Comparison of oral recall with written recall of silent reading in the middle grades.

Thesis (M.A.)--Boston University This item was digitized by the Internet Archive

Allergenicity and crossreactivity of buffalo grass (Stenotaphrum secundatum)

Background. In the subtropical climate of South Africa, grasses of the subfamily Panicoideae are predominant. Bermuda grass has previously been shown to be an important local allergen, and immunoglobulin E (IgE) epitopes of Bermuda grass extracts are known to be distinct from those of the Pooid pollen extracts. Following our demonstration of sensitivity in 43% of patients grass-allergic to the Panicoid, Kikuyu grass, we have studied the closely related buffalo grass, Stenotaphrurn secundaturn, indigenous to the Western Cape region, the east coast of Africa and the oceanic islands such as Mauritius; and Eragrostis, another common indigenous grass with a wide distribution.Objective. To partially characterise the allergens of buffalo pollen, and examine its immunological relationships with local common grasses such as Eragrostis and Kikuyu.Methods. Grass-allergic patients were evaluated clinically, and skin prick tests (SPTs) and radio-allergosorbent tests (RASTs) to Bermuda and grass mix were performed. Sera of timothy grass-sensitive patients from Belgium were also included in this study. Pollen extract from buffalo grass was characterised by specific IgE binding by means of immunoblotting and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Crossreactivity between the grasses was studied by means of inhibition of IgE binding.Results. More than 90% of grass-sensitive patients were found to have IgE antibodies to Buffalo and Eragrostis pollen. Inhibition of ELISA and immunoblots revealed that extracts of these grass pollens could significant inhibit IgE binding to the local grass pollens, Kikuyu, buffalo, Eragrostis and Bermuda on solid phase, but 100% inhibition was never achieved, indicating that cross-reactive but also unique epitopes are present. We also identified a subset of patients with negative RASTs to Bermuda, and minimal inhibition by Bermuda pollen extract.Conclusion. Buffalo and Eragrostis are important aeroallergens in the Cape, dispersed during the long dry, windy summer. Our data suggest that the local grasses are major  sensitisers, and that South African diagnostic panels should include extracts of buffalo and Eragrostis grasses

Wind and temperature in a glacierised Himalayan valley, and their controlling mechanisms

The Hindu-Kush Karakoram Himalaya (HKKH) contains the third largest quantity of snow and ice in the world, after the Polar Regions. Meltwater from this snow and ice feeds many of the major rivers in Asia, which ultimately provide water for 1.9 billion people. Due to its complex and rugged terrain, as well as a scarcity of in-situ measurements and fine-scale numerical modelling studies, important factors influencing melt and precipitation, such as the local valley wind regimes and the lapse rates of near-surface temperatures, are poorly understood in the HKKH. This thesis aims to improve understanding of the valley wind regime and temperature lapse rate for the glacierised Dudh Koshi River Basin in the Nepalese Himalaya, which includes the Khumbu Glacier, by utilising results from a high-resolution atmospheric model and measurements from a field campaign. First, the mechanisms controlling the local wind regime in the Dudh Koshi Valley are investigated, by running the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model at 1 km horizontal resolution for one month in the summer and one month in the winter. The WRF model output is found to well represent the diurnal cycle of the wind when compared to existing in-situ observations, which is characterised by strong up-valley near-surface winds during the day and weak (predominantly up-valley) winds at night in both months. A momentum budget analysis reveals that the predominant physical drivers of the near-surface wind acceleration are the pressure gradient, advection and turbulent vertical mixing, which are extremely spatially variable over the valley. The results also show that the local wind regime and its drivers are strongly affected by the presence of glaciers, which act to weaken the up-valley flow. Second, as the Khumbu Glacier is largely debris-covered (along with many glaciers in the HKKH), a new debris-cover category is added into the WRF model. This enhancement is found to improve the model representation of near-surface temperature, relative humidity, wind speed and radiation, in comparison to the default category of clean-ice glaciers. The addition of the new debris-cover category, and the resulting change in near-surface temperature and wind speed are found to have consequent effects on water vapour, hydrometeors and ultimately snow cover. Third, to investigate the temperature lapse rate, a series of temperature sensors was installed throughout the Dudh Koshi Valley and over the Khumbu Glacier for 18 days during the pre-monsoon season in 2017, and the entire monsoon season. Lapse rates are found to vary considerably, both diurnally and over the pre-monsoon and monsoon periods. Temperature budget analysis based on output from the WRF model reveals that (both off-glacier and on the debris-covered glacier) the near-surface temperature during the day is warmed by turbulent vertical mixing and cooled by advection. Furthermore, at night a relationship is identified between strong downslope winds on the glacier and shallow lapse rates, due to warming from advection and cooling from turbulent vertical mixing. In addition, in the monsoon season there is a substantial contribution from latent cooling during the day. This is the first work to provide a full momentum and temperature budget analysis for a valley in the HKKH region. It is hoped that the advances made in this thesis may ultimately help inform developments to weather and climate models over the region, including highlighting the need for debris-covered glaciers to be represented in atmospheric models.This PhD was funded through a National Environmental Research Council Studentship. The fieldwork was additionally funded by the Royal Geographical Society, the Royal Meteorological Society and the Mount Everest Foundation. Wolfson College, Cambridge University provided funds for a trip to the American Geophysical Union annual meeting through a travel grant, and the Polar Climate and Predictions team at BAS also provided additional funding

