Many Voices, Many Selves: An Analysis Of Education Blog Discourses

At this point, the majority of computer mediated communication (CMC) studies have employed a variation analysis approach, quantitatively describing language on the Internet and comparing CMC to speech and writing. While these studies have provided valuable information about CMC, they have also left many gaps, especially related to social and ideological issues such as language use. This study responds to the need for more qualitative studies of language on the Internet by examining one form of CMC: education blogs. The study analyzes a selection of posts from five blogs published between March 21, 2012 and March 28, 2013. These five blogs were chosen from an initial list of 307 blogs that was compiled from both education blog reference lists and snowball sampling from blogrolls. Ideological discourse features of the blogs, specifically James Paul Gee\u27s concepts of situated meaning, intertextuality, social languages, and Big D Discourses, are the focus of the study. Following this analysis, several recent social media tools are discussed, focusing on the implications these technologies have for literacy practices. Questions exploring how Discourse use might be impacted by these new types of social media are also introduced, as are numerous possibilities for future research

Connections Between Children’s Motivations Toward Writing and Writing Competence

This paper explores how young children’s motivation to engage in writing processes aligns with their demonstrated writing competencies. Additionally, it examines connections between children’s self-concept as writers and their writing performance. During group research sessions conducted over the course of four years, three cohorts of 336 children in total, from Kindergarten to Grade 2, completed a prompted narrative writing task and a semi-structured language and writing attitude interview. A research assistant scored the narrative writing samples for quality and connection of ideas, using a six-point holistic scale, while another research assistant recorded children’s interview responses. In general, those children reporting a positive attitude towards writing and a positive self-concept as writers displayed greater competence in writing, as evidenced by higher writing quality scores. This further supports the role that affect plays in motivation and achievement. Interestingly, some children displayed a disconnect between their writing attitude, self-concept and their writing competence, with some children reporting positive attitudes, yet demonstrating low writing competence and others reporting negative attitudes, but demonstrating high writing competence. More in-depth interviews were conducted with three children whose responses showed a disconnect, thereby identifying more nuanced factors in the relationship between attitude and writing competence

Genes related to mitochondrial functions are differentially expressed in phosphine-resistant and -susceptible Tribolium castaneum

Background: Phosphine is a valuable fumigant to control pest populations in stored grains and grain products. However, recent studies indicate a substantial increase in phosphine resistance in stored product pests worldwide.Results: To understand the molecular bases of phosphine resistance in insects, we used RNA-Seq to compare gene expression in phosphine-resistant and susceptible laboratory populations of the red flour beetle, Tribolium castaneum. Each population was evaluated as either phosphine-exposed or no phosphine (untreated controls) in triplicate biological replicates (12 samples total). Pairwise analysis indicated there were eight genes differentially expressed between susceptible and resistant insects not exposed to phosphine (i.e., basal expression) or those exposed to phopshine (>8-fold expression and 90 % C.I.). However, 214 genes were differentially expressed among all four treatment groups at a statistically significant level (ANOVA, p < 0.05). Increased expression of 44 cytochrome P450 genes was found in resistant vs. susceptible insects, and phosphine exposure resulted in additional increases of 21 of these genes, five of which were significant among all treatment groups (p < 0.05). Expression of two genes encoding anti-diruetic peptide was 2- to 8-fold reduced in phosphine-resistant insects, and when exposed to phosphine, expression was further reduced 36- to 500-fold compared to susceptible. Phosphine-resistant insects also displayed differential expression of cuticle, carbohydrate, protease, transporter, and many mitochondrial genes, among others. Gene ontology terms associated with mitochondrial functions (oxidation biological processes, monooxygenase and catalytic molecular functions, and iron, heme, and tetrapyyrole binding) were enriched in the significantly differentially expressed dataset. Sequence polymorphism was found in transcripts encoding a known phosphine resistance gene, dihydrolipoamide dehydrogenase, in both susceptible and resistant insects. Phosphine-resistant adults also were resistant to knockdown by the pyrethroid deltamethrin, likely due to the increased cytochrome P450 expression.Conclusions: Overall, genes associated with the mitochondria were differentially expressed in resistant insects, and these differences may contribute to a reduction in overall metabolism and energy production and/or compensation in resistant insects. These data provide the first gene expression data on the response of phosphine-resistant and -susceptible insects to phosphine exposure, and demonstrate that RNA-Seq is a valuable tool to examine differences in insects that respond differentially to environmental stimuli.Peer reviewedEntomology and Plant Patholog

Gyáahlangee X̱íinangaas: Co-creating links between Haida Language Acquisition and Stories Told on the Land

In this paper we explore how we can work with legacy recordings of Haida gyáahlang.ee (clan stories) to create positive attitudes towards Xaad kil, and a sense of respect and awe for the deeds of ancestors by re-telling these stories on Haida ancestral lands to participating children, youth and elders. During the 1980s, two of the presenters recorded Haida clan stories of ancestors’ adventures on the land and sea surrounding Haida Gwaii with elders who spoke elaborate Haida, often integrating song into storytelling. As we found out, while on the one hand these are stories pertaining to particular matri-clans, the transmission of these stories was by no means confined to members of the protagonists’ or storytellers’ clans, but involved much more intricate patterns of young children and adults, at an impressionable age hearing these stories and then doing the story-work of remembering, occasionally retelling, and eventually recording them with the authors. Since then, as a team we have transcribed, glossed and translated these gyáahlang.ee, training Haida learners and graduate students in the process. In doing this work, we have discovered interesting and intriguing story plots, and through additional work that uncovered some 650 northern Haida toponyms, we have connected stories in minute detail to specific locations, thus retracing the steps of ancestors. In addition, we have uncovered previously undescribed or poorly understood features of Haida discourse, in particular aspects of verb morphology and features like topic tracking morphology, of which we will show examples. Having finished the anthropological and linguistic work on these stories, the co-authors then shared them with Haida children, youth and adults during on the land language camps on the west coast of Haida Gwaii. Bringing stories alive by re-creating the lived experience of the link to places (in Haida: “he went to the halibut bank just over on that point,” “those killerwhales were fed water from this little creek here, and they beached over there,” “this is where the protagonist went to find out how to get rid of his killerwhale skin”), and re-claiming the songs that go with stories, we have been able to contribute not only to reviving storytelling, but also to re-creating the links between experiencing story, song and connection to land at a young age, where it won’t be forgotten, as our storytellers told us

Organocatalyzed Anodic Oxidation of Aldehydes

A method for the catalytic formation of electroauxiliaries and subsequent anodic oxidation has been developed. The process interfaces N-heterocyclic carbene-based organocatalysis with electro-organic synthesis to achieve direct oxidation of catalytically generated electroactive intermediates. We demonstrate the applicability of this method as a one-pot conversion of aldehydes to esters for a broad range of aldehyde and alcohol substrates. Furthermore, the anodic oxidation reactions are very clean, producing only H₂ gas as a result of cathodic reduction