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The article focuses on the need for fair representation and inclusion of demographic groups in clinical research. It explores the questions of what constitutes ideal diversity; the tension between representing U.S. patients and global health needs; and the lack of available data to evaluate diversity and fair inclusion in research.

This is the Fifth Special Issue on Spatial Ecology in the International Journal of Geographical Information Science, following issues previously published in 2011, 2012, 2014, and 2016 (Skidmore I et al i . Movement ecology has emerged as a prominent focus in this issue, reflecting its rapid growth as a subfield of ecology (Nathan I et al i . Species distribution and diversity, habitat selection and connectivity: introduction to the third special issue on spatial ecology. Towards an integrated science of movement: converging research on animal movement ecology and human mobility science. [Extracted from the article]

This paper discusses a collaboration between a criminal justice professor and the coordinator of composition at a small, four-year University in a rural location. The goal was to restructure the writing assignments in criminal justice courses in such a way as to enhance student participation in writing assignments and to improve the quality of their work. Many of the student's in these courses are underprepared for college and are often simultaneously enrolled in remediation courses. Therefore, they lack the vocabulary and skills needed to successfully navigate the writing requirements in criminal justice. We found that by scaffolding assignments which reflected the writing process, students were better able to complete the work and improve the quality of their work. Furthermore, students gained confidence not only in their writing abilities, but also in their ability to successfully navigate coursework in their major. Transitioning composition pedagogy into criminal justice courses creates interdisciplinary coherence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Professionals in the field of early childhood are encouraged to demonstrate reflective perspectives of their work supported by pedagogical documentation. The purpose of this article is to introduce a rubric developed for preservice and inservice teachers to improve documentation and reflection. The rubric's four dimensions: visible learning, powerful story, emotional impact, and visual impact range from novice to expert level. The rubric is not meant to create prescribed documentation or to be used as an evaluation or assessment. Instead, it is a tool to sharpen critical focus for reflection and to challenge teachers to examine and improve their documentation. We include a review of the Reggio Emilia approach to pedagogical documentation and reflective process, an explanatory account of how the rubric was developed, and reflections from implementing the rubric with preservice teachers. We also offer reflective questions and examples to aid in improving documentation and reflection. Recommendations for practice include use as a tool for selfreflection and guided collaborative reflection in small groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article identifies and analyzes an emerging archive of children's picture books that represent transgender and gender creative child characters. The subgenre of children's literature is referred to as new queer children's literature. The author explores the ways these texts represent queer youth as they negotiate various social institutions, especially the family and the school. It is suggested that an ambivalent reading of these images—one neither committed to anti-normativity nor assimilation—can help us understand the queer present at its most affirmative and, by extension, aid us in beginning to theorize possible queer futures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is long-standing scientific interest in understanding purposeful movement by animals and humans. Traditionally, collecting data on individual moving entities was difficult and time-consuming, limiting scientific progress. The growth of location-aware and other geospatial technologies for capturing, managing and analyzing moving objects data are shattering these limitations, leading to revolutions in animal movement ecology and human mobility science. Despite parallel transitions towards massive individual-level data collected automatically via sensors, there is little scientific cross-fertilization across the animal and human divide. There are potential synergies from converging these separate domains towards an integrated science of movement. This paper discusses the data-driven revolutions in the animal movement ecology and human mobility science, their contrasting worldviews and, as examples of complementarity, transdisciplinary questions that span both fields. We also identify research challenges that should be met to develop an integrated science of movement trajectories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses COVID-19 vaccine research success and emergency use authorizations have shown the life sciences' potential for positive health impact. Topics include the pneumonia vaccine, has Pfizer's revenue-generating product, contributing $5.8 billion in 2019; and the case further demonstrates the relational vulnerabilities inherent in COVID-19 vaccine research.

Objective: The aims of this study were to: (1) examine the relation between social support, trait anxiety, symptoms of maternal distress (including stress, depression and anxiety) and maternal-fetal attachment; and (2) to determine if social support buffers the relation between trait anxiety, symptoms of distress and maternal-fetal attachment. Design: Ninety-four pregnant women completed five self-report questions. Two hierarchical regression analyses were conducted to examine the influence of trait anxiety, symptoms of distress, and social support on two factors of maternal-fetal attachment, quality and intensity/frequency. Results: In the first model with the dependent measure as the maternal-fetal attachment quality score, trait anxiety (β = -.24, p < .05) and social support (β = .30, p < .01) were significant predictors, accounting for 18% of the variance. In the second model with the dependent measure as the maternal-fetal attachment intensity/frequency score, trait anxiety (β = -.23, p < .05) and social support (β = .32, p < .01) were significant predictors, accounting for 23% of the variance. In addition, the interaction term contributed a significant 4% of the variance, indicating that when social support is high, the relation between anxiety and maternal-fetal attachment intensity/frequency is attenuated. Conclusions: This study demonstrates that prenatal attachment is related to trait anxiety and social support. These findings suggest that interventions to decrease anxiety and increase social support could enhance maternal-fetal attachment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

