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The purpose of this study was to use a single subject research design to examine the effects of immediate feedback and delayed feedback within the Math to Mastery Intervention Package. The participants were 6 elementary school students who were performing approximately 1 year below grade level in math. A combined simple phase change design was used for the study. 3 of the students experienced the design in the A/B/A/C order, while the other 3 students experienced the design in a reversed order for B and C. During this study, ‘A’ represented the baseline phase and the return to baseline phase, ‘B’ represented the immediate feedback intervention phase, and ‘C’ represented the delayed feedback intervention phase. Each feedback phase was implemented separately for up to 4 weeks for each student. The final phase of intervention for each student included use of the most effective intervention condition after the student was exposed to both intervention feedback conditions. 2 weeks after the best intervention, follow-ups were conducted to determine if the students were able to maintain the skills that they were taught during the intervention. Results revealed that both intervention conditions were successful for addressing deficits in math academic performance. Improvement was seen for all 6 students with increases in digits correct per minute on single skill math worksheets, single skill math progress worksheets, and multiple skill math progress worksheets. Implications for school leadership within school settings are provided.

INTRODUCTION: Pubertal growth is an important time during development for bone accrual and attainment of peak bone mass. Suboptimal bone gain has been observed in females with reproductive abnormalities such as primary and secondary amenorrhea and these conditions are very prevalent in female athletes. Amenorrhea is associated with decreased estradiol levels. Previous research has shown that in prepubertal animals a low estrogen environment significantly decreased mechanical strength, but there was no significant loss in bone area and actually an increase in moment of inertia. The decrease in mechanical properties may be related to the microstructure of the bone. Two types of bone are involved in growth-- woven bone, which is added for structural support in the short term, and lamellar bone , which is highly organized and has a greater contribution to overall strength. We will test the hypotheses that suppressed estradiol will result in bones with no change in cortical area and decreased strength properties but will have a larger composition of non lamellar bone as opposed to lamellar bone. PURPOSE: The goal of this study was to determine the relative amounts of woven and lamellar tissue in a bone and the relationship with the bone's mechanical strength in two models of low estrogen-- pre- and post-pubertal onset. METHODS: Fifty-Five female Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly assigned into four groups: a control group (n=14) and three experimental groups injected with gonadotropin releasing-hormone antagonist (GnRH-a)-- the Dose 1 group was injected with 1.25 mg/kg/dose daily (n=14), the Dose 2 was injected with 2.5 mg/kg/dose daily (n=14), and the Dose 3 group was injected with 5.0 mg/kg/dose, 5 days per week (n=13). All groups were sacrificed at Day 49. Additionally, twenty-nine Sprague Dawley rats were randomly assigned into three groups. The baseline day 65 group (BL 65) was sacrificed on day 65 (n=9). There was an aged match control group that was sacrificed on day 90 (n=12). Finally, there was an AMEN experiment group injected with 2.5 mg/kg/dose daily that was sacrificed on day 90 (n=9). All experimental groups for both protocols received injections of gonadotropin releasing hormone antagonists (GnRH-a) (Zentaris GmbH) intraperitoneally. Left femora were mechanically tested under 3-point bending. The right femora were dehydrated, embedded in polymethylmethacrylate, cut and ground to 100 µm thickness. Bones were analyzed under polarized light using Stereo Investigator Software (MBF Bioscience, VT). The proportion of the cortex with primary lamellar vs. non-lamellar/other primary tissue type was measured and expressed as percent of the total cortical bone area. Outcome measures included lamellar endocortical area, lamellar periosteal area, cortical area, endocortical area, % lamellar area and % non-lamellar area. RESULTS: There was a significant decrease (p<.05) in the distribution of lamellar versus non-lamellar cortical tissue type in the experimental group in the model of delayed puberty. Additionally, the pre-pubertal bones had a lower percentage of lamellar periosteal and endocortical area. The post-pubertal group showed no significant differences between the control and experimental group in any of the outcome measures. CONCLUSION: There were significant differences in relative bone distribution throughout the femoral cortex. Relative decreases in lamellar tissue distribution, especially on the periosteal surface, will result in decreased mechanical strength due to increased percentage of woven bone in pre-pubertal models. / Kinesiology / Accompanied by one .pdf file: Lamellar/Woven Database.

Osteoporosis which is frequently referred to as a pediatric disease with geriatric consequences (Golden, 2000) can result from a lack of optimal bone accrual during the development (NIH Consensus Development Panel on Osteoporosis Prevention, Diagnosis, and Therapy, 2001). Pubertal timing is a key factor that contributes to optimal bone accrual and strength (Bonjour et al., 1994; 21 Warren et al., 2002). Bone mass doubles during the onset of puberty and young adulthood (Katzman et al., 1991) with more than 90% of peak bone mass being accrued at the end of second decade of life (Schneider & Wade, 2000). The rate of periosteal expansion is elevated during the pubertal period (Specker et al., 1987; Bradney et al., 2000) and this expansion parallels longitudinal growth (Parfitt, 1994). Irrespective of other changes, periosteal expansion lowers fracture risk by improving the strength of long bones by increasing the moment of inertia (Orwoll, 2003). Therefore, a delay in puberty may actually increase the time available for periosteal development and positively affect bone strength. Previous animal studies have shown decreases in strength, endocortical bone formation and increases in periosteal bone formation with delayed puberty. Clinical studies report negative effects of delayed puberty on bone mass accrual suggesting that delayed puberty is a multifactorial problem affecting bone strength development. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of delayed puberty on mechanical strength and endocortical bone marrow cells in two models: female rats treated with gonadatropin releasing hormone antagonists (GnRH-a) and energy restriction (30%). Thirty-two female Sprague Dawley rats (21 to 22 days-of-age) were received from (Charles Rivers Laboratories, Wilmington, MA, USA) and housed individually at the Temple University Central Animal Facility (Temple University Weiss Hall). Animals were randomly assigned to one of three groups; control (n=10), GnRH-a (n=10) and energy restriction (ER) (n=12). The GnRH-a group was injected with gonadotropin releasing antagonist injections (GnRH-a) (Antide, Bachem, Torrance, Ca. USA) at a dose of 2.5 mg/kg/BW. The ER group received a 30% energy restricted diet (0pen Source diet (D07100606)(Research Diets, New Brunswick, NJ). All animals were sacrificed on Day 51. One way analysis of variance testing (ANOVA) with a significance level of 0.05 was used to assess group differences. Following the two protocols the uterine weight in the GnRH-a group was 80.6% lower than control; no change in the ER group. Ovarian weight was significantly lower in the GnRH-a group (83.3%) and in the ER group (33.3%) as compared to controls. A 22.7% lower muscle weight was found in the ER group but was equal to control and GnRH-a when normalized by body weight (BW). The retro-peritoneal fat pad weight was significantly decreased by 64.95% in the ER group as compared to controls. Energy restriction did not result in any deficit in bone strength when normalized by body weight however the GnRH-a group had a 26.2% lower bone strength compared to control. Histomorphometric changes were not significantly different between groups, but the ratio for periosteal versus endocortical bone formation rates for the control group was 1.38, GnRH-a was significantly higher with a ratio of 5.54 and for ER was 3.02 indicating that periosteal BFR are almost twice endocortical BFR in the experimental groups. There was a significant decrease in the trabecular percent bone volume (BV/TV) of the lumbar vertebra in the GnRH-a group (20.2%) compared to control. However BV/TV was significantly higher in the ER (18.4%) compared to the control group. Proliferation was suppressed to 59.6% of control in the GnRH-a group but only 85.5% of control in the ER group. The alkaline phosphatase activity was 31.2% lower in the GnRH-a group and 63.9% lower in the ER group. The relative quantification (RQ) of RUNX2 gene expression was lowest in control followed by GnRH-a and highest in ER group although no statistical significance was observed between any groups. Thus our data infers that 30% energy restriction does not negatively impact bone health. Thirty percent food restriction with no deficits in micronutrients or hormone suppression may just suppress growth as indicated by the maintenance of bone strength per body weight and equivalent muscle mass per body weight in the ER group compared to control. The GnRH-a injections resulted in decreased bone strength and trabecular bone volume. Female Athlete Triad or Anorexia Nervosa are the two clinical conditions hypothesized to result from a combination of ER and estrogen deficient environment. Studies replacing estrogen in hypothalamic amenorrhea or IGF-1 in anorexia alone have failed to improve bone mineral density (BMD), but a combination of IGF-1 and estrogen has been successful in improving BMD. This suggests that estrogen dependant and independent mechanisms work in combination to protect bone. Our study investigated both mechanisms separately and indicates that ER at 30% may be protective for bone health. Since estrogen deficiency may be the extreme end of the spectrum affecting trabecular bone, treatment therapies may have to be based on age, magnitude and severity of energy restriction and presence or absence of menstrual status. / Kinesiology

