Teacher Perceptions Regarding The Impact of Multicultural Literature, When It Is Implemented During Guided Reading Instruction, On Reading Comprehension For African American Male Students In Early Childhood

Reading is an essential skill, used in every aspect of daily life. It is the foundation for every other form of learning (Alberti, 2010). Over the years, there has been a gap in reading achievement between African American male students and other demographic groups (Milner et al., 2013). This study examined the effectiveness of small group reading using multicultural literature in kindergarten through third grade, especially for the African American male student. A framework based on Vygotsky’s (1978) theory of cognitive development provides support for a systematic literacy approach. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to examine teacher perceptions regarding how the use of guided reading and multicultural literature impacted the learning of all students, specifically the African American male student. The recommendations from this study suggest various ways for colleges and universities, school districts, and educators to help develop teachers in the areas of guided reading with the use of phonics, reading comprehension, vocabulary development, and fluency instruction, along with the use of multicultural literature and culturally responsive teaching approaches

Judicial Disqualification on Appeal

Adjudication by an impartial decision maker is one of the cornerstones of due process. The interest is so fundamental that constitutional due process guards against even the appearance of partiality, and federal judges are statutorily required to disqualify themselves in any proceeding in which their impartiality “might reasonably be questioned.” Courts and scholars alike have struggled with what it means to “reasonably question” a judge’s impartiality. That question has taken on greater salience in recent years, as deepening partisan divisions have increasingly led parties to express skepticism of judicial neutrality. When a party files a motion to disqualify a judge based on the appearance of partiality, that motion is commonly ruled upon by the very judge whose impartiality is being questioned. The ability to appeal the denial of a disqualification motion plays therefore plays a key role in maintaining public confidence in the judiciary. Appellate review offers a third-party evaluation of the judge’s appearance of impartiality (often the first third-party review), and it brings in the benefit of a larger panel to evaluate the underlying ruling. In spite of the importance of appellate review, the procedures by which judicial disqualification will be reviewed are far from clear. This Article explores the procedural aspects of appellate review of judicial disqualification orders and works to reconcile the current inconsistencies in federal practice. Ultimately, the article recommends that the federal courts standardize appellate review of disqualification orders to minimize confusion and promote confidence in an impartial judiciary

Advanced Air-Side Heat Transfer Surface Geometries Enabled by Additive Manufacturing

In a world with a decreasing supply of fresh water, industry is looking for design solutions that depend less on the availability of water. Dry-cooled condensers are one possibility, but they must compete with traditional water-cooled condensers in terms of cost, performance, and fan power. To improve performance, air-side heat transfer designs must be improved. Additive manufacturing offers the freedom to create designs that are difficult to manufacture with traditional methods. While the materials for additive manufacturing are not as conductive as the metals used in conventional heat exchangers, highly filled polymers do allow an improvement in conductivity and strength over traditional materials used in 3D printing. Also control over the printing material offers advantages such as the use of an antimicrobial infused filament. The ultimate goal of this research is to design an air-side geometry capable of achieving the same thermal performance (heat transfer rate and pressure drop under a given set of conditions) as a “gold standard” heat exchanger but at lower cost (i.e., using less material and/or less expensive manufacturing techniques). Because additive manufacturing allows for freedom in design, unconventional air-side geometries have been investigated using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD). The typical evaluation process for each geometry that has been considered includes an initial CFD simulation to validate the results and mesh convergence followed by an extensive parametric study of the geometry to develop correlations in terms of dimensionless parameters. The correlations are then implemented into an overall heat exchanger model in order to allow optimization of the heat exchanger

Increased Bufflehead (Bucephala albeola) Breeding Activity in Minnesota

Buffleheads (Bucephala albeola) predominantly nest in the boreal forests and aspen parklands of Canada and Alaska. Historically, Buffleheads were common migrants but not summer residents in Minnesota. However, recent observations in Minnesota and surrounding states suggest increased breeding activity in the region. In 1978, the first Bufflehead brood in Minnesota was recorded at East Park Wildlife Management Area. Annually, Agassiz National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) has conducted pair and brood surveys, with species-specific records available from 1990 to 2014. We report an increase in numbers of Bufflehead breeding pairs and broods at Agassiz NWR and new pair observations in surrounding areas

