Constructs Unique To Two Volusia County Elementary Writing Programs

This case study sought to examine constructs of two fourth-grade elementary writing programs in Volusia County, Florida. With only the Sunshine State Standards as a guide, each district, school, or teacher must design a writing curriculum that addresses those standards, develops writers, and provides accountability. Fourth-grade classrooms were selected because students at that grade level are required to participate in the FCAT Writing +, a two-day state assessemnt that requires students to compose an essay on a designated topic within a 45-minute period. A second part of the assessment consists of multiple-choice items covering editing and revising, graphic organizers, and letter writing. Both sections of this assessment measure student progress relative to the Sunshine State Standards\u27 benchmarks for writing. Data was collected through multiple sources. An observation instrument, based in part on Karen Bromley\u27s Key Components of Sound Writing Instruction, was constructed. Survey, focus group, and interview questions were derived in part from a survey Dr. Roger Brindley and Dr. Jenifer Jasinski Schneider created to study fourth-grade teachers\u27 perspectives on teaching writing. Writing artifacts were also collected. Karen Bromley suggested five elements to address both process and product that are necessary for a balanced approach to writing. They are; Standards and Assessment, Large Blocks of Time, Direct Instruction, Choice and Authenticity, and Writing Across the Curriculum. Findings revealed that although both schools subscribed to different methods and materials for writing instruction, similarities were revealed with consideration to these components. Current test scores validated these practices. Implications for further study and investigation based on these findings ensures the advancement of the body of knowledge about writing instruction

Spiritual Formation in the Graduate School of Clinical Psychology at George Fox University

At its inception, the training model in the Graduate School of Clinical Psychology (GSCP) at George Fox University was informed by the approach inaugurated at Fuller Theological Seminary School of Psychology in the 1960s. In the original model, training in Christian religion/spirituality and theology accompanied training in professional psychology. In the interim, our culture, psychological knowledge, perceived psychological needs, and training programs have changed greatly. Here we report changes in religion/spirituality (RIS) training and integration over the last two decades. We describe our current spiritual formation structure and process, and program evaluation efforts. Over the past several years the GSCP has shifted from relying mainly on a cognitive approach involving Bible and theology courses (theoretical-conceptual integration) toward a more personal-experiential approach that includes team teaching of the theology and religion courses, an individualized spiritual direction experience spread over two years, and more intentional integration of RIS and spiritual formation components throughout the program. We anticipate this may be an ongoing area for further development in coming years as we seek to meet the needs of a changing student body with greater RIS diversity and largely postmodern worldviews

The relationship between alignment, function and loading in total knee replacement : in-vivo analysis of a unique patient population

The purpose of this study was to quantify the effect of total knee replacement (TKR) alignment on in-vivo knee function and loading in a unique patient cohort who have been identified as having a high rate of component mal-alignment. Post-TKR (82.4 ± 6.7 months), gait analysis was performed on 25 patients (27 knees), to calculate knee kinematics and kinetics. For a step activity, video fluoroscopic analysis quantified in-vivo implant kinematics. Frontal plane lower-limb alignment was defined by the Hip-Knee-Ankle angle (HKA) measured on long leg static X-rays. Transverse plane component rotation was calculated from computed tomography scans. Sagittal plane alignment was defined by measuring the flexion angle of the femoral component and the posterior tibial slope angle (PTSA). For gait analysis, a more varus HKA correlated with increased peak and dynamic joint kinetics, predicting 47.6% of Knee Adduction Angular Impulse variance. For the step activity, during step-up and single leg loaded, higher PTSA correlated with a posterior shift in medial compartment Anterior-Posterior (AP) translation. During step-down, higher PTSA correlated with reduced lateral compartment AP translation with a posterior shift in AP translation in both compartments. A more varus HKA correlated with a more posterior medial AP translation and inter-component rotation was related to transverse plan range of motion. This in-vivo study found that frontal plane lower-limb alignment had a significant effect on joint forces during gait but had minimal influence on in-vivo implant kinematics for step activity. PTSA was found to influence in-vivo TKR translations and is therefore an important surgical factor

Reproductive factors, age at maximum height, and risk of three histologic types of breast cancer.

