Priority of Reading Instruction Revisited: Evidence From a Regression Analysis of Adult ESL Learners\u27 Reading Ability

Historically, there has been an intense debate over the most effective approach to instruction: bottom-up versus top down (Adams, 1990; Chall, 1967; Grabe, 1991; McCarthy, 1991; Swaffar, 1988). With the increasing emphasis on the role of context in literacy activities (Anderson and Pearson, 1984; Lave, 1988; Steffensen, Joag-dev, and Anderson, 1979), reading research in English as a second language (ESL) has in the recent past focused on the effects of prior knowledge, or schemata, on comprehension (Carrell, 1984, 1987; Dubin and Bycina, 1991; Lee, 1986). Most of these studies generally reported significant effects of background knowledge on reading performance. Concomitantly, the proliferation of recent instructional approaches also reflected a clear tendency to over emphasize the role of background knowledge and devalue the role linguistic knowledge plays in the comprehension process (Fang, 1993; Yule, 1986). Mitchell (1982) and Perfetti (1989) pointed out that the experimental manipulations in such studies often tilted the balance in favor of the kind of processing that is guided by top-down effects. Therefore, caution needs to be exercised in the interpretation of their findings

Illustrations, Text, and the Child Reader: What are Pictures in Children\u27s Storybooks for?

Picture books are profusely illustrated books in which the illustrations are, to varying degrees, essential to the en joyment and understanding of the story (Tomlinson and Lynch-Brown, 1996). As the most characteristic form of children\u27s literature (Nodelman, 1996), picture books hold a prominent place in children\u27s literature because of the juxtaposition of pictures and words. Thanks to the public\u27s acute awareness of the importance of childhood in human devel opment, to professional critical evaluation of children\u27s literature, as well as to the advances in printing technology and art reproduction, children\u27s literature has witnessed a dramatic increase in well-illustrated picture books

What Counts as Good Writing? A Case Study of Relationships Between Teacher Beliefs and Pupil Conceptions.

Influenced by the cognitive revolution in psychology, the popularity of qualitative research paradigm, and the conception of the teacher as a thoughtful professional, teacher education researchers have, in the past decade or so, demonstrated growing interest in aspects of teacher thought processes (e.g., teacher planning and teachers\u27 theories and beliefs) and their relationship to sound pedagogical practices in the classroom. This signals that research on teaching and learning have shifted from a unidirectional emphasis on correlates of observable teacher behavior with student achievement to a focus on teachers\u27 thinking, beliefs, planning, and decision-making processes (Clark and Peterson, 1986). This new line of research has generated findings that are of practical implications for teacher education (Ashton, 1990)

Priority of Reading Instruction Revisited: Evidence From a Regression Analysis of Adult ESL Learners\u27 Reading Ability

Historically, there has been an intense debate over the most effective approach to instruction: bottom-up versus top down (Adams, 1990; Chall, 1967; Grabe, 1991; McCarthy, 1991; Swaffar, 1988). With the increasing emphasis on the role of context in literacy activities (Anderson and Pearson, 1984; Lave, 1988; Steffensen, Joag-dev, and Anderson, 1979), reading research in English as a second language (ESL) has in the recent past focused on the effects of prior knowledge, or schemata, on comprehension (Carrell, 1984, 1987; Dubin and Bycina, 1991; Lee, 1986). Most of these studies generally reported significant effects of background knowledge on reading performance. Concomitantly, the proliferation of recent instructional approaches also reflected a clear tendency to over emphasize the role of background knowledge and devalue the role linguistic knowledge plays in the comprehension process (Fang, 1993; Yule, 1986). Mitchell (1982) and Perfetti (1989) pointed out that the experimental manipulations in such studies often tilted the balance in favor of the kind of processing that is guided by top-down effects. Therefore, caution needs to be exercised in the interpretation of their findings

Safe storage guidelines for soybeans at different temperatures and moisture contents: Poster

Poor storage capacity of soybean makes it prone to fungal spoilage and heating during storage, resulting in lower quality. Early prediction of the fungal spoilage in stored soybeans is very difficult because fungi are often too small to be seen with the naked eye. Here a new method for fungus to early detection is adopted: it is called counting fungal spores. Soybeans with moisture contents of 11.4, 12.1, 13.0, 13.9, 14.3 and 14.7%, were held at 6 temperatures 10, 15, 20, 25, 30 and 35? for180d. Samples were taken at regular intervals and the fungal spores counted. The safe storage conditions (temperature, moisture content, duration) were estimated by means of a curve fitted using the power function fitting. It can predict of soybean spoilage by fungus before there is visible damage.Poor storage capacity of soybean makes it prone to fungal spoilage and heating during storage, resulting in lower quality. Early prediction of the fungal spoilage in stored soybeans is very difficult because fungi are often too small to be seen with the naked eye. Here a new method for fungus to early detection is adopted: it is called counting fungal spores. Soybeans with moisture contents of 11.4, 12.1, 13.0, 13.9, 14.3 and 14.7%, were held at 6 temperatures 10, 15, 20, 25, 30 and 35? for180d. Samples were taken at regular intervals and the fungal spores counted. The safe storage conditions (temperature, moisture content, duration) were estimated by means of a curve fitted using the power function fitting. It can predict of soybean spoilage by fungus before there is visible damage

Secondary Teachers’ Knowledge, Beliefs, and Self-Efficacy to Teach Reading in the Content Areas: Voices Following Professional Development

This study explored 24 content area teachers’ knowledge, beliefs, and self-efficacy about teaching reading in the content areas at the end of a state-wide professional development experience. The findings suggest that the participating teachers held positive beliefs, gained valuable knowledge, and were confident about teaching reading in their content areas

