Exploring the Nature of Teacher-Student Reading Conferences during Independent Reading Time

In elementary classrooms, a variety of approaches and frameworks are used to support students as they develop their reading comprehension abilities and independently read increasingly complex texts. This multiple-case study embedded design described teacher-student reading conferences conducted in the context of independent reading time by four exemplary second grade teachers whose primary method of reading instruction is the reading workshop approach as described by Calkins (2001). This study described feedback and scaffolds provided by four exemplary reading workshop teachers during 207 teacher-student reading conferences within a nine-week period. In addition to investigating how four exemplary reading workshop teachers conducted teacher-student reading conferences, this study also described how twenty-four students responded to the teachers\u27 feedback and scaffolds during the teacher-student reading conferences. Based on twelve 90 minute observations and the audio recordings of 207 teacher-student reading conferences, specific routines and resources the teachers used to support teacher-student reading conferences are described. Each teacher utilized their classrooms and resources in similar ways to support students reading self-selected texts during independent reading time. The use of student folders, which included resources and goal setting sheets, was critical in teacher-student reading conferences in three of the four classrooms. The four teachers utilized Teachers College Reading and Writing Project curriculum guides and resources to support their teacher-student reading conferences. The findings from the present study highlighted the multifaceted and complex nature of teacher-student reading conferences as they occurred during independent reading time. Even though the findings described differences in how the four second grade teachers structured their teacher-student reading conferences, each of the cases described the importance of knowing students and the reading process to flexibly provide feedback and scaffolds to meet the needs of readers during teacher-student reading conferences during independent reading time. The individual case studies revealed the teachers utilized a consistent structure for conducting their teacher-student reading conferences. However, the structure varied by teacher based on their stated purpose for teacher-student reading conferences within their instructional literacy time. One of the teachers expressed teacher-student reading conferences were a time for her to provide explicit, targeted instruction whereas another teacher viewed reading conferences as a time to informally assess how students were applying learning from whole-group literacy instruction. Throughout this study, the teachers\u27 purpose for teacher-student reading conferences influenced the feedback and scaffolds they provided and, as a result, determined the way students responded during teacher-student reading conferences. Despite differences in implementation of teacher-student reading conferences and differences in students\u27 responses, 22 out of 24 participating students read at least one reading level higher by the end of the study. Each of the teachers expressed that despite challenges of scheduling, they gained so much information about individual student\u27s reading and interests through teacher-student reading conferences. Each teacher stated that teacher-student reading conferences were a priority and they devoted an hour every day for teacher-student reading conferences during independent reading time

An examination of the factorial structure of the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire–Brief (SPQ-B) among undergraduate students

Cognitive-perceptual, interpersonal, and disorganized subscales of the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire–Brief (SPQ-B), reflecting the three commonly used subscales of the full-version SPQ, have been used in a number of studies. However, the factorial validity of SPQB subscales remains to be clarified. Utilizing data from 825 undergraduate students, confirmatory factor analyses involving the 22 items of the SPQ-B were conducted. A significant χ2 difference test favored the 3-factor over the 1-factor model and fit indices for the 3-factor model were generally satisfactory. However, several of the items may index more than one of the hypothesized factors, so the item-factor separation is not sharp. Thus, more research is needed on the factorial validity of the increasingly used SPQ-B subscales

Confirmation of a Four-Factor Structure of the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire among Undergraduate Students

Objective Although several exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses have supported the initially proposed factor structure of the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire (SPQ) in which its nine subscales are grouped into cognitive-perceptual, interpersonal, and disorganized domains, others have revealed different latent structures. This study determined the best-fitting factor structure from among five models that have been proposed in the literature, as well as five additional hierarchically related models. Method Undergraduate college students (n=825) completed the SPQ as well as the Perceptual Aberration Scale (PAS) and the Revised Social Anhedonia Scale (SAS). Confirmatory factor analyses involving the nine SPQ subscales were conducted using the Linear Structural Relations Program (LISREL 8.72). Results The best fitting model was a previously described 4-factor model including cognitiveperceptual, paranoid, negative, and disorganized domains. Correlations between the derived SPQ domains and the PAS score ranged r=.26–.39, and correlations between the SPQ domains and the SAS ranged r=.07–.41. Conclusions The present findings support a 4-factor model over the standard 3-factor model that is typically used to derive SPQ subscale scores. The four derived domains are minimally to moderately correlated with other measures of psychosis-proneness

