Investigating the relationship between volume transport and sea surface height in the Agulhas Current System

The relationship between the volume transport of the Agulhas Current at 34°S (the position of the Agulhas Current Time-series array) and the gradient of sea surface height across the current was investigated using a regional Hybrid Coordinate Ocean Model. Previous studies have suggested a high correlation between SSH slope and Agulhas Current transport and, based on 3 years of in situ measurements, a transport proxy between along-track satellite data and in situ data was developed. The purpose of this modelling study was to re-create the Agulhas Current transport proxy in a virtual modelling environment, to test the validity of the underlying assumption on which the satellite-altimeter proxy was based. The Agulhas transport proxy assumed nine, constant linear relationships between SSH slope and integrated transport per unit distance over the 22-year transport time-series, based on the 3-year sampling period and a constant vertical stratification. The 34-year regional-hindcast from HYCOM provided the means to test the sensitivity of the transport proxy to vertical changes in the current and the length scale of observations used to build a constant, linear relationship between transport and SSH slope. During the investigation it was found that HYCOM contained exaggerated levels of offshore variability. This resulted in stronger correlations for the inshore linear regression models with a decreasing trend moving offshore. Based on the overall performance of the 34-year transport proxies it was concluded that the proxy was more capable of estimating the net transport of the Agulhas Current across the array instead of only the southwest transport component. Therefore, transport estimates inshore were more accurate than the transport estimates offshore, when the current is in a meandering state, and the poorer performance of the southwest transport proxy, specifically developed to capture the transport during offshore meander events, was less capable of estimating an accurate transport estimate. Results showed that calculating the proxy over longer time periods did not significantly improve the skill of the Agulhas transport proxy, suggesting the 3-years was a sufficient time-period used to develop the transport proxy in HYCOM. This study motivates the need to improve long-term monitoring methods, where the usage of numerical ocean models could help understand the sensitivities and limitations involved in the development of transport proxies in future

Using an Internal Auditory Stimulus to Activate the Developing Primary Auditory Cortex: A Fetal fMRI Study

Insight into the rapidly developing brain in utero is scarce. Fetal functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is a technique used to gain awareness into the developmental process. Previous auditory task-based fMRI studies employed an external sound stimulus directly on the maternal abdomen. However, there has since been recommendation to cease doing so. We sought to investigate a reliable paradigm to study the development of fetal brain networks and postulate that by using an internal stimulus, such as the mother singing, it would result in activation of the fetal primary auditory cortex. Volunteers carrying singleton fetuses with a gestational age of 33-38 weeks underwent two stimulus-based block design BOLD fMRI series. All of the nine fetal subjects analyzed had activation in the right Heschl’s gyrus, and seven out of the nine fetal subjects had activation in the left Heschl’s gyrus when exposed to the internal acoustic stimulus. Ultimately, this internal auditory stimulus can be used to analyze the developing fetal brain

Your Classroom as an Orchestra: Practical Differentiation Strategies

But how can we connect deeply with our students, especially in the high school where we teach multiple classes, with students of different abilities? How can we realistically be their “champion”? The answer lies in knowing, understanding and catering to the learning of students through quality differentiated teaching practices

PERSEPSI MASYARAKAT SURABAYA TERHADAP LEMBAGA KEPOLISIAN PASCA PEMBERITAAN KASUS GAYUS TAMBUNAN (Studi Deskriptif Kualitatif Mengenai Persepsi Masyarakat Surabaya Terhadap Lembaga Kepolisian Dalam Penanganan Kasus Mafia Perpajakan)

