Social class and body weight among Chinese urban adults: the role of the middle classes in the nutrition transition.

Science.gov (United States)

Bonnefond, Céline; Clément, Matthieu

2014-07-01

While a plethoric empirical literature addresses the relationship between socio-economic status and body weight, little is known about the influence of social class on nutritional outcomes, particularly in developing countries. The purpose of this article is to contribute to the analysis of the social determinants of adult body weight in urban China by taking into account the influence of social class. More specifically, we propose to analyse the position of the Chinese urban middle class in terms of being overweight or obese. The empirical investigations conducted as part of this research are based on a sample of 1320 households and 2841 adults from the China Health and Nutrition Survey for 2009. For the first step, we combine an economic approach and a sociological approach to identify social classes at household level. First, households with an annual per capita income between 10,000 Yuan and the 95th income percentile are considered as members of the middle class. Second, we strengthen the characterization of the middle class using information on education and employment. By applying clustering methods, we identify four groups: the elderly and inactive middle class, the old middle class, the lower middle class and the new middle class. For the second step, we implement an econometric analysis to assess the influence of social class on adult body mass index and on the probability of being overweight or obese. We use multinomial treatment regressions to deal with the endogeneity of the social class variable. Our results show that among the four subgroups of the urban middle class, the new middle class is the only one to be relatively well-protected against obesity. We suggest that this group plays a special role in adopting healthier food consumption habits and seems to be at a more advanced stage of the nutrition transition. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Early Talk About the Past Revisited: Affect in Working-Class and Middle-Class Children's Co-Narrations.

Science.gov (United States)

Burger, Lisa K.; Miller, Peggy J.

1999-01-01

Investigated personal storytelling among young working-class and middle-class children, observing them at home at age 2; age 6 and 3; and under-one year. Analysis of generic properties, narrative content, and emotion talk revealed a complex configuration of similarities and differences. Differentiation between working-class and middle-class…

Living in the city: school friendships, diversity and the middle classes.

Science.gov (United States)

Vincent, Carol; Neal, Sarah; Iqbal, Humera

2018-06-01

Much of the literature on the urban middle classes describes processes of both affiliation (often to the localities) and disaffiliation (often from some of the non-middle-class residents). In this paper, we consider this situation from a different position, drawing on research exploring whether and how children and adults living in diverse localities develop friendships with those different to themselves in terms of social class and ethnicity. This paper focuses on the interviews with the ethnically diverse, but predominantly white British, middle-class parent participants, considering their attitudes towards social and cultural difference. We emphasize the importance of highlighting inequalities that arise from social class and its intersection with ethnicity in analyses of complex urban populations. The paper's contribution is, first, to examine processes of clustering amongst the white British middle-class parents, particularly in relation to social class. Second, we contrast this process, and its moments of reflection and unease, with the more deliberate and purposeful efforts of one middle-class, Bangladeshi-origin mother who engages in active labour to facilitate relationships across social and ethnic difference. © London School of Economics and Political Science 2017.

Middle classes: theoretical principles, contemporary working out, regarding the hired workers

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Vyacheslav Nikolaevich Bobkov

2014-06-01

Full Text Available The article deals with the problems of defining middle classes. Theoretical principles of social and class structures, including middle classes, are examined. The criteria of reckoning some hired workers as middle classes worked out on the basis of normative methodology (normative criteria are submitted, the most important of them being educational qualifications, occupation, personal income and provision of housing. Methods of statistical and sociologic analysing data are applied. The results of analysing the conformity of the hired workers to the normative criteria of representing middle classes are produced. It is determined that today heads of organizations and their subdivisions as well as certified top and middle management specialists representing middle classes comprise only 2-3 per cent of the total number of the hired workers. It should be noted that there are practically no-one among them who has got a family with two and more children. The low level of wages is the main reason for that. In addition there are some other reasons, too. The results of the research could find application in the state social and economic policy

Stress-relevant social behaviors of middle-class male cynomolgus monkeys (Macaca fascicularis).

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Cui, Ding; Zhou, Yuan

2015-11-18

Stress from dominance ranks in human societies, or that of other social animals, especially nonhuman primates, can have negative influences on health. Individuals holding different social status may be burdened with various stress levels. The middle class experiences a special stress situation within the dominance hierarchy due to its position between the higher and lower classes. Behaviorally, questions about where middle-class stress comes from and how individuals adapt to middle-class stress remain poorly understood in nonhuman primates. In the present study, social interactions, including aggression, avoidance, grooming and mounting behaviors, between beta males, as well as among group members holding higher or lower social status, were analyzed in captive male-only cynomolgus monkey groups. We found that aggressive tension from the higher hierarchy members was the main origin of stress for middle-class individuals. However, behaviors such as attacking lower hierarchy members immediately after being the recipient of aggression, as well as increased avoidance, grooming and mounting toward both higher and lower hierarchy members helped alleviate middle-class stress and were particular adaptations to middle-class social status.

Social Class (In)Visibility and the Professional Experiences of Middle-Class Novice Teachers

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Hall, David; Jones, Lisa

2013-01-01

This article focuses upon the classed and early professional experiences of middle-class novice teachers in England experiencing and contemplating working in schools serving socio-economically disadvantaged communities. Through an examination of the visibility and invisibility of social class in education set within an increasingly unequal and…

Statistical Inference on the Canadian Middle Class

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Russell Davidson

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Conventional wisdom says that the middle classes in many developed countries have recently suffered losses, in terms of both the share of the total population belonging to the middle class, and also their share in total income. Here, distribution-free methods are developed for inference on these shares, by means of deriving expressions for their asymptotic variances of sample estimates, and the covariance of the estimates. Asymptotic inference can be undertaken based on asymptotic normality. Bootstrap inference can be expected to be more reliable, and appropriate bootstrap procedures are proposed. As an illustration, samples of individual earnings drawn from Canadian census data are used to test various hypotheses about the middle-class shares, and confidence intervals for them are computed. It is found that, for the earlier censuses, sample sizes are large enough for asymptotic and bootstrap inference to be almost identical, but that, in the twenty-first century, the bootstrap fails on account of a strange phenomenon whereby many presumably different incomes in the data are rounded to one and the same value. Another difference between the centuries is the appearance of heavy right-hand tails in the income distributions of both men and women.

Simbolic boundaries and middle classes. Social mobility in Chile

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Mayarí Castillo

2016-07-01

Full Text Available After more than three decades of the implementation of the policies of structural adjustment in Chile, the middle classes increased their weight in the social structure and changed their economic sector, occupation and trajectories of social mobility. This article analyzes the perceptionof symbolic boundaries, which emerging of these macro-processes and shapes the subjectivity of middle class subjects into upward mobility processes and modifies their perceptions of inequality. Whit this objective the paper presents a qualitative analysis of cases in which discursive components like meritocracy, the effort and the idea of “barriers/obstacles” became a key discursive axis. This article is inscribed within the recent studies on middle classes for the Chilean case, which focus specially on the cultural aspects after reproduction of stratification and inequality in Chile.

Patterns of intergenerational mobility of the old and new middle classes

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Güveli, Ayse; Luijkx, Ruud; Ganzeboom, Harry B.G.

2013-01-01

It has often been proposed that new cleavages have emerged within the middle class. In this paper, we examine the distinction between social and cultural specialists and technocrats, and investigate whether these new and old middle class fractions are differentiated by their patterns of

Expectations of Developmental Milestones by Middle Class Parents and College Freshmen.

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Treiber, Frank A.; And Others

It has generally been assumed that lower socioeconomic status teenage parents are atypical in their expectations about child development compared to other parental groups. However there is little information available concerning the expectations of middle class parents. Middle class nonparent teenagers (N=50) and two parental groups (participants…

3 CFR - White House Task Force on Middle-Class Working Families

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 3 The President 1 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false White House Task Force on Middle-Class Working Families Presidential Documents Other Presidential Documents Memorandum of January 30, 2009 White House... times. To these ends, I hereby direct the following: Section 1. White House Task Force on Middle-Class...

Negotiating Middle-class Respectable Femininity: Bangladeshi Women and their Families

OpenAIRE

Hussein, Nazia

2017-01-01

Using qualitative data, this article explains how affluent urban and new middle-class women in Bangladesh reconstruct the notion of respectable femininity within the family. The normative conception of middle-class women’s respectability is measured against women prioritizing family above work by performing their domestic, care, and socializing roles and by maintaining moral propriety. Using Bourdieu’s theory of capitals and Lamont’s formulation of boundary work, I demonstrate that by reinsta...

A Reinterpretation of the Writings of Frazier on the Black Middle Class.

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Landry, Bart

1978-01-01

A careful review of all of E. Franklin Frazier's writings dealing with the Black middle class will put into perspective the distorted view many people have regarding his criticism in "Black Bourgeoisie" of the attitudes and behavior of the Black middle class. (EB)

Modernity, cosmopolitanism, and the emergence of middle classes in Tonga

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Besnier, N.

2009-01-01

The formation of social classes in Pacific Islands societies and in their diasporas continues to raise theoretical questions about the nature of social classes and their relationship to prior forms of social organization. In Tonga, middle classes both reproduce aspects of the older rank-based system

Strategic Note-Taking for Middle-School Students with Learning Disabilities in Science Classes

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Boyle, Joseph R.

2010-01-01

While today's teachers use a variety of teaching methods in middle-school science classes, lectures and note-taking still comprise a major portion of students' class time. To be successful in these classes, middle-school students need effective listening and note-taking skills. Students with learning disabilities (LD) are poor note-takers, which…

The correlation of urban heat island in tropical middle-class housing

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Wazir, Zuber Angkasa

2017-11-01

A very limited number of green and sustainable construction studies have explored factors related to Urban Heat Island (UHI) in tropical middle-class housing. This paper aimed to investigate the correlation of Urban Heat Island in tropical middle-class housing in three urban housing for middle-class residents of Palembang, which were Taman Sari Kenten, TOP Jakabaring, and Talang Kelapa. Samples consisted of 125 Taman Sari Kenten housing, 27 Talang Kelapa housing, and 12 TOP Jakabaring housing. Independent variables were the resident density, socioeconomic status, house location, roof type, green area ratio, weather, time, air conditioner, pro-environment institution, and NEP scale. The Analytic method included correlation and regression. We identified that all housing had different UHI profiles where Taman Sari Kenten had the highest UHI (4.17 K), followed by Talang Kelapa (2.66 K) and TOP Jakabaring (0.66 K) against temperature in measuring station nearby, owned by BMKG (National Meteorological Station). UHI correlated with the resident density, roof type, green area ratio, weather, time, and air conditioner. The results should add to the design of ideal housing in the tropical climate for middle-class residents, focusing on its ability to mitigate Urban Heat Island.

THE ANALYSIS OF THE STATE AND DEVELOPMENT PROSPECTS OF THE MIDDLE CLASS IN UKRAINE

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Yana Salo

2016-11-01

Full Text Available The purpose of the paper is to study and represent the current state of the middle class in Ukraine, the problems of its formation and development prospects in the future with the definition of the complementary set of internal and external factors of its formation. Methodology. The survey is based on statistical data from open official sources, which makes it possible to confirm the thesis of the critical proportion of the middle class in Ukraine. Besides, the data are obtained from electronic sources, the State Statistics Service of Ukraine. During the study, the paper uses analytical articles on the economic development of the middle class in Ukraine. The results of the survey shows that the middle class is critically low for stable functioning of Ukraine’s modern economy. One of the main problems of the middle class development is the absence of state support of small and medium-sized businesses. The government with the repressive model of the economy in relation to business-oriented monopolization was formed in Ukraine. The distribution of the «shadow» model of social and economic relations leads to the limitation of legal opportunities of employment and income. Besides, it complicates the development of small and mediumsized businesses. As a consequence, the number of entrepreneurs and small business owners are constantly increasing, but due to the absence of a favorable business climate a significant number of small businesses were forced to move into the shadow. The peculiarity of the formation of the middle class in Ukraine is that its social basis in contrast to Western Europe is not the owners, but employees. We have a unique situation, when most of the highly skilled workers (the representatives of the spheres of education, health, public administration, which should be the core of the middle class, in terms of income are on the verge or below the poverty line. The level of wages of such specialists does not even correspond to

Multiple meanings of the middle class in soweto, south Africa

African Journals Online (AJOL)

symbolic container labeled middle class. (By social position here we mean class but also, for example, labour-market stratificiations within classes (see Ceruti 2010) and age.) We re-establish a link between 'where we stand in the world and how we see ourselves' (Bottero, 2005; 10). Olin-Wright (1989) concedes to Brenner ...

THE REPRESENTATION OF URBAN UPPER MIDDLE CLASS AMERICAN WOMEN'S COMMUNITY IN SEX AND THE CITY

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Yola Damayanti Gani

2005-01-01

Full Text Available The portrayal of urban upper middle class American women's community in Sex and the City-SATC-is built upon constructed symbols related to the position of urban upper middle class American Women's community and how cosmopolitan the women are. The symbol's construction is characterized by singleness, upper middle class social status, well-established career, alienation, consumptiveness, independence, gender consciousness, and open mindedness in their sexual knowledge. Television has helped to fracture traditional conventions about how women should place themselves in the midst of their society and constructed urban upper middle class American women's image and identity.

Boycott or Buycott? Malay Middle-Class Consumption Post-9/11

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Fischer, Johan

2007-01-01

Much current anti-consumerist and anti-globalisation discourse identifies boycotting as an immensely powerful force. Religious and secular activists alike promote consumer boycotts as a type of practised resistance that promises to break US economic, military and cultural hegemony. Obviously...... in Malaysia in the wake of 9/11. I shall show how this issue evokes a wide range of contestations and paradoxes in the everyday lives of suburban Malay Muslim middle-class families. Most of all, the boycott confronts divergent Malay middle-class groups with the problem of how to translate intentionality...

Punk and Middle-Class Values: A Content Analysis.

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Lamy, Philip; Levin, Jack

1985-01-01

Compares periodical articles representing the "Punk" movement with articles from the "Reader's Digest" and the 1960s hippie movement. Concludes that the punk movement is more expressive and less instrumental than its middle-class counterpart. (KH)

Negotiations of Acknowledgement among Middle Class Residents

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Andersen, Nina Blom

2013-01-01

The article presents an analysis of communication processes between residents, between residents and people in the broader societal context as well as of media coverage of a fireworks disaster in a Danish suburb. It demonstrates how residents (all members of the Danish middle class) were able......, ethnicity, class or other social categories normally recognized as influential in case of disastrous events. Since the population in the area was very homogenous, the axis of differentiation was instead linked to the social category of affectedness, and a hierarchy of affectedness was identified within...

The Paradox of Middle-Class Attitudes in China: Democracy, Social Stability, and Reform

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Ying Miao

2016-01-01

Full Text Available This article explores the seemingly paradoxical attitudes of the Chinese middle class towards democracy, social stability, and reform. Using fieldwork data from Ningbo, this article shows that a group of objective, middle-class individuals can concurrently display high levels of support for democratic principles and low levels of participation in real-life socio-political events. Being generally confident in China’s social stability, these individuals have little to no desire for significant democratic reform, or indeed any reform that occurs outside the purview of the state, as it is considered destabilising. By highlighting the distinction between how these members of the middle class respond to generic democratic concepts, real-life socio-political affairs, and the idea of democratic reform, this article argues that the Chinese middle class are aware of what “should be,” what “could be,” and what “is,” which lends their socio-political attitudes a paradoxical appearance.

"They Think Minority Means Lesser than": Black Middle-Class Sons and Fathers Resisting Microaggressions in the School

Science.gov (United States)

Allen, Quaylan

2013-01-01

The current literature on Black middle-class men is sparse, leaving little to be known about the raced, classed, and gendered experiences for many Black middle-class male students and their families. Employing qualitative methodology, this study uses critical race theory (CRT) to examine the educational experiences of Black middle-class high…

Living Sexualities: Negotiating Heteronormativity in Middle Class Bangladesh

NARCIS (Netherlands)

S. Karim (Shuchi)

2012-01-01

textabstract‘Living Sexualities’ is a study of erotic desires, practices and identities, lived within the heteronormative and marriage-normative socio-sexual structures of the urban middle class in contemporary Bangladesh. The study is based on two years fieldwork during which data was

The Rise of the Middle Class in the People's Republic of China

OpenAIRE

Zhang Yuan; Guanghua Wan; Khor, Niny

2011-01-01

Using {dollar}2–{dollar}20 purchasing power parity per capita daily income as the definition of middle class, Zhang Yuan, Guanghua Wan, and Niny Khor find that majority of households in the People's Republic of China have become middle class by 2007. This is especially impressive given that around 40% of households were still considered poor in 1991. This paper discusses these trends, their main determinants, and geographical distributions.

Racial Microaggressions: The Schooling Experiences of Black Middle-Class Males in Arizona’s Secondary Schools

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Quaylan Allen

2010-05-01

Full Text Available The literature on Black education has often neglected significant analysis of life in schools and the experience of racism among Black middle-class students in general and Black middle-class males specifically. Moreover, the achievement gap between this population and their White counterparts in many cases is greater than the gap that exists among working-class Blacks and Whites. This study begins to document the aforementioned by illuminating the racial microaggressions experienced by Black middle-class males while in school and how their families’ usage of social and cultural capital deflect the potential negative outcomes of school racism.

"It All depends...": Middle School Teachers Evaluate Single-Sex Classes

Science.gov (United States)

Spielhagen, Frances R.

2011-01-01

This mixed-methods study explored the effectiveness of single-sex classes according to key stakeholders in this educational reform--the teachers who choose or are hired to teach in single-sex classes and schools. Specifically, this study examined the on-the-ground experiences of middle school teachers as they attempted to implement a relatively…

Photographs and Classroom Response Systems in Middle School Astronomy Classes

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Hyunju; Feldman, Allan

2015-01-01

In spite of being readily available, photographs have played a minor and passive role in science classes. In our study, we present an active way of using photographs in classroom discussions with the use of a classroom response system (CRS) in middle school astronomy classes to teach the concepts of day-night and seasonal change. In this new…

Middle Class and Democracy: An Assessment on the 2014 Indonesian’s Presidential Election

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Maxensius Tri Sambodo

2016-05-01

Full Text Available This paper aims to assess the role of middle class in Indonesia’s democracy, with the particular focus of the last Indonesian Presidential election. This study uses econometric analyses to assess preferences of middle class in presidential election by exploring data at district/city and provincial. The main finding in this study strongly suggests that religious and personality are still important elements under the race of Indonesia president. This study also found that different group of middle class has different attitudes in selecting the presidential candidate and the upper group of middle class is more likely to select Joko Widodo. Finally, a fragile middle class and a relatively high number of abstainers could be a barrier toward more substantive democracy. Abstrak Makalah ini bertujuan untuk menganalisis peran kelompok kelas menengah dalam proses demokrasi di Indonesia, secara khusus peran mereka difokuskan pada hasil pemilihan presiden yang terakhir. Studi ini menggunakan pendekatan ekonometrik untuk mengalisis preferensi kelompok kelas menengah dalam memilih calon presiden, dengan melakukan eksplorasi data pada tingkat kabupaten/kota dan provinsi. Hasil studi menunjukkan, agama dan personalitas calon presiden menjadi faktor penting dalam pertarungan pemilihan presiden. Studi ini juga menunjukkan, berbagai kelompok dalam kelas menengah memiliki preferensi yang berbeda dalam memilih kandidat presiden dan kelompok kelas menengah atas cenderung memilih Joko Widodo. Akhirnya, kelas menengah yang rentan dan tingginya kelompok yang abstain, akan menjadi hambatan untuk menuju demokrasi yang lebih substantif. Kata kunci: Kelas Menengah; Demokrasi; Pemilihan Presiden; Indonesia JEL classifications: A12; C33

Enriching Intimacy: The Role of the Emotional in the "Resourcing" of Middle-Class Children

Science.gov (United States)

Stefansen, Kari; Aarseth, Helene

2011-01-01

This paper analyses qualitative interviews conducted with Norwegian middle-class parents. It explores how a particular type of intimacy--an "enriching intimacy"--is produced as part of everyday parent-child interactions and considers the notion of the social self that spurs middle-class parents to seek this very type of intimacy with…

The Capability Threshold: Re-examining the Definition of the Middle Class in an Unequal Developing Country

OpenAIRE

Burger, Ronelle; McAravey, Camren; van der Berg, Servaas

2015-01-01

In a polarised and highly unequal country such as South Africa, it is unlikely that a definition of the middle class that is based on an income threshold will adequately capture the political and social meanings of being middle class. We therefore propose a multi-dimensional definition, rooted in the ideas of empowerment and capability, and find that the 'empowered middle class' has expanded significantly since 1993 also across vulnerable subgroups such as blacks, female-headed households and...

Age-Graded Themes in White American Middle-Class Slang: A Hypothesis.

Science.gov (United States)

Donahue, Thomas S.

It is proposed that middle- and upper-middle-class slang used among white young people in modern America shows age-related themes. For youngsters between the ages of eight and early adolescence, the major theme in slang use is to establish in-group and out-group membership, with standards of judgment based on clothes, manners, and physical appeal.…

Ethno beauty: practices of beautification among urban muslim middle-class women in Surabaya

Science.gov (United States)

Listyani, RH; Sadewo, FX S.; Legowo, M.

2018-01-01

This research examines practices of beautification by urban middle-class Muslim women using an ethnomethodology approach. Several theories are employed in this research including the theory of consumption (leisure class), sociology of body, middle-class theory and the concept of modern Islam. Results indicate that the beautiful concept according to Muslim middle-class urban women is white skin without stains, face without wrinkles, nose sharp, eyelashes and thick eyebrows and red lips. To be said to be beautiful, they took various efforts through beauty treatment, diet, fashion and dress up. In this study also revealed that their goal to self-care is pride and recognition in front of other fellow female friends and to happy partner (husband). This shows that the consumption through the body (fashions, diets, make up) and consumption around the body (beauty treatments) represent symbolic and material ways of positioning themselves within contemporary society - thus becoming ‘visible’. The implications of this research are this study is expected to contribute information and enrich the repertoire of social science especially sociology also for the development of research on body and beauty.

