Low Phonemic Awareness Skills Among Disadvantaged Families Dissertation

Low Phonemic Awareness Skills Among Disadvantaged Families - Dissertation Example Empirical research into language use shows that there exists a wide gap between language use among children from well up families and those from economically disadvantaged families. Most children from disadvantaged families have low phonemic skill awareness compared to those from well up families. The purpose of this research is to identify ways in which the problem of phonemic awareness among children from poor background. The research will use a sample of 50 students from whom phonemic awareness skills will be evaluated. To provide credible conclusions and recommendations, this research will take a quantitative approach. Previous Research Phonemic awareness is a topic that has garnered a lot of attention among researchers in the recent past, owing to the persistent language problem that has indicated phonemic awareness weakness among many students in institutions. Dickinson and McCabe (2004) researched on the existence of phonological problems among children with a bilingual orient ation. The deduction of this statistical survey is that there indeed exist numerous factors that contribute to weakness in language among these students. Among these factors, Dickinson and McCabe (2004) identified that the standards of living played a key role in determining the success of language learning among children. Although this research was not directly designed on measurement of poverty levels, it was possible to outline the link between educated parents and a better economic social status (Koutsoftas, Harmon & Gray, 2009). The major conclusion of this research was that children who were fostered by learned parents had a better phonemic expression. Nichols et al (2004) found that Latino children and children from low socioeconomic backgrounds are more likely to fail to develop phonemic awareness and concepts in print owing to the fact that they lack preschool experience, causing them to lag behind when compared to children from different ethnicities and better socioeconomi c backgrounds. Latino children are at risk because English is not their first language meaning that they will categorize phonemes in their primary language as that is how their linguistic minds are programmed. Children from these categories are seen to either lack the prior knowledge or misunderstand the instructional discourse, along with the language of the text and teacher, resulting in delayed acquisition of crucial concepts that are in print (McGee & Ukrainetz, 2009). Notably also, findings from this study indicated that gender was not linked to development of phonemic awareness. These students require instructional intervention that looks into their needs and in a broader perspective. McDowell et al (2007) found that children, who undergo early reading challenges, receive less practice than other children, miss opportunities to develop reading comprehension strategies and are likely to have a negative attitude towards reading. Callaghan and Madeleine (2012) attributed the diff erence in phonemic awareness between children from low socio-economic backgrounds and their peers from high or middle socio-economic backgrounds to varying levels of emergent literacy. This variability is in turn explained by previous home environments, level of oral language and provision of good early intervention programs. In contrast, Neuman and Dickinson (2011) suggest that genetic predispositions

U07d1 Statistics and Information Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

U07d1 Statistics and Information - Essay Example Regression differs from correlation - which establishes whether there is any association between two variables (Chatterjee and Hadi, p. 24). In the case of health care industry, this analysis has a major role and is used in several different aspects like the study of diabetic indicators. This method has been used in order to examine the relationships between different medical issues like blood pressure and diabetes and other possible issues. Correlation analysis: Correlation refers to the degree of association between two variables. When two variables are said to be correlated, it indicates that there is a relationship or a pattern in the movement of the two variables. However, correlation does not indicate causation, i.e., the cause of movement of the variable. In other words, when two variables of correlated, it does not necessarily mean that the change in one variable is responsible or is the cause of change in the other variable (Downing and Clark, 178). In the case of health care industry, correlation analysis can be used to learn the differences between the percentage change of the visceral AT and also the changes in terms of the changes in the AT (Cowel, 2007). T-tests: This is a test that helps in addressing the issues of credibility. Here the process is very simple where the mean values for the groups are divided by the dispersion of the differences and the results are the T – Test ratio. Considering the health care industry, it is important to note that this method has a major role in the health care and is one of the best ways to bring out the incorrect and wrong claims (Downing & Clark, 2010). For instance the claims that a certain food or medicine brings down the blood sugar of a person. This can be tested by the t tests and helps attain a truthful response of the effectiveness of the food or drug. (Horton, 2009) Analysis of variance: This is one of the statistical methods to

