Cohesion and Perceived Proficiency in ITA Oral Communication across Engineering and the Sciences

International Teaching Assistants (ITAs) often require additional instruction because their speech is not easily understandable. This lack of perceived proficiency may be attributable to mistakes in sentence level grammar or pronunciation, but may also be affected by discourse level structures including overall organization and coherence of talk. This chapter examines spoken data from an ITA proficiency test to better understand the relationship between cohesion-the linguistic property used to build coherence-and perceived comprehensibility of ITAs. The study analyzes the use of cohesive ties (such as pronouns and conjunctions), across different proficiency levels in order to characterize and describe how ITAs at varying levels of language proficiency use different patterns of discourse in their talk. Results indicate that although ITAs at lower proficiency levels do use cohesive ties, they display difficulty using certain types correctly, and are more likely to have unproductive pauses when attempting extended discourse. These results have significant implications for ITAs teachers and mentors interested in developing strategies to help lTAs use extended discourse for the professional purpose of teaching. The strategies include consciousness-raising activities for ITAs as well as sample outlines of organizational schemas from science and engineering with particular importance placed on framing words and cohesive ties

English Language Literacy and the Prediction of Academic Success in and beyond the Pathway Program

Widespread emphasis on internationalization in higher education has generated tremendous growth in international student enrollments at U.S. colleges and universities. In fact, from 2002/2003 to 2012/2013, the number of international students in the U.S. increased from 586,323 to 819,644, an increase of almost 40% over ten years (Institute of International Education 2013). These students are primarily multilingual, contributing varying levels of English proficiency and, often, a new sense of institutional diversity. In addition, these students often pay out-of-state tuition, making it possible for the university to diversify tuition streams as well. Partially motivated by these realities, and in order to attract and retain greater numbers of international students, many U.S. universities have developed various forms of pathway programs designed to support conditionally or provisionally admitted multilingual students as they advance their academic English proficiency and pursue undergraduate or graduate course work (in either degree or nondegree status). As such programs arise, discussions of how best to determine pathway students\u27 English-language proficiency and academic readiness have arisen. Some university stakeholders appear interested in minimal language testing, crafting the easiest path into the university for prospective students. Others, however, argue that pathway students\u27 English proficiency should be assessed in order to determine these particular students\u27 admissibility and potential for retention and completion. Proponents of these stricter progression requirements argue for policies and program structures that require all pathway students to demonstrate a minimum English proficiency prior to full academic study. Still, others claim that any skills-based assessment of students\u27 English-language proficiency is inadequate and inaccurate, forcing the reduction of something fluid, uneven, and complex-language learning-into something discrete, measurable, and reportable

Working with Linguistically Diverse Classes across the Disciplines: Faculty Beliefs

The rapid growth of international students at United States universities in recent years (Institute of International Education, 2013) has prompted discussions about how best to serve this population in and out of the classroom. This article reports on faculty cognitions (Borg, 2006) regarding internationalization and the teaching of international students who are emergent multilinguals. Researchers surveyed faculty members on one campus about their beliefs regarding internationalization, techniques for instruction in culturally and linguistically diverse classrooms, and their own efficacy in teaching international students. Results indicate a theory-reality split in beliefs about internationalization and techniques for teaching international students along with relatively low levels of self-efficacy in working with emergent multilinguals. The article discusses implications for faculty-administration collaboration and faculty development in linguistically-responsive instruction

The mental health of children and adolescents: report on the second Australian child and adolescent survey of mental health and wellbeing

FOREWORD This report provides compelling reading for everyone interested in the health and wellbeing of Australian children and adolescents. Based on a survey conducted in the homes of over 6,300 families with children and/or adolescents aged 4 to 17 years, the report presents a comprehensive picture of the mental health of young Australians. It documents the prevalence and type of mental health problems, the impact of those problems on families and young people themselves and the role of health and education services in providing assistance. While the primary sources of information were parents and carers, the survey also engaged directly with young people 11 years and older who completed their own survey. This information provides unique insights about aspects of their emotional lives and behaviour that are generally not visible to parents and carers

Working with Linguistically Diverse Classes across the Disciplines: Faculty Beliefs

The rapid growth of international students at United States universities in recent years (Institute of International Education, 2013) has prompted discussions about how best to serve this population in and out of the classroom. This article reports on faculty cognitions (Borg, 2006) regarding internationalization and the teaching of international students who are emergent multilinguals. Researchers surveyed faculty members on one campus about their beliefs regarding internationalization, techniques for instruction in culturally and linguistically diverse classrooms, and their own efficacy in teaching international students. Results indicate a theory-reality split in beliefs about internationalization and techniques for teaching international students along with relatively low levels of self-efficacy in working with emergent multilinguals. The article discusses implications for faculty-administration collaboration and faculty development in linguistically-responsive instruction

Refining the accuracy of validated target identification through coding variant fine-mapping in type 2 diabetes.

