Key Education Issues in Review: Educational Funding

As citizens of the U.S., we want the nation to have a world-class educational system that enables our children to compete with the best that other nations have to offer. To accomplish this, school funding plays an important role. Educational funding, however, is usually neither adequate nor equitable (Sims, 2004). Adequate funding ensures that all students are able to meet intended objectives and goals of education. Equitable funding ensures a sufficient level of funding distributed within states that accounts for additional needs based on various student characteristics. There are different costs for educating groups of students, and this should be taken into account for any funding formula

Cyril Scott, Segovia and the Sonatina for Guitar

Cyril Scott's guitar Sonatina, composed for Andres Segovia in 1927, was regarded for many decades as a lost work. Following its incomplete premiere in 1928, it disappeared from Segovia’s repertoire, remaining unpublished, unrecorded, and unavailable to other guitarists. The manuscript was thought to have perished, and the work acquired almost legendary status in the guitar world. The recovery of the manuscript in May 2001 confirms the Sonatina’s significance as a major break from the overtly Hispanic and folkloristically inspired pieces that dominate the pre-World War II repertoire of modern guitar music. The author’s researches into Segovia’s reception in Paris and London in the mid-1920s, and into other ‘lost’ works composed for Segovia at this time, provide a context in which the story of Scott's piece is unfolded and its significance assessed

Ocean wave energy resource assessment-- hotspots, exceedance-persistance, and predictability : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Applied Science in Natural Resource Engineering at Massey University

Ocean wave energy conversion is evolving towards commercial viability. Succinct resource assessment is essential to the conversion of wave energy for grid supply electrical generation. The ability to differentiate potential wave energy locations by means of comprehensible evaluations is particularly useful to the commercial developers of wave energy power plants. This report establishes an assessment of wave energy that provides an understanding of the resource in both spatial and temporal resolution. Three aspects of the wave resource are established; mapping of wave energy hotspots due to wave focusing, visualisation of the probability of wave energy exceedance and persistence, and calculation of the predictability of wave energy for a particular aspect of coast. These three assessments are explained with a review of the science surrounding the phenomena of wave creation and propagation, the development of wave energy converter devices, as well as visualisation and manipulation of wave resource assessments. The outputs of these assessment methodologies are comparable, uncomplicated, graphic representations of the resource. Case studies for seven locations encircling New Zealand were investigated, in order to demonstrate the practicalities of the wave energy resource assessment methodology developed by this project. This study modelled the transformation of several hundred combinations of wave height, period and direction from deep-water to shore. The different conditions were ranked in terms of probability of occurrence. Recombination of these iterations created hotspot maps. The locations examined in this study were then compared to other infrastructure for wave energy utilisation. Historical wave data was processed to establish the probability of levels of wave energy being exceeded and persisting. This information establishes how often a potential wave energy plant might provide significant output and for how long this output might persist. Collection of wave prediction data for aspects of New Zealand allowed the comparison of up to seven day forecasts with a "now forecast". Assessment was then made of the predictability of the climatic conditions creating waves for a location. The ability to be able to provide accurate forecasts of potential wave energy plants is of significant interest to generation companies in New Zealand in order to manage a diverse generation portfolio. Key finding of this investigation: • Waves and wave energy have significant variation of spatial, and temporal scales. • Waves can be predicted for an aspect of coastline dependant upon the predictability of the climatic conditions of the wave generation location. • Wave energy resource assessment is often presented as a single figure of averaged kilowatts per meter wave front that fails to adequately incorporate the temporal, spatial, and predictive aspects of the resource. • A methodology was compiled to create "hotspot" (areas of intensified wave energy) mapping of a location utilising a wave transformation model. These maps can then be used to access spatial relationships to other digital information (electricity grid nodal locations, marine protected areas, navigation requirements, etc). • Processing of wave climate data utilising Matlab© script developed by ASR Ltd identified the probability of wave energy being exceeded and persisting for a given location. • Forecasts of wave characteristics are published on the Internet. Calculation of error between a "now forecast" and the previous day's forecast for today (up to six days out), can give an assessment of the predictability of an aspect of a location provided the wave forecast model utilises significant climatic variables. • Case studies of wave energy resource assessment (using the developed hotspot, exceedence persistence, and predictability methods) for seven locations encircling New Zealand, identified three classes of wave resource; exceptional (Southland), good (Otago, Taranaki, Auckland, Hokianga), and poor (Canterbury, Wellington)

