A case study of the evolution of a community of learners in an elementary school setting.

This study focused on a descriptive analysis and evaluation of a community of learners in an elementary school setting. The literature cited seems to indicate that if education reform is to be effective, it is essential that it involve the educators within the schools in the process. The premise is that students will learn, grow, develop, and achieve more meaningfully if they are educated in a community in which the adults are also learning. The current literature, however, tends to contain suggestions rather than concrete examples of a learning community in action. For this reason, the focus of this study has been on a particular school\u27s evolution in living out this concept from its reopening in 1987 through 1993. The process of living out this concept seems to support what the literature indicates as being crucial factors in its development. These factors are leadership, vision, change, and culture. Although these factors are important individually, it is their interrelatedness, which has significantly affected the growth and development of the community of learners. A case study approach that utilized qualitative data from interviews, participant observation, and supporting documents has provided the basis for the description and evaluation of the evolution of this concept. It is evident that the reopening of the Jefferson School in 1987 provided a unique opportunity for its members to build together a community of learners. The data from the study indicate that although the vision of a community of learners originated with the principal, it has been enlarged by a participative process involving all members of the school community. What began as a very fuzzy vision has become the framework from which the goals, objectives, and activities of the school originate. Learning is the school\u27s main concern and all the members, adults and children alike, are learners. The data also indicate that enhancing and inhibiting factors have affected this community\u27s development. A collaborative culture of openness has greatly influenced the collegiality of members and allowed for honest confrontations once trusting relationships have been established. Although much progress has been made, opportunities for continued growth need to be explored

Solar Protons and Magnetic Storms in July 1961

Injun i satellite observations of solar protons and magnetic storm

Prediction and explanation in the multiverse

Probabilities in the multiverse can be calculated by assuming that we are typical representatives in a given reference class. But is this class well defined? What should be included in the ensemble in which we are supposed to be typical? There is a widespread belief that this question is inherently vague, and that there are various possible choices for the types of reference objects which should be counted in. Here we argue that the ``ideal'' reference class (for the purpose of making predictions) can be defined unambiguously in a rather precise way, as the set of all observers with identical information content. When the observers in a given class perform an experiment, the class branches into subclasses who learn different information from the outcome of that experiment. The probabilities for the different outcomes are defined as the relative numbers of observers in each subclass. For practical purposes, wider reference classes can be used, where we trace over all information which is uncorrelated to the outcome of the experiment, or whose correlation with it is beyond our current understanding. We argue that, once we have gathered all practically available evidence, the optimal strategy for making predictions is to consider ourselves typical in any reference class we belong to, unless we have evidence to the contrary. In the latter case, the class must be correspondingly narrowed.Comment: Minor clarifications adde

Characterization of iodine particles with Volatilization-Humidification Tandem Differential Mobility Analyser (VH-TDMA), Raman and SEM techniques

Particles formed upon photo-oxidation of CH2I2 and particles of I2O5 and HIO3 have been studied using a Volatilisation and Humidification Tandem Differential Mobility Analyser (VH-TDMA) system. Volatilization and hygroscopic behaviour have been investigated as function of temperature (from 25 to 400 degrees Celsius), humidity (RH from 80 to 98%), initial aerosol sizes (from 27 to 100 nm mobility diameter) and in nitrogen or air as the sheath gasses. The volatility behaviour of particles formed upon photo-oxidation of CH2I2 is more similar to that of HIO3 particles in a filtered sheath air than in nitrogen, with the particle shrinkage occurring at 190 degrees Celsius and accompanied by hygroscopic growth. Despite its high solubility, HIO3 was found not to be hygroscopic at room temperature with no significant growth displayed until the thermodenuder temperature reached 200 degrees Celsius or above when the particles have transformed into I2O5. Diiodopentaoxide (I2O5) particles exhibit relatively low hygroscopic growth factors of 1.2-2 in the humidity range investigated. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) of particles formed upon photo-oxidation of CH2I2 shows that their primary elemental components were iodine and oxygen in a stoichiometric ratio of approximately 1:2 with 10% error. Both Raman spectra and SEM show poor crystallinity for all the aerosols produced

Relativistic Disk Reflection in the Neutron Star X-ray Binary XTE J1709-267 with NuSTAR

We perform the first reflection study of the soft X-ray transient and Type 1 burst source XTE J1709-267 using NuSTAR observations during its 2016 June outburst. There was an increase in flux near the end of the observations, which corresponds to an increase from $\sim$0.04 L$_{\mathrm{Edd}}$ to $\sim$0.06 L$_{\mathrm{Edd}}$ assuming a distance of 8.5 kpc. We have separately examined spectra from the low and high flux intervals, which were soft and show evidence of a broad Fe K line. Fits to these intervals with relativistic disk reflection models have revealed an inner disk radius of $13.8_{-1.8}^{+3.0}\ R_{g}$ (where $R_{g} = GM/c^{2}$) for the low flux spectrum and $23.4_{-5.4}^{+15.6}\ R_{g}$ for the high flux spectrum at the 90\% confidence level. The disk is likely truncated by a boundary layer surrounding the neutron star or the magnetosphere. Based on the measured luminosity and using the accretion efficiency for a disk around a neutron star, we estimate that the theoretically expected size for the boundary layer would be $\sim0.9-1.1 \ R_{g}$ from the neutron star's surface, which can be increased by spin or viscosity effects. Another plausible scenario is that the disk could be truncated by the magnetosphere. We place a conservative upper limit on the strength of the magnetic field at the poles, assuming $a_{*}=0$ and $M_{NS}=1.4\ M_{\odot}$, of $B\leq0.75-3.70\times10^{9}$ G, though X-ray pulsations have not been detected from this source.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ, 5 pages, 4 figures, 1 table. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1701.0177

The Rights and Wrongs of Wrongful Birth and Wrongful Life: A Jurisprudential Analysis of Birth Related Torts

The advent and increasing sophistication of medical technology, which allows the detection of birth defects in utero, has resulted in recognition of two tort claims unknown at common law: wrongful birth and wrongful life. There is an emerging trend in state legislatures and courts toward rejection of wrongful birth and wrongful life causes of action. This article provides a critical analysis of the legal, medical and ethical issues raised by wrongful birth/life causes of action. The authors utilize Hohfeldian analysis to determine the exact nature of the legal rights essential to a wrongful birth/life cause of action. The authors then turn to a utilitarian analysis to weigh the various interests involved in wrongful birth/life claims. The authors argue that a jurisprudential analysis of birth related torts demonstrates that wrongful birth and wrongful life causes of action are a radical departure from existing law, and require the recognition of new legal theories not recognized in common law or constitutional law