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This research paper introduces a novel program structure for a Bachelor of Science in Physical Education Teacher Education (PETE) aimed at increasing enrollment by offering two career-driven, non-gated tracks. The declining interest in education professions among college students and the resulting deactivation of university PETE programs due to low enrollment necessitate innovative solutions. Current data indicate a significant reduction in the number of students pursuing careers in education, contributing to a shortage of qualified physical education teachers. To address this issue, the proposed program structure offers a tri-track system: one focused on traditional physical education teaching and the other two tracks on athletic coaching and physical activity leadership. Both non-gated tracks are designed to attract a broader range of students by eliminating restrictive entry requirements and providing clear, career-oriented pathways in a variety of fields related to health and physical activity including coaching in private settings (e.g., sports clubs and academies) and community settings (e.g., municipal recreation programs) and leadership in community-based health and physical activity programs. By diversifying career options and removing entry barriers, this innovative structure aims to rejuvenate PETE programs, making them more appealing and accessible to prospective students.

Two important mythological figures emerged in East German art in the 1980s: Cassandra, the Trojan prophetess, and Penthesilea, the Amazon warrior queen. Christa Wolf’s 1983 novel, Cassandra, exerted a profound influence on the pacifist movement and enhanced women’s gender consciousness during this period. The 1986 Dresden production of Heinrich von Kleist’s Penthesilea (1808) was another significant influence, extensively impacting the countercultural scene. This thesis will establish connections between literary productions and visual artworks focused on the figures of Cassandra and Penthesilea in the context of the Cold War. It offers iconological and feminist analyses of the illustrations, paintings, lithographs, and sculptures of East German artists Heidrun Hegewald, Angela Hampel, Nuria Quevedo, Annemirl Bauer, Regine Richter, Christine Schlegel, and Gabriele Koerbl, among others. Tracing a longer iconographic history of Penthesilea and Cassandra in Ancient Greek, Neoclassical, and modern art, it addresses how GDR artists of the 1980s subverted conventional modes of depicting women in art. Relying on symbolism, figure duplication, and visual ambiguity, they created densely layered artworks which underscore women’s differences, subjectivity, and autonomy, condemn war and sexual violence, and encourage a persistent search for alternative modes of identity and community construction in the midst of the polarizing system of the Cold War period. GDR artists’ works reinterpreting ancient myths also engage with the concept of das Mutterrecht, a primitive form of matriarchy which informed foundational socialist ideology on women. This ideology bears interesting connections with the myths in which Cassandra and Penthesilea originate. In addition to advancing the understanding of gender representation in the GDR art of the 1980s, this thesis aims to amend the exclusion of female artists, particularly figurative painters, from English scholarship on the art of the GDR.

The Wellstar College of Health and Human Services (WCHSS) at Kennesaw State University developed a new theoretical model to understand and impact student success by combining two existing frameworks: Whole School, Whole Community, and Whole Child (WSCC) (Willgerodt and Maloy, 2021) and the Student Success Ecosystem (Millet et al, 2020). The WCHSS Student Success Model also appends novel constructs to produce an innovative holistic student success model with four key domains and two strategic initiatives. This model provides academics and practitioners with a framework to conceptualize student success, develop actionable interventions to drive improvement, and evaluate outcomes that continue the call to define student success more holistically.

