Social Capital and Educational Attainment: A Study of Undergraduates in a Faculty of Education

This research examines the effects of social capital on the development of knowledge, skills, and attitudes among a sample of undergraduate university students. A theoretical model containing 14 variables including university and social background, social capital, time management, and educational attainment is presented. The data obtained from questionnaires completed by 269 undergraduate students in the Faculty of Education at a western Canadian university are used to test the model. Structural equation modeling tests the relationships among the variables. The results indicate that when other variables are taken into account, students' perceptions of social capital resources have direct and indirect effects on their developing self-concepts and their educational achievement. Students' perceptions of support, specifically support derived from interactions with other students, are an important resource that relates positively to their academic self-concepts and their grades.Cette recherche étudie les effets du capital social sur le développement de connaissances, d'habiletés et d'attitudes d'un échantillon d'étudiants du premier cycle. Dans cet article, les auteurs présentent un modèle théorique compose de 14 variables dont la formation universitaire, le contexte social, le capital social, la gestion du temps et le niveau de connaissance. Ce modèle est mis à I’ épreuve par les résultats des questionnaires complétés par 269 étudiants du premier cycle à la faculté d'éducation d'une université dans l'Ouest du Canada. On a teste les rapports entre les variables par le biais de la modélisation par équation structurelle. Les résultats indiquent que, lorsqu'on tient compte d'autres variables, les perceptions qu'ont les étudiants des ressources de capital social agissent directement et indirectement sur le développement de leur concept de soi et sur leur niveau de connaissance. Les perceptions des étudiants sur l'appui, surtout celui découlant de leur contact avec d'autres étudiants, constituent une ressource importance qui a une influence positive sur leur concept de soi et sur leurs notes

School Resources and the Academic Achievement of Canadian Students

This study estimates the impact of schools’ physical resources and teachers’ academic press on students’ academic achievement in mathematics and reading when a number of important student variables are controlled. Academic press is defined as teachers' emphasis on academic excellence and upholding academic standards (McDill, Natriello, & Pallas, 1986). It is often argued that both school and teacher resources affect the educational achievement of students. But, the research literature has been inconsistent, which may be due to methodological issues. For this reason, this study attempts to correct two of the most important issues by using Canadian national data and multi-level modeling. The results reveal that, in Canada, at least, the physical resources and academic press evaluated by school principals do not significantly affect students’ achievement in mathematics and reading. Cette étude évalue l’impact des ressources physiques des écoles et la rigueur académique des enseignants sur le rendement académique des élèves en mathématiques et en lecture lorsqu’on contrôle un certain nombre de variables importants chez les élèves. On définit la rigueur académique comme l’importance que les enseignants accordent à l’excellence académique et le maintien de normes académiques (McDill, Natriello, & Pallas, 1986). On soutient souvent que tant les ressources de l’école que celles des enseignants jouent un rôle dans le rendement académique des élèves. Les publications de recherche, par contre, sont contradictoires, peut-être en raison de problèmes méthodologiques. Cette étude tente donc de rectifier deux des problèmes les plus importants en employant des données nationales canadiennes et le modelage multiniveau. Les résultats indiquent qu’au Canada du moins, les ressources physiques et la rigueur académique telles qu’évaluées par les directeurs d’école n’affectent pas de façon significative le rendement des élèves en mathématiques et en lecture

Time Use and Educational Attainment: A Study of Undergraduate Students

This research examines the effects of students' time use in academically related activities and paid employment on their educational attainment. A theoretical model containing fourteen background, social psychological, time use, and educational attainment variables was formulated. The data were obtained from questionnaires administered to 308 undergraduate students in the Faculty of Education at a Western Canadian University. A stratified random cluster sampling procedure was used to select classes of students. Structural equation modelling is used to test the relationships among the variables. Results indicate that when other variables are taken into account, the time students spend in academically related activities and paid employment has little effect on their educational achievement and their educational expectations.Cette recherche examine les effets de la répartition du temps d'étude et du temps alloué à un emploi sur le succès académique des étudiants. Un modèle théorique comportant quatorze variables de type général, socio-psychologique, d'utilisation du temps, et portant sur les résultats de l'expérience éducative, a été développé. Les données ont été obtenues d'une enquête effectuée auprès de 308 étudiants non diplômés de la faculté d'éducation d'une université canadienne. Une méthode d'échantillonnage stratifié par groupe a été utilisée pour sélectionner les groupes-cibles d'étudiants. Une modélisation par équation structurale a été effectuée pour analyser les résultats. Ils indiquent, qu'une fois l'effet des autres variables pris en compte, le temps dédié aux activités académiques et à un emploi rémunéré a peu d'impact sur le succès académique des étudiants et sur leurs attentes en matière de formation

