Strategies to Alleviate Test and Mathematics Anxiety

The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of two anxiety-reducing techniques in a 7th grade Tier 2 (average) mathematics classroom. Based on the work of Ford, Ford, Boxer, and Armstrong (2012), one of the techniques used was the use of humor. The other technique is the use of visualization (see Shobe, Brewin, & Carmack, 2005). Ultimately, this study sought to determine if either of the anxiety-reducing strategies lowered student\u27s anxiety; if they were effective, which was more effective; and if the strategy had any apparent effect on the students\u27 academic performance

Discovery and mapping of the Triton seep site, Redondo Knoll: fluid flow and microbial colonization within an oxygen minimum zone

© The Author(s), 2020. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Wagner, J. K. S., Smart, C., & German, C. R. Discovery and mapping of the Triton seep site, Redondo Knoll: fluid flow and microbial colonization within an oxygen minimum zone. Frontiers in Marine Science, 7, (2020): 108, doi:10.3389/fmars.2020.00108.This paper examines a deep-water (∼900 m) cold-seep discovered in a low oxygen environment ∼30 km off the California coast in 2015 during an E/V Nautilus telepresence-enabled cruise. This Triton site was initially detected from bubble flares identified via shipboard multibeam sonar and was then confirmed visually using the remotely operated vehicle (ROV) Hercules. High resolution mapping (to 1 cm resolution) and co-registered imaging has provided us with a comprehensive site overview – both of the geologic setting and the extent of the associated microbial colonization. The Triton site represents an active cold-seep where microorganisms can act as primary producers at the base of a chemosynthesis-driven food chain. But it is also located near the core of a local oxygen minimum zone (OMZ), averaging 100 m across the seafloor, dominate the site, while typical seep-endemic macro-fauna were noticeably absent from our co-registered photographic and high-resolution mapping surveys – especially when compared to all adjacent seep sites within the same California Borderlands region. While such absences of abundant macro-fauna could be attributable to variations in the availability of dissolved oxygen in the overlying water column this need not necessarily be the case. An alternate possibility is that the zonation in microbial activity that is readily observable at the seafloor at Triton reflects, instead, a concentric pattern of radially diminishing fluxes of reductants from the underlying seafloor. This unusual but readily accessible discovery, in close proximity to Los Angeles harbor, provides an intriguing new natural laboratory at which to examine biogeochemical and microbiological interactions associated with the functioning of cold seep ecosystems within an OMZ.Ship time was funded by NOAA – Office of Exploration and Research and the Ocean Exploration Trust. This material is based upon work supported by a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship (to JW), the Office of Naval Research (to CS), and NASA’s Astrobiology program (to CG)

Capital market inefficiencies, credit rationing and lending relationship in SME's

The financing of small-medium enterprises (SME' s) shows a great dependence on short term borrowing from banking institutions and savings banks. The causes of this situation are basically due to low credit availability at the stage of the firm' s life cycle when it requires the greatest access. A seminal paper by Fazzari, Hubbard and Petersen (1988) has served as the basis for important subsequent research. In Spain conclusions drawn by studies in this area mostly agree that the basic reason for the aboye mentioned low credit availability is high borrowing costs due to market imperfections which inevitably lead to credit ratioIÚng. The aim of this paper is twofold. First, to study the roles of firm-creditor relationships (Berger and Udell, 1992,1995; Petersen and Rajan, 1994, 1995) and Loan Guarantee Associations [LGA] in reducing information asymmetries in loan contracts and, second, to attempt to ascertain whether these factors are among the determining factors of loan rates for SME's

In Situ Nanomechanical Measurements of Interfacial Strength in Membrane-Embedded Chemically Functionalized Si Microwires for Flexible Solar Cells

Arrays of vertically aligned Si microwires embedded in polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) have emerged as a promising candidate for use in solar energy conversion devices. Such structures are lightweight and concurrently demonstrate competitive efficiency and mechanical flexibility. To ensure reliable functioning under bending and flexing, strong interfacial adhesion between the nanowire and the matrix is needed. In situ uniaxial tensile tests of individual, chemically functionalized, Si microwires embedded in a compliant PDMS matrix reveal that chemical functionality on Si microwire surfaces is directly correlated with interfacial adhesion strength. Chemical functionalization can therefore serve as an effective methodology for accessing a wide range of interfacial adhesion between the rigid constituents and the soft polymer matrix; the adhesion can be quantified by measuring the mechanical strength of such systems

A Qualitative Examination of Graduate Advising Relationships:The Advisee Perspective

