A Pilot Study on the Use of Nonlinguistic Concrete Materials and Drama to Aid Vocabulary Learning for Third-Grade Students

This article reports on the effects of the use of nonlinguistic concrete materials and dramatization on student vocabulary learning in eight third-grade classrooms. It follows a preceding study which determined that the use of nonlinguistic concrete materials and drama in K-3 classrooms for vocabulary instruction was minimal and varied across content areas. The results of the pilot study showed that the use of nonlinguistic materials significantly improved vocabulary learning for normally-progressing students (p=0.00185), but had little or no effect on students in reading intervention classrooms. The study was quasi-experimental in nature and utilized six third-grade classrooms of normally-progressing students and two third-grade reading intervention classrooms. Each set of classrooms was randomly divided between treatment and control groups. The study did not prescribe a vocabulary instructional method other than requiring that nonlinguistic concrete materials and drama were to be used in the treatment groups. The concept of augmenting vocabulary lessons with these materials was based on extending the preliterate method of learning names of objects by seeing, touching, hearing, smelling, and tasting them. Vocabulary instruction time was held constant throughout the study for both treatment and control groups

Bringing Care Governance to Ontario's Retirement Homes Sector

In 2010, the Ontario government introduced Bill 21, the Retirement Homes Act, 2010 (the Act), which required the licensing of retirement homes (RHs), residents' rights, care and safety standards, inspections, compliance and a newly formed Retirement Homes Regulatory Authority (Authority). The Act and its regulations drew heavily from the content of legislation pertaining to long-term care homes (LTC homes), recognizing that many RHs provided high acuity care. However, the Authority was constituted with a multi-sectoral board, which was arm's length from government. The stated goal of the Act was to ensure the dignity, respect, safety and privacy of residents, though the government also recognized the importance of preserving autonomy and choice for the predominantly private, for-profit operators and their residents. A consultation process spurred considerable debate over the content of the proposed legislation as well as the authority that would oversee it. The unwillingness of the government to fund care services in RHs (unlike LTC homes) influenced its policy decision to pass the Act in a form that gave greater autonomy to the industry to oversee its regulation through a multi-sectoral Authority, rather than one directed by government. A formal five-year review showed the reform to be well received by the public and key stakeholders, and an Effectiveness Survey for Stakeholders conducted by a third party indicated positive results, pointing to the success of both regulatory content and oversight

Pasture Management to Improve Dry Matter Intake

Agricultural producers are constantly looking for ways to maximize returns while reducing input costs. On dairy operations, a move from confinement feeding to pasture grazing offers the potential to reduce costs associated with harvest and storage of feed. In such a transition, producers sometimes report a decline in milk production and growth of livestock—both of which can strongly correlate to dry matter intake. Fortunately, dry matter intake is something that can be influenced by management practices. In this publication, we discuss the pasture management practices to improve dry matter intake

Validation of the Actical Activity Monitor in Middle-Aged and Older Adults

Purpose: This study was designed to validate the Actical activity monitor in middle-aged and older adults of varying body composition to develop accelerometer thresholds to distinguish between light and moderate intensity physical activity (PA). Methods: Nonobese 45 to 64 yr (N = 29), obese 45 to 64 yr (N = 21), and ≥65 yr (N = 23; varying body composition) participants completed laboratory-based sitting, household, and locomotive activities while wearing an Actical monitor and a portable metabolic measurement system. Non-linear regression analysis was used to identify activity count (AC) cut-points to differentiate between light intensity (\u3c3 METs) and moderate intensity (≥3 METs) PA. Results: Using group-specific algorithms, AC cut points for 3 METs were 1634, 1107, and 431 for the obese 45 to 64 yr group, nonobese 45 to 64 yr group, and ≥65 yr group, respectively. However, sensitivity and specificity analysis revealed that an AC cut-point of 1065 yielded similar accuracy for detecting an activity as less than or greater than 3 METs, regardless of age and body composition. Conclusion: For the Actical activity monitor, an AC cut-point of 1065 can be used to determine light and moderate intensity PA in people ≥45 years of age

Protocol for implementation of family health history collection and decision support into primary care using a computerized family health history system

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The CDC's Family History Public Health Initiative encourages adoption and increase awareness of family health history. To meet these goals and develop a personalized medicine implementation science research agenda, the Genomedical Connection is using an implementation research (T3 research) framework to develop and integrate a self-administered computerized family history system with built-in decision support into 2 primary care clinics in North Carolina.</p> <p>Methods/Design</p> <p>The family health history system collects a three generation family history on 48 conditions and provides decision support (pedigree and tabular family history, provider recommendation report and patient summary report) for 4 pilot conditions: breast cancer, ovarian cancer, colon cancer, and thrombosis. All adult English-speaking, non-adopted, patients scheduled for well-visits are invited to complete the family health system prior to their appointment. Decision support documents are entered into the medical record and available to provider's prior to the appointment. In order to optimize integration, components were piloted by stakeholders prior to and during implementation. Primary outcomes are change in appropriate testing for hereditary thrombophilia and screening for breast cancer, colon cancer, and ovarian cancer one year after study enrollment. Secondary outcomes include implementation measures related to the benefits and burdens of the family health system and its impact on clinic workflow, patients' risk perception, and intention to change health related behaviors. Outcomes are assessed through chart review, patient surveys at baseline and follow-up, and provider surveys. Clinical validity of the decision support is calculated by comparing its recommendations to those made by a genetic counselor reviewing the same pedigree; and clinical utility is demonstrated through reclassification rates and changes in appropriate screening (the primary outcome).</p> <p>Discussion</p> <p>This study integrates a computerized family health history system within the context of a routine well-visit appointment to overcome many of the existing barriers to collection and use of family history information by primary care providers. Results of the implementation process, its acceptability to patients and providers, modifications necessary to optimize the system, and impact on clinical care can serve to guide future implementation projects for both family history and other tools of personalized medicine, such as health risk assessments.</p

