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BACKGROUND CONTEXT Complex spinal reconstructions involving corpectomies, or osteotomies, place spinal implants at extremely high stresses that can lead to pseudoarthrosis and ultimately to rod failure, resulting in revision surgery. Current clinical options to increase the biomechanical strength of a construct include increasing rod diameter, changing rod material, or placing an additional satellite/outrigger rod on a standard two rod construct. Fundamentally, all of these constructs still rely on two longitudinal rods across the reconstruction site and are therefore at risk for rod fracture and loss of alignment. Initially described in 2006, the Dual Construct was developed to address this limitation by utilizing four distinct mechanically independent rods, which allowed for the creation of two separate, and distinct, constructs within each patient. Although there is early clinical evidence to support its efficacy, this is the first biomechanical study to compare the Dual Construct to the two-rod and two-rod with satellite configurations in a cadaveric study. PURPOSE To assess the biomechanical impact of the Dual Construct technique to traditional two-rod and two-rod with satellite rod construct in a cadaveric model. STUDY DESIGN/SETTING Biomechanical cadaveric study METHODS Nine fresh-frozen human cadaveric spines (6 males, 3 females, 56 year +/- 9 years) from T9-pelvis were instrumented and tested utilizing all three configurations including two-rod construct, two-rod with satellite construct, and the Dual Construct technique. Biomechanical testing order of the various constructs was randomized to reduce potential effects of order bias. Strain gauges were placed in both the coronal and sagittal planes of the rods to track the strains during flexion-extension and lateral bending while undergoing range of motion testing. Testing was performed using pure-moment flexibility testing protocols. RESULTS In flexion-extension, the resultant strain in the two-rod construct was an average 600±228 microstrain, the two-rod with satellite rod strain averaged 603±237 microstrain, and the Dual Construct averaged 403±149 microstrain. In lateral bending, the resultant strain in the two-rod construct was an average of 266±134 microstrain, the satellite rod strain was an average of 310±158 microstrain, and the Dual Construct averaged 118±51 microstrain. In both flexion extension and lateral bending, a significant reduction in strain was observed between the Dual Construct condition compared to both the two-rod and satellite configurations. No significant difference was found between the two-rod and two-rod with satellite rod configurations. CONCLUSIONS The increase in load sharing significantly decreases the strain experienced across the Dual Construct compared to traditional two-rod and two-rod with satellite constructs. Global rod strains on primary rods cannot be reduced by simply increasing the number of satellite rods, but can only be reduce by increasing the actual number of primary rods.

Internet of Medical Things (IoMT) technology remains in early stages of adoption, but advancements and breakthroughs are quickly moving this process forward. There is a critical need for cybersecurity to be a priority in the development of these new tools, alongside design and utility. Given the rapid pace and potential magnitude of the coming advancements in IoMT, if privacy and security risks are neglected, a significant crisis could emerge in the form of more frequent cybersecurity breaches. This article examines the market opportunities and risks associated with IoMT and outlines a plan for proactively mitigating concerns and providing a platform to foster growth, to modify attitudes and behaviors, and to continue to build consumer confidence in the overall health system without sacrificing security.

Attack trees and attack graphs are both examples of what one might term attack modelling techniques. The primary purpose of such techniques is to help establish and enumerate the ways in which a system could be compromised; as such, they play a key role in the (security) risk analysis process. Given their role and the consequent need to ensure that they are correct, there are good reasons for capturing such artefacts in a formal manner. We describe such a formal approach, which has been motivated by a desire to model attacks from the perspectives of attackers, to support economic analysis. As an illustration, we consider exploitation cost.

How do people distribute defenses over a directed network attack graph, where they must defend a critical node? This question is of interest to computer scientists, information technology and security professionals. Decision-makers are often subject to behavioral biases that cause them to make sub-optimal defense decisions, which can prove especially costly if the critical node is an essential infrastructure. We posit that non-linear probability weighting is one bias that may lead to sub-optimal decision-making in this environment, and provide an experimental test. We find support for this conjecture, and also identify other empirically important forms of biases such as naive diversification and preferences over the spatial timing of the revelation of an overall successful defense. The latter preference is related to the concept of anticipatory feelings induced by the timing of the resolution of uncertainty.

