A decade of embedding: Where are we now?

Over the last 10 years the higher education sector has undergone a myriad of changes both in student demographics and the influx of international students. With these changes, concerns about the ability of students to meet the English language and academic demands of tertiary study have come to the forefront. This paper reports on a project of embedding academic literacy into nine units across four disciplines, which spanned the duration of a decade. The paper documents the process by which the Unit Support Program (USP) evolved from a discipline-based reading program in a university preparation context to an embedded, integrated and team-taught approach in the university mainstream. It sought to determine whether the introduction of the program improved student learning in the discipline, specifically in English language and academic literacy development. Using data drawn from over 2500 students relating to progression rates, final grades, participation levels, and qualitative data relating to student and staff perceptions, this longitudinal study demonstrated a positive relationship between embedding academic literacy in the disciplines and student learning. The added benefit of academic socialisation for staff is also a reported result of this study. Although significant ongoing institutional support is needed, this paper advocates that an embedded, integrated and team-taught model should be incorporated into the first year of study. Using a case study approach, this paper firstly explains the rationale to embed language and academic literacy development within disciplinary contexts; the framework from which the Unit Specific Model emanated; and the team teaching approach used in the delivery of the Unit Support Program (USP) across a variety of disciplines. It considers the comparative results for both participating and non-participating groups, and the impact of collaboration across the faculty on the success of USP. Finally the paper recommends strategies for the long term sustainability of these programs

Contemplate the Lord and live justly': Establishing the authorial intent behind The Letter of Aristeas

Sometime between the middle of the second century and the late first century BCE, an anonymous Jew of Ptolemaic Alexandria authored a fictional letter, containing a remarkable story of Jewish-Greek cooperation. Told through its fictional, Gentile narrator, Aristeas, the letter, known as The Letter of Aristeas, recounts the story of the Hebrew Torah’s translation into Greek, commissioned by King Ptolemy II for the library of Alexandria but carried out by Jewish translators sent by Jerusalem’s High Priest. Culturally, the Letter is a striking text. It frequently asserts the pre-eminence of the Biblical god and its prophet, Moses, alongside its recurrent and unapologetic use of Greek literary conventions and philosophy. In light of this remarkable tension, one might wonder what the author’s intention was for such a text as this. Accordingly, this study will seek to ascertain the Letter’s intended function and the author’s likely impetus or motivation for writing his work. Scholars, such as Tcherikover and, more recently, Wright have made many attempts to ascertain the purpose of the Letter, often involving claims that the author was seeking to persuade hesitant Jews to embrace Greek society and thus wrote the Letter to achieve this purpose. These scholars have often imagined the readership to be conservative Jews, cautious about embracing Greek society and culture. Moreover, even those who reject thistheory and instead consider the Letter propaganda for the Septuagint, often view the text’s readership as consisting of deeply faithful Jews. Therefore, scholarship has sadly tended to overlook the possibility that the Letter’s author (known as Pseudo-Aristeas) might have been writing specifically for Jews with a weaker attachment to Judaism or, indeed, those who had abandoned Judaism altogether. Following this line of thinking, this study, by considering the Letter itself and other Alexandrian sources, shall argue that Pseudo-Aristeas was actually addressing these Jews of limited religious conviction, whose insufficient religiosity, if not apostasy, served as Pseudo-Aristeas’ main impetus in writing the Letter. Moreover, this text’s overarching purpose, as I shall demonstrate, was to restore the Jewish identities of these wavering Jews by persuading them to re-embrace the traditions of their forefathers. Pseudo-Aristeas also sought to safeguard his readers’ newly restored identities (assuming that they re-embraced Judaism) by providing them with ethical instruction that would prevent them from ‘relapsing’ into an insufficiently Jewish lifestyle

OPTIMASI PRODUKSI IAA DARI Serratia plymuthica STRAIN UBCR_36/-F_13 MELALUI MODIFIKASI KONSENTRASI INDUSER DAN DURASI KULTUR INDUKSI

