C-SAIL Year 3 Convening: Longitudinal Outcomes Study Presentation

Mengli Song presents Year 2 findings from the Longitudinal Outcomes Study at C-SAIL\u27s second annual A Conversation on College- and Career-Readiness Standards in Washington, D.C. on April 27, 2018.This PowerPoint presentation corresponds to a presentation video available at c-sail.org/videos

C-SAIL Year 2 Convening: Longitudinal Outcomes Study Presentation

Mengli Song presents Year 1 findings from the Longitudinal Outcomes Study at C-SAIL\u27s first annual A Conversation on College- and Career-Readiness Standards in Washington, D.C. on November 18, 2016. This PowerPoint presentation corresponds to a presentation video available at c-sail.org/videos

Early College, Early Success: Early College High School Initiative Impact Study

In 2002, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation launched the ECHSI with the primary goal of increasing the opportunity for underserved students to earn a postsecondary credential. To achieve this goal, Early Colleges provide underserved students with exposure to, and support in, college while they are in high school. Early Colleges partner with colleges and universities to offer all students an opportunity to earn an associate's degree or up to two years of college credits toward a bachelor's degree during high school at no or low cost to the students. The underlying assumption is that engaging underrepresented students in a rigorous high school curriculum tied to the incentive of earning college credit will motivate them and increase their access to additional postsecondary education and credentials after high school. Since 2002, more than 240 Early Colleges have opened nationwideThis study focused on the impact of Early Colleges. It addressed two questions:1. Do Early College students have better outcomes than they would have had at other high schools?2. Does the impact of Early Colleges vary by student background characteristics (e.g., gender and family income)? To answer these questions, we conducted a lottery-based randomized experiment, taking advantage of the fact that some Early Colleges used lotteries in their admissions processes. By comparing the outcomes for students who participated in admissions lotteries and were offered enrollment with the outcomes for students who participated in the lotteries but were not offered enrollment, we can draw causal conclusions about the impact of Early Colleges.The primary student outcomes for this study were high school graduation, college enrollment, and college degree attainment. We also examined students' high school and college experiences. Data on student background characteristics and high school outcomes came from administrative records from schools, districts, and states; data on collegeoutcomes came from the National Student Clearinghouse (NSC); and data on high school and college experiences and intermediate outcomes such as college credit accrual camefrom a student surveyWe assessed the impact of Early Colleges on these outcomes for a sample of 10 Early Colleges that did the following:-Enrolled students in grades 9 -- 12 and had high school graduates in the study years (2005 -- 2011)-Used lotteries as part of the admission processes in at least one of the study cohorts (students who entered ninth grade in 2005 -- 06, 2006 -- 07, or 2007 -- 08)-Retained the lottery recordsEight of the 10 Early Colleges in the study were included in the student survey. The overall study sample included 2,458 students and the survey sample included 1,294 students. The study extended through three years past high school

The New Is Old: Novel Germination Strategy Evolved From Standing Genetic Variation in Weedy Rice

Feralization of crop plants has aroused an increasing interest in recent years, not only for the reduced yield and quality of crop production caused by feral plants but also for the rapid evolution of novel traits that facilitate the evolution and persistence of weedy forms. Weedy rice (Oryza sativa f. spontanea) is a conspecific weed of cultivated rice, with separate and independent origins. The weedy rice distributed in eastern and northeastern China did not diverge from their cultivated ancestors by reverting to the pre-domestication trait of seed dormancy during feralization. Instead, they developed a temperature-sensing mechanism to control the timing of seed germination. Subsequent divergence in the minimum critical temperature for germination has been detected between northeastern and eastern populations. An integrative analysis was conducted using combinations of phenotypic, genomic and transcriptomic data to investigate the genetic mechanism underlying local adaptation and feralization. A dozen genes were identified, which showed extreme allele frequency differences between eastern and northeastern populations, and high correlations between allele-specific gene expression and feral phenotypes. Trancing the origin of potential adaptive alleles based on genomic sequences revealed the presence of most selected alleles in wild and cultivated rice genomes, indicating that weedy rice drew upon pre-existing, “conditionally neutral” alleles to respond to the feral selection regimes. The cryptic phenotype was exposed by activating formerly silent alleles to facilitate the transition from cultivation to wild existence, promoting the evolution and persistence of weedy forms

