Object-based Analysis and Multispectral Low-altitude Remote Sensing for Low-cost Mapping of Chalk Stream Macrophytes

Their small size and high biodiversity have until now made UK chalk streams unsuitable subjects for study with remote sensing techniques. Future technological developments are however likely to change this. The study described in this paper shows how high resolution multispectral images taken with an off-the-shelve, infrared sensitive digital camera, can give a first insight into future opportunities for mapping and monitoring of submerged chalk stream environments. The high resolution multispectral images have been used in combination with Object Based Image Analysis (OBIA) techniques to map submerged vegetation. Preliminary results show that the Near Infrared Red information recorded by the camera greatly improves the classification of individual macrophyte species. The benefit of the object-based image analysis approach is at the presented stage only limited, but a first attempt at creating a robust rule set has been applied to photos taken at two different field sites with some success. The analysis also showed how texture features are useful for the separability between macrophyte classes. Overall the results are promising for further applications of remote sensing techniques to chalk streams as well as for application of the low cost sensor set-up

Building walls, social groups and empires. A study of political power and compliance in the Neo-Assyrian period

This contribution aims to use social history and social theory to investigate political power and compliance with authority in ancient Western Asia, through the case study of Neo-Assyrian imperial building projects. Our first aim is to discuss the realities of construction work in the Neo-Assyrian Empire, focusing on the building process both through literary sources and archaeological data. Our second goal is to understand the role played by these building sites in the strengthening of local and supra-local political orders, in the consolidation of social group boundaries, and in the construction of political subjectivities of the ancient social actors involved. Our reflection sheds light on the new interpretative possibilities – and challenges – that integrating social theories, archaeological work, and language technology may create.Peer reviewe

Relational Pedagogy in a New Zealand Secondary School Drama Classroom

Aspects of relational pedagogy were examined in a Year 13 Drama classroom in a large state secondary school over a week of lessons. The teacher and six students who volunteered to take part in the research were observed then interviewed about the nature of relationships in the classroom that week, and in general. The teacher and students in the class related to each other in a positive and constructive manner as they worked together on developing a piece of drama. The students reflected on the importance of their relationship with their teacher and their peers as part of their learning. These findings suggest the nature of how Drama is taught promotes the development of relationships in a classroom. This development impacts positively on their understanding of themselves and others, and their learning in and of Drama

Relational Pedagogy in a New Zealand Secondary School Drama Classroom

Aspects of relational pedagogy were examined in a Year 13 Drama classroom in a large state secondary school over a week of lessons. The teacher and six students who volunteered to take part in the research were observed then interviewed about the nature of relationships in the classroom that week, and in general. The teacher and students in the class related to each other in a positive and constructive manner as they worked together on developing a piece of drama. The students reflected on the importance of their relationship with their teacher and their peers as part of their learning. These findings suggest the nature of how Drama is taught promotes the development of relationships in a classroom. This development impacts positively on their understanding of themselves and others, and their learning in and of Drama

An Evaluation of the Spatial Configuration and Temporal Dynamics of Hydraulic Patches in Three UK Lowland Rivers.

Accurate characterisation of the hydraulic environment is a key step in describing hydromorphology at an ecologically relevant scale which has relevance to several aspects of river management, including monitoring river health, designing environmental flows and evaluating river rehabilitation measures. However, current hydraulic habitat quantification methods oversimplify the spatial heterogeneity of the hydraulic environment and do not explain or interpret the spatial arrangement of different habitat units sufficiently or define the dynamics of these shifting patterns. This research applied a novel numerical classification method and a landscape ecology framework to quantify the composition and configuration hydraulic patches in three UK lowland river reaches at five different flows. Five spatially coherent hydraulic patches, defined by the joint distribution of depth-velocity, were optimally delineated from hydraulic point data at each reach using the Gustafson-Kessel fuzzy clustering algorithm. Transitional zones between hydraulic patches occupied between 18- 30% and represent an application of the ecotone concept to the instream environment. Hydraulic patch diversity increased with discharge, peaking at high flow (Q38-Q22), suggesting that the provision of high flows is important for maximising hydraulic heterogeneity. The dominance of shallow, slow patches at low flow was gradually replaced by faster, deeper hydraulic patches at high flow illustrating the effect of discharge on the availability of different hydraulic patch types. The spatial arrangement of patches, quantified using a range of spatial metrics from the field of landscape ecology at two spatial scales (class and reachscape), was relatively invariant to changes in discharge suggesting that the configuration of the hydraulic patch mosaic is determined by channel morphology and remains stable between channel forming discharges. The majority of hydraulic patch types occurred in relatively fixed locations in the channel, moving relatively small distances as discharge increased, associated with the gradual expansion or contraction of patch area. The results suggest that sub-bankfull flow variations will primarily affect the composition rather than the configuration of hydraulic patches, however large fluctuations are likely to result in high rates of patch turnover (change in location), with potential implications for instream biota. The hydraulic patch/transition zone model of the hydraulic environment provides a new approach for exploring the link between physical and biological heterogeneity in the instream environment, including the role of instream ecotones. Whilst the application of numerical classification is currently limited by the large hydraulic data requirement, future advances in remote-sensing technology and hydrodynamic modelling are likely to widen its iii applicability at a range of spatial scales. The results highlight the need for further research on the ecological significance of hydraulic patches and transition zones and ecological sensitivity to changes in hydraulic patch configuration. Wider application of the landscape ecology approach to hydraulic habitat assessment in different reach types is recommended to improve understanding of the links between geomorphic and hydraulic diversity

