Competences for democratic culture: An empirical study of an intercultural citizenship project in language pedagogy

This article reports on a pedagogical intervention in foreign language teaching in higher education. It analizes the competences developed by Argentinian and UK-based students as they used Skype to design a leaflet that addressed a real world issue: the Argentinian military dictatorship and its manipulation of the 1978 Football World Cup. The data consists of students’ discussions of this highly disturbing human rights issue. A first level of analysis focused on identifying evidence of competences using the Council of Europe’s conceptual model of ‘competences for democratic culture’ (2016). In a second level of analysis, the data was categorized within the framework of Article 2.2 of the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights Education and Training (2011). This research study provides an empirical test of these two frameworks in the field of language education, an aspect that has not been investigated before. It also contributes to our understanding of the potential of intercultural citizenship projects in achieving the goals of human rights education in foreign language teaching. Results indicate the development of substantial competences for democratic culture defined in the Council of Europe’s model

Competences for democratic culture: An empirical study of an intercultural citizenship project in language pedagogy

This article reports on a pedagogical intervention in foreign language teaching in higher education. It analizes the competences developed by Argentinian and UK-based students as they used Skype to design a leaflet that addressed a real world issue: the Argentinian military dictatorship and its manipulation of the 1978 Football World Cup. The data consists of students’ discussions of this highly disturbing human rights issue. A first level of analysis focused on identifying evidence of competences using the Council of Europe’s conceptual model of ‘competences for democratic culture’ (2016). In a second level of analysis, the data was categorized within the framework of Article 2.2 of the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights Education and Training (2011). This research study provides an empirical test of these two frameworks in the field of language education, an aspect that has not been investigated before. It also contributes to our understanding of the potential of intercultural citizenship projects in achieving the goals of human rights education in foreign language teaching. Results indicate the development of substantial competences for democratic culture defined in the Council of Europe’s model

Evaluation of Height as an Early Selection Criterion for Volume and Predictor of Site Index Gain in the Western Gulf

Data from repeated periodic measures of height, diameter and volume from eleven loblolly pine progeny tests maintained as part of the Western Gulf Forest Tree Improvement Program (WGFTIP) were analyzed to 1) determine the potential of using early height, diameter, or volume as selection criteria for rotation-age volume, and 2) to develop a method of expressing height performance as predicted change in site index. Using family means, few differences in family mean correlations existed between 5-year traits with volume at 15 or 20 years, but they were slightly higher for volume than the other two traits. Gain efficiency estimates for all three traits at age 5 were similar, suggesting that the traits were equally efficient in predicting rotation volume. However, at age ten, per-acre volume was the better predictor of per-acre volume at later ages. Predicted gains in breeding value for height, expressed as percent change in site index (SIBV), were estimated following published WGFTIP methodology for volume. Age specific site index equations and coefficient of genetic prediction (CGP) estimates for height were developed using the 15-year data from the eleven progeny tests. Estimates of CGP for height at ages 5 and 10 with height at age 15 were 0.55 and 0.61, respectively. Correlation between parental breeding values for volume production and site index breeding values were high (r=0.80). Predicted genetic gain for site index provides additional information for decision-making. Uses and limitations of this gain information are demonstrated.Papers and abstracts from the 27th Southern Forest Tree Improvement Conference held at Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, Oklahoma on June 24-27, 2003