Age-Related Influence of Contingencies on a Saccade Task

Background: Adolescence is characterized by increased risk-taking and sensation seeking, presumably brought about by developmental changes within reward-mediating brain circuits. A better understanding of the neural mechanisms underlying reward-seeking during adolescence can have critical implications for the development of strategies to enhance adolescent performance in potentially dangerous situations. Yet little research has investigated the influence of age on the modulation of behavior by incentives with neuroscience-based methods Methods: A monetary reward antisaccade task (the RST) was used with 23 healthy adolescents and 30 healthy adults. Performance accuracy, latency and peak velocity of saccade responses (prosaccades and antisaccades) were analyzed. Results: Performance accuracy across all groups was improved by incentives (obtain reward, avoid punishment) for both, prosaccades and antisaccades. However, modulation of antisaccade errors (direction errors) by incentives differed between groups: adolescents modulated saccade latency and peak velocity depending on contingencies, with incentives aligning their performance to that of adults; adults did not show a modulation by incentives. Conclusions: These findings suggest that incentives modulate a global measure of performance (percent direction errors) in adults and adolescents, and exert a more powerful influence on the control of incorrect motor responses in adolescents than in adults. These findings suggest that this task can be used in neuroimaging studies as a probe of the influence of incentives on cognitive control from a developmental perspective as well as in health and disease

Differentiation of Human, Dog, and Cat hair Fibers using DART TOFMS and Machine Learning

Hair is found in over 90% of crime scenes and has long been analyzed as trace evidence. However, recent reviews of traditional hair fiber analysis techniques, primarily morphological examination, have cast doubt on its reliability. To address these concerns, this study employed machine learning algorithms, specifically Linear Discriminant Analysis (LDA) and Random Forest, on Direct Analysis in Real Time time-of-flight mass spectra collected from human, cat, and dog hair samples. The objective was to develop a chemistry- and statistics-based classification method for unbiased taxonomic identification of hair. The results of the study showed that LDA and Random Forest were highly effective in separating mass spectra collected from hair samples with accuracies ranging from 94-98%. This approach holds significant promise for forensic investigations, archaeology, and artifact analysis

Laboratory Validation of Inertial Body Sensors to Detect Cigarette Smoking Arm Movements

Cigarette smoking remains the leading cause of preventable death in the United States. Traditional in-clinic cessation interventions may fail to intervene and interrupt the rapid progression to relapse that typically occurs following a quit attempt. The ability to detect actual smoking behavior in real-time is a measurement challenge for health behavior research and intervention. The successful detection of real-time smoking through mobile health (mHealth) methodology has substantial implications for developing highly efficacious treatment interventions. The current study was aimed at further developing and testing the ability of inertial sensors to detect cigarette smoking arm movements among smokers. The current study involved four smokers who smoked six cigarettes each in a laboratory-based assessment. Participants were outfitted with four inertial body movement sensors on the arms, which were used to detect smoking events at two levels: the puff level and the cigarette level. Two different algorithms (Support Vector Machines (SVM) and Edge-Detection based learning) were trained to detect the features of arm movement sequences transmitted by the sensors that corresponded with each level. The results showed that performance of the SVM algorithm at the cigarette level exceeded detection at the individual puff level, with low rates of false positive puff detection. The current study is the second in a line of programmatic research demonstrating the proof-of-concept for sensor-based tracking of smoking, based on movements of the arm and wrist. This study demonstrates efficacy in a real-world clinical inpatient setting and is the first to provide a detection rate against direct observation, enabling calculation of true and false positive rates. The study results indicate that the approach performs very well with some participants, whereas some challenges remain with participants who generate more frequent non-smoking movements near the face. Future work may allow for tracking smoking in real-world environments, which would facilitate developing more effective, just-in-time smoking cessation interventions

