Literacy: Parent Training in the Elementary Educational System

Over several years, second grade parents have expressed concerns about not understanding the curriculum in the area of phonetic coding. The purpose of this study was to give second grade parents the skills they lacked in understanding phonetic coding so they could better help their children with homework and thus see if a significant difference in the children’s Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills® (DIBELS) Oral Reading Fluency test performance was observed. Parents were offered training in the mornings and evenings for 15 weeks using the Saxon Phonics Program – the same program used to teach the children. The parents stayed a week ahead of the children’s lessons. Childcare was provided to help make the training more convenient for the parents. Forty-five children’s DIBELS scores were used in the study. Twenty-three children’s parents were in the Trained Parents group, and twenty-two children’s parents were in the Not Trained Parents group. Students were pre-tested before the training began and post-tested after the training concluded using the Oral Reading Fluency section of the DIBELS assessment. The analysis for the study was performed using Analysis of Covariance controlling for the pre-test. There was not a significant difference in Oral Reading Fluency scores of children whose parents were trained as compared to students whose parents were not trained. Even though the results of the study did not prove to be statistically significant, the Trained Parents group’s students’ scores still went up more than the Untrained Parents group’s students’. While again, the results were not statistically significant, they did indicate to at least some degree that parent training may be more beneficial than not training the parents. With this being stated, the resource of parents should continue to be researched and used within schools

Strategies to Improve Minority Business Enterprises’ Access to Capital for Competitive Positioning and Profitability

Some minority business enterprises (MBEs) have limited capital for setting up their businesses, which often leads to business failure. Grounded in entrepreneurship theory, the purpose of this qualitative multiple-case study was to explore strategies MBEs used to access capital to improve their competitive positioning and profitability. The participants were six MBE owners from Alabama who demonstrated success at maintaining and securing working capital to maintain a profitable business for a minimum of 5 years. Data were collected from semistructured interviews and reviews of organization documents and websites. Using Yin’s five-step data analysis process, four themes emerged: owner financing, government loans and grants, financial literacy and credit risk, and family and friends. A key recommendation for MBE owners is to establish worthwhile credit scorecards. The implications for positive social change help MBEs survive, thereby increasing the tax base, and employment in the community in which they operate

Strategies to Improve Minority Business Enterprises’ Access to Capital for Competitive Positioning and Profitability

Some minority business enterprises (MBEs) have limited capital for setting up their businesses, which often leads to business failure. Grounded in entrepreneurship theory, the purpose of this qualitative multiple-case study was to explore strategies MBEs used to access capital to improve their competitive positioning and profitability. The participants were six MBE owners from Alabama who demonstrated success at maintaining and securing working capital to maintain a profitable business for a minimum of 5 years. Data were collected from semistructured interviews and reviews of organization documents and websites. Using Yin’s five-step data analysis process, four themes emerged: owner financing, government loans and grants, financial literacy and credit risk, and family and friends. A key recommendation for MBE owners is to establish worthwhile credit scorecards. The implications for positive social change help MBEs survive, thereby increasing the tax base, and employment in the community in which they operate

Efficient high-volume cleaning of Aspergillus nidulans cleistothecia using bare fingers.

Even seasoned workers find it tedious and sometimes frustrating to remove Hülle cells and stray conidia from Aspergillus cleistothecia by rolling them with forceps across an agar surface, particularly when large numbers must be cleaned. It can be even more challenging to teach the skill to others, especially to a whole class of easily discouraged undergraduates, who may be seeing their first high-mag image of forceps tips at the same time as their first view of a cleistothecium

The Ursinus Weekly, May 11, 1964

New Lost City Ramblers to perform Friday: Agency sponsors blue grass group • Bombers bombed by MSGA, faculty reviewing • UC scholar wins St. Andrews scholarship • Survey supports APO projects • Loved you Conrad : Spring festival succeeds with new program • Bible fellowship • Two classes elect officers today • Pi Nu Epsilon inducts members • Ursinus Circle • Obituary • Editorial: Attention administration • Mr. Pennypacker stages a remarkable performance: Robbins, Sinclair, Auchincloss and Matusow star in production • Spring hits UC campus with sun, fun and studies • Next President: Johnson • Letter to the Editor • Ursinus thinclads retain MAC crown: Cooper wins two, Dunn ties 440 record; Gladstone, Robart, Walter, relay take 1st • Softballers win; Season undefeated • Batsmen even for week: Defeated Drexel, split with Haverford and lost to LaSalle • Tennis loses 3rd; Bryn Mawr takes 4 • Lacrosse wins 4th; Swamp E-burg 13-3 • MAC summary • Greek gleaningshttps://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/weekly/3110/thumbnail.jp

A statistical investigation of normal regional intra-subject heterogeneity of brain metabolism and perfusion by F-18 FDG and O-15 H(2)O PET imaging

