Reproductive biology of largescale tonguesole Cynoglossus arel in coastal waters of Bandar Abbas, Persian Gulf, Iran.

The objectives of this study were to determine the reproductive cycle of largescale tonguesole Cynoglossus arel, a commercially valuable flatfish species, in coastal waters of Bandar Abbas, along the south coast of Iran in the Persian Gulf. From October 2009 to September 2010, 905 fish were collected in monthly samples, and their length, weight, sex, gonad weight, and maturity status recorded. These data revealed that ovary weight in females is low from July to September, then increases to a peak in February followed by a decrease, indicating that the peak spawning season is from February to March with some spawning lasting until June. Males showed a corresponding seasonal pattern in testis weight, although with much less pronounced seasonal differences than gonad weight in females. Five maturity classes were described based on ovarian and testicular histology, corresponding with macroscopic analysis of gonads. The spawning season in C. arel is prolonged, similar to several other tropical flatfish species, and larger adult females tended to have an even more prolonged spawning period than smaller, presumably younger adult females. Combined, our results indicated that C. arel is a winter-to-spring batch spawner with an asynchronous type of ovarian development.

Historical view of the influences of measurement and reading theories on the assessment of reading.

The purpose of this study is to briefly explore the interactions among measurement theories, reading theories, and measurement practices from an historical perspective. The assessment of reading provides a useful framework for examining how theories influence, and in some cases fail to influence, the practice of reading assessment as operationalized in reading tests. The first section describes a conceptual framework for examining the assessment of reading. Next I describe the major research traditions in measurement theory that have dominated measurement practice during the 20th century. In the next section I briefly introduce major reading theories. Next, I bring together the previous two sections in order to examine the adequacy of the proposed conceptual framework for examining the assessment of reading. This section includes criticism of measurement theory by selected reading theorists. It also provides a brief history of the use of Rasch measurement theory to calibrate reading tests. Finally, the main points of the study are summarized and discussed. It should be recognized that this study represents a preliminary analysis of these issues.

Math anxiety, mother's education, and the mathematics performance of adolescent boys and girls: evidence from the United States and Thailand.

In this study, I investigated the relationship of mathematics performance to math anxiety, mother's education, and gender. A secondary analysis was conducted using nationally representative samples of 13-year-old children in the United States (N = 4,091) and Thailand (N = 3,613) collected as a part of the Second International Mathematics Study (Garden, 1987). Separate ANOVAs (Math Anxiety x Mother's Education x Gender) were run within each country using a 40-item math performance test as the dependent variable. Math anxiety has an inverse relationship with mathematics performance in the United States (r = -.24) and in Thailand (r = -.14). The relationship between math anxiety and mathematics performance is significant in both countries after controlling for previous achievement, mother's education, and gender, although the data suggest that there is a three-way interaction between math anxiety, mother's education, and gender in Thailand.

Gender, academic achievement, and preferences for cooperative, competitive, and individualistic learning among African-American adolescents.

In this study, we investigated the relationships among gender, academic achievement, and student preferences for cooperative, competitive, and individualistic learning in a sample of 136 African-American adolescents enrolled in sixth and seventh grades in a school in Georgia. We used the Learning Preference Scale for Students (LPSS; Barnes, Owens, & Straton, 1978) to measure cooperative, competitive, and individualistic preferences. Three two-way ANOVAs (Gender x Academic Achievement) were conducted, in which the three learning preferences were the dependent variables. Gender had a significant effect on the preference for cooperative learning, with girls reporting a higher preference for this method than boys did. For the other two learning preferences, no significant gender differences were found. Academic achievement did not correlate significantly with any of the three learning preferences. A two-way interaction between gender and academic achievement was observed for competitive learning preferences. Girls' preferences for competition increased as academic achievement increased; boys' preferences for competition decreased as academic achievement increased.

Teachers' attitudes toward testing practices.

The purpose of this research was to investigate how teachers' attitudes toward testing practices affect the way teachers prepare and administer standardized tests. Classroom teachers (N = 186) from Georgia took the testing practices instrument developed to measure the three variables (behavior, attitude, and pressure) examined in this study. Attitudes were negatively correlated with behavior; teachers who felt that the testing practices were dishonest were less likely to engage in them. Pressure to increase standardized test scores was positively correlated with behavior; the greater the perceived pressure (subjective norms) to increase test scores, the greater the likelihood that teachers had engaged in more test preparation activities. The data also suggest that the amount of test preparation was greater in the lower grades than in the upper grades and that teachers in schools with more low-socioeconomic-status (SES) students tended to engage in more test preparation activities than their colleagues in higher SES schools.

Constructing rater and task banks for performance assessments.

The purpose of this paper is to present a set of procedures based on Rasch measurement theory for construction an assessment network. An assessment network is defined as a connected system of rater and task banks. Three general classes of data collection designs are presented that can be used to calibrate an assessment network; these are complete, incomplete, and non-linked assessment networks. Carefully constructed assessment networks based on Rasch measurement theory and sound data collection designs provide the opportunity to achieve objective and fair measurements.

Genetic differences in mating success and female choice in seaweed flies (Coelopa frigida).

An association is described in seaweed flies, Coelopa frigida, between the genotype at the alcohol dehydrogenase (Adh) locus and mating success in pairwise mating trials. Significantly higher mating success was observed in females that carried the Adh-C allele, but no association was observed between Adh genotype and male mating success. There was heterogeneity in the success of different combinations of males and females, but only when the female lacked the C allele. Analyses of video recordings indicated that C-bearing females spent longer mounted by males and that they less frequently rejected males. Evidence is presented for mate discrimination by females not carrying a C allele. The significance of there being genetic differences in both mating success and in female discrimination are discussed in the context of previous results on mating behaviour in natural populations.

Adrenocortical responsiveness in southern elephant seal mothers and pups during lactation and the effect of scientific handling.

We examined the cortisol responses to chemical and physical restraint stress in southern elephant seal Mirounga leonina females and their pups at three stages during lactation. In anaesthetised females the serum cortisol levels changed moderately during the 45-min sampling period following restraint, with average peaks at 23 min after anaesthetic administration. Overall, cortisol was relatively low 2 days postpartum and increased throughout lactation. In physically restrained pups serum cortisol increased rapidly after capture; the response was milder at age 2 days than at 11 days and 21 days. Levels were higher in female pups than in males. In order to test whether cortisol levels and/or responses became chronically (i.e. days to weeks) altered due to restraint, we compared the cortisol response at a late stage of lactation between three groups of mother-pup pairs previously given different levels of chemical (mothers) or physical (pups) restraint stress: control (not handled previously), moderate treatment (previously handled twice), and high treatment (previously handled 3-4 times). Pups of the three treatment groups showed similar adrenocortical responses suggesting no chronic effect of repeated physical restraint, despite the clear acute effects. Mothers of the control and moderate treatment groups showed similar cortisol responses; however, mothers of the high treatment group showed significantly attenuated responses. This indicated that elephant seals tolerated moderate degrees of handling disturbance; however, repeated (3-4) chemical immobilisations in lactating females may reduce their adrenocortical responsiveness for a period of days or weeks.