Finding the Most Meaningful Forms of Parental Involvement: A Synthesis of Meta-Analyses

Definitions of ‘parental involvement’ and ‘school achievement’ confusingly differ. While some researchers use specific terms and definitions, others use a broad and open analysis of the terms. Although research suggests that parental involvement (PI) significantly influences children’s school achievement, it is important to understand which aspects of PI prove most critical. Accordingly, in this meta- synthesis, I offer research conducted within the last five, an in depth and up-to-date understanding of how parents can be involved in their children’s education in ways that most favorably impact their children’s school achievement. The following themes emerged from this synthesis: home-based involvement encompasses the most effective forms of parental involvement under the coded subcategory of “other” demonstrating that categorizing definitions of parental involvement does reveal trends in most effective forms. Grade level trends suggest elementary grades expect and need a higher level of parental involvement which may explain lower parental involvement effect sizes at that age. Lastly, homework supervision and parental attendance do not appear to be positively related to school achievement which suggest a paradox of parental involvement, because increased parent collaboration is applied when a child has difficulty in school, but when a child is achieving high academic success they may be able to complete homework independently causing a skew in the form of PI in the subcategory of home-based, directly relating to school

Investigation of the Chemical Protection Capacity of Common Shoe Materials in Undergraduate Laboratories

The objective of this study was to evaluate the chemical resistance of common shoe materials regularly worn in undergraduate chemistry laboratories by subjecting the materials to hydrochloric acid and sodium hydroxide. The materials tested were leather, canvas cotton, and polyester. Due to the lack of restriction on undergraduate laboratory footwear, the research discussed in this thesis is important to undergraduate universities. Currently, many universities across the nation only require undergraduate students to wear close-toed, close-heeled shoes in chemistry laboratories, and often the resistance of the shoe material to acids and bases may not be taken into careful consideration. Overall, the results of this experiment revealed that exposure to the different chemical concentrations of NaOH and HCl did not appear to negatively affect the structural integrity of the fabrics, but according to the mass spectrometry results gathered in this experiment, the three fabrics differed in individual complexities as well as in the compounds extracted following acid and base treatments

Investigation of the Chemical Protection Capacity of Common Shoe Materials in Undergraduate Laboratories

The objective of this study was to evaluate the chemical resistance of common shoe materials regularly worn in undergraduate chemistry laboratories by subjecting the materials to hydrochloric acid and sodium hydroxide. The materials tested were leather, canvas cotton, and polyester. Due to the lack of restriction on undergraduate laboratory footwear, the research discussed in this thesis is important to undergraduate universities. Currently, many universities across the nation only require undergraduate students to wear close-toed, close-heeled shoes in chemistry laboratories, and often the resistance of the shoe material to acids and bases may not be taken into careful consideration. Overall, the results of this experiment revealed that exposure to the different chemical concentrations of NaOH and HCl did not appear to negatively affect the structural integrity of the fabrics, but according to the mass spectrometry results gathered in this experiment, the three fabrics differed in individual complexities as well as in the compounds extracted following acid and base treatments

EFFECT OF COPPER ON THE GILL STRUCTURE OF A EURYHALINE CRAB, CARCINUS MAENAS (CRUSTACEA:DECAPODA)

