Search

The VPK Learning Center Activities included with this guide are aligned with the Language, Communication and Emergent Literacy Domain within the Florida Early Learning and Developmental Standards for Four-Year-Olds (2011). Although the goal was not to create an activity to represent each and every standard and benchmark, most standards are represented in the 60 activities, some in multiple activities, as evidenced in the Crosswalk. These standards and associated benchmarks were themselves developed based on the best available research evidence about the important skills that preschool children should know and be able to demonstrate to be ready for kindergarten by the end of the preschool period. The primary purpose of the VPK Learning Center Activities is to provide teachers with a systematic, structured, and easy to implement set of activities to support their instruction of very important emergent reading, emergent writing, and oral language activities. These activities are designed to support teachers' goals of providing intentional instruction to all children within their classroom.

The POWERSOURCE[c] intervention is intended as a generalizable and powerful formative assessment strategy that can be integrated with any mathematics curriculum. POWERSOURCE[c] includes both a system of learning-based assessments and an infrastructure to support teachers' use of those assessments to improve student learning. The core undertaking of our work during the 2008-09 school year was to continue with an extended, random assignment implementation study of the POWERSOURCE[c] program. Results from our analyses indicated that a short amount of targeted intervention on key mathematical principles had a positive impact on student performance on transfer measures of related content. The POWERSOURCE[c] intervention had more impact on the relatively higher-performing students than the lower-performing students; that is, those students with higher initial pretest scores tended to benefit more from the treatment when compared to students with lower pretest scores. Appendices include: (1) CFA [confirmatory factor analysis] Result of PS Grade 6 Pretest; (2) CFA Result of PS Grade 6 Interim Measure; (3) CFA Result of PS Grade 6 Transfer Measure; (4) CFA Results of PS Grade 7 Pretest; (5) CFA Result of PS Grade 7 Transfer Measure; (6) Item Analysis Results of PS Grade 6 Pretest; (7) Item Analysis Results of PS Grade 7 Pretest; (8) Sources of Transfer Measure Items; (9) Alignment of CA [California] Standards and NCTM; (10) Item Analysis Results of PS Grade 6 Posttest; (11) Grade 7 Transfer Measure 2008/2009; (12) Item Analysis Results of PS Grade 7 Posttest; (13) Grade 6 Transfer Measure 2008/2009; (14) Item Analysis Results of PS Grade 6 Intertest; (15) Descriptive Statistics by Content Domain; (16) Additional Descriptive Statistics for Grades 6 and 7; (17) Complete Statistical Model Used; (18) Estimates for Fixed Effects and the Variance; (19) Subdomain HLM Analysis Results for Grade 7; (20) Fixed Effects and the Variance Components in the Model, Grade 6; (21) Subdomains as an Outcome Variable, Grade 6; (22) Interim Measure Estimates of Fixed Effect and the Variance Components; (23) Estimates for Fixed Effects and the Variance Components in the Model, Grade 6 Transfer Measure; (24) Teacher Evaluation of Student Work; (25) Grade 7 Interim Transfer Measure 2009/2010; (26) Grade 7 Transfer Measure, Revised Version; (27) Grade 8 Pretest; and (28) Grade 8 Transfer Measure 2009/2010. (Contains 1 footnote, 29 figures, and 62 tables.)

Making the transition from arithmetic to mathematics, especially algebra, is critical to future academic and economic success, yet many students find this transition difficult and success in algebra elusive. This paper reports on the outcomes achieved from a three year course of professional development, POWERSOURCE[c], that helped teachers apply key foundational concepts and formative assessment to math content studied in the 6th, 7th, and 8th grade. The POWERSOURCE[c] project associated with the professional development reported here found significant gains from students' pretests to students' posttests. Our findings suggest that these gains were associated with changes in teacher thinking and that such change may be easier for more experienced math teachers in earlier rather than later middle school grades. Directions for completing the knowledge map, as well as the complete list of concepts and links is provided in the appendix. (Contains 17 tables.)

