Confession I always had students who entered my fourth grade class reading significantly below grade level. And each year, when I passed them on to fifth grade, those students were still behind. I did everything I knew how to do — I taught Guided Reading lessons, provided independent reading time, found them books to love, replied to readers’ response journals- but no matter what I tried in my Balanced Literacy classroom, the achievement gap persisted.

This morning I took (early) delivery of Amazon’s new Kindle 3 – I opted for the WiFi only version – a device that claims 50% better contrast than any other e-reader, a 21% smaller body while keeping the same 6″ size reading area, and a 20% increase in the speed of page turns. These are, [...]

Over at TechCrunch I’ve penned an op/ed piece on why I’m in love with the Kindle. Or more specifically, why the dedicated e-Reader still has a role to play in the context of Apple’s iPad and competing multifunctional tablet computers, such as the plethora of Android-powered devices that are about to hit the market. I’m [...]

You’re a fantasy writer. You’ve created an amazing and original world, full of wondrous magic, mind-blowing monsters, and fascinating new cultures. You’ve got powerful heroes, menacing villains, and mysterious mentors. There’s just the right amount of romance.

In short, you’ve got all that good stuff you’d expect to find in a fantasy novel.

Only, somehow it’s still not coming out quite as awe-inspiring as you’d envisioned it.

Today, I’ve got three tips for you on how to make your awesome stuff seem more awesome.

Establish the Norm

“When everything is awesome, awesome becomes average.”

Every now and then, I come across a book that begins with the writer very obviously trying to impress me with how cool their main character is, and what an amazing world they have created, and how scary the villain is. All at once. In the first chapter.

It rarely works.

Let’s say there’s a ballroom full of ultra-rich and mega-powerful vampires, and then someone flies in on a golden unicorn and starts shooting fireballs the shape of grinning skulls.

That would probably look rather spectacular as an introduction to a movie, but does it work in a book?

Continue reading Make It Awesome — Three Tips for Impressing Your Readers at Mythic Scribes.

We asked Guardian readers living in cities and towns across the world to share their images of the wildlife they can see from their homes. You answered in your droves, from Canada to Cardiff, and here are some of the best.

Studies demonstrate that the investigational ⁶⁴Cu-DOTATATE radiopharmaceutical may provide diagnostic and logistical benefits over available imaging agents for patients with somatostatin receptor (SSTR)-positive neuroendocrine tumors (NETs). Accordingly, we aimed to prospectively determine the lowest dose of ⁶⁴Cu-DOTATATE that facilitates diagnostic quality scans and evaluated the diagnostic performance and safety in a phase III study of patients with SSTR-expressing NETs. Methods: A dose-ranging study was conducted in 12 patients divided into 3 dose groups (111 MBq [3.0 mCi], 148 MBq [4.0 mCi], and 185 MBq [5.0 mCi] ± 10%) to determine the lowest dose of ⁶⁴Cu-DOTATATE that produced diagnostic quality PET/CT images. Using the ⁶⁴Cu-DOTATATE dose identified in the dose-ranging study, 3 independent nuclear medicine physicians who were blinded to all clinical information read PET/CT scans from 21 healthy volunteers and 42 NET-positive patients to determine those with "Disease" and "No Disease," as well as "Localized" versus "Metastatic" status. Blinded-reader evaluations were compared to a patient-specific standard of truth (SOT), which was established by an independent oncologist who used all previously available pathology, clinical, and conventional imaging data. Diagnostic performance calculated for ⁶⁴Cu-DOTATATE included sensitivity, specificity, negative predictive value, positive predictive value, and accuracy. Inter- and intra-reader reliability, as well as ability to differentiate between localized and metastatic disease, was also determined. Adverse events (AEs) were recorded from ⁶⁴Cu-DOTATATE injection through 48 hours post-injection. Results: The dose-ranging study identified 148 MBq (4.0 mCi) as the optimal dose to obtain diagnostic quality PET/CT images. Following database lock, diagnostic performance from an initial majority read of the 3 independent readers showed a significant 90.9% sensitivity (P = 0.0042) and 96.6% specificity (P < 0.0001) for detecting NETs, which translated to a 100.0% sensitivity and 96.8% specificity after correcting for an initial SOT misread. Excellent inter- and intra-reader reliability, as well as ability to distinguish between localized and metastatic disease, was also noted. No AEs were related to ⁶⁴Cu-DOTATATE, and no serious AEs were observed. Conclusion: ⁶⁴Cu-DOTATATE PET/CT is a safe imaging technique that provides high-quality and accurate images at a dose of 148 MBq (4.0 mCi) for the detection of somatostatin-expressing NETs.

