The effect of writing to a real audience for a real purpose on the writing skills and self esteem of seventh grade inner city students.

The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of writing to a real audience for a real purpose on the writing skills and self esteem of seventh grade students. Inner city, culturally diverse seventh graders exchanged a series of letters with successful members of an urban community. The study investigated the effects of this exchange on the writing skills and self esteem of the students. The twenty five seventh graders in the study were matched randomly with the adults. They wrote at least four letters each, over a four month period, and received responses. They celebrated their connection by meeting at the middle school for a breakfast. The results of the study were documented by pre and post tests, opinion questionnaires from students, teachers and parents, overall grades and grades in English and reading, anecdotal observations, and an exit interview. The data supports the general hypothesis that when seventh grade students in an inner city, culturally diverse middle school write to a real audience for a real purpose, their writing skills improve and their self esteem is enhanced. After writing at least four letters to caring local adults, many students showed improved overall grades, and better English and reading grades. They used the appropriate friendly letter heading, longer sentences, varied end punctuation, and more interesting topic sentences. Their paragraphs indicated clear thought, and were better organized. Their stories during the exit interview proved to be overwhelmingly in favor of the writing exchange. Their parents and teachers felt the students showed improved self esteem, and a clearer connection to their community. Students indicated a greater comfort level with school, made friends with their Pals, got advice from them, and enjoyed their company. The study validated the idea that students become more conscious of thinking and learning when their tasks are real and that learning is best achieved in a social context

List context manipulation reveals orthographic deficits in Italian readers with developmental dyslexia.

We tested the influence of list context on word frequency and length effects on the reading aloud of Italian developmental dyslexics and skilled peers. The stimuli were presented either in mixed blocks (alternating words and non-words) or in pure blocks. The analyses based on the rate-and-amount-model (Faust et al., 1999) indicated that group differences in reaction times between dyslexic and skilled readers: a) were well accounted for in terms of global components and b) were modulated by context in the case of words but not in the case of non-words. ANOVAs on z-transformed reaction time data further indicated the influence of stimulus length. Importantly, the frequency effect interacted with context: controls showed a list context effect for high and low frequency words, while dyslexics showed a list context effect only for high frequency words. The effect of length on reading times remained unaffected by context manipulation. It is proposed that this pattern of results may be accounted for by hypothesizing two separate deficits: An early graphemic impairment affecting performance independently of context and a later inefficiency in activating entries in the orthographic lexicon as a function of context demands

The Inspectors Body of the Ministry of Health and Welfare (SEYYP) and the administrative control of Public Hospitals

The administrative inspections of hospitals, the mode of supply, shipment and the inventory of sanitary materials and pharmaceuticals, performed by SEYYP inspectors ensure the orderly and effective function of agents offering health and welfare service

Aurora-A expressing tumour cells are deficient for homology-directed DNA double strand-break repair and sensitive to PARP inhibition.

The protein kinase Aurora-A is a major regulator of the cell cycle that orchestrates mitotic entry and is required for the assembly of a functional mitotic spindle. Overexpression of Aurora-A has been strongly linked with oncogenesis and this has led to considerable efforts at therapeutic targeting of the kinase activity of this protein. However, the exact mechanism by which Aurora-A promotes oncogenesis remains unclear. Here, we show that Aurora-A modulates the repair of DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs). Aurora-A expression inhibits RAD51 recruitment to DNA DSBs, decreases DSB repair by homologous recombination and sensitizes cancer cells to PARP inhibition. This impairment of RAD51 function requires inhibition of CHK1 by Polo-like kinase 1 (PLK1). These results identify a novel function of Aurora-A in modulating the response to DNA DSB that likely contributes to carcinogenesis and suggest a novel therapeutic approach to the treatment of cancers overexpressing this protein

Neuropharmacogenetics of Major Depression: Has the Time Come to Take both Sexes into Account?

Pollution & threats to the environmen

Evaluation of analytical methods to interpret ground deformations due to soft ground tunneling

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, 2009.This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.Includes bibliographical references (p. 227-229).An in depth study was undertaken to evaluate the effectiveness of analytical solutions in describing ground movements induced by soft ground tunneling. The analytical solutions that were examined consider both isotropic and anisotropic stiffness parameters and were proposed by Pinto and Whittle (1999) and Chatzigiannelis and Whittle (2001) respectively. Computed ground movements were compared to field measurements from five published case studies of tunnels around the world that involved different excavation methods (open and closed face tunneling) and varying soil properties. A Least Squares Solution procedure has been employed in each case for selecting model input parameters that best describe the field data. The control study of the thesis involves the westbound tunnel of the Jubilee Line Extension project in London. The use of anisotropic stiffness parameters improved significantly the agreement with surface and subsurface field measurements. Moreover, the volume loss computed by the analytical solutions is significantly reduced comparing with previous published interpretations of volume loss that were based on empirical methods. The analytical solutions prove to be a very powerful tool for describing ground displacements induced by different methods of tunnel excavation through various soil types. They are practical, since they require minimal information on soil properties, while at the same provide a complete framework for understanding the relationships between the distribution of far-field deformations, construction methods and ground conditions.(cont.) Pinto's proposed design method proved to be effective in selecting appropriate input parameters for most tunnel cases apart from the tunnels excavated in London Clay.by Despina M. Zymnis.S.M

CSF Dynamics for Shunt Prognostication and Revision in Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus.

BACKGROUND: Despite the quantitative information derived from testing of the CSF circulation, there is still no consensus on what the best approach could be in defining criteria for shunting and predicting response to CSF diversion in normal pressure hydrocephalus (NPH). OBJECTIVE: We aimed to review the lessons learned from assessment of CSF dynamics in our center and summarize our findings to date. We have focused on reporting the objective perspective of CSF dynamics testing, without further inferences to individual patient management. DISCUSSION: No single parameter from the CSF infusion study has so far been able to serve as an unquestionable outcome predictor. Resistance to CSF outflow (Rout) is an important biological marker of CSF circulation. It should not, however, be used as a single predictor for improvement after shunting. Testing of CSF dynamics provides information on hydrodynamic properties of the cerebrospinal compartment: the system which is being modified by a shunt. Our experience of nearly 30 years of studying CSF dynamics in patients requiring shunting and/or shunt revision, combined with all the recent progress made in producing evidence on the clinical utility of CSF dynamics, has led to reconsidering the relationship between CSF circulation testing and clinical improvement. CONCLUSIONS: Despite many open questions and limitations, testing of CSF dynamics provides unique perspectives for the clinician. We have found value in understanding shunt function and potentially shunt response through shunt testing in vivo. In the absence of infusion tests, further methods that provide a clear description of the pre and post-shunting CSF circulation, and potentially cerebral blood flow, should be developed and adapted to the bed-space