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A comprehensive work, combining traditional zooarchaeological reports and various state-of-the-art summaries of methods and theoretical perspectives. This combination of detailed discussions of basic zooarchaeological data with reviews of important themes in Maya zooarchaeology emphasizes the central issues that guide our research from basic data collection through final comparative interpretation. The chapters emphasize the newest developments in technical methods, the most recent trends in the analysis of “social zooarchaeology,” and the broadening perspectives provided by a new geographic range of investigations. The main focus of the volume remains on fostering cooperation among Mesoamerican zooarchaeologists at the levels of both preliminary analysis and final theoretical reconstruction.

College campuses have become rich sites of hip-hop culture and knowledge production. Despite the attention that campus personnel and researchers have paid to student life, the field of higher education has often misunderstood the ways that hip-hop culture exists in college students' lives. Based upon in-depth interviews, observations of underground hip-hop spaces, and the author's own active roles in hop-hop communities, this book provides a rich portrait of how college students who create hip-hop--both male and female, and of multiple ethnicities--embody its principles and aesthetics on campuses across the United States. The book looks beyond rap music, school curricula, and urban adolescents to make the empirical argument that hip-hop has a deep cultural logic, habits of mind, and worldview components that students apply to teaching, learning, and living on campus. "Hip-Hop Culture in College Students' Lives" provides critical insights for researchers and campus personnel working with college students, while pushing cultural observers to rethink the basic ways that people live hip-hop.

This book will help changemakers move toward better functioning school systems and districts using reliable, participative, and practical methods. The author describes an orderly sequence of activities from getting started to monitoring continuing evolution of that most desirable future. These activities are intertwined with simple explanations of why they are appropriate and required. This allows an understanding of the process and use of the book as a guide to move successfully from one series of events to the next. The principles and methods on which the book is based follow from over fifty years of practical research, ensuring that the processes yield reliable results. Each chapter discusses a range of variations and examples with both successful applications and potential pitfalls with simple ways of avoiding them. These variations and examples help the school district and its community to choose the best path through the planning and design processes for their unique people and circumstances. All the methods and processes described are totally participative so the schools and communities who use them develop ownership of the processes and their outcomes. Not only does the school district change for the better, the community itself becomes more socially cohesive through working together for a common purpose.

This interdisciplinary collection of 26 readings in rural studies aims to address the paucity of information and absence of informed people to advise public debate about rural issues. Sections of the book examine the pastoral tradition in literature; the changing nature of the countryside; money, jobs, and space; distress and poverty; regional and ethnic diversity; and the rural social and institutional context (including education). Chapters are "The Forgotten Hinterlands" (Emery N. Castle); "Land and Word: American Pastoral" (William Howarth); "The Urban Invasion of Rural America: The Emergence of the Galactic City" (Peirce Lewis); "'Rural' and 'Farm' No Longer Mean the Same" (John Fraser Hart); "Population Change in Nonmetropolitan America" (Glenn V. Fuguitt); "The Location of Economic Activity in Rural and Nonmetropolitan United States" (Edwin S. Mills); "The Use and Management of Rural Space" (Pierre Crosson); "Extractive Industries and Rural-Urban Economic Interdependence" (Bruce A. Weber); "Finding Rural Success: The New Rural Economic Landscape and Its Implications" (Mark Drabenstott, Tim R. Smith); "Understanding Trends in Rural Labor Markets" (Gene F. Summers, Francine Horton, Christina Gringeri); "Persistent Rural Poverty" (Gene F. Summers); "The Determinants of Rural and Urban Poverty" (Thomas A. Hirschl, David L. Brown); "Why Rural Poverty Is Growing Worse: Similar Causes in Diverse Settings" (Janet M. Fitchen); "Conflict and Change on the Landscapes of the Arid American West" (Paul F. Starrs); "Rural Latinos: Evolving Conditions and Issues" (Refugio I. Rochin); "American Indian Economic Development" (C. Matthew Snipp); "The Rural South: A Historical