This week host Matt Egan is joined by Ashleigh Allsopp, engagement editor of Macworld UK and physical bookshelf enthusiast to discuss eBooks and eReaders following the big Nook and Amazon Kindle news in the week (1:40). Producer Chris Martin chips in to talk about the death of the father of email, Ray Tomlinson, this week and the growth of workplace tools like Slack that are trying to reduce the amount we use email (12:30). Finally regular contributor and acting editor at Macworld UK David Price talks about Apple ransomware (24:00).  

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PET using radiolabeled prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) is now being more widely adopted as a valuable tool to evaluate patients with prostate cancer (PC). Recently, 3 different criteria for interpretation of PSMA PET were published: the European Association of Nuclear Medicine (EANM) criteria, the Prostate Cancer Molecular Imaging Standardized Evaluation criteria, and the PSMA Reporting and Data System. We compared these 3 criteria in terms of interreader, intrareader, and intercriteria agreement. Methods: Data from 104 patients prospectively enrolled in research protocols at our institution were retrospectively reviewed. The cohort consisted of 2 groups: 47 patients (mean age, 64.2 y old) who underwent Glu-NH-CO-NH-Lys-(Ahx)-[⁶⁸Ga(HBED-CC)] (⁶⁸Ga-PSMA11) PET/MRI for initial staging of biopsy-proven intermediate- or high-risk PC, and 57 patients (mean age, 70.5 y old) who underwent ⁶⁸Ga-PSMA11 PET/CT because of biochemically recurrent PC. Three nuclear medicine physicians independently evaluated all ⁶⁸Ga-PSMA11 PET/MRI and PET/CT studies according to the 3 interpretation criteria. Two of them reevaluated all studies 6 mo later in the same manner and masked to the initial reading. The Gwet agreement coefficient was calculated to evaluate interreader, intrareader, and intercriteria agreement based on the following sites: local lesion (primary tumor or prostate bed after radical prostatectomy), lymph node metastases, and other metastases. Results: In the PET/MRI group, interreader, intrareader, and intercriteria agreement ranged from substantial to almost perfect for any site according to all 3 criteria. In the PET/CT group, interreader agreement ranged from substantial to almost perfect except for judgment of distant metastases based on the PSMA Reporting and Data System (Gwet agreement coefficient, 0.57; moderate agreement), in which the most frequent cause of disagreement was lung nodules. Intrareader agreement ranged from substantial to almost perfect for any site according to all 3 criteria. Intercriteria agreement for each site was also substantial to almost perfect. Conclusion: Although the 3 published criteria have good interreader and intrareader reproducibility in evaluating ⁶⁸Ga-PSMA11 PET, there are some factors causing interreader disagreement. Further work is needed to address this issue.

The readers of School Psychologist Blog Files were asked in February to share their own experiences and to vote on a poll "How do you feel about the level of education the school provides your child." It's important to understand that everyone's experience is unique. The readers come from different states, different school systems, and different grade levels. Laws and standards vary somewhat between states. Within any state, there are schools that do a better job suiting the needs of children than others. Within any school system, there are those star schools, and the schools that need more attention. Even within the best schools, there are still going to be individuals who have negative experiences. Within the worst schools, there will be those who have positive experiences. Regardless of your school or your situation, I believe that the readers of this blog care deeply about their child's education and have strong emotions about the education (positive or negative.)

The most popular response was "I generally feel good about the level of education, but have some complaints." I was glad to see that many of you are mostly satisfied. I hope that continues throughout your children's school career. Stay involved, speak up when needed, and compliment those who deserve it.

There was a strong outcry from those who endorsed "I feel as if the school is not supportive and I feel as though I am constantly fighting for his or her rights." This was the second most popular answer. While many feel comfortable with their schools, there are many parents out there who have the unsettling feeling of sending their child to a place they do not feel good about. Many of the readers are feeling that getting appropriate services only comes with a fight. Some of you are not having good experiences. I hope that you are able to find some support and insight here from others.

A few of you feel very thankful for the high level of education that your child is receiving. I am thankful to hear that some of the parents here feel exceptionally good about their child's school. Know this is a blessing that many others do not have.

Feel free to share your comments about experiences and offer some insight to others who may have similar experiences.

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STANDARD ERRORS VS STANDARD DEVIATIONS Click to enlarge There’s an ancient haiku that goes: People confuse a well-estimated mean with a certain outcome Ok, that’s not true. But Jake Hofman, Dan Goldstein, and Jessica Hullman have a new paper (recently accepted at CHI 2020) about this. They bet you’ll think the results of their paper […]

The post How visualizing inferential uncertainty can mislead readers about treatment effects in scientific results appeared first on Decision Science News.

London : Bailliere, Tindall and Cox, 1885.

Learning how to decode words is essential to becoming a reader. But research shows that building a strong vocabulary and knowledge-base is crucial as well.