A method for exploratory repeated-measures analysis applied to a breast-cancer screening study

When a model may be fitted separately to each individual statistical unit, inspection of the point estimates may help the statistician to understand between-individual variability and to identify possible relationships. However, some information will be lost in such an approach because estimation uncertainty is disregarded. We present a comparative method for exploratory repeated-measures analysis to complement the point estimates that was motivated by and is demonstrated by analysis of data from the CADET II breast-cancer screening study. The approach helped to flag up some unusual reader behavior, to assess differences in performance, and to identify potential random-effects models for further analysis.Comment: Published in at http://dx.doi.org/10.1214/11-AOAS481 the Annals of Applied Statistics (http://www.imstat.org/aoas/) by the Institute of Mathematical Statistics (http://www.imstat.org

Parental strategies used in the family meal session of Family-Based Treatment adolescent anorexia nervosa : links with treatment outcomes

Examine relationships between parental mealtime strategies used in the family meal session of Family-Based Treatment (FBT) and adolescent outcomes at EOT (session 20). Method: Eighteen families with an adolescent receiving FBT-AN participated. Parental strategies during videoed family meals were assessed using a family mealtime coding system. Change scores were calculated for both adolescent %EBW and EDE scores. Results: Increased use of parental direct and non-direct eating prompts during the family meal was associated with greater adolescent weight gain at EOT. Use of parental mealtime strategies was not associated with any significant change in adolescent eating psychopathology at EOT. Discussion: Parental verbal eating prompts during the family meal may be effective in promoting short-term weight gain. During the family meal session, parents should be encouraged to maintain a direct focus on their adolescent child’s eating behaviour which may assist their child with food consumption and potential weight gain. Further research examining food-based interactions among parents and their adolescent child with AN is needed

Parental strategies used in the family meal session of family-based treatment for adolescent anorexia nervosa: Links with treatment outcomes

Objective: Examine relationships between parental mealtime strategies used in the family meal session of Family-Based Treatment (FBT) and adolescent outcomes at EOT (session 20). Method: Eighteen families with an adolescent receiving FBT-AN participated. Parental strategies during videoed family meals were assessed using a family mealtime coding system. Change scores were calculated for both adolescent ëW and EDE scores. Results: Increased use of parental direct and non-direct eating prompts during the family meal was associated with greater adolescent weight gain at EOT. Use of parental mealtime strategies was not associated with any significant change in adolescent eating psychopathology at EOT. Discussion: Parental verbal eating prompts during the family meal may be effective in promoting short-term weight gain. During the family meal session, parents should be encouraged to maintain a direct focus on their adolescent child’s eating behaviour which may assist their child with food consumption and potential weight gain. Further research examining food-based interactions among parents and their adolescent child with AN is needed

How do parents of adolescent patients with anorexia nervosa interact with their child at mealtimes? A study of parental strategies used in the family meal session of family-based treatment

Objective: To examine the range and frequency of parental mealtime strategies used during the family meal session of Family-Based Treatment (FBT) for adolescent anorexia nervosa, and to explore the relationships between parental mealtime strategies, mealtime emotional tone and parental 'success' at encouraging adolescent food consumption. Method: Participants were 21 families with a child aged between 12 and 18 years receiving FBT for adolescent anorexia nervosa. Video recordings of the family meal session (FBT session two) were coded using the Family Mealtime Coding System adapted in this study for use with adolescents (FMCS-A) to identify frequency of parental strategies, emotional tone of the meal (measured by adolescent positive and negative vocalisations) and frequency of prompted mouthfuls consumed by the adolescent (measured by the number of mouthfuls consumed by the adolescent immediately following parental interactions). Results: A range of parental mealtime strategies were in use. Those used repeatedly included direct eating prompts, non-direct eating prompts, physical prompts, and providing information or food-related choices. Several parental mealtime strategies (direct and non-direct eating prompts) were found to be consistently associated with the tone of adolescents' vocalisations and the number of mouthfuls consumed in response to a parental prompt. Discussion: Despite associations with negativity from the adolescent, the use of food-related prompts (both verbal and physical) seems to be associated with increased eating. This indicates the potentially important role of parental control of eating. Following replication, these findings might provide a focus for therapists when supporting and coaching parents during the family meal session. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc