Reading Outcomes of Pre-Literate 3rd-Grade Students after Two Years of Combined Reading Classroom Instruction and Individualized Intervention or Classroom Instruction

This study was conducted to determine the effectiveness of a combination regular classroom reading and reading reteaching approach to teaching reading to pre-literate 3rd-grade students who were determined to be below proficient readers (n = 14) compared to the effectiveness of regular classroom reading instruction alone provided to 3rd-grade readers ( n = 14) determined to have barely proficient pre-literate skills. Barely proficient and below proficient reading level designations were determined by psychometrically derived cutscores developed in order to minimize classification error. This study found that although students on both sides of the cutscore made achievement gains in reading, gains were not all statistically significant and the students determined to be barely proficient receiving regular classroom reading instruction alone experienced greater reading achievement progress than their peers who were determined to be below proficient and received reading reteaching in addition to regular classroom reading instruction. With additional research in effective reading strategies, evaluation of the effectiveness of building level programs, additional individualized reading instructional support, and one robust reading intervention, not two separate activities--regular classroom reading plus reading reteaching--for students correctly identified as below proficient, consistent gains should be expected

EduStream

After getting a glimpse into a world where we are unable to leave our houses, we realize the level of in-class education has been a difficult one to uphold. Many people are currently struggling to keep up with class material due to the new online format. However, there have been people experiencing these problems with education long before 2020. EduStream aims to provide tutoring sessions through live-stream and recordings to anyone looking to improve their education. During early versions of EduStream, user testing was collected through paper prototyping and the testing revealed EduStream is a program that university students would be willing to use. Students were interested in the simplicity of the interface and countless hours of free, additional help they would have available to them at a moment’s notice. The idea of live-streaming classes and tutoring sessions is something we expect to help make learning more accessible to users who are unable to attend class and further enrich the learning process for everyone involved. We are able to include a larger demographic of people into the education system by allowing learning opportunities to extend outside of the classroom while simultaneously enhancing current students by having class lectures accessible outside of the classroom

eHabitat: Large scale modelling of habitats types and similarities for conservation and management of protected areas.

eHabitat, which is one of the services supporting the DOPA, the Digital Observatory for Protected Areas, proposes a habitat replaceability index (HRI) which can be used for characterizing each protected area worldwide. More precisely, eHabitat computes for each protected area a map of probabilities to find areas within the corresponding ecoregion presenting ecological characteristics that are similar to those found in the selected protected area. The HRI is then computed as the ratio between similar areas outside park and the park area itself. We here present an improved version which includes an automatic segmentation of the parks prior to HRI computation. This allows for a discrimination of different habitats types inside of protected areas. By reducing the variability within landscape patches, similarity values can be considered to be more accurate. This approach should also further improve the associated niche modelling tools.JRC.H.5-Land Resources Managemen

Low Cost Photonic Sensor for in-Line Oil Quality Monitoring: Methodological Development Process towards Uncertainty Mitigation

Lubricant and hydraulic fluid ageing impacts the performance of the machines, gears, transmissions or automatisms where they are being used. This manuscript describes the work accomplished for bringing an innovative measurement concept for analysing the physical- chemical properties of these fluids, to a real industrial product ready to be integrated into different industrial equipment. The steps taken to deal with uncertainties and evolving requirements while progressing in the sensor development are described, covering the stages of theoretical formulation of the problem, optical and fluidic simulations, sensor prototype development and tests. The sensor working principle is based on a combination of transmittance and diffuse reflectance photonic inspection of the fluid sample that is collected in a microcavity through a standard hydraulic fitting. Photonics, electronics, micro-mechanics, fluidics, data processing and analysis has been merged with a deep knowledge in the lubricant degradation process to develop a sensor solution that is able to measure the Oil Degradation Index, Oil Oxidation, Acid Number, Ruler and Membrane Patch Colorimetry data from an inservice lubricating oil sample. The photonic micro sensor presented here offers a powerful tool that operates directly immersed in the fluid, at an economic cost and compacted size for inline oil degradation monitoring