We aggregated coding variant data for 81,412 type 2 diabetes cases and 370,832 controls of diverse ancestry, identifying 40 coding variant association signals (P < 2.2 × 10-7); of these, 16 map outside known risk-associated loci. We make two important observations. First, only five of these signals are driven by low-frequency variants: even for these, effect sizes are modest (odds ratio ≤1.29). Second, when we used large-scale genome-wide association data to fine-map the associated variants in their regional context, accounting for the global enrichment of complex trait associations in coding sequence, compelling evidence for coding variant causality was obtained for only 16 signals. At 13 others, the associated coding variants clearly represent 'false leads' with potential to generate erroneous mechanistic inference. Coding variant associations offer a direct route to biological insight for complex diseases and identification of validated therapeutic targets; however, appropriate mechanistic inference requires careful specification of their causal contribution to disease predisposition

The transverse aortic constriction heart failure animal model: a systematic review and meta-analysis

The transverse aortic constriction (TAC) model is frequently used to study adverse cardiac remodeling upon pressure overload. We set out to define the most important characteristics that define the degree of cardiac remodeling in this model. A systematic review and meta-analyses were performed on studies using the TAC mouse/rat model and reporting echocardiographic outcome parameters. We included all animal studies in which a constriction around the transverse aorta and at least one of the predefined echocardiography or MRI outcome parameters were assessed. A total of 502 articles and > 3000 wild-type, untreated animals undergoing TAC were included in this study and referenced to a control group. The duration of aortic constriction correlated to the degree of adverse remodeling. However, the mouse data is strongly biased by the preferential use of male C57Bl/6 mice (66% of studies). Furthermore, mostly ketamine/xylazine anesthetics, 27G needle constriction, and silk sutures are used. Nonetheless, despite the homogeneity in experimental design, the model contained a substantial degree of heterogeneity in the functional outcome measures. When looking at study quality, only 12% reported randomization, 23% mentioned any sort of blinding, 25% adequately addressed the outcomes, and an amazingly low percentage (2%) showed sample size calculation. Meta-analyses did not detect specific study characteristics that explained the heterogeneity in the reported outcome measures, however this might be related to the strong bias towards the use of specific mouse lines, sex as well as age or to poor reporting of characteristics of study quality

EEHV1A glycoprotein B subunit vaccine elicits humoral and cell-mediated immune responses in mice

DATA AVAILABILITY : Data will be made available on request.Asian elephants are an endangered species facing many threats, including severe hemorrhagic disease (HD) caused by the elephant endotheliotropic herpesvirus (EEHV). EEHV-HD is the leading cause of death in captive juvenile Asian elephants in North America and Europe, and also affects elephants in their natural range countries. Significant challenges exist for successful treatment of EEHV-HD, which include timely recognition of disease onset and limited availability of highly effective treatment options. To address this problem, our goal is to prevent lethal disease in young elephants by developing a vaccine that elicits robust and durable humoral and cell-mediated immunity against EEHV. EEHV glycoprotein B (gB) is a major target for cellular and humoral immunity in elephants previously exposed to EEHV. Therefore, we generated a vaccine containing recombinant EEHV1A gB together with a liposome formulated TLR-4 and saponin combination adjuvant (SLA-LSQ). CD-1 mice that received one or two vaccinations with the vaccine elicited significant anti-gB antibody and polyfunctional CD4+ and CD8+ T cell responses, while no adverse effects of vaccination were observed. Overall, our findings demonstrate that an adjuvanted gB protein subunit vaccine stimulates robust humoral and cell-mediated immune responses and supports its potential use in elephants.The Cytometry and Cell Sorting Core at Baylor College of Medicine with funding from the CPRIT Core Facility Support Award, the NIH, the International Elephant Foundation (IEF) and Houston Zoo and funds acquired via Named Fund Friends of VetMed to the Utrecht University EEHV research group.http://www.elsevier.com/locate/vaccineam2023Veterinary Tropical Disease

A multi-centre, open label, randomised, parallel-group, superiority Trial to compare the efficacy of URsodeoxycholic acid with RIFampicin in the management of women with severe early onset Intrahepatic Cholestasis of pregnancy : the TURRIFIC randomised trial

BackgroundSevere early onset (less than 34weeks gestation) intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy (ICP) affects 0.1% of pregnant women in Australia and is associated with a 3-fold increased risk of stillbirth, fetal hypoxia and compromise, spontaneous preterm birth, as well as increased frequencies of pre-eclampsia and gestational diabetes. ICP is often familial and overlaps with other cholestatic disorders.Treatment options for ICP are not well established, although there are limited data to support the use of ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) to relieve pruritus, the main symptom. Rifampicin, a widely used antibiotic including in pregnant women, is effective in reducing pruritus in non-pregnancy cholestasis and has been used as a supplement to UDCA in severe ICP. Many women with ICP are electively delivered preterm, although there are no randomised data to support this approach.MethodsWe have initiated an international multicentre randomised clinical trial to compare the clinical efficacy of rifampicin tablets (300mg bd) with that of UDCA tablets (up to 2000mg daily) in reducing pruritus in women with ICP, using visual pruritus scores as a measuring tool.DiscussionOur study will be the first to examine the outcomes of treatment specifically in the severe early onset form of ICP, comparing "standard" UDCA therapy with rifampicin, and so be able to provide for the first-time high-quality evidence for use of rifampicin in severe ICP. It will also allow an assessment of feasibility of a future trial to test whether elective early delivery in severe ICP is beneficial.Trial identifiersAustralian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registration Number (ANZCTR): 12618000332224p (29/08/2018). HREC No: HREC/18/WCHN/36.EudraCT number: 2018-004011-44.IRAS: 272398.NHMRC registration: APP1152418 and APP117853.Peer reviewe