Academic Achievement of Children and Adolescents with High-Functioning Autism Spectrum Disorder with In-Depth Focus on Written Expression

The goal of this research was to identify areas of strength and need in the academic abilities of students with high functioning autism spectrum disorder (HFASD). Three studies were undertaken: 1) six meta-analyses investigated whether nonverbal IQ was in accordance with academic achievement scores in the areas of reading, writing, and math for students with HFASD; 2) the narrative writing skills of students with HFASD were examined in order to describe the ways their writing may differ from their typically developing (TD) peers; and 3) the persuasive writing of students with HFASD was examined to determine whether their texts resembled writer-based prose to a greater extent than their peers. Across all three studies, the role of language ability as a predictor of academic success was explored. Results of the first study showed that students with HFASD were generally performing academically as would be expected by their Performance IQ. In addition, across all subject areas, there was great variability in student performance, such that some students with HFASD had strong academic skills and others had weaker skills. The second study demonstrated that the written narratives of students were HFASD were highly similar to those of their TD peers. However, the students with ASD were weaker in their use of narrative elements and form (narrative text structure, character development, integrating the inner worlds of their characters with the events in the story). The third study revealed that the persuasive writing of students with HFASD differed across several key indicators: syntactic complexity, lexical diversity, overall persuasive quality. As well, the texts of the group with HFASD could be characterized as writer-based prose to a greater extent than the texts of their peers. Finally, the importance of language ability in predicting academic achievement was confirmed across all studies. The results of these studies highlighted the limitations of trying to characterize the academic skills of individuals with ASD using global scores of performance. The detailed descriptions of the written texts of students with ASD provided a critical foundation for developing educational interventions. These studies were the first of their kind

The Effects of Elaborative Interrogation and Summarization on Student Comprehension, Retention, and Satisfaction in Online, Self-Paced Instruction

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of two elaboration strategies, elaborative interrogation questioning (EIQ) and summarization, on student comprehension, retention, and satisfaction in a self-paced online environment. There were four treatment groups: (a) Control (no treatment); (b) EIQ only; (c) Summarization only; and (d) EIQ and Summarization. Both undergraduate and graduate students (mean age = 25.84 years) volunteered and completed the study (N=191). Results revealed a significant interaction between strategy type and age on comprehension. Older participants in the Control and EIQ/Summarization strategy groups comprehended more than the younger participants, and the younger participants in the EIQ and the Summarization groups comprehended more than the older participants. Retention was tested one month later and was significantly affected by prior knowledge. Those with more prior knowledge had higher mean scores ( M=63.89) than those with less prior knowledge (M=58.03). Both the EIQ and summarization strategies—alone and in combination—while effective when tested immediately following module completion, were evidently not effective one month later. Learners with more prior knowledge of the to-be-learned material retained more information than those with less prior knowledge. Lastly, satisfaction results revealed a significant interaction between age and gender and strategy type and age. As age increased, females were more satisfied than males, however as age decreased, females were less satisfied than males in the online instruction module. Furthermore, younger participants were more satisfied in the EIQ group than older participants, and younger participants were less satisfied in the Summarization group than older participants. Specifically, participants using the EIQ strategy were 87 percent satisfied with this learning strategy, 86 percent were satisfied with the Summarization strategy, and 81 percent were satisfied using the combination of EIQ/Summarization strategies. Overall, 93 percent of the participants were satisfied with this self-paced online module

Romancelandia on Twitter: Designing a Digital Humanities Research Assignment for First-Year Writing Students

On Facebook, Instagram, and Tumblr, on blogs and Pinterest and Twitter, romance writers have embraced social media as a way to engage with their readers; they also use these platforms to foster community among romance authors, encouraging and promoting each other. This public presence provides a unique opportunity for scholars to witness the dynamics of the romance writing community in action. In Heather’s first-year writing class, Love and American Culture, in the primary goal is to introduce students to academic writing and research. Part of this entails helping students experience the excitement of writing a research paper when the topic is new and the questions are motivated by genuine interest. Heather has been collaborating with Ann, a research librarian, to develop an assignment sequence around original research on romance authors’ public social networks. The project uses Social Feed Manager and textual analysis tools to give students the opportunity to shape their own research questions and study the Twitter feed of the romance author of their choice. In-class activities will help students track down supplemental research and think through the ethical questions raised by studying individuals’ social media accounts. We are excited to be introducing a project the breaks free from the traditional writing program practice of privileging literary analysis (a quite distinctive research genre) as the prototype of academic research. In our presentation, we will discuss the successes and failures of our first semester’s efforts and, we hope, get good ideas on improving the project

