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This paper presents the research protocol for an efficacy randomized controlled trial of a spelling program in primary schools. The program is a workforce development program that supports Teachers and Teaching Assistants develop and deliver targeted spelling instruction to children aged 8-10. The protocol outlines a research design to assess whether the program delivered over 10–12 weeks improves spelling, writing and reading-comprehension outcomes, in a sample of 120 children from 10 schools in two English districts with high socio-economic disadvantage. The outcome measures include spelling and reading standardized tests, and spelling/writing diagnostic test. A process evaluation will measure fidelity and potential for scale-up.

This manuscript presents results of a Level 2 exploratory randomized controlled trial of the Reciprocal Reading programme in secondary schools. The programme is a workforce development programme that supports teachers and teaching assistants develop and deliver targeted reading comprehension instruction to secondary school students aged 11–13. The research assessed whether the programme could be delivered in secondary school settings and explored whether it improves reading outcomes in this context. The Reciprocal Reading programme was delivered successfully over approximately 6 months in a sample of 315 students from 14 schools in five English districts with high socio-economic disadvantage. Positive Effect Sizes were observed in the primary outcome measure for analysis (reading comprehension) and the secondary outcome measures of overall literacy and reading accuracy, and the overall reading performance of the students. Teachers and teaching assistants reported that they found the programme acceptable and they evaluated the success of the programme to be universally successful. The programme proved easy to implement in secondary schools and was received with overwhelmingly positive attitudes by teachers and teaching assistants. It showed ability to be universally implemented and had good adherence to planned implementation in all, but one school. A larger study is warranted to ascertain whether effects generalise to a larger population.

With increased renewable generation, the focus is moving from the quantity of generating capacity to its quality, or more specifically its flexibility. Current efforts to implement demand response provide a capacity resource that compares poorly to a combustion turbine and provides limited flexibility. This paradigm should shift to using highly responsive load to integrate renewable and distributed generation.

QUaD is a ground-based high-resolution (up to l ≈ 2500) instrument designed to map the polarisation of the Cosmic Microwave Background and to measure its E-mode and B-mode polarisation power spectra. QUaD comprises a bolometric array receiver (100 and 150 GHz) and re-imaging optics on a 2.6-m Cassegrain telescope 2. It will operate for two years and begin observations in 2005. CMB polarisation measurements will require not only a significant increase in sensitivity over earlier experiments but also a better understanding and control of systematic effects particularly those that contribute to the polarised signal. To this end we have undertaken a comprehensive quasi-optical analysis of the QUaD telescope. In particular we have modelled the effects of diffraction on beam propagation through the system. The corrugated feeds that couple radiation from the telescope to phase-sensitive bolometers need to have good beam symmetry and low sidelobe levels over the required bandwidth. It is especially important that the feed horns preserve the polarisation orientation of the incoming fields. We have used an accurate mode-matching model to design such feed horns. In this paper we present the diffraction analysis of the QUaD front-end optics as well as the electromagnetic design and testing of the QUaD corrugated feeds.

The Galaxy Evolution from Morphology and SEDs (GEMS) survey is the largest contiguous field ever imaged in colour by HST with the Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS), spanning some 900 square arcmins in the Chandra deep field south (CDFS). We discuss the power of the ACS for weak lensing studies and present preliminary results from our cosmic shear analysis of GEMS. Selecting a subset of GEMS galaxies which are resolved in deep ground-based R-band imaging of the CDFS from the COMBO-17 survey, we compare the cosmic shear signal determined from the ground and from space. (c) 2005 Published by Elsevier B.V.

In a diamond from New South Wales (Australia), cubic and octahedral growth sectors, as identified by cathodoluminescence (CL), show slight differences in N-contents of 29 and 42 ppm respectively but no significant differences in either δ13C, δ15N and nitrogen aggregation state with values at +1.96‰, +19.4‰, and 25% Type IaAB aggregation, respectively. Two gem cubes from the Orapa kimberlite (Botswana) were studied by CL revealing a nonfaceted cubic growth. Accordingly, nine other gem cubes were combusted and yielded δ13C-values from –5.33‰ to –6.63‰, δ15N from –1.0‰ to –5.5‰, and nitrogen contents from 914 to 1168 ppm, with nitrogen aggregation state being only Type IaA (zero % B). The gem cubes show striking similarities to fibrous/coated diamonds, not only in both δ13C ranges (less than 3‰ from –5 to –8‰), but also in the high levels of nitrogen (≈ 1000 ppm), suggesting that the two diamond types are related. Additionally, no δ15N variation was detected between the cube and octahedral growth sectors of the Australian diamond, in the cube sectors of the nine gem cubes from Botswana, nor in fibrous/coated diamonds previously studied. These analyses contrast with an earlier study on a synthetic diamond, which reported a strong kinetic fractionation of N-isotopes of about 40‰ between cube and octahedral growth. The present evidence, therefore, suggests that kinetic fractionation of N-isotopes does not operate during natural diamond formation.

The absolute mass of a cluster can be measured by the gravitational lens magnification of a background galaxy population. We have made the first application of this method to measure mass in the cluster Abell 1689, taking into account the uncertainties introduced by intrinsic clustering of the background galaxies, shot-noise, and the effects of strong magnification near the cluster center. We present mass maps and the mass profile. In a cylinder of radius 0.24 h −1 Mpc (2′.2) around the peak, we find the projected mass is M 2 d ( h −1 Mpc) = (0.50±0.09) × 10 15 h −1 M ⊙ . Our results are in good agreement with those from the shear analysis.