How do young people experience the transition from being a looked after child to living independently and how can it be improved in the eyes of the young people using the service? (Sharing our experience, Practitioner-led research 2008-2009; PLR0809/117)

The aim of this study was to research the transition from being a looked after child to moving into independence from the point of view of the young people and what they feel could improve this service for future generations. This research aimed to explore the transition between being looked after and living independently. To achieve these aims, face to face semi-structured interviews, phone interviews, email questionnaires and text interviews were employed with a relatively small sample of young people. A final sample of 30 participants was achieved and all young people were aged between 17 and 25. The majority, i.e. 25 people, were from a white British background. Some of the young people were living in independent accommodation and some were in supported lodgings. Although semi-structured, the interviews were flexible enough to allow the probing of issues that arose during the interview. Anecdotal evidence from young people interviewed during this study showed that young people making the transition from being a looked after child to independent living have issues with the amount of support they are getting from their social work team. It is thought that insufficient emotional support or financial preparation for young people will inevitably mean the young people are heading towards a downward spiral. The first main finding of the project was that many of the young people had to live on low levels of finance, due to either not having adequate benefits paid to them or the skills to manage the money they are given. The second main finding was that young people felt they were not supported enough in the early days of independent living. Many of the skills needed to live on their own, such as cooking, cleaning and DIY, as well as emotional skills, were learnt in practice. The implications for practice are stated and conclusions from the study are drawn in the full report

Creation of nonlinear density gradients for use in internal wave research

Thesis (S.B.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 2007."June 2007."Includes bibliographical references.A method was developed to create a nonlinear density gradient in a tank of water. Such gradients are useful for studying internal waves, an ocean phenomenon that plays an important role in climate and ocean circulation. The method was developed by expanding on the two-tank system currently used to create linear density gradients. A mathematical model of the two-tank system was used and a Matlab script was written to solve the model for the required flow rates in the system given a desired density gradient. The method was tested by creating three different density gradients: a linear gradient, a hyperbolic gradient, and a two-layer gradient. It was discovered that for a two-layer gradient the flow rates for each layer must be calculated independently of each other, because of problems integrating over a density gradient with a non-continuous slope. It was also discovered that the system failed at very low flow rates; insufficient mixing in the two-tank system led to gradients weaker than expected. Overall, the measured gradients matched up well with the expected gradients, and it was concluded that the system can successfully produce nonlinear density gradients.by Victoria Siân Harris.S.B

Tree Rings and the Truckee River: Our Past, Our Future, and George Hardman

The Truckee River Basin, located on the Nevada-California border, is an area of extreme hydrologic variability. It can be subject to both prolonged multi-decadal droughts and devastating floods; however, due to the brief instrumental record, the full range of this variability and its potential cyclicity is limited. As tree rings have been shown to be well suited as proxies for annual streamflow, this study revisits the first tree-ring reconstruction of Truckee River runoff, Hardman and Reil (1936), from the perspective of both physical and historical geography.In the same way that local water managers are concerned with the current post-2000 drought, George Hardman and Orvis Reil developed their paper to address questions surrounding their contemporary drought. This study is more than just an extension of their work but in fact a replication. Hardman and Reil’s original tree cores from the 1930s were preserved University of Nevada, Reno Special Collections and Archives and thereby integrated into this new research. Using modern though parallel techniques, these cores along with newly sampled material were measured and processed to develop new tree-ring chronologies for three of Hardman and Reil’s study sites. These were then incorporated into a new Truckee River streamflow reconstruction extending from 1491 to 2003. This represents an over 400-year extension of the instrumental record and provides new insights into the basin’s natural variability. In addition to evidence of extended droughts and extreme high streamflow years, this reconstruction shows a marked hydroclimatic shift centered around 1850. Previously, the Truckee River experienced decadal to multi-decadal higher than average streamflow periods; since then, those periods have been decreasing in length until as we experience today merely 2 to 4 consecutive years of high flow. Whether this represents fundamental shift in the area to a new climatic regime remains unclear. However, as global temperatures continue to rise, fewer long-term high streamflow episodes may have lasting impacts on water availability in the basin and raises the question further of whether the post-2000 drought is a new megadrought or a sign of aridification.Additionally, this study examines George Hardman’s relationship with dendrohydrology both before and after his 1936 publication. It explored how Hardman, a water manager, learned the techniques of a dendrochronologist, which unfortunately remains unclear. Using bibliometrics, the legacy of Hardman and Reil (1936) was assessed and shows its influence on the subdiscipline to only be growing

