"Living So Far From Words" : Intertextuality, Trauma and the Post-Shoah World of Medbh McGuckian’s Blaris Moor

Peer reviewedPostprin

Undergraduate ESL students' engagement in academic reading and writing in learning to write a synthesis paper

As an important and a challenging source-based writing task, synthesizing offers rich opportunities to explore the connections between reading and writing. In this article, we report findings from a qualitative study of two Chinese students’ learning experiences with academic synthesis writing in a university ESL composition course. Specifically, we discuss how the two students’ understanding of synthesis and sources influenced their synthesis writing practices and how they perceived the connections between their reading strategies and synthesis writing processes. Our results reveal that the students’ understanding of synthesis and the functions of sources played a crucial role in learning to synthesize, as did their ability to use rhetorical reading strategies to complete this new literacy task. We argue that whether second language (L2) students understand the complex reading-writing relationships underlying synthesizing is crucial for their successful textual production. These findings carry valuable implications for understanding reading and writing connections and teaching L2 source-based writing

NEW INSIGHTS IN THE ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION OF PLANT NITROGEN LIMITATION

Under increasing additions of reactive nitrogen (N) to the planet via anthropogenic N deposition and excess fertilization, some plant species will thrive while others will not. This may seem counterintuitive, as the growth of most plants is thought to be limited by soil N, but recent evidence shows that excess N can reduce plant community composition, alter plant-microbial interactions, and lead to fundamental alterations in plant growth and fitness. Yet, we lack the ability to predict which plant species will be winners or losers in soil N enrichment scenarios. The primary goal of my dissertation was to examine variation in plant growth responses to N enrichment and whether ecological and evolutionary factors explain such variation. These factors, according to current literature, should include aspects of past evolution such as phylogeny and evolutionary differentiation in resource use traits, nutrient co-limitation, and interactions with root-associated microbes. Because variation in plant responses to soil N enrichment challenges the paradigm in ecology that productivity of all plants is N-limited or N co-limited, a second goal of my dissertation was to determine how this and other recent work changes our understanding of the terrestrial N and carbon (C) cycles and feedbacks between soil N gradients and evolution under global change.In my first chapter, I used a global dataset of plant biomass responses to N fertilization and evolutionary models to show that species vary in the direction and magnitude with which they respond to N enrichment (with more than one in four species responding negatively or neutrally), and that two aspects of past evolution (phylogenetic relatedness and selection associated with constraints on resource use) govern responses to N enrichment. In my second and third chapters, I implemented two greenhouse fertilization experiments and subsets of the 30 functionally diverse tree species within the genus Eucalyptus that are native to Tasmania, Australia. The main result from these experiments was that phylogenetic patterns in biomass responses to N enrichment are associated with phylogenetic variation in root function (specific root length and interactions with ectomycorrhizal fungi), but not co-limitation by phosphorus (despite the fact that Tasmanian eucalypts occur across strong soil phosphorus gradients). In my fourth chapter, I reviewed how this and other current research challenges long-held and fundamental assumptions regarding the source, plant use, and microbial transformations of N and provides insights into eco-evolutionary feedbacks and C cycling under global change. Overall, my dissertation has used major theories in plant ecology and evolution to explain the variation in plant responses to global change, and synthesized research that highlights new understanding of the drivers and consequences of terrestrial N cycling

Teachers\u27 perceptions of professional development and pedagogical practice: a study of a Kentucky suburban school district.