The market for information security products is plagued by information asymmetry, dysfunctional brand reputation and principal-agent problems. Mechanisms to address the resulting market for lemons include certification schemes, liability laws, and information disclosure. Unfortunately there has been limited success thus far. An emerging form of risk transfer, cyber warranties, could address the market failure. We analyse 15 warranties to identify what is covered and what is excluded. The results suggest cyber warranties do not transfer much risk at present. However, they do force transparency regarding the limitations of information security products.

This paper introduces a causal model inspired by structural equation modeling that explains cyber risk outcomes in terms of latent factors measured using reflexive indicators. First, we use the model to classify empirical cyber harm studies. We discover cyber harms are not exceptional in terms of typical or extreme losses. The increasing frequency of data breaches is contested and stock market reactions to cyber incidents are becoming less damaging over time. Focusing on harms alone breeds fatalism; the causal model is most useful in evaluating the effectiveness of security interventions. We show how simple statistical relationships lead to spurious results in which more security spending or applying updates are associated with greater rates of compromise. When accounting for threat and exposure, indicators of security are shown to be important factors in explaining the variance in rates of compromise, especially when the studies use multiple indicators of the security level.

Inteins (intervening proteins) are translated within host proteins and removed through protein splicing. Conditional protein splicing (CPS), where the rate and accuracy of splicing are highly dependent on environmental cues, has emerged as a novel form of post-translational regulation. While CPS has been demonstrated for several inteins in vitro, a comprehensive understanding of inteins requires tools to quantitatively monitor their activity within the cellular context. Here, we describe a method for construction of a splicing-dependent system that can be used to quantitatively assay for conditions that modulate protein splicing. © 2021 Wiley Periodicals LLC. Basic Protocol 1: Construction of an intein-containing KanR2 library using Gibson assembly Basic Protocol 2: Phenotype determination using quantitative spot titers Support Protocol 1: Preparation of LB agar plates for spot titers Support Protocol 2: Preparation and transformation of competent M. smegmatis cells.

Privacy preference signals are digital representations of how users want their personal data to be processed. Such signals must be adopted by both the sender (users) and intended recipients (data processors). Adoption represents a coordination problem that remains unsolved despite efforts dating back to the 1990s. Browsers implemented standards like the Platform for Privacy Preferences (P3P) and Do Not Track (DNT), but vendors profiting from personal data faced few incentives to receive and respect the expressed wishes of data subjects. In the wake of recent privacy laws, a coalition of AdTech firms published the Transparency and Consent Framework (TCF), which defines an optin consent signal. This paper integrates post-GDPR developments into the wider history of privacy preference signals. Our main contribution is a high-frequency longitudinal study describing how TCF signal gained dominance as of February 2021. We explore which factors correlate with adoption at the website level. Both the number of third parties on a website and the presence of Google Ads are associated with higher adoption of TCF. Further, we show that vendors acted as early adopters of TCF 2.0 and provide two case studies describing how Consent Management Providers shifted existing customers to TCF 2.0. We sketch ways forward for a pro-privacy signal. we show that vendors acted as early adopters of TCF 2.0 and provide two case studies describing how Consent Management Providers shifted existing customers to TCF 2.0. We sketch ways forward for a pro-privacy signal. we show that vendors acted as early adopters of TCF 2.0 and provide two case studies describing how Consent Management Providers shifted existing customers to TCF 2.0. We sketch ways forward for a pro-privacy signal.

Adoptive transfer of allogeneic natural killer (NK) cells is becoming a credible immunotherapy for hematological malignancies. In the present work, using an optimized expansion/activation protocol of human NK cells, we generate expanded NK cells (eNK) with increased expression of CD56 and NKp44, while maintaining that of CD16. These eNK cells exerted significant cytotoxicity against cells from 34 B-CLL patients, with only 1 sample exhibiting resistance. This sporadic resistance did not correlate with match between KIR ligands expressed by the eNK cells and the leukemic cells, while cells with match resulted sensitive to eNK cells. This suggests that KIR mismatch is not relevant when expanded NK cells are used as effectors. In addition, we found two examples of de novo resistance to eNK cell cytotoxicity during the clinical course of the disease. Resistance correlated with KIR-ligand match in one of the patients, but not in the other, and was associated with a significant increase in PD-L1 expression in the cells from both patients. Treatment of one of these patients with idelalisib correlated with the loss of PD-L1 expression and with re-sensitization to eNK cytotoxicity. We confirmed the idelalisib-induced decrease in PD-L1 expression in the B-CLL cell line Mec1 and in cultured cells from B-CLL patients. As a main conclusion, our results reinforce the feasibility of using expanded and activated allogeneic NK cells in the treatment of B-CLL.

