Research and development technique for estimating airflow and diffusion parameters in connection with the Atmospheric Water Resources Program: annual report

September 1970.CER70-71MMO-JEC-LOG23.Period September 2, 1969 to June 30, 1970.Includes bibliographical references.Atmospheric Water Resources Research, Bureau of Reclamation, Contract No. 14-06-D-6842

Research and development technique for estimating airflow and diffusion parameters related to the Atmospheric Water Resources Program: final report

Period September 1969 to September 1971.CER71-72MMO-JEC-LOG20.Includes bibliographical references

Research and development technique for estimating airflow and diffusion parameters in connection with the Atmospheric Water Resources Program : final report

CER69-70JEC-LOG-MMO-11.August 1969.Includes bibliographical references (pages 47-48).Period March 15, 1968 to June 30, 1969 Atmospheric Water Resources Research Bureau of Reclamation Contract No. 14-06-D-6455.A stably stratified atmospheric boundary layer was simulated in a wind tunnel and utilized to determine radioactive krypton dispersion patterns over a 1:9600 scale model of the Eagle River Valley and topography surrounding Climax, Colorado. Geometric, dynamic, and thermal similarity are considered, primarily, for barostromatic airflow. Similarity criteria for transport and dispersion are considered also. This is the first time that a barostromatic airflow produced by cooling with dry ice has been documented by temperature and velocity profile measurements. Field Gata indicate that airflow and temperature characteristics over the model are approximately similar to a prototype storm. Dispersion measurements were taken by using sources representative of field ground sources. Model and field measurements confirm that seeding nuclei are reaching the target area from the present existing ground sources. Limited field measurements of ice nuclei concentrations at Chalk Mountain show a variation of 5 to 300 part./liter or XU/Q ~ 1 x 10 -9m-2 to 68 x 10-9m-2. Concentration values deduced from radioactive gas measurements over the model show values within the same range but closer to the optimum values indicated by present cloud physics models, i.e., XU/Q ~ 15 to 18 x 10-9m-2. The barostromatic airflow model indicated that topography plays an important role in determining the downwind direction of the particulate plume.Under contract no. 14-06-D-6455

Research and development technique for estimating airflow and diffusion parameters in connection with the Atmospheric Water Resources Program: interim report

CER70-71MMO78.Period September 2, 1970 to February 28, 1971.Includes bibliographical references (pages 38-39).Atmospheric Water Resources Research, Bureau of Reclamation, Contract No. 14-06-0-6842.This report presents a summary of the research and tentative findings on the use of scaled topographic models and laboratory techniques to study the transport and dispersion of cloud seeding material over mountainous terrain. Three mountainous areas along the continental divide have been selected by the Bureau of Reclamation for such studies. Each area has cloud seeding programs in progress

Delivery of nucleating materials to cloud systems from individual ground generators

CER69-70LOG-JEC-MMO24.February 1968.Includes bibliographical references (pages 40-42).Presented to the Bureau of Reclamation Third Skywater Conference on the Production and Delivery of Cloud Nucleating Materials February 14-16, 1968.Delivery of nucleating materials to cloud systems from individual ground generators can play an important role in the beneficial modification of orographic cloud systems. Substantial evidence from the Colorado State University mountain study at Climax is presented to show that ground-released seeding materials do under some weather situations in fact enter the mountain cloud systems and produce changes in the precipitation. Evidence is also presented to show that under other weather situations seeding materials are not carried to the proper clouds at a place and time to be of value. A discussion of atmospheric transport mechanisms is presented to serve as a basis for understanding the motions of seeding materials once released from a ground source. The approaches, or directions, for further research are discussed. This includes consideration of the coagulation problem in the vicinity of the generator site. The use of wind tunnel modeling, which can provide basic information and specific results for specific areas, is emphasized

Conceptualising quality early childhood education:Learning from young children in Brazil and South Africa through creative and play-based methods

Early childhood has increasingly been acknowledged as a vital time for all children. Inclusive and quality education is part of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, with the further specification that all children have access to quality pre-primary education. As early childhood education (ECE) has expanded worldwide, so have concerns about the quality of ECE provision, including whether its pedagogy is culturally meaningful and contextually appropriate. While these issues are much debated in themselves, often missing is a key stakeholder group for such discussions: young children. Young children have critical insights and perspectives of key importance for ensuring quality ECE. This article addresses how quality ECE can be conceptualised, through reflections on creative and play-based methods with young children, used in a cross-national project titled Safe Inclusive Participative Pedagogy. The article draws on community case studies undertake by two of the country teams in Brazil and South Africa. In contexts where children's participation is not necessarily familiar in ECE settings nor understood by key stakeholders, the fieldwork shows that children can express their views and experiences through using creative and play-based methods. We argue that these methods can become part of a critical pedagogy through ECE settings, where ECE practitioners, children and other key stakeholders engage in ongoing, challenging and transformative dialogue. In turn, critical pedagogy has the potential to strengthen local practices, challenge top-down approach, and foster quality safe, inclusive, participative early years education.</p

A new methodology for assessing health policy and systems research and analysis capacity in African universities.

