Preparing professionals : student teachers and their supervisors at work

The first teaching experiences of student teachers have changed significantly in Australia even during the last fifty years. One constant has been their involvement with a supervisor, usually a practising teacher of experience. The importance attributed to this supervisory relationship has waxed and waned over the years, but it is presently receiving prominence as being the real place of learning for the novice teacher. This paper argues that the apprenticeship model, with its emphasis on performance and product, is most prominent in present supervisory conferences, despite being inappropriate for inducting student teachers into teaching as a profession. The paper suggests that the development of professional teachers calls for supervisory relationships which include discourses of critical reflection, rather than relationships that are dominated by the techniques of teaching. Further, such relationships are seen as professionally empowering for both student teachers and their supervisors

Tandem mass spectrometry of polymeric materials

Mass spectrometry and tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) has been employed to analyse peptides (<600 daltons), synthetic polymers of low molecular weight (<10,000 daltons) and a mixture of polymer additives (300-1200 daltons). Mass spectrometry experiments were performed on a four sector mass spectrometer, a tandem quadrupole mass spectrometer and a time-of-flight instrument. High and low energy collision induced dissociation (CID) spectra were obtained by means of a four sector mass spectrometer and a tandem quadrupole instrument respectively. Surface induced dissociation (SID) spectra of peptides were obtained by means of a four sector mass spectrometer with a modified collision cell in the third field free region. Sequence data were generated by SID from protonated and cationated precursor ions of all four peptides analysed. Furthermore, broad metastable ion peaks were observed in the spectra, arising from fragmentation of precursor ions in the field free region between the electric sector and the magnetic sector of the second mass spectrometer. Field desorption was a good ionisation technique for the generation of molecular weight information from the polymer additives used. High energy eID was found to be more applicable than low energy eID to the structural determination of polymer additives as characteristic ions were observed in the spectra. Mechanisms have been proposed for the generation of some of the fragment ions observed. Ultraviolet-matrix assisted laser desorptionlionisation spectra of synthetic polymers of low molecular weight (<10,000 daltons) were used to calculate molecular weight averages. Furthermore, end group information was also obtained from CID spectra of the same polymer samples. End group and structural information was also obtained from polystyrene and a substituted polystyrene by means of FD-MS/MS

The Social Construction of Performance Enhancing Steroid Policies and Their Impact on U.S. Army Service Members

The United States military has seen a continued rise in the use of illicit performance enhancing substances, particularly androgenic-anabolic steroids (AAS), by service members in highly demanding occupational specialties. Despite these rising trends, there remains a lack of understanding of how U.S. Army substance abuse policy impacts service members’ motivations to use banned performance enhancing drugs. The purpose of this qualitative study was to better understand the motivations of service members who use performance enhancing AAS, as well as the impacts of substance abuse policies on those individuals. This study’s questions asked how social constructs and Army policy impacted service members who use performance enhancing drugs to examine how AAS use influences service members’ health and mission readiness. The framework for this study was based on the social construction of meaning, as seen by service members, through a narrative analysis of their individual experiences. The policy and social impacts on AAS user motivations found in this study highlight how social constructs experienced by service members can influence behavior related to AAS use. While some respondents indicated that Army policy had a deterring effect on AAS use, the inconsistent enforcement of policy significantly reduced policy impacts experienced by these service members. Service members also exhibited positive social views and perceived performance benefits regarding AAS use. These factors impacted user motivations to a greater degree because of the limited policy and health risks experienced by AAS users. Addressing these policy challenges has implications for developing harm-reduction interventions, which can improve the well-being of vulnerable service members

Perceptive agents with attentive interfaces : learning and vision for man-machine systems

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Program in Media Arts & Sciences, 1996.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 107-116).by Trevor Jackson Darrell.Ph. D

The Social Construction of Performance Enhancing Steroid Policies and Their Impact on U.S. Army Service Members

