Investigation of the Ashenden Proposal for redesigning teachers\u27 work: The case of secondary teacher librarians

This thesis documents the implications of the Ashenden proposal for the work of teacher librarians in particular, and teachers in general. The participants are eight practising teacher librarians ‘in charge\u27, from Perth metropolitan secondary schools. Data for this qualitative study was collected through semi-structured interviews and analysed using the constant comparative method. The study identifies the main strength of Ashenden\u27s proposal as his orientation\ towards the professional ideology of teachers which implies trust in the professional intentions, knowledge and discretionary judgements of teachers. The study also finds that the Ashenden proposal is incompatible with the work of teaching as a profession. Points of departure arise from: Ashenden\u27s view of the industrial relations process; the productivity requirement to work within existing levels of resourcing; his industrial management approach which tends to characterise teaching as a labour form of work; and his limited view of the problems associated with teachers\u27 work. This thesis proposes two alternative courses of action, based on an integration of the field data, the literature, and the identified strengths of the Ashenden proposal. One proposal is intended for all teachers. The other is intended for teacher librarians, who form the specific focus of the study

Organic compounds in the environment: soil sorption of acidic pesticides: modeling pH effects.

A model of acidic pesticide sorption in soils was developed from theoretical modeling and experimental data, which initially considered a combination of a strongly acidic pesticide and a variable-charge soil with high clay content. Contribution of 2,4-D [(2,4-dichlorophenoxy) acetic acid] anionic-form sorption was small when compared with molecular sorption. Dissociation of 2,4-D was not sufficient to explain the variation in Kd as a function of pH. Accessibility of soil organic functional groups able to interact with the pesticide (conformational changes) as a function of organic matter dissociation was proposed to explain the observed differences in sorption. Experimental 2,4-D sorption data and Koc values from literature for flumetsulam [N-(2,6-difluorophenyl)-5-methyl [1,2,4] triazolo [1,5-a] pyrimidine-2-sulfonamide] and sulfentrazon

On the dynamics of vortex modes within magnetic islands

Recent work investigating the interaction of magnetic islands with micro-turbulence has uncovered the striking observation of large scale vortex modes forming within the island structure [W.A. Hornsby {\it et al.}, Phys. Plasmas {\bf 17} 092301 (2010)]. These electrostatic vortices are found to be the size of the island and are oscillatory. It is this oscillatory behaviour and the presence of turbulence that leads us to believe that the dynamics are related to the Geodesic Acoustic Mode (GAM), and it is this link that is investigated in this paper. Here we derive an equation for the GAM in the MHD limit, in the presence of a magnetic island modified three-dimensional axisymmetric geometry. The eigenvalues and eigenfunctions are calculated numerically and then utilised to analyse the dynamics of oscillatory large-scale electrostatic potential structures seen in both linear and non-linear gyro-kinetic simulations

PREDICTING OFFENSIVE PERFORMANCE IN COLLEGIATE BASEBALL PLAYERS USING ISOMETRIC FORCE PRODUCTION CHARACTERISTICS

This study assessed the predictability of offensive performance in collegiate baseball players using isometric force production variables. Baseball players (n=31) performed isometric mid-thigh pull strength testing to assess kinetic variables from force plate data. Bivariate correlations were calculated between kinetic data and baseball performance variables (batting avg, slugging % (SLG), doubles and HRs). Linear regression was used to calculate multiple correlations and to generate prediction equations with kinetic data and offensive performance. Moderate to large statistically significant correlations were observed between HRs and SLG with all kinetic variables. A moderate correlation is seen between doubles and rate of force development (RFD). Resistance exercises that will increase the hitter’s ability to develop large forces as well as increase RFD may be necessary for better performance

Pesticide leaching potential assessment in multilayered soils.

