A Linguistic Approach to Gender Bias in Student Evaluations of Teachers

Few people would deny that discrimination occurs in American society today. In spite of extensive national and local legislation intended to safeguard the rights of every individual, discrimination still exists although, of necessity, it is more insidious, often to the point of invisibility to all but those directly affected by it. Many groups of people experience discrimination in their everyday lives--Blacks, Hispanics, Vietnamese, physically handicapped persons, and the elderly--to name just a few. Another segment of our society, women, also experience discrimination

Links Between Screen Time, Montessori Preschool Exposure, and Working Memory

A high-quality, foundational education offers lifelong benefits for young children. The problem is that working memory in pre-school-aged children is declining and could be impaired by the extraneous cognitive load imposed during engagement with screen media apps and/or preschool programs. Although the pedagogical practices associated with Montessori preschool programs have been found supportive of cognitive load germane to learning and improved working memory, they have not been fully considered in relation to preschoolers\u27 screen media use. The cognitive load created by screen media apps could affect their usefulness as learning tools. The purpose of this quantitative study was to discover any links between preschoolers’ working memory function; passive, active and/or total screen time; and Montessori preschool program exposure. The study was conducted through the lenses of the executive function construct and cognitive load theory. Data on children’s working memory and screen time were collected from a convenience sample of 60 parents: 30 Montessori, and 30 non-Montessori. Parents completed a one-time administration of BRIEF-P and Screen Time Questionnaires on behalf of their child. Findings from multiple regression analysis indicated no link between Montessori preschool exposure or parent-controlled total, passive, or active screen time; and young children’s working memory, although a significant inverse relationship was found between active screen time and Montessori exposure. The results could inform virtual and hands-on pedagogical protocols that support working memory and improve pre-school-aged children’s learning and preparation for life. Each incidence of successful learning for a precious young child is a positive social change

Links Between Screen Tim, Montessori Preschool Exposure, and Working Memory

A high-quality, foundational education offers lifelong benefits for young children. The problem is that working memory in pre-school-aged children is declining and could be impaired by the extraneous cognitive load imposed during engagement with screen media apps and/or preschool programs. Although the pedagogical practices associated with Montessori preschool programs have been found supportive of cognitive load germane to learning and improved working memory, they have not been fully considered in relation to preschoolers\u27 screen media use. The cognitive load created by screen media apps could affect their usefulness as learning tools. The purpose of this quantitative study was to discover any links between preschoolers’ working memory function; passive, active and/or total screen time; and Montessori preschool program exposure. The study was conducted through the lenses of the executive function construct and cognitive load theory. Data on children’s working memory and screen time were collected from a convenience sample of 60 parents: 30 Montessori, and 30 non-Montessori. Parents completed a one-time administration of BRIEF-P and Screen Time Questionnaires on behalf of their child. Findings from multiple regression analysis indicated no link between Montessori preschool exposure or parent-controlled total, passive, or active screen time; and young children’s working memory, although a significant inverse relationship was found between active screen time and Montessori exposure. The results could inform virtual and hands-on pedagogical protocols that support working memory and improve pre-school-aged children’s learning and preparation for life. Each incidence of successful learning for a precious young child is a positive social change

Links Between Screen Tim, Montessori Preschool Exposure, and Working Memory

A high-quality, foundational education offers lifelong benefits for young children. The problem is that working memory in pre-school-aged children is declining and could be impaired by the extraneous cognitive load imposed during engagement with screen media apps and/or preschool programs. Although the pedagogical practices associated with Montessori preschool programs have been found supportive of cognitive load germane to learning and improved working memory, they have not been fully considered in relation to preschoolers\u27 screen media use. The cognitive load created by screen media apps could affect their usefulness as learning tools. The purpose of this quantitative study was to discover any links between preschoolers’ working memory function; passive, active and/or total screen time; and Montessori preschool program exposure. The study was conducted through the lenses of the executive function construct and cognitive load theory. Data on children’s working memory and screen time were collected from a convenience sample of 60 parents: 30 Montessori, and 30 non-Montessori. Parents completed a one-time administration of BRIEF-P and Screen Time Questionnaires on behalf of their child. Findings from multiple regression analysis indicated no link between Montessori preschool exposure or parent-controlled total, passive, or active screen time; and young children’s working memory, although a significant inverse relationship was found between active screen time and Montessori exposure. The results could inform virtual and hands-on pedagogical protocols that support working memory and improve pre-school-aged children’s learning and preparation for life. Each incidence of successful learning for a precious young child is a positive social change

