Bend de tree when-e young: cultural relevance in reading books

This study emanates from the continued presence of institutional racism (Gillborn et al, 2016). It is specifically relevant to the cultural relevance of reading books, and fixes its gaze on the Biff, Chip and Kipper series, developed by the Oxford Reading Tree (ORT) reading scheme. By detailing a critical content analysis of a small sample of books within this reading scheme, this study highlights the importance of cultural relevance (Ladson-Billings, 1993). This is with special regard to the nurturing of children, who have historically and contemporarily not seen sufficient positive and normalising portrayals of themselves, in the media and in print. This study is conducted on the premise that such portrayals could lead to increased personal reconciliation and consequently, encourage unity in families, communities and nations. Critical Race Theory (CRT) informs the methodology used to conduct the analysis, which includes a high regard for the use of activist principles. This study therefore adds to the literature that uses CRT within education. The analysis revealed that the ORT books studied cannot claim cultural relevance, with regards to two out of the three identified tenets of LadsonBillings’ definition of the term. These tenets are firstly, that children should be enabled to learn to be culturally competent especially with regards to their own identified culture; and secondly, that children should be taught how to challenge institutions that maintain unfair inequalities. Further research would need to be conducted in order to determine the outcome with regards to the third tenet, which is that children ought to achieve academic success. This study foregrounds an agentic approach to the issue of under or misrepresentation, and in so doing, proposes the continuation of the development of a literacy programme, which is being published using a strategic essentialist conception of black British cultural capital

Simulation of gaseous core nuclear rocket mixing characteristics using cold and arc heated flows

Mixing phenomena of cold and arc heated jets from coaxial flows of helium or nitrogen related to gaseous core nuclear rocket

'Leaves and Eats Shoots': Direct Terrestrial Feeding Can Supplement Invasive Red Swamp Crayfish in Times of Need

PMCID: PMC3411828This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited

Cardiovascular effects of calcium supplementation

Peer reviewedPostprin

Altitude performance of a low-noise-technology fan in a turbofan engine with and without a sound suppressing nacelle

Test variables were inlet Reynolds number index (0.2 to 0.5), flight Mach number (0.2 to 0.8), and flow distortion (tip radial and combined circumferential - tip radial patterns). Results are limited to fan bypass and overall engine performance. There were no discernible effects of Reynolds number on fan performance. Increasing flight Mach number shifted the fan operating line such that pressure ratio decreased and airflow increased. Inlet flow distortion lowered stall margin. For a Reynolds number index of 0.2 and flight Mach number of 0.54, the sound suppressing nacelle lowered fan efficiency three points and increased specific fuel consumption about 10 percent

Factors that Contribute to Success of Selected Farm Ownership Borrowers in Utah

Farming is a complex business. Financial success in farming is influenced by the organization and operation of the farm unit. The principal problem confronting farmers is knowing how to manage the resources to attain maximum income over a period of time. Combinations of resources involve problems relative to crops, livestock, machinery, labor, capital, credit, and many others. An attempt has been made in this study to measure the results of different combinations and operation of resources and to determine their association with financial success of the farm

Aids, Health-Care Workers, and Workers\u27 Compensation in Virginia

The recent explosion of medical malpractice litigation has heralded the era of defensive medicine. Health-care professionals at all levels of the industry have been forced to evaluate both the lawsuit potential as well as the life sustaining potential of every act and treatment.\u27 Since 1981, however, the threat of Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) has added a third, more threatening, perspective to the way health-care workers must view their actions. The average doctor or nurse must balance not only the medical and legal significance of every action, but must also consider whether an action might result in exposure to AIDS

The Effect of a Specific Training Program on the Athletic Performance of Ice Hockey Players

The Hockey Acceleration Program is an athletic training program designed by John Frappier, M.S., of Fargo, ND, to increase the speed, strength and explosiveness of hockey players. The program involves resistance training, plyometrics and skate training on a skating treadmill. The purpose of this preliminary study was to analyze the effectiveness of the Acceleration Program by comparing the performance of athletes in a variety of areas before and after taking part in the Acceleration Program. The areas compared were strength, skating form, trunk musculature performance and flexibility. All data compared was taken from the records of Acceleration Products, Inc., the firm that oversees the Acceleration Program, and analyzed with standard statistical tests to determine if any significant change occurred. The analysis of the gathered data proved inconclusive and a larger scale study will be necessary to draw solid conclusions concerning the efficacy of the Acceleration Program