Talk More: Student Learning Through Reciprocal Conversations

This research explored ways of improving the oral language development of Year 1 children in four low decile mainstream schools who were making limited progress in literacy. Over 82% of these students were Māori. Due to the continued impact of past educational policies and the subsequent interruption of the intergenerational transmission of the mother tongue, many Māori children are not exposed to proficient and fluent models either of spoken English or of spoken Māori. Such children struggle to make the English literacy progress expected of them by schools and communities. The central focus of the research was to evaluate a claim that Year 6 students (tuākana) could make a substantial improvement in the oral language achievement of Year 1 students (teina), through engaging with them in regular conversational contexts using the TALES (Talk, Ask, Listen, Encourage, and Say) procedures. This pedagogical approach is understood as one which was culturally responsive for these students. Quantitative analysis of data from three quantitative outcome measures (Record of Oral Language, Junior Oral Screening Tool, and Auditory-Vocal Association Assessment of Verbal Attainments) demonstrated that there were substantial oral language gains for the 72 teina students involved in the study. The quantitative analysis also demonstrated that these gains occurred most strongly during the phases in which the TALES procedures were being implemented by the 72 tuākana students, in accord with the multiple baseline design. Detailed qualitative analysis of a random sample of six of the 72 pairs illustrated both the effectiveness of the tuākana language interaction with the teina, and the different ways that the tuākana were able to implement the TALES procedure. Analysis of five minute probes of transcripts over six weeks from these six tuākana - teina pairs indicated that a wide range of literacy activities and conversations took place. The unique learning needs and personal learning intentions of each tuakana and teina were successfully monitored using this five minute probe procedure. Powerful reciprocal learning processes were evident in transcripts of conversations between the tuākana and the teina, and also within feedback and feed-forward meetings between the tuākana and key teachers. The substantial oral language gains for the teina students in this study were achieved within learning contexts that were social and interactive, and that embodied the principles of ako (learning and teaching roles were shared) and whakawhanaungatanga (building caring and supportive relationships). These principles are among those that underpin pedagogies that are culturally responsive (Bishop Glynn, 1999; Glynn, Wearmouth, Berryman, 2006; Ladson-Billings, 1995, 2006) and transformative. The results of this research study give a clear message to mainstream non-Māori teachers, that they can make a positive and substantial difference to the learning outcomes of their Māori students

“Spice Island” forts, colonial monuments: A photo essay from Ternate Island, Maluku

This journal has been published at different time periods under the following titles: Explorations: A Graduate Student Journal of Southeast Asian Studies, Explorations in Southeast Asian Studies, and The Journal of the Southeast Asian Studies Association.The Student Activities Program Fee Boar

Using environmental reporting tools in the supply chain : perspectives from UK, Finland and Thailand

Paper delivered at the 21st Logistics Research Network annual conference 2016, 7th-9th September 2016, Hull. Abstract Purpose: Supply chain performance measures and reporting tools must evolve as new societal challenges are met, and the natural environment has become one of today’s most significant challenges. An inter-disciplinary interest in the field of environmental supply chain management has grown amongst researchers and practitioners in recent years as a potential source of competitive advantage due to climate change issues, diminishing raw materials, excess waste, and increasing levels of pollution. Measurement of environmental performance has also developed as a related topic and environmental management systems (EMS) within a logistics context have garnered some attention in the literature. However, little work has been done to assess the use of appropriate environmental reporting tools or the adoption of extant standards such as ISO14001 or EMAS in which to position and report environmental performance measures in the logistics sector. This paper builds on work presented by Shenin and Grant at the 2015 LRN conference to compare and contrast the adoption and use of environmental reporting tools in the UK, Finnish and Thai logistics sectors and identify key drivers and barriers. Research Approach: This is a new area of research and thus exploratory tools were used to collect data from different perspectives. The study used a combination of semi-structured interviews, focus groups and two large scale industry surveys. Findings and originality: The study found that the two most commonly known EMS are ISO 14001 and EMAS. However, they have been inconsistently adopted across the various sectors. For example, many UK logistics practitioners have developed their ‘own company designed’ reporting tools. Further, logistics and supply chain practitioners in all countries indicated a lack of understanding of environmental management systems (EMS), with small firms demonstrating no reporting at all. Key drivers and benefits for adoption of reporting tools were financially linked to customer requirements, to reduce waste and be more operationally efficient. Additionally, a lack of standard ESCPM reporting and measurement tools and government direction, and the complexity of the supply chain were seen as key barriers to effective implementation. Research Impact: Reporting tools widely discussed in the academic literature such as the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), Balanced Scorecard (BSC) and Green SCOR were not found to be extensively used in the three logistics sectors. There appears to be ‘no one size fits all’ tool in current environmental supply chain reporting and thus a clear divergence between theory and practice