Vestiges of the Phoenix: De Quincey, Kant and the Heavens

© Edinburgh University Press, 2011publication-status: Accepte

Isolation of laminin by affinity chromatography on immobilized Griffonia simplicifolia I lectin

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/23955/1/0000202.pd

Crop Updates 2007 - Cereals

This session covers twenty six papers from different authors: CEREAL BREEDING 1. Strategies for aligning producer and market imperatives in cereal breeding in Western Australia, R. Loughman, R. Lance, I. Barclay, G. Crosbie, S. Harasymow, W. Lambe, C. Li, R. McLean, C. Moore, K. Stefanova, A. Tarr and R. Wilson, Department of Agriculture and Food 2. LongReach plant breeders wheat variety trials – 2006, Matu Peipi and Matt Whiting, LongReach Plant Breeders WHEAT AGRONOMY 3. Response of wheat varieties to sowing time in the northern agricultural region in 2006, Christine Zaicou, Department of Agriculture and Food 4. Response of wheat varieties to sowing time in the central agricultural region in 2006, Shahajahan Miyan, Department of Agriculture and Food 5. Response of wheat varieties to sowing time in the Great Southern and Lakes region, Brenda Shackleyand Ian Hartley, Department of Agriculture and Food 6. Response of wheat varieties to time of sowing time in Esperance region in 2006, Christine Zaicou, Ben Curtis and Ian Hartley, Department of Agriculture and Food 7. Performance of wheat varieties in National Variety Testing (NVT) WA: Year 2, Peter Burgess, Agritech Crop Research 8. Flowering dates of wheat varieties in Western Australia in 2006, Darshan Sharma, Brenda Shackley and Christine Zaicou, Department of Agriculture and Food 9. Prospects for perennial wheat: A feasibility study, Len J. Wade, Lindsay W. Bell, Felicity Byrne (nee Flugge) and Mike A. Ewing, School of Plant Biology and CRC for Plant-based Management of Dryland Salinity, The University of Western Australia BARLEY AGRONOMY 10. Barley agronomy highlights: Time of sowing x variety, Blakely Paynter and Andrea Hills, Department of Agriculture and Food 11. Barley agronomy highlights: Weeds and row spacing, Blakely Paynter and Andrea Hills, Department of Agriculture and Food 12. Barley agronomy highlights: Weeds and barley variety, Blakely Paynter and Andrea Hills, Department of Agriculture and Food OAT AGRONOMY 13. Agronomic performance of dwarf potential milling oat varieties in varied environments of WA, Raj Malik, Blakely Paynter and Kellie Winfield, Department of Agriculture and Food 14. Sourcing oat production information in 2007, Kellie Winfield, Department of Agriculture and Food HERBICIDE TOLERANCE 15. Response of new wheat varieties to herbicides, Harmohinder Dhammu, Department of Agriculture and Food 16. Herbicide tolerance of new barley varieties, Harmohinder Dhammu, Vince Lambert and Chris Roberts, Department of Agriculture and Food 17. Herbicide tolerance of new oat varieties, Harmohinder Dhammu, Vince Lambert and Chris Roberts, Department of Agriculture and Food NUTRITION 18. Nitrogen Decision Tools – choose your weapon, Jeremy Lemon, Department of Agriculture and Food DISEASES 19. Barley agronomy highlights: Canopy management, Andrea Hills and Blakely Paynter, Department of Agriculture and Food 20. Barley agronomy highlights: Leaf diseases and spots, Andrea Hills and Blakely Paynter, Department of Agriculture and Food 21. Fungicide applications for stripe rust management in adult plant resistant (APR) wheat varieties, Geoff Thomas, Rob Loughman, Ian Hartley and Andrew Taylor; Department of Agriculture and Food 22. Effect of seed treatment with Jockey on time of onset and disease severity of stripe rust in wheat, Manisha Shankar, John Majewski and Rob Loughman, Department of Agriculture and Food 23. Rotations for management of Cereal Cyst Nematode, Vivien Vanstone, Department of Agriculture and Food 24. Occurrence of Wheat Streak Mosaic Virus in Western Australian grainbelt during the 2006 growing season, Brenda Coutts, Monica Kehoe and Roger Jones, Department of Agriculture and Food 25. Development of a seed test for Wheat Streak Mosaic Virus in bulk samples of wheat, Geoffrey Dwyer, Belinda Welsh, Cuiping Wang and Roger Jones, Department of Agriculture and Food MARKETS 26. Developing the Australian barley value chain, Linda Price, Barley Australi

Infidelity of SARS-CoV Nsp14-Exonuclease Mutant Virus Replication Is Revealed by Complete Genome Sequencing

