Improving Engagement and Literacy Skills with Choice Literacy Centers

As students transition to middle and high school, opportunities for student choice within curriculum become limited, and there is a need for students to have authentic literacy and decision-making opportunities. Key influences during research of this project include Kelly Gallagher, Gail Boushey and Joan Moser, and Linda Gambrell and Lesley Mandel Morrow’s Best Practices in Literacy Instruction. Research indicates that benefits of literacy centers include fostering engagement, literacy skill growth, opportunities for small-group instruction, and developing student autonomy. The curriculum designed for this project took the form of student choice literacy centers. The purpose of this project was to design weekly literacy centers to implement in a seventh grade English Language Arts classroom in order to increase student engagement and autonomy; these improvements then further develop student literacy skills. These centers include at least one activity from each of the following categories: vocabulary, fluency/listening, digital literacy and print concepts, choice reading, choice writing, research, and missing work. There is also small-group instruction for completing needs assessments and to provide supplemental instruction for students identified with reading struggles. This project has students complete a portfolio assessment at the end of term, including tracking cards that indicate their practice at all of the centers throughout the term. This portfolio includes pieces that the student identifies as showcasing their abilities in a variety of literacy skills. These literacy centers are meant to encourage students to be curious and engaged learners

Stumbling into a new role: NATO's out-of-area policy after the Cold War

Allied handling of conflicts outside the North Atlantic area has been a controversial issue since the creation of NATO. However, in spite of pressure from different members, a policy of non-involvement was firmly established during the Cold War. NATO as such, chose to limit it self to the collective defence of its own territory, as formal or informal co-operation between two or several members in other parts of the world was kept off the NATO agenda. The end of the Cold War did not bring any immediate change to this more or less established agreement. However, between 1992 and 1999 an incremental expansion of NATO’s out-of-area engagement took place. By the end of the decade NATO had several thousand troops on the ground in Bosnia Herzegovina, and had undertaken an extensive air campaign against the former Yugoslavia. This study relates how and why this complete change of policy took place. It also tries to point out some of the implications

Vacuum Camera Cooler

Acquiring cheap, moving video was impossible in a vacuum environment, due to camera overheating. This overheating is brought on by the lack of cooling media in vacuum. A water-jacketed camera cooler enclosure machined and assembled from copper plate and tube has been developed. The camera cooler (see figure) is cup-shaped and cooled by circulating water or nitrogen gas through copper tubing. The camera, a store-bought "spy type," is not designed to work in a vacuum. With some modifications the unit can be thermally connected when mounted in the cup portion of the camera cooler. The thermal conductivity is provided by copper tape between parts of the camera and the cooled enclosure. During initial testing of the demonstration unit, the camera cooler kept the CPU (central processing unit) of this video camera at operating temperature. This development allowed video recording of an in-progress test, within a vacuum environment

A critical view on the mobility need in high-competence organisations

Our objective in this paper is to investigate the relationship between mobility need in Danish high competence organisations and ICT. In section 1 we begin by introducing different theoretical perspectives on mobility and ICT. In section 2 we will explore the amount and characteristics of long-distance work-related mobility among the employees in two Danish high competence organisations. This section will methodologically be based on a multiple-case study design, which involves a survey and in-depth interviews considering transport work for the employees in the two selected cases. Finally, in section 3 we will analyse the potential for reduction of mobility needs in companies through increased use of ICT. This section will partly be based on the results from the multiple-case study and partly on the experiences from the research project Nettlaer, which focuses on how effective training and learning can be carried out supported by ICT tools. We end the paper by reflecting on the limitations and possibilities of using ICT as a tool for transport reductions in Danish high competence organisations

Social skills in preschool children with unilateral and mild bilateral hearing loss

Hearing loss may represent a risk for developing social skills difficulties; however, little is known about the potential risk resulting from unilateral or mild bilateral hearing loss (UMHL). We compared the social skills of 14 children with UMHL and 21 children with moderate to severe hearing loss (MSHL) with those of 123 children with typical hearing (TH). All the children were 4–5 years old, and all the children with hearing loss used hearing aids. The study was carried out in Norway. Associations between social skills and age at amplification and vocabulary skills were examined. The children with UMHL had lower social skills than the TH children, whereas the children with MSHL received scores similar to those of the TH children. The children with UMHL were detected and amplified later than the children with MSHL. Early amplification was associated with better social skills but not with better vocabulary. The results suggest that despite a limited effect on vocabulary development, early intervention is likely to promote social skills development in children with UMHL