Professional development supports teacher growth and enhances pedagogical practice. Teachers in Kentucky must complete annual professional development hours and districts must develop a professional development plan tied to research that supports high-quality professional development. This qualitative case study takes place in a rural district, Bullitt County, where I investigated the teachers’ perception of a customized professional development, Thinking Focus Cohort (TFC), and its impact on their pedagogical practice. While a body of research exists on high quality professional development, there is a lack of research on the effectiveness of it, in particular a year-long cohort model with curriculum centered around four pillars: learning of community, thinking strategies, gradual release of responsibility, and academic discourse. This study drew upon data collected from document analysis, semi-structured interviews and group level assessment (GLA). Document analysis provided an understanding of materials used throughout TFC and feedback gathered from outside observers and participants. The semi-structured interviews provided insight into participants’ perspectives on their experience of TCF. GLA questions functioned to fill the gap of information which addressed teachers’ perceptions of the Thinking Focus Cohort and its influence on teachers’ pedagogical practice, specifically focusing on the participants’ experience as a community of learners as well as their intentional pedagogical practices. Findings show the customized professional development, TFC, impacted teachers’ pedagogical practice from their perspective after reviewing the participants’ responses aligned with the selective codes. First, participants were able to identify intentional pedagogical practices they implemented, which also created higher teacher and student efficacy. Next, participants revealed the importance of instructional coaches serving as mentors to foster the perceived pedagogical changes. Finally, participants discussed how the teacher rounds provided exemplar modeling of the intended instructional strategies and created an avenue for collaboration throughout the district. In summary, the transformational changes to teachers’ pedagogical practice was supported through a year-long cohort of modeling instructional strategies tied to the curriculum while meeting monthly was enhanced through instructional coaches and teacher rounds. The demands of teaching have evolved -in part due to high stakes accountability systems. This is coupled with the hemorrhage of teachers leaving the profession for more personal and professional reasons. Professional development is a means for teachers to experience critical support through collaboration, thus resulting in pedagogical changes. The effective professional development and the desired results point directly to implications for policy and practice to mitigate compliance driven by regulations and law, suggesting instead the creation of structures to evaluate the effectiveness of professional development. This also points directly to examining the style of delivery and methods of support within the evaluation system of professional development. Teachers become models of continued learning focusing on improving their pedagogical practice. This study reveals the importance of high-quality professional development as a means to positively impact a teacher’s pedagogical practice

Effectiveness of soil and water conservation measures for land restoration in the Wello area, northern Ethiopian highlands

