Inferencing skills of deaf adolescent readers

The great difficulty which deaf children have in learning to read is well documented. Previous studies have examined such aspects as problems with vocabulary and syntax but little work has been directed towards inferential and discourse skills. The present series of studies examines the inferencing skills of severely and profoundly deaf adolescents. Different types of inference were examined using a variety of experimental techniques, ranging from on-line reading times, through memory probes after reading, to tracking the movements of subjects' eyes as they read. The deaf were found to be poorer at drawing inferences than hearing children matched on reading age, although they can recall as much detail from those extra texts in which they do infer correctly as the controls. The deaf were as successful as the reading age matched controls for material which required spatial inferences but not for more abstract temporal and causal inferences. On-line studies suggested that the deaf, when drawing inferences, use a schemata, concept driven mechanism similar to hearing peers approximately matched for chronological age. A similar mechanism would seem to be operating when material is presented in the form of sign language. Thus many of the difficulties previously ascribed to deaf children's reading skills may in fact derive from more general language problems. It is suggested that these difficulties with inferencing are independent of modality of presentation and perhaps reflect a more impoverished experimental background for most deaf children. The comparative richness of scenarios for deaf and hearing children are then investigated

IS TOILET TRAINING AS EASY AS A B C?

Toilet training is often viewed as a fairly straightforward process. This may be why much of the prescriptive literature available today has not been subject empirical investigation. This study followed twenty-six children through toilet training to investigate five factors that are assumed to be associated with a successful outcome to training - child readiness, parental readiness, behavioural style of parents, child temperament and the type of approach parent's use to train their child. Three of these five factors - behavioural style of parent's, child temperament and the approach parent's use to train their child - were found to be associated with a successful outcome. Advice for parent's who have difficulties with toilet training is presented along with recommendations for improving the measures used in this study for future research.Southmead Health Services N.H.S. Trus

A novel DSM philosophy for building integrated renewable systems

This paper presents an overview of a novel concept in IT network design and power control focused on matching building integrated renewable power generation with local demands. It describes how this is achieved through combination of energy demand reduction and dynamic utilisation of embedded energy storage in a robust, efficient and cost effective manner. A brief overview of the main features of the design is given in terms of its intended benefits as an integrated system. The load components and distribution topology are described for this experimental system within the limits set by the capacity, capabilities and desired function of the network. Power supply to the network is described as including a back-up source to the photovoltaic (PV) source to add functionality and stability with no requirements for undesirable exporting of excess PV generation. The necessary configuration of the renewable array integrating with the network is also highlighted with an example compatible solar module device. A trial of the technology and demand management control in a high profile office building is described. This trial in a live working environment is providing invaluable real world data to compare against modelling and network simulation results

Algebraic Topology of Calabi-Yau Threefolds in Toric Varieties

We compute the integral homology (including torsion), the topological K-theory, and the Hodge structure on cohomology of Calabi-Yau threefold hypersurfaces and complete intersections in Gorenstein toric Fano varieties. The methods are purely topological

The improvement of junior high school physical education program through the use of motion pictures

Thesis (M.A.)--Boston University, 1945. This item was digitized by the Internet Archive

Knowledge in Physics through Mathematics, Image and Language

This thesis explores the nature of knowledge in physics and the discourse that organises it. In particular, it focuses on the affordances of mathematics, image and language for construing the highly technical meanings that constitute this knowledge. It shows that each of these resources play a crucial role in physics’ ability to generate generalised theory whilst maintaining relevance to the empirical physical world. First, to understand how mathematics contributes to knowledge-building, the thesis presents a detailed descriptive model from the perspective of Systemic Functional Semiotics that considers mathematics on its own terms. The description builds on O’Halloran’s (2005) grammar in order to understand mathematics’ intrinsic functionality and theoretical architecture. In doing so, it takes an axial perspective (Martin 2013) that considers the paradigmatic and syntagmatic axes in Systemic Functional theory as the theoretical primitives from which metafunction, strata, rank and all other theoretical categories can be derived. It shows that, when not transposing categories from English but rather deriving them from axial principles, mathematics’ theoretical architecture is considerably different to that of any resource previously seen. Looking metafunctionally, mathematics displays a highly elaborated logical component within the ideational metafunction, but shows no evidence for a discrete interpersonal metafunction. Looking at the levels within the grammar, it displays two interacting hierarchies: a rank scale based on constituency and a nesting scale based on iterative layering. Finally, it shows distinct and predictable texts patterns in its interaction with language. From this, the description is able to use genre as a unifying semiotic that strongly predicts the grammatical patterns that occur throughout physics discourse. By developing these models, the thesis offers an understanding of mathematics’ unique functionality and the reasons it is consistently used in physics. Second, the thesis interprets the images of physics from the perspective of the Systemic Functional dimension of field. It shows that much of the power of images comes from the large number of distinct meanings that can be encapsulated in a single snapshot. In one image, large taxonomies, long sequences of activity, extensive arrays of data and various levels of specificity can all be presented. This allows various components of physics’ knowledge to be related and coordinated, and aids physics in building a coherent and integrated knowledge structure. Following the descriptive component of the thesis, the specific functionalities of mathematics, image and language are interpreted through the Legitimation Code Theory dimension of Semantics. This provides an understanding of the organisation of physics’ knowledge structure as a whole. It shows how the interaction of mathematics, language and image underpins physics’ ability to progressively build ever more elaborated technical meanings, to make empirical predictions from theoretical models and to abstract theoretical generalisations from empirical data. By interpreting the mathematics, image and language used in physics from the complementary perspectives of Systemic Functional Semiotics and Legitimation Code Theory, the thesis offers a detailed model of how physics manages to make sense of and predict the vast physical world

Mechanisms Affecting Recruitment of Yellow Perch in Lake Michigan

Report issued on: August 2001INHS Technical Report prepared for Great Lakes Fishery Trus

Tax accounting: a history of technological change

Accounting and the related tax accounting field have been essential to conducting business and generating income so governments and corporations around the world can operate and provide for their citizens. Over the last fifty years, technology has become an integral part of this field, and therefore, a certified public accountant (CPA)'s daily tasks. For my study, I researched the major technology developments in the accounting industry in hopes of understanding the experiences associated with changes in the way accountants completed their work. I felt as though my accounting education at Ball State has not included enough of an historical perspective on the changes in accounting technology, something that I have been interested in studying since electing accounting as my major. My research has filled that gap in my overall accounting education.Honors CollegeThesis (B.?