420 research outputs found

    AN INVESTIGATION OF THE EFFECTS OF READ 180Ā® ON FOURTH GRADE READING ACHIEVEMENT AND HOW SELECTED TEACHERS IMPLEMENT THE PROGRAM

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    This study examined the effects of the READ 180Ā®® program on the reading achievement levels of fourth grade students who participated in the READ 180Ā®® program (Scholastic Incorporated, 2005) compared to fourth grade students who were reading below grade level but who were not participating in the READ 180Ā®® program. The study compared the Scholastic Reading Inventory (SRI) scores of each group administered in September 2009 and May or June 2010. The mean reading achievement gain for each group was compared to determine if there was a significant difference between the reading scores. Results of the One-Way ANCOVA yielded no significant statistical differences, at the probability level (p level) of .05, in the posttest SRI reading score means for students in READ 180Ā®® and non-READ 180Ā®® reading programs, after controlling for initial differences on the pretest SRI scores. However, if the probability was set for p=SRI scores. Although there was evidence READ 180Ā®® was statistically significant and beneficial to students, the results are not conclusive. The results of the Two-Way ANCOVA showed no significance of interaction between reading program status and TerraNova Third EditionTM qualification criteria on posttest reading scores. The study also investigated whether teachers supplemented the standard READ 180Ā®® program with other reading interventions, activities, and modifications based upon the needs of the students. Teachers who taught READ 180Ā®® and special education teachers who assisted with READ 180Ā®® implementation were surveyed using a web-based survey program. Survey results indicated teachers supplemented the standard READ 180Ā®® program including Whole Group, Small Group, and Independent Reading Group rotations with reading interventions, activities, and modifications based upon the needs of the students. Supplementary activities included the use of Internet resources, reading materials, Smartboard activities, and alternate methods for evaluating student progress. The use of other commercially available materials and activities for written language instruction were included to expand the READ 180Ā®® curriculum. Modifications and interventions were rarely made to READ 180Ā®® Software instructional sessions, with the exception of keyboarding devices and headsets

    In vivo study of the role of the cytoskeleton and fungal golgi in hyphal tip growth of Aspergillus nidulans

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    Filamentous fungi, such as Aspergillus nidulans, are composed of tubular, highly polarized, multinucleate cells called hyphae. Polar growth involves secretion specifically at the hyphal tip. Secretion involves intracellular transport and co-ordination of the cytoskeleton and the endomembrane system. Intracellular transport is likely mediated by cytoskeletal elements, which, in fungal cells consist primarily of actin and microtubules (MTs). An A. nidulans strain transformed with green fluorescent protein (GFP) tagged α-tubulin was utilized in the investigation of relationship between cytoplasmic MT arrays and hyphal growth rate. A. nidulans MTs were observed to be long and flexuous and to run roughly parallel to the long axis of hyphae. No correlation between relative MT abundance and hyphal growth rate was observed, although non-growing hyphae had a lower relative MT abundance than growing hyphae. Actin depolymerization decreased hyphal growth rate while MT depolymerization did not. MT stabilization increased hyphal growth rate. Ethanol, the solvent in which the MT and actin inhibitors were dissolved, increased both average overall growth rate and growth rate variability for individual hyphae. Taxol appeared to interact with irradiation to decreased growth rate during imaging. Golgi are involved in secretion and potentially in polar growth. An A. nidulans α-coatomer protein (COP)I homolog (α-COPI), tagged with GFP, was used to investigate the role(s) of fungal Golgi in polar growth. α-COPI-GFP co-localized with the known Golgi marker, α-2,6-sialyltransferase (ST), tagged with red fluorescent protein (RFP), in untreated hyphae. Based on this observation, I propose that α-COPI-GFP can be used as a proxy for fungal Golgi localization. Fungal Golgi were more abundant at hyphal tips than subapically. Fungal Golgi forward (tipward) velocity correlated with hyphal growth rate. Fungal Golgi forward velocity was, on average, approximately ten times greater than average hyphal growth rate. Actin depolymerization reduced fungal Golgi forward velocity while MT depolymerization did not. However, MT stabilization increased fungal Golgi forward velocity. Polymerized MTs do not appear to be essential for hyphal growth but do appear to be involved in hyphal growth rate variability. MTs also appear to play some role in the movement of fungal Golgi. The distribution and movement of fungal Golgi is clearly related to polarity

