Addressing Reading Fluency of Students with Intellectual Disabilities Using A Multiple Probe Design

Despite making up less than one percent of the student population, students with significant intellectual disabilities have the same rights to receive the best education possible as their typical peers. There is currently a paucity of research regarding effective reading instruction within a comprehensive approach, particularly in the area of reading fluency. The purpose of this study was to investigate if there was a functional relation between repeated reading and choral reading and the words correct per minute of six high school students with significantintellectual disabilities. Additionally, the extent to which fluency impacts reading comprehension was also examined. Five of six participants demonstrated an increase of words correct per minute from baseline to treatment. Non-parametric measures of effect indicate no effect as a whole and weak to medium effect for each participant. Four of six participants improved their mean reading comprehension score during treatment

Reading Fluency Instruction of Students with Cognitive Disabilities Using a Multiple Probe Methodology

Despite making up less than one percent of the student population, students with significant cognitive disabilities have the right to receive the best education possible. There is currently a paucity of research regarding effective reading instruction within a comprehensive approach, especially in the area of fluency. The purpose of this investigation was to determine if there was a functional relation between repeated reading and choral reading and the word correct per minute oral reading of six high school students with significant cognitive disabilities. Additionally, the extent to which fluency impacts reading comprehension was also examined. Five of six participants demonstrated an increase of words correct per minute from baseline to treatment. Non-parametric measures of effect indicate no effect as a whole and weak to medium effect for each participant. Four of six participants improved their mean reading comprehension score during treatment

Evaluating Preservice Special Education Candidates’ Comfort Level Implementing High Leverage Practices

Special education teachers are presented with numerous demands within the classroom and must have a specific skill set to adequately address diverse needs. Therefore, 22 high leverage practices (HLPs) for special education teachers were established. This study assessed the impact of a semester of teaching the HLPs, including a final project requirement, on senior teacher candidates’ comfort level implementing the HLPs. Results indicate that the explicit teaching of the HLPs, required project, and practicum led to the students’ increased comfort implementing the HLPs. Additionally, the authors reviewed data gathered and used it to explore their university’s current curriculum to determine where, when, and how the department was teaching the HLPs

State of counseling and psychology research in the Philippines

This archival study reviews two decades’ worth of published counseling and psychology researches in the Philippines beginning in 1999, with the aim of determining the prevalent themes in counseling and psychology research. A total of 413 scholarly published papers were surveyed. The results indicate that the major theme of counseling and psychology research in the Philippines is in the area of Personality Psychology, where these studies investigated various personality variables, how they relate with other variables, how these affect human behaviour and mental processes, and their implications for intervention. On the other hand, the least number of researches were about describing or improving the process of the conduct of psychological research. Overall, there appears to have a variety of themes in psychology and counseling research in the Philippines. The results of this study may be used as a springboard to determine future direction for psychology and counseling research in the country

Modellentwicklung für ein Entscheidungsunterstützungssystem für den optimalen Einsatz von Pestiziden in der Baumwollproduktion

