A Study Of The Thematic Content Preference Of Young Children In Northern Ireland Learning To Read.

This study investigated the thematic content preference of boys and girls at the beginner reader stage and surveyed the type of material used in Northern Ireland to teach children to begin reading. By two stage random sampling procedure, 96 schools were selected out of the total 1110 primary schools and 36 preparatory schools in Northern Ireland. From them, a sample of 899 children, 433 boys and 466 girls was drawn. A specially developed picture test, administered to individual children, was used to assess theme preference. The analysis of theme preference was undertaken from three different aspects: (1) How each picture was ranked (ranking) (2) How each place in the individual’s ranking was filled (selection) and (3) Preference expressed through illustrated theme. Variables taken into consideration were: sex, age, social class and religion of children; locality, size, sex, type and Area Board of school, and reading scheme in use. A series of regression analyses followed by a series of one-way analyses of variance were carried out overall and for boys and girls separately. Wide sex differences in theme preference were found. Reading schemes most used in the schools were, in order of popularity, ’Ladybird’, ’Happy Venture’, and ’Janet and John’. With the exception of ’Happy Venture’, this was found to be similar to usage in England. While, in general, girls were interested in the thematic content of these reading schemes, no correspondence was found between themes and the stated preferences of boys since boys showed an interest in themes of violence and adventure. The results are applied to boys' progress in learning to read and suggestions are made for improving boys’ tuition

Risk - An Opportunity or Threat for Entrepreneurial Farmers in the Global Food Market?

uncertainty, farm management, opportunities, threats, Agribusiness, Q12,

Neural Tube Closure in Mouse Whole Embryo Culture

Genetic mouse models are an important tool in the study of mammalian neural tube closure (Gray & Ross, 2009; Ross, 2010). However, the study of mouse embryos in utero is limited by our inability to directly pharmacologically manipulate the embryos in isolation from the effects of maternal metabolism on the reagent of interest. Whether using a small molecule, recombinant protein, or siRNA, delivery of these substances to the mother, through the diet or by injection will subject these unstable compounds to a variety of bodily defenses that could prevent them from reaching the embryo. Investigations in cultures of whole embryos can be used to separate maternal from intrinsic fetal effects on development

Investigation into the pigmentation and membrane structure of sarcina aurantiaca

The optimum temperature for both growth and. pigmentation of S. aurantiaca was found to be 28°. Growth of S. aurantiaca was limited above 40°. Pigmentation was maximal 65 hours after maximum bacterial numbers were obtained, but began to decline rapidly. Growth only occurred to any substantiated degree within narrow pH limits. The total membrane fraction from S. aurantiaca cells harvested at 17 hours (exponential phase), 27 hours (early stationary phase) and 57 hours (late stationary phase) were analysed to determine if any change occurred in the chemical components of the membranes from the exponential to the late stationary phases of growth. The percentage composition of the membrane components in all three membrane fractions were within the range of values reported for membranes isolated from other Gram-positive bacteria. Membranes from the two stationary phase cultures had a similar quantitative chemical composition but both differed in several respects from the membranes isolated from the exponential phase culture. The protein content remained approximately constant throughout the growth phases but the lipid content decreased and the carbohydrate content increased, with age. Since the overall recoveries of organic material from the total membranes decreased with age, it is thought that this could be explained by increased binding of the lipid to protein which would mean decreased lipid extraction and anomalously low lipid contents. This is substantiated by the observed increase in the relative amounts of the bound lipid and phospholipid fractions with age. Analysis of the lipid showed the presence of an unusually high amount of neutral lipid and a lo\v quantity of phospholipid in all three membrane prep0,rations, as compared with those found in other membranes. The fatty acids found in all the membrane hydrolysates were generally typical for a Gram-positive bacterium but there were considerable variations in the relative quantities of the individual fatty acids with age. Amino acid analysis indicated an amino acid content similar to membranes isolated from other sources, and there were again variations in the molar ratios of the amino acids with age. The monosaccharides detected in all the membrane preparations were galactose, glucose, mannose and ribose. The hexoses were shown to be constituents of the glycolipid and oarotenoid glycopeptide fractions. Only trace amounts of galacatosamine and glucosamine were found. All the carotenoids detected in a 27 hour culture of S. aurantiaca were shown to be derived from carotene. The free pigment consisting of carotene, zeinoxanthin and a dihydroxy carotene formed approximately 29% of the total pigment. The remaining 71% were carotenoid glycopeptides where the carotene most probably linked to galactose, glucose, mannose and to amino acids/peptides. The hexose moieties were linked to carotenoid and/or peptides or other hexose moieties by glycosidic bonds involving their reducing groups. Amino acid analysis of a water soluble carotenoid glyopep tide indicated an amino acid composition similar to the total membrane protein. This carotenoid glycopeptide appeared to be homogeneous despite the inclusion of three different hexoses. S°20 values of the carotfenoid glyopeptide indicated a molecular weight of the order of 20,000

The complete nucleotide sequence of the genome of Barley yellow dwarf virus-RMV reveals it to be a new Polerovirus distantly related to other yellow dwarf viruses

