Search

The frontal pole (Brodmann area 10, BA10) is the largest cytoarchitectonic region of the human cortex, performing complex integrative functions. BA10 undergoes intensive adolescent grey matter pruning prior to the age of onset for bipolar disorder (BP) and schizophrenia (SCHIZ), and its dysfunction is likely to underly aspects of their shared symptomology. In this study, we investigated the role of BA10 neurotransmission-related gene expression in BP and SCHIZ. We performed qPCR to measure the expression of 115 neurotransmission-related targets in control, BP, and SCHIZ postmortem samples (n = 72). We chose this method for its high sensitivity to detect low-level expression. We then strengthened our findings by performing a meta-analysis of publicly released BA10 microarray data (n = 101) and identified sources of convergence with our qPCR results. To improve interpretation, we leveraged the unusually large database of clinical metadata accompanying our samples to explore the relationship between BA10 gene expression, therapeutics, substances of abuse, and symptom profiles, and validated these findings with publicly available datasets. Using these convergent sources of evidence, we identified 20 neurotransmission-related genes that were differentially expressed in BP and SCHIZ in BA10. These results included a large diagnosis-related decrease in two important therapeutic targets with low levels of expression, HTR2B and DRD4, as well as other findings related to dopaminergic, GABAergic and astrocytic function. We also observed that therapeutics may produce a differential expression that opposes diagnosis effects. In contrast, substances of abuse showed similar effects on BA10 gene expression as BP and SCHIZ, potentially amplifying diagnosis-related dysregulation.

The purpose of this study was to examine how literature study and study abroad, in combination as methods of internationalization, influence preservice teachers' (PSTs) intercultural competence and potential future classroom practices. Elementary education PSTs studied abroad in Germany for five weeks. As part of the preparation, they read a German novel identified as global literature. While abroad, they saw the corresponding movie and had conversations with German peers to better understand it within its cultural context. Three sources of data - My Cultural Awareness Profile, a Germany Questionnaire, and a Critical Blueprint novel reflection essay -- were analyzed. To better connect experiential learning abroad to future teaching, faculty guided PSTs to critically examine their pre- and post-responses. The findings indicate global literature is effective to begin to shift PSTs cultural perspectives. In combination, literature study and study abroad bring a global perspective to teacher preparation that can cultivate PSTs' intercultural competence.

Like an ecosystem, internationalization has interdependent elements. This case study focuses on one component, faculty preparation and development, which impacts other components such as student learning outcomes. Assessment of short-term study abroad student learning outcomes is a complex process involving faculty development, program design, and the use of various assessment approaches. This case study contributes to the literature on faculty capacity-building by describing the process for the creation of a Faculty Development Studio. The goal was to increase faculty's capacity in intercultural teaching and learning, develop student learning outcomes for short-term study abroad, and design programs for maximizing experiential learning, reflection activities, and assessment. Findings suggest that developing a process for faculty development, providing protected time and support, and creating the space for dialogue among faculty yield potential for faculty to address short-term study abroad student learning outcomes as well as to expand their teaching and scholarly work.

This article reports a pedagogical implementation carried out with pre-intermediate English students, in an English teacher preparation program at a public university in Colombia. This pedagogical implementation aimed to provide this population with a space to enhance their critical thinking skills through the implementation of a variety of task-based workshops where they were asked to observe, analyze, reflect and discuss about some political cartoons. The data to answer the research question was collected using class video-recordings, students' artifacts and a focus group. As a result of the pedagogical implementation, it was possible to identify how these students became aware of some social and political issues affecting them and their close context, and the importance of stating a position in front of them. Furthermore, students suggested that the workshops developed had shown them a possible pedagogical path they could follow in their future as language teachers.

In this practitioner-based teaching tip, the authors provide pragmatic tips to teachers regarding the integration of global education and literacy instruction. Through the pairing of the Sustainable Development Goals and carefully selected trade books, teachers are provided with a framework that can help them get started transforming their curriculum into one that is more globally minded. Throughout this teaching tip, teachers are encouraged to position themselves as learners along with their students, familiarize themselves with the Sustainable Development Goals, evaluate trade books for their relevancy to the Sustainable Development Goals, and explore the connections between local and global issues that are directly relevant to their students' lives. Detailed steps walk readers through the planning process and excerpts from a teacher's classroom provide support for the implementation practices recommended by the authors. Website and book recommendations provide teachers with tangible resources that can be easily transferred to classroom practice.

This study sought to examine sustained, school-based professional development (PD) on explicit reading comprehension strategy instruction (ERCSI) and its influence on teacher knowledge and practice and on student outcomes. Eight teachers participated - four first-grade and two teachers each from second and third grade. At the beginning of the school year, the teachers in this study scored less than 50% on an assessment of the declarative, procedural, and conditional knowledge of the strategies they were to teach. Through sustained PD that provided a six-lesson framework for explicitly teaching reading comprehension strategies and observations with feedback, the teachers scored higher with regards to knowledge about the comprehension strategies they were teaching. Teachers felt the PD changed their teaching, and they noted changes in their students' reading behaviors.

