264 research outputs found
Using participatory action research to support pupil participation in improving a sense of community in a secondary school
In 2007 specific guidance was issued to schools about the duty of staff to promote community cohesion (DCSF, 2007). An aspect of this concerns the extent to which pupils experience a sense of belonging to their school. āBelongingā can be understood through the construct of a psychological sense of community. Research by McMillan and Chavis (1986) has identified four major components of sense of community, along with an index that can be used to survey this. This index, the Sense of Community Index- 2 (Chavis et al. 2008), was revised and administered to pupils in a large secondary school.
Aims- The research described in this report and supported by the Childrenās Workforce Development Council, identified a representative group of volunteer pupils to investigate the outcomes of a survey about the sense of community in the school. Data were collected using participatory action research (PAR). The research aimed to learn about the use of PAR itself.
Method- Following an initial recruitment meeting, eight data collection meetings were held, with the number of pupils attending ranging from zero to 14, with a typical attendance of four pupils. Recognising that pupils might need support to become action researchers, materials were prepared outlining the steps involved in action research.
The co-researchers were also supported by discussion and a variety of forms to assist with their planning and record keeping. The intention was that the pupil co-researchers would gather information and ideas from their own tutor groups and return to a weekly research group that the lead researchers would facilitate. The group would use the tools its members brought to make an action plan to improve the sense of community in the school.
Findings- The research group demonstrated a good understanding of sense of community and a commitment to investigating it further, in particular identifying how to improve aspects of āinfluenceā, āmembershipā, and āfulfilment of needsā. At the same time, difficulties were encountered trying to maintain momentum with the pupils, leading to a decision to terminate this stage of the research and to refocus it. Ultimately, a significant outcome of this research concerns the circumstances that might allow PAR to flourish
Where the Homeless Come From: A Study of the Prior Address Distribution of Families Admitted to Public Shelters in New York City and Philadelphia
This study investigates hypotheses regarding the association of census tract variables with the risk for homelessness. We used prior address information reported by families entering emergency shelters in two large U.S. cities to characterize the nature of that distribution.
Three dense clusters of homeless origins were found in Philadelphia and three in New York City, accounting for 67 percent and 61 percent of shelter admissions and revealing that homeless familiesā prior addresses are more highly concentrated than the poverty distribution in both cities. The rate of shelter admission is strongly and positively related to the concentration of poor, African-American, and female-headed households with young children in a neighborhood. It is also correlated with fewer youth, elderly, and immigrants. Such areas have higher rates of unemployment and labor force nonparticipation, more housing crowding, more abandonment, higher rates of vacancy, and higher rent-to-income ratios than other areas
A perimeter-based clustering index for measuring spatial segregation: a cognitive GIS approach
Plankton imagery data inform satellite-based estimates of diatom carbon
Ā© The Author(s), 2022. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Chase, A. P., Boss, E. S., Haentjens, N., Culhane, E., Roesler, C., & Karp-Boss, L. Plankton imagery data inform satellite-based estimates of diatom carbon. Geophysical Research Letters, 49(13), (2022): e2022GL098076, https://doi.org/10.1029/2022GL098076.Estimating the biomass of phytoplankton communities via remote sensing is a key requirement for understanding global ocean ecosystems. Of particular interest is the carbon associated with diatoms given their unequivocal ecological and biogeochemical roles. Satellite-based algorithms often rely on accessory pigment proxies to define diatom biomass, despite a lack of validation against independent diatom biomass measurements. We used imaging-in-flow cytometry to quantify diatom carbon in the western North Atlantic, and compared results to those obtained from accessory pigment-based approximations. Based on this analysis, we offer a new empirical formula to estimate diatom carbon concentrations from chlorophyll a. Additionally, we developed a neural network model in which we integrated chlorophyll a and environmental information to estimate diatom carbon distributions in the western North Atlantic. The potential for improving satellite-based diatom carbon estimates by integrating environmental information into a model, compared to models that are based solely on chlorophyll a, is discussed.Funding for this work was provided by NASA grants #NNX15AE67G and #80NSSC20M0202. A. Chase is supported by a Washington Research Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship
Observations of a pulse driven cool polar jet by SDO/AIA
Context. We observe a solar jet at north polar coronal hole (NPCH) using SDO
AIA 304 {\deg}A image data on 3 August 2010. The jet rises obliquely above the
solar limb and then retraces its propagation path to fall back. Aims. We
numerically model this observed solar jet by implementing a realistic (VAL-C)
model of solar temperature. Methods. We solve two-dimensional ideal
magnetohydrodynamic equations numerically to simulate the observed solar jet.
