Does Incorporating Dance into Elementary School Classrooms Increase Academic Achievement and Enjoyment?

The purpose of this research was to determine if incorporating dance into elementary school classrooms increases academic achievement and enjoyment. Throughout this project, an experiment was done with second graders that supported this idea that by adding dance into classroom lessons, students achieve more. These students scored higher on an assessment after including movement into the lesson. Some of them enjoyed the lessons more with dance and others did not. Previous research found that dance helps the student learning process due to its ability to meet diverse needs, its effect on the memory, and increase on student engagement. Dance also connects to Bloom's Taxonomy and Gardner's Theory of Multiple Intelligences. Students with different disabilities have also shown higher academic achievement when dance is used in their classrooms. It helps with attention and stimulating the brain. Along with this research, four mini units are attached that incorporate dance for teachers to use as examples as to how to incorporate dance into their lessons. These include English Language Arts, Math, Science, and Social Studies lesson made for second graders using Massachusetts State Standards and National Dance Standards for second graders. Through the experiment, research, and creation of lesson plans, it can be said that incorporating dance into elementary school classrooms increases academic achievement and may increase overall enjoyment.Childhood Education and CareSport and Movement Scienc

Multicenter study evaluating the Vitek MS system for identification of medically important yeasts

The optimal management of fungal infections is correlated with timely organism identification. Matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization–time of flight (MALDI-TOF) mass spectrometry (MS) is revolutionizing the identification of yeasts isolated from clinical specimens. We present a multicenter study assessing the performance of the Vitek MS system (bioMérieux) in identifying medically important yeasts. A collection of 852 isolates was tested, including 20 Candida species (626 isolates, including 58 C. albicans, 62 C. glabrata, and 53 C. krusei isolates), 35 Cryptococcus neoformans isolates, and 191 other clinically relevant yeast isolates; in total, 31 different species were evaluated. Isolates were directly applied to a target plate, followed by a formic acid overlay. Mass spectra were acquired using the Vitek MS system and were analyzed using the Vitek MS v2.0 database. The gold standard for identification was sequence analysis of the D2 region of the 26S rRNA gene. In total, 823 isolates (96.6%) were identified to the genus level and 819 isolates (96.1%) were identified to the species level. Twenty-four isolates (2.8%) were not identified, and five isolates (0.6%) were misidentified. Misidentified isolates included one isolate of C. albicans (n = 58) identified as Candida dubliniensis, one isolate of Candida parapsilosis (n = 73) identified as Candida pelliculosa, and three isolates of Geotrichum klebahnii (n = 6) identified as Geotrichum candidum. The identification of clinically relevant yeasts using MS is superior to the phenotypic identification systems currently employed in clinical microbiology laboratories

Multicenter evaluation of the vitek MS matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry system for identification of gram-positive aerobic bacteria

Matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization–time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF) is gaining momentum as a tool for bacterial identification in the clinical microbiology laboratory. Compared with conventional methods, this technology can more readily and conveniently identify a wide range of organisms. Here, we report the findings from a multicenter study to evaluate the Vitek MS v2.0 system (bioMérieux, Inc.) for the identification of aerobic Gram-positive bacteria. A total of 1,146 unique isolates, representing 13 genera and 42 species, were analyzed, and results were compared to those obtained by nucleic acid sequence-based identification as the reference method. For 1,063 of 1,146 isolates (92.8%), the Vitek MS provided a single identification that was accurate to the species level. For an additional 31 isolates (2.7%), multiple possible identifications were provided, all correct at the genus level. Mixed-genus or single-choice incorrect identifications were provided for 18 isolates (1.6%). Although no identification was obtained for 33 isolates (2.9%), there was no specific bacterial species for which the Vitek MS consistently failed to provide identification. In a subset of 463 isolates representing commonly encountered important pathogens, 95% were accurately identified to the species level and there were no misidentifications. Also, in all but one instance, the Vitek MS correctly differentiated Streptococcus pneumoniae from other viridans group streptococci. The findings demonstrate that the Vitek MS system is highly accurate for the identification of Gram-positive aerobic bacteria in the clinical laboratory setting

Scaling Equation for yield strength of nanoporous open-cell foams

A comprehensive study on the relationship between yield strength, relative density and ligament sizes is presented for nanoporous Au foams. Depth-sensing nanoindentation tests were performed on nanoporous foams ranging from 20 to 42% relative density with ligament sizes ranging from 10 to 900 nm. The Gibson and Ashby yield strength equation for open-cell macro-cellular foams is modified in order to incorporate ligament size effects. This study demonstrates that at the nanoscale, foam strength is governed by ligament size, in addition to relative density. Furthermore, we present the ligament length scale as a new parameter to tailor foam properties and achieve high strength at low densities

Assessment of Reproducibility of Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption Ionization-Time of Flight Mass Spectrometry for Bacterial and Yeast Identification

Matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight (MALDI-TOF) mass spectrometry (MS) has revolutionized the identification of clinical bacterial and yeast isolates. However, data describing the reproducibility of MALDI-TOF MS for microbial identification are scarce. In this study, we show that MALDI-TOF MS-based microbial identification is highly reproducible and can tolerate numerous variables, including differences in testing environments, instruments, operators, reagent lots, and sample positioning patterns. Finally, we reveal that samples of bacterial and yeast isolates prepared for MALDI-TOF MS identification can be repeatedly analyzed without compromising organism identification