Race/Ethnicity and Social Capital among Middle- and Upper-Middle-Class Elementary School Families: A Structural Equation Model

Science.gov (United States)

Caldas, Stephen J.; Cornigans, Linda

2015-01-01

This study used structural equation modeling to conduct a first and second order confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) of a scale developed by McDonald and Moberg (2002) to measure three dimensions of social capital among a diverse group of middle- and upper-middle-class elementary school parents in suburban New York. A structural path model was…

Measuring Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Knowledge and Perceptions of Risk in Middle-Class African Americans

Science.gov (United States)

Spears, Erica C.; Guidry, Jeffrey J.; Harvey, Idethia S.

2018-01-01

There is a paucity in the literature examining the African American middle-class. Most studies of African Americans and Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) have concentrated on lower-SES individuals, or make no distinction between African Americans of varying socio-economic positions. Middle-class African Americans are vulnerable in ways often…

Cognitive Performance and Competence Characteristics of Lower- and Middle-Class Preschool Children

Science.gov (United States)

Goldstein, David; And Others

1978-01-01

Reports two experiments to assess the usefulness of an alternative position to the "deficit hypothesis" and the "differences hypothesis," namely, that environmental/situational factors attenuate the performance of lower-class children, but that their competence, while genotypically equivalent to that of middle-class children,…

Plot and irony in childbirth narratives of middle-class Brazilian women.

Science.gov (United States)

O'Dougherty, Maureen

2013-03-01

Brazil's rate of cesarean deliveries is among the highest in the world and constitutes the majority of childbirths in private hospitals. This study examines ways middle-class Brazilian women are exercising agency in this context. It draws from sociolinguistics to examine narrative structure and dramatic properties of 120 childbirth narratives of 68 low- to high-income women. Surgical delivery constituted 62% of the total. I focus on 20 young middle-class women, of whom 17 had C-sections. Doctors determined mode of childbirth pre-emptively or appeared to accommodate women's wishes, while framing the scenario as necessitating surgical delivery. The women strove to imbue C-section deliveries with value and meaning through staging, filming, familial presence, attempting induced labor, or humanized childbirth. Their stories indicate that class privilege does not lead to choice over childbirth mode. The women nonetheless struggle over the significance of their agency in childbirth. © 2013 by the American Anthropological Association.

ANTECEDENTS AND CONSEQUENCES OF HOUSEHOLD FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT IN BRAZILIAN LOWER-MIDDLE-CLASS

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Ana Paula Miotto

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Through two complementary and exploratory studies – one qualitative and one quantitative – this research aims to understand the ways in which lower-middle-class families in Brazil manage their household finances. The study proposes an integrated framework that brings together various previously disconnected theoretical fragments. Based on a survey with a sample of 165 lower-middle-class female consumers of a retail company in São Paulo, we explored and tested, via a quantitative study, how antecedents such as personal characteristics affect the financial management process, as well as its consequences, either negatively as defaults or positively as savings. The model calibration and analysis were derived from a series of regression analyses. The results revealed the mediator role that financial management plays in the relationship between personal characteristics and defaults and savings. Compared to previous studies with consumers of more affluent countries, we identified peculiar findings among Brazilian lower-middle-class consumers: inadequate attention to control, weak or no focus on short- or long-range planning, widespread absence of budget surplus, and influence of critical events on episodes of default.

Chinese Middle Classes: Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macao and China. Edited by Hsin-Huang Michael Hsiao

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Brødsgaard, Kjeld Erik

2018-01-01

Book review of: Chinese Middle Classes:Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macao and China. Edited by Hsin-Huang Michael Hsiao. Abingdon: Routledge, 2014. Pp. 268. ISBN 10: 1138120847; ISBN 13: 978-1138120846......Book review of: Chinese Middle Classes:Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macao and China. Edited by Hsin-Huang Michael Hsiao. Abingdon: Routledge, 2014. Pp. 268. ISBN 10: 1138120847; ISBN 13: 978-1138120846...

Brasil: nova classe média ou novas formas de superexploração da classe trabalhadora? Brazil: new middle class or new ways of overexploiting the working class?

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Mathias Seibel Luce

2013-04-01

Full Text Available Com base na categoria da superexploração da força de trabalho, formulada no âmbito da teoria marxista da dependência, apresentamos uma crítica à tese de que o Brasil estaria se tornando 'país de classe média' e sustentamos que um contingente substancial dentre o que vem sendo nomeado de 'nova classe média' consiste, na verdade, de trabalhadores - e suas famílias - vivendo em condições de superexploração. O texto encontra-se dividido em três seções. Na primeira, questionamos os pressupostos básicos da tese Brasil, país de classe média. Na segunda, expomos os fundamentos da categoria da superexploração e demonstramos seu incremento nas relações de produção do capitalismo brasileiro na década de 2000. Na terceira, demonstramos como o acesso da população trabalhadora ao consumo de bens duráveis no período recente, antes que a ascensão de uma suposta 'nova classe média', configura uma forma renovada de superexploração. Por fim, salientamos os nexos entre as condições de trabalho, saúde e direitos da classe trabalhadora no Brasil e as tendências do capitalismo mundial, questionando o falso dilema neoliberalismo e neodesenvolvimentismo no debate atual e colocando a real disjuntiva do ponto de vista da emancipação da classe trabalhadora em relação ao poder despótico do capital.Based on the workforce overexploitation category, formulated in the context of the Marxist Theory of Dependence, we critique the thesis that Brazil is becoming 'a middle class nation' and state that a substantial contingent of what has been named the 'new middle class' is, in fact, one of workers - and their families - living in overexploitation conditions. The article is divided into three sections. In the first, we questioned the basic assumptions of the 'Brazil, a middle class nation' thesis. In the second, we explain the fundamentals of the overexploitation category and show how it increased in Brazilian capitalism production

Translating Bourdieu: cultural capital and the English middle class in historical perspective.

Science.gov (United States)

Gunn, Simon

2005-03-01

This article examines the ways in which Pierre Bourdieu's work on culture and cultural capital can be applied to the study of the English middle class in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Drawing on a wide historical literature, the article argues for the significance of culture as a constitutive element of middle-class identities in England since 1800. It goes on to examine Bourdieu's ideas of 'objectivated', 'instutionalized' and 'incorporated' cultural capital, in the context of family, inheritance, education and the body. The article identifies changes in the historical forms which cultural capital has taken and emphasizes the importance of analysing family processes of intergenerational transmission.

Mutation Accumulation, Soft Selection and the Middle-Class Neighborhood

Science.gov (United States)

Moorad, Jacob A.; Hall, David W.

2009-01-01

The “middle-class neighborhood” is a breeding design intended to allow new mutations to accumulate by lessening the effects of purifying selection through the elimination of among-line fitness variation. We show that this design effectively applies soft selection to the experimental population, potentially causing biased estimates of mutational effects if social effects contribute to fitness. PMID:19448272

Hegemonic developments: the new Indian middle class, gendered subalterns, and diasporic returnees in the event of neoliberalism.

Science.gov (United States)

Bhatt, Amy; Murty, Madhavi; Ramamurthy, Priti

2010-01-01

The "new middle class" as a political construct is valuable for feminist theorizations of international political economy, particularly those concerned with development. The rise of the new middle class is usually juxtaposed with neoliberalism, so we offer a new theorization of neoliberalism-as-event and analyze an array of new-middle-class signs and subjects in India. Questioning the repetition of the figure of the new Indian woman in resolving the sociotemporal and spatiotemporal paradoxes of the nation, we argue, first, that the figure of the subaltern woman is a necessary counter to the new Indian woman. The arrival of the gendered subaltern on the national stage is celebrated through discourses that articulate and disarticulate the subaltern woman and bear the traces of subaltern struggles. Her gendered body constitutes the line between who can be new middle class and at the vanguard of neoliberal development and who cannot. Second, we argue that new-middle-class formation is taking place in the households of diasporic returnees through class practices that involve speaking to and for domestic servants. Returnees hold in tension urges to encourage class mobility and to discipline their servants through neoliberal governmentalities that draw on global discourses of corporate responsibility, professionalism, and empowerment. These development scripts are interspersed with reflections on the poor material conditions of domestic service work. The implications of this article for feminist theorizations of international political economy are methodological, analytical, and political.

THE MIDDLE CLASS IN THE REPUBLIC OF MOLDOVA: DETERMINANT FACTORS OF FORMATION

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Ludmila MALCOCI

2017-02-01

Full Text Available The research of the middle class formation process in the Republic of Moldova is of majorimportance, as it allows to identify its main elements and the possibilities of formation under the currentconditions. The article presents the results of the sociological study on the premises of the middle classformation in the Republic of Moldova, carried out during June-September 2016. The results from thisstudy show that the society is distributed in 6 social strata that vary by socio-professional status, level ofeducation and level of wellbeing. The status inconsistency and low level of status crystallisation arecharacteristics for all strata within the conditions of dysfunctionality of logical chain: education-socialoccupational status-welfare. As per the research, the process of classes’ formation is just at the initialstage in the Republic of Moldova. The analysis of the social strata in terms of middle class criteria: highsocio professional status, high education level, high level of welfare, shows some prospects of formationof the middle class in the upper strata within the following conditions: development of wage policies;reforming tax policies by promoting the progressive taxation of income; ensuring equitable distribution ofwages according to work; elimination of corruption in power structures; improving legislation; ensuringaccess of the population to decision – making process; creating favourable conditions for development ofsmall and medium business; development of a transparent environment for the market economy; guarantyof fair conditions to population to ensure access to education and health services.

Re-establishing Class Privilege: The Ideological Uses of Middle and Working-Class Female Characters in Downton Abbey

OpenAIRE

Laetitia Kevers

2017-01-01

This paper argues that the British period drama Downton Abbey, which aired between 2010 and 2015 and encountered worldwide success, uses working class and middle-class female characters to promote the aristocracy and conservative ideas, while hiding behind historical accuracy and seemingly progressive patterns of behaviour. Through a close reading of four female characters, I will demonstrate how the series’ author, Julian Fellowes, uses the show to endorse his own political ag...

Sex differences in obesity, dietary habits, and physical activity among urban middle-class Bangladeshis.

Science.gov (United States)

Saquib, Juliann; Saquib, Nazmus; Stefanick, Marcia L; Khanam, Masuma Akter; Anand, Shuchi; Rahman, Mahbubur; Chertow, Glenn M; Barry, Michele; Ahmed, Tahmeed; Cullen, Mark R

2016-07-01

The sustained economic growth in Bangladesh during the previous decade has created a substantial middle-class population, who have adequate income to spend on food, clothing, and lifestyle management. Along with the improvements in living standards, has also come negative impact on health for the middle class. The study objective was to assess sex differences in obesity prevalence, diet, and physical activity among urban middle-class Bangladeshi. In this cross-sectional study, conducted in 2012, we randomly selected 402 adults from Mohammedpur, Dhaka. The sampling technique was multi-stage random sampling. We used standardized questionnaires for data collection and measured height, weight, and waist circumference. Mean age (standard deviation) was 49.4 (12.7) years. The prevalence of both generalized (79% vs. 53%) and central obesity (85% vs. 42%) were significantly higher in women than men. Women reported spending more time watching TV and spending less time walking than men (pmiddle-class Bangladeshis than previous urban estimates, and the burden of obesity disproportionately affects women. Future research and public health efforts are needed to address this severe obesity problem and to promote active lifestyles.

Cultural influences, decision making process and consumer behaviour of the Middle Class Chinese Outbound Tourist.

OpenAIRE

Bollen, Luc

2010-01-01

The research investigates the consumer behaviour of the emerging “Middle Class Mainland Chinese Outbound Tourist”. With the Chinese outbound tourism market being one of the fastest growing worldwide and poised for exponential growth in years to come, tourism industry professionals would benefit from a deeper understanding. The focus of the thesis considers which cultural influences are important in the decision making process of the Chinese middle class consumer, what are the pre-cons...

Residential practices of middle classes in the field of parenthood

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Boterman, W.R.

2012-01-01

This dissertation is about the changes in the lives of members of the middle classes in Amsterdam when they become parents for the first time. It is about how becoming a parent affects their working life, their consumption patterns, and their social life. It is about how identities as new parents

Taking tea in the parlour: middle-class formation and gender construction in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, 1760-1850

OpenAIRE

Poole, Ann Judith

2007-01-01

Knowledge of tea etiquette was a significant marker of middle-class gentility and contributed to middle-class formation and gender construction in colonial Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. Early middle-class settlers brought tea ware and employed the tea ritual to set standards of gentility that determined social inclusion or exclusion. Tea drinking shifted from a predominantly masculine activity in the late eighteenth century, as commercial and political men met in their parlours over tea, to ...

Identify the consumption patterns of the second generation Chinese middle class. Does culture influence their consumption habits?

OpenAIRE

Liu, Kim Man

2012-01-01

Background: The 1978 political social reform in China has led to the emergence of the rapid and fast growing urban ‘middle class’ population. With the rise of the large population of middle class consumers, global market developers and opportunists are targeting this group of people to maximize their profits in developing countries. This research aimed to identify the consumption patterns of the second generation Chinese middle class and to investigate if their unique Chinese culture influenc...

Vulnerability Factors in the Middle Class: Evidence for Argentina and Mexico after the Crisis of the 1990s

OpenAIRE

Galassi, Gabriela Liliana; González, Leandro Mariano

2012-01-01

This paper explores the profile of the Argentinean and Mexican middle classes during the most recent crisis in both countries. It combines the perspectives of social vulnerability and class analysis theoretically underlying a "matrix of vulnerability and social classes." The analysis used household surveys in Argentina for 1998 and 2003 and those in Mexico for 1994 and 1996. The results show that whereas the Mexican middle class was primarily affected during the "Tequila crisis" through its p...

Financial Literacy: Thai Middle Class Women Do Not Lag Behind

NARCIS (Netherlands)

A. Grohmann (Antonia); O. Hübler (Olaf); R.R.P. Kouwenberg (Roy); L. Menkhoff (Lukas)

2016-01-01

textabstractThis research studies the stylized fact of a “gender gap” in that women tend to have lower financial literacy than men. Our data which samples middle-class people from Bangkok does not show a gender gap. This result is not explained by men’s low financial literacy, nor by women’s high

Involved Fatherhood? Exploring the Educational Work of Middle-Class Men

Science.gov (United States)

Gottzen, Lucas

2011-01-01

The present paper explores middle-class fathers' educational work by studying how they and their partners are involved in their children's education at home, in school, and how they investigate school options and make decisions about educational issues. Drawing on data from an ethnographic study of 30 dual-earner couples in the Greater Los Angeles…

Middle-class mythology and the Houdini disappearing act: health care and jobs joined at the hip.

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Ehrle, Lynn Howard; Cleveland, Robert W

2010-01-01

Myths have long legs. Once they become integrated into the cultural ethos they are almost impossible to dislodge. The Middle Class Myth is a case in point. Spoken of in reverential terms, the conventional wisdom holds that the U.S. economy is driven by a vast middle class, anchoring its consumer-driven system of goods and services. But contrary to frequent statements by pundits, politicians, and many economists, the middle class has actually disappeared. Another commonly held myth--that the United States has the best health care system in the world--is perpetuated by medical leaders and the mainstream media. Despite huge worker layoffs causing 50 million to be without health insurance, and millions more who are underinsured, the myth persists. A third myth, one currently in vogue among media pundits and politicians, is that health care and jobs are two separate issues and policymakers can deal with them as unrelated to each other, when in reality they are inextricably interwoven--the connective tissue of a physically and mentally robust workforce. The authors use Census Bureau after-tax income and Federal Reserve data to demonstrate that the middle class has disappeared, leaving millions of Americans with little disposable income, meager savings, and no health care safety net.

Re-establishing Class Privilege: The Ideological Uses of Middle and Working-Class Female Characters in Downton Abbey

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Laetitia Kevers

2017-10-01

Full Text Available This paper argues that the British period drama Downton Abbey, which aired between 2010 and 2015 and encountered worldwide success, uses working class and middle-class female characters to promote the aristocracy and conservative ideas, while hiding behind historical accuracy and seemingly progressive patterns of behaviour. Through a close reading of four female characters, I will demonstrate how the series’ author, Julian Fellowes, uses the show to endorse his own political agenda, as a Conservative member of the House of Lords in the British Parliament.

Work–life balance/imbalance: the dominance of the middle class and the neglect of the working class

OpenAIRE

Warren, Tracey

2015-01-01

The paper was stimulated by the question of class in work-life debates. The common conclusion from work-life studies is that work-life imbalance is largely a middle class problem. It is argued here that this assertion is a direct outcome of a particular and narrow interpretation of work-life imbalance in which time is seen to be the major cause of difficulty. Labour market time, and too much of it, dominates the conceptualisation of work-life and its measurement too. This heavy focus on a cer...

"He Was a Bit of a Delicate Thing": White Middle-Class Boys, Gender, School Choice and Parental Anxiety

Science.gov (United States)

Williams, Katya; Jamieson, Fiona; Hollingworth, Sumi

2008-01-01

This paper examines the impact of gender on white middle-class parents' anxiety about choosing inner-city comprehensives and their children's subsequent experiences within school, particularly in relation to social mixing. Drawing on interview data from an ESRC funded study of white middle-class parents whose children attend inner-city…

Social class differences in self, attribution, and attention: socially expansive individualism of middle-class Americans.

Science.gov (United States)

Bowman, Nicholas A; Kitayama, Shinobu; Nisbett, Richard E

2009-07-01

Although U.S. culture strongly sanctions the ideal of independence, the specific ways in which independence is realized may be variable depending, among other factors, on social class. Characterized by relative scarcity of social and material resources, working-class (WC) Americans were expected to strongly value self-reliance. In contrast, with choices among abundant resources, middle-class (MC) Americans were expected to value personal control and social expansiveness. In support of this analysis, relative to their WC counterparts, MC Americans reported more support from friends and greater likelihood of giving and receiving advice but less self-reliance (Study 1). Furthermore, we found evidence that this social difference has cognitive consequences: College students with MC backgrounds were more likely than their WC counterparts were to endorse situational attributions for others' behavior (Studies 2a and 2b) as well as to show holistic visual attention (Study 3).

Food Standards are Good– for Middle-class Farmers

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hansen, Henrik; Trifkovic, Neda

results indicate that large returns can be accrued from food standards, but only for the upper middle-class farmers, i.e., those between the 50% and 85% quantiles of the expenditure distribution. Overall, our result points to an exclusionary impact of standards for the poorest farmers while the richest do......We estimate the causal effect of food standards on Vietnamese pangasius farmers’ wellbeing measured by per capita consumption expenditure. We estimate both the average effects and the local average treatment effects on poorer and richer farmers by instrumental variable quantile regression. Our...

Economic exchanges in a stratified society: End of the middle class?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Laguna, M.F.; Risau Gusman, S.; Iglesias, J.R.

2005-05-01

We study the effect of the social stratification on the wealth distribution on a system of interacting economic agents that are constrained to interact only within their own economic class. The economical mobility of the agents is related to its success in exchange transactions.Different wealth distributions are obtained as a function of the width of the economic class. We and a range of widths in which the society is divided into two classes separated by a deep gap that prevents further exchange between poor and rich agents. As a consequence, the middle wealth class is eliminated. The high values of the Gini indices obtained in these cases indicate a highly unequal society. On the other hand, lower and higher widths induce lower Gini indices and a fairer wealth distribution. (author)

Housing as a way of life: towards an understanding of middle-class families' preferences for an urban residential location

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Karsten, L.; Paddison, R.; Ostendorf, W.

2010-01-01

Housing studies show an overwhelming preference by middle-class families for suburban living locations. In this paper an atypical category, middle-class families living in the city, is addressed. The aim is to understand why these households disconnect the seemingly natural relationship between

Disparities in Prevalence of Cardiometablic Risk Factors in Rural, Urban-Poor, and Urban-Middle Class Women in India.

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Indu Mohan

Full Text Available Urbanization is an important determinant of cardiovascular disease (CVD risk. To determine location-based differences in CVD risk factors in India we performed studies among women in rural, urban-poor and urban middle-class locations.Population-based cross-sectional studies in rural, urban-poor, and urban-middle class women (35-70 y were performed at multiple sites. We evaluated 6853 women (rural 2616, 5 sites; urban-poor 2008, 4 sites; urban middle-class 2229, 11 sites for socioeconomic, lifestyle, anthropometric and biochemical risk factors. Descriptive statistics are reported.Mean levels of body mass index (BMI, waist circumference, waist-hip ratio (WHR, systolic BP, fasting glucose and cholesterol in rural, urban-poor and urban-middle class women showed significantly increasing trends (ANOVAtrend, p 80 cm (28.3, 63.4, 61.9%, waist >90 cm (8.4, 31.4, 38.2%, waist hip ratio (WHR >0.8 (60.4, 90.7, 88.5, WHR>0.9 (13.0, 44.3, 56.1%, hypertension (31.6, 48.2, 59.0% and hypercholesterolemia (13.5, 27.7, 37.4% (Mantel Haenszel X2 ptrend <0.01. Inverse trend was observed for tobacco use (41.6, 19.6, 9.4%. There was significant association of hypertension, hypercholesterolemia and diabetes with overweight and obesity (adjusted R2 0.89-0.99.There are significant location based differences in cardiometabolic risk factors in India. The urban-middle class women have the highest risk compared to urban-poor and rural.

Middle School Students' Attitudes toward Science, Scientists, Science Teachers and Classes

Science.gov (United States)

Kapici, Hasan Özgür; Akçay, Hakan

2016-01-01

It is an indispensable fact that having a positive attitude towards science is one of the important factors that promotes students for studying in science. The study is a kind of national study that aims to investigate middle school students', from different regions of Turkey, attitudes toward science, scientists and science classes. The study was…

Food, eating and taste: parents' perspectives on the making of the middle class teenager.

Science.gov (United States)

Backett-Milburn, Kathryn C; Wills, Wendy J; Roberts, Mei-Li; Lawton, Julia

2010-10-01

This paper reports findings from a qualitative study of views and understandings of dietary practices in middle class families. Thirty five parents/main food providers of boys and girls aged 13/14 years, living in Eastern Scotland, were interviewed about their and their teenagers' everyday lives, food, health and family practices. One of our aims was to understand more about the social and cultural conditions which might be promoting more positive dietary health and physical well-being amongst middle class families. Most parents' accounts appeared rooted in a taken-for-grantedness that family members enjoyed good health, lived in relatively secure and unthreatening environments regarding health and resources, and were able to lead active lives, which they valued. Although controlling teenagers' eating practices was presented as an ongoing challenge, active supervision and surveillance of their diets was described, as was guiding tastes in 'the right direction'. Parents described attempts to achieve family eating practices such as commensality, cooking from scratch, and encouraging a varied and nutritional 'adult' diet and cosmopolitan tastes, though work and activities could compromise these. These middle class families might be characterized as having future oriented 'hierarchies of luxury and choice', in which controlling and moulding teenagers' food practices and tastes was assigned a high priority.

‘Cuteifying’ spaces and staging marine animals for Chinese middle-class consumption

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ong, Chin Ee

2017-01-01

In this paper, Chimelong Ocean Kingdom in Zhuhai is considered an aestheticised space for the growing Chinese middle class. Located within the booming and fast-urbanising Pearl River Delta, the theme park is a sizeable project consisting of rides, marine mammal enclosures and a well-equipped

The importance of a child’s education in middle class families [Znaczenie edukacji dziecka w rodzinie z klasy średniej

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Mirosława NYCZAJ-DRĄG

2017-11-01

Full Text Available The following study proves the thesis that in present-day Polish conditions children’s education does not depend on their intellectual capacity, but it rather depends on the financial background, the social and cultural capital and parent’s social class. In addition, family status and family members contribute to a child’s position in a specific social space. At the beginning I would like to indicate Pierre Bourdieu’s theory as the main basis upon which this study is based, afterwards I present selected conceptions and definitions of the middle class. In the next part I describe the research concerning middle class children’s standard of education. This is the background on which I present the program of self-study and its results. The materials presented show the value which is assigned by parents to their children, their upbringing, and education. In addition, it enables one to analyse the mentality of this specific group of parents and the educational patterns which they use to support their children. The research results and the opinions described in the text lead us to assume that parents from the middle class provide their children with practically unlimited support, which will help them in the future to reconstruct their social status. In general, the main goal of parents from the middle class is to create life chances for their children, so they can succeed in life. The analysis proves that middle class children can count on financial, material, psychological, and public support from their parents. In my paper I elaborate on how much importance middle class parents attach to their children’s education as well as what their expectations and plans related to education are

Public Education: A Route into Lebanon’s Middle Class in the 1960s and Early 1970s

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Youssef Zbib

2014-05-01

Full Text Available In Lebanon during the 1960s, public education became more accessible to members of the lower classes and different sectarian denominations, after a time when education had been, to a large extent, a privilege of upper- and middle-class Christians. This paper examines the socioeconomic conditions of public school teachers as a result of this process. Using Bourdieusian analysis, I argue that these teachers used cultural capital acquired through free education to become part of a rising professional middle class. To a large extent, these teachers’ definition of their own social positions and roles was a result of their individual histories and internalized values.

Rebels Without a Cause? Socialization and Subcultural Style among the Children of the New Middle Classes.

Science.gov (United States)

Aggleton, Peter J.; Whitty, Geoff

1985-01-01

A study of upper-middle-class college students in England who responded with "resistance" to their schooling showed that the students' challenges do not constitute effective resistances to prevailing patterns of class or gender relations, i.e., their challenges are not transformative. (RM)

Food Standards are Good – for Middle-Class Farmers

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hansen, Henrik; Trifkovic, Neda

2014-01-01

We estimate the causal effect of food standards on Vietnamese pangasius farmers’ wellbeing measured by per capita consumption expenditure. We estimate both the average effects and the local average treatment effects on poorer and richer farmers by instrumental variable quantile regression. Our...... results indicate that large returns can be accrued from food standards, but only for the upper middle-class farmers, i.e., those between the 50% and 85% quantiles of the expenditure distribution. Overall, our result points to an exclusionary impact of standards for the poorest farmers while the richest do...

Work-life balance/imbalance: the dominance of the middle class and the neglect of the working class.

Science.gov (United States)

Warren, Tracey

2015-12-01

The paper was stimulated by the relative absence of the working class from work-life debates. The common conclusion from work-life studies is that work-life imbalance is largely a middle-class problem. It is argued here that this classed assertion is a direct outcome of a particular and narrow interpretation of work-life imbalance in which time is seen to be the major cause of difficulty. Labour market time, and too much of it, dominates the conceptualization of work-life and its measurement too. This heavy focus on too much labour market time has rendered largely invisible from dominant work-life discourses the types of imbalance that are more likely to impact the working class. The paper's analysis of large UK data-sets demonstrates a reduction in hours worked by working-class men, more part-time employment in working-class occupations, and a substantial growth in levels of reported financial insecurity amongst the working classes after the 2008-9 recession. It shows too that economic-based work-life imbalance is associated with lower levels of life satisfaction than is temporal imbalance. The paper concludes that the dominant conceptualization of work-life disregards the major work-life challenge experienced by the working class: economic precarity. The work-life balance debate needs to more fully incorporate economic-based work-life imbalance if it is to better represent class inequalities. © London School of Economics and Political Science 2015.

Queering the spinsters: single middle-class women in Norway, 1880-1920.

Science.gov (United States)

Hellesund, Tone

2008-01-01

Constituting what may be called "a community of spinsters," Norwegian middle-class unmarried woman played an important role in undermining and destabilizing the heterosexual cultural matrix during the period 1880-1920. In their anti-sexuality, self-sufficiency and hatred of men the spinsters challenged the heteronormativity of the period, and their queerness still presents a challenge to the harmony-oriented, heteromormative Norwegian women's history.

Africa's middle class women bring entrepreneurial opportunities in breast care medical tourism to South Africa.

Science.gov (United States)

Ahwireng-Obeng, Frederick; van Loggerenberg, Charl

2011-01-01

Africa's distribution of specialized private health services is severely disproportionate. Mismatch between South Africa's excess supply and a huge demand potential in an under-serviced continent represents an entrepreneurial opportunity to attract patients to South Africa for treatment and recuperative holidays. However, effective demand for intra-African medical tourism could be constrained by sub-Saharan poverty. Results from interviewing 320 patients and five staff at the Johannesburg Breast care Centre of Excellence, however, reject this proposition, Africa's middle class women being the target market estimated to grow annually by one million while breast cancer incidence increases with middle-class lifestyles. Uncovering this potential involves an extensive marketing strategy. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

A classe média no mundo do neoliberalismo Middle classes in the world of neoliberalism

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Roberto Grün

1998-05-01

Full Text Available O texto procura dar conta das recentes transformações na maneira como as classes médias brasileiras apreendem e dão sentido à sua vida na esfera econômica. Para isso, utiliza dados e análises de pesquisas sobre transformações em ambientes de trabalho burocráticos, construção de espaços argumentativos dos gerentes, formas tradicionais e mais recentes do pequeno comércio e sobre o também recente fenômeno do desemprego gerencial. Procura entender o problema mediante um estudo de transformações das convenções cognitivas implícitas nas formas de se entender o mundo social e seus reflexos nas vivências da esfera econômica. Da análise emerge um interessante caso de cegueira institucional, onde todas as evidências que põem em xeque a nova ordem são descartadas e onde a antiga divisão das classes médias em estratos assalariados e autônomos tem de ser repensado.The text tries to analyse recent transformations in the manner how the Brazilian middle classes perceive and signify their lives in the economic sphere. For this I make use of dates and analyses produced in researches about the transformations of the bureaucratic-work milieu, about the construction of managers' argumentative spaces, about traditional and more recent forms of the small trade and about the also recent phenomenon of management unemployment. I try to understand the problem based on a study on the transformations of the cognitive conventions inherent to the way people comprehend the social world and experience the consequences of its changes in the economic sphere. The analysis shows that there exists an interesting case of institutional blindness in which all the evidences that threaten the new order are rejected and in which the old division of the middle classes between employed and autonomous strata has to be rethought.

'I don't get this climate stuff!' Making sense of climate change among the corporate middle class in Lagos.

Science.gov (United States)

Asiyanbi, Adeniyi P

2015-11-01

Public engagement continues to be central to wider efforts to address climate change. This study contributes to public engagement debates by investigating engagement with climate change among an often overlooked group, the corporate middle class in Africa's second largest megacity, Lagos. Combining survey and interviews, I focus analysis on three aspects: awareness, knowledge and concern; role of scientific and social frames in shaping general attitude; and spatial attribution of causes and consequences. The study reveals a universal awareness and high concern about climate change among the respondents, although understanding and perceptions of climate change are significantly socially framed. Social situatedness, more than scientific facts, is the most important definer of overall engagement with climate change. This study thus underscores a nuanced constructionist stance, showing how corporate professionals' 'ways of knowing' climate change is underpinned by a certain co-production between scientific and socio-experiential frames. I highlight implications for research and public engagement with climate change. © The Author(s) 2015.

Protect and Survive: "Whiteness" and the Middle-Class Family in Civil Defence Pedagogies

Science.gov (United States)

Preston, John

2008-01-01

"Civil defence pedagogies" normalise continuous emergency through educational channels such as school, community and adult education. Using critical whiteness studies, and critiques of white supremacy from critical race theory, as a conceptual base, the protection of whiteness, and particularly the white middle-class family, is considered to be…

DOWNSIZING TO CORPORATE ANOREXIA WHILE DISMANTLING THE MIDDLE CLASS: ARE WE IN DANGER OF RECREATING THE 1920S?

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Thomas R. Winpenny

1999-01-01

Full Text Available Corporate downsizing has run rampant on the American scene during the 1990s. Indeed, Business Week claimed it had become a fad. Ironically, the new “lean and mean” look did not apply to CEO compensation packages. More critically, corporate downsizing hurt middle class purchasing power. The Big Lie that emerged from this was that America could dismantle the middle class and have a booming economy. Much of this reasoning sounds, sadly enough, like the thinking so prevalent in the 1920s.

Cardiovascular risk factors in a Mexican middle-class urban population. The Lindavista Study. Baseline data.

Science.gov (United States)

Meaney, Alejandra; Ceballos-Reyes, Guillermo; Gutiérrez-Salmean, Gabriela; Samaniego-Méndez, Virginia; Vela-Huerta, Agustín; Alcocer, Luis; Zárate-Chavarría, Elisa; Mendoza-Castelán, Emma; Olivares-Corichi, Ivonne; García-Sánchez, Rubén; Martínez-Marroquín, Yolanda; Ramírez-Sánchez, Israel; Meaney, Eduardo

2013-01-01

The aim of this communication is to describe the cardiovascular risk factors affecting a Mexican urban middle-class population. A convenience sample of 2602 middle class urban subjects composed the cohort of the Lindavista Study, a prospective study aimed to determine if conventional cardiovascular risks factors have the same prognosis impact as in other populations. For the baseline data, several measurements were done: obesity indexes, smoking, blood pressure, fasting serum glucose, total cholesterol, HDL-c, LDL-c and triglycerides. This paper presents the basal values of this population, which represents a sample of the Mexican growing urban middle-class. The mean age in the sample was 50 years; 59% were females. Around 50% of the entire group were overweighed, while around 24% were obese. 32% smoked; 32% were hypertensive with a 20% rate of controlled pressure. 6% had diabetes, and 14% had impaired fasting glucose; 66% had total cholesterol ≥ 200 mg/dL; 62% showed HDL-c levels150 mg/dL, and 34% levels of LDL-c ≥ 160 mg/dL. Half of the population studied had the metabolic syndrome. These data show a population with a high-risk profile, secondary to the agglomeration of several cardiovascular risk factors. Copyright © 2012 Instituto Nacional de Cardiología Ignacio Chávez. Published by Masson Doyma México S.A. All rights reserved.

ISLAM IN PROVINCIAL INDONESIA: Middle Class, Lifestyle, and Democracy

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Noorhaidi Hasan

2011-02-01

Full Text Available Islamic symbols have flourished in the public spaces of Indonesian provincial towns after Suharto. This phenomenon has occurred in parallel with the  significant shifts in the social, economic and political fields, which is tied to the mounting impact of Islamization, social mobility, economic growth, and democratization occurring among town people. It is as if we see a parallel move between Islamization, modernization, globalization and democratization. Key concepts associated with these trends are appropriated with those rooted in tradition and local culture to inform the whole dynamics of Indonesian provincial towns today. The key player in this process is the new middle class, who look to Islam for inspiration both to claim distinction and social status and to legitimize their consumptive lifestyle. They are newly pious who act as active negotiators between the global and the local as well as the cosmopolitan centre and the hinterland. They also play a pivotal role as an agency that liberalizes religion from its traditionally subservient, passive and docile posture by turning it into a source of moral legitimacy and distinction to represent a modern form of life. Given its intimate relationship with locality, tradition, modernity as well as globalization, Islam has increasingly assumed a greater importance for local politics. Political elites have used Islamic symbols for the instrumental purpose of extending their political legitimacy and mobilizing constituency support, in a political environment of open competition and increased public participation in decision making. In this process religious symbols have irrefutably been distanced from their religious moorings and narrow, Islamist understandings, in favor of pragmatic political purposes. Keywords: Islamic symbols, middle class, globalization, lifestyle, local politics

The housing careers of black middle-class residents in a South African metropolitan area

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Marais, L

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Africans was restored in the mid-1980s and the Group Areas Act was repealed in 1991. Democracy opened up economic opportunities previously unavailable to black people. This paper investigates the effect on black middle-class South African households...

Paradoxes of Social Rise. The Expansion of Middle Classes and the Financial Crisis

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Christoph Deutschmann

2010-07-01

Full Text Available The article views the current financial crisis from the background of long term socio-economic changes in advanced industrial societies. Central points are the rise of middle classes, the accumulation of financial wealth in the upper strata of middle classes in combination with an increasing concentration of financial assets at the level of the top rich, and the advance of pension and investment funds as collective actors at financial markets. The paper analyses the interconnections between these developments in the framework of a multilevel model, culminating in the thesis of a collective “Buddenbrooks”-effect: a structural upward mobility of society will lead to an increasing imbalance at capital markets because a strongly rising volume of financial assets searching profitable investment opportunities will go parallel with a decline of the social reservoir of solvent entrepreneurial debtors. Therefore, advanced industrial economies are faced with chronic excess liquidity and export surpluses at capital markets, leading to the build-up of speculative bubbles and subsequent crashes. The author argues that the present crisis cannot be understood properly without taking account of these backgrounds.

Rescuing Middle School Astronomy

Science.gov (United States)

Mayo, L. A.; Janney, D.

2010-12-01

There is a crisis in education at the middle school level (Spellings, 2006). Recent studies point to large disparities in middle school performance in schools with high minority populations. The largest disparities exist in areas of math and science. Astronomy has a universal appeal for K-12 students but is rarely taught at the middle school level. When it is taught at all it is usually taught in isolation with few references in other classes such as other sciences (e.g. physics, biology, and chemistry), math, history, geography, music, art, or English. The problem is greatest in our most challenged school districts. With scores in reading and math below national averages in these schools and with most state achievement tests ignoring subjects like astronomy, there is little room in the school day to teach about the world outside our atmosphere. Add to this the exceedingly minimal training and education in astronomy that most middle school teachers have and it is a rare school that includes any astronomy teaching at all. In this presentation, we show how to develop and offer an astronomy education training program for middle school teachers encompassing a wide range of educational disciplines that are frequently taught at the middle school level. The prototype for this program was developed and launched in two of the most challenged and diverse school systems in the country; D.C. Public Schools, and Montgomery County (MD) Public Schools.

Navigating Polycentric Governance from a Citizen’s Perspective: The Rising New Middle Classes Respond

NARCIS (Netherlands)

A.F. Fowler (Alan); K. Biekart (Kees)

2015-01-01

markdownabstractA global growth in the middle class is anticipated to influence development choices and the evolution of domestic polities associated with a ‘rising‘ South. Responding to the local effects of a multipolar world order will add to a citizen’s existing need to navigate national

Assessment of bioaerosol contamination (bacteria and fungi) in the largest urban wastewater treatment plant in the Middle East.

Science.gov (United States)

Niazi, Sadegh; Hassanvand, Mohammad Sadegh; Mahvi, Amir Hossein; Nabizadeh, Ramin; Alimohammadi, Mahmood; Nabavi, Samira; Faridi, Sasan; Dehghani, Asghar; Hoseini, Mohammad; Moradi-Joo, Mohammad; Mokamel, Adel; Kashani, Homa; Yarali, Navid; Yunesian, Masud

2015-10-01

Bioaerosol concentration was measured in wastewater treatment units in south of Tehran, the largest wastewater treatment plant in the Middle East. Active sampling was carried out around four operational units and a point as background. The results showed that the aeration tank with an average of 1016 CFU/m(3) in winter and 1973 CFU/m(3) in summer had the greatest effect on emission of bacterial bioaerosols. In addition, primary treatment had the highest impact on fungal emission. Among the bacteria, Micrococcus spp. showed the widest emission in the winter, and Bacillus spp. was dominant in summer. Furthermore, fungi such as Penicillium spp. and Cladosporium spp. were the dominant types in the seasons. Overall, significant relationship was observed between meteorological parameters and the concentration of bacterial and fungal aerosols.

Rural N(SO) and German middle-class mothers' interaction with their 3- and 6-month-old infants: A longitudinal cross-cultural analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Lamm, Bettina; Gudi, Helene; Fassbender, Ina; Freitag, Claudia; Graf, Frauke; Goertz, Claudia; Spangler, Sibylle; Teubert, Manuel; Knopf, Monika; Lohaus, Arnold; Schwarzer, Gudrun; Keller, Heidi

2015-08-01

This study aims to analyze culture-specific development of maternal interactional behavior longitudinally. Rural Cameroonian Nso mothers (n = 72) and German middle-class mothers (n = 106) were observed in free-play interactions with their 3- and 6-month-old infants. Results reveal the expected shift from a social to a nonsocial focus only in the German middle-class mothers' play interactions but not the rural Nso mothers' play. Nso mothers continue their proximal interactional style with a focus on body contact and body stimulation, whereas German middle-class mothers prefer a distal style of interaction with increasing object-centeredness. These cultural differences are in line with broader cultural models and become more accentuated as the infants grow older. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

Parental Goals and Parenting Practices of Upper-Middle-Class Korean Mothers with Preschool Children

Science.gov (United States)

Park, Ju-Hee; Kwon, Young In

2009-01-01

In order to understand how mothers develop their parenting styles under rapidly changing cultural contexts, this study examines and compares Korean upper-middle-class mothers' parental goals and real parenting practices as they reported. For this purpose, face-to-face in-depth interviews with 20 Korean mothers were conducted. By analyzing the…

Perceptions and attitudes of formative assessments in middle-school science classes

Science.gov (United States)

Chauncey, Penny Denyse

No Child Left Behind mandates utilizing summative assessment to measure schools' effectiveness. The problem is that summative assessment measures students' knowledge without depth of understanding. The goal of public education, however, is to prepare students to think critically at higher levels. The purpose of this study was to examine any difference between formative assessment incorporated in instruction as opposed to the usual, more summative methods in terms of attitudes and academic achievement of middle-school science students. Maslow's theory emphasizes that individuals must have basic needs met before they can advance to higher levels. Formative assessment enables students to master one level at a time. The research questions focused on whether statistically significant differences existed between classrooms using these two types of assessments on academic tests and an attitude survey. Using a quantitative quasi-experimental control-group design, data were obtained from a sample of 430 middle-school science students in 6 classes. One control and 2 experimental classes were assigned to each teacher. Results of the independent t tests revealed academic achievement was significantly greater for groups that utilized formative assessment. No significant difference in attitudes was noted. Recommendations include incorporating formative assessment results with the summative results. Findings from this study could contribute to positive social change by prompting educational stakeholders to examine local and state policies on curriculum as well as funding based on summative scores alone. Use of formative assessment can lead to improved academic success.

Curriculum, Credentials, and the Middle Class: A Case Study of a Nineteenth-Century High School.

Science.gov (United States)

Labaree, David F.

1986-01-01

Described is the development of the modern hegemonic curriculum--i.e., one in which knowledge is stratified, academic, and appropriated through individual competition--in a nineteenth century high school. This developmental process hinged on the relationship between the school's curriculum and its middle-class constituency, a relationship…

Reaching out to the American middle class: Peggy Noonan’s conservatism

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Luc BENOIT A LA GUILLAUME

2008-10-01

Full Text Available Parmi les idéologues qui popularisent les idées conservatrices auprès du grand public, Peggy Noonan occupe une place intéressante. Moins extrémiste que Rush Limbaugh ou Ann Coulter, elle exprime les angoisses et les espoirs des Reagan Democrats, ces Américains moyens devenus conservateurs depuis les années 80. Cet article analyse les ambivalences d’un discours qui entre en résonance avec celles d’une partie de la classe moyenne américaine.Since the 1990s, Peggy Noonan’s writings have translated conservative ideas into articles and bestselling books for the wider American public. In a less abrasive way than Rush Limbaugh or Ann Coulter, she expresses the hopes and fears of the Reagan Democrats. This article analyzes Noonan’s ambivalent rhetoric, which mirrors the ambivalent attitudes of parts of America’s embattled middle class.

Politics, Religion and Morals: The Symbolism of Public Schooling for the Urban Middle-Class Identity

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Rowe, Emma E.

