Vocabulary Theatre: A Peer-teaching Approach for Academic Vocabulary Acquisition

This mixed methods counterbalanced study compared the gain score means of two different approaches to vocabulary acquisition – Vocabulary Theater (VT) and Teacher Directed Instruction (TDI) for 8th grade students from three schools in New York. The purpose of the study was to explore the effects of a peer teaching approach on students’ vocabulary development. Students in the VT condition were instructed to take ownership of their words by teaching them to their peers. They received both linguistic and non-linguistic representations of 30 Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) words over a three-week period, while the TDI condition students were instructed over the same three-week period to define the same 30 SAT words through the use of a dictionary and then use the words in sentences. The study’s counterbalanced design ensured that all students received each vocabulary condition. Students were given a pre- and posttest to examine their level of vocabulary acquisition in each condition. A survey given to the students in the VT condition revealed that on average 43% of the students were totally unfamiliar with the words presented, 14% had an associative connection with the words presented and 13 % were very familiar with the words. Qualitative data were collected from all three schools in the form of group discussions, VT presentations, individual interviews, teacher interviews, and classroom observations. The quantitative analysis revealed that the gain scores of students in the Vocabulary Theatre were significantly greater than the gain scores of students in the TDI condition regardless of the presentation order

Relation of vertebral deformities to bone density, structure, and strength.

Because they are not reliably discriminated by areal bone mineral density (aBMD) measurements, it is unclear whether minimal vertebral deformities represent early osteoporotic fractures. To address this, we compared 90 postmenopausal women with no deformity (controls) with 142 women with one or more semiquantitative grade 1 (mild) deformities and 51 women with any grade 2-3 (moderate/severe) deformities. aBMD was measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA), lumbar spine volumetric bone mineral density (vBMD) and geometry by quantitative computed tomography (QCT), bone microstructure by high-resolution peripheral QCT at the radius (HRpQCT), and vertebral compressive strength and load-to-strength ratio by finite-element analysis (FEA) of lumbar spine QCT images. Compared with controls, women with grade 1 deformities had significantly worse values for many bone density, structure, and strength parameters, although deficits all were much worse for the women with grade 2-3 deformities. Likewise, these skeletal parameters were more strongly associated with moderate to severe than with mild deformities by age-adjusted logistic regression. Nonetheless, grade 1 vertebral deformities were significantly associated with four of the five main variable categories assessed: bone density (lumbar spine vBMD), bone geometry (vertebral apparent cortical thickness), bone strength (overall vertebral compressive strength by FEA), and load-to-strength ratio (45-degree forward bending ÷ vertebral compressive strength). Thus significantly impaired bone density, structure, and strength compared with controls indicate that many grade 1 deformities do represent early osteoporotic fractures, with corresponding implications for clinical decision making

Climate Change: Anticipated Effects on High-Energy Laser Weapon Systems in Maritime Environments

anticipated effects on high energy laser weapon systems in maritime environments. Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology, American Meteorological Society, 50, 153-166This study quantifies the potential impacts on ship-defense high-energy-laser (HEL) performance due to atmospheric effects in the marine boundary layer driven by recent observations and analysis of worldwide sea surface temperatures (SSTs). The atmospheric effects are defined using the worldwide probabilistic climatic database available in the High Energy Laser End-to-End Operational Simulation (HELEEOS) model, which includes an SST database for the period 1854–1997. A more recent worldwide sea surface temperature database was provided by the Naval Postgraduate School for the period 1990-2008. Mean differences and trends between the two SST databases are used to deduce possible climate change impacts on simulated maritime HEL engagements. The anticipated effects on HEL propagation performance are assessed at an operating wave-length of 1.0642 um across the world's oceans and mapped to a 1 degree x 1 degree grid. The scenario evaluated is near surface and nearly horizontal over a range of 5000 m in which anticipated clear-air maritime aerosols occur. Summer and winter scenarios are considered. In addition to realistic vertical profiles of molecular and aerosol absorption and scattering, correlated optical turbulence profiles in probabilistic (percentile) format are used

Selective superoxide generation within mitochondria by the targeted redox cycler MitoParaquat

