Factors Related to School Involvement by Parents of Students with Learning Disabilities

The purpose of this study was to determine the factors related to a parent\u27s involvement in their child\u27s education. More specifically it addressed the factors related to the involvement by parents of children with learning disabilities. The subjects (n=52) were all parents of children with learning disabilities. All parents attending a convention sponsored by the Learning Disabilities Association of North Carolina were surveyed. A self-developed questionnaire was used for this research. 37% of the questionnaires were returned. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and a Pearson r. A significant correlation was found between teacher involvement and parental involvement (r= .33, p\u3c.05). The return rate was not high and this was a limitation in generalizing the results. A recommendation would be to use a larger population with subjects from several conventions

Modelling Virus Contact Mechanics under Atomic Force Imaging Conditions

In this paper we present a discrete model governing the deformation of a convex regular polygon subjected not to cross a given flat rigid surface, on which it initially lies in correspondence of one point only. First, we set up the model in the form of a set of variational inequalities posed over a non-empty, closed and convex subset of a suitable Euclidean space. Secondly, we show the existence and uniqueness of the solution. The model provides a simplified illustration of processes involved in virus imaging by atomic force microscopy: adhesion to a surface, distributed strain, relaxation to a shape that balances adhesion and elastic forces. The analysis of numerical simulations results based on this model opens a new way of estimating the contact area and elastic parameters in virus contact mechanics studies

The User\u27s Guide Project: Looking Back and Looking Forward

In 2014 Luke Wolcott created the User\u27s Guide Project, in which a group of algebraic topologists came together to write user\u27s guides to coincide with their research papers in hopes of making their research more accessible. We examine the role of this innovative project within the greater mathematics community. We discuss the structure and history of the project, its impact on the community, and its value to the participants of the project. We end by encouraging the math community to recognize the value of the project and expand the User\u27s Guide Project to other subfields

Investigation of a novel +ACA BRCA1 promoter polymorphism and its impact on the breast cancer susceptibility phenotype

We identified a +ACA BRCA1 promoter polymorphism located -600bp from the BRCA1 exon1a transcriptional start site. The +ACA insertion creates a consensus FAC1 transcriptional repressor binding site (AACAACAC). We determined the frequency of the +ACA allele in 1760 DNA samples from the general population and breast disease patients. We observed a significantly higher allelic frequency of the +ACA BRCA1 promoter in African-American cases (27%) compared to African-American controls (17%, P=0.0005), while no significant difference among Caucasian cases and controls were observed (34% versus 37%, P=0.50). Furthermore, we observed statistically significant reduction in functional activity in the +ACA polymorphic promoter in both the absence and presence of exogeneous FAC1 compared to the wild-type BRCA1 promoter. The results of the study enabled expansion of the two-hit model of breast cancer susceptibility to include a FAC1-mediated BRCA1 silencing in patients that carry the BRCA1 promoter polymorphism

Gout in a 15-year-old boy with juvenile idiopathic arthritis: A case study

Joint pain is a common complaint in pediatrics and is most often attributed to overuse or injury. In the face of persistent, severe, or recurrent symptoms, the differential typically expands to include bony or structural causes versus rheumatologic conditions. Rarely, a child has two distinct causes for joint pain. In this case, an obese 15-year-old male was diagnosed with gout, a disease common in adults but virtually ignored in the field of pediatrics. The presence of juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) complicated and delayed the consideration of this second diagnosis. Indeed, the absence of gout from this patient’s differential diagnosis resulted in a greater than two-year delay in receiving treatment. The patients’ BMI was 47.4, and he was also mis-diagnosed with osteochondritis dissecans and underwent medical treatment for JIA, assorted imaging studies, and multiple surgical procedures before the key history of increased pain with red meat ingestion, noticed by the patient, and a subsequent elevated uric acid confirmed his ultimate diagnosis. With the increased prevalence of obesity in the adolescent population, the diagnosis of gout should be an important consideration in the differential diagnosis for an arthritic joint in an overweight patient, regardless of age

Building a Resilient Coast. Climate Variability and Coastal Community Resilience: Developing and Testing a National Model of State-based Outreach

The Maine Sea Grant College Program, in partnership with the Oregon Sea Grant College Program, conducted a two-year NOAA-funded project: 1) to explore how climate variability and coastal hazards may be affecting our coastal regions and how these relate to coastal development in the two states; 2) to encourage and facilitate collaboration among and between decision makers and coastal property owners to determine and implement appropriate responses to climate variability on short and longer timescales; 3) to discover the barriers that targeted audiences in the states have to taking action to either prepare for or mitigate the effects of climate variability; and 4) to develop educational and informational materials and strategies concerning these issues. The ultimate goal of the project is to move behavior toward decisive action that results in coastal communities that are more resilient to climate variability at all scales. In Maine, two groups were targeted with these strategies and materials: coastal property owners (CPOs); and municipal elected and appointed officials, including local and regional planning agency personnel. For the purposes of this report, “coastal hazards” include shoreline erosion, sea-level rise, higher tides, increased storm severity, and coastal flooding. This technical report covers only the Maine component of the project