Denna kvalitativa studie är baserad på fokusgruppsamtal med förskollärare från tre olika förskolor och syftar till att undersöka förskollärares erfarenheter av att arbeta didaktiskt med förskolans yngsta barn (1–3 år) och deras fonologiska medvetenhet och förmågor. I relation till aktuell forskning diskuterar studien vad förskollärares förhållningssätt kring fonologisk medvetenhet och förmågor har för betydelse för att erbjuda ett didaktiskt språkfrämjande arbete. Studien lyfter även vilka material, verktyg och didaktiska arbetsmetoder som de intervjuade anser som viktiga. Utifrån ett sociokulturellt perspektiv analyseras sambandet mellan studiens resultat i relation till begreppen interaktion, stöttning, proximal utvecklingszon och artefakt. Med hjälp av en tematisk analysmetod identifierar vi två teman: Den egna medvetenheten och Enkelt och tydligt material. Dessa teman visar att respondenterna har en gemensam utgångspunkt- att vilja främja yngsta barnens språkkunskaper samt att förskollärarna har en medvetenhet om de val som görs och att de aktivt arbetar med de olika materialen. Trots att tillvägagångssätten mellan förskollärarna är olika, så är vår slutsats att barnen erbjuds rika möjligheter till att främja sin fonologiska medvetenhet och förmågor.

Quantifying the properties of interest is an important problem in many domains, e.g., assessing the condition of a patient, estimating the risk of an investment or relevance of the search result. However, the properties of interest are often latent and hard to assess directly, making it difficult to obtain classification or regression labels, which are needed to learn a predictive models from observable features. In such cases, it is typically much easier to obtain relative comparison of two instances, i.e. to assess which one is more intense (with respect to the property of interest). One framework able to learn from such kind of supervised information is ranking SVM, and it will make a basis of our approach. Applications in bio-medical datasets typically have specific additional challenges. First, and the major one, is the limited amount of data examples, due to an expensive measuring technology, and/or infrequency of conditions of interest. Such limited number of examples makes both identification of patterns/models and their validation less useful and reliable. Repeated samples from the same subject are collected on multiple occasions over time, which breaks IID sample assumption and introduces dependency structure that needs to be taken into account more appropriately. Also, feature vectors are highdimensional, and typically of much higher cardinality than the number of samples, making models less useful and their learning less efficient. Hypothesis of this dissertation is that use of the functional norm regularization can help alleviating mentioned challenges, by improving generalization abilities and/or learning efficiency of predictive models, in this case specifically of the approaches based on the ranking SVM framework. The temporal nature of data was addressed with loss that fosters temporal smoothness of functional mapping, thus accounting for assumption that temporally proximate samples are more correlated. Large number of feature variables was handled using the sparsity inducing L1 norm, such that most of the features have zero effect in learned functional mapping. Proposed sparse (temporal) ranking objective is convex but non-differentiable, therefore smooth dual form is derived, taking the form of quadratic function with box constraints, which allows efficient optimization. For the case where there are multiple similar tasks, joint learning approach based on matrix norm regularization, using trace norm L* and sparse row L21 norm was also proposed. Alternate minimization with proximal optimization algorithm was developed to solve the mentioned multi-task objective. Generalization potentials of the proposed high-dimensional and multi-task ranking formulations were assessed in series of evaluations on synthetically generated and real datasets. The high-dimensional approach was applied to disease severity score learning from gene expression data in human influenza cases, and compared against several alternative approaches. Application resulted in scoring function with improved predictive performance, as measured by fraction of correctly ordered testing pairs, and a set of selected features of high robustness, according to three similarity measures. The multi-task approach was applied to three human viral infection problems, and for learning the exam scores in Math and English. Proposed formulation with mixed matrix norm was overall more accurate than formulations with single norm regularization. / Computer and Information Science

This study investigated the hypothesis that there is a relationship between teacher practices that focus on the provision of involvement, structure, and autonomy support and student engagement (Connell & Wellborn, 1991). The Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS) (Pianta, R., Hamre, B., Haynes, N., Mintz, S., & La Paro, K., 2006) was used to assess practices of sixth, seventh, and eighth grade core teachers (N =17) in mathematics, English, science, and social studies in an economically-depressed, rural middle school setting. Student perceptions (N = 299) of relatedness, competence, and autonomy, and mathematics teachers' (N = 5) perceptions of student engagement were assessed using the Research Assessment Package for Schools (RAPS) (IRRE, 1998). While the findings revealed that there were significant relationships between teacher practices that center on involvement, structure, and autonomy support and student engagement, the effect sizes were found to be low. / Ph. D.

