9 research outputs found
Computer-Assisted Mathematics Instruction for Students With Specific Learning Disability: A Review of the Literature
No full textThis review was conducted to evaluate the current body of scholarly research regarding the use of computer-assisted instruction (CAI) to teach mathematics to students with specific learning disability (SLD). For many years, computers are utilized for educational purposes. However, the effectiveness of CAI for teaching mathematics to this specific group of students is unclear. First, a brief review of the diagnosis of SLD, the importance of mathematics instruction for these students, and the use of computers in the classroom is provided. Next, a review of the current body of research is presented. Finally, suggestions for future research are discussed. Since 1981, a total of 25 research studies have been published, focusing exclusively on using CAI for teaching mathematics to students with SLD. This review examines the current body of research for this area. In addition, the author provides recommendations for future research on this important subject for this category of students
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The Effectiveness of Computer-Assisted Instruction for Teaching Mathematics to Students with Specific Learning Disability
No full textUsing computers to teach students is not a new idea. Computers have been utilized for educational purposes for over 80 years. However, the effectiveness of these programs for teaching mathematics to students with specific learning disability is unclear. This study was undertaken to determine if computer-assisted instruction was as effective as other methods of instruction that do not use computers for teaching mathematics to these students. A two-week experimental research study with 36 male and 22 female participants was conducted to determine if a difference existed in the learning of high school students with specific learning disability who were taught using either computer-assisted instruction or instruction using teacher-directed activities. Since there is sparse educational research regarding the effectiveness of using computer-assisted instruction for teaching mathematics to students with specific learning disability, the results of this study provide a starting point for future research on this subject
The Characteristics Sought by Public School Leaders of Applicants for Teaching Positions
No full textThis study examined the characteristics of teacher applicants that are sought by public school systems in the Commonwealth of Kentucky. The Superintendents of each of the public school districts in the Commonwealth were surveyed. A total of 99 respondents completed the survey (n = 99). This response rate of 57.2% was well-above the average for this type of instrument. The results of the survey will be of interest to job applicants, school system leaders, and the colleges that are preparing preservice teachers to enter the workforce. Implications for each of these groups are discussed in this article. In addition, recommendations for future research are provided
Relating metal binding to deoxyribonucleic acid binding in the Ni regulatory protein NikR
No full textThesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Chemistry, 2010.This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.Vita. Cataloged from student-submitted PDF version of thesis.Includes bibliographical references.The concentration of transition metals within the cell must be tightly regulated. If the concentration of a given transition metal is too low the cell may not be able to perform life-sustaining processes, while high levels of metals are poisonous to the cell and can cause cell death. In Escherichia coli, NikR regulates nickel uptake by blocking transcription of the genes encoding the nickel uptake transporter, NikABCDE. NikR is a homotetrameric transcription factor with a central metal binding domain (MBD) that includes the tetrameric interface and two flanking dimeric ribbon-helix-helix (RHH) DNA-binding domains. Early work revealed that NikR can bind a variety of transition metal ions and has two binding affinities for the nik operon: nM when stoichiometric Ni2+ binds NikR and pM when excess Ni2+ binds. The enhanced DNA affinity suggests the presence of low affinity nickel binding sites on the protein. Recently, it has been shown that NikR also requires K+ to bind DNA, suggesting yet another type of metal binding site on the protein. To understand NikR's ability to bind multiple transition metal ions and how Ni2+ specifically induces NikR-DNA binding, we solved the crystal structures of the apo- MBD and BMD bound to Zn2+ and Cu2+. Comparing these structures to the previously published Ni2+-MBD structure, we noted that when the proper metal binds to NikR it utilizes H76 of alpha helix 3 as a ligand. This, in turn, orders helix !3, and we propose this conformational stabilization is a key step in the NikR-DNA binding mechanism. Electrostatic free energy calculations and thermodynamic integration were used to study which metal prefers to bind at a site between the MBD and RHH domains that is formed when NikR is bound to DNA. Our studies illustrate that NikR-DNA binding was most favorable when this site contains a monovalent cation the size of K+. These studies support a physiological role of K+ in NikR-DNA binding. Structures from crystals of NikR and NikR-bound to DNA soaked with excess nickel ions indicate six types of potential low-affinity nickel binding sites on the protein surface. Binding of excess nickel ions to these sites does not induce any significant conformational change, suggesting that these sites have an electrostatic effect increasing ! 4 NikR's affinity for DNA. Using a combination of X-ray crystallography and molecular simulations we have identified and explored the metal binding sites on E. coli NikR and how they influence NikR:DNA binding.by Christine M Phillips.Ph.D
Benefits and costs of international financial integration : theory and facts
No full textThe author provides a selective review of the recent analytical and empirical literature on the benefits and costs of international financial integration. He discusses the impact of financial openness on consumption, investment, and growth, and the impact of foreign bank entry on the domestic financial system. Consistent with some recent studies, the author argues that financial integration must be carefully prepared and managed to ensure that the benefits outweigh the short-run risks. Prudent macroeconomic management, adequate supervision and prudential regulation of the financial system, greater transparency, and improved capacity to manage risk in the private sector are important requirements for coping with potentially abrupt reversals in pro-cyclical, short-term capital flows. The author adopts a more skeptical view than some assessments in two areas, however. First, only foreign direct investment appears to provide dynamic gains and improved prospects for growth; the evidence on the benefits of other types of capital flows remains weak. Second, empirical research on the net benefits associated with foreign bank penetration is far from conclusive; in particular, the possibility that such penetration may lead to adverse changes in the allocation of credit among domestic firms cannot be dismissed on the basis of the existing evidence.Banks&Banking Reform,Capital Markets and Capital Flows,Fiscal&Monetary Policy,Economic Theory&Research,International Terrorism&Counterterrorism,Economic Theory&Research,Banks&Banking Reform,Macroeconomic Management,Environmental Economics&Policies,Financial Intermediation
The East Asia crisis and corporate finances : the untold micro story
No full textExplanations of the causes of the Asian crisis have focused on macroeconomic factors leading to the crisis. This paper offers a complementary corporate distress perspective linking the crisis to corporate finances. Key ratios for companies in various countries are presented in the paper. The global benchmarking imposes a consistent cross-border analysis of financial risk and performance, and sheds light on the crisis. The study provides a statistical review of the financial practices and performance of corporates in Asia: Hong Kong, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, Philippines, Taiwan, and Thailand benchmarked against financials of corporates in other countries: Latin America, and industrialized countries: France, Germany, Japan and USA. A thematic point that comes across in all the results of the corporate financial analysis is unsustainable rapid (and probably excessive) investment in fixed assets financed by excessive borrowing in some Asian countries- e.g., Indonesia, Korea and Thailand. The East Asian investment-spending spree resulted in poor profitability, reflected in low, and declining return on equity, and return on capital employed. It leads to the conclusion that at the core of the corporate crisis were financial excesses that violated prudent financial practices, and eventually lead to the inevitable financial distress we are witnessing. Therefore, the empirical findings presented in the paper lend credence to the view advanced by Krugman that crony capitalism was at the core of the crisis. Crony capitalism was manifested in supportive bad policies-e.g., implicit government guarantees, and poor banking supervision- that lead to poor credit allocation decisions in the banking dominated financial system. Preliminary findings suggest as well vast differences in Economic Value Added between countries- developing and developed alike. The conclusions from an economic value added approach indicate that in an era of increasing capital mobility, corporates are not adhering to global standards in creating shareholder value. The analysis leads to policy conclusions.Banks&Banking Reform,Payment Systems&Infrastructure,Economic Theory&Research,International Terrorism&Counterterrorism,Environmental Economics&Policies,Financial Intermediation,Economic Theory&Research,Banks&Banking Reform,International Terrorism&Counterterrorism,Environmental Economics&Policies
The role of Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK) in the national liberation struggle in South Africa with reference to the rural far northern Transvaal, 1976-1990
No full textIncludes bibliographical references (leaves 250-275)
Is it through emotion that we know ourselves? : a psychophysiological investigation into self-reference and emotional valence
No full textThe aims of the present thesis were two fold. The first aim was to investigate
the relationship between self-referential and emotional processing. The second aim
was to investigate the extent to which self-referential processing is altered as a function
of mood. In order to address these two aims, a variety of behavioural and physiological
measures were recorded and a new methodology was employed in the following
experimental chapters.
The aim of experiment one was to investigate how non-dysphoric and dysphoric
individuals evaluate the emotional valence and self-referential content of word stimuli
at a behavioural level. A self-positivity bias was identified in non-dysphoric
individuals, positive words were rated as self-referential and negative words were rated
as non-self-referential. Compared to non-dysphoric individuals, dysphoric individualsâ
evaluations of self-reference but not emotional valence were altered. Event-related
potentials (ERPs) were employed in experiment two to investigate self-referential
processing at a neural level. A two stage model of processing was identified in which,
an evaluation of emotional valence was found to occur prior to an interaction between
self-reference and emotional valence. A self-positivity bias was identified in the ERP
component known as the N400. ERP waves were more negative going to self negative
and non-self-positive words when compared to self-positive and non-self-negative
words. This bias was explained in terms of the semantic mismatch hypothesis. The
aim of experiment three was to investigate how the neural processing of self-referential
and emotional information is altered as a function of mood. Differences between nondysphoric
and dysphoric individuals were identified during the early stages of
ii
processing in an emotion task. Between group differences were identified during the
later stages of processing in a self-reference task, around 400 ms. Skin conductance
and heart rate were employed in experiment four to examine autonomic responses
during self-referential and emotional processing in healthy individuals. Both decision-making
tasks were found to elicit similar physiological responses. These findings were
taken to suggest that a large component of self-referential processing involves the
processing of emotional information. Finally, the aim of experiment five was to
investigate if person-referent processing was altered during the experience of a negative
mood. The behavioural and neural responses of non-dysphoric and dysphoric
individuals were compared across self-referent and other-referent decision-making
tasks. Between group differences were specific to the self-reference task at the
behavioural level. However, group differences were identified in both the self-referent
and other-referent tasks at the neural level. The results provide partial support for the
hypothesis that negative mood is associated with specific impairments in self-referential
processing.
Overall the results of the present thesis illustrate that the processing of
emotional information plays a large role in self-referential decision-making.
Furthermore, the N400 was found be involved in this type of decision-making at the
semantic level. Negative mood was associated with greater changes in self-referential
processing than in other forms of emotional or person-referent processing. In the final
chapter, a two stage model is proposed to account for self-referential processing. The
implications of this model are discussed in terms of two macro-cognitive theories,
interacting cognitive subsystems (ICS) and SPAARs. Finally, the limitations and
future directions for developing this line of research are outlined
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Haplotype analysis of the internationally distributed BRCA1 c.3331_3334delCAAG founder mutation reveals a common ancestral origin in Iberia
No full text© The Author(s).[Background]: The BRCA1 c.3331_3334delCAAG founder mutation has been reported in hereditary breast and ovarian cancer families from multiple Hispanic groups. We aimed to evaluate BRCA1 c.3331_3334delCAAG haplotype diversity in cases of European, African, and Latin American ancestry.
[Methods]: BC mutation carrier cases from Colombia (n = 32), Spain (n = 13), Portugal (n = 2), Chile (n = 10), Africa (n = 1), and Brazil (n = 2) were genotyped with the genome-wide single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) arrays to evaluate haplotype diversity around BRCA1 c.3331_3334delCAAG. Additional Portuguese (n = 13) and Brazilian (n = 18) BC mutation carriers were genotyped for 15 informative SNPs surrounding BRCA1. Data were phased using SHAPEIT2, and identical by descent regions were determined using BEAGLE and GERMLINE. DMLE+ was used to date the mutation in Colombia and Iberia.[Results]: The haplotype reconstruction revealed a shared 264.4-kb region among carriers from all six countries. The estimated mutation age was ~ 100 generations in Iberia and that it was introduced to South America early during the European colonization period.[Conclusions]: Our results suggest that this mutation originated in Iberia and later introduced to Colombia and South America at the time of Spanish colonization during the early 1500s. We also found that the Colombian mutation carriers had higher European ancestry, at the BRCA1 gene harboring chromosome 17, than controls, which further supported the European origin of the mutation. Understanding founder mutations in diverse populations has implications in implementing cost-effective, ancestry-informed screening.AMDEA was supported with graduate Fellowships from UC Davis T32 Biotechnology Program. MB, ME, and LGC-C received funding from GSK Oncology and from “Oficina de Desarrollo a la Docencia de la Universidad del Tolima, Convocatoria 2010”. AC and AEF received funding from the Colciencias program “Becas Doctorales Nacionales, Convocatorias 528-2011 and 647-2015”. JB received funding from the Colciencias program “Formación de Capital Humano de Alto Nivel para el Departamento de Tolima- 2016, convocatoria 755”. BRCA1/2 genotyping of the Brazilian patients was performed in part with grants from CNPq (408313/2016-1), FAPERGS and Fundo de Incentivo a Pesquisa (FIPE) do Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre, Brazil. AV received funding from CIBERER (grant ER17P1AC7112/2017). PC received funding from FONDEF grant #CA12I10152. CL was Supported by the Carlos III National Health Institute funded by FEDER funds—a way to build Europe—[PI19/00553; PI16/00563; PI16/01898; SAF2015-68016-R and CIBERONC]; the Government of Catalonia [Pla estratègic de recerca i innovació en salut (PERIS_MedPerCan and URDCat projects), 2017SGR1282 and 2017SGR496]. BR received funding from the National Institutes of Health (R01GM123306)
