Exploring the out-of-school writing practices of three children aged 9 - 10 years old and how these practices travel across and within the domains of home and school

This study explores the writing practices of children aged 9-10 years across the settings of home and school. It examines the nature of the out-of-school writing practices of three case study children, within and across these domains. Additionally, it seeks to understand the children’s relationship with writing and considers if and how their writing practices travel across both domains. In examining home and school writing practices, the study took a sociocultural perspective underpinned by Bronfenbrenner’s (1979) ecological systems theory framework. A review of the relevant literature led to the utilisation of a multimodal definition of writing and the framing of the research as a qualitative, bounded case study within an interpretive, iterative enquiry. The principal research methods were the collation of the children’s writing artefacts, together with video and photographic footage of in-action practices in home settings, school observations and writing conversations. The findings reveal the ways in which these developing young writers engaged and interacted with writing differently in both settings. The trajectory of writing practices across home and school are seen to be in a recursive relationship through the transformation of writing events from one setting to another. Three key themes developed and are presented as metaphors of travel: Places, spaces and local customs; Text souvenirs and local decisions; and Domain exchange and transaction. These themes indicate the range and versatility of the children’s home writing practices. They highlight the complexity in characterising a shared definition of writing across domains. On the basis of the data, the study argues for teachers to be more aware and welcoming of children’s home writing practices in classroom activities. In so doing, teachers would be better able to build on these experiences, leading to new and shared ways of conceptualising writing in English primary classrooms. Finally, the study considers avenues for future research

Depositional environments of Upper Meiocene through Pleistocene siliciclastic sediments, Baton Rouge aquifer system, southeastern Louisiana

Saltwater encroachment northward into freshwater sands of the Baton Rouge aquifer system, southeast Louisiana, poses a serious environmental threat to the metropolitan water source. The aquifer consists of a 0.6 mile-thick succession of interbedded, unconsolidated south-dipping siliciclastic sandy units and confining mudstones dating from the Upper Miocene through the Pleistocene. The study area is crosscut by the Baton Rouge fault, a west-east trending listric fault that serves as a leaky barrier to saltwater intrusion from the south. A better understanding of the connectivity, morphology and depositional setting of this aquifer system and hydraulic properties of the Baton Rouge fault is necessary for developing strategies to halt or control saltwater intrusion. This study provides an in-depth geologic evaluation of the depositional environments of these sediments. Seventy five well logs for boreholes located in East Baton Rouge, West Baton Rouge and Livingston parishes provided data for interpreting environments of deposition, correlating sand-rich and mudstone-rich zones, and identifying periods of low and high sediment aggradation. The correlation of units immediately south of the fault provided the basis for a separate study of the permeability architecture of the fault zone. It was concluded that sandy units of the Baton Rouge aquifer system were fluvially deposited and have complex geometries representing channel fill, floodplain, levee and crevasse splay facies. Aquifer sands are interpreted as zones of amalgamated sand bodies deposited during times of low aggradation associated with sea-level falling-stage and lowstand system tracts. The amalgamation created a high degree of connectivity which causes these zones to behave hydraulically like single units. Mudstone-rich sequences are interpreted as having been deposited during times of high aggradation associated with sea-level highstand. Roughly 10 cycles that correlate to USGS-designated aquifer sands were identified in lithology-depth curves. The number of sandy units is less than the 24 sea-level reversals documented in the northern Gulf of Mexico for the Upper Miocene through the Pleistocene. Fluvial systems are sensitive to changes in relative sea-level up to 400 miles inland but numerous and major unconformities in the study area have removed portions of the geologic record

Power play: Sexual harassment in the middle school

This dissertation addresses male to female student to student sexual harassment in public middle schools, arguing that this issue is not merely a legal one, but an educational issue with legal components which demands the attention and intervention of educators. I argue that no legal policy, regardless of how explicitly it is written, or how expertly administered, can, by itself, adequately address student to student sexual harassment. This is not a fault within the legal system: it is a recognition that the law cannot do the work of education. We need to acknowledge the complexity of sexual harassment and its location: deeply embedded in our cultural norms and beliefs about sexuality, gender and power. I trace the development of legalistic school policies, drawing from salient case law which has recognized and defined sexual harassment, first in the adult arena of the workplace, and more recently, in school settings. I critically appraise the efficacy of the resulting school policies and find them inadequate. Such policies rest on two questionable assumptions which I refer to as the Reconfiguration Presumption and the Equal Standing Presumption. I further argue that legalistic policies cannot recognize nor address the ethical dilemma girls experience when, from their perspective, they are asked to choose between their social relationships and the right to name sexually harassing behaviors as wrongs and to claim redress. In my discussion of this moral conflict for the girls, I employ an ethical perspective which draws from both the ethics of care and the concept of rights within relationships. Finally, I develop and discuss an alternative approach to current school sexual harassment policies: an educative, embodied policy in which sexual harassment is addressed by educators and students within a framework of care as well as rights

If this stuff matters, why isn\u27t it being shared? : citations, hyperlinks, and potential public futures of online writing in rhetoric and composition.

