DEVELOPING A PROGRAM TO IMPROVE READING INSTRUCTION AND ACHIEVEMENT AT J. GLENN EDWARDS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

ABSTRACT Natalie P. Kelly, DEVELOPING A PROGRAM TO IMPROVE READING INSTRUCTION AND ACHIEVEMENT AT J. GLENN EDWARDS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL (Under the direction of Dr. William A. Rouse). Department of Educational Leadership, March 2019. The reading deficiencies of 21st century students in today’s classrooms are challenging our public school system and resulting in a national epidemic for the improvement of reading instruction and learning. Specifically at J. Glenn Edwards Elementary School (JGEES) in Lee County, NC the reading problem could not be ignored as the school was performing below the state and district averages. Therefore, this study was conducted to improve reading instruction and achievement at JGEES through the utilization of Improvement Science and the Plan, Do, Study, Act (PDSA) Cycle. The literature research and the stakeholder’s input led to the development and implementation of the E-Trifecta: Engaging, Encouraging, and Empowering, Reading Program at JGEES for the purpose of improving reading. The program consisted of high engagement techniques with technology integration and high yield exemplary best practice instructional strategies. The full implementation of the E-Trifecta Reading Program in grades three through five at JGEES resulted in improved reading achievement scores as evidenced by the 1.3% increase in third grade, the 0.2% increase in fourth grade, and the 2.7% increase in fifth grade, from October 2018, to January 2019. Furthermore, a comparison of the prior year assessment scores from January 2018, to the current year assessment scores of January 2019, revealed a greater increase in reading achievement with third grade improving 9.9%, fourth grade improving 3.6%, and fifth grade improving 4.5%. The study results indicated that the implementation of a reading program centralized on engagement, encouragement, and empowerment with the use of technology and high yield exemplary best practices will result in improved reading instruction and reading achievement scores

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

DEVELOPING A PROGRAM TO IMPROVE READING INSTRUCTION AND ACHIEVEMENT AT J. GLENN EDWARDS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

ABSTRACT Natalie P. Kelly , DEVELOPING A PROGRAM TO IMPROVE READING INSTRUCTION AND ACHIEVEMENT AT J. GLENN EDWARDS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL (Under the direction of Dr. William A. Rouse). Department of Educational Leadership , March 2019. The reading deficiencies of 21st century students in today's classrooms are challenging our public school system and resulting in a national epidemic for the improvement of reading instruction and learning. Specifically at J. Glenn Edwards Elementary School (JGEES) in Lee County , NC the reading problem could not be ignored as the school was performing below the state and district averages. Therefore , this study was conducted to improve reading instruction and achievement at JGEES through the utilization of Improvement Science and the Plan , Do , Study , Act (PDSA) Cycle. The literature research and the stakeholder's input led to the development and implementation of the E-Trifecta: Engaging , Encouraging , and Empowering , Reading Program at JGEES for the purpose of improving reading. The program consisted of high engagement techniques with technology integration and high yield exemplary best practice instructional strategies. The full implementation of the E-Trifecta Reading Program in grades three through five at JGEES resulted in improved reading achievement scores as evidenced by the 1.3% increase in third grade , the 0.2% increase in fourth grade , and the 2.7% increase in fifth grade , from October 2018 , to January 2019. Furthermore , a comparison of the prior year assessment scores from January 2018 , to the current year assessment scores of January 2019 , revealed a greater increase in reading achievement with third grade improving 9.9% , fourth grade improving 3.6% , and fifth grade improving 4.5%. The study results indicated that the implementation of a reading program centralized on engagement , encouragement , and empowerment with the use of technology and high yield exemplary best practices will result in improved reading instruction and reading achievement scores

Effects of rare kidney diseases on kidney failure: a longitudinal analysis of the UK National Registry of Rare Kidney Diseases (RaDaR) cohort

Individuals with rare kidney diseases account for 5-10% of people with chronic kidney disease, but constitute more than 25% of patients receiving kidney replacement therapy. The National Registry of Rare Kidney Diseases (RaDaR) gathers longitudinal data from patients with these conditions, which we used to study disease progression and outcomes of death and kidney failure.People aged 0-96 years living with 28 types of rare kidney diseases were recruited from 108 UK renal care facilities. The primary outcomes were cumulative incidence of mortality and kidney failure in individuals with rare kidney diseases, which were calculated and compared with that of unselected patients with chronic kidney disease. Cumulative incidence and Kaplan-Meier survival estimates were calculated for the following outcomes: median age at kidney failure; median age at death; time from start of dialysis to death; and time from diagnosis to estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) thresholds, allowing calculation of time from last eGFR of 75 mL/min per 1·73 m2 or more to first eGFR of less than 30 mL/min per 1·73 m2 (the therapeutic trial window).Between Jan 18, 2010, and July 25, 2022, 27 285 participants were recruited to RaDaR. Median follow-up time from diagnosis was 9·6 years (IQR 5·9-16·7). RaDaR participants had significantly higher 5-year cumulative incidence of kidney failure than 2·81 million UK patients with all-cause chronic kidney disease (28% vs 1%; p Background Methods Findings Interpretation Funding</p

