Seven exercises planned to stimulate the flow of ideas in creative composition

Thesis (Ed.M.)--Boston Universit

From kitchen to classroom: Assessing the impact of cleaner burning biomass-fuelled cookstoves on primary school attendance in Karonga district, northern Malawi

Household air pollution from burning solid fuels is responsible for an estimated 2.9 million premature deaths worldwide each year and 4.5% of global disability-adjusted life years, while cooking and fuel collection pose a considerable time burden, particularly for women and children. Cleaner burning biomass-fuelled cookstoves have the potential to lower exposure to household air pollution as well as reduce fuelwood demand by increasing the combustion efficiency of cooking fires, which may in turn yield ancillary benefits in other domains. The present paper capitalises on opportunities offered by the Cooking and Pneumonia Study (CAPS), the largest randomised trial of biomass-fuelled cookstoves on health outcomes conducted to date, the design of which allows for the evaluation of additional outcomes at scale. This mixed methods study assesses the impact of cookstoves on primary school absenteeism in Karonga district, northern Malawi, in particular by conferring health and time and resource gains on young people aged 5–18. The analysis combines quantitative data from 6168 primary school students with in-depth interviews and focus group discussions carried out among 48 students in the same catchment area in 2016. Negative binomial regression models find no evidence that the cookstoves affected primary school absenteeism overall [IRR 0.92 (0.71–1.18), p = 0.51]. Qualitative analysis suggests that the cookstoves did not sufficiently improve household health to influence school attendance, while the time and resource burdens associated with cooking activities—although reduced in intervention households—were considered to be compatible with school attendance in both trial arms. More research is needed to assess whether the cookstoves influenced educational outcomes not captured by the attendance measure available, such as timely arrival to school or hours spent on homework

Density functional theory study of the structural, electronic, lattice dynamical, and thermodynamic properties of Li

The structural, electronic, lattice dynamical, optical, thermodynamic, and CO{sub 2} capture properties of monoclinic and triclinic phases of Li{sub 4}SiO{sub 4} are investigated by combining density functional theory with phonon lattice dynamics calculations. We found that these two phases have some similarities in their bulk and thermodynamic properties. The calculated bulk modulus and the cohesive energies of these two phases are close to each other. Although both of them are insulators, the monoclinic phase of Li{sub 4}SiO{sub 4} has a direct band gap of 5.24 eV while the triclinic Li{sub 4}SiO{sub 4} phase has an indirect band gap of 4.98 eV. In both phases of Li{sub 4}SiO{sub 4}, the s orbital of O mainly contributes to the lower-energy second valence band (VB{sub 2}) and the p orbitals contribute to the fist valence band (VB{sub 1}) and the conduction bands (CBs). The s orbital of Si mainly contributes to the lower portions of the VB1 and VB{sub 2}, and Si p orbitals mainly contribute to the higher portions of the VB{sub 1} and VB{sub 2}. The s and p orbitals of Li contribute to both VBs and to CBs, and Li p orbitals have a higher contribution than the Li s orbital. There is possibly a phonon soft mode existing in triclinic {gamma}-Li{sub 4}SiO{sub 4}; in the monoclinic Li{sub 4}SiO{sub 4}, there are three phonon soft modes, which correspond to the one type of Li disordered over a few sites. Their LO-TO splitting indicates that both phases of Li{sub 4}SiO{sub 4} are polar anisotropic materials. The calculated infrared absorption spectra for LO and TO modes are different for these two phases of Li{sub 4}SiO{sub 4}. The calculated relationships of the chemical potential versus temperature and CO{sub 2} pressure for reaction of Li{sub 4}SiO{sub 4} with CO{sub 2} shows that Li{sub 4}SiO{sub 4} could be a good candidate for a high-temperature CO{sub 2} sorbent while used for postcombustion capture technology

The UK register of HIV seroconverters: Methods and analytical issues

A Register of HIV-infected persons who have had a negative antibody test within 3 years of their first antibody positive test (seroconverters) is being set up in the UK to monitor the distribution of times from HIV seroconversion to AIDS (the incubation period) and to death. It will also provide a national resource for use by those designing studies in this group of individuals. Clinicians caring for HIV-positive persons in Genito-Urinary Medicine, Infectious Disease and other departments throughout the UK were asked to participate by providing information on eligible subjects. Most laboratories undertaking HIV antibody testing were also contacted and asked to provide the name of the attending clinician for all seroconverters identified through the HIV laboratory reporting systems of the PHLS Communicable Disease Surveillance Centre (CDSC) and the Scottish Centre for Infection and Environmental Health (SCIEH) and for any other seroconverters known to them but not identified by CDSC or SCIEH. Data items sought for the Register include: sex, ethnic group, probable route of HIV transmission, annual CD4 counts, details of therapy and prophylaxis prescribed, AIDS-defining events and vital status. Follow up information is collected annually. Wherever possible, all seroconverters known to a clinic have been identified, whether currently alive or dead, either from clinic records or laboratory reporting or both. The objective is to establish and update a complete register of seroconverters on a long-term basis to provide reliable estimates of the incubation period on which future projections of AIDS cases in the UK can be made

Excavation at Aguas Buenas, Robinson Crusoe Island, Chile, of a gunpowder magazine and the supposed campsite of Alexander Selkirk, together with an account of early navigational dividers

Excavations were undertaken of a ruined building at Aguas Buenas, identified as an 18th-century Spanish gunpowder magazine. Evidence was also found for the campsite of an early European occupant of the island. A case is made that this was Alexander Selkirk, a castaway here from 1704 to 1709. Selkirk was the model for Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe. A detailed discussion is given of a fragment of copper alloy identifi ed as being from a pair of navigational dividers

Primers for Castilleja and their Utility Across Orobanchaceae: II. Single‐copy nuclear loci

Premise of the study: We developed primers targeting nuclear loci in Castilleja with the goal of reconstructing the evolutionary history of this challenging clade. These primers were tested across other major clades in Orobanchaceae to assess their broader utility.Methods and Results: We assembled low-coverage genomes for three taxa in Castilleja and developed primer combinations for the single-copy conserved ortholog set (COSII) and the pentatricopeptide repeat (PPR) gene family. These primer combinations were designed to take advantage of the Fluidigm microfluidic PCR platform and are well suited for high-throughput sequencing applications. Eighty-seven primers were designed for Castilleja, and 27 were found to have broader utility in Orobanchaceae.Conclusions: These results demonstrate the utility of these primers, not only across Castilleja, but for other lineages within Orobanchaceae as well. This expanded molecular toolkit will be an asset to future phylogenetic studies in Castilleja and throughout Orobanchaceae

Learning to Teach Argumentation: Research and development in the science classroom

The research reported in this study focuses on an investigation into the teaching of argumentation in secondary science classrooms. Over a one-year period, a group of 12 teachers from schools in the greater London area attended a series of workshops to develop materials and strategies to support the teaching of argumentation in scientific contexts. Data were collected at the beginning and end of the year by audio and video recording lessons where the teachers attempted to implement argumentation. To assess the quality of argumentation, analytical tools derived from Toulmin's argument pattern (TAP) were developed and applied to classroom transcripts. Analysis shows there was development in teachers' use of argumentation across the year. Results indicate that the pattern of use of argumentation is teacher-specific, as is the nature of change. To inform future professional development programmes, transcripts of five teachers, three showing a significant change and two no change, were analysed in more detail to identify features of teachers' oral contributions that facilitated and supported argumentation. The analysis showed that all teachers attempted to encourage a variety of processes involved in argumentation and that the teachers whose lessons included the highest quality of argumentation (TAP analysis) also encouraged higher order processes in their teaching. The analysis of teachers' facilitation of argumentation has helped to guide the development of in-service materials and to identify the barriers to learning in the professional development of less experienced teachers