Assessment and Supervision of the Field Experience of a Competency Based Reading Methods Course

When the University of Houston committed itself to competency-based, field and campus-centered teacher education over eight years ago, the reading methods courses were primarily campus-centered and included lecture and discussion over assigned reading in a reading methods textbook. In an effort to be compatible with the field-centered focus of the College, a more intensive field-experience component was added to the reading methods course. This addition accentuated the need for a changed format which would be more consistent with a field-based program. The textbooks which had been used previously presented applications of the theory and practice of teaching reading, but did not provide enough guidance in applying them in a classroom situation. The preservice teachers were able to talk knowledgeably about providing for individual differences, yet when they were actually in the classroom they seemed to have difficulty translating the theory into practice

Determinants of Business Cycle Synchronisation in the Common Monetary Area in Southern Africa

This paper examines the key factors that determine business cycle synchronisation in the Common Monetary Area in Southern Africa by applying the extreme bounds analysis. I investigate traditional structural indicators and policy indicators of output correlation with annual data from 1980 to 2018. A positive effect of sector homogeneity and trade intensity on business cycle synchronisation is identified. However, whereas sector homogeneity is a growing trend correlating with an increasing trend of cycle correlation, trade intensity is not. Instead, trade intensity increases significantly in periods of stagnant growth when cycle correlation is higher, but no long-term trend can be seen

Can genital-tract human papillomavirus infection and cervical cancer be prevented with a vaccine?

Human papillomavirus (HPV) infection is the cause of squamous cell carcinoma of the uterine cervix. This causative relationship has provided the rationale and incentive for development of a prophylactic vaccine. Such a vaccine, if found to be effective, could reduce the need for cervical cancer screening and have a profound effect on the incidence of cervical and other anogenital cancers. This review begins by examining the basic biological and epidemiological principles relevant to the development of HPV preventative vaccines. It then summarises studies examining the use of vaccines to prevent HPV infection in animals and humans, and, finally, discusses some of the unanswered issues surrounding vaccine development against HPV infection and cervical cancer

Genotyping of human papillomavirus in triaging of low-grade cervical cytology.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of the study was to evaluate whether typing of human papillomavirus (HPV) among women with low-grade cervical cytology can improve the ability to identify women with cervical cancer or cervical intraepithelial neoplasia grade III (CIN III or worse). STUDY DESIGN: A total of 1595 women with low-grade cervical cytology participating in a randomized implementation trial of HPV triaging using Hybrid Capture II were also HPV genotyped and CIN III or worse predictive values evaluated. RESULTS: HPV 16 was detected in 57% of cases with CIN III or worse but only among 24% of all tested women. Testing for the 3 HPV types with highest risk (HPV16/31/33) detected 77% of CIN III or worse, with 36% of women testing positive. Positivity for the other high-risk HPV types had a decreased risk for CIN III or worse. CONCLUSION: Different high-risk HPV types confer different risks for the presence of CIN III or worse, implying that HPV genotyping could be useful for the optimization of triaging strategies

Figures of merit of thermoelectric and bolometric thermal radiation sensors

Figures of merit condensing the performance parameters of radiation sensors such as responsivity, noise equivalent power, and time constant in a single number can be useful for rating the performance of a particular sensor in comparison to other ones or to fundamental performance limits. The classification system and the figures of merit of radiation sensors introduced by R. C. Jones are revisited for thermal radiation sensors with the focus on thermopiles and bolometers. As a result it is stated that radiation thermopiles and bolometers should be classified differently: type III detectors for thermopiles vs. type II detectors for bolometers. Modified figures of merit are suggested and relations between them given. The figures of merit are applied in an overview on state-of-the-art thermopiles and bolometers operated at room temperature

Human papillomavirus subtypes are not uncommon

AbstractWhile both variants and types of human papillomavirus (HPV) are common, subtypes (2–10% sequence divergence in the L1 gene) have been considered to be rare. We searched GenBank and in-house databases using a 440 nt L1 fragment and identified 7, 30 and 10 subtypes/putative subtypes in the HPV genera Alpha, Beta and Gamma, respectively. The number of types/putative types in each genus was 54, 58 and 103. Thus, there appears to exist at least 47 different subtypes/putative subtypes of HPV and they seem to be particularly common in the genus Beta-papillomavirus

Pseudovirion-binding and neutralizing antibodies to cutaneous Human Papillomaviruses correlated to presence of HPV DNA in skin.

