Does teachers' pedagogical content knowledge affect their fluency instruction?

The relation is studied between teachers' pedagogical content knowledge of reading and the quality of their subsequent classroom behaviour in teaching fluent reading. A confirmatory factor analysis model with two latent variables is tested and shows adequate goodness-of-fit indices. Contrary to our expectations, the results of structural equation modelling reveal a small but significant gamma-value of .29, indicating that only 8% of the variance in teachers' classroom behaviour in teaching fluent reading is accounted for by teachers' pedagogical content knowledge of reading. Presumably teacher knowledge is not as stable and conclusive as one might think. More research is needed in determining the factors that work restricting for teachers in putting their knowledge into classroom practice. It is recommended that preservice and in-service teacher training should not be limited to transfer of knowledge, but should also assist teachers in designing and performing effective fluent reading instruction

Seasonal evaluation of the land surface scheme HTESSEL against remote sensing derived energy fluxes of the Transdanubian region in Hungary

The skill of the land surface model HTESSEL is assessed to reproduce evaporation in response to land surface characteristics and atmospheric forcing, both being spatially variable. Evaporation estimates for the 2005 growing season are inferred from satellite observations of the Western part of Hungary and compared to model outcomes. Atmospheric forcings are obtained from a hindcast run with the Regional Climate Model RACMO2. Although HTESSEL slightly underpredicts the seasonal evaporative fraction as compared to satellite estimates, the mean, 10th and 90th percentile of this variable are of the same magnitude as the satellite observations. The initial water as stored in the soil and snow layer does not have a significant effect on the statistical properties of the evaporative fraction. However, the spatial distribution of the initial soil and snow water significantly affects the spatial distribution of the calculated evaporative fraction and the models ability to reproduce evaporation correctly in low precipitation areas in the considered region. HTESSEL performs weaker in dryer areas. In Western Hungary these areas are situated in the Danube valley, which is partly covered by irrigated cropland and which also may be affected by shallow groundwater. Incorporating (lateral) groundwater flow and irrigation, processes that are not included now, may improve HTESSELs ability to predict evaporation correctly. Evaluation of the model skills using other test areas and larger evaluation periods is needed to confirm the results. <br><br> Based on earlier sensitivity analysis, the effect of a number of modifications to HTESSEL has been assessed. A more physically based reduction function for dry soils has been introduced, the soil depth is made variable and the effect of swallow groundwater included. However, the combined modification does not lead to a significantly improved performance of HTESSEL

Patients undergoing elective coronary artery bypass grafting exhibit poor pre-operative intakes of fruit, vegetables, dietary fibre, fish and vitamin D

CHD may ensue from chronic systemic low-grade inflammation. Diet is a modifiable risk factor for both, and its optimisation may reduce post-operative mortality, atrial fibrillation and cognitive decline. In the present study, we investigated the usual dietary intakes of patients undergoing elective coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG), emphasising on food groups and nutrients with putative roles in the inflammatory/anti-inflammatory balance. From November 2012 to April 2013, we approached ninety-three consecutive patients (80% men) undergoing elective CABG. Of these, fifty-five were finally included (84% men, median age 69 years; range 46-84 years). The median BMI was 27 (range 18-36)kg/m(2). The dietary intake items were fruits (median 181g/d; range 0-433g/d), vegetables (median 115g/d; range 0-303g/d), dietary fibre (median 22g/d; range 9-45g/d), EPA+DHA (median 014g/d; range 001-106g/d), vitamin D (median 49g/d; range 19-112g/d), saturated fat (median 131% of energy (E%); range 9-23E%) and linoleic acid (LA; median 63E%; range 19-113E%). The percentages of patients with dietary intakes below recommendations were 62% (fruits; recommendation 200g/d), 87% (vegetables; recommendation 150-200g/d), 73% (dietary fibre; recommendation 30-45g/d), 91% (EPA+DHA; recommendation 045g/d), 98% (vitamin D; recommendation 10-20g/d) and 13% (LA; recommendation 5-10E%). The percentages of patients with dietary intakes above recommendations were 95% (saturated fat; recommendatio