2016-01-01

Research points to sections of the middle-class repopulating the "ordinary" urban public school and whilst there are key differences in how they are navigating public school choices, from "seeking a critical mass" to resisting traditional methods of choice and going "against-the-grain", or collectively campaigning for…

A New Middle Class on Old Academic Grounds: Law Students of the Cluj University in the 1930s

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Pálffy Zoltán

2015-06-01

Full Text Available One of the main tasks of universities of Central and Eastern Europe is that of forming loyal and reliable citizens ready to fill in the ranks of public service. Educational credentials make for social elevation into the ranks of this peculiarly state-dependent middle class. Law students make the relative majority of those engaged in higher learning in the region all through the first half of the 20th century. Where and when there is an acute need for a new middle class under a new state sovereignty, it is law studies that are notoriously perceived as meant to producing the bulk of it. The University of Cluj in the inter-war period is a case in point. The paper shall put forward a selection of data (from an ample statistical survey of elite formation via upper-level education in Central Europe on this segment of the student population in the 1930s, setting it against a dramatically changed background (the general one and the local one, as traced in secondary sources: how do Romanians cope with the task of producing this new middle class on old grounds, and what are the unwanted side-effects of such state-related social emancipation mechanisms? And how non-Romanians behave in the new situation?

Factors for Formation and Regulation of the Ukrainian Population’s Incomes in the Context of the Middle Class Formation

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Т. S.

2017-12-01

Full Text Available A key criterion for identification of the middle class is income level enabling for the households’ consumption by the socialy acceptable standards. The share of middle class can grow only in parallel with the increasing polulation incomes. The article’s objective is to study incomes of the Ukrainian population in the context of the middle class formation and analyze regulatory mechanisms pertaining to the populations’ incomes and wages in Ukraine. The study is based on the official statistical data for 2012–2016 (population’s incomes and employment, nominal sages in hryvnya and dollar equivelant. The Kaitz index is calculated for Ukraine by data for 2015–2017. An extendive review of the data obtained from the sample survey of householdes on self-assessment of their incomes, conducted in January 2017, is given. The analysis of factors behind the formation of population’s incomes in Ukraine gives evidence of the low life standards in Ukraine, the wide income gap and the threatening scales of poverty. The main source of the population incomes in Ukraine is salary, with the insignificant share of income from property. While the nominal wage was growing year-to-year in 2012–2016, its dollar equivalent reduced twofold. According to the data of the abovemenationed sample survey, only 0.7% of city households and 0.3% of rural ones classified themselves in the middle class. Ukrainian still lacks appropriate mechanisms for regulation of incomes and wages through differentiated taxation of various population strata; the domestic stock market needs to be built in as way to ensure the increasing incomes from property; the rate of minimal wage should be better justified.

“Battlers” and Their Homes: About Self-Production of Residences Made by the Brazilian New Middle Class

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Priscilla Nogueira

2015-04-01

Full Text Available The article presents preliminary results and qualitative analysis obtained from the doctoral research provisory entitled “How do Brazilian ‘battlers’ reside?”, which is in progress at the Institute for European Urban Studies, Bauhaus University Weimar. It critically discusses the contradictions of the production of residences in Brazil made by an emerging social group, lately called the Brazilian new middle class. For the last ten years, a number of government policies have provoked a general improvement of the purchasing power of the poor. Between those who completely depend on the government to survive and the upper middle class, there is a wide (about 100 million people and economically stable lower middle group, which has found its own ways of dealing with its demand for housing. The conventional models of planning, building and buying are not suitable for their technical, financial and personal needs. Therefore, they are concurrently planners, constructors and residents, building and renovating their own properties themselves, but still with very limited education and technical knowledge and restricted access to good building materials and constructive elements, formal technicians, architects or engineers. On the one hand, the result is an informal and more or less autonomous self-production, with all sorts of technical problems and very interesting and creative spatial solutions to everyday domestic situations. On the other hand, the repercussions for urban space are questionable: although basic infrastructure conditions have improved, building densities are high and green areas are few. Lower middle class neighbourhoods present a restricted collective everyday life. They look like storage spaces for manpower; people who live to work in order to be able to consume—and build—what they could not before. One question is, to what extent the latest economic rise of Brazil has really resulted in social development for lower middle

Investigation of factors influencing the formation of the middle class on the territory of regions of Capital socio-geographical area

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Julia Pereguda

2017-10-01

Full Text Available The article stated that to determine the specifics of a middle class it is necessary to apply economic and mathematical methods allowing one to display a certain proportion and sometimes qualitative patterns of distribution of different forms and types of settlement and problems that are investigated. The key components of each factor can be determined based on the analysis of factor analysis and the indicators playing a major role in shaping sets of factors can be shown based on a factor variance. The spatial organization of society in this research study has been noted to have a multi-level character, because it is going to cover the territory within the regions and the accommodation of diverse population on it will include spatial distribution of various types of economic activity and economic indicators. In this study, the special attention has been paid to economic poverty to determine the boundaries of the middle class, and conduction of more accurate inequality of economic indicators in the regions. The regional specifics of the Capital socio-geographical area has been conducted through socio-geographical approach aimed at disclosing the middle class. Based on statistical data systematization, the analysis has been conducted due to the matrix factorization of selected indicators intercorrelation. It has been noted that the study of the middle class from the standpoint of social geography as spatially conditioned phenomenon requires the formulation of methodological regulations, it defines procedures for research highlighting the main stages, and it studies the techniques and methods of forming the system of scientific research to further disclosure issues.

Socialization Environments of Chinese and Euro-American Middle-Class Babies: Parenting Behaviors, Verbal Discourses and Ethnotheories

Science.gov (United States)

Keller, Heidi; Abels, Monika; Borke, Jorn; Lamm, Bettina; Su, Yanjie; Wang, Yifang; Lo, Wingshan

2007-01-01

Children's socialization environments reflect cultural models of parenting. In particular, Euro-American and Chinese families have been described as following different socialization scripts. The present study assesses parenting behaviors as well as parenting ethnotheories with respect to three-month-old babies in middle-class families in Los…

Step-change: how micro-entrepreneurs enter the upcoming middle-class market in developing and emerging countries

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Babah Daouda, Falylath

2017-01-01

In developing and emerging (D&E) countries, the large number of poor people, most of whom are female, earn a living based on small-scale self-employed units established in subsistence marketplaces in the large informal sector. With the recent rise of middle-classes in developing and emerging

Public Education: A Route into Lebanon’s Middle Class in the 1960s and Early 1970s

OpenAIRE

Youssef Zbib

2014-01-01

In Lebanon during the 1960s, public education became more accessible to members of the lower classes and different sectarian denominations, after a time when education had been, to a large extent, a privilege of upper- and middle-class Christians. This paper examines the socioeconomic conditions of public school teachers as a result of this process. Using Bourdieusian analysis, I argue that these teachers used cultural capital acquired through free education to become part of a rising profess...

Dealing with diversity: middle-class family households and the issue of 'black' and 'white' schools in Amsterdam

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Boterman, W.R.

2013-01-01

The urban middle classes often celebrate the diversity of their neighbourhood. As soon as they have children, however, the desire to display symbolic capital may conflict with the need to reproduce cultural capital through the educational system. In the ethnically diverse Amsterdam schooling

Evaluating Online Resources in Terms of Learning Environment and Student Attitudes in Middle-Grade Mathematics Classes

Science.gov (United States)

Earle, James E.; Fraser, Barry J.

2017-01-01

The main objective of this research was to use learning environment and attitude scales in evaluating online resource materials for supporting a traditional mathematics curriculum. The sample consisted of 914 middle-school students in 49 classes. A second research focus was the validation of the chosen learning environment questionnaire, the…

Elite International Schools in the Global South: Transnational Space, Class Relationalities and the "Middling" International Schoolteacher

Science.gov (United States)

Tarc, Paul; Mishra Tarc, Aparna

2015-01-01

The elite international school is a rich site for sociological inquiry in global times. In this paper, we conceptualize the international school as a transnational space of agonist social class-making given the dynamic positioning of the complement of international school actors. We position international schoolteachers in the middle of these…

Similarities and Differences of Preferred Traits in Character Education Programs by Ethnicity and Class According to Parents, Faculty/Staff, and Students at Two Middle Schools in California

Science.gov (United States)

Boen, Jennifer

2010-01-01

This study provides two perspectives on the various character traits provided by character education programs by comparing the voices of minority and lower-lower middle class stakeholders with those of upper middle class stakeholders. The literature on the values and virtues based approaches to moral development and character education were…

Trends in overweight among women differ by occupational class : Results from 33 low-and middle-income countries in the period 1992-2009

NARCIS (Netherlands)

S.L. López Arana (Sandra Liliana); M. Avendano Pabon (Mauricio); F.J. van Lenthe (Frank); A. Burdorf (Alex)

2014-01-01

textabstractObjective:There has been an increase in overweight among women in low-and middle-income countries but whether these trends differ for women in different occupations is unknown. We examined trends by occupational class among women from 33 low-and middle-income countries in four

Strategies to Help ESL Students Improve their Communicative Competence and Class Participation: A Study in a Middle School

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Claudia Gómez Palacio

2010-12-01

Full Text Available This article examines a qualitative study carried out at a middle school in North Carolina, the United States of America. The main purpose of the study was to find effective strategies that teachers can use to help ESL students improve their speaking skills and class participation. Results indicated that both communicative and social strategies as well as exposure to independent reading help ESL students improve their communicative skills and class participation.

Navigating Polycentric Governance from a Citizen’s Perspective: The Rising New Middle Classes Respond

OpenAIRE

Fowler, Alan; Biekart, Kees

2015-01-01

markdownabstractA global growth in the middle class is anticipated to influence development choices and the evolution of domestic polities associated with a ‘rising‘ South. Responding to the local effects of a multipolar world order will add to a citizen’s existing need to navigate national polycentrism. Exploration of this citizen-centric phenomenon introduces a new, comprehensive analytic framework that combines public with private governance, the latter categorised as modern, traditional a...

Class impressions : Higher social class elicits lower prosociality

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Van Doesum, Niels J.; Tybur, Joshua M.; Van Lange, Paul A.M.

2017-01-01

Social class predicts numerous important life outcomes and social orientations. To date, literature has mainly examined how an individual's own class shapes interactions with others. But how prosocially do people treat others they perceive as coming from lower, middle, or higher social classes?

Is Perceptual Priming Affected by Culture? A Study With German Middle-Class and Cameroonian Nso Farmer Children.

Science.gov (United States)

Vöhringer, Isabel Aline; Poloczek, Sonja; Graf, Frauke; Lamm, Bettina; Teiser, Johanna; Fassbender, Ina; Freitag, Claudia; Suhrke, Janina; Teubert, Manuel; Keller, Heidi; Lohaus, Arnold; Schwarzer, Gudrun; Knopf, Monika

2015-01-01

The authors explored priming in children from different cultural environments with the aim to provide further evidence for the robustness of the priming effect. Perceptual priming was assessed by a picture fragment completion task in 3-year-old German middle-class and Cameroonian Nso farmer children. As expected, 3-year-olds from both highly diverging cultural contexts under study showed a priming effect, and, moreover, the effect was of comparable size in both cultural contexts. Hence, the children profited similarly from priming, which was supported by the nonsignificant interaction between cultural background and identification performance as well as the analysis of absolute difference scores. However, a culture-specific difference regarding the level of picture identification was found in that German middle-class children identified target as well as control pictures with less perceptual information than children in the Nso sample. Explanations for the cross-cultural demonstration of the priming effect as well as for the culturally diverging levels on which priming occurs are discussed.

Feeding Practices and Expectations among Middle-Class Anglo and Puerto Rican Mothers of 12-Month-Old Infants.

Science.gov (United States)

Schulze, Pamela A.; Harwood, Robin L.; Schoelmerich, Axel

2001-01-01

Investigated differences in beliefs and practices about infant feeding among middle class Anglo and Puerto Rican mothers. Interviews and observations indicated that Anglo mothers reported earlier attainment of self-feeding and more emphasis on child rearing goals related to self-maximization. Puerto Rican mothers reported later attainment of…

Was Africa Rising? Narratives of Development Success and Failure among the Mozambican Middle Class

OpenAIRE

Brooks, Andrew Richard

2017-01-01

In the 2000s and 2010s a narrative of ‘Africa Rising’ was popularised by businesses, donors, media and political leaders. High economic growth rates, increased investment from the BRICS and the export of natural resources supported claims of development success. One group held up as beneficiaries were the emerging African middle class. Despite the optimism, poverty ratios remained stable and impoverishment was widespread. Change was occurring, but the gains were uneven. Mozambique had a liber...

Perceptions of Middle-Class Mothers of Their Children with Special Needs Participating in Motor and Sport Programs

Science.gov (United States)

Roth, Dana; Rimmerman, Arie

2009-01-01

This exploratory research studied middle-class mother's primary reason for registering their young children, mean age 6.9 years, in adapted motor and sports programs and their perceptions of their children upon entering the program and upon completion. Analyses also examined the possible relationship between mothers' age, education or children's…

Vocational education and the technical middle class in Spain (1924-1931

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María Luisa Rico Gómez

2012-04-01

Full Text Available In this study, I examine the extent to which technical-professional education during Primo de Rivera´s dictatorship in Spain influenced the creation of a new middle class of technicians by means of the decrees of the Industrial Education Statute of 1924 and the Professional Staff Training Statute of 1928. These initiatives were aimed at the working class and the petty bourgeoisie that were to later become the supporters of the State´s social and corporative system as well as the promoters of the country´s modernization. However, the disconnection between the economic and social reality, on the one hand, and the State´s objectives, on the other hand, led to the failure of these projects that were decisively interrupted by the establishment of the Spanish Second Republic in 1931. In researching this study, I focus on the legislation enacted on this matter and other printed sources including specialized journals of this period, theoretical writings of contemporary authors and abundant archival material on the dynamics of the industrial schools that were created thanks to this new project.

Class Counts: Education, Inequality, and the Shrinking Middle Class

Science.gov (United States)

Ornstein, Allan

2007-01-01

Class differences and class warfare have existed since the beginning of western civilization, but the gap in income and wealth between the rich (top 10 percent) and the rest has increased steadily in the last twenty-five years. The U.S. is heading for a financial oligarchy much worse than the aristocratic old world that our Founding Fathers feared…

Middle-class household food providers' views and experiences of food marketing in Vietnam.

Science.gov (United States)

Pham, Quynh Th; Worsley, Anthony

2016-12-01

Food marketing has been identified as a target for intervention in the prevention of childhood overweight and obesity within countries and globally, and promotion of healthy diets has been classified as a key strategy to reduce the burden of non-communicable diseases and health inequalities. The present study aims to investigate how Vietnamese middle-class household food providers are impacted by food advertising communications, their views of food marketing and the ways they think the government can control food marketing to assist people to consume healthier diets. 810 household food providers participated in the online survey. Frequency counts were calculated using IBM SPSS version 21. Many respondents had been exposed to food marketing; 82.8% had seen food advertising in magazines at least once a month, 65.1% had received free food samples in public places, 68.0% had received food advertising information via email. Many household food providers appeared to support food marketing; 73.3% approved of nutrition education in schools or on television being provided by soft drink or fast food companies, 63.7% supported the marketing of infant formula milk. There were mixed views about what actions the government could implement to control food marketing; 88.2% supported clearer food content on food labels, 84.1% believed that children should learn how to purchase and cook foods at school. A substantial majority of Vietnamese middle-class household food providers appeared unaware of the adverse effects of food marketing. Education and policy leadership in food and nutrition are urgently required.

Deferred imitation in 18-month-olds from two cultural contexts: the case of Cameroonian Nso farmer and German-middle class infants.

Science.gov (United States)

Borchert, Sonja; Lamm, Bettina; Graf, Frauke; Knopf, Monika

2013-12-01

Imitative learning has been described in naturalistic studies for different cultures, but lab-based research studying imitative learning across different cultural contexts is almost missing. Therefore, imitative learning was assessed with 18-month-old German middle-class and Cameroonian Nso farmer infants - representing two highly different eco-cultural contexts associated with different cultural models, the psychological autonomy and the hierarchical relatedness - by using the deferred imitation paradigm. Study 1 revealed that the infants from both cultural contexts performed a higher number of target actions in the deferred imitation than in the baseline phase. Moreover, it was found that German middle-class infants showed a higher mean imitation rate as they performed more target actions in the deferred imitation phase compared with Cameroonian Nso farmer infants. It was speculated that the opportunity to manipulate the test objects directly after the demonstration of the target actions could enhance the mean deferred imitation rate of the Cameroonian Nso farmer infants which was confirmed in Study 2. Possible explanations for the differences in the amount of imitated target actions of German middle-class and Cameroonian Nso farmer infants are discussed considering the object-related, dyadic setting of the imitation paradigm with respect to the different learning contexts underlying the different cultural models of learning. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

When Mothers and Fathers Are Seen as Disproportionately Valuing Achievements: Implications for Adjustment Among Upper Middle Class Youth

Science.gov (United States)

Ciciolla, Lucia; Curlee, Alexandria S.; Karageorge, Jason; Luthar, Suniya S.

2016-01-01

High achievement expectations and academic pressure from parents have been implicated in rising levels of stress and reduced well-being among adolescents. In this study of affluent, middle-school youth, we examined how perceptions of parents' emphasis on achievement (relative to prosocial behavior) influenced youth's psychological adjustment and school performance, and examined perceived parental criticism as a possible moderator of this association. The data were collected from 506 (50% female) middle school students from a predominately white, upper-middle-class community. Students reported their perceptions of parents' values by rank ordering a list of achievement- and prosocial-oriented goals based on what they believed was most valued by their mothers and fathers for them (the child) to achieve. The data also included students' reports of perceived parental criticism, internalizing symptoms, externalizing symptoms, and self-esteem, as well as school-based data on grade point average and teacher-reported classroom behavior. Person-based analyses revealed six distinct latent classes based on perceptions of both mother and father emphases on achievement. Class comparisons showed a consistent pattern of healthier child functioning, including higher school performance, higher self-esteem, and lower psychological symptoms, in association with low to neutral parental achievement emphasis, whereas poorer child functioning was associated with high parental achievement emphasis. In variable-based analyses, interaction effects showed elevated maladjustment when high maternal achievement emphasis coexisted with high (but not low) perceived parental criticism. Results of the study suggest that to foster early adolescents' well-being in affluent school settings, parents focus on prioritizing intrinsic, prosocial values that promote affiliation and community, at least as much as, or more than, they prioritize academic performance and external achievement; and strive to limit

Strategies to Help ESL Students Improve Their Communicative Competence and Class Participation: A Study in a Middle School

Science.gov (United States)

Gómez Palacio, Claudia

2010-01-01

This article examines a qualitative study carried out at a middle school in North Carolina, the United States of America. The main purpose of the study was to find effective strategies that teachers can use to help ESL students improve their speaking skills and class participation. Results indicated that both communicative and social strategies as…

Middle Classes in China: Force for Political Change or Guarantee of Stability?

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Luigi Tomba

2009-12-01

Full Text Available This article looks at the factors that contributed to the production of a Chinese middle class during the reform period and to the role that a growing group of big spenders and consumers play for China’s economic growth and political stability. It argues that a dramatic status enhancement for wage-earning Chinese professionals was among the major determinants of social change in the late 1990s and that this process happened despite the market more than because of it. The ongoing development of a high-consuming urban society in China has been as much the outcome of the social engineering project of the contemporary reformist state and its agencies as it has been a consequence of the opening up of the economy and society.

We are all ordinary people : Perceptions of class and class differences in personal relationships

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Van Eijk, G.

2009-01-01

This paper examines people’s perceptions of class and class differences—in general and with regard to personal relationships. Data from an original survey on personal networks (n=195) shows that most people think they are middle class, although many lower class respondents classify themselves as

Worlds Largest Wave Energy Project 2007 in Wales

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Christensen, Lars; Friis-Madsen, Erik; Kofoed, Jens Peter

2006-01-01

This paper introduces world largest wave energy project being developed in Wales and based on one of the leading wave energy technologies. The background for the development of wave energy, the total resource ands its distribution around the world is described. In contrast to wind energy turbines...... Dragon has to be scaled in accordance with the wave climate at the deployment site, which makes the Welch demonstrator device the worlds largest WEC so far with a total width of 300 meters. The project budget, the construction methods and the deployment site are also given....... a large number of fundamentally different technologies are utilised to harvest wave energy. The Wave Dragon belongs to the wave overtopping class of converters and the paper describes the fundamentals and the technical solutions used in this wave energy converter. An offshore floating WEC like the Wave...

Crossing Boundaries: Exploring Black Middle and Upper Class Preservice Teachers' Perceptions of Teaching and Learning in High Poverty Urban Schools

Science.gov (United States)

Lewis, Andrea D.

2012-01-01

The intent of this study was to explore the perceptions of Black middle and upper class preservice teachers as they relate to teaching and learning in high poverty urban schools. Participants included 11 senior early childhood education preservice teachers at a historically Black college in the southeast region of the United States. The study was…

Using Telepresence to Connect and Engage Classes and the Public in the Exploration of Tamu Massif, the World's Largest Single Volcano

Science.gov (United States)

Nanez-James, S. E.; Sager, W.

2016-02-01

Research published in 2013 showed that TAMU Massif, the largest mountain in the Shatsky Rise oceanic plateau, located approximately 1500 kilometers east of Japan, is the "World's Largest Single Volcano." This claim garnered widespread public interest and wonder concerning how something so big could remain so mysterious in the 21st century. This disconnect highlights the fact that oceans are still widely unexplored, especially the middle of the deep ocean. Because there is so much interest in TAMU Massif, a diverse outreach team lead by chief scientist Dr. William Sager from the University of Houston in partnership with the Texas State Aquarium and the Schmidt Ocean Institute (SOI) conducted a multifaceted ship-to-shore outreach project that included secondary school students, formal and informal educators, university students and professors, the aquarium and museum audience, and the general public. The objective was to work in conjunction with SOI and various other partners, including the Texas Regional Collaborative, the Aquarium of the Pacific, and the Houston Museum of Natural Science, to promote science and ocean literacy while inspiring future scientists - especially those from underserved and underrepresented groups - through ocean connections. Participants were connected through live ship-to-shore distance learning broadcasts of ongoing marine research and discovery of TAMU Massif aboard the R/V Falkor, allowing audiences to participate in real-time research and apply real world science to curriculum in the classrooms. These ship-to-shore presentations connected to existing curriculums and standards, lessons, and career interests of the students and educators with special teacher events and professional development workshops conducted from aboard the R/V Falkor.

