Using the multisensory approach of touch math to teach basic mathematical operations to students with significant disabilities

The current study examines how the multisensory approach of the Touch Math program is used in a school that educates students with significant disabilities to improve their basic operation addition skills. The students who participated in this study struggled with traditional teaching of basic operation skills, and they were having difficulty maintaining fact knowledge, with modifications to their current instruction. The study was conducted in a school in Atco, New Jersey over an eight-week period. The current study used baseline assessments, which the two single digit addends without touch points, to determine the student participant\u27s individual single digit addend knowledge. Then the students explicitly taught the multisensory approach of how to use touch points to count up and all to create a sum of two single digit addends. After being taught how to use the touch points to help add two single digit addends, students were given post-intervention assessments, with touch points on the two single digit addends to determine their individual progress and possible improvement in basic operation addition skills. Although an individual\u27s results varied, all students showed improvement in their basic operation addition facts, by using the multisensory approach from the Touch Math program to add two single digit addend

Reclaiming the Child : Mountain Mission School as a Successful Appalachian Home Mission.

Mountain Mission School of Grundy, Virginia, founded by Samuel Robinson Hurley in 1921, is an anomaly of the mission school era of 1880 to 1940. Unlike other mission schools, Mountain Mission School was independent from its inception and was founded by a self-taught, self-made millionaire from southwest Virginia. The school\u27s purpose to reclaim the child from material and spiritual poverty lay in Hurley\u27s desire to develop a child\u27s mind, body, and soul through a Christian, industrial education. Through personal commitment to the school and tireless fund-raising efforts for the school, he inspired others to continue the mission he began. Primary sources from Radford University, Milligan College, and Mountain Mission School, plus contemporary articles published in the Christian Standard, defend these claims

RNA Expression of Six AROGENATE DEHYDRATASE Genes in Arabidopsis thaliana

Six AROGENA TE DEHYDRA TASE (ADT) genes encode enzymes involved in phenylalanine synthesis in Arabidopsis thaliana. The tissue-specific RNA expression patterns of ADTs and their response to heat and cold stress were studied. Tissue-specific analyses indicated that ADTs are constitutively expressed at differing levels and that expression of particular ADTs is predominant in some tissues. Expression of all ADTs increased in response to cold treatment, either with a single (ADT1, ADT3, and ADT6), or bimodal (ADT2, ADT4, and ADT5) rise in expression. Expression returned to basal levels for all ADTs following a 24 h post-stress recovery. In response to heat stress only ADT2 and ADT4 transcript levels increased, whereas expression of all ADTs increased in response to a 24 h post-stress recovery. The results show that ADTs are differentially expressed in tissues and following the two stress treatments tested. These findings are consistent with the theory that different ADTs are needed for different phenylalanine requirements

Widening participation at the University of Edinburgh:Contextual admissions, retention, and degree outcomes

In Scotland, as in the rest of the UK, there is growing recognition that prior qualifications may not provide an adequate indication of the ‘potential’ of applicants from educationally-disadvantaged backgrounds to succeed at university. Universities are being encouraged to use contextual data on neighbourhood characteristics and school performance to identify disadvantaged applicants in the admissions process. Contextualised admissions have been pioneered at the University of Edinburgh since 2004, and this article reports findings on the prior qualifications, retention and degree outcomes of a sample of students who entered the University in 2004–2006. The article describes the distribution of contextual data and discusses the limitations of indicators based on geographical area and school characteristics. Differences in average prior qualifications, retention and degree outcomes associated with indicators of widening participation are small. Statistical models suggest that after taking account of prior qualifications WP-indicated students were as likely to complete an HE qualification and achieve an Honours degree as non-WP students, but they had a lower probability of achieving a higher classification of degree. The findings raise questions for the University about possible causes for lower achievement by disadvantaged students. </jats:p

Use of carbon-13 as a population marker for Anopheles arabiensis in a sterile insect technique (SIT) context

