implementing exemplary experiential learning opportunities, investing appropriate funds for providing exemplary experiential learning opportunities. Establishing and maintaining active partnerships with business/industry and colleges/universities, and maintaining active advisory communities, providing appropriate staff to support the provision of exemplary experiential learning opportunities is needed. The need for adequate funding, improving perception of CTE and STEM programs, and small class sizes was also recommended. / Ph. D.

L’objectif de notre étude était de montrer le rôle du métabolisme oxydatif et énergétique au cours du vieillissement cutané et dans les cancers cutanés UVB-induits. Dans une première partie, nous avons cherché à établir un lien entre l'instabilité génétique, la production de ROS et l’altération métabolique dans le processus de vieillissement. Les résultats obtenus sur le modèle de souris XPC KO ont démontré qu’un excès de stress oxydatif dû à une sur activation du NOX1, couplé à des altérations métaboliques, jouaient un rôle prépondérant dans le vieillissement prématuré. L’application topique de notre nouvel inhibiteur de NOX, induisant l’inhibition de la production de ROS et ainsi l’apparition d’altération métabolique, a permis d’empêcher le vieillissement cutané prématuré chez les souris XPC KO. Nos résultats suggèrent que l’InhNOX peut être considéré comme une cible prometteuse dans la prévention du vieillissement prématuré et les maladies liées à NOX. Très peu d'informations sont disponibles sur la contribution de la reprogrammation du métabolisme énergétique dans l'initiation et la progression du cancer. Dans la deuxième partie de ma thèse, nous avons utilisé un modèle multi-étapes de cancer de la peau UVB-induits, nous permettant ainsi d’évaluer le rôle de la reprogrammation métabolique dans les différentes étapes de la cancérogenèse. Nous avons ensuite démontré que l'irradiation chronique à UVB entraînait une diminution de l’activité de la glycolyse, du cycle TCA et de la β-oxydation des acides gras, tandis que la synthèse d'ATP mitochondriale et une partie de la chaîne de transport d'électrons (CTE) étaient up-régulés. Nous avons montré que l’augmentation accrue de CTE été liée à la sur-activation des dihyroorotate déshydrogénase (DHODH). Alors que la diminution de l'activité DHODH ou ETC (chimiquement ou génétiquement) a conduit à une hypersensibilité à l'irradiation UVB. Nos résultats indiquent que la voie DHODH par l’induction de la synthèse d'ATP et de CTE joue un rôle majeur entre l'efficacité de réparation d'ADN et la reprogrammation métabolique au cours de la carcinogenèse UVB-induits. / Objective of the present research study was investigating the role of oxidative and energy metabolism in skin aging and UVB-induced skin cancer. In the first part, we aimed to find the link between genetic instability, ROS generation and metabolism alteration in the process of aging. The obtained results on XPC KO mice model demonstrated that excess of oxidative stress in addition to alterations in energy metabolism due to over activation of NOX1 play a causative role in premature skin aging. Topical application of novel NOX inhibitor prevented the premature aging in XPC KO mice through inhibition of ROS generation and alteration of energy metabolism. Our results suggest that the InhNOX can be considered as a promising target in prevention of premature aging and NOX-associated diseases. Little information is available on the contribution of energy metabolism reprogramming in cancer initiation and promotion. To assess the role of metabolic reprogramming in different phases of carcinogenesis, in the second part of my thesis we employed a multistage model of ultraviolet B (UVB) radiation-induced skin cancer. We showed that chronic UVB irradiation results in decreased glycolysis, TCA cycle and fatty acid β-oxidation while at the same time mitochondrial ATP synthesis and a part of the electron transport chain (ETC) are upregulated. Increased ETC was further found to be related to the over-activation of dihyroorotate dehydrogenase (DHODH). Decreased activity of DHODH or ETC (chemically or genetically) led to hypersensitivity to UVB irradiation. Our results indicated that DHODH pathway through induction of ETC and ATP synthesis represents the relation between DNA repair efficiency and metabolism reprogramming during UVB-induced carcinogenesis.