BACKGROUND: The definite evaluation of the regional cerebral heterogeneity using perfusion and metabolism by a single modality of PET imaging has not been well addressed. Thus a statistical analysis of voxel variables from identical brain regions on metabolic and perfusion PET images was carried out to determine characteristics of the regional heterogeneity of F-18 FDG and O-15 H(2)O cerebral uptake in normal subjects. METHODS: Fourteen normal subjects with normal CT and/or MRI and physical examination including MMSE were scanned by both F-18 FDG and O-15 H(2)O PET within same day with head-holder and facemask. The images were co-registered and each individual voxel counts (Q) were normalized by the gloabl maximal voxel counts (M) as R = Q/M. The voxel counts were also converted to z-score map by z = (Q - mean)/SD. Twelve pairs of ROIs (24 total) were systematically placed on the z-score map at cortical locations 15-degree apart and identically for metabolism and perfusion. Inter- and intra-subject correlation coefficients (r) were computed, both globally and hemispherically, from metabolism and perfusion: between regions for the same tracer and between tracers for the same region. Moments of means and histograms were computed globally along with asymmetric indices as their hemispherical differences. RESULTS: Statistical investigations verified with data showed that, for a given scan, correlation analyses are expectedly alike regardless of variables (Q, R, z) used. The varieties of correlation (r's) of normal subjects, showing symmetry, were mostly around 0.8 and with coefficient of variations near 10%. Analyses of histograms showed non-Gaussian behavior (skew = -0.3 and kurtosis = 0.4) of metabolism on average, in contrast to near Gaussian perfusion. CONCLUSION: The co-registered cerebral metabolism and perfusion z maps demonstrated regional heterogeneity but with attractively low coefficient of variations in the correlation markers

Challenges facing early career academic cardiologists

Early career academic cardiologists currently face unprecedented challenges that threaten a highly valued career path. A team consisting of early career professionals and senior leadership members of American College of Cardiology completed this white paper to inform the cardiovascular medicine profession regarding the plight of early career cardiologists and to suggest possible solutions. This paper includes: 1) definition of categories of early career academic cardiologists; 2) general challenges to all categories and specific challenges to each category; 3) obstacles as identified by a survey of current early career members of the American College of Cardiology; 4) major reasons for the failure of physician-scientists to receive funding from National Institute of Health/National Heart Lung and Blood Institute career development grants; 5) potential solutions; and 6) a call to action with specific recommendations

The Changing Landscape for Stroke\ua0Prevention in AF: Findings From the GLORIA-AF Registry Phase 2

Background GLORIA-AF (Global Registry on Long-Term Oral Antithrombotic Treatment in Patients with Atrial Fibrillation) is a prospective, global registry program describing antithrombotic treatment patterns in patients with newly diagnosed nonvalvular atrial fibrillation at risk of stroke. Phase 2 began when dabigatran, the first non\u2013vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulant (NOAC), became available. Objectives This study sought to describe phase 2 baseline data and compare these with the pre-NOAC era collected during phase 1. Methods During phase 2, 15,641 consenting patients were enrolled (November 2011 to December 2014); 15,092 were eligible. This pre-specified cross-sectional analysis describes eligible patients\u2019 baseline characteristics. Atrial fibrillation disease characteristics, medical outcomes, and concomitant diseases and medications were collected. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Results Of the total patients, 45.5% were female; median age was 71 (interquartile range: 64, 78) years. Patients were from Europe (47.1%), North America (22.5%), Asia (20.3%), Latin America (6.0%), and the Middle East/Africa (4.0%). Most had high stroke risk (CHA2DS2-VASc [Congestive heart failure, Hypertension, Age  6575 years, Diabetes mellitus, previous Stroke, Vascular disease, Age 65 to 74 years, Sex category] score  652; 86.1%); 13.9% had moderate risk (CHA2DS2-VASc = 1). Overall, 79.9% received oral anticoagulants, of whom 47.6% received NOAC and 32.3% vitamin K antagonists (VKA); 12.1% received antiplatelet agents; 7.8% received no antithrombotic treatment. For comparison, the proportion of phase 1 patients (of N = 1,063 all eligible) prescribed VKA was 32.8%, acetylsalicylic acid 41.7%, and no therapy 20.2%. In Europe in phase 2, treatment with NOAC was more common than VKA (52.3% and 37.8%, respectively); 6.0% of patients received antiplatelet treatment; and 3.8% received no antithrombotic treatment. In North America, 52.1%, 26.2%, and 14.0% of patients received NOAC, VKA, and antiplatelet drugs, respectively; 7.5% received no antithrombotic treatment. NOAC use was less common in Asia (27.7%), where 27.5% of patients received VKA, 25.0% antiplatelet drugs, and 19.8% no antithrombotic treatment. Conclusions The baseline data from GLORIA-AF phase 2 demonstrate that in newly diagnosed nonvalvular atrial fibrillation patients, NOAC have been highly adopted into practice, becoming more frequently prescribed than VKA in Europe and North America. Worldwide, however, a large proportion of patients remain undertreated, particularly in Asia and North America. (Global Registry on Long-Term Oral Antithrombotic Treatment in Patients With Atrial Fibrillation [GLORIA-AF]; NCT01468701