Your feedback on our coverage of women's history, wolverines and Madame C.J. Walker

Your feedback on our 50th anniversary issue showcasing success stories in conservation

Readers have been quick to voice their opinion after it was reported that Nicola Sturgeon missed six emergency coronavirus Cobra meetings.

Enter PCMag.com's Readers' Choice/Business Choice Survey sweepstakes for a chance to win!

If you want new printer, there's only one manufacturer to consider—the same printer maker PCMag readers have rated the very best for more than a decade.

A larger screen and waterproof casing are being offered to encourage sales for 'worry-free summer reading.' Will you be willing to pay $199 for it, though?

Starting at $249.99, it's pricey, but the previous generation is a PCMag Editors' Choice product, and this new model promises to be even better.

Whether you're considering joining the digital book revolution, or just want a new device to replace an older one, here are the best ebook readers on the market today.

FineReader 15 is the best all-round PDF-and-OCR app there is, with a smooth, modern interface, fast performance, and a deep feature set.

Maharajas Express added another feather in its cap as it bagged the first runner up award in the Specialist Train Operators Category awarded by the Conde Nast Traveller Readers' Travel Award. The first prize was grabbed by the Hiram Bingham Express, a luxury train by Orient Express Group....

Several countries have announced ambitious goals to be powered completely by renewable energy, while other nations set smaller, incremental goals. These high aspirations have sparked quite a debate amongst industry experts, and we here at Renewable Energy World are curious to hear what you, our readers, have to say.

A throwback video of a tarot reader predicting Ranbir Kapoor's relationship with Alia Bhatt back in 2012 is going viral

NCBI has developed a new web presentation style called PubReader, which offers you an easier way to use your Web browser to read the articles in PMC. Designed particularly for enhancing readability and navigation on tablet and other small screen devices, PubReader can also be used on desktops and laptops and from multiple web browsers. For more information on PubReader, see the article in the November-December issue of the NLM Technical Bulletin.

KoreaMed Synapse, a digital archive and reference linking platform of Korean medical journals, is now using NCBI’s new PubReader presentation style to display their full-text journal articles. KoreaMed’s database of 122 journals now includes a blue ‘PubReader’ icon for each full-text article. NCBI launched PubReader in December 2012 as a convenient new way to view full-text articles in PubMed Central on desktops as well as tablets and mobile devices. In tandem with the launch, NCBI made the code used to create PubReader freely available on GitHub.

PMC has recently released an updated version of its PubReader view. The new version (1.2) includes a "search this page" feature that allows you to find specific terms within the article. The latest source code is also available from the GitHub repository.

I read with interest the editorial by Strom¹ about functional neurologic disorders (FNDs). As a treating physician, I have struggled with the multiple diagnostic labels attached to these patients by physicians of different medical specialties during the course of their clinical disease presentation. A neurologist may assign a patient who presents with chronic fatigue the diagnostic labels of narcolepsy, idiopathic hypersomnia, or chronic Lyme disease. A rheumatologist may assign the label of collagen vascular disease, and a psychiatrist may diagnose depression. This diagnostic ambiguity is troublesome for patients and clinicians alike. I contend that even the term FND needs to be revisited. A patient should be broadly labeled as having a functional disorder and only after characterization sublabeled and referred to an appropriate specialty physician.

We read with great interest the study by Tarolli et al.,¹ which explored the burden of disease in Parkinson disease (PD) by evaluating the prevalence of nonmotor symptoms and their association with quality of life. The authors selected nonmotor symptoms based on literature review, expert opinions, and patient interviews. We note that apathy, which has major consequences for patients and carers, was not included as a relevant nonmotor symptom in their study. We performed a subcohort analysis of 60 patients from a study of pain in PD in 110 outpatients (PaCoMo-study, registered trial number: NL6311402917 [toetsingonline.nl]). We retrospectively reviewed the medical records to check whether the clinician identified apathy in these patients in the previous year, which was the case in 15% of the patients (n = 9). Blind to those results, patients were examined with the Apathy Scale (AS).² In total, 63.3% (n = 38) of the patients scored positive on the AS. Only 18.4% of the patients who scored positive on the AS were also classified or mentioned with apathy in the medical records by clinicians.

Dear readers, Speakeasy will no longer be updated as of July 2017. Visit our Arts section for the latest coverage and follow us on Twitter for news and analysis of the entertainment world. Additionally, you can download the WSJ app for iOS or Android to follow your favorite reporters and columnists and receive notifications when they publish new articles.

You’ve got questions, we’ve got experts

You've got questions. We've got experts

Posts from high-profile accounts tout questionable virus therapies and cures.

A supermoon happens when the moon reaches the closest point to Earth in its 27-day orbit and it happens to be full, which usually occurs once a year. We asked you to share your shots of April’s lunar spectacular. Here’s a selection of our favourites