Around the table: Are multiple-touch surfaces better than single-touch for children's collaborative interactions?

This paper presents a classroom study that investigated the potential of using touch tabletop technology to support children's collaborative learning interactions. Children aged 7-10 worked in groups of three on a collaborative planning task in which they designed a seating plan for their classroom. In the single-touch condition, the tabletop surface allowed only one child to interact with the digital content at a time. In the multiple-touch condition, the children could interact with the digital content simultaneously. Results showed that touch condition did not affect the frequency or equity of interactions, but did influence the nature of children's discussion. In the multiple-touch condition, children talked more about the task; in the single-touch condition, they talked more about turn taking. We also report age and gender differences

El monstruo de la ensalada

Victoria Rodrigo, PhD- Serie Leamos’ EditorProfessor of Spanish World Languages and Cultures DepartmentGeorgia State Universityhttps://scholarworks.gsu.edu/wcl_leamos/1005/thumbnail.jp

Gender Disparity in HIV Prevalence: A National-Level Analysis of the Association between Gender Inequality and the Feminisation of HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa

The HIV pandemic in sub-Saharan Africa is often described as undergoing a ‘feminisation’ in which female HIV prevalence exceeds that of male in most age groups and countries. However, much of the variation between countries in the female-to-male (FTM) ratio of HIV prevalence remains unexplained. This paper uses information from DHS, World Bank, UNDP and UNAIDS to identify correlates of the FTM ratio at the country level, with a focus on gender inequality. The FTM ratio is investigated overall and for two age groups. Divergent results by age suggest that the influence of particular mechanisms depend on the age group in question, with epidemiological and demographic variables in particular demonstrating strong associations with the FTM ratio for 25-49 year olds. The mechanisms influencing gender disparity in HIV prevalence between younger adults remain unclear, with few significant correlates observed for the 15-24 age group.

Something a Bit Peculiar? Sex, the Germans and the History of Sexuality

Historians of sexuality are uniquely placed to act theflâneur. Loitering in an archive's seedier or more obscure files, they tour the marginal landscapes of the past. They can vicariously experience deviant activity while maintaining historical detachment, writing histories which titillate as much as educate. Fun though this may be, there is the danger that producing such texts benefits only the writers themselves. Michel Foucault famously suggested that writing about the history of sexuality occurs purely for the ‘speaker's benefit’. Historians have thus sought to prove that ‘marginal’ histories are of true academic, not just voyeuristic, significance. This quest has been particularly fruitful for histories of sexuality – stories which are fascinating not least because they are simultaneously marginal, or unspeakable, and utterly central to human life.</jats:p

Histories of ‘Sex’, Histories of ‘Sexuality’

For Dagmar Herzog, writing the history of sexuality is an act of rebalancing. Sexuality becomes neither positive nor negative, but ambivalent. Herzog destabilises a dominant ‘narrative of gradual progress’, which misunderstands ‘how profoundly complicated the sexual politics of the twentieth century in Europe actually were’ (p. 2). Instead of a linear chronology, Herzog reveals a twentieth century of cyclical change – revolutionary liberalisations and conservative backlashes occur in quick succession, or even concomitantly. Repression appears even within developments considered liberalising by contemporaries. The ambivalences within ‘progress’ and ‘change’ shape sexuality and its history. A third ambivalence is no less important – happiness. Despite being an act inextricably connected with pleasure, sex does not consistently give rise to happiness.</jats:p