EXTENSION PROGRAMS ON THE SOIL BANK

Teaching/Communication/Extension/Profession,

Federal Research, Additional Actions Needed to Improve Public Access to Research Results: Report to Congressional Requesters [with Responses from Federal Agencies]

Why GAO Did This Study Research and development helps catalyze breakthroughs that improve the overall health and wellbeing of our society. Federal research and development expenditures averaged about $135 billion annually for fiscal years 2015 to 2017. According to OSTP, providing free public access to federally funded research results can improve both the impact and accountability of this important federal investment. In February 2013, OSTP directed federal agencies with more than$100 million in annual research and development expenditures to develop a plan to support increased public access to the results of federally funded research. GAO was asked to examine public access to federally funded research results. This report examines the extent of agencies’ (1) progress implementing plans to increase public access to federally funded research results and (2) coordination on public access plan implementation. GAO administered a questionnaire to 19 federal agencies selected based on annual research and development expenditure amounts, among other criteria; reviewed agency documents; and interviewed officials from 11 agencies, OSTP, and 21 stakeholder organizations. What GAO Found The 19 agencies that GAO reviewed have made progress implementing their plans to increase public access to federally funded research results (publications and data), as called for in a 2013 Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) memorandum. However, some agencies have not fully implemented some aspects of their plans, in particular those related to data access and mechanisms to ensure researchers comply with public access requirements. Agencies are coordinating with each other and with nonfederal stakeholders to implement public access plans, including through an interagency group led by OSTP and five other agencies. However, the group has not fully implemented selected leading practices identified by GAO that can enhance and sustain interagency collaboration, such as defining and articulating common outcomes. For example, according to OSTP staff, key outcomes have not yet been decided upon. Agency officials and stakeholders identified several challenges to implementing public access plans that interagency coordination might help them address, such as • Absence of common standards in several areas; • Measuring effectiveness of public access plan implementation; and • Balancing providing public access with safeguarding sensitive information. By taking steps to fully implement relevant leading collaboration practices, the interagency group could help agencies better marshal their collective efforts to address common challenges to public access plan implementation. What GAO Recommends GAO is making 37 recommendations to 16 agencies to promote full and effective implementation of agency public access plans. For example, GAO recommends that OSTP and 5 agencies leading a public access interagency group take steps to fully implement selected leading collaboration practices. Of the 16 agencies, 15 agreed with GAO’s recommendations while 1 (OSTP) disagreed. GAO continues to believe the recommendation to OSTP is warranted

Foreign trade facts for Illinois citizens

Cover title

Farmers and agriculture in our economy

Cover title

Role of the pre-school teacher in promoting the speech-language development of preschool children