Insurance premiums reflect expectations about the future losses of each insured. Given the dearth of cyber security loss data, market premiums could shed light on the true magnitude of cyber losses despite noise from factors unrelated to losses. To that end, we extract cyber insurance pricing information from the regulatory filings of 26 insurers. We provide empirical observations on how premiums vary by coverage type, amount, and policyholder type and over time. A method using particle swarm optimisation and the expected value premium principle is introduced to iterate through candidate parameterised distributions with the goal of reducing error in predicting observed prices. We then aggregate the inferred loss models across 6,828 observed prices from all 26 insurers to derive the County Fair Cyber Loss Distribution . We demonstrate its value in decision support by applying it to a theoretical retail firm with annual revenue of $50M. The results suggest that the expected cyber liability loss is $428K and that the firm faces a 2.3% chance of experiencing a cyber liability loss between $100K and $10M each year. The method and resulting estimates could help organisations better manage cyber risk, regardless of whether they purchase insurance.

We model the behavioral biases of human decision-making in securing interdependent systems and show that such behavioral decision-making leads to a suboptimal pattern of resource allocation compared to non-behavioral (rational) decision-making. We provide empirical evidence for the existence of such behavioral bias model through a controlled subject study with 145 participants. We then propose three learning techniques for enhancing decision-making in multi-round setups. We illustrate the benefits of our decision-making model through multiple interdependent real-world systems and quantify the level of gain compared to the case in which the defenders are behavioral. We also show the benefit of our learning techniques against different attack models. We identify the effects of different system parameters on the degree of suboptimality of security outcomes due to behavioral decision-making., Accepted to appear at the 16th ACM Asia Conference on Computer and Communications Security (ASIACCS), 2021. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:2004.01958

Inteins are present in a large fraction of prokaryotes and localize within conserved proteins, including the mycobacterial replicative helicase DnaB. In addition to their extensive protein engineering applications, inteins have emerged as environmentally responsive posttranslational regulators of the genes that encode them. While several studies have shown compelling evidence of conditional protein splicing (CPS), examination of splicing in the native host of the intein has proven to be challenging. Here, we demonstrated through a number of measures, including the use of a splicing-dependent sensor capable of monitoring intein activity in the native host, that zinc is a potent and reversible inhibitor of mycobacterial DnaB splicing. This work also expands our knowledge of site selection for intein insertion within nonnative proteins, demonstrating that splicing-dependent host protein activation correlates with proximity to the active site. Additionally, we surmise that splicing regulation by zinc has mycobacteriocidal and CPS application potential., Inteins, as posttranslational regulatory elements, can tune protein function to environmental changes by conditional protein splicing (CPS). Translated as subdomains interrupting host proteins, inteins splice to scarlessly join flanking sequences (exteins). We used DnaB-intein1 (DnaBi1) from a replicative helicase of Mycobacterium smegmatis to build a kanamycin intein splicing reporter (KISR) that links splicing of DnaBi1 to kanamycin resistance. Using expression in heterologous Escherichia coli, we observed phenotypic classes of various levels of splicing-dependent resistance (SDR) and related these to the insertion position of DnaBi1 within the kanamycin resistance protein (KanR). The KanR-DnaBi1 construct demonstrating the most stringent SDR was used to probe for CPS of DnaB in the native host environment, M. smegmatis. We show here that zinc, important during mycobacterial pathogenesis, inhibits DnaB splicing in M. smegmatis. Using an in vitro reporter system, we demonstrated that zinc potently and reversibly inhibited DnaBi1 splicing, as well as splicing of a comparable intein from Mycobacterium leprae. Finally, in a 1.95 Å crystal structure, we show that zinc inhibits splicing through binding to the very cysteine that initiates the splicing reaction. Together, our results provide compelling support for a model whereby mycobacterial DnaB protein splicing, and thus DNA replication, is responsive to environmental zinc.

