An exploration of ebook selection behavior in academic library collections

Academic libraries have offered ebooks for some time, however little is known about how readers interact with them while making relevance decisions. In this paper we seek to address that gap by analyzing ebook transaction logs for books in a university library

Get a GRIP on Comprehension

Durkin\u27s research (1978-79) has indicated that much more time is spent testing reading comprehension than teaching it. Consequently, all reading comprehension skills need to be taught by the teacher to the students in the classroom. Since making inferences is a necessary comprehension skill when reading across the curriculum (Gordon, 1985), it also must be taught. However, many children find it difficult to make inferences because they are required not only to derive a conclusion from the facts or premises found in their reading materials, but in many cases, they must go beyond the text to their own knowledge and experiences for information. Thus, prior knowledge which student bring to the text, as well as their sensitivity to the text information, are essential aspects of inferential comprehension

Microdeletion of target sites for insulator protein CTCF in a chromosome 11p15 imprinting center in Beckwith-Wiedemann syndrome and Wilms' tumor

We have analyzed several cases of Beckwith-Wiedemann syndrome (BWS) with Wilms' tumor in a familial setting, which give insight into the complex controls of imprinting and gene expression in the chromosome 11p15 region. We describe a 2.2-kbp microdeletion in the H19/insulin-like growth factor 2 (IGF2)-imprinting center eliminating three target sites of the chromatin insulator protein CTCF that we believe here is necessary, but not sufficient, to cause BWS and Wilms' tumor. Maternal inheritance of the deletion is associated with IGF2 loss of imprinting and up-regulation of IGF2 mRNA. However, in at least one affected family member a second genetic lesion (a duplication of maternal 11p15) was identified and accompanied by a further increase in IGF2 rnRNA levels 35-fold higher than control values. Our results suggest that the combined effects of the H19//GF2-imprinting center microdeletion and 11p15 chromosome duplication were necessary for manifestation of BWS

Engineering an endocrine Neo-Pancreas by repopulation of a decellularized rat pancreas with islets of Langerhans

Decellularization of pancreata and repopulation of these non-immunogenic matrices with islets and endothelial cells could provide transplantable, endocrine Neo- Pancreata. In this study, rat pancreata were perfusion decellularized and repopulated with intact islets, comparing three perfusion routes (Artery, Portal Vein, Pancreatic Duct). Decellularization effectively removed all cellular components but conserved the pancreas specific extracellular matrix. Digital subtraction angiography of the matrices showed a conserved integrity of the decellularized vascular system but a contrast emersion into the parenchyma via the decellularized pancreatic duct. Islets infused via the pancreatic duct leaked from the ductular system into the peri- ductular decellularized space despite their magnitude. TUNEL staining and Glucose stimulated insulin secretion revealed that islets were viable and functional after the process. We present the first available protocol for perfusion decellularization of rat pancreata via three different perfusion routes. Furthermore, we provide first proof-of-concept for the repopulation of the decellularized rat pancreata with functional islets of Langerhans. The presented technique can serve as a bioengineering platform to generate implantable and functional endocrine Neo-Pancreata

Research Implications for Improving Basal Skill Instruction

We recommend that teachers teach basal skill lessons prior to reading the stories or text regardless of the placement of basal skill lesson instructional directives in the teacher\u27s manual. By teaching skills prior to reading, students gain necessary reading skills in preparation for reading rather than learning reading skills after reading only to be applied to worksheets. Aside from theory and research, common sense dictates that if reading skills are learned to help one successfully read a text, then reading skill instruction should preced the text reading

Do You Want to Know What I Learned? Using Informational Trade Books as Models to Teach Text Structure

A brief narrative description of the journal article, document, or resource. Informational text is an important resource for classroom teachers that places unique comprehension demands on young students. Research on teaching expository text structure to young children shows that explicit instruction improves student comprehension. This practical article addresses how to use well-structured expository trade book titles to teach text structure. A lesson plan template and an extended example of an explicit lesson on order/sequence are provided

Using text structures of information books to teach writing in the primary grades

Teaching children in the primary grades the text structures and features used by authors of information text has been shown to improve comprehension of information texts and provide the scaffolding and support these children need in order to write their own information texts. As teachers implement the English Language Arts Common Core State Standards (CCSS), they will need support and training on how to meet these increased curricular demands. In this article, we describe how children’s information books can be used as exemplars of well-structured text models to teach young students how to write selected discourse patterns required in the CCSS. As children in the primary grades learn to recognize and use well-structured example information texts as models for their own writing, they will be better prepared to deal with less well-structured, more complex text examples in their reading and writing in the years to come