Kemampuan bakteri sebagai penghasil fithohormon seperti IAA (Indole Acetid Acid) memiliki arti penting dalam budidaya tanaman. Studi awal yang dilakukan melaporkan bahwa bakteri Serratia plymuthica UBCR_36/-F_13 memiliki kemampuan memproduksi senyawa tersebut. Salah satu upaya untuk dapat memanfaatkan peran produksi fitohormon tersebut, telah dilakukan penelitian tentang upaya-upaya optimalisasi dalam produksi senyawanya. Oleh karena itu, maka penelitian ini ditujukan untuk mendapatkan konsentrasi induser dan durasi kultur induksi yang dapat mendorong produksi IAA yang maksimal oleh bakteri Serratia plymuthica strain UBCR_36/-F_13. Kultur starter bakteri dilaksanakan selama 18 jam yang kemudian diinduksi selama 24, 48, 72 dan 96 jam dengan konsentrasi induser berupa Triptofan dengan konsentrasi 50, 100, 200, 300, 400 dan 500 µg/mL. Pengukuran konsentrasi IAA yang dihasilkan dilakukan dengan metode kolorimetri menggunakan Reagen Salkowski sebagai pewarna IAA. Hasil penelitian mendapatkan bahwa perlakuan konsentrasi 200 µg/mL Triptofan pada kultur selama 48 jam mampu menghasilkan IAA sebanyak 116,01 ppm, sedangkan perlakuan kontrol hanya mampu menghasilkan IAA sebesar 0,45 ppm. Sehingga kondisi yang diperoleh dianggap sangat efektif, karena dianggap tidak membutuhkan konsentrasi induser yang tinggi dan durasi yang cukup singkat dalam produksi IAA

Near-infrared observations of water-ice in OH/IR stars

A search for the near-infrared water-ice absorption band was made in a number of very red OH/IR stars which are known to exhibit the 10um silicate absorption. As a by-product, accurate positions of these highly reddened objects are obtained. We derived a dust mass loss rate for each object by modelling the spectral energy distribution and the gas mass loss rate by solving the equation of motion for the dust drag wind. The derived mass loss rates show a strong correlation with the silicate optical depth as well as that of the water-ice. The stars have a high mass loss rate (> 1.0E-4 Msun/yr) with an average gas-to-dust mass ratio of 110. In objects which show the 3.1um water-ice absorption, the near-IR slope is much steeper than those with no water-ice. Comparison between our calculated mass loss rates and those derived from OH and CO observations indicates that these stars have recently increased their mass loss rates.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figures : accepted for publication in A&

The fall and rise of V854 Centauri: long-term ultraviolet spectroscopy of a highly-active R Coronae Borealis star

We examine long-term low-dispersion IUE, SWP and LWP spectroscopy of the R Coronae Borealis (RCB) star V854 Cen, obtained across the deep 1991, 1992-1993 and 1994 declines. We also report the optical light curve for the star in the interval 1987-1998, including multi-color photometry obtained during 1989-1998. Analysis of the UV emission line spectra indicates most lines decay during the deep declines on characteristic timescales comparable to that reported for optical features. Fe, Mg and neutral C lines decay on timescales of typically 50-100 d. Other lines, notably ionized C lines, decay on longer timescales (> 200 d) or appear to be unaffected by the declines. The general nature of the UV emission lines and other UV features during the declines is consistent with the E1/E2/BL line-region model developed from the behavior of optical spectral features during declines. However, the detailed line-behavior indicates large intrinsic variability between decline events inconsistent with the simple E1/E2/BL model. Limited temporal coverage prevents detailed examination of the geometry of the emission line region or the obscuring dust. We also report the first detection of the transition-region line C IV 1550 in the spectrum of an RCB star.Comment: AJ in press (June), 7 figures, 4 table