Author(s): Waibel, Jill S; Holmes, Jon; Rudnick, Ashley; Woods, Daniel; Kelly, Kristen M | Abstract: ObjectivesA current therapeutic challenge of vascular lesions is that they do not always respond effectively to laser treatment. Information on targeted vessels could potentially be used to guide laser treatments. Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a useful tool for the non-invasive imaging of tissues, including skin hemangiomas and port wine birthmarks. Dynamic OCT is able to rapidly characterize cutaneous blood vessels. The primary goal of this study was to demonstrate the ability of bedside OCT to image (i) overall vessel pattern; (ii) individual vessel morphology, diameter and depth; and (iii) total vessel density as a function of depth in infantile hemangiomas and port wine birthmarks (PWB).Materials and methodsThis IRB approved, observational clinical trial was performed among healthy volunteers ages 3 months-73 years old. All patients presented for laser treatment of either infantile hemangiomas or PWB with skin types ranging from Fitzpatrick I-V. OCT imaging of 49 hemangioma and PWB scans were performed pre- and post-treatment. The diameter and depth of the blood vessels making up the vascular lesions were measured. In addition, normal skin was scanned for comparison. Five datasets for infantile hemangiomas and five for PWB that were without motion artifacts were analyzed.ResultsScanned lesions exhibited variable and highly heterogeneous blood vessel patterns with vessel diameters ranging from 20 to 160 μm, suggesting that the laser treatment with single pulse durations may not be optimal. The largest blood vessel diameter observed (160 μm) may not be adequately treated by commonly used pulsed dye laser pulse durations.ConclusionOCT allowed rapid, non-invasive characterization of the diameter and depth of blood vessels in individual vascular lesions. Imaged lesions consisted of a heterogeneous population of vessel sizes, morphologies, and depth. Future studies could utilize this information to assist development of individualized treatment protocols in an effort to improve vascular birthmark removal. Lasers Surg. Med. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Reciprocity has been shown to be sensitive to perceived intentions, however, not much is known about the intensity of reciprocal responses to the precise nature of those intentions. For example, a person can strategically appear to be kind while being self-serving or can be selflessly (genuinely) kind. Do these two intentions elicit different reciprocal reactions? We propose a conjecture that self-serving but generous actions diminish the positively reciprocal response, compared to selfless generous actions. We classify actions that increase a recipient’s maximum payoff, but by less than the giver’s maximum payoff, as being self-serving generous actions, while classifying actions that increase a recipient’s maximum payoff by more than the giver’s as selfless generous actions. We hypothesize that selfless generous actions are considered more generous than self-serving generous actions, and that self-serving generous actions will therefore result in a diminished reciprocal response. We test this conjecture using two novel experimental designs. We find some evidence that subjects perceive self-serving generous actions as being less generous than selfless generous actions, but no empirical support for our conjecture on the diminished reciprocal response.

Cyber insurance could achieve public policy goals for cybersecurity using private-sector means. Insurers assess organizational security postures, prescribe security procedures and controls, and provide postincident services. We evaluate how such mechanisms impact security, identify market dynamics restricting their effectiveness, and sketch out possible futures for cyber insurance as governance.

We introduce a game-theoretic model to investigate the strategic interaction between a cyber insurance policyholderwhose premium depends on her self-reported security level and an insurer with the power to audit the security levelupon receiving an indemnity claim. Audits can reveal fraudulent (or simply careless) policyholders not following reportedsecurity procedures, in which case the insurer can refuse to indemnify the policyholder. However, the insurer has to bear an audit cost even when the policyholders have followed the prescribed security procedures. As audits can be expensive, a key problem insurers face is to devise an auditing strategy to deter policyholders from misrepresenting their security levels to gain a premium discount. This decision-making problem was motivated by conducting interviews with underwriters andreviewing regulatory filings in the US; we discovered that premiums are determined by security posture, yet this is often self-reported and insurers are concerned by whether security procedures are practised as reported by the policyholders. To address this problem, we model this interaction as a Bayesian game of incomplete information and devise optimal auditing strategies for the insurers considering the possibility that the policyholder may misrepresent her security level.To the best of our knowledge, this work is the first theoretical consideration of post-incident claims management in cybersecurity. Our model captures the trade-off between the incentive to exaggerate security posture during the application process and the possibility of punishment for non-compliance with reported security policies. Simulations demonstrate that common sense techniques are not as efficient at providing effective cyber insurance audit decisions as the ones computed using game theory.