Effect of Coating Thickness on Sound Absorption Property of Four Wood Species Commonly Used for Piano Soundboards

Effects of polyurethane (PU) coating thicknesses (0.15, 0.30, 0.45, and 0.60 mm) on sound absorption coefficients of four wood species were investigated using the standing wave ratio method with an input sound vibration frequency range set between 125 and 4000 Hz. Wood species of four specific gravity (SG) levels were Korean spruce, European spruce, Sitka spruce, and Picea brachytyla. Experimental results indicated that PU coating can significantly increase sound absorption coefficients of higher SG species such as Sitka spruce and Picea brachytyla in all tested frequency levels, but this significant increase was not observed in lower SG species such as Korean and European spruces when tested in the frequency range from 800 to 2000 Hz. Effects of coating thickness on sound absorption coefficients of four evaluated species were found to interact with wood SG values and input sound vibration frequency ranges. Specifically, coating 0.30-mm-thick PU on Korean and European spruces tends to result in significantly lower sound absorption coefficients among the ones coated with four evaluated thicknesses when tested at the frequency less than 800 Hz, but PU coating thickness resulting in lower sound absorption coefficients on Sitka spruce and Picea brachytyla was 0.15 mm. Sitka spruce and Picea brachytyla coated with 0.30- and 0.6-mm-thick PU had lower sound absorption coefficients when tested at the frequency ranging from 1000 to 2000 Hz. When tested at the frequency greater than 2500 Hz, sound absorption coefficients of four coated species increased as coating thickness increased from 0.30 to 0.60 mm with an increment of 0.15 mm, but these four species coated with three thicker PU had significantly lower sound absorption coefficients than the ones coated with 0.15-mm-thick PU. The uncoated higher SG species tended to have lower sound absorption coefficients than uncoated lower SG ones when tested in the frequency ranging from 500 to 4000 Hz, but the differences were not found when tested under the frequency less than 400 Hz. Coating four species with different thicknesses of PU could alter their SG effects on their sound absorption coefficients

A novel signature based on microvascular invasion predicts the recurrence of HCC.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: In hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients, microvascular invasion (MVI) is associated with worse outcomes regardless of treatment. No single reliable preoperative factor exists to predict MVI. The aim of the work described here was to develop a new MVI- based mRNA biomarker to differentiate between high and low risk patients. METHODS: Using The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database, we collected data from 315 HCC patients, including mRNA expression and complete clinical data. We generated a seven-mRNA signature to predict patient outcomes. The mRNA signature was validated using the GSE36376 cohort. Finally, we tested the formula in our own 53 HCC patients using qPCR for the seven mRNAs and analyzing the computed tomography (CT) features. RESULTS: This seven-mRNA signature significantly correlated with length of recurrence-free survival (RFS) and overall survival (OS) for both the training and validation groups. RFS and OS were briefer in high risk versus low risk patients. A Kaplan-Meier analysis also indicated that survival time was significantly shortened in the high risk group versus the low risk group. Time-dependent receiver operating characteristic analysis demonstrated good predictive performance for the seven-mRNA signature. The mRNA signature also acts as an independent factor according to a Multivariate analysis. Our results are consistent with the seven-mRNA formula risk score. CONCLUSION: Our research showed a novel seven-mRNA biomarker based on MVI predicting RFS and OS in HCC patients. This mRNA signature can stratify patients into subgroups based on their risk of recurrence to help guide individualized treatment and precision management in HCC

Thieno [2, 3-d] pyrimidine inhibits gastric cancer cell proliferation via the down-regulation of bcl-2 and survivin expressions

Purpose: To investigate the effect of thieno [2, 3-d] pyrimidine on gastric cancer (GC) cell proliferation, and elucidate the mechanism of action involved. Methods: Human GC cells (MKN1, MKN28 and SGC 7901) were cultured in RPMI-1640 medium supplemented with 10 % fetal bovine serum (FBS) and 1 % penicillin/ streptomycin solution at 37 °C for 24 h in a humidified atmosphere of 5 % CO2 and 95 % air. After attaining 60 - 70 % confluency, the cells were treated with serum-free medium and graded concentrations of thieno [2, 3-d] pyrimidine (0 – 12 µM) for 24 h. Normal cell culture without thieno [2, 3-d] pyrimidine served as control group. The cells were used in logarithmic growth phase. Cell viability and apoptosis were assessed using 3 (4,5 dimethyl thiazol 2 yl) 2,5 diphenyl 2H tetrazolium bromide (MTT), and flow cytometric assays, respectively. The levels of expression of ZNF139, B cell lymphoma 2 (bcl-2) and survivin in MKN1 cells and orthotopically transplanted mice were determined using Western blotting and real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). Results: Treatment of MKN1, MKN28 and SGC 7901 cells with thieno [2, 3-d] pyrimidine for 72 h led to significant and dose-dependent reductions in their viabilities, as well as significant and dose-dependent increases in the number of apoptotic cells (p < 0.05). The results of qRT-PCR and Western blotting showed that ZNF139 mRNA and protein expressions in MKN1 cells were significantly down-regulated by thieno [2, 3-d] pyrimidine treatment (p < 0.05). Thieno [2, 3-d] pyrimidine treatment significantly and dose-dependently down-regulated the expressions of bcl 2 and survivin proteins in MKN1 cells and orthotopically transplanted mice (p < 0.05). It also significantly and dose-dependently inhibited the proliferation of GC cells in orthotopic mouse model of GC after 31 days of treatment (p < 0.05). Conclusion: These results suggest that thieno [2, 3-d] pyrimidine suppresses the proliferation of GC cells via down-regulation of the expressions of ZNF139, bcl 2 and sur¬vivin. Thus, it has potentials for development for the management of gastric cancer