A curriculum guide for art in the elementary grades

Thesis (Ed.M.)--Boston Universit

Development and Psychometric Analysis of the Roy Adaptation Modes Scale (RAMS) to Measure Coping and Adaptation

Peoples’ lives are often interrupted or changed by experiencing a serious illness. It is important to study and understand the various coping processes that people have in adapting to illness. The purpose of this study was to develop an instrument to measure a person’s coping response to illness-related stimuli using the Roy Adaptation Model (RAM) as its structure and framework. This study is quantitative descriptive design to develop the validity and reliability of a new instrument the Roy Adaptation Modes Scale (RAMS). A review of RAM based measurement instruments found no instrument that measured all four adaptive modes that is consistent with the RAM. Instrument development consisted of concept clarification, item development, and expert validity. The instrument was developed with four subscales; each subscale represents one of the four adaptive modes of the RAM (physiologic, self-concept, role function and interdependence). After pilot testing, the RAMS was administered to 400 patients at a large medical center. Item analysis was used to examine each subscale for construct validity and reliability, including examination of means, standard deviations and the corrected item-total correlations for each item in each subscale. Analyses and theoretical judgment was used to drop items from subscales. The revised RAMS is a 34-item instrument. The Cronbach’s alpha for the four subscales of the RAMS ranged from .61 to .81 which is above the acceptable minimum of .60 for an instrument in the early stages of development. It is recommended that further research be conducted to psychometrically test the revised 34-item RAMS

BENTHIC FORAMINIFERA AS INDICATORS OF PALEOECOLOGICAL BOTTOM CONDITIONS IN THE SERRAVALLIAN TREMITI SECTIONS (EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN, ITALY)

Quantitative analysis of  benthic foraminifera from the Serravallian S. Nicola composite section (Tremiti Islands, Adriatic Sea) and about 37 m thick, pointed out changes of bottom paleoecological conditions in this eastern Mediterranean area during the analyzed time interval. Benthic foraminiferal assemblages are typical of bathyal environment and indicate a constant paleobathymetry of about 1,000 m. Changes in benthic foraminiferal assemblages allowed us to identify five intervals,  which were calibrated on the astrochronological scale to reconstruct paleoecological evolution of bottom conditions. In particular starting from the base of the section the following different bottom conditions have been identified: 1) between about 12.62  to about 12.29 Ma high surface productivity, active bottom water circulation and, consequently, moderate bottom food supply; this paleoenvironment slightly changed  between about 12.49 and 12.29 Ma, where benthic assemblages testify unstable bottom conditions with periods of active circulation (relative abundance of Cibicidoides wuellerstorfi), alternated with periods of sluggish circulation  (peaks of Bulimina subulata group); 2) relatively oxygenated paleoenvironment together with low food supply between about  12.29 - 12.08 Ma; 3) increase of organic matter content (abundance of  U. peregrina-pygmaea), due to higher surface productivity and/or greater preservation of organic matter at bottom from 12.08 to 11.81 Ma; 4) relatively oxygenated conditions with low food supply from 11.81 to about 11.45 Ma; 5) similar conditions to those of the basal part (about 12.62  - 12.29 Ma) of the section from about 11.45 to 11.10 Ma, but with an increase of organic matter content. Finally, the comparison between the paleoecological reconstruction of the S. Nicola composite section and Ras il-Pellegrin (Malta) composite section (reported in this volume) in  the interval between about 12.6 and 12.2 Ma, pointed out very different extimated paleobatimetries, but similar paleoecological bottom conditions with evidence of relative high productivity.

BENTHIC FORAMINIFERA AS INDICATORS OF PALEOECOLOGICAL BOTTOM CONDITIONS IN THE SERRAVALLIAN TREMITI SECTIONS (EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN, ITALY)

Quantitative analysis of  benthic foraminifera from the Serravallian S. Nicola composite section (Tremiti Islands, Adriatic Sea) and about 37 m thick, pointed out changes of bottom paleoecological conditions in this eastern Mediterranean area during the analyzed time interval. Benthic foraminiferal assemblages are typical of bathyal environment and indicate a constant paleobathymetry of about 1,000 m. Changes in benthic foraminiferal assemblages allowed us to identify five intervals,  which were calibrated on the astrochronological scale to reconstruct paleoecological evolution of bottom conditions. In particular starting from the base of the section the following different bottom conditions have been identified: 1) between about 12.62  to about 12.29 Ma high surface productivity, active bottom water circulation and, consequently, moderate bottom food supply; this paleoenvironment slightly changed  between about 12.49 and 12.29 Ma, where benthic assemblages testify unstable bottom conditions with periods of active circulation (relative abundance of Cibicidoides wuellerstorfi), alternated with periods of sluggish circulation  (peaks of Bulimina subulata group); 2) relatively oxygenated paleoenvironment together with low food supply between about  12.29 - 12.08 Ma; 3) increase of organic matter content (abundance of  U. peregrina-pygmaea), due to higher surface productivity and/or greater preservation of organic matter at bottom from 12.08 to 11.81 Ma; 4) relatively oxygenated conditions with low food supply from 11.81 to about 11.45 Ma; 5) similar conditions to those of the basal part (about 12.62  - 12.29 Ma) of the section from about 11.45 to 11.10 Ma, but with an increase of organic matter content. Finally, the comparison between the paleoecological reconstruction of the S. Nicola composite section and Ras il-Pellegrin (Malta) composite section (reported in this volume) in  the interval between about 12.6 and 12.2 Ma, pointed out very different extimated paleobatimetries, but similar paleoecological bottom conditions with evidence of relative high productivity.

