<p> In this study, the water quality of Sweet Briar Lake was tested to determine the trophic state of the lake and to determine if the lake can support aquatic organisms. Water samples were collected from two locations at different depths. Samples were collected once a month for six months. Six tests were conducted to help determine the trophic state and water quality of the lake. The tests conducted were nitrogen concentration, phosphorus concentration, Chlorophyll-a concentration, Secchi disc transparency, dissolved oxygen levels and water temperature. Total nitrogen at both locations ranged from 1.767 mg/L to 3.340 mg/L. Total phosphorus at both locations ranged from 0.086 mg/L to 0.724 mg/L. Chlorophyll-a concentrations at location 1 ranged from 0.0176 mg/L to 0.0412 mg/L and location 2 ranged from 0.00834 mg/L to 0.0147 mg/L. Secchi disc transparency at location 1 ranged from 0.4 m to 0.6 m and location 2 ranged 0.6 m to 1.75 m. Oxygen levels did not fall below 2 mg/L except at location 2, during the months of June and July. All tests indicated that Sweet Briar Lake was highly eutrophic to hypereutrophic. Oxygen levels in the lake are adequate to support aquatic organisms.</p><p>

Analogies and examples from students' experience are frequently cited as important to teaching conceptual material. However, little research has been done concerning the best use of concrete examples in attempts to remediate misconceptions. This study was conducted in order to explore the effects of an experimental analogical teaching method which uses a connected sequence of "bridging" analogies, compared with a more standard teaching-by-example technique. Both methods encouraged students to become actively involved. In both cases the target concept involved the common misconception that static objects are unable to exert forces. In two studies, an interviewing and a written instrument study, a total of 130 students interacted with a written explanation employing either the experimental or the more standard teaching technique. The control students worked through a description of Newton's third law based on a passage in a popular high school textbook and were given an explanation of how the law applies to the simple new example of a table pushing up on a book resting on the table. A number of the control students simply refused to believe this explanation. In addition to significant differences between student performance on post questions in favor of the experimental technique, qualitative analyses of student reasoning while interacting with the explanations indicated some important implications for instruction. In order for students to make sense of situations for which they have a misconception, they must draw on and extend existing helpful intuitions rather than simply memorizing counter-intuitive principles. To help students in this constructive effort, first, teachers need to be aware that certain examples they themselves find compelling may not be at all illuminating for the student. Second, even when an example has been found that is compelling to the student, it may not be seen as analogous to the target problem in the lesson, and the analogy relation may need to be developed explicitly. Finally, teachers need to keep in mind the goal of helping students develop visualizable, qualitative, mechanistic models of physical phenomena.

Includes abstract. / Includes bibliographical references. / In 2003, the South African Department of Education released its National Curriculum Statement for Schools, Grades 10–12 (General), for Life Sciences. The curriculum emphasises that scientific skills are best developed within the context of an expanding framework of knowledge. ESKOM Expos for Young Scientists (i.e., science talent quest competitions) provide such a context. The present study focuses on educational outcomes of selected 2007 Expo participants, namely, scientific skills (that is, process skills, scientific inquiry, problem solving and critical thinking skills) and Life Sciences knowledge, as well as on the opportunities the Expos provided for the students to develop such educational outcomes.

This study was conducted in a school in the Western Cape, South Africa situated in a community where learners came from difficult social backgrounds. Previous research has alluded to the challenges faced by teachers equipped with inadequate skills and a lack of effective modelling or mentoring to implement a formal curriculum that is outcomes-based and learner centred. The focus of the study was to uncover the enacted curriculum (and the underlying reasons for the enactment) of four Grade 10 Life Sciences Teachers. This multiple case study is based on data collection strategies that included video and audio-transcripts of the lessons as well as the use of additional relevant documents such as, for example, notes from lesson observations, and learner notebooks. These data were coded using NUDIST and then further analysed using the Pedagogic Content Knowledge (PCK) evidence-reporting table (PCK ERT). Interviews were conducted before the teaching events to allow for content representations (CoRes) to be developed. Overall the teachers lacked planning and the habit of reflection in and of practice. Hence video-stimulated interviews conducted after the teaching events allowed for Pedagogical and Professional experience Repertoires (PaP-eRs) to be developed in order to describe (from a teachers' perspective) what teachers did and why they did what they did. Teachers had varying backgrounds and experience and displayed very individualised and different enactments of the curriculum but they all used a consistent didactic approach in their teaching. The absence of teacher efficacy and the lack of integration of the PCK components limited the transformation of the content in any meaningful way and hence resulted in weak PCK. The relevance of PCK ERT as a descriptive framework for PCK in the context of this research is questioned on epistemic grounds. Factors identified that constrained the enacted practices of teachers included teachers' belief, orientation, poor Subject Matter Knowledge (SMK), school context and their perceptions of learners.

