Reading Attitudes of Pre-Service Education Majors

The purpose of the current study was reading attitudes of undergraduates in training. We wondered if there were any relationship between such students\u27 reading attitudes and the number of reading methods and other reading- and language-related courses they had taken

Does Basic Skills Education Work? Some Evidence from the National Adult Literacy Survey

No Abstract available

Adults’ Readiness to Learn and Skill Acquisition and Use: An Analysis of PIAAC

This study examined the relationship between adults’ readiness to learn (RtL) and skill acquisition and use in the US sample of the PIAAC. RtL showed significant effects on each of the observed skill use outcomes. It was the strongest predictor of reading and writing skill use at home

Differences between US and German adults in native-born and migrants’ participation in volunteering as a dimension of civic engagement

We examine civic engagement among immigrants and native-born adults in the United States (U.S.) and Germany, operationalized in this study as voluntary work or volunteerism. Data for the analyses are drawn from the PIAAC. Germany and the U.S. were selected from the countries participating in PIAAC initial data collection in 2012 as two large OECD countries with different histories of immigration and responses to migrants. In Germany, native-born individuals showed greater volunteerism than immigrants (β = 0.119, p \u3c .001) while in the U.S., no significant difference was apparent by immigration status (β = 0.031, p = .133). These results are discussed in the paper relative to existing research literature and implications for adult education are suggested

Terms of Engagement: Adults’ Experience in Higher Education

National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) data were re-analyzed to look for differences between traditional and nontraditional-age students. Surprisingly, no significant differences were found for five NSSE Benchmarks, including Supportive Campus Environment. Differences were found in subsequent analysis of two scales of academic engagement identified through follow-up factor analysi

Galactic-Scale Outflow and Supersonic Ram-Pressure Stripping in the Virgo Cluster Galaxy NGC 4388

The Hawaii Imaging Fabry-Perot Interferometer (HIFI) on the University of Hawaii 2.2m telescope was used to map the Halpha and [O III] 5007 A emission-line profiles across the entire disk of the edge-on Sb galaxy NGC 4388. We confirm a rich complex of highly ionized gas that extends ~4 kpc above the disk of this galaxy. Low-ionization gas associated with star formation is also present in the disk. Evidence for bar streaming is detected in the disk component and is discussed in a companion paper (Veilleux, Bland-Hawthorn, & Cecil 1999; hereafter VBC). Non-rotational blueshifted velocities of 50 - 250 km/s are measured in the extraplanar gas north-east of the nucleus. The brighter features in this complex tend to have more blueshifted velocities. A redshifted cloud is also detected 2 kpc south-west of the nucleus. The velocity field of the extraplanar gas of NGC 4388 appears to be unaffected by the inferred supersonic (Mach number M ~ 3) motion of this galaxy through the ICM of the Virgo cluster. We argue that this is because the galaxy and the high-|z| gas lie behind a Mach cone with opening angle ~ 80 degrees. The shocked ICM that flows near the galaxy has a velocity of ~ 500 km/s and exerts insufficient ram pressure on the extraplanar gas to perturb its kinematics. We consider several explanations of the velocity field of the extraplanar gas. Velocities, especially blueshifted velocities on the N side of the galaxy, are best explained as a bipolar outflow which is tilted by > 12 degrees from the normal to the disk. The observed offset between the extraplanar gas and the radio structure may be due to buoyancy or refractive bending by density gradients in the halo gas. Velocity substructure in the outflowing gas also suggests an interaction with ambient halo gas.Comment: 29 pages including 5 figures, Latex, requires aaspp4.sty, to appear in ApJ, 520 (July 20, 1999 issue

Unraveling the directional link between adiposity and inflammation: a bidirectional mendelian randomization approach

<b>Context</b>: Associations between adiposity and circulating inflammation markers are assumed to be causal, although the direction of the relationship has not been proven. <b>Objective</b>: The aim of the study was to explore the causal direction of the relationship between adiposity and inflammation using a bidirectional Mendelian randomization approach. <b>Methods</b>: In the PROSPER study of 5804 elderly patients, we related C-reactive protein (CRP) single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) (rs1800947 and rs1205) and adiposity SNPs (FTO and MC4R) to body mass index (BMI) as well as circulating levels of CRP and leptin. We gave each individual two allele scores ranging from zero to 4, counting each pair of alleles related to CRP levels or BMI. <b>Results</b>: With increasing CRP allele score, there was a stepwise decrease in CRP levels (P for trend < 0.0001) and a 1.98 mg/liter difference between extremes of the allele score distribution, but there was no associated change in BMI or leptin levels (P ≥ 0.89). By contrast, adiposity allele score was associated with 1) an increase in BMI (1.2 kg/m2 difference between extremes; P for trend 0.002); 2) an increase in circulating leptin (5.77 ng/ml difference between extremes; P for trend 0.0027); and 3) increased CRP levels (1.24 mg/liter difference between extremes; P for trend 0.002). <b>Conclusions</b>: Greater adiposity conferred by FTO and MC4R SNPs led to higher CRP levels, with no evidence for any reverse pathway. Future studies should extend our findings to other circulating inflammatory parameters. This study illustrates the potential power of Mendelian randomization to dissect directions of causality between intercorrelated metabolic factors

