Reading instruction in first-grade classrooms: Do basals control teachers?

This study describes first-grade teachers beliefs and practices about reading instruction. Drawing from interview and observational data, 16 teachers from four districts were placed on a continuum from skills-based to literature-based in relationship to their use of the basal. Only 2 teachers were found to rely solely on the basal, while 3 teachers enhanced the basal with literature, and 4 teachers used only literature in their reading instruction. Six teachers enhanced their basal use with additional skills and 1 teacher relied on skills only in her reading instruction. This diversity\u27 of teaching beliefs and practices was corroborated by questionnaire data from a larger sample of teachers. Next, a framework developed by Belenky, Clinchy, Goldberger, and Tarule (1986) was used to categorize teachers\u27 ways of knowing. The findings showed 1 teacher to be a silent knower, 6 were received knowers, 1 was a subjective knower, 7 were procedural knowers, and 1 was a connected knower. Results challenge Shannon\u27s (1987) hypothesis that basals deskill teachers while supporting Sosniak and Stodolskv\u27s (1993) view that teachers are more autonomous in their use of textbook materials

Literature-based reading instruction: Problems, possibilities & polemics in the struggle to change

Concerns are being raised in both professional literature as well as in the popular press regarding certain aspects of the literature-based movement. Here we report on findings from a longitudinal study of a group of first -grade teachers who have been attempting (with varying degrees of success)to introduce literature-based teaching strategies into their classrooms. We inspect the experiences of these teachers in relation to four areas of concern that have been raised regarding literature-based teaching: 1. skills instruction; 2.guided reading strategies; 3. literature selection;and 4. thematic teaching (or curriculum integration). We describe classroom practices and the 9 problems and possibilities associated with teacher change in each of the four areas

Cognitive performance among carriers of pathogenic copy number variants: analysis of 152,000 UK Biobank subjects

Background The UK Biobank is a unique resource for biomedical research, with extensive phenotypic and genetic data on half a million adults from the general population. We aimed to examine the effect of neurodevelopmental copy number variants (CNVs) on the cognitive performance of participants. Methods We used Affymetrix Power Tools and PennCNV-Affy software to analyze Affymetrix microarrays of the first 152,728 genotyped individuals. We annotated a list of 93 CNVs and compared their frequencies with control datasets. We analyzed the performance on seven cognitive tests of carriers of 12 CNVs associated with schizophrenia (n = 1087) and of carriers of another 41 neurodevelopmental CNVs (n = 484). Results The frequencies of the 93 CNVs in the Biobank subjects were remarkably similar to those among 26,628 control subjects from other datasets. Carriers of schizophrenia-associated CNVs and of the group of 41 other neurodevelopmental CNVs had impaired performance on the cognitive tests, with nine of 14 comparisons remaining statistically significant after correction for multiple testing. They also had lower educational and occupational attainment (p values between 10−7 and 10−18). The deficits in cognitive performance were modest (Z score reductions between 0.01 and 0.51), compared with individuals with schizophrenia in the Biobank (Z score reductions between 0.35 and 0.90). Conclusions This is the largest study on the cognitive phenotypes of CNVs to date. Adult carriers of neurodevelopmental CNVs from the general population have significant cognitive deficits. The UK Biobank will allow unprecedented opportunities for analysis of further phenotypic consequences of CNVs

Investigating influences on the Pb Pseudo‐Isochron using three‐dimensional mantle convection models with a continental reservoir

For mid‐ocean ridge basalts and ocean island basalts, measurements of Pb isotope ratios show broad linear correlations with a certain degree of scatter. In 207Pb/204Pb—206Pb/204Pb space, the best fit line defines a pseudo‐isochron age (τPb) of ∼1.9 Gyr. Previous modeling suggests a relative change in the behaviors of U and Pb between 2.25 and 2.5 Ga, resulting in net recycling of HIMU (high U/Pb) material in the latter part of Earth's history, to explain the observed τPb. However, simulations in which fractionation is controlled by a single set of partition coefficients throughout the model runs fail to reproduce τPb and the observed scatter in Pb isotope ratios. We build on these models with 3D mantle convection simulations including parameterizations for melting, U recycling from the continents and preferential removal of Pb from subducted oceanic crust. We find that both U recycling after the great oxygenation event and Pb extraction after the onset of plate tectonics, are required in order to fit the observed gradient and scatter of both the 207Pb/204Pb—206Pb/204Pb and 208Pb/204Pb—206Pb/204Pb arrays. Unlike much previous work, our model does not require accumulations of subducted oceanic crust to persist at the core‐mantle boundary for long periods of time in order to match geochemical observations

Main-Belt Comet P/2012 T1 (PANSTARRS)

We present initial results from observations and numerical analyses aimed at characterizing main-belt comet P/2012 T1 (PANSTARRS). Optical monitoring observations were made between October 2012 and February 2013 using the University of Hawaii 2.2 m telescope, the Keck I telescope, the Baade and Clay Magellan telescopes, Faulkes Telescope South, the Perkins Telescope at Lowell Observatory, and the Southern Astrophysical Research (SOAR) telescope. The object's intrinsic brightness approximately doubles from the time of its discovery in early October until mid-November and then decreases by ~60% between late December and early February, similar to photometric behavior exhibited by several other main-belt comets and unlike that exhibited by disrupted asteroid (596) Scheila. We also used Keck to conduct spectroscopic searches for CN emission as well as absorption at 0.7 microns that could indicate the presence of hydrated minerals, finding an upper limit CN production rate of QCN<1.5x10^23 mol/s, from which we infer a water production rate of QH2O<5x10^25 mol/s, and no evidence of the presence of hydrated minerals. Numerical simulations indicate that P/2012 T1 is largely dynamically stable for >100 Myr and is unlikely to be a recently implanted interloper from the outer solar system, while a search for potential asteroid family associations reveal that it is dynamically linked to the ~155 Myr-old Lixiaohua asteroid family.Comment: 15 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ Letter