This dissertation addresses two deceptively discrete questions: (1) how academics might reach wider public audiences, and (2) how and why people cite the way they do. It takes citation practices as a telling though often tacit practice, one through which it is possible trace the contours of a larger story about how writing is changing as it moves online. That story: Writers increasingly reflect goals of provocation, of attracting a wider and potentially global audience, of spreading a message rapidly and virally, of responding to recent events and conversations, of sharing sources and resources. To explore these questions, this dissertation forwards a mixed-methods study of citation and writing practices in three different sites: In popular press web writing (on Slate and Newsweek—Chapter II), in traditional academic print text in rhetoric and composition (in CCC and College English—Chapter III), and in academic webtext online (on Kairos and Computers and Composition Online—Chapter IV). Chapter II conducts a rhetorical corpus analysis of Slate and Newsweek, seeking transcendent citation practices within each journal and considering how those practices (and other writing practices) and others correlate (or not) with social sharing; I then report on interviews with authors from Slate, aiming to elucidate those findings. Chapter III conducts a rhetorical corpus analysis of CCC and College English, seeking an understanding of citation practices in the field of rhetoric and composition more traditionally, more historically; as in the previous chapter, these findings are commented upon and elucidated by authors/editors of each journal. Chapter IV considers hyperlink and parenthetical citation practices in webtext journals Kairos and Computers and Composition Online, via discourse-based interviews with several authors and editors for each journal. Chapter V draws parallels among my investigations and ultimately concludes with a proposal for a new kind of hytpertextual academic publication aimed at “the public”; it offers, at its close, some documents intended to sketch the shape of such a publication, including a “Rhetoric of Hypermedia” style guide for authors

The Problems with Feminist Nostalgia: Intersectionality and White Popular Feminism

Contemporary feminisms are ineluctably drawn into comparisons with historic discourses, forms of praxis and tactical repertoires. Whilst this can underscore points of continuity and commonality in ongoing struggles, it can also result in nostalgia for a more unified and purposeful feminist politics (Hemmings, 2011). Kate Eichhorn argues that our interest in nostalgia should be to understand feminist temporalities, and in particular the specific context in which we experience such nostalgia (2015). Accordingly, this paper takes up the idea that neoliberalism and populism, which have given rise to both neoliberal feminism and femonationalism (Rottenberg, 2014; Farris, 2017), have produced a series of contestations regarding the purpose and nature of feminist politics, as expressed by white popular feminism in the UK. This paper examines two dimensions of feminist nostalgia: first, nostalgia for a more radical form of feminist politics – one not co-opted by neoliberal forces, not individualistic and not centred around online activism; and second, a nostalgia for the idea of ‘sisterhood’ – a time before white feminists were called upon to engage with intersectionality or be inclusive of trans-women. We analyse these themes through analysis of white popular feminism produced in the UK between 2010-2020, cautioning against a feminist nostalgia which neglects to engage with the radical politics of intersectionality

Sleep quality and its clinical associations in trichotillomania and skin picking disorder.

BACKGROUND: Trichotillomania (TTM) is characterized by recurrent hair pulling and associated hair loss. Skin picking disorder (SPD) is characterized by recurrent skin picking and associated scarring or tissue damage. Both disorders are also accompanied by psychological distress and poor sleep. Very little, however, is known about lifestyle variables that may contribute to symptom severity in these disorders. METHODS: We recruited 87 adults as part of a cross-sectional study of 3 groups (TTM, SPD, and non-affected). Clinical subjects (n=69) were compared with controls (n=18) on sleep quality as measured by Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). We used partial least squares regression to identify which variables were significantly associated with poor sleep quality among those participants with TTM or SPD. RESULTS: Clinical subjects had significantly poorer sleep quality than controls. Sleep quality was significantly related to older age, worse perceived stress, lower distress tolerance and greater impulsivity in adults with BFRBs. Poor sleep quality was associated with worse hair pulling symptom severity but not skin picking severity. Higher levels of comorbid mental disorders was also associated with worse sleep, above and beyond the impact of these other variables. CONCLSUIONS: Poor sleep quality appears to be related to multiple variables. Further research is needed to determine causality and to tailor treatment to specific patient needs

