We assembled an ancestrally diverse collection of genome-wide association studies (GWAS) of type 2 diabetes (T2D) in 180,834 affected individuals and 1,159,055 controls (48.9% non-European descent) ...through the Diabetes Meta-Analysis of Trans-Ethnic association studies (DIAMANTE) Consortium. Multi-ancestry GWAS meta-analysis identified 237 loci attaining stringent genome-wide significance (P < 5 × 10
), which were delineated to 338 distinct association signals. Fine-mapping of these signals was enhanced by the increased sample size and expanded population diversity of the multi-ancestry meta-analysis, which localized 54.4% of T2D associations to a single variant with >50% posterior probability. This improved fine-mapping enabled systematic assessment of candidate causal genes and molecular mechanisms through which T2D associations are mediated, laying the foundations for functional investigations. Multi-ancestry genetic risk scores enhanced transferability of T2D prediction across diverse populations. Our study provides a step toward more effective clinical translation of T2D GWAS to improve global health for all, irrespective of genetic background.
Zachary Lockman's book offers a broad survey of the development of Western knowledge about Islam and the Middle East. Beginning with ancient Greek and Roman conceptions of the world, the book goes on ...to discuss European ideas about Islam from its emergence in the seventh century, with particular attention to the age of European imperialism, the era of deepening American involvement in this region, and the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Along the way, Lockman explores how scholars and others in the West have studied and depicted Islam and the Middle East, focusing on the politics and controversies that have shaped Middle East studies in the United States over the past half century, including the debates over Said's influential critique, Orientalism. This book relates many of today's critical issues, including Muslim extremism, terrorism and United States policy in the Middle East, to the broader historical and political contexts.
This book develops the concept of 'writtenness' (historically-formed stylistic and aesthetic values within writing) to highlight the demands, taken-for- granted ideals, institutional frictions, and ...changing circumstances of academic writing in English in the contemporary international university. Recognising the political importance of the role that English plays in an increasingly internationalized higher education network, Joan Turner pits writtenness against the contingency and instability of international English in real-life institutional contexts. In doing so, she brings out the theoretical significance of this, as writing becomes a motor of linguistic change and can no longer be seen simply as the repository of academic standards. Of particular interest to academics and postgraduates in TESOL, applied linguistics, rhetoric and composition, English as a Lingua Franca studies, and the sociolinguistics of writing, as well as to EAP practitioners, this book is among the first to theoretically consider the implications for the cultural homogeneity of the written word. It also offers a unique perspective on the role of writtenness within the broader historical context of leaving the era of print culture. As such, this book is highly recommended for students, researchers, and policy makers alike.
This book builds on recent interest in the role of representations in learning to argue for a pedagogical practice based on students actively generating and exploring representations. The book ...describes a sustained inquiry in which the authors worked with primary and secondary teachers of science, on key topics identified as problematic in the research literature.
This volume synthesizes and critically analyzes the literature on response to the writing of second language students, and discusses the implications of the research for teaching practice in the ...areas of written and oral teacher commentary on student writing, error correction, and facilitation of peer response.
The book features numerous examples of student texts and teacher commentary, as well as figures and appendices that summarize research findings and present sample lessons and other teaching materials. It is thus simultaneously comprehensive in its approach to the existing research and highly practical in showing current and future teachers how this material applies to their everyday endeavors of responding to student writing and teaching composition classes.
Response to student writing--whether it takes the form of teachers' written feedback on content, error correction, teacher-student conferences, or peer response--is an extremely important component of teaching second language writing. Probably no single activity takes more teacher time and energy. Response to Student Writing is a valuable theoretical and practical resource for those involved in this crucial work, including L2 composition researchers, in-service and preservice teachers of ESOL/EFL writers, and teacher educators preparing graduate students for the teaching of writing.
Contents: Preface. Part I: Research. An Overview of L1 Composition Research on Response and Its Influence on L2 Writing Theory and Practice. Teacher Feedback on L2 Student Writing. Error Correction. Research on Peer Response. Student Views on Response. Part II: Practice. Preparing Teachers to Respond to Student Writing. Suggestions for Error Correction. Implementing Peer Response.
