The Effects of Rater Training on Inter-Rater Agreement

This paper addresses the effects of rater training on the rubric-based scoring of three preservice teacher candidate performance assessments. This project sought to evaluate the consistency of ratings assigned to student learning outcome measures being used for program accreditation and to explore the need for rater training in order to increase rater agreement. There were three phases during this project: (1) authentic student work was rated by department faculty members in the absence of rubric training; (2) faculty were then trained to administer rubric scoring guides; and (3) additional student work was rated by faculty after training. Inter-rater agreement was calculated pre- and post- rater training, using side-by-side comparisons. Little to no improvement in rater agreement was seen post-training. Implications and future research needs for rater training in the application of rubrics are discussed

An evidence-based study mapping the decline in freshwater ponds in the Severn Vale catchment in the UK between 1900 and 2019

Freshwater ponds have long been an overlooked biodiversity store and changing types of land use and the land management practices has led to a steady decline in pond numbers. Establishing the regional extent of pond loss is the first step in identifying key areas for conservation action. This study calculated pond loss in the Severn Vale catchment UK since 1900. Identification of pond location and surrounding land use on historic and contemporary maps enabled a comparison of total number, density and distance between present day and historic ponds. 57.7% of ponds present in 1900 were lost and pond density declined from 7.3 to 4.5 ponds km−2 between 1900 and 2019. This resulted in a 24.6 m increase in the average distance between contemporary ponds. Land use was an important factor in determining pond loss. Although in 2019 the highest density of ponds are in rural areas, 62.3% of ponds lost were from agricultural settings (arable or pasture). Our results highlight the significant pond loss experienced in the Severn Vale since 1900 and provide a valuable baseline for pondscape restoration. The methods described are widely applicable to other regions either with a history of ponds or an environment that could sustain them

Shallow stratigraphic control on pockmark distribution in north temperate estuaries

This paper is not subject to U.S. copyright. The definitive version was published in Marine Geology 329-331 (2012): 34-45, doi:10.1016/j.margeo.2012.09.006.Pockmark fields occur throughout northern North American temperate estuaries despite the absence of extensive thermogenic hydrocarbon deposits typically associated with pockmarks. In such settings, the origins of the gas and triggering mechanism(s) responsible for pockmark formation are not obvious. Nor is it known why pockmarks proliferate in this region but do not occur south of the glacial terminus in eastern North America. This paper tests two hypotheses addressing these knowledge gaps: 1) the region's unique sea-level history provided a terrestrial deposit that sourced the gas responsible for pockmark formation; and 2) the region's physiography controls pockmarks distribution. This study integrates over 2500 km of high-resolution swath bathymetry, Chirp seismic reflection profiles and vibracore data acquired in three estuarine pockmark fields in the Gulf of Maine and Bay of Fundy. Vibracores sampled a hydric paleosol lacking the organic-rich upper horizons, indicating that an organic-rich terrestrial deposit was eroded prior to pockmark formation. This observation suggests that the gas, which is presumably responsible for the formation of the pockmarks, originated in Holocene estuarine sediments (loss on ignition 3.5–10%), not terrestrial deposits that were subsequently drowned and buried by mud. The 7470 pockmarks identified in this study are non-randomly clustered. Pockmark size and distribution relate to Holocene sediment thickness (r2 = 0.60), basin morphology and glacial deposits. The irregular underlying topography that dictates Holocene sediment thickness may ultimately play a more important role in temperate estuarine pockmark distribution than drowned terrestrial deposits. These results give insight into the conditions necessary for pockmark formation in nearshore coastal environments.Graduate support for Brothers came from a Maine Economic Improvement Fund Dissertation Fellowship

Characterization of electrospun nanocomposite scaffolds and biocompatibility with adipose-derived human mesenchymal stem cells

Electrospun nanocomposite scaffolds were fabricated by encapsulating multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNT) in poly (lactic acid) (PLA) nanofibers. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) confirmed the fabrication of nanofibers, and transmission electron microscopy identified the alignment and dispersion of MWNT along the axis of the fibers. Tensile testing showed an increase in the tensile modulus for a MWNT loading of 0.25 wt% compared with electrospun nanofibrous mats without MWNT reinforcement. Conductivity measurements indicated that the confined geometry of the fibrous system requires only minute doping to obtain significant enhancements at 0.32 wt%. Adipose-derived human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) were seeded on electrospun scaffolds containing 1 wt% MWNT and 0 wt% MWNT, to determine the efficacy of the scaffolds for cell growth, and the effect of MWNT on hMSC viability and proliferation over two weeks in culture. Staining for live and dead cells and DNA quantification indicated that the hMSCs were alive and proliferating through day 14. SEM images of hMSCs at 14 days showed morphological differences, with hMSCs on PLA well spread and hMSCs on PLA with 1% MWNT closely packed and longitudinally aligned