The sub-arcsecond dusty environment of Eta Carinae

The core of the nebula surrounding Eta Carinae has been observed with the VLT Adaptive Optics system NACO and with the interferometer VLTI/MIDI to constrain spatially and spectrally the warm dusty environment and the central object. In particular, narrow-band images at 3.74 and 4.05 micron reveal the butterfly shaped dusty environment close to the central star with unprecedented spatial resolution. A void whose radius corresponds to the expected sublimation radius has been discovered around the central source. Fringes have been obtained in the Mid-IR which reveal a correlated flux of about 100Jy situated 0.3" south-east of the photocenter of the nebula at 8.7 micron, which corresponds with the location of the star as seen in other wavelengths. This correlated flux is partly attributed to the central object, and these observations provide an upper limit for the SED of the central source from 2.2 to 13.5 micron. Moreover, we have been able to spectrally disperse the signal from the nebula itself at PA=318 degree, i.e. in the direction of the bipolar nebula 310 degree) within the MIDI field of view of 3". A large amount of corundum (Al2O3) is discovered, peaking at 0.6-1.2" south-east from the star, whereas the dust content of the Weigelt blobs is dominated b silicates. We discuss the mechanisms of dust formation which are closely related to the geometry of this Butterfly nebulae

Infrared two-colour diagrams for AGB stars using AKARI, MSX, IRAS and NIR data

Using a revised version of the catalog of AGB stars by Suh & Kwon (2009), we present various infrared two-colour diagrams (2CDs) for 3003 O-rich, 1168 C-rich, 362 S-type and 35 silicate carbon stars in our Galaxy. For each object in the new catalog, we cross-identify the AKARI, MSX and 2MASS counterparts by finding the nearest one from the position information in the IRAS PSC. For the large sample of AGB stars, we present infrared two-colour diagrams using IRAS (PSC), AKARI (PSC and BSC), MSX (PSC) and near infrared (K and L bands; including 2MASS data at KS band) data for different classes of AGB stars based on the chemistry of the dust shell and/or the central star. The infrared 2CDs of AGB stars can provide useful information about the structure and evolution of the dust envelopes as well as the central stars. On the 2CDs, we plot tracks of the theoretical radiative transfer model results with increasing dust shell optical depths. Comparing the observations with the theoretical models on the new 2CDs, we find that the basic model tracks roughly coincide with the densely populated observed points. Generally, we can explain the observations of O-rich and C-rich AGB stars on the various 2CDs with the theoretical models using dust opacity functions of amorphous silicate, amorphous carbon, SiC and corundum. For O-rich AGB stars, we find that the models using corundum as well as silicate can improve the fit with the observations

A decade of embedding:Where are we now?

Over the last 10 years the higher education sector has undergone a myriad of changes both in student demographics and the influx of international students. With these changes, concerns about the ability of students to meet the English language and academic demands of tertiary study have come to the forefront. This paper reports on a project of embedding academic literacy into nine units across four disciplines, which spanned the duration of a decade. The paper documents the process by which the Unit Support Program (USP) evolved from a discipline-based reading program in a university preparation context to an embedded, integrated and team-taught approach in the university mainstream. It sought to determine whether the introduction of the program improved student learning in the discipline, specifically in English language and academic literacy development. Using data drawn from over 2500 students relating to progression rates, final grades, participation levels, and qualitative data relating to student and staff perceptions, this longitudinal study demonstrated a positive relationship between embedding academic literacy in the disciplines and student learning. The added benefit of academic socialisation for staff is also a reported result of this study. Although significant ongoing institutional support is needed, this paper advocates that an embedded, integrated and team-taught model should be incorporated into the first year of study. Using a case study approach, this paper firstly explains the rationale to embed language and academic literacy development within disciplinary contexts; the framework from which the Unit Specific Model emanated; and the team teaching approach used in the delivery of the Unit Support Program (USP) across a variety of disciplines. It considers the comparative results for both participating and non-participating groups, and the impact of collaboration across the faculty on the success of USP. Finally the paper recommends strategies for the long term sustainability of these programs