Multimedia mathematics intervention for math-delayed middle school students

The purpose of this study is to determine if the Sharpening Math Skills Lab technology-mediated mathematics instructional practices for math-delayed middle school students have positive effects on their mathematics achievement and spatial visualization ability and to gauge student engagement in learning, implementation of the principles of instructional design, and attitudes toward mathematics instruction. The results of a recent meta-analysis report a range of significantly positive to significantly negative effect sizes which establish a need for further evaluation of academic achievement utilizing technology-mediated mathematics programs at the middle school level (Slavin, Lake, & Groff, 2007). The literature (Moreno & Mayer, 2000) also suggests examining the principles of multimedia instructional design as they relate to programs such as those utilized in the Sharpening Math Skills Lab. The need for testing for relationships between student spatial visualization and problem solving ability (Wheatley, 1991), student attitudes and motivation toward mathematics (Tapia & Marsh, 2004), and students’ behavior while engaged in multimedia learning activities has also been established in the literature. This quasi-experimental study compares academic achievement of 109 southwest Louisiana 6th, 7th, and 8th grade students in one school who participated in a treatment program of technology-mediated remedial math instruction with 162 - 6th, 7th, and 8th grade students from two other schools in the same district who received traditional classroom mathematics instruction. The experimental group attended the Sharpening Math Skills Lab 45 minutes per day utilizing FASTTMath software and iSucceed software with individual assistance provided by the lab facilitator and math teacher. Measurement instruments include Scantron Performance and Achievement Series tests, Wheatley Spatial Ability Test (WSAT) (1996), and Attitudes Toward Math Survey (ATMI) (Tapia, 1996). Qualitative data about the experimental group including levels of engagement and the effectiveness of instructional design of the software utilized were also gathered. Positive outcomes of the study include making “best practices” recommendations for remedial mathematics instruction of math-delayed middle school students. Data accumulated in the study contributes to the body of evidence on the usefulness of technology-based remediation practices and provides important information to school officials in the development of curricular and budgetary decisions

Exempt property tracking system

This paper discusses computerized tracking systems for property tax exemptions at the Property Division of the South Carolina Department of Revenue

Specific MicroRNAs Are Preferentially Expressed by Skin Stem Cells To Balance Self-Renewal and Early Lineage Commitment

SummaryIncreasing evidence suggests that microRNAs may play important roles in regulating self-renewal and differentiation in mammalian stem cells (SCs). Here, we explore this issue in skin. We first characterize microRNA expression profiles of skin SCs versus their committed proliferative progenies and identify a microRNA subset associating with “stemness.” Of these, miR-125b is dramatically downregulated in early SC progeny. We engineer an inducible mice system and show that when miR-125b is sustained in SC progenies, tissue balance is reversibly skewed toward stemness at the expense of epidermal, oil-gland, and HF differentiation. Using gain- and loss-of-function in vitro, we further implicate miR-125b as a repressor of SC differentiation. In vivo, transcripts repressed upon miR-125b induction are enriched >700% for predicted miR-125b targets normally downregulated upon SC-lineage commitment. We verify some of these miR-125b targets, and show that Blimp1 and VDR in particular can account for many tissue imbalances we see when miR-125b is deregulated

Outcomes of thromboprophylaxis with enoxaparin vs. unfractionated heparin in medical inpatients

BACKGROUND: Clinical trials have shown low-molecular weight heparin (LMWH) to be at least as safe and efficacious as unfractionated heparin (UFH) for preventing venous thromboembolism (VTE) in acutely-ill medical inpatients. OBJECTIVE: To compare clinical and economic outcomes among acutely-ill medical inpatients receiving the LMWH enoxaparin versus UFH prophylaxis in clinical practice. METHODS: Using a large, multi-hospital, US database, we identified persons aged ≥40 years hospitalized for ≥6 days for an acute medical condition (including circulatory disorders, respiratory disorders, infectious diseases, or neoplasms) from Q4 1999 to Q1 2002. From these patients, those who received thromboprophylaxis with either enoxaparin or UFH were identified. Surgical patients and those requiring or ineligible for anticoagulation were excluded. We compared the incidence of deep-vein thrombosis (DVT), pulmonary embolism (PE), and all VTE (i.e., DVT and/or PE). Secondary outcomes were occurrence of side-effects, length of hospital stay and total costs. RESULTS: 479 patients received enoxaparin prophylaxis and 2,837 received UFH. The incidence of VTE was 1.7% with enoxaparin prophylaxis versus 6.3% with UFH (RR = 0.26; p < 0.001). Occurrence of side effects, length of stay (10.00 days with enoxaparin vs. 10.26 days with UFH; p = 0.348) and total costs ($18,777 vs.$17,602; p = 0.463) were similar in the 2 groups. CONCLUSION: We observed a 74% lower risk of VTE among patients receiving enoxaparin prophylaxis versus UFH prophylaxis. There was no significant difference in side effects or economic outcomes. These results provide evidence that the LMWH enoxaparin is more effective than UFH in reducing the risk of VTE in current clinical practice

Application of response surface methodology in the design of functionally graded plasma sprayed hydroxyapatite coatings

