Beliefs and Perspectives of First‐Year,Alternative Preparation,Elementary Teachers in Urban Classrooms

Results from an earlier study ( Hart, 2002 ) suggested that a group of 14 teachers participating in an alternative preparation program for elementary teachers had developed beliefs that were consistent with current thinking in mathematics education. The current study follows 8 of those teachers into their first year of teaching in an urban classroom. Qualitative data were collected from three sources: reflection logs, mathematics case discussions, and field notes made during classroom observations. This provided a triangulation of perspectives: the teachers' views of themselves, the teachers' views of others, and the university faculty member's view of them. Also, teachers completed the Standards Belief Instrument (Zollman & Mason, 1996) at the end of Phase I and at the end of Phase II. Results from the instrument and the qualitative analysis suggest that the teachers maintained a strong reform perspective in their beliefs, but they were unable to consistently implement pedagogy that was consistent with those beliefs.     

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Fluorescence detection and quantitation of recombinant proteins containing oligohistidine tag sequences directly in sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gels

Two fluorophore-nitrilotriacetic acid conjugates, Pro-Q Sapphire 365 and Pro-Q Sapphire 488 oligohistidine gel stains, have been developed for the fluorescence detection of fusion proteins containing oligohistidine tags directly in sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gels, without the requirement for electroblotting, reporter enzymes or secondary detection reagents. Pro-Q Sapphire 365 oligohistidine gel stain exhibits bright-blue fluorescence (emission maximum = 450 nm) when illuminated with UV-A or UV-B light from a standard ultraviolet transilluminator. Pro-Q Sapphire 488 oligohistidine gel stain exhibits bright-green fluorescence (emission maximum = 515 nm) when illuminated with visible light from a laser-based gel scanner equipped with a 470 nm second-harmonic generation (SHG) or 488 nm argon-ion laser source. Typically, 25-65 ng of oligohistidine-tagged fusion protein in whole cell lysates is detectable using either stain. After documenting the fluorescence signal from the Pro-Q Sapphire dyes, gels may be post-stained with the red-fluorescent SYPRO Ruby protein gel stain in order to reveal the total protein pattern.     

The application of INAA to the geochemical analysis of single diamonds

Instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) has been applied to the analysis of 62 small (0.01–0.5 carat), single, inclusion-bearing and inclusion-free diamonds from South Africa, Brazil and Colorado. Up to 40 elements were detected at the ppb and ppt levels in individual diamonds of the eclogitic (basaltic affinity) and the peridotitic (ultramafic) paragenesis. The data obtained in this study can be used to distinguish between diamonds from the eclogitic and peridotitic parageneses and provides geochemical information on the environment in which diamonds crystallize. Further, the technique may prove to be useful in fingerprinting diamonds of different provenance areas.     

A critical role for dermal mast cells in cis-urocanic acid-induced systemic suppression of contact hypersensitivity responses in mice

Many studies have implicated cis-urocanic acid (cis-UCA) in UVB-induced immunomodulation. The strongest evidence came from studies in mice whereby a cis-UCA antibody blocked UVB-induced suppression of delayed-type hypersensitivity responses. Furthermore, in several studies, the cis-UCA antibody at least partially reversed UVB suppression of contact hypersensitivity responses. Previous reports suggested that cis-UCA was immunomodulatory through its effects on keratinocytes, Langerhans cells, fibroblasts, T lymphocytes, natural killer cells and monocytes/macrophages. As dermal mast cells were recently demonstrated to be critical to UVB-induced systemic suppression of certain delayed-type and contact hypersensitivity responses, we investigated whether they were involved in the processes by which cis-UCA was immunomodulatory. Not only was there a correlation between dermal mast cell prevalence and the degree of susceptibility of different strains of mice to the immunomodulatory effects of cis-UCA, there was also a functional link. Mast cell-depleted Wf/Wf mice were rendered susceptible to immunomodulation by cis-UCA injected subcutaneously only after their dorsal skin had been reconstituted with bone marrow-derived mast cell precursors. These studies suggest that mast cells are critical to the processes by which cis-UCA suppresses systemic contact hypersensitivity responses to the hapten, trinitrochlorobenzene, in mice.