Science data products for AMPERE

AbstractBirkeland currents that flow in the auroral zones produce perturbation magnetic fields that may be detected using magnetometers onboard low-Earth orbit satellites. The Active Magnetosphere and Planetary Electrodynamics Response Experiment (AMPERE) uses magnetic field data from the attitude control system of each Iridium satellite. These data are processed to obtain the location, intensity and dynamics of the Birkeland currents. The methodology is based on an orthogonal basis function expansion and associated data fitting. The theory of magnetic fields and currents on spherical shells provides the mathematical basis for generating the AMPERE science data products. The application of spherical cap harmonic basis and elementary current system methods to the Iridium data are discussed and the procedures for generating the AMPERE science data products are described.Abstract Birkeland currents that flow in the auroral zones produce perturbation magnetic fields that may be detected using magnetometers onboard low-Earth orbit satellites. The Active Magnetosphere and Planetary Electrodynamics Response Experiment (AMPERE) uses magnetic field data from the attitude control system of each Iridium satellite. These data are processed to obtain the location, intensity and dynamics of the Birkeland currents. The methodology is based on an orthogonal basis function expansion and associated data fitting. The theory of magnetic fields and currents on spherical shells provides the mathematical basis for generating the AMPERE science data products. The application of spherical cap harmonic basis and elementary current system methods to the Iridium data are discussed and the procedures for generating the AMPERE science data products are described

Statistical correlation analysis of field-aligned currents measured by Swarm

We investigate the statistical, dual‐spacecraft correlations of field‐aligned current (FAC) signatures between two Swarm spacecraft. For the first time, we infer the orientations of the current sheets of FACs by directly using the maximum correlations obtained from sliding data segments. The current sheet orientations are shown to broadly follow the mean shape of the auroral boundary for the lower latitudes and that these are most well ordered on the dusk side. Orientations at higher latitudes are less well ordered. In addition, the maximum correlation coefficients are explored as a function of magnetic local time and in terms of either the time shift (δt) or the shift in longitude (δlon) between Swarms A and C for various filtering levels and choice of auroral region. We find that the low‐latitude FACs show the strongest correlations for a broad range of magnetic local time centered on dawn and dusk, with a higher correlation coefficient on the dusk side and lower correlations near noon and midnight. The positions of maximum correlation are sensitive to the level of low‐pass filter applied to the data, implying temporal influence in the data. This study clearly reflects the two different domains of FACs: small‐scale (some tens of kilometers), which are time variable, and large‐scale (>50 km), which are rather stationary. The methodology is deliberately chosen to highlight the locations of small‐scale influences that are generally variable in both time and space. We may fortuitously find a potential new way to recognize bursts of irregular pulsations (Pi1B) using low‐Earth orbit satellites

Exploration of the Inhibitory Properties of the Nucleoside Antibiotic Salicyl-AMS and Analogues Targeting Siderophore Biosynthesis in \u3ci\u3eMycobacterium tuberculosis\u3c/i\u3e

Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) is a resilient, obligate bacterial pathogen responsible for pulmonary tuberculosis disease (TB), that has upheld a significant impact on global public health throughout history. The World Health Organization (WHO) approximates nearly 10 million new TB cases arose in 2017 alone, accounting for 1.6 million deaths. There has been a notable rise in TB cases produced by multidrug‑resistant (MDR) and extensively drug-resistant (XDR) strains of Mtb. This, along with the intrinsic resistance of Mtb to many standard drugs and poor patient compliance, is deeply impacting global control of TB. Among the several strategies currently in place to progressively reduce TB burden, research into the development of novel anti-TB drugs is vital for both treatment and prevention. In pursuit of investigating novel drugs against Mtb, the first-in-class nucleoside antibiotic salicyl-AMS (5′-O-[N-salicylsulfamoyl]-adenosine) was characterized. Salicyl-AMS is an inhibitor of the salicylate adenylation enzyme MbtA, required for the initial step towards biosynthesis of the small molecule, iron-scavenging siderophore metabolites known as the mycobactins (MBTS). Salicyl-AMS was shown to inhibit MbtA activity, diminish production of MBTS, and display antimicrobial activity against Mtb. Though salicyl-AMS reduced the burden of Mtb in a mouse model of infection, it demonstrated a poor pharmacological profile. Here, we evaluated two novel salicyl-AMS analogues to further probe the structure activity relationship (SAR), alongside salicyl-AMS and six of the most potent previously reported analogues, in both biochemical and cell-based studies. In pursuit of this, we optimized the purification of a recombinant MbtA and the conditions of the continuous, spectrophotometric HA-MesG assay to improve the methodological platform for the study of MbtA inhibition. The new recombinant MbtA (H10MbtAopt) protein was used in conjunction with the improved HA-MesG assay to determine enzyme kinetic parameters (Km and kcat) and measure the intrinsic inhibition (Ki) by salicyl-AMS. Biochemical studies of the nine MbtA inhibitors included determination of kinetic parameters (Kiapp, konapp, koff, and tR) and analysis of their mechanism of inhibition. Additionally, we developed a non-pathogenic, fast-growing Mycobacterium smegmatis model engineered for susceptibility to MbtA inhibitors. The model strain was dependent on the MbtA from Mtb for production of MBTS and used to evaluate antimicrobial properties (MIC and PAE) of the nine analogues. In all, these studies expand our understanding of the mechanism of inhibition of MbtA by these inhibitors, expose new SAR insights into this family of nucleoside antibiotics, and highlight several candidates for future preclinical evaluation