Cryo-EM structure of human Pol κ bound to DNA and mono-ubiquitylated PCNA

Y-family DNA polymerase κ (Pol κ) can replicate damaged DNA templates to rescue stalled replication forks. Access of Pol κ to DNA damage sites is facilitated by its interaction with the processivity clamp PCNA and is regulated by PCNA mono-ubiquitylation. Here, we present cryo-EM reconstructions of human Pol κ bound to DNA, an incoming nucleotide, and wild type or mono-ubiquitylated PCNA (Ub-PCNA). In both reconstructions, the internal PIP-box adjacent to the Pol κ Polymerase-Associated Domain (PAD) docks the catalytic core to one PCNA protomer in an angled orientation, bending the DNA exiting the Pol κ active site through PCNA, while Pol κ C-terminal domain containing two Ubiquitin Binding Zinc Fingers (UBZs) is invisible, in agreement with disorder predictions. The ubiquitin moieties are partly flexible and extend radially away from PCNA, with the ubiquitin at the Pol κ-bound protomer appearing more rigid. Activity assays suggest that, when the internal PIP-box interaction is lost, Pol κ is retained on DNA by a secondary interaction between the UBZs and the ubiquitins flexibly conjugated to PCNA. Our data provide a structural basis for the recruitment of a Y-family TLS polymerase to sites of DNA damage.This research was supported by King Abdullah University of Science and Technology through core funding (to S.M.H.) and the Competitive Research Award Grant CRG8 URF/1/4036‐01‐01 (to S.M.H. and A.D.B.), and by the Wellcome Trust (to A.D.B.). R.C. acknowledges funding from the MINECO (CTQ2016-78636-P) and to AGAUR, (2017 SGR 324). The MD project has been carried out using CSUC resources. We acknowledge The Midlands Regional Cryo-EM Facility at the Leicester Institute of Structural and Chemical Biology (LISCB), major funding from MRC (MC_PC_17136). We thank Christos Savva (LISCB, University of Leicester) for his help in cryo-EM data collection and advice on data processing.Peer reviewe

Time out for family: Shift work, fathers, and sports

Shift work is a fact of life for many workers. Almost one in six full-time hourly and salary employees works a shift outside the 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. window that researchers use to define the temporal bounds of the traditional workday. Almost half of those working in restaurants and bars work such alternate shifts, as do more than a quarter of workers in hospitals and manufacturing facilities. Drawing on interviews and observations in a Midwestern auto parts plant, this study explores how individuals in this predominantly male workforce talk about fulfilling family responsibilities in the face of relatively inflexible shift schedules. Interviews and observations reveal how the time pressures of shift work, particularly the afternoon-evening shift, affect the ability of fathers to participate in their children's activities, especially organized sports. Without formal options for scheduling flexibility, workers turn to a variety of informal approaches, such as ad hoc arrangements with sympathetic supervisors or the assistance of coworkers in covering for absences. In extreme cases, workers may engage in independent actions, often placing their jobs at risk. These findings contribute to the literature on work-family conflict and the gender dynamics of work-family life programs. By emphasizing the importance of including fathers in the work-family equation, they have practical implications for both employers and policymakers concerned with addressing the challenges of helping a contemporary workforce strike an equitable balance between work and family life. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/60981/1/20228_ftp.pd

Effects of antiplatelet therapy on stroke risk by brain imaging features of intracerebral haemorrhage and cerebral small vessel diseases: subgroup analyses of the RESTART randomised, open-label trial

Background Findings from the RESTART trial suggest that starting antiplatelet therapy might reduce the risk of recurrent symptomatic intracerebral haemorrhage compared with avoiding antiplatelet therapy. Brain imaging features of intracerebral haemorrhage and cerebral small vessel diseases (such as cerebral microbleeds) are associated with greater risks of recurrent intracerebral haemorrhage. We did subgroup analyses of the RESTART trial to explore whether these brain imaging features modify the effects of antiplatelet therapy

Agricultural Nematology in East and Southern Africa : Problems, Management Strategies and Stakeholder Linkages

This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Herbert Talwana, et al, ‘Agricultural nematology in East and Southern Africa: problems, management strategies and stakeholder linkages’, Pest Management Science Vol. 72 (2): 226-245, February 2016, which has been published in final form at http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ps.4104. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Self-Archiving. © 2015 Society of Chemical Industry.By 2050, Africa’s population is projected to exceed two billion. Africa will have to increase food production more than 50% in the coming 50 years to meet the nutritional requirements of its growing population. Nowhere is the need to increase agricultural productivity more pertinent than in much of sub-Saharan Africa where it is currently static or declining. Optimal pest management will be essential, because intensification of any system creates heightened selection pressures for pests. Plant-parasitic nematodes and their damage potential are intertwined with intensified systems and can be an indicator of unsustainable practices. As soil pests, nematodes are commonly overlooked or misdiagnosed, particularly where appropriate expertise and knowledge transfer systems are meager or inadequately funded. Nematode damage to roots results in less efficient root systems that are less able to access nutrients and water, which can produce symptoms typical of water or nutrient deficiency, leading to misdiagnosis of the underlying cause. Damage in subsistence agriculture is exacerbated by growing crops on degraded soils and in areas of low water retention where strong root growth is vital. This review focuses on the current knowledge of economically important nematode pests affecting key crops, nematode control methods, and the research and development needs for sustainable management, stakeholder involvement and capacity building in the context of crop security in East and Southern Africa, especially Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Zimbabwe.Peer reviewe