Nitrous oxide (N2O) is a greenhouse gas (GHG) with 300 times the radiative forcing in the atmosphere of carbon dioxide (CO2), and has recently become a subject of great concern because the nitrogen (N) fertilizers which have been necessary to increase agricultural productivity have also dramatically increased N2O emissions from agroecosystems. Many N control practices have been suggested and implemented in agroecosystems, but their ability to simultaneously remove reactive N from the environment and prevent the production of N2O is, at best poorly understood. The goal of this work is to characterize environmental controls on production of N2O in denitrifying bioreactors. The review portion of this work first discusses the geologic history of the N cycle, how its past and present processes differ, and how it is being affected by human activity. It then explores the N cycle's biochemical pathways, reviews the controls for each of its steps, and discusses the environmental drivers of these controls. The review closes with a discussion of environmental N management strategies. The experimental portion of this work further explores these concepts by observing how biochar amendment and the modification of pH affect N2O production in the denitrification pathway in denitrifying bioreactors. Both pH and biochar have previously been shown to affect N2O production and many N management practices utilize biochar or manipulate pH to increase N retention. The objectives of the experiment were to: 1) Examine headspace N2O concentration in sealed, biochar-amended, denitrifying bioreactors; 2) Determine if the effects of pH on N2O production differ in biochar-amended systems versus controls (under acidic, unbuffered, and buffered conditions); 3) Quantify key denitrification genes (nirK, nirS, nosZ) in each treatment combination. Experimental results showed biochar treatment to significantly increase N2O emissions, a result which runs contrary to most, but not all studies regarding its effects on N2O production. Differences between treatments decreased with increasing pH levels. Biochar did not exhibit significant effects on individual denitrification genes, but it did show influence on the ratios of their populations. On the other hand, pH was found to have significant effects on nirS and nosZ populations. Differences in N2O production between biochar and controls were thus explained by biochar's chemical effects, likely its ability to increase denitrification activity. Developing an understanding of the mechanisms behind these differences will require using a combination of isotope tracing, enzyme assays, and mass balance approaches. Future microbial work in biochar-amended systems should attempt to characterize differences in gene expression, overall community structure, and long-term population trends in the genes of interest. The combination of these approaches should allow researchers to better predict where N2O production will occur and develop strategies to mitigate it while simultaneously increasing food production to meet the demands of a growing population. / Master of Science

This study focused on peer teaching and learning in preschool children's peer collaborative interactions. The research took place in the naturalistic setting of a preschool classroom at the Virginia Tech Child Development Laboratory, which is a university-based preschool in Blacksburg, Virginia. The children were videotaped in their collaborative interactions and the interactions were analyzed for moments of teaching and learning between the children. The study found that children use a variety of verbal and non-verbal teaching strategies when collaborating with each other. Children's learning from the interactions was exhibited through many forms of modeling, reciprocation, and exchange of ideas. / Master of Science

Previous research provided preliminary support of a potential reinforcing effect of suicidal ideation demonstrating reduced negative affect and increased positive affect after thinking about suicide. The present study therefore sought to investigate the role of mood and affect as a proximal risk factor of suicidal ideation in a high-risk sample. Seventy-four psychiatric inpatients (72% female) with unipolar depression and current and/or lifetime suicidal ideation aged 18 to 85 years (M = 37.6, SD = 14.3) took part in an ecological momentary assessment (EMA) over 6 days. Multilevel analyses were calculated. Analyses revealed negative valence of mood and low positive affect to be predictors of subsequent intensity of suicidal ideation (active, passive) as well as predictors of change in suicidal ideation (active, passive) since the last measurement. High negative affect only predicted intensity of passive suicidal ideation. Suicidal ideation (active, passive) was prospectively associated with subsequent negative valence of mood and lower positive affect as well as with higher intensity of negative affect. Suicidal ideation (active, passive) also predicted the change in valence of mood, positive affect and negative affect since the last measurement. Mood and affect should be taken into account as important proximal risk factors of active and passive suicidal ideation. The results do not support the idea of a reinforcing effect of suicidal ideation. In fact, they show a pattern of reduced subsequent positive affect, negative valence of mood and increased negative affect. Replication studies with larger samples and longer EMA follow-ups are needed

