Perceptual Modality Preference Effect of Student Performance

Past research indicates that a person\u27s individual learning style is unique. Certain interactions take place in the classroom that occur as a result of student\u27s and teacher\u27s learning styles and these interactions can have an effect on how well a student learns. Some researchers have suggested that matching students\u27 learning styles with complementary teaching styles can have a positive, significant effect on student performance or achievement. The purpose of this study was to investigate the premise that students and teachers whose styles matched would be reflected on student performance. Student performance in this study was measured by students\u27 grade point averages. The intent was to determine if students with a visual or auditory perceptual preference, taught by a teacher with a similar perceptual modality preference, would have higher grade point averages than students who did not exhibit the same perceptual modality preference as their teachers. The Learning Styles Inventory by Jerry F. Brown and Richard M. Cooper was the diagnostic instrument administered to both the teachers and the students in this study to determine their perceptual modality preferences. Four teachers and 96 students were the population for this study. Students who matched or mismatched their teachers according to perceptual modality preference was determined by giving students and teachers the inventory lists in the appendices. The researcher was also provided with all the grade point averages of the students who participated in the study and the mean of the four grade point averages for the 1985-1986 school year was determined. It was hypothesized that students with a visual or auditory perceptual preference taught by a teacher with a similar preference would have a higher grade point average than students whose preferences do not match their teachers. Results indicated that students with a perceptual modality preference similar to their teachers\u27 preferences did not have higher grade point averages than students who mismatched their teachers. Student performance did not differ between students whose perceptual modality preferences matched or mismatched their teachers as measured by grade point averages. Students apparently adapt to different instructional techniques and materials that require the use of different perceptual modalities despite their stronger preference

Ongoing studies on the bats of Danum Valley Borneo

Here we provide an update on the batting activities of the James Cook University's biannual undergraduate field trip to Danum Valley Field Centre in Borneo. The 2013 trip focussed on various bat surveying techniques, with an emphasis on the use and effectiveness of the EM3 full-spectrum and Anabat II ZCAM ultrasonic detectors. We captured a total of thirty-three individuals of 12 different species in harp traps and mist nets, three species of which had not been encountered on previous surveys. We collected an additional 16,500 call files and in total, we now have a call library of 43 microbat species (of which 28 can be allocated to individual species) along with high-quality photographs of 20 micro- and megabats. It will be no surprise that Terry Reardon also took dynamic photographs of individuals in flight upon release, and generously donated his flash-setup to the staff of Danum Valley. Future field trips will continue to build the call and photo library as well as collect tissue samples for collaborative studies with scientists in Malaysia and Australia. We plan to make the calls and photos available via an open-access WWW page

Study protocol: a randomised controlled trial investigating the effect of a healthy lifestyle intervention for people with severe mental disorders

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The largest single cause of death among people with severe mental disorders is cardiovascular disease (CVD). The majority of people with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder smoke and many are also overweight, considerably increasing their risk of CVD. Treatment for smoking and other health risk behaviours is often not prioritized among people with severe mental disorders. This protocol describes a study in which we will assess the effectiveness of a healthy lifestyle intervention on smoking and CVD risk and associated health behaviours among people with severe mental disorders.</p> <p>Methods/Design</p> <p>250 smokers with a severe mental disorder will be recruited. After completion of a baseline assessment and an initial face-to-face intervention session, participants will be randomly assigned to either a multi-component intervention for smoking cessation and CVD risk reduction or a telephone-based minimal intervention focusing on smoking cessation. Randomisation will be stratified by site (Newcastle, Sydney, Melbourne, Australia), Body Mass Index (BMI) category (normal, overweight, obese) and type of antipsychotic medication (typical, atypical). Participants will receive 8 weekly, 3 fortnightly and 6 monthly sessions delivered face to face (typically 1 hour) or by telephone (typically 10 minutes). Assessments will be conducted by research staff blind to treatment allocation at baseline, 15 weeks, and 12-, 18-, 24-, 30- and 36-months.</p> <p>Discussion</p> <p>This study will provide comprehensive data on the effect of a healthy lifestyle intervention on smoking and CVD risk among people with severe mental disorders. If shown to be effective, this intervention can be disseminated to treating clinicians using the treatment manuals.</p> <p>Trial registration</p> <p>Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (ANZCTR) identifier: <a href="http://www.anzctr.org.au/ACTRN12609001039279.aspx">ACTRN12609001039279</a></p

Multiple novel prostate cancer susceptibility signals identified by fine-mapping of known risk loci among Europeans

Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified numerous common prostate cancer (PrCa) susceptibility loci. We have fine-mapped 64 GWAS regions known at the conclusion of the iCOGS study using large-scale genotyping and imputation in 25 723 PrCa cases and 26 274 controls of European ancestry. We detected evidence for multiple independent signals at 16 regions, 12 of which contained additional newly identified significant associations. A single signal comprising a spectrum of correlated variation was observed at 39 regions; 35 of which are now described by a novel more significantly associated lead SNP, while the originally reported variant remained as the lead SNP only in 4 regions. We also confirmed two association signals in Europeans that had been previously reported only in East-Asian GWAS. Based on statistical evidence and linkage disequilibrium (LD) structure, we have curated and narrowed down the list of the most likely candidate causal variants for each region. Functional annotation using data from ENCODE filtered for PrCa cell lines and eQTL analysis demonstrated significant enrichment for overlap with bio-features within this set. By incorporating the novel risk variants identified here alongside the refined data for existing association signals, we estimate that these loci now explain ∼38.9% of the familial relative risk of PrCa, an 8.9% improvement over the previously reported GWAS tag SNPs. This suggests that a significant fraction of the heritability of PrCa may have been hidden during the discovery phase of GWAS, in particular due to the presence of multiple independent signals within the same regio

Corridor Gothic

This article investigates the role of the corridor in Gothic fiction and horror film from the late eighteenth century to the present day. It seeks to establish this transitional space as a crucial locus, by tracing the rise of the corridor as a distinct mode of architectural distribution in domestic and public buildings since the eighteenth century. The article tracks pivotal appearances of the corridor in fiction and film, and in the final phase argues that it has become associated with a specific emotional tenor, less to do with amplified fear and horror and more with emotions of Angst or dread

“Older-wiser-lesbians” and “baby-dykes”: mediating age and generation in New Queer Cinema

Representations of intersections of gender, age, and sexuality can reveal deep-rooted cultural anxieties about older women and sexuality. Images of lesbian ageing are of particular interest in terms of alterity, as the old/er queer woman can combine layers of otherness—not only is she the cultural “other” within heteronormativity, but she can also appear as the opposite of popular culture’s lesbian chic. In this article, a cultural analysis of a range of films—If These Walls Could Talk 2 (dir. Anderson, Coolidge, and Heche 2000), Itty Bitty Titty Committee (dir. Babbit 2007), The Owls (dir. Dunye 2010), Hannah Free (dir. Carlton 2009), and Cloudburst (dir. Fitzgerald 2011)—considers diverse dramatisations of lesbian generations. This article interrogates to what extent alternative cinemas deconstruct normative conceptualisations of ageing. Drawing on recent critiques of post-feminist culture, and a range of feminist and age/ing studies scholarship, it suggests that a linear understanding of ageing and the generational underlies dominant depictions of oppositional binaries of young versus old, of generational segregation or rivalry, and the othering of age. It concludes that non-linear understandings of temporality and ageing contain the potential for New Queer Cinema to counteract such idealisations of youthfulness, which, it argues, is one of the most deep-rooted manifestations of (hetero)normativity

Everything under control? Comparing Knepp Estate rewilding project with ‘traditional’ nature conservation

‘Rewilding’ is an increasingly prominent concept in conservation, but one that has attracted controversy. Debate frequently focuses on human ‘control’ over nature. ‘Traditional’ conservation has been presented as involving ‘high control,’ and rewilding as ‘low control.’ Opposition to rewilding often stems from a perceived lack of control and associated perception of increased risk and uncertainty. This paper explores the concept of control in conservation. I identify multiple dimensions of control (‘stabilisation’, ‘location’, ‘prediction’ and ‘outputs’), illustrating that control is not a simple, linear concept. I compare two ethnographic case studies: the Sussex Wildlife Trust’s Old Lodge nature reserve; and Knepp Estate, one of the most influential rewilding projects in the UK. I use them to test assertions made about control in ‘traditional’ conservation and ‘rewilding’. I outline how Old Lodge does not exert precise control in all respects, but involves elements of uncertainty and negotiation. I describe how Knepp’s model of rewilding reduces control in some dimensions but potentially increases it in others. I conclude that, while Knepp’s rewilding does represent a significant conceptual departure from ‘traditional’ conservation, it should not be characterised as an approach that reduces control in a simplistic way. Based on this analysis, I argue that reduction of control does not necessarily underpin the concept of rewilding. Rather, there is interplay between different control dimensions that combine to form multiple ‘configurations of control.’ Using a framework of ‘configurations of control’, debate about the place of rewilding in conservation can become less polarised, and instead involve an active discussion of what configuration of control is desired. This analysis has the potential to increase understanding of rewilding projects as part of plural conservation strategies, in the UK and globally

Return of the Living Professors: Writing \u27Academically,\u27 Writing Personally (Part 3)

Dr. Castle is Walter A. Haas Professor of Humanities in Stanford University. She has published nine books, including The Professor and Other Writings. In her spare time, Dr. Castle enjoys creating art

Return of the Living Professors: Writing \u27Academically,\u27 Writing Personally (Part 2)

Dr. Castle is Walter A. Haas Professor of Humanities in Stanford University. She has published nine books, including The Professor and Other Writings. In her spare time, Dr. Castle enjoys creating art