Examining preservice teachers’ applied learning experiences in the Teacher Education Done Differently (TEDD) project

Reviews have criticised universities for not embedding sufficient praxis for preparing preservice teachers for the profession. The Teacher Education Done Differently (TEDD) project explored praxis development for preservice teachers within existing university coursework. This mixed-method investigation involved an analysis of multiple case studies with preservice teacher involvement in university programs, namely: Ed Start for practicum I (n=26), III (n=23), and IV (n=12); Move It Use It (Health and Physical Education program; n=38), Studies of Society and its Environment (SOSE, n=24), and Science in Schools (n=38). The project included preservice teachers teaching primary students at the campus site in gifted education (the B-GR8 program, n=22). The percentage range for preservice teacher agreement of their praxis development leading up to practicum I, III, and IV was between 91-100% with a high mean score range (4.26-5.00). Other university units had similar findings except for SOSE (i.e., percentage range: 10-86%; M range: 2.33-4.00; SD range: 0.55-1.32). Qualitative data presented an understanding of the praxis development leading to the conclusion that additional applied learning experiences as lead-up days for field experiences and as avenues for exploring the teaching of specific subject areas presented opportunities for enhancing praxis.

Spirulina (Spirulina platensis) algae supplementation increases microbial protein production and feed intake and decreases retention time of digesta in the rumen of cattle

Cattle consuming pastures low in protein have low liveweight gain due to low rumen degradable protein (RDP) supply and thus low microbial crude protein (MCP) production and efficiency of MCP production [EMCP, g MCP/kg digestible organic matter (DOM)]. Nitrogen supplements can increase MCP production and EMCP of cattle grazing low protein pastures. The objective of this study was to compare the effects of supplementation with a non-protein-N source (NPN), in this case urea and ammonium sulfate (US), with a single-cell algal protein source (Spirulina platensis), on intake, microbial protein supply and digestibility in cattle. Nine cannulated Bos indicus steers [initial liveweight 250.1 ± 10.86 (s.d.) kg] were fed Mitchell grass hay (Astrebla spp; 6.1 g N, 746 g NDF/kg DM) ad libitum and were supplied with increasing amounts of US (0, 6, 13, 19 and 33 g US DM/kg hay DM) or Spirulina 0, 0.5, 1.4, 2.5 and 6.1 g Spirulina DM/kg W.day in an incomplete Latin square design. The response of MCP production and EMCP to increasing amounts of the two supplements was different, with a greater response to Spirulina evident. The MCP production was predicted to peak at 140 and 568 g MCP/day (0.64 and 2.02 g MCP/kg W.day) for the US and Spirulina supplements, respectively. The highest measured EMCP were 92 and 166 g MCP/kg DOM for the US and Spirulina treatments at 170 and 290 g RDP/kg DOM, respectively, or a Spirulina intake of 5.7 g DM/kg W.day. Increasing RDP intake from US and Spirulina resulted in an increase in Mitchell grass hay intake and rumen NH3-N concentration and reduced the retention time of liquid and particulate markers and digesta DM, NDF and lignin in the rumen with greater changes due to Spirulina. Total DM intake peaked at a Spirulina supplement level of 4.6 g Spirulina DM/kg W.day with a 2.3-fold higher DOM intake than Control steers. Rumen NH3-N concentrations reached 128 and 264 mg NH3-N/L for the US and Spirulina treatments with a significant increase in the concentration of branched-chain fatty acids for the Spirulina treatment. The minimum retention time of liquid (Cr-EDTA; 23 and 13 h) and particulate (Yb; 34 and 22 h) markers in the rumen were significantly lower for Spirulina compared with US and lower than unsupplemented animals at 24 and 34 h for Cr-EDTA and Yb, respectively. Spirulina could be provided safely at much higher N intakes than NPN supplements. The results suggest that, at an equivalent RDP supply, Spirulina provided greater increases than US in MCP production, EMCP and feed intake of Bos indicus cattle consuming low protein forage and could also be fed safely at higher levels of N intake.

Antioxidant defense system and family environment in adolescents with family history of psychosis

[EN] Our objective was to determine antioxidant defence activity in healthy controls (HC) and healthy unaffected second-degree relatives of patients with early onset psychosis (HC-FHP),and to assess its relationship with familiar environment measured using the Family Environment Scale (FES). Methods: We included 82 HC and 14 HC-FHP aged between 9 and 17 years. Total antioxidant status,lipid peroxidation, antioxidant enzyme activities and glutathione levels were determined in blood samples. Results:There was a significant decrease in the total antioxidant level in the HC-FHP group compared with the HC group (OR = 2.94; p = 0.009), but no between-group differences in the Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF) scale scores. For the FES, the HC-FHP group had significantly higher scores in the cohesion (p = 0.007) and intellectual-cultural dimensions (p=0.025). After adjusting for these two FES dimensions, total antioxidant status remained significantly different between groups (OR = 10.86, p = 0.009).