The "paradox" of being young in New Delhi : urban middle class youth negotiations with popular Indian film

OpenAIRE

Williams-Ørberg, Elizabeth

2008-01-01

This thesis attempts to understand the ways in which popular film is integrated into the everyday lives of urban middle class youth in India. Approaching the study of film through an audience reception approach, I engaged in participant observation and interviews during a fieldwork period in New Delhi in order to better understand how a young audience might negotiate the fantasy of filmic images into the reality of their own lives. The two movies, Salaam Namaste and Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna (KA...

The Rise of New Urban Middle Classes in Southeast Asia: What is its national and regional significance?

OpenAIRE

Takashi Shiraishi

2004-01-01

Middle classes in East Asia are a product of regional economic development which has taken place in waves under an American informal empire, over half a century, first in Japan, then in NIEs, then in Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines and now in China. They are a product of developmental states and their politics of economic growth. Their life styles have been shaped in complex ways by their appropriation of things American, Japanese, Chinese, Islamic, and others. Though create...

Computational consideration for selection of social classes in Romania

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andoria Ioniţă

2015-09-01

Full Text Available Middle class is a subject discussed by almost everyone, judging it in most cases from the visible living standard’s point of view: having the ownership of the dwelling, a car, making trips inside country or abroad, buying good quality and expensive goods or services and so on. But, at least in the case of our country, very often there is not a quantitative measurement of middle class, due to the fact that defining correct and reliable criteria to separate this social class from the others isn’t an easy task. Which are the “latent” factors which ensure each person’s capability to belong to the middle class? How much this affiliation depends on the individual characteristics and how much it depends on external factors like the characteristics of the society in which the persons are living in? A subtle definition of the middle class has to take into consideration several aspects, some of them more easily or more difficult to measure from the quantitative point of view. We are taking about some quantitative criteria like incomes or the number of endowment goods owned by a person, which are criteria relatively easy to estimate thought statistical methods, but also about aspects like wellbeing or social prestige, variables with a strong subjective specificity, on which there is very difficult to find an accord regarding methods of measurement between different specialists. This paper presents the results of an attempt to define social classes for Romania, in order to highlight the dimensions and the social importance of the middle class in our country. The elaboration of the methodology to build the social classes starts from the definition of 11 professional categories, based on the Classification of Occupation in Romania. By using the professional categories defined, which can be considered a first instrument (or a first step for the separation of middle class from the other ones, the present paper presents a first image of the middle

Nutritional deficiencies in German middle-class male alcohol consumers: relation to dietary intake and severity of liver disease

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bergheim, I.; Parlesak, Alexandr; Dierks, C.

2003-01-01

. SETTING: Southern Germany. SUBJECTS: Seventy-six hospitalized German middle-class alcohol consumers with different stages of alcoholic liver disease (ALD) and 22 healthy control subjects. METHODS: Subjects and controls were nutritionally assessed and mineral and vitamin content was measured in blood...... increase in carbohydrates (Pvitamin E, micronutrient intake of alcoholics was equal to that of controls; however, blood vitamin (vitamin C, retinol, lycopene, alpha- and gamma-carotene) and trace element (selenium, zinc) concentrations of alcohol-drinking patients were lower...

Diversity and distribution of rush communities from the phragmito-magno-caricetea class in pamir alai mountains (middle asia: tajikistan)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nowaki, A.; Nowaki, S.

2014-01-01

The study presents results of geobotanical investigations conducted in rush vegetation from the Phragmito-Magno- Caricetea class in the central Pamir-Alai Mts (Tajikistan, Middle Asia). Studies were carried out mainly within the Syr- Daria, Pyandzh, Zeravshan, Kafirnighan, Khanaka and Surkhandaria river valleys in the years 2008, 2012. The research was focused on the classification of rush plant communities developing within this poorly-investigated area. Habitat conditions were checked for all vegetation plots, including pH reaction, water depth, inclination and altitude. Altogether 231 phytosociological releves using the Braun-Blanquet method were sampled. The analyses classified the vegetation into 28 plant communities, including 26 associations. Eight new plant associations were proposed: Scirpetum hippolytii, Mentho asiaticae-Nasturtietum microphyllae, Juncetum brachytepali, Sparganietum stoloniferi, Eleocharitetum argyrolepis, Eleocharitetum mitracarpae, Caricetum songoricae and Rorippo palustris-Alismatetum graminei. The main discrimination factor for the data set is the floristic structure of the associations. Rush vegetation from the Phragmito- Magno-Caricetea class is spread throughout all river valleys of the research areas in montane and subalpine as well as in alpine zones. The vegetation patches occur mainly along the shores of water bodies and in ditches. Only sporadically have rush communities been noted within rice fields, where communities of the class Oryzetea sativae prevail. The study shows that riverside habitats with rush vegetation can harbour a relatively rich flora. Almost 200 species were found in vegetation plots, including some which are rare and have not been recorded until now in this part of Middle Asia. (author)

Credit Card Blues: The Middle Class and the Hidden Costs of Easy Credit.

Science.gov (United States)

Hodson, Randy; Dwyer, Rachel; Neilson, Lisa

2014-01-01

In an era of increased access to credit, it becomes increasingly important to understand the consequences of taking on unsecured consumer debt. We argue that credit can have both positive and negative consequences resulting from its ability to smooth life transitions and difficulties but that this occurs simultaneously with increased financial risks and stress resulting from carrying unsecured debt. We find that those in the middle of the income distribution suffer the greatest disruptions to mental health from carrying debt. Affluent borrowers are relatively unmoved by debt, suggesting the use of short-term debt as a convenience strategy for the financially well-heeled. The least advantaged borrowers are also suffer emotionally less from debt, possibly because securing spendable funds for necessities remains their most pressing concern. The onset of the Great Recession, however, produced increased emotional distress for all classes.

Reducing Discipline Referrals in Middle School

Science.gov (United States)

Hirst, Ronald K.

2005-01-01

You see them every day in middle schools: students who seem to spend more time in the office than they do in class. In Florida, middle school students are more likely than elementary or high school students to be suspended, according to the Florida Department of Education (2001). While many adolescents go through their middle school years…

Imagining class: A study into material social class position, subjective identification, and voting behavior across Europe.

Science.gov (United States)

D'Hooge, Lorenzo; Achterberg, Peter; Reeskens, Tim

2018-02-01

The traditional approach to class voting has largely ignored the question whether material class positions coincide with subjective class identification. Following Sosnaud et al. (2013), this study evaluates party preferences when Europeans' material and subjective social class do not coincide. Seminal studies on voting behavior have suggested that members of lower classes are more likely to vote for the economic left and cultural right and that higher classes demonstrate the opposite pattern. Yet, these studies have on the one hand overlooked the possibility that there is a mismatch between the material class people can be classified in and the class they think they are part of, and on the other hand the consequences of this discordant class identification on voting behavior. Analyzing the 2009 wave of the European Elections Study, we find that the majority of the Europeans discordantly identify with the middle class, whereas only a minority of the lower and higher classes concordantly identify with their material social class. Further, material class only seems to predict economic voting behavior when it coincides with subjective class; for instance, individuals who have an inflated class identification are more likely to vote for the economic left, even when they materially can be classified as middle or high class. We conclude this paper with a discussion on scholarly debates concerning class and politics. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Social-class differences in self-concept clarity and their implications for well-being.

Science.gov (United States)

Na, Jinkyung; Chan, Micaela Y; Lodi-Smith, Jennifer; Park, Denise C

2018-06-01

A consistent/stable sense of the self is more valued in middle-class contexts than working-class contexts; hence, we predicted that middle-class individuals would have higher self-concept clarity than working-class individuals. It is further expected that self-concept clarity would be more important to one's well-being among middle-class individuals than among working-class individuals. Supporting these predictions, self-concept clarity was positively associated with higher social class. Moreover, although self-concept clarity was associated with higher life satisfaction and better mental health, the association significantly attenuated among working-class individuals. In addition, self-concept clarity was not associated with physical health and its association with physical health did not interact with social class.

Un « Nouvel hygiénisme » ? Le bruit, l’odeur et l’émergence d’une new middle class

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Laurent Matthey

2005-10-01

Full Text Available La tentation est grande aujourd’hui d’envisager un « Nouvel hygiénisme » qui façonnerait les espaces urbains et les corps. Cet article défend cependant l’hypothèse que ce qu’il est convenu d’appeler « Nouvel hygiénisme » est en fait un ensemble de pratiques sociales qui reposent sur la consommation ostentatoire et la distinction sociologique d’une classe sociale en ascension (la new middle class.

Sterilization and birth control in the shadow of eugenics: married, middle-class women in Alberta, 1930-1960s.

Science.gov (United States)

Dyck, Erika

2014-01-01

The history of eugenic sterilization connotes draconian images of coerced and involuntary procedures robbing men and women of their reproductive health. While eugenics programs often fit this characterization, there is another, smaller, and less obvious legacy of eugenics that arguably contributed to a more empowering image of reproductive health. Sexual sterilization surgeries as a form of contraception began to gather momentum alongside eugenics programs in the middle of the 20th century and experiences among prairie women serve as an illustrative example. Alberta maintained its eugenics program from 1929 to 1972 and engaged in thousands of eugenic sterilizations, but by the 1940s middle-class married women pressured their Albertan physicians to provide them with sterilization surgeries to control fertility, as a matter of choice. The multiple meanings and motivations behind this surgery introduced a moral quandary for physicians, which encourages medical historians to revisit the history of eugenics and its relationship to the contemporaneous birth control movement.

7 CFR 28.432 - Middling Tinged Color.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 2 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Middling Tinged Color. 28.432 Section 28.432... REGULATIONS COTTON CLASSING, TESTING, AND STANDARDS Standards Tinged Cotton § 28.432 Middling Tinged Color. Middling Tinged Color is color which is within the range represented by a set of samples in the custody of...

7 CFR 28.423 - Middling Spotted Color.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 2 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Middling Spotted Color. 28.423 Section 28.423... REGULATIONS COTTON CLASSING, TESTING, AND STANDARDS Standards Spotted Cotton § 28.423 Middling Spotted Color. Middling Spotted Color is color which is within the range represented by a set of samples in the custody of...

The Middle Class Is Key to a Better-Educated Nation: A Stronger Middle Class Is Associated with Better Educational Outcomes

Science.gov (United States)

Madland, David; Bunker, Nick

2011-01-01

Education is key to America's economic success as technological change and global competition increase exponentially. Unfortunately, where once the nation was atop the world academically, today American students rank in the middle of the pack. Not surprisingly, business leaders and the American public are concerned about the quality of American…

Marital and parental relationships: a comparison of middle and working class families / Relações conjugais e parentais: uma comparação entre famílias de classes sociais baixa e média

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marcela Pereira Braz

2005-01-01

Full Text Available It is important to study the interrelatedness between marital and parental relationships in order to understand children's social adjustment and development. Therefore, this study aims to describe aspects of the quality of marital and parental relationships from Brazilian working and middle class families. Fourteen families consisting of father, mother, and target preschool children at the age of 4-5 years were selected to participate in this study. A questionnaire on social-demographic data, family structure, lifestyles, and division of home tasks was answered by mothers. A semi-structured interview was conducted with mothers and fathers, separately, including questions on marital satisfaction, conflict, coalition, values and beliefs on marriage and parenting, and their influence on parents-child interactions. The results indicate that a good marital relationship fosters sharing domestic tasks and childrearing practices between wives and husbands and promotes the development of security feelings in their children. The discussion is based on the differences between working and middle class families in terms of mutual influences between both kinds of relationships.

Morality from infancy to middle childhood

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Pannebakker, Fieke Dineke

2007-01-01

In the present thesis, a homogeneous upper middle class sample of firstborn girls and their mothers were followed from infancy (18 and 24 months) to middle childhood (89 months) using questionnaires and observations. The focus of the study was on three components of moral behavior, i.e. empathy,

“WEALTH OR LOVE, WHAT DOES A WOMAN WANT?” AN IRONIC LOOK AT THE MIDDLE CLASS NORMS IN CHARLOTTE BRONTE’S JANE EYRE

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Afina Murtiningrum

2017-02-01

Full Text Available Jane Eyre is a novel written in the early nineteenth century (1847. It depicts the English society of the upper, middle and lower class and their habits and attitudes towards life. The opening of the novel points to social class, wealth and marriage as its major theme. Throughout the novel, the relationship between social awareness of class and marriage, especially dealing with money or property are highlighted, the reason why society tends to consider about social class, money and property in finding a suitable partner to marry. This paper relies on the examples from the novel to show how nineteenth-century women imagined their marriage. In terms of women’s social rights and roles, Charlotte Bronte tries to open readers' eyes to the idea that women's abilities should not be limited only to the sphere of the family. Bronte’s novel does not only attack Victorian class structure but also the issue of gender.   Keywords : marriage, wealth, property, women’s roles, gender

7 CFR 28.434 - Low Middling Tinged Color.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 2 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Low Middling Tinged Color. 28.434 Section 28.434... REGULATIONS COTTON CLASSING, TESTING, AND STANDARDS Standards Tinged Cotton § 28.434 Low Middling Tinged Color. Low Middling Tinged Color is color which is within the range represented by a set of samples in the...

Introduction: Democracy, markets and the assertive middle

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Klinken, G.; van Klinken, G.; Berenschot, W.

2014-01-01

This introductory chapter provides an overview of the key concepts discussed in this book In Search of Middle Indonesia, which examines the expanding Indonesian middle class up close. Instead of statistics, it contains ethnographic studies conducted in provincial towns, where most of its members

What Types of Instructional Shifts Do Students Experience? Investigating Active Learning in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math Classes across Key Transition Points from Middle School to the University Level

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kenneth Akiha

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Despite the need for a strong Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM workforce, there is a high attrition rate for students who intend to complete undergraduate majors in these disciplines. Students who leave STEM degree programs often cite uninspiring instruction in introductory courses, including traditional lecturing, as a reason. While undergraduate courses play a critical role in STEM retention, little is understood about the instructional transitions students encounter upon moving from secondary to post-secondary STEM courses. This study compares classroom observation data collected using the Classroom Observation Protocol for Undergraduate STEM from over 450 middle school, high school, introductory-level university, and advanced-level university classes across STEM disciplines. We find similarities between middle school and high school classroom instruction, which are characterized by a large proportion of time spent on active-learning instructional strategies, such as small-group activities and peer discussion. By contrast, introductory and advanced university instructors devote more time to instructor-centered teaching strategies, such as lecturing. These instructor-centered teaching strategies are present in classes regardless of class enrollment size, class period length, or whether or not the class includes a separate laboratory section. Middle school, high school, and university instructors were also surveyed about their views of what STEM instructional practices are most common at each educational level and asked to provide an explanation of those perceptions. Instructors from all levels struggled to predict the level of lecturing practices and often expressed uncertainty about what instruction looks like at levels other than their own. These findings suggest that more opportunities need to be created for instructors across multiple levels of the education system to share their active-learning teaching practices and

Age Differences Explain Social Class Differences in Students' Friendship at University: Implications for Transition and Retention

Science.gov (United States)

Rubin, Mark; Wright, Chrysalis L.

2015-01-01

The present research tested the hypotheses that (a) working-class students have fewer friends at university than middle-class students and (b) this social class difference occurs because working-class students tend to be older than middle-class students. A sample of 376 first-year undergraduate students from an Australian university completed an…

The sources of political orientations in post-industrial society: social class and education revisited.

Science.gov (United States)

Van de Werfhorst, Herman G; de Graaf, Nan Dirk

2004-06-01

This paper studies the impact of social class and education on political orientation. We distinguish the 'old' middle class from a new class of social/cultural specialists. However, the difference in their political orientation may especially be related to the level and field of education; the new middle class is more highly educated and often in fields of study that extensively address social competencies, characteristics independently affecting political outcomes. Analyses on Dutch data showed that education is more important in the prediction of 'cultural' liberal issues than social class. Economically-oriented issues are more strongly affected by social class. This means that interests of the new middle class are served by liberal standpoints relating to a strong government and income redistribution policies, but not relating to cultural issues.

Hidden Advantages and Disadvantages of Social Class.

Science.gov (United States)

Goudeau, Sébastien; Croizet, Jean-Claude

2017-02-01

Three studies conducted among fifth and sixth graders examined how school contexts disrupt the achievement of working-class students by staging unfair comparison with their advantaged middle-class peers. In regular classrooms, differences in performance among students are usually showcased in a way that does not acknowledge the advantage (i.e., higher cultural capital) experienced by middle-class students, whose upbringing affords them more familiarity with the academic culture than their working-class peers have. Results of Study 1 revealed that rendering differences in performance visible in the classroom by having students raise their hands was enough to undermine the achievement of working-class students. In Studies 2 and 3, we manipulated students' familiarity with an arbitrary standard as a proxy for social class. Our results suggest that classroom settings that make differences in performance visible undermine the achievement of the students who are less familiar with academic culture. In Study 3, we showed that being aware of the advantage in familiarity with a task restores the performance of the students who have less familiarity with the task.

Implementing Team-Based Learning in Middle School Social Studies Classes

Science.gov (United States)

Wanzek, Jeanne; Kent, Shawn C.; Vaughn, Sharon; Swanson, Elizabeth A.; Roberts, Greg; Haynes, Martha

2015-01-01

The authors examined the effects of team-based learning (TBL) implemented in Grade 8 social studies classes on student content acquisition. Twenty-four classes were randomly assigned to treatment or comparison blocking on teacher. In the treatment classes teachers integrated TBL practices in the content instruction. The authors examined teacher…

The Social Psychology of Class and Classism

Science.gov (United States)

Lott, Bernice

2012-01-01

In the United States, one is born into a family that can be identified as working class, middle class, or affluent--divisions that denote status and power, as defined by access to resources. This article explores the relationships between social class membership and a wide array of personal and social daily life experiences. It concludes with a…

Mapping Dynamics of Inundation Patterns of Two Largest River-Connected Lakes in China: A Comparative Study

OpenAIRE

Guiping Wu; Yuanbo Liu

2016-01-01

Poyang Lake and Dongting Lake are the two largest freshwater lakes in China. The lakes are located approximately 300 km apart on the middle reaches of the Yangtze River and are differently connected through their respective tributary systems, which will lead to different river–lake water exchanges and discharges. Thus, differences in their morphological and hydrological conditions should induce individual lake spatio-temporal inundation patterns. Quantitative comparative analyses of the dynam...

KELAS MENENGAH, UMNO DAN INTELIGENSIA: TENTANGAN DOMINASI POLITIK BUMIPUTERA ISLAM DI SARAWAK (MIDDLE CLASS, UMNO AND INTELLIGENTSIA: CONTESTING THE MUSLIM BUMIPUTERA'S POLITICAL DOMINATION IN SARAWAK

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Faisal S. Hazis

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Barisan Nasional mulai mendominasi politik Sarawak setelah pemimpin bumiputera Islam mengambil alih tampuk pemerintahan negeri daripada pemimpin Iban selepas pilihan raya 1970. Di bawah teraju pemimpin bumiputera Islam ini, Barisan Nasional berjaya menguasai setiap pilihan raya negeri dan parlimen yang diadakan sejak tahun 1970 hingga 2008. Walaupun parti pembangkang melancarkan tentangan sengit pada lewat 1970-an dan pertengahan 1980-an, pemimpin bumiputera Islam ini berjaya mengatasinya untuk terus mengekalkan dominasi parti pemerintah di negeri yang mempunyai bilangan kerusi negeri dan parlimen yang terbanyak. Makalah ini menyusuri dominasi politik pemimpin bumiputera Islam Sarawak dan faktor-faktor yang menyumbang kepada kekuatan mereka yang menjangkau lebih empat dekad. Walaupun kuasa politik pemimpin bumiputera Islam masih bertahan sehingga ke hari ini, beberapa sumber baharu mulai muncul untuk memberikan tentangan terhadap kuasa politik golongan minoriti ini. Sumber tentangan baharu yang dimaksudkan ialah golongan kelas menengah, United Malays National Organisation (UMNO dan inteligensia. Makalah ini mengupas tentangan yang diberikan kelompok ini dan impaknya terhadap politik Sarawak khususnya kepimpinan bumiputera Islam.The ruling Barisan Nasional started to dominate Sarawak politics after the Muslim bumiputera took over the state leadership from the Iban after the 1970 elections. Under the stewardship of the Muslim bumiputera, Barisan Nasional had successfully dominated every state and parliamentary elections held since 1970 to 2008. Although the opposition parties launched a strong challenge towards the Muslim bumiputera's dominance in the late 1970s and middle 1980s, the latter was able to fend off this challenge and continued to uphold the ruling party's grip on the state with the largest number of state and parliamentary seats. This article analyses the Muslim bumiputera's dominance in Sarawak politics and the factors that had

Special Classes for Gifted Students? Absolutely!

Science.gov (United States)

Burton-Szabo, Sally

1996-01-01

This article makes a case for special classes for gifted students and answers objections to special classes raised by the middle school movement and the cooperative learning movement. A sample "Celebration of Me" unit taught to gifted seventh graders which involved poetry, literature, personal development, art, music, and physical fitness is…

Public foetal images and the regulation of middle-class pregnancy in the online media: a view from South Africa.

Science.gov (United States)

Macleod, Catriona; Howell, Simon

2015-01-01

Ultrasonography images and their derivatives have been taken up in a range of 'public' spaces, including medical textbooks, the media, anti-abortion material, advertising, the Internet and public health facilities. Feminists have critiqued the personification of the foetus, the bifurcation of the woman's body and the reduction of the pregnant woman to a disembodied womb. What has received less attention is how these images frequently intersect with race, class, gender and heteronormativity in the creation of idealised and normative understandings of pregnancy. This paper focuses on the discursive positioning of pregnant women as 'mothers' and foetuses as 'babies' in online media targeted at a South African audience, where race and class continue to intersect in complex ways. We show how the ontologically specific understandings of 'mummies' and 'babies' emerge through the use of foetal images to construct specific understandings of the 'ideal' pregnancy. In the process, pregnant women are made responsible for ensuring that their pregnancy conforms to these ideals, which includes the purchasing of the various goods advertised by the websites. Not only does this point to a commodification of pregnancy, but also serves to reinforce a cultural understanding of White, middle-class pregnancy as constituting the normative 'correct' form of pregnancy.