Die proximale Tibiafraktur stellt eine seltene Fraktur der langen Röhrenknochen im Wachstumsalter dar, welche sich in mehrere Frakturtypen aufteilt. Diese werden zu typischen Altersgipfeln durch typische Unfallmechanismen verursacht. Eine nicht adäquate Therapie dieser Frakturen kann aufgrund des fehlgeleiteten Knochenwachstums zu Beinachsenabweichungen, Beinlängendifferenzen und funktionellen Einschränkungen des Kniegelenks führen. Ziel dieser Studie ist die Therapie und Nachsorge der Patient:innen, die in der Klinik und Poliklinik für Kinderchirurgie des Universitätsklinikums Dresden stattfand, zu bewerten. Dabei wurden die Patient:innen zu einer klinischen Nachuntersuchung und zur Beurteilung des Wohlbefindens eingeladen.:1. EINLEITUNG 1.1 DIE PROXIMALE TIBIAFRAKTUR IM KINDESALTER 1.1.1 Definition und Epidemiologie 1.2 Ätiologie und Klassifikation 1.1.2.1 Ausriss der Eminentia intercondylaris 1.1.2.2 Apophysenausriss der proximalen Tibia 1.1.2.3 Metaphysäre Frakturen der proximalen Tibia 1.1.3 Diagnostik 1.1.3.1 Ausriss der Eminentia intercondylaris 1.1.3.2 Apophysenausriss der proximalen Tibia 1.1.3.3 Metaphysäre Frakturen der proximalen Tibia 1.1.4 Therapie 1.1.4.1 Ausriss der Eminentia intercondylaris 1.1.4.2 Apophysenausriss der proximalen Tibia 1.1.4.3 Metaphysäre Frakturen der proximalen Tibia 1.1.5 Komplikationen und Folgeschäden 1.1.5.1 Ausriss der Eminentia intercondylaris 1.1.5.2 Apophysenausriss der proximalen Tibia 1.1.5.3 Metaphysäre Frakturen der proximalen Tibia 2. FRAGESTELLUNG 3. PATIENT:INNEN UND METHODEN 3.1 PATIENT:INNENGRUPPEN UND VERGLEICHSPOPULATION 3.2 DATENERHEBUNG 3.2.1 Klinische Untersuchung 3.2.1.1 Körpermaße, numerische Schmerzskala, Gangbild 3.2.1.2 Beinlängenmessung und Rotationsfehler 3.2.1.3 Beweglichkeit, Kraftprüfung 3.2.1.4 Interkondylärer und intermalleolärer Abstand 3.2.1.5 Tibiofemoraler Winkel 3.2.2 Fragebögen 3.2.2.1 Pedi-IKDC 3.2.2.2 PODCI 3.3 STATISTISCHE AUSWERTUNG 4. ERGEBNISSE 4.1 EPIDEMIOLOGISCHE DATEN 4.1.1 Alter und Geschlecht 4.1.2 Links-Rechts Verteilung 4.1.3 Frakturklassifikation 4.2 ALTERS-, GESCHLECHTER- UND FRAKTURSEITENVERTEILUNG DER SUBGRUPPEN 4.2.1 Alters- und Geschlechterverteilung der E-Gruppe 4.2.2 Alters- und Geschlechterverteilung der TU-Gruppe 4.2.3 Alters- und Geschlechterverteilung der T-Gruppe 4.3 UNFALLMECHANISMEN 4.3.1 Unfallmechanismen der E-Gruppe 4.3.2 Unfallmechanismen der TU-Gruppe 4.3.3 Unfallmechanismen der T-Gruppe 4.4 MEDIZINISCHE VERSORGUNG 4.5 ERGEBNISSE DER NACHUNTERSUCHUNG 4.5.1 Teilnahme an der Nachuntersuchung 4.6 ERGEBNISSE DER KLINISCHEN UNTERSUCHUNG 4.6.1 Schwellung und Schmerzen 4.6.2 BMI 4.6.3 Längenunterschied und Rotationsfehler der Beine 4.6.4 Beinachsen, interkondylärer- und intermalleolärer Abstand 4.6.5 Beweglichkeit des Kniegelenks und Kraftprüfung 4.7. ERGEBNISSE DER FRAGEBÖGEN 4.7.1 Ergebnisse aus dem Pedi-IKDC 4.7.2 Ergebnisse des PODCI 4.8 GEGENÜBERSTELLUNG DER KLINISCHEN UNTERSUCHUNGSERGEBNISSE UND DEN ERGEBNISSEN DER FRAGEBÖGEN 4.9 FALLBERICHTE 4.9.1 Fallbericht der E-Gruppe 4.9.2 Fallbericht der TU-Gruppe 4.9.3 Fallbericht der T-Gruppe 5. DISKUSSION 5.1 BEWERTUNG DER BASISDATEN 5.2 FRAGESTELLUNG: 1. AUFFÄLLIGKEITEN IN DER KLINISCHEN UNTERSUCHUNG 5.3 FRAGESTELLUNG: 2. AUSWIRKUNGEN AUF DEN FUNKTIONELLEN ZUSTAND DES KNIEGELENKS UND DAS WOHLBEFINDEN 5.4 FRAGESTELLUNG: 3. VERBESSERUNGSFÄHIGE ASPEKTE DES KLINISCHEN MANAGEMENTS VON PROXIMALEN TIBIAFRAKTUREN 5.5 FRAGESTELLUNG: 4. BEWERTUNG DES DIGITALEN VERFAHRENS DER BEINACHSENMESSUNG 5.6 LIMITATIONEN DER STUDIE 6. ZUSAMMENFASSUNG 7. SUMMARY 8. ANHANG 8.1 TABELLEN IM ANHANG 8.2 UNTERSUCHUNGSBOGEN 8.3 PEDI-IKDC FRAGEBOGEN 8.4 PODCI FRAGEBOGEN GRUPPE „2-10 JAHRE“ 8.5 PODCI FRAGEBOGEN GRUPPE „11-18 JAHRE ELTERN“ 8.6 PODCI FRAGEBOGEN GRUPPE „11-18 JAHRE PATIENT:INNEN“ LITERATURVERZEICHNIS

