921 research outputs found
Past plant use in Jordan as revealed by archaeological and ethnoarchaeological phytolith signatures
Ninety-six phytolith samples were analysed from seven
archaeological sites ranging from the Pre-Pottery
Neolithic to the Classical period and from two
ethnoarchaeological sites in Jordan. The aims were to
test the possibility of detecting past irrigation with the
methodology outlined by Madella et al. (2009) and
Jenkins et al. (Chapter 21, this volume) and to study the
contextual and temporal variation of plant use in
Jordan. We utilised a water availability index using the
proportion of phytolith types and ordination statistical
methods to explore the similarities between the
phytolith assemblages. The result of applying the
irrigation methodology was promising, with contexts
from water channels showing the greatest indication of
water availability. Changes in plant use through time
were also apparent with regard to phytolith densities
and taxonomy. Date palm was identified in the Pottery
Neolithic, providing one of the earliest records for this
taxon in Jordan. This study shows the potential of both
the water availability index and the value of inter-site
comparison of phytolith assemblages
From usable to useful assessment knowledge and evaluation
In this article contrasts are made between usable and useful
knowledge. Usable knowledge represents knowledge that
someone finds pertinent. Useful knowledge has a function and
can lead to specific action. The applications to educational
assessment and evaluation are clear in that much assessment
knowledge is developed at a level that is nominally usable, but
provides no real guidance in the improvement of learning.
Knowledge management through the measurement of social and
organizational capital is suggested as a strategy to augment
accountability policies based exclusively on test scores. This
approach would work as a way to set targets and monitor the
development of schools as an institution, responsible for
performance by adults and students that extend beyond
measured performance
Smart cities wouldnât let housing costs drive the worse-off into deeper disadvantage
Scholarly article published online. Article describing new peer reviewed research on housing affordability and home owner and rental mobility. Contributes a policy reflection on the process by which Australian cities are being shaped by the housing affordably crisis.Emma Baker, Andrew Beer, Rebecca Bentle
Social housing exit points, outcomes and future pathways: an administrative data analysis
The research provides new national evidence on social housing pathways using longitudinal and linked national data. · The âsuccessâ of a social housing pathway should be judged on relative, rather than definitive terms. · Most Australian social housing pathways are stable or involve entry into social housing with subsequent stability. · Some pathways are considered transitory, involving multiple moves and changes between tenures. · Transitory pathways are associated with more time in receipt of income support and more residential instability. Correspondingly, people with stable social housing pathways spent less time in receipt of income assistance (and were more residentially stable).Emma Baker, Chris Leishman, Rebecca Bentley, Ngoc Thien Anh Pham, Lyrian Danie
Weight suppression and weight elevation are associated with eating disorder symptomatology in women age 50 and older: Results of the gender and body image study
Objective: Weight suppression (WS), the difference between highest past non-pregnancy weight and current weight, predicts negative outcomes in eating disorders, but the impact of WS and related weight constructs are understudied in nonclinical, midlife populations. We examined WS (current weight < highest weight) and weight elevation (WE), the opposite of WS (current weight > lowest weight) and their associations with eating psychopathology in women aged 50+. Method: Participants were a community-based sample (N = 1,776, M age = 59) who completed demographic and eating psychopathology questions via online survey. WS, WE, and WS Ă WE were tested as predictors of outcome variables; BMI and medical conditions that affect weight were controlled for. Results: Individuals that were higher on WS and WE were most likely to engage in current weight loss attempts, dieting in the past 5 years, and extreme lifetime restriction. Individuals with higher WS were more likely to experience binge eating, greater frequency of weight checking, overvaluation of shape and weight, and lifetime fasting. Individuals with higher WE were more likely to report negative life impacts of eating and dieting. Higher WS and WE each predicted higher levels of skipping meals over the lifetime. Discussion: This novel study investigated WS in midlife women and introduced a new conceptualization of weight change (WE) that may be more relevant for aging populations given that women tend to gain weight with age. The findings implicate the utility of investigating both WS and WE as factors associated with eating psychopathology in midlife women
Traveling wave packets of total electron content disturbances as deduced from global GPS network data
We identified a new class of mid-latitude medium-scale traveling ionospheric
