Multiple Measures of Reading Assessment and the Effects on Data-Driven Instruction

This research study takes a closer examination of two reading assessments used at the intermediate level: the Developmental Reading Assessment and the Scholastic Reading Inventory. These reading assessments were evaluated by determining what their areas of foci are and what types of information they provided about an individual student. Data were collected over a period of four weeks using an online teacher questionnaire and by conducting two semi-structured interviews. Data analysis focused on teachers’ views about these reading assessments and how they use the data to guide instruction. Results suggested that lack of training and professional development lead to the use of only one data source when making instructional decisions

Kierkegaard\u27s Theory of Boredom and the Development of Personality

This dissertation examines the conception of boredom presented in the work of Søren Kierkegaard. Kierkegaard is known for deriving philosophical insights into human nature from phenomenological analyses of various moods. However, while Kierkegaard provides explicit and complete accounts of anxiety, despair, and melancholy, his analyses of boredom are only ever fragmentary and dispersed. Additionally, most scholars either neglect Kierkegaard’s descriptions of boredom or dismiss them as mere novelty, and, even though a few scholars analyze the concept, there is still no sustained and thorough account of the same. This dissertation advances Kierkegaard scholarship by piecing together Kierkegaard’s theory of boredom from his fragmentary descriptions of the phenomenon. Through a close reading of Kierkegaard’s The Concept of Irony and Either/Or, the dissertation demonstrates two main claims about Kierkegaard’s theory. First, it shows that the experience of boredom can be understood in the work of Kierkegaard as expressive of the achievement of a reflective stance toward existence – a stance in which one begins questioning the meaning of one’s life and the ultimate justification for one’s actions. Second, the dissertation shows that, based on how Kierkegaard situates the concept of boredom within his general theory of personal development, the concept of boredom is a crucial component of his philosophical project of explaining the stages of life through which an individual passes in the development of an adequate conception of itself. Specifically, the dissertation argues that, within Kierkegaard’s theory of stages of life, boredom is a central concept of his account of the aesthetic and ethical stages

Studies on exploiting semiochemicals for pest management in organic farming systems OF0188

