Professional learning communities for early childhood teachers

This study describes research related to professional development, mainly professional learning communities. The author created two professional learning communities within a child care facility in Queens, New York. This study implies that professional learning communities can be beneficial to early childhood teachers

A Diatom Phosphorus Inference Model for 30 Freshwater Lakes in NE Ohio and NW Pennsylvania

Nutrient enrichment in the form of anthropogenic phosphorous and nitrogen inputs has occurred in lakes worldwide. In the absence of historical water chemistry data, the extent to which this disturbance has impacted lakes in the Erie/Ontario drift and lake plain and Western Allegheny Plateau ecoregions remains to be determined. The objective of this study was to develop a diatom calibration set through analysis of surface sediments and water chemistry from 30 lakes spanning a phosphorous and nitrogen gradient in the glaciated regions of northeast Ohio and northwest Pennsylvania with an additional lake in New York. No current training set exists for this unique geographic region. The relationship between diatom species and environmental variables was established using ordination techniques involving multiple regression and weighted-averaging methods. Canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) was used to determine environmental variables that have a strong influence on diatoms from the ecoregions studied. Total phosphorus, ammonia, and magnesium were the three most statistically significant variables determined through multivariate analyses, although maximum depth and nickel concentrations were also found to be important. At a total phosphorus inference model was developed from recent diatom fossil remains and contemporary water chemistry measurements. The ecological indicator values (optima and tolerances) of 40 abundant diatom species were defined using C2 computer software. The root mean squared error associated with prediction of the TP inference model was 17 ug/L, and the R2 linear coefficient of correlation between observed and diatom-inferred TP values was 0.77. The optima developed in this research match closely those constructed from calibration studies covering similar or longer TP gradients (12 ug/L-153 ug/L TP). A comparison with optima developed from other studies yields values much lower than those in this project and illustrates the need for regional calibration studies. This calibration set will be u

A Diatom Phosphorus Inference Model for 30 Freshwater Lakes in NE Ohio and NW Pennsylvania

Nutrient enrichment in the form of anthropogenic phosphorous and nitrogen inputs has occurred in lakes worldwide. In the absence of historical water chemistry data, the extent to which this disturbance has impacted lakes in the Erie/Ontario drift and lake plain and Western Allegheny Plateau ecoregions remains to be determined. The objective of this study was to develop a diatom calibration set through analysis of surface sediments and water chemistry from 30 lakes spanning a phosphorous and nitrogen gradient in the glaciated regions of northeast Ohio and northwest Pennsylvania with an additional lake in New York. No current training set exists for this unique geographic region. The relationship between diatom species and environmental variables was established using ordination techniques involving multiple regression and weighted-averaging methods. Canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) was used to determine environmental variables that have a strong influence on diatoms from the ecoregions studied. Total phosphorus, ammonia, and magnesium were the three most statistically significant variables determined through multivariate analyses, although maximum depth and nickel concentrations were also found to be important. At a total phosphorus inference model was developed from recent diatom fossil remains and contemporary water chemistry measurements. The ecological indicator values (optima and tolerances) of 40 abundant diatom species were defined using C2 computer software. The root mean squared error associated with prediction of the TP inference model was 17 ug/L, and the R2 linear coefficient of correlation between observed and diatom-inferred TP values was 0.77. The optima developed in this research match closely those constructed from calibration studies covering similar or longer TP gradients (12 ug/L-153 ug/L TP). A comparison with optima developed from other studies yields values much lower than those in this project and illustrates the need for regional calibration studies. This calibration set will be u

Wage inequality, tasks and occupations

This paper assesses the relationship between occupation attributes and changes in wage inequality finding partial support for the computerization hypothesis. While wages associated with non-routine cognitive tasks have risen; current versions of the hypothesis cannot explain the pattern of within occupation wage changes, the differential impact of various types of non-routine cognitive tasks and the declining return to tasks that complement machines. Despite significant employment shifts, occupational composition alone matters little for changes in wage inequality. Changes in wage dispersion within occupations are quantitatively just as important as wage changes between occupations for explaining wage inequality between 1980 and 2000.wage inequality, computerization, skill, tasks

Exemplary Legal Writing 2020: Five Recommendations

A brief review of five recommended exemplary legal books published in 2020

Deconstructing Tectonics: Ten Animated Explorations

The configuration of continents and oceans of our tectonically active planet is ever changing. Using new, high‐resolution paleogeographic base maps, we created a set of animations that examine key elements of plate tectonics. These time‐ and space‐based paleoglobe reconstructions illustrate continental rifting, continental breakup, ocean ridges and fracture zones, hot spot tracks, arc‐backarc systems, continental collision, terrane accretion, opening‐closing of ocean basins, supercontinent formation, plate velocities, and future Earth. Each animation is supported by a narrative that offers a brief topical overview, some observations to guide a user’s exploration, and key references that formulated the main ideas and concepts that became the foundations of modern plate tectonics.Key PointsFundamentals of plate tectonics are explored with paleogeographyShort animations and supporting write‐ups illustrate key processes and properties of tectonicsPresenting plate reconstructions from Cambrian to Today, and a permissible future EarthPeer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/163371/2/ess2650.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/163371/1/ess2650_am.pd

Mapping Earth Analogs from Photometric Variability: Spin-Orbit Tomography for Planets in Inclined Orbits

Aiming at obtaining detailed information of surface environment of Earth analogs, Kawahara & Fujii (2011) proposed an inversion technique of annual scattered light curves named the spin-orbit tomography (SOT), which enables one to sketch a two-dimensional albedo map from annual variation of the disk-integrated scattered light, and demonstrated the method with a planet in a face-on orbit. We extend it to be applicable to general geometric configurations, including low-obliquity planets like the Earth in inclined orbits. We simulate light curves of the Earth in an inclined orbit in three photometric bands (0.4-0.5um, 0.6-0.7um, and 0.8-0.9um) and show that the distribution of clouds, snow, and continents is retrieved with the aid of the SOT. We also demonstrate the SOT by applying it to an upright Earth, a tidally locked Earth, and Earth analogs with ancient continental configurations. The inversion is model independent in the sense that we do not assume specific albedo models when mapping the surface, and hence applicable in principle to any kind of inhomogeneity. This method can potentially serve as a unique tool to investigate the exohabitats/exoclimes of Earth analogs.Comment: 15 pages, 14 figures, 2 tables; published in The Astrophysical Journa