We Thought We Knew the Landscape of Literacy Teacher Education: Ten Surprises From Our Research

Vol. 6. No. 2 Nov 2016 In this month's edition of RiTE we are fortunate to have not one but three! Clare Kosnik is Director of the Dr. Eric Jackman Institute of Child Study at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto (OISE/UT). Her area of research is teacher education which she has systematically studied. She is now conducting a large-scale study of 28 literacy/English teacher educators in four countries. Lydia Menna is an Assistant Professor of Language and Literacy in the Department of Elementary Education at the University of Alberta. Her research interests are in the areas of teacher education, multiliteracies, critical literacy, and teacher identity construction. She completed her doctorate in the Department of Curriculum, Teaching, and Learning at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto. Pooja Dharamshi is an Assistant Professor of Teacher Education in the Faculty of Education at Simon Fraser University. Her research interests are in the areas of critical literacy and teacher education. She recently completed her doctoral studies at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education/ University of Toronto in the department of Curriculum, Teaching, and Learning. Her study explored the practices and pedagogies of literacy teacher educators with a critical stance

Worship of a Minor Deity in the Short Stories of Imayam

Annamalai is the original birth name of Imayam. He was born in Cuddalore district. His short stories are about the marginal people and the deities they worship. Primitive people started worshiping natural changes and outrages. Thus many cults arose. Among them, the worship of minor deities is practiced since ancient period. Minor deities are worshiped by people marginal people in the society. Imaiyam has written short stories based on the character of minor deities, method of worship, location, armies, etc. In his short stories he has described about deities like Ponnaruvi Sami, Muneeswaran Sami, Sembayanar, Karupaiya and Kulla Karupu. This article is about the worship of these idols

Age, Gender, and Socioeconomic Status Differences in Explicit and Implicit Beliefs About Effortlessly Perfect Self-Presentation

Feeling pressure to project an image of effortless perfection -- always appearing to perform with self-confidence and ease --- has been portrayed in the media as an increasingly common mental health vulnerability with potentially serious implications for college women. Despite this, almost no empirical research exists on effortlessly perfect self–presentation (EPSP) or demographic differences in it. • Some recent research suggests that perfectionism is on the rise among young people (Curran & Hill, 2017), and that it is more associated with mental health problems among students with high rather than low socioeconomic status (Lyman & Luthar, 2014). However, these studies did not focus specifically on EPSP, which differs from more typical perfectionism in that it prohibits apparent effort or anxiety while striving for perfection. Of the two published studies on EPSP, one did not examine demographic differences (Flett et al., 2016) and the other found higher endorsement of EPSP among men than among women (Travers et al., 2016). • Anonymous interviews we conducted about EPSP in 40 college students (Glazer et al., in prep) yielded very complex, self-contradictory responses suggesting that beliefs about EPSP may be characterized by stigma and ambivalence. For this reason we decided to focus the current study on indirect and implicit measures of EPSP. • In this study, participants completed three new scales about EPSP, along with the two existing measures of this phenomenon, several mental health measures, and demographics questions. They also rated the perceived social status and self-esteem of two target individuals in a within-person experimental design

The endogenous mex-3 3 UTR is required for germline repression and contributes to optimal fecundity in C. elegans

RNA regulation is essential to successful reproduction. Messenger RNAs delivered from parent to progeny govern early embryonic development. RNA-binding proteins (RBPs) are the key effectors of this process, regulating the translation and stability of parental transcripts to control cell fate specification events prior to zygotic gene activation. The KH-domain RBP MEX-3 is conserved from nematode to human. It was first discovered in Caenorhabditis elegans, where it is essential for anterior cell fate and embryo viability. Here, we show that loss of the endogenous mex-3 3 UTR disrupts its germline expression pattern. An allelic series of 3 UTR deletion variants identify repressing regions of the UTR and demonstrate that repression is not precisely coupled to reproductive success. We also show that several RBPs regulate mex-3 mRNA through its 3 UTR to define its unique germline spatiotemporal expression pattern. Additionally, we find that both poly(A) tail length control and the translation initiation factor IFE-3 contribute to its expression pattern. Together, our results establish the importance of the mex-3 3 UTR to reproductive health and its expression in the germline. Our results suggest that additional mechanisms control MEX-3 function when 3 UTR regulation is compromised

Phylogenetic analysis of nodulation and nitrogen fixation genes of a brazilian collection of Bradyrhizobium strains.