Death or survival from invasive pneumococcal disease in Scotland: associations with serogroups and multilocus sequence types

We describe associations between death from invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD) and particular serogroups and sequence types (STs) determined by multilocus sequence typing (MLST) using data from Scotland. All IPD episodes where blood or cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) culture isolates were referred to the Scottish Haemophilus, Legionella, Meningococcal and Pneumococcal Reference Laboratory (SHLMPRL) from January 1992 to February 2007 were matched to death certification records by the General Register Office for Scotland. This represented 5959 patients. The median number of IPD cases in Scotland each year was 292. Deaths, from any cause, within 30 days of pneumococcal culture from blood or CSF were considered to have IPD as a contributing factor. Eight hundred and thirty-three patients died within 30 days of culture of Streptococcus pneumoniae from blood or CSF [13.95%; 95% confidence interval (13.10, 14.80)]. The highest death rates were in patients over the age of 75. Serotyping data exist for all years but MLST data were only available from 2001 onward. The risk ratio of dying from infection due to particular serogroups or STs compared to dying from IPD due to all other serogroups or STs was calculated. Fisher's exact test with Bonferroni adjustment for multiple testing was used. Age adjustment was accomplished using the Cochran-Mantel-Haenszel test and 95% confidence intervals were reported. Serogroups 3, 11 and 16 have increased probability of causing fatal IPD in Scotland while serogroup 1 IPD has a reduced probability of causing death. None of the 20 most common STs were significantly associated with death within 30 days of pneumococcal culture, after age adjustment. We conclude that there is a stronger association between a fatal outcome and pneumococcal capsular serogroup than there is between a fatal outcome and ST

A Kinematic Link between Boxy Bulges, Stellar Bars, and Nuclear Activity in NGC 3079 & NGC 4388

We present direct kinematic evidence for bar streaming motions in two active galaxies with boxy stellar bulges. The Hawaii Imaging Fabry-Perot Interferometer was used on the Canada-France-Hawaii 3.6-m telescope and the University of Hawaii 2.2-m telescope to derive the two-dimensional velocity field of the line-emitting gas in the disks of the Sc galaxy NGC 3079 and the Sb galaxy NGC 4388. In contrast to previous work based on long-slit data, the detection of the bar potential from the Fabry-Perot data does not rely on the existence of inner Lindblad resonances or strong bar-induced shocks. Simple kinematic models which approximate the intrinsic gas orbits as nonintersecting, inclined elliptical annuli that conserve angular momentum characterize the observed velocity fields. Box-shaped bulges in both NGC 3079 and NGC 4388 are confirmed using new near-infrared images to reduce dust obscuration. Morphological analysis of starlight in these galaxies is combined with the gas kinematics derived from the Fabry-Perot spectra to test evolutionary models of stellar bars that involve transitory boxy bulges, and to quantify the importance of such bars in fueling active nuclei. Our data support the evolutionary bar models, but fail to prove convincingly that the stellar bars in NGC 3079 and NGC 4388 directly trigger or sustain the nuclear activity. (abridged)Comment: 31 pages, 18 figures, Latex, requires aaspp4.sty. Accepted for the Astronomical Journal (November issue

Groundwater “fast paths” in the Snake River Plain aquifer: Radiogenic isotope ratios as natural groundwater tracers

Preferential flow paths are expected in many groundwater systems and must be located because they can greatly affect contaminant transport. The fundamental characteristics of radiogenic isotope ratios in chemically evolving waters make them highly effective as preferential flow path indicators. These ratios tend to be more easily interpreted than solute-concentration data because their response to water-rock interaction is less complex. We demonstrate this approach with groundwater {sup 87}Sr/{sup 86}Sr ratios in the Snake River Plain aquifer within and near the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory. These data reveal slow-flow zones as lower {sup 87}Sr/{sup 86}Sr areas created by prolonged interaction with the host basalts and a relatively fast flowing zone as a high {sup 87}Sr/{sup 86}Sr area