    Information for people affected by cancer in Forth Valley

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    ā€œSavageā€ hair and mothersā€™ hearts: a corpus-based critical discourse analysis of intersectional identities in two South African school setworks

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    This thesis reports on the discursive construal of intersectional physical identities, with particular reference to ā€˜blackā€™ female characters, in two novels: Sindiwe Magonaā€™s Mother to Mother, and Edyth Bulbringā€™s The Mark. These novels are prescribed for Grade 10 English Home Language learners in all South African public schools. Gendered identity construction in texts has been widely discussed in critical linguistics, with some research showing that the ways in which bodies are construed reveal the hegemonic and stereotypical gendering of men and women. However, these arguments have not adequately addressed the intersectional nature of identity construction. This thesis employs Corpus-based Critical Discourse Analysis to investigate the complex physical identities of, especially, ā€˜blackā€™ female characters in these two novels. The inclusion of Corpus Linguistics is essential for uncovering hidden patterns of language choice, while the analytical techniques and theoretical notions from Critical Discourse Analysis provide the explanatory power that underpins the qualitative analysis. The uses to which nine key body parts are put reveal discourse prosodies showing different intersectional realisations for intimacy, power, violence, emotion, and racial marking. These discourse prosodies are most starkly realised in the two body parts, one from each novel, that are statistically most clearly linked to ā€˜blackā€™ female characters. HAIR in The Mark is used variously as a racial marker, a target for racism, and a symbol for racial pride. HEART in Mother to Mother is used almost exclusively to symbolise the emotional pain of a motherā€™s love, and how empathy for another motherā€™s pain can bridge racial divides. Principal findings reveal that both novels provide very necessary lessons in cross-racial empathy, pride in ā€˜blackness,ā€™ and interracial relationships. However, it is of concern that these novels also exhibit an over-valorisation of motherhood, largely stereotypical depictions of gender roles, and ableist language. In sum, both novels promote some of the transformative principles of the national curriculum, and are shown to have a bearing on nation building

    Implementing Co-Regulated Feeding with Mothers of Preterm Infants

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    The purpose of this study is to describe implementation of the Co-Regulated Feeding Intervention (CoReg), when provided by mothers and guided by intervention nurses trained in methods of guided participation (GP). CoReg aims to prevent stress during feeding and ease the challenge very preterm (VP) infants experience coordinating breathing and swallowing during the early months. Guided participation is a participatory learning method to guide the complex learning required of mothers

    The Ballyshannon Limestone and Basal Beds of the Carboniferous of north west Ireland

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    A revised palaeogeographical reconstruction of the Visean sediments of N.W. Ireland is presented; it is based on the detailed analysis of the coast sections of Counties Sligo and Donegal previously ascribed to the Ballyshannon Limestone (C2S1) and Basal Beds, and reconnaissance of inland areas. The stratigraphy of these outcrops is reappraised in the light of further studies of the lithology, palaeontological assemblages, bore-hole core records and structural analysis. The effects of faulting are considerably greater than formerly appreciated; hence it is argued that previous descriptions of the Ballyshannon Limestone and Basal Beds have involved erroneous correlations of fault blocks. Thus in addition to the Basal Beds the Carrowmoran Sandstone, a western extension of the Mullaghmore - Kildoney - Mountcharles Sandstone outcrop, of approximately S2 age, was ascribed to the basal Carboniferous arenaceous facies. Similarly much of the Ballyshannon - Ballina Limestone succession can be correlated with beds of post C2S1 age. Accordingly the Carricknacusha Shale is regarded as the western extension of the Benbulben Shale (S2D1); while representatives equivalent to the Glencar and Dartry Limestones (D1) are also found in the beds previously attributed to the C2S1 carbonate transgression. The constancy of the various lithostratigraphical units facilitates correlation over a wider area than was previously appreciated and many of the facies variations previously inferred have proved unnecessary. Accordingly the overall palaeogeography has been simplified, though at individual horizons detailed facies patterns are described in both deltaic sediments, and coral-brachiopod associations developed marginally between the dysphotic tropical belt and shallow, warm waters of the open shelf. The influence of the positive element represented by the Ox Block is shown to have been over a wider area than was formerly thought, although its influence in time was restricted to. The extension of the correlation beyond this area, westwards into the Ballina syncline and southwards to Carrick-on-Shannon has necessitated the review of the Ballina succession. In that district the pre-S2 beds are demonstrably thinner than previously realised. From the three areas it is possible to reconstruct a north easterly transgression of the Visean sea in times from a more calcareous environment of Ballina, across the positive Ox Block, into the area of maximum deltaic sedimentation in Co. Donegal. This was followed by a northeasterly regression of deltaic sedimentation during the deposition of the Ballyshannon Limestone. A further deltaic phase, of age, is recorded; during which the area of maximum deltaic sedimentation was east of Carrowmoran, while its southwestern limits cannot have lain far from Carrowmoran and Ballymote, since Ballina and Carrick-on-Shannon occupied the off-shore mud-zone facies.<p

