Relationships among M-power, teaching methodology cognitive development, and content achievement.

This investigation used the pretest-posttest control group design to experimentally determine the nature of relationships among M-power, concrete and formal teaching methodologies, cognitive development, and achievement on specified concrete and formal biology concepts. It tested the following null hypotheses: (1) No correlations exist among Biology I students' scores on measures of M-power, cognitive development, or achievement on concrete or formal biology concepts. (2) There are no differences among the mean scores of concretely taught and formally taught Biology I students with regard to M-power, cognitive development, or achievement on concrete or formal biology concepts.Formal instruction utilizes didactic exposition to efficiently transmit an exhaustive body of concepts. Concrete instruction, however, regularly provides students with numerous concrete objects and experiences in order to stimulate deeper understandings of selected, representative concepts while promoting the development of cognitive processes. Neo-Piagetian theories indicate the size of a subject's working memory, or M-power, is also involved in developing both cognitive processes and understandings of specific concepts.Cognitive development was measured with three written incidents developed by the Cognitive Analysis Project (CAP) in combination with the Group Embedded Figures Test. The CAP regression equation then generated a single cognitive development score for each student. Instruments measuring content achievement were developed by the investigator. M-power was measured with the 1977 version of the Figural Intersection Test.Sixty-eight Biology I students were randomly assigned to classes taught concretely. A control group of sixty-seven students were similarly assigned to classes receiving formal instruction of the same content. All students sampled were taking Biology I for the first time and attended at least 80% of the class sessions.Neither method of instruction was found to enable concrete operational students to achieve substantial understandings of concepts requiring formal operational thought. Nonetheless, calculated t-ratios show the concrete instructional group achieved significantly greater gains (p - .001) in cognitive development than the control group. For this reason, the concrete instruction group exhibited consistently higher achievement on even formal concepts.After t-ratios indicated M-power development was not significantly affected by instruction, analyses of covariance results indicated that concrete instruction produced significantly greater (p - .001) cognitive development and concrete content achievement than formal instruction, even after statistically controlling any M-power influences. These data suggest the need for regularly providing concrete experiences in the classroom.Cognitive development and M-power pretests were administered from September 7, 1979 to September 12, 1979. Posttesting for these instruments began May 7, 1980 and ended May 16, 1980. Content examinations were administered immediately following each unit. Since the same content was covered in parallel time frames, content tests were given to both groups on the same days.Student's t-ratios comparing mean content achievement of the two instruction groups indicated concrete instruction produced significantly greater understandings (p - .001) of concrete concepts on all biology examinations.At or below the .05 level of significance, positive correlations were found among cognitive development, scores, M-power scores, and achievement on biology content. Coefficients of determination indicted a much stronger relationship between cognitive development and achievement on biology content than that indicated between M-power and content achievement

Retrospective Evaluation of the COVID-19 Contact Tracing Program at the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention

Introduction: Despite the widespread use of contact tracing efforts throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, there are limited findings available about best practices and recommendations. The Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention contracted staff to conduct COVID-19 contact tracing from August 2020 through February 2022. A retrospective evaluation of this program was conducted to share lessons learned with public health and health care leaders for future use. Methods: Contracted contact tracing staff participated in facilitated discussions structured by the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats analysis framework. Three sessions were recorded and transcribed, and qualitative analysis through thematic review and evaluation coding was conducted. Results: The thematic review identified 27 codes of participant responses. Codes were categorized into 4 overarching themes: pandemic collective, organizational placement, team structure, and team environment. These themes led to several recommendations for future efforts. Discussion: External networks and partnerships, strong engaged leadership, staff specialization, and use of innovative technology to foster regular communication were identified as contributors to the program’s success. The supportive team environment and collective purpose found in COVID-19 work were also important to the contact tracing team experience. Conclusion: This study is a retrospective evaluation of the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s COVID-19 contact tracing team. Best practices in hiring, staff engagement and retention, and collaboration were identified. These lessons are valuable for future public health emergencies and more broadly for contract tracing of other infectious diseases. Building a national consensus of best practices through systematic review or larger evaluation efforts is an important next step

Isoprene and monoterpene emissions from alder, aspen and spruce short rotation forest plantations in the UK

An expansion of bioenergy has been proposed to help reduce fossil-fuel greenhouse gas emissions, and short-rotation forestry (SRF) can contribute to this expansion. However, SRF plantations could also be sources of biogenic volatile organic compound (BVOC) emissions, which can impact atmospheric air quality. In this study, emissions of isoprene and 11 monoterpenes from the branches and forest floor of hybrid aspen, Italian alder and Sitka spruce stands in an SRF field trial in central Scotland were measured during two years (2018–2019) and used to derive emission potentials for different seasons. Sitka spruce was included as a comparison as it is the most extensive plantation species in the UK. Winter and spring emissions of isoprene and monoterpenes were small compared to those in summer. Sitka spruce had a standardised mean emission rate of 15 µgCg−1h−1 for isoprene in the dry and warm summer of 2018 – more than double the emissions in 2019. However, standardised mean isoprene emissions from hybrid aspen were similar across both years, approximately 23 µgCg−1h−1, and standardised mean isoprene emissions from Italian alder were very low. Mean standardised total monoterpene emissions for these species followed a similar pattern of higher standardised emissions in the warmer year: Sitka spruce emitting 4.5 and 2.3 µgCg−1h−1 for 2018 and 2019, aspen emitting 0.3 and 0.09 µgCg−1h−1, and Italian alder emitting 1.5 and 0.2 µgCg−1h−1, respectively. In contrast to these foliage emissions, the forest floor was only a small source of monoterpenes, typically 1 or 2 orders of magnitude lower than foliage emissions on a unit of ground area basis. Estimates of total annual emissions from each plantation type per hectare were derived using the MEGAN 2.1 model. The modelled total BVOC (isoprene and monoterpenes) emissions of SRF hybrid aspen plantations were approximately half those of Sitka spruce for plantations of the same age. Italian alder SRF emissions were 20 times smaller than from Sitka spruce. The expansion of bioenergy plantations to 0.7 Mha has been suggested for the UK to help achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. The model estimates show that, with such an expansion, total UK BVOC emissions would increase between <1 % and 35 %, depending on the tree species planted. Whereas increases might be small on a national scale, regional increases might have a larger impact on local air quality

