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The aim of this study was to examine the effect of the Common Knowledge Construction Model (CKCM) on the conceptual understanding of science teacher students about Radioactivity. CKCM was used. In order for the students to adapt the radioactivity subject, which they see as difficult and abstract, to daily life by knowledge structuring. This study was carried out with 48 students studying in the second year of science education at a public university in the western region. The research employed pretest-posttest control group random design. The Radioactivity Concept Test (RCT) with 2 phases consisting 23 multiple-choice items were used as data collection tools in the research. After the tests were applied as a pilot study to 124 students, it was used with the participants of the study after the necessary validity and reliability studies were carried out. The KR20 reliability coefficient obtained from the sample data was calculated as 0.74. In the study, experimental and control groups were formed by random assignment. While the traditional lecture method was applied to the control group, the CKCM was applied to the experimental group. When the concept test data were analyzed with the SPSS 24 package program, it was determined that the experimental group were more successful than the control group, determined that the increase in correct answers in the post-test of the experimental group was higher than that of the control group.

This study explores the impact of professional learning about the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, Teaching, Assessment (CEFR) on second language (L2) teachers' classroom practice. Ninety self-selected French as a second language (FSL) teachers across Canada responded to an online survey about their planning, teaching, and assessment/evaluation practices before versus after their professional learning. The results revealed that the impact of such professional learning is wide-reaching and remarkably consistent across all three areas of practice. The teachers reported that their professional learning spurred them to start presenting language through speech acts and based on students' needs, to emphasize not only linguistic but sociolinguistic and pragmatic competence as well, and to focus more intently on students' ability to communicate in the L2. The teachers also reported that they increased the use of authentic materials and developed communicative and action-oriented tasks that simulate real-life situations. The findings suggest that CEFR-related professional learning may be used successfully to inspire L2 teachers to implement CEFR-informed classroom practices.

The objective of this paper is to examine the attitudes and the opinions of teachers about altruism. Research was conducted with 289 teachers. Research design is mixed research design. "Teacher Altruism Scale", which was developed by Yavuzer, Gazioglu, Yildiz, Demir, Meseci, Kiliçaslan & Sertelin (2006) and Altruism Interview Form developed by researcher were used. Independent Samples T Test and Kruskal Wallis Test and content analysis were used in this study. According to quantitative findings, altruism attitude of teachers do not differ according to genders, marital status and the reasons for choosing teaching profession and do not differ according to branch and seniority either. According to qualitative findings, most of the teachers stated that their colleagues made attempts on the needs related to teacher training. And also, most of the teachers stated that their colleagues share educational issues.

The issue of leadership has been debated by people since ancient times. When literature review is done in this field, it has seen that leadership was defined by many scientists and different approaches have been created about the subject Servant leadership is an understanding that reappears in the modern world and that leaders are accountable to their followers and go back to historical antiquity. Organizational commitment is the degree of integration and identification that an individual feels for an organization. Many researches have been done so far on organizational commitment. Low organizational commitment has individual and organizational negative consequences such as being late for work, absenteeism, low performance and even leaving the job. The purpose of this study is to investigate teachers' perceptions about servant leadership and organizational commitment. 149 teachers answered the scales. Survey and correlational model were preferred. According to the findings, teachers' perceptions about servant leadership and organizational commitment don't vary in accordance with gender, branch, tenure in school and seniority. Organizational commitment of teachers and servant leadership perceptions are related to each other. This relationship is positive and low.

