The development of a medieval scribe

Every individual has a set of traits unique for that person. These include biometric identi ers such as DNA, but the same principal applies to the notion of a scribal ngerprint or human stylome. In contrast to the innate nature of a real ngerprint, such features have been acquired over time and, by de nition, are therefore subject to change. Knowledge of the (lack of) consistency of such linguistic or palaeographic identi ers over time is essential in constructing unique personal identi ers for scribes. The present article examines the case of one scribe, working as a secretary for the Teutonic Order in Utrecht and as notary public. His corpus of texts, which includes an important author’s copy of the late fteenth century Jüngere Hochmeisterchronik, covers a period of thirty years. By quantifying spelling preferences, character sizes, letter-forms and the use of abbreviations it is possible to monitor the development of his writing through time. It turns out that spelling preferences and the use of abbreviations show remarkably little consistency over a longer period. Only chang- ing patterns in the use of certain letter-forms can be used to create a more stable timeline in Hendrik van Vianen’s writings. Furthermore, abrupt changes in the patterns have been used to indicate a phased genesis of the manuscript of the Jüngere Hochmeisterchronik

SCHOOL, FAMILY, AND FAITH: SOCIAL INFLUENCES ON EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES OF NONMETROPOLITAN SEXUAL MINORITY STUDENTS

Social institutions in rural communities tend to be highly interrelated and social ties tend to be dense and multiplex. Human ecological theoretical models posit that all institutions in which an individual is embedded interact in complex ways. As such, this dissertation examines the influences of school, faith, family, and risk contexts on the grade point averages of students who attended school in nonmetropolitan counties in Appalachian Kentucky. Using data disaggregated by gender from nearly 5,000 adolescents, I identified risk and protective factors on grade point averages by attraction type (exclusively opposite-sex attracted, same-sex attracted, and unsure of attraction), identified differences in grade point averages between attraction types, and identified mediators and moderators of the relationship between attraction type and grade point average. School belonging positively influenced the grade point averages of unsure males and religious belief negatively influenced the grade point averages of same-sex attracted males. In general, sexual minority students reported lower grade point averages than their exclusively opposite-sex attracted peers. Among same-sex attracted males and females, this disparity in grade point average was mediated by school belonging. Among unsure males the variation in grade point average was largely explained by engagement in risk behaviors. The relationship between sexual attraction and grade point average was moderated by religiosity, marijuana use, and labor market optimism

On The Frontline of Literacy: Risk and Reward as the Battle Rages on

This paper advocates for assignments that are “high risk” in order to promote a less than predictable classroom environment. This paper attempts to create a space specific to first-year teachers of Freshman Composition and specifically for first-year teachers of Freshman Composition. Sample assignments are couched inside of a personal narrative of failure, as first first-year teachers of Freshman Composition are encouraged to explore the relationship between risk and reward, between pedagogical approach and classroom practice

Second opinion NuStar terminal expansion

In this report a second opinion is developed for the Environmental Impact Assessment NuStar terminal expansion (at St. Eustatius). Only the marine ecology part of the EIA report is evaluated focusing on the impacts reported for marine reserves, reef- and sea-grass habitat, conchs, turtles, marine mammal and fish. The criteria used are: completeness, consistence, transparency, ecological soundness, and relevance of the foreseen impacts resulting from the terminal expansion. When applying these criteria we have found that most of the impact assessments were incomplete (missing information and data, missing expected impacts). Reference base line data has been incompletely collected. Furthermore, many of the assessments were not transparent (based on the information given in the EIA we could not come to the same conclusion). Also we found that the reasoning to come to a conclusion in the EIA was not ecologically sound in many cases (e.g. mobile species are not affected by habitat loss because they can move out the area instead of describing an effect on the distribution area and thus on the abundance or density of the species). In a few cases assessments scored not relevant or were not assessed in a consistent way. Furthermore, we found that not all expected (potential) impacts were assessed and that those assessed were mainly qualitatively assessed only. Data on pressures was incomplete as was data on ecological receptors, and some publically available data was not used. At the end of this report we list these data needs and missing impact assessments

The magic spell of language. Linguistic categories and their perceptual consequences

Language is a tool that directs attention to different aspects of reality. Using participants from the same linguistic community, the authors demonstrate in 4 studies that metasemantic features of linguistic categories influence basic perceptual processes. More specifically, the hypothesis that abstract versus concrete language leads to a more global versus local perceptual focus was supported across 4 experiments, in which participants used (Experiment 1) or were primed either supraliminally (Experiments 2 and 3) or subliminally (Experiment 4) with abstract (adjectives) or concrete (verbs) terms. Participants were shown to display a global versus specific perceptual focus (Experiments 1 and 4), more versus less inclusiveness of categorization (Experiments 2 and 3), and incorporation of more rather than less contextual information (Experiment 3). The implications of this new perspective toward the language-perception interface are discussed in the context of the general linguistic relativity debate. © 2007 American Psychological Association