We compared seroreactivity to Human papillomavirus (HPV) antigens measured with two different high-throughput assays. One method used GST-L1 fusion proteins and the other heparin-bound HPV pseudovirions as antigens and both methods used multiplexed fluorescent beads for detection. For six HPV types (5, 6, 15, 16, 32 and 38), seroreactivity could be measured in parallel for 434 serum samples from non-immunosuppressed patients with skin lesions (squamous cell carcinoma of the skin, basal cell carcinoma of the skin, actinic keratosis and benign skin lesions). Biopsies from the skin lesions were tested for presence of HPV DNA using three different PCR methods, with typing by sequencing. Among the types included in the serological tests, HPV DNA of types HPV5, 15, 38 and 76 were most frequently detected in the tumours. Serum samples from subjects with HPV DNA positive biopsies and randomly selected serum samples from subjects with HPV DNA negative biopsies were also tested with neutralization assays with HPV5, 38 and 76 pseudovirions. Agreement of the three serological methods varied from poor to moderate and showed limited consistency. Type-specific seroprevalences among patients positive for the same type of HPV DNA (sensitivity of serology) was improved with the pseudovirion-based method (average of 40%, maximum 63%) compared to the GST-L1 method (average of 20%, maximum of 25%). Neutralization was the most sensitive assay for HPV38 (50%). In summary, the pseudovirion-based methods appeared to have an improved sensitivity

Poly[[tris­(μ2-4,4′-bipyridine N,N′-di­oxide)hexa­nitratodieuropium(III)] dichloro­methane disolvate]

The title one-dimensional coordination network, {[Eu2(NO3)6(C10H8N2O2)3]·2CH2Cl2}n, is isostructural with the previously reported Tb and Tl coordination networks and to its Gd analog. The EuIII cation is coordinated in a distorted tricapped trigonal-prismatic fashion by nine O atoms from three bridging 4,4′-bipyridine N,N′-dioxide ligands and three chelating nitrate anions. None of the atoms lie on a special position, but there is an inversion center located between the rings of one of the ligands. The network topology is ladder-like, and each ladder inter­acts with six neighboring ladders through C—H⋯O hydrogen bonds. The packing motif of the ladders allows for the formation of channels that run parallel to the a axis; these channels are filled with CH2Cl2 solvent mol­ecules that inter­act with the ladders through C—H⋯O hydrogen bonds

Poly[[tris­(μ2-4,4′-bipyridine N,N′-di­oxide)hexa­nitratodigadolinium(III)] dichloro­methane disolvate]

The title one-dimensional coordination network, {[Gd2(NO3)6(C10H8N2O2)3]·2CH2Cl2}n, is isostructural with the previously reported Tb and Tl coordination networks and to its Eu analog. The GdIII cation is coordinated in a distorted tricapped trigonal-prismatic fashion by nine O atoms from three bridging 4,4′-bipyridine N,N′-dioxide ligands and three chelating nitrate anions. None of the atoms lie on a special position, but there is an inversion center located between the rings of one of the ligands. The network topology is ladder-like, and each ladder inter­acts with six neighboring ladders through C—H⋯O hydrogen bonds. The packing motif of the ladders allows for the formation of channels that run parallel to the a axis; these channels are filled with CH2Cl2 solvent mol­ecules that inter­act with the ladders through C—H⋯O hydrogen bond