In this thesis, we proposed and described well organized materials for the development of a Decision Support System aiming at the optimal allocation of pesticides in agriculture, given that resistance can develop in the target population, and pesticides environmental pollution, mainly water resources, can occur. These materials are a collection of mathematical sub-models, simulating the dynamics of crops and pests and the environmental fate of pesticides. Different mathematical approaches were used: continuous time models in the form of ordinary differential equations for the growth of cotton crop and for the kinetics of insecticides; in the form of partial differential equations for the spatial spread of pests and pesticides in soil and a discrete time model for population dynamics of age and stage structured populations. For the cotton crop dynamics sub-model, parameter estimation was carried out based on literature data. The Decision Support System was then constructed by integrating the sub-models. The models were implemented in the numerical programming environment Matlab. For the solutions of the partial differential equations, the finite elements tool COMSOL Multiphysics was used. Various tests were carried out to verify the model behavior for plausibility: syntax check, stress tests with extreme parameters values and comparison with measured data. The behavior of the model with respect to parameters variations followed expected trends. Using a suitable objective function, control measures were evaluated including economic criteria with fictive environmental costs. The application of the integrated model to the development of better management practices for the control of the cotton pest Helocoverpa armigera in the growing areas of Burkina Faso led to substantial modifications of the usual practical method. However, more tests and applications are necessary in different production areas to effectively transfer the method presented here to other crops and pests.In dieser Arbeit beschreibe ich die Entwicklung eines Entscheidungsunterstützungs-Systems mit dem Ziel der optimierten Verwendung von Pestiziden in der Landwirtschaft, um das Risiko für das Auftreten von Resistenzen bei den Zielorganismen und die Verschmutzung von Wasserressourcen zu minimieren. Die dafür verwendeten Methoden sind eine Sammlung mathematischer Teilmodelle für die Simulation der Dynamik von Kulturpflanzen und Schädlingen und des Umweltverhaltens von Pestiziden. Dabei wurden unterschiedliche mathematische Ansätze verwendet: zeitkontinuierliche Modelle in Form eines Systems von gewöhnlichen Differentialgleichungen für das Wachstum von Baumwollkulturen und für die Kinetik von Insektiziden und in Form von partiellen Differentialgleichungen für die räumliche Ausbreitung von Schädlingen und Pestiziden in Böden sowie ein zeitdiskretes Modell für die Populationsdynamik von alters- und stadienstrukturierten Populationen. Die Teilmodelle wurden separat getestet, um sie zu verifizieren. Für das Teilmodell für die Bestandesdynamik von Baumwolle konnte anhand von Literaturdaten eine Parameteridentifikation durchgeführt werden. Das Entscheidungsunterstützungs-System ergab sich dann aus der Integration der Teilmodelle. Die Modelle wurden in die numerischen Programmierumgebung Matlab implementiert. Für die Lösung der partiellen Differentialgleichungen wurde das Finite-Elemente-Tool COMSOL Multiphysics verwendet. Verschiedene Tests wurden durchgeführt, um das Modellverhalten auf Plausibilität zu überprüfen: Syntaxprüfung, Stresstests mit extremen Parameterwerten und Vergleich mit Messdaten. Das Verhalten des Modells in Bezug auf die Parameter-Variationen folgte den erwarteten Trends. Anhand einer geeigneten Zielfunktion, die ökonomische Kriterien mit fiktiven Umweltkosten verknüpft, wurden Kontrollmaßnahmen bewertet. Die Anwendung des integrierten Modells auf die Entwicklung optimaler Managementverfahren zur Bekämpfung des Baumwollschädlings Helocoverpa armigera im Anbaugebiet von Burkina Faso führte zu erheblichen Modifikationen der praxisüblichen Verfahren. Jedoch sind mehr Tests und Anwendungen in verschiedenen Anbaugebieten notwendig, um die hier vorgestellte Methode effektiv auf andere Kulturen und Schädlinge zu übertragen

Optimización de las acciones realizadas por la Red de Salud Valle del Mantaro para la reducción de la anemia infantil

Esta investigación se titula “Optimización de las acciones realizadas por la Red de Salud Valle del Mantaro para la reducción de la anemia infantil”. Su elaboración estuvo enfocada en optimizar la eficacia de las acciones realizadas por la Red de Salud Valle del Mantaro para la reducción de la anemia infantil. La priorización de dicho objetivo obedece a que la prevalencia de la anemia infantil constituye un problema de salud pública que oscila entre moderado y severo tanto a nivel nacional como departamental (igual a 38,8 % a nivel nacional, a 45,6 % en Junín, y a 42,8 % en la RSVM); esto a pesar del paquete de políticas e intervenciones desplegado por el Estado. Para la consecución del objetivo antes mencionado se formuló una propuesta de implementación comprendida por tres productos, estos son: (a) Programa de fortalecimiento y promoción de los servicios orientados al desarrollo de prácticas familiares saludables desplegados por la Red de Salud Valle del Mantaro; (b) Programa de fortalecimiento y promoción de los servicios de diagnóstico y tratamiento de parasitosis intestinal infantil desplegados por la Red de Salud Valle del Mantaro; y (c) Programa de promoción de un espacio de articulación intersectorial orientado a garantizar acciones sinérgicas contra la anemia infantil en la Red de Salud Valle del Mantaro. Es preciso señalar que, buscando favorecer a la optimización de la eficacia de las acciones realizadas por la Red de Salud Valle del Mantaro para la reducción de la anemia infantil, el primer producto antes mencionado hace énfasis en las sesiones tanto de grupos de apoyo como demostrativas de preparación de alimentos; el segundo, en las consultas ambulatorias y la orientación familiar; y el tercero, en la articulación entre los gobiernos locales, la RSVM, y la sociedad civil. Finalmente, en lo que respecta a la metodología, la tesis se configuró como un Trabajo de Investigación Aplicada (TIA). En consecuencia, habiéndose dado prioridad a los resultados, se propusieron intervenciones dentro del ámbito de la gerencia pública fundamentadas en la evidencia disponible