Vzgojiteljica ima pomembno vlogo pri spodbujanju govorno-jezikovnega razvoja predšolskih otrok. Otroci namreč v vrtcu preživijo večino svojega budnega časa in so zato ravno vzgojiteljice tiste, ki morajo otroku predstavljati dober govorni in jezikovni zgled in mu omogočajo kvalitetne dejavnosti, s katerimi bo razvijal svoj govor, jezik in mišljenje. Vzgojiteljica v oddelku ustvarja prijetno klimo in načrtuje dejavnosti, ki omogočajo rabo govora, jezika, dialog in poslušanje ter ustvarjajo pozitivne medsebojne odnose. V diplomskem delu smo se osredinili na govorni in jezikovni razvoj otroknotranje in zunanje dejavnike, ki vplivajo na govorno-jezikovni razvoj otrokkaj o govorno-jezikovnem razvoju otrok pravi kurikulum za vrtce in kakšna je vloga vzgojitelja pri spodbujanju govornega razvoja otrok v vrtcu. Izpostavljene so dejavnosti, ki jih vzgojitelj pripravlja za razvijanje govora in jezika otrok v okviru kurikuluma. V diplomskem delu je poudarek na spodbujanju razvoja govora s pomočjo knjig in skupnega branja. Cilj diplomskega dela je ugotoviti, kako vzgojitelji spodbujajo govorno-jezikovni razvoj otrok in kako se otroci odzivajo na zgodbo z vajami za spodbujanje izreke, ki sem jo napisala za namen diplomskega dela, ter kakšno je mnenje vzgojiteljev o uporabi zgodbe za namen spodbujanja govoril. V empiričnem delu sem predstavila rezultate raziskave, ki smo jo s pomočjo vprašalnikov in intervjujev izvedli v vrtcu. Diplomsko delo je sestavljeno iz teoretičnega in empiričnega dela. V teoretičnem delu se osredinimo na jezikovni in govorni razvoj otrok v starosti od četrtega do šestega leta. Sprva opišemo, kaj je govor in kaj jezik, značilnosti otrokovega govora in opišemo dejavnike govornega razvoja. V nadaljevanju opišemo, kako se razvije govor in na kakšen način razvoj govora in jezika spodbujamo v vrtcu. Naštejemo različne opredelitve vaj za spodbujanje govorno-jezikovnega razvoja in se dotaknemo pomembnosti branja in pripovedovanja otroku. V empiričnem delu diplomskega dela smo raziskali, kako se otroci odzivajo na zgodbo Manja na smučišču, ki vsebuje vaje za spodbujanje izreke. Prav tako smo raziskali, kako vzgojitelji spodbujajo govorno-jezikovni razvoj v vrtcu, katere dejavnosti izvajajo z otroki in kako pomembno se jim zdi spodbujanje govorno-jezikovnega razvoja v vrtcu. Ugotovili smo, da se vzgojitelji zavedajo pomembnosti spodbujanja govora in jezika, saj je predšolsko obdobje intenzivno obdobje razvoja govora in jezika. Vzgojitelji menijo, da so kompetentni za spodbujanje govorno-jezikovnega razvoja otrok. Z otroki v vsakodnevni rutini izvajajo vaje za spodbujanje razvoja na področju govora in jezika tako, da spodbujajo pogovor, govor, poslušanje, opazovanje in opisovanje, obiščejo knjižnico in lutkovne predstave ter s pomočjo dejavnosti, kot so iskanje rim in izštevank, gledališča, kamišibaja, igre vlog in drugih vaj. Med pripovedovanjem zgodbe so bili otroci aktivni poslušalci, v zgodbo so se vključevali, izvajali vaje za spodbujanje izreke in se gibalno izražali. Prišli smo do sklepa, da zgodba, ki vsebuje vaje za spodbujanje izreke, pomaga otrokom, da se sprostijo in ob tem utrjujejo in razvijajo svoje govorno-jezikovne kompetence.A preschool teacher plays an important role in promoting the speech and language development of preschool children. Children spend most of their waking hours in kindergarten, therefore it is precisely the educators who must set a good speech and language example for the child and provide him with quality activities that will help him develop his speech, language and thinking. The educator in preschool creates a pleasant climate and plans activities that enable the use of speech, language, dialogue and listening and create positive mutual relationships. In the thesis, we focus on the speech and language development of childreninternal and external factors that affect children\u27s speech and language developmentwhat does the curriculum for kindergartens say about children\u27s speech and language development and what is the role of a preschool teacher in promoting children\u27s speech development in kindergarten. In the diploma work, the emphasis is on encouraging the development of speech with the help of books and joint reading. The aim of the thesis is to find out how preschool teachers encourage children\u27s speech and language development and how children respond to the story with exercises to encourage the saying that I wrote for the purpose of the thesis and what do preschool teachers think about the use of the story for the purpose of encouraging speech. In the empirical part, we present the results of the research, which we conducted in the kindergarten with the help of questionnaires and interviews. The thesis consists of theoretical and empirical work. In the theoretical part, we focus on the language and speech development of children between the ages of four and six. At first, we describe what speech is and what language is, the characteristics of a child\u27s speech and describe the factors of speech development. In the following, we describe how speech develops and how speech and language development is encouraged in kindergarten. We list different definitions of exercises to promote speech and language development and touch on the importance of reading and telling stories to children. In the empirical part of the diploma work, we investigated how children respond to the story Manja na smučišču, which contains exercises to encourage speech. We also investigated how educators promote speech and language development in kindergarten, what activities they do with children and how important they think it is to promote speech and language development in kindergarten. We found out that educators are aware of the importance of promoting speech and language, as the preschool period is an intensive period of speech and language development. Educators consider themselves competent to promote children\u27s speech and language development. They carry out exercises with the children in their daily routine to promote the development of speech and language by encouraging conversation, speaking, listening, observing and describing, visiting the library and puppet shows, and through activities such as finding rhymes and counting books, kamishibai theater, playing roles and other exercises. Children responded well to the story Manja na smučišču, they were active listeners. During the telling of the story, they were active listeners. They got involved in the story, performed exercises to stimulate the saying and expressed themselves through movement. We have concluded that the story containing exercises to encourage pronunciation helps children to relax and at the same time consolidate and develop their speech and language competences

Utilization of aerial sensor platforms for characterization of land-based, distributed radiological sources for radiological event response

Doctor of PhilosophyDepartment of Mechanical and Nuclear EngineeringAmir BahadoriWalter J McNeilA method to characterize distributed radiological sources and the environment using an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) and commercial-of-the-shelf hardware and software was developed and implemented. High-altitude aerial surveys typically used for widespread distributed sources lack the spatial resolution needed to accurately describe the activity and exposure distributions at or near the ground. At this time, ground-truth measurements are necessary to normalize data collected at high altitudes, an operation that may not be feasible in certain scenarios. Furthermore, available prediction and modeling algorithms require multiple inputs which are unlikely to be available at the time of radiological release, resulting in an inadequate prediction of the spread of contamination. Low-level surveys circumvent these problems by directly measuring the exposure rate at the human level (1 m above the ground), eliminating the need for ground-truth normalization and the reliance on modeling and prediction algorithms. This research has shown that, when equipped with sufficient radiation detection systems, automated, low-level aerial surveys produce exposure rate maps that generally agree with ground-truth results and maintain a spatial resolution on the order of a few meters. The use of remote survey equipment reduces the radiological risk for response personnel, allowing for characterization of a site without direct exposure during the measurement process. UAVs may be used for measurements over distributed sources of various sizes, from a small radiological release via a radiological dispersal device, to a large-scale disaster (e.g., Fukushima Daiichi); the latter through the use of UAV swarms. These systems would also prove useful for localization of point sources. The research described herein includes the successful development and characterization of a ground-truth radiation detection system that uses a vehicle-mobile, collimated scintillator for activity distribution determination following three detonations of activated potassium bromide. A UAV-mounted scintillator system was characterized and implemented for aerial spectroscopic measurements over the same distribution to compare with the data from ground-truth measurements. UAV photogrammetry surveys were executed to form overhead maps and three-dimensional (3D) models of the test site. These maps and models were used to display radiological data from a standard overhead perspective, as a stand-alone 3D model, and in an explorable virtual environment. These methods comprise a complete radiological survey package that can mostly be implemented with easily-replaceable materials and at a relatively low cost, improving package flexibility and availability over specialized systems that rely heavily on custom hardware and software. This aspect is important as environmental conditions may increase the risk of losing the platform and payload due to a crash