The Temporal and Spatial Connectivity of the Gambles Mill Corridor, Richmond, VA

The City of Richmond and the Virginia Department of Transportation proposed to rehabilitate the Gambles Mill Trail connecting the University of Richmond (UR) to the intersection of Huguenot and River Road. Planners envision this trail as a sustainable model for the reduction of nutrient and sediment flow and as a vital path in a city-wide network of bike and pedestrian trails. Meanwhile, UR also proposes to rehabilitate the corridor in their new Master Plan. Nevertheless, until now, no substantive studies exist on the trail or the corridor linking the trail to the south side of the James River through the hazardous River-Huguenot Road intersection and the Huguenot Bridge currently under construction. The University of Richmond’s Geography 221 Course, Mapping Sustainability: Cartography and Geographic Information in an Environmental Context, is working with a variety of stakeholders (public, private, and community-based) to map the past, present, and future of the Gambles Mill Corridor and influence local and regional sustainability of transportation, hydrology, and recreation in a floodplain ecosystem. Students produce maps grouped around four scales: local corridor, UR to the River, a city scale sustainable transport network, and a temporal scale tracing previous transportation routes in the area such as the 1930s street car system and the colonial canal system.https://scholarship.richmond.edu/geography-posters/1001/thumbnail.jp

Disease Mapping and Spatial Regression with Count Data

In this paper we provide critical reviews of methods suggested for the analysis of aggregate count data in the context of disease mapping and spatial regression. We introduce a new method for picking prior distributions, and propose a number of refinements of previously-used models. We also consider ecological bias, mutual standardization, and choice of both spatial model and prior specification. We analyze male lip cancer incidence data collected in Scotland over the period 1975–1980, and outline a number of problems with previous analyses of these data. A number of recommendations are provided. In disease mapping studies, hierarchical models can provide robust estimation of area-level risk parameters, though care is required in the choice of covariate model, and it is important to assess the sensitivity of estimates to the spatial model chosen, and to the prior specifications on the variance parameters. Spatial ecological regression is a far more hazardous enterprise for two reasons. First, there is always the possibility of ecological bias, and this can only be alleviated via the inclusion of individual-level data. For the Scottish data we show that the previously used mean model has limited interpretation from an individual perspective. Second, when residual spatial dependence is modeled, and if the exposure has spatial structure, then estimates of exposure association parameters will change when compared with those obtained from the independence across space model, and the data alone cannot choose the form and extent of spatial correlation that is appropriate

Medical consequences of pathogenic CNVs in adults: Analysis of the UK Biobank

Background: Genomic CNVs increase the risk for early-onset neurodevelopmental disorders, but their impact on medical outcomes in later life is still poorly understood. The UK Biobank allows us to study the medical consequences of CNVs in middle and old age in half a million well-phenotyped adults. Methods: We analysed all Biobank participants for the presence of 54 CNVs associated with genomic disorders or clinical phenotypes, including their reciprocal deletions or duplications. After array quality control and exclusion of first-degree relatives, we compared 381 452 participants of white British or Irish origin who carried no CNVs with carriers of each of the 54 CNVs (ranging from 5 to 2843 persons). We used logistic regression analysis to estimate the risk of developing 58 common medical phenotypes (3132 comparisons). Results and conclusions: Many of the CNVs have profound effects on medical health and mortality, even in people who have largely escaped early neurodevelopmental outcomes. Forty-six CNV–phenotype associations were significant at a false discovery rate threshold of 0.1, all in the direction of increased risk. Known medical consequences of CNVs were confirmed, but most identified associations are novel. Deletions at 16p11.2 and 16p12.1 had the largest numbers of significantly associated phenotypes (seven each). Diabetes, hypertension, obesity and renal failure were affected by the highest numbers of CNVs. Our work should inform clinicians in planning and managing the medical care of CNV carriers

European Permanent Grasslands: A Systematic Review of Economic Drivers of Change, Including a Detailed Analysis of the Czech Republic, Spain, Sweden, and UK

\ua9 2024 by the authors. Permanent grasslands (PG) feature in the European rural landscape and represent a major agricultural production resource. They support multiple non-provisioning ecosystem services (ES), including climate regulation, flood control, biodiversity, and pollination. PG are at risk of loss or degradation due to agricultural land use and land management changes. The objective of this systematic review is to identify the main economic influences shaping management and maintenance of PG, and the risks and opportunities for delivery of a range of ES. A total of 51 papers were included. Relevant policy interventions and economic drivers are identified in relation to how they shape the management of EU grasslands over time and across farming systems, countries, or biogeographic zones. A high reliance on public payments from the EU Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), with uneven impact on mitigating PG losses and associated ES provisions, was identified, which needs to be considered in relation to ongoing CAP reform. There is a gap in the literature regarding economic tipping points for change. Future research needs to identify and map ES provisions by PG along with trade-offs and synergies, and link this to policy. There are substantive challenges to maintaining Europe’s PG area and management, which must be addressed through EU-wide instruments