Improving Second Language Learning Through Performance-Based Assessment Practices

From the time of the No Child Left Behind Act (2001) to the present day, standardized testing has become the benchmark measure for student assessment and school accountability in the United States. Multilingual learners are a vulnerable population with more testing and accountability requirements than mainstream students. Not only are they required to learn a second language, but they are also assessed within the same standardized testing paradigms as their peers - native speakers of the English language. This study aimed to examine and evaluate the benefits of instructional practices and assessments that provide multilingual students and teachers prompt and meaningful feedback where the data inform further instruction. The context of the study assesses the multilingual student population in K-8 with the Assessing Comprehension and Communication in English State-to-State for English Language Learners (ACCESS) test. For this study, the researcher used a mixed methodology research design. The researcher surveyed and interviewed teachers with experience working with the multilingual student population, and interviewed parents of children receiving bilingual services in combination with reflective memos. The research findings concluded that assessment data is essential for planning future instruction and providing measures to assist students. However, the ACCESS data is not immediate, lacks specificity, and yearly testing depletes the opportunities for interventions to assess multilingual learners\u27 progress and language development adequately. Therefore, the researcher recommends using performance-based instructional practices and assessments that ignite student learning, curiosity, and relevancy

Cambio de uso de suelo e índice de vegetación de diferencia normalizada (NDVI), Subcuenca del Río Salado, México

Los cambios de uso de suelo (CUS) ocasionados por actividades antrópicas han provocado la pérdida de resiliencia de importantes reductos de vegetación natural frente a eventos catastróficos naturales u ocasionados por el hombre, y con ello, de una gama de servicios ecosistémicos que estas masas vegetales proveen a la sociedad (Lambin et al., 2001, Lambin y Geist, 2002). Los CUS generalmente inducen la fragmentación del paisaje, alteran los ciclos biogeoquímicos y generan cambios cuantitativos y cualitativos en la composición de las comunidades vegetales y en aquellos casos donde se intensifican, la pérdida parcial o total de los atributos del suelo y la vegetación que le confieren su capacidad inicial para sustentar los procesos productivos (Lambin et al., 2001). Ante tales condiciones, identificar las causas que propician los CUS y como revertirlas, requiere en primera instancia entender cómo es que la gente toma decisiones sobre el manejo y usufructo de los recursos naturales así como de la comprensión de cómo interactúan los factores sociales y ambientales para influenciar estas decisiones, bajo una multiplicidad de escalas espacio-temporales (Lambin y Geist 2007).El cambio de uso de suelo debido a las actividades antrópicas ha provocado la pérdida de resiliencia de los ecosistemas naturales y productivos ante la presencia cada vez más frecuente de eventos climatológicos extremos, es importante analizar la magnitud de estos cambios y su relación con la vegetación. Este estudio explora los cambios de uso de suelo y el estado de la vegetación natural en la subcuenca del río Salado. Las tasas de cambio de las cubiertas del suelo y el índice de vegetación de diferencia normalizada (NDVI) se calcularon a partir de la información obtenida de las imágenes Landsat 5 TM, 2000, 2005, 2010 y 2015. Los cambios muestran aumento en las cubiertas agrícola de riego, pastizal y zona urbana, y disminución de la superficie agrícola de temporal, bosque de encino y matorral. El NDVI en rango de 0.1 y 0.5 identifica estado crítico en el bosque de encino y matorral xerófilo, caracteriza el envejecimiento natural de la vegetación y la presión que ejerce el pastoreo de ganado, agricultura extensiva, extracción de madera y materiales pétreos. El NDVI de las áreas de riego cultivadas con alfalfa (0.5), contrasta con el de los pastizales y las tierras de temporal cultivadas con maíz y avena forrajera (0.1-0). Los factores que explican los cambios de uso de suelo y el estado de salud del matorral xerófilo se identificaron por medio de la observación en campo.Universidad Autónoma del Estado de México - CONACY

The Spiral Economy: a Socially Progressive Circular Economy Model?

The Circular Economy (CE) is a well-established sustainability framework within the industry and business contexts, with strong advocates such as the Ellen MacArthur Foundation. It is designed to be restorative and regenerative, and through a continuous cycle aims to keep products, components, and materials at their highest utility and value at all times. It focuses on preserving and enhancing natural capital, optimising resource yields, and minimising system risks by managing finite stocks and renewable flows. The CE principles align strongly with the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) framework, which is a relevant lens for further understanding how industry can strategically address environmental and social issues. However, while the CE framework claims to account for the three inter-related and co-evolutionary sustainability dimensions of social, economic and environmental it is challenged for its overt emphasis on the latter two aspects with less done to achieve social value and benefits for those involved in creating and managing the restorative and regenerative cycles. This chapter aims to address this key gap by critically reviewing relevant literature and arguing for a more socially integrated and progressive CE. It develops and presents an original conceptual framework called the Spiral Economy (SE)