Professional criteria for assessing (a) the success and transferability of the programme and (b) the quality of the research evidence gathered from the Biology teachers and their learners in Cape Town, were adopted from a combination of the theoretical frameworks for INSET evaluation recommended by several authors, including the American National Science Standards (1996), Tamir (1997) and Oyasi &amp; Oyasi (2000). The post-workshop data indicated that educators enjoyed the practical activities, and were active in implementing a number of them with their classes in subsequent years. It further revealed that their confidence in engaging in practicalwork improved significantly. To verify or corroborate these findings, ten educators observed at from the 1999 course were interviewed from 2002 to 2005. One educator was observed at two different schools, with different socio-economic backgrounds. The interviews were transcribed and five of the educators were observed while they dealt with the practical activities learnt during this series of workshops. The visual data from the classroom observations, and the interviewswere further processed and compared to the quantitative statistical data. It was It was found that, of the eight schools, four well-resourced schools implemented the programme successfully. This was in terms of the number of practical activities from the course that had been transferred to the classroom. Three of the under-resourced schools, with larger classes, also implemented the course successfully. This was due to the skills and motivation which the educators gained whilst participating in this series of workshops. In two of the schools the high rate of vandalism and the heavy workload of the educators was excessive to the point that they could not implement the programme successfully.

Includes abstract. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 169-177). / The present study aimed to monitor the extent to which educators implement an outcomes-based environment in Grade 8 Natural Science classrooms in the Western Cape. The results from the current study in the Western Cape were compared to those collected in a matching study done by Aldridge, Laugksch, Seopa and Fraser (2006) in the Limpopo Province. The comparison is essential as it provides a general impression of the extent to which educators implement an outcomes-based learning environment in South Africa. This study is a replication study of research conducted by Aldridge, et al. (2006), and makes use ofa mixed-methods research approach. The nature of the study lent itself to large scale collection of quantitative data. Quantitative data were collected in the form of questionnaires. The questionnaires used, were developed by Aldridge, et al. (2006) and called the Outcomes-Based Learning Environment Questionnaire (OBLEQ). The OBLEQ was adapted for use in the Western Cape by translating the already existing questionnaire into Afrikaans and isiXhosa.

Preclinical Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) appears after a decade or more of brain degeneration and this is termed mild cognitive impairment (MCI). As it progresses, patients begin to lose their short term memory, motor skills and begin to become more disoriented and bed ridden. Thus, early diagnosis becomes paramount in preventing eventual disability. Individuals with MCI may have advanced brain degeneration and the presence of neuropsychiatric symptoms (NPS) may augment the progression to AD dementia compared to individuals without NPS. Of these NPS, depression is one of the main symptoms that greatly impacts quality of life but it is often overlooked and undertreated. The annual cost of pharmacologic treatments is rising and assessment tools for AD and depression are increasing as are rates of AD. It is crucial to execute compelling non-pharmacologic interventions that can be beneficial to the elderly population while acknowledging their endurance, fitness and enjoyment levels. Yoga is one such intervention that has been proven to improve depression and cognitive levels while simultaneously maintaining a positive and engaging atmosphere. Studies have found that consistent use of yoga can also increase GABA levels in the brain which serve to improve depression levels too. There have been no studies that have investigated the effects of yoga on depression in individuals with mild cognitive impairment. This proposed trial will be a randomized controlled study and it will compare the quality of depression symptoms in elderly individuals with MCI and depression in elderly individuals without MCI with a yoga intervention combined with walking and in a control group with walking alone. Several assessment tools will be utilized to evaluate the outcomes including the PHQ-9, GDS, HAM-D, and MoCA. The effect on sleep will also be measured as a secondary outcome. If yoga is able to improve depression levels, it may have an impact in reversing MCI, delaying progression to AD dementia, and a potentially deep impact on the financial and public health burden of AD. Furthermore, it can reduce the need for anti-depressants and other medications for depression and eliminate their potentially harmful side effects. If this study proves to be clinically significant, yoga can also be recommended as an efficient intervention by clinicians in individuals with mild cognitive impairment and depression.

