Assessing Children's Oral Storytelling in their first year of School

This paper discusses some findings from a small-scale investigation of the assessment of young children's oral narrative skills that was conducted in three primary schools in London, UK. Effective early language and literacy teaching with children from diverse backgrounds such as those in London depends on having articulated knowledge about children’s skills (McNaughton 1995). A particularly important area is that of narrative skills since the ability to narrate and report is a vital skill for future academic success and is highly correlated to later fluency in reading (Beals and DeTemple 1993; Dickenson and Snow 1987). Teachers need to have sufficiently detailed descriptions of their pupils’ language skills and this is especially important where populations are diverse. A procedure, developed and used extensively in New Zealand, exists for increasing teachers’ knowledge of their pupils’ language skills on entry to school. This story retelling activity (Tell Me) lends itself to use in the normal course of classroom teaching and is the focus of the present study

Energetic and environmental benefits of co-digestion of food waste and cattle slurry: a preliminary assessment

The research evaluated the feasibility of centralised pre-processing and pasteurisation of source-separated domestic food waste followed by transport to farms for anaerobic co-digestion with dairy cattle slurry. Data from long-term experiments on the co-digestion of these two substrates was used to predict gross energy yields; net yields were then derived from full system analysis using an energy modelling tool. The ratio of cattle slurry to food waste in the co-digestion was based on the nutrient requirements of the dairy farm and was modelled using both nitrogen and phosphorous as the limiting factor. The model was run for both medium-size and large farms in which the cattle were housed either all year round or for only 50% of the year. The results showed that the addition of food waste improved energy yields per digester unit volume, with a corresponding increased potential for improving farm income by as much as 50%. Data for dairy farms in the county of Hampshire UK, which has a low density of dairy cattle and a large population, was used as a stringent test case to verify the applicability of the concept. In this particular case the nutrient requirements of the larger farms could be satisfied, and further benefits were gained from the reduction in greenhouse gas emissions avoided through improved manure management and fertiliser imports. The results indicated that this approach offered major advantages in terms of resource conservation and pollution abatement when compared to either centralised anaerobic digestion of food waste or energy recovery from thermal treatmen

Synthesis of Natural Product-Based Probes for the Central Nervous System

The number of individuals affected by a central nervous system disorder continues to steadily increase. Unfortunately, in many cases the available therapeutic options leaves these diseases undertreated and additional molecular probes are needed to fully understand these conditions. Historically, natural products have served as a rich source of new molecular scaffolds for developing these probes due to their complex structures and unique ability to perturb biological pathways through diverse mechanisms. With this in mind, the kappa opioid receptor (KOR) agonist salvinorin A, the mu opioid receptor (MOR) agonist herkinorin, and the anti-tau diarylheptanoid myricanol were identified as potential probes for investigating substance abuse, pain, and Alzheimer’s Disease, respectively. To determine how the unique neoclerodane structure of salvinorin A interacts with the KOR, methods to chemical modify the steric and electronic properties of the furan ring were developed. The resulting structure-activity relationships (SAR) identified three compounds that successfully attenuated drug seeking behavior in an animal model of drug relapse. In a separate study, a simple modification to the A-ring of herkinorin was found to drastically increase the potency and selectivity for the MOR, thus increasing the potential in vivo utility of the probe. Additional SAR studies also resulted in the first sub-nanomolar diterpene MOR agonist. Finally, an enantioselective route to both enantiomers of myricanol was developed to provide the necessary material for more extensive biological investigations into the compound’s tau degradation mechanism. The three studies described herein, highlight the importance of using chemical synthesis to modify and build complex natural products scaffolds in order to probe biological systems

1946-04-16, Andrew to Mary

https://digitalcommons.chapman.edu/gvtudor_correspondence_postmortem/1020/thumbnail.jp

1946-04-15, Andrew to Mary

https://digitalcommons.chapman.edu/gvtudor_correspondence_postmortem/1018/thumbnail.jp

WinGEMS modelling and pinch analysis of a paper machine for utility reduction

A multi-ply paper machine process model was developed using WinGEMS and the stream data produced was used to conduct a pinch analysis. The product stream was excluded from the analysis and the composite curves display the enthalpy contained only in the inputs and outputs to the various sections of the paper machine. The pinch point for the overall paper machine was 55.9 C while the minimum hot utility target was 170 MW. Occurrences of cross pinch heat transfer were identified and discussed. Heat recovery options for heating of the fresh water showers, using waste heat streams were investigated. Steam savings of over 14 MW could be achieved by recovering heat from two waste streams that currently go directly to drain with no heat recovery taking place. The use of pinch analysis for utilities targeting under non-continuous conditions was examined. Finally, the feasibility of integrating non-conventional technologies, such as heat storage, is discussed

The Problem of Good Intentions: Challenges Arising from State Mandated University-Wide Sexual Misconduct Reporting

Legislatures and regulators struggle to create effective legal mechanisms to address the misreporting and underreporting of sexual misconduct on college campuses. The problems are clear: how does the law balance the desire to fully support victims of sexual misconduct by providing access to supportive measures and complaint resolution options, while also honoring the desire of some victims not to have private information shared with others? While some employees have failed to report known instances of sexual misconduct based on inappropriate grounds, others do so based on a desire to respect the victim’s wishes. How should these problems, which may stem from organizational cultures, be solved through legislation or regulation? Federal laws--Title IX and the Clery Act--impose reporting duties on only some employees, based on their particular role, but beginning in 2019, the Texas Legislature went a step further and mandated university-wide sexual misconduct reporting for all employees. The penalties for failure to report are severe: termination and prosecution. While well-intentioned, this new Texas law nevertheless creates many problems that undermine its effectiveness. We address Texas Senate Bill 212 in its larger national context, offer several general critiques, highlight the special problems associated with the application of the law at faith-based universities, and make suggestions for university administrators and future legislative action in an attempt to refine the scope of the law to better address the underreporting problem