Nature of Mathematics Classroom Environments in Catholic High Schools

In an attempt to reveal the various types of learning environments present in 30 mathematics classrooms in five Catholic high schools, this replication study examined student (N = 602) perceptions of their classrooms using the Classroom Environment Scale. Student attitudes toward mathematics were assessed by the Estes Attitude Scale. Extending previous research conducted in public high schools, this study delineated two basic types of learning environments (teacher-centered and student-centered) in Catholic high schools. In contrast with students in public schools, students in these parochial schools reported positive attitudes toward mathematics regardless of the type of learning environment. Discussion of the findings and implications for practice, including the utility of the CES, are summarized. Résumé Cette reprise de l’étude a examiné la manière dont les élèves (N = 602) percevaient leur salle de classe à l’aide de l’échelle du milieu scolaire pour tenter de montrer les différents types d’environnement pédagogiques présents dans 30 classes de mathématiques de cinq lycées catholiques. L’attitude des élèves envers les mathématiques a été évaluée à l’aide de l’échelle d’attitude d’Estes. Dans le prolongement des recherches précédentes conduites dans des lycées publics, cette étude a défini deux types d’environnement pédagogique (centré sur le professeur et centré sur l’élève) dans les lycées catholiques. Contrairement aux élèves des établissements publics, les élèves des écoles paroissiales ont présenté des attitudes positives envers les mathématiques, quel que soit le type d’environnement pédagogique. La discussion des conclusions et des incidences sur la pratique, y compris l’utilité de l’échelle du milieu scolaire) y sont résumées. Resumen En un intento de revelar varios tipos de ambientes de aprendizaje presentes en 30 aulas de matemáticas en cinco escuelas preparatorias católicas, esta réplica de estudio examinó percepciones de estudiantes (N = 602) de sus aulas usando una escala de ambiente del aula (CES, por sus siglas en inglés). Se evaluaron las opiniones de los estudiantes hacia las matemáticas mediante el baremo Estes Attitude Scale. Al extender investigaciones previas conducidas en escuelas preparatorias públicas, este estudio delineó dos tipos básicos de ambientes de aprendizaje (centrado en el profesor y centrado en el estudiante) en escuelas preparatorias católicas. En contraste con estudiantes de las escuelas públicas, los estudiantes de las escuelas católicas mostraron opiniones positivas hacia las matemáticas, sin importar el tipo de ambiente del aprendizaje. Se resumen discusiones sobre los hallazgos, así como implicaciones para la práctica, incluyendo la utilidad de los CES

Research on Effective Teaching in Elementary School Physical Education

The perspective of this article is that the purpose of the elementary physical education program is the development of a physically active lifestyle. We discuss the relative contribution of the development of motor skills, fitness, content related to encouraging participation, and the affective goals of the program to the development of a physically active lifestyle. Teaching must be effective if children are to acquire the skills to lead a physically active lifestyle. We explore the research base identifying effective teaching in an elementary school physical education setting in terms of academic learning time and management roles and communication and content-development skills of the teacher. Similarities and differences between teaching in a gymnasium and in a classroom are identified

Using Polymeric Ionic Liquids as an Active Binder in Supercapacitors

Electrodes in batteries and supercapacitors generally contain inert binders to maintain their structural integrity during operation but do not participate in the storage of energy. In this paper, we demonstrate that poly ionic liquids can function as structural binders while simultaneously improving the energy storage capability of supercapacitors. Specifically, we show that when the ionic liquid N-butyl-N-methyl pyrrolidinium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide is used as electrolyte and poly(diallyldimethylammonium) bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide is employed as electrode binder the permissible operating voltage of the device is enhanced to 4.0 V. This results in a substantially increased overall specific energy (80% greater) and represents a step toward the development of devices with long cycle lives and high energy densities

Classwide Peer Tutoring

This is the publisher's version, also found at http://sped.org/ABSTRACT: The purpose of this article is to discuss classwide peer tutoring as an effective instructional procedure. The article is organized into three major sections: [a] general principles of instruction, (b) description of classwide peer tutoring procedures, and (c) review of effectiveness data concerning classroom process (i.e., ecological and behavioral factors) and student achievement outcomes. It concludes with a discussion of the procedure and areas of future research and application

Volumetric mammographic density: heritability and association with breast cancer susceptibility loci.