Soil-erosion-induced land degradation is a great challenge in the Ethiopian highlands. Consequently, the government has invested in soil and water conservation (SWC) measures, mainly farmland terracing and exclosure of degraded lands. This study analyzed the effectiveness of those measures to tackle land degradation in the North and South Wello zones of the Amhara region (Ethiopia). The study analyzed land use/cover (LULC) and inter-annual normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) changes based on moderate resolution imaging spectrometer (MODIS) image and NDVI data composited at 8-day and 2-monthly intervals, respectively. The analysis was based on data from 2000 to 2010 covering 300,000 km². The LULC showed remarkable changes, where large decrease in degraded woody vegetation and increases in grassland/woody grassland. Similarly, NDVI showed considerable changes over time where the area covered by NDVI values >0.4 and 0.3 to 0.4 increased by 12.5%, and 2.3%, respectively, which indicate vegetation restoration. Areas along highways, showed a positive NDVI trend, which indicates restoration, while the other parts were identified as degradation hotspots, which could be due to differences in SWC policy implementation. The study also assessed farmland terrace soil fertility and crop yield as well as soil fertility change in exclosures at micro-watershed scale. Soil fertility change in exclosure was analyzed using soil samples from three age categories (open sites, 10- and 27-year-old exclosures), two agro-ecological zones (Weyna- Dega/mild and Dega/cool) and three terrain positions (lower, middle and upper). The samples were analyzed for selected physico-chemical properties, and statistically tested with analysis of variance (ANOVA). The results reveal that the exclosure soils showed significantly higher organic carbon (9 g/kg) and total nitrogen (1.2 g/kg) content than those on open sites. However, differences between the 10- and 27-year-old exclosures were non-significant, indicating a decline in fertility restoration rate with age. Exclosures in the Weyna-Dega zone showed significantly better soil fertility restoration than those in the Dega zone. This might be due to the effect of micro-climate on biomass production, vegetation types and organic matter mineralization. The soil physico-chemical properties neither had significant differences nor followed a regular trend across the terrain of the exclosure, which could be due to mechanical SWC measures. Therefore, exclosure planning should consider soil fertility restoration variation with age, agro-ecology and management. The farmland terrace soil fertility analysis used composite topsoil (0-20 cm) samples collected from plots representing 4 terrain slope ranges (3-5%, 5-8%, 8-15% and 15-30%) at 3 positions within a terrace and compared with 1983 survey data. The samples were analyzed for selected soil physico-chemical properties and statistically tested using ANOVA. Yield data (grain and biomass) of selected crops monitored between 1995 and 2009 from 40 fixed plots on three terrace positions (low-, mid- and up) were statistically tested by a mixed linear model in SAS. The analysis revealed that farmland terracing helped to maintain soil fertility and crop yield. Crop yields and most soil properties except pH, exchangeable bases and clay content did not show significant differences across the terrain. Unlike in other studies, all topsoil properties except bulk density showed insignificant differences within a terrace, while yields of most crops significantly decreased from low- towards up- terrace position. Gradual bench terrace formation might reduce topsoil fertility gradients within a terrace, but this does not avoid soil depth and crop yield gradients. Soil fertility and crop yield also showed only slight changes (stable yield) across terrace age which indicates that terracing reduced soil and nutrient loss due to water erosion. However, terracing alone does not improve soil fertility and thereby crop productivity. Thus, terracing should be supplemented by soil fertility amendments by considering sitespecific conditions. Although SWC measures have limitations, generally they played a significant role in maintaining and/or restoring soil fertility, maintaining agricultural production, restoring vegetation cover, and mitigating anthropogenic land degradation.Die Wirksamkeit von Boden-und Wasserschutzmaßnahmen bei der Rekultivierung von degradiertem Land am Beispiel des äthiopischen Wello-Hochlands Erosionsbedingte Bodendegradation im äthiopischen Hochland stellt eine große Herausforderung an das Landmangement dar. Daher hat die Regierung in Boden- und Wasserschutzmaßnahmen (SWC) investiert, insbesondere in Terrassierung landwirtschaftlicher Flächen und Nutzungsausschluss (Exclosures) von degradiertem Land. Jedoch gibt es keine Studien, die die Auswirkungen dieser Maßnahmen umfassend bewerten. Die vorliegende Studie konzentrierte sich daher auf die Untersuchung der Effektivität der oben genannten Maßnahmen bei der Bekämpfung der Bodendegradation in den North und South Wello Zonen der Amhara Region (Äthiopien). Analysiert wurden Veränderungen der Landnutzung/Landbedeckung (LULC) und inter-annuell Veränderungen des normalisierten differenzierten Vegetationsindex (NDVI) anhand von mittelaufgelösten MODIS-Daten sowie NDVI-Daten, in 8 Tages- und 2 Monatsintervallen zusammengefasst. Die Daten decken den Zeitraum 2000 bis 2010 und eine Fläche von ca. 30.000 km² ab. Die LULC- Werte zeigten große Abnahme der Bedeckung in der Landbedeckung, vor allem in degradierter Gehölz-/Strauchvegetation und Zunahme in Grasland/Strauchvegetation. Auch die NDVI-Werte deuten auf eine zeitliche Vegetationsveränderung hin; Flächen mit einem NDVI >0.4 und 0.3-0.4 nahmen um 12.5% bzw 2.3% zu. Flächen entlang der Straßen zeigten einen positiven NDVI Trend, was auf eine Wiederherstellung der Vegetation hindeutet, während andere Bereiche degradierten. Dies könnte die Folge unterschiedlicher Umsetzung der SWC Maßnahmen sein. Desweitern wurden Bodenfruchtbarkeit und Fruchterträge auf terassierten Flächen sowie Bodenfruchtbarkeitsveränderung in den von Landnutzung ausgeschlossenen Gebieten untersucht. In den Exclosures wurden Bodenproben aus drei Alterskategorien (offene Flächen, 10 and 27 Jahre alte Exclosures), aus zwei agro-ökologischen Zonen (Weyna-Dega/mild, Dega/kühl) sowie aus drei Hangpositionen (untere, mittlere, obere) physikalisch und chemisch untersucht und anhand von Varianzanalysen (ANOVA) statistisch analysiert. Die Ergebnisse zeigten einen signifikant höheren Anteil an organischem Kohlenstoff (9 g/kg) und Gesamtstickstoff (1.2 g/kg) in den Böden der Exclosures als auf offenen Flächen. Die Unterschiede zwischen den 10 bzw. 27 Jahre alten Exclosures waren jedoch nicht signifikant; dies zeigt, dass die Bodenfruchtbarkeit sich mit dem Alter der Exclosures stabilisierte. Die Böden der Exclosures in der Weyna-Dega-Zone zeigten eine signifikant bessere Regeneration als die in der Dega-Zone, möglicherweise die Wirkung von Mikroklima auf Biomasseproduktion, Vegetationstyp und Mineralisierung des organischen Materials. Es konnten weder signifikante Unterschiede noch bestimmte Trends in Bodeneigenschaften über die Fläche der Exclosures festgestellt werden, vermutlich eine Folge der mechanischen SWC-Maßnahmen. Bei der Planung von Exclosures sollte daher die Variation in der Bodenfruchtbarkeitswiederherstellung über Alter, Agroökologie sowie Management berücksichtigt werden. Für die Bodenfruchtbarkeitsanalyse der Terrassen wurden Mischproben (0-20 cm) von Flächen mit vier verschiedenen Hangneigungen (3-5%, 5-8%, 8-15% und 15-30%) von drei Positionen innerhalb einer Terrasse mit Daten aus dem Jahr 1983 verglichen. Der Boden wurde auf ausgewählte bodenphysikalisch-chemische Eigenschaften analysiert und statistisch mit ANOVA überprüft. Ertragsdaten (Körner und Biomasse) aus dem Zeitraum von 1995 bis 2009 von 40 permanenten Versuchsflächen lokalisiert auf den drei o.g. Hangpositionen wurden mit einem gemischten linearen Regressionsmodell in SAS getestet. Die Ergebnisse zeigten, dass Terassierung zu einer Stabilisierung der Bodenfruchtbarkeit und Erträge führt. Weder die Erträge noch die Bodeneigenschaften, ausser Boden-pH, austauschbare Basen und Lehmgehalt, zeigten signifikante Unterschiede. Im Gegensatz zu anderen Studien zeigten die Bodeneigenschaften, außer Bodendichte, keine signifikanten Unterschiede innerhalb einer Terrasse, während die Erträge der meisten Kulturen von den unteren Terassenstufen zu den oberen signifikant abnahmen. Die allmähliche Bildung von Stufenterrassen könnte demzufolge die Fruchtbarkeitsgradienten des Oberbodens innerhalb einer Terrasse reduzieren, sie vermeidet jedoch nicht Gradienten in der Bodentiefe und in Fruchterträgen. Bodenfruchtbarkeit und Erträge zeigten sehr geringe Unterschiede. Dies deutet daraufhin, dass Terrasierung zu einer Abnahme der Bodenerosion sowie Nährstoffverlagerung über die Fläche führt. Trotzdem reicht Terrassierung als alleinige Maßnahme nicht zur Verbesserung von Bodenfruchtbarkeit und damit von Erträgen aus. Zusätzlich sollten standortspezifische Bodenverbesserungsmaßnahmen durchgeführt werden. Trotz der aufgezeigten Einschränkungen spielen SWC-Maßnahmen eine signifikante Rolle bei der Erhaltung und/oder Wiederherstellung der Bodenfruchtbarkeit, Verbesserung der landwirtschaftlichen Produktivität, Wiederherstellung der Vegetationsbedeckung sowie Verminderung der anthropogenen Landdegradation