The Attenuation Factor ( AF) model generalized for multilayered soils was used to estimate the leaching potentials of non-ionic and non-ionizable pesticides in Brazilian soils. The model applied takes into account pesticide and soil properties, as well as the net recharge rate. Advective transport of pesticides and piston water flow, instantaneous equilibrium between phases in soil, and first-order pesticide degradation were assumed. The highest overall leaching potential pesticides were Tebuthiuron and Hexazinone, which present half-life ( t½) values exceeding 90 days and sorption coefficient ( Koc) less than 80 mL/g. For all of the pesticides in the three soils, the percent of the pesticide entering at the top of each layer that exits, the bottom of that layer increased with depth because of the decrease in the pesticide travel time ( tr), which is, in turn, due to the lower retardation factor ( RF). In a Typic Quartzipsamment soil, the shortest water travel time values, due to the lowest field capacity ( FC) values, resulted in the highest AF values and leaching potential. Results allow estimating that about 54% of Tebuthiuron and 13% of Hexazinone that reaches the soil surface would pass through the top 120 cm of the Typic Quartzipsamment

Global gyrokinetic simulations of intrinsic rotation in ASDEX Upgrade Ohmic L-mode plasmas

Non-linear, radially global, turbulence simulations of ASDEX Upgrade (AUG) plasmas are performed and the nonlinear generated intrinsic flow shows agreement with the intrinsic flow gradients measured in the core of Ohmic L-mode plasmas at nominal parameters. Simulations utilising the kinetic electron model show hollow intrinsic flow profiles as seen in a predominant number of experiments performed at similar plasma parameters. In addition, significantly larger flow gradients are seen than in a previous flux-tube analysis (Hornsby et al {\it Nucl. Fusion} (2017)). Adiabatic electron model simulations can show a flow profile with opposing sign in the gradient with respect to a kinetic electron simulation, implying a reversal in the sign of the residual stress due to kinetic electrons. The shaping of the intrinsic flow is strongly determined by the density gradient profile. The sensitivity of the residual stress to variations in density profile curvature is calculated and seen to be significantly stronger than to neoclassical flows (Hornsby et al {\it Nucl. Fusion} (2017)). This variation is strong enough on its own to explain the large variations in the intrinsic flow gradients seen in some AUG experiments. Analysis of the symmetry breaking properties of the turbulence shows that profile shearing is the dominant mechanism in producing a finite parallel wave-number, with turbulence gradient effects contributing a smaller portion of the parallel wave-vector

Sorption and leaching potential of acidic herbicides in brazilian soils.

Leaching potentials of three acidic herbicides were assessed for three different Brazilian soils, by means of the multi-layered AFi model. Values of AFi were also calculated for each herbicide using a modified model (AFi*), where sorption coefficient (Kd) values are pH-dependent. The pH-dependent Kd values estimated for all three herbicides were always higher than pH-independent Kd values calculated using average Koc data. The pHdependent Kd values for the three herbicides evidenced a large variation from layer to layer following changes in OC and pH for the different soil depths. When OC decreases, Kd tends to decrease; on the other hand, lowering pH tends to increase Kd. For all three soils, OC and pH exhibit an overall decrease with depth. Despite differences between the pH-independent Kd and the pH-dependent Kd values, the AFi values for 2,4-D, calculated by the original multilayered-soil model and by the modified model (AFi*), were similarly low for all three soils, mostly due to the short half-life of 2,4-D. The pH-dependent AFi values for flumetsulam were always much lower than values calculated by the original multi-layered model. Therefore, the pH-independent model appears to overestimate leaching potential of flumetsulam. The AFi values for sulfentrazone calculated by the original and the modified models were similarly high for all three soils, despite the differences in Kd values. The long half-life of sulfentrazone mostly contributed to the similar high values of AFi for the three different soils. Overall AFi values showed large differences for sulfentrazone when calculated by the original and by the modified model (AFi*), owing to its high AF value for each layer. Thus, the original AFi model would seem to markedly overestimate the leaching potential for sulfentrazone, as well as for flumetsulam for these soil condition