This report describes results from field-testing of POWERSOURCE[C] formative assessment alongside professional development and instructional resources. The researchers at the National Center for Research, on Evaluation, Standards, & Student Testing (CRESST) employed a randomized, controlled design to address the following question: Does the use of POWERSOURCE[C] strategies improve 6th-grade student performance on assessments of the key mathematical ideas relative to the performance of a comparison group? Sixth-grade teachers were recruited from 7 districts and 25 middle schools. A total of 49 POWERSOURCE[C] and 36 comparison group teachers and their students (2,338 POWERSOURCE[C], 1,753 comparison group students) were included in the study analyses. All students took a pretest of prerequisite knowledge and a transfer measure of tasks drawn from international tests at the end of the study year. Students in the POWERSOURCE[C] group used sets of formative assessment tasks. POWERSOURCE[C] teachers had exposure to professional development and instructional resources. Results indicated that students with higher pretest scores tended to benefit more from the treatment as compared to students with lower pretest scores. In addition, students in the POWERSOURCE[C] group significantly outperformed control group students on distributive property items and the effect was larger as pretest scores increased. Results, limitations and future directions are discussed. Four appendices are included: (1) Item Analysis Results of POWERSOURCE[C] pretest; (2) POWERSOURCE[C] Pretest questionnaire; (3) POWERSOURCE[C] Pretest questionnaire; and (4) Descriptive Statistics of Posttest scores by District and Treatment, School, Teacher in Between-School Design and Teacher in within-School (W-S) Design. (Contains 12 figures and 29 tables.)

Provides tips on choosing a school heating/ventilation and air-conditioning system that meets a school's needs and budget. Discusses how to assess a school's needs and offers suggestions for making the final decision. Data tables are provided that compare various systems, including costs, maintenance, and life expectancy. (GR)

This publication profiles the successful efforts of eight organizations to develop programs and policies to prevent sexual harassment in their workplaces. The profiles highlight a facet of each organization's efforts. An introduction offers a blueprint for action. The first profile is a look at US West and the key elements for developing and implementing an effective antiharassment policy. The next case study shares some of NBC's strategies for best communicating policy and its importance to the workplace. The profiles on Michigan Consolidated Gas Company and Digital Equipment Corporation provide insights on how to conduct productive sexual harassment training for supervisors and employees. Du Pont and Pacific Gas and Electric Company are featured to explore their tools and strategies for creating an environment that encourages open dialogue on the issue. The publication then focuses specifically on women in nontraditional jobs--profiling Kansas City Power and Light's initiative to increase the number of women in male-dominated occupations on its worksites and help them succeed on the job. The final profile highlights a union's intervention on behalf of women workers by noting the United Auto Workers' practice of negotiating contract language regarding sexual harassment and the union's educational campaigns. Print, video, and case law resources are appended. (YLB)

Aboriginal youth are overrepresented within Victoria’s criminal justice system (Cunneen, 2020). Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander youth are diverse people with diverse needs: It is imperative to understand what those needs are and how they can be supported within Victoria’s youth justice centres. Research has identified that Aboriginal youth in Victoria’s justice system have higher rates of psychopathology (Shepherd et al., 2018), higher rates of recidivism (Cunneen, 2008), higher pre-custody rates and post-release rates of substance abuse (Joudo, 2008) and lower rates of rehabilitation (Thompson et al., 2014) than non-Indigenous counterparts. It is critical to explore how the Victorian youth justice system identifies and implements the provision of services that consider lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, queer, sistergirl and brotherboy (LGBTIQSB+) identities of Aboriginal youth in custody. This is because additional levels of systemic disadvantage, discrimination, stigma, and social exclusion that impact LGBTIQ+ youth specifically (Cunneen, Goldson, & Russell, 2016) as well as Aboriginal identity, further compound and jeopardize the social and emotional wellbeing of those embodying intersectional identities. This article will examine the services available to Aboriginal LGBTIQSB+ youth in the Victorian criminal justice system. Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander, Indigenous and First Nations People will be used interchangeably throughout this document.

The Spectral Imaging of the Coronal Environment (SPICE) instrument is a high-resolution imaging spectrometer operating at extreme ultraviolet (EUV) wavelengths. In this paper, we present the concept, design, and pre-launch performance of this facility instrument on the ESA/NASA Solar Orbiter mission. The goal of this paper is to give prospective users a better understanding of the possible types of observations, the data acquisition, and the sources that contribute to the instrument's signal. The paper discusses the science objectives, with a focus on the SPICE-specific aspects, before presenting the instrument's design, including optical, mechanical, thermal, and electronics aspects. This is followed by a characterisation and calibration of the instrument's performance. The paper concludes with descriptions of the operations concept and data processing. The performance measurements of the various instrument parameters meet the requirements derived from the mission's science objectives. The SPICE instrument is ready to perform measurements that will provide vital contributions to the scientific success of the Solar Orbiter mission., Comment: A&A, accepted 19 August 2019; 26 pages, 25 figures

