Organizational Skills and Student Achievement

Organizational skills are important to the success of every student but they may also be the answer to helping students with mild disabilities keep up with their school work. Given the increasing number of children diagnosed with emotional or learning disabilities—many of whom will receive education in a general classroom—it is becoming more and more important for teachers to provide the support their students need. This thesis project explores the reasoning behind providing inclusive educational settings, discusses the challenges for teachers, parents, and students inherent in that inclusivity, and examines how different organizational strategies affect such challenging circumstances. The research focuses specifically on how note-taking strategies influence student achievement. The research was conducted with a control group of five students and an experimental group of five students, the latter of whom received class notebooks to record all notes, homework, and test and quiz answers. The research findings found that the students who used the note-taking strategy achieved higher overall test scores, were better prepared for class, and gained confidence in their own abilities

Synthesis and evaluation of a desymmetrised synthetic lectin:An approach to carbohydrate receptors with improved versatility

A new design for carbohydrate receptors features unmatched apolar surfaces, and could lead to selectivities for a broader range of substrates.</p

Cholanamide components for organic alloys; expanding the scope of nanoporous steroidal ureas

Amide-linked side-chains can substitute for esters in crystalline nanoporous steroidal ureas (NSPUs). This efficient conjugation method increases the versatility of NPSUs, and should aid the inclusion of complex functional units in the crystal channels

Cholinergic suppression: A postsynaptic mechanism of long-term associative learning

Food avoidance learning in the mollusc Pleurobranchaea entails reduction in the responsiveness of key brain interneurons in the feeding neural circuitry, the paracerebral feeding command interneurons (PCNs), to the neurotransmitter acetylcholine (AcCho). Food stimuli applied to the oral veil of an untrained animal depolarize the PCNs and induce the feeding motor program (FMP). Atropine (a muscarinic cholinergic antagonist) reversibly blocks the food-induced depolarization of the PCNs, implicating AcCho as the neurotransmitter mediating food detection. AcCho applied directly to PCN somata depolarizes them, indicating that the PCN soma membrane contains AcCho receptors and induces the FMP in the isolated central nervous system preparation. The AcCho response of the PCNs is mediated by muscariniclike receptors, since comparable depolarization is induced by muscarinic agonists (acetyl-ß -methylcholine, oxotremorine, pilocarpine), but not nicotine, and blocked by muscarinic antagonists (atropine, trifluoperazine). The nicotinic antagonist hexamethonium, however, blocked the AcCho response in four of six cases. When specimens are trained to suppress feeding behavior using a conventional food-avoidance learning paradigm (conditionally paired food and shock), AcCho applied to PCNs in the same concentration as in untrained animals causes little or no depolarization and does not initiate the FMP. Increasing the concentration of AcCho 10-100 times, however, induces weak PCN depolarization in trained specimens, indicating that learning diminishes but does not fully abolish AcCho responsiveness of the PCNs. This study proposes a cellular mechanism of long-term associative learning -- namely, postsynaptic modulation of neurotransmitter responsiveness in central neurons that could apply also to mammalian species

Description of \u3ci\u3eHydrosmectomorpha\u3c/i\u3e Klimaszewski and Webster, a new subgenus of \u3ci\u3eAtheta\u3c/i\u3e C. G. Thomson, with three new Canadian species (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Aleocharinae)

A new subgenus, Hydrosmectomorpha Klimaszewski and Webster, of the genus Atheta C. G. Thomson (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Aleocharinae) is erected to accommodate three new species and Atheta newfoundlandica (Klimaszewski and Langor). The new species are: Atheta (Hydrosmectomorpha) meduxnekeagensis Webster and Klimaszewski, new species; Atheta (Hydrosmectomorpha) quebecensis Webster and Klimaszewski, new species, Atheta (Hydrosmectomorpha) vincenti Webster and Klimaszewski, new species. The new species are described, illustrated, and a key is provided. Atheta newfoundlandica (Klimaszewski and Langor), was recently transferred from Hydrosmecta C.G. Thomson to an unspecified subgenus of Atheta. New habitat/collection data are presented for the treated species

Binding or aggregation? Hazards of interpretation in studies of molecular recognition by porphyrins in water

Reports suggest that polar porphyrins can serve as carbohydrate receptors in water. Addition of glucose to TPPS (shown) does cause changes in UV-visible absorption. However, these are best explained by altered aggregation states and not by formation of a closely-bound complex.</p