Assessment and Skill Development for ESL Students in Mainstream Communication Classes Requiring Oral Presentations

This article discusses the rhetoric-based teaching strategies which address how to assist the oral and written competency of English as a Second Language (ESL) students in separate, specialized speaking, writing, and/or preparatory courses. This article also offer two areas of preparation for professors and graduate teaching assistants who have a small number of ESL students enrolled in regular sections of public speaking courses. In addition, this article provides an overview of the campus setting, areas of preparation recommended by B. L. Quigley and colleagues, application of the recommended assessment and instructional strategies, perceptions of the ESL study participants regarding the effectiveness of the strategies and issues associated with assisting ESL students in the mixed classroom

Peer Mentoring for Graduate Teaching Assistants: Training and Utilizing a Valuable Resource

Experienced graduate teaching assistants (GTAs) can be valuable resources capable of assisting basic course directors with training novice GTAs. Peer mentoring is suggested as one means for training GTAs in departments with two year M.A. programs; but is also useful in departments offering the doctoral degree. Peer mentoring is highlighted as the first of three GTA training stages. A specific program is described based on a the experiences of a department offering the Master of Arts as the terminal degree

Graduate Teaching Assistant Training: Preparing Instructors to Assist ESL Students in the Introductory Public Speaking Course

Much research identifies the need to assist English as a Second Language (ESL) students in our classrooms. Some communication educators have addressed this need by enrolling students in special sections of introductory courses for ESL students only. With a focus specifically on graduate teaching assistant (GTA) training, this paper suggests ways to assist ESL students, along with native speaking students, enrolled in regular sections of the introductory public speaking course. We first identify steps for assessing whether an ESL student is appropriately enrolled in a course. We then focus on ways instructors can assist ESL students with: 1) pronunciation, comprehensibility, and listening, 2) thinking rhetorically, and 3) delivery skills

Minimal information for studies of extracellular vesicles (MISEV2023): From basic to advanced approaches

Extracellular vesicles (EVs), through their complex cargo, can reflect the state of their cell of origin and change the functions and phenotypes of other cells. These features indicate strong biomarker and therapeutic potential and have generated broad interest, as evidenced by the steady year-on-year increase in the numbers of scientific publications about EVs. Important advances have been made in EV metrology and in understanding and applying EV biology. However, hurdles remain to realising the potential of EVs in domains ranging from basic biology to clinical applications due to challenges in EV nomenclature, separation from non-vesicular extracellular particles, characterisation and functional studies. To address the challenges and opportunities in this rapidly evolving field, the International Society for Extracellular Vesicles (ISEV) updates its 'Minimal Information for Studies of Extracellular Vesicles', which was first published in 2014 and then in 2018 as MISEV2014 and MISEV2018, respectively. The goal of the current document, MISEV2023, is to provide researchers with an updated snapshot of available approaches and their advantages and limitations for production, separation and characterisation of EVs from multiple sources, including cell culture, body fluids and solid tissues. In addition to presenting the latest state of the art in basic principles of EV research, this document also covers advanced techniques and approaches that are currently expanding the boundaries of the field. MISEV2023 also includes new sections on EV release and uptake and a brief discussion of in vivo approaches to study EVs. Compiling feedback from ISEV expert task forces and more than 1000 researchers, this document conveys the current state of EV research to facilitate robust scientific discoveries and move the field forward even more rapidly

Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead

Recommendations for Addressing Priority Io Science in the Next Decade

Io is a priority destination for solar system exploration. The scope and importance of science questions at Io necessitates a broad portfolio of research and analysis, telescopic observations, and planetary missions - including a dedicated New Frontiers class Io mission

The Science Case for Io Exploration

Io is a priority destination for solar system exploration, as it is the best natural laboratory to study the intertwined processes of tidal heating, extreme volcanism, and atmosphere-magnetosphere interactions. Io exploration is relevant to understanding terrestrial worlds (including the early Earth), ocean worlds, and exoplanets across the cosmos