Essay about American Industrialization Essay Example for Free

Essay about American Industrialization Essay Industrialization between 1865 and 1920 had many different effects on American life. In some ways, industrialization improved American life. However it also created problems in American society. There are several advantages and disadvantages to industrialization. In the decades following the Civil War the amount of factory jobs and city jobs increased. Rural populations decreased as urbanization increased. (See Document 1) Education rates and steel production rates also increased during this time period. The growth of railroads made transportation easier and more available to the public. John D. Rockefeller argued that industrial combinations, such as trusts and monopolies, were a benefit to industry. (See Document 6) He stated that through industrial combinations a business could expand its markets, while producing low priced goods, and still making a profit for stockholders. Steel making entrepreneur, Andrew Carnegie, had donated much of his wealth to the building of public libraries and other charities. (See Document 7) There were several positive effects of industrialization on American society. Industrialization was also the cause for many problems in American society. With the rise of big business a huge gap was created between the rich and the poor. The rich business owners were very wealthy and always had the best of everything, while working man lived in poverty. (See Document 5) Many people worked in sweatshops for as little as 25 cents per day. (See Document 4) Workers organized into labor unions such as the Knights of Labor and the American Federation of Labor. Under these labor unions, workers fought for higher wages, shorter hours, and safer working conditions. (See Document 2) The huge amounts of wealth created by the hardships faced by the workers is why this time period of industrialization came to be known as the Gilded Age. Industrialization between 1865 and 1920 had improved the national economy and the life of business owners. However millions of Americans suffered from low wages and living in poverty. Industrialization had a major effect on all Americans.