Schizotypy and Nicotine, Alcohol, and Cannabis Use in a Non-Psychiatric Sample

Schizotypy is a multidimensional personality construct that is characterized by perceptual abnormalities, social withdrawal, mild suspiciousness, and odd thinking patterns. This study examined the relationship between four dimensions of self-reported schizotypy and substance use involving nicotine, alcohol, and cannabis, in undergraduate students. Results showed that higher levels of disorganized schizotypy, or odd thinking and behavior, were associated with greater indices of use of all three substances. Furthermore, higher cognitive-perceptual schizotypy was selectively associated with cannabis use. Results confirm findings of recent research that has discovered associations among schizotypy and substance use, highlighting links between behavioral traits and use of nicotine, alcohol, and cannabis. This study is one of the first to examine a wide range of schizotypy domains, and to show selective effects of the disorganized domain of schizotypy

Variation in host home range size decreases rabies vaccination effectiveness by increasing the spatial spread of rabies virus

Animal movement influences the spatial spread of directly transmitted wildlife disease through host-host contact structure. Wildlife disease hosts vary in home range- associated foraging and social behaviours, which may increase the spread and intensity of disease outbreaks. The consequences of variation in host home range movement and space use on wildlife disease dynamics are poorly understood, but could help to predict disease spread and determine more effective disease management strategies. We developed a spatially explicit individual-based model to examine the effect of spatiotemporal variation in host home range size on the spatial spread rate, persistence and incidence of rabies virus (RABV) in raccoons (Procyon lotor). We tested the hypothesis that variation in home range size increases RABV spread and decreases vaccination effectiveness in host populations following pathogen invasion into a vaccination zone. We simulated raccoon demography and RABV dynamics across a range of magnitudes and variances in weekly home range size for raccoons. We examined how variable home range size influenced the relative effectiveness of three components of oral rabies vaccination (ORV) programmes targeting raccoons—timing and frequency of bait delivery, width of the ORV zone and proportion of hosts immunized. Variability in weekly home range size increased RABV spread rates by 1.2-fold to 5.2-fold compared to simulations that assumed a fixed home range size. More variable host home range sizes decreased relative vaccination effectiveness by 71% compared to less variable host home range sizes under conventional vaccination conditions. We found that vaccination timing was more influential for vaccination effectiveness than vaccination frequency or vaccination zone width. Our results suggest that variation in wildlife home range movement behaviour increases the spatial spread and incidence of RABV. Our vaccination results underscore the importance of prioritizing individual-level space use and movement data collection to understand wildlife disease dynamics and plan their effective control and elimination

Mobile devices for the remote acquisition of physiological and behavioral biomarkers in psychiatric clinical research

Psychiatric disorders are linked to a variety of biological, psychological, and contextual causes and consequences. Laboratory studies have elucidated the importance of several key physiological and behavioral biomarkers in the study of psychiatric disorders, but much less is known about the role of these biomarkers in naturalistic settings. These gaps are largely driven by methodological barriers to assessing biomarker data rapidly, reliably, and frequently outside the clinic or laboratory. Mobile health (mHealth) tools offer new opportunities to study relevant biomarkers in concert with other types of data (e.g., self-reports, global positioning system data). This review provides an overview on the state of this emerging field and describes examples from the literature where mHealth tools have been used to measure a wide array of biomarkers in the context of psychiatric functioning (e.g., psychological stress, anxiety, autism, substance use). We also outline advantages and special considerations for incorporating mHealth tools for remote biomarker measurement into studies of psychiatric illness and treatment and identify several specific opportunities for expanding this promising methodology. Integrating mHealth tools into this area may dramatically improve psychiatric science and facilitate highly personalized clinical care of psychiatric disorders