229 research outputs found
Implications of Reading Assessments: Investigating the Developmental Reading Assessment and Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills - Oral Reading Fluency as Related to the TerraNova 2nd Edition Vocabulary and Comprehension Tasks for Third-Grade Students
The present study investigated the relationship between Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS) Oral Reading Fluency and the Developmental Reading Assessment (DRA) as related to the TerraNova 2nd Edition Vocabulary and Comprehension. Historical test data gained from 46 third grade participants during 2004- 2005 school year from an urban elementary school was utilized. The DRA protocols were coded and correlations were run to determine the relationship between the three tests. Significant correlations were found consistently between the DIBELS scores with DRA Phrasing and Fluency and DRA Story Level. Of particular interest, the overall best predictor for DIBELS scores was the DRA Story Level. Significant correlations were also found between DIBELS scores, DRA scores, and TerraNova 2nd Edition Comprehension and Vocabulary. The best predictor for both the TerraNova 2nd Edition Vocabulary and Comprehension scores was the fall DRA Story Level
Can Facebook Aid Sustainability? An Investigation of Empathy Expression within the \u3cem\u3eHumans of New York\u3c/em\u3e Blog
This qualitative study offers a novel exploration of the links between social media, virtual intergroup contact, and empathy by examining how empathy is expressed through interactions on a popular social media blog. Global leaders are encouraging individuals to engage in behaviors and support policies that provide basic social foundations. It is difficult to motivate people to undertake such actions. However, research shows that empathy intensifies motivation to help others. It can cause individuals to see the world from the perspective of stigmatized group members and increase positive feelings. Social media offers a new pathway for virtual intergroup contact, providing opportunities to increase conversation about disadvantaged others and empathy. We examined expressions of empathy within a popular blog, Humans of New York (HONY), and engaged in purposeful case selection by focusing on (1) events where specific prosocial action was taken corresponding to interactions on the HONY blog and (2) presentation of people in countries other than the United States. Nine overarching themes; (1) perspective taking, (2) fantasy, (3) empathic concern, (4) personal distress, (5) relatability, (6) prosocial action, (7) community appreciation, (8) anti-empathy, and (9) rejection of anti-empathy, exemplify how the HONY community expresses and shares empathic thoughts and feelings
Trying Cases in the Media: Legal Ethics, Fair Trials and Free Press
The 2000 symposium consisted of a panel discussion which used role-playing and a mock trial to highlight the issues of lawyer/litigant comments to the press before and during trial and the dilemma of journalists confronted by court demands for documents, testimony, or sources of information obtained in the course of gathering news on pending trials. Participants included:
As United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Freedonia: John Douglas, Associate Professor of Law at the University of Richmond.
As Freedonia criminal defense lawyer: Gerald Zerkin, Private Defense Attorney.
As investigative journalist: Steve Nash, Associate Professor of Journalism at the University of Richmond.
As federal judge: Judge Margaret P. Spencer, Virginia Circuit Court Judge.
As media attorney: Craig Thomas Merritt, Attorney.
As first amendment attorney: J. Joshua Wheeler, Attorney and Director of Programs for the Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression, and adjunct professor at University of Virginia.
As Chief Justice: Paul D. Carrington, The Chadwick Professor of Law at Duke University.
As Associate Justices of the United States Supreme Court: C. Thomas Dienes, Patricia Roberts Harris Professor of Law at George Washington University\u27s Law School; John E. Nowak, David C. Baum Professor of Law at the University of Illinois; Molly Delea, third-year law student, University of Richmond School of Law; Kate Murray, third-year law student, University of Richmond School of Law; Thomas Queen, third-year law student, University of Richmond School of Law; and Courtney Sydnor, third-year law student, University of Richmond School of Law
Galaxies lacking dark matter produced by close encounters in a cosmological simulation
The standard cold dark matter plus cosmological constant model predicts that galaxies form within dark-matter haloes, and that low-mass galaxies are more dark-matter dominated than massive ones. The unexpected discovery of two low-mass galaxies lacking dark matter immediately provoked concerns about the standard cosmology and ignited explorations of alternatives, including self-interacting dark matter and modified gravity. Apprehension grew after several cosmological simulations using the conventional model failed to form adequate numerical analogues with comparable internal characteristics (stellar masses, sizes, velocity dispersions and morphologies). Here we show that the standard paradigm naturally produces galaxies lacking dark matter with internal characteristics in agreement with observations. Using a state-of-the-art cosmological simulation and a meticulous galaxy-identification technique, we find that extreme close encounters with massive neighbours can be responsible for this. We predict that ~30% of massive central galaxies (with at least 1011 solar masses in stars) harbour at least one dark-matter-deficient satellite (with 108â109 solar masses in stars). This distinctive class of galaxies provides an additional layer in our understanding of the role of interactions in shaping galactic properties. Future observations surveying galaxies in the aforementioned regime will provide a crucial test of this scenario
Cognitive Effects of Risperidone in Children with Autism and Irritable Behavior
Objective:
The objective of this research was to explore the effects of risperidone on cognitive processes in
children with autism and irritable behavior.