Telomere Length and Telomerase Activity in Cancer

Telomere Length and Telomerase Activity in Cancer Conducted on the mean telomere length and the activity of telomerase in bone marrow samples to measure the survival and prognosis of B cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia and found that the patients with a mean telomere length under 6Kb correlated with high telomerase activity similarly the telomere length over 6Kb had a significant correlation with lower telomerase activity (Bechter and Eisterer et al, 1998). This study portrays that telomere length alone is not sufficient enough information to provide prognostic characteristic in cancer therapy but together with the activity of telomerase it is more useful in clinical medicine. Table 2: Mean telomere length and telomerase activity measured and detected in different types of cancer The telomere length for most cancers range from very low to higher than normal somatic cell telomere length. Telomerase activity was also detected in most cancers except in pediatric bone where certain types of bone cancers were did not show detectable telomerase activity (Remes and Norrback et al, 2000, Hiyama and Gollahon et al, 1996, Tasumoto and Hiyama et al, 2000, Sotillo-Pineiro and Sierrasesumaga et al, 2004, Sommerfeid and Meeker et al, 1996, Albanell and Engalhardt et al, 1997). However there are some problems with this technique that makes this topic debatable like for example each type of cancer is unique which make is harder to pick a biological marker that is universally reliable hence the telomerase activity for each type of cancer must be studied individually. Another issue is that this method used highly sensitive assays to obtain telomere length and telomerase activity which in return means that it is more susceptible to false positive results or false negative results. A false positive result can arise due to contaminated lymphocytes as a result of inflammation in the surrounding issues that have no malignant cancer spread may also show telomerase activity. To overcome this issue Kinoshita, et al suggested, in a study evaluating telomerase activity in bladder cancer, that telomerase assays should be performed after antibiotic treatment. False negative results on the other hand may arise from PCR taq polymerase inhibitors in the sample such as bile s alt, heparin and hemoglobin. A highly sensitive telomerase activity assay has been proposed by Yaku and Murashima, et al (2013) that includes the use of magnetic beads which enables the washing process of PCR products to remove any inhibiting contaminants from the samples and hereby limiting the detection of false negative results. What are the current methods of telomere detection? Table 3: Different technique used to measure telomere length and their advantages and disadvantages. There are many different assays that have been developed to measure the activity of telomerase though the most common method used is the telomeric repeat amplification protocol also known as the TRAP/PCR assay. Although this technique is more sensitive and rapid compared to the conventional assays TRAP assay is not suitable for diagnostic purposes in large clinical samples due to its high technicality, obtains time consuming stages and cannot provide reliable quantitative data however many modification of the TRAP assay has been constructed to achieve a better suitable and more efficient way to detect telomerase activity some of which include bioluminescent TRAP-ELIPA (Zu and He et al, 2002), real time quantitative TRAP or (RTQ-TRAP) (Hou and Xu et al, 2001) and the fluorescent TRAP assay (Table 3). On the other hand, several studies have demonstrated enzymatic amplification rather than PCR based amplification to determine telomerase activity such as the DNAzyme assay (Wang and Donov on et al, 2013) however although this assay showed higher sensitivity than the TRAP assay, the enzymes used in the assay are also prone to inhibitions by other biological molecules in the sample. A more indirect approach in detecting telomerase activity has also been carried out by measuring the components of telomerase such as the hTERT mRNA using RTQ-PCR. As the hTR component of telomerase is found in all types of cells whereas hTERT mRNA is only found in cells that express telomerase therefore due to the strong correlation between hTERT mRNA levels and telomerase activity it becomes the next ideal target for detecting telomerase activity and hence cancer. This method was evaluated in peritoneal disseminated cells of gastrointestinal cancers by Botchkina and Rivadeneira et al, (2008) and the study concluded that this method had 100% sensitivity and 100% negative predictive value hence have an important diagnostic value. Furthermore additional longitudinal studies on larger clinical samples are required to fully benefit from its clinical cancer diagnostic values nonetheless telomerase activity can be combined with present cytological diagnosis methods to make a more accurate diagnosis. Telomerase activity can also be used to detect poor prognosis and help identify those that have a more advantage of benefiting from adjuvant treatments and due to its biological marker properties it can also be useful in the development of anti-cancer therapies. Can telomere length be used to predict life expectancy? A study conducted on domestic dog breeds show that peripheral blood mononuclear cell telomere length is a strong predictor of average life span and the breeds with shorter telomere lengths were found to have an increase probability of deaths caused by cardiovascular diseases. The correlation of telomere length in domestic dogs shows similar telomere biology to humans including telomere length, attrition and absence of somatic cell telomerase activity in comparison to studies conducted in mice models (Fick and Fick et al, 2012). Mice have rodent telomeres which have a significantly different dynamics in contrast to human telomeres and are much longer with shorter life span, making it difficult to address whether or not telomere length can be used to predict life expectancy directly. However studies that have been conducted on mice also show that the rate of increasing short telomere length predicts longevity in mammals providing more evidence for the association between telomere lengt h and life expectancy (Vera and Jesus et al, 2012). As telomere shortening is inversely correlated with age which in return is very likely to correlate with age associated issues including lifespan. One of the largest family studies on telomere length in humans also reported a correlation between telomere length, aging and life span as well as a significant indication that telomere length is also influenced by genetics specifically from the paternal inheritance (Njajau and Cawthon et al, 2007). This study suggests the possibility that the genes that are controlling telomere length may also affect lifespan (Figure 5). Another more recent study conducted by Heidinger and Blount et al, (2011) on Zebra finches, measuring telomere lengths from nesting stage to various points of its natural lifespan producing the strongest available for the relationship between telomere length and life span. This study suggests that telomere length at early stages in life is a strong indicator of lifespan however as humans retain a higher life expectancy co mpared to zebra finches it’s harder to compare these findings to humans. Therefore similar studies should be carried out to evaluate the importance of early life telomere length and lifespan in humans. Figure 5 The mean telomere length in wild type( WT) mice and