Es erfolgt eine Knochenstrukturanalyse der proximalen Tibia unter Berücksichtigung verschiedenster radiologischer, biomechanischer und histomorphometrischer Aspekte. Die regionen-, alters- und geschlechtsspezifischen Aspekte dieser Problemregion werden herausgearbeitet. Der eindeutige Nachweis einer regionen-abhängigen Verteilung der Knochendichte und der biomechanischen Eigenschaften in der proximalen Tibia ist eines der Hauptergebnisse der vorliegenden Studie. In der proximalen Tibia besteht eine signifikante Abnahme der Knochendichte von proximal nach distal. Im zentralen Bereich der proximalen Tibia besteht in allen Sektionen im Vergleich zu den anterior/posterior und medial/lateral liegenden Gebieten die niedrigste Knochendichte. In der vorliegenden Studie wurde die proximale Tibia in 3 Etagen (von proximal nach distal) unterteilt. Beim Vergleich der auf diesen Etagen aufgebrachten ROIs (region of interest,jeweils 5 in den beiden proximalen Etagen und 4 im distalen Abschnitt) zeigte sich in den beiden proximalen Etagen lateral (Ebene I anterolateral/ Ebene II posterolateral) die höchste Knochendichte. Im Gegensatz dazu zeigte sich in der distalen Etage anteromedial die höchste Knochendichte. Weiterhin wurden die 3 gängigen Stabilisierungsverfahren für diese Region einer umfangreichen biomechanischen Testung unterzogen. Es zeigte sich, dass der Ilizarov Fixateur bei den verschiedensten Lastfällen meist das instabilste Implantat war. Trotz der biomechanischen Defizite konnten die in der klinischen Studie mit Composite Fixateur versorgten Frakturen trotz erheblichem Weichteilschaden und instabiler Fraktursituation zur Ausheilung gebracht werden. Das LIS-System erwies sich gegenüber der konventionellen Abstützplatte hinsichtlich der biomechanischen Steifigkeit sowohl in der statischen als auch in der zyklischen Testung als gleichwertiges oder sogar biomechanisch günstigeres Implantat. Diese positiven klinischen wie biomechanischen Erfahrungen führen auch zur Förderung der Entwicklung anderer winkelstabiler Fixateur interne-Systeme in den verschiedensten Problemregionen (Pilon tibiale, proximaler und distaler Humerus, distaler Radius). Als wesentliche neue Therapieansätze für das operative Vorgehen in der Problemregion der proximalen Tibia lassen sich die folgenden Gesichtspunkte herausarbeiten: 1) Knochendichteadaptierte Implantat- und Schraubenpositionierung bei der konventionellen Osteosynthese, 2) Knochendichteadaptierte Pin- und Olivendrahtpositionierung bei externen Fixationsverfahren (Ilizarovringfixateur, Fixateur externe) im Bereich der proximalen Tibia, 3) Implantatverbesserungen (LISS-Schraubenkonfiguration und -positionierung, Plattendesign, Umstellungsplatte, Verriegelungsbolzen bei Marknägeln wie UTN, PTN), 4) Prothesenverbesserung (knochendichteadaptiertes Zapfendesign mit 3 Zapfen für die tibiale Komponente). / In this study an analysis of the bone structure of the proximal tibia was performed with special attention paid to the different radiological, biomechanical and histomorphometrical aspects. Region-, age- and gender-specific attributes of the localised bone were also examined. Evidence of a region related variation of bone density and biomechanical behaviour is one of the main results of this study. In the proximal tibia, a significant reduction in the bone density exists from proximal to distal. In comparison to the anterior/posterior or medial/lateral areas, the lowest bone mineral densities were found in the central region. In this study the proximal tibia was divided into 3 different levels (from proximal to distal). When comparing the different regions of interest (ROIs) 5 each in the two proximal levels and 4 in the most distal level), the lateral regions (level 1 anterolateral/ level 2 posterolateral) presented the highest bone mineral density. In contrast, the highest bone density in the distal- level was detected in the anteromedial region. Furthermore, complex biomechanical testing of- 3 common fixation techniques for fracture situations of the proximal tibia was performed. It was shown that the Ilizarov fixator was the most unstable implant in several load tests. Despite this biomechanical deficit fractures treated by composite- fixators in different clinical trails healed uneventfully, even with severe soft tissue damage or an unstable fracture situation. In comparison to the conventional buttress plate, the LIS-System was an equal or superior implant, both in static and cyclic stiffness testing. These clinical and biomechanical experiences lead to the development of other angle stable internal fixator systems for different problematic regions (tibial plafond, proximal and distal humerus, distal radius). The following new therapeutic aspects were developed for the surgical treatment of the proximal tibia: 1) Bone mineral density adapted implant-and screw placement in conventional plating. 2) Bone density adapted pin- and olive wire placement during external fixation (ilizarov ring fixator, external fixator) techniques of the proximal tibia. 3) Improvement of implant design (LISS screw configuration and- placement, plate design, locking bolt configuration in nails). 4) Improvement of prosthetic design (bone density adapted design of the tibial components)

