Effectiveness of Reading Intervention Program Types in Increasing Comprehension for Intermediate School Students

A quasi-experimental design investigated the effectiveness of three reading intervention types in increasing reading comprehension, both explicit and implicit, using a sample of 78 students, approximately 17% of the population of third through fifth grades at a single-school, rural, K-12, Central Texas school district with an enrollment of approximately 450. Data was gathered using the Development Reading Assessment (DRA2) and the Qualitative Reading Inventory (QRI-5), conducted during the first semester of the 2017-2018 school year. Reading intervention types included pull-out in a small group using part-to-whole language strategies, a computer-based reading intervention type, and an integrated reading intervention type using whole-to-part language strategies. Most students had a two-year growth in reading levels and an average of a 60% increase in reading comprehension implicitly, explicitly, or both. The strongest factor influencing outcomes was differentiation of reading intervention with a human element. Another strong factor was reinforcement of strategies integrating content and focusing on reading level of the student. Results of this study reinforce the need to intervene on an individualized level of the student, with relevant and meaningful content, and deliverable in a manner befitting learning style and preference. A framework for effective reading intervention program types is presented and supported by the results of this study. This study was unique because it investigated two types of reading comprehension, implicit and explicit, separately to determine the most statistically significant reading intervention type for intermediate students, grades third through fifth

The Role of Foreign Direct Investment in the Economic Development of Estonia

In the second half of the twentieth century, many countries were able to experience tremendous economic growth by allowing for an influx of foreign investment. One such country, and the focus of this paper, is the small Baltic nation of Estonia. Under Soviet control from 1940 to 1991, Estonia existed as a closed economy, with the little trade that did occur staying mainly within the Soviet Union. After gaining independence, Estonia took measures to open their economy with the chief of these measures being policies that encouraged investment from outside firms and nations. The country realized that with a population of just over a million people, the best way to spur economic growth was to allow for foreign investors to develop the country’s capital stock. This investment allowed for Estonia to increase their presence in international markets, further aiding in their transition to a developed economy. In the period following their induction to the European Union when the greatest amount of foreign direct investment was received, to 2016, Estonia has had their real GDP per Capita rise from 47% of the European Union average to 73%, and the value of exports has risen from $2.1 billion to$13.9 billion. Foreign direct investment has played a central role in Estonia’s development and the purpose of this paper is to report on the effects of foreign direct investment in Estonia from its post-Soviet transition to the modern day

El Relativisme moral

El relativisme moral intenta explicar l'existència de desacords morals persistents i epistèmicament irreprotxables. La hipòtesi relativista, però, ha rebut diferents tipus de crítiques. Unes en qüestionen la solvència teòrica, i altres en denuncien la perillositat. La formulació d'una concepció de les bases de la moral que sigui acceptable per a una àmplia majoria podria ser una alternativa.Moral relativism attempts to explain the persistence of moral disagreements epistemically flawless. The relativistic hypothesis, however, has received different types of criticism. Some criticisms question its theoretical solvency while others warn of its dangerousness. A conception of the foundations of morality acceptable to a large majority could be an alternative

Immunomodulation stimulates the innervation of engineered tooth organ

The sensory innervation of the dental mesenchyme is essential for tooth function and protection. Sensory innervation of the dental pulp is mediated by axons originating from the trigeminal ganglia and is strictly regulated in time. Teeth can develop from cultured re-associations between dissociated dental epithelial and mesenchymal cells from Embryonic Day 14 mouse molars, after implantation under the skin of adult ICR mice. In these conditions however, the innervation of the dental mesenchyme did not occur spontaneously. In order to go further with this question, complementary experimental approaches were designed. Cultured cell re-associations were implanted together with trigeminal ganglia for one or two weeks. Although axonal growth was regularly observed extending from the trigeminal ganglia to all around the forming teeth, the presence of axons in the dental mesenchyme was detected in less than 2.5% of samples after two weeks, demonstrating a specific impairment of their entering the dental mesenchyme. In clinical context, immunosuppressive therapy using cyclosporin A was found to accelerate the innervation of transplanted tissues. Indeed, when cultured cell re-associations and trigeminal ganglia were co-implanted in cyclosporin A-treated ICR mice, nerve fibers were detected in the dental pulp, even reaching odontoblasts after one week. However, cyclosporin A shows multiple effects, including direct ones on nerve growth. To test whether there may be a direct functional relationship between immunomodulation and innervation, cell re-associations and trigeminal ganglia were co-implanted in immunocompromised Nude mice. In these conditions as well, the innervation of the dental mesenchyme was observed already after one week of implantation, but axons reached the odontoblast layer after two weeks only. This study demonstrated that immunodepression per se does stimulate the innervation of the dental mesenchyme