Using environmental reporting tools in the supply chain : perspectives from UK, Finland and Thailand

Paper delivered at the 21st Logistics Research Network annual conference 2016, 7th-9th September 2016, Hull. Abstract Purpose: Supply chain performance measures and reporting tools must evolve as new societal challenges are met, and the natural environment has become one of today’s most significant challenges. An inter-disciplinary interest in the field of environmental supply chain management has grown amongst researchers and practitioners in recent years as a potential source of competitive advantage due to climate change issues, diminishing raw materials, excess waste, and increasing levels of pollution. Measurement of environmental performance has also developed as a related topic and environmental management systems (EMS) within a logistics context have garnered some attention in the literature. However, little work has been done to assess the use of appropriate environmental reporting tools or the adoption of extant standards such as ISO14001 or EMAS in which to position and report environmental performance measures in the logistics sector. This paper builds on work presented by Shenin and Grant at the 2015 LRN conference to compare and contrast the adoption and use of environmental reporting tools in the UK, Finnish and Thai logistics sectors and identify key drivers and barriers. Research Approach: This is a new area of research and thus exploratory tools were used to collect data from different perspectives. The study used a combination of semi-structured interviews, focus groups and two large scale industry surveys. Findings and originality: The study found that the two most commonly known EMS are ISO 14001 and EMAS. However, they have been inconsistently adopted across the various sectors. For example, many UK logistics practitioners have developed their ‘own company designed’ reporting tools. Further, logistics and supply chain practitioners in all countries indicated a lack of understanding of environmental management systems (EMS), with small firms demonstrating no reporting at all. Key drivers and benefits for adoption of reporting tools were financially linked to customer requirements, to reduce waste and be more operationally efficient. Additionally, a lack of standard ESCPM reporting and measurement tools and government direction, and the complexity of the supply chain were seen as key barriers to effective implementation. Research Impact: Reporting tools widely discussed in the academic literature such as the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), Balanced Scorecard (BSC) and Green SCOR were not found to be extensively used in the three logistics sectors. There appears to be ‘no one size fits all’ tool in current environmental supply chain reporting and thus a clear divergence between theory and practice

Zebrafish Model of MLL-Rearranged Acute Myeloid Leukemia

Background: Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is the second most common type of leukemia. Standard treatment includes chemotherapy as well as stem cell transplantation, but for aging patients and those with impaired immune function these rigorous therapies are not always possible. Furthermore, AML patients harboring a chromosomal rearrangement involving Multiple Lineage Leukemia (MLL) exhibit far worse prognoses than patients without. Given these circumstances new therapies must be developed. Methods: Danio rerio (zebrafish) has emerged as a powerful model organism for investigating human blood malignancies due to the conservation of hematopoiesis between humans and zebrafish. We developed a transient transgenic model exhibiting AML characteristics by microinjecting single-cell zebrafish embryos with a tissue specific MLL-ENL expression construct. Results: We found that the expression of MLL-ENL induced a clustered expansion of MLL+ and pu.1+ myeloid cells on the yolk sac at 48 and 72 hours post fertilization (hpf). To characterize our transient AML model, we treated MLL-ENL expressing embryos with either one of or a combination of two drugs that are currently being used in human AML drug trials, Venetoclax and Flavopiridol. We found that treatment with either drug reduced the myeloid expansion induced by the expression of MLL-ENL, and that co-treatment reduced the observed myeloid expansion even further. Conclusions: Although further analysis is required, these data suggest that we successfully developed a transient transgenic AML model in zebrafish. Furthermore, these data suggest that Venetoclax and Flavopiridol co-treatment could yield better outcomes for AML patients than treatment with either drug individually.https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/gradposters/1112/thumbnail.jp