Effectiveness of steel bars in reinforced masonry walls under concentric compression

This PhD thesis aims at developing an economical and safe reinforced masonry structural walling system suitable for usage in the heavily loaded lower stories of the multi-storeyed residential or commercial buildings. Through a systematic experimental investigation of more than 50 walls and a finite element modelling incorporating material and geometric nonlinearities, design formulae have been developed and incorporated in the Australian Masonry Design Standard AS3700 (2018). With this significant contribution, the outcomes of this PhD thesis can address some of the recent problems of huge societal costs involving cracked walls in several residential apartments in Australia

*Influence in the reading policy domain: A cross -state social network analysis.

This study assesses the influence of diverse policy actors in the state reading policy domain, and compares the patterns of influence across eight states. Guided by the social network perspective, I raised five hypotheses regarding the influence structure of the state reading policy domain. The data used for testing the hypotheses came primarily from structured interviews with 320 participants from eight states, which were supplemented by archival documents. I coded each interview transcript and archival document for relationships among state reading policy actors regarding reading-related issues, and created a sociomatrix accordingly for each state reading policy network. The sociomatrices served as the input for network analyses. My analyses reveal that the state reading policy networks were highly differentiated in terms of actor influence. In all the eight states, government actors were generally significantly more central---based on both degree centrality and closeness centrality---and prestigious than nongovernment actors. Moreover, there existed substantial between-state variations in the distribution of actors' centrality values. I also found that contrary to expectation, teacher organizations were not the most influential nongovernment actors in six of the eight state reading policy networks based on actor centrality results. Further, my study reveals that all the eight state reading policy networks were of a core/periphery structure, with the network cores occupied by both government and nongovernment actors. Finally, visual representations of the state reading policy domain indicate that in all the eight states, government actors tended to interact directly with other government actors, and single-issue interest groups tended to interact directly with other single-issue interest groups. The interactional patterns of general interest groups, however, were not as consistent across the states. The findings of this study not only offer a structural understanding of the state reading policy domain, but also have important implications for policy actors who wish to influence reading policy. This study also contributes to educational policy research by demonstrating how the social network perspective can serve as a useful lens to understand educational policy processes.Ph.D.EducationReading instructionUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/123478/2/3079532.pd

Single-Atom Nanozymes: Fabrication, Characterization, Surface Modification and Applications of ROS Scavenging and Antibacterial

Nanozymes are nanomaterials with intrinsic natural enzyme-like catalytic properties. They have received extensive attention and have the potential to be an alternative to natural enzymes. Increasing the atom utilization rate of active centers in nanozymes has gradually become a concern of scientists. As the limit of designing nanozymes at the atomic level, single-atom nanozymes (SAzymes) have become the research frontier of the biomedical field recently because of their high atom utilization, well-defined active centers, and good natural enzyme mimicry. In this review, we first introduce the preparation of SAzymes through pyrolysis and defect engineering with regulated activity, then the characterization and surface modification methods of SAzymes are introduced. The possible influences of surface modification on the activity of SAzymes are discussed. Furthermore, we summarize the applications of SAzymes in the biomedical fields, especially in those of reactive oxygen species (ROS) scavenging and antibacterial. Finally, the challenges and opportunities of SAzymes are summarized and prospected

Understanding Agenda Setting in State Educational Policy: An Application of Kingdon’s Multiple Streams Model to the Formation of State Reading Policy Comprendiendo los procesos de definición de las agendas en política educativas estatales: Una aplicación del modelo de Kingdon de flujos múltiples en la formulación de políticas de lectura del estado. Compreendendo a definição de agendas de política educacional do estado: Uma aplicação do modelo de correntes múltiplas de Kingdon na formação da política de leitura dos estados

