The Effects of Parental Involvement on Student Achievement: Implications for Students with Absent Parents

Over the past few decades, the typical family structure has changed greatly. Now more than ever, we have seen an increase in single parents, absent parents, blended families, and custodial grandparents (Parenting in America, 2015). One might wonder how these changes impact the success and development of a child, for better or for worse. This paper is a consolidation of the literature that has investigated parental involvement and student success. Further, the implications for students who experience parental absence on their academic, social-emotional, and overall well-being is also discussed

Peningkatan Kinerja Guru dalam Manajemen Pengelolaan Kelas melalui Supervisi Klinis Kepala Sekolah di SDN 3 Setanggor

Tujuan utama penelitian ini adalah untuk mengetahui peningkatan kinerja guru dalam manajemen pengelolaan kelas melalui supervisi klinis kepala sekolah di SDN 3 Setanggor kecamatan Sukamulia tahun pelajaran 2018/2019. Subyek dalam penelitian ini adalah Guru SDN 3 Setanggor kecamatan Sukamulia yang merupakan sekolah tempat peneliti menjadi guru dan kepala sekolah.Dalam penelitian Tindakan Kepengawasan ini variabel yang diteliti adalah Meningkatkan kinerja guru dalam manajemen pengelolaan kelas melalui supervisi klinis kepala sekolah di SDN 3 Setanggor kecamatan Sukamulia. Penelitian tindakan kekepala sekolahan yang dilaksanakan dalam tiga siklus dianggap sudah berhasil apabila terjadi peningkatan kinrja guru mencapai 85%  ( sekolah  yang diteliti ) telah mencapai ketuntasan dengan nilai rata rata 75. Jika peningkatan tersebut dapat dicapai pada tahap siklus 1 dan 2, maka siklus selanjutnya tidak akan dilaksanakan karena tindakan sekolah  yang dilakukan sudah dinilai efektif sesuai dengan harapan dalam manajemen berbasis sekolah ( MBS ). Hasil penelitian ini menunjukkan bahwa pembinaan melalui supervisi klinis memiliki dampak positif dalam meningkatkan kinerja guru, hal ini dapat dilihat dari semakin mantapnya pemahaman guru terhadap pembinaan yang disampaikan kepala sekolah ( kemampuan mengajar guru meningkat dari siklus I, II, dan III yaitu 33% menjadi 67 % dan menjadi 100%

Anna Serum Interview, 1955-1956

Typed summary of two interviews with Leonard Sackett. First interview (2 leaves) with Anna Serum mentions the death of her father, working for Rachel Holstrom, and some of the men employed at Grandin Farm. Second interview (1 leaf) with Amelia (Melting) Oien, Anna's sister, a cook for threshing crews at Grandin Farm No. 1, includes mention of her wages, her husband, Clark Oien, and their purchase of farmland near Halstad, Minn. Also includes commentary (2 leaves) on a photograph of Anna Serum, seated before a lily pool on Grandin Farm No. 1 and wearing the uniform required by Rachel Holstrom. Includes comments by Frank Herman on other housekeepers employed by Rachel Holstrom, men who cooked for Grandin Farm crews, comments by Amelia Oien and Frank Herman on a photograph of farm crews in the winter and a description of buildings at the Grandin farmstead

An Initial Investigation Of The Handwriting Ability And Spelling Competency Of College Freshmen

Purpose. The purpose of this study was to determine whether or not a relationship existed between the cursive handwriting ability and spelling competency of college freshmen and to determine whether a significant difference existed in the handwriting ability, and spelling competency, between male and female college freshmen; Subjects. Subjects were eighteen and nineteen year old students enrolled in six representative sections of English 101 at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, during the 1981-82 Fall Semester. Eighty-eight subjects participated in the study--forty-eight females and forty males; Procedures; Hypotheses. The hypotheses stated that there was no relationship between the handwriting ability and spelling competency of college freshmen; and that there was no significant difference between mean handwriting ability scores as determined by the Serum Measurement of Handwriting Ability (SMHA) or the mean Spelling competency scores as measured by the WRAT spelling subtest between male and female college freshmen at the .05 level; Data Collection and Analysis. During the last week of September and the first week of October 1981, the investigator administered the WRAT spelling subtest and a one-minute timed copying task to the subjects. The subjects recorded their responses for both exercises on separate response sheets. The data used in this study was obtained from the subjects\u27 response sheets of the WRAT spelling subtest and from the three judges\u27 scoring sheets of the SMHA. The data was transferred to IBM data processing cards for the use on a CDC Cyber 7300, and using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences. The Pearson product-moment correlation and the analysis of variance were used to test the five null hypotheses; Results. Analysis of the data led to the researcher\u27s decision to fail to reject four null hypotheses and to reject one null hypothesis. There was a significant difference at the .05 level between the mean scores for the handwriting ability of male and female college freshmen