View" (Charles S. Aiken); "African-Americans in the Rural South: The Persistence of Racism and Poverty" (Bruce B. Williams, Bonnie Thornton Dill); "The Rural People of the Midwest" (Sonya Salamon); "Social Organization in the Countryside" (Daryl Hobbs); "Structures and Patterns of Rural Governance" (Ronald J. Oakerson); "Rural Education and Training: Myths and Misconceptions Dispelled" (Ruy A. Teixeira); "Linking Education and Community Development: Rural and Inner City Strategies" (Joan Fitzgerald); "Rural Education: Decentering the Consolidation Debate" (David R. Reynolds); "Living with the Minimum: Rural Public Policy" (William P. Browne, Louis E. Swanson); and "An Overview" (Emery N. Castle). Contains over 700 references, nearly 100 data tables and figures, photographs, profiles of contributors, and an index. (SV)

Using Ehrenberg's application of mathematical models to the analysis and prediction of repeated buying patterns of consumers, this study focuses on the concept of library use as a form of consumer behavior. The following hypotheses were tested: designated library user groups will tend to exhibit stable behavioral patterns with respect to the library; these behavioral patterns will be found to be similar to those identified with respect to the consumption of frequently bought products; and the NBD (negative binomial distribution) model can be used as a reliable predictor of the repeat use behavioral patterns of library users. In a comparative study, the borrowing activity of faculty, postgraduate students, and university support staff at Cranfield Institute of Technology (England) and the University of Waterloo (Ontario, Canada) was analyzed through the collection and analysis of library transaction data over a 4-week period. Findings indicated that: (1) In both long- and short-term studies at Cranfield and Waterloo, clearly defined and consistent patterns of behavior emerged. These patterns relate not only to the degree to which each segment of the user community borrows material, but also to the types of material that the users affiliated with a particular department or discipline tend to use; (2) There are significant similarities between the behavior of library borrowers and behavior identified in numerous consumer research studies of repeated buying; and (3) The NBD repeat buying model provides a close fit between its theoretical predictions and the observed behavior of library borrowers. Eleven figures and 46 tables illustrate the study. (Contains 66 references.) (MAS)

This four-part volume addresses design principles for introducing democratic forms in workplaces, educational institutions, and social institutions, based on a trend toward participative democracy in Australia. Following an introduction, part I sets the context with two papers: "The Agenda for the Next Wave" and "Educational Paradigms: An Epistemological Revolution." Part II, Participative Design at the Organizational Level, includes "The Light on the Hill '88--'Skill Formation' or 'Democratization of Work'"; "Participative Design: Work and Community Life"; "Further Learnings about Participative Design"; "Matching Effectivities to Affordances in the Design of Jobs"; "Laissez Faire vs. Democratic Groups"; and "Getting to Grips with the Great 'Small Group' Conspiracy." In part III, Democracy throughout the System, the following articles are included: "Towards Real Democracy"; "Adaptive Systems for Our Future Governance"; "Industry Councils--Comments on One Aspect of the Jackson Report"; and "The Jury System and Participative Democracy." Part IV discusses participative democracy in education and contains the following papers: "An Inadequate Dichotomy: 'Structured' vs. 'Unstructured' Learning"; "A Training Workshop on the Theory and Practice of Search Conferences"; "Multisearches"; "An Alternative General Studies Curriculum: A Description, Results and Evaluation"; and "Participation and Self Management in Course, Workshop and Conference Design: Principles and Methods." The book's contributors are Merrelyn Emery, Fred Emery, and Allan Davies. (NLA)

Before discussing discipline policies and practices specifically, the authors survey the basis for discipline, the kinds of discipline, the needs and sources of discipline, and the relationships between parents and students and discipline. The authors point out the need for encouraging self-discipline and make the point that discipline and punishment are not the same thing. The bulk of the booklet discusses and provides examples of discipline policies on the district, building, and classroom levels. The discussion of classroom discipline provides general tips on classroom control, an analysis of problem types and problem situations, and suggestions for establishing classroom standards. (IRT)