International criminal courts are often given mandates without the authority or resources to enforce those directives. Given this, how do they achieve their objectives? We argue that in the case of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), the court strategically developed an accountability network comprised of governmental and nongovernmental actors, using its expertise and position to provide information and a framework of accountability. Simultaneously, it reached out to a range of actors to ensure that governments and international organizations would push Balkan states to cooperate with the ICTY, thereby amplifying the court's power. Utilizing correspondence data, we create a unique dataset that traces the development of this accountability network, demonstrating how this institution engaged networks to pursue its goals. In general, we demonstrate that, although institutions may lack compulsory power, they can engage in strategic behavior using networks to project their productive power. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The use of media devices such as tablets is increasing with 41% of children engaged in more than two hours of screen time per day. The number of educational games has also significantly increased but little has been to done to assess the effectiveness and validity. Given the increase in access and use of devices, and increased popularity of educational games, a set of principles is needed. We present guiding principles that are useful for the design and development of educational games for children, under 5 years. We provide evidence from child development research findings that games should: (1) be developmentally appropriate content; (2) integrate the theoretical frameworks from the learning science field; (3) embed learning in socially rich contexts; (4) develop diverse content; and (5) create a balance between play and real-world learning opportunities. We build the principles around a hypothetical educational game designed to facilitate language development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article describes an early childhood teacher-preparation program that infuses environmental education and nature experiences into courses, practicum, and student-teaching experiences. Program philosophy, pedagogy, materials, and methods are described and linked to the Early Childhood Environmental Education Programs: Guidelines for Excellence, the Guidelines for the Preparation and Professional Development of Environmental Educators, and state-level early learning guidelines that focus on connecting young children with nature. Preservice teachers build knowledge, skills, and dispositions for effective environmental education beginning from an awareness level and progressing to application and refinement. The value of nature is communicated explicitly and implicitly throughout the program. Preliminary analysis of student outcomes indicated that, over the course of the program, students’ ratings of the importance of nature and science experiences and outcomes increased, along with their confidence implementing environmental-education activities. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

University research centres often involve a mix of inter-sectoral and international collaboration. Although the contributions of federally-funded research centres to the United States economy have been studied extensively, less is known about the international aspects of university research centres. The collaborations involved are influenced by opportunities and challenges arising from the national innovation systems of each partner organisation. The centres may also contribute to the innovation systems of the home countries of partners. In response, this article presents two case studies of United States university research centres engaged in international and inter-sectoral engineering research collaborations and the associated roles of the innovation systems of California and the United States more generally, involving France, Hong Kong, Singapore and South Korea. The case studies demonstrate the feasibility, and also the limitations, of using published accounts to understand the history, mission, and membership of such centres with international partners without government funding – leading to the identification of directions for future research on centres with international membership. The membership of the centres suggests that international collaborations may be a response to market and government failure in the public production of knowledge. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

A first person narrative is presented that explores the author's experience of using a learning center to promote STEM education development in early childhood.