Persistent bacterial infections, antibiotic tolerance, and the oxidative stress response

Certain bacterial pathogens are able to evade the host immune system and persist within the human host. The consequences of persistent bacterial infections potentially include increased morbidity and mortality from the infection itself as well as an increased risk of dissemination of disease. Eradication of persistent infections is difficult, often requiring prolonged or repeated courses of antibiotics. During persistent infections, a population or subpopulation of bacteria exists that is refractory to traditional antibiotics, possibly in a non-replicating or metabolically altered state. This review highlights the clinical significance of persistent infections and discusses different in vitro models used to investigate the altered physiology of bacteria during persistent infections. We specifically focus on recent work establishing increased protection against oxidative stress as a key element of the altered physiologic state across different in vitro models and pathogens

Treatment of malaria restricted to laboratory-confirmed cases: a prospective cohort study in Ugandan children.

BACKGROUND: Presumptive treatment of malaria in febrile children is widely advocated in Africa. This may occur in the absence of diagnostic testing or even when diagnostic testing is performed but fails to detect malaria parasites. Such over-treatment of malaria has been tolerated in the era of inexpensive and safe monotherapy. However, with the introduction of new artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT), presumptive treatment becomes economically and clinically less acceptable. METHODS: The risks and benefits of only treating children with microscopy confirmed malaria using a prospective cohort design were investigated. A representative sample of 601 children between one and 10 years of age were recruited from a census population in Kampala, Uganda and were followed for all of their health care needs in a study clinic. Standard microscopy was performed each time a child presented with a new episode of fever and antimalarial therapy given only if the blood smear was positive. RESULTS: Of 5,895 visits for new medical problems 40% were for febrile illnesses. Of the 2,359 episodes of new febrile illnesses, blood smears were initially reported as negative in 1,608 (68%) and no antimalarial therapy was given. Six of these initially negative smears were reported to be positive following quality control reading of all blood smears: four of these patients were subsequently diagnosed with uncomplicated malaria and two cleared their parasites without antimalarial treatment. Of the 1,602 new febrile illnesses in which the final blood smear reading was classified as negative, only 13 episodes (0.8%) were diagnosed with malaria in the subsequent 7 days. All 13 of these episodes of malaria were uncomplicated and were successfully treated. CONCLUSION: In this urban setting, malaria was responsible for only 32% of febrile episodes. Withholding antimalarial therapy in febrile children with negative blood smears was safe and saved over 1,600 antimalarial treatments in 601 children over an 18-month period. In the era of expensive ACT, directing resources towards improving diagnostic and treatment practices may provide a cost-effective measure for promoting rational use of antimalarial therapy

Bend sprinting performance : new insights into the effect of running lane

Athletes in inner lanes may be disadvantaged during athletic sprint races containing a bend portion because of the tightness of the bend. We empirically investigated the veracity of modelled estimates of this disadvantage and the effect of running lane on selected kinematic variables. Three-dimensional video analysis was conducted on nine male athletes in lanes 8, 5 and 2 of the bend of an outdoor track (radii: 45.10, 41.41 and 37.72 m, respectively). There was over 2% (p < 0.05) reduction in mean race velocity from lane 8 (left step 9.56 ± 0.43 m/s, right step: 9.49 ± 0.41 m/s) to lane 5 (left step: 9.36 ± 0.51 m/s, right step: 9.30 ± 0.51 m/s), with only slight further reductions from lane 5 to lane 2 (left step: 9.34 ± 0.61 m/s, right step: 9.30 ± 0.63 m/s). Race velocity decreased mainly because of reductions in step frequency as radius decreased. These unique data demonstrate the extent of the disadvantage of inner lane allocation during competition may be greater than previously suspected. Variations in race velocity changes might indicate some athletes are better able to accommodate running at tighter radii than others, which should have implications for athletes' training