Implicit Bias And The Self-Fulfilling Prophecy Phenomenon And Their Affects On Literacy Performance In Elementary Students

The author’s inquiry was: How do implicit bias and the self-fulfilling prophecy phenomenon affect literacy performance in elementary students. Implicit or unconscious bias is known for causing issues with judges and police officers, but new awareness has been brought to the realm of education and how these biases can widen the achievement gap in literacy and other academic areas. The self-fulfilling prophecy phenomenon or Pygmalion Effect, can hinder growth in academics when an educator fails to identify student strengths, only focusing on deficits. This project brings awareness to how implicit bias and the self-fulfilling prophecy through the use of a seven-week professional development course featuring readings, activities and reflections to help educators understand the unconscious bias they have towards their students and how it can ultimately affect their student’s ability to learn and gro

Wetland mapping from digitized aerial photography

Computer assisted interpretation of small scale aerial imagery was found to be a cost effective and accurate method of mapping complex vegetation patterns if high resolution information is desired. This type of technique is suited for problems such as monitoring changes in species composition due to environmental factors and is a feasible method of monitoring and mapping large areas of wetlands. The technique has the added advantage of being in a computer compatible form which can be transformed into any georeference system of interest

Ignition of thermally sensitive explosives between a contact surface and a shock

The dynamics of ignition between a contact surface and a shock wave is investigated using a one-step reaction model with Arrhenius kinetics. Both large activation energy asymptotics and high-resolution finite activation energy numerical simulations are employed. Emphasis is on comparing and contrasting the solutions with those of the ignition process between a piston and a shock, considered previously. The large activation energy asymptotic solutions are found to be qualitatively different from the piston driven shock case, in that thermal runaway first occurs ahead of the contact surface, and both forward and backward moving reaction waves emerge. These waves take the form of quasi-steady weak detonations that may later transition into strong detonation waves. For the finite activation energies considered in the numerical simulations, the results are qualitatively different to the asymptotic predictions in that no backward weak detonation wave forms, and there is only a weak dependence of the evolutionary events on the acoustic impedance of the contact surface. The above conclusions are relevant to gas phase equation of state models. However, when a large polytropic index more representative of condensed phase explosives is used, the large activation energy asymptotic and finite activation energy numerical results are found to be in quantitative agreement

Exhaust of Underexpanded Jets from Finite Reservoirs

We examine the response of an underexpanded jet to a depleting, finite reservoir with experiments and simulations. An open-ended shock tube facility with variable reservoir length is used to obtain images of nitrogen and helium jet structures at successive instances during the blowdown from initial pressure ratios of up to 250. The reservoir and ambient pressures are simultaneously measured to obtain the instantaneous pressure ratio. We estimate the time-scales for jet formation and reservoir depletion as a function of the specific heat ratio of the gas and the initial pressure ratio. The jet structure formation time-scale is found to become approximately independent of pressure ratio for ratios greater than 50. In the present work, no evidence of time-dependence in the Mach disk shock location is observed for rates of pressure decrease associated with isentropic blowdown of a finite reservoir while the pressure ratio is greater than 15. The shock location in the finite- reservoir jet can be calculated from an existing empirical fit to infinite-reservoir jet data evaluated at the instantaneous reservoir pressure. For pressure ratios below 15, however, the present data deviate from a compilation of data for infinite-reservoir jets. A new fit is obtained to data in the lower pressure regime. The self-similarity of the jet structure is quantified and departure from similarity is noted to begin at pressure ratios lower than about 15, approximately the same ratio which limits existing empirical fits

Just keep grazing: Parrotfish grazing and dietary selectivity in the Florida Keys

Parrotfish have indirect positive effects on corals by grazing on macroalgae that competes for substrate space with corals. Parrotfish can also have a negative impact on corals by feeding on live coral. Feeding preferences are correlated to jaw morphology in parrotfishes. This study examined the feeding selectivity for two genera of parrotfish (Scarus and Sparisoma) in the Florida Keys to determine the impacts they have on coral reefs. On 14 reefs, fish censuses, behavioral surveys and substrate composition analysis were preformed to calculate selectivity indices for the various substrate types. The indices showed that parrotfish do exhibit selective feeding. Scarus had a significantly higher preference for turf and Sparisoma had a significantly higher preference for macroalgae. These results support life history theory that Scarus are excavators and Sparisoma are grazers as predicted by their jaw morphology. This project was partially supported by the Creative Inquiry program

Modelling the evolution of distributions : an application to major league baseball

We develop Bayesian techniques for modelling the evolution of entire distributions over time and apply them to the distribution of team performance in Major League baseball for the period 1901-2000. Such models offer insight into many key issues (e.g. competitive balance) in a way that regression-based models cannot. The models involve discretizing the distribution and then modelling the evolution of the bins over time through transition probability matrices. We allow for these matrices to vary over time and across teams. We find that, with one exception, the transition probability matrices (and, hence, competitive balance) have been remarkably constant across time and over teams. The one exception is the Yankees, who have outperformed all other teams