Cone and Seed Insect Pest Research: The Role of the Southwide Studies

A reliable supply of genetically improved pine seed is critical to the success of production forestry. The most significant environmental threat to the ability to meet this demand (over 100,000 pounds per year) is insect predation. Cone and seed insect pests can easily destroy half the potential orchard crop, and there have been instances in which 90% of the harvest was lost. Effective insect control is dependent on continued availability of pesticides, both because the economic loss threshold is low, and because alternative control methods have not been successful. Because seed orchards are a minor use, there is limited support from pesticide manufacturers for either efficacy testing or continued product registration. The tree improvement community has responded to this challenge by developing a collaborative working arrangement between entomologists and seed orchard managers that has resulted in a series of southwide efficacy studies. These studies, which have now included evaluations of Guthion�, Asana�, Capture�, and Imidan�, were coordinated through the Seed Orchard Pest Management Subcommittee, a working group of the Southern Forest Tree Improvement Committee. Southwide studies are the culmination of a multi-step process in which promising pesticide formulations and rates are first identified by USDA Forest Service entomologists through small-scale testing, typically with hydraulic spray applications to single trees. This method of application, while allowing for accurate treatment evaluations, does not reflect operational conditions. It is therefore necessary to evaluate the most promising treatments under operational conditions with aerial applications on large treatment blocks. Results from both published and unpublished studies have underscored the strengths and weaknesses of these large-scale tests. Efficacy studies are difficult to implement and have substantial direct and indirect costs to the participants. Seedbug control is easy to achieve. Coneworm control, however, is much more difficult both to achieve and to accurately document. Interpretation of composite traits such as the number of good seed produced per initial flower can lead to erroneous conclusions when efficacy is primarily due to seedbug control. Despite these deficiencies, southwide studies will continue to be needed to validate cone and seed insect control under operational conditions. Studies that will be needed in the future are discussed.Papers and abstracts from the 27th Southern Forest Tree Improvement Conference held at Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, Oklahoma on June 24-27, 2003

Performance of Nuttall Oak (Quercus texana Buckl.) Provenances in the Western Gulf Region

Three series of three tests each of Nuttall oak (Quercus texana Buckl. formally Q. nuttallii Palmer) were established by the Western Gulf Forest Tree Improvement Program at three locations: Desha and Lonoke Counties in Arkansas and Sharkey County in Mississippi. The three series included 28-42 different half-sib families from throughout the natural range of Nuttall oak. Families were arbitrarily divided into provenances based on the river basin in which they originated. Significant provenance differences were found for survival in all series. Provenance differences for growth were highly significant for series 2 and 3, but not for series 1. The Red River provenance had the best growth performance in series 3 tests, but it was not represented in the other two test series. The best provenance in series 2, the Ouachita River provenance, ranked second in series 3 tests. The Western provenance performed well in series 1 and 3 tests but had poorer performance in series 2 tests. The interactions between site and provenance were significant for all growth traits in all series. Family-mean heritability estimates, however, were high ranging from 0.72-0.96 for height and 0.22-0.95 for diameter. There were good families from all sources indicating that family selection will be effective in this species.Papers and abstracts from the 27th Southern Forest Tree Improvement Conference held at Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, Oklahoma on June 24-27, 2003

Changes in the long term intensity variations in Cyg X-2 and LMC X-3

We report the detection of changes in the long-term intensity variations in two X-ray binaries, Cyg X-2 and LMC X-3. In this work, we have used the long-term light curves obtained with the All-Sky Monitors (ASMs) of the Rossi X-Ray Timing Explorer (RXTE), Ginga, Ariel 5, and Vela 5B and the scanning modulation collimator of HEAO 1. It is found that in the light curves of both the sources, obtained with these instruments at various times over the last 30 years, more than one periodic or quasi-periodic component is always present. The multiple prominent peaks in the periodograms have frequencies unrelated to each other. In Cyg X-2, RXTE-ASM data show strong peaks at 40.4 and 68.8 days, and Ginga-ASM data show strong peaks at 53.7 and 61.3 days. Multiple peaks are also observed in LMC X-3. The various strong peaks in the periodograms of LMC X-3 appear at 104, 169, and 216 days (observed with RXTE-ASM) and 105, 214, and 328 days (observed with Ginga-ASM). The present results, when compared with the earlier observations of periodicities in these two systems, demonstrate the absence of any stable long period. The 78 day periodicity detected earlier in Cyg X-2 was probably due to the short time base in the RXTE data that were used, and the periodicity of 198 days in LMC X-3 was due to a relatively short duration of observation with HEAO 1.Comment: 11 pages, 7 postscript figures include