Speaking of Transformation: Discourse, Values, and Climate Adaptation Planning in San Antonio, Texas

As climate change accelerates and social inequity grows, adaptation planning and policy must respond to both problems. Adaptation scholars increasingly call for transformative solutions that not only address problems with the status quo but articulate ethical commitments to justice and equity. City climate action and adaptation plans (CAAPs) have begun to center these commitments, but little is known about how such responses become articulated and change as CAAPs are developed and passed. This dissertation, a critical case study of San Antonio’s first CAAP, SA Climate Ready, addresses this gap by focusing on changes to the discourse of climate equity during the planning and drafting phases. Combining critical discourse analysis and rhetorical analysis methodologies, the study examined claims about climate equity and climate action, as well as the value resonances conveyed by these claims. The dataset included transcripts of 45 planning meetings in 2018 and three CAAP drafts published in 2019. Findings suggest that climate equity discourse was backgrounded, and economic arguments for climate action foregrounded, to appeal to decision-makers’ values and priorities. Identifying four rhetorical constraints contributing to these changes and four recommendations for mitigating these constraints, this study has implications for transformative climate planning and policymaking in other contexts

Explaining and Distinguishing Scientific Impact in Information Systems Research: A Study of Review Articles and Design Science Research

Since its inception, the Information Systems discipline has been striving to develop impactful papers that contribute to cumulative knowledge development. Yet, there is a surprising lack of insights on how scientific impact can be accomplished and to which extent this impact represents a substantial engagement with, and extension of the knowledge contributions of the original papers. Especially for review articles and design science research, there are both competing conceptions of what makes these papers impactful and a lack of empirical evidence that would inform this debate. Furthermore, there is a latent skepticism as to whether this sometimes staggering impact of review articles actually represents knowledge development. In a similar way, it is unclear how and to which extent design science research has stimulated meaningful, cumulative knowledge development in information systems. The goal of this thesis is therefore to (1) explain and to (2) distinguish the scientific impact of review articles and design science research. Specifically, the first goal considers overall scientific impact as the dependent variable whose association with antecedent factors is analyzed by regression methodologies. The second goal zooms in on the concept of scientific impact and considers it as a relation between citing and cited papers that is explored through methodologies of manual content analysis and machine learning classification. With Paper 1, I develop the foundation of knowledge development through review articles by crystallizing their contributions and aligning them with their underlying knowledge conversion processes in an overarching framework. This framework is based on the abstraction and codification of knowledge and thereby integrates two essential dimensions of knowledge development. Overall, the foundation developed in the first paper informs the underlying conception of knowledge development of both review articles and citing papers. Addressing the first goal, Papers 2 and 3 develop and test scientometric impact models explaining the scientific impact of review articles and design science research, respectively. Beyond common control variables related to the journal and author level, they offer distinct insights for each type of paper. For review articles, I identify strong effects related to methodological transparency and the development of a research agenda, which vary depending on the type of review. For design science research, I show that theorization and novelty drive scientific impact. Concerning the second goal, Papers 4 and 5 distinguish different types of scientific impact of review articles and design science research, respectively. To analyze the different types of impact that review articles have on their overwhelming number of citing papers, I develop machine learning classifiers. Specifically, I distinguish ideational impact, which corresponds to a substantial engagement with and development of the knowledge contributions of the review article, from perfunctory impact, which corresponds to more trivial connections to the review article. In a similar, though not automated way, I analyze the types of impact of information systems design theories, a particular type of design science research. These analyses primarily focus on whether follow-up research tests and extends these theories. Based on our content analysis, I identify an alarming paucity of follow-up research in this area and develop specific guidelines for the design science community to address this challenge. The thesis concludes with an overview of the research contributions, implications for research practice, future research opportunities, and final remarks