湖北钉螺在不同温度下的发育速率及形态变化

从野外采回的钉螺在室内各实验温度条件下均能正常产卵,其产卵量的高低与室温无关;在15-30℃的温度范围内,随着温度的升高钉螺的孵化期逐渐缩短;利用有效积温公式得知钉螺卵孵化的有效积温为193.55日度,发育起点温度为10.86℃;在各温度下初孵幼螺随着生长发育,螺壳的长宽比也随之加大.

CALCULATION OF DIELECTRIC-CONSTANTS FOR SEMICONDUCTORS - AN APPLICATION OF ABINITIO PSEUDOPOTENTIAL METHOD

We have used ab initio pseudopotential method to generate basis wavefunctions and eigen energies to carry out first principle calculations of the static macroscopic dielectric constant for GaAs and GaP. The resulted converged random phase approximation (RPA) value is 12.55 and 10.71, in excellent agreement to the experimental value of 12.4 and 10.86, respectively. The inclusion of the exchange correlation contribution makes the calculated result slightly worsen. A convergence test with respect to the number of k points in Brillouin zone (BZ) integration was carried out. Sixty irreducible BZ k points were used to achieve the converged results. Integration with only 10 special k points increased the RPA value by 15%.

科尔沁沙地草地生态系统服务价值的动态研究

生态系统服务价值评估已成为生态学研究的一个热点，针对不同区域尺度或生态类型的相关研究案例大量涌现的同时，评估方法和技术也在不断改进。本文即以科尔沁沙地草地生态系统为研究对象，分别采用生物量和生物多样性指数订正草地生态系统服务价值系数，估算了该沙地中西部地区各草地类型的生态服务价值；并以位于科尔沁沙地腹地的翁牛特旗为例，利用STELLA系统模拟出近15年（1985～2000年）草地生态系统服务价值动态变化与其外部驱动因子的关系，根据模型结果分析，提出草地生态系统管理相关建议。 主要结论如下： （1）对以小尺度细划的草地类型，以生物量和生物多样性指数订正的生态系统服务单价均可反映生态服务功能强度的变化。 （2）科尔沁沙地中西部地区的草地生态系统服务价值，经两个指数订正的结果显示，1990~1999年间分别降低了35.85亿元和42.14亿元，降低的原因包括：①草地向耕地等其它土地利用形式转化；②草地系统内部由生态服务高价值流类型向低价值流类型转化。 （3）在STELLA 系统中基于下述逻辑关系构建草地生态系统服务价值的动态模拟过程：人口数量和牲畜数量是草地过度开垦和过度放牧的驱动因素；过度开垦造成草地“农田化”，过度放牧造成草地退化和沙化；前者使草地面积减少，后者使草地生物量锐减；草地生态系统服务价值由草地面积及草地生物量两个因子决定。 （4）2000年翁牛特旗草地生态系统总服务价值为42.91亿元，与1985年相比降低了10.86％，其中，原始草地的总价值为22.10亿元，已退化草地为9.99亿元，已沙化草地为10.82亿元，原始草地对草地生态系统服务价值的贡献最大，对其变化的影响最显著；模型灵敏度分析表明，模型结果对单个不确定参数变化的反映不敏感，而对参数同时变化的反映将随时间推移越来越大。

Wear paths produced by individual hip-replacement patients— A large-scale, long-term follow-up study

Wear particle accumulation is one of the main contributors to osteolysis and implant failure in hip replacements. Altered kinematics produce significant differences in wear rates of hip replacements in simulator studies due to varying degrees of multidirectional motion. Gait analysis data from 153 hip-replacement patients 10-years post-operation were used to model two- and three-dimensional wear paths for each patient. Wear paths were quantified in two dimensions using aspect ratios and in three dimensions using the surface areas of the wear paths, with wear-path surface area correlating poorly with aspect ratio. The average aspect ratio of the patients wear paths was 3.97 (standard deviation ¼ 1.38), ranging from 2.13 to 10.86. Sixty percent of patients displayed aspect ratios between 2.50 and 3.99. However, 13% of patients displayed wear paths with aspect ratios 45.5, which indicates reduced multidirectional motion. The majority of total hip replacement (THR) patients display gait kinematics which produce multidirectional wear paths, but a significant minority display more linear paths.

The Influence of Motivational Behaviours and Goal Profiles on Positive Youth Development

Positive Youth Development (PYD) research has started to shift focus onto how different internal factors such as temperament, dispositions, and/or personality characteristics could influence levels of PYD for youth participating is organized sport. The purpose of this study is to examine how different goal profiles, specifically categorized by diverse levels of task and ego orientation, can influence levels of PYD in an organized youth sport setting. One hundred youth sport participants (mean age = 16.8) completed the short form Youth Experiences Survey for Sport (short form YES-S; Sullivan et al., 2013) to measure PYD, as well as the Task and Ego Orientation in Sport Questionnaire (TEOSQ; Duba 1989) to assess each athlete’s goal profile. A TwoStep Cluster Analysis was used to classify each individual’s personal goal profile into 3 statistically different cluster groupings. Results indicated significant interaction between the PYD outcome factor of Initiative vs. Clusters [F(2,95)= 10.86, p < 0.001, p2= 0.19] as well as Goal Setting vs. Clusters [F(2,95)= 3.95, p < 0.05, p2= 0.08]. Post-hoc analyses provided results that suggest that those athletes who are more task oriented have fostered more positive outcomes from sport, therefore having more goal setting skills and initiative.

Adopción de TIC como mecanismos facilitadores de la gestión organizacional

Los avances tecnológicos y la entrada a una nueva era digital son una realidad presente en todos los aspectos de la sociedad actual. El mundo organizacional se incluye en esta nueva era digital modernizando sus procesos y soportando sus actividades empresariales en tecnologías de la información y comunicaciones. La inclusión en la era digital por parte de las organizaciones es un paso importante que se debe dar para obtener los crecientes beneficios que la tecnología ofrece. Esta transformación organizacional hacia la implementación de herramientas TIC, como soporte del quehacer misional, debe darse bajo unos lineamientos de planeación estratégica e integración organizacional. Este estudio contiene una revisión conceptual con los lineamientos que una empresa debe tener en cuenta al momento de implementar herramientas TIC a sus áreas y actividades. Los hallazgos teóricos planteados son llevados a la realidad estudiando cómo empresas de Bogotá adoptan recursos tecnológicos. Los resultados principales del estudio muestran que la agrupación empresarial clasificada como gran empresa es el segmento que mejor aplica los lineamientos teóricos para la implementación correcta de herramientas TIC en un ambiente organizacional. El segmento de mediana y pequeña empresa da muestras de uso de herramientas TIC, sin embargo se nota una debilidad en la falta de planeación estratégica e integración de estos recursos tecnológicos al sistema organizacional. Esta investigación concluye mostrando un conjunto de recomendaciones y hallazgos de acuerdo a los datos analizados.

Arenavirus budding resulting from viral-protein-associated cell membrane curvature

Viral replication occurs within cells, with release (and onward infection) primarily achieved through two alternative mechanisms: lysis, in which virions emerge as the infected cell dies and bursts open; or budding, in which virions emerge gradually from a still living cell by appropriating a small part of the cell membrane. Virus budding is a poorly understood process that challenges current models of vesicle formation. Here, a plausible mechanism for arenavirus budding is presented, building on recent evidence that viral proteins embed in the inner lipid layer of the cell membrane. Experimental results confirm that viral protein is associated with increased membrane curvature, whereas a mathematical model is used to show that localized increases in curvature alone are sufficient to generate viral buds. The magnitude of the protein-induced curvature is calculated from the size of the amphipathic region hypothetically removed from the inner membrane as a result of translation, with a change in membrane stiffness estimated from observed differences in virion deformation as a result of protein depletion. Numerical results are based on experimental data and estimates for three arenaviruses, but the mechanisms described are more broadly applicable. The hypothesized mechanism is shown to be sufficient to generate spontaneous budding that matches well both qualitatively and quantitatively with experimental observations.

Differences and similarities of postprandial lipemia in rodents and humans

Background: The rat has been a mainstay of physiological and metabolic research, and more recently mice. This study aimed at characterizing the postprandial triglyceride profile of two members of the Muridae family: the Wistar rats (Rattus norvegicus albinus) and C57BL/6 mice (Mus musculus) plus comparing them to the profile obtained in humans. Methods: Thirty-one male and twelve female Wistar rats, ten C57BL/6 male and nine female mice received a liquid meal containing fat (17%), protein (4%) and carbohydrates (4%), providing 2 g fat/Kg. Thirty-one men and twenty-nine women received a standardized liquid meal containing fat (25%), dextromaltose (55%), protein (14%), and vitamins and minerals (6%), and providing 40 g of fat per square meter of body surface. Serial blood samples were collected at 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10 h after the ingestion in rats, at 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 h in mice and in humans at 2, 4, 6 and 8 h. Wilcoxon and Mann-Whitney tests were used. Results/Discussion: The triglyceride responses were evaluated after the oral fat loads. Fasting and postprandial triglyceridemia were determined sequentially in blood sample. AUC, AUIC, AR, RR and late peaks were determined. Conclusions: Rats are prone to respond in a pro-atherogenic manner. The responses in mice were closer to the ones in healthy men. This study presents striking differences in postprandial triglycerides patterns between rats and mice not correlated to baseline triglycerides, the animal baseline body weight or fat load in all animal groups.