This research is based on Middle School Mathematics Project (MSMP) funded by the Interagency Educational Research Initiative through a grant to the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Both teacher's instructional representations and students' written representations were coded and analyzed to investigate the nature and structure of the representations in teaching fractions, decimals and percents in middle school classrooms in three school districts in Texas. The study further explored the relationship between both the quality and quantity of instructional representations and students' written representations, and the relationship between students' written representations and their achievements. This dissertation used a mixed approach utilizing both quantitative and qualitative methods. The data was collected in the first two years of a five-year study. A total of 14 sixth grade mathematics teachers from three school districts in Texas were selected from the MSMP project. Before the actual videotaping procedure, a professional development focusing on multiple representations was held for the teachers. Both pretests and posttests were used to examine the relationship between the structure of students' written representations and their achievements. The results showed that the both the quantity and quality of teachers' instructional representations varied a lot. Symbolic representations were the predominant representations in classroom teaching. Structures of instructional representations converge to content sub-constructs rather than format sub-constructs. Here sub-constructs include part-whole, measure, quotient, multiplication by one and cross product. Instead, format sub-constructs include real world, manipulatives, pictures, spoken symbolic representations and written symbolic representations, however, connections between these sub-constructs were not statistically significant. Within the three content sub-constructs (part-whole, quotient, and multiplication by one) that revealed by students' written representations, quotient and multiplication by one significantly predicated the students' posttest scores. It was also found that, among the three quality criteria (accuracy, comprehensibility and connections) of instructional representations, the comprehensibility score significantly predicated students' achievement in the posttests.

Abstract: Pathological neovascularization of the outer retina is the hallmark of neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD). Building on our previous observations that semaphorin 3F (Sema3f) is expressed in the outer retina and demonstrates anti-angiogenic potential, we have investigated whether Sema3f can be used to protect against subretinal neovascularization in two mouse models. Both in the very low-density lipid-receptor knockout (Vldlr−/−) model of spontaneous subretinal neovascularization as well as in the mouse model of laser-induced choroidal neovascularization (CNV), we found protective effects of Sema3f against the formation of pathologic neovascularization. In the Vldlr−/− model, AAV-induced overexpression of Sema3f reduced the size of pathologic neovascularization by 56%. In the laser-induced CNV model, intravitreally injected Sema3f reduced pathologic neovascularization by 30%. Combined, these results provide the first evidence from two distinct in vivo models for a use of Sema3f in protecting the outer retina against subretinal neovascularization

Objective - Non-adherence to asthma medication is a common problem in patients with asthma, especially in children, leading to more frequent asthma exacerbations, ED visits and hospital admissions. Current methods of assessing adherence are unreliable. Electronic monitoring devices (EMDs) are more accurate means of assessing for adherence, but little is known about whether EMDs have a sustained effect on adherence in children. The objective of this study is to determine whether a mobile-based reminder system paired with EMD scan result in sustained improvement in adherence to asthma therapy over six months. Methods - Children (8-17 years) with physician-confirmed persistent asthma, managed through the pulmonary division of Connecticut Children's Medical Center, treated with a compatible daily inhaled corticosteroid, and with access to a smartphone were enrolled and randomized 2:1 to the intervention (EMD) or control (standard care) groups. Participants were followed at 3 and 6-months after enrollment. The intervention consists of the BreatheSmartTM EMD (one for controller and one for rescue inhaler) synced with a mobile application that sends reminders and captures adherence data in real time. The primary outcome was adherence assessed as proportion of days covered (PDC) based on pharmacy refill among children in the intervention group compared to control after 6 months. Secondary outcome was adherence based on EMD data. Results - 41 patients (29 in intervention, 12 in control) were enrolled. Adherence rates based on pharmacy refill at 6 months did not show any statistical significance between the intervention group compared to the control group (41% vs 31%, respectively; p=0.21). Average adherence rate at 6 months based on EMDs for the intervention group (n=26) was 27.4%. While there was an initial high rate of adherence immediately after enrollment, adherence rates dropped significantly over the span of the 6 months. Conclusion- Preliminary data suggest that adherence to controller therapy is no different among children utilizing an EMD with daily reminders when compared to a similar group of children receiving standard care. Despite an initial high rate of adherence with implementation of the intervention, such rates of adherence were not sustainable after 6 months.

The generation of a flat electron beam directly from a photoinjector is an attractive alternative to the electron damping ring as envisioned for linear colliders. It also has potential applications to light sources such as the generation of ultrashort x-ray pulses or Smith-Purcell free electron lasers. In this paper, we report on the experimental generation of a flat beam with a measured transverse emittance ratio of 100 {+-} 20 for a bunch charge of {approx_equal} 0.5 nC. The experimental data, obtained at the Fermilab/NICADD Photoinjector Laboratory, are compared with numerical simulations and the expected scaling laws. Possible improvement of the experiment along with application for such a flat beams are discussed.