Family planning success in two cities in Zaire

Both projects described here, Matadi and Kananga, helped health providers in those two cities offer clinical family planning services. But their approaches differed markedly. The family education program in Matadi concentrated on pioneering community-based distribution of contraceptives, with carefully supervised distributors. The Kanaga Project emphasized clinical supervision and pleasing the clients; introduced social marketing with loose supervision of retailers; and provided an information team skilled in face-to-face group meetings, plus a weekly radio program. Four factors common to both projects seemed to contribute to their success: The single-minded dedication of staff members to making family planning work. An uninterrupted supply of affordable contraceptive methods available through outlets at many locations. Enough organizational autonomy to be able to respond to problems as they arose. Such autonomy made project personnel identify more with project goals and feel responsible for achieving project objectives. Regular and supportive supervision of those responsible for service delivery. Both projects emphasized regular contact with clinic personnel - Matadi also included distributors. These contacts bolstered morale by showing that the project administration was closely following service providers'activities and by transmitting to providers the staff's enthusiam for project activities. Supervisory visits included administrative functions such as collecting service statistics and controlling inventory, but these activities were handled in a friendly, nonthreatening manner that encouraged service providers to perform their tasks well. The fourth factor is adequate funding. Both projects had special funding that allowed them to experiment with approaches for increasing contraceptive prevalence. That funding may partly explain their organizational autonomy and may have contributed to the sense of purpose and esprit de corps that developed among project staff. Larger-scale programs in Zaire have operated with significant financial constraints, so it would be unfair to compare them with these more successful projects. Special funding does not guarantee project success but may make it far more likely, conclude the authors.Health Monitoring&Evaluation,Adolescent Health,ICT Policy and Strategies,Early Child and Children's Health,Reproductive Health

An 11-year validation of wave-surge modelling in the Irish Sea, using a nested POLCOMS-WAM modelling system

In the future it is believed that extreme coastal flooding events will increase (in frequency and intensity) as a result of climate change. We are investigating the flood risks in the eastern Irish Sea posed by extreme storm events. Here, an 11-year simulation (01/01/1996–01/01/2007) including wave–current interaction has been validated. These data can then be used to investigate the potential for coastal flooding in the study area. To accurately model a storm event in the eastern Irish Sea both wave effects and the influence of the external surge need to be considered. To simulate the waves, we have set up a one-way nested approach from a 1° North Atlantic model, to a 1.85 km Irish Sea model, using the state-of-the-art 3rd-generation spectral WAve Model (WAM). This allows the influence of swell to be correctly represented. The Proudman Oceanographic Laboratory Coastal-Ocean Modelling System (POLCOMS) has been used to model the tide–surge interaction. To include the external surge we have set up a one-way nested approach from the 1/9° by 1/6° operational Continental Shelf surge model, to a 1.85 km Irish Sea model. For the high resolution Irish Sea model we use a POLCOMS–WAM coupled model, to allow for the effects of wave–current interaction on the prediction of surges at the coast. Using two classification schemes the coupled model is shown to be good and often very good at predicting the surge, total water elevation and wave conditions. We also find the number of low level surge events has increased in the study area over the past decade. However, this time period is too short to determine any long-term trends in the wave and surge levels

A group of short stories.

Thesis (M.A.)--Boston Universit

Words and Sense: Contemplative Pedagogies in Academic Writing

How do contemplative pedagogies inform learning skills such as academic writing? This article draws on the Tibetan Buddhist distinction between the literal meaning of words (drangdon) and the inner sense of those words (ngedon), from an account from the sacred biography of the Indian saint Naropa (956-1041), abbot of Nalanda University. This founding Naropa University professor has adapted these criteria from traditional Tibetan education for the contemporary secular classroom. Writing pedagogies that integrate third-person inquiry drawn from conventional academic research and first-person inquiry, the result of inner research, brings academic writing alive. The author outlines writing strategies that integrate these two methods of inquiry, including progressive assignments that distinguish among personal narrative, opinion, and insight in the development of first-person inquiry. Finally, the article addresses specific challenges in teaching contemplative academic writing, including evaluations and grading, cultivating critical perspectives, and supporting rigor with academic, contemplative methods in the university classroom

The Effects of Training Parents in Divergent Questioning on the Creativity of the Pre-School Child

This study was designed to investigate whether teaching mothers to ask divergent questions would have a direct effect on their four year old child \u27s creativity. It was hypothesized that children whose mothers received the training in divergent questioning techniques would do better on a test of creativity than children whose mothers, did not receive the training. Twenty mother and child groups were included in the study. The twenty were divided randomly into two groups, ten groups to receive the treatment and ten to receive no treatment. Six treatment sheets were then administered in the homes to the experimental group and both groups were tested at the conclusion of the treatment using E. Paul Torrance\u27s test of creativity, Thinking Creatively in Action and Movement.\u27\u27 The data was analyzed by a single-tailed t-test and no significant differences were found between the creativity scores of four year olds whose mothers received the treatment and those whose mothers did not. Though the null hypothesis was not disproved this author feels the hypothesis is still of value. In future research the variability of the follow-up by mothers being trained with the treatment sheets needs to be controlled for in a more consistent manner. It also appears as if the time allotted for the study needs to be increased. The self-confidence of both mothers and children is an area that requires further study concerning its effect on creativity. The home environment appeared to have a greater influence on the total creativity score than originally supposed

Tooling Data Collection System

This paper provides supporting documentation for the development and implementation of a Tooling Data Collection System. The project replaced a primitive Microsoft Excel log sheet. The original workstation for the data acquisition was a standalone system with limited access to the corporate network information and engineering resources. The need for a system revision and upgrade escalated due to the increasing prices of raw materials for component stamping. Refining this process to minimize the scrap generated was the main objective of the Tooling Data Collection System. The intent was for the information to provide the engineers with a mechanism to reduce the scrap for raw material, chrome vanadium stainless steel (grade 304) in particular. The project objective was to devise a method to monitor the stamping activity for the component parts: blades, bolsters, center, catchbit, miscellaneous, scale, shield, spring, and tumbler. The project clearly demonstrates the need to adhere to a project management format. Using the rules and guidelines as presented in the PMBOK 3rd edition, for project development, implementation, and execution definitely would have enhanced the deployment process of this system

The Nature of Hypervelocity Stars and the Time between Their Formation and Ejection

We obtain Keck HIRES spectroscopy of HVS5, one of the fastest unbound stars in the Milky Way halo. We show that HVS5 is a 3.62 ± 0.11 M_☉ main-sequence B star at a distance of 50 ± 5 kpc. The difference between its age and its flight time from the Galactic center is 105 ± 18 (stat) ±30 (sys) Myr; flight times from locations elsewhere in the Galactic disk are similar. This 10^8 yr "arrival time" between formation and ejection is difficult to reconcile with any ejection scenario involving massive stars that live for only 10^7 yr. For comparison, we derive arrival times of 10^7 yr for two unbound runaway B stars, consistent with their disk origin where ejection results from a supernova in a binary system or dynamical interactions between massive stars in a dense star cluster. For HVS5, ejection during the first 10^7 yr of its lifetime is ruled out at the 3σ level. Together with the 10^8 yr arrival times inferred for three other well-studied hypervelocity stars (HVSs), these results are consistent with a Galactic center origin for the HVSs. If the HVSs were indeed ejected by the central black hole, then the Galactic center was forming stars ≃200 Myr ago, and the progenitors of the HVSs took ≃100 Myr to enter the black hole's loss cone