Building Healthy Places with People and for People: Community Engagement for Healthy and Sustainable Communities

Over a 25 year period, residents of the El Sereno  community in Los Angeles have opposed efforts of  investors seeking to build luxury homes on the area  known as Elephant Hill.  After years of community  organizing—canvassing door to door, developing a  broad-based coalition and mobilizing supporters to  attend public hearings—residents declared victory after  the City Council agreed to settle a lawsuit with the  developers by buying the 20-acre site for $6 million to  create a future park.  Residents are glad that a chunk of one of Los Angeles' last undeveloped hillsides  will remain open space in this park poor, working-class Latino community.  Opposition efforts reignited  in 2004 not only to preserve open space, but also to encourage public safety and counter threats to  gentrification.  Elva Yañez, the El Sereno resident who led the most recent efforts to preserve Elephant  Hill, hailed the settlement as a victory for environmental justice: "After a long and hard fought struggle,  the residents of this community have been afforded the environmental protections that are rightfully theirs.   We are pleased that this poorly planned project is not moving forward and environmental justice has  prevailed." [Contreras & Sanchez, 2009; Yañez, personal communication, 2010

Heroes and Villains: Narratives of Public Sector Reform in the UK and Scotland

This study is based on a discourse analysis of reform narratives in two public sector organisations, one operating in a UK context and one in a Scottish context. The study uses the concept of organisational narratives (Gabriel, 1995; 1999; 2000; Sims, 2004) as a lens to organise and understand the presentation and translation of reform in these organisations and the wider government. The thesis argues that there is a fundamentally inconsistent alignment of public sector reform narratives within governments, and challenges notions of a ‘New Scotland' (Hassan and Warhurst, 2002; Paterson et al., 2004; Bechofer and McCrone, 2004) as being little more than rhetoric at the macro level of discourse. At the micro-organisational level, interviews with senior managers revealed that in both case-study organisations, common discursive devices and plot structures were utilised by managers in order to build authority and legitimacy within their organisations. It is these discourse linkages in the different policy practice sites that are the dominant narratives at work, rather than the macro level reform narratives of government. The thesis examines the notion of 'double reform' whereby Scottish public sector workers have been subject to both the general sweep of neo-liberal public sector reforms, and changes related to the greater devolution of powers. This notion is largely overlooked by existing literature. It is argued that this double reform has been an opportunity not a pressure, and that the Scottish Government has been able to exploit this opportunity for their own gain, to promote notions of Scotland as an independent nation-state. This thesis demonstrates however, that macro-level success in the construction of Scottish narratives has not resulted in an evenly translated narrative within the public sector, raising important issues for the use of discourse in future public sector reform projects

