Struggling readers? Using theory to complicate understandings of what it means to be literate in school

Theories guide many aspects of literacy research. In this article we describe four theoretical approaches that we have used in qualitative research with students who are perceived to struggle with reading in school, including: New Literacy Studies, Disability Studies in Education, Bioecological Systems Theory, and Cultural Historical Activity Theory. We provide a brief overview of each of the theories and then explain how we have used them to gain insights about students with whom we have worked in the context of our research. Although grounded in distinct perspectives, we argue that each of the theories are lenses through which we were better able to understand the complexities of students’ struggles with reading. We further argue that the theories are united in their ability to broaden the perspectives of researchers and teachers to better account for the social, cultural, and institutional factors that shape literacy teaching and learning in schools. We conclude by questioning the use of the term “struggling reader” and highlighting the implications of our individual theoretical frames and analyses for both research and practice.Accepted manuscrip

EMG Analysis and Motor Unit Recruitment in the Rectus Femoris of College Students

The rectus femoris works as part of the quadriceps muscle group to provide the force needed to generate very explosive movements during knee extension. Because many sports require explosive movements from the lower body, many strength coaches implement exercise routines that strengthen the muscles and prevent injuries. In the general population, activities using knee extension are essential in getting the full benefit of a designed exercise program. Muscle fibers provide the contractile force needed to accomplish a movement. Commonly, a deficiency is present in people who tend to favor one leg more than the other during activity. This is due to factors such as improper training, improper biomechanics, and joint injury. Having a strength imbalance from one leg to the other can strongly influence the amount of force generated, and therefore the amount of weight lifted. The purpose of this study was to determine whether these subjects had an imbalance in the contractile force of the rectus femoris. The participants were all kinesiology students in a Master’s degree program. Their age ranges from 22 years of age to 25 years of age. The instruments being used for this procedure are a leg extension machine and Biopac EMG. Each participant was required to perform five reps of a single leg extension for each leg, after determining maximum voluntary contraction. To analyze data that is collected. Data was analyzed using SPSS and Microsoft Excel. Muscle contractions were compared between and within subjects and compared from the participant’s dominant to non-dominant leg. For this particular study, the purpose was calculating whether the contractions are different from dominant leg to non-dominant leg. The results indicate that participants have a significant decrease in the contractile force from their dominant to non-dominant leg; significance was set at p\u3c.05. This study shows where coaches, trainers, and athletes need to focus on strength training to correct muscle imbalances. Imbalances could indicate that subjects are not trained properly, or they are favoring one leg while performing explosive maneuvers, or have an injury that prevents proper firing motor unit recruitment (1, 4)

Energy Expenditure and Economy During a Cycle Ergometer Test

Research has shown that submaximal cycle ergometer testing presents a reduced V02 max score when compared to that of the treadmill test. In this study, we compared a submaximal economy test on the Monark Cycle Ergometer. The purpose of this study was for each participant to perform the same test and compare economy, V02 ml/kg/min for a given workload, as well as calories burned between males and females during the nine minute test. By testing economy for each participant, we aim to determine whether males or females use oxygen more efficiently during testing. Before beginning the test, the Cosmed metabolic equipment was calibrated. The test was standardized to last for nine minutes at 70 rotations per minute and 1 kilopond of resistance. Based off of the comparison in V02 mL/kg/min and kCal mL/kg/min, the women had the highest V02 per given workload and also had the lowest calories burned. The women were the least efficient by having a higher V02 while working at the same intensity as the male participants. The research used to support this study indicates that there are two components for overall metabolic power during a dynamic leg exercise on the cycle ergometer; the power used to overcome the resistance applied to the ergometer and the rate of energy expenditure required to move the lower limbs without opposition against the opposition load (Girardis, Linnarsson, Moia, Pendergast, & Ferretti, 1999). It is also stated that during exercise at submaximal levels below lactate threshold the net V02 of the whole body is equivalent of the net rate of energy expenditure (Storer, Davis, & Caiozzo, 1990). The cycle ergometer is a good use to determine V02 by collecting expired air and the volume measured in the spirometer (Saltin & Astrand, 1967). For the results of this lab to be more accurate the resistance and intensity could have been changed at different stages of the test. This would have given and more accurate measure of the ability of each participant to reach the next stage of testing

Re-evaluating the effect of wind on recruitment in Gulf of Maine Atlantic Cod (Gadus morhua) using an environmentally-explicit stock recruitment model

