Exit Tickets\u27 Effect on Engagement and Concept Attainment in High School Science

Many high school students struggle to stay engaged in their science class. As a result, student learning often suffers. The purpose of this study was to implement one additional strategy (Exit Tickets) to the teacher’s pedagogy in order to help better engage students and promote student learning. The teacher then evaluated the efficacy of the strategy by: comparing both participant behavioral engagement and assessment results prior to and during/after the implementation of the Exit Tickets. The data was disaggregated to compare students who were typically behaviorally disengaged to those who were consistently behaviorally engaged so as to better determine the effect of the strategy. This was a dual-method teacher-action research project, which assessed qualitative data collected during the lessons by the teacher as well as survey feedback from the participants about their views of the success of the strategy, and quantitative data from the results of both Exit Tickets (once implemented) and formal assessments pre- and post- the implementation of the additional engagement strategy. The study was conducted with 50 sophomore science students at a large, public, mostly affluent, largely European-American high school in Northern California. The results showed an average increase in behavioral engagement among participants with a 16.1% increase in engagement using the a teacher report, 14.8% increase in behavioral engagement using a daily monitoring index, and a 7.6% increase in quiz scores

Valuing the Benefits of Superfund Site Remediation: Three Approaches to Measuring Localized Externalities

We apply three complementary approaches designed to identify the localized effects of Superfund site remediation under the CERCLA, examining data at the level of (i) the census tract (paying attention to within tract heterogeneity), (ii) the census block, and (iii) individual house transaction. Our analysis of the within-tract housing value distribution detects statistically and economically significant appreciation in the lower tails resulting from hazardous waste cleanup; deletion of a site raises tract-level housing values by 18.2% at the 10th percentile, 15.4% at the median, and 11.4% at the 60th percentile. These tract results are confirmed by (i) house transaction data that show cheaper houses within each tract are more likely to be exposed to waste sites within one kilometer, explaining their greater appreciation from site cleanup, and (ii) high-resolution census block data that show greater appreciation among blocks lying closer to the cleaned sites. House-level repeat-sales data confirm results from our national level census analysis by showing that deletion raises housing values relative to proposal in specific markets, such as northern New Jersey, but they also uncover a great heterogeneity in the effects of remediation across markets, with no statistical effects from deletion relative to proposal detected in Los Angeles metro, southwestern Connecticut or Boston metro.

Role of chromosome stability and telomere length in the production of viable cell lines for somatic cell nuclear transfer

BACKGROUND: Somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) provides an appealing alternative for the preservation of genetic material in non-domestic and endangered species. An important prerequisite for successful SCNT is the availability of good quality donor cells, as normal embryo development is dependent upon proper reprogramming of the donor genome so that embryonic genes can be appropriately expressed. The characteristics of donor cell lines and their ability to produce embryos by SCNT were evaluated by testing the effects of tissue sample collection (DART biopsy, PUNCH biopsy, post-mortem EAR sample) and culture initiation (explant, collagenase digestion) techniques. RESULTS: Differences in initial sample size based on sample collection technique had an effect on the amount of time necessary for achieving primary confluence and the number of population doublings (PDL) produced. Thus, DART and PUNCH biopsies resulted in cultures with decreased lifespans (<30 PDL) accompanied by senescence-like morphology and decreased normal chromosome content (<40% normal cells at 20 PDL) compared to the long-lived (>50 PDL) and chromosomally stable (>70% normal cells at 20 PDL) cultures produced by post-mortem EAR samples. Chromosome stability was influenced by sample collection technique and was dependent upon the culture's initial telomere length and its rate of shortening over cell passages. Following SCNT, short-lived cultures resulted in significantly lower blastocyst development (≤ 0.9%) compared to highly proliferative cultures (11.8%). Chromosome stability and sample collection technique were significant factors in determining blastocyst development outcome. CONCLUSION: These data demonstrate the influence of culture establishment techniques on cell culture characteristics, including the viability, longevity and normality of cells. The identification of a quantifiable marker associated with SCNT embryo developmental potential, chromosome stability, provides a means by which cell culture conditions can be monitored and improved

The Role of Chocolate Web-Based Communication in a Regional Context: Its Implication for Open Innovation

Background: This research investigates the web-based communication and promotion strategies applied by a sample of selected chocolatiers in Piedmont, a region in the northwest of Italy known for its ancient chocolate-making tradition. Methods: the AGIL scheme was used (A-adaptation, which evaluates the persuasive approach; G-goal achievement, which evaluates the informative approach; I-integration, which evaluates the communicative approach; and L-latent model, which evaluates the identity approach). Each A-G-I-L category, subdivided into subcategories containing variables, was specifically evaluated during the analysis of the companies' websites carried out by a group of experts. The five experts assigned a score for each variable and subcategory to each site. The average subcategory and category scores for each website were analyzed using principal component analysis, which allowed three communicative orientations to be defined: classic, consumer-centered, international-oriented. Results: In general, the results show a strong link between the tradition of artisan chocolate producers and the desire to create a relationship of trust in the brand on the part of consumers. Conclusions: This research is the first to contribute to the field of chocolate web-communication and provides a picture of a local production reality; it is interesting in terms of chocolate promotion styles based on the combination of tradition and innovation

