Informing that Spanish language edition of TECHNIQUES OF VALUE ANALYSIS AND ENGINEERING has been published and that copies will be sent under separate cover.--Correspondence

Informing that Spanish language edition of TECHNIQUES OF VALUE ANALYSIS AND ENGINEERING has been published and that copies will be sent under separate cover

Perceptions of Public School Administrators on the Implementation of Response to Intervention & Specific Learning Disability Rates in a Small Northeast State

The re-authorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 resulted in the State Board of Regents adopting criteria for specific learning disabilities (SLD) in 2009 (State, 2010). Schools must use response to intervention (RTI) within the process of identifying SLD. Since the implementation of RTI in 2009, this small northeast state’s percentage of students with SLD has been above the national average of 35% (NCES, 2016). The purpose of this embedded mixed methods study was to explore what public school administrators perceived as the practices being implemented in elementary schools in public school districts that have reduced their SLD rates by 25% or more from 2010 to 2016. This information will be helpful to other public school districts in this state and across the country who struggle in reducing their SLD rates. The following research questions were addressed: 1. What is the identification rate of specific learning disability in a small northeast state’s districts that have implemented RtI? 2. What are the demographic characteristics for districts that reduced their Specific Learning Disability rates by 25% or more? 3. How do special education directors and principals in a small northeast state describe the influence of the implementation of RtI and the percentage of specific learning disabilities in special education referral rates? 4. How do special education directors and principals in a small northeast state describe the influence of RtI on percentage of specific learning disability rates and the following practices: Years implementing RTI, Leadership Involvement, Professional Development, and Resources? During the quantitative phase, a questionnaire was administered to special education administrators (N=10) representing 12 districts that reduced their SLD rates by 25% or more. During the qualitative phase, interviews (N=7) were conducted to explore how public school administrators perceived the influence of RtI practices on SLD rates. Findings from this study may help educational leaders around the state in identifying RtI practices to influence SLD rates. Such findings may guide decisions on leadership involvement, models of professional development, teacher training and the importance of resources for fidelity of implementation of RtI

Beyond the Fortified Town: Preliminary Insights on Land Use and Occupation Strategies at Banbhore (Sindh, Pakistan)

The site of Banbhore is located in the western delta of the Indus river (Sindh, Pakistan), identified as the harbor town of Daybul mentioned in pre-Islamic and Early Islamic written sources. The archaeological activities conducted here since the beginning of the past century revealed a long and uninterrupted occupation and complex urban planning (1st century BCE-early 13th century CE). A systematic field survey was carried out for the first time around Banbhore within the Italian-Pakistani archaeological expedition. Investigation revealed the presence of a densely settled hinterland, with a clear strategy in land use and occupation. Surface artefacts suggest a very long period of frequentation, from at least the Sasanian period to the Modern era. Results find an interesting comparison with both the information available in written texts and the materials from the excavation of the fortified town

Definition and representation of complex architectural shapes.Experiences in advanced courses at the Faculty of Architecture in Milano

The complex shapes and building technologies that are more and more often used in contemporary architecture remind to us that new tools are necessary when we mean to control the process from the stage of conception until the final realization. After decades of predominance of standard orthogonal systems, the design process seems to have reached such an high grade of difficulty, to require a review of traditional teaching programmes in architecture schools, particularly if we consider that even the simple comprehension and interpretation of some realized works requires new approaches

AN ULTIMATE TENSILE-STRENGTH DEPENDENCE ON PROCESSING FOR CONSOLIDATED METAL-MATRIX COMPOSITES

The ultimate tensile strength (UTS) of metal and intermetallic matrix unidirectional composites can be significantly lower than expected from the rule of mixtures prediction. One possible explanation is that the fibers in the as-processed state are in a residual state of stress and in some cases are broken because of the inhomogeneous nature of the densification during manufacture. Three main results emerge from the effort to include the effect of this processing damage on the composite UTS. First is the development of a simple but accurate analytical version of Curtin's model for predicting the stress-strain response and UTS of this class of composites. Second is the generalization of Curtin's model to include both process induced fiber bending and fracture. Third is that the reduction in strength is a sensitive function of the consolidation conditions; thus a link is established between the quality of the composite and the conditions of its manufacture