Designed to encourage Texas youth to maintain reading skill levels achieved at the end of the school year and to encourage library use during the summer months and throughout the year, the Texas Reading Club programs usually include a structured reading program and a variety of entertaining literature related storyhours, puppet shows, films, and other attractive happenings. The theme for 1985--"awesome adventures"--was designed to stimulate interest in other areas of the world, both past and present; explore various means of travel; and introduce famous fictional adventurers. Suggestions for activities are provided for participants of all ages, although the activities will be of most interest to readers in grades 3-6. This handbook offers suggestions for planning goals, objectives, and strategies; community and library resource evaluation; budget preparation; program management (participation, registration, rules and regulations, record keeping, prizes/awards, scheduling, program types); and volunteers. Suggestions for publicity are presented, followed by ideas for programs, bulletin boards, and activities for each of eight weeks. A bibliography of titles related to suggested programs, guidelines for program evaluation, and suggestions for getting ready for next year are also provided. Program-related clip art is appended. (BBM)

Twenty-four interdisciplinary lessons on marine vertebrates (fishes, seahorses, whales, dolphins, sea turtles, and birds) are provided in this unit designed for students in kindergarten and in grades 1 and 2. These lessons are divided into four sections, each centered around a specific reading book. Each lesson includes lesson concept, competency goals, objectives, materials needed, background information, teacher preparation, and activities. Activities are designed to foster development of manipulative, communicative, inquiry, creative, organizational, and measurement skills to enable students to understand that water provides habitats and protection for living organisms and that aquatic organisms are adapted to their environment in different ways. A packet of materials to be duplicated and four supplementary reading books are included. These books are: (1) "Longfin"; (2) "The Lighthouse Party"; (3) "Cecil's Journey"; and (4) "The Riddle Coloring Book." Material in this unit may be incorporated into science, language arts, mathematics, art, and music lessons. (JN)

Developed for the Texas Reading Club, a program sponsored cooperatively by local libraries and the Texas State Library and designed to encourage children and their parents to read and use the library, this planning handbook is intended to help librarians and volunteers organize and manage a local reading club. The Texas Reading Club program is briefly described, and guidelines for organizing a reading program are provided under the following headings: (1) Why Plan? (2) Goals, Objectives, and Activities; (3) Program Activities; (4) Estimate What You Need (Books and Audiovisuals, People, Space/Facilities, Supplies and Equipment, and Budget); (5) Scheduling; (6) Participation; (7) Guidelines (Rules and Regulations, Registration, Contracts, and Recordkeeping); (8) Evaluation; and (9) Publicity. Brief bibliographies of books and journal articles on planning, program activities, and publicity are provided, and appendices include examples of reading club forms and a month-by-month listing of programming tasks. (KM)

Thiamethoxam, an insecticide used in soybean seed treatments, effectively suppresses soybean aphids (Aphis glycines) Matsumura (Hemiptera: Aphididae) for a short time after planting. However, exactly when and how quickly soybean aphid populations could increase is unknown. Likewise, we lack data on virulent soybean aphid biotypes (that can overcome soybean resistance) when fed on seed-treated soybean. Determining the survival of soybean aphids over time on insecticidal seed-treated soybean is critical for improving soybean aphid management and may provide insights to manage aphid virulence to aphid resistant-soybean. In greenhouse and field experiments, aphid-susceptible soybean plants (with and without an insecticidal seed treatment) were infested at 7, 14, 21, 28, 35, and 42 days after planting (DAP). We compared aphid survival among biotypes 1 (avirulent) and 4 (virulent) and insecticide treatment 72 h after infestation. We also measured thiamethoxam concentrations in plant tissue using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. As expected, soybean aphid survival was significantly lower on seed-treated soybean up to 35 DAP for both biotypes, which correlates with the decrease of thiamethoxam in the plant over time. Moreover, we found no significant difference between avirulent and virulent biotype survivorship on insecticidal seed-treated soybean plants, although we did find significantly greater survival for the virulent biotype compared with the avirulent biotype on untreated soybean in the field. In conclusion, our study further characterized the relative short duration of seed treatment effectiveness on soybean aphid and showed that survivorship of virulent aphids on seed-treated soybean is similar to avirulent aphids.