An XMM-Newton study of the sub-structure in M87's halo

The high signal to noise and good point spread function of XMM have allowed the first detailed study of the interaction between the thermal and radio emitting plasma in the central regions of M87. We show that the X-ray emitting structure, previously seen by ROSAT, is thermal in nature and that the east and southwest extensions in M87's X-ray halo have a significantly lower temperature (kT= 1.5 keV) than the surrounding ambient medium (kT= 2.3 keV). There is little or no evidence for non-thermal emission with an upper limit on the contribution of a power law component of spectral index flatter than 3 being less than 1% of the flux in the region of the radio lobes.Comment: 6 pages, 8 color figures, to be published in A&A, number 36

Development of Differential Screening Panels for Slash Pine-Fusiform Rust Reaction Types

Understanding the genetic basis for disease resistance is crucial to ensure a successful breeding and deployment strategy for slash pine. A complementary genetic interaction model has been hypothesized for the pine-fusiform rust pathosystem. In such a model, resistance is due to a major gene effect that confers resistance to some strains of pathogens, but not others. If this model for the pine-fusiform rust pathosystem is correct, it will be necessary to identify the genes for resistance in order to develop successful strategies. Some resistance genes are dispersed throughout the genome and can be identified by genetic mapping. However, resistance genes may be clustered in the host and it may be possible to identify them only by empirically determining their differential interaction with different pathogen strains. In the latter case, it will be necessary to develop a panel of slash pine parents that can be used to screen for presence/absence of avirulence among collections of the pathogen and a panel of pathogen strains that can be used to screen for presence/absence of resistance genes in the host. The feasibility of developing such screening panels was tested by evaluating 43 slash pine (Pinus elliottii, Engelm. var elliottii) parents with 8 single-urediniospore cultures of Cronartium quercuum f. sp. fusiforme. The slash pine parents were selected to include a range of resistance levels based on their performance in an earlier screening trial. Each parent was control-pollinated with a pollen mix collected from 10 trees known to be highly susceptible to bulk inocula. The 8 inocula were derived from eight single-urediniospore rust cultures obtained from galls from across the southeastern USA. Examination of the reaction data under the assumption of a gene-for-gene host:pathogen system allowed us to infer the presence of at least 8 putative genotypes for resistance in the host and pathogenicity in the fungus, suggesting that screening panels can be developed with current propagation technologies.Papers and abstracts from the 27th Southern Forest Tree Improvement Conference held at Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, Oklahoma on June 24-27, 2003

X-ray spectral study of the hot gas in three Clusters of Galaxies

We study the physical properties of three clusters of galaxies, selected from a BeppoSAX Wide Field Camera (WFC) survey. These sources are identified as 1RXS J153934.7-833535, 1RXS J160147.6-754507, and 1RXS J081232.3-571423 in the ROSAT All-Sky Survey catalogue. We obtained XMM-Newton follow-up observations for these three clusters. We fit single and multi-temperature models to spectra obtained from the EPIC-pn camera to determine the temperature, the chemical composition of the gas and their radial distribution. Since two observations are contaminated by a high soft-proton background, we develop a new method to estimate the effect of this background on the data. For the first time, we present the temperature and iron abundance of two of these three clusters. The iron abundance of 1RXS J153934.7-33535 decreases with radius. The fits to the XMM-Newton and Chandra data show that the radial temperature profile within 3' towards the centre either flattens or lowers. A Chandra image of the source suggests the presence of X-ray cavities. The gas properties in 1RXS J160147.6-754507 are consistent with a flat radial distribution of iron and temperature within 2' from the centre. 1RXS J081232.3-571423 is a relatively cool cluster with a temperature of about 3 keV. The radial temperature and iron profiles suggest that 1RXS J153934.7-833535 is a cool core cluster. The Chandra image shows substructure which points toward AGN feedback in the core. The flat radial profiles of the temperature and iron abundance in 1RXS J160147.6-754507 are similar to the profiles of non-cool-core clusters.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&A, 8 pages, 8 figures; corrected typos, added data points on which fig 1 and 2 are based as comment to source file