"While Ferris addresses the controversial issues in error feedback in the filed of L2 composition, she does not stop there. By providing practical solutions Ferris makes her book a valuable resource not only for L2 composition researchers and teachers, but also for all teachers facing the challenges of responding to papers of non-native speakers of English." – Issues in Writing, Volume 16, Number 2, Spring/Summer 2006
Composition in Convergence: The Impact of New Media on Writing Assessment considers how technological forms--such as computers and online courses--transform the assessment of writing, in addition to ...text classroom activity. Much has been written on how technology has affected writing, but assessment has had little attention. In this book, author Diane Penrod examines how, on the one hand, computer technology and interactive material create a disruption of conventional literacy practices (reading, writing, interpreting, and critique), while, on the other hand, the influence of computers allows teachers to propose and develop new models for thinking and writing to engage students in real-world settings.This text is intended for scholars and educators in writing and composition, educational assessment, writing and technology, computers and composition, and electronic literacy. In addition, it is appropriate for graduate students planning to teach and assess electronic writing or teach in online environments.
Alzheimer disease (AD) brain is characterized by extracellular plaques of amyloid β (Aβ) peptide with reactive microglia. This study aimed to determine whether a dietary intervention could attenuate ...microgliosis. Memory was assessed in 12-mo-old male amyloid precursor protein/presenilin 1 (APP/PS1) transgenic mice via Barnes maze testing followed by division into either a control-fed group provided free access to normal chow and water or a treatment group provided free access to normal chow and drinking water supplemented with pomegranate extract (6.25 mL/L) for 3 mo followed by repeat Barnes maze testing for both groups. Three months of pomegranate feeding decreased the path length to escape of mice compared with their initial 12-mo values (P < 0.05) and their control-fed counterparts (P < 0.05). Brains of the 3-mo study pomegranate-fed mice had lower tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α) concentrations (P < 0.05) and lower nuclear factor of activated T-cell (NFAT) transcriptional activity (P < 0.05) compared with controls. Brains of the 3-mo pomegranate or control mice were also compared with an additional control group of 12-mo-old mice for histologic analysis. Immunocytochemistry showed that pomegranate- but not control-fed mice had attenuated microgliosis (P < 0.05) and Aβ plaque deposition (P < 0.05) compared with 12-mo-old mice. An additional behavioral study again used 12-mo-old male APP/PS1 mice tested by T-maze followed by division into a control group provided with free access to normal chow and sugar supplemented drinking water or a treatment group provided with normal chow and pomegranate extract–supplemented drinking water (6.25 mL/L) for 1 mo followed by repeat T-maze testing in both groups. One month of pomegranate feeding increased spontaneous alternations versus control-fed mice (P < 0.05). Cell culture experiments verified that 2 polyphenol components of pomegranate extract, punicalagin and ellagic acid, attenuated NFAT activity in a reporter cell line (P < 0.05) and decreased Aβ-stimulated TNF-α secretion by murine microglia (P < 0.05). These data indicate that dietary pomegranate produces brain antiinflammatory effects that may attenuate AD progression.
This book provides a systematic exposition of a group-based statistical method for analyzing longitudinal data in the social and behavioral sciences and in medicine. The methods can be applied to a ...wide range of data, such as that describing the progression of delinquency and criminality over the life course, changes in income over time, the course of a disease or physiological condition, or the evolution of the socioeconomic status of communities.
Schooling matters. The authors' professional pursuits for over twenty-five years have been focused on measuring one key aspect of schooling: the curriculum - what students are expected to study and ...what they spend their time studying. This documents their conviction that schools and schooling play a vital and defining role in what students know and are able to do with respect to mathematics and science. This research examines seventeen international studies of mathematics and science to provide a nuanced comparative education study. Whilst including multiple measures of students' family and home backgrounds, these studies measure the substance of the curriculum students study which has been shown to have a strong relationship with student performance. Such studies have demonstrated the interrelatedness of student background and curriculum. Student background influences their opportunities to learn and their achievements, yet their schooling can have even greater significance.
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