The premise of this book is that most children are ready to learn to read at age four and that parents are capable of teaching their own children to read. Ways in which parents can and do aid in the development of a child's language are discussed. This development of oral language is very important to learning to read the language and is usually accomplished by the age of four. Examples of successful early readers are cited to support this theory. Guidelines are given to help parents recognize signs of reading readiness such as size of vocabulary, speaking clearly, hearing well, showing interest in reading letters and words, visual acuity, and attentiveness. A step by step program that parents can use to teach a child who is ready to read is explained. Instructions are given in the teaching of sight word vocabulary, phonics, and writing. (MKM)

Throughout the course of this text we have made reference at several points to the distinction between science and scientism. This distinction must be appreciated to understand the ideological component of scientism and its deleterious impact on generating positive, or progressive, educational change. Science has enjoyed tremendous progress on the one hand as illustrated by the range of technological advances at our disposal within contemporary society while it simultaneously has created a range of problems that present humankind with monumental challenges. Hence, the implications of natural science are a mixed blessing, but the tangible returns generated by its methods and the technology it produces cannot be reasonably denied. The history of human science, as we have pointed out, tells a somewhat more sordid tale, a story of profound epistemological and methodological problems. Within education, these issues are manifested in a range of claims and outcomes that are often both contradictory and confusing to academics and teachers alike (McClintock, 2007). Unlike science, the scientism pervading education is an ideology that seeks to apply the methods and practices of science to explain all elements of human experience, including teaching and learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As we have pointed out in Chapters 1-4, there are continued concerted contemporary efforts to promote empirically based research in education to the almost complete exclusion of other research paradigms. In the USA, these efforts are most notably illustrated "in the No Child Left Behind Act, and the reauthorization and reorganization of the Office of Educational Research and Improvement as the Institute for Educational Science" (Maxwell, 2004, p. 3). The Bush administration's No Child Left Behind (NCLB) legislation considers scientific research the best available means to improve education, supporting only those studies that, "employ systematic, empirical methods that draw on observation and experiment" (NCLB, 2000). As we have pointed out, this position is further instantiated by both the National Research Council in the USA and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. The increased emphasis on social science research methods and on educational psychology within faculties and departments of education further indicates a growing confidence in the ability of empirical research to strengthen classroom practices. In this chapter, we wish to supply additional evidence that this confidence in empirical research to resolve education problems is woefully misplaced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the previous chapters we have reviewed the history of social science research and introduced some of the basic principles on which empirical research, or LPE, in education is based. In this chapter we turn our attention toward identifying how the principles of logical positivism, when applied to education research, are ineffective for strengthening the discipline. In the following sections, we address some of the most problematic assumptions involved in carrying out empirical research in education and grapple with several related problems. Some of the major assumptions in social science research that promote positivistic or scientific principles in educational research include the following claims that we deconstruct within the course of our discussion:Educational researchers, like physical scientists, are detached from their objects of study in that their personal preferences and biases are excluded from their subject matter, observations, and attending analyses.Investigations of educational phenomena can be conducted in a value-neutral fashion, with the researcher eliminating all personal bias and preconceptions and employing language that expresses objectivity. In other words, there is objectivity and conceptual clarity in describing the studied phenomena within genuine scientific inquiry.Educational research, like the physical sciences is nomothetic - that is, it is possible to extrapolate from educational research data laws that apply generally across numerous classroom and schooling contexts. In education, this assumption is particularly crucial since the search for the holy grail of some universal, but of course entirely illusive, instructional