Exploring the Roles of Human Values and Self-Discrepancies in Postnatal Depression in First-Time Mothers

Objectives Postnatal depression is the most prevalent psychopathology experienced within the perinatal period and has been associated with a range of adverse outcomes for both mother and infant. In the present research, we combine two influential theories, Schwartz's theory of human values and Higgins' self-discrepancy theory (SDT), to test new hypotheses about postnatal depression. Methods We recruited 80 first-time mothers who had given birth within the last 6 months and who self-reported experiencing low mood or postnatal depression. Participants anonymously completed measures of postnatal depression, value importance, self-discrepancies, and subjective value fulfillment. Results Contrary to our hypotheses, actual-ought self-discrepancies, but not actual-ideal self-discrepancies, predicted postnatal depression. Interestingly however, self-discrepancies were negatively correlated with value fulfillment. The findings within this study diverge from the relation predicted within SDT and highlight how motherhood may represent a unique circumstance, in which the “ideal self” has evolved to become a self that one feels morally obligated to embody. Further exploratory analyses revealed that depression was predicted by the difference between value fulfillment and value importance in conservation values, but not by differences between value fulfillment and value importance regarding any of the other value types. Discussion We discuss potential impact on discourses around motherhood, alongside clinical implications for practitioners who work with mothers during the perinatal period

Development of an Emergency Medicine Pharmacy Intensity Score Tool

Purpose Emergency medicine pharmacists (EMPs) have been demonstrated to have a positive impact on patient outcomes in a variety of clinical scenarios in the emergency department (ED), yet their distribution across the nation is suboptimal. An emergency medicine pharmacy intensity score tool (EMPIST) would not only facilitate the quantification of EMP staffing needs and ideal resource deployment times, but would also allow practitioners to triage patient care activities. The purpose of this investigation was to develop an EMPIST and evaluate its relationship to EMP activities. Methods This was a multicenter, prospective, observational analysis of an EMPIST developed by practicing EMPs. EMPs prospectively documented their clinical activities during usual care for patients in their ED. Spearman’s rank-order correlation was used to determine any correlation between the EMPIST and pharmacist activities. Results In total, 970 EMP activities and 584 EMPIST items were documented in 352 patients by 7 EMPs across 7 different EDs. The most commonly documented EMP interventions performed were bedside monitoring (12.7%), initiation of nonantimicrobial therapy (12.6%), and antimicrobial therapy initiation and streamlining (10.6%). The total EMPIST was found to significantly correlate with EMP activities, and this correlation was consistent across both “diagnostic/presentation” and “medication” items (P \u3c 0.001 for all comparisons). Conclusion The EMPIST significantly correlated with EMP activities, with consistent correlation across all subgroups. Its utilization has the potential to enhance bedside clinical practice and optimize the deployment of limited EMP services. Additional investigations are needed to examine the validity of this tool and identify any relationship it may have to patient outcomes

Antagonism of STAT3 signalling by Ebola virus

Many viruses target signal transducers and activators of transcription (STAT) 1 and 2 to antagonise antiviral interferon signalling, but targeting of signalling by other STATs/cytokines, including STAT3/interleukin 6 that regulate processes important to Ebola virus (EBOV) haemorrhagic fever, is poorly defined. We report that EBOV potently inhibits STAT3 responses to interleukin-6 family cytokines, and that this is mediated by the interferon-antagonist VP24. Mechanistic analysis indicates that VP24 effects a unique strategy combining distinct karyopherin-dependent and karyopherin-independent mechanisms to antagonise STAT3-STAT1 heterodimers and STAT3 homodimers, respectively. This appears to reflect distinct mechanisms of nuclear trafficking of the STAT3 complexes, revealed for the first time by our analysis of VP24 function. These findings are consistent with major roles for global inhibition of STAT3 signalling in EBOV infection, and provide new insights into the molecular mechanisms of STAT3 nuclear trafficking, significant to pathogen-host interactions, cell physiology and pathologies such as cancer