Beyond the DSM-IV: Assumptions, Alternatives, and Alterations

Current diagnostic processes reflect the limitations and utility of the framework of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed.; DSM-IV; American Psychiatric Association, 1994). Clinical information in the DSM-IV\u27s 5-axis system almost exclusively focuses on weaknesses and pathology and is summarized in a flawed categorical system. Hence, the authors describe 3 adjunctive, or alternative, means of conceptualizing behavior; several means of altering the current DSM-IV system; and 2 future directions in the diagnosis of strengths

Scaling Density of Axion Strings

In the QCD axion dark matter scenario with postinflationary Peccei-Quinn symmetry breaking, the number density of axions, and hence the dark matter density, depends on the length of string per unit volume at cosmic time t, by convention written zeta/t(2). The expectation has been that the dimensionless parameter zeta tends to a constant zeta(0), a feature of a string network known as scaling. It has recently been claimed that in larger numerical simulations zeta shows a logarithmic increase with time, while theoretical modeling suggests an inverse logarithmic correction. Either case would result in a large enhancement of the string density at the QCD transition, and a substantial revision to the axion mass required for the axion to constitute all of the dark matter. With a set of new simulations of global strings, we compare the standard scaling (constant-zeta) model to the logarithmic growth and inverse-logarithmic correction models. In the standard scaling model, by fitting to linear growth in the mean string separation xi = t/root zeta, we find zeta(0) = 1.19 +/- 0.20. We conclude that the apparent corrections to zeta are artifacts of the initial conditions, rather than a property of the scaling network. The residuals from the constant-zeta (linear xi) fit also show no evidence for logarithmic growth, restoring confidence that numerical simulations can be simply extrapolated from the Peccei-Quinn symmetry-breaking scale to the QCD scale. Reanalysis of previous work on the axion number density suggests that recent estimates of the axion dark matter mass in the postinflationary symmetry-breaking scenario we study should be increased by about 50%.Peer reviewe

Approach to scaling in axion string networks

We study the approach to scaling in axion string networks in the radiation era, through measuring the root-mean-square velocity $v$ as well as the scaled mean string separation $x$. We find good evidence for a fixed point in the phase-space analysis in the variables $(x,v)$, providing a strong indication that standard scaling is taking place. We show that the approach to scaling can be well described by a two parameter velocity-one-scale (VOS) model, and show that the values of the parameters are insensitive to the initial state of the network. The string length has also been commonly expressed in terms of a dimensionless string length density $\zeta$, proportional to the number of Hubble lengths of string per Hubble volume. In simulations with initial conditions far from the fixed point $\zeta$ is still evolving after half a light-crossing time, which has been interpreted in the literature as a long-term logarithmic growth. We show that all our simulations, even those starting far from the fixed point, are accounted for by a VOS model with an asymptote of $\zeta_*=1.20\pm0.09$ (calculated from the string length in the cosmic rest frame) and $v_* = 0.609\pm 0.014$.Comment: 14 pages, 9 figures. v2: Minor changes, matches published versio

Residual Stress Pattern Prediction in Spray Transfer Multipass Welding by Means of Numerical Simulation

One of the main problems of gas metal arc welding (GMAW) process is the generation of residual stresses (RS), which has a direct impact on the mechanical performance of welded components. Nevertheless, RS pattern prediction is complex and requires the simulation of the welding process. Consequently, most of the currently used dimensioning approaches do not consider RS, leading to design oversized structures. This fact is especially relevant in big structures since it generates high material, manufacturing and product transportation costs. Nowadays, there are different numerical methods to predict the RS generated in GMAW process, being Goldak’s method one of the most widely used model. However, the use of these methods during the design process is limited, as they require experimentally defining many parameters. Alternatively, in this chapter, a new methodology to define the heat source energy based on the spray welding physics is exposed. The experimental validation of the methodology conducted for a multipass butt weld case shows good agreement in both the temperature pattern (9.16% deviation) and the RS pattern (42 MPa deviation). Finally, the proposed methodology is extended to analyse the influence of the thickness and the number of passes in the RS pattern of thick T-joint welds