This paper uses a laboratory experiment to analyze how individuals resolve an exploration versus exploitation trade-off. The experiment implements a single-agent exponential bandit model. We find that, as predicted, subjects respond to changes in the prior belief, safe action, and discount factor. However, we commonly find that subjects give up on exploration earlier than predicted. We estimate a structural model that allows for risk aversion, base rate neglect/conservatism, and probability mis-weighting. We find support for risk aversion, conservatism, and probability mis-weighting as potential factors that influence subject behavior. Risk aversion appears to explain the finding that subjects explore less than predicted.

This paper studies psychological forward induction and the updating of beliefs in the lost wallet game (Dufwenberg & Gneezy, 2000), which is required to derive a prediction for guilt averse agents. Our experiment tests whether the second movers psychologically induct forward and update their beliefs after observing their paired first movers’ decision by eliciting beliefs with different second mover knowledge of first mover decision, depending on treatment. We find that second movers do update their beliefs conditional on receiving information on the first mover’s action, supporting psychological forward induction.

Consumers struggle to distinguish between the quality of different enterprise security products. Evaluating performance is complicated by the stochastic nature of losses. It is recognised that this information asymmetry may lead to a "market for lemons" in which suppliers face no incentive to provide higher quality products. Some security vendors have begun to offer cyber-warranties - voluntary ex-ante obligations to indemnify the customer in the event of a cyber attack - to function as a quality signal. Much like how consumer protection laws are relatively more costly to firms offering low quality products, cyberwarranties are more costly for firms developing low quality enterprise security products. In this paper, we introduce a decision-theoretic model to explore how consumers might use cyber-warranties to increase information when purchasing security products. Our analysis derives four inferences that consumers can make about a security product. We discuss the difficulties customers might face in using these inferences to make real world decisions.

Making security investment decisions involves giving consideration to a variety of risks. However, there is little robust empirical evidence that can be used to support this process. This paper builds a road-map for incorporating cyber insurance data into existing security investment models. We propose an approach for using this data as an input for one investment model and introduce three distinct methods for evaluating the effectiveness of a new investment. We then describe a road-map for improving the insurance data collection process that aims to improve data utility for researchers. This approach could benefit those trying to justify an investment at all levels by providing evidence for the return on security.

The role of the insurance industry in driving improvements in cyber security has been identified as mutually beneficial for both insurers and policy-makers. To date, there has been no consideration of the roles governments and the insurance industry should pursue in support of this public–private partnership. This paper rectifies this omission and presents a framework to help underpin such a partnership, giving particular consideration to possible government interventions that might affect the cyber insurance market. We have undertaken a qualitative analysis of reports published by policy-making institutions and organisations working in the cyber insurance domain; we have also conducted interviews with cyber insurance professionals. Together, these constitute a stakeholder analysis upon which we build our framework. In addition, we present a research roadmap to demonstrate how the ideas described might be taken forward.

Policy discussions often assume that wider adoption of cyber insurance will promote information security best practice. However, this depends on the process that applicants need to go through to apply for cyber insurance. A typical process would require an applicant to fill out a proposal form, which is a self-assessed questionnaire. In this paper, we examine 24 proposal forms, offered by insurers based in the UK and the US, to determine which security controls are present in the forms. Our aim is to establish whether the collection of security controls mentioned in the analysed forms corresponds to the controls defined in ISO/IEC 27002 and the CIS Critical Security Controls; these two control sets are generally held to be best practice. This work contains a novel research direction as we are the first to systematically analyse cyber insurance proposal forms. Our contributions include evidence regarding the assumption that the insurance industry will promote security best practice. To address the problem of adverse selection, we suggest the number of controls that proposal forms should include to be in alignment with the two information security frameworks. Finally, we discuss the incentives that could lead to this disparity between insurance practice and information security best practice, emphasising the importance of information security economics in studying cyber insurance.

BackgroundDuchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is a rare disease that causes the progressive loss of motor abilities such as walking. Standard treatment includes physiotherapy. No trial has evaluated whether or not adding aquatic therapy (AT) to land-based therapy (LBT) exercises helps to keep muscles strong and children independent.ObjectivesTo assess the feasibility of recruiting boys with DMD to a randomised trial evaluating AT (primary objective) and to collect data from them; to assess how, and how well, the intervention and trial procedures work.DesignParallel-group, single-blind, randomised pilot trial with nested qualitative research.SettingSix paediatric neuromuscular units.ParticipantsChildren with DMD aged 7–16 years, established on corticosteroids, with a North Star Ambulatory Assessment (NSAA) score of 8–34 and able to complete a 10-m walk without aids/assistance. Exclusions: > 20% variation between baseline screens 4 weeks apart and contraindications.InterventionsParticipants were allocated on a 1 : 1 ratio to (1) optimised, manualised LBT (prescribed by specialist neuromuscular physiotherapists) or (2) the same plus manualised AT (30 minutes, twice weekly for 6 months: active assisted and/or passive stretching regime; simulated or real functional activities; submaximal exercise). Semistructured interviews with participants, parents (n = 8) and professionals (n = 8) were analysed using Framework analysis. An independent rater reviewed patient records to determine the extent to which treatment was optimised. A cost-impact analysis was performed. Quantitative and qualitative data were mixed using a triangulation exercise.Main outcome measuresFeasibility of recruiting 40 participants in 6 months, participant and therapist views on the acceptability of the intervention and research protocols, clinical outcomes including NSAA, independent assessment of treatment optimisation and intervention costs.ResultsOver 6 months, 348 children were screened – most lived too far from centres or were enrolled in other trials. Twelve (30% of target) were randomised to AT (n = 8) or control (n = 4). People in the AT (n = 8) and control (n = 2: attrition because of parental report) arms contributed outcome data. The mean change in NSAA score at 6 months was –5.5 [standard deviation (SD) 7.8] for LBT and –2.8 (SD 4.1) in the AT arm. One boy suffered pain and fatigue after AT, which resolved the same day. Physiotherapists and parents valued AT and believed that it should be delivered in community settings. The independent rater considered AT optimised for three out of eight children, with other children given programmes that were too extensive and insufficiently focused. The estimated NHS costs of 6-month service were between £1970 and £2734 per patient.LimitationsThe focus on delivery in hospitals limits generalisability.ConclusionsNeither a full-scale frequentist randomised controlled trial (RCT) recruiting in the UK alone nor a twice-weekly open-ended AT course delivered at tertiary centres is feasible. Further intervention development research is needed to identify how community-based pools can be accessed, and how families can link with each other and community physiotherapists to access tailored AT programmes guided by highly specialised physiotherapists. Bayesian RCTs may be feasible; otherwise, time series designs are recommended.Trial registrationCurrent Controlled Trials ISRCTN41002956.FundingThis project was funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Health Technology Assessment programme and will be published in full inHealth Technology Assessment; Vol. 21, No. 27. See the NIHR Journals Library website for further project information.

The operation of the posted offer market with advance production environment ( Mestelman and Welland, 1988 ), appropriately parameterized, differs from that of the market entry game ( Selten and Guth, 1982 ), appropriately presented, only in terms of price-setting. We establish the effect of this difference in price-setting on attainment of the competitive equilibrium allocation while controlling for effects relating to the presentation of the market entry game and to the stationarity or non-stationarity of environment. Free posting of prices promotes convergence to the competitive equilibrium allocation, while the typical market entry game data can be characterized as displaying cycling prices.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to describe a study of identity development in the context of a preservice teacher education program that used a variety of approaches to support development of understanding of cultural diversity. Design/methodology/approach – Fifty preservice teachers in a graduate program in elementary education participated in the study. Of the 50 participants, 47 were Caucasian, two were African American and one was originally from India, but was a US citizen. The analyses were qualitative. A phenomenological approach to data analysis was taken, viewing the drawings and written explanations created by the participants as independently occurring phenomenon (as compared with data that might be considered for grounded theory or constant comparison) (Hycner, 1985; Moustakas, 1994). Findings – Overall, the low number of drawings and writings that included representations of cultural, linguistic, special needs and gender diversity suggests of a lack of understanding about the significant roles of these student characteristics in the lives of elementary teachers dedicated to meeting student needs. Given the strong focus on diversity education in this preservice teacher education program, this was an unexpected finding. One explanation is that preservice and beginning teachers are highly involved in identifying their own beliefs and values about teaching and exploring how their personal characteristics can be reconciled and applied in their specific teaching contexts. Originality/value – It is imperative that teacher education programs effectively address diversity in the classroom for the population typically entering the teaching profession. While many programs spend considerable time and effort “teaching” multicultural concepts, few, if any, have asked students to look inward in the way we did on this study.