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The potential for modern coalfield methanogenesis was assessed using formation water from the Illinois Basin, Powder River Basin and Cook Inlet gas field as inocula for nutrient-replete incubations amended with C1-C5 fatty acids as presumed intermediates formed during anaerobic coal biodegradation. Instead of the expected rapid mineralization of these substrates, methanogenesis was inordinately slow (∼1 μmol day-1), following long lag periods (>100 days), and methane yields typically did not reach stoichiometrically expected levels. However, a gene microarray confirmed the potential for a wide variety of microbiological functions, including methanogenesis, at all sites. The Cook Inlet incubations produced methane at a relatively rapid rate when amended with butyrate (r = 0.98; p = 0.001) or valerate (r = 0.84; p = 0.04), a result that significantly correlated with the number of positive mcr gene sequence probes from the functional gene microarray and was consistent with the in situ detection of C4-C5 alkanoic acids. This finding highlighted the role of syntrophy for the biodegradation of the softer lignite and subbituminous coal in this formation, but methanogenesis from the harder subbituminous and bituminous coals in the other fields was less apparent. We conclude that coal methanogenesis is probably not limited by the inherent lack of metabolic potential, the presence of alternate electron acceptors or the lack of available nutrients, but more likely restricted by the inherent recalcitrance of the coal itself.

Background: Managing critically ill neonates has unique challenges, and the transport team plays an important role in stabilizing and facilitating the transfer of these neonates from lower-level nurseries to tertiary centers, and the use of telemedicine in transport (tele-transport) can potentially benefit patient care. We conducted a multicenter study to assess the readiness for utilizing telemedicine as an adjunct to guide the care of critically ill neonates among physicians and transport team members (TTMs). This is the first multicenter study that explored physicians' and TTMs' perceptions of telemedicine usage and its value in neonatal transport. Methods: A confidential, voluntary survey on pre-implementation attitudes toward telemedicine usage during neonatal transport was conducted as part of a quality improvement initiative. This survey involved physicians and TTMs from four academic institutions whose responses were entered into an online survey using REDCap®. The survey inquired about satisfaction with the current practice of phone consultation and the perception of using telemedicine to optimize the management of neonates during transport. Results : The overall response rate for the survey was 60.1%; 82 of 127 (64.6%) physicians and 64 of 116 (55.2%) TTMs responded to the surveys. Half of the physicians and less than one-fourth of the TTMs had prior experience with telemedicine other than that used on neonatal transport. TTMs expressed greater concern about the inconvenience of video (55% vs. physicians 35% agree or strongly agree) and its time consumption (84% vs. physicians 50%). More than 70% of physicians and less than half of TTMs endorsed the potential for added value and quality improvement with video capability. Almost half of TTMs reported concern about video calls reducing their autonomy in patient care. Physicians expressed confidence in management decisions they would make after video calls (72% confident or very confident) and less confidence (49%) about both the phone assessment by TTMs and their decisions based on phone assessment. In contrast, TTMs were confident or very confident (94%) in both sharing their assessment over the phone and executing patient management after a phone call, compared with 70% for decisions made after video calls. Conclusions : Physicians and TTMs had distinct opinions on the use of telemedicine during neonatal transport. Physicians were more likely than TTMs to agree with statements about the potential for improving quality of care, while TTMs were more likely than physicians to say video calls would be time-consuming and inconvenient. We speculate some differences may stem from the TTMs' concern about losing their autonomy. Therefore, during implementation, it is critical for physicians and TTMs to agree on a shared mental model of indications for telemedicine during transport and its value to the patient care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

According to the compensation model of aggression (Staub, 1989), some people bully to defend against their own feelings of weakness and vulnerability. Classmates and teachers rated a sample of American sixth graders in terms of trait: defensiveness (i.e., defensive egotism), self-esteem, bullying, and related behaviors. Consistent with the model, students' peer- and teacher-rated defensive egotism were positively associated with bullying and physical and social aggression, respectively. Students' peer- and teacher-rated self-esteem was negatively correlated with bully victimization and positively correlated with defending victims. Some findings were qualified by regression analyses using personality, gender, and their interaction as predictors of focal behaviors. The positive association between defensive egotism and bullying held only for boys; yet, at higher defensive egotism, girls were more socially aggressive than boys. The findings, along with previous research, suggest that bullying-reduction programs in schools include a component on the personality and motivational dynamics of bullies, victims, and victim defenders.

Background: One in three high-risk prostate cancer patients treated with radiotherapy recur. Detection of lymph node metastasis and microscopic disease spread using conventional imaging is poor, and many patients are under-treated due to suboptimal seminal vesicle or lymph node irradiation. We use Image Based Data Mining (IBDM) to investigate association between dose distributions, and prognostic variables and biochemical recurrence (BCR) in prostate cancer patients treated with radiotherapy. We further test whether including dose information in risk-stratification models improves performance. Method: Planning CTs, dose distributions and clinical information were collected for 612 high-risk prostate cancer patients treated with conformal hypofractionated radiotherapy, intensity modulated radiotherapy (IMRT), or IMRT plus a single fraction high dose rate (HDR) brachytherapy boost. Dose distributions (including HDR boost) of all studied patients were mapped to a reference anatomy using the prostate delineations. Regions where dose distributions significantly differed between patients that did and did-not experience BCR were assessed voxel-wise using 1) a binary endpoint of BCR at four-years (dose only) and 2) Cox-IBDM (dose and prognostic variables). Regions where dose was associated with outcome were identified. Cox proportionalhazard models with and without region dose information were produced and the Akaike Information Criterion (AIC) was used to assess model performance. Results: No significant regions were observed for patients treated with hypofractionated radiotherapy or IMRT. Regions outside the target where higher dose was associated with lower BCR were observed for patients treated with brachytherapy boost. Cox-IBDM revealed that dose response was influenced by age and T-stage. A region at the seminal vesicle tips was identified in binaryand Cox-IBDM. Including the mean dose in this region in a risk-stratification model (hazard ratio=0.84, p=0.005) significantly reduced AIC values (p=0.019), indicating superior performance, compared with prognostic variables only. The region dose was lower in the brachytherapy boost patients compared with the external beam cohorts supporting the occurrence of marginal misses. Conclusion: Association was identified between BCR and dose outside of the target region in high-risk prostate cancer patients treated with IMRT plus brachytherapy boost. We show, for the first-time, that the importance of irradiating this region is linked to prognostic variables. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article we address the implementation of sustainable technological change among the faculty, staff, and students in the College of Education and Human Services at a mid-western urban institution. We examine cultural factors common to institutions of higher education and then describe particular planning and implementation processes employed at one institution to move faculty and staff from a state of minimal technology use to one of substantial technological competence over a period of years. The process turns out to be robust and stable despite growth over time. We conclude with recommendations for other educational institutions facing similar needs for cultural change in the use of technology.