The United States military has seen a continued rise in the use of illicit performance enhancing substances, particularly androgenic-anabolic steroids (AAS), by service members in highly demanding occupational specialties. Despite these rising trends, there remains a lack of understanding of how U.S. Army substance abuse policy impacts service members’ motivations to use banned performance enhancing drugs. The purpose of this qualitative study was to better understand the motivations of service members who use performance enhancing AAS, as well as the impacts of substance abuse policies on those individuals. This study’s questions asked how social constructs and Army policy impacted service members who use performance enhancing drugs to examine how AAS use influences service members’ health and mission readiness. The framework for this study was based on the social construction of meaning, as seen by service members, through a narrative analysis of their individual experiences. The policy and social impacts on AAS user motivations found in this study highlight how social constructs experienced by service members can influence behavior related to AAS use. While some respondents indicated that Army policy had a deterring effect on AAS use, the inconsistent enforcement of policy significantly reduced policy impacts experienced by these service members. Service members also exhibited positive social views and perceived performance benefits regarding AAS use. These factors impacted user motivations to a greater degree because of the limited policy and health risks experienced by AAS users. Addressing these policy challenges has implications for developing harm-reduction interventions, which can improve the well-being of vulnerable service members

Turbulence characteristics of swirling flowfields

Combustor design phenomena; recirculating flows research; single-wire, six-orientation, eddy dissipation rate, and turbulence modeling measurement; directional sensitivity (DS); calibration equipment, confined jet facility, and hot-wire instrumentation; effects of swirl, strong contraction nozzle, and expansion ratio; and turbulence parameters; uncertain; and DS in laminar jets; turbulent nonswirling jets, and turbulent swirling jets are discussed

“Robin Hood of the Blue Ridge”: The Life, Legend, and Songs of Otto Wood, the Bandit

Otto Wood, a native of Wilkes County, North Carolina, became nationally known during the 1920s for his repetitive flights from the North Carolina State Prison. Wood began his rambling at an early age and spent his childhood years in the coalfields of southern West Virginia. After killing a Greensboro pawnbroker in the fall of 1923, he was sent to the North Carolina State Prison. Between 1924 and 1930, Wood made four escapes from the penitentiary and rose to the status of a criminal celebrity. He wrote his autobiography, Life History of Otto Wood, while incarcerated in 1926. In his Life History, Wood claimed that the poverty and neglect he experienced in childhood formed the roots of his criminal lifestyle. Governor O. Max Gardner attempted to use Wood as an “experiment in humanity,” but failed after Wood made his fourth escape in 1930. He died on December 31, 1930, following a gunfight with police on the streets of Salisbury, North Carolina. Wood’s legend was later spread in song by early country music artists. Drawing on primary sources, this thesis provides a biography of Otto Wood and places him within the economic and social context of the period in which he lived

Combining and Prioritising Dynamic Capabilities for Servitization in Small and Medium-sized Enterprises

UK manufacturers are facing unprecedented challenges, so must find new ways of developing competitive advantage, enhancing productivity, and building resilience. One option is to transition from selling products and basic services towards advanced services, where value is captured not only from making and moving products, but also during use. This requires a fundamental transformation of capabilities, known as servitization. Manufacturers find this transformation difficult, sometimes launching new services without first developing appropriate capabilities for effective and efficient delivery. This can lead to failure, which can have severe consequences for SMEs. Challenges are exacerbated for SMEs by limited resources, meaning they cannot develop all the required capabilities simultaneously and need to prioritise. The cause of servitization failure has been attributed to low levels of dynamic capabilities, however, these are usually analysed in isolation, with no explanation regarding their measurement, combination, or sequencing. This research identifies four key dynamic capabilities required for servitization, which form the theoretical framework, namely: vision innovation; service innovation; product innovation and organisational innovation. Two separate, but related multiple case studies reveal that SMEs do not require high intensities in all these dynamic capabilities to begin servitization. Companies can take one of two pathways, requiring different combinations of high and low intensities of the four dynamic capabilities depending on context. However, as servitization progresses all four will be required, which should be developed and applied in a particular sequence. To enable the findings to be applied in practice, two practical application tools are developed. Firstly, a framework for SME practitioners to assess their organisational readiness to begin servitization. Secondly, a framework for alignment of activities and resources during servitization, with deployment sequence. These new tools will accelerate the adoption of advanced services within SMEs and help them navigate economic, societal and environmental challenges