The genus Bradyrhizobium encompasses a variety of bacteria that can live in symbiotic and endophytic associations with legumes and non-legumes, and are characterized by physiological and symbiotic versatility and broad geographical distribution. In studies with Bradyrhizobium strains the comparison of phylogenies of nodulation and housekeeping genes has indicated a monophyletic origin of nodulation genes and diffusion by vertical and horizontal gene transfer, the last one probably influenced by the host plants. In previous studies with the strains analyzed in this study we have shown high diversity in the 16S rRNA, ITS rRNA, atpD, glnII, dnaK and recA housekeeping genes (Menna et al., 2006, 2009). However, despite indications of great genetic variability within the Bradyrhizobium genus, little is known about the phylogeny of the nodulation and nitrogen fixation genes. In this study the nodulation genes nodY/K, nodA and nodZ and the nitrogen fixation gene nifH of forty Bradyrhizobium strains were sequenced and analyzed. The great majority of the strains are from tropical regions and were isolated from members of the three subfamilies and nine tribes of the family Leguminosae (=Fabaceae). In all phylogenetic trees a high level of genetic diversity was observed and several clusters were correlated with the subfamilies of the host plants. One example was with the symbionts of Glycine max and Acacia sp., classified in the subfamilies Papilionoideae and Mimosoideae, respectively. In the phylogenetic trees built with nodY/K and nodA the symbionts of Acacia sp. were clustered in an isolated group, and no amplification was obtained for the nodZ gene. A successful amplification of nifH gene was obtained with all strains, and the resulting phylogenetic tree had similar clusters in comparison to the trees build with the nodulation genes (nodY/K, nodA and nodZ). The strains which failed in the amplification for some nodulation genes occupied an isolated position in the nifH tree. The comparison of all trees has shown no correlation between housekeeping and nod and nifH genes. The results pointed out the high diversity of nodulation and nitrogen fixation genes of tropical Bradyrhizobium strains and in several clusters high correlation between nod and nif genes and the host plants was observed. Partially financed by: CNPq (577933/2008-6; 558455/2008-5; 470162/2009-0

Experimental behavior of existing RC columns strengthened with HPFRC jacket under concentric and eccentric compressive load

Reinforced concrete (RC) structures built before the 1970 represent a large portion of the existing European buildings stock. Their obsolescence in terms of design criteria, materials, and functionality is becoming a critical issue for guaranteeing adequate compliance with current structural codes. Recently, a new jacketing system based on the use of high-performance fiber-reinforced concrete (HPFRC) has been introduced for strengthening existing RC building members. Despite the promising aspects of the HPFRC jacketing technique, currently, a comprehensive and systematic technical framework for its implementation is still missing. In this paper, the experimental performance of RC columns strengthened with the HPFRC jacket subjected to pure axial load and combined axial load-bending moment uncoupled from shear is investigated. The test outcomes confirmed a significant improvement of the structural performance for the strengthened columns, especially for higher values of eccentricity. Finally, a standard-based practice-oriented analytical tool for designing retrofit interventions using the HPFRC jacket is proposed. The comparison between the calculated and experimental results revealed a satisfactory prediction capability

User information seeking behaviour: Perceptions and reality. An evaluation of the WHO Labresources Internet portal