Persepsi masyarakat yang muncul sering dipengaruhi pemberitaan oleh media massa. Melalui pemberitaan tersebut masyarakat memaknai informasi yang disampaikan oleh media tersebut. Indonesia beberapa waktu belakangan ini telah melalui berbagai peristiwa yang meramaikan dunia politik di Indonesia, salah satunya yang menjadi fokus perhatian adalah kasus mafia perpajakan yang di perankan oleh Gayus Tambunan. Tujuan penelitian ini adalah untuk mengetahui persepsi masyarakat Surabaya terhadap lembaga kepolisian pasca pemberitaan kasus Gayus Tambunan. Penelitian ini diharapkan dapat digunakan untuk meneliti persepsi masyarakat Surabaya terhadap kredibilitas dan kinerja Kepolisian dalam penanganan kasus mafia perpajakan yang melibatkan Gayus Tambunan. Landasan teori yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini pemberitaan melalui stasiun televisi, dan media internet sebagai media komunikasi massa, beberapa informan sebagai penikmat berita yang memberikan reaksi, pemberitaan mengenai kasus Gayus Tambunan, serta persepsi yang dihasilkan dari beberapa informan.Penelitian ini menggunakan teori komunikasi Reception Analysis, karena metode Reception Analysis ini merupakan metode yang paling tepat untuk mengetahui bagaimana pemaknaan khalayak terhadap suatu teks media, sementara penelitian ini pun berusaha untuk mengkesplorasi bagaimana pendidik yang berbeda memaknai satu teks yang berdasarkan field of experience dan frame of reference- nya. Jadi jelaslah reaksi – reaksi pada masyarakat diakibatkan stimulasi dari media massa melalui pemberitaan. Meski pada individu yang berbeda, terjadi reaksi yang ditimbulkan berbeda pula. Metode penelitian yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini adalah metode kualitatif dengan cara mengumpulkan data melalui hasil wawancara secara mendalam (indepth interview). Wawancara dilakukan pada informan – informan yang telah dipilih sesuai dengan karakteristik yang dibutuhkan dalam penelitian ini. Teknik penelitian ini menentukan 4 informan yang berasal dari kalangan pengamat hukum dan kuasa hukum, sebagai informan ahli dalam penanganan kasus hukum. Dan kalangan pegawai negeri, dan ibu rumah tangga sebagai orang awam. Telah dipastikan bahwa keempat informan yang telah dipilih, mengikuti perkembangan kasus Gayus Tambunan melalui pemberitaan di televisi dan media massa internet sebagai subyek yang akan diteliti Kesimpulan yang didapat dari penelitian ini bahwa masyarakat Surabaya memberikan persepsi yang negatif pada lembaga kepolisian setelah pemberitaan terjadi. Dengan alasan, bahwa pada setiap pemberitaannya menunjukkan lemahnya investigasi dari kepolisian, dan kejujuran yang dilakukan oleh pihak oknum kepolisian dalam penanganan kasus mafia perpajakan yang didalangi oleh Gayus Tambunan. Diharapkan untuk kedepan, kepolisian dapat lebih meningkatkan mutu, SDM, Intelektualnya, juga kejujuran yang terpenting agar mendapatkan kredibilitas yang layak dimata masyarakat. Hak Cipta © milik UPN "Veteran" Jati

Technology Use in a First-Year Composition Program

This study examines how instructors view and work with technology in a firstyear composition program at a four-year, public university in central Appalachia. Six interview questions were developed for this study as a means to explore the instructor’s definition of technology, level of use (functional, critical, and or rhetorical), difficulties using technology, pedagogy, and socioeconomics of the student population. Using qualitative methods to find patterns in the data, correlations were present among participant responses with functional uses, access, and socioeconomics. Educators primarily use technology functionally for the purpose of creating linear-based essays; have broad access to technology, but do not understand or have no way of receiving training to use software programs; and see how student socioeconomics affects access and digital literacy development. Resulting from the participant responses, there are recommendations to adjust the university’s professional development program, change current training practices, and offer faculty development and training within the department

Impassioned Objects And Seething Absences: The Olympics In Canada, National Identity and Consumer Culture

This dissertation critically analyzes the commercial practices and products of the 1976 Montreal, 1988 Calgary and 2010 Vancouver Olympics. The central questions I ask are: how did the Olympics in Canada become a platform for the intersection of patriotism and consumption? What were the key ideas about Canadian identity, history, and citizenship that Olympic organizers and corporate sponsors promoted? How did commodities symbolize these ideas? Finally, how do these ideas relate to political policies and practices? This work contributes to an understanding of how branded commodities shape Canadian identity and citizenship norms by arguing that the objects sold during the Montreal, Calgary and Vancouver Olympics embodied unresolved contradictions in the meaning of national identity. Commodities (like mascots, Petro-Canada glassware and Hudson’s Bay Company mittens) represented a version of national identity that glorified European settlement in Canada and obscured the disparity between Indigenous and Settler Canadians’ quality of life. Further, by buying these commodities, Settler Canadians constructed their identity as valued citizens who make important material contributions to the nation. The production, consumption and promotion of branded products helped popularize the idea that reconciliation between Indigenous and Settler Canadians has been achieved when, in fact, it is an ongoing and unfinished process. Moreover, these practices deepened pre-existing conflicts involving land and natural resources in Canada, often at the expense of Indigenous peoples’ interests and well-being. The research is grounded in material from Olympic archives in Montreal, Calgary and Vancouver, which I use to conduct the first book-length study of the Olympics hosted in Canada. The theoretical framework that underpins this project is based on Anne McClintock’s conceptualization of fetish and Avery Gordon’s theory of “ghostly hauntings.” McClintock’s work helps explain how commodities can hold together contradictory ideas about Canadian identity while Gordon’s theory provides a basis for understanding how the absence of information (e.g. facts about Canada’s colonial past) can become perceptible or, in her words, “seething absences.” Using this approach, I demonstrate the importance of studying the symbolic significance of Olympic commodities rather than focusing exclusively on Olympic-related sponsorship and marketing practices. I argue that the production, consumption, promotion, and symbolism of the commodities have significant social and political consequences which include: shaping Canadian identity, influencing public knowledge about the nation’s past, intervening in debates about land possession and resource allocation, including and excluding citizens from participation in civic life, educating children and teens about the nation, and influencing reconciliation between indigenous and non-indigenous peoples