Controlling for Prior Attainment Reduces the Positive Influence that Single-Gender Classroom Initiatives Exert on High School Students’ Scholastic Achievements.

Research points to the positive impact that gender-segregated schooling and classroom initiatives exert on academic attainment. An evaluation of these studies which reveal positive effects highlights, however, that students are typically selectively assigned to single- or mixed-gender instructional settings, presenting a methodological confound. The current study controls for students’ prior attainment to appraise the efficacy of a single-gender classroom initiative implemented in a co-educational high school in the United Kingdom. Secondary data analysis (using archived data) was performed on 266 middle-ability, 11–12 year-old students’ standardized test scores in Languages (English, foreign language), STEM-related (Mathematics, Science, Information and Communication Technology), and Non-STEM subjects (art, music, drama). Ninety-eight students (54, 55% female) were taught in single-gender and 168 (69, 41% female) in mixed-gender classrooms. Students undertook identical tests irrespective of classroom type, which were graded in accordance with U.K national curriculum guidelines. Controlling for students’ prior attainment, findings indicate that students do not appear to benefit from being taught in single-gender relative to mixed-gender classrooms in Language and STEM-related subjects. Young women benefitted from being taught in mixed-gender relative to single-gender classes for Non-STEM subjects. However, when prior ability is not controlled for, the intervention appears to be effective for all school subjects, highlighting the confounding influence of selective admissions. These findings suggest that gender-segregated classroom initiatives may not bolster students’ grades. It is argued that studies that do not control for selection effects may tell us little about the effectiveness of such interventions on scholastic achievement

Recombination and positive selection identified in complete genome sequences of Japanese encephalitis virus

The mosquito-borne Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) causes encephalitis in man but not in pigs. Complete genomes of a human, mosquito and pig isolate from outbreaks in 1982 and 1985 in Thailand were sequenced with the aim of identifying determinants of virulence that may explain the differences in outcomes of JEV infection between pigs and man. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that five of these isolates belonged to genotype I, but the 1982 mosquito isolate belonged to genotype III. There was no evidence of recombination among the Thai isolates, but there were phylogenetic signals suggestive of recombination in a 1994 Korean isolate (K94P05). Two sites of the genome under positive selection were identified: codons 996 and 2296 (amino acids 175 of the non-structural protein NS1 and 24 of NS4B, respectively). A structurally significant substitution was seen at NS4B position 24 of the human isolate compared with the mosquito and pig isolates from the 1985 outbreak in Thailand. The potential importance of the two sites in the evolution and ecology of JEV merits further investigation

Cyber-aggression and victimization and social information processing: Integrating the medium and the message.

To theoretically examine how the functional properties of Information and Communications Technologies (ICTs) may potentially influence social information processing (SIP) relevant to cyber-aggression and victimization (CAV), and the opportunities for aggression and victimization that these new technologies provide. Results: Our conceptual analysis highlights multiple functional properties of ICTs that provide opportunities for CAV, and implicates new social norms arising around use of ICTs that may also distinguish online from offline aggression and victimization. These include the paucity and/or permanence of social cues, the deployment of substitute cues (e.g., emoticons), ambiguity around intentions of communicators and around perceptions of privacy and audience, and the removal of response inhibitors resulting from continuous access to ICTs. Conclusions: Our analysis provides a useful heuristic device and reveals a need for innovative research to better examine how features of ICTs modulate social information processing to increase (or decrease) the likelihood of cyber-aggression and victimization. The consideration of SIP in understanding CAV opens important avenues for future empirical inquiry

On-Line Media as Context: Affordances for Cyber Aggression and Victimization

Abstract not availabl

Cyber-aggression and victimization and social information processing: Integrating the medium and the message

Objective: To theoretically examine how the functional properties of Information and Communications Technologies (ICTs) may potentially influence social information processing (SIP) relevant to cyber-aggression and victimization (CAV), and the opportunities for aggression and victimization that these new technologies provide. Results: Our conceptual analysis highlights multiple functional properties of ICTs that provide opportunities for CAV, and implicates new social norms arising around use of ICTs that may also distinguish online from offline aggression and victimization. These include the paucity and/or permanence of social cues, the deployment of substitute cues (e.g., emoticons), ambiguity around intentions of communicators and around perceptions of privacy and audience, and the removal of response inhibitors resulting from continuous access to ICTs. Conclusions: Our analysis provides a useful heuristic device and reveals a need for innovative research to better examine how features of ICTs modulate social information processing to increase (or decrease) the likelihood of cyber-aggression and victimization. The consideration of SIP in understanding CAV opens important avenues for future empirical inquiry

Genome-wide screen identifies host genes affecting viral RNA recombination

Rapid evolution of RNA viruses with mRNA-sense genomes is a major concern to health and economic welfare because of the devastating diseases these viruses inflict on humans, animals, and plants. To test whether host genes can affect the evolution of RNA viruses, we used a Saccharomyces cerevisiae single-gene deletion library, which includes ≈80% of yeast genes, in RNA recombination studies based on a small viral replicon RNA derived from tomato bushy stunt virus. The genome-wide screen led to the identification of five host genes whose absence resulted in the rapid generation of new viral RNA recombinants. Thus, these genes normally suppress viral RNA recombination, but in their absence, hosts become viral recombination “hotbeds.” Four of the five suppressor genes are likely involved in RNA degradation, suggesting that RNA degradation could play a role in viral RNA recombination. In contrast, deletion of four other host genes inhibited virus recombination, indicating that these genes normally accelerate the RNA recombination process. A comparison of deletion strains with the lowest and the highest recombination rate revealed that host genes could affect recombinant accumulation by up to 80-fold. Overall, our results demonstrate that a set of host genes have a major effect on RNA virus recombination and evolution