BACKGROUND: Mammographic density is a strong heritable trait, but data on its genetic component are limited to area-based and qualitative measures. We studied the heritability of volumetric mammographic density ascertained by a fully-automated method and the association with breast cancer susceptibility loci. METHODS: Heritability of volumetric mammographic density was estimated with a variance component model in a sib-pair sample (N pairs = 955) of a Swedish screening based cohort. Associations with 82 established breast cancer loci were assessed in an independent sample of the same cohort (N = 4025 unrelated women) using linear models, adjusting for age, body mass index, and menopausal status. All tests were two-sided, except for heritability analyses where one-sided tests were used. RESULTS: After multivariable adjustment, heritability estimates (standard error) for percent dense volume, absolute dense volume, and absolute nondense volume were 0.63 (0.06) and 0.43 (0.06) and 0.61 (0.06), respectively (all P < .001). Percent and absolute dense volume were associated with rs10995190 (ZNF365; P = 9.0 × 10(-6) and 8.9 × 10(-7), respectively) and rs9485372 (TAB2; P = 1.8 × 10(-5) and 1.8 × 10(-3), respectively). We also observed associations of rs9383938 (ESR1) and rs2046210 (ESR1) with the absolute dense volume (P = 2.6 × 10(-4) and 4.6 × 10(-4), respectively), and rs6001930 (MLK1) and rs17356907 (NTN4) with the absolute nondense volume (P = 6.7 × 10(-6) and 8.4 × 10(-5), respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Our results support the high heritability of mammographic density, though estimates are weaker for absolute than percent dense volume. We also demonstrate that the shared genetic component with breast cancer is not restricted to dense tissues only.This work was supported by the Swedish Research Council (grant no. 521-2011- 3187) and Swedish Cancer Society (grant no. CAN 2013/469). The KARolinska MAmmography project for risk prediction of breast cancer study was supported by Märit and Hans Rausing’s Initiative Against Breast Cancer and the Cancer and Risk Prediction Center CRisP (http://ki.se/en/meb/crisp), a Linneus Centre (Contract ID 70867902) financed by the Swedish Research Council. KH is supported by the Swedish Research Counsil (grant no. 521-2011-3205) and JL is a UNESCO-L’OREAL International Fellow.This is the accepted manuscript. The final version is available from OUP at http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/jnci/dju33

Accuracy of SIAscopy for pigmented skin lesions encountered in primary care: development and validation of a new diagnostic algorithm.

BACKGROUND: Diagnosing pigmented skin lesions in general practice is challenging. SIAscopy has been shown to increase diagnostic accuracy for melanoma in referred populations. We aimed to develop and validate a scoring system for SIAscopic diagnosis of pigmented lesions in primary care. METHODS: This study was conducted in two consecutive settings in the UK and Australia, and occurred in three stages: 1) Development of the primary care scoring algorithm (PCSA) on a sub-set of lesions from the UK sample; 2) Validation of the PCSA on a different sub-set of lesions from the same UK sample; 3) Validation of the PCSA on a new set of lesions from an Australian primary care population. Patients presenting with a pigmented lesion were recruited from 6 general practices in the UK and 2 primary care skin cancer clinics in Australia. The following data were obtained for each lesion: clinical history; SIAscan; digital photograph; and digital dermoscopy. SIAscans were interpreted by an expert and validated against histopathology where possible, or expert clinical review of all available data for each lesion. RESULTS: A total of 858 patients with 1,211 lesions were recruited. Most lesions were benign naevi (64.8%) or seborrhoeic keratoses (22.1%); 1.2% were melanoma. The original SIAscopic diagnostic algorithm did not perform well because of the higher prevalence of seborrhoeic keratoses and haemangiomas seen in primary care. A primary care scoring algorithm (PCSA) was developed to account for this. In the UK sample the PCSA had the following characteristics for the diagnosis of 'suspicious': sensitivity 0.50 (0.18-0.81); specificity 0.84 (0.78-0.88); PPV 0.09 (0.03-0.22); NPV 0.98 (0.95-0.99). In the Australian sample the PCSA had the following characteristics for the diagnosis of 'suspicious': sensitivity 0.44 (0.32-0.58); specificity 0.95 (0.93-0.97); PPV 0.52 (0.38-0.66); NPV 0.95 (0.92-0.96). In an analysis of lesions for which histological diagnosis was available (n = 111), the PCSA had a significantly greater Area Under the Curve than the 7-point checklist for the diagnosis of melanoma (0.83; 95% CI 0.71-0.95 versus 0.61; 95% CI 0.44-0.78; p = 0.02 for difference). CONCLUSIONS: The PCSA could have a useful role in improving primary care management of pigmented skin lesions. Further work is needed to develop and validate the PCSA in other primary care populations and to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of GP management of pigmented lesions using SIAscopy.RIGHTS : This article is licensed under the BioMed Central licence at http://www.biomedcentral.com/about/license which is similar to the 'Creative Commons Attribution Licence'. In brief you may : copy, distribute, and display the work; make derivative works; or make commercial use of the work - under the following conditions: the original author must be given credit; for any reuse or distribution, it must be made clear to others what the license terms of this work are

Microwave Gaseous Discharges

Contains research objectives and reports on three research projects.Atomic Energy Commission under Contract AT(30-1)184

Genetic analysis of the role of protein kinase Ctheta in platelet function and thrombus formation.

BACKGROUND: PKCtheta is a novel protein kinase C isozyme, predominately expressed in T cells and platelets. PKCtheta(-/-) T cells exhibit reduced activation and PKCtheta(-/-) mice are resistant to autoimmune disease, making PKCtheta an attractive therapeutic target for immune modulation. Collagen is a major agonist for platelets, operating through an immunoreceptor-like signalling pathway from its receptor GPVI. Although it has recently been shown that PKCtheta positively regulates outside-in signalling through integrin alpha(IIb)beta(3) in platelets, the role of PKCtheta in GPVI-dependent signalling and functional activation of platelets has not been assessed. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: In the present study we assessed static adhesion, cell spreading, granule secretion, integrin alpha(IIb)beta(3) activation and platelet aggregation in washed mouse platelets lacking PKCtheta. Thrombus formation on a collagen-coated surface was assessed in vitro under flow. PKCtheta(-/-) platelets exhibited reduced static adhesion and filopodia generation on fibrinogen, suggesting that PKCtheta positively regulates outside-in signalling, in agreement with a previous report. In contrast, PKCtheta(-/-) platelets also exhibited markedly enhanced GPVI-dependent alpha-granule secretion, although dense granule secretion was unaffected, suggesting that PKCtheta differentially regulates these two granules. Inside-out regulation of alpha(IIb)beta(3) activation was also enhanced downstream of GPVI stimulation. Although this did not result in increased aggregation, importantly thrombus formation on collagen under high shear (1000 s(-1)) was enhanced. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: These data suggest that PKCtheta is an important negative regulator of thrombus formation on collagen, potentially mediated by alpha-granule secretion and alpha(IIb)beta(3) activation. PKCtheta therefore may act to restrict thrombus growth, a finding that has important implications for the development and safe clinical use of PKCtheta inhibitors

Understanding pregnancy planning in a low-income country setting: validation of the London measure of unplanned pregnancy in Malawi

This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.Background: The London Measure of Unplanned Pregnancy (LMUP) is a new and psychometrically valid measure of pregnancy intention that was developed in the United Kingdom. An improved understanding of pregnancy intention in low-income countries, where unintended pregnancies are common and maternal and neonatal deaths are high, is necessary to inform policies to address the unmet need for family planning. To this end this research aimed to validate the LMUP for use in the Chichewa language in Malawi.Methods: Three Chichewa speakers translated the LMUP and one translation was agreed which was back-translated and pre-tested on five pregnant women using cognitive interviews. The measure was field tested with pregnant women who were recruited at antenatal clinics and data were analysed using classical test theory and hypothesis testing.Results: 125 women aged 15-43 (median 23), with parities of 1-8 (median 2) completed the Chichewa LMUP. There were no missing data. The full range of LMUP scores was captured. In terms of reliability, the scale was internally consistent (Cronbach's alpha = 0.78) and test-retest data from 70 women showed good stability (weighted Kappa 0.80). In terms of validity, hypothesis testing confirmed that unmarried women (p = 0.003), women who had four or more children alive (p = 0.0051) and women who were below 20 or over 29 (p = 0.0115) were all more likely to have unintended pregnancies. Principal component analysis showed that five of the six items loaded onto one factor, with a further item borderline. A sensitivity analysis to assess the effect of the removal of the weakest item of the scale showed slightly improved performance but as the LMUP was not significantly adversely affected by its inclusion we recommend retaining the six-item score.Conclusion: The Chichewa LMUP is a valid and reliable measure of pregnancy intention in Malawi and can now be used in research and/or surveillance. This is the first validation of this tool in a low-income country, helping to demonstrate that the concept of pregnancy planning is applicable in such a setting. Use of the Chichewa LMUP can enhance our understanding of pregnancy intention in Malawi, giving insight into the family planning services that are required to better meet women's needs and save lives. © 2013 Hall et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.Dr Hall’s Wellcome Trust Research Training Fellowship, grant number 097268/Z/11/Z