Racial Assumptions Color the Mental Representation of Social Class.

Science.gov (United States)

Lei, Ryan F; Bodenhausen, Galen V

2017-01-01

We investigated the racial content of perceivers' mental images of different socioeconomic categories. We selected participants who were either high or low in prejudice toward the poor. These participants saw 400 pairs of visually noisy face images. Depending on condition, participants chose the face that looked like a poor person, a middle income person, or a rich person. We averaged the faces selected to create composite images of each social class. A second group of participants rated the stereotypical Blackness of these images. They also rated the face images on a variety of psychological traits. Participants high in economic prejudice produced strongly class-differentiated mental images. They imagined the poor to be Blacker than middle income and wealthy people. They also imagined them to have less positive psychological characteristics. Participants low in economic prejudice also possessed images of the wealthy that were relatively White, but they represented poor and middle class people in a less racially differentiated way. We discuss implications for understanding the intersections of race and class in social perception.

Love and desire amongst middle-class Gujarati Indians in the UK and India.

Science.gov (United States)

Twamley, Katherine

2013-01-01

The paper describes findings from an ethnographic study exploring understandings of love and intimacy amongst young heterosexual middle-class Indians of Gujarati origin in the UK and India. A two-site comparative study was used to enable an understanding of how social and economic contexts shape cultural constructions of intimate relationships and sexuality. Focusing on attitudes to 'love at first sight', this paper shows that, for Indian participants, love based on physical attraction denotes a lesser kind of love. A relationship based on 'physical love' is not expected to last, since it has been formed without regard to family and status concerns. Even couples who meet outside of the arranged marriage system demonstrate the quality of their love by not having sex with one another before marriage. In the UK, however, participants view love as properly spontaneous. Love at first sight is considered desirable and demonstrates how the relationship must be based on love only, without any concern for (for example) material gain. This spontaneous love entails both physical attraction and emotional connection - an early transition to sex, usually before marriage, was seen as both desirable and inevitable.

Race, class, gender, and American environmentalism.

Science.gov (United States)

Dorceta E. Taylor

2002-01-01

This paper examines the environmental experiences of middle and working class whites and people of color in the United States during the 19th and 20th centuries. It examines their activism and how their environmental experiences influenced the kinds of discourses they developed. The paper posits that race, class, and gender had profound effects on people's...

Challenging the Black Church Narrative: Race, Class, and Homosexual Attitudes.

Science.gov (United States)

Irizarry, Yasmiyn A; Perry, Ravi K

2018-01-01

In recent years, scholars have pointed to the Black church as the driving force behind Blacks' more conservative lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered (LGBT) attitudes. Although evidence suggests a robust association between religiosity and LGBT attitudes, contemporary scholarship has not examined the role of class or the extent to which religiosity actually explains these trends. Using the 2004-2014 waves of the General Social Survey, we find that class moderates in the effect of race on negative LGBT attitudes, resulting in a noticeably larger gap between middle-class Blacks and Whites than in the top or the bottom of the class distribution. Although religiosity and moralization explain a portion of racial differences in homosexual attitudes across class groups, we find that neither fully accounts for the more conservative attitudes of the Black middle class. We conclude by discussing the shortcomings of these narratives for understanding Blacks' more conservative LGBT attitudes.

The Revealed Influence of Class, Race, and Ethnicity on Local Public-School Expenditures.

Science.gov (United States)

Brown, Byron W.; Saks, Daniel H.

1985-01-01

Findings include (1) poor and upper middle classes want to spend more on schools than the middle classes; (2) Blacks and ethnics of European stock want to spend more on schooling than other Americans; and (3) there is no difference in demands for school expenditures between Northern and Southern/Eastern European ethnics. (RM)

Media communication strategies for climate-friendly lifestyles - Addressing middle and lower class consumers for social-cultural change via Entertainment-Education

Science.gov (United States)

Lubjuhn, S.; Pratt, N.

2009-11-01

This paper argues that Entertainment-Education (E-E) is a striking communication strategy for reaching middle and lower socio-economic classes with climate-friendly lifestyle messages. On the international level (e.g. in the US and the Netherlands) E-E approaches are being theoretically grounded, whereas in Germany they are not yet. Therefore further theoretical discussion and mapping of E-E approaches is central for future research. As a first step towards providing further theoretical foundations for E-E in the field of sustainability, the authors suggest a threefold mapping of E-E approaches. The threefold mapping of E-E approaches for communicating climate-friendly lifestyles to middle and lower class consumers is based on recent results from academic research and practical developments on the media market. The commonalities among the three is that they all promote pro-sustainability messages in an affective-orientated rather than cognitive-orientated, factual manner. Differences can be found in: the sender of the sustainability message, the targeted consumer groups and the media approach in use. Based on this, the paper draws the conclusion that two new paths for further research activities in the field of Entertainment-Education can be proposed: (1) Improving the existing approaches in practice by using theoretical foundation from the E-E field. This comprises at its core (A) to do formative, process and summative effect research on the messages and (B) to use E-E theory from the field of social psychology, sociology and communication science for further improvement and (2) Generating new E-E theories by analyzing the existing practical approaches in the media to communicate climate change.

Media communication strategies for climate-friendly lifestyles - Addressing middle and lower class consumers for social-cultural change via Entertainment-Education

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lubjuhn, S; Pratt, N

2009-01-01

This paper argues that Entertainment-Education (E-E) is a striking communication strategy for reaching middle and lower socio-economic classes with climate-friendly lifestyle messages. On the international level (e.g. in the US and the Netherlands) E-E approaches are being theoretically grounded, whereas in Germany they are not yet. Therefore further theoretical discussion and mapping of E-E approaches is central for future research. As a first step towards providing further theoretical foundations for E-E in the field of sustainability, the authors suggest a threefold mapping of E-E approaches. The threefold mapping of E-E approaches for communicating climate-friendly lifestyles to middle and lower class consumers is based on recent results from academic research and practical developments on the media market. The commonalities among the three is that they all promote pro-sustainability messages in an affective-orientated rather than cognitive-orientated, factual manner. Differences can be found in: the sender of the sustainability message, the targeted consumer groups and the media approach in use. Based on this, the paper draws the conclusion that two new paths for further research activities in the field of Entertainment-Education can be proposed: (1) Improving the existing approaches in practice by using theoretical foundation from the E-E field. This comprises at its core (A) to do formative, process and summative effect research on the messages and (B) to use E-E theory from the field of social psychology, sociology and communication science for further improvement and (2) Generating new E-E theories by analyzing the existing practical approaches in the media to communicate climate change.

Gendered power in cultural contexts: Part II. Middle class African American heterosexual couples with young children.

Science.gov (United States)

Cowdery, Randi S; Scarborough, Norma; Knudson-Martin, Carmen; Seshadri, Gita; Lewis, Monique E; Mahoney, Anne Rankin

2009-03-01

When race and gender intersect, understanding gendered power may be complicated. The authors first describe the historical context that serves as important background for understanding gender and power in heterosexual African American relationships. Then they show how family solidarity in the face of social injustices often overrides gender equality as a goal for middle class African American couples with young children. The findings illustrate pragmatic equality within couple relationships and the willful suspension of gender roles for the well-being of the family as a whole. However, gendered power impacts couples in a variety of ways. Sometimes a woman's fear that the man might leave, for example, diminished her power in the relationship. Often a woman accommodated a man's greater power in the family because of her perception that he was often denied power in the larger society. Societal discrimination of women was less visible to couples. Implications for practice are provided.

Beyond the Schoolyard: The Contributions of Parenting Logics, Financial Resources, and Social Institutions to the Social Class Gap in Structured Activity Participation

Science.gov (United States)

Bennett, Pamela R.; Lutz, Amy; Jayaram, Lakshmi

2014-01-01

We investigate cultural and structural sources of class differences in youth activity participation with interview, survey, and archival data. We find working- and middle-class parents overlap in parenting logics about participation, though differ in one respect: middle-class parents are concerned with customizing children’s involvement in activities, while working-class parents are concerned with achieving safety and social mobility for children through participation. Second, because of financial constraints, working-class families rely on social institutions for participation opportunities, but few are available. Schools act as an equalizing institution by offering low-cost activities, allowing working-class children to resemble middle-class youth in school activities, but they remain disadvantaged in out-of-school activities. School influences are complex, however, as they also contribute to class differences by offering different activities to working- and middle-class youth. Findings raise questions about the extent to which differences in participation reflect class culture rather than the objective realities parents face. PMID:25328250

Beyond the Schoolyard: The Contributions of Parenting Logics, Financial Resources, and Social Institutions to the Social Class Gap in Structured Activity Participation.

Science.gov (United States)

Bennett, Pamela R; Lutz, Amy; Jayaram, Lakshmi

2012-01-01

We investigate cultural and structural sources of class differences in youth activity participation with interview, survey, and archival data. We find working- and middle-class parents overlap in parenting logics about participation, though differ in one respect: middle-class parents are concerned with customizing children's involvement in activities, while working-class parents are concerned with achieving safety and social mobility for children through participation. Second, because of financial constraints, working-class families rely on social institutions for participation opportunities, but few are available. Schools act as an equalizing institution by offering low-cost activities, allowing working-class children to resemble middle-class youth in school activities, but they remain disadvantaged in out-of-school activities. School influences are complex, however, as they also contribute to class differences by offering different activities to working- and middle-class youth. Findings raise questions about the extent to which differences in participation reflect class culture rather than the objective realities parents face.

A Comparison of Single-Gender Classes and Traditional, Coeducational Classes on Student Academic Achievement, Discipline Referrals, and Attitudes toward Subjects

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, Debra Messenger

2010-01-01

In recent years, there has been a resurgence of interest in single gender education. Emerging science has proven that boys and girls learn differently. This study compared fifth grade single-gender classes to fifth grade traditional, coeducational classes in the same urban middle school. The following were compared: students' academic achievement;…

Cyberbullying in Turkish Middle Schools: An Exploratory Study

Science.gov (United States)

Yilmaz, Harun

2011-01-01

This study explored Turkish students' experience of cyberbullying and their use of social networking tools. A total of 756 7th-grade students participated from eight different middle schools in Istanbul, the largest city of Turkey. A 15-item questionnaire was used in a classroom environment to collect data. Results revealed that male students were…

Upwardly Mobile: Attitudes toward the Class Transition among First-Generation College Students

Science.gov (United States)

Hinz, Serena E.

2016-01-01

First-generation, working-class college students are on the path to upward mobility and may have social and psychological problems related to cultural differences between the working class and the middle class. In her study, Hurst (2007, 2010) reports that students of working-class origin often choose loyalty to one class. However, I revise…

The Cosmology Large Angular Scale Surveyor (CLASS)

Science.gov (United States)

Harrington, Kathleen; Marriange, Tobias; Aamir, Ali; Appel, John W.; Bennett, Charles L.; Boone, Fletcher; Brewer, Michael; Chan, Manwei; Chuss, David T.; Colazo, Felipe;

Association of social class in HBsAg and hepatocellular carcinoma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pervez, T.; Anwar, M. S.

2001-01-01

Objective: To find out the social class difference in relation to frequency of HBsAg and hepatocellular carcinoma in our population. Design: An analytical study. Place and Duration of Study: This study was conducted in Oncology Department, Services Hospital, Lahore from December 1997 to December 2000. Subjects and Methods: The HBsAg positive voluntary and apparently healthy blood donors were grouped into three, based on monthly income. Lower socioeconomic group and had monthly income less than 3,000 Pakistani rupees, middle socioeconomic group had monthly income between 3,000-10,000 rupees and upper socioeconomic group had income of more than 10,000 Pakistani rupees. On the same pattern patients suffering from hepatocellular carcinoma coming for treatment were also grouped. During this period, 1000 blood donors were screened for HBsAg and 95 biopsy proven liver cancer by causes were treated. Medical and demographic data of all subjects were recorded. HBsAg test was performed immuno-chromatographic technique using Daina Screen HBsAg kit manufactured by Dainabot Co. Ltd, Tokyo, Japan. Results: Patients from lower and middle social class had higher percentage (80% and 75%) of hepatocellular carcinoma as compared to higher social class (66.6%). In the healthy asymptomatic blood donors lower social class had higher (13.76%) HBsAg positively as compared to middle social class (11.25%) and higher social class (8.06%). Conclusion: Preventive measures should be taken in identifying and reducing factors predisposing high frequency of these conditions. (author)

Time and Money Explain Social Class Differences in Students' Social Integration at University

Science.gov (United States)

Rubin, Mark; Wright, Chrysalis L.

2017-01-01

Working-class students tend to be less socially integrated at university than middle-class students. The present research investigated two potential reasons for this working-class social exclusion effect. First, working-class students may have fewer finances available to participate in social activities. Second, working-class students tend to be…

Social class differences in physical functions in middle-aged men and women

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hansen, Åse Marie; Andersen, Lars Louis; Skotte, Jørgen

2014-01-01

The objective of the present study is to analyze gender differences and social class gradients in physical functions; and to study whether the social class gradients in physical functions in midlife differed between men and women.......The objective of the present study is to analyze gender differences and social class gradients in physical functions; and to study whether the social class gradients in physical functions in midlife differed between men and women....

"Hows" and "Whys" of Parental Involvement in a National "Neoliberal Laboratory": Aspirations, Values and Beliefs in Relation to Children's Education among Chilean Urban Lower-Middle-Class Parents

Science.gov (United States)

Ramos Arellano, Marcela

2017-01-01

This paper sought to shed light on the beliefs, aspirations and values in relation to education that shape parental ways of involvement among Chilean urban lower-middle-class parents. Using the capability approach as the main theoretical framework and a critical epistemology, the discussion focuses on the way in which the pre-eminence of…

Consumption Behavior of Middle Strata in Times of Economic Crisis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Svetlana V. Mareeva

2017-03-01

Full Text Available Based on the data of national representative surveys carried out by IS RAS in 2014-2016, the author presents analysis of consumption specifics in middle-income groups in times of current economic crisis. It is shown that although in modern Russian society middle income groups make up the majority of population, they cannot be directly correlated with the middle class defined in class theory framework. Middle-income groups are heterogeneous in different aspects, including their consumption specifics. Their standard of living remains quite modest, although it is significantly higher than the “survival standard”. New economic conditions led to widespread economy practices among them - primarily on consumption, followed by economy on hobbies and vacations. Economy practices also seriously affected middle-income strata investments in human capital – usage of paid educational and health services (this type of economy was more widespread among lower middle-income group than higher. Although representatives of the middle-income strata are quite actively using paid medical services (and relatively rarely – paid educational services, the reason for this more often lies in inaccessibility of free analogues rather than in search for the higher quality. Process of durables renewal in middle strata during the crisis was not as active, but their standard set of durable goods still widened over the past two years - primarily due to the relatively complex technological durables that they are gradually transferred from the category of innovation goods to the extended standard. In this regard, the upper middle income group successfully performs the function of the innovative consumer.

[Food and health risks: views on healthy food and food consumption practices among middle-class women and men in the Metropolitan Area of Buenos Aires].

Science.gov (United States)

Freidin, Betina

2016-01-01

In this article we analyze notions about healthy food and the perceptions of risks related to industrialized foodstuffs within a group of young and middle-aged females and males who belong to the middle class and live in the Metropolitan Area of Buenos Aires. Data come from eight focus groups that were carried out in 2013. The study shows that the participants of the focus group have incorporated scientific-nutritional knowledge into their conceptions of healthy food. However, few discuss the risks of industrialized food beyond the growing public attention regarding trans fats and salt content. Although organic foods are positively valued, participants object to their high cost and the location of their commercialization. We show how in their food practices, the participants of the focus groups weigh their concern about health against other priorities such as costs, convenience, aesthetics, pleasure and sociability.

Inclusion Professional Development Model and Regular Middle School Educators

Science.gov (United States)

Royster, Otelia; Reglin, Gary L.; Losike-Sedimo, Nonofo

2014-01-01

The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of a professional development model on regular education middle school teachers' knowledge of best practices for teaching inclusive classes and attitudes toward teaching these classes. There were 19 regular education teachers who taught the core subjects. Findings for Research Question 1…

Class Counts: An Overview and Response to Mr. Cooper's Review

Science.gov (United States)

Ornstein, Allan

2009-01-01

This article presents Allan Ornstein's response to highly respected scholar, Bruce Cooper's review of Ornstein's 2007 book, "Class Counts: Education, Inequality and the Shrinking Middle Class." Here Ornstein attempts to elaborate on a few points that he felt Cooper missed in his review.

Cultural Capital and the Consumption of Cultural Goods: Strategies Used for Status Consumption Among New Middle Class Brazilian Women.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lucivânia Filomeno Ponte

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Holt (1998 investigated the application of  the concept of consumption of cultural products as a means of acquiring status by conducting research in the United States and Turkey (Üstüner & Holt, 2010. This present research was based on this latest study and aimed to study the relationship between the consumption of cultural products and the consumption of status among Brazilian women in the new middle class. It was concluded that the cultural capital acts as a determining factor in the consumption of status, being converted in tastes and consumption practices. The consumption of cultural products is critical to the building of the status strategies, however, the cultural products used may vary according to the greater or lesser cultural capital of the interviewees.

Loy Yang A - Australia's largest privatisation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yenckin, C.

1997-01-01

The recent A$4,746 million privatisation of the 2000MW Loy Yang A power station and the Loy Yang coal mine by the Victorian Government is Australia's largest privatisation and one of 1997's largest project financing deals. (author)

Narratives of Inquiry Learning in Middle-School Geographic Inquiry Class

Science.gov (United States)

Kuisma, Merja

2018-01-01

This study aimed at modifying a teaching and learning model for a geographic inquiry to enhance both the subject-related skills of geography and so-called twenty-first century skills in middle-school students (14-15 years old). The purpose of this research is to extend our understanding of the user experiences concerning certain tools for learning…

SMA observations of Class 0 Protostars

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Chen, Xuepeng; Arce, Héctor G.; Zhang, Qizhou

2013-01-01

We present high angular resolution 1.3 mm and 850 μm dust continuum data obtained with the Submillimeter Array toward 33 Class 0 protostars in nearby clouds (distance <500 pc), which represents so far the largest survey toward protostellar binary/multiple systems. The median angular resolution in...

The Effects of Single-Sex and Coeducational Environments on the Self-Efficacy of Middle School Girls

OpenAIRE

Whitlock, Sharon E.

2006-01-01

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of class type, coeducational or same-sex, on the self-efficacy of middle school girls in a unit of volleyball. Four intact certified physical education specialists from two Middle Schools were used in the study. All of the teachers were female. In two of the classes, students were split out according to gender with males being taught by one instructor and the females being taught by the other instructor. For the coeducational class...

Collaborative Assessment: Middle School Case Study

Science.gov (United States)

Parkison, Paul T.

2014-01-01

Utilizing a participant observer research model, a case study of the efficacy of a collaborative assessment methodology within a middle school social studies class was conducted. A review of existing research revealed that students' perceptions of assessment, evaluation, and accountability influence their intrinsic motivation to learn. A…

History Repeats Itself at Yorktown Middle.

Science.gov (United States)

Haskin, Teresa T.

1999-01-01

Describes two interdisciplinary units that can be used in most middle school classrooms, one on the sinking of the "Titanic" and one on Pickett's charge at Gettysburg during the Civil War. Describes how each unit involves English, math, social studies, and science classes and activities. (SR)

The Achievement Ideology and Whiteness: "Achieving Whiteness" or "Achieving Middle Class?"

Science.gov (United States)

Allen, Ricky Lee

Over the past few decades, social reproduction theorists have criticized achievement ideology as a dominant and dominating myth that hides the true nature of class immobility. Social reproductionists' primary criticism of achievement ideology is that it blinds the working class, regardless of race or gender, to the possibilities of collective…

Factors affecting nutrition behavior among middle-class adolescents in urban area of Northern region of Brazil

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Doyle Eva I.

1997-01-01

Full Text Available INTRODUCTION: Brazil has been called a nation in nutrition transitional because of recent increases in the prevalence of obesity and related chronic diseases. With overweight conditions already prevalent among middle-income populations, there exists a need to identify factors that influence nutrition behavior within this group. OBJECTIVE: To address this subject, a research study was implemented among middle-class adolescents attending a large private secondary school in Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil. The study determined the availability and accessibility of snack foods as well as subjects' attitudes and preferences towards, and the influence of family and friends on healthy (high-nutrient density snack choices. METHODS: The 4-stage process included: (a a nutrition expert focus group discussion that reported local nutrition problems in general and factors related to adolescent nutrition, (b an adolescent pilot survey (n=63 that solicited information about snacking preferences and habits as well as resources for nutrition information and snack money; (c a survey of various area food market sources to determine the availability and accessibility of high nutrient density snacks; and (d a follow-up adolescent survey (n=55 that measured snack food preferences and perceptions about their cost and availability. RESULTS: Results included the finding that, although affordable high nutrient density snacks were available, preferences for low nutrient density snacks prevailed. The adolescents were reportedly more likely to be influenced by and obtain nutrition information from family members than friends. CONCLUSION: From study results it is apparent that a focus on food availability will not automatically result in proper nutritional practices among adolescents. This fact and the parental influence detected are evidence of a need to involve adolescents and their parents in nutrition education campaigns to improve adolescent snack food choices.