The highly complex process-property-structure relationship poses a major challenge in the optimization of plasma sprayed hydroxyapatite coatings. In addition, contradictions in relation to the ideal coating properties exist; a dense, highly crystalline coating is required for long term coating stability, whereas coatings with lower crystallinity dissolve more rapidly but have an improved osteogenic response in vivo. In this study, response surface methodology (RSM) is utilized to investigate the influences and interaction effects of current, gas flow rate, powder feed rate, spray distance and carrier gas flow rate on the roughness, crystallinity, purity, porosity and thickness of plasma sprayed HA coatings. Roughness related to the particle velocity and particle melting, and was highest at low gas flow rates and, due to the quadratic effect of current, at the central current value. High crystallinity resulted at high current and low spray distance due to the presence of bulk crystalline material and recrystallization of amorphous material. Purity was highest at low carrier gas flow rate and high gas flow rate, where particle temperature was reduced. Porosity was dependent on the degree of particle melting and was highest at low gas flow rate and powder feed rate and at high current and spray distance. Coating thickness was determined by the number of particles and the degree of flattening on impact, and was highest at high current, low gas flow rate, high powder feed rate and low spray distance. From this in-depth analysis, predictive process equations were developed and optimized to produce two distinct coatings; a stable coating and a bioactive coating, designed to form the base and surface layers of a functionally graded coating respectively, to provide enhanced osteogenesis, while maintaining long-term stability. Culture of osteoblast-like cells on the coatings demonstrated an increased osteogenic response on the bioactive coating compared to the other groups. Overall, this study identifies parameter effects and interactions leading to the development of optimized coatings with the potential to enhance the functional life of HA coated implants in vivo

Perceptions of Trust: Communicating Climate Change to Cattle Producers

The Cattle and Climate Conversations Workshop for Cooperative Extension and Natural Resources Conservation Service, the last activity funded through a multi-regional United States Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (USDA NIFA) grant, took place in October 2016 in Denver, Colorado, for Extension and Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) representatives in the Southwest and Mountain West who work extensively with cattle producers. The purpose of this study was to identify how Extension agents and NRCS personnel in this workshop viewed the issue of “trust,” as it relates to communicating the topic of climate change to cattle producers. Three focus groups, comprised of 29 attendees of the workshop, were conducted simultaneously at the end of the conference. Specific themes about trust included the politically charged nature of climate change, climate change data manipulation, negativity of media surrounding climate change, weathercasters getting predictions wrong, agriculture getting a “black eye” with the public, and participants’ relationships with cattle producers. Findings indicate varying levels of distrust, related to sources of information and influence on the topic of climate change, greatly impact how and whether Extension Service and NRCS employees actually talk “climate change” to cattle producers. Based on the study’s findings, it is recommended that for Extension and NRCS employees to talk about controversial issues, like climate change, it is important to create relationships with clients. In addition, communication and education professionals working with cattle producers should avoid politicizing the topic of climate change if they want climate-related programs to be accepted

Role of unfolded proteins in lung disease.

The lungs are exposed to a range of environmental toxins (including cigarette smoke, air pollution, asbestos) and pathogens (bacterial, viral and fungal), and most respiratory diseases are associated with local or systemic hypoxia. All of these adverse factors can trigger endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress. The ER is a key intracellular site for synthesis of secretory and membrane proteins, regulating their folding, assembly into complexes, transport and degradation. Accumulation of misfolded proteins within the lumen results in ER stress, which activates the unfolded protein response (UPR). Effectors of the UPR temporarily reduce protein synthesis, while enhancing degradation of misfolded proteins and increasing the folding capacity of the ER. If successful, homeostasis is restored and protein synthesis resumes, but if ER stress persists, cell death pathways are activated. ER stress and the resulting UPR occur in a range of pulmonary insults and the outcome plays an important role in many respiratory diseases. The UPR is triggered in the airway of patients with several respiratory diseases and in corresponding experimental models. ER stress has been implicated in the initiation and progression of pulmonary fibrosis, and evidence is accumulating suggesting that ER stress occurs in obstructive lung diseases (particularly in asthma), in pulmonary infections (some viral infections and in the setting of the cystic fibrosis airway) and in lung cancer. While a number of small molecule inhibitors have been used to interrogate the role of the UPR in disease models, many of these tools have complex and off-target effects, hence additional evidence (eg, from genetic manipulation) may be required to support conclusions based on the impact of such pharmacological agents. Aberrant activation of the UPR may be linked to disease pathogenesis and progression, but at present, our understanding of the context-specific and disease-specific mechanisms linking these processes is incomplete. Despite this, the ability of the UPR to defend against ER stress and influence a range of respiratory diseases is becoming increasingly evident, and the UPR is therefore attracting attention as a prospective target for therapeutic intervention strategies

The Social Construction of Narratives and Arguments in Animal Welfare Discourse and Debate

Stakeholders can hold conflicting values and viewpoints, on what animal welfare is and how a good life is achieved and can signal different problems, or problematize specific aspects of farm animal welfare, and propose different actions or interventions within food supply chains. The aim of the study is to explore the contribution of narrative and argumentative discourse to the social construction and framing of animal welfare and its implications. The methodological approach in this research is composed of two phases with phase 1 being the foundational structured literature search in both academic and grey literature. Phase 2 was the analysis of the secondary data from the literature review to develop a synthesized iterative paper and in doing so develop a typology of five narratives: the ‘farming as a business’ narrative, the ‘religion-based’ narrative, the ‘research, legislative and political based narrative’, the ‘higher welfare’ narrative, and the “animal rights/power-based” narrative. Our findings demonstrate the contestation within the stakeholder discourse of the articulation of why farm animals should have a good life. Performance-related perspectives are rooted in the value-laden language and narratives that shape the arguments regarding notions of good and bad welfare; the emergent positioning of positive welfare for farm animals as well as how to achieve a good life in practice. The novel contribution of this review is the application of an explanatory word-language-discourse-person-situation-environment framework in this specific context to inform future research on animal welfare discourse analysis