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This study examined the writing skills of first-grade students who are English Language Learners (ELLs) or Native English Speakers (NESs). We examined the roles of transcription and oral language skills on contextualized spelling, writing fluency, and writing quality outcomes for ELL and NES students. Thirty-four ELLs (Mean age (A) = 78.03 months, SD = 6.28), and 35 NESs (A = 78.79, SD = 5.40) matched on receptive vocabulary completed measures of real word and pseudo word reading, reading comprehension, expressive and receptive vocabulary, handwriting, single-word spelling, writing fluency, and written composition (narrative and expository). The compositions were scored for length, contextualized spelling, and quality. Differences between groups were mostly non-significant, except for handwriting; ELL students performed better than their NES peers. Linear regressions were used to predict contextualized spelling, writing fluency, and writing quality separately for both groups. Results showed that single-word spelling was a predictor of contextualized spelling for both groups. For writing fluency, both handwriting and single-word spelling were predictors for ELLs, and single-word spelling was the only predictor for NESs. For writing quality, expressive vocabulary was the only predictor for ELLs, and single-word spelling was the only predictor for NESs. The results highlight the important role of expressive vocabulary, beyond the role of receptive vocabulary, in writing quality for young ELLs. Implications regarding writing acquisition and instruction for ELLs are considered.

Computational chemistry techniques are used along with spectroscopy to characterize acetaminophen synthesized in an undergraduate chemistry laboratory experiment. The inclusion of electronic structure calculations to provide infrared and Raman spectra in the synthesis and characterization of acetaminophen connects over-the-counter medications with which students are familiar to the experience of producing and characterizing a compound, and the growing role of computational chemistry in the chemical enterprise. The visualization of molecular motions associate with the absorption frequencies enhanced the understanding of the spectroscopic techniques.

The present study examined the effect of children's enrollment in U.S. dual-language immersion (DLI) programs in first grade on English development across five years, using the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 2011 (ECLS-K:2011) database. Propensity score matching was used to create comparable groups of DLI and non-DLI students based on students' kindergarten reading performance and a series of student-, family-, and school-level characteristics. Growth curve models demonstrate that first-grade DLI enrollment had a positive effect on children's English reading growth from Grade 1 to 5. Children who enrolled in DLI experienced greater improvements by Grade 5. We also found that first-grade teacher judgment was related to children's initial reading performance but not their reading growth. Implications related to DLI programs, teacher practices, and bilingual educational policies are discussed.

Purpose: Our 1-year longitudinal study tracked the development of cognate awareness among second (L2) and third language (L3) learners of French in French immersion in Grades 1 and 2 to explore the impact of orthographic overlap and cognate status (true vs. false) on children's ability to recognize cognate relationships. We also assessed the impact of French L2/L3 status on performance. Method: We compared performance on three conditions (true cognates with same and similar spellings, false cognates with same spellings) within and across grades. We used a direct measure of cognate awareness that required children (n = 81) to distinguish true from false cognates presented orally and in print. Results: Overall, Grade 1 children failed to recognize cognate relationships between true cognates with similar spellings, but successfully recognized true cognates with same spellings. Performance on all conditions increased significantly between Grades 1 and 2. The greatest improvement was seen on true cognates with similar spellings. Performance on false cognates was inferior to performance on true cognates with same spellings in Grade 1, and inferior to performance on both same and similar spelled true cognates in Grade 2. No differences were found due to L2/L3 status. Conclusions: Among sequential learners of L2/L3 French in the early stages of additional language learning, cognate awareness is impacted by the degree of orthographic overlap, as well as by cognate status. Children's ability to recognize cross-language orthographic and semantic relationships improves substantially across the early elementary grades.

Conjunctions facilitate text cohesion and comprehension by making explicit the logical relationships between ideas in written language. Conjunctions may be challenging for English language learners (ELLs) because of their novel, abstract, and text-connecting role. In this longitudinal study we aimed to clarify the connections among comprehension of logical relationships, general vocabulary knowledge, and reading comprehension in elementary school-aged ELLs. We assessed these skills--along with decoding, working memory, and nonverbal reasoning--in 74 ELLs in Grades 3 and 4. Path analysis revealed that comprehension of logical relationships was a direct predictor of concurrent reading skills in Grades 3 and 4, and an indirect predictor of reading comprehension in Grade 4, where vocabulary and prior comprehension performance acted as partial mediators. Results point to the confluence of general vocabulary with conjunctions in contributing to individual differences in ELLs' reading comprehension. Conjunctions represent a specialized form of vocabulary knowledge that should not be subsumed developmentally or instructionally under general vocabulary knowledge.

Abstract Earth observation (EO) is undergoing a paradigm shift with the development of cloud‐based analytical platforms supporting EO data collection and access, parallel processing, easier communication of results, and expanded accessibility. As the global community of users and the diversity of applications grow, there is a clear need for expanded educational capacity to leverage these developments and increase the impact of EO research and teaching. Drawing upon extensive conversations between educators, practitioners, and researchers, we propose three pillars that must be prioritized to prepare students, researchers, and professionals to take full advantage of the cloud‐based EO paradigm and guide future growth.