BACKGROUND: The importance of health policy and systems research and analysis (HPSR+A) has been increasingly recognised, but it is still unclear how most effectively to strengthen the capacity of the different organisations involved in this field. Universities are particularly crucial but the expansive literature on capacity development has little to offer the unique needs of HPSR+A activity within universities, and often overlooks the pivotal contribution of capacity assessments to capacity strengthening. METHODS: The Consortium for Health Policy and Systems Analysis in Africa 2011-2015 designed and implemented a new framework for capacity assessment for HPSR+A within universities. The methodology is reported in detail. RESULTS: Our reflections on developing and conducting the assessment generated four lessons for colleagues in the field. Notably, there are currently no published capacity assessment methodologies for HPSR+A that focus solely on universities - we report a first for the field to initiate the dialogue and exchange of experiences with others. Second, in HPSR+A, the unit of assessment can be a challenge, because HPSR+A groups within universities tend to overlap between academic departments and are embedded in different networks. Third, capacity assessment experience can itself be capacity strengthening, even when taking into account that doing such assessments require capacity. CONCLUSIONS: From our experience, we propose that future systematic assessments of HPSR+A capacity need to focus on both capacity assets and needs and assess capacity at individual, organisational, and systems levels, whilst taking into account the networked nature of HPSR+A activity. A genuine partnership process between evaluators and those participating in an assessment can improve the quality of assessment and uptake of results in capacity strengthening

The effect of professional development on elementary science teachers’ understanding, confidence, and classroom implementation of reform‐based science instruction

Through a randomized controlled trial, this mixed‐methods study evaluated changes in elementary science teachers’ understandings, confidence, and classroom implementation of problem‐based learning (PBL), inquiry, and nature of science (NOS) instruction following participation in a professional development (PD) as well as the components of the PD that teachers perceived facilitated these changes. Results indicated that following the PD, treatment teacher (n = 139) understandings of and confidence for teaching inquiry, NOS, and PBL were significantly greater than control teachers (n = 98) after controlling for preunderstandings and confidence. The effect sizes were large. Treatment teachers also incorporated significantly more PBL, inquiry, and NOS into their instruction. Modeling, microteaching with feedback and reflection, and in‐classroom coaching facilitated teachers’ confidence, understanding, and intention to implement the reform‐based practices they learned. Implications for the understanding of the relationship between knowledge, confidence, and practice as well as elementary science teacher PD design are discussed

Negative pressure wound therapy: Potential publication bias caused by lack of access to unpublished study results data

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT) is widely applied, although the evidence base is weak. Previous reviews on medical interventions have shown that conclusions based on published data alone may no longer hold after consideration of unpublished data. The main objective of this study was to identify unpublished randomised controlled trials (RCTs) on NPWT within the framework of a systematic review.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>RCTs comparing NPWT with conventional wound therapy were identified using MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL and The Cochrane Library. Every database was searched from inception to May 2005. The search was updated in December 2006. Reference lists of original articles and systematic reviews, as well as congress proceedings and online trial registers, were screened for clues to unpublished RCTs. Manufacturers of NPWT devices and authors of conference abstracts were contacted and asked to provide study information. Trials were considered nonrandomised if concealment of allocation to treatment groups was classified as "inadequate". The study status was classified as "completed", "discontinued", "ongoing" or "unclear". The publication status of completed or discontinued RCTs was classified as "published" if a full-text paper on final study results (completed trials) or interim results (discontinued trials) was available, and "unpublished" if this was not the case. The type of sponsorship was also noted for all trials.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A total of 28 RCTs referring to at least 2755 planned or analysed patients met the inclusion criteria: 13 RCTs had been completed, 6 had been discontinued, 6 were ongoing, and the status of 3 RCTs was unclear. Full-text papers were available on 30% of patients in the 19 completed or discontinued RCTs (495 analysed patients in 10 published RCTs vs. 1154 planned patients in 9 unpublished RCTs). Most information about conference abstracts and unpublished study information referring to trials that were unpublished at the time these documents were generated was obtained from the manufacturer Kinetic Concepts Inc. (KCI) (19 RCTs), followed by The Cochrane Library (18) and a systematic review (15). We were able to obtain some information on the methods of unpublished RCTs, but results data were either not available or requests for results data were not answered; the results of unpublished RCTs could therefore not be considered in the review. One manufacturer, KCI, sponsored the majority of RCTs (19/28; 68%). The sponsorship of the remaining trials was unclear.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Multi-source comprehensive searches identify unpublished RCTs. However, lack of access to unpublished study results data raises doubts about the completeness of the evidence base on NPWT.</p