NASCENT DNA PROTEOMICS ANALYSIS UNCOVERS DNA REPLICATION DYNAMICS IN THE HUMAN PATHOGEN TRYPANOSOMA BRUCEI

DNA is the substrate of many cellular processes including DNA replication, transcription and chromatin remodeling. These processes are coordinated to maintain genome integrity and ensure accurate duplication of genetic and epigenetic information. Genome-wide studies have provided evidence of the relationship between transcription and DNA replication timing. A global analysis of DNA replication initiation in T. brucei showed that TbORC1 (subunit of the origin recognition complex, ORC) binding sites are located at the boundaries of transcription units. Although recent studies in T. brucei indicate functional links among DNA replication and transcription, the underlying mechanisms remain unknown. In this study, we adapted an unbiased technology for the identification of replication fork proteins called iPOND (isolation of proteins on nascent DNA) to T. brucei, its first application to a parasite system.The iPOND approach relies on labeling newly replicated DNA with the thymidine analog EdU (5-ethynyl-2′-deoxyuridine), which contains an alkyne functional group that enables the cycloaddition of a biotin azide. This click chemistry reaction yields a stable covalent linkage, facilitating streptavidin capture of cross-linked biotinylated DNA-protein complexes. First, we described how we adapted the iPOND protocol in T. brucei cells to generate a suitable sample for mass spectrometry analysis (Chapter 2). We performed MS label-free quantification to determine which proteins are enriched in an active replication fork in T. brucei (Chapter 3). We identified 410 proteins, including key DNA replication factors and proteins associated with transcription, chromatin organization, DNA repair and mRNA splicing. Around 25% of the proteins identified were of unknown function that might have the potential to be essential trypanosome-specific replication proteins. Additionally, we characterized two proteins from our iPOND-derived protein list (Chapter 3). These are a protein annotated as a Replication Factor C subunit (Tb927.10.7990), and a protein of unknown function (Tb927.3.5370). Both revealed nuclear localization. Tb927.10.7990 proved to be essential since its silencing caused a growth defect and impaired DNA replication. However,Tb927.3.5370 appeared to be a dispensable gene. We propose nucleosomes are assembled close to the replication fork followed by RNA pol II recruitment, transcription, and co-transcriptional RNA splicing. Further studies are needed to determine how these processes are linked and co-regulated, and how rapidly they are initiated during DNA replication

Native American ancestry significantly contributes to neuromyelitis optica susceptibility in the admixed Mexican population

Neuromyelitis Optica (NMO) is an autoimmune disease with a higher prevalence in non-European populations. Because the Mexican population resulted from the admixture between mainly Native American and European populations, we used genome-wide microarray, HLA high-resolution typing and AQP4 gene sequencing data to analyze genetic ancestry and to seek genetic variants conferring NMO susceptibility in admixed Mexican patients. A total of 164 Mexican NMO patients and 1,208 controls were included. On average, NMO patients had a higher proportion of Native American ancestry than controls (68.1% vs 58.6%; p = 5 × 10⁻⁶). GWAS identified a HLA region associated with NMO, led by rs9272219 (OR = 2.48, P = 8 × 10⁻¹⁰). Class II HLA alleles HLA-DQB1*03:01, -DRB1*08:02, -DRB1*16:02, -DRB1*14:06 and -DQB1*04:02 showed the most significant associations with NMO risk. Local ancestry estimates suggest that all the NMO-associated alleles within the HLA region are of Native American origin. No novel or missense variants in the AQP4 gene were found in Mexican patients with NMO or multiple sclerosis. To our knowledge, this is the first study supporting the notion that Native American ancestry significantly contributes to NMO susceptibility in an admixed population, and is consistent with differences in NMO epidemiology in Mexico and Latin America

Alternative use of oily fractions of olive oil

Oily fractions of olive oil not suitable for human consumption used were: lamp oil (AL), olive pomace oil (OO) and clear oil lees (CB). Polyols were obtained by modifications of epoxidation with subsequent hydrolysis (ALH, OOH, CBH) and transesterification (ALHT, OOHT, CBHT) in order to favor, then, the polymerization reactions. The analysis of the physicochemical properties determined show the decrease of the unsaturations in the triglyceride and the increase of the OH concentration in the modified polyols as compared to the initial oils (from 16 to 380 for the AL and the ALHT; from 24 to 448 for the CB and the CBHT and from 3 to 430 for the OO and the OOHT, respectively) .The main objective of this work is to evaluate the stability of these oils over time and to provide an alternative synthesis of polyurethanes from a renewable resource, not previously used for this purpose.Fil: Bagni Sánchez, Melina María. Universidad Nacional de San Juan. Facultad de Ingeniería. Instituto de Ingeniería Química; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - San Juan; ArgentinaFil: Granados, Dolly Lucía. Universidad Nacional de San Juan. Facultad de Ingeniería. Instituto de Ingeniería Química; ArgentinaFil: Reboredo, Maria Marta. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mar del Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciencia y Tecnología de Materiales. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ingeniería. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciencia y Tecnología de Materiales; Argentin