This article proposes 2 new approaches to test a nonzero population correlation ([rho]): the hypothesis-imposed univariate sampling bootstrap (HI) and the observed-imposed univariate sampling bootstrap (OI). The authors simulated correlated populations with various combinations of normal and skewed variates. With [alpha[subscript "set"]]=0.05, N greater than or equal to 10, and [rho] greater than or equal to 0.4, empirical Type I error rates of the parametric r and the conventional bivariate sampling bootstrap reached 0.168 and 0.081, respectively, whereas the largest error rates of the HI and the OI were 0.079 and 0.062. On the basis of these results, the authors suggest that the OI is preferable in alpha control to parametric approaches if the researcher believes the population is nonnormal and wishes to test for nonzero [rho]s of moderate size.

Modern communication technologies have modified the tradition of instructor's office hours in numerous ways. This article explores the use of Instant Messenger (IM) software in the context of "online office hours". The authors discuss strengths and weaknesses of IM interactions for instructor/student communication, and examine a sample of such communications from two graduate classes to determine the types of content found there. The authors propose a categorical structure drawn from this content which Contains three major dimensions, two of which have sub-dimensions; the purpose of the structure is to better understand the potential pedagogical use of TM. The "24 hour professor syndrome" is a real hazard for instructors making increasing use of any type of online interactions with students. This article helps to understand how better to use computer mediated communications to improve instructor/student interactions through integrating IM into online office hours, while remaining aware of the potential disadvantages of failing to establish a boundary defining periods of instructor availability. (Contains 1 chart.)

The use of the Instant Messenger (IM) environment to carry out structured online class discussions in graduate teacher education courses is described. Properties of IM are delineated, and specific procedures in using IM as a vehicle for class discussions are discussed. Attributes of Type II technology applications are addressed directly, and the characteristics of these class activities that correspond with such attributes are discussed in detail. In closing, the authors draw a clear distinction between casual IM use in a class setting and planned, structured implementation of IM as an example of a Type II technology application.

In recent years laptop computers have become increasingly popular in educational settings; wireless connectivity is a more recent development which is only now being fully explored, and which has led to the creation of the "wireless laptop lab." In this article, the authors share some of the experiences and concerns that they have encountered while teaching a variety of classes in wireless laptop lab settings. Among other things, they discovered that the practical daily use of wireless laptops brought with it a host of specific details they had not previously encountered: battery life, storage & transport (including the concept of the mothership); security (in the context of mobility); check-out and turn-in procedures; properly equipped instructor stations; and printing in a mobile network environment.

Epidemic Models of the Onset of Social Activities (EMOSA) describe behaviors that spread through social networks. Two social influence methods are represented, social contagion (one‐to‐one spread) and general diffusion (spread through cultural channels). Past models explain problem behaviors—smoking, drinking, sexuality, and delinquency. We provide review, and a tutorial (including examples). Following, we present new EMOSA models explaining changes in adolescent and young adult religious participation. We fit the model to 10 years of data from the 1997 U.S. National Longitudinal Survey of Youth. Innovations include a three‐stage bi‐directional model, Bayesian Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) estimation, graphical innovations, and empirical validation. General diffusion dominated rapid reduction in church attendance during adolescence; both diffusion and social contagion explained church attendance stability in early adulthood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Image maps are a means of making a picture "clickable", so that different portions of the image can be hyperlinked to different URLS. There are two basic types of image maps: server-side and client-side. Besides requiring access to a CGI on the server, server-side image maps are undesirable from the standpoint of accessibility--creating an accessible server-side image map requires the creation of redundant text links. Client-side image maps do not require CGI access, and (because of their ability to contain "ALT" attributes) are easier to compose in fully accessible form. Section 508 of the U.S. Rehabilitation Act requires that many web pages in public use be fully accessible by individuals with any of five different types of disabilities: visual impairment, hearing impairment, physical impairment, cognitive impairment, and photoepilepsy (U.S. Center for information Technology Accommodation, 2003). Section 508 goes on to specify the use of client-side (rather than server-side) image maps wherever possible on such pages. This article reviews the basic process of creating a simple client-side image map, and elaborates on the specific steps required to ensure that such an image map is fully accessible according to section 508 standards.

Describes one teacher education college's experiences with designing and implementing technology standards for teachers, as required by the International Society for Technology in Education. Addresses program rationale, initial implementation, division of content, feedback from faculty and students, and effects on instruction. (JPB)

Examines the implications of attempting to integrate extensive technology into aging urban schools and considers the perspective that technology is best viewed as part of, rather than a competitor to, the implementation of a school-reform model. Contains 27 references. (DDR)