    Prostate cancer: Exploring the reasons for timing of presentation and diagnosis. Final Report

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    Executive Summary Prostate cancer is the most common malignancy in men, and the third highest cancer mortality in men. The observed increase in incidence alongside the reduction in men presenting with advanced disease is likely to be due in part to improved early detection rates associated with the introduction of the PSA test. This study was undertaken to determine the pattern of timing of presentation with a diagnosis of prostate cancer in Glasgow. A postal survey was distributed to all men in Greater Glasgow who were diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2008/9 (N=458). The survey was returned by 320 men; a response rate of 70%. A stratified sub-sample of survey respondents were interviewed (N=30); when possible, menā€™s partners were included in these interviews. Quantitative data were analysed with descriptive and inferential statistics (chi-square and Spearmanā€™s). Qualitative data were analysed thematically, informed by psychosocial theories of delay

    1001 rings

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    Registration of supine MR mammography with breast ultrasound for surgical planning of breast conserving surgery: a feasibility study

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    Purpose To report the feasibility, accuracy and initial clinical experience of the use of real-time magnetic resonance navigated ultrasound (rtMRnUS) in the surgical planning of breast-conserving surgery (BCS) via guide wire insertion. Materials and Methods 29 participants were recruited into this prospective ethics committee approved study. The first 4 cases were utilized as a training set. Participants underwent a supine contrast-enhanced breast MR examination with external fiducials and corresponding ink marks placed on the skin of the affected breast to act as co-registration pairs. MR examinations included both functional and morphological images. A LOGIQ E9 ultrasound system (GE Healthcare, Milwaukee, WI, USA) equipped with a 6 - 15 MHz transducer was utilized for rtMRnUS. To facilitate point co-registration of the previously acquired MR dataset with the real-time ultrasound, co-registration pairs were identified on both imaging modalities. The following co-registration quality metrics were recorded: root mean square deviation (RMSD), lesion and global accuracies. Post co-registration guide wire insertion was performed. Results Co-registration was successfully undertaken in all participants. Results from 25 participants are presented. The median (min, max) RMSD was 3.3 mm (0.6 mm, 8.8 mm). The global accuracy was assessed as very good (8), good (12), moderate (3) and poor (2) while the median (min, max) lesion accuracy was recorded at 8.9 mm (2.1 mm, 33.2 mm). Conclusion The use of rtMRnUS to facilitate guide wire insertion is a feasible technique. Generally, very good or good global registration can be expected. Lesion accuracy results indicate that a median difference, in 3 D space, of 9 mm can be expected between imaging modalities

    Using a model of group psychotherapy to support social research on sensitive topics

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    This article describes the exploratory use of professional therapeutic support by social researchers working on a sensitive topic. Talking to recently bereaved parents about the financial implications of their child's death was expected to be demanding work, and the research design included access to an independent psychotherapeutic service. Using this kind of professional support is rare within the general social research community, and it is useful to reflect on the process. There are likely to be implications for collection and interpretation of data, research output and the role and experience of the therapist. Here, the primary focus is the potential impact on researcher well-being
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