M.tb, the causative agent of pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) remains one of the leading causes of infectious disease-based death worldwide. BCG, the only clinically approved TB vaccine, has been in use for almost a century to vaccinate against TB. Despite its success in protecting against disseminated forms of TB, it is unable to provide protection against pulmonary M.tb infection. Although there have been many recent efforts to enhance or replace BCG, our lack of understanding towards host immunity against M.tb has substantially hindered this goal. One aspect of pulmonary M.tb infection that remains poorly understood is the induction of Th1 immunity, which is substantially delayed in comparison to other pulmonary infections. This allows the bacteria to establish an infectious foothold within the host and impairs the ability of the host to clear the infection. Given the importance of the innate immune response in the induction of adaptive immunity, this delay in the establishment of Th1 immunity following pulmonary M.tb infection is likely due to a defect in the early innate immune response. However, the specific roles of this immune compartment in regards to T cell activation following pulmonary M.tb infection is still not well understood. As such, the scope of this thesis is to gain an increased understanding towards the role of the innate immune compartment in the generation of Th1 responses. Such insights will allow us to develop new strategies to improve upon future and existing TB vaccine design. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

京都大学 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(農学) / 甲第24655号 / 農博第2538号 / 新制||農||1097(附属図書館) / 学位論文||R5||N5436(農学部図書室) / 京都大学大学院農学研究科農学専攻 / (主査)教授 白岩 立彦, 教授 中﨑 鉄也, 教授 丸山 伸之 / 学位規則第4条第1項該当 / Doctor of Agricultural Science / Kyoto University / DGAM

Yes / Over the last few decades the number of women becoming pregnant later on in life has markedly increased. Medical experts have raised concerns about the increase in the number of women having babies later, owing to evidence that suggests that advancing maternal age is associated with both a decline in fertility and an increase in health risks to both mother and baby. In recognition of these risks, experts have warned that women should aim to have their children between the ages of twenty and thirty-five. As a consequence, women giving birth past the age of thirty-five have typically been positioned as “older mothers.” In this paper we used a social constructionist thematic analysis in order to analyse how “older mothers” are represented in newspaper articles in the British press. We examined how the topics of “choice” and “risk” are handled in discussions of delayed motherhood, and found that the media position women as wholly responsible for choosing the timing of pregnancy and, as a consequence, as accountable for the associated risks. Moreover, we noted that newspapers also constructed a “right” time for women to become pregnant. As such, we discuss the implications for the ability of women to make real choices surrounding the timing of pregnancy.

