Effect of the Pedernal Axis on Permian and Triassic Sedimentation

The area surrounding the Pedernal Hills has been of scientific and economic interest for a number of years. The effect of the Pedernal axis on sedimentation and stratigraphy of late Paleozoic rocks is of major importance. The principal purposes of this study were to determine whether the Precambrian terrane was an active source of sediment and what effect it had on thickness of strata during Permian and Triassic time. the area was also mapped in as much detail as the scale (1:125,000) permitted

Efficacy of Learning Strategies Instruction in Adult Basic Education

Results from randomized controlled trials of learning strategies instruction with 375 adult basic education (AE) participants are reported. Reading outcomes from whole group strategic instruction in one of four learning strategies were compared to outcomes of reading instruction delivered in the context of typical adult education units on social studies, history, and science. Both experimental and control conditions experienced high attrition and low attendance, resulting in only 105 control and 100 experimental participants’ data in outcome analyses for the trials of the four learning strategies. Reading outcomes for these completers were not significantly different between experimental and control conditions, and each group achieved minimal gains. We discuss possible reasons for the non-significant effect from the intervention, including insufficient instructional dosage

Reading Comprehension Strategies for Adult Literacy Outcomes

Although research on improving child literacy is converging, no such body of research exists for adult literacy. Yet the need is no less significant. This study extends the knowledge garnered with younger populations by determining the reading comprehension strategies most important to adults' success on adult literacy outcome measures and aligning them with previously researched interventions. According to an analysis of key adult literacy outcome measures (i.e., competency-based, standardized tests of literacy commonly accepted as reasonable proxies for the global construct of adult literacy: Comprehensive Adult Student Assessment System [CASAS], General Educational Development [GED], and National Assessment of Educational Progress [NAEP]), adults should benefit from strategies that teach looking for clues in or generating questions about a text. Additionally, adults need to learn how to summarize and draw inferences in order to address higher-level literacy demands. Adult learners also need a metacognitive strategy to self-regulate reading behavior (e.g., choose a strategy to use, evaluate its effectiveness, and abandon and choose another strategy if necessary.) Furthermore, when using a competency-based standardized test, adult learners need to be coincidentally taught test- taking skills to reduce the test-related task demands and produce a better index of a learner's reading comprehension skills

To Kick Against the Pricks: An Examination of the Oresteia and the Acts of the Apostles

The major themes found in the Oresteia and the books of Luke and Acts of the Apostles are compared. By focusing on the similarities found in the themes of Justice, Religion, and New versus Old, the reader may determine if the phrase in question is being used as a literary allusion in the book of Acts of the Apostles to the Oresteia trilogy. The author believes this to be the case and believes that to arrive at a full understanding of the literary meaning of the phrase in question, an understanding of the major themes of the Oresteia is necessary

Effects of extraction conditions on antioxidant properties of sapodilla fruit (Manilkara zapota)

This study investigated the effects of different percentages of ethanol (0 - 100%), extraction times (1 - 5 h) and temperatures (25 - 60°C) on total phenolic content (TPC) and antioxidant activity (AA) of sapodilla pulp and peel. TPC was determined by Folin-Ciocalteu reagent method, while AA was evaluated using 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging assay, 2,2-azino-bis-(3-ethyl-benzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) (ABTS) radical scavenging assay, ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) assay and ß-carotene bleaching (BCB) assay. Based on the optimal extraction conditions used, sapodilla pulp extract had TPC of 3.89 mg GAE/g, 63.20% of DPPH scavenging activity, 4.30% of ABTS scavenging activity, 19.17% of BCB activity, and FRAP value of 15.24 mg TE/g; while its peel extract had TPC of 9.23 mg GAE/g, 92.95% of DPPH scavenging activity, 5.36% of ABTS scavenging activity, 8.14% of BCB activity, and 27.85 mg TE/g (FRAP value). Using the optimal extraction conditions for sapodilla pulp (40% ethanol as extraction solvent that extracted at 60°C for 4 h) and sapodilla peel (80% ethanol and 2 h extraction time at 40°C), highest antioxidants can be extracted from the pulp and peel

Challenges in modeling the energy balance and melt in the percolation zone of the Greenland ice sheet.

Increased surface melt in the percolation zone of the Greenland ice sheet causes significant changes in the firn structure, directly affecting the amount and timing of meltwater runoff. Here we force an energy-balance model with automatic weather stations data at two sites in the percolation zone of southwest Greenland ( and 2360 m a.s.l.) between spring and fall . Extensive model validation and sensitivity analysis reveal that the skin layer formulation used to compute the surface temperature by closing the energy balance leads to a consistent overestimation of melt by more than a factor of two or three depending on the site. In contrast, model results match the observations well when the model is forced by observed surface temperatures; however, unexplained residuals in the energy balance occur. The sensible and ground heat flux differ markedly in the two simulations accounting largely for the difference in modeled melt amounts. This indicates that the energy available for melt is highly sensitive to small changes in surface temperature. Thus, regional climate models that also use the skin layer formulation may have a bias in surface temperature and melt energy in the percolation zone of the ice sheet

The prion gene is associated with human long-term memory

Human cognitive processes are highly variable across individuals and are influenced by both genetic and environmental factors. Although genetic variations affect short-term memory in humans, it is unknown whether genetic variability has also an impact on long-term memory. Because prion-like conformational changes may be involved in the induction of long-lasting synaptic plasticity, we examined the impact of single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of the prion protein gene (PRNP) on long-term memory in healthy young humans. SNPs in the genomic region of PRNP were associated with better long-term memory performance in two independent populations with different educational background. Among the examined PRNP SNPs, the common Met129Val polymorphism yielded the highest effect size. Twenty-four hours after a word list-learning task, carriers of either the 129MM or the 129MV genotype recalled 17% more information than 129VV carriers, but short-term memory was unaffected. These results suggest a role for the prion protein in the formation of long-term memory in human

Hybrid Newton-type method for a class of semismooth equations

In this paper, we present a hybrid method for the solution of a class of composite semismooth equations encountered frequently in applications. The method is obtained by combining a generalized finite-difference Newton method to an inexpensive direct search method. We prove that, under standard assumptions, the method is globally convergent with a local rate of convergence which is superlinear or quadratic. We report also several numerical results obtained applying the method to suitable reformulations of well-known nonlinear complementarity problem