Author Posting. © The Author(s), 2013. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here by permission of John Wiley & Sons for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Fisheries Oceanography 24 (2015): 90-105, doi:10.1111/fog.12095.A previous study documented a correlation between Atlantic Cod (Gadus morhua) recruitment in the Gulf of Maine and an annual index of the north component of May winds. This correlation was supported by modeling studies that indicated unusually strong recruitment of Gulf of Maine Atlantic Cod results from high retention of spring-spawned larvae in years when winds were predominately out of the north, which favor downwelling. We re-evaluated this relationship using updated recruitment estimates and found that the correlation decreased between recruitment and wind. The original relationship was largely driven by two recruitment estimates, one of which (2005 year class) was highly uncertain because it was near the terminal year of the assessment. With additional data, the updated assessment estimated lower recruitment for the 2005 year class, which consequently lowered the correlation between recruitment and wind. We then investigated whether an environmentally-explicit stock recruit function that incorporated an annual wind index was supported by either the original or updated assessment output. Although incorporation of the annual wind index produced a better fitting model, the uncertainty in the estimated parameters and the implied unexploited conditions were not appropriate for providing management advice. These results suggest the need for caution in the development of environmentally-explicit stock recruitment relationships, in particular when basing relationships and hypotheses on recruitment estimates from the terminal years of stock assessment models. More broadly, this study highlights a number of sources of uncertainty that should be considered when analyses are performed on the output of stock assessment models.We also thank the NMFS Fisheries and the Environment program which funded the initial work of Churchill et al. (2011) (FATE Project 08-02) and funded Hare (FATE Project 10-08) to examine environmentally-explicit stock 487 recruitment models

Will nature work with us? Erosion and flooding impacts on a UK barrier

‘Barrier island’ refers to a diverse collection of coastal landforms that often support substantial human populations, critical infrastructures, and ecosystems. Globally, many coastal barriers are experiencing climatically altered environmental forcing coupled with increasing anthropogenic pressures. This paper undertakes high resolution shoreline change analysis to reveal how Blakeney Point, a mixed sandy-gravel barrier located on the UK’s East Coast, has evolved over centennial, decadal and event timescales. We seek to establish the implications of barrier evolution, under contrasting management regimes, for present erosion and flooding hazards. Interrogating a series of alternative shoreline proxies reveals a series of interdependent behaviors. Over the 130-year period of study, Blakeney Point is shown to be rolling landward at a mean rate of 0.60 m a-1. Assuming continued landward retreat over the coming decades, future flood-generating storm events will encounter more landward shoreline positions than today. Superimposed on this trend, we observe the presence of alongshore migrating erosional hotspots which give rise to unpredictable morphologies at any given location on the spit. Finally, we find that instances of barrier setback are driven by individual storm events, which makes barrier retreat both highly variable and discontinuous in time and space. This is illustrated by the presence of overwash, particularly along stretches of the barrier that have experienced a recent shift in management regime towards a non-interventionist approach.This work was funded by the NERC/ESRC Data, Risk and Environmental Analytical Methods (DREAM) Centre, Grant/Award Number: NE/M009009/1. It is also a contribution to the NERC-funded project “Physical and Biological dynamic coastal processes and their role in coastal recovery” (BLUEcoast), Grant Award Number: NE/N015924/1

Complementary, Semi-automated Methods for Creating Multi-dimensional, PEG-based Biomaterials

Tunable biomaterials that mimic selected features of the extracellular matrix (ECM), such as its stiffness, protein composition, and dimensionality, are increasingly popular for studying how cells sense and respond to ECM cues. In the field, there exists a significant trade-off for how complex and how well these biomaterials represent the in vivo microenvironment, versus how easy they are to make and how adaptable they are to automated fabrication techniques. To address this need to integrate more complex biomaterials design with high-throughput screening approaches, we present several methods to fabricate synthetic biomaterials in 96-well plates and demonstrate that they can be adapted to semiautomated liquid handling robotics. These platforms include 1) glass bottom plates with covalently attached ECM proteins, and 2) hydrogels with tunable stiffness and protein composition with either cells seeded on the surface, or 3) laden within the three-dimensional hydrogel matrix. This study includes proof-of-concept results demonstrating control over breast cancer cell line phenotypes via these ECM cues in a semi-automated fashion. We foresee the use of these methods as a mechanism to bridge the gap between high-throughput cell-matrix screening and engineered ECM-mimicking biomaterials

miRNAs as common regulators of the transforming growth factor (TGF)-β pathway in the preeclamptic placenta and cadmium-treated trophoblasts: Links between the environment, the epigenome and preeclampsia