Figuring Out Gas & Galaxies In Enzo (FOGGIE). IV. The Stochasticity of Ram Pressure Stripping in Galactic Halos

We study ram pressure stripping in simulated Milky Way-like halos at z>=2 from the Figuring Out Gas & Galaxies In Enzo (FOGGIE) project. These simulations reach exquisite resolution in their circumgalactic medium (CGM) gas owing to FOGGIE's novel refinement scheme. The CGM of each halo spans a wide dynamic range in density and velocity over its volume---roughly 6 dex and 1000 km/s, respectively---translating into a 5 dex range in ram pressure imparted to interacting satellites. The ram pressure profiles of the simulated CGM are highly stochastic, owing to kpc-scale variations of the density and velocity fields of the CGM gas. As a result, the efficacy of ram pressure stripping depends strongly on the specific path a satellite takes through the CGM. The ram-pressure history of a single satellite is generally unpredictable and not well correlated with its approach vector with respect to the host galaxy. The cumulative impact of ram pressure on the simulated satellites is dominated by only a few short strong impulses---on average, 90% of the total surface momentum gained through ram pressure is imparted in 20% or less of the total orbital time. These results reveal an erratic mode of ram pressure stripping in Milky-Way like halos at high redshift---one that is not captured by a smooth spherically-averaged model of the circumgalactic medium.Comment: 18 pages, 10 figures. Submitted to Ap

Ionized Gas Extended Over 40 kpc in an Odd Radio Circle Host Galaxy

A new class of extragalactic astronomical sources discovered in 2021, named Odd Radio Circles (ORCs, Norris et al. 2021), are large rings of faint, diffuse radio continuum emission spanning ~1 arcminute on the sky. Galaxies at the centers of several ORCs have photometric redshifts of z~0.3-0.6, implying physical scales of several 100 kiloparsecs in diameter for the radio emission, the origin of which is unknown. Here we report spectroscopic data on an ORC including strong [OII] emission tracing ionized gas in the central galaxy of ORC4 at z=0.4512. The physical extent of the [OII] emission is ~40 kpc in diameter, larger than expected for a typical early-type galaxy (Pandya et al, 2017) but an order of magnitude smaller than the large-scale radio continuum emission. We detect a ~200 km/s velocity gradient across the [OII] nebula, as well as a high velocity dispersion of ~180 km/s. The [OII] equivalent width (EW, ~50 Ang) is extremely high for a quiescent galaxy. The morphology, kinematics, and strength of the [OII] emission are consistent with the infall of shock ionized gas near the galaxy, following a larger-scale, outward moving shock driven by a galactic wind. Both the extended optical and radio emission, while observed on very different scales, may therefore result from the same dramatic event.Comment: 7 figures, accepted to Natur

Exposing the myths of household water insecurity in the global north: A critical review

Safe and secure water is a cornerstone of modern life in the global North. This article critically examines a set of prevalent myths about household water in high-income countries, with a focus on Canada and the United States. Taking a relational approach, we argue that household water insecurity is a product of institutionalized structures and power, manifests unevenly through space and time, and is reproduced in places we tend to assume are the most water-secure in the world. We first briefly introduce “modern water” and the modern infrastructural ideal, a highly influential set of ideas that have shaped household water provision and infrastructure development over the past two centuries. Against this backdrop, we consolidate evidence to disrupt a set of narratives about water in high-income countries: the notion that water access is universal, clean, affordable, trustworthy, and uniformly or equitably governed. We identify five thematic areas of future research to delineate an agenda for advancing scholarship and action—including challenges of legal and regulatory regimes, the housing-water nexus, water affordability, and water quality and contamination. Data gaps underpin the experiences of household water insecurity. Taken together, our review of water security for households in high-income countries provides a conceptual map to direct critical research in this area for the coming years. This article is categorized under: Human Water \u3e Human Water