The prevalence of developmental delays that make children eligible for Part C services is much higher than previously thought. Moreover, the majority of children who are eligible for Part C services are not receiving services for their developmental problems. Strategies need to be developed to monitor patterns of enrollment in early intervention services and reach out to more minority children, particularly black children.

We have experimentally observed around 2 orders of magnitude circular dichroism (CD) enhancement in the visible region for cysteine molecules located in the hotspots of gold nanosphere clusters. The observed plasmon-induced CD responses show a significant correlation with the chiral nature of molecules at the hotspots. These results provide a concrete experimental demonstration on the predicted chiroptical transfer and amplification effect that arises from hotspot-mediated exciton−plasmon interactions in a strongly coupled metallic nanostructure, even though the exciton−plasmon coupling works at a far off-resonant regime. Our findings suggest here that plasmonic hotspot-based CD amplifier may provide a new strategy for ultrasensitive detection and quantification of molecular chiralitya key aspect for various bioscience and biomedicine applications.

This study used hierarchical linear modeling to predict first grade students' peer acceptance, classroom engagement, and sense of school belonging from measures of normative classroom teacher-student support and individual teacher-student support. Participants were 509 (54.4% male) ethnically diverse, first grade children attending one of three Texas School districts (1 urban, 2 small city) who scored below their school district median on a measure of literacy administered at the beginning of first grade. Peer nominations from 5147 classmates were used to assess both normative and individual levels of teacher support. Normative classroom teacher-student support predicted children's peer acceptance and classroom engagement, above the effects of child gender, ethnic minority status, and individual teacher-student support. Results are discussed in terms of implications for teacher preparation and professional development.

A series of poly(lactic acid) (PLA) nanocomposites containing from 1 up to 6 weight % of montmorillonite layered silicate were prepared by melt compounding followed by compression moulding. The morphology of the nanocomposites was investigated using transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and wide-angle X-ray diffraction (WAXD) and it was confirmed that the nanocomposite structures were intercalated. The average aspect ratio of the compounded nanoclay was found to be 50. Water vapour transmission rates (WVTR) through the films were measured at 38°C and at a relative humidity of 90%. It was found that the measured values of WVTR decreased with increasing nanoclay content up to a value of 5 weight % and the results gave good agreement with predictions from the Nielsen 'tortuous path' model.

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Drawing on social ecological theory and empirical studies on the role of school context in aggression, the authors argue that school adversity is an important consideration in choosing selective interventions for aggressive children. The moderating role of school adversity on intervention effectiveness is illustrated with data from a randomized clinical trial study investigating 2 selective interventions administered to 86 aggressive 2nd and 3rd graders. The authors expected that PrimeTime, an intervention targeting child competencies, would be more effective in low-adversity schools, whereas Lunch Buddy, an intervention targeting peer ecology, would be more effective in high-adversity schools. Hierarchical linear regression analyses showed significant posttreatment effects on composite measures of aggression and achievement for the interaction between the level of school adversity and treatment condition.

PtS2 is a newly developed group 10 2D layered material with high carrier mobility, wide band gap tunability, strongly bound excitons, symmetrical metallic and magnetic edge states, and ambient stability, making it attractive in nanoelectronic, optoelectronic, and spintronic fields. To the aim of application, a large-scale synthesis is necessary. For transition-metal dichalcogenide (TMD) compounds, a thermally assisted conversion method has been widely used to fabricate wafer-scale thin films. However, PtS2 cannot be easily synthesized using the method, as the tetragonal PtS phase is more stable. Here, we use a specified quartz part to locally increase the vapor pressure of sulfur in a chemical vapor deposition furnace and successfully extend this method for the synthesis of PtS2 thin films in a scalable and controllable manner. Moreover, the PtS and PtS2 phases can be interchangeably converted through a proposed strategy. Field-effect transistor characterization and photocurrent measurements suggest that PtS2 is an ambipolar semiconductor with a narrow band gap. Moreover, PtS2 also shows excellent gas-sensing performance with a detection limit of ∼0.4 ppb for NO2. Our work presents a relatively simple way of synthesizing PtS2 thin films and demonstrates their promise for high-performance ultrasensitive gas sensing, broadband optoelectronics, and nanoelectronics in a scalable manner. Furthermore, the proposed strategy is applicable for making other PtX2 compounds and TMDs which are compatible with modern silicon technologies.

There is an emergent demand for high-flexibility, high-sensitivity and low-power strain gauges capable of sensing small deformations and vibrations in extreme conditions. Enhancing the gauge factor remains one of the greatest challenges for strain sensors. This is typically limited to below 300 and set when the sensor is fabricated. We report a strategy to tune and enhance the gauge factor of strain sensors based on Van der Waals materials by tuning the carrier mobility and concentration through an interplay of piezoelectric and photoelectric effects. For a SnS2 sensor we report a gauge factor up to 3933, and the ability to tune it over a large range, from 23 to 3933. Results from SnS2, GaSe, GeSe, monolayer WSe2, and monolayer MoSe2 sensors suggest that this is a universal phenomenon for Van der Waals semiconductors. We also provide proof of concept demonstrations by detecting vibrations caused by sound and capturing body movements.