The Relative Humidity in an Isentropic Advection–Condensation Model: Limited Poleward Influence and Properties of Subtropical Minima

An idealized model of advection and condensation of water vapor is considered as a representation of processes influencing the humidity distribution along isentropic surfaces in the free troposphere. Results are presented for how the mean relative humidity distribution varies in response to changes in the distribution of saturation specific humidity and in the amplitude of a tropical moisture source. Changes in the tropical moisture source are found to have little effect on the relative humidity poleward of the subtropical minima, suggesting a lack of poleward influence despite much greater water vapor concentrations at lower latitudes. The subtropical minima in relative humidity are found to be located just equatorward of the inflection points of the saturation specific humidity profile along the isentropic surface. The degree of mean subsaturation is found to vary with the magnitude of the meridional gradient of saturation specific humidity when other parameters are held fixed. The atmospheric relevance of these results is investigated by comparison with the positions of the relative humidity minima in reanalysis data and by examining poleward influence of relative humidity in simulations with an idealized general circulation model. It is suggested that the limited poleward influence of relative humidity may constrain the propagation of errors in simulated humidity fields

The Changes in Middle School Student Multiple Intelligence Scores Over the School Year

This study of middle school students was based on Multiple Intelligences, as theorized by Howard Gardner. The instrument used was acquired from the on-line Memletics page of Advanogy.com. This descriptive survey measured which intelligence learning method is strongest in 229 students in sixth, seventh, and eighth grades at the beginning and the ending of the school year. This study also measured the possible changes in the student intelligence scores, including gender comparisons. About 40% of the students had their highest scores in the social intelligence, while about 20% had aural intelligence as their highest score. Logical and intrapersonal intelligences were the lowest. Eighth graders showed the most changes. Hopefully this study will stimulate more research into multiple intelligence strengths of the middle school population and improve the teaching-learning interaction

The Media and Public Agendas. Testing for Media Effects in Argentina During 2003-2008

In this paper we examine the presence of agenda-setting effects by the print media in Argentina from June 2003 to December 2008. Using previously unavailable monthly data on newspapers mentions we test two hypotheses about the relationship between the different agendas. We find support for the hypothesis that there were media effects during our period of analysis. More specifically, we find that the total number of newspaper mentions of the President positively influenced public confidence in the government. Finally, there is also evidence of a strong and stable relationship between the total number of economic news and leading economic indicators.Agenda-setting, Public opinion, Cointegration, Media effects

The Impact Of The Choice Of The Item Response Theory Model Used In The Analysis Of Student Response Data From Statewide Educational Assessments

The practical significance of the item response theory model (IRT) choice on the results of a statewide assessment was investigated at multiple decision making levels: the examinee level, school and district summary levels, and in terms of impact to subgroups. Data for the study included the student response matrix for South Carolina’s 2014 Palmetto Assessment of State Standards (PASS). The Rasch model, used with PASS and in nearly half of PASS-like multiple-choice statewide assessments in other states, was compared to another popular IRT model used in similar statewide assessments: the 3PL model. Model fit checks indicated that the 3PL had a better person-fit than the Rasch model for PASS. Results centered around the impact of PASS summary scores reported for schools and districts on state and federal report cards showed that for most schools and districts, percentage in PASS performance level and PASS means are largely unchanged by the choice of 3PL or Rasch model. However, for some small schools and districts, the IRT model would have striking effects on percentage in performance level featured on report cards. Furthermore, at the examinee level, examinees near the lower end of the score distribution are sensitive to the change in IRT model. Decisions for some examinees at this level, such as selection for various support programs or even for retention based on PASS scores, might be redistributed due to the change in model. The subgroup with individualized education plans (IEPs) showed the most change because this subgroup, on average, had scores near the lower end of the score distribution. With regard to grade and subject areas, 8th grade Math, as compared to 3rd grade ELA, 3rd grade Math, and 8th grade ELA, was the most impacted. The 3PL model’s estimated guessing parameter was higher for 8th grade math than the other grades and subjects. In addition to analyzing the student response matrix from the actual administration of PASS, a small simulation study on the most impacted group, the 8th grade Math IEP subgroup, was performed based on the ability parameter and item parameter estimates of the actual examinees. The fit and misfit models accurately estimated the modeled true PASS scores except in the case where 3PL was the true model and Rasch was the misfit model used for estimation