transgenic telomerase reverse transcriptase (TgTERT) mice both decreased with age whereas the amount of short telomeres measured increased with age (5A). This shows that telomere length is significatly negatively correlated with life span in mice similarly to the strong negative association between age and telomere length in humans supported by results obtained by Njajou et al (5B). There is a distinct market in the industry that includes various privet companies and clinics such as Life length, RepeatD and TeloMe, which are providing the public the ability to determine an individual’s biological age through measuring the length telomeres via blood tests. Most of these companies use flow-PCR, RTQ-PCR or Q-FISH to estimate telomere length however to be able to estimate an individual’s life expectancy is a debateable topic however there are various benefits that comes with obtaining information about how short or long ones telomere is like for example the biological age is an indicator of overall health status and essentially help people proceed a healthier life style with better understanding of how life style actions are effect aging process. It is important to take in to consideration that the telomere length tests that are currently available are not able to predict life span as it is effected by a wide range of factors than telomeres alone. More over these tests can be used to see if there in an improvement in the rate of biological aging and can even be used to monitor the prognosis of current treatments and help disease prevention however the uses of these tests in a clinical environment still requires further longitudinal research and understanding in more depth of telomeres and its involvement in different diseases than what is currently known. This includes more studies of how telomere length is affected during early stages of life and how the inherited and environmental factors affect telomere length. Is it possible to alter telomere length using modern technology or in the near future? Table 4: The population doublings and telomerase activity detected in pBabe, pBabest2 and pBabest2-AS infected BJ cells. The reconstructions of telomerase activity in normal neonatal human fibroblast cell strain (BJ) which do not poses telomerase activity but however express the RNA subunit of telomerase complex (hTR) have been reported to display elongation of telomeres and extend replicative life span. The cells were infected with cDNA coding for hTERT sub-cloned in the retroviral vector pBabe, pBabest-2 and pBabest-2-As. The PBabest-2 under the control promotor of the Maloney Murine leukaemia long terminal repeat sense strand exceeded the normal estimated life span of BJ cells of 87-90 PDs and hence showing evidence for forced expression of telomerase activity results in extended life span (Vaziri and Benchimol et al, 1998). This study reveals that pBabest-2 cells can potentially replace genetically unstable cell lines through the expression of telomerase in gene therapy in order to treat age related diseases and cancer. Consequently other studies have shown that the inhibition of telomerase leads to telomere shortening and cell death and therefore can be used as anticancer drugs. Telomerase inhibiting drugs are currently under phase 2 of clinical trials and its effects on telomere shortening is reversible however the process of telomere shortening with inhibition requires a long period of time before a significant change in cell growth is seen due to the presence of the cells alternative telomere lengthening mechanisms (ATL) for maintaining telomeres. Figure 6 The HME50-5E cells underwent apoptosis against number of days after transfected with complementary 2’-O-MeRNA oligomer telomerase inhibitors. More than 50% of cells went under apoptosis after 100 days after the initial transfection (Herbert et al, 1999). Herbert and Pitts et al, 1999, reported that peptide nucleic acid (PNA) and 2-O-MeRNA oligomers inhibit the activity of hTR telomerase in immortal human cell lines HME50-5E and DU145 hence can be used as a potential chemotherapeutic drug (figure 6). The use of targeting telomerase in direct anticancer therapies also has its drawbacks as telomerase activity is also found in some somatic human cells that may also be targeted during treatment. Additionally a small minority of cancers have been reported to exhibit no significant telomerase activity therefore the treatment may not be as effective in certain cancers compared to others due to drug resistance. Another issue with this approach is that chemically related molecules may carry the risk if being unintentionally inhibited which could result in harmful side effects. Based on the research that that has been carried out on telomeres it is well established that telomere length can be easily manipulated however like in most biological pathways when the natural process are disrupted there are always positive and negative consequence. In this case involuntarily altering telomere length requires the manipulation of telomerase activity (Lee and Hills et al, 2013). The increase in telomerase activity has been associated with multiple different cancers which could therefore potentially increase the risk of developing cancer while reducing the risk of developing CHD and other diseases that are associated with telomere shortening. Furthermore additional studies are required to develop a more advanced technique that can alter telomere length and at the same time prevent or repress cancer. Alternatively a follow up study reported that a series of lifestyle changes such as plant based diet, moderate exercise, stress management and increased social support provided to men with low risk for prostate cancer, revealed an increase in relative telomere length in the intervention group compared to the controls after 5 years. This study shows a significant correlation between telomere length and lifestyle changes, indicating that telomere length can also be altered naturally by reducing the environmental risk factors associated with telomere shortening without having to interfere with telomerase activity (Ornish and Lin et al, 2013). Conclusion The discovery of telomeres and telomerase is without a doubt a major revolutionary step in the scientific field which has led to the understanding of biological age and its association with low mortality medical conditions such as CHD and Cancer. However there are still some structural aspects of telomeres and telomerase that are not fully understood, like for example telomere binding factors TRF1 and TRF2 have only a few studies which suggest that they are part of a telomere maintaining control mechanism (Smogorzewska and Steensel et al, 2000). Therefore these negative regulators can also be possibly targeted in therapies in the future as they have been found to be associated with telomerase activity and hence telomere shortening and eventually lead to programed death of cancerous cells through apoptosis. Although most telomerase inhibition drugs have failed due to long lag phase period before effective shortening of telomeres occur, it can still be used in combination with present chemotherapeutic drugs and provide a more efficiently induced cell death (Cerone and Londono-Vallejo et al, 2006). Moreover telomere length is an independent biomarker for assessing cardiovascular diseases therefore telomere length testing can be used in clinical medicine as a risk factor for early diagnosis faster than current biomarkers such as cholesterol levels. The future will undoubtedly point to new discoveries of how telomere and age related diseases are associated and help prevent them.