Large employers and apprenticeship training in Britain

We consider two aspects of the link between apprenticeship and large employers in Britain: the contributions of apprenticeship to employers supplies of intermediate skills and of employers to the Advanced Apprenticeship programme. Evidence is taken from interviews with managers in twenty-nine organisations. We find that apprenticeship does function outside Advanced Apprenticeship, primarily because of trainee ineligibility. Employers use of apprenticeship depends on its cost-effectiveness relative to recruitment and upgrade training within HRM practice. Some employers value apprenticeship as a source of long-term employment and career progression. The intensity of training depends on ownership attributes, with family firms operating larger programmes. Employers participate in Advanced Apprenticeship, in terms of contractual role and programme delivery, in diverse ways. The implications of their choices for training quality are not unambiguous. -- In dem Papier werden zwei Aspekte zum Zusammenhang von betrieblichen Ausbildungen und Großunternehmen in Großbritannien analysiert: Einmal der Beitrag betrieblicher Erstausbildungen zur Bereitstellung von Facharbeiter-Qualifikationen und zum anderen der Beitrag der Arbeitgeber für das Programm Advanced Apprenticeship. Die gewonnenen Erkenntnisse stützen sich auf Interviews mit Managern in 29 Organisationen. Es wurde deutlich, dass betriebliche Ausbildungen außerhalb des Advanced Apprenticeship-Programms funktionieren, vor allem wegen Nichtzulassung zu dem Advanced Apprenticeship Programm auf Grund fehlender Erfüllung der Zulassungskriterien. Der Umfang, in dem Arbeitgeber die Möglichkeiten betrieblicher Erstausbildungen nutzen, hängt ab von dem Vergleich der Ausbildungskosten zu den Kosten von Neueinstellungen und von betrieblichen Weiterbildungen im Rahmen betrieblicher Personalentwicklungsmaßnahmen. Einige Arbeitgeber schätzen betriebliche Erstausbildungen vor allem insofern, als sie förderlich sind für eine lange Betriebszugehörigkeit und eine positive berufliche Entwicklung. Es gibt einen Zusammenhang von Ausbildungsqualität und Eigentumsstruktur: familiengeführte Unternehmen bieten umfangreichere Ausbildungsprogramme an. Unternehmen nehmen in unterschiedlicher Weise an dem Advanced Apprenticeship- Programm teil, bezogen auf ihre vertraglich vereinbarte Rolle und der Art ihres Angebots. Die Auswirkungen und Folgen ihrer Entscheidungen hinsichtlich der Qualität der von ihnen angebotenen Ausbildung sind nicht eindeutig.

'I just want a job' : what do we really know about young people in jobs without training?

Over recent years, a central concern of policy has been to drive up post-16 participation rates in full-time education and address the needs of young people not in education, employment or training (NEET). As a result, young people who enter work which is classified as 'without training' at 16/17 have largely been ignored. However, the decision to Raise the Participation Age (RPA) for continuing in learning for all 17-year olds from 2013 and for all 18-year olds from 2015 in England, together with a growing unease about the impact of the current recession on youth unemployment rates, have revived interest in the 'jobs without training' (JWT) group. This paper draws on the findings from two studies: first, a qualitative study in two contrasting local labour markets, of young people in JWT, together with their employers and parents; and second, an evaluation of the Learning Agreement Pilots (LAP), which was the first policy initiative in England targeted at the JWT group. Both studies reveal a dearth of understanding about early labour market entrants and a lack of policy intervention and infrastructure to support the needs of the JWT group throughout the UK. From this, it is concluded that questionable assumptions have been made about the composition and the aspirations of young people in JWT, and their employers, on the basis of little or no evidence. As a consequence, a policy 'quick fix' to satisfy the RPA agenda will not easily be achieved. If the decision to raise the participation age is adopted also by the Welsh and Scottish parliaments, similar challenges may have to be faced

Self as social practice: rewriting the feminine in qualitative organizational research

This paper offers a reflexive discussion of the paradox of researching others and offering to represent multiple voices whilst suppressing the voice of the researcher. Martin’s (2002) injunction to repair research accounts by ‘letting the “I” back in’ is problematised by identifying four typically unacknowledged discursive subject positions which constitute the multiple nature of the “I” in such texts: the empirical ‘eye”, the analytical I, the authorial I and the I as semiotic shifter. It is argued that this shifting multiplicity is stabilised by the relationship between self and research text being corporeally grounded and gendered. From this discussion, three possible approaches to gender are considered: the discursive/textual approach (as developed inter alia by Foucault); the performance/social practice approach (as developed inter alia by Judith Butler) and the corporeal multiplicity approach (as developed inter alia by Elizabeth Grosz and Dorothea Olkowski). The paper concludes by suggesting a tripartite approach to writing self-multiplicity in research which extends the possibilities opened up by the social practice approach: re-citing (redeploying discursive resources in intertextuality); re-siting (changing the positioning of the self in power relations by reinscribing); and re-sighting (opening up new, virtual visions of possibility)