Health-status outcomes with invasive or conservative care in coronary disease

BACKGROUND In the ISCHEMIA trial, an invasive strategy with angiographic assessment and revascularization did not reduce clinical events among patients with stable ischemic heart disease and moderate or severe ischemia. A secondary objective of the trial was to assess angina-related health status among these patients. METHODS We assessed angina-related symptoms, function, and quality of life with the Seattle Angina Questionnaire (SAQ) at randomization, at months 1.5, 3, and 6, and every 6 months thereafter in participants who had been randomly assigned to an invasive treatment strategy (2295 participants) or a conservative strategy (2322). Mixed-effects cumulative probability models within a Bayesian framework were used to estimate differences between the treatment groups. The primary outcome of this health-status analysis was the SAQ summary score (scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating better health status). All analyses were performed in the overall population and according to baseline angina frequency. RESULTS At baseline, 35% of patients reported having no angina in the previous month. SAQ summary scores increased in both treatment groups, with increases at 3, 12, and 36 months that were 4.1 points (95% credible interval, 3.2 to 5.0), 4.2 points (95% credible interval, 3.3 to 5.1), and 2.9 points (95% credible interval, 2.2 to 3.7) higher with the invasive strategy than with the conservative strategy. Differences were larger among participants who had more frequent angina at baseline (8.5 vs. 0.1 points at 3 months and 5.3 vs. 1.2 points at 36 months among participants with daily or weekly angina as compared with no angina). CONCLUSIONS In the overall trial population with moderate or severe ischemia, which included 35% of participants without angina at baseline, patients randomly assigned to the invasive strategy had greater improvement in angina-related health status than those assigned to the conservative strategy. The modest mean differences favoring the invasive strategy in the overall group reflected minimal differences among asymptomatic patients and larger differences among patients who had had angina at baseline

Initial invasive or conservative strategy for stable coronary disease

BACKGROUND Among patients with stable coronary disease and moderate or severe ischemia, whether clinical outcomes are better in those who receive an invasive intervention plus medical therapy than in those who receive medical therapy alone is uncertain. METHODS We randomly assigned 5179 patients with moderate or severe ischemia to an initial invasive strategy (angiography and revascularization when feasible) and medical therapy or to an initial conservative strategy of medical therapy alone and angiography if medical therapy failed. The primary outcome was a composite of death from cardiovascular causes, myocardial infarction, or hospitalization for unstable angina, heart failure, or resuscitated cardiac arrest. A key secondary outcome was death from cardiovascular causes or myocardial infarction. RESULTS Over a median of 3.2 years, 318 primary outcome events occurred in the invasive-strategy group and 352 occurred in the conservative-strategy group. At 6 months, the cumulative event rate was 5.3% in the invasive-strategy group and 3.4% in the conservative-strategy group (difference, 1.9 percentage points; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.8 to 3.0); at 5 years, the cumulative event rate was 16.4% and 18.2%, respectively (difference, 121.8 percentage points; 95% CI, 124.7 to 1.0). Results were similar with respect to the key secondary outcome. The incidence of the primary outcome was sensitive to the definition of myocardial infarction; a secondary analysis yielded more procedural myocardial infarctions of uncertain clinical importance. There were 145 deaths in the invasive-strategy group and 144 deaths in the conservative-strategy group (hazard ratio, 1.05; 95% CI, 0.83 to 1.32). CONCLUSIONS Among patients with stable coronary disease and moderate or severe ischemia, we did not find evidence that an initial invasive strategy, as compared with an initial conservative strategy, reduced the risk of ischemic cardiovascular events or death from any cause over a median of 3.2 years. The trial findings were sensitive to the definition of myocardial infarction that was used

Teaching Bioeconomics

Bioeconomics is a relatively young field that uses an expanded microeconomics to examine animal behavior, human behavior, and animal and human social institutions. A voluminous literature is rapidly accumulating. There are as yet no standard textbooks, but there are several excellent books and/or articles that can be used in combination with videos and other aids to make a course that students will enjoy and that teachers can use to advance the frontiers of scholarship in economics and biology. Copyright Springer 2005altruism, conflict, cooperation, evolution, game theory, institutions, rationality,