Exploitation of Biomass for Applications in Sustainable Materials Science

Biorefinery may be defined as the process of accessing chemical commodities from living systems; consequently, biomass becomes the antecedent for renewable resources through biorefinery. Advantages to this process over petroleum refinery include: (1) increased potential for sustainable products, (2) increased diversity in chemical structure including heterocycles, and (3) potential for regional resource independence. Despite these clear advantages, adoption of biorefined commodities can be limited by the risk associated with small initial application portfolios and concomitant uncertainties. The strategies adopted by our dynamic and collaborative research team entail continuous engagement of those issues by: (1) preparing renewable polymers, (2) chemical diversification of biomass-derived platform chemicals, (3) direct modification of biopolymers, and (4) development of petroleum replacements. Battling the inveterate proclivity towards portents of gloom need not solely justify investigations into biorenewable feedstock chemicals; the ramifications of bioinspired molecular inquiry create opportunities to go beyond mere sustainability through innovation. This dissertation includes specific examples which illustrate utilization of three types of biomass: (1) oil seeds, (2) lignin, and (3) carbohydrates. Each class of biomass-derived materials offered unique advantages as well as challenges associated with their varied structures. The presentation has been divided into five sections: (1) biomass, sustainable chemistry and design thinking; (2) styrene replacements and their application in renewable vinyl ester thermosets; (3) catalyst-free lignin valorization by acetoacetylation; (4) chemical diversification of 5-(hydroxymethyl)furfural; (5) valorization of cellulose-derivable platform chemicals by cycloaddition with a potentially bioderivable reactive intermediate: benzyne.National Science Foundation (NSF) (Grants IIA-1330840 and IIA-1355466)ND-EPSCoR (Doctoral Dissertation Award

High Serum Concentration of Interleukine-6 and Rank-ligand as Risk Factors for Osteoporosis in Estrogen Deficiency Post-menopausal Women

Osteoporosis in post-menopausal women is not merely due to deficient estrogenhormone production. The development of osteoporosis is due to increased boneresorption by osteoclasts. The osteoclast\u27s number and activity is controlled by activatingfactors such as IL-6 and RANK-L. The objective of this study was to determine that highIL-6 and RANK-L serum concentrations are risks for osteoporosis in estrogen deficientpost-menopausal women. The serum concentration of ß-CrossLaps (CTx) was measuredto determine bone resorption rate. This is an observational analytical study using case andcontrol design conducted at Sanglah General Hospital of Denpasar. The sample size wascalculated using the paired case-control study formula. There were 41 osteoporotic and41 non-osteoporotic (control) estrogen deficient post-menopausal women involved in thestudy.Data were analyzed by using the t-paired and McNemar tests. Mean serumconcentration of IL-6 among the osteoporotic women was significantly higher ascompared to that of the controls (3.47±1.75 pg/ml vs 2.51±1.13 pg/ml, p = 0.001). Meanserum concentration of RANK-L among the osteoporotic women was also significantlyhigher as compared to that of the controls (320.66±122.44ng/ml vs 249.94±82.41 ng/ml,p = 0.002). To qualify as risk factors for osteoporosis, the cut-off point for IL-6 was 2.17pg/ml (OR = 4, CI 95%: 1.23-14.24; p = 0.032); the cut-off point for RANK-L was275.165 ng/ml (OR = 8, CI 95%: 1.84-34.79; p = 0.001). Analysis of both high serumconcentration of IL-6 and RANK-L was associated with an odd ratio of 9 (CI 95%: 4,27-18,96, p=0,000). CTx concentration in the osteoporotic women was significantly higherthan in the controls (0.60±0.22ng/ml vs 0.46±0.16ng/ml, p = 0.004).We found that the high IL-6 and RANK-L serum concentrations were risk factorsin estrogen deficient post-menopausal women. CTx being a marker for osteoclastic boneresorption activity, increased in concentration higher in osteoporotic than in nonosteoporoticwomen. The high serum concentrations of IL-6 and RANK-L could be usedas predictors for osteoporosis in estrogen deficient post-menopausal women

Ursodeoxycholic acid improves bilirubin but not albumin in primary biliary cirrhosis: further evidence for nonefficacy.

BACKGROUND/AIM: In randomised controlled trials (RCTs) of ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA), although serum bilirubin is frequently reduced, its effect on disease progression and mortality is unclear. As serum albumin is an established independent prognostic marker, one might expect less deterioration of serum albumin values in a UDCA-treated group. We therefore modelled the typical evolution of serum bilirubin and albumin levels over time in UDCA-untreated patients and compared it with the observed levels in UDCA RCTs. METHODS: Multilevel modelling was used to relate the evolution of serum albumin to serum bilirubin and time since patient referral. For each considered RCT, the derived model was used to predict the relationship between final mean serum albumin and bilirubin concentration, adjusted for mean serum albumin at referral and followup duration. RESULTS: Five RCTs were eligible in terms of available data, of which two had long followup. In all trials, serum albumin did not significantly differ between UDCA- and placebo-treated patients, despite the UDCA effect on serum bilirubin. Therefore, there is no evidence over time for changes or maintenance of albumin levels for UDCA-treated patients above the levels predicted for placebo-treated patients. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that UDCA does not alter serum albumin in a way that is consistent with its effect on serum bilirubin. Therefore, reductions in serum bilirubin of UDCA-treated PBC do not parallel another validated and independent prognostic marker, further questioning the validity of serum bilirubin reduction with UDCA as a surrogate therapeutic marker