INTRODUCTION: Heterotopic ossification is the formation of bone in the soft tissues of the body. It is an increasingly prevalent complication following certain fractures and major orthopedic surgeries. It leads to many complications, including swelling, redness, pain, and disability due to limited range of motion. Despite the prevalence of heterotopic ossification, the biological mechanisms responsible remain elusive. The current theory is that a stimulating event, such as musculoskeletal injury, releases a combination of circulating factors that promote heterotopic ossification, likely through the activation of the BMP-2 receptor is a primary pathway leading to heterotopic ossification. However, further research must confirm the underlying cellular and biochemical mechanisms. OBJECTIVES: To compare the development of ectopic bone formation with and without muscle injury and determine the molecular effects the musculoskeletal injury has on BMP2-induced ectopic bone formation at the genetic level. METHODS: Prx1/Ail2/Rag and Pax7/Ail2/Rag strains of mice were used in this study. Mice received two tamoxifen injections 48 hours apart, and surgery was performed following a one-month washout period. A gelatin sponge loaded with 0.1 µg of bone morphogenic protein 2 (BMP-2) was implanted in each hind limb against the femoral periosteum or intramuscularly, followed by muscle trauma to assigned animals by dropping a blunt mass. Mice were harvested on postoperative day (POD) 16, and radiographs, histological analysis, and quantitative polymerase chain reaction were performed on designated samples. RESULTS: In the injury condition, mineralized bone tissue was clearly seen on radiograph images of subjects POD 16. Histological analysis on the periosteal implant subjects POD 16 confirmed no cartilage tissue or chondrocytes in the no injury group. However, cartilage and possible ectopic bone formation were seen in the injury samples. Prrx1 and Acta2 expression were significantly higher in the injury and no injury conditions than in the control. Sox9 was expressed significantly higher in the no injury condition compared to the control. Finally, Acan, Sox9, Runx2, and DMP1 were all expressed higher when the implant was placed on the periosteal surface rather than intramuscularly in the no injury condition. CONCLUSIONS: The current study confirmed that gelatin sponge implants loaded with 0.1 µg of BMP2 and implanted on the periosteum and intramuscularly will induce ectopic bone growth. Muscle injury did affect the level of cartilage and ectopic bone formation. This demonstrates the additive effect musculoskeletal injury has on heterotopic ossification. The increased expression of Prrx1 confirms that Prrx1-expressing skeletal stem cells may contribute to ectopic bone formation. Higher Acta2 expression may be due to increased myofibroblasts following muscle injury or an unknown direct link between Acta2 and heterotopic ossification. Sox9 has been shown to activate the BMP signaling pathway known to promote heterotopic ossification. However, this link does not explain why there is only a significant increase in Sox9 expression in the no injury condition and no significant increase in BMP2 expression in any condition, nor Col10a1 and Acan. Further research is needed to confirm this study’s findings.