Evaluation on Internet portals is a key component of any online resource development. Understanding user information seeking behaviour and user perceived behaviour is essential to obtain the full picture of user needs, online activities and draw lessons to improve the design of Internet portals to better meet user expectations. This article discusses the evaluation of a WHO Internet portal: the Labresources website. The evaluation investigates user satisfaction with the resource, usability, demographic information about users and how well they could complete specific tasks using the website and compared this with the actual online behaviour revealing a number of discrepancies. An online questionnaire was advertised on the Labresources website during the period 25 November 2005 to 20 February 2006. As the site caters to English and French speakers, the questionnaire was made available in both languages. It consisted of two sections – the first section required the participant to complete three tasks using the website whereas the second section tested user satisfaction, information needs and appropriateness of the content. Weblogs data were compared with the questionnaire results to compare user perceived and actual online behaviour. Twenty one respondents completed the online questionnaire from a total of 18 countries. This was out of a potential 60 website users among whom the questionnaire was promoted. In general, respondents were satisfied with the website layout and navigation. 61.9% of respondents listed WHO among their top 5 and a third listed the Labresources website. The number of sessions where users browse (146) the information resources is almost three times more than the number of users who search (52) the resources. Weblogs revealed most interesting results with differences between what users reported doing when completing tasks and how easy they perceived the tasks and what they actually did. Twelve respondents completed at least one task. Of the remaining nine respondents, three did visit the Labresources website from the link in the questionnaire but did not go on to complete the tasks. Only one of the twelve who completed a task reported it being difficult. Three of the respondents who didn't complete a task reported the tasks to be difficult but only one of these actually followed the link to begin the tasks in the questionnaire. This article described an evaluation study investigating user perceived and actual behaviour at the WHO Labresources Internet portal. Although the questionnaire results demonstrated general satisfaction with the resource, a combination of a weblog evaluation with the questionnaire revealed a clearer picture of the user perception of and satisfaction with the website compared to their actual activity when completing the set tasks

Taxonomia e filogenia de estirpes de Bradyrhizobium com base na metodologia de MLSA (Multilocus Sequence Analysis).

O gênero Bradyrhizobium compreende um grupo diverso de bactérias com capacidade de estabelecer simbiose com plantas da família Leguminosae. Estudos com Bradyrhizobium têm demonstrado diversidade genética elevada, principalmente com estirpes isoladas em regiões tropicais. A análise do gene ribossomal 16S (16S RNAr) tem sido a principal ferramenta utilizada em estudos de diversidade, taxonomia e filogenia bacteriana, mas devido ao alto nível de conservação da sequência nucleotídica deste gene, as informações obtidas podem limitar a determinação de novas espécies, como é o caso do gênero Bradyrhizobium. Desse modo, a metodologia de MLSA (Multilocus Sequence Analysis) tem sido recentemente proposta como uma ferramenta complementar em estudos de filogenia e taxonomia, bem como de diversidade em procariotos. Estudos prévios com as estirpes de Bradyrhizobium utilizadas neste trabalho levantaram a hipótese de existência de novas espécies. Utilizando a metodologia de MLSA, o objetivo do presente trabalho foi elucidar as relações filogenéticas de 12 estirpes de Bradyrhizobium e, assim, determinar com maior precisão sua posição taxonômica. Além do gene 16S RNAr, outros cinco genes housekeeping foram utilizados (atpD, glnII, gyrB, recA e rpoB). A árvore filogenética resultante da análise do MLSA dividiu as estirpes em dois grandes grupos, detectando subgrupos bem definidos e dando maior suporte à descrição de novas espécies. O primeiro grande grupo incluiu as estirpes tipo de B. japonicum, B. liaoningense, B. yuanmingense, B. betae e B. canariense e o segundo grande grupo incluiu a estirpe tipo de B. elkanii USDA 76T. Uma grande diversidade foi observada na árvore filogenética do gene atpD, com a formação de um terceiro grande grupo formado por quatro estirpes e as estirpes tipo de B. betae LMG 21987T e B. liaoningense LMG 18230T. Os resultados obtidos demonstram uma diversidade genética elevada entre as estirpes do gênero Bradyrhizobium utilizadas em inoculantes comerciais para diversas leguminosas no Brasil, confirmando a existência de possíveis novas espécies. A técnica de MLSA também demonstrou ser um método rápido e eficaz em estudos de filogenia e taxonomia de Bradyrhizobium.Resumo, 789-1