Species distribution models (SDMs) are one of the most important GIScience research areas in biogeography and are the primary means by which the potential effects of climate change on species’ distributions and ranges are investigated. Dispersal is an important ecological process for species responding to changing climates, however, SDMs and their subsequent spatial products rarely reflect accessibility to any future suitable environment. Dispersal-related movement can be confounded by factors that vary across landscapes and climates, as well as within and among species, and it has therefore remained difficult to parametrise in SDMs. Here we compared 20 models that have previously been used (or have the potential to be used) to represent dispersal processes in SDM to predict future range shifts in response to climate change. We assessed the different dispersal models in terms of their accuracy at predicting future distributions, as well as the uncertainty associated with their predictions. Atlas data for 50 bird species from 1988 to 1991 in Great Britain were treated as base distributions (t1), with the species–environment relationships extrapolated (using three commonly used statistical methods) to 2008–2011 (t2). Dispersal (in the form of the 20 different models) was simulated from the base distribution (t1) to 2008–2011 (t2). The results were then combined and used to identify locations that were both abiotically suitable (obtained from the statistical methods) and accessible (obtained from the dispersal models). The accuracy of these coupled projections was assessed with the 2008–2011 atlas data (the observed t2distribution). There was substantial variation in the accuracy of the different dispersal models, and in general, the more restrictive dispersal models (e.g. fixed rate dispersal) resulted in lower accuracy for the metrics which reward correct prediction of presences. Ensemble models of the dispersal methods (generated by combining multiple projection outcomes) were created for each species, and a new Ensemble Agreement Index (EAI), which ranges from 0 (no agreement among models) to 1 (full agreement among models) was developed to quantify uncertainty among the projections. EAI values ranged from 0.634 (some areas of disagreement and therefore medium uncertainty among dispersal models) to 0.999 (large areas of agreement and low uncertainty among dispersal models). The results of this research highlight the importance of incorporating dispersal and also illustrate that the method with which dispersal is simulated greatly impacts the projected future distribution. This has important implications for studies aimed at predicting the effects of changing environmental conditions on species’ distributions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Land managers responsible for invasive species removal in the USA require tools to prevent the Asian longhorned beetle (Anoplophora glabripennis) (ALB) from decimating the maple-dominant hardwood forests of Massachusetts and New England. Species distribution models (SDMs) and spread models have been applied individually to predict the invasion distribution and rate of spread, but the combination of both models can increase the accuracy of predictions of species spread over time when habitat suitability is heterogeneous across landscapes. First, a SDM was fit to 2008 ALB presence-only locations. Then, a stratified spread model was generated to measure the probability of spread due to natural and human causes. Finally, the SDM and spread models were combined to evaluate the risk of ALB spread in Central Massachusetts in 2008–2009. The SDM predicted many urban locations in Central Massachusetts as having suitable environments for species establishment. The combined model shows the greatest risk of spread and establishment in suitable locations immediately surrounding the epicentre of the ALB outbreak in Northern Worcester with lower risk areas in suitable locations only accessible through long-range dispersal from access to human transportation networks. The risk map achieved an accuracy of 67% using 2009 ALB locations for model validation. This model framework can effectively provide risk managers with valuable information concerning the timing and spatial extent of spread/establishment risk of ALB and potential strategies needed for effective future risk management efforts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An introduction to the journal is presented in which the authors discuss research on movement and its visualization as well as the GIScience conference.