The zebrafish, Danio rerio, has become recognized as a valuable model for the study of development, genetics, and toxicology. Recently, the zebrafish has been recognized as a useful model for infectious disease and immunity. In this study, the pathogenesis and antiviral immune response of zebrafish to experimental snakehead rhabdovirus (SHRV) infection was characterized. Zebrafish 24 h postfertilization to 30 days postfertilization were susceptible to infection by immersion in 106 50% tissue culture infective doses (TCID50) of SHRV/ml, and adult zebrafish were susceptible to infection by intraperitoneal (i.p.) injection of 105 TCID50 of SHRV/ml. Mortalities exceeded 40% in infected fish, and clinical presentation of infection included petechial hemorrhaging, redness of the abdomen, and erratic swim behavior. Virus reisolation and reverse transcription-PCR analysis of the viral nucleocapsid gene confirmed the presence of SHRV. Histological sections of moribund embryonic and juvenile fish revealed necrosis of the pharyngeal epithelium and liver, in addition to congestion of the swim bladder by cell debris. Histopathology in adult fish injected i.p. was confined to the site of injection. The antiviral response in zebrafish was monitored by quantitative real-time PCR analysis of zebrafish interferon (IFN) and Mx expression. IFN and Mx levels were elevated in zebrafish exposed to SHRV, although expression and intensity differed with age and route of infection. This study is the first to examine the pathogenesis of SHRV infection in zebrafish. Furthermore, this study is the first to describe experimental infection of zebrafish embryos with a viral pathogen, which will be important for future experiments involving targeted gene disruption and forward genetic screens.

BACKGROUND: In asthma, measurements of airway inflammation correlate poorly with clinical markers and airway hyperresponsiveness. While the relation between determinants of asthma severity is known, that for cough is unknown. We hypothesised that cough sensitivity changes relate to changes in cough scores and objectively measured cough frequency. AIMS: To examine the relation between commonly used outcome measurements of cough severity in children. METHODS: The concentration of capsaicin causing two and five or more coughs (C2 and C5 respectively), cough frequency objectively measured using an ambulatory cough meter, and parent and child recorded subjective cough scores were determined in 40 children with recurrent cough on two occasions. RESULTS: On occasion one, log cough frequency significantly correlated with parent and child recorded log cough score (r(s) = 0.32, p = 0.05; and r(s) = 0.32, p = 0.046 respectively) and significantly negatively correlated with log C2 (r(s)= -0.5, p = 0.005). Subjective cough scores did not relate to either C2 or C5. On occasion two, the relation between cough frequency and C2 and C5 measures was lost, but C2 had a weak but significant relation to parent recorded cough score (r(s) = -0.38, p = 0.047). When the changes in the log values were determined, C5 but not C2 significantly related to cough frequency. CONCLUSION: In children, measures of cough sensitivity have a weak relation with cough frequency. Subjective cough scores have a stronger and consistent relation with cough frequency. These cough severity indices measure different aspects of cough. The choice of indices depends on the reason for performing the measurement.

OBJECTIVE: The frequency of the common symptom of cough in children is unknown. The aim of this study was to compare cough frequency and perception of cough severity in children with and without recurrent cough. METHODOLOGY: Eighty-four children with (C) and without (NC) recurrent cough were recruited in the same season. Cough frequency (measured with cough-meter) and subjective cough severity (measured on parent-completed and child-completed diary cards on two subjective systems), were compared between the two groups. RESULTS: Cough frequency in C (median 65/day) was significantly higher than in NC (10/day). The correlation between daytime and night-time cough was higher in NC (rs = 0.51, P > 0.00001) than in C (rs = 0.3, P = 0.05). The C group had significantly higher coughs per score than NC, for both subjective methods. CONCLUSIONS: Children with recurrent cough have a higher frequency and different pattern of cough than controls enrolled in the same season. Subjective perception of cough severity is dependent on the population studied.

Cough is often used as an outcome measure, although the reporting of cough is unreliable. Using a 24 h ambulatory cough meter to measure cough frequency, the aim of this study was to compare: 1) the correlation of child-completed diary cards to the objective measurement, with that of parent-completed diary cards; and 2) the visual analogue scale (VAS) to the verbal category descriptive (VCD) score. The cough meter consisted of a previously validated Holter monitor and a cough processor. Eighty four children (39 with recurrent cough and 45 controls, aged 6-17 yrs) used a cough meter at least once. Thirty three subjects used the cough meter twice. Parents and children completed separate diary cards using the VAS and VCD scores. The strength of the relationship between the subjective scores and the objective recordings was analysed by spearman's rank correlation coefficient. For daytime cough, child-completed diary cards and the VCD correlated better to the objective measurement than parent-completed diary cards and the VAS, respectively. In subjects that used the cough meter twice, the difference between the cough frequency correlated to the difference in the subjective scores. The confidence intervals for the correlation coefficients were wide. The agreement between the objective and subjective presence of daytime cough was good but that for night-time cough was poor. We conclude that the severity of cough defined on diary cards may not represent cough frequency. Objective readings are first choice but currently not yet practical. The verbal category descriptive diary card completed by children and assisted by parents has the highest correlation to cough frequency measured objectively.