Communicating the Needs of Climate Change Policy Makers to Scientists

This chapter will describe the challenges that earth scientists face in developing science data products relevant to decision maker and policy needs, and will describe strategies that can improve the two-way communication between the scientist and the policy maker. Climate change policy and decision making happens at a variety of scales - from local government implementing solar homes policies to international negotiations through the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Scientists can work to provide data at these different scales, but if they are not aware of the needs of decision makers or understand what challenges the policy maker is facing, they are likely to be less successful in influencing policy makers as they wished. This is because the science questions they are addressing may be compelling, but not relevant to the challenges that are at the forefront of policy concerns. In this chapter we examine case studies of science-policy partnerships, and the strategies each partnership uses to engage the scientist at a variety of scales. We examine three case studies: the global Carbon Monitoring System pilot project developed by NASA, a forest biomass mapping effort for Silvacarbon project, and a forest canopy cover project being conducted for forest management in Maryland. In each of these case studies, relationships between scientists and policy makers were critical for ensuring the focus of the science as well as the success of the decision-making

Self-efficacy and health value among undergraduates following a lifetime fitness course.

The question of whether perceived self-efficacy for exercise and health value,respectively,varied as a function of gender and exercise stage of change was the focus of this study.An archival data set was used.Participants were 190 college students who completed a demographic questionnaire,the Exercise Stage of Change Questionnaire,the Rokeach Values Survey,and the Self-Efficacy for Exercise questionnaire before and after completing a lifetime fitness course.Two 2-factor analyses of covariance were conducted for each dependent varible,self-efficacy and health-value.Gender and exercise stage of change were the independent variables.Exercise stage of change was divided into four subcategories:contemplation,preparation,action nand maintenance.A pretest on each dependent variable served as the covariate.Results of the analysis indicated that health valuse scores were significantly different as a function of exercise stage of change.A significant main effect was found between health value and exercise stage of change.A sigificant main effect was found between health value and exercise stage of change.A Bryant Paulson procedure was performed to determine which of the four stages of change for exercise differed on health value scores.The analysis revealed that participants in the contemplation and preparation exercise stages of change ranked health value significantly lower than participants in the action and maintenance exercise stages of change.Implications for theory and pratice and recommendations for future research are discussed.Heather.M BrownBoyer, Michele C.Draper, MatthewProffit, CarrieDoctor of PhilosophyDepartment of Communication Disorders, Counseling, School, and Educational PsychologyCunningham Memorial library, Terre Haute,Indiana State UniversityILL-ETD-032DoctoralTitle from document title page. Document formatted into pages: contains 114 p.: ill. Includes abstract and appendix

Evaluation of resting traps to examine the behaviour and ecology of mosquito vectors in an area of rapidly changing land use in Sabah, Malaysian Borneo.