비둘기(Columba livia)에서 Rocuronium Bromide의 점안이 산동 및 망막전위도에 미치는 영향

학위논문(박사) -- 서울대학교대학원 : 수의과대학 수의학과, 2022.2. 서강문.The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effect of topical application of rocuronium bromide on mydriasis and electroretinography (ERG) in domestic pigeons (Columba livia). In Chapter I, the effect of neuromuscular blocking agent rocuronium bromide on the mydriasis of pigeons was investigated. This investigation was conducted in two phases. In the first phase, a single dose of 0.20 mg/20 µL rocuronium bromide was instilled topically to the right eye (OD) of eight domestic pigeons. The iris colors of these pigeons consisted of gravel, pearl, and bull eye. Pupil diameter and pupillary light reflex (PLR) were measured before instillation at the time base (T0), and at 5 (T05), 10 (T10) minutes after instillation, and every 10 minutes thereafter until 160 (T160) minutes. The pupil diameter was measured in millimeter (mm) and the PLR was assessed using a scoring system. Rocuronium bromide produced mydriasis in 6/8 (75%) pigeons in the first phase of the investigation. On those six pigeons, the maximal mydriasis was observed at T30 with a mean pupil diameter of 4.62 ± 0.13 mm. Pupil diameter measurement in the treated eye was significantly different from that in the contralateral eye and from T0 since T05 – T120 (P < 0.05). The PLR was disappeared from T10 to T90 (P < 0.05). In the second phase of the investigation, the same dosage was instilled twice in the span of 10 minutes into both eyes (OU) of four pigeons (eight eyes). In this phase, all the pigeons had a bull eye iris. The same measurement of pupil diameter and PLR were performed at the same time points. Mydriasis was only observed in 2/8 eyes. This suggested that topical rocuronium bromide was able to produce mydriasis on pigeons other than bull eye iris. During the study, no significant side effects were observed except for a transient lower eyelid paresis. In Chapter II, the effect of mydriasis with topical rocuronium bromide on the ERG of domestic pigeons was investigated. In this study, scotopic mixed rod and cone, photopic cone, and photopic flicker ERG were performed on nine adult healthy pigeons under sedation with and without the induction of mydriasis using the topical application of rocuronium bromide. No statistically significant differences were observed during the scotopic mixed rod and cone ERG between non-mydriatic and mydriatic conditions. During the photopic ERG examinations, however, significant differences were observed on both the photopic cone and photopic flicker amplitudes of ERG between non-mydriatic and mydriatic conditions. The amplitudes of the photopic ERG were significantly higher in the mydriatic condition. Based on the results of the current study, topical application of rocuronium bromide reliably produced mydriasis on pigeons with iris colors other than bull eyes without significant side effects. The degree of mydriasis achieved by the topical rocuronium bromide manage to facilitate advanced ophthalmic examination such as ERG in pigeon. In pigeon, the amplitude of photopic ERG in mydriatic eye induced with rocuronium bromide was significantly higher. In conclusion, rocuronium bromide can be safely used as a mydriatic agent in pigeons to facilitate general ophthalmic examination and ERG examination.