The Effect of Explicit Vocabulary Instruction Through Read Alouds on Spanish-speaking Kindergartners\u27 Word Acquisition

The purpose of this research study is to examine the effect of explicit vocabulary instruction through read alouds on Spanish-speaking kindergartners\u27 word meaning acquisition. Research indicates robust vocabulary instruction is essential in early grades to narrow the gap between disadvantaged children and their privileged peers who typically start school with more extensive vocabularies and cumulative language experience (Hart & Risley, 1995). Numerous studies (Beck & McKeown, 2007; Coyne, McCoach & Kapp, 2007; Biemiller & Boote, 2006; Zipoli, Coyne, & McCoach, 2011) have reported on the success of various vocabulary-building strategies for early grades, including direct word meaning instruction paired with repeated readings and supplementary word reviews. The present four-week study was conducted in a low-income urban charter school in which approximately 50% of students are classified as English Language Learners (ELL). Eighteen Spanish-speaking kindergartners participated in the study. Four children\u27s books were read, and eight target words from each story were identified. Half of the target word meanings were explicitly taught to participants, whereas they were incidentally exposed to the remaining half of the target words. Information was gathered at pretest and posttest on the students\u27 knowledge of the 32 target words: 16 taught words and 16 untaught words. Pretest and posttest results were compared to determine each participant\u27s vocabulary growth. Results indicate that explicit vocabulary instruction involving repeated readings of children\u27s books and meaningful extension activities and word reviews can produce vocabulary growth among kindergartners

Adaptive Admission Control in Interference-Coupled Wireless Data Networks: A Planning and Optimization Tool Set

Abstract-Typically, wireless network performance decreases in high traf c regimes, e. g., at traf c hot spots and peak hours, since a large number of active users have to share limited radio resources. From a network perspective, even congestion may occur in some cells, which may lead to drastic deterioration of user throughputs. As a consequence, network operators employ admission control in their base stations in order to prevent congestion and enhance quality of experience. In this paper, we develop an effective network planning and optimization tool set, which considers the dynamic behavior of mobile traf c. The tool set allows for a more accurate prediction of data request blocking probabilities and data throughputs under admission control, since it explicitly considers the inter-cell interference coupled nature of frequency reuse one networks. This enables more reliable planning and (self-) optimization of wireless networks. We prove utility by applying the tool set to a traf c-adaptive admission control scheme and compare the resulting network performance with that of static admission control schemes under demands of high mobile data traf c. We nd that the adaptive algorithm is able to exploit the trade-offs between blocking of requests, reduced interference, and guaranteed resources for individual data transmissions in each of the cells. Under high traf c conditions, it yields better performance compared to any other static scheme investigated

Functional analysis of Arabidopsis WRKY25 transcription factor in plant defense against Pseudomonas syringae

BACKGROUND: A common feature of plant defense responses is the transcriptional regulation of a large number of genes upon pathogen infection or treatment with pathogen elicitors. A large body of evidence suggests that plant WRKY transcription factors are involved in plant defense including transcriptional regulation of plant host genes in response to pathogen infection. However, there is only limited information about the roles of specific WRKY DNA-binding transcription factors in plant defense. RESULTS: We analyzed the role of the WRKY25 transcription factor from Arabidopsis in plant defense against the bacterial pathogen Pseudomonas syringae. WRKY25 protein recognizes the TTGACC W-box sequences and its translational fusion with green fluorescent protein is localized to the nucleus. WRKY25 expression is responsive to general environmental stress. Analysis of stress-induced WRKY25 in the defense signaling mutants npr1, sid2, ein2 and coi1 further indicated that this gene is positively regulated by the salicylic acid (SA) signaling pathway and negatively regulated by the jasmonic acid signaling pathway. Two independent T-DNA insertion mutants for WRKY25 supported normal growth of a virulent strain of P. syringae but developed reduced disease symptoms after infection. By contrast, Arabidopsis constitutively overexpressing WRKY25 supported enhanced growth of P. syringae and displayed increased disease symptom severity as compared to wild-type plants. These WRKY25-overexpressing plants also displayed reduced expression of the SA-regulated PR1 gene after the pathogen infection, despite normal levels of free SA. CONCLUSION: The nuclear localization and sequence-specific DNA-binding activity support that WRKY25 functions as a transcription factor. Based on analysis of both T-DNA insertion mutants and transgenic overexpression lines, stress-induced WRKY25 functions as a negative regulator of SA-mediated defense responses to P. syringae. This proposed role is consistent with the recent finding that WRKY25 is a substrate of Arabidopsis MAP kinase 4, a repressor of SA-dependent defense responses

Flexible Power Modeling of LTE Base Stations

With the explosion of wireless communications in number of users and data rates, the reduction of network power consumption becomes more and more critical. This is especially true for base stations which represent a dominant share of the total power in cellular networks. In order to study power reduction techniques, a convenient power model is required, providing estimates of the power consumption in different scenarios. This paper proposes such a model, accurate but simple to use. It evaluates the base station power consumption for different types of cells supporting the 3GPP LTE standard. It is flexible enough to enable comparisons between state-of-the-art and advanced configurations, and an easy adaptation to various scenarios. The model is based on a combination of base station components and sub-components as well as power scaling rules as functions of the main system parameters

Reference Network and Localization Architecture for Smart Manufacturing based on 5G

5G promises to shift Industry 4.0 to the next level by allowing flexible production. However, many communication standards are used throughout a production site, which will stay so in the foreseeable future. Furthermore, localization of assets will be equally valuable in order to get to a higher level of automation. This paper proposes a reference architecture for a convergent localization and communication network for smart manufacturing that combines 5G with other existing technologies and focuses on high-mix low-volume application, in particular at small and medium-sized enterprises. The architecture is derived from a set of functional requirements, and we describe different views on this architecture to show how the requirements can be fulfilled. It connects private and public mobile networks with local networking technologies to achieve a flexible setup addressing many industrial use cases.Comment: 10 pages; submitted to 6th International Conference on System-Integrated Intelligence. Intelligent, flexible and connected systems in products and production, 7-9 September Genova, Ital