BACKGROUND: Monitoring of sterile to wild insect ratios in field populations can be useful to follow the progress in genetic control programmes such as the Sterile Insect Technique (SIT). Of the numerous methods for marking insects most are not suitable for use in mass rearing and mass release. Suitable ones include dye marking, genetic marking and chemical marking. METHODS: The feasibility of using the stable isotope of carbon, (13)C, as a potential chemical marker for Anopheles arabiensis was evaluated in the laboratory. Labeled-(13)C glucose was incorporated into the larval diet in a powder or liquid form. The contribution of adult sugar feeding to the total mosquito carbon pool and the metabolically active carbon pool was determined by tracing the decline of the enrichment of the adult male mosquito as it switched from a labeled larval diet to an unlabeled adult diet. This decline in the adult was monitored by destructive sampling of the whole mosquito and analyzed using isotope ratio mass spectrometry. RESULTS: A two-pool model was used to describe the decline of the (13)C-enrichment of adult mosquitoes. The proportion of the total adult carbon pool derived from the adult sugar diet over the life span of mosquitoes was determined and the ratio of structural carbon, with a low turnover rate to metabolically active non-structural carbon was assessed. The uptake and turnover of sugar in the metabolically active fraction suggests that after 3 days >70% of the active fraction carbon is derived from sugar feeding (increasing to >90% by day 7), indicating the high resource demand of male mosquitoes. CONCLUSION: It was possible to "fix" the isotopic label in adult An. arabiensis and to detect the label at an appropriate concentration up to 21 days post-emergence. The optimum labeling treatment would cost around 250 US$ per million mosquitoes. Stable isotope marking may thus aid research on the fate of released insects besides other population-based ecological studies

A stable isotope dual-labelling approach to detect multiple insemination in un-irradiated and irradiated Anopheles arabiensis mosquitoes

Male mating competitiveness is a crucial parameter in many genetic control programs including the sterile insect technique (SIT). We evaluated competitiveness of male Anopheles arabiensis Patton as a function of three experimental variables: (1) small or large cages for mating, (2) the effects of either a partially sterilizing (70 Gy) or fully sterilizing (120 Gy) dose, and (3) pupal or adult irradiation. Irradiated males competed for females with an equal number of unirradiated males. Competitiveness was determined by measuring hatch rates of individually laid egg batches. In small cages, pupal irradiation with the high dose resulted in the lowest competitiveness, whereas adult irradiation with the low dose gave the highest, with the latter males being equal in competitiveness to unirradiated males. In the large cage, reduced competitiveness of males irradiated in the pupal stage was more pronounced compared with the small cage; the males irradiated as adults at both doses performed similarly to unirradiated males. Unexpectedly, males irradiated with the high dose performed better in a large cage than in a small one. A high proportion of intermediate hatch rates was observed for eggs collected in the large cage experiments with males irradiated at the pupal stage. It is concluded that irradiation of adult An. arabiensis with the partially sterilizing dose results in the highest competitiveness for both cage designs. Cage size affected competitiveness for some treatments; therefore, competitiveness determined in laboratory experiments must be confirmed by releases into simulated field conditions. The protocols described are readily transferable to evaluate male competitiveness for other genetic control techniques

Establishing the international prevalence of self-reported child maltreatment: a systematic review by maltreatment type and gender