Influence of Emotion Regulation on Pre-service Teachers’ Mental Well-being and Interpersonal Relationships

This study aims to determine the two emotion regulation strategies—cognitive reappraisal or expressive suppression—used by pre-service teachers enrolled in Philippine Normal University, and examine its relationship with their mental well-being and interpersonal relationships. This study utilized quantitative correlational research design by administering an online survey that contains three questionnaires: Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ) to determine what emotion regulation strategy is frequently used, Warwick-Edinburg Mental Well-Being Scale (WEMWBS) to determine the state of their well-being, and the Functional Idiographic Assessment Template-Questionnaire-Short Form (FIAT-Q—SF) to determine their levels of interpersonal relationship and functioning problems. The results of this study shows that frequent use of expressive suppression leads to lower levels of mental well-being and higher levels of interpersonal relationships and functioning problems, while more frequent use of cognitive reappraisal results in higher levels of mental well-being, but shows no significance or causation to interpersonal relationship and functioning problems. It can be concluded that the majority of pre-service teachers use cognitive reappraisal as their emotion regulation strategy more frequently as it was found to be significantly associated with their mental well-being levels, but was insignificant in producing interpersonal relationship difficulties. Furthermore, expressive suppression displayed more respondents with severe levels of interpersonal relationship difficulties than those who more frequently use cognitive reappraisal. The results are further discussed in light of its implications to the pre-service teachers’ well-being and mental health

Indirect evidence for the genetic determination of short stature in African Pygmies

Central African Pygmy populations are known to be the shortest human populations worldwide. Many evolutionary hypotheses have been proposed to explain this short stature: adaptation to food limitations, climate, forest density, or high mortality rates. However, such hypotheses are difficult to test given the lack of long‐term surveys and demographic data. Whether the short stature observed nowadays in African Pygmy populations as compared to their Non‐Pygmy neighbors is determined by genetic factors remains widely unknown. Here, we study a uniquely large new anthropometrical dataset comprising more than 1,000 individuals from 10 Central African Pygmy and neighboring Non‐Pygmy populations, categorized as such based on cultural criteria rather than height. We show that climate, or forest density may not play a major role in the difference in adult stature between existing Pygmies and Non‐Pygmies, without ruling out the hypothesis that such factors played an important evolutionary role in the past. Furthermore, we analyzed the relationship between stature and neutral genetic variation in a subset of 213 individuals and found that the Pygmy individuals' stature was significantly positively correlated with levels of genetic similarity with the Non‐Pygmy gene‐pool for both men and women. Overall, we show that a Pygmy individual exhibiting a high level of genetic admixture with the neighboring Non‐Pygmies is likely to be taller. These results show for the first time that the major morphological difference in stature found between Central African Pygmy and Non‐Pygmy populations is likely determined by genetic factors. Am J Phys Anthropol, 2011. © 2011 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/86961/1/21512_ftp.pd

Effects of insulin-like growth factor-1 on retinal endothelial cell glucose transport and proliferation

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/65813/1/j.1471-4159.2001.00325.x.pd