Educational effects of implementing a K-12 dual language instruction program in a community with a high percentage of Hispanics and Hispanic English language learners

Hispanic students have historically exhibited an educational achievement gap in a variety of indicators when compared with grade-level peers from other racial, ethnic, and linguistic backgrounds. One of the goals of bilingual education research has been the identification of programs and instructional practices that have been shown to be effective in closing the academic achievement gap for Hispanic students. Therefore, the goal of this study was to examine the academic programs available in one school district in order to identify which program was most effective in helping Hispanic students reach full educational parity with their native English speaking peers as measured by 40 different indicators of academic achievement grouped into three categories: performance on standardized assessments, high school performance, and overall performance on college-readiness indicators. The records of 1,357 Hispanic students enrolled in the different academic programs from 1st to 12th grade were analyzed to look for differences in their academic performance. It can be concluded, from examining the 40 key indicators of academic achievement that dual language instruction proved more effective than transitional bilingual education or Mainstream instruction in promoting academic achievement for students. Dual language instruction surpassed transitional bilingual education and mainstream instruction in all 40 indicators. This claim hold true for Hispanic students from both English and Spanish language backgrounds. The native Spanish-speaking Hispanics enrolled in dual language instruction outperformed their native English-speaking peers enrolled in Mainstream instruction in 39 of the 40 indicators of academic achievement analyzed. Keywords: bilingual education, dual language instruction, Hispanics, education

Sport activity in adolescence: associations with health perceptions and experimental behaviours

Despite the relevance of this research topic from a public health perspective, there is currently a lack of objective data on European adolescents' sport activity, notably the associations between their sport habits and their health attitudes and behaviours, which may have important consequences both in terms of somatic (cardiovascular) health and mental health. The objective of the present study was to determine the direction and strength of the associations between the frequency of sport and health variables; in particular, perceptions of health, self image, substance use and experimental behaviours. Data were collected as part of the 1993 Swiss Multicentric Adolescent Survey on Health. In this survey, anonymous self-administered questionnaires were distributed to a national representative sample of 10 000 in-school adolescents (15-20 years of age). Univariate analyses explored the relationships between the level of sport activity and health variables; then logistic regression analyses examined the strength of these relationships. According to the results, half of the sample do sports more than twice a week, boys more often as part of a sports club. Differences between non-athletic and athletic adolescents describe the latter as having less somatic complaints, more confidence in their future health, a better body image, a lesser tendency to attempt suicide, a higher frequency of use of the car seat belt, and a lower use of tobacco, wine and marijuana. Links between the frequency of sport activity and the locus of control related to health, general satisfaction with life or sexual behaviours are less strong. It must be noticed that the cross-sectional data collection precludes the establishment of a causal relationship between exercise and health behaviours. However, the existing links underline the coexistence of positive health characteristics and sport activity, suggesting that an incitement to get involved in physical activity may be a necessary component of a comprehensive prevention approach among adolescent

Extraperitoneal laparoscopic para-aortic lymph nodes dissection in obese patients

peer reviewe

Novel Microscopic Mechanism of Intermixing during Growth on Soft Metallic Substrates

Generic computer simulations using empiric interatomic potentials suggest a new, collective mechanism that could be responsible for mixing at heteroepitaxial interfaces. Even if single adsorbate atoms diffuse by hopping on the substrate surface and do not mix at the terraces, two-dimensional islands formed by nucleation may become unstable above a certain critical size and explode upwards forming clusters of several atomic layers. This process is accompanied by strong distortions of the underlying atomic layers, and on soft materials it can result in surface etching and incorporation of substrate atoms into the islands.Fil: Gomez, Liliana Maria. Universidad Nacional de Rosario. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Ingeniería y Agrimensura; ArgentinaFil: Slutzky, Claudia Marcela. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Santa Fe. Instituto de Desarrollo Tecnológico para la Industria Química. Universidad Nacional del Litoral. Instituto de Desarrollo Tecnológico para la Industria Química; ArgentinaFil: Ferron, Julio. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Santa Fe. Instituto de Desarrollo Tecnológico para la Industria Química. Universidad Nacional del Litoral. Instituto de Desarrollo Tecnológico para la Industria Química; ArgentinaFil: de la Figuera, J.. Sandia National Laboratories; Estados UnidosFil: Camarero, J.. Universidad Autónoma de Madrid; EspañaFil: Vazquez de Parga, A.. Universidad Autónoma de Madrid; EspañaFil: de Miguel, J.J.. Universidad Autónoma de Madrid; EspañaFil: Miranda, R.. Universidad Autónoma de Madrid; Españ