西田幾多郎と中国哲学 : 影響と相違

This paper is the second part of a general study on the relationship between Nishida and Chinese philosophy. In the fi rst, I explored the extent to which Nishida’s philosophy was infl uenced, directly and indirectly, explicitly and implicitly, historically and conceptually, by materials coming from the intellectual horizon of Chinese thought. I concentrate here on Nishida’s own position toward what he understood by “Chinese philosophy.” Is this philosophy, so suggestive for Nishida, promoted to a central place in his work or not, and if so, in what sense might we take this idea of “centrality” as specifi cally Chinese? In setting forth several archetypes of Chinese thought present in Nishida’s philosophy, the focus of this article falls on the methodological, logical and metaphysical contrasts we can identify between the Japanese philosopher and Chinese philosophy as his underground intellectual sources

Lean, agile, and lean and agile hospital management : responses to introducing choice and competition in public health care

Introduction: The marketization of public health care, with its focus on choice and competition, challenges hospital managers to take a market-oriented perspective and position. A combination of lean and agile management strategies has been suggested as a way to achieve efficiency and control costs (lean) and to respond flexibly (agile). Aim: To increase our understanding of how hospital managers can combine lean and agile management strategies as they face the challenges of choice and competition in public health care. Method: The thesis consists of four studies: an integrative literature review and three case studies conducted at two Swedish hospitals. Study I reviews the empirical and theoretical literature on the use of agile strategies in relationship to lean strategies. The specific focus is how these strategies can be combined in hospital management. Study II is a case study of a hospital that followed “operational plans” as it tried to decrease patient waiting times. Study III is a case study of a hospital management team’s drivers and conceptualizations of lean and agile strategies related to expected outcomes. Study IV, which is a case study of the same hospital investigated in Study III, examines the mechanisms that enabled the hospital’s management team to use the lean and agile strategies in practice. Findings: Study I shows that agile was portrayed as a new paradigm following lean, as a development of lean, or as a strategy that can be used in combination with lean. Unlike lean strategies, agile strategies focus on the management of the external environment using proactive, reactive, or embracive coping strategies. The study also examines various organizational capabilities that hospitals require in order to make optimal use of agile strategies. Study II finds that “operational plans” at various organizational levels were needed in order to operationalize the goal of decreasing patient waiting times. The study also finds that an aligned internal strategy can improve processes that span organizational boundaries although with a narrow production focus. Study III finds that sudden and unexpected political public health care policies and market pressure motivated a hospital management, already lean in operations, to look for ways to increase their agility. Agility in the study is conceptualised as the long-term capability for adapting to the environment and for managing budget reductions. Lean was understood as the ability of the hospital to perform its functions efficiently. Enablers were defined as the management’s ability to continuously react to changes, to alter work assignments to accommodate changes in the influx of patients, and to recruit employees with flexible work skills. Study IV finds that the mechanisms that help a hospital to become lean and agile in practice are management’s market-orientation, the use of established production processes, an organization-wide readiness for change, a rapid transition capability, and the flexible use of physical and human resources. Discussion: Hospitals in uncertain and dynamic environments (as is typically the case for hospitals) needs to be both lean and agile. In combination, these two strategies help hospital management to use existing resources efficiently and effectively while at the same time it allows discovery of other assets. Conclusion: Lean management may be viewed as a precondition for agile management. This means that the use of efficient and structured (lean) resources can improve market orientation and positioning (agile). To successfully combine lean and agile activities, hospital managers need to exhibit certain ambidextrous and dynamic effective management capabilitie