Numerous studies have evaluated the association between factors related to maturation and reproduction and breast cancer risk, but few have assessed how these factors are related to different histologic types of breast cancer among postmenopausal women. We used polytomous logistic regression to assess the effect of age at maximum height and reproductive factors on risk of invasive breast cancer by histologic type in three case groups (524 ductal, 324 lobular, and 196 ductal-lobular) and 469 controls enrolled in a population-based case-control study of women ages 55 to 74 years residing in the Seattle-Puget Sound region of Washington State (2000-2004). Histologic type was determined by a centralized tissue review for 83% of cases. Age at menarche and age at maximum height were inversely associated with risk of ductal-lobular carcinoma (P(trend) = 0.04 for both exposures) but not ductal or lobular carcinoma. Relative to nulliparous women, parous women had a 50% reduced risk of all histologic types of breast cancer. We observed similar increases in risk across histologic types associated with having a first live birth at ages > or = 30 years compared with ages < or = 19 years. Compared with parous women who never breast-fed, those who breast-fed had a reduced risk of ductal carcinoma (odds ratio, 0.7; 95% confidence interval, 0.5-0.9) but not lobular or ductal-lobular carcinoma. Further exploration of breast cancer risk by histology is merited to understand differences in the etiology of ductal, lobular, and ductal-lobular carcinoma

Numerical modelling of a steam methane reformer

Steam methane reformers are used in industry to convert methane (natural gas) and steam into hydrogen and carbon monoxide. The reformers consist of long pipes filled with catalyst pellets, heated by external burners. Previous researchers have conducted experiments to understand the behaviour of these reformers. Small scale experiments focussed on the reaction kinetics [Xu and Froment, AlChE 35:88--96, 1989). Industrial scale experiments found the effect of diffusional resistance on the reaction rate [Xu and Froment, AlChE 35:97--103, 1989]. From the experiments, a model was created to predict the behaviour of an industrial scale reactor. This model was solved numerically. The model incorporates heat, mass and momentum transfer to describe the temperature, composition and pressure along the reactor. A series of differential equations were solved in order to describe the reformer at each length segment. Within each segment another series of differential and algebraic equations must be solved to describe the diffusion and reaction behaviour inside the catalyst pores. The numerical model has been replicated in Python. It shows the behaviour of a reformer and the computation time is short enough to be useful in an industrial setting. An open source thermodynamics package was used to calculate various physical properties of the reacting gasses. SciPy mathematical algorithms and functions were used in this replicated model. After finishing the model, it will be regressed against data from a working reformer. Many parameters will be adjusted to ensure the model is an accurate representation. References G.F. Froment, K.B. Bischoff, and J. De Wilde. Chemical Reactor Analysis and Design, 3rd Edition. John Wiley and Sons, Incorporated, 2010. URL: https://books.google.co.nz/books?id=lbQbAAAAQBAJ. David G. Goodwin, Harry K. Moffat, and Raymond L. Speth. Cantera: An object-oriented software toolkit for chemical kinetics, thermodynamics, and transport processes. http://www.cantera.org, 2017. Version 2.3.0. R. E. Hicks. Pressure drop in packed beds of spheres. Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Fundamentals, 9(3):500&ndash;502, 1970. doi:10.1021/i160035a032. Liangfeng Lao, Andres Aguirre, Anh Tran, Zhe Wu, Helen Durand, and Panagiotis D. Christofides. Cfd modeling and control of a steam methane reforming reactor. Chemical Engineering Science, 148:78 &ndash; 92, 2016. doi:10.1016/j.ces.2016.03.038. Dean A. Latham, Kimberley B. McAuley, Brant A. Peppley, and Troy M. Raybold. Mathematical modeling of an industrial steam-methane reformer for on-line deployment. Fuel Processing Technology, 92(8):1574 &ndash; 1586, 2011. doi:10.1016/j.fuproc.2011.04.001. Jae Seong Lee, Juhyeong Seo, Ho Young Kim, Jin Taek Chung, and Sam S. Yoon. Effects of combustion parameters on reforming performance of a steam–methane reformer. Fuel, 111:461 &ndash; 471, 2013. doi:0.1016/j.fuel.2013.04.078. Jianguo Xu and Gilbert F. Froment. Methane steam reforming: Ii. diffusional limitations and reactor simulation. AIChE Journal, 35(1):97&ndash;103, 1989. doi:10.1002/aic.690350110. Jianguo Xu and Gilbert F. Froment. Methane steam reforming, methanation and water-gas shift: I. intrinsic kinetics. AIChE Journal, 35(1):88&ndash;96, 1989. doi:10.1002/aic.690350109. Alice Young, Sam Henderson, Liam Buchanan, Daniel Hall, and Catherine Bishop. Failure of commercial extruded catalysts in simple compression and bulk thermal cycling. International Journal of Applied Ceramic Technology, 15(1):74&ndash;88, 2018. doi:10.1111/ijac.12788