The phase 3 Veterans Affairs Lung Cancer Surgery Or Stereotactic Radiotherapy study implemented centralized quality assurance (QA) to mitigate risks of protocol deviations. This report summarizes the quality and compliance of the first 100 participants treated with stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) in this study. A centralized QA program was developed to credential and monitor study sites to ensure standard-of-care lung SBRT treatments are delivered to participants. Requirements were adapted from protocols established by the National Cancer Institute's Image and Radiation Oncology Core, which provides oversight for clinical trials sponsored by the National Cancer Institute's National Clinical Trials Network. The first 100 lung SBRT treatment plans were reviewed from April 2017 to October 2022. Tumor contours were appropriate in all submissions. Planning target volume (PTV) expansions were less than the minimum 5 mm requirement in 2% of cases. Critical organ-at-risk structures were contoured accurately for the proximal bronchial tree, trachea, esophagus, spinal cord, and brachial plexus in 75%, 92%, 100%, 100%, and 95% of cases, respectively. Prescriptions were appropriate in 98% of cases; 2 central tumors were treated using a peripheral tumor dose prescription while meeting organ-at-risk constraints. PTV V100% (the percentage of target volume that receives 100% or more of the prescription) values were above the protocol-defined minimum of 94% in all but 1 submission. The median dose maximum (Dmax) within the PTV was 125.4% (105.8%-149.0%; SD ± 8.7%), where values reference the percentage of the prescription dose. High-dose conformality (ratio of the volume of the prescription isodose to the volume of the PTV) and intermediate-dose compactness [R50% (ratio of the volume of the half prescription isodose to the volume of the PTV) and D2cm (the maximum dose beyond a 2 cm expansion of the PTV expressed as a percentage of the prescription dose)] were acceptable or deviation acceptable in 100% and 94% of cases, respectively. The first 100 participants randomized to SBRT in this study were appropriately treated without safety concerns. A response to the incorrect prescriptions led to preventative measures without further recurrences. The program was developed in a health care system without prior experience with a centralized radiation therapy QA program and may serve as a reference for other institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: There is extremely limited population-based research on social (pragmatic) communication disorder (SCD). Population-based samples have the potential to better characterize the SCD phenotype by mitigating confounds and biases that are typical of convenience and clinical samples. Aims: The aims of this preliminary epidemiologic study were to advance our understanding of the SCD phenotype relative to developmental language disorder (DLD), obtain an estimate of prevalence, identify risk factors and lay the groundwork for future population level research of SCD. Methods & Procedures: We analysed existing data from the EpiSLI Database to examine social communication skills in 393 8th grade (13-14 years) children with and without a history of DLD. The primary measure used to evaluate SCD was the Children's Communication Checklist (CCC-2). Two case definitions of SCD reflecting DSM-5 criteria were examined. Both definitions involved significant pragmatic impairment, employing a commonly adopted clinical cut-point of 1.5 SD. In one case, pragmatic deficits could occur along with structural language deficits and, in the other case (established using principal component analysis), pragmatic and social skills were disproportionately lower than structural language abilities. Outcomes & Results: When using the first case definition, SCD was much more common in children with a history of DLD than without DLD and history of language disorder at kindergarten was a significant risk factor for SCD in adolescence. However, it is important to note that SCD could be found in children with no prior deficits in other aspects of language. When the second definition was employed, SCD was equally distributed across children with and without a history of DLD. Male sex was a significant risk factor using this case definition of SCD. The estimated prevalence of SCD ranged from 7% (SE = 1.5%) to 11% (SE = 1.7%), acknowledging that prevalence depends on the cut-point selected to determine communication disorder. Conclusions & Implications: These findings contribute to our understanding of the association between SCD and DLD by recognizing varying profiles of pragmatic and social communication difficulties, which in turn may help refine our diagnostic categories. Preliminary prevalence estimates of SCD can serve as an initial guidepost for identification and planning for intervention services for this condition.

Purpose: The National Institute of Health Toolbox Cognition Battery (NIHTB-CB) is increasingly used in Alzheimer disease (AD) research. We examined the relation of AD biomarkers with performance in the NIHTB-CB in late middle age. Methods: This is a cross-sectional analysis of 334 Hispanic participants aged 64.22±3.35 years from a study of AD biomarkers. White matter hyperintensities (WMH), infarcts, and cortical thickness in AD regions (CT) were assessed with 3T magnetic resonance imaging. Amyloid and tau were assessed with 18F-Florbetaben and 18F-MK6240 positron emission tomography, respectively. Results: Lower CT and infarcts were associated with worse Oral Reading Recognition and Cognition Crystallized Composite scores. Lower CT and higher WMH were associated with worse Pattern Comparison Processing Speed. Amyloid and tau were not associated with any test. Discussion: Amyloid and tau, the culprits of AD, are not related to the NIHTB-CB in late middle age. Continued follow-up will reveal if AD impacts performance on the NIHTB-CB. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study focuses on the effects of vermicomposting on various soil properties, particularly emphasizing the dielectric characteristics of soil. Vermicomposting is known to significantly enhance soil fertility and improve its physical aspects such as aeration, porosity and water retention. In this analysis, a modified probe arrangement has been employed to determine how varying levels of vermicompost influence the soil's dielectric properties within the radio and microwave spectrum (10 MHz-14 GHz). A modified Dak-12 open-ended coaxial probe, paired with a vector network analyzer, was utilized for this purpose to overcome the drawbacks of standard arrangement. The results show that vermicompost strongly affects the soil's physical attributes (pH, bulk density, porosity) and also its chemical properties, along with its dielectric behavior. The study further explored the role of different factors such as the concentration of vermicompost, frequency and temperature on soil's dielectric response. To accurately and swiftly gauge these effects, Response Surface Methodology (RSM) has been employed to predict the dielectric properties (ε' and ε") of the soil. The high precision of these models, with R2 values of 0.9729 for ε' and 0.9487 for ε", underscores their effectiveness in evaluating the impact of vermicompost on various soil properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]