We consider a localized velocity pulse that is essentially parallel to the
background magnetic field lines and initially launched at the top of the solar
photosphere. The pulse steepens into a shock at higher altitudes, which
triggers plasma perturbations that exhibit the observed features of the jet.
The typical direction of the pulse also clearly exhibits the leading front of
the moving jet. Results. Our numerical simulations reveal that a large
amplitude initial velocity pulse launched at the top of the solar photosphere
produces in general the observed properties of the jet, e.g., upward and
backward average velocities, height, width, life-time, and ballistic nature.
Conclusions. The close matching between the jet observations and numerical
simulations provides first strong evidence for the formation of this jet by a
single velocity pulse. The strong velocity pulse is most likely generated by
the low- atmospheric reconnection in the polar region which results in
triggering of the jet. The downflowing material of the jet most likely vanishes
in the next upcoming velocity pulses from lower solar atmosphere, and therefore
distinctly launched a single jet upward in the solar atmosphere is observed.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures, A&
New York: the animated city
The urban landscape of New York City is one that is familiar to many, but, through the medium of animation, this familiarity has been consistently challenged. Often metamorphic, and always meticulously constructed, animated imagery encourages reflective thinking. Focusing on the themes of construction, destruction, and interactivity, this article seeks to cast critical light upon the animated double life that New York City has lived through the following moving image texts: Disneyās Fantasia 2000 (1999), Patrick Jeanās computer-generated short Pixels (2009), and Rockstar Gamesā open-world blockbuster Grand Theft Auto IV (2008)
Temporal variations of the CaXIX spectra in solar flares
Standard model of solar flares comprises a bulk expansion and rise of
abruptly heated plasma (the chromospheric evaporation). Emission from plasma
ascending along loops rooted on the visible solar disk should be often
dominated, at least temporally, by a blue-shifted emission. However, there is
only a very limited number of published observations of solar flares having
spectra in which the blue-shifted component dominates the stationary one. In
this work we compare observed X-ray spectra of three solar flares recorded
during their impulsive phases and relevant synthetic spectra calculated using
one-dimensional hydro-dynamic numerical model of these flares. The main aim of
the work was to explain why numerous flares do not show blue-shifted spectra.
The synthesized BCS spectra of the flares were compared with the relevant
observed BCS spectra. We conclude that stationary component of the spectrum
should be observed almost for all flares during their early phases of
evolution. In opposite, the blue-shifted component of the spectrum could be not
detected in flares having plasma rising along the flaring loop even with high
velocity due to the geometrical dependences only. After the start of the
up-flow motion, the blue-shifted component dominate temporally the synthetic
spectra of the investigated flares at their early phases.Comment: 9 pages, 6 figures, Astronomy and Astrophysics (accepted, September
2009
Structural genomics of histone tail recognition
Summary: The structural genomics of histone tail recognition web server is an open access resource that presents within mini articles all publicly available experimental structures of histone tails in complex with human proteins. Each article is composed of interactive 3D slides that dissect the structural mechanism underlying the recognition of specific sequences and histone marks. A concise text html-linked to interactive graphics guides the reader through the main features of the interaction. This resource can be used to analyze and compare binding modes across multiple histone recognition modules, to evaluate the chemical tractability of binding sites involved in epigenetic signaling and design small molecule inhibitors
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