The Benefits of an Innovative Literacy Assessment Field Experience

In many fields of study, an internship or experiential practice is an essential part of learning the discipline. In education, those experiences are often clinical field placements in methods courses or student teaching. The combination of field work while learning the content has many benefits, which we sought to determine. This research study explores the benefits of an embedded field experience in a university literacy assessment course for preparing pre- and in-service teachers as they implement effective literacy assessments and instruction. Based on Kolb’s Experiential Learning Theory (1984), pre- and in-service teachers interacted with elementary students over a ten week span to administer an informal literacy assessment, analyze the data, and apply instructional strategies to support the literacy strengths and needs of the students. This mixed-methods research was conducted using the triangulation of four data points – an online survey and three course assignments – and findings are conclusive with previous research

Draft Genome Sequence of Clinical Isolate Alcaligenaceae sp. Strain 429

Here, we present the 3.53-Mb genome for Alcaligenaceae sp. strain 429, isolated from a patient with unknown etiology. While the 16S rRNA gene most closely resembles Paenalcaligenes species, average amino acid identity (AAI) analysis did not meet the threshold to classify our strain as a species of this family

La critique d'auteur dans les lettres françaises L'homme aux figures de cire de Champfleury

Periodista, dramaturgo y novelista, Champfleury es también famoso por su importante contribución a la crítica literaria. Considerado jefe del realismo, sus ideas se encuentran en sus textos de investigación, sobre todo en El realismo, pero también en sus obras de ficción. Es el caso de El hombre de las figuras de cera, relato corto que ilustra perfectamente sus ideas acerca de la representación estética.46 página

GENE EXPRESSION ANALYSIS IN MEASLES VIRUS RESEARCH

The sequencing of the human genome ushered in the era of high-throughput biology. Rapid, whole cell analysis is replacing the molecular reductionist approach of the last century. Microarrays are one of the main high-throughput technologies in this field, allowing researchers to query the whole transcriptome of the cell in one experiment. Learning to harness the power of this technology is a significant research problem that requires expertise in biology, statistics and computation. Towards that goal, this work examines three projects exploring the role of microarray analysis in biological research: an in vitro infection model, acute disease in humans and vaccination in mice. To test the technology in a highly controlled system, an in vitro infection model was developed where monocyte-derived dendritic cells were infected with measles virus and RNA was extracted over 24 hours. There were 1553 significantly regulated genes during this time, with nearly 60% of them down regulated. The results were compared to other in vitro infection systems, which highlighted a group of genes that formed a core response to all the pathogens, including 2’5’ oligoadenylate synthetase, Mx and interferon response factors 1 and 7. The analysis also showed that measles virus is the only pathogen that does not induce dsRNA-dependent protein kinase above its constitutive expression level. Measles also induced a robust interferon-α response in contrast to the other pathogens. These results showed that microarray analysis could provide a modular view of the immune response. Since microarrays worked well in vitro, they were tested in vivo on peripheral blood mononuclear cells from children with acute measles. We found 13 up regulated genes and 206 down regulated genes in children at discharge from the hospital and at 1- iii month follow-up. All of the up regulated genes peaked at discharge but did not return to baseline by the time of follow-up. The same pattern was found in the down regulated genes. A number of immune factors were up regulated including interleukin-1β, interleukin-8, TNF-α, CXCL2 and CCL4. The down regulated genes were involved in three main biological processes: transcription, signal transduction and the immune response, but also included the chemokine receptors CCR2 and CCR7. Finally, a vaccine model in mice compared a formalin-inactivated measles vaccine (FIMV) with an alphavirus replicon particle vaccine expressing the H protein (VCR-H) from measles virus. Although both vaccines induced comparable antibody titers to measles virus, VCR-H induced many more interferon-γ producing cells. Gene expression analysis found many genes significantly regulated at day 4 post-vaccination in CD8+ T cells from VCR-H vaccinated mice, while FIMV vaccinated mice did not show any gene regulation until day 28. Many of the genes regulated by both vaccines were involved in transcription and signal transduction. High-throughput techniques are changing the nature of biological research by providing a new view of the cell. This increased data load requires more computational power and statistical expertise to effectively manage the information and extract knowledge. As scientists learn to harness the power of these new technologies, basic understanding of the cell and the fight against disease will benefit