This study addresses the extent to which pest management systems can exploit semiochemicals (defined below) in ways acceptable to organic farming, and determines where the science base needs to be expanded to accommodate specific problems arising in an increasing organic farming sector. It considers whether current knowledge of semiochemical release from particular crop plants, herbs and wild plant species could be investigated further in relation to organic farming practice and identifies how strategies of multiple cropping, that exploit known semiochemical interactions, could be applied to key pest problems in organic production. Where such exploitation is not feasible, other strategies using semiochemicals including traps, extracts of natural products and nature-identical synthetic products are considered. Finally, general and specific directions in which research and development could facilitate greater penetration of the use of semiochemicals in crop protection for organic farming are identified. Semiochemicals are natural products that, by acting as signals, regulate interactions between organisms e.g. plants and insects. Once the semiochemical interactions between a pest and its host plant have been elucidated they can be exploited to regulate the pest population, providing an alternative control strategy to conventional toxicants. The choice of approach by which the semiochemicals are deployed relates to three options, i.e. from a natural plant source, from an extract or as a nature identical synthetic product. However, even where the most natural situations of mixed cropping are used, the scientific basis of the interaction must be established for robustness and sustainability of the approach. A complete understanding of the process allows a risk assessment to be made of any problems that might ensue when exploiting natural systems in different configurations from those encountered naturally. A major approach to using semiochemical based pest control is to exploit ways of repelling pests from crop plants and attracting them towards trap plantations. Deploying semiochemicals generated naturally by plants is consistent with organic farming practice, where a range of mixed cropping techniques are employed already, which ‘unconsciously’ utilise semiochemical effects. Thus, the acceptance and use of systems exploiting aspects of semiochemical deployment demonstrate an emerging role in organic farming practices. However, as emphasised before, a comprehensive knowledge of the semiochemical interactions that underpin these techniques is vital if they are to be exploited fully. Other pest control approaches compatible with organic farming, such as encouragement of beneficial species and the use of reflective surfaces in mulches, may not involve semiochemical effects, but could be exploited more beneficially by integration with semiochemical practices. Semiochemicals generated naturally by plants can be used to influence beneficial organisms as well as invertebrate pests. For example, plant defence chemicals, induced by pest or pathogen infestation, can affect the behaviour of pests and their natural enemies. Semiochemicals can be employed to maximise the impact of parasitic organisms that attack pest populations, for example in the management of refugia for maintaining and increasing populations of these beneficial organisms. In addition, the approach can be applied against other organisms antagonistic to agriculture besides invertebrate pests, for example in weed control, where signals interfering with weed germination can be exploited. Extracts of natural products provide semiochemicals in a form that is familiar and acceptable to organic farming practice, where plant extracts are already used as toxicants or as semiochemical antifeedants and repellents. However, often the scientific basis for use of these materials is limited, and therefore, exploitation is also limited and can be unreliable. By understanding the composition and the mechanism of activity of semiochemicals, natural product extracts can be improved by selection of the best sources of natural materials and appropriate processes of extraction and formulation. Many natural products, particularly pheromones (semiochemicals acting between members of the same species), can be synthesised as nature-identical and the synthetic forms are often indistinguishable from the natural form. Synthesis can be expensive, but where possible, starting materials should be obtained from natural renewable resources. Nature-identical synthetic pheromones are used widely in parts of the world, either deployed in traps for monitoring, mass trapping and lure and kill strategies or for direct pest control approaches such as mating disruption. In addition, manipulation of beneficial species with pheromones is being investigated and synthetic food-related attractants and oviposition attractants have also been developed for pests where pheromones are not available. Already some nature-identical synthetic semiochemicals have been accepted as compatible with organic farming practice. The registration of many sex and aggregation pheromones has been possible because they are nature-identical and are deployed away from the crop or on crop areas that are not consumed. In most cases, semiochemicals, deployed alone, are not sufficiently robust to control pest populations directly. They are most effective when incorporated into strategies, such as the ‘push-pull’ strategy, that are integrated with other forms of pest control, e.g. pathogens, parasitoids and predators, mechanical barriers and resistant plant varieties. The integration of semiochemical approaches with other methods of pest population reduction will help prevent the development of pest resistance to the overall strategy. Since the integrated strategy comprises a number of components that affect different aspects of pest behaviour and development each component can be relatively ineffective when compared to conventional pesticides. However, this has the advantage of not selecting efficiently for resistance to any component of the strategy and thus contributes to the sustainability of the approach. Recommendations 1) Develop a priority list of specific and general problems in organic production to be targeted by semiochemical methodologies in addition to known problems such as in carrot and lettuce production, aphids on a range of vegetable crops and for fruit pests. 2) Develop semiochemical based control methods suitable for 1) and for the targets already known. 3) Provide scientific input, where lacking, for 1 and 2. 4) Encourage greater diversification in organic cropping systems, including agroforestry, so as to exploit current knowledge of semiochemical based control and to pave the way for new interventions as the science develops. 5) Consider semiochemical attributes of non-crop plant inputs including mulches, weeds and multifunctional beneficial plants and the roles that they might play in organic systems. 6) Initiate organic plant breeding programmes, specifically to exploit natural semiochemical release where understood, for crop and companion plants

Rules of faith and rules of method : English Bible as postmodern biblical criticism

https://place.asburyseminary.edu/ecommonsatsdissertations/1974/thumbnail.jp

Overcoming Competitive Inertia: Board Composition And Strategic Persistence

This study examined whether the board of directors had an impact on the trajectory of organizational strategy, where the composition of the board might influence the likelihood of pursuing or halting a persistent, unchanging strategy. Our data suggest that a board that exhibited moderate agency-orientation displayed a more positive relationship to strategic persistence than either a neutral board or a strong agency-focused board. This finding may indicate that a neutral board, may benefit from the cooperation required to reach agreement and that a moderately agency-oriented board may not be able to effectively reap the benefits of either control or collaboration and may only serve as window dressing in its purported function of representing shareholder interests

Thick Sea-ice Floes

This paper examines how sea ice floes of thickness exceeding 6 m can be formed in the Arctic. Such floes have been observed by a Soviet drifting station, by a submarine at the North Pole, and at three sites in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. The Maykut and Untersteiner model of sea ice growth predicts an equilibrium thickness of 3 m under normal conditions, but if the oceanic heat flux is set to zero and the annual snowfall is increased to 1 m growth will continue to at least 12 m thickness over tens of years. The conclusion is that thick floes grow as 'plugs' of fast ice in constricted channels of shallow water at high latitudes, and that they break out into the Arctic Ocean only after many years of growth in place. Their history in some respects resembles that of Arctic ice shelves

Two Modes of Appearance of the Odden Ice Tongue in the Greenland Sea

The Odden Ice tongue of the Greenland Sea normally forms locally In winter as frazfl-pancake ice, allowing high positive salt fluxes during freezing that leads to open ocean convection. We report observations from satellites, aircraft, ships and submarines which show that in two recent years (1987 and 1996) a late-season Odden developed composed of old ice advected by the East Greenland Current. The Impact of such Odden is different in that it is in a state of melt and serves to stabilize the surface water in the region. The history of Oddens since 1978 is reviewed to examine the frequency of both modes