Enhancing alphabet knowledge instruction: Research implications and practical strategies for early childhood educators

Alphabet knowledge is consistently recognized as the strongest, most durable predictor of later literacy achievement. Recent research offers practical implications for increased effectiveness of teaching alphabet knowledge to young children. In this article, we outline Enhanced Alphabet Knowledge instruction (EAK), a method of practical instruction that early childhood teachers can use to organize, plan, and teach the essential skills of alphabet knowledge. EAK emphasizes identifying the letter name and sound, recognizing the letter in text, and producing the letter form, through flexible, distributed cycles of review based on factors that influence acquisition of alphabet knowledge

Discovering the Unfindable: The Tension Between Findability and Discoverability in a Bookshop Designed for Serendipity

Serendipity is a key aspect of user experience, particularly in the context of information acquisition - where it is known as information encountering. Unexpectedly encountering interesting or useful information can spark new insights while surprising and delighting. However, digital environments have been designed primarily for goal-directed seeking over loosely-directed exploration, searching over discovering. In this paper we examine a novel physical environment - a bookshop designed primarily for serendipity - for cues as to how information encountering might be helped or hindered by digital design. Naturalistic observations and interviews revealed it was almost impossible for participants to find specific books or topics other than by accident. But all unexpectedly encoun-tered interesting books, highlighting a tension between findability and discoverability. While some of the bookshop’s design features enabled information en-countering, others inhibited it. However, encountering was resilient, as it occurred despite participants finding it hard to understand the purpose of even those features that did enable it. Findings suggest the need to consider how transparent or opaque the purpose of design features should be and to balance structure and lack of it when designing digital environments for findability and discoverability

Nichtinvasives Temperaturmonitoring mit der Magnetresonanz-Tomographie bei medizinischen Thermotherapien mit fokussiertem Ultraschall oder Laser

Die Temperaturdarstellung mit der Magnetresonanz-Tomographie (MRT) basiert auf Änderung der longitudinalen Relaxationszeit (T1), des Diffusionskoeffizienten (D) oder der Protonenresonanz-frequenz (PRF). Neue Hyperthermieverfahren zur Tumortherapie basieren auf hochenergetischem fokussiertem Ultraschall (HIFU) oder Laserinduzierter Thermotherapie (LITT). Für diese Verfahren ist eine genaue Kontrolle der Erwärmung mit Temperaturmessverfahren erforderlich. Das Ziel dieser Arbeit war die Entwicklung, Optimierung und Analyse der drei unterschiedlichen Methoden (T1, D, PRF) der MR-unterstützten Temperaturüberwachung. Die Messungen in idealen Phantomen wie Ultraschallgel zeigten in Übereinstimmung mit der Literatur eine prozentuale Änderung der Diffusionskoeffizienten von 2,22 /°C, der T1-Relaxationszeit von 1,98 /°C und der PRF von -0,0101 ppm/°C. Aus der inversen Darstellung der Datensätze über den gesamten Kalibrierungsbereich wurde die Temperaturauflösung ermittelt (T1:2,1°C; D:0,93°C; PRF:1,4°C). Es konnten Effekte wie Phasenshift, hot spots, Karbonisierung oder Nekrosen überprüft werden. Die implementierten MR-Pulssequenzen hatten eine minimale Zeitauflösung von 1s (D), 2s (T1) und 9,7s (PRF). Tierexperimente (Hund ex-vivo, Kaninchen in-vivo) zeigten, dass Temperaturmonitoring für eine lokale Erwärmungskontrolle bei HIFU oder LITT möglich ist, und dass Applikatoren im MR-Tomographen zu keiner wesentlichen Beeinträchtigung der Bildqualität führen. Die Diffusionsmethode ist begrenzt durch ihre die verlängerte Echozeit und die Anisotropie des Gewebes. Die Diffusionsmethode und die PRF-Methode sind nicht in Fettgewebe anwendbar. Beste Temperatursensitivität erreicht die PRF-Methode. Auf Grundlage dieser Ergebnisse kann die T1- oder PRF-Methode für das Temperaturmonitoring bei Thermotherapien am Menschen empfohlen werden. In einer ersten klinischen Anwendung konnte durch die T1-Methode eine Therapie mit HIFU am Brusttumor erfolgreich appliziert werden