Book language as a foreign language — ESL strategies for indigenous learners

This study addresses the belated realisation that educators are unaware that many Indigenous Australian students speak very little Standard Australian English outside classrooms. This important educational issue is prominent in communities and schools where creoles and related language varieties, including Indigenous Englishes, are spoken. The study confirmed that the ESL educational needs of Australian Indigenous students are not adequately recognised or met

Photography, perception and language: towards a theoretical groundwork for image education

The aim of this thesis is to examine the status and nature of photography in relation to two basic approaches: one derived from theories of perception and the other from analogies with verbal language. The implications and conclusions drawn from this critical survey are assessed in terms of their relevance and value for education in photography and as the basis for a possible curriculum in image education. The fact that the position of photography is not firmly established in school highlights the need for a fundamental re-appraisal of the medium and the part that it can play in education. Section One deals with the two main justifications for photography in education, following categories derived from Eisner: the contextualist and the essentialist. While the former provides a very strong case, the latter is also regarded as critical and concerns the value of photography as a medium in its own right. Issues regarding the criteria for photography, particularly as an art form, are then raised, and lead to basic questions about the nature of the medium itself. In Section Two, perceptual theory is examined by comparing two positions: Gibson's "registration" theory and the "constructive" tradition, with some consideration of the Gestalt view. The photograph's link with the real world is maintained in the comprehensive psychological theory of Neisser and the passage from nature to convention is accounted for here, as well as in Peirce's theory of signs. In photographic theory proper, the "trace of the real" is regarded as of seminal importance. "Language analogies are then considered in Section Three. Basic differences between word and image are clarified, and it is contended that while "language" metaphors can be used with some profit, too close a model borrowing from structural linguistics is fraught with difficulties. Sebeok's semiotic framework of communication and signification is introduced and regarded as useful in uniting natural and nonverbal phenomena to photographic concerns.. However, the project of "translinguistics", initiated by Barthes, but not ultimately pursued by him, is shown to have dangerous formalist and determinist leanings especially in conjunction with Marxist-Läcanian concepts. Partisan political concerns in "ideological" image analysis have become over-dominant in some instances for a wide understanding of issues. Finally, in Section Four, suggestions for new priorities in image education through photography are advanced and compared to present practice. Examples of work are given in the Appendices

Insulating policies for large and small countries

In this paper we investigate policies for the large and small country that provide complete insulation from foreign real and monetary disturbances. We find that when there exists two channels of transmission, the integrated commodity and capital markets, using only exchange rate policies does not provide complete insulation. However, floating the exchange rate and pursuing a specific interest rate target does. In terms of output variability however, insulating policies may be undesirable.

Exchange and interest rate management and the international transmission of disturbances

Foreign exchange rates ; Interest rates ; Monetary policy

Draft Genome of Janthinobacterium sp. RA13 Isolated from Lake Washington Sediment.

Sequencing the genome of Janthinobacterium sp. RA13 from Lake Washington sediment is announced. From the genome content, a versatile life-style is predicted, but not bona fide methylotrophy. With the availability of its genomic sequence, Janthinobacterium sp. RA13 presents a prospective model for studying microbial communities in lake sediments

Draft Genome of Pseudomonas sp. Strain 11/12A, Isolated from Lake Washington Sediment.

We announce here the genome sequencing of Pseudomonas sp. strain 11/12A from Lake Washington sediment. From the genome content, a versatile lifestyle is predicted but not one of bona fide methylotrophy. With the availability of its genomic sequence, Pseudomonas sp. 11/12A presents a prospective model for studying microbial communities in lake sediments

Draft genomes of two strains of flavobacterium isolated from lake washington sediment.

We report sequencing the genomes of two new Flavobacterium strains isolated from Lake Washington sediment. From genomic contents, versatile lifestyles were predicted but not bona fide methylotrophy. With the availability of their genomic sequences, the new Flavobacterium strains present prospective models for studying microbial communities in lake sediments

Combining Rasch and cluster analysis: a novel method for developing rheumatoid arthritis states for use in valuation studies

Purpose: Health states that describe an investigated condition are a crucial component of valuation studies. The health states need to be distinct, comprehensible, and data-driven. The objective of this study was to describe a novel application of Rasch and cluster analyses in the development of three rheumatoid arthritis health states. Methods: The Stanford Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ) was subjected to Rasch analysis to select the items that best represent disability. K-means cluster analysis produced health states with the levels of the selected items. The pain and discomfort domain from the EuroQol-5D was incorporated at the final stage. Results: The results demonstrate a methodology for reducing a dataset containing individual disease-specific scores to generate health states. The four selected HAQ items were bending down, climbing steps, lifting a cup to your mouth, and standing up from a chair. Conclusions: Overall, the combined use of Rasch and cluster analysis has proved to be an effective technique for identifying the most important items and levels for the construction of health states