Beyond the Spoken Word: Examining the Nature of Teacher Gesturing in the Context of an Elementary Engineering Curriculum for English-Learner Students

Our research team performed an exploratory analysis of teacher gesturing via a case study of an elementary teacher. We focused on gesturing, a practice found to support both bilingual English learner students’ linguistic development and mathematics achievement, during the teacher’s engineering and science lessons. The research team systematically analyzed teacher video data using McNeill’s gestural dimensions framework and found variation of gesturing types and rates when comparing engineering and baseline science lessons. Additionally, specific types of teacher-gestures appear to be associated with either behavioral or classroom management practices, procedural instructions, and discussion facilitation. We suggest that teacher-gestures such as these have the potential to facilitate bilingual English learners’ language acquisition, while also developing their STEM literacy in general and engineering capacity in particular. Further exploration of teacher-gestures in elementary engineering curricula could lead to an integrated STEM pedagogy that incorporates gesturing as a fundamental teaching strategy, bridging STEM instruction with linguistically responsive instructional practices.Educatio

Information Warehousing Vs Learning Organization: The More Dynamic Information Professional

In the context of information age the only thing which gives organization a competitive edge is information. Success of an organization is heavily depending upon the ability to process the business information generated both internally and externally to the organization. Information warehousing is perceived as an efficient information management tool. The role of information professionals, who understand the value of information in an organizational set up is continuously evolving. In this paper an attempt has been made to highlight the role of an information professional in the development of an information warehouse in learning organizationDocumentation Research and Training Centre

Web databases: A better Solution for Organising the Internet Resources

The web databases have become very popular in the Internet world for organizing the Information resources. Library and Information centers can effectively utilize this web technology for improving as well as delivering new services. This paper discusses the tools and the techniques of the 'Database - Web' connectivity in brief and also provides the examples of Perl - MySql and ASP - MS-Access connectivity

Glyphosate Application Causes Physiological Perturbations in Amino Acid Profiles of Palmer amaranth- A Study of Susceptible and Resistant Biotypes of Amaranthus palmeri

Glyphosate is the most widely used herbicide in the world. It is used to control perennial grasses and weeds having broad leaves. Glyphosate works by inhibiting the plant specific enzyme 5-enolpyruvylshikimate-3-phospate synthase that catalyzes the conversion of shikimic acid to chorismate, which serves as the precursor to production of aromatic amino acids, namely tyrosine, phenylalanine and tryptophan

An unusual cross reactivity between hydrochlorothiazide and para-phenylenediamine: a case report

Over the last decade, the usage of hair color is gradually increasing from adolescents to the geriatric population. In the elderly population, more use of hair color due to graying of hairs exposes them to chemicals such as para-phenylenediamine (PPD). Many cases are reported regarding various manifestations of allergic contact dermatitis due to PPD compound present in hair color. It is noteworthy that, in the elderly the use of antidiabetics and antihypertensives, makes them vulnerable to cross-reaction or interaction with drugs and chemicals. We report a case that highlights the adverse reaction to hydrochlorothiazide in a PPD sensitive individual.

Warming and elevated CO\u3csub\u3e2\u3c/sub\u3e alter the suberin chemistry in roots of photosynthetically divergent grass species

A majority of soil carbon (C) is either directly or indirectly derived from fine roots, yet roots remain the least understood component of the terrestrial carbon cycle. The decomposability of fine roots and their potential to contribute to soil C is partly regulated by their tissue chemical composition. Roots rely heavily on heteropolymers such as suberins, lignins and tannins to adapt to various environmental pressures and to maximize their resource uptake functions. Since the chemical construction of roots is partly shaped by their immediate biotic/abiotic soil environments, global changes that perturb soil resource availability and plant growth could potentially alter root chemistry, and hence the decomposability of roots. However, the effect of global change on the quantity and composition of root heteropolymers are seldom investigated. We examined the effects of elevated CO2 and warming on the quantity and composition of suberin in roots of Bouteloua gracilis (C4) and Hesperostipa comata (C3) grass species at the Prairie Heating and CO2 Enrichment (PHACE) experiment at Wyoming, USA. Roots of B. gracilis exposed to elevated CO2 and warming had higher abundances of suberin and lignin than those exposed to ambient climate treatments. In addition to changes in their abundance, roots exposed to warming and elevated CO2 had higher ω-hydroxy acids compared to plants grown under ambient conditions. The suberin content and composition in roots of H. comata was less responsive to climate treatments. In H. comata, α,ω-dioic acids increased with the main effect of elevated CO2, whereas the total quantity of suberin exhibited an increasing trend with the main effect of warming and elevated CO2. The increase in suberin content and altered composition could lower root decomposition rates with implications for root-derived soil carbon under global change. Our study also suggests that the climate change induced alterations in species composition will further mediate potential suberin contributions to soil carbon pools

Project-based service-learning as logo-pedagogy : teaching for existential purpose in pre-college engineering education

