Teaching assistants and support for literacy and language development

Through an examination of writing done by teaching assistants for an Open University course, this paper examines assistants’ perceptions of their role in children’s learning within the context of the Literacy Hour. There is an analysis of three themes arising from the data i.e. assistants’ practice aimed at increasing children’s participation; assistants’ pedagogic and subject knowledge; and the nature of assistants’ team working with teachers. The data suggests that teaching assistants are very involved in working with the most vulnerable and ‘difficult to teach’ children and that they use a range of intermediary techniques and pedagogic strategies to enable these children to participate in the Literacy Hour. The data lends support to the official view of the role of teaching assistants i.e. that, guided by teachers, they ‘enable the teacher to teach’ and ‘support children’s learning’. However, the data also suggests that teaching assistants teach too, sometimes with a degree of independence. Indeed, the variety (and in some cases sophistication) of ways in which teaching points are developed by them with children appears to signify a clear pedagogic role in terms of extending children’s knowledge of literacy

On Modelling the Persistence of Profits in the Long Run: An Analysis of 156 US Companies, 1950-1999

Long run persistence in company profits is analyzed for 156 US companies over a fifty-year period using AR1 and structural time series tests. A statistically significant degree of consitstency is found between them in identifying firms persistently above or below the competitive norm. However, the structural time series method detects a higher overall incidence of persistence, with nearly 70% of firms classed as not having converged on Zero, compared with 46% under AR1 estimation. The recently proposed structural approach is seen as a useful additional tool in analysing earnings dynamics, in particular where are complex trends and other dynamic complexities.

Eagle Syndrome: A Rare Case of Atraumatic, Painful Cervical Neck Swelling

Introduction: Painful neck swelling is a common emergency complaint but can present diagnostic challenges. Eagle syndrome is a rare clinical entity in which a pathologically elongated styloid process or ossified stylohyoid ligament produces a constellation of symptoms in the head and neck region.Case Report: We present the case of a 50-year-old male with a spontaneous, atraumatic fracture of an elongated styloid process associated with hematoma formation and radiological findings of airway impingement.Discussion: The classic triad for Eagle syndrome consists of unilateral cervicofacial pain, globus sensation, and dysphagia. Diagnosis of Eagle syndrome should be made based on a combination of physical examination and radiological findings. Treatment options vary based on severity of symptoms.Conclusion: Although more likely to be an indolent and progressive complaint, providers in the acute care setting should be familiar with Eagle syndrome due to the potential for a spontaneous fracture of an elongated styloid process to cause acute, painful neck swelling and life-threatening airway compromise

Sex-Specific Differences in Shoaling Affect Parasite Transmission in Guppies

Background: Individuals have to trade-off the costs and benefits of group membership during shoaling behaviour. Shoaling can increase the risk of parasite transmission, but this cost has rarely been quantified experimentally. Guppies (Poecilia reticulata) are a model system for behavioural studies, and they are commonly infected by gyrodactylid parasites, notorious fish pathogens that are directly transmitted between guppy hosts. Methodology/Principal Findings:Parasite transmission in single sex shoals of male and female guppies were observed using an experimental infection of Gyrodactylus turnbulli. Parasite transmission was affected by sex-specific differences in host behaviour, and significantly more parasites were transmitted when fish had more frequent and more prolonged contact with each other. Females shoaled significantly more than males and had a four times higher risk to contract an infection. Conclusions/Significance: Intersexual differences in host behaviours such as shoaling are driven by differences in natural and sexual selection experienced by both sexes. Here we show that the potential benefits of an increased shoaling tendency are traded off against increased risks of contracting an infectious parasite in a group-living species

Spectroscopy Of Hydrogen-bonded Formanilide Clusters In A Supersonic Jet: Solvation Of A Model Trans Amide

The gas-phase structures of trans-formanilide (FA) clusters containing varying numbers of water and ammonia molecules have been investigated by resonant two-photon ionization spectroscopy in a supersonic jet expansion. A single structure is found for the 1:1 cluster of FA with ammonia in which the amide NH group functions as a hydrogen bond donor to the ammonia nitrogen. In contrast, vibronically resolved spectra reveal two distinct structures for the 1:1 cluster with water in which either the amide NH group functions as a hydrogen bond donor or the carbonyl oxygen functions as a hydrogen bond acceptor. The 1:1 clusters with both ammonia and water exhibit characteristic spectral shifts that depend on which amide site participates in the hydrogen bond. Three distinct types of 1:2 clusters with water have been found. Two of these can be viewed as water dimers interacting through a single hydrogen bond with either the amide NH group or the carbonyl oxygen. The third structure involves a hydrogen bond at each amide site to a separate water molecule. Ternary FA clusters containing one ammonia and one water molecule have also been investigated and found to be present in two distinct structural forms. Although each structure contains a hydrogen bond between the amide NH and one of the solvents, the structures differ with regard to which solvent serves as the acceptor of this hydrogen bond as well as in the role of the second solvent. Finally, clusters containing four water molecules have been identified, although in this case only a single cluster structure has been observed. This species is assigned to a structure containing a hydrogen-bonded chain of four water molecules forming a bridge between the NH and carbonyl oxygen binding sites on opposite sides of the trans amide. These experimental observations and structural assignment are supported by ab initio Hartree-Fock calculations

Characterizing Osteosarcoma Through PTEN and PI3K: What p53 and Rb1 Can’t Tell Us

Attention has been given to the fact that overall survival of osteosarcoma has plateaued over the last 30 years despite the addition of chemotherapy regimens. Elucidating the involvement of p53 and Rb1 in osteosarcoma has not yielded many novel treatments, but recent studies have started to characterize how the PTEN and the PI3K pathway can contribute to osteosarcoma. PTEN is a tumor suppressor that regulates a variety of signal transduction pathways and cellular processes, mainly by antagonizing PI3K activity and shutting down the PI3K/Akt pathway. Loss of PTEN function with concurrent PI3K activation has been detected frequently in a multitude of cancers, including osteosarcoma. This chapter aims to characterize PTEN and the PI3K/Akt pathway in osteosarcoma, their effects on primary bone tumor behavior, and potential therapeutic targets

Electronic Spectroscopy of Jet-Cooled Benzylidenecyclobutane, a Sterically Hindered Styrene

The electronic spectrum of the styrene derivative, benzylidenecyclobutane, seeded in a supersonic jet expansion has been recorded using resonantly enhanced two-photon ionization spectroscopy. The main vibronic features in the spectrum are associated with a low frequency progression assigned to the torsional motion of the phenyl ring. Analysis of the observed torsional levels reveals an excited state potential energy surface characteristic of a planar equilibrium geometry which undergoes large amplitude motion and a ground state surface having a minimum at a torsional angle of 25° between the phenyl and vinyl groups. Ab initio calculations of the ground state torsional potential surface predict a minimum in the range of 28°-26°, depending on the size of the basis set. In these structures the cyclobutane ring adopts a puckering angle between 17° and 19°. Deuterated isotopomers have also been synthesized and their corresponding photoionization spectra analyzed to reveal the mixing between the torsion and other low frequency modes such as cyclobutane ring puckering. The extent of this mixing is found to be sensitive to the sites of deuteration on the molecule. © 1996 American Institute of Physics

Electronic Spectroscopy of Jet-Cooled Benzylidenecyclobutane, a Sterically Hindered Styrene

The electronic spectrum of the styrene derivative, benzylidenecyclobutane, seeded in a supersonic jet expansion has been recorded using resonantly enhanced two-photon ionization spectroscopy. The main vibronic features in the spectrum are associated with a low frequency progression assigned to the torsional motion of the phenyl ring. Analysis of the observed torsional levels reveals an excited state potential energy surface characteristic of a planar equilibrium geometry which undergoes large amplitude motion and a ground state surface having a minimum at a torsional angle of 25° between the phenyl and vinyl groups. Ab initio calculations of the ground state torsional potential surface predict a minimum in the range of 28°-26°, depending on the size of the basis set. In these structures the cyclobutane ring adopts a puckering angle between 17° and 19°. Deuterated isotopomers have also been synthesized and their corresponding photoionization spectra analyzed to reveal the mixing between the torsion and other low frequency modes such as cyclobutane ring puckering. The extent of this mixing is found to be sensitive to the sites of deuteration on the molecule. © 1996 American Institute of Physics

A further cost for the sicker sex? Evidence for male-biased parasite-induced vulnerability to predation

Males are typically the sicker sex. Data from multiple taxa indicate that they are more likely to be infected with parasites, and are less ‘tolerant’, or less able to mitigate the fitness costs of a given infection, than females. One cost of infection for many animals is an increased probability of being captured by a predator. A clear, hitherto untested, prediction is therefore that this parasite-induced vulnerability to predation is more pronounced among males than females. We tested this prediction in the sexually size dimorphic guppy, Poecilia reticulata, in which females are typically larger than males. We either sham or experimentally infected guppies with Gyrodactylus turnbulli, elicited their escape response using an established protocol and measured the distance they covered during 60 ms. To discriminate between the effects of body size and those of other inherent sex differences, we size-matched fish across treatment groups. Infection with G. turnbulli reduced the distance covered during the escape response of small adults by 20.1%, whereas that of large fish was unaffected. This result implies that parasite-induced vulnerability to predation is male-biased in the wild: although there was no difference in escape response between our experimentally size-matched groups of males and females, males are significantly smaller across natural guppy populations. These results are consistent with Bateman’s principle for immunity: natural selection for larger body sizes and longevity in females seems to have resulted in the evolution of increased infection tolerance. We discuss the potential implications of male-biased parasite-induced vulnerability for the evolutionary ecology of this host-parasite interaction in natural communities

Breaking Them In or Eliciting Their Best? Reframing Socialization Around Newcomers’ Authentic Self-Expression

Socialization theory has focused on enculturating new employees such that they develop pride in their new organization and internalize its values. We draw on authenticity research to theorize that the initial stage of socialization leads to more effective employment relationships when it instead primarily encourages newcomers to express their personal identities. In a field experiment carried out in a large business process outsourcing company in India, we found that initial socialization focused on personal identity (emphasizing newcomers’ authentic best selves) led to greater customer satisfaction and employee retention after six months than socialization that focused on organizational identity (emphasizing the pride to be gained from organizational affiliation) or the organization’s traditional approach, which focused primarily on skills training. To confirm causation and explore the mechanisms underlying the effects, we replicated the results in a laboratory experiment in a U.S. university. We found that individuals working temporarily as part of a research team were more engaged and satisfied with their work, performed their tasks more effectively, and were less likely to quit when initial socialization focused on personal identity rather than on organizational identity or a control condition. In addition, authentic self-expression mediated these relationships. We call for a new direction in socialization theory that examines how both organizations and employees can benefit by emphasizing newcomers’ authentic best selves