disturbances (MS TIDs), viz. traveling wave packets (TWPs) of total electron
content (TEC) disturbances. For the first time, the morphology of TWPs is
presented for 105 days. Using the technique of GPS interferometry of TIDs we
carried out a detailed analysis of the spatial-temporal properties of TWPs by
considering an example of the most conspicuous manifestation of TWPs on October
18, 2001 over California, USA. The velocity and direction of TWPs correspond to
those of mid-latitude MS TIDs obtained previously from analyzing the phase
characteristics of HF radio signals as well as signals from geostationary
satellites and discrete cosmic radio sources.Comment: LaTeX2.09, 28 pages, 9 figure
Residual cognitive deficits 50 years after lead poisoning during childhood
The long term neurobehavioural consequences of childhood lead poisoning are not known. In this study adult subjects with a documented history of lead poisoning before age 4 and matched controls were examined with an abbreviated battery of neuropsychological tests including measures of attention, reasoning, memory, motor speed, and current mood. The subjects exposed to lead were inferior to controls on almost all of the cognitive tasks. This pattern of widespread deficits resembles that found in children evaluated at the time of acute exposure to lead rather than the more circumscribed pattern typically seen in adults exposed to lead. Despite having completed as many years of schooling as controls, the subjects exposed to lead were lower in lifetime occupational status. Within the exposed group, performance on the neuropsychological battery and occupational status were related, consistent with the presumed impact of limitations in neuropsychological functioning on everyday life. The results suggest that many subjects exposed to lead suffered acute encephalopathy in childhood which resolved into a chronic subclinical encephalopathy with associated cognitive dysfunction still evident in adulthood. These findings lend support to efforts to limit exposure to lead in childhood
A mechanism for morphogen-controlled domain growth
Many developmental systems are organised via the action of graded distributions of morphogens. In the Drosophila wing disc, for example, recent experimental evidence has shown that graded expression of the morphogen Dpp controls cell proliferation and hence disc growth. Our goal is to explore a simple model for regulation of wing growth via the Dpp gradient: we use a system of reaction-diffusion equations to model the dynamics of Dpp and its receptor Tkv, with advection arising as a result of the flow generated by cell proliferation. We analyse the model both numerically and analytically, showing that uniform domain growth across the disc produces an exponentially growing wing disc
Sweet taste preference in binge-eating disorder: A preliminary investigation
Research suggests that individuals with high liking for sweets are at increased risk for binge eating, which has been minimally investigated in individuals with binge-eating disorder (BED). Forty-one adults (85% female, 83% white) with binge eating concerns completed a sweet taste test and measures of eating disorder behaviors and food cravings. A subset of participants with BED completed an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT; N = 21) and a 24-hour dietary recall (N = 26). Regression models were used to compare highest sweet preferers (HSP [N = 18]) to other sweet preferers (OSP [N = 23]) and were used to assess associations between sweet taste preference and outcome variables. Effect sizes (ηp2) for differences between HSP and OSP ranged from small (†0.01) to large (℠0.24); group differences were statistically nonsignificant except for 24-hour caloric intake (ηp2 = 0.16, p = 0.04), protein intake (ηp2 = 0.16, p = 0.04), and insulin sensitivity index (ηp2 = 0.24, p = 0.04), which were higher in HSP, and postprandial insulin, which was smaller in HSP (ηp2 = 0.27, p = 0.03). Continuous analyses replicated postprandial insulin response. Compared with OSP, HSP reported numerically higher binge-eating frequency (ηp2 = 0.04), over-eating frequency (ηp2 = 0.06), and carbohydrate intake (ηp2 = 0.14), and they exhibited numerically smaller postprandial glucose AUC (ηp2 = 0.16). Sweet taste preference may have implications for glucose regulation, binge-eating frequency, and nutrient intake in BED
Finite one dimensional impenetrable Bose systems: Occupation numbers
Bosons in the form of ultra cold alkali atoms can be confined to a one
dimensional (1d) domain by the use of harmonic traps. This motivates the study
of the ground state occupations of effective single particle states
, in the theoretical 1d impenetrable Bose gas. Both the system on a
circle and the harmonically trapped system are considered. The and
are the eigenvalues and eigenfunctions respectively of the one body
density matrix. We present a detailed numerical and analytic study of this
problem. Our main results are the explicit scaled forms of the density
matrices, from which it is deduced that for fixed the occupations
are asymptotically proportional to in both the circular
and harmonically trapped cases.Comment: 22 pages, 8 figures (.eps), uses REVTeX
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