Cross-sectional and longitudinal assessment of cognitive development in Williams syndrome

Williams syndrome (WS) is a rare genetic syndrome. As with all rare syndromes, obtaining adequately powered sample sizes is a challenge. Here we present legacy data from seven UK labs, enabling the characterisation of cross-sectional and longitudinal developmental trajectories of verbal and non-verbal development in the largest sample of individuals with WS to-date. In Study 1, we report cross-sectional data between N = 102 and N = 209 children and adults with WS on measures of verbal and non-verbal ability. In Study 2, we report longitudinal data from N = 17 to N = 54 children and adults with WS who had been tested on at least three timepoints on these measures. Data support the WS characteristic cognitive profile of stronger verbal than non-verbal ability, and shallow developmental progression for both domains. Both cross-sectional and longitudinal data demonstrate steeper rates of development in the child participants than the adolescent and adults in our sample. Cross-sectional data indicate steeper development in verbal than non-verbal ability, and that individual differences in the discrepancy between verbal and non-verbal ability are largely accounted for by level of intellectual functioning. A diverging developmental discrepancy between verbal and non-verbal ability, whilst marginal, is not mirrored statistically in the longitudinal data. Cross-sectional and longitudinal data are discussed with reference to validating cross-sectional developmental patterns using longitudinal data and the importance of individual differences in understanding developmental progression

Uptake and Retention of Nanoplastics in Quagga Mussels

Here, a set of experiments to assess the feasibility of using an invasive and widespread freshwater mussel (Dreissena rostrformis bugensis) as a sentinel species for nanoplastic detection is reported. Under laboratory experimental conditions, mussels ingest and retain fluorescent polystyrene (PS) beads with carboxylic acid (COOH) termination over a size range of 200- 2000 nm. The number of beads the mussels ingested is quantified using fluorescence spectroscopy and the location of the beads in the mussels is imaged using fluorescence microscopy. PS beads of similar size (1000- 2000 nm) to mussels’ preferred food are trafficked in the ciliated food grooves of the gills. Beads of all sizes are observed in the mussels’ digestive tracts, indicating that the mussels do not efficiently reject the beads as unwanted foreign material, regardless of size. Fluorescence microscopy shows all sizes of beads are concentrated in the siphons and are retained there for longer than one month postexposure. Combined atomic force microscopy- infrared spectroscopy and photothermal infrared spectroscopy are used to locate, image, and chemically identify the beads in the mussel siphons. In sum, these experiments demonstrate the potential for using mussels, specifically their siphons, to monitor environmental accumulation of aquatic nanoplastics.Can quagga mussels (Dreissena rostriformis bugensis), a widespread and invasive freshwater species that alters local ecosystems, act as a sentinel species for detecting nanoplastics? In the laboratory, mussels ingest and retain 200- 2000 nm fluorescent polystyrene beads, which are in the size range for the mussels’ preferred food and are trafficked like food in the ciliated grooves of the gills.Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/155884/1/gch2201800104-sup-0001-SuppMat.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/155884/2/gch2201800104.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/155884/3/gch2201800104_am.pd

Madness and Mindfulness: How the "Personal" is "Political"

The chapter examines the institutionalization of unreason and the potential role of meditation in disclosing its roots. It is argued that meditative awareness can enable critical reflection on, and transformation of, practices that diminish our rational awareness. Mindfulness may contribute to this awareness, but its lack of an ethical frame renders it vulnerable to narcissistic appropriation and corporate commercialization. Accordingly, mindfulness is limited in disclosure, and counteracting, of the needless perpetuation of suffering associated with ego-building and defensive emotions, as manifest in contemporary expressions of sectarianism and fanaticism. The examination of antidotes to unreason and freedom is accomplished through a series of critical reflections upon the insights generated by Wright Mills’ The Sociological Imagination, Carol Hanisch’s “The Personal is Political,” and Freire’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed. These texts provide complementary commentaries on the development of progressive, emancipatory consciousness and praxis to which, I conjecture, meditation, as distinct from the mindfulness movement, contributes

Madness and Mindfulness

The chapter examines the institutionalization of unreason and the potential role of meditation in disclosing its roots. It is argued that meditative awareness can enable critical reflection on, and transformation of, practices that diminish our rational awareness. Mindfulness may contribute to this awareness, but its lack of an ethical frame renders it vulnerable to narcissistic appropriation and corporate commercialization. Accordingly, mindfulness is limited in disclosure, and counteracting, of the needless perpetuation of suffering associated with ego-building and defensive emotions, as manifest in contemporary expressions of sectarianism and fanaticism. The examination of antidotes to unreason and freedom is accomplished through a series of critical reflections upon the insights generated by Wright Mills’ The Sociological Imagination, Carol Hanisch’s “The Personal is Political,” and Freire’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed. These texts provide complementary commentaries on the development of progressive, emancipatory consciousness and praxis to which, I conjecture, meditation, as distinct from the mindfulness movement, contributes