Consumption vs. non-consumption of plant-based beverages : a case study on factors influencing consumers' choices

Plant-based beverages (PBBs) represent a growing global alternative to cow's milk. However, their development is strongly influenced by consumers’ expectations of new foods introduced into the diet: environmental sustainability, balanced nutritional content, health aspects, and organoleptic properties. This study analyzes consumers' preferences and choice orientations towards plant-based beverages through the assessment of their eating style and concern towards environmental and health issues. To that end, an online questionnaire was conducted with a sample of 233 respondents living in the South-East area of Italy. Initially, principal component analyses were performed to identify distinct dimensions of individuals' orientation towards food quality, environment and health involvement. Then, the emerging dimensions were used as dependent variables for ANOVA comparisons between consumers and non-consumers of plant-based beverages, considering also individuals’ preferences towards different PBBs. The main results showed a strong consumer concern for environmental sustainability issues, which was found as the main purchasing driver for plant-based beverage consumers. On the other hand, many respondents stated that they do not consume PBBs due to their negative organoleptic aspects and the unfamiliarity with these products. Furthermore, the individual's dietary style influences the consumption of plant-based beverages and, in particular, the search for nutritional and balanced compounds plays a key role in consumption choices. Finally, despite that the almonds cultivation for the traditional 'almond milk' production is typical in various Italian regions, consumers expressed averagely a weak connection with this product. In conclusion, considering our results, the market development of PPBs at a national level might be supported by marketing strategies dedicated to different individuals’ profiles. At the same time, however, direct actions on the production process are needed to improve the organoleptic profile of these products and meet the dissatisfaction expressed by consumers

The role of socio-demographic variables and buying habits in determining milk purchasers' preferences and choices

Emerging new purchasing behaviors have been reflected in the sales trends of dairy products, mainly in cow milk consumption. This study aimed to investigate the preferences of milk purchasers toward different product attributes, by considering both individuals' socio-demographic characteristics (SD) and milk purchasing habits (PH) as independent variables in the milk consumption model definition. To achieve this objective, a questionnaire was administered to a sample of 1,216 residents in Northwest Italy. The application of the Best-Worst scaling (BWS) methodology to define the purchasers' declared preferences toward a set of 12 milk attributes, showed that milk origin and expiry date are the most important attributes for milk choice in the decision-making process. The correlation analysis showed that the SD and milk purchasing habits variables affect the definition of stated preferences heterogeneously between the intrinsic, extrinsic, and credence attributes

The oxidative stress adaptor p66Shc is required for permanent embryo arrest in vitro

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Excessive developmental failure occurs during the first week of <it>in vitro </it>embryo development due to elevated levels of cell death and arrest. We hypothesize that permanently arrested embryos enter a stress-induced "senescence-like" state that is dependent on the oxidative stress-adaptor and lifespan determinant protein p66Shc. The aim of this study was to selectively diminish p66Shc gene expression in bovine oocytes and embryos using post-transcriptional gene silencing by RNA-mediated interference to study the effects of p66Shc knockdown on <it>in vitro </it>fertilized bovine embryos.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Approximately 12,000–24,000 short hairpin (sh)RNAi molecules specific for p66Shc were microinjected into bovine germinal vesicle stage oocytes or zygotes. Experiments were comprised of a control group undergoing IVF alone and two groups microinjected with and without p66Shc shRNAi molecules prior to IVF. The amount of p66Shc mRNA quantified by Real Time PCR was significantly (P < 0.001) lowered upon p66Shc shRNAi microinjection. This reduction was selective for p66Shc mRNA, as both histone H2a and p53 mRNA levels were not altered. The relative signal strength of p66Shc immuno-fluorescence revealed a significant reduction in the number of pixels for p66Shc shRNAi microinjected groups compared to controls (P < 0.05). A significant decrease (P < 0.001) in the incidence of arrested embryos upon p66Shc shRNAi microinjection was detected compared to IVF and microinjected controls along with significant reductions (P < 0.001) in both cleavage divisions and blastocyst development. No significant differences in p66Shc mRNA levels (P = 0.314) were observed among the three groups at the blastocyst stage.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>These results show that p66Shc is involved in the regulation of embryo development specifically in mediating early cleavage arrest and facilitating development to the blastocyst stage for in vitro produced bovine embryos.</p