Maternidad andina

Milagro Sala no construyó en Jujuy un Estado paralelo, porque para la gente para la que ella trabaja nunca hubo Estado. En todo caso, lo que creó en su intento por reparar el obsceno desequilibrio en el que nacen millones de personas y sobre el que nadie repara fue una organización profundamente maternal, a la usanza andina. Una organización que el gobernador Gerardo Morales se propuso destruir, cuya líder no es una madre buena sino la madre subterránea sistemáticamente violentada que reclama en su propia lengua el equilibrio.Facultad de Periodismo y Comunicación Socia

Community concept drawing: Application of a participatory tool for analyzing empowerment across African contexts

Women’s empowerment is a driving concept in feminist and gender scholarship and is seen as an indicator of a woman’s agency in social and economic spheres. Yet, there is much debate over what this term actually means, how it should be operationalized as a concept in development research. This has been especially true among scholars and practitioners who use empowerment as a guideline by which to measure and evaluate social dynamics in communities affected by climate change. Most recently, the Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index has joined a growing number of tools aimed at measuring empowerment in developing countries. Such indexes however, are unable to account for culturally specific meaning and nuance that shape local understandings of empowerment. This article introduces qualitative and ethnographic methodological tools that provide a means to understand and engage culturally specific, local definitions of empowerment. We seek to first identify those indicators most salient within the village communities participating in the study. We then seek to understand the implications of these conceptualizations in the broader context of climate information accessibility and utilization. This study was implemented in four rural villages located within Kenya and Senegal, each with varying levels of interaction with CCAFS programs. Cross-examination of site specific data yields an understanding of how cultural norms and values shape local perceptions of empowerment in ways that are critical for development practitioners and scholars who to understand how power operates within communities affected by climate shocks. Such analysis is critical to a more accurate understanding of the locally specific context of gender inequity from which to align development-based programs. This article serves to broaden the definition of women’s power to include culturally-relevant variations in the concept and provides one methodology for doing so

Exploring synergies between health and climate services: Assessing the feasibility of providing climate information to women farmers through health posts in Kaffrine, Senegal

This report details the results of research undertaken in Kaffrine, Senegal in May and June of 2015, which explored the possibility of utilizing rural health posts as a channel of communication of climate information to female farmers. The hypothesis was that since health posts often aim to reach women and other vulnerable populations in rural areas, and because weather events often pose risks to human health, the health posts may have an interest in weather and climate information and may have the means to communicate this information to rural women. A total of 13 key informant interviews exploring this hypothesis were conducted in the Kaffrine region; nine at health posts, and four at other relevant organizations in the region. The interviewees indicated that all weather and climate information that could impact agriculture could also impact human health, and thus all health post staff interviewed expressed interest both in receiving forecasts and in distributing the information they receive. For example, because health posts organize major community health campaigns about malaria just prior to the rainy season each year, they are interested in receiving the forecasted start date of the rainy season, and in communicating this start date to the residents of their region. Many other examples of climate and human health overlap are explored in this report. Most interviewees indicated that they would prefer to receive climate information through email or text messages, and said that they would distribute the forecasts via the same channels that they utilize to distribute health information. These channels include community meetings, door-to-door visits, women’s association meetings, mosque loudspeakers, radio, television, and posters or other publicly displayed written information. All of these channels have a high probability of reaching women and other vulnerable populations in rural areas. This report details additional channels of communication that could be utilized by organizations in cases where the health posts are unable to communicate climate information

Investigating climate information services through a gendered lens

This paper explores access to climate change-related information through a gendered lens. Climate change is rapidly affecting the lives of farmers throughout the world, producing a need for adaptive agricultural livelihoods strategies. A central mechanism in the development of adaptive strategies to climate change is the strengthening and effective utilization of information channels. The more relevant and useful the information is to the user, the better the user may be able to adapt to changes in climate. Despite this critical need for accessing climate-related information, many of the people who are most vulnerable to climate change and environmental shocks are often on the periphery of receiving practical information. In this paper, we show that women farmers are overwhelmingly left out of many forms of communication channels. Thus, the purpose of this study is to identify instances in which methods of communication are missing women and how to overcome these gaps. What we propose is a context-dependent hybridization of traditional methods of communication, which are familiar to communities, and modern technologies, which can be expedient in sharing new scientific climate knowledge with farmers

Evaluating North Sea Water Level Monitoring Network Considering Uncertain Information Theory Quantities

Information-theory provides, among others, conceptual methods to quantify the amount of information contained in a random variable, as well as methods to quantify the amount of information contained and shared among two or more variables. Although these concepts have been successfully applied in Hydrology and other fields, the valuation of these quantities is sensible to different parameters used to estimate the probabilities that underline the entropy concept. Typical examples are the bin size of histograms used to compute probabilities and the Kendall correlation coefficient used to estimate copula entropy. The selection of these parameters has subsequent effects on other Information Theory quantities such as Joint Entropy and Total Correlation, which are commonly used in optimization procedures for monitoring networks. The present research aims at introducing a method to take into consideration the uncertainty coming from these parameters in the evaluation of the North Sea’s water level network. The main idea is to represent entropy of random variables through their probability distribution, instead of considering entropy as a deterministic value. The method considers solving multiple scenarios of Multi-Objective Optimization in which, for a given set of stations, information content (Joint Entropy) is maximized and redundancy (Total Correlation) is minimized. These scenarios are generated with parameter sampling methods such as the Latin Hypercube. Results include probabilistic analysis of the chosen parameters on the resulting family of Pareto fronts, providing additional criteria on the selection of the final set of monitoring points and the elimination of redundant/non-informative points. Data used was the raw data available from the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and Environment. The resulting water level monitoring network will be compared to the one obtained by other methods that will be described in a report currently under preparation, which will be publicly available soon in the Deltares websit