Preserving the archives in the 21st century classroom: designing history classes around primary source research.

This article details an experiment in an 11th and 12th grade 3-week intensive course, the Science and History of Contagious Disease. The course was an interdisciplinary survey of how diseases are spread along with an examination of social responses. Although both lecture and discussion based, the course revolved primary around a trip in which we led approximately 22 students through archival research in the City of Savannah Municipal Archives on the Yellow Fever epidemics of 1820, 1854, and 1876. The article describes the numerous advantages of archival work, from direct contact with rare and unique primary sources to the frustration students felt struggling with nineteenth-century handwriting. The article also addresses some of the stumbling blocks experienced by students as well as the strategies and prompts used to foster student engagement with direct primary documents that led to a critical assessment of a group of sources and a new appreciation for local history

The effectiveness of a group-based tutorial direct instruction program for long-term foster care children: a randomized controlled trial

Children in foster care are frequently behind in educational achievement (Flynn, Ghzal, Legault, Vandermeulen, & Petrick, 2004) and perform below grade level (Trout, Hagaman, Casey, Reid, & Epstein, 2008 for a review). Vacca (2008) found that children in foster care perform seven to eight percentile points lower in achievement test scores when compared to children in the general population. Furthermore, research has shown that youth in out-of-home care are more likely to drop out of school, and are three times more likely to be suspended due to problem behaviours, which affect academic performance and attainment (Zima et al., 2000). For the long term success of these children, efforts at successful academic remediation are critical. This study evaluated the effectiveness of a direct instruction literacy and math program (“Teach Your Children Well”; TYCW) in a small group format to educationally disadvantaged children in foster care. Across the two years of the study, 101 children in long-term foster care, between grades 1 and 8 inclusive, participated in this randomized control trial intervention. One-half were randomly assigned to the 30-week experimental TYCW condition, while the other half served as waitlist controls. Children were assessed at baseline and post-intervention on word reading, spelling, sentence comprehension, and mathematic skills using an academic measure of functioning, the Wide Range Achievement Test Forth Edition (WRAT4). In addition, children were assessed at baseline and post-intervention across teacher rated academic performance in the classroom using the Academic Competence Evaluation Scale (ACES)

Bicultural identity and alcohol abuse among aboriginal Canadians : the protective benefits of aboriginal cultural affiliation

Research has revealed that poverty, unemployment, historical oppression and substance abuse have contributed to the third world status of Canadian Aboriginal Reserves. Identification with Aboriginal culture has been shown to buffer stress and prevent substance abuse. Theories of acculturation and bicultural identification indicate that cultural value conflict may prevent Aboriginal Canadians from connecting with their heritage culture. This cultural value conflict may also result in a state of dissonance that the individual will be motivated to escape by consuming alcohol

Self-Directed Learning Readiness And Self-Determination For Selected Rehabilitation Professional Students: The Impact Of Clinical Education

In a time of rapidly changing medical information, practitioners must have learning skills that enable them to be effective life-long learners. A part of an examination of a final clinical internship for rehabilitation professionals was a pre-post measure of learner self-direction and self-determination. Two instruments, the Self-Directed Learning Readiness Scale (SDLRS) and the Academic Motivation Scale (AMS- reported as Self-Determination Index (SDI) were used with a sample of Doctorate of Physical Therapy (DPT) and Master of Occupational Therapy (MOT) students. Pre-testing occurred just prior to and post-testing just after the subjects’ final clinical assignments. Both groups increased mean scores from pre- to post-test for the SDLRS (p = .01, mean increase 7.29) and the SDI (p = .01, mean increase 0.91). Results of this study support the use of the SDLRS and AMS as means to evaluate self-directed learning readiness and self-determination in rehabilitation professional students

Beaver ecology in Bridge Creek, a tributary to the John Day River

The American beaver (Castor canadensis) was nearly extirpated by the late 1800's due to the fur trade. Due to reintroduction efforts, it now occupies much of its former range. Beavers are a keystone species and ecosystem engineers, greatly influencing riparian and instream habitats through selective harvesting of plant materials and dam building. Beaver dams can accelerate the recovery of stream and riparian habitats. These habitats are beneficial to a variety of wildlife, including some fish species. Relocating nuisance beavers to areas where their damming activity will benefit fish habitat by helping restore degraded streams is gaining interest as a restoration and management tool in Oregon. However, little is known about the extant beaver populations in Oregon, including in the areas of restoration interest. We used genetic and radio telemetry approaches together to investigate the ecology of beavers in Bridge Creek; the site of a project partnering with beaver to aid in restoration efforts. Radio telemetry was used to estimate the home range size, habitat use, and survival rates for beavers in Bridge Creek and mitochondrial DNA was used to investigate the genetic diversity of beavers in Bridge Creek. In order to put the genetic diversity of this watershed in the historical context of beaver management in Oregon, we used samples from the John Day River upstream of the Bridge Creek confluence and samples from another study being conducted in western Oregon. These samples together would represent a broader context of the western and eastern parts of Oregon, on both sides of the Cascade Range. We tracked 24 radio tagged beavers in the summer of 2011 and 22 beavers in the spring of 2012 to estimate home ranges. The mean linear home range length was 1.56 ± 0.71 km. Home ranges did not differ by sex or age except for spring 2012; female home ranges were longer than males. Home ranges encompassed nearly the entire study area of Bridge Creek and in some cases overlapped. Habitat use showed that beavers used areas of grasses and herbaceous vegetation in greater proportion to its availability for spring 2012 but did not deviate from random in summer 2011. The survival rate was estimated to be 0.92 ± 0.05 for the entire 18 month study period. While radio tagging captured beavers, a tissue sample was taken for mitochondrial DNA genetic analysis. Genetic diversity was very low for the samples from Bridge Creek beavers, and therefore we were unable to discern any genetic structuring. Eastern Oregon samples overall (Bridge Creek and John Day samples) had a low nucleotide and haplotype diversity (0.001 ± 0.001, 0.441 ± 0.056 respectively) while western Oregon samples had a higher nucleotide and haplotype diversity (0.003 ± 0.002, 0.546 ± 0.098 respectively). The two subpopulations were significantly differentiated from each other (P < 0.001, pairwise F[subscript ST] = 0.499). The information gained on the survival, home range, habitat use, and genetic diversity of beavers in Bridge Creek is important in assisting managers; partnering with beaver to meet their stream restoration goals. Although beaver relocation is an attractive tool for alleviating nuisance beaver issues while potentially restoring fish habitat, our results indicate that Bridge Creek may not be able to support more beavers in its current condition. Additional research on the social structure, through the use of microsatellites, and continued year-round monitoring of beavers within Bridge Creek and the greater John Day basin will further inform managers on the feasibility of the use of beavers as a stream restoration tool