The imperative for bolstering engineering education at the precollege level is usually framed within the context of improving U.S. global competitiveness but this potentially cheapens the inherent value of an engineering education and obfuscates the potentially socially purposeful aspects of engineering. Drawing from design-based research, this case study examines how a project-based service-learning (PBSL) engineering design unit contributed to students’ sense of purpose in life and perceptions of engineering. It takes an ecological approach in that it considers the perspectives of students, the teacher, professional engineering mentors to understand and outline guiding principles for PBSL engineering experiences at the pre-college level. Student perspectives on the PBSL unit centered around six themes: impact of the unit; affect; meaningfulness; learning; teamwork/collaboration; and, agency. Three themes characterized student reflections on purpose in life: notions of purpose in life; student purposefulness; career aspirations. Students also discussed engineering along two broader themes of their: engineering notions and engineering interests. The educators’ (teacher and mentors) perspectives on teaching priorities and strategies for the unit aligned along seven themes: exposure; messages about engineering; hands-on/physical experience; encouraging student ideas; room for mistakes and failure; teamwork; and involving expert engineers. They identified at least six positive aspects of the unit: exposure; engineering design process and habits-of-mind; authenticity; motivation and purposefulness; student ideas; and student accomplishment. Conversely, they also discussed at least four primary areas of improvement: facilitating teamwork; adhering to design specifications and constraints; involving expert engineers throughout the process; and timing. Overall, the findings suggest that student participation in PBSL engineering units can contribute to their purpose development by facilitating opportunities for socially purposeful engagement within a STEM context. Furthermore, PBSL engineering units concretize the socially purposeful aspects of engineering, subverting wider public perceptions of engineering as a socially-unconcerned profession. Future PBSL engineering units at the pre-college level should emphasize: student input, ideas, and hands-on engagement; process over outcome, especially the engineering design process; involving the community; and, reflection.Curriculum and Instructio

Shade and Fertilizer Affects Yield and Quality in a Clonal Plantation of Yaupon Holly

Yaupon holly (Ilex vomitoria Ait.) is the only native American source of caffeinated tea and the small amounts of tea product that is available is currently wild-collected from diverse populations. A clonal field plantation of yaupon was grown under shading and fertilizer treatments and harvested three times in one season to observe changes in yield and phytochemistry. The June and September harvest produced more mass than the July harvest for all treatments. Shading and fertility had interactive effects on increasing fresh mass of the pooled annual harvest, whereas the providing 30% shade and increased fertilizer application (from 567 to 1163 mg/N plant) raised yield 58%. Fertility of 1163 mg/N per plant with 60% shade increased yield another 13% to approximately 1070 kg/ha. This experimental plantation contained 467 plants per ha and was at about half the density of commercial fields (882 plants per ha). Leaves were smaller in July and larger in June and September. Shade greatly increased the leaf size and water content. Caffeine content increased with leaf size over the duration of the experimental treatments and 60% shade treatments in September produced the highest caffeine content (1.21 ± 0.17% of dry mass). In general alkaloids were promoted by shading, and phenylpropanoids were promoted by bright light. This report from one season of observation showed that genetically uniform yaupon holly plantations were manipulated for yield and quality using shade and fertilizer

Climate Influences the Content and Chemical Composition of Foliar Tannins in Green and Senesced Tissues of \u3ci\u3eQuercus rubra\u3c/i\u3e

Environmental stresses not only influence production of plant metabolites but could also modify their resorption during leaf senescence. The production-resorption dynamics of polyphenolic tannins, a class of defense compound whose ecological role extends beyond tissue senescence, could amplify the influence of climate on ecosystem processes. We studied the quantity, chemical composition, and tissue-association of tannins in green and freshly-senesced leaves of Quercus rubra exposed to different temperature (Warming and No Warming) and precipitation treatments (Dry, Ambient, Wet) at the Boston-Area Climate Experiment (BACE) in Massachusetts, USA. Climate influenced not only the quantity of tannins, but also their molecular composition and cell-wall associations. Irrespective of climatic treatments, tannin composition in Q. rubra was dominated by condensed tannins (CTs, proanthocyanidins). When exposed to Dry and Ambient*Warm conditions, Q. rubra produced higher quantities of tannins that were less polymerized. In contrast, under favorable conditions (Wet), tannins were produced in lower quantities, but the CTs were more polymerized. Further, even as the overall tissue tannin content declined, the content of hydrolysable tannins (HTs) increased under Wet treatments. The molecular composition of tannins influenced their content in senesced litter. Compared to the green leaves, the content of HTs decreased in senesced leaves across treatments, whereas the CT content was similar between green and senesced leaves in Wet treatments that produced more polymerized tannins. The content of total tannins in senesced leaves was higher in Warming treatments under both dry and ambient precipitation treatments. Our results suggest that, though climate directly influenced the production of tannins in green tissues (and similar patterns were observed in the senesced tissue), the influence of climate on tannin content of senesced tissue was partly mediated by the effect on the chemical composition of tannins. These different climatic impacts on leaves over the course of a growing season may alter forest dynamics, not only in decomposition and nutrient cycling dynamics, but also in herbivory dynamics