Distinctly Canadian :: essays research papers

Distinctly Canadian Canada, federated country of North America, bounded on the north by the Arctic Ocean; on the northeast by Baffin Bay and Davis Strait, which separate it from Greenland; on the east by the Atlantic Ocean; on the south by the United States; and on the west by the Pacific Ocean and Alaska. Canada is the world's second largest country, surpassed in size only by Russia. Canada has a total area of 9,970,610 sq. km (3,849,652 sq. mi), of which 755,180 sq. km (291,575 sq. mi) is covered by bodies of fresh water such as rivers and lakes (Canadian Encyclopaedia, 1988). Canada contains great reserves of natural resources, notably timber, petroleum, natural gas, metallic minerals, and fish. The name Canada is derived from an Iroquoian term meaning "village" or "community." In Canada we have many images, practices, and items that make us one of the best, younger countries in the world. In such a short time for a country to exist, we have many images that make us very culturally rich in everyway. Probably the most important images, practices, and items come for our friend, the American Indians (or Native Americans). They were a definite asset to Canada's cultural growth. The American Indians came into Canada in a series of migrations that occurred during the last stages of the Pleistocene Ice Age, Mongoloid peoples from Asia entered North America, probably crossing the Bering Strait. Gradually they spread over the continent and into South America. By 1600, more than 250,000 of their aboriginal descendants inhabited what is now Canada. Developing a Stone Age economy, they hunted, fished, and gathered food and, in warmer areas, also farmed. The basic social unit was the band, which varied from a few families to several hundred people. In areas of higher settlement density, bands were organized into tribes and even larger units. The largest linguistic group was the Algonquian, which included migratory hunting tribes such as the Cree and Naskapi in the eastern subarctic region and the Abenaki and Micmac in the eastern woodlands on the coast. By the 18th century, Algonquians had spread west, where Ottawa, Ojibwa, Blackfoot, Plains Cree, and others roamed the prairies and plains in search of buffalo. The Iroquoian speaking tribes the Huron and the Iroquois—lived in permanent farm settlements and had a highly developed tribal organization in the St. Lawrence Valley and around Lakes Ontario and Erie (Canadian Encyclopaedia, 1988). Tribes of Salishan, Athabascan, and other linguistic groups occupied fishing villages along the rivers of interior British Columbia. On the Pacific coast, Salishan tribes, such as the Bellacoola, and related Wakashan-speaking tribes—the Kwakiutl and Nootka—developed a rich culture, based on salmon fishing,

Blink-182 :: essays research papers

Blink-182 The legend that is blink-182 started way back in 1992, by Mark Hoppus (bass, vocals), Tom Delonge (guitar, vocals) and Scott Raynor (drums). Origionally just called blink, they were forced to change their name when an Irish techno band also called blink threatened to sue them. Although there are countless rumours of what the 182 stands for, ranging from the number of times certain words are said in movies to numbers that relate to where they live to the number of times that they have performed various sexual acts, the truth is that it is really just a number that they choose pretty much at random and thought sounded good. Mixing fast, melodic punk with brutally honest, from the heart lyrics, they convert almost everyone who hears their music to fans. In 1995, they released their first full album, Cheshire Cat. Dude Ranch followed in 1997, and this was the first album to gain widespread commercial success. Scott left the band this year to go back to college, and he was replaced by Travis Barker, previously of the Aquabats. The change from Scott to Travis was made easier by the fact that they had been friends with Travis for a while already and he already knew most of their songs. They have always spent a lot of time touring in the surf/skate/punk scene, with bands such as NOFX, Pennywise, Less than Jake and the Vans Warped Tour. Around the end of 98, blink decided to stop touring and started work on their next album, Enema of the State. This gained even more commercial exposure than Dude Ranch, and helped expose the band to whole new groups of listeners. And the reasoning behind the title? According to Mark Hoppus, "In order to maintain good health, your body must be able to eliminate food and bodily waste. Your colon, together with your lungs, skin and kidneys are designed to accomplish this essential task by elimination of toxins in the intestines, blood and lymph systems." Continues Tom Delonge, "the process of digestion from ingestion of food to defecation, normally takes between 12 to 24 hours assuming that the colon is fully functional and non-toxic.

