Accounting for Critical Attributes and Uncertainty in Flow-Ecology Relationships

Environmental flows are used to maintain streamflow for aquatic species in rivers while also sustaining human water requirements. While there are many approaches to develop environmental flows, they all rely on a strong conceptual understanding of flow-ecology relationships, which are often uncertain. Uncertainty in flow-ecology relationships can stem from using limited data to develop or test relationships or an incomplete understanding of the attributes inherent to each relationship, such as climate and land conditions. Accounting for these attributes and uncertainty in flow-ecology relationships is critical given mounting interest to develop and implement environmental flows at large scales, often with limited information. Using the South Fork Eel River watershed in northern California USA as a case study, I explored attributes and uncertainty in flow-ecology relationships through a targeted review of academic journal articles and Bayesian Network modeling. I found that few relationships describe explicit links between the flow regime and species or cover the full range of climate and land conditions present in the watershed. These gaps informed several scenarios within a Bayesian Network model—represented as different sets of probabilities—which show that model results can differ by up to 50% depending on the uncertainty scenario. This study informs future field monitoring efforts to develop flow-ecology relationships and promotes effective translation and modeling of existing flow-ecology relationships and their uncertainties

A practice-based intervention to prepare preservice teachers for inclusion using universal design for learning

General education pre-service teachers are expected to teach diverse learners, including those with disabilities, in the general education settings. Yet many are not adequately prepared to teach all students. Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is a framework to increase inclusive practices, however, it is unknown how to best teach this to pre-service teachers. The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of using a practice-based approach to teach UDL as compared to a lecture-based approach to teach UDL to better prepare general education pre-service teachers. Constructs of interest include pre-service teachers' fundamental knowledge including UDL, self-efficacy and UDL application. A mixed methods triangulation design was employed. While pre-service teachers from both groups had significant gains in their foundational knowledge, reported self-efficacy, reported UDL knowledge and ability to apply UDL ideas, participants in the practice-based group did have some advantages, specifically in the area of UDL application.Includes bibliographical reference

The Rare Top Decays t→bW+Zt \to b W^+ Z and t→cW+W−t \to c W^+ W^-

The large value of the top quark mass implies that the rare top decays $t \rightarrow b W^+ Z, s W^+ Z$ and $d W^+ Z$, and $t \rightarrow c W^+ W^-$ and $u W^+ W^-$, are kinematically allowed decays so long as $m_t \ge m_W + m_Z + m_{d_i} \approx 171.5 GeV + m_{d_i}$ or $m_t \ge 2m_W + m_{u,c} \approx 160.6 GeV + m_{u,c}$, respectively. The partial decay widths for these decay modes are calculated in the standard model. The partial widths depend sensitively on the precise value of the top quark mass. The branching ratio for $t\rightarrow b W^+ Z$ is as much as $2 \times 10^{-5}$ for $m_t = 200 GeV$, and could be observable at LHC. The rare decay modes $t \rightarrow c W^+ W^-$ and $u W^+ W^-$ are highly GIM-suppressed, and thus provide a means for testing the GIM mechanism for three generations of quarks in the u, c, t sector.Comment: 19 pages, latex, t->bWZ corrected, previous literature on t->bWZ cited, t->cWW unchange

Libraries in the Future

A poster presented by Elizabeth Decker, Jack Garvey and Jessica Wicker for the class Libraries and Literacies: Plans for the Future of Libraries.https://scholarworks.moreheadstate.edu/gsp_projects_2019/1006/thumbnail.jp

Stuck in the middle : the transition from shelter to housing for refugees

Given the increasing number of people seeking refuge in Belgium and across Europe more broadly, it is essential that governments assume responsibility for the integration of refugees into society. An essential aspect of this process is the provision of a durable path from shelter to housing. Choosing a place of residence, and the success in obtaining suitable housing conditions, are factors that significantly shape the integration process. In the context of refugee settlement in Belgium, however, asylum and migration policies to date have been predominantly focused on tackling temporary crises with little consideration paid to long-term integration and housing strategies. Due to separated policy competences (reception at the federal policy level, and housing at the regional level), and the absence of a sense of responsibility from both Flemish (regional) and federal government, voluntary organisations have developed significant roles at the local level in the transition from shelter to housing, and in further housing needs of recognised refugees. Achieving this transition is impeded by capacity problems, discrimination, lack of local social networks, and limited timeframes. Using the concept of path dependency as a theoretical starting point, this article employs qualitative methods to highlight the impact of both asylum policies and the spatial characteristics of reception centres on transitions towards more permanent housing. Recommendations for refugee accommodation are made to enhance the transition from shelter to housing. Finally, it addresses alternative housing projects that are conducive to social integration as well as to the transition of refugees to the regular housing market

Stuck in the middle: The transition from shelter to housing for refugees in Belgium