Background Estimating the prevalence of child maltreatment is challenging due to the absence of a clear ‘gold standard’ as to what constitutes maltreatment. This systematic review aims to review studies using self-report maltreatment to capture prevalence rates worldwide. Methods PubMed, Ovid SP and grey literature from the NSPCC, UNICEF, The UK Government, and WHO from 2000 to 2017 were searched. The literature review focused on the variation found in self-reported lifetime prevalence for each type of maltreatment between studies by continent and gender, and how methodological differences may explain differences found. Results Sexual abuse is the most commonly studied form of maltreatment across the world with median (25th to 75th centile) prevalence of 20.4% (13.2% to 33.6%) and 28.8% (17.0% to 40.2%) in North American and Australian girls respectively, with lower rates generally for boys. Rates of physical abuse were more similar across genders apart from in Europe, which were 12.0% (6.9% to 23.0%) and 27.0% (7.0% to 43.0%) for girls and boys respectively, and often very high in some continents, for example, 50.8% (36.0% to 73.8%) and 60.2% (43.0% to 84.9%) for girls and boys respectively in Africa. Median rates of emotional abuse were nearly double for girls than boys in North America (28.4% vs 13.8% respectively) and Europe (12.9% vs 6.2% respectively) but more similar across genders groups elsewhere. Median rates of neglect were highest in Africa (girls: 41.8%, boys: 39.1%) and South America (girls: 54.8%, boys: 56.7%) but were based on few studies in total, whereas in the two continents with the highest number of studies, median rates differed between girls (40.5%) and boys (16.6%) in North America but were similar in Asia (girls: 26.3%, boys: 23.8%). Conclusions Median prevalence rates differ substantially by maltreatment category, gender and by continent. The number of studies and available data also varies and relatively little is known about prevalence for some forms of maltreatment, particularly outside of the North American context. Prevalence rates require caution in interpretation as some variation will reflect methodological differences, including the data collection methods, and how the maltreatment is defined

“It helps and it doesn’t help”: Maternal perspectives on how the use of smartphones and tablet computers influences parent-infant attachment

As families increase their use of mobile touch screen devices (smartphones and tablet computers), there is potential for this use to influence parent-child interactions required to form a secure attachment during infancy, and thus future child developmental outcomes. Thirty families of infants (aged 9–15 months) were interviewed to explore how parents and infants use these devices, and how device use influenced parents’ thoughts, feelings and behaviours towards their infant and other family interactions. Two-thirds of infants were routinely involved in family video calls and one-third used devices for other purposes. Parent and/or child device use served to both enhance connection and increase distraction between parents and infants and between other family members. Mechanisms for these influences are discussed. The findings highlight a new opportunity for how hardware and software should be designed and used to maximise benefits and reduce detriments of device use to optimise parent-infant attachment and child development. Practitioner Summary: Many families with infants regularly use smartphones and tablet computers. This qualitative study found that how devices were used either enhanced or disrupted feelings of parent-infant attachment. Practitioners should be aware of the potential beneficial and detrimental impacts of device use among families given implications for attachment and future child development

Health Disparities in Liver Cancer: An Analysis of the Ohio Cancer Incidence Surveillance System

Background: We explored associations between neighborhood deprivation and tumor characteristics, treatment, and 5-year survival among primary hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients in Ohio diagnosed between 2008 and 2016. Methods: We used data from the Ohio Cancer Incidence Surveillance System and limited our analysis to adult (&gt;18 years of age) HCC patients with known census tract information based on address at diagnosis. Using principal components analysis, we created a neighborhood deprivation index (NDI) using 9 census tract-level variables. We examined associations between tumor characteristics (stage and tumor size) and NDI quintile using chi-square tests and analysis of variance (ANOVA). Associations between guideline-concordant care and NDI using log-binomial regression adjusted for sex, race, age at diagnosis, metropolitan status, cancer stage, and year of diagnosis were conducted. For 5-year survival, we utilized Cox proportional hazards models with a similar adjustment set. Results: Neighborhood deprivation index was not associated with stage or tumor size. Individuals living in the most deprived neighborhoods were 16% less likely to receive guideline-concordant care as compared to individuals living in the least deprived neighborhoods (adjusted prevalence ratio [PR]: 0.84; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.74-0.94). Similarly, individuals living in the most deprived neighborhoods were 15% less likely to survive 5 years compared to individuals living in the least deprived neighborhoods (adjusted Hazard Ratio: 1.15; 95% CI: 1.01-1.29). Conclusion: Our results suggest a negative association between neighborhood deprivation on guideline-concordant care and survival among HCC patients. Interventions targeting disparities of HCC should focus not only on individual-level factors but address larger neighborhood level factors as well