Factors affecting nutrition behavior among middle-class adolescents in urban area of Northern region of Brazil

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Eva I. Doyle

1997-08-01

Full Text Available INTRODUCTION: Brazil has been called a nation in nutrition transitional because of recent increases in the prevalence of obesity and related chronic diseases. With overweight conditions already prevalent among middle-income populations, there exists a need to identify factors that influence nutrition behavior within this group. OBJECTIVE: To address this subject, a research study was implemented among middle-class adolescents attending a large private secondary school in Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil. The study determined the availability and accessibility of snack foods as well as subjects’ attitudes and preferences towards, and the influence of family and friends on healthy (high-nutrient density snack choices. METHODS: The 4-stage process included: (a a nutrition expert focus group discussion that reported local nutrition problems in general and factors related to adolescent nutrition, (b an adolescent pilot survey (n=63 that solicited information about snacking preferences and habits as well as resources for nutrition information and snack money; (c a survey of various area food market sources to determine the availability and accessibility of high nutrient density snacks; and (d a follow-up adolescent survey (n=55 that measured snack food preferences and perceptions about their cost and availability. RESULTS: Results included the finding that, although affordable high nutrient density snacks were available, preferences for low nutrient density snacks prevailed. The adolescents were reportedly more likely to be influenced by and obtain nutrition information from family members than friends. CONCLUSION: From study results it is apparent that a focus on food availability will not automatically result in proper nutritional practices among adolescents. This fact and the parental influence detected are evidence of a need to involve adolescents and their parents in nutrition education campaigns to improve adolescent snack food choices.

Modern Middle Eastern Fiction: An Approach to Studying the Area.

Science.gov (United States)

Stone, Frank A., Comp.

The annotated listing cites Middle Eastern fiction which has been translated into English and can be used in humanities or social studies classes at the secondary level. The eight works of fiction listed contain materials that can be used to investigate the following topics: 1) contrasts between urban and village styles of life in the Middle East;…

An examination of single-gender and coeducational classes: Their impact on the academic achievement of middle school students enrolled in mathematics and science at selected schools in Georgia

Science.gov (United States)

Elam, Jeanette H.

The purpose of this study was to compare the academic performance of students enrolled in coeducational instruction and single-gender instruction. Within this framework, the researcher examined class type, gender, and racial/ethnicity using the sixth grade CRCT scores of selected students in the areas of mathematics and science. The fifth-grade mathematics and science scores for the same population were used to control for prior knowledge. This study examined the academic achievement of students based on class type, gender, and racial/ethnicity in relation to academic achievement. The study included the CRCT scores for mathematics and science of 6th-grade students at the middle school level who were tested during the 2007--2008 school year. Many studies conducted in the past have stressed females performed better in mathematics and science, while others have stated males performed better in the same areas. Yet, other studies have found conflicting results. A large Australian study (1996), compared the academic performance of students at single-gender and coeducational schools. The conclusion of this study indicated that both males and females who were educated in single-gender classrooms scored significantly higher than did males and females in coeducational classes. A study conducted by Graham Able (2003) documented superior academic performance of students in single-gender schools, after controlling for socioeconomic class and other variables. Able's most significant finding was that the advantage of single-gender schooling was greater for males in terms of academic results than for females. This directly contradicted the educational myth that males performed better in classrooms if females were present. The sample in this study consisted of CRCT scores for 304 sixth-grade students from four different middle schools. Due to the racial composition of the sample, the study only focused on black and white students. School 1 and School 2 involved single

Do childhood and adult socioeconomic circumstances influence health and physical function in middle-age?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Osler, Merete; Madsen, Mia; Nybo Andersen, Anne-Marie

2009-01-01

-twin, while there seemed to be no twin pair difference in dental status. This suggests that the associations of adult social class with functional limitations, poor self-rated health and fatigue may partly be due to causal effects related to adult social class exposures, while social class differences......This study examines the joint and separate contribution of social class in early and adult life to differences in health and physical function in middle-aged men. We use data from the Metropolit project which includes men born in 1953 in Copenhagen and a study of middle-aged Danish twins (MADT...... and fatigue than men from the highest social classes. When childhood and adult social class were mutually adjusted, the estimates for both measures were attenuated. Adjustment for living without a partner, body mass index (BMI) and smoking in midlife, which were also related to the four outcomes, had marginal...

The Effect of Social Class on Tolerance of Defeat

Science.gov (United States)

Guy, Rebecca F.; Allen, Donald E.

1975-01-01

In order to test the hypothesis that middle-class subjects will spend more time on a difficult task than will working class subjects, 40 adult white married females were randomly selected from two small towns in north-central Oklahoma and given independently and in random order a logico-manipulative task and a motor-manipulative task. (Author/JM)

An Inspiration for Democratization in the Middle East: Turkey

Science.gov (United States)

2011-12-01

toward three social groups: the army, the bourgeoisie , and the state-employed middle class.126 Moreover, in Saudi Arabia and Libya, governments use...especially during the Cold War, the socialist and nationalist policies in the Middle Eastern countries affected the bourgeoisie and hindered its...and Egypt, the state destroyed the bourgeoisie either because it was foreign and perceived as a colonial remnant, or because it was not ready to

Complicating the "Soccer Mom:" The Cultural Politics of Forming Class-Based Identity, Distinction, and Necessity

Science.gov (United States)

Swanson, Lisa

2009-01-01

Using Pierre Bourdieu's theories of social class differentiation and class reproduction, this paper provides an analysis of class-based identity politics in contemporary suburban America. Through a critical ethnography of the emergent, American, upper-middle-class "soccer mom" phenomenon, this study contributes to a growing body of…

The academic majors of students taking American soil science classes: 2004-2005 to 2013-2014 academic years

Science.gov (United States)

Brevik, Eric C.; Vaughan, Karen L.; Parikh, Sanjai J.; Dolliver, Holly; Lindbo, David; Steffan, Joshua J.; Weindorf, David; McDaniel, Paul; Mbila, Monday; Edinger-Marshall, Susan

2017-04-01

Many papers have been written in recent years discussing the interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary aspects of soil science. Therefore, it would make sense that soil science courses would be taken by students in a wide array of academic majors. To investigate this, we collected data from eight different American universities on the declared academic majors of students enrolled in soil science courses over a 10 year time period (2004-2005 to 2013-2014 academic years). Data was collected for seven different classes taught at the undergraduate level: introduction to soil science, soil fertility, soil management, pedology, soil biology/microbiology, soil chemistry, and soil physics. Overall trends and trends for each class were evaluated. Generally, environmental science and crop science/horticulture/agronomy students were enrolled in soil science courses in the greatest numbers. Environmental science and engineering students showed rapid increases in enrollment over the 10 years of the study, while the number of crop science/ horticulture/ agronomy students declined. In the introduction to soil science classes, environmental science and crop science/ horticulture/ agronomy students were enrolled in the greatest numbers, while declared soil science majors only made up 6.6% of the average enrollment. The highest enrollments in soil fertility were crop science/ horticulture/ agronomy students and other agricultural students (all agricultural majors except crop science, horticulture, agronomy, or soil science). In both the soil management and pedology classes, environmental science and other agricultural students were the largest groups enrolled. Other agricultural students and students from other majors (all majors not otherwise expressly investigated) were the largest enrolled groups in soil biology/microbiology courses, and environmental science and soil science students were the largest enrolled groups in soil chemistry classes. Soil physics was the only class

Longitudinal Linkages between Sibling Relationships and Adjustment from Middle Childhood through Adolescence

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Ji-Yeon; McHale, Susan M.; Crouter, Ann C.; Osgood, D. Wayne

2007-01-01

The links between changes in sibling conflict and intimacy and changes in perceived peer social competence and depression symptoms were examined from middle childhood through adolescence. Participants were mothers, fathers and first- and second-born siblings from 197 White, working/middle class, two-parent families. Peer competence peaked in …

Understanding the New Public Outlook on the Economy and Middle-Class Decline: How FDI Attitudes are caught in a Tentative Closing of the Canadian Mind

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Frank Graves

2016-02-01

Full Text Available While a single survey is a snapshot of a given moment in time, a series of surveys on the same topics over the years is akin to time-lapse photography, tracing the unfurling trends of public opinion. In examining the results of surveys conducted in recent decades by EKOS Research Associates on Canadians’ views of the economy, the prospects of the middle class, immigration and foreign trade, the time-lapse images show a dispiriting pessimism, especially among younger Canadians. For example, in 2002, nearly 70 per cent of Canadians surveyed described themselves as middle class. That figure dropped precipitously to just 47 per cent in 2015. Nearly half (46 per cent of those aged 25-44 said they were earning less in inflation-adjusted dollars last year than their fathers earned at the same age. Fewer than one in five Canadians believed their personal economic lot improved last year. Thirty-seven per cent of respondents said they had fallen behind economically in the last year and the last five years. When a society sees shared progress as an imperative, it is truly dismal that fewer than one in five Canadians thought things had improved for them last year. Just over a month and a half before the October 2015 federal election, a survey showed that restoring middle-class prosperity was the top issue for all demographic groups, standing at 35 per cent of respondents between the ages of 35 and 49 and 55 per cent among those aged 49 to 64. Accompanying this incipient uneasiness about the future of the middle class in Canada is a concomitant drawing inwards, a tendency towards parochialism about aspects of foreign trade and immigration, which may be perceived as threatening an economic future already considered to be tenuous. For example, support dropped dramatically (from 47 per cent the year before the 2008 recession to 25 per cent last year for the notion that Canadians, Americans and Mexicans should be free to work anywhere in North America. While

Fora do jogo: a experiência dos negros na classe média brasileira Out of the game: brazilian black middle class experiences

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Angela Figueiredo

2004-12-01

Full Text Available Abordo neste texto o significado da mobilidade social para empresários negros que fazem parte da classe média, a partir do relato das trajetórias de mobilidade e do significado da cor nesse processo. Ao contrário da maioria dos estudos clássicos sobre o tema, que viam na mobilidade social dos negros um exemplo contundente da não existência do preconceito de cor no Brasil, destaco na análise a forma como o preconceito e a discriminação são percebidos pelos entrevistados. Mas ainda que a maioria deles tenha relatado terem sido vítimas do preconceito racial, as respostas variam muito e nenhum deles relatou ter recorrido à justiça. Por este motivo, tenho insistido no fato de que o reconhecimento ou a percepção que o próprio indivíduo tem acerca de ser alvo do preconceito racial não se traduz, necessariamente, na tomada de uma atitude que consideremos eficaz ou politicamente relevante no combate ao racismo.The article deals with the meaning of social mobility for black entrepreneurs and businessmen that can be considered as part of a middle class. The metodology consists of the study of life careers and the place of colour therein. In spite of most canonical studies pointing out to the simple fact of social mobility for Black Brazilians as the best piece of evidence of the absence of a colour bar in Brazil, I single out the way in which such bar is perceived by the informants. However, even though most of them have experienced racial discrimination, their response to it varies a lot and none ever lodged a legal complaint. My argument is that individual recognition or perception of racial discrimination do not conflate straightforwardly with an actual and effective political stance in the struggle against racism.

Parenting classes: focus on discipline.

Science.gov (United States)

Campbell, J M

1992-01-01

Nurses in community settings have an opportunity to provide instruction related to health and life-style needs. An important consideration is the parental role. A particularly controversial and opinion-laden aspect of parenting is disciplining children. Discipline provides children with the security of clearly enforced rules to help them learn self-control and social standards. Parenting classes are worthwhile for people who have little formal or informal preparation. A survey of middle-class elementary school district parents' and childrens' attitudes toward discipline was conducted to develop meaningful parenting classes. Parents' feelings about being a mother or father were surprisingly negative. A parent educational program was developed to cover child growth and development and disciplinary practices. Parent evaluations led to continuation and an expansion of this program to other schools within the area.

Social Class Differentiation in Cognitive Development Among Black Preschool Children.

Science.gov (United States)

Golden, Mark; And Others

In a longitudinal study of 89 black children from different social classes, while there were no significant SES differences on the Cattell Infant Intelligence Scale at 18 and 24 months of age, there was a highly significant 23 point Mean IQ difference between children from welfare and middle class black families on the Stanford-Binet at 3 years of…

Stigma in an era of medicalisation and anxious parenting: how proximity and culpability shape middle-class parents' experiences of disgrace.

Science.gov (United States)

Francis, Ara

2012-07-01

This study examines the stigma experiences of middle-class parents whose children have physical, psychological and behavioural problems. Qualitative interviews with 34 mothers and 21 fathers demonstrate that parents experience two types of stigma: courtesy stigma and the stigma of being a bad parent. While the former stems from close social proximity to stigmatised children, the latter stems from ostensible culpability for children's problems. Both characteristics are social constructs embedded in the larger contexts of an anxious, intensive parenting culture and the problematisation and medicalisation of childhood. As a consequence, mothers, parents whose children have invisible disabilities, and the parents of young children are particularly susceptible to negative labelling. These findings highlight the constructed and political nature of parents' stigmatisation. © 2012 The Author. Sociology of Health & Illness © 2012 Foundation for the Sociology of Health & Illness/Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Elementary School Children's Reasoning about Social Class: A Mixed-Methods Study

Science.gov (United States)

Mistry, Rashmita S.; Brown, Christia S.; White, Elizabeth S.; Chow, Kirby A.; Gillen-O'Neel, Cari

2015-01-01

The current study examined children's identification and reasoning about their subjective social status (SSS), their beliefs about social class groups (i.e., the poor, middle class, and rich), and the associations between the two. Study participants were 117 10- to 12-year-old children of diverse racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic backgrounds…

Hinduism: A Unit for Junior High and Middle School Social Studies Classes.

Science.gov (United States)

Galloway, Louis J.

As an introduction and explanation of the historical development, major concepts, beliefs, practices, and traditions of Hinduism, this teaching unit provides a course outline for class discussion and activities for reading the classic epic, "The Ramayana." The unit requires 10 class sessions and utilizes slides, historical readings,…

Visual Middle-Out Modeling of Problem Spaces

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Valente, Andrea

2009-01-01

Modeling is a complex and central activity in many domains. Domain experts and designers usually work by drawing and create models from the middle-out; however, visual and middle-out style modeling is poorly supported by software tools. In order to define a new class of software-based modeling...... tools, we propose a scenario and identify some requirements. Those requirements are contrasted against features of existing tools from various application domains, and the results show general lack of support for custom visualization and incremental knowledge specification, poor handling of temporal...... information, and little generative capabilities.Satisfaction of the requirements proved difficult, and our first two prototypes did not perform well. A new and streamlined prototype is currently under development: it should enable some useful form of middle-out modeling. Application domains will range from...

Supporting learning skills in visual art classes: The benefits of teacher awareness

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Helen Arov

2017-09-01

Full Text Available This study focused on middle school art teachers supporting the development of students learning skills, specifically their awareness of the framework of learning skills. It also looked at the relations between the teaching practices teachers use for supporting learning skills and students' learning motivation in art classes. The study combined qualitative and quantitative research methods. The class observations and interviews were conducted with ten Estonian middle school art teachers. One hundred and forty-eight students from the observed classes filled out the learning motivation questionnaire about their interest and achievement goals in visual arts. The study draws attention to the importance of teachers being aware of and valuing learning skills alongside subject specific knowledge, as it could enhance students autonomous motivation and support adaptive goal setting.

Improving Deficient Listening Skills in the Language Arts Program at the Middle Grades.

Science.gov (United States)

Alonso, Laura

A project developed a program for improving deficient student-to-student listening skills. The targeted population consisted of 18 seventh-grade middle school students in a culturally diverse, lower middle class community in a near-western suburb of Chicago. The problem of deficient listening skills was evident through teacher observation and…

Gender-Based Education: Why It Works at the Middle School Level.

Science.gov (United States)

Perry, William C.

1996-01-01

To counter gender bias effects and improve student learning, staff at a Virginia middle school decided to group eighth-grade students by gender for math and science instruction. Girls felt freer to speak out. Grade point averages in gender-based science and math classes for both girls and boys were higher than in coeducational classes. (MLH)

Career Class (Im)mobility of the Social-Cultural Specialists and the Technocrats in the Netherlands

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Güveli, Ayse; De Graaf, Nan Dirk

2007-01-01

Scholars have long argued that there are two occupational fractions within the middle class forming two separate classes. They are commonly referred to as the technocrats and the social-cultural specialists. In this article, we distinguish two ‘new’ classes of the highand low-grade social-cultural

Hong kong working class and union organization: A historical glimpse

OpenAIRE

Ng, Sek Hong; Ip, Olivia

2008-01-01

This paper attempts to sketch a longitudinal profile on the evolution of a working class in Hong Kong context in light of the thesis of embourgeoisement. The increasing economic affluence in the 1980s and early 1990s appeared to have bred an optimism in society that the members of the working class were converging in life-style and consumption behaviour with the middle class in a process of embourgeoisement. However, the thesis of embourgeoisement comes under question again around the turn of...

Single-gender mathematics and science classes and the effects on urban middle school boys and girls

Science.gov (United States)

Sudler, Dawn M.

This study compared the differences in the Criterion-Referenced Competency Test (CRCT) mathematics and science achievement scores of boys and girls in Grade 7 at two urban middle schools. The data allowed the researcher to determine to what degree boys and girls in Grade 7 differ in their mathematics and science achievements within a single-gender environment versus a coeducational learning environment. The study compared any differences between boys and girls in Grade 7 within a single-gender environment in the subjects of mathematics and science, as measured by the CRCT assessments. The study also compared differences between boys and girls in Grade 7 within a coeducational environment in the subjects of mathematics and science, as measured by the CRCT assessments. Two middle schools were used within the study. One middle school was identified as a single-gender school (Middle School A); the other was identified as a coeducational school (Middle School B). This quantitative study applied the use of a descriptive research design. In addition, CRCT scores for the subjects of mathematics and science were taken during the spring of 2008 from both middle schools. Data were measured using descriptive statistics and independent t test calculations. The frequency statistics proceeded to compare each sample performance levels. The data were described in means, standard deviations, standard error means, frequency, and percentages. This method provided an excellent description of a sample scored on the spring 2008 CRCT mathematics and science assessments.

Class, Social Suffering, and Health Consumerism.

Science.gov (United States)

Merrild, Camilla Hoffmann; Risør, Mette Bech; Vedsted, Peter; Andersen, Rikke Sand

2016-01-01

In recent years an extensive social gradient in cancer outcome has attracted much attention, with late diagnosis proposed as one important reason for this. Whereas earlier research has investigated health care seeking among cancer patients, these social differences may be better understood by looking at health care seeking practices among people who are not diagnosed with cancer. Drawing on long-term ethnographic fieldwork among two different social classes in Denmark, our aim in this article is to explore the relevance of class to health care seeking practices and illness concerns. In the higher middle class, we predominantly encountered health care seeking resembling notions of health consumerism, practices sanctioned and encouraged by the health care system. However, among people in the lower working class, health care seeking was often shaped by the inseparability of physical, political, and social dimensions of discomfort, making these practices difficult for the health care system to accommodate.

Note-Taking Skills of Middle School Students with and without Learning Disabilities

Science.gov (United States)

Boyle, Joseph R.

2010-01-01

For middle school students with learning disabilities (LD), one major component of learning in content area classes, such as science, involves listening to lectures and recording notes. Lecture learning and note-taking are critical skills for students to succeed in these classes. Despite the importance of note-taking skills, no research has been…

Career Class (Im)mobility of the Social-Cultural Specialists and the Technocrats in the Netherlands

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Güveli, A.; Graaf, N.D. de

2007-01-01

Scholars have long argued that there are two occupational fractions within the middle class forming two separate classes. They are commonly referred to as the technocrats and the social-cultural specialists. In this article, we distinguish two ‘new’ classes of the high- and low-grade social-cultural

Child feeding practices in families of working and nonworking mothers of Indonesian middle class urban families: what are the problems?

Science.gov (United States)

Roshita, Airin; Schubert, Elizabeth; Whittaker, Maxine

2013-01-01

This study aims to explore the feeding practices in families of working and nonworking mothers with children (aged 12-36 months) of different nutritional status and types of domestic caregiver in Indonesian urban middle class families. It was designed as a qualitative multiple case study. Mothers and caregivers from 26 families were interviewed in depth, and caregivers were categorized as family and domestic-paid caregivers. The result suggested that offering formula milk to young children was a common practice, and there was a high recognition and familiarity toward a range of formula milk brands. Mothers reported challenges in encouraging their children to eat, and in some cases they appeared to lack knowledge on overcoming their child's feeding problem. The findings suggested the need to address the child feeding problems experienced by mothers in order to overcome the double burden of child nutrition in Indonesia.

The Relationship of Practice, Attitude, and Perception of Competence in Middle School Physical Education

Science.gov (United States)

Scrabis-Fletcher, Kristin; Rasmussen, Jennifer; Silverman, Stephen

2016-01-01

Purpose: Grounded in social cognitive theory this study examined attitude and perception of competence and their relationship with skill practice in middle school physical education. Method: Participants (N = 81) were randomly selected from nine teachers' classes. Two lessons were videotaped and students completed a middle school perception of…

The “Cadillac Tax” on Health Benefits in the United States Will Hit the Middle Class Hardest: Refuting the Myth That Health Benefit Tax Subsidies Are Regressive.

Science.gov (United States)

Woolhandler, Steffie; Himmelstein, David U

2016-01-01

U.S. employment-based health benefits are exempt from income and payroll taxes, an exemption that provided tax subsidies of $326.2 billion in 2015. Both liberal and conservative economists have denounced these subsidies as “regressive” and lauded a provision of the Affordable Care Act—the Cadillac Tax—that would curtail them. The claim that the subsidies are regressive rests on estimates showing that the affluent receive the largest subsidies in absolute dollars. But this claim ignores the standard definition of regressivity, which is based on the share of income paid by the wealthy versus the poor, rather than on dollar amounts. In this study, we calculate the value of tax subsidies in 2009 as a share of income for each income quintile and for the wealthiest Americans. In absolute dollars, tax subsidies were highest for families between the 80th and 95th percentiles of family income and lowest for the poorest 20%. However, as shares of income, subsidies were largest for the middle and fourth income quintiles and smallest for the wealthiest 0.5% of Americans. We conclude that the tax subsidy to employment-based insurance is neither markedly regressive, nor progressive. The Cadillac Tax will disproportionately harm families with (2009) incomes between $38,550 and $100,000, while sparing the wealthy.