Self Selection Does Not Increase Other-Regarding Preferences among Adult Laboratory Subjects, but Student Subjects May Be More Self-Regarding than Adults

We use a sequential prisoner's dilemma game to measure the other-regarding behavior in samples from three related populations in the upper Midwest of the United States: 100 college students, 94 non-student adults from the community surrounding the college and 1,069 adult trainee truckers in a residential training program. Both of the first two groups were recruited according to procedures commonly used in experimental economics (i.e., via e-mail and bulletin-board advertisements) and therefore subjects self-selected into the experiment. Because the structure of their training program reduced the opportunity cost of participating dramatically, 91% of the solicited trainees participated in the third group, so there was little scope for self-selection in this sample. We find no differences in the elicited other-regarding preferences between the self-selected adults and the adult trainees, suggesting that selection into this type of experiment is unlikely to bias inferences with respect to non-student adult subjects. We also test (and reject) the more specific hypothesis that approval-seeking subjects are the ones most likely to select into experiments. At the same time, we find a large difference between the self-selected students and the self-selected adults from the surrounding community: the students appear considerably less pro-social. Regression results controlling for demographic factors confirm these basic findings.methodology, selection bias, laboratory experiment, field experiment, other-regarding behavior, social preferences, truckload, trucker

Dilemmas in water and wastewater pricing : the case of Bangkok, Thailand

Thesis (M.C.P.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 1994.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 133-138).by Joanne R. Potter.M.C.P

Self selection does not increase other-regarding preferences among adult laboratory subjects, but student subjects may be more self-regarding than adults

We measure the other-regarding behavior in samples from three related populations in the upper Midwest of the United States: college students, non-student adults from the community surrounding the college, and adult trainee truckers in a residential training program. The first two groups were recruited according to procedures commonly used in experimental economics and therefore subjects self-selected into the experiment. Because the structure of their training program reduced the opportunity cost of participating dramatically, 91% of the solicited trainees participated in the third group, so there was little scope for self-selection in this sample. We find no differences in the elicited other-regarding preferences between the self-selected adults and the adult trainees, suggesting that selection into this type of experiment is unlikely to bias inferences with respect to non-student adult subjects. At the same time, we find a large difference between self-selected students and self-selected adults: the students appear considerably less pro-social

Self selection does not increase other-regarding preferences among adult laboratory subjects, but student subjects may be more self-regarding than adults

We use a sequential prisoner's dilemma game to measure the other-regarding behavior in samples from three related populations in the upper Midwest of the United States: 100 college students, 94 non-student adults from the community surrounding the college and 1,069 adult trainee truckers in a residential training program. Both of the first two groups were recruited according to procedures commonly used in experimental economics (i.e., via e-mail and bulletin-board advertisements) and therefore subjects self-selected into the experiment. Because the structure of their training program reduced the opportunity cost of participating dramatically, 91% of the solicited trainees participated in the third group, so there was little scope for self-selection in this sample. We find no differences in the elicited other-regarding preferences between the self-selected adults and the adult trainees, suggesting that selection into this type of experiment is unlikely to bias inferences with respect to non-student adult subjects. We also test (and reject) the more specific hypothesis that approval-seeking subjects are the ones most likely to select into experiments. At the same time, we find a large difference between the self-selected students and the self-selected adults from the surrounding community: the students appear considerably less pro-social. Regression results controlling for demographic factors confirm these basic findings

Reported child awareness of parental depression

Aims and method To determine rates of parent-reported child awareness of parental depression, examine characteristics of parents, children and families according to child awareness, and explore whether child awareness is associated with child psychopathology. Data were available from 271 families participating in the Early Prediction of Adolescent Depression (EPAD) study, a longitudinal study of offspring of parents with recurrent depression. Results Seventy-three per cent of participating children were perceived as being aware of their parent's depression. Older children, and children of parents who experienced more severe depression, were more likely to be aware. Awareness was not associated with child psychopathology. Clinical implications Considering children in the context of parental depression is important. Child awareness may influence their access to early intervention and prevention programmes. Further research is needed to understand the impact of awareness on the child