Links Between Screen Time, Montessori Preschool Exposure, and Working Memory

A high-quality, foundational education offers lifelong benefits for young children. The problem is that working memory in pre-school-aged children is declining and could be impaired by the extraneous cognitive load imposed during engagement with screen media apps and/or preschool programs. Although the pedagogical practices associated with Montessori preschool programs have been found supportive of cognitive load germane to learning and improved working memory, they have not been fully considered in relation to preschoolers\u27 screen media use. The cognitive load created by screen media apps could affect their usefulness as learning tools. The purpose of this quantitative study was to discover any links between preschoolers’ working memory function; passive, active and/or total screen time; and Montessori preschool program exposure. The study was conducted through the lenses of the executive function construct and cognitive load theory. Data on children’s working memory and screen time were collected from a convenience sample of 60 parents: 30 Montessori, and 30 non-Montessori. Parents completed a one-time administration of BRIEF-P and Screen Time Questionnaires on behalf of their child. Findings from multiple regression analysis indicated no link between Montessori preschool exposure or parent-controlled total, passive, or active screen time; and young children’s working memory, although a significant inverse relationship was found between active screen time and Montessori exposure. The results could inform virtual and hands-on pedagogical protocols that support working memory and improve pre-school-aged children’s learning and preparation for life. Each incidence of successful learning for a precious young child is a positive social change

Investigation of Gearbox Vibration Transmission Paths on Gear Condition Indicator Performance

Helicopter health monitoring systems use vibration signatures generated from damaged components to identify transmission faults. For damaged gears, these signatures relate to changes in dynamics due to the meshing of the damaged tooth. These signatures, referred to as condition indicators (CI), can perform differently when measured on different systems, such as a component test rig, or a full-scale transmission test stand, or an aircraft. These differences can result from dissimilarities in systems design and environment under dynamic operating conditions. The static structure can also filter the response between the vibration source and the accelerometer, when the accelerometer is installed on the housing. To assess the utility of static vibration transfer paths for predicting gear CI performance, measurements were taken on the NASA Glenn Spiral Bevel Gear Fatigue Test Rig. The vibration measurements were taken to determine the effect of torque, accelerometer location and gearbox design on accelerometer response. Measurements were taken at the housing and compared while impacting the gear set near mesh. These impacts were made at gear mesh to simulate gear meshing dynamics. Data measured on a helicopter gearbox installed in a static fixture were also compared to the test rig. The behavior of the structure under static conditions was also compared to CI values calculated under dynamic conditions. Results indicate that static vibration transfer path measurements can provide some insight into spiral bevel gear CI performance by identifying structural characteristics unique to each system that can affect specific CI response

Face Coverings Differentially Alter Valence Judgments of Emotional Expressions

Face masks that prevent disease transmission obscure facial expressions, impairing nonverbal communication. We assessed the impact of lower (masks) and upper (sunglasses) face coverings on emotional valence judgments of clearly valenced (fearful, happy) and ambiguously valenced (surprised) expressions, the latter of which have both positive and negative meanings. Masks, but not sunglasses, impaired judgments of clearly valenced expressions compared to faces without coverings. Drift diffusion models revealed that lower, but not upper, face coverings slowed evidence accumulation and affected differences in non-judgment processes (i.e., stimulus encoding, response execution time) for all expressions. Our results confirm mask-interference effects in nonverbal communication. The findings have implications for nonverbal and intergroup communication, and we propose guidance for implementing strategies to overcome mask-related interference

Prevalence and Antimicrobial Resistance of Salmonella, E. coli, and Campylobacter in Pigs from Swine Producing States in the United States

The purpose of the study was to determine the prevalence and antimicrobial susceptibility of Salmonella, Campylobacter and generic E. coli (commensal bacteria which may harbor antimicrobial resistance genes) from swine feces collected over one year from the top three swine producing states (Iowa, North Carolina, and Minnesota), which represent 51% of the total pig crop in the U.S, plus Ohio. The prevalence of Salmonella (n=462/4426), Campylobacter (n=994/1184) and E. coli (n=833/845) at the sample level was 10.4%, 98.6% and 83.6%, respectively

Ambiguous allele combinations in HLA Class I and Class II sequence-based typing: when precise nucleotide sequencing leads to imprecise allele identification

Sequence-based typing (SBT) is one of the most comprehensive methods utilized for HLA typing. However, one of the inherent problems with this typing method is the interpretation of ambiguous allele combinations which occur when two or more different allele combinations produce identical sequences. The purpose of this study is to investigate the probability of this occurrence. We performed HLA-A,-B SBT for Exons 2 and 3 on 676 donors. Samples were analyzed with a capillary sequencer. The racial distribution of the donors was as follows: 615-Caucasian, 13-Asian, 23-African American, 17-Hispanic and 8-Unknown. 672 donors were analyzed for HLA-A locus ambiguities and 666 donors were analyzed for HLA-B locus ambiguities. At the HLA-A locus a total of 548 total ambiguous allele combinations were identified (548/1344 = 41%). Most (278/548 = 51%) of these ambiguities were due to the fact that Exon 4 analysis was not performed. At the HLA-B locus 322 total ambiguous allele combinations were found (322/1332 = 24%). The HLA-B*07/08/15/27/35/44 antigens, common in Caucasians, produced a large portion of the ambiguities (279/322 = 87%). A large portion of HLA-A and B ambiguous allele combinations can be addressed by utilizing a group-specific primary amplification approach to produce an unambiguous homozygous sequence. Therefore, although the prevalence of ambiguous allele combinations is high, if the resolution of these ambiguities is clinically warranted, methods exist to compensate for this problem