Low-income and racial/ethnic minority children are at increased risk of experiencing summer reading loss or declined reading levels due to time away from school. The purpose of this study was to determine whether a 6-week summer reading program would help children maintain or improve reading levels. Four-hundred-fourteen African American and Hispanic children ranging from Kindergarten to 8th grade were assessed before (Time 1) and one-week prior to the end of the program (Time 2) to evaluate changes in Independent and Frustration reading levels. Outcome scores (Independent and Frustration) significantly improved from Time 1 to Time 2, t (415) = 11.62, p < 0.001 and t (415) = 14.99, p < 0.001, respectively. Time had a significant effect on both Independent and Frustration score differences (F (1, 415) = 135.09, p < 0.001 and F (1, 415) = 224.60, p < 0.001, respectively). A significant time by child level interaction in Independent difference scores was also observed F (1, 410) = 8.21, p < 0.01, with children in higher levels showing more improvement. There was also a significant time by grade repeat interaction in Frustration difference scores, F (1, 390) = 7.60, p <0.01; children with a history of grade repetition showed significant improvement compared to those who had not. Results suggest that this brief summer reading program helped children improve over time, with improvement most notable in children in higher grade levels and those most vulnerable (i.e., grade repetition).

Teacher attitudes toward English language learners (ELLs) can affect what these students will learn. It has been noted that teachers with personal multicultural experiences are likelier to have a more positive attitude towards teaching ELLs (Youngs and Youngs, 2001). Thus, preparing future teachers is vital. This cannot be solely accomplished vicariously through textbooks or only from an intellectual perspective. Instead, experiences with others are needed. There is value to the method of teaching and learning via lived experiences, as such international experiences are often considered an "essential part of students' preparation for their future." Many teacher education programs include opportunities for preservice teachers (PSTs) to study abroad. Much of the literature regarding study abroad focuses on linguistic gains and cultural understanding as well as the impact on cognitive and affective domains. There is also support for the fact that study abroad experiences can contribute to the preparation of a culturally sensitive teaching force that is knowledgeable about, at ease with, empathic toward, and understanding of culturally and linguistically diverse students. Yet, studies fail to take into account PSTs' experiences as "others" before studying abroad. This is particularly problematic because since students self-select to study abroad it might seem likely that they have an interest in learning about others and thus would be more predisposed to having positive attitudes toward and experiences with diverse people. The purpose of this study was three-fold: (1) to examine PSTs' perceptions of "others" before traveling abroad; (2) to compare them to PSTs' perceptions of "others" upon their return; and (3) to attribute shifts in perceptions while abroad to specific experiences PSTs identified as helping them change their perceptions.

This study examined the impact of explicit comprehension strategy instruction supported by guided reading and partner reading on at-risk students' strategy knowledge and reading comprehension. Participants were 47 first graders (25 in the treatment group; 22 in the control group) and 44 second graders (19 in the treatment group; 25 in the control group). Treatment group participants developed more specific knowledge of strategies, were more likely to apply those strategies during reading, and demonstrated statistically significant growth in reading comprehension. Strong correlations appeared between students' strategic knowledge and overall comprehension. Implications are addressed at length following the discussion of results.

Copyright of Frontiers: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Study Abroad is the property of Frontiers Journal, Inc and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This study explored how a study abroad experience affected preservice teachers' (PSTs') dispositions towards and plans for teaching English Language Learners (ELLs). This qualitative study involved 16 elementary education initial licensure PSTs who participated in a 2-month study abroad trip to Germany. Data in the form of surveys, interviews, and reflections were collected. The PSTs' experiences left them feeling like outsiders, fostering greater empathy for ELLs. As the PSTs faced the challenges of studying abroad, they developed ways of coping, which influenced their dispositions toward ELLs and the accommodations they wanted to make when teaching ELLs in their future classrooms. A model of the PSTs' learning progression within the study abroad experience is offered as a lens to consider their transformations. Findings suggest it would be beneficial for educators traveling abroad with PSTs to find ways to make explicit the connections between personal encounters and future teaching experiences.

In this article, we treat language teacher identity as foundational to educational practice and see Foucault's (1983, 1997) notion of ethical self-formation, and its adoption in teacher education research by Clarke (2008, 2009, 2010), as providing a potential vehicle for understanding the development of teacher agency and critical identity work. We use the 4 axes of Foucault's (1983) approach to ethical self-formation, as captured in Clarke's (2009) "Diagram for Doing Identity Work," in exploring a case study of an elementary reading and language arts teacher who worked in a multilingual inclusion classroom with exceptional (i.e., learning disabled) and mainstreamed students. We consider the relevance of how this teacher's identity developed over the course of 7 interviews, spanning 9 years, for teacher identity work in language teacher education (LTE). In doing so, we foreground the critical as well as the dangerous potential of all teachers' identity work and argue for the importance of nurturing teachers' reflective, action-oriented identity practices as well as fostering a self-awareness of language teachers as ethical subjects "acting on others" (Foucault, 1997, p. 262) even as they struggle within power relations that press upon educational practices and discourses.

A fundamental molecular feature of olfactory systems is that individual neurons express only one receptor from a large odorant receptor gene family. While numerous theories have been proposed, the functional significance and evolutionary advantage of generating a sophisticated one-receptor-per neuron expression pattern is not well understood. Using the genetically tractable Drosophila melanogaster as a model, we demonstrate that the breakdown of this highly restricted expression pattern of an odorant receptor in neurons leads to a deficit in the ability to exploit new food sources. We show that animals with ectopic co-expression of odorant receptors also have a competitive disadvantage in a complex environment with limiting food sources. At the level of the olfactory system, we find changes in both the behavioral and electrophysiological responses to odorants that are detected by endogenous receptors when an olfactory receptor is broadly misexpressed in chemosensory neurons. Taken together these results indicate that restrictive expression patterns and segregation of odorant receptors to individual neuron classes are important for sensitive odor-detection and appropriate olfactory behaviors.

Copyright of Revista Medica del IMSS is the property of Direccion de Prestaciones Medicas - IMSS and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)