Epidemiological Changes in Leishmaniasis in Spain According to Hospitalization-Based Records, 1997-2011: Raising Awareness towards Leishmaniasis in Non-HIV Patients

In Spain, Leishmania infantum is endemic, human visceral and cutaneous leishmaniasis cases occurring both in the Peninsula, as well as in the Balearic Islands. We aimed to describe the clinical characteristics of leishmaniasis patients and the changes in the disease evolution after the introduction of antiretroviral therapy in 1997. In this descriptive study, we used Spanish Centralized Hospital Discharge Database for the hospitalized leishmaniasis cases between 1997 and 2011. We included in the analysis only the records having leishmaniasis as the first registered diagnosis and calculated the hospitalization rates. Disease trend was described taking into account the HIV status. Adjusted odds-ratio was used to estimate the association between clinical and socio-demographic factors and HIV co-infection. Of the total 8010 Leishmaniasis hospitalizations records, 3442 had leishmaniasis as first diagnosis; 2545/3442 (75.6%) were males and 2240/3442 (65.1%) aged between 14-65 years. Regarding disease forms, 2844/3442 (82.6%) of hospitalizations were due to visceral leishmaniasis (VL), while 118/3442 (3.4%) hospitalizations were cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL). Overall, 1737/2844 of VL (61.1%) were HIV negatives. An overall increasing trend was observed for the records with leishmaniasis as first diagnosis (p=0.113). Non-HIV leishmaniasis increased during this time period (p=0.021) while leishmaniasis-HIV co-infection hospitalization revealed a slight descending trend (p=0.717). Leishmaniasis-HIV co-infection was significantly associated with male sex (aOR=1.6; 95% CI: 1.25-2.04), 16-64 years age group (aOR=17.4; 95%CI: 2.1-143.3), visceral leishmaniasis aOR=6.1 (95%CI: 3.27-11.28) and solid neoplasms 4.5 (95% CI: 1.65-12.04). The absence of HIV co-infection was associated with lymph/hematopoietic neoplasms (aOR=0.3; 95%CI:0.14-0.57), other immunodeficiency (aOR=0.04; 95% CI:0.01-0.32) and transplant (aOR=0.01; 95%CI:0.00-0.07). Our findings suggest a significant increase of hospitalization in the absence of HIV co-infection, with a predomination of VL. We consider that clinicians in Spain should be aware of leishmaniasis not only in the HIV population but also in non HIV patients, especially for those having immunosuppression as an associate condition

Expresión corporal y habilidades motrices básicas en niños de 5 años de una institución inicial, S.M.P, 2019

El estudio tuvo como objetivo de investigación determinar la relación entre la expresión corporal y las habilidades motrices básicas en niños (as) de 5 años de la Institución Educativa N°003 Nuestra Señora del Rosario. Además, cuenta con las teorías de los autores Learreta, Sierra y Ruano quienes a través de sus conceptos dimensionan la expresión corporal en la expresiva, comunicativa y creativa. Por otro lado, se continúa sustentando este trabajo con la teoría del autor Blázques quien clasifica a las habilidades motrices básicas en tres: movimientos de locomoción, movimientos de manipulación y movimientos de locomoción y manipulación siendo esta última dimensión una combinación de ambos movimientos anteriormente mencionados y que necesitaran de un mayor dominio corporal para realizarlas. Asi mismos, El presente trabajo presenta un tipo de investigación básica con un diseño no experimental de corte transversal o transeccional. Teniendo un enfoque cuantitativo ya que los datos fueron procesados a través de la estadística y un nivel de alcance correlacional- descriptivo. La técnica utilizada fue la observación y el instrumento fue la ficha de observación. fue aplicada a una muestra de 100 niños de la edad de cinco años. Los resultados obtenidos en la base de datos fueron procesados en el programa SPSS 24 los cuales permiten concluir que si existe una relación entre la expresión corporal y las habilidades motrices básicas al arrojar como resultado una significancia bilateral de 0.000 menor a 0.05 rechazando la hipótesis nula y aceptando la hipótesis alterna. Así mismo, se obtuvo un nivel de correlación del Rho de 0.461 lo que indica que tiene una correlación positiva media. Por otro lado, en este trabajo se realizó tablas cruzadas por genero las cuales los resultados nos permiten determinar que en esta I.E las niñas están aprendiendo más que los niños el desarrollo de la expresión corporal y las habilidades motrices básicas