Subordination in Children’s Writing

This paper reports an investigation into the use of subordinate clauses in the writing of a class of seven to nine year old children when attempting five different writing tasks. The investigation was undertaken in part-response to an inspection report on the school by the Office for Standards in Education (Ofsted) which recommended that the school should extend the writing skills of pupils in this age-range. The importance of developing subordination in writing is related to previous research and to evidence from reviews of Ofsted inspection evidence. The different patterns of subordination are discussed, between tasks and pupils and in relation to variation in the writing of individual children when tackling the different tasks. The paper ends by suggesting how similar informal investigations can assist schools in promoting writing development. It also outlines how the teaching approaches outlined in the National Literacy Strategy will provide opportunities for this promotion, particularly by exploiting links between reading and writing

Interplanetary magnetic fields as a cause of comet tails

Interplanetary magnetic fields as cause of comet tail

Putting Soybeans into Permanent Farming

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Clear air turbulence

Research on forecasting, detection, and incidents of clear air turbulenc

Modeling Lithospheric Rheology from Modern Measurements of Bonneville Shoreline Deformation

Here I develop a cross-correlation approach to estimating heights of shoreline features, and apply the new method to paleo-shorelines of Pleistocene Lake Bonneville. I calculate 1st-derivative (slope) and 2nd-derivative (curvature) profiles from Digital Elevation Model (DEM) or Global Positioning System Real-Time Kinematic (GPS-RTK) measurements of elevation. I then cross-correlate pairs of profiles that have been shifted by various lags, or shifts in elevation. The correlation coefficient (a normalized dot-product measure of similarity) is calculated as a function of lag within small (~40 m) windows centered at various elevations. The elevation and lag with the greatest correlation coefficient indicates the shoreline elevation at the reference profile and the change in shoreline height for the profile pair. I evaluate several different algorithms for deriving slope and curvature by examining closure of elevation lags across profile triples. I then model isostatic response to Lake Bonneville loading and unloading. I first model lakeshore uplift response to lake load removal assuming an elastic layer over an inviscid half-space. I obtain a best-fit comparison of predicted to observed shoreline heights for the Bonneville level with an elastic layer thickness, Te, of 25±2 km (at 95% confidence) when using only previously published shoreline elevation estimates. The best-fit for the Bonneville level when using these estimates plus 44 new estimates suggests a Te of 26±2 km. The best-fit model for the Provo level suggests Te of 17±3 km. For the Gilbert level, the response is insensitive to the assumed Te. I next model isostatic response to Bonneville loading and unloading assuming an elastic layer over a viscoelastic halfspace. This approach assumes constant parameters for the entire loading history, and yields a best-fit model with Te =70±5 km and viscosity ç=~2x1018 Pa s with 95% confidence ranging from ~1x1018 to ~5x1019 Pa s when only the previously published data are used. With the newer data added, the best-fit model has Te =58±2 km and ç ranging from ~1x1018 to ~1x1019 Pa s with 95% confidence. The 12-15 m weighted root-mean-square misfit to the best-fitting model is dominated by tectonic signals related to Basin-and-Range tectonics particularly seismic offsets of the Wasatch fault, and closely mimics the geological timescale pattern of basin-subsidence and range-uplift

Personnel, the Class 0 Supply Item: A Logistics Management Approach to Supplying Combatant Commanders with Warfighters

The Air Force\u27s end strength has drawn down from 530,000 to just over 332,000 in the past 20 years. All indications are that resources will continue to become more restricted in the future, including manpower. Meanwhile, studies indicate that the Air Force will likely continue to withdraw permanently stationed forces overseas and rely increasingly on the Air Expeditionary Force (AEF) construct for rapid mobility and force projection. With the AEF and efficient manpower utilization projected to become increasingly important, this study provides the first examination of the AEF as an overarching process for improvement opportunities. It proposes that the concept of AEF requirement fulfillment is actually a supply chain designed to supply Combatant Commanders with equipment and warfighters. It focuses on the fulfillment of manpower requirements, identifying them as a Class 0 Supply Item, and uses Supply Chain and Logistics Management principles to conduct an initial examination of the process to identify overarching relationships and process flow. Using the information gathered, it then maps the conceptual relationships and develops a statistical probability model to aid leaders and future researchers in analyzing expected costs and benefits of various targeted changes within the current construct. The study proposes new methods for managing AEF manpower capabilities and a new application of SCM principles. It also hopes to be a solid platform for a multi-phase study aimed at reengineering the AEF, from force reporting to sourcing in an effort to maximize manpower utilization and provide senior leadership and the planning community with more accurate force accountability

Determination of phytochemicals in vegetable juices and their effects on postprandial glycaemia