Since I came to Chinese mainland from Taiwan region for Investment in 1995, I found out different corporate behaviors between Chinese mainland-based and Taiwan-based enterprises in China’s domestic market. As a result, they may show different enterprise performance, which arouses my great research motivation. Through the analysis of the changes in global political, economic and financial environment, we compare the Chinese mainland-based enterprises and Taiwan-based enterprises in China’s domestic market, and find out the organizational differences between these two kinds of enterprises. These enterprises adopt different “competitive strategy” and “portfolio” based on their understanding of the exogenous variables, i.e., “external environment changes” and “international resource strengths” to maximize their “enterprise performance”. Mediator-based competitive strategies include cost position strategy, differentiation position strategy, resource leverage strategy and opportunity strategy; portfolio covers vertical-horizontal integration, equity ratio of direct investment, and number of direct investment projects; outcome variable-based enterprise performance includes profit rate, return on shareholders’ equity (ROE) and sales growth rate. Based on the corporate strategy, we distributed 60-question questionnaires to 14 industrial categories, 19 sample sub-groups, and collected 1,076 individuals of the sample, with a collection ratio of 32.75%, for 3,285 corporations by both paper and electronic, through a third party, of which 1,038 are valid, accounting for 96.47%. Among them, 445 were collected from Taiwan-based enterprises, accounting for 42.9%, and 593 were collected from Chinese mainland-based enterprises, accounting for 57.1%. Our analysis tool is SPSS, and analysis methods include descriptive statistical analysis, construct validity analysis, reliability analysis, correlation analysis, multiple regression analysis and cluster analysis. We set up 8 hypotheses and 56 sub-hypotheses, and draw the following conclusions through empirical analysis: H1: Changes in the external environment of an enterprise will affect the enterprise’s competitive strategy →Are supported. H2: The internal advantages of an enterprise will affect the enterprise’s competitive strategy →Are supported. H3: Changes in the external environment of an enterprise will affect the enterprise’s portfolio strategy → Are supported partially. H4: The internal advantages of an enterprise will affect the enterprise’s portfolio strategy →Are supported. H5: The competitive strategy of an enterprise will affect the enterprise’s enterprise performance → Are supported partially. H6: The portfolio strategy of an enterprise will affect the enterprise’s enterprise performance → Are supported partially. H7: The essence of an enterprise will affect the relationship between its competitive strategy and enterprise performance → Are supported partially. H8: The essence of an enterprise will affect the relationship between its portfolio strategy and enterprise performance →Are supported partially. Through cluster analysis, we find that different enterprises have different competitive strategies and portfolio strategies. Cluster analysis can not only explain the differences among different groups, but also identify different business synergies corresponding to different strategic choices of enterprises. Based on the results of Enterprise Performance assessment, we name business synergies according to the business form of each type of enterprise, so as to provide guidance and reference for other enterprises. This research develop a competitive strategy and portfolio fitting model, so call Yen Mu Chen Integrated Strategy Matrix Model ( YMC Model ). It is found that in the YMC Model, the 3×3 matrix can produce 9 strategies, which can be divided into three groups “ 2 3 4 Integrated Strategy Groups ” according to their differences in profit rate, ROE and sales growth rate: 1. Low Enterprise Performance Group: Type 1: Resources Foundation Type Type 4: Steadily Root-Planting Type 2. Moderate Enterprise Performance Group: Type 2: Concentrated Advantage Type Type 5: Profitability Upgrade Type Type 7: Resources Advancing Type 3. High Enterprise Performance Group:Type 3: Aggressively-Jump Challenging Type Type 6: Boundary Spanning Type Type 8: Stable Promoting Type Type 9: Industry Leading Type The Industry Leading Type will present the best performance in YMC Model. It is suggested that enterprises can maintain their strategic advantages to hold the leading position. We suggest enterprises to evaluate their own resource advantages, find out their competitive advantages and choose their portfolio strategies according to the external environment and their own position, and build the best decision-making model. Finally, theoretical and practical implications are provided for Chinese mainland-based and Taiwan-based enterprises in YMC Model. / Business Administration/Finance

Various factors have been reported to affect science learning outcomes, some of which are school, home and individual or self variables. A plethora of studies have been done in many countries in identifying and measuring relationships among perception of the science teacher, peer influence, home environment, parents' education level, classroom environment, ability, prior achievement, homework, amount of television watched, attitudes to science and science achievement. However, there are very few studies done in identifying the direction of causality in these relationships. A study of this nature has not previously been conducted in Singapore. Evidence for these directional links was sought in this study in the Singapore context. This study used causal modeling procedures to test causal inferences about hypothesized relationships among ability, prior achievement, motivation, peer influence, classroom environment, amount of television watched, home environment, parents' education level, student perception of the science teacher, homework, attitudes to science, and science achievement for a secondary-two (equivalent to grade 8) sample of Singaporean students. A model of educational productivity appropriate to the sociocultural context of Singapore was conceptualized and tested. The analysis showed that the data for both the gender groups did not contradict the model. This indicated the viability of the model. Attitudes to science affected achievement in science; the converse was not true. Neither was the relationship two-way. Prior achievement, ability, motivation, classroom environment, and attitudes to science emerged as the significant and consistent predictors of achievement in science. Hence, concerted efforts should be directed to raising the motivation level, improving the classroom environment, and enhancing the students' attitudes to science since these are the more alterable variables.