Religious experiments in colonial Calcutta: modern Hinduism and bhakti among the Indian middle class

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ferdinando Sardella

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Any discussion of India from the point of view of the West must deal with the problem posed by the colonial past and the ways in which India was colonized, interpreted and constructed to fit into an imperialist agenda. The terms ‘Hinduism’ and ‘religion’, for example, are themselves quite problematic, since they are born of Western and Judeo-Christian thought, and may not reflect the complexity and diversity of Indic traditions well enough. A translation and transmission of terms and concepts from one cultural domain to another is required, but it is bound to be merely tentative and approximate, since a comprehension of the full meaning of words and concepts related to Indic religions presupposes an extensive grounding in the rich religious thought of India. Bhaktisiddhānta lived on the border between the nineteenth and the twentieth century, between the black and the white towns of Calcutta, between India and the West, and between two world wars. His effort to search for and apply bhakti to the social, political and cultural crises of his time is important for grasping the vitality and dynamism of Indic religions in our time. It is also important for appreciating the struggle carried out by a growing Indian and Hindu middle class to bridge the gaps between East and West, and on the basis of indigenous culture produce new ideas for reciprocal co-operation, which in the case of Bhaktisiddhānta were related to the idea and practice of bhakti.

Self-rated health in different social classes of Slovenian adult population: nationwide cross-sectional study.

Science.gov (United States)

Farkas, Jerneja; Pahor, Majda; Zaletel-Kragelj, Lijana

2011-02-01

Self-rated health can be influenced by several characteristics of the social environment. The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between self-rated health and self-assessed social class in Slovenian adult population. The study was based on the Countrywide Integrated Non-communicable Diseases Intervention Health Monitor database. During 2004, 8,741/15,297 (57.1%) participants aged 25-64 years returned posted self-administered questionnaire. Logistic regression was used to determine unadjusted and adjusted estimates of association between poor self-rated health and self-assessed social class. Poor self-rated health was reported by 9.6% of participants with a decrease from lower to upper-middle/upper self-assessed social class (35.9 vs. 3.7%). Logistic regression showed significant association between self-rated health and all self-assessed social classes. In an adjusted model, poor self-rated health remained associated with self-assessed social class (odds ratio for lower vs. upper-middle/upper self-assessed social class 4.23, 95% confidence interval 2.46-7.25; P social classes. Participants from lower self-assessed social class reported poor self-rated health most often and should comprise the focus of multisectoral interventions.

Histostructure of different quality classes of fattened liver from mule ducks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

P. Petrov

2017-12-01

Full Text Available This study encompassed a total of 15040 fattened liver samples, obtained during the four seasons of the year. The fattened liver quality was evaluated with regard to its weight and structure and classified in five classes. The analysis of the results indicated that the largest amount of fattened liver from the two highest quality classes – “Esc” and “E” was obtained during the autumn (85.46 % total, whereas in the other seasons the largest amounts of fattened liver were of the “AD” class. The spring was a period when an increase in the relative share of low-quality liver of grade “TV” (20.87 % and “C” (5.07 % was detected. The histological studies indicated that hepatocytes with large-drop fatty infil-tration were predominant in liver of classes “Esc” and “E”, with preserved cellular boundaries, with the exception of sporadic cases in the “Esc” class, mostly in the autumn. A specific feature for the “AD” quality class was the prevalence of glandular tubules, with predominantly small- and medium-drop fatty infiltration occurring within their hepatocytes. Seasonal differences in the histostructure of the fattened liver were also detected. In the “TV” quality class two types of glandular tubules with small- and medium-drop fatty infiltration were observed. In some cases, large-drop fatty infiltration could be observed as well – mostly in the summer, and connective tissue between the glandular tubules was preserved, without fattening of its cells. In the “C” quality class, fatty infiltration was in-complete. The histological image showed mostly small-drop fatty infiltration in the cytoplasm of most hepatocytes.

Middle School Girls' Envisioned Future in Computing

Science.gov (United States)

Friend, Michelle

2015-01-01

Experience is necessary but not sufficient to cause girls to envision a future career in computing. This study investigated the experiences and attitudes of girls who had taken three years of mandatory computer science classes in an all-girls setting in middle school, measured at the end of eighth grade. The one third of participants who were open…

Social class and family size as determinants of attributed machismo, femininity, and family planning: a field study in two South American communities.

Science.gov (United States)

Nicassio, P M

1977-12-01

A study was conducted to determine the way in which stereotypes of machismo and femininity are associated with family size and perceptions of family planning. A total of 144 adults, male and female, from a lower class and an upper middle class urban area in Colombia were asked to respond to photographs of Colombian families varying in size and state of completeness. The study illustrated the critical role of sex-role identity and sex-role organization as variables having an effect on fertility. The lower-class respondents described parents in the photographs as significantly more macho or feminine because of their children than the upper-middle-class subjects did. Future research should attempt to measure when this drive to sex-role identity is strongest, i.e., when men and women are most driven to reproduce in order to "prove" themselves. Both lower- and upper-middle-class male groups considered male dominance in marriage to be directly linked with family size. Perceptions of the use of family planning decreased linearly with family size for both social groups, although the lower-class females attributed more family planning to spouses of large families than upper-middle-class females. It is suggested that further research deal with the ways in which constructs of machismo and male dominance vary between the sexes and among socioeconomic groups and the ways in which they impact on fertility.

Middle school girls: Experiences in a place-based education science classroom

Science.gov (United States)

Shea, Charlene K.

The middle school years are a crucial time when girls' science interest and participation decrease (Barton, Tan, O'Neill, Bautista-Guerra, & Brecklin, 2013). The purpose of this study was to examine the experiences of middle school girls and their teacher in an eighth grade place-based education (PBE) science classroom. PBE strives to increase student recognition of the importance of educational concepts by reducing the disconnection between education and community (Gruenewald, 2008; Smith, 2007; Sobel, 2004). The current study provides two unique voices---the teacher and her students. I describe how this teacher and her students perceived PBE science instruction impacting the girls' participation in science and their willingness to pursue advanced science classes and science careers. The data were collected during the last three months of the girls' last year of middle school by utilizing observations, interviews and artifacts of the teacher and her female students in their eighth grade PBE science class. The findings reveal how PBE strategies, including the co-creation of science curriculum, can encourage girls' willingness to participate in advanced science education and pursue science careers. The implications of these findings support the use of PBE curricular strategies to encourage middle school girls to participate in advance science courses and science careers.

Largest College Endowments, 2011

Science.gov (United States)

Chronicle of Higher Education, 2012

2012-01-01

Of all endowments valued at more than $250-million, the UCLA Foundation had the highest rate of growth over the previous year, at 49 percent. This article presents a table of the largest college endowments in 2011. The table covers the "rank," "institution," "market value as of June 30, 2011," and "1-year change" of institutions participating in…

Constructing a "Fast Protocol" for Middle School Beginner Violin Classes in Japan

Science.gov (United States)

Akutsu, Taichi

2018-01-01

This study aimed to investigate the process of constructing a "fast-protocol" for violin instruction. Since learning string instruments has not been common, and because there are limited hours for music in Japanese schools, the author, a violinist, collaborated with the general music teacher at a middle school in the Tokyo metropolitan…

Defining Social Class Across Time and Between Groups.

Science.gov (United States)

Cohen, Dov; Shin, Faith; Liu, Xi; Ondish, Peter; Kraus, Michael W

2017-11-01

We examined changes over four decades and between ethnic groups in how people define their social class. Changes included the increasing importance of income, decreasing importance of occupational prestige, and the demise of the "Victorian bargain," in which poor people who subscribed to conservative sexual and religious norms could think of themselves as middle class. The period also saw changes (among Whites) and continuity (among Black Americans) in subjective status perceptions. For Whites (and particularly poor Whites), their perceptions of enhanced social class were greatly reduced. Poor Whites now view their social class as slightly but significantly lower than their poor Black and Latino counterparts. For Black respondents, a caste-like understanding of social class persisted, as they continued to view their class standing as relatively independent of their achieved education, income, and occupation. Such achievement indicators, however, predicted Black respondents' self-esteem more than they predicted self-esteem for any other group.

Perceived impact on student engagement when learning middle school science in an outdoor setting

Science.gov (United States)

Abbatiello, James

Human beings have an innate need to spend time outside, but in recent years children are spending less time outdoors. It is possible that this decline in time spent outdoors could have a negative impact on child development. Science teachers can combat the decline in the amount of time children spend outside by taking their science classes outdoors for regular classroom instruction. This study identified the potential impacts that learning in an outdoor setting might have on student engagement when learning middle school science. One sixth-grade middle school class participated in this case study, and students participated in outdoor intervention lessons where the instructional environment was a courtyard on the middle school campus. The outdoor lessons consisted of the same objectives and content as lessons delivered in an indoor setting during a middle school astronomy unit. Multiple sources of data were collected including questionnaires after each lesson, a focus group, student work samples, and researcher observations. The data was triangulated, and a vignette was written about the class' experiences learning in an outdoor setting. This study found that the feeling of autonomy and freedom gained by learning in an outdoor setting, and the novelty of the outdoor environment did increase student engagement for learning middle school science. In addition, as a result of this study, more work is needed to identify how peer to peer relationships are impacted by learning outdoors, how teachers could best utilize the outdoor setting for regular science instruction, and how learning in an outdoor setting might impact a feeling of stewardship for the environment in young adults.

Processes of Middle-Class Reproduction in a Graduate Employment Scheme

Science.gov (United States)

Smart, Sarah; Hutchings, Merryn; Maylor, Uvanney; Mendick, Heather; Menter, Ian

2009-01-01

Teach First is an educational charity that places graduates to teach in "challenging" schools for two years. It is marketed as an opportunity to develop employability while "making a difference". In this paper, I examine the process of class reproduction occurring in this graduate employment scheme through examining the…

A middle Pleistocene through middle Miocene moraine sequence in the central Transantarctic Mountains, Antarctica

Science.gov (United States)

Balter, A.; Bromley, G. R.; Balco, G.; Thomas, H.; Jackson, M. S.

2017-12-01

Ice-free areas at high elevation in the central Transantarctic Mountains preserve extensive moraine sequences and drift deposits that comprise a geologic record of former East Antarctic Ice Sheet thickness and extent. We are applying cosmogenic-nuclide exposure dating to determine the ages of these moraine sequences at Roberts Massif and Otway Massif, at the heads of the Shackleton and Beardmore Glaciers, respectively. Moraines at these sites are for the most part openwork boulder belts characteristic of deposition by cold-based ice, which is consistent with present climate and glaciological conditions. To develop our chronology, we collected samples from 30 distinct ice-marginal landforms and have so far measured >100 3He, 10Be, and 21Ne exposure ages. Apparent exposure ages range from 1-14 Ma, which shows that these landforms record glacial events between the middle Pleistocene and middle Miocene. These data show that the thickness of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet in this region was similar to or thicker than present for long periods between the middle Miocene and today. The time range represented by these moraine sequences indicates that they may also provide direct geologic evidence for East Antarctic Ice Sheet behavior during past periods of warmer-than-present climate, specifically the Miocene and Pliocene. As the East Antarctic Ice Sheet is the largest ice sheet on earth, understanding its sensitivity to warm-climate conditions is critical for projections of ice sheet behavior and sea-level rise in future warm climates.

El Sistema as a Bourgeois Social Project: Class, Gender, and Victorian Values

Science.gov (United States)

Bull, Anna

2016-01-01

This article asks why classical music in the UK, which is consumed and practiced by the middle and upper classes, is being used as a social action program for working-class children in British music education schemes inspired by El Sistema. Through exploring the discourse of the social benefits of classical music in the late nineteenth century, a…

Franchising in the Middle East: The Example of Egypt

OpenAIRE

Elsaman, Radwa S.

2017-01-01

With the largest population in the Arab Middle East and a central location between Europe and East Asia, Egypt offers one of the biggest sources of franchising markets in the world for new business opportunities. Egypt, however, does not have specialized laws regulating franchising, which results in real challenges for investors who are seeking to franchise their businesses in Egypt, along with their legal advisors. It also creates problems for the courts who must rule on disputes arising fro...

On the Effects of Social Class on Language Use: A Fresh Look at Bernstein's Theory

Science.gov (United States)

Aliakbari, Mohammad; Allahmoradi, Nazal

2014-01-01

Basil Bernstein (1971) introduced the notion of the Restricted and the Elaborated code, claiming that working-class speakers have access only to the former but middle-class members to both. In an attempt to test this theory in the Iranian context and to investigate the effect of social class on the quality of students language use, we examined the…

Combined effects of education level and perceived social class on self-rated health and life satisfaction: Results of Korean labor and income panel study wave 8-wave 15.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Jae-Hyun; Yoo, Ki-Bong; Park, Eun-Cheol; Lee, Sang Gyu; Kim, Tae Hyun

2015-11-02

To examine the combined effects of education level and perceived social class on self-rated health and life satisfaction in South Korea. We used data drawn from the 8 to 15th wave of the Korean Labor and Income Panel Study (KLIPS). Using wave 8 at baseline, data included 11,175 individuals. We performed a longitudinal analysis at baseline estimating the prevalence of self-rated health and life satisfaction among individuals by education level (high, middle, and low education level) and perceived social class (high, middle, and low social class). For self-rated health, odds ratio (OR) of individuals with low education and low perceived social class was 0.604 times lower (95% CI: 0.555-0.656) and the OR of individuals with low education and middle perceived social class was 0.853 time lower (95% CI: 0.790-0.922) when compared to individuals with high education and high perceived social class. For life satisfaction, OR of individuals with low education and low perceived social class was 0.068 times lower (95% CI: 0.063-0.074) and the OR of individuals with middle education and middle perceived social class was 0.235 time lower (95% CI: 0.221-0.251) compared to individuals with high education and high perceived social class. This study shows that the combined effects of education level and perceived social class associated with self-rated health and life satisfaction. Our study suggests increasing education level and perceived social class. Additionally, it will be important to develop multi-dimensional measurement tools including education level and subjective social class.

Largest particle detector nearing completion

CERN Multimedia

2006-01-01

"Construction of another part of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), the worl's largest particle accelerator at CERN in Switzerland, is nearing completion. The Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) is oner of the LHC project's four large particle detectors. (1/2 page)

Impact of socioeconomic status and subjective social class on overall and health-related quality of life.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Jae-Hyun; Park, Eun-Cheol

2015-08-15

Our objective was to investigate the impact of socioeconomic status and subjective social class on health-related quality of life (HRQOL) vs. overall quality of life (QOL). We performed a longitudinal analysis using data regarding 8250 individuals drawn from the Korean Longitudinal Study of Aging (KLoSA). We analyzed differences between HRQOL and QOL in individuals of various socioeconomic strata (high, middle, or low household income and education levels) and subjective social classes (high, middle, or low) at baseline (2009). Individuals with low household incomes and of low subjective social class had the highest probability of reporting discrepant HRQOL and QOL scores (B: 4.796; P socioeconomic status. In conclusion, both household income/subjective social class and education/subjective social class were found to have an impact on the degree of divergence between QOL and HRQOL. Therefore, in designing interventions, socioeconomic inequalities should be taken into account through the use of multi-dimensional measurement tools.

Gender and Social Class Differences in Japanese Mothers' Beliefs about Children's Education and Socialisation

Science.gov (United States)

Yamamoto, Yoko

2016-01-01

Despite increasing rates of university attendance among women, a significant gender gap remains in socialisation and educational processes in Japan. To understand why and how gender-distinctive socialisation processes persist, this study aimed to examine both middle-class and working-class mothers' beliefs about gender, education, and children's…

Education, class and vernacular awareness on Tyneside

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Marie Møller

2017-01-01

. This group consisted of mainly older female speakers and results are interpreted in light of first wave studies on the patterning of language use by class, age and gender. Finally, the issue of vernacular awareness is linked to social indexicality and it is suggested that an interpretation of participants...... identification. The results indicate that participants’ self-identification is at odds with the classification based on education and, furthermore, that the group of participants who identify as middle class but have low educational attainment behave significantly different from the other participants......This chapter reports on a questionnaire study investigating Tyneside residents’ vernacular awareness and attested language use. Participant performance is interpreted on the basis of a cross-tabulation of participants’ social class as determined by their level of education and participants’ own...

Audiences, museums and the English middle class

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Brian Longhurst

2004-07-01

Full Text Available The increasingly accepted way to analyse any media product is to consider production, text and audience processes. In a deceptively simple way, a television programme, for example, can be examined in the institutional, social and political context in which it is produced and with respect to the organizational framework that provides its immediate production environment. Second, its textual structures and strategies can be analysed using different approaches, such as structuralism or (in certain respects content analysis. Third, the way in which the audience understands (or decodes the text can be considered, as can the makeup of the audience, in terms of standard factors such as class, gender, age, ethnicity and so on. There are many variations on this sort of approach. This paper starts from such a premise. It suggests that in addition to the well formulated approaches to the study of the museum that focus generally on the institutional and wider social context for museums, or on specific museums and the processes that occur within them, or on the much studied strategies for display and narration of texts, the audiences for museums are also important.

Three frameworks to predict physical activity behavior in middle school inclusive physical education: a multilevel analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Jin, Jooyeon; Yun, Joonkoo

2013-07-01

The purpose of this study was to examine three frameworks, (a) process-product, (b) student mediation, and (c) classroom ecology, to understand physical activity (PA) behavior of adolescents with and without disabilities in middle school inclusive physical education (PE). A total of 13 physical educators teaching inclusive PE and their 503 students, including 22 students with different disabilities, participated in this study. A series of multilevel regression analyses indicated that physical educators' teaching behavior and students' implementation intentions play important roles in promoting the students' PA in middle school inclusive PE settings when gender, disability, lesson content, instructional model, and class location are considered simultaneously. The findings suggest that the ecological framework should be considered to effectively promote PA of adolescents with and without disabilities in middle school PE classes.

Social Class Differences in Social Integration among Students in Higher Education: A Meta-Analysis and Recommendations for Future Research

Science.gov (United States)

Rubin, Mark

2012-01-01

A meta-analysis of 35 studies found that social class (socioeconomic status) is related to social integration among students in higher education: Working-class students are less integrated than middle-class students. This relation generalized across students' gender and year of study, as well as type of social class measure (parental education and…

Class Collective Efficacy and Class Size as Moderators of the Relationship between Junior Middle School Students’ Externalizing Behavior and Academic Engagement: A Multilevel Study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yu Tian

2017-07-01

Full Text Available This study examined the relationship between externalizing behavior and academic engagement, and tested the possibility of class collective efficacy and class size moderating this relationship. Data were collected from 28 Chinese classrooms (N = 1034 students; grades 7, 8, and 9 with student reports. Hierarchical linear modeling was used to test all hypotheses and results revealed a negative relationship between externalizing behavior and academic engagement; class collective efficacy was also significantly related to academic engagement. Additionally, class collective efficacy and class size moderated the relationship between externalizing behavior and academic engagement: For students in a class with high collective efficacy or small size (≤30 students, the relationship between externalizing behavior and academic engagement was weaker than for those in a class with low collective efficacy or large size (≥43 students. Results are discussed considering self-regulatory mechanisms and social environment theory, with possible implications for teachers of students’ learning provided.

Experimenting with alternative futures in Cairo

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sparre, Sara Lei

2018-01-01

This article investigates young middle-class Egyptians' engagement with the religious and national visions of Resala, Egypt's largest Muslim youth NGO, and how they come to rethink themselves existentially and politically through this commitment, in the context of the 2011 uprising and its...

Effects of same-sex versus coeducational physical education on the self-perceptions of middle and high school students.

Science.gov (United States)

Lirgg, C D

1993-09-01

The purpose of this field experiment was to investigate the effects of attending either a coeducational or a same-sex physical education class on several self-perception variables. Middle and high school youth who had previously been in coeducational classes were assigned to either a same-sex or a new coeducational physical education class for a 10-lesson unit of basketball. Analyses were conducted at both the group and the individual levels. Self-perception variables examined included perceived self-confidence of learning basketball, perceived usefulness of basketball, and perceived gender-appropriateness of basketball. Results of hierarchical linear model group level analyses indicated that the variability in groups for self-confidence could be explained by grade, class type, and the interaction between gender and class type. At the individual level, multivariate results showed that, after the unit, males in coeducational classes were significantly more confident in their ability to learn basketball than males in same-sex classes. Also, males in same-sex classes decreased in confidence from pretreatment to posttreatment. Perceived usefulness of basketball emerged as the strongest predictor of self-confidence for learning basketball for both genders. In general, middle school students preferred same-sex classes, whereas high school students preferred coeducational classes.

But I like PE: factors associated with enjoyment of physical education class in middle school girls.

Science.gov (United States)

Barr-Anderson, Daheia J; Neumark-Sztainer, Dianne; Schmitz, Kathryn H; Ward, Dianne S; Conway, Terry L; Pratt, Charlotte; Baggett, Chris D; Lytle, Leslie; Pate, Russell R

2008-03-01

The current study examined associations between physical education (PE) class enjoyment and sociodemographic, personal, and perceived school environment factors among early adolescent girls. Participants included 1,511 sixth-grade girls who completed baseline assessments for the Trial of Activity in Adolescent Girls, with 50% indicating they enjoyed PE class a lot. Variables positively associated with PE class enjoyment included physical activity level, perceived benefits of physical activity, self-efficacy for leisure time physical activity, and perceived school climate for girls' physical activity as influenced by teachers, while body mass index was inversely associated with PE class enjoyment. After adjusting for all variables in the model, PE class enjoyment was significantly greater in Blacks than in Whites. In model testing, with mutual adjustment for all variables, self-efficacy was the strongest correlate of PE class enjoyment, followed by perceived benefits, race/ethnicity, and teachers' support for girls' physical activity, as compared to boys, at school. The overall model explained 11% of the variance in PE class enjoyment. Findings suggest that efforts to enhance girls' self-efficacy and perceived benefits and to provide a supportive PE class environment that promotes gender equality can potentially increase PE class enjoyment among young girls.

Mother-child conversation in different social classes and communicative settings.

Science.gov (United States)

Hoff-Ginsberg, E

1991-08-01

30 working-class and