High fruit and vegetable intake correlates well with positive health outcomes and reduced rates of chronic diseases such as cardiovascular diseases, type 2 diabetes, cancers, neurological decline and metabolic diseases. Bioactive phytochemicals such as polyphenols, carotenoids, vitamins, minerals and others present in fruit and vegetables may be at least partly responsible for this effect. The precise mechanisms of action for several groups of compounds, and their potential impacts upon each sphere of health have not yet been fully elucidated. This work provides novel analysis of the total antioxidant capacity and total polyphenol content of 23 commercially available vegetable juices which are available on the UK market, utilising 6 biochemical assays, before and after in vitro digestion. Beetroot juice had the highest total antioxidant capacity and total polyphenol content regardless of the method of analysis, and both measures either increased or remained stable following in vitro digestion. A commercially available beetroot juice shot was selected as a viable method to increase bioactive phytochemical intake in the general population and its carbohydrate and phytochemical profiles were obtained by HPLC and GCMS analysis. The impact of consuming beetroot juice (70 mL) as part of a mixed meal or consuming beetroot juice alone (225 mL) on postprandial glucose and insulin responses was then assessed to investigate a potential role for these phytochemicals in the control of diseases featuring insulin resistance as a primary symptom, such as type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome. Consumption of 70 mL of beetroot juice as part of a mixed meal containing a total of 50g available carbohydrate resulted in a significant (P<0.05) reduction in postprandial insulin concentration at 15 minutes compared to a matched control meal. Consumption of 50g available carbohydrate as 225 mL beetroot juice resulted in a significant (P<0.05) lowering of blood glucose in the 0-30 minute segment of the glucose response and a significant (P<0.05) lowering of the insulin response in the corresponding 0-60 minute segment, compared to a matched control beverage. Insulin sensitivity was estimated using a mathematical model and non-significantly increased with the dose of beetroot juice. Phytochemicals in beetroot juice, namely betanin and its degradation products, alone or in combination with polyphenolic compounds, may improve the postprandial glycaemic state with relevance to diseases characterised by insulin resistance in a similar pattern to other investigated foods such as berries and cinnamon. Further research should aim to further quantify the effects of beetroot juice phytochemicals on postprandial insulinaemia using larger cohorts and diseased populations. Phytochemicals such as neobetanin should also be given in isolation to clarify the compounds responsible for the observed effects. The potential role of phytochemicals in potentiating endogenous nitrate conversion is also worthy of further investigation

P.O. Beard to Dr. Silver, 8 November 1958

Professional correspondenc

Velocity measurements in whole blood using acoustic resolution photoacoustic Doppler

Acoustic resolution photoacoustic Doppler velocimetry promises to overcome the spatial resolution and depth penetration limitations of current blood flow measuring methods. Despite successful implementation using blood-mimicking fluids, measurements in blood have proved challenging, thus preventing in vivo application. A common explanation for this difficulty is that whole blood is insufficiently heterogeneous relative to detector frequencies of tens of MHz compatible with deep tissue photoacoustic measurements. Through rigorous experimental measurements we provide new insight that refutes this assertion. We show for the first time that, by careful choice of the detector frequency and field-of-view, and by employing novel signal processing methods, it is possible to make velocity measurements in whole blood using transducers with frequencies in the tens of MHz range. These findings have important implications for the prospects of making deep tissue measurements of blood flow relevant to the study of microcirculatory abnormalities associated with cancer, diabetes, atherosclerosis and other conditions

Acoustic resolution photoacoustic Doppler velocimetry in blood-mimicking fluids

Photoacoustic Doppler velocimetry provides a major opportunity to overcome limitations of existing blood flow measuring methods. By enabling measurements with high spatial resolution several millimetres deep in tissue, it could probe microvascular blood flow abnormalities characteristic of many different diseases. Although previous work has demonstrated feasibility in solid phantoms, measurements in blood have proved significantly more challenging. This difficulty is commonly attributed to the requirement that the absorber spatial distribution is heterogeneous relative to the minimum detectable acoustic wavelength. By undertaking a rigorous study using blood-mimicking fluid suspensions of 3 μm absorbing microspheres, it was discovered that the perceived heterogeneity is not only limited by the intrinsic detector bandwidth; in addition, bandlimiting due to spatial averaging within the detector field-of-view also reduces perceived heterogeneity and compromises velocity measurement accuracy. These detrimental effects were found to be mitigated by high-pass filtering to select photoacoustic signal components associated with high heterogeneity. Measurement under-reading due to limited light penetration into the flow vessel was also observed. Accurate average velocity measurements were recovered using "range-gating", which furthermore maps the cross-sectional velocity profile. These insights may help pave the way to deep-tissue non-invasive mapping of microvascular blood flow using photoacoustic methods