Sixteen 3rd-year counseling psychology doctoral students were interviewed about their relationships with their graduate advisors. Of those students, 10 were satisfied and 6 were unsatisfied with their advising relationships. Satisfied and unsatisfied students differed on several aspects of the advising relationship, including (a) the ability to choose their advisors, (b) the frequency of meetings with their advisors, (c) the benefits and costs associated with their advising relationships, and (d) how conflict was dealt with in the advising relationship. Furthermore, all of the satisfied students reported that their advising relationships became more positive over time, whereas many of the unsatisfied students reported that their advising relationships got worse (e.g., became more distant) over time

Extraction of reliable information from time-domain pressure and flow signals measured by means of forced oscillation techniques

This paper aims to give a proof-of-concept for the possible application of the forced oscillation lung function test to assess the viscoelastic properties of the airways and tissue. In particular, a novel signal processing algorithm is employed on non-stationary, noisy, (relatively) short time series of respiratory pressure and flow signals. This novel technique is employed to filter the useful information from the signals acquired under two measurement conditions: pseudo-functional residual capacity (PFRC) and pseudo-total lung capacity (PTLC). The PFRC is the measurement performed at lowest lung volume with maximum deflation, and the PTLC is measurement performed at the maximum lung volume under maximum inflation. The results suggest that the proposed technique is able to extract information on the viscoelastic properties of the lung tissue at a macroscopic level. The conclusion of this preliminary study is that the proposed combination of signal processing method and lung function test is suited to be employed on a large database in order to deliver reference values and perform further statistical analysis

Which finitely generated Abelian groups admit isomorphic Cayley graphs?

We show that Cayley graphs of finitely generated Abelian groups are rather rigid. As a consequence we obtain that two finitely generated Abelian groups admit isomorphic Cayley graphs if and only if they have the same rank and their torsion parts have the same cardinality. The proof uses only elementary arguments and is formulated in a geometric language.Comment: 16 pages; v2: added reference, reformulated quasi-convexity, v3: small corrections; to appear in Geometriae Dedicat

The regulation of matrix metalloproteinases and their inhibitors

The matrix metalloproteinases (MMP) are a family of 23 enzymes in man. These enzymes were originally described as cleaving extracellular matrix (ECM) substrates with a predominant role in ECM homeostasis, but it is now clear that they have much wider functionality. Control over MMP and/or tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases (TIMP) activity in vivo occurs at different levels and involves factors such as regulation of gene expression, activation of zymogens and inhibition of active enzymes by specific inhibitors. Whilst these enzymes and inhibitors have clear roles in physiological tissue turnover and homeostasis, if control of their expression or activity is lost, they contribute to a number of pathologies including e.g. cancer, arthritis and cardiovascular disease. The expression of many MMPs and TIMPs is regulated at the level of transcription by a variety of growth factors, cytokines and chemokines, though post-transcriptional pathways may contribute to this regulation in specific cases. The contribution of epigenetic modifications has also been uncovered in recent years. The promoter regions of many of these genes have been, at least partly, characterised including the role of identified single nucleotide polymorphisms. This article aims to review current knowledge across these gene families and use a bioinformatic approach to fill the gaps where no functional data are available

Arab Authors’ Responses to Cross-Cultural Experiences with Europe: The Contrasting Perspectives of ‘Abd al-Rahman al-Jabarti and Rifa‘a al-Tahtawi

This article contrasts the ways in which major Arab authors of the early or pre- Nahda (Ar. awakening, renaissance ) period (ca. 1850-1950) responded to the French during and after the Napoleonic occupation of Egypt (1798-1801), specifically through Abd al-Rahman al-Jabarti’s contemporary chronicles of the invasion and Rifa\u27a al-Tahtawi\u27s account of his five-year stay in Paris (1826-31). In so doing, it explores how or whether these reflections on the European other inflected the later development of modern Arabic narrative and concepts of Egyptian identity

Media Literacy and the English as a Second Language Curriculum: A Curricular Critique and Dreams for the Future

This thesis investigates whether or not the Ontario English as a Second Language/English Literacy Development (ESL/ELD) curriculum imparts the critical literacy skills necessary for students to deconstruct the multimedia messages with which the contemporary world is saturated, in order to function as informed, agentic citizens of Ontario society. Using foundations of cultural theory, radical critical pedagogy, and critical race theory, particularly the work of James Paul Gee, Henry A. Giroux, Paulo Freire and Michael Apple, this thesis explores the ways in which the current ESL/ELD curriculum can be found lacking due to its enforcement of the banking model of education, which devalues student experience and enforces dominant Western ideologies. The final chapter recommends an experiential, media literacy-based curriculum that validates student experience and empowers students to become both critics and producers of media texts and culture writ large