This dissertation consists of two essays. In the first essay, I examine the source of momentum in stock returns. The reversal of momentum returns has been interpreted as evidence that momentum results from delayed overreaction to information. I examine momentum and reversals conditional on firms’ share issuance (net of repurchases) during the momentum holding period and show that (1) among losers, the momentum returns are statistically significant, but the reversals are non-existent, for both issuers and non-issuers; (2) among winners, momentum and reversals are restricted to issuers, but are non-existent among non-issuers. After further conditioning on firm size, I find that winner reversals are restricted to small, equity issuing firms. After excluding these small issuers from the sample, the remaining firms have strong momentum profits with no accompanying reversals. The evidence suggests that the return reversals are a manifestation of the poor performance of equity issuing firms. Further, while investor overreaction potentially contributes to the momentum among winners, a large fraction of firms do not earn any significant abnormal returns following initial price continuation, suggesting that underreaction, and not delayed overreaction to information, is the dominant source of momentum in stock returns. In the second essay, I examine alternative explanations of reversals in stock returns. George and Hwang (2007) find that long-term reversals in stock returns are driven by investors’ incentive to defer payment of taxes on locked-in capital gains rather than by overreaction to information. I show that return reversals are instead attributable to the negative relationship between firms’ composite share issuance and future stock returns documented in Daniel and Titman (2006). The ability of locked-in capital gains measures to forecast stock returns is largely subsumed by the composite share issuance measure. My results do not support the hypothesis that capital gains taxes drive long-term return reversals. / Ph. D.

The use of delayed drainage in land subsidence modeling greatly complicates model calibration, particularly when the thickness of the fine-grained interbeds varies throughout the modeled region. This thesis documents two separate projects (chapters) related to the use of delayed drainage in groundwater flow and subsidence modeling with parameter estimation. The overall goal of these projects was to better understand how delayed drainage affects accurate parameter estimation and how it is currently affecting the subsidence processes occurring in Las Vegas Valley. Chapter 1 describes an investigation on the value of subsidence data for groundwater model calibration considering delayed drainage. The calibration results of 13 hydraulic parameters of a synthetic conceptual model evaluated for 24 test cases indicate that (1) the inverse of the square of the observation values is a reasonable method to weight the observations, (2) spatially abundant subsidence data typically produce superior parameter estimates even with observation error under constant and cyclical pumping, (3) when subsidence data are limited and combined with drawdown data, outstanding results are obtained for constant pumping conditions. However, for cyclical pumping with observation errors, the best parameter estimates are achieved when multiple years of seasonal subsidence data are provided. The results provide useful suggestions for real-world calibration problems. Chapter 2 outlines the development of an updated flow and subsidence model for Las Vegas Valley covering the entire period of development of the basin. The new model includes a subsidence package that takes into account delayed drainage of fine-grained interbeds. Previous models used subsidence packages that assumed instantaneous equilibration of heads across all hydrogeologic units. The new model resulted in an agreement with measured water-level and improved the simulation of land subsidence. The analysis shows that the typical residual subsidence in Las Vegas Valley can be accurately simulated by incorporating delayed drainage in a long-term model. The study also indicates the need for more sophisticated modeling practices that use delayed drainage with parameter estimation processes to accurately calibrate flow and subsidence models. / Master of Science

Delayed uterine clearance (DUC) is a significant problem contributing to subfertility and infertility in the mare, characterized by an accumulation of fluid and inflammatory debris in the uterine lumen following breeding events, venereal disease or an estral cycle. This syndrome is typically seen in older, multiparous mares and mares with poor reproductive tract conformation. The etiopathogenesis of DUC has not been fully elucidated but suggested causes include poor genital conformation, a cranioventrally tilted uterus, defective myometrial contractions, decreased intrauterine immune activity, inappropriate lymphatic drainage or mucus overproduction. The objective of this research was to evaluate gene expression of selected genes in endometrial tissue samples taken from three categories of mares (young fertile [YF], older clinically normal [ON] and older susceptible [OS]). The genes assayed in this research were oxytocin receptor, PGF2á receptor and progesterone receptor. The expression of each of these genes was normalized using the expression of two housekeeping genes, beta actin and ribosomal 18S RNA. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (QPCR) was used to evaluate gene expression of the selected genes. Results indicated that there was no statistically significant difference in the expression of any of the three experimental genes among any of the three categories of mares. From this research, the direction of further research regarding the pathogenesis of DUC can be made: myometrial tissues can be assayed for similar genes, the expression of other genes regulating myometrial contraction can be assayed or the expression of uterorelaxants can be studied. / Master of Science