The Effect of the Bernice McCarthy 4MAT Model of Instruction on the Mathematical Achievement of Sixth Grade Students

Effective instructional planning by the educator must meet the individual learning needs of each student in the classroom. The interactive process of the student, the educator and the school environment can affect the amount of learning that takes place. How does the educator manage the student, the environment and the curriculum to insure maximum achievement by the learner

Compound-Specific Radiocarbon Analysis by Elemental Analyzer–Accelerator Mass Spectrometry: Precision and Limitations

[EN]We examine instrumental and methodological capabilities for microscale (10−50μg of C) radiocarbon analysisof individual compounds in the context of paleoclimate and paleoceanography applications, for which relatively high-precisionmeasurements are required. An extensive suite of data for14C-free and modern reference materials processed using differentmethods and acquired using an elemental-analyzer−accelerator-mass-spectrometry (EA-AMS) instrumental setup at ETHZurich was compiled to assess the reproducibility of specific isolation procedures. In order to determine the precision, accuracy,and reproducibility of measurements on processed compounds, we explore the results of both reference materials and threeclasses of compounds (fatty acids, alkenones, and amino acids) extracted from sediment samples. We utilize a MATLAB codedeveloped to systematically evaluate constant-contamination-model parameters, which in turn can be applied to measurementsof unknown process samples. This approach is computationally reliable and can be used for any blank assessment of small-sizeradiocarbon samples. Our results show that a conservative lower estimate of the sample sizes required to produce relativelyhigh-precision14C data (i.e., with acceptable errors of 0.5, a precision of 2% can be achieved for alkenone and fatty acid samples containing≥15 and 10μg of C, respectivel

Accurate reference gas mixtures containing tritiated molecules: Their production and raman‐based analysis

Highly accurate, quantitative analyses of mixtures of hydrogen isotopologues—both the stable species, H$_{2}$, D$_{2}$2, and HD, and the radioactive species, T$_{2}$, HT, and DT—are of great importance in fields as diverse as deuterium–tritium fusion, neutrino mass measurements using tritium β-decay, or for photonuclear experiments in which hydrogen–deuterium targets are used. In this publication we describe a production, handling, and analysis facility capable of fabricating well-defined gas samples, which may contain any of the stable and radioactive hydrogen isotopologues, with sub-percent accuracy for the relative species concentrations. The production is based on precise manometric gas mixing of H$_{2}$, D$_{2}$, and T$_{2}$. The heteronuclear isotopologues HD, HT, and DT are generated via controlled, in-line catalytic reaction or by β-induced self-equilibration, respectively. The analysis was carried out using an in-line intensity- and wavelength-calibrated Raman spectroscopy system. This allows for continuous monitoring of the composition of the circulating gas during the self-equilibration or catalytic evolution phases. During all procedures, effects, such as exchange reactions with wall materials, were considered with care. Together with measurement statistics, these and other systematic effects were included in the determination of composition uncertainties of the generated reference gas samples. Measurement and calibration accuracy at the level of 1% was achieved

A conserved role for Snail as a potentiator of active transcription

The transcription factors of the Snail family are key regulators of epithelial-mesenchymal transitions, cell morphogenesis, and tumor metastasis. Since its discovery in Drosophila ~25 years ago, Snail has been extensively studied for its role as a transcriptional repressor. Here we demonstrate that Drosophila Snail can positively modulate transcriptional activation. By combining information on in vivo occupancy with expression profiling of hand-selected, staged snail mutant embryos, we identified 106 genes that are potentially directly regulated by Snail during mesoderm development. In addition to the expected Snail-repressed genes, almost 50% of Snail targets showed an unanticipated activation. The majority of "Snail-activated" genes have enhancer elements cobound by Twist and are expressed in the mesoderm at the stages of Snail occupancy. Snail can potentiate Twist-mediated enhancer activation in vitro and is essential for enhancer activity in vivo. Using a machine learning approach, we show that differentially enriched motifs are sufficient to predict Snail's regulatory response. In silico mutagenesis revealed a likely causative motif, which we demonstrate is essential for enhancer activation. Taken together, these data indicate that Snail can potentiate enhancer activation by collaborating with different activators, providing a new mechanism by which Snail regulates development

Early improvement in severely ill patients with pneumonia treated with ceftobiprole:a retrospective analysis of two major trials

BackgroundPatients with pneumonia who are elderly or severely ill are at a particularly high risk of mortality. This post hoc retrospective analysis of data from two Phase III studies evaluated early improvement outcomes in subgroups of high-risk patients with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) and hospital-acquired pneumonia (HAP, excluding ventilator-associated pneumonia [VAP]).MethodsOne study included hospitalised CAP patients randomised to ceftobiprole or ceftriaxone linezolid treatment. The other study included HAP patients, who were randomised to ceftobiprole or ceftazidime plus linezolid treatment. The primary outcome was rate of early clinical response (Day 3 in CAP and Day 4 in HAP patients). Additional outcome measures included clinical cure at a test-of-cure visit, 30-day all-cause mortality and safety.ResultsThe overall high-risk group comprised 398 CAP patients and 307 HAP patients with risk factors present at baseline. The rate of early response was numerically higher in ceftobiprole-treated patients vs comparator-treated patients in the following high-risk groups: CAP patients aged 75years (16.3% difference, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.8, 30.8); CAP patients with COPD (20.1% difference, 95% CI: 8.8, 31.1); all high-risk HAP patients (12.5% difference, 95% CI: 3.5, 21.4); HAP patients with >10 baseline comorbidities (15.3% difference, 95% CI: 0.3, 30.4).ConclusionsPrevious studies show that ceftobiprole is an efficacious therapy for patients with pneumonia who are at high risk of poor outcomes. This post hoc analysis provides preliminary evidence that ceftobiprole treatment may have advantages over other antibiotics in terms of achieving early improvement in high-risk patients with HAP (excluding VAP) and in some subgroups of high-risk CAP patients.Trial registration NCT00210964: registered September 21, 2005; NCT00229008: registered September 29, 2005; NCT00326287: registered May 16, 2006

Male Circumcision for HIV Prevention in High HIV Prevalence Settings: What Can Mathematical Modelling Contribute to Informed Decision Making?

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