The yellow dwarf viruses (YDVs) of the Luteoviridae family represent the most widespread group of cereal viruses worldwide. They include the Barley yellow dwarf viruses (BYDVs) of genus Luteovirus, the Cereal yellow dwarf viruses (CYDVs) and Wheat yellow dwarf virus (WYDV) of genus Polerovirus. All of these viruses are obligately aphid transmitted and phloem-limited. The first described YDVs (initially all called BYDV) were classified by their most efficient vector. One of these viruses, BYDV-RMV, is transmitted most efficiently by the corn leaf aphid, Rhopalosiphum maidis. Here we report the complete 5612 nucleotide sequence of the genomic RNA of a Montana isolate of BYDV-RMV (isolate RMV MTFE87, Genbank accession no. KC921392). The sequence revealed that BYDV-RMV is a polerovirus, but it is quite distantly related to the CYDVs or WYDV, which are very closely related to each other. Nor is BYDV-RMV closely related to any other particular polerovirus. Depending on the gene that is compared, different poleroviruses (none of them a YDV) share the most sequence similarity to BYDV-RMV. Because of its distant relationship to other YDVs, and because it commonly infects maize via its vector, R. maidis, we propose that BYDV-RMV be renamed Maize yellow dwarf virus-RMV (MYDV-RMV)

Nesting Behavior of Palila, as Assessed from Video Recordings

We quantified nesting behavior of Palila (Loxioides bailleui), an endangered Hawaiian honeycreeper, by recording at nests during three breeding seasons using a black-and-white video camera connected to a videocassette recorder. A total of seven nests was observed. We measured the following factors for daylight hours: percentage of time the female was on the nest (attendance), length of attendance bouts by the female, length of nest recesses, and adult provisioning rates. Comparisons were made between three stages of the 40-day nesting cycle: incubation (day 1–day 16), early nestling stage (day 17–day 30 [i.e., nestlings ≤ 14 days old]), and late nestling stage (day 31–day 40 [i.e., nestlings \u3e 14 days old]). Of seven nests observed, four fledged at least one nestling and three failed. One of these failed nests was filmed being depredated by a feral cat (Felis catus). Female nest attendance was near 82% during the incubation stage and decreased to 21% as nestlings aged. We did not detect a difference in attendance bout length between stages of the nesting cycle. Mean length of nest recesses increased from 4.5 min during the incubation stage to over 45 min during the late nestling stage. Mean number of nest recesses per hour ranged from 1.6 to 2.0. Food was delivered to nestlings by adults an average of 1.8 times per hour for the early nestling stage and 1.5 times per hour during the late nestling stage and did not change over time. Characterization of parental behavior by video had similarities to but also key differences from findings taken from blind observations. Results from this study will facilitate greater understanding of Palila reproductive strategies

Radio and IR interferometry of SiO maser stars

Radio and infrared interferometry of SiO maser stars provide complementary information on the atmosphere and circumstellar environment at comparable spatial resolution. Here, we present the latest results on the atmospheric structure and the dust condensation region of AGB stars based on our recent infrared spectro-interferometric observations, which represent the environment of SiO masers. We discuss, as an example, new results from simultaneous VLTI and VLBA observations of the Mira variable AGB star R Cnc, including VLTI near- and mid-infrared interferometry, as well as VLBA observations of the SiO maser emission toward this source. We present preliminary results from a monitoring campaign of high-frequency SiO maser emission toward evolved stars obtained with the APEX telescope, which also serves as a precursor of ALMA images of the SiO emitting region. We speculate that large-scale long-period chaotic motion in the extended molecular atmosphere may be the physical reason for observed deviations from point symmetry of atmospheric molecular layers, and for the observed erratic variability of high-frequency SiO maser emissionComment: 8 pages, 4 figures, submitted to Proc. IAU Symp. 287 "Cosmic masers - from OH to H_0", R.S. Booth, E.M.L. Humphreys, W.H.T. Vlemmings (eds.), invited pape

Introduction to the Student Design Case SLAM

At the 2016 Association for Educational Communications and Technology Convention in Las Vegas, the IJDL editorial team hosted a Student Design Case SLAM. The focus of the one-day workshop was to engage graduate students in writing a publishable design case. Nine graduate students participated in the Design Case SLAM. Each graduate student brought the beginnings of a design case. Students were assigned to groups of three and assigned to an editor. Editors provided design case prompts and students completed free writing exercises which included feedback from the editor and group members

Emergency supply of prescription-only medicines to patients by community pharmacists: a mixed methods evaluation incorporating patient, pharmacist and GP perspectives

Objective To evaluate and inform emergency supply of prescription-only medicines by community pharmacists (CPs), including how the service could form an integral component of established healthcare provision to maximise adherence. Design Mixed methods. 4 phases: prospective audit of emergency supply requests for prescribed medicines (October–November 2012 and April 2013); interviews with CPs (February–April 2013); follow-up interviews with patients (April–May 2013); interactive feedback sessions with general practice teams (October–November 2013). Setting 22 community pharmacies and 6 general practices in Northwest England. Participants 27 CPs with experience of dealing with requests for emergency supplies; 25 patients who received an emergency supply of a prescribed medicine; 58 staff at 6 general practices. Results Clinical audit in 22 pharmacies over two 4-week periods reported that 526 medicines were requested by 450 patients. Requests peaked over a bank holiday and around weekends. A significant number of supplies were made during practice opening hours. Most requests were for older patients and for medicines used in long-term conditions. Difficulty in renewing repeat medication (forgetting to order, or prescription delays) was the major reason for requests. The majority of medicines were ‘loaned’ in advance of a National Health Service (NHS) prescription. Interviews with CPs and patients indicated that continuous supply had a positive impact on medicines adherence, removing the need to access urgent care. General practice staff were surprised and concerned by the extent of emergency supply episodes. Conclusions CPs regularly provide emergency supplies to patients who run out of their repeat medication, including during practice opening hours. This may aid adherence. There is currently no feedback loop, however, to general practice. Patient care and interprofessional communication may be better served by the introduction of a formally structured and funded NHS emergency supply service from community pharmacies, with ongoing optimisation of repeat prescribing