Garlic extracts influence on Flea Beetles distribution and abundance

Magistritöö Aianduse õppekavalMaakirbud on maailmas levinud taimekahjurid. Eestis võib kohata neist kuut liiki, kes kahjustavad peamiselt noores kasvueas ristõielisi taimi. Kahjurite vältimiseks kasutatavad sünteetilised taimekaitsevahendid avaldavad negatiivset mõju ka teistele liikidele ning keskkonnale ja tekitavad kahjurputukate hulgas resistentsust. Botaaniliste insektitsiidide kasutamisega on võimalik vältida neid kõrvalmõjusid. Põldkatsed küüslauguekstraktide kasutamiseks maakirpude tõrjel viidi läbi 2015. ja 2016. aasta vegetatsiooniperioodil. Ristõielise kultuurtaimena kasutati katses naerisorti ’Goldana’. Katse viidi läbi kolmes variandis kolmes korduses ja töötluslahustena olid kasutusel värske küüslauguekstrakti vesilahus, küüslaugupulbri vesilahus ja kontrollvariandiks puhas vesi. Kleepuvuse tõstmiseks lisati töötluslahustele rohelist seepi. Kahjurputukate püüdmiseks paigaldati katsepõllule kollased kahepoolsed liimipüünised. Putukate püügiperioodid olid ühe nädala pikkused. Katseaastatel olid arvukamateks püütud liikideks Phyllotreta undulata, Ph. atra. Vähemal määral leiti mõlemal aastal ka järgmisi maakirbuliike: Ph. vittata, Ph, nemorum, Ph. nigripes, Ph. armoraciae. Maakirbud on väga ilmastikutundlikud, nende arvukust mõjutab talvitumistemperatuur koos lumeoludega. Liikumis- ja toitumisaktiivsus sõltub samuti temperatuurist, hüppamine ja lendamine madalamatel temperatuuridel kui 10-12 ºC ei ole neile mardikatele omane.Flea beetles are widely spread all around the world. There are six different species of flea beetles in Estonia, they attack mostly young developing cultured cruciferous plants. Synthetic insecticides which have been applied to avoid insects, are also toxic to other species and are polluting the environment and the flea beetles have developed resistance. The alternative would be a wider application of botanical insecticides in plant protection. The impact of the garlic extracts on flea beetles were tested during two consecutive years (2015, 2016). Turnip variety ‘Goldana’ was used as a pilot plant. The test was carried out in three varieties and repeated three times. The varieties were treated with fresh garlic water extract, garlic powder water extract and fresh water as a controle. Yellow glue traps were set up on the field to catch the flea beetles and they were changed every seven days. During both testing years and in all testing variants the most abundant species were Phyllotreta undulata, Ph. atra. Other species observed during this study were Ph. vittata, Ph. nemorum, Ph. nigripes, Ph. armoraciae. The dynamics of the abundance of flea beetles is synchronised with the dynamics of temperatures and snow conditions. Movement and nutrition activity depends on temperature, also. The flea beetles are activating there movements and starting to fly from 10-12 degrees

Post-glacial colonization of the Fennoscandian coast by a plant parasitic insect with an unusual life history

Species that exhibit very peculiar ecological traits combined with limited dispersal ability pose a challenge to our understanding of ecological and evolutionary mechanisms. This is especially true when they have managed to spread over long distances, overcome physical barriers, and colonize large areas. Climate and landscape changes, trophic web relations, as well as life history all interact to shape migration routes and present-day species distributions and their population genetic structures. Here we analyzed the post-glacial colonization of northern Europe by the gall midge Contarinia vincetoxici, which is a monophagous parasite on the perennial herb White swallowwort (Vincetoxicum hirundinaria). This insect not only has a narrow feeding niche but also limited dispersal ability and an exceptionally long dormancy. Gall midge larvae (n = 329) were collected from 16 sites along its distribution range in Denmark, Sweden, and Finland. Using microsatellite loci and knowledge of the species and the regions' history, we investigated the role of landscape change, host plant distribution, insect population dynamics, and life history in shaping the population genetic structure of the insect. We devoted particular interest to the role of the insect's presumed poor dispersal capacity in combination with its exceptionally extended diapause. We found significant levels of local inbreeding (95% highest posterior density interval = 0.42-0.47), low-level within-population heterozygosity (mean H-E = 0.45, range 0.20-0.61) with private alleles in all populations except two. We also found significant (p < .001) regional isolation-by-distance patterns, suggesting regularly recurring mainly short-distance dispersal. According to approximate Bayesian computations, C. vincetoxici appears to have colonized the study area via wind-aided flights from remote areas approximately 4600-700 years before present when the land has gradually risen above the sea level. Extremely long dormancy periods have allowed the species to "disperse in time", thereby aiding population persistence despite generally low census population sizes

Frequency discrimination in ears with and without contralateral cochlear dead regions

Objective: The purpose of this study was to test the ability to discriminate low-frequency pure-tone stimuli for ears with and without contralateral dead regions, in subjects with bilateral high-frequency hearing loss; we examined associations between hearing loss characteristics and frequency discrimination of low-frequency stimuli in subjects with high-frequency hearing loss. Design: Cochlear dead regions were diagnosed using the TEN-HL test. A frequency discrimination test utilizing an adaptive three-alternative forced choice method provided difference limens for reference frequencies 0.25 kHz and 0.5 kHz. Study sample: Among 105 subjects with bilateral high-frequency hearing loss, unilateral dead regions were found in 15 subjects. These, and an additional 15 matched control subjects without dead regions, were included in the study. Results: Ears with dead regions performed best at the frequency discrimination test. Ears with a contralateral dead region performed significantly better than ears without a contralateral dead region at 0.5 kHz, the reference frequency closest to the mean audiogram cut-off, while the opposite result was obtained at 0.25 kHz. Conclusions: Results may be seen as sign of a contralateral effect of unilateral dead regions on the discrimination of stimuli with frequencies well below the audiogram cut-off in adult subjects with bilateral high-frequency hearing loss