Extant work on status attribution has largely focused on major powers or state capabilities as key explanatory factors driving these social processes and suggests that status considerations increase conflicts between states. We argue for a more comprehensive approach to status attribution that considers international norms as another major factor that is weighed in the attribution process. We contend that states (policymakers) evaluate one another not only on the basis of economic and military capabilities but also on the extent to which there is behavioral conformance with normative expectations and reward one another dependent upon whether these expectations are met. However, this attribution of status is dependent upon the level of contestation pertaining to that norm. Using a data set that assesses consistency with six different norms (resource transference, multilateralism, economic liberalism, democratic governance, respect for human rights, and peaceful dispute resolution), we find that status attribution is associated with norm-consistent behavior but only when these norms are uncontested at the global level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dissatisfaction with postdoctoral appointments is associated with demographics, career goals, types of research, postdoc-advisor interaction, and program quality. Rather than a simple inverse relationship to dissatisfaction, the effect of program quality depends on the postdoc's autonomy to shape a research project, interaction with an advisor, and the advisor's commercialization-related activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the ways teachers plan lessons for English as an Additional Language (EAL) students from refugee backgrounds in secondary school transition programs. Based on a study of teachers working with students in three Victorian schools, we identify the key challenges teachers face in planning and the strategies they adopt to confront these. The study identified a large gap between teacher planning practices and the approaches to planning promoted in academic research. We connect this to teachers' reliance on intuitive knowledge that has been built up over time through interactions with students in a range of learning contexts, and through their own experiences as learners. Given the importance of planning for effective pedagogy, we conclude by identifying areas for future development in teacher education and practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Teachers in culturally and linguistically diverse classrooms work in highly charged contexts where policy, curriculum, student backgrounds, equity issues and pedagogical expertise provide both resources and constraints. Often, these classrooms are in underachieving schools in low socio-economic areas. This study investigated one school in Melbourne where teachers struggle to balance subject content and the language and literacy needs of their students. It addresses a serious gap in research on teachers in such schools by combining a theoretical model of job demand and control, and an explicit focus on teaching literacy in a culturally and linguistically diverse school. Using data from teacher focus groups and written reflections, the study illustrates the spectrum of conflicts teachers grapple with in their daily work, including issues of workload, time constraints, institutional practices and social and cultural practices which tend to isolate and disempower them. The findings support the need for a deeper differentiation of school contexts in language teacher research. The analysis also has implications for a range of strategies to build more autonomy into teacher work and to retain good teachers in schools where they are most needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: As an introduction to peer observation of teaching, a multi-disciplinary program of peer observation partnerships was implemented across Faculty of Health Sciences. The ‘Colleague Development Program’ focussed on formative feedback and on promoting collegiality within and across traditional discipline boundaries. Aims: To describe the development, implementation, and evaluation of the Colleague Development Program. Methods: Participants asked a trusted colleague to observe their teaching. Feedback on good practice and suggestions for improvement were sought. Colleague observations were guided by specific learning objectives articulated by participants. Following the teaching observation/s, the colleague observer and the participant discussed the extent to which the participant's learning objectives had been achieved. A written summary of mutually agreed outcomes was prepared. Program evaluation included anonymous participant questionnaire and focus group discussions. Results: Forty-two staff enrolled in the program with 23 completing all elements and participating in the evaluation. Participants reported increased confidence in teaching, confirmation of good practice, exposure to new ideas, and a greater sense of institutional support and collegiality. Conclusions: Situating peer evaluation within a collegial partnership overcame participants’ concerns about being the subject of ‘evaluation’ and ‘criticism’ by emphasising existing collegiality and trust amongst peers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the globalisation of education, large numbers of students with interrupted schooling and low English literacy levels represent both a quantitative and qualitative shift in the kinds of students faced by teachers in classrooms. In Australia, after a year in an intensive English language programme, immigrant and refugee students are placed in the mainstream, where they face enormous challenges in content areas such as science. The complexity and specificity of science terminology pose a serious barrier for students. This article reports on a research project to support vocabulary learning in mainstream science for Year 8 refugee students (n = 23) in one high school. Data sources included teacher interviews, student journal writing, and the science text itself. The author demonstrates why science content language is inaccessible to many students through an extensive review of the literature, and then juxtaposes the views of students and teachers with the actual demands of one chapter from the Year 8 Science textbook on states of matter. The final section presents the response of the researchers to help scaffold vocabulary learning for this topic and a trial of the materials. The study highlights the links between conceptual and linguistic understanding. Given that students identified vocabulary as a major barrier to learning, and that the science teacher tended to assume rather than to explain new terminology, the language-focused approach outlined to support vocabulary was seen as one way to address an urgent problem. Implications for professional development and teacher education are also addressed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To better understand the interaction between motor neuron dysfunction and denervation in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), we have evaluated motor neuron number and the retrograde uptake and transport of fluorogold by motor neurons in mice overexpressing mutant superoxide dismutase (mSOD), and wild-type controls. N-CAM immunoreactivity and protein kinase expression were determined in skeletal muscle during denervation. We found that in severely affected mSOD mice, motor neuron loss is moderate (approximate 40% reduction), whereas retrograde uptake/transport as assessed using fluorogold is profoundly impaired (approximately 90% reduction). The impairment in fluorogold uptake/transport corresponds to measures of progressive muscle denervation such as increased N-CAM immunoreactivity of muscle and increased expression of protein kinase B (PKB) in denervated muscle. These data suggest that the debility in the mSOD mouse model of ALS is produced, in part, by impaired retrograde uptake/transport in motor neuron axons in spite of regenerative support from muscle such as elevated expression of PKB. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fire history studies have traditionally emphasized temporal rather than spatial properties of paleo-fire regimes. In this study we compare four methods of mapping paleo-fires in central Washington from binary point data: indicator kriging, inverse distance weighting, Thiessen polygons, and an expert approach. We evaluate the results of each mapping method using a test (validation) dataset and receiver operating characteristic plots. Interpolation methods perform well, but results vary with fire size and spatial pattern of points. Though all methods involve some subjectivity, automated interpolation methods perform well, are replicable, and can be applied across varying landscapes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The magnesium and calcium salts of the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug meclofenamic acid (2-[(2,6-dichloro-3-methylphenyl)amino]benzoic acid) were prepared and complexed with β-cyclodextrin (β-CD) to yield inclusion complexes with the compositions β-CD-hemimagnesium meclofenamate·16.8H2O (1) and β-CD-hemicalcium meclofenamate·16.5H2O (2). These complexes were investigated by thermal analysis techniques, elemental analysis, powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD) and single crystal X-ray diffraction at 113 K. The complexes yielded PXRD traces that closely matched that of the known complex β-CD-sodium meclofenamate·16H2O (3), indicating isostructurality among 1–3, reflected in very close similarities in the modes of inclusion of the anion in β-CD. However, the locations and coordination environments of the Mg2+, Ca2+ and Na+ ions differ significantly in the respective crystals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the mathematical theorems of Chebyshev polynomials and Bernstein polynomials. The goal of the study is to understand what makes a polynomial large. The use of one-root-dragging principle helps in seeing how polynomials increase their norms. Chebyshev and Bernstein polynomials possess a wide range of properties and important applications. Several equations and applications prove that the scaled Bernstein polynomial is the largest and the Chebyshev polynomial is the smallest.