Measurement(s) land use • land cover Technology Type(s) deep learning

The H3K9me3-specific histone methyltransferase SETDB1 is critical for proper regulation of developmental processes, but the underlying mechanisms are only partially understood. Here, we show that deletion of Setdb1 in mouse fetal liver hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPCs) results in compromised stem cell function, enhanced myeloerythroid differentiation, and impaired lymphoid development. Notably, Setdb1-deficient HSPCs exhibit reduced quiescence and increased proliferation, accompanied by the acquisition of a lineage-biased transcriptional program. In Setdb1-deficient HSPCs, we identify genomic regions that are characterized by loss of H3K9me3 and increased chromatin accessibility, suggesting enhanced transcription factor (TF) activity. Interestingly, hematopoietic TFs like PU.1 bind these cryptic enhancers in wild-type HSPCs, despite the H3K9me3 status. Thus, our data indicate that SETDB1 restricts activation of nonphysiological TF binding sites which helps to ensure proper maintenance and differentiation of fetal liver HSPCs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conservation easements are voluntary legal agreements designed to constrain land-use activities on private land to achieve conservation goals. Extensive public and private funding has been used to establish ‘working forest’ conservation easements (WFCE) that aim to protect conservation values while maintaining commercial timber production. We use variation in the timing and location of easements to estimate the impacts of WFCEs in Maine from a 33-year time-series of forest loss and harvesting. We find that WFCEs had negligible impacts on an already low rate of forest loss. Compared to matched control areas, easements decreased forest loss by 0.0004% yr ^−1 (95% CI: −0.0008, to −0.00003%) the equivalent of 3.17 ha yr ^−1 (95% C.I.: 1.6, to 6.7 ha yr ^−1 ) when scaled to the 839 142 ha of total conserved area. In contrast, WFCEs increased the rate of harvesting by 0.37% yr ^−1 (95% CI: 0.11%–0.63%), or 3,105 ha yr ^−1 (95% C.I.: 923–5,287 ha yr ^−1 ) when scaled to the conserved area. However, more recently established easements contained stricter restrictions on harvest practices and stricter easements reduced harvest by 0.66% yr ^−1 (95% CI: −1.03, −0.29). Our results suggest that future easements could be more effective if they were targeted to higher risk of loss areas and included additional provisions for harvest restrictions and monitoring.

Abstract Remote sensing imagery can provide critical information on the magnitude and extent of damage caused by forest pests and pathogens. However, monitoring short‐term changes in deciduous forest condition caused by defoliating insects is challenging and requires approaches that directly account for seasonal vegetation dynamics. We implemented a previously published harmonic modeling approach for forest condition monitoring in Google Earth Engine and systematically assessed the relative ability of condition change products generated using various model parameterizations for predicting pest abundances and defoliation during the 2016–2018 gypsy moth (Lymantria dispar) outbreak in southern New England. Our comparisons revealed that most models made reasonable predictions of changes in canopy condition and egg and larval abundances of L. dispar, indicating a strong correlation between our harmonic‐based estimates of condition change and defoliator activity. The greatest differences in predictive ability were in the spectral domain, with assessments based on Tasseled Cap Greenness, Simple Ratio, and the Enhanced Vegetation Index ranking among the top models, and the commonly used Normalized Difference Vegetation Index consistently exhibiting poorer performance. We also observed notable differences in the magnitude of scores for different baseline periods. Additionally, we found that Landsat‐based condition scores better explained larval abundance than egg mass counts, which have historically been used as a proxy for later‐season larval abundance, indicating that our remote sensing approach may be more accurate and cost‐effective for generating consistent retrospective assessments of L. dispar population abundance in addition to estimates of canopy damage. These findings provide important linkages between spectral changes detected using a harmonic modeling approach and biophysical aspects of defoliator activity, with potential to extend monitoring and prediction to regional or even continental scales.

Abstract Aim To develop an instrument to investigate knowledge and predictive factors of needlestick and sharps injuries (NSIs) in nursing students during clinical placements. Design Instrument development and cross‐sectional study for psychometric testing. Methods A self‐administered instrument including demographic data, injury epidemiology and predictive factors of NSIs was developed between October 2018–January 2019. Content validity was assessed by a panel of experts. The instrument's factor structure and discriminant validity were explored using principal components analysis. The STROBE guidelines were followed. Results Evidence of content validity was found (S‐CVI 0.75; I‐CVI 0.50–1.00). A three‐factor structure was shown by exploratory factor analysis. Of the 238 participants, 39% had been injured at least once, of which 67.3% in the second year. Higher perceptions of “personal exposure” (4.06, SD 3.78) were reported by third‐year students. Higher scores for “perceived benefits” of preventive behaviours (13.6, SD 1.46) were reported by second‐year students.