Given the increasing number of people seeking refuge in Belgium and across Europe more broadly, it is essential that governments assume responsibility for the integration of refugees into society. An essential aspect of this process is the provision of a durable path from shelter to housing. Choosing a place of residence, and the success in obtaining suitable housing conditions, are factors that significantly shape the integration process. In the context of refugee settlement in Belgium, however, asylum and migration policies to date have been predominantly focused on tackling temporary crises with little consideration paid to long-term integration and housing strategies. Due to separated policy competences (reception at the federal policy level, and housing at the regional level), and the absence of a sense of responsibility from both Flemish (regional) and federal government, voluntary organisations have developed significant roles at the local level in the transition from shelter to housing, and in further housing needs of recognised refugees. Achieving this transition is impeded by capacity problems, discrimination, lack of local social networks, and limited timeframes. Using the concept of path dependency as a theoretical starting point, this article employs qualitative methods to highlight the impact of both asylum policies and the spatial characteristics of reception centres on transitions towards more permanent housing. Recommendations for refugee accommodation are made to enhance the transition from shelter to housing. Finally, it addresses alternative housing projects that are conducive to social integration as well as to the transition of refugees to the regular housing market

“Vital Glowing Things”: The Art of Women’s Writing, 1910-1935

The rising field of new modernisms continues to breathe new life into the literature of marginalized writers of the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth century. By imagining modernism as a series of modes and strategies, and expanding the axes upon which we map modernism’s boundaries, we make way for writers who were shut out by the often imbalanced, limited modernism of the past and illuminate the field with new possibilities. This dissertation takes part in this exciting, vibrant conversation by identifying a mode of modernism present in the literature of three early twentieth-century women writers, who all used visual art techniques to incorporate biographical interests into their literature, thereby strengthening and invigorating their work. Relying on new modernist theories proffered by Rebecca Walkowitz, Douglas Mao, and Paul Saint-Amour, this dissertation takes new approaches to the lives and literature of writers Fannie Hurst, Edith Summers Kelley, and Nella Larsen. The dissertation explores the way each writer harnessed techniques of a visual art practice to respond to biographical preoccupations. Hurst, writer and political activist, engages collage to use her literature to “react and protest” against America’s political climate and the rapidly evolving socioeconomics of New York City in the early 1900s. Back-to-the-land traveler and mother of three, Edith Summers Kelley, employs techniques of modern photography to reach across America and find the “great and deep humanity” that connects us all; and Nella Larsen—biracial, bicontinental, a woman with multiple careers and lives—enacts aesthetics of painting to explore the (in)visibility of women in a developing global and social climate. Each reading aspires to illuminate the literature of these women, the vital glowing things each one has left for her readers. In doing so, the dissertation contributes to the emerging work of new modernisms

Alternative Production Systems for Traditional Monoculture Wheat Acres in the Southern Plains for Two Farm Sizes

The net returns of five alternative cropping systems, forconventional tillage and no-till, for two farm sizes; 640-acres and 2,560-acreswere determined. The five cropping systems included: early September wheatfor dual-purpose (ESD); early September wheat for forage-only (ESF); earlySeptember wheat for forage-only double cropped with foxtail millet (ESFM); lateSeptember wheat for dual-purpose (LSD); October wheat for grain-only (OG).Average wheat grain yields were significantly lower on theno-till plots. However, fall-winter wheat forage yields were significantly greateron the no-till plots. For both farm sizes and both tillage systems, the early planteddual purpose wheat produced the greatest expected net returns on average. Forthe small farm, the expected net returns for each of the five production systemswere greatest for conventional tillage. The expected net returns for four of theproduction systems were greater for the no-till system for the large farm.Department of Agricultural Economic

Multi-person sex among a sample of adolescent female urban health clinic patients

Adolescent sexual activity involving three or more people is an emerging public health concern. The goal of this exploratory, cross-sectional study was to describe the prevalence, correlates, and context of multiple-person sex among a sample of adolescent females seeking health care from an urban clinic. Because sex involving multiple people may either be consensual (i.e., “three-ways” or “group sex”) or forced (i.e., “gang rape”), we use the term “multi-person sex” (MPS) to encompass these experiences. Subjects were 328 females, ages 14–20 years old, who utilized a Boston-area community- or school-based health clinic between April and December of 2006, and completed an anonymous survey using computer-assisted self-interview software. Overall, 7.3% reported ever having had a MPS experience. Of these, 52% reported ever being pressured to engage in MPS and 43% reported ever being threatened or forced. Condom nonuse by at least one male participant in the most recent MPS was reported by 45%. Controlling for potential demographic confounders, MPS was associated with cigarette smoking (adjusted prevalence ratio [APR], 3.83; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.56–9.44), sexual initiation prior to age 15 (APR, 2.50; 95% CI, 1.04–5.98), ever being diagnosed with an STI (APR, 2.55; 95% CI, 1.08–6.03), dating violence victimization (APR, 4.43; 95% CI, 1.68–11.69), childhood sexual abuse victimization (APR, 4.30; 95% CI, 1.83–10.07) and past-month pornography exposure (APR, 4.79; 95% CI, 1.91–11.98). Additional study of the perpetration and prevention of adolescent MPS is urgently needed