Low Mach number effect in simulation of high Mach number flow

In this note, we relate the two well-known difficulties of Godunov schemes: the carbuncle phenomena in simulating high Mach number flow, and the inaccurate pressure profile in simulating low Mach number flow. We introduced two simple low-Mach-number modifications for the classical Roe flux to decrease the difference between the acoustic and advection contributions of the numerical dissipation. While the first modification increases the local numerical dissipation, the second decreases it. The numerical tests on the double-Mach reflection problem show that both modifications eliminate the kinked Mach stem suffered by the original flux. These results suggest that, other than insufficient numerical dissipation near the shock front, the carbuncle phenomena is strongly relevant to the non-comparable acoustic and advection contributions of the numerical dissipation produced by Godunov schemes due to the low Mach number effect.Comment: 9 pages, 1 figur

Role of tidal wetland stability in lateral fluxes of particulate organic matter and carbon

Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2019. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Journal of Geophysical Research-Biogeosciences 124(5), (2019): 1265-1277, doi:10.1029/2018JG004920.Tidal wetland fluxes of particulate organic matter and carbon (POM, POC) are important terms in global budgets but remain poorly constrained. Given the link between sediment fluxes and wetland stability, POM and POC fluxes should also be related to stability. We measured POM and POC fluxes in eight microtidal salt marsh channels, with net POM fluxes ranging between −121 ± 33 (export) and 102 ± 28 (import) g OM·m−2·year−1 and net POC fluxes ranging between −52 ± 14 and 43 ± 12 g C·m−2·year−1. A regression employing two measures of stability, the unvegetated‐vegetated marsh ratio (UVVR) and elevation, explained >95% of the variation in net fluxes. The regression indicates that marshes with lower elevation and UVVR import POM and POC while higher elevation marshes with high UVVR export POM and POC. We applied these relationships to marsh units within Barnegat Bay, New Jersey, USA, finding a net POM import of 2,355 ± 1,570 Mg OM/year (15 ± 10 g OM·m−2·year−1) and a net POC import of 1,263 ± 632 Mg C/year (8 ± 4 g C·m−2·year−1). The magnitude of this import was similar to an estimate of POM and POC export due to edge erosion (−2,535 Mg OM/year and − 1,291 Mg C/year), suggesting that this system may be neutral from a POM and POC perspective. In terms of a net budget, a disintegrating wetland should release organic material, while a stable wetland should trap material. This study quantifies that concept and demonstrates a linkage between POM/POC flux and geomorphic stability.Use of brand names is for identification purposes only and does not constitute endorsement by the U.S. Government. This study was supported by the USGS Coastal and Marine Geology Program, the Department of the Interior Hurricane Sandy Recovery program (GS2‐2D), and the USGS Mendenhall Post‐doctoral Research Program. Viktoria Unger and Paula Zelanko are acknowledged for field and lab assistance. Core collection was funded under NJ SeaGrant/NOAA Grant 6210‐0011. Gil Pontius provided helpful feedback on statistical measures. Kevin Kroeger and two anonymous reviewers provided constructive reviews of the manuscript. All time series and water sample data are available at the U.S. Geological Survey's Oceanographic Time‐Series Data Collection (at https://stellwagen.er.usgs.gov/).2019-10-2

Surveillance imaging of grade 1 astrocytomas in children: can duration and frequency of follow-up imaging and the use of contrast agents be reduced?

Purpose: The optimum strategy for the surveillance of low-grade gliomas in children has not been established, and there is concern about the use of gadolinium-based contrast agents (GBCAs), particularly in children, due to their deposition in the brain. The number of surveillance scans and the use of GBCAs in surveillance of low-risk tumours should ideally be limited. We aimed to investigate the consistency and utility of our surveillance imaging and also determine to what extent the use of GBCAs contributed to decisions to escalate treatment in children with grade 1 astrocytomas. / Methods: This was a retrospective single-centre study at a tertiary paediatric hospital. All children with a new diagnosis of a non-syndromic World Health Organization (WHO) grade 1 astrocytoma between 2007 and 2013 were included, with surveillance imaging up to December 2018 included in analysis. The intervals of surveillance imaging were recorded, and imaging and electronic health records were examined for decisions related to treatment escalation. / Results: Eighty-eight patients had 690 surveillance scans in the study period. Thirty-one patients had recurrence or progression leading to treatment escalation, 30 of whom were identified on surveillance imaging. The use of GBCAs did not appear to contribute to multidisciplinary team (MDT) decisions in the majority of cases. / Conclusion: Surveillance imaging could be reduced in number and duration for completely resected cerebellar tumours. MDT decisions were rarely made on the basis of post-contrast imaging, and GBCA administration could therefore potentially be restricted in the setting of surveillance of grade 1 astrocytomas in children