design drives much of the empirical investigation within the field. Two researchers working in different contexts who employ the same experimental method ought to arrive at the same conclusion. As we demonstrate in this chapter, within education this outcome is simply not the case. We will demonstrate that each of these scientific principles, or assumptions, is fundamentally flawed when applied to educational research. Hence, education research is once again unable to meet the minimal standards of meaningful scientific inquiry. Later in this chapter we will also discuss the conceptual confusions that impact negatively on education. Finally, we examine how an implicit commitment to the direct reference theory of language, and the related search for conceptual certainty, leads to ontological errors about certain education concepts and how these errors affect student academic experience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As we have illustrated in the previous two chapters, there are a range of important challenges to empirical research in the social sciences. In this chapter, we provide additional elaboration on these critiques by exploring the epistemological problems with empirical research in the social sciences. Although the problem of pre-existing conceptual frameworks influencing research outcomes is not restricted to the social sciences, we argue in this chapter that the social sciences are more prone to widespread errors resulting from convergent thinking, i.e., thinking by researchers that remains consistent with prevailing theories and unquestioned assumptions. In the case of education these assumptions lead to errors in the dominant discourse about teaching and learning. We also explore in some depth the positions of two noted sociologists, Emile Durkehim and Luciene Levy-Bruhl, to highlight the implications of structuralism for social science and education research. In Chapter 3, we also utilize some examples from existing educational theory to demonstrate how the epistemological issues addressed by Thomas Kuhn's idea of scientific paradigms and Karl Popper's theory of falsification are common problems in education research. We begin this chapter, then, by exploring in greater detail some of the most important epistemological criticisms of social science. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this chapter, we explore the development of scientism in education by examining the advancement of human science through the work of seminal figures such as David Hume, Sir Francis Bacon, Auguste Comte, and Herbert Spencer. We also introduce the foundational principles on which empirical research in education is based by reviewing the basic tenets of logical positivism, the epistemology on which human science is constructed. There is some belief that the shift toward more qualitative research practices undermines the stranglehold that logical positivism holds over education research. In response to this belief, we examine in Chapter 2 whether postpositivist research paradigms and practices constitute an actual departure from positivist assumptions. After briefly discussing the philosophical critiques of human science emerging from existentialism and pragmatism, we conclude the chapter by outlining the current neo-liberal context in which education research and policy development take place. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The entire discipline of education as a legitimate field of academic study is at a virtual crossroads. One path leads to the same unfortunate errors that have sullied education and educational research for more than 150 years. This well-trodden path, laden with a range of ideological assumptions and epistemological mistakes, generates instrumental forms of thinking and learning that operate to undermine the critical dispositions required for meaningful education within democratic societies. The other path, which we believe to be the far more enlightened choice, understands the limits of empirical research and emphasizes instead the purposes, goals, and strategies of education within democratic societies. This second and far more progressive path seeks to develop innovative pedagogical ideas and theories that understand learning strategies as following logically from educational objectives. As Dewey (1916) so accurately pointed out, the means and ends of education are intrinsically connected. In other words, our approach to instruction is embodied in the type of education we seek to achieve. Empirical research, therefore, becomes virtually superfluous and an unnecessary drain on the severely limited resources available to schools, teachers, and administrators. Our more favoured path creates students who are politically informed and active participants in shaping their social, economic, occupational, and political experiences. Hence, the stakes that have compelled us to write this book are enormously high for both the future of teacher