Background: To ensure adequate function after orthopedic tumor reconstruction, it is important to reattach the remaining soft tissue to the implant. This study aimed at obtaining mechanical properties of textile muscle-implant and muscle-bone connections in a preliminary test. Methods: Two groups of soft-tissue attachment were mechanically tested and compared: Native bone-muscle samples obtained from human femora and muscles attached to a prosthetic implant by means of Trevira® attachment tubes. Additionally, muscle samples were tested with muscle fibers aligned parallel and perpendicular to the tension load. A uniaxial load was exerted upon all samples. Results: Failure loads of 26.7 ± 8.8 N were observed for the native bone-muscle group and of 18.1 ± 9.9 N for the Trevira® group. Elongations of 94.8 ± 36.2 % were observed for the native bone-muscle group and 79.3 ± 51.8 % for the Trevira® group. The location of failure was mainly observed in the central area of the muscle fibers. Muscle fibers with parallel fiber orientation (47.6 ± 11.5 N) yielded higher tensile strength than those with perpendicular fiber orientation (14.8 ± 4.1 N). Conclusions: Our experiments showed that higher forces were transmitted in the origin and insertion areas than in areas of flat soft tissue reconstruction using attachment tubes. The data indicate that the tested material allows reattaching muscles, but without reinforcing the insertion site. Therefore, attachment tubes with region-dependent and potentially anisotropic material behavior might be advantageous to optimize muscle-bone load transmission after surgery, which may allow lower complication rates and shorter physical recovery.

The past decade has seen a significant increase in the emergence of English Language Learners (ELLs) in the United States. Nationally, a disparity in achievement exists between ELLs and non-ELLs. Relatedly, this problem was evident in a northeastern school district, where ELLs had not made Adequate Yearly Progress 2 years in a row. The purpose of this study was to examine how much time English as Second Language (ESL) teachers spend on a variety of best instructional practices. Constructivism, Vygotsky's zone of proximal development, and Tomilinson's differentiated instruction were the frameworks used to guide this research. A within-group design was utilized to identify how much time 25 ESL educators spent on 5 types of instructional practices. The Survey of Instructional Practices for ESL/ELD Teachers for Grades K-12 was used to collect data. A 1-way analysis of variance revealed statistically significant differences between the amounts of time ESL teachers spent on the 5 instructional practices. The greatest time was spent on individualized instructional activities and a variety of educational tasks. Less time was spent on small group activities, and the least amount of time was spent on inquiry-based activities and technology activities. Findings supported the creation of a professional development for ESL teachers at the local site focusing on (a) best instructional practices for teaching ESL students, (b) professional learning community network of support, and (c) resources to support educators in their lesson planning of instructional activities. The study findings and culminating project may positively affect social change by improving ESL instruction at the local site and ultimately decreasing the disparity in achievement between ELL and non-ELL students.