Effect of knockout of α2δ-1 on action potentials in mouse sensory neurons

Gene deletion of the voltage-gated calcium channel auxiliary subunit α2δ-1 has been shown previously to have a cardiovascular phenotype, and a reduction in mechano- and cold sensitivity, coupled with delayed development of neuropathic allodynia. We have also previously shown that dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neuron calcium channel currents were significantly reduced in α2δ-1 knockout mice. To extend our findings in these sensory neurons, we have examined here the properties of action potentials (APs) in DRG neurons from α2δ-1 knockout mice in comparison to their wild-type (WT) littermates, in order to dissect how the calcium channels that are affected by α2δ-1 knockout are involved in setting the duration of individual APs and their firing frequency. Our main findings are that there is reduced Ca(2+) entry on single AP stimulation, particularly in the axon proximal segment, reduced AP duration and reduced firing frequency to a 400 ms stimulation in α2δ-1 knockout neurons, consistent with the expected role of voltage-gated calcium channels in these events. Furthermore, lower intracellular Ca(2+) buffering also resulted in reduced AP duration, and a lower frequency of AP firing in WT neurons, mimicking the effect of α2δ-1 knockout. By contrast, we did not obtain any consistent evidence for the involvement of Ca(2+)-activation of large conductance calcium-activated potassium (BK) and small conductance calcium-activated potassium (SK) channels in these events. In conclusion, the reduced Ca(2+) elevation as a result of single AP stimulation is likely to result from the reduced duration of the AP in α2δ-1 knockout sensory neurons.This article is part of the themed issue 'Evolution brings Ca(2+) and ATP together to control life and death'

The synzootic potential of common epidemics in chamois populations

Altres ajuts: acords transformatius de la UABSouthern chamois (Rupicapra pyrenaica) is a medium-sized and gregarious mountain ungulate with populations affected by periodic outbreaks of border disease virus (BD), infectious keratoconjunctivitis (IKC), and sarcoptic mange (SM). Even though the impact of each disease on chamois populations has been described in detail, there is a lack of information about the potential impact of concomitant epidemics and the synzootic potential (co-occurring enzootic or epizootic processes producing worse health outcomes in wildlife) on chamois populations. Furthermore, whether a specific order of apparition of epidemics is more or less harmful for the host population is practically unknown not only for chamois but also for most mammal populations. Using a population viability analysis (PVA), we studied the consequences of multiple disease outbreaks with synzootic potential on growth rates and probabilities of extinction of virtual populations exposed to hard winters, density dependence, and co-occurring BD, IKC, and SM outbreaks. Such infections are not under cross-immunity nor density-dependent processes and thus are supposed to affect population demography independently. Heavy snowfalls are also likely to occur in our simulated populations. Our simulations showed that a second outbreak, even caused by a low virulent pathogen, causes an increase in the probability of extinction of the host population with regard to the first outbreak. IKC-BD- and SM-BD-affected populations had a higher risk of becoming extinct in 50 years confirming the extra risk of multiple outbreaks on the viability of the affected populations

Label-Free Characterization of Organic Nanocarriers Reveals Persistent Single Molecule Cores For Hydrocarbon Sequestration

Self-assembled molecular nanostructures embody an enormous potential for new technologies, therapeutics, and understanding of molecular biofunctions. Their structure and function are dependent on local environments, necessitating in-situ/operando investigations for the biggest leaps in discovery and design. However, the most advanced of such investigations involve laborious labeling methods that can disrupt behavior or are not fast enough to capture stimuli-responsive phenomena. We utilize X-rays resonant with molecular bonds to demonstrate an in-situ nanoprobe that eliminates the need for labels and enables data collection times within seconds. Our analytical spectral model quantifies the structure, molecular composition, and dynamics of a copolymer micelle drug delivery platform using resonant soft X-rays. We additionally apply this technique to a hydrocarbon sequestrating polysoap micelle and discover that the critical organic-capturing domain does not coalesce upon aggregation but retains distinct single-molecule cores. This characteristic promotes its efficiency of hydrocarbon sequestration for applications like oil spill remediation and drug delivery. Such a technique enables operando, chemically sensitive investigations of any aqueous molecular nanostructure, label-free