Incidence de la source de pollution sur la dissolution et la rétention sélective d'hydrocarbures en milieu poreux saturé en eau

Des expérimentations menées sur des modèles-colonnes de milieu poreux, se localisant sur des études de lessivage du corps d'imprégnation formé par des mélanges d'hydrocarbures et sur des essais de propagation de leurs parties solubles, ont été réalisées au laboratoire. Il est montré que le comportement des hydrocarbures en solution pendant le lessivage est fonction de la nature de la source de pollution, et que le transport des traces solubles d'alcanes est fortement freiné par les effets de l'échange liquide-gaz masquant les propriétés adsorbantes de la matrice solide, ou pouvant entraîner une modification du processus de sorption des hydrocarbures par la phase solide.La solubilité n'est pas un critère suffisant pour expliquer la dissolution sélective et progressive des constituants d'un corps d'imprégnation formé par un mélange de plusieurs espèces d'hydrocarbures, et lors du transport des parties solubles d'une telle source de contamination, l'influence des paramètres solubilité, constante de Henry et coefficient de distribution doivent être pris en compte simultanément pour étudier leur rétention sélective.In the case of groundwater contamination hy petroleum products, the constituents of the immiscible pollutant source will be selectively solubilized and transporled over large distances by the water movement. Then, long-term pollution of aquifers is essentially due to the transfer and transport of dissolved hydrocarbon traces. The behaviour of soluble hydrocarbons and the extent of pollution depend on hydrodynamical conditions of the infiltration area and phase partitioning between water, oil, gas and solid in the aquifer.This article deals with some aspects linked to the transfer mechanisms which take place during the selective dissolution of hydrocarbons and those relating to physico-chemicai exchanges accompanying the transport of soluble substances of the pollution source through saturated porous media. The experiments have been conducted with physical models constituted of glass columns : The glass column source of pollution (L = 75 cm, Ф = 10.4 cm) contained both natural quartz land and a motionless oil phase uniformly distributed in quantifies below residual saturation; it allows to study the selective dissolution of the constituents of the impregnation body. The exchange phenomena between phases were examined in a second glass column (L = 70 cm, Ф = 9.3 cm) which received the water charged with dissolved hydrocarbons coming from the glass column source, and filled with solid matrixes which were not contaminated at the beginning. The solid phase in the second glass column consisted of quartz sand or a mixture of agricultural soil and sand. The soil contained an average of 1.3 % of organic materials, 6.7 % of clay minerals and 27 % of limestone. The influence of the adsorbing properties of the solid material and the role of residual air on the transport and retention of soluble hydrocarbons were investigated. The variation of residual air content was obtained according to the filling method of the second glass column : “dry filling” favours the presence of the gaseous phase (water introduced by imbibition); “lifting by sedimentation” can reduce or partially avoid it (the second column is filled with the porous medium under water).For a pollutant source made of a mixture of hydrocarbons at equal fractions and belonging to a same homologous series (alkanes and aromatics), the experimental results allowed to establish the importance of solubility parameter as well on the mode of selective leaching of the impregnation body, as on the selective retention of soluble elements of the pollutant source.The behaviour of the constituents of the pollution source made of several hydrocarbon species appears differently and then, the solubility dues not constitute, for such a source, a sufficient criterion to apprehend the observed transfer and exchange mechanisms.- Selective dissolution : the modifications of behaviour especially result to the fact that some components of the pollution source are represented at very low proportions then, they can’t respect, during the partition phenomenon, the gradation of solubility values as well at the beginning of the leaching of the impregnation body, as at the decreasing stages of concentrations. This situation must be regarded for studying the transfer of soluble hydrocarbons after accidental spill of petroleum products because it will affect the transport and the contamination prediction.- Exchange phenomena : we observed that the liquid/gas exchange is the major factor of retention of soluble alkanes masking the effects of adsorbing materials. The influence of adsorbing character of the solid material appears clearly, only when the air content of the porous matrix is low. On the other band, the residual air content has no influence on the transport of soluble monoaromatics but the main phenomenon observed is in that case the liquid/solid exchange.Moreover, the impact of the gaseous phase on the alkanes involves a modification of sorption process of hydrocarbons by the solid phase : the selective retention of various constituents of a pollution source made of several hydrocarbon species should be interpreted by the knowledge at their respective distribution coefficient Kd as it was admitted by several authors, when the air content of the porous matrix is low. The sorption process should be more complex when the residual air content is great because the gaseous phase plays a preponderant role for the alkanes; in that case, the simultaneous effects of the solubility, the Henry's constant and the distribution coefficient must be taken into account together for getting a best understanding of each component behaviour of the pollution source and assessing their fate in the case of alluvial aquifer contamination