An Overview of Krispy Kreme Doughnuts Inc

Krispy Kreme Doughnuts Inc. specializes in retail donut market and was founded in 1937 in North Carolina. Today, there are over 400 stores which employ 3,900 employees in 45 states and 4 countries. The company produces about 7.5 million donuts each day. The company is one of the leading producers of donuts and is ranked 4th of the top 100 chains in the U.S. (standing as of 2004). The company owns and franchises Krispy Kreme doughnut shops and sells over 20 different kinds of doughnuts, including its Hot Original Glazed variety. Today, the company faces some significant challenges: Employees are suing the company over mismanagement of retirement funds Changes in eating habits have affected the company†s revenue In May of 2004, the Krispy Kreme stock fell almost 18 % because of changes in dieting habits, particularly the low-carbohydrate phenomenon. The sale of packaged donuts dropped dramatically. The company claimed this was impacting sales but analysts were skeptical because doughnuts are not thought of as â€Å"part of a diet†, any diet. And changes in America†s eating habits, especially the health craze that seems to be the current pattern is likely to impact the sales of sugary and snack foods. Krispy Kreme doughnuts fall into both categories. Changes in senior management always make investors wary. In 2005, Stephen F. Cooper was named CEO replacing Scott A. Livengood, who has retired as Chairman of the Board, President and Chief Executive Officer and a director of the Company. He will become a consultant on an interim basis. Steven G. Panagos has been named President and Chief Operating Officer (press release, 2005). The company hopes this change will turn things around. In the company†s own words, â€Å"The Company also announced that the results for its fourth quarter ending January 30, 2005 have been, and may continue to be, adversely impacted by significant sales declines. For the eight weeks ended December 26, 2004, system wide and Company average weekly sales per factory store have decreased approximately 18% and 25%, respectively, compared to the corresponding weeks of the prior year. The quarter is also being adversely impacted by the substantial costs associated with the legal and regulatory matters previously disclosed. These factors may result in the Company experiencing a loss for the current quarter. KZC will work with the Company to review whether it should take certain operational actions, which could include the consolidation of store locations. Any such actions could result in substantial losses, although it is expected that any restructuring charges largely would be non- cash charges. The system wide average weekly sales per factory store, is a non-GAAP financial measure. System wide sales data include sales at all company and franchise stores. The Company believes system wide sales information is useful in assessing our market share and concept growth (press release, 2005). The company needs to change. One start may be to consider its offerings. Although the company was initially successful by making doughnuts, they may need to expand and also offer customers healthier choices, such as low-fat muffins and bagels. Although this will change the premise of their business it provides an opportunity for the company to gain new customers. Dunkin Donuts has successfully altered their offerings and so can Krispy Kreme. The company also needs to settle their regulatory and legal affairs so that the company†s reputation doesn†t continue to be negatively impacted. Once they have a clean slate, they should issue a press release assuring consumers that Krispy Kreme has dealt with its issues and is back on track. Addressing any quality control issues and consolidating where possible will also lend an air of credibility, especially to stockholders and potential investors. The company needs to put some significant checks and balances in place to prevent any additional financial scandals and prove that the goal of the company is to regain financial stability and profitability. The company also faces increasing competition and needs to set themselves apart. One way could be to develop a â€Å"healthier† doughnut-one that is lower in fat but retains the taste. Basically, the company needs an overhaul and having a new CEO is the best way to start. This is the perfect opportunity to implement change on every front. The biggest challenge facing the company is to make these changes as quickly and efficiently as possible to regain their competitive edge and name in the industry.