Educational reforms, such as the Educative Teacher Performance Assessment (edTPA) have affected not only classroom learning, but also curriculum and programs within teacher education institutions. Utilizing multiple case study design and action research to study the effects of edTPA, the focus of this research was to explore the perspectives of university physical education teacher education (PETE) faculty and changes made to PETE programs, examine and deconstruct PETE students’ socialization experiences, and engage in action research to determine the condition of my position regarding edTPA implementation. Data were analyzed utilizing multiple qualitative techniques. The purpose of the first study was to explore the extent of changes taking place within the context, structure, and culture of university PETE programs facilitating high stakes edTPA policy. Faculty reacted in three distinct ways to the process of change which were labelled: prevailers, conceders, or exceeders. The process of change appeared to be based upon an implementation continuum from isolation to internalization. The second study examined and deconstructed socialization experiences relative to the edTPA process of pre-service teachers during their physical education teacher education (PETE) program and their induction year as a physical education teacher. The following themes were identified: (a) initial interactions and impetus for teaching—engaging and fun; (b) instruction in PETE—learning a ton; (c) internship—gauging, I’m stunned; (d) implementation of edTPA—raging, I’m done; (e) induction—waging has begun. In the third study, I engaged in action research to facilitate edTPA implementation. Using self-study and action research, I analyzed the edTPA policy, reflected upon my teaching, and created edTPA learning activities. Results indicated that the edTPA policy has brought about dissention, taken away invention, and has led professors to subtract from their curricula. University programs have a responsibility to prepare effective physical education teachers who use the best practices for teaching. edTPA has the potential to “box students in” to direct instruction. It is imperative for PETE faculty to reflect upon the impetus and impact of changes made to their programs in light of edTPA. PETE faculty must continue to advocate for and teach meaningful evidence- and research-based PE practices while negotiating preparations for edTPA.

Determining the suitability of opera roles for any given singer has heretofore been limited to the expertise of professional teachers, singers, conductors and directors. This expertise is predominantly experiential and subjective, and gained only through years of work in the operatic field. The question arose as to whether greater objectivity can be brought to the subject of voice classification, thereby providing greater accessibility to the issue for musicians of limited operatic experience. Towards this end, a system of computer analysis was created to quantify elements related to voice classification. These included the primary vocal determinants of range, weight and tessitura, as well as peripheral compositional aspects, such as formal structure, melodic intervals and keys. The analyses were done through manipulation of the data base, which contained records of pitch, rhythm, tempo, meter, phrasing, key, vocal texture and scenic designations. Fifteen roles from operas by the French composer, Jules Massenet, were selected for analysis. The study was purposefully limited to one composer and to selected roles of adjacent or Zwischenfach categories. This fully challenged the discriminating capabilities of the system and ensured that statistical differences were those of voice classification, rather than of different composers or eras. For each role, historical references to voice qualities and classifications of the original portrayers and subsequent performers were first presented. Then followed tabular and graphic presentations of the statistical analyses, with explanatory remarks. Clear statistical delineations were observed between voice categories, especially in regards to tessitura. Subtle relationships between voice classification and both melodic intervals and keys were also noted. The system of analysis therefore proved capable of quantifying even fine distinctions between categories. Potential applications of the system were also noted.

Background Longitudinal data analysis can improve our understanding of the influences on health trajectories across the life-course. There are a variety of statistical models which can be used, and their fitting and interpretation can be complex, particularly where there is a nonlinear trajectory. Our aim was to provide an accessible guide along with applied examples to using four sophisticated modelling procedures for describing nonlinear growth trajectories. Methods This expository paper provides an illustrative guide to summarising nonlinear growth trajectories for repeatedly measured continuous outcomes using (i) linear spline and (ii) natural cubic spline linear mixed-effects (LME) models, (iii) Super Imposition by Translation and Rotation (SITAR) nonlinear mixed effects models, and (iv) latent trajectory models. The underlying model for each approach, their similarities and differences, and their advantages and disadvantages are described. Their application and correct interpretation of their results is illustrated by analysing repeated bone mass measures to characterise bone growth patterns and their sex differences in three cohort studies from the UK, USA, and Canada comprising 8500 individuals and 37,000 measurements from ages 5–40 years. Recommendations for choosing a modelling approach are provided along with a discussion and signposting on further modelling extensions for analysing trajectory exposures and outcomes, and multiple cohorts. Results Linear and natural cubic spline LME models and SITAR provided similar summary of the mean bone growth trajectory and growth velocity, and the sex differences in growth patterns. Growth velocity (in grams/year) peaked during adolescence, and peaked earlier in females than males e.g., mean age at peak bone mineral content accrual from multicohort SITAR models was 12.2 years in females and 13.9 years in males. Latent trajectory models (with trajectory shapes estimated using a natural cubic spline) identified up to four subgroups of individuals with distinct trajectories throughout adolescence. Conclusions LME models with linear and natural cubic splines, SITAR, and latent trajectory models are useful for describing nonlinear growth trajectories, and these methods can be adapted for other complex traits. Choice of method depends on the research aims, complexity of the trajectory, and available data. Scripts and synthetic datasets are provided for readers to replicate trajectory modelling and visualisation using the R statistical computing software.