A geoarchaeological perspective on the challenges and trajectories of Mississippi Delta communities

Recent geochronology of the Mississippi Delta of coastal Louisiana, USA, provides a high-resolution record of land growth that facilitates the study of ancient settlement patterns in relation to delta evolution. We use stratigraphy and optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating to show that two Late Holocene earthen mounds were constructed several hundred years after the land emerged from open water. This multi-century pause allowed natural processes of overbank and crevasse splay deposition to elevate the land surface, reduce flood risk, and foster desirable environmental conditions prior to human occupation. These results are applied to obtain new age constraints for a large number of at-risk or lost archaeological sites with little-to-no absolute chronology. We use our findings to comment on prehistoric, contemporary, and future human-landscape interactions in the Mississippi Delta and other deltaic environments.</p

Sleep quality and its clinical associations in trichotillomania and skin picking disorder.

BACKGROUND: Trichotillomania (TTM) is characterized by recurrent hair pulling and associated hair loss. Skin picking disorder (SPD) is characterized by recurrent skin picking and associated scarring or tissue damage. Both disorders are also accompanied by psychological distress and poor sleep. Very little, however, is known about lifestyle variables that may contribute to symptom severity in these disorders. METHODS: We recruited 87 adults as part of a cross-sectional study of 3 groups (TTM, SPD, and non-affected). Clinical subjects (n=69) were compared with controls (n=18) on sleep quality as measured by Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). We used partial least squares regression to identify which variables were significantly associated with poor sleep quality among those participants with TTM or SPD. RESULTS: Clinical subjects had significantly poorer sleep quality than controls. Sleep quality was significantly related to older age, worse perceived stress, lower distress tolerance and greater impulsivity in adults with BFRBs. Poor sleep quality was associated with worse hair pulling symptom severity but not skin picking severity. Higher levels of comorbid mental disorders was also associated with worse sleep, above and beyond the impact of these other variables. CONCLSUIONS: Poor sleep quality appears to be related to multiple variables. Further research is needed to determine causality and to tailor treatment to specific patient needs

Nurse Discharge Planning in the Emergency Department: A Toowoomba, Australia, Study

Aim. This study aimed to ascertain whether a model of risk screening carried out by an experienced community nurse was effective in decreasing re-presentations and readmissions and the length of stay of older people presenting to an Australian emergency department. Objectives. The objectives of the study were to (i) identify all older people who presented to the emergency department of an Australian regional hospital; (ii) identify the proportion of re-presentations and readmissions within this cohort of patients; and (iii) risk-screen all older patients and provide referrals when necessary to community services. Design. The study involved the application of a risk screening tool to 2139 men and women over 70 years of age from October 2002 to June 2003. Of these, 1102 (51.5%) were admitted and 246 (11.5%) were re-presentations with the same illness. Patients presenting from Monday to Friday from 08:00 to 16:00 hours were risk-screened face to face in the emergency department. Outside of these hours, but within 72 hours of presentation, risk screening was carried out by telephone if the patient was discharged or within the ward if the patient had been admitted. Results. There was a 16% decrease in the re-presentation rate of people over 70 years of age to the emergency department. Additionally during this time there was a 5.5% decrease in the readmission rate (this decrease did not reach significance). There was a decrease in the average length of stay in hospital from 6.17 days per patient in October 2002 to 5.37 days per patient in June 2003. An unexpected finding was the decrease in re-presentations in people who represented to the emergency department three or more times per month (known as 'frequent flyers'). Conclusions. Risk screening of older people in the emergency department by a specialist community nurse resulted in a decrease of re-presentations to the emergency department. There was some evidence of a decreased length of stay. It is suggested that the decrease in re-presentations was the result of increased referral and use of community services. It appears that the use of a specialist community nurse to undertake risk screening rather than the triage nurse may impact on service utilization. Relevance to clinical practice. It is apparent that older people presenting to the emergency department have complex care needs. Undertaking risk screening using an experienced community nurse to ascertain the correct level of community assistance required and ensuring speedy referral to appropriate community services has positive outcomes for both the hospital and the patient