A posterior gill of the common shore crab Carcinus maenas (Crustacea:Decapoda) was used to study the effects of sublethal copper concentrations on gill morphometry, and gill cell ultrastructure and distribution. Primarily, the ultrastructure and distribution of gill cells in the untreated gill of crabs acclimated to 35‰ seawater were characterised. Gill ultrastructure was subsequently shown to vary markedly at 10‰ compared to 35‰ seawater. Ultrastructural and distributional, rather than gross morphological, change occurred in the gill following exposure to copper at each salinity. Ultrastructural studies showed that as the length of copper exposure increased the gill epithelial layer became highly vacuolated, the number of plasma membrane infoldings and mitochondria became reduced, the microtubular network became disrupted, the endoplasmic reticulum became swollen and the cell cytoplasm contained many free ribosomes. Copper exposure also resulted in an increase in the number of haemocytes in the gill, some of which became attached to the basal epithelial cell surface or actually infiltrated into the epithelial cell cytoplasm. Ultrastructural change was more extensive when copper was administered at 35‰ rather than 10‰ seawater. These effects are described and correlated with previously documented biochemical and physiological responses to heavy metals in crustaceans. In addition, the elemental composition of the gill granular haemocytes suggested they play an important role in the immobilisation and removal of copper-from the gill. This study has shown the way forward in creating a better understanding of the mechanisms behind heavy metal toxicity in marine organisms is the use of environmentally realistic concentrations of heavy metal administered in flow-through seawater systems.ZENECA Limited, Brixham Environmental Laborator

Once upon a Time: The \u3ci\u3eMorte D’Arthur\u3c/i\u3e’s Relationship to the Fairy Tale Canon

The tales of the legendary King Arthur have become a part of British literary history. They are stories of romance, chivalry, magic, and adventure; the development of the stories took place over centuries, beginning primarily with Geoffrey of Monmouth in 1136 and continuing on in the work of many other writers, including Sir Thomas Malory in 1469. Despite its classification as a chivalric romance, many elements of the Arthurian romance cycle that developed over its lifespan reflect common folklore or storytelling motifs that are still recogniz- able today in the form of literary fairy tales. These include the evil stepmother (The Fyrste and the Secunde Boke of Syr Trystrams de Lyones), the rags-to-riches story (The Tale of Sir Gareth of Orkeney), and the poison apple (The Tale of Sir Launcelot and Quene Gwenyvere). The following paper will explore the roots of each of these motifs in an attempt to uncover the relationship between Thomas Malory’s Morte D’Arthur and familiar literary fairy tales. There is some dispute about whether or not the Ar- thurian romances have any foundation in the folk- lore genre in the same way that literary fairy tales do. However, the persistence of folkloric motifs is undeniable. It bears resemblance to the literary fairy tales that emerged across Europe later, and it is possible that the Morte D’Arthur has a part to play in the development of literary fairy tales. But is it an early literary fairy tale, predating even the work of the Neapolitan Giambattista Basile, a distant cousin to the folklore genre or a work unto itself, related only marginally to the folkloric tradition? The motifs examined in an effort to answer this question will be compared to their use in popular literary fairy tales of Perrault’s Cendrillon and the Grimms’ Sneewittchen, with some attention paid to these motifs in other familiar literary fairy tales

The Genome and Methylome of a Subsocial Small Carpenter Bee, Ceratina calcarata

Understanding the evolution of animal societies, considered to be a major transition in evolution, is a key topic in evolutionary biology. Recently, new gateways for understanding social evolution have opened up due to advances in genomics, allowing for unprecedented opportunities in studying social behavior on a molecular level. In particular, highly eusocial insect species (caste-containing societies with nonreproductives that care for siblings) have taken center stage in studies of the molecular evolution of sociality. Despite advances in genomic studies of both solitary and eusocial insects, we still lack genomic resources for early insect societies. To study the genetic basis of social traits requires comparison of genomes from a diversity of organisms ranging from solitary to complex social forms. Here we present the genome of a subsocial bee, Ceratina calcarata. This study begins to address the types of genomic changes associated with the earliest origins of simple sociality using the small carpenter bee. Genes associated with lipid transport and DNA recombination have undergone positive selection in C. calcarata relative to other bee lineages. Furthermore, we provide the first methylome of a noneusocial bee. Ceratina calcarata contains the complete enzymatic toolkit for DNA methylation. As in the honey bee and many other holometabolous insects, DNA methylation is targeted to exons. The addition of this genome allows for new lines of research into the genetic and epigenetic precursors to complex social behaviors