Soviet arms control policy: A means toward what end

Thesis (B.A.) in Russian and East European Studies--University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1983.Bibliography: leaves 62-64.Microfiche of typescript. [Urbana, Ill.] : Photographic Services, University of Illinois, U of I Library, [1983]. 2 microfiches (70 frames) : negative ; 11 x 15 cm

SANS from Salt-Free Aqueous Solutions of Hydrophilic and Highly Charged Star-Branched Polyelectrolytes

International audienceScattering functions of sodium sulfonated polystyrene (NaPSS) star-branched polyelectrolytes with high sulfonation degrees were measured from their salt-free aqueous solutions, using the Small Angle Neutron Scattering (SANS) technique. Whatever the concentration c, they display two maxima. The first, of abscissa q 1 *, is related to a position order between star cores and scales as q 1 * 9 c 1/3. The second, of abscissa q 2 *, is also observed in the scattering function of a semi-dilute solution of NaPSS linear polyelectrolytes. In the dilute regime (c < c*, non-overlapping stars), peak abscissa does not depend on concentration c and is just an intramolecular characteristic associated with the electrostatic repulsion between arms of the same star. In the semi-dilute regime, due to the star interpenetration, the scattering function – through the peak position, reflects repulsion between arms of the same star or of different stars. The c threshold between these distinct c-dependencies of q 2 * in the dilute and semi-dilute regimes is estimated as c*. Just as simple is the measurement of the geometrical radius R of the star obtained from the q 1 * value at c* through the relation 2R = 2π/q 1 *. By considering NaPSS stars of the same functionality with different degrees of polymerization per arm N a , we find R scaling linearly with N a , suggesting an elongated average conformation of the arms. This is in agreement with theoretical predictions and simulations. Meanwhile the value of q 2 * measured in the dilute regime does not allow any inhomogeneous counterion distribution inside the stars to be revealed

Nitrate contamination of groundwater : research and applications in the framework of French German Cooperation

Cet article est une synthèse du colloque organisé à Stuttgart en octobre 1988 autour du thème: "Contamination des eaux souterraines par les nitrates". Ce congrès, inscrit dans le cadre de la coopération franco-allemande, s'est tenu le 6 octobre dans les locaux de l'Université de Stuttgart. Il faisait suite à l'atelier/workshop franco-allemand organisé les 25 et 26 septembre 1986 à Colmar sur le thème: "Pollution des eaux souterraines par les nitrates- sites expérimentaux, métrologie, modélisation". Il a été suivi le 7 octobre 1988 par une réunion restreinte dont le but était d'étendre le débat à la contamination des eaux souterraines par les produits phytosanitaires et à la problématique du stockage et de l'épandage rationnel de lisiers et de boues de stations d'épuration. Dans les discussions ont été intégrés divers thèmes tels que celui des périmètres de protection des captages d'eau potable et ceux relatifs aux programmes futurs de coopération