education and for education as an academic discipline, as well as for democratic societies more generally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a research tool, medical imaging has considerably increased our understanding of joint inflammation in vivo. Although conventional radiography remains important for diagnosis, other imaging modalities such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and ultrasonography show considerable potential for the study of joint inflammation in the research setting. The advances in MRI and ultrasound in the last decade has lead to significant conceptual advances into the microanatomical basis for arthritis. The purpose of this chapter is to describe how MRI and ultrasound can be used in the research environment. Other imaging techniques such as computed tomography and scintigraphy have little use in studying inflamed synovial joints due to their relative inability to demonstrate inflammation, or poor resolution or both. However, molecular imaging using high-resolution positron emission tomography or single photon emission computed tomography is being increasingly used to study inflammation in the experimental setting and also in man. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The RNase protection assay is a standard approach to determine mRNA levels of a gene of interest in different tissues, developmental stages, or times of the day. Splicing or promoter variants can be studied with specific probes. It is widely used in chronobiology to study the temporal profile of expression of circadian genes and the effects of genetic manipulation on these oscillations. Methods to generate the riboprobes and to perform the RNase protection assay itself are described in this chapter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Forward genetics in Drosophila has profoundly affected our understanding of circadian rhythms in this organism and, more generally, in the animal kingdom. Most Drosophila pacemaker genes were discovered through the isolation of gene variants affecting the free-running period of the circadian pacemaker. There are different ways to mutagenize flies. An alkylating agent can be used to randomly alter the fly genome, or transposable elements can be mobilized to disrupt or increase the expression of the targeted genes. The advantages of these different methods are complementary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As-produced single-walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT) material is a complex matrix of carbon nanotubes, bundles of nanotubes (nanoropes), non-tubular carbon and metal catalyst nanoparticles. The pulmonary toxicity of material released during manufacture and handling will depend on the partitioning and arrangement of these components within airborne particles. To probe the physicochemical structure of airborne SWCNT aggregates, a new technique was developed and applied to aerosolized as-produced material. Differential Mobility Analysis-classified aggregates were analyzed using an Aerosol Particle Mass Monitor, and a structural parameter Γ (proportional to the square of particle mobility diameter, divided by APM voltage) derived. Using information on the constituent components of the SWCNT, modal values of Γ were estimated for specific particle compositions and structures, and compared against measured values. Measured modal values of Γ for 150 nm mobility diameter aggregates suggested they were primarily composed of non-tubular carbon from one batch of material, and thin nanoropes from a second batch of material — these findings were confirmed using Transmission Electron Microscopy. Measured modal values of Γ for 31 nm mobility diameter aggregates indicated that they were comprised predominantly of thin carbon nanoropes with associated nanometer-diameter metal catalyst particles; there was no indication that either catalyst particles or non-tubular carbon particles were being preferentially released into the air. These results indicate that the physicochemistry of aerosol particles released while handling as-produced SWCNT may vary significantly by particle size and production batch, and that evaluations of potential health hazards need to account for this. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A chapter from the book "Troubling the Canon of Citizenship Education," edited by George H. Richardson and David W. Blades is presented. It suggests that citizenship education has taken on a cult mentality to address the crisis in democratic citizenship among its multicultural members. It argues for an examination of the current state of citizenship and an understanding of how people become citizens in pluralistic societies from which an effective citizenship education can evolve.

Presents the chapter 3 of the book "Handbook of Seed Science and Technology." Cytokinin biosynthesis in plants; Discovery and characterization of cytokinins in developing seeds; Sources of cytokinin in seeds.