Predictive vegetation modeling can be used statistically to relate the distribution of vegetation across a landscape as a function of important environmental variables. Often these models are developed without considering the spatial pattern that is inherent in biogeographical data, resulting from either biotic processes or missing or misspecified environmental variables. Including spatial dependence explicitly in a predictive model can be an efficient way to improve model accuracy with the available data. In this study, model residuals were interpolated and added to model predictions, and the resulting prediction accuracies were assessed. Adding kriged residuals improved model accuracy more often than adding simulated residuals, although some alliances showed no improvement or worse accuracy when residuals were added. In general, the prediction accuracies that were not increased by adding kriged residuals were either rare in the sample or had high nonspatial model accuracy. Regression interpolation methods can be an important addition to current tools used in predictive vegetation models as they allow observations that are predicted well by environmental variables to be left alone, while adjusting over- and underpredicted observations based on local factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Language is commonly understood as a primary resource for enacting social identity and displaying membership of social groups. In this article I explore the links between second-language use, membership, and social contexts through the accounts of recently arrived immigrant students in Australian high schools. I argue that a key notion linking language use and identity is that of self-representation. The ways in which these students represent themselves, and are represented in schools, are critically related to the types of social interactions they participate in and to their ongoing language acquisition and integration into mainstream school and other social contexts. I contend that for schools to attend more effectively to the identities and self-representations of students from non-English-speaking backgrounds, they must first understand the dynamic interrelations of institutional contexts, language resources, and social identities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Forensic palynology involves using pollen on a person or object of interest or found at a crime scene to reconstruct history. Advances in genetic pollen identification techniques have spurred further research efforts in developing the geodatabases and models required to link those identified pollens to specific places or times. Many of these use plant species distribution models as a proxy for pollen presence in a landscape, an assumption that holds less true in areas dominated by human activity. For some plants, pollen might be redeposited by human activity in new areas, and this could play an outsized role in the pollens found in urban areas. As people move over medium distances, they and their vehicles might inadvertently deposit pollen farther from its origin than expected without human mediation. We build a social-spatial weights matrix using a suite of proxy variables to estimate the frequency of this type of medium-distance movement and combine that measure of “nearness” with a network flow model to modify the outputs of underlying plant species habitat suitability models. These modifications can potentially increase the accuracy and fidelity of the geoforensic models that link pollen to place and time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Focuses on the use of English as a second language in the classroom Queensland. Aim of teachers to integrate students of non-English speaking backgrounds; Construction of social identity of migrant students while learning English; Links between issues of language use and social identity.

To determine how well very young children know their best friends, 16 preschoolers were observed during classroom and playground play and were subsequently interviewed. The child they played with at least 50% of the observation time was considered their best friend. These observations and the teachers’ selections of best friend pairs were used to confirm the children's verbal interview selections. The children's interviews focused on naming their best friend, the friend's physical characteristics and the functions of friends. The best friend choice of 81 % of the children was confirmed by at least one other source (teacher, classroom or playground observation). The children were also accurate about several of their best friends’ characteristics including their hair color, relative age and height. The children's most common reasons for having friends were “for play” and because they “liked” their friends. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The purpose of this qualitative study was to describe middle level prepared teachers' perceptions of their practices after completing an Ohio Middle Childhood: Grades 4-9 teacher education program. Using the National Middle School Association/National Council of Accreditation of Teacher Education Initial Level Teacher Preparation Standards (2001) as the organizing framework for the interview protocols, the researchers interviewed middle level teachers, their administrator, and their students. The researchers in this study wanted to explore the perceptions of teachers in their implementation and understandings of the middle school concept as articulated in the teacher education program, even if the middle level schools in which they were employed did not fully implement practices consistent with these middle level practices. The findings that emerged from these analyses provide insights for middle level teacher educators about how middle level teachers construct a philosophy arising out of middle level ideals and, therefore, how they implement their understandings with young adolescents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]