Discussion is presented of the general background and development of raiseboring since the 1960s. Six case histories are presented of unusual uses of raiseboring equipment: retrieval of a 40 tonne truck from a stope at Peak gold mine in New South Wales; slot raising at Peak; reamer recovery by downreaming at Tower colliery in New South Wales; the importance of mucking raisebore holes at the Thalanga copper-lead-zinc mine in Queensland; pilot drilling of dewatering holes at the Beaconsfield gold mine in Tasmania; and low angle cut offs in veins at the Telfer gold mine in Western Australia., Discussion is presented of the general background and development of raiseboring since the 1960s. Six case histories are presented of unusual uses of raiseboring equipment: retrieval of a 40 tonne truck from a stope at Peak gold mine in New South Wales; slot raising at Peak; reamer recovery by downreaming at Tower colliery in New South Wales; the importance of mucking raisebore holes at the Thalanga copper-lead-zinc mine in Queensland; pilot drilling of dewatering holes at the Beaconsfield gold mine in Tasmania; and low angle cut offs in veins at the Telfer gold mine in Western Australia.

In children, recurrent cough is a common presenting symptom that may represent asthma. We tested the hypotheses that children with recurrent cough have increased cough-receptor sensitivity (CRS) or airway hyperresponsiveness (AHR). Skin prick testing, the capsaicin CRS test, and hypertonic saline (HS) challenge were performed in 44 children (median age: 8.9 yr) with recurrent dry cough (< or = 2 episodes of cough, each lasting < or = 2 wk, within a period of 12 mo) and 44 controls. Measures of CRS were the concentration of capsaicin required to stimulate < or = 2 coughs (Cth) and < or = 5 coughs (C5). During the coughing period, Cth (mean log: 0.62 [95% CI: 0.43 to 0.81]) and C5 (mean log: 1.15 [95% CI: 0.86 to 1.44]) of the subjects without AHR were significantly lower (p = 0.0026, 0.027, respectively) than Cth (mean log: 1.27 [95% CI: 0.88 to 1.66]) and C5 (mean log: 1.79 [95% CI: 1.21 to 2.37]) of the subjects with AHR and those of the controls (p = 0.0002 and 0.0001). During the cough-free period, there was no difference in CRS among the groups. In subjects who demonstrated AHR, the provocation dose causing a < or = 15% fall in FEV1 (PD15) during the cough period was significantly lower (p = 0.005) than that during the cough-free period. We conclude that AHR or increased CRS is present during the coughing phase in children with recurrent cough.

Cough is commonly used as an outcome measure in clinical studies, although the subjective reporting of cough is unreliable when compared to objective measures. We describe an inexpensive new ambulatory cough meter that is based on a disused Holter monitor. The cough meter consists of a Holter monitor and a cough processor, designed on a computer to select the most appropriate filters. The cough meter was then validated against the overnight tape recorder on 21 occasions in 18 children (aged 6-15 yrs). The agreement between the cough meter and the tape recorder was good (mean difference of -0.3 coughs x h(-1); limits of agreement -2.2 to 1.7 coughs x h(-1)). We conclude that our newly described ambulatory cough meter provides a valid and inexpensive method of objectively monitoring cough for up to 24 h.

peer-reviewed, This study investigates the effect of high speed cutting on the crater wear behaviour of PCBN tools in continuous cutting. Turning tests were performed using two PCBN grades, one high CBN content (PCBNH) and one low CBN content (PCBN-L) at two cutting speeds (150 and 300 m/min). The tool life of each grade at both speeds was determined and the associated crater wear progression charts were generated. Examination of the wear surfaces in the SEM was used to study the wear mechanisms. In order to measure crater depth and evaluate the effect of wear on the tool geometry, the cross-section profile of each cutting edge was replicated. As expected, PCBN-L was found to be the most suitable grade for continuous cutting of hardened steel. While it was the most wear resistant grade, it is also the most sensitive to cutting speed. Flank and crater wear increase with increasing cutting speed. The wear behaviour of PCBN-H is very different; flank wear is significant but is not so sensitive to cutting speed. Crater wear decreases with increasing cutting speed. The results of the machining tests in conjunction with analysis of the wear scars suggest that the wear behaviour of PCBN-L is dominated by chemical wear and diffusion with adhesion and abrasion making a secondary contribution. This ranking is reversed for PCBN-H where abrasion and adhesion are the primary wear mechanisms but during high speed cutting, plastic deformation also contributes to the wear process.