This paper introduces the concept of an analytic web, a synthesis of three complementary views of a scientific process that is intended to facilitate the conduct of science. These three views support the clear, complete, and precise process documentation needed to enable the effective coordination of the activities of geographically dispersed scientists. An analytic web also supports automation of various scientific activities, education of young scientists, and reproducibility of scientific results. Of particular significance, an analytic web is intended to forestall the generation of scientific data that are erroneous or suspect, by using process definitions to prevent incorrect combinations of scientific results. The paper also describes experiences with a tool, SciWalker, designed to evaluate the efficacy of this approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bivariate isofactorial models are used for global or local change-of-support applications. However, so far, their variogram analysis is complicated and may lead to mathematical inconsistencies. In this paper, we propose an alternative approach for internally consistent variogram inference, which consists in deriving the simple and cross variograms at point and block supports from the variogram of transformed data, by randomizing the sample locations within the blocks (regularization). This approach is illustrated with the discrete Hermitian model, for which we provide guidelines for parameter inference and emphasize the limitations of the extreme cases: discrete Gaussian and mosaic models. A case study is presented with an application of the Hermitian model to a mining dataset, which consists of drillhole samples measuring the grade in a porphyry copper deposit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most conventional simulation techniques only account for two-point statistics via the modeling of the variogram of the regionalized variable or of its indicators. These techniques cannot control the reproduction of multiple-point statistics that may be critical for the performance of the models given the goal at hand (flow simulation in petroleum applications, planning and scheduling for mining applications). Multiple-point simulation is a way to deal with this situation. It has been implemented for categorical variables, yet the demand of large data sets (training images) to infer the multiple-point statistics has impeded its use in the case of continuous variables. We propose a method to incorporate multiple-point statistics into sequential simulation of continuous variables. Any sequential algorithm can be used. The method proceeds as follows. First, the multiple-point statistics are inferred from a training data set or training image with the typical indicator approach. The conditional probabilities given multiple-point data events enable to update the conditional distributions obtained by the sequential algorithm that uses the conventional two-point statistics. The key aspect is to preserve the shape of the conditional distribution between thresholds after updating the probability for the cutoffs used to infer the multiple-point statistics. Updating takes place under the assumption of conditional independence between the conditional probability obtained from the training set and the one retrieved from the conditional probability defined by the sequential method. The algorithm is presented in generality for any sequential algorithm and then illustrated on a real data set using the sequential indicator and Gaussian simulation methods. The advantages and drawbacks of this proposal are pointed out. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Elucidating mechanisms controlling nuclear processes requires an understanding of the nucleoprotein structure of genes at endogenous chromosomal loci. Traditional approaches to measuring protein-DNA interactions in vitro have often failed to provide insights into physiological mechanisms. Given that most transcription factors interact with simple DNA sequence motifs, which are abundantly distributed throughout a genome, it is essential to pinpoint the small subset of sites bound by factors in vivo. Signaling mechanisms induce the assembly and modulation of complex patterns of histone acetylation, methylation, phosphorylation, and ubiquitination, which are crucial determinants of chromatin accessibility. These seemingly complex issues can be directly addressed by a powerful methodology termed the chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) assay. ChIP analysis involves covalently trapping endogenous proteins at chromatin sites, thereby yielding snapshots of protein-DNA interactions and histone modifications within living cells. The chromatin is sonicated to generate small fragments, and an immunoprecipitation is conducted with an antibody against the desired factor or histone modification. Crosslinks are reversed, and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is used to assess whether DNA sequences are recovered immune-specifically. Chromatin-domain scanning coupled with quantitative analysis is a powerful means of dissecting mechanisms by which signaling pathways target genes within a complex genome. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The expression profile of the complete set of cellular genes or global gene expression provides a remarkable snapshot of physiological and pathophysiological mechanisms underlying cell regulation. Thus, accurate and precise measurements of global gene expression reveal unique insights into critical processes such as cell proliferation, differentiation, and survival. Prior to the existence of state-of-the-art approaches to analyzing global gene expression, gene expression was commonly measured one gene at a time using methods such as Northern blotting (1), RNase protection (2), and primer extension (3). These methods rely on the ability of nucleic acid "probes" to recognize complementary sequences in hybridization reactions via base pairing. The invention of reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) (4) greatly improved the sensitivity of gene expression analysis, allowing for the detection of very low abundant transcripts semiquantitatively and, more recently, quantitatively via real-time RT-PCR. RNA is first converted into complementary DNA (cDNA) in a reaction catalyzed by reverse transcriptase, and the cDNA is then amplified by PCR using gene-specific primers. With various modifications, differentially expressed transcripts representing both known and novel genes can be identified by techniques called differential display (DD) (5) and representational difference analysis (6). Although these techniques are quite powerful, their labor-intensive nature and moderate rate of false positives limits their utility somewhat. Importantly, these techniques do not allow for a facile analysis of thousands or even hundreds of gene expression changes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]