Method:
Thirty-eight children, ages 5-17 years with autism and severe behavioral disturbance, were
randomly assigned to risperidone (0.5 to 3.5 mg/day) or placebo for 8 weeks. This sample of 38 was a subset
of 101 subjects who participated in the clinical trial; 63 were unable to perform the cognitive tasks. A
double-blind placebo-controlled parallel groups design was used. Dependent measures included tests of
sustained attention, verbal learning, hand-eye coordination, and spatial memory assessed before, during, and
after the 8-week treatment. Changes in performance were compared by repeated measures ANOVA.
Results:
Twenty-nine boys and 9 girls with autism and severe behavioral disturbance and a mental age â„18
months completed the cognitive part of the study. No decline in performance occurred with risperidone.
Performance on a cancellation task (number of correct detections) and a verbal learning task (word
recognition) was better on risperidone than on placebo (without correction for multiplicity). Equivocal
improvement also occurred on a spatial memory task. There were no significant differences between
treatment conditions on the Purdue Pegboard (hand-eye coordination) task or the Analog Classroom Task
(timed math test).
Conclusion:
Risperidone given to children with autism at doses up to 3.5 mg for up to 8 weeks appears to have no
detrimental effect on cognitive performance
Development, behavior, and biomarker characterization of Smith-Lemli-Opitz syndrome: an update
A prospective study of treatments for adult-onset divergence insufficiencyâtype esotropia
Purpose
To describe 10-week and 12-month outcomes following treatment for divergence insufficiencyâtype esotropia in adults.
Methods
In this prospective observational study, 110 adults with divergence insufficiencyâtype esotropia, with a distance esodeviation measuring 2Î to 30Î and at least 25% larger at distance than near, and binocular diplopia present at least âsometimesâ at distance, were enrolled at 28 sites when initiating new treatment. Surgery, prism, or divergence exercises/therapy were chosen at the investigatorâs discretion. Diplopia was assessed at enrollment and at 10-week and 12-month outcome examinations using a standardized diplopia questionnaire (DQ). Success was defined as DQ responses of ârarelyâ or âneverâ when looking straight ahead in the distance, with no alternative treatment initiated.
Results
Of the 110 participants, 32 (29%) were prescribed base-out prism; none had received prior treatment for esotropia. Success criteria were met by 22 of 30 at 10 weeks (73%; 95% CI, 54%-88%) and by 16 of 26 at 12 months (62%; 95% CI, 41%-80%). For the 76 (68%) who underwent strabismus surgery (82% of whom had been previously treated with prism), success criteria were met by 69 of 74 at 10 weeks (93%; 95% CI, 85%-98%) and by 57 of 72 at 12 months (79%; 95% CI, 68%-88%).
Conclusions
In this study cohort, both base-out prism as initial therapy and strabismus surgery (usually following prism) were successful in treating diplopia for most adults with divergence insufficiencyâtype esotropia when assessed during the first year of follow-up
Visualâspatial attention aids the maintenance of object representations in visual working memory
Priorities for synthesis research in ecology and environmental science
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS We thank the National Science Foundation grant #1940692 for financial support for this workshop, and the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (NCEAS) and its staff for logistical support.Peer reviewedPublisher PD
Priorities for synthesis research in ecology and environmental science
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS We thank the National Science Foundation grant #1940692 for financial support for this workshop, and the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (NCEAS) and its staff for logistical support.Peer reviewedPublisher PD
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