<p>Drawing on interview data from reading policy actors in California, Michigan, and Texas, this study applied Kingdon's (1984, 1995) multiple streams model to explain how the issue of reading became prominent on the agenda of state governments during the latter half of the 1990s. A combination of factors influenced the status of a state's reading policy agenda, including feedback from parents, teachers, and business groups; student achievement data; political pressure from the state administration; regional and national interest; a pervasive belief that reading is a building block for student success; and a widespread perception that the decline in reading achievement was symbolic of the failure of public schools. In addition, governors promoted reading to high agenda prominence by influencing which issues were placed on the decision agenda (agenda setting) and which alternatives were given serious attention (alternative specification). Finally, the findings suggest that the applicability of Kingdon's national-level model to the state level may depend on both the issue being examined and the participation of the state executive branch.</p> Tomando como base datos de entrevistas con actores en el área de políticas sobre lectura en los estados de Michigan, California y Texas, este estudio utilizó el modelo de flujos múltiples de Kingdon (1984, 1995) para explicar cómo el área de lectura llegó a ser prominente en la agenda de los gobiernos estatales durante la segunda mitad de los años 90. Una combinación de factores influyeron para establecer las agenda políticas estatales de lectura, incluyendo comentarios de padres, profesores y grupos económicos, el rendimiento escolar; la presión política de la administración estatal, además de grupos de presión a nivel regional y nacional. Otros factores que también contribuyeron fueron la creencia que la lectura es la base para el éxito de los estudiantes y la percepción que la disminución del rendimiento en el área de lectura representa simbólicamente, el fracaso de las escuelas públicas. Por otra parte, el Gobierno promovió la lectura al principio orden del día, que influyen en qué temas se colocaron en la agenda de decisión (definición de personal) y qué alternativas deben recibir más atención. Por último, los resultados sugieren que la utilización del modelo de Kingdon del nivel nacional para el nivel estatal depende tanto de la cuestión que se examina como de la participación del poder ejecutivo en el estado. Baseando-se em dados de entrevista com atores políticos da area da leitura em Michigan, na Califórnia e no Texas, este estudo aplicou o modelo de múltiplas correntes de Kingdon (1984, 1995) para explicar como a leitura tornou-se proeminente na agenda dos governos de Estado durante a metade final dos anos 90. Uma combinação de fatores influenciou a configuração da agenda de política estadual de leitura, incluindo os comentários de pais, professores e grupos de econômicos; dados de desempenho escolar; pressão política da administração do Estado; além de interesse regional e nacional. Contribuiram também fatores como a crença de que a leitura é a base para o sucesso do estudante e a percepção de que o diminuição no desempenho da leitura representava, simbolicamente, o fracasso das escolas públicas. Além disso, os governantes promoveram a leitura ao topo da agenda, influenciando quais questões eram colocadas na pauta de decisão (definição de pauta) e quais alternativas deveriam receber mais atenção. Por fim, os resultados sugerem que a aplicabilidade do modelo de nível nacional de Kingdon ao nível estadual depende tanto da questão a ser examinada quanto da participação do grupo executivo do Estado

A robust watermarking hybrid algorithm for color image

In order to improve the anti-attack performance of the watermark to meet the requirements of copyright protection and content forensics. This paper proposes a digital watermarking hybrid algorithm based on color images. The specific process is to adopt the idea of multi-algorithm layered embedding, choose the algorithm based on discrete cosine transform (DCT) algorithm, discrete wavelet transform_singular value decomposition (DWT_SVD) algorithm, and hologram algorithm, these three algorithms with robust complementary functions, then embed the same watermark image into the color image R, G and B layers to complete the watermark embedding. Compared with the single-algorithm embedded watermark, the hybrid algorithm can achieve blind extraction, at the same time, the algorithm has better robustness and can resist more types and higher intensity attacks. In the process of digital image transmission, the integrity of the watermark information of the carried picture can be guaranteed to achieve copyright protection, content forensics and other purposes