Objective To investigate the effectiveness of facilitated physical activity as an adjunctive treatment for adults with depression presenting in primary care.Design Pragmatic, multicentre, two arm parallel randomised controlled trial.Setting General practices in Bristol and Exeter.Participants 361 adults aged 18-69 who had recently consulted their general practitioner with symptoms of depression. All those randomised had a diagnosis of an episode of depression as assessed by the clinical interview schedule-revised and a Beck depression inventory score of 14 or more.Interventions In addition to usual care, intervention participants were offered up to three face to face sessions and 10 telephone calls with a trained physical activity facilitator over eight months. The intervention was based on theory and aimed to provide individually tailored support and encouragement to engage in physical activity.Main outcome measures The primary outcome was self reported symptoms of depression, assessed with the Beck depression inventory at four months post-randomisation. Secondary outcomes included use of antidepressants and physical activity at the four, eight, and 12 month follow-up points, and symptoms of depression at eight and 12 month follow-up.Results There was no evidence that participants offered the physical activity intervention reported improvement in mood by the four month follow-up point compared with those in the usual care group; adjusted between group difference in mean Beck depression inventory score −0.54 (95% confidence interval −3.06 to 1.99; P=0.68). Similarly, there was no evidence that the intervention group reported a change in mood by the eight and 12 month follow-up points. Nor was there evidence that the intervention reduced antidepressant use compared with usual care (adjusted odds ratio 0.63, 95% confidence interval 0.19 to 2.06; P=0.44) over the duration of the trial. However, participants allocated to the intervention group reported more physical activity during the follow-up period than those allocated to the usual care group (adjusted odds ratio 2.27, 95% confidence interval 1.32 to 3.89; P=0.003).Conclusions The addition of a facilitated physical activity intervention to usual care did not improve depression outcome or reduce use of antidepressants compared with usual care alone.Trial registration Current Controlled Trials ISRCTN16900744.

In this randomized trial involving patients with Clostridium difficile infection, treatment with monoclonal antibodies against C. difficile toxins A and B, in addition to metronidazole or vancomycin, reduced the rate of recurrence of infection, as compared with placebo (7% vs. 25%). In patients with C. difficile infection, treatment with monoclonal antibodies against C. difficile toxins A and B, in addition to metronidazole or vancomycin, reduced the rate of recurrence of infection, as compared with placebo (7% vs. 25%). During the past decade, there has been a striking increase in the prevalence of Clostridium difficile infection and in associated mortality in the United States, Canada, and Europe. 1 – 5 The widespread use of broad-spectrum antibiotics places patients at risk for C. difficile diarrhea or colitis and has changed the epidemiology of C. difficile infection. This has been characterized by the emergence of a hypervirulent strain of C. difficile (BI/NAP1/027) and an increasing risk of treatment failure and recurrent infection. 1 , 6 – 14 We developed one fully human monoclonal antibody targeted against C. difficile toxin A (CDA1) and a second against toxin . . .

Mentor relationships are crucial to retention, success, and wellbeing of women and underrepresented minority scientists in academia. A network of diverse mentors may support achieving long-term career goals, advancement, and retention of both mentors and mentees, thus enhancing diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives.