Implementation of a Course Focused on Language and Literacy Within Teacher–Child Interactions: Instructor and Student Perspectives Across Three Institutions of Higher Education

Research suggests that teachers' interactions with preschool-age children have a significant influence on what children learn and the skills they develop. Additional research is needed to systematically determine the types of professional development that can help teachers learn effective teaching practices. This study is part of a larger effort to document the impact of a professional development model in which teachers learn how to implement effective teaching practices operationalized using the CLASS observation measure. A course developed by the National Center for Research on Early Childhood Education (NCRECE) was implemented in three higher education teacher preparation programs. This article describes the process of implementing the course and documents instructor and student perspectives on course delivery, content, and their learning. Results suggest that professional development in the form of a standardized course may be an effective means for presenting content related to language and literacy instruction within the context of information about effective teaching practices. Data from the study also indicate challenges associated with delivering a standardized course within multiple institutions of higher education.     

Assessing Beliefs of Preservice Early Childhood Education Teachers Using Q-Sort Methodology

The purpose of this study was to assess the beliefs of students and faculty in a 4-year birth–kindergarten teacher preparation program using the Teacher Belief Q-Sort (TBQ). Data were collected over one academic year from a total of 63 students, 35 students at the beginning of their coursework and 28 students at the end of their program, completing their student teaching experience. The faculty (n = 8) in the program completed the TBQ to provide a criterion sort as well as to assess the consistency in philosophy across faculty members who teach preservice teachers. Compilations of rankings are presented to describe beliefs related to children, discipline, and teaching practices held by students who are at different points in their education program. Criterion comparison results indicate that student teachers at the end of their education program report beliefs more similar to faculty beliefs than students at the beginning of their education program. However, findings suggest that the student teaching experience does not appear to significantly alter beliefs about children, discipline and teaching practices. These results are discussed in terms of child-directed versus teacher-directed styles of preservice teachers and implications of assessing beliefs for teacher preparation programs.     

对学校体育功能的再认识

学校体育功能的演进与拓展始终是围绕着健身和育人这两条主线进行的,对育人而言,体育主要有教育、健身和娱乐功能;对社会而言,体育主要具有文化和辐射功能。在现代教育和体育思想及理念的影响下,现代学校体育的功能被时代赋予新的意义,其内涵呈现出不断扩展的态势。     

An examination of the relationship between verbal aggressiveness,conflict management strategies,and conflict interaction goals

The purpose of this investigation was to explore the relationship between respondents' trait verbal aggressiveness, conflict management strategies and conflict interaction goals. Data were collected from 105 undergraduate students at a small private affluent southeastern university. Participants were asked to recall a dispute that they had had with a close friend. They completed the OCCI, verbal aggressiveness, and conflict goals measures. Results indicated that verbal aggressiveness was associated in predictable ways with participants' conflict strategies. There also was a substantial and significant negative relationship between verbal aggressiveness and concerns about relational goals during conflicts. These results establish a foundation for future lines of research regarding conflict goals and extend previous investigations regarding verbal aggressiveness.     

Prospects for electronic publication in communication: A survey of potential users

This paper discusses the arguments for and against electronic publication and explores the potential acceptance for an electronic journal in the communication discipline. Using electronic mail, 85 users of a computer communication system were surveyed to determine the factors that would influence their decision to submit research reports to an electronic journal. The survey indicates that a majority of respondents would use an electronic journal to publish research reports and that most viewed publishing as a way to communicate about their work rather than a means for advancing in the field. The survey provides evidence that willingness to electronically publish decreased with higher occupational positions (from Masters student to Associate Professor) with this trend reversing itself at the level of Full Professor.     

Effect of CO2 enrichment on the glucosinolate contents under different nitrogen levels in bolting stem of Chinese kale (Brassica alboglabra L.)

The effects of CO₂ enrichment on the growth and glucosinolate (GS) concentrations in the bolting stem of Chinese kale (Brassica alboglabra L.) treated with three nitrogen (N) concentrations (5, 10, and 20 mmol/L) were investigated. Height, stem thickness, and dry weights of the total aerial parts, bolting stems, and roots, as well as the root to shoot ratio, significantly increased as CO₂ concentration was elevated from 350 to 800 μl/L at each N concentration. In the edible part of the bolting stem, 11 individual GSs were identified, including 7 aliphatic and 4 indolyl GSs. GS concentration was affected by the elevated CO₂ concentration, N concentration, and CO₂×N interaction. At 5 and 10 mmol N/L, the concentrations of aliphatic GSs and total GSs significantly increased, whereas those of indolyl GSs were not affected, by elevated atmospheric CO₂. However, at 20 mmol N/L, elevated CO₂ had no significant effects on the concentrations of total GSs and total indolyl GSs, but the concentrations of total aliphatic GSs significantly increased. Moreover, the bolting stem carbon (C) content increased, whereas the N and sulfur (S) contents decreased under elevated CO₂ concentration in the three N treatments, resulting in changes in the C/N and N/S ratios. Also the C/N ratio is not a reliable predictor of change of GS concentration, while the changes in N and S contents and the N/S ratio at the elevated CO₂ concentration may influence the GS concentration in Chinese kale bolting stems. The results demonstrate that high nitrogen supply is beneficial for the growth of Chinese kale, but not for the GS concentration in bolting stems, under elevated CO₂ condition. Project (No. 2007CB109305) supported by the National Basic Research Program (973) of China     

Do electric vehicle incentives matter? Evidence from the 50 U.S. states

We estimate the effectiveness of policy incentives for adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) in the 50 U.S. states. We employ a rich dataset of semi-annual state-level new EV vehicle registrations by make and model from 2010 to 2015 and state-level policy instruments that could affect new EV model registrations. We construct two measures of policy, one which aggregates policy instruments that can be assigned a value and a second that aggregates those without explicit values. Using a within model difference-in-difference estimator with high-dimensional fixed effects, we find that a $1000 increase in the value of a state’s model-specific EV policies increases registrations of that model within the state by 5–11%.     

藏族的传统吉祥字符

藏民族祖祖辈辈崇尚吉祥，追求吉祥，创造了许多的吉祥字符；这些字符被普遍运用在藏民族衣、食、住、行中的方方面面，是藏族人民智慧的结晶。本文对藏族常用的吉祥字符进行了介绍。     

Adenovirus-mediated wild-type p53 gene transfer in combination with bronchial arterial infusion for treatment of advanced non-small-cell lung cancer, one year follow-up

Objective: In the present study, we have examined the safety and efficacy of recombinant adenovirus encoding human p53 tumor suppressor gene (rAd-p53) injection in patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in the combination with the therapy of bronchial arterial infusion (BAI). Methods: A total of 58 patients with advanced NSCLC were enrolled in a non-randomized, two-armed clinical trial. Of which, 19 received a combination treatment of BAI and rAd-p53 (the combo group), while the remaining 39 were treated with only BAI (the control group). Patients were followed up for 12 months, with safety and local response evaluated by the National Cancer Institute's Common Toxicity Criteria and response evaluation criteria in solid tumor (RECIST), respectively. Time to progression (TTP) and survival rates were also analyzed by Kaplan-Meier method. Results: In the combo group,19 patients received a total of 49 injections of rAd-p53 and 46 times of BAI, respectively, while 39 patients in the control group received a total of 113 times of BAI. The combination treatment was found to have less adverse events such as anorexia, nausea and emesis, pain, and leucopenia (P<0.05) but more arthralgia. fever, influenza-like symptom, and myalgia (P<0.05), compared with the control group. The overall response rates (complete response (CR)+partial response (PR)) were 47.3% and 38.4% for the combo group and the control group, respectively (P>0.05). Patients in the combo group had a longer TTP than those in the control group (a median 7.75 vs 5.5 months, P=0.018). However, the combination treatment did not lead to better survival, with survival rates at 3, 6, and 12 months in the combo group being 94.74%, 89.47%, and 52.63%, respectively, com-pared with 92.31%, 69.23%, and 38.83% in the control group (P=0.224). Conclusion: Our results show that the combination of rAd-p53 and BAI was well tolerated in patients with NSCLC and may have improved the quality of life and delayed the disease progression. A further study to better determine the efficacy of this combination therapy is warranted.