Superoxide is the proximal reactive oxygen species (ROS) produced by the mitochondrial respiratory chain and plays a major role in pathological oxidative stress and redox signaling. While there are tools to detect or decrease mitochondrial superoxide, none can rapidly and specifically increase superoxide production within the mitochondrial matrix. This lack impedes progress, making it challenging to assess accurately the roles of mitochondrial superoxide in cells and in vivo. To address this unmet need, we synthesized and characterized a mitochondria-targeted redox cycler, MitoParaquat (MitoPQ) that comprises a triphenylphosphonium lipophilic cation conjugated to the redox cycler paraquat. MitoPQ accumulates selectively in the mitochondrial matrix driven by the membrane potential. Within the matrix, MitoPQ produces superoxide by redox cycling at the flavin site of complex I, selectively increasing superoxide production within mitochondria. MitoPQ increased mitochondrial superoxide in isolated mitochondria and cells in culture ~a thousand-fold more effectively than untargeted paraquat. MitoPQ was also more toxic than paraquat in the isolated perfused heart and in Drosophila in vivo. MitoPQ enables the selective generation of superoxide within mitochondria and is a useful tool to investigate the many roles of mitochondrial superoxide in pathology and redox signaling in cells and in vivo

Noninvasive Risk Stratification of Lung Adenocarcinoma using Quantitative Computed Tomography

IntroductionLung cancer remains the leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the United States and worldwide. Adenocarcinoma is the most common type of lung cancer and encompasses lesions with widely variable clinical outcomes. In the absence of noninvasive risk stratification, individualized patient management remains challenging. Consequently a subgroup of pulmonary nodules of the lung adenocarcinoma spectrum is likely treated more aggressively than necessary.MethodsConsecutive patients with surgically resected pulmonary nodules of the lung adenocarcinoma spectrum (lesion size ⩽3 cm, 2006–2009) and available presurgical high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) imaging were identified at Mayo Clinic Rochester. All cases were classified using an unbiased Computer-Aided Nodule Assessment and Risk Yield (CANARY) approach based on the quantification of presurgical HRCT characteristics. CANARY-based classification was independently correlated to postsurgical progression-free survival.ResultsCANARY analysis of 264 consecutive patients identified three distinct subgroups. Independent comparisons of 5-year disease-free survival (DFS) between these subgroups demonstrated statistically significant differences in 5-year DFS, 100%, 72.7%, and 51.4%, respectively (p = 0.0005).ConclusionsNoninvasive CANARY-based risk stratification identifies subgroups of patients with pulmonary nodules of the adenocarcinoma spectrum characterized by distinct clinical outcomes. This technique may ultimately improve the current expert opinion-based approach to the management of these lesions by facilitating individualized patient management

Comparing uptake across breast, cervical and bowel screening at an individual level:a retrospective cohort study

Funding: CR-UK through its National Awareness & Early Diagnosis Initiative C9227/A17676.Background We investigated demographic and clinical predictors of lower participation in bowel screening relative to breast and cervical screening. Methods Data linkage study of routinely collected clinical data from 430,591 women registered with general practices in the Greater Glasgow & Clyde Health Board. Participation in the screening programmes was measured by attendance at breast or cervical screening or the return of a bowel screening kit. Results 72.6% of 159,993 women invited attended breast screening, 80.7% of 309,899 women invited attended cervical screening and 61.7% of 180,408 women invited completed bowel screening. Of the 68,324 women invited to participate in all three screening programmes during the study period, 52.1% participated in all three while 7.2% participated in none. Women who participated in breast (OR = 3.34 (3.21, 3.47), p < 0.001) or cervical (OR = 3.48 (3.32, 3.65), p < 0.001) were more likely to participate in bowel screening. Conclusion Participation in bowel screening was lower than breast or cervical for this population although the same demographic factors were associated with uptake, namely lower social deprivation, increasing age, low levels of comorbidity and prior non-malignant neoplasms. As women who complete breast and cervical are more likely to also complete bowel screening, interventions at these procedures to encourage bowel screening participation should be explored.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Exile Vol. XIX No. 2

POETRY speckled day by Richard Carothers 3 Looking-Glass by Doug Cox 3 February fog scooves in by H. 8 Surface Tension by Glenn Bard 9 Closing by Doug Cox 10 southwest bazaar by Val Evans 16 Haiku sequence By Suzanne B. Dean 17 summertime by Richard Carothers 18 The Desirability of Being a Line by Laurie Wharton 18 The Blatant Morning by Phil Mercurio 23 sweet nothings by Linda Anderson 23 Alone In Bed by Val Evans 24 Walls and the Fallen Woman by H. 26-27 A Victim of Need by Suzanne B. Dean 28 PHOTOGRAPHY by Tamera Iverson 1, 18 by John Bildahl 9, 15 by Anne G. English 25 by Richard E. Bergen 27 by Bruce Andre 28 ARTWORK The Road to Calvary by Sheila Rollit 4 Norwegian Sadness by Tamera Iverson 11 by Ann Merrill 16 by Jude Hasel 17 by Pat Victory 22 by Wilson R. Baldridge 26 FICTION To My Grandmother by Robb Knuepfer 5-8 First Monday in July by Joe L. Bolster III 12-14 Glad About A Lot Today by John Fergus 19-22 A city stands by Suzanne B. Dean 24-2