A Report of Florida’s Cancer History, Risk Factors, and Screening Behaviors: Data from the National Health Interview Survey

To target populations at greatest risk ofdeveloping cancer, it is vital to understand the patterns ofrisk factors and screening behaviors along with cancer surveillance data. This study provides data on the prevalence of self-reported cancer history, can- cer risk factors, and cancer screening behaviors in Florida and compares them to rates in the rest ofthe U.S. Data were ob- tained from the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS), an annual, cross-sectional household survey of the U.S. civilian non-institutionalized population. We analyzed pooled data from the 2000 and 2005 Cancer Control Modules. Compared to the rest ofthe U.S., Floridians reported a lower prevalence ofcurrent smoking, risky drinking, and obesity, and a greater pre- valence ofProstate Specific Antigen (PSA) testing. However, Floridians reported a greater prevalence ofcancer history and a lower prevalence of physical activity, concern for sun protection, lifetime colorectal cancer screening, lifetime breast exam, life- time mammography screening, and lifetime and past year Pap test. The data indicate that Florida lags behind the rest of the U.S. in several areas, particularly cancer screening, and falls short ofthe Healthy People 2020 objectives for health behaviors and screening. These results provide information for key stakeholders and public health policy makers to effectively target Flor- ida residents at greatest risk for cancer and those not receiving recommended cancer screenings. This study also represents a model ofvaluable state-level evaluations that can be conducted using NHIS data. These types ofanalyses can provide a great- er understanding of state-level variations and lead to more effective public health interventions aimed at reducing cancer bur- den

Non-perturbative dynamics of hot non-Abelian gauge fields: beyond leading log approximation

Many aspects of high-temperature gauge theories, such as the electroweak baryon number violation rate, color conductivity, and the hard gluon damping rate, have previously been understood only at leading logarithmic order (that is, neglecting effects suppressed only by an inverse logarithm of the gauge coupling). We discuss how to systematically go beyond leading logarithmic order in the analysis of physical quantities. Specifically, we extend to next-to-leading-log order (NLLO) the simple leading-log effective theory due to Bodeker that describes non-perturbative color physics in hot non-Abelian plasmas. A suitable scaling analysis is used to show that no new operators enter the effective theory at next-to-leading-log order. However, a NLLO calculation of the color conductivity is required, and we report the resulting value. Our NLLO result for the color conductivity can be trivially combined with previous numerical work by G. Moore to yield a NLLO result for the hot electroweak baryon number violation rate.Comment: 20 pages, 1 figur

Some Like It Fat: Comparative Ultrastructure of the Embryo in Two Demosponges of the Genus Mycale (Order Poecilosclerida) from Antarctica and the Caribbean

0000-0002-7993-1523© 2015 Riesgo et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License [4.0], which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. The attached file is the published version of the article

CpG methylation profiling in VHL related and VHL unrelated renal cell carcinoma

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is histopathologically heterogeneous with clear cell and papillary the most common subtypes. The most frequent molecular abnormality in clear cell RCC is <it>VHL </it>inactivation but promoter methylation of tumour suppressor genes is common in both subtypes of RCC. To investigate whether RCC CpG methylation status was influenced by histopathology and <it>VHL </it>status we performed high-throughput epigenetic profiling using the Illumina Goldengate Methylation Array in 62 RCC (29 RCC from von Hippel-Lindau (VHL) disease patients, 20 sporadic clear cell RCC with wild type VHL and 13 sporadic papillary RCC).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>43 genes were methylated in >20% of primary RCC (range 20–45%) and most (37/43) of these had not been reported previously to be methylated in RCC. The distribution of the number of methylated CpGs in individual tumours differed from the expected Poisson distribution (p < 0.00001; log-likelihood G test) suggesting that a subset of RCC displayed a CpG Island Methylator Phenotype. Comparison of RCC subtypes revealed that, on average, tumour specific CpG methylation was most prevalent in papillary RCC and least in VHL RCC. Many of the genes preferentially methylated in pRCC were linked to TGFβ or ERK/Akt signalling.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>These findings demonstrate differing patterns of tumour-specific CpG methylation in VHL and non VHL clear cell RCC and papillary RCC, and identify multiple novel potential CpG methylation biomarkers for RCC.</p