본 연구는 rocuronium bromide의 점안이 비둘기(Columba livia)의 산동 및 망막전위도(electroretinography)에 미치는 영향을 평가하기 위하여 실시되었다. 제1장에서는 신경근 차단제인 rocuronium bromide가 비둘기의 산동에 미치는 영향을 2 단계에 걸쳐 평가하였다. 첫번째 단계에서는 rocuronium bromide (0.20 mg/20 µL)를 8마리의 비둘기의 우안(OD)에 점안하였다. 첫번째 단계에서 사용된 비둘기의 홍채 색은 gravel, pearl, bull eye로 구성되었다. 동공의 직경 및 동공 빛반사(PLR)는 약물 점안 전(T0), 점안 5분 후(T05), 점안 10분 후(T10), 그리고 이후부터는 점안 160분 후(T160)까지 10분마다 측정하였다. 동공 직경은 mm 단위로 측정되었으며 PLR은 점수 체계를 이용하여 평가하였다. 첫번째 단계에서 rocuronium bromide는 8마리 중 6마리의 비둘기에서 산동을 유발하였다. 동공 직경은 T30에서 최대였으며 평균 4.62 ± 0.13 mm로 관찰되었다. Rocuronium bromide를 점안한 눈의 T0에서의 동공 직경은 T05-T120에서의 동공 직경과 유의미한 차이를 보였다(P < 0.05). 또한 rocuronium bromide을 점안한 눈과 점안하지 않은 눈의 동공 직경은 T05-T120에서 각각 유의미한 차이가 확인 되었다(P < 0.05). T10부터 T90까지 PLR은 없었다. 두번째 단계에서는 4마리 비둘기의 양안(OU), 총 8개의 안구에 첫번째 단계와 동일한 양의 rocuronium bromide을 10분 간격으로 2회 점안하였다. 이 단계에서 사용된 모든 비둘기의 홍채 색은 bull eye였다. 동공 직경 및 PLR의 평가 방법과 측정 시간은 첫번째 단계와 동일하였다. 평가된 8개의 눈 중 2개의 눈에서만 산동이 확인되었다. 이를 통하여 rocuronium bromide는 홍채 색이 bull eye가 아닌 비둘기에서 산동을 일으킬 수 있음을 알 수 있었다. 일시적인 눈꺼풀의 경련을 제외하고는 실험 중 유의적인 부작용은 관찰되지 않았다. 제2장에서는 rocuronium bromide의 점안이 비둘기의 ERG에 미치는 영향을 평가하였다. 9마리의 성체 비둘기에서 rocuronium bromide의 점안을 통하여 유도된 산동 상태와, 산동을 하지 않은 상태에서 각각 ERG를 실시하였으며, scotopic mixed rod and cone, photopic cone 및 photopic flicker 등을 측정하여 그 결과를 비교하였다. Scotopic mixed rod and cone ERG에서는 산동 유무에 따른 유의적인 차이가 확인되지 않았다. 하지만 photopic ERG에서는 산동 유무에 따라 photopic cone과 photopic flicker의 amplitude 모두에서 유의적인 차이가 확인되었다. Photopic ERG의 산동상태에서의 amplitude가 유의적으로 더 높았다. 본 연구 결과는 산동 상태에서, rocuronium bromide의 점안은 bull eye 이외의 홍채 색을 가진 비둘기에서 심각한 부작용 없이 안정적으로 산동을 유발하였으며, rocuronium bromide에 의해 유발된 산동으로 비둘기에서 ERG 같은 정밀 안검사가 가능함을 알 수 있었다. 또한 비둘기에서 rocuronium bromide에 의해 산동 된 눈의 photopic ERG의 amplitude는 산동을 하지 않은 눈에 비하여 유의미하게 더 높았음을 알 수 있었다. 따라서 비둘기에서 일반적인 안검사 및 망막전위도 검사 시 산동제로서 rocuronium bromide를 사용할 수 있을 것으로 사료된다.CONTENTS GENERAL INTRODUCTION 1 CHAPTER I. Efficacy of Topical Rocuronium Bromide as Mydriatic Agent on Domestic Pigeons (Columba livia) 3 Abstract 4 Introduction 5 Materials and Methods 7 1. Experimental animals 7 2. Experimental procedures 8 3. Statistical analyses 10 Results 11 Discussion 17 Conclusions 24 CHAPTER II. Effect of Mydriasis with Topical Rocuronium Bromide on Electroretinography (ERG) in Domestic Pigeons (Columba livia) 25 Abstract 26 Introduction 27 Materials and Methods 28 1. Experimental animals 28 2. Electroretinography 29 3. Statistical analyses 31 Results 32 Discussion 39 Conclusions 46 GENERAL CONCLUSIONS 47 REFERENCES 48 ABSTRACT IN KOREAN 55박