Most RNA viruses lack the mechanisms to recognize and correct mutations that arise during genome replication, resulting in quasispecies diversity that is required for pathogenesis and adaptation. However, it is not known how viruses encoding large viral RNA genomes such as the Coronaviridae (26 to 32 kb) balance the requirements for genome stability and quasispecies diversity. Further, the limits of replication infidelity during replication of large RNA genomes and how decreased fidelity impacts virus fitness over time are not known. Our previous work demonstrated that genetic inactivation of the coronavirus exoribonuclease (ExoN) in nonstructural protein 14 (nsp14) of murine hepatitis virus results in a 15-fold decrease in replication fidelity. However, it is not known whether nsp14-ExoN is required for replication fidelity of all coronaviruses, nor the impact of decreased fidelity on genome diversity and fitness during replication and passage. We report here the engineering and recovery of nsp14-ExoN mutant viruses of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) that have stable growth defects and demonstrate a 21-fold increase in mutation frequency during replication in culture. Analysis of complete genome sequences from SARS-ExoN mutant viral clones revealed unique mutation sets in every genome examined from the same round of replication and a total of 100 unique mutations across the genome. Using novel bioinformatic tools and deep sequencing across the full-length genome following 10 population passages in vitro, we demonstrate retention of ExoN mutations and continued increased diversity and mutational load compared to wild-type SARS-CoV. The results define a novel genetic and bioinformatics model for introduction and identification of multi-allelic mutations in replication competent viruses that will be powerful tools for testing the effects of decreased fidelity and increased quasispecies diversity on viral replication, pathogenesis, and evolution

Community Analysis of Chronic Wound Bacteria Using 16S rRNA Gene-Based Pyrosequencing: Impact of Diabetes and Antibiotics on Chronic Wound Microbiota

Background: Bacterial colonization is hypothesized to play a pathogenic role in the non-healing state of chronic wounds. We characterized wound bacteria from a cohort of chronic wound patients using a 16S rRNA gene-based pyrosequencing approach and assessed the impact of diabetes and antibiotics on chronic wound microbiota. Methodology/Principal Findings: We prospectively enrolled 24 patients at a referral wound center in Baltimore, MD; sampled patients' wounds by curette; cultured samples under aerobic and anaerobic conditions; and pyrosequenced the 16S rRNA V3 hypervariable region. The 16S rRNA gene-based analyses revealed an average of 10 different bacterial families in wounds-approximately 4 times more than estimated by culture-based analyses. Fastidious anaerobic bacteria belonging to the Clostridiales family XI were among the most prevalent bacteria identified exclusively by 16S rRNA gene-based analyses. Community-scale analyses showed that wound microbiota from antibiotic treated patients were significantly different from untreated patients (p = 0.007) and were characterized by increased Pseudomonadaceae abundance. These analyses also revealed that antibiotic use was associated with decreased Streptococcaceae among diabetics and that Streptococcaceae was more abundant among diabetics as compared to non-diabetics. Conclusions/Significance: The 16S rRNA gene-based analyses revealed complex bacterial communities including anaerobic bacteria that may play causative roles in the non-healing state of some chronic wounds. Our data suggest that antimicrobial therapy alters community structure-reducing some bacteria while selecting for others

SARS-CoV-2 RNA detected in blood products from patients with COVID-19 is not associated with infectious virus

Background: Laboratory diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 infection (the cause of COVID-19) uses PCR to detect viral RNA (vRNA) in respiratory samples. SARS-CoV-2 RNA has also been detected in other sample types, but there is limited understanding of the clinical or laboratory significance of its detection in blood. Methods: We undertook a systematic literature review to assimilate the evidence for the frequency of vRNA in blood, and to identify associated clinical characteristics. We performed RT-PCR in serum samples from a UK clinical cohort of acute and convalescent COVID-19 cases (n=212), together with convalescent plasma samples collected by NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) (n=462 additional samples). To determine whether PCR-positive blood samples could pose an infection risk, we attempted virus isolation from a subset of RNA-positive samples. Results: We identified 28 relevant studies, reporting SARS-CoV-2 RNA in 0-76% of blood samples; pooled estimate 10% (95%CI 5-18%). Among serum samples from our clinical cohort, 27/212 (12.7%) had SARS-CoV-2 RNA detected by RT-PCR. RNA detection occurred in samples up to day 20 post symptom onset, and was associated with more severe disease (multivariable odds ratio 7.5). Across all samples collected ≥28 days post symptom onset, 0/494 (0%, 95%CI 0-0.7%) had vRNA detected. Among our PCR-positive samples, cycle threshold (ct) values were high (range 33.5-44.8), suggesting low vRNA copy numbers. PCR-positive sera inoculated into cell culture did not produce any cytopathic effect or yield an increase in detectable SARS-CoV-2 RNA. Conclusions: vRNA was detectable at low viral loads in a minority of serum samples collected in acute infection, but was not associated with infectious SARS-CoV-2 (within the limitations of the assays used). This work helps to inform biosafety precautions for handling blood products from patients with current or previous COVID-19