Preeclampsia (PE) is a pregnancy disorder characterized by high blood pressure and proteinuria that can cause adverse health effects in both mother and fetus. There is no current cure for PE other than delivery of the fetus. While the etiology is unknown, poor placentation of the placenta due to aberrant signaling of growth and angiogenic factors has been postulated as causal factors of PE. In addition, environmental contaminants, such as the metal cadmium (Cd), have been linked to placental toxicity and increased risk of developing PE. Here, we use a translational study design to investigate genomic and epigenomic alterations in both placentas and placental trophoblasts, focused on the angiogenesis-associated transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-β) pathway. Genes within the TGF-β pathway displayed increased expression in both the preeclamptic placenta and Cd-treated trophoblasts. In addition, miRNAs that target the TGF-β pathway were also significantly altered within the preeclamptic placenta and Cd-treated trophoblasts. Integrative analysis resulted in the identification of a subset of Cd-responsive miRNAs, including miR-26a and miR-155, common to preeclamptic placentas and Cd-treated trophoblasts. These miRNAs have previously been linked to PE and are predicted to regulate members of the TGF-β pathway. Results from this study provide future targets for PE treatment

miRNAs as common regulators of the transforming growth factor (TGF)-β pathway in the preeclamptic placenta and cadmium-treated trophoblasts: Links between the environment, the epigenome and preeclampsia

Preeclampsia (PE) is a pregnancy disorder characterized by high blood pressure and proteinuria that can cause adverse health effects in both mother and fetus. There is no current cure for PE other than delivery of the fetus. While the etiology is unknown, poor placentation of the placenta due to aberrant signaling of growth and angiogenic factors has been postulated as causal factors of PE. In addition, environmental contaminants, such as the metal cadmium (Cd), have been linked to placental toxicity and increased risk of developing PE. Here, we use a translational study design to investigate genomic and epigenomic alterations in both placentas and placental trophoblasts, focused on the angiogenesis-associated transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-β) pathway. Genes within the TGF-β pathway displayed increased expression in both the preeclamptic placenta and Cd-treated trophoblasts. In addition, miRNAs that target the TGF-β pathway were also significantly altered within the preeclamptic placenta and Cd-treated trophoblasts. Integrative analysis resulted in the identification of a subset of Cd-responsive miRNAs, including miR-26a and miR-155, common to preeclamptic placentas and Cd-treated trophoblasts. These miRNAs have previously been linked to PE and are predicted to regulate members of the TGF-β pathway. Results from this study provide future targets for PE treatment

Effect of nitroglycerin during hemodynamic estimation of valve orifice in patients with mitral stenosis

In patients with mitral stenosis, valve orifice calculations using pulmonary capillary wedge pressure as a substitute for left atrial pressure may overestimate the severity of disease. Previous studies have shown that mitral valve area determined from transseptal left atrial pressure measurements exceeds that area derived from pulmonary wedge pressure measurements. This is probably due to pulmonary venoconstriction, which is reversed by nitroglycerin. Nitroglycerin, 0.4 mg, was administered sublingually to 20 patients with mitral valve disease during preoperative cardiac catheterization using the pulmonary capillary wedge pressure as the proximal hydraulic variable. At the time of peak hypotensive effect, 3 to 5 minutes after nitroglycerin administration, the mean pulmonary capillary wedge pressure decreased from 23 ± 2 (mean ± SEM) to 19 ± 2 mm Hg (p < 0.005). The mean diastolic transmitral pressure gradient (12.6 ± 1.2 mm Hg before and 11.5 ± 1.0 mm Hg after nitroglycerin; p = NS) and cardiac output (4.0 ± 0.3 to 4.1 ± 0.3 liters/min; p = NS) did not change significantly. Nevertheless, the hemodynamic mitral orifice area, calculated using the Gorlin formula, increased from 0.8 ± 0.1 to 1.1 ± 0.2 cm2(p < 0.05). In 12 patients with isolated mitral stenosis, without regurgitation, the mitral valve orifice area after nitroglycerin was 0.4 ± 0.2 cm2larger than it was before drug administration (p < 0.05).Administration of nitroglycerin during evaluation of mitral stenosis eliminates pulmonary venoconstriction, which raises the pulmonary capillary wedge pressure above the left atrial pressure in some patients. Nitroglycerin may add diagnostic accuracy without transseptal catheterization. Whether this response to nitroglycerin has direct therapeutic value in patients with mitral valve obstruction has yet to be determined