Langdell and the Foundation of Classical Contract Law

In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, scholars seeking to bring order to the common law developed what has since become known as classical contract law. Its leading architects were Christopher Columbus Langdell, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., and Samuel Williston, and their efforts involved seeking to provide an objective foundation for contract law. Any idea, however, that these three worked in coordination to create classical contract law would be mistaken. Holmes is considered a relentless critic of Langdell, and even Williston distanced himself from Langdell. This Article identifies in what ways Holmes and Williston differed from Langdell in their approach to contract law and, to do so, focuses on the doctrine of consideration, the foundation upon which classical contract law was built. This Article concludes that, as a result of these differences, classical contracts scholars’ quest to create an objective foundation for contract law that could withstand erosion was doomed to fail. First, the leading architects did not agree on a fundamental concept—a theory of law. The disagreement between Langdell and Holmes about the nature of law (logic versus experience) virtually ensured they would be unable to agree on something like the meaning of consideration and would thus be unable to agree on a foundational theory of contract law. Second, even when the architects sought to construct principles upon the same foundation (logic), the foundation proved unable to provide a clear answer to the meaning of consideration

So you want to get published? It’s all about theory, context and data

This paper offers guidance on writing for publication in peer-reviewed business and management journals. The approach outlined and illustrated within is the amalgamated result of many years of experience in academic writing, editing, and getting published. The paper is primarily aimed at doctoral students, tutors, and early career researchers, who will have plenty to gain from publication, but may be lacking in the relevant experience of submission and resubmission. The authors assert the importance of creating dedicated planning documents, subject to continual revision, with particular emphasis placed on articulating and addressing gaps in theory, method, context, and management practice.Keywords: Theory, context, data, publishing, ga

The impact of childhood obesity discourses on domestic and reproductive labour for single mothers in Northeastern Ontario : an institutional ethnographic study

Rationale: The term “healthy children” is often used to describe children whose weights are within a socially acceptable range which conflates health with thinness, often completely overlooking other aspects of health and employing body-stigmatizing language about children. Research Questions: 1. How do single mothers who live in poverty in Northeastern Ontario define good health for their children? What role do considerations of obesity play in their definition of good health? 2. What are the implications of participants understanding of health on their domestic and reproductive labour? 3. How are these experiences mediated by the families’ social location? Theory: Institutional ethnography (IE) is a theory and a method. IE investigates the coordination of ideologies that shape people’s experiences. Institutions made up primarily of government bodies and medical experts shape how childhood obesity is discussed in schools, the media, and in everyday life, impacting how we understand and speak about children’s bodies. This includes the amount and types of work expected of parents (primarily mothers) as well as the implications for bodies that do not meet the standard deemed acceptable in a particular time and place. Method: The research participants were twenty women residing in Northeastern Ontario who self-identify as a single mother living in poverty. I used two methods of data collection: interviews and guided tours of key areas impacting children’s health, such as grocery stores or places children play. Analysis: I analysed the interviews and the interactions between participants and their environment using an institutional ethnographic approach to coding. The aim of the analysis is to link the everyday lived experiences of research participants to the ruling relations in which they are shaped. Results: Participants talked about children’s health in ways that were consistent with obesity discourses. When I asked what the term healthy child meant to them, the first response was usually ‘food’ followed by ‘physical activity’. Mothers described a great deal of work that went into trying to make decisions that they felt were healthy. However, they also described many barriers to providing the types of healthy foods and activities they would like to provide for their children.Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Interdisciplinary Rural and Northern Healt