BACKGROUND: Widespread deforestation occurring in the tropics is hypothesized to impact the transmission of vector-borne diseases (VBD). Predicting how environmental changes will impact VBD transmission is dependent on understanding the ecology and behaviour of potential vector species outside of domestic settings. However there are few reliable sampling tools for measuring the habitat preference and host choice of mosquito vectors; with almost none suitable for sampling recently blood-fed, resting mosquitoes. This study evaluated the use of two mosquito traps: the resting bucket (RB) and sticky resting bucket (SRB) traps relative to CDC backpack aspiration (CDC) for sampling mosquitoes resting in a range of habitats representing a gradient of deforestation. Eight habitats were selected for sampling around two villages in Kudat District, Malaysian Borneo, to reflect the range of habitats available to mosquitoes in and around human dwellings, and nearby forest habitats where reservoir hosts are present: secondary forest (edge, interior and canopy); plantations (palm and rubber); and human settlements (inside, under and around houses). RESULTS: Over 31 days, 2243 mosquitoes were collected in 5748 discrete collections. Nine mosquito genera were sampled with Aedes and Culex species being present in all habitats and most abundant. RB and CDC backpack aspiration were most efficient for sampling Culex whereas CDC backpack aspiration and SRB were most efficient for Aedes. Most Aedes identified to species level were Ae. albopictus (91%), with their abundance being highest in forest edge habitats. In contrast, Culex were most abundant under houses. Most blood-fed mosquitoes (76%) were found in human settlements; with humans and chickens being the only blood source. CONCLUSIONS: RB and SRB traps proved capable of sampling mosquitoes resting in all sampled habitats. However, sampling efficiency was generally low (c.0.1 per trap per day), necessitating traps to be deployed in high numbers for mosquito detection. None of the traps were effective for sampling zoonotic malaria vectors; however, SRB collected relatively higher numbers of the dengue vector Ae. albopictus. The higher abundance of mosquitoes in forest edge habitats indicates the potential value of these traps for investigating sylvatic dengue transmission. This study has demonstrated the merits in application of simple resting traps for characterising mosquito vector resting behaviour outside of the home

Subtype diversity and reassortment potential for co‐circulating avian influenza viruses at a diversity hot spot

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/106946/1/jane12167.pd

Maternal plasma DHA levels increase prior to 29 days post-LH surge in women undergoing frozen embryo transfer: a prospective, observational study of human pregnancy

Context: Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) is an important fatty acid required for neurological development but its importance during early fetal neurological organogenesis is unknown. Objective: To assess plasma fatty acid changes in early pregnancy in women undergoing natural cycle-frozen embryo transfer as a means of achieving accurately-timed periconceptual sampling. Design: Women undergoing frozen embryo transfer were recruited and serial fasting blood samples were taken pre-luteinising hormone (LH) surge, and at days 18, 29 and 45 post-LH surge and fatty acids were analysed using gas chromatography. Setting: Assisted Conception Unit, Glasgow Royal Infirmary, Scotland Main outcome measures: Plasma fatty acid concentrations, influence of twin pregnancies on DHA plasma concentration. Results: In pregnant women, there was a rapid, early increase in the maternal rate of change of plasma DHA concentration observed by 29 days post-LH surge (mean±SD, from 0.1±1.3 to 1.6±2.9 nmol DHA per mL plasma per day). This early pressure to increase plasma DHA concentration was further emphasised in twin pregnancies where the increase in DHA concentration over 45 days was two-fold higher than in singleton pregnancies (mean±SD increase, 74±39 nmol/mL versus 36±40 nmol/mL). An index of delta-6 desaturase activity increased 30% and positively correlated with the rate of change of DHA concentration between day 18 and 29-post LH surge (R-squared adjusted = 41%, P=0.0002). DHA was the only fatty acid with a continual accelerated increase in plasma concentration and a positive incremental area under the curve (mean±SD, 632±911 nmol/mL x day) over the first 45 days of gestation. Conclusions: An increase in maternal plasma DHA concentration is initiated in human pregnancy prior to neural tube closure which occurs at 28 days' gestation

Using Stellar Limb-Darkening to Refine the Properties of HD 209458b

We use multi-band photometry to refine estimates for the planetary radius and orbital inclination of the transiting planet system HD 209458. We gathered 1066 spectra over four distinct transits with the STIS spectrometer on the Hubble Space Telescope using two gratings with a resolution R=1500 and a combined wavelength range of 290-1030 nm. We divide the spectra into ten spectrophotometric bandpasses, five for each grating, of equal wavelength span within each grating, and fit a transit curve over all bandpasses simultaneously. In our fit we use theoretical values for the stellar limb-darkening to further constrain the planetary radius. We find that the radius of HD 209458b is 1.320 +/- 0.025 R_Jup, which is a factor of two more precise than current estimates. We also obtain improved estimates for the orbital period P and time of center of transit T_C. Although in principle the photon-limited precision of the STIS data should allow us to measure the timing of individual transits to a precision of 2-7 s, we find that systematic instrumental offsets in the measured flux from one orbit of the spacecraft to the next degrade these measurements to a typical precision of +/- 14 s. Within this level of error, we find no significant variations in the timing of the eight events examined in this work.Comment: final accepted version of pape