Tales of future weather

Society is vulnerable to extreme weather events and, by extension, to human impacts on future events. As climate changes weather patterns will change. The search is on for more effective methodologies to aid decision-makers both in mitigation to avoid climate change and in adaptation to changes. The traditional approach uses ensembles of climate model simulations, statistical bias correction, downscaling to the spatial and temporal scales relevant to decision-makers, and then translation into quantities of interest. The veracity of this approach cannot be tested, and it faces in-principle challenges. Alternatively, numerical weather prediction models in a hypothetical climate setting can provide tailored narratives for high-resolution simulations of high-impact weather in a future climate. This 'tales of future weather' approach will aid in the interpretation of lower-resolution simulations. Arguably, it potentially provides complementary, more realistic and more physically consistent pictures of what future weather might look like

Aandacht voor veiligheid

De komende decennia worden er tussen de 500.000 en 1.500.000 woningen gebouwd waarvan een groot deel in laag Nederland. Deze studie laat zien dat door deze woningen overstromingsbestendig te bouwen schadereductie mogelijk is. Het schaderisico wordt dan nog eens een factor 2 minder als naast een Business as Usual variant nieuwbouwwoningen worden opgehoogd tot +5 m NAP. De kosten van opgehoogde nieuwbouwhuizen zijn hoger en variëren tussen de 0,4 en 1.7 miljard euro/jaar, hetgeen overeenkomt met 0,1-0,5% van het BNP. Dijkversterking levert de hoogste reductie op in het schaderisico bij de gehanteerde scenario’s. Gevolgbeperkende maatregelen in de ruimtelijk ordening als additionele oplossingsrichting zijn echter goed mogelijk als er ook een economische perspectief is bijvoorbeeld door middel van multifunctioneel ruimtegebruik

The Mitotic Arrest Deficient Protein MAD2B Interacts with the Clathrin Light Chain A during Mitosis

Contains fulltext : 87811.pdf (publisher's version ) (Open Access)BACKGROUND: Although the mitotic arrest deficient protein MAD2B (MAD2L2) is thought to inhibit the anaphase promoting complex (APC) by binding to CDC20 and/or CDH1 (FZR1), its exact role in cell cycle control still remains to be established. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Using a yeast two-hybrid interaction trap we identified the human clathrin light chain A (CLTA) as a novel MAD2B binding protein. A direct interaction was established in mammalian cells via GST pull-down and endogenous co-immunoprecipitation during the G2/M phase of the cell cycle. Through subsequent confocal laser scanning microscopy we found that MAD2B and CLTA co-localize at the mitotic spindle. Clathrin forms a trimeric structure, i.e., the clathrin triskelion, consisting of three heavy chains (CLTC), each with an associated light chain. This clathrin structure has previously been shown to be required for the function of the mitotic spindle through stabilization of kinetochore fibers. Upon siRNA-mediated MAD2B depletion, we found that CLTA was no longer concentrated at the mitotic spindle but, instead, diffusely distributed throughout the cell. In addition, we found a marked increase in the percentage of misaligned chromosomes. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Previously, we identified MAD2B as an interactor of the renal cell carcinoma (RCC)-associated protein PRCC. In addition, we found that fusion of PRCC with the transcription factor TFE3 in t(X;1)(p11;q21)-positive RCCs results in an impairment of this interaction and a concomitant failure to shuttle MAD2B to the nucleus. Our current data show that MAD2B interacts with CLTA during the G2/M phase of the cell cycle and that depletion of MAD2B leads to a marked increase in the percentage of misaligned chromosomes and a redistribution of CLTA during mitosis

Humic acid interferes with species recognition in zebrafish (Danio rerio)

Author Posting. © The Author(s), 2007. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here by permission of Springer for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Journal of Chemical Ecology 33 (2007): 2090-2096, doi:10.1007/s10886-007-9377-z.Few studies have addressed how chemosensation may be impaired by chemical alterations of the environment and anthropogenic disturbance. Humic acid (HA) is a pervasive, naturally occurring organic derivative found in aquatic and terrestrial environments; human activity, however, can lead to elevated levels of HA. Recent studies suggest that environments that contain high levels of HA may hinder chemical communication. We tested the ability of adult zebrafish (Danio rerio) to discriminate between conspecific and heterospecific urinary chemical cues found in the presence and absence of HA. We show that high humic acid levels (200 mg/l) can impair the ability to differentiate conspecifics from heterospecifics. We also found that zebrafish prefer untreated water over HA-treated water. These findings suggest that, in addition to human-produced synthetic compounds, changes in the abundance of naturally occurring substances may also negatively impact natural behaviors in aquatic species by disturbing the sensory environment