Confirmation of the genetic association of CTLA4 and PTPN22 with ANCA-associated vasculitis.

BACKGROUND: The genetic contribution to the aetiology of anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (ANCA)-associated vasculitis (AAV) is not well defined. Across different autoimmune diseases some genes with immunomodulatory roles, such as PTPN22, are frequently associated with multiple diseases, whereas specific HLA associations, such as HLA-B27, tend to be disease restricted. We studied ten candidate loci on the basis of their immunoregulatory role and prior associations with type 1 diabetes (T1D). These included PTPN22, CTLA4 and CD226, which have previously been associated with AAV. METHODS: We genotyped the following 11 SNPs, from 10 loci, in 641 AAV patients using TaqMan genotyping: rs2476601 in PTPN22, rs1990760 in IFIH1, rs3087243 in CTLA4, rs2069763 in IL2, rs10877012 in CYP27B1, rs2292239 in ERBB3, rs3184504 in SH2B3, rs12708716 in CLEC16A, rs1893217 and rs478582 in PTPN2 and rs763361 in CD226. Where possible, we performed a meta-analysis with previous analyses. RESULTS: Both CTLA4 rs3087243 and PTPN22 rs2476601 showed association with AAV, P = 6.4 x 10-3 and P = 1.4 x 10-4 respectively. The minor allele (A) of CTLA4 rs3087243 is protective (odds ratio = 0.84), whereas the minor allele (A) of PTPN22 rs2476601 confers susceptibility (odds ratio = 1.40). These results confirmed previously described associations with AAV. After meta-analysis, the PTPN22 rs2476601 association was further strengthened (combined P = 4.2 x 10-7, odds ratio of 1.48 for the A allele). The other 9 SNPs, including rs763361 in CD226, showed no association with AAV. CONCLUSION: Our study of T1D associated SNPs in AAV has confirmed CTLA4 and PTPN22 as susceptibility loci in AAV. These genes encode two key regulators of the immune response and are associated with many autoimmune diseases, including T1D, autoimmune thyroid disease, celiac disease, rheumatoid arthritis, and now AAV

An investigation of genotype-phenotype association in a festulolium forage grass population containing genome-spanning <i>Festuca pratensis</i> chromosome segments in a <i>Lolium perenne</i> background

Alien chromosome introgression is used for the transfer of beneficial traits in plant breeding. For temperate forage grasses, much of the work in this context has focused on species within the ryegrasses (Lolium spp.) and the closely related fescues (Festuca spp.) particularly with a view to combining high forage quality with reliability and enhanced environmental services. We have analysed a L. perenne (perennial ryegrass) population containing the majority of a F. pratensis (meadow fescue) genome as introgressed chromosome segments to identify a) marker-trait associations for nutrient use and abiotic stress response across the family, and b) to assess the effects of introgression of F. pratensis genomic regions on phenotype. Using container-based assays and a system of flowing solution culture, we looked at phenotype responses, including root growth, to nitrogen and phosphorus status in the growing medium and abiotic stresses within this festulolium family. A number of significant marker/trait associations were identified across the family for root biomass on chromosomes 2, 3 and 5 and for heading date on chromosome 2. Of particular interest was a region on chromosome 2 associated with increased root biomass in phosphorus-limited conditions derived from one of the L. perenne parents. A genotype containing F. pratensis chromosome 4 as a monosomic introgression showed increased tiller number, shoot and root growth and genotypes with F. pratensis chromosome segment introgressions at different ends of chromosome 4 exhibited differential phenotypes across a variety of test conditions. There was also a general negative correlation between the extent of the F. pratensis genome that had been introgressed and root-related trait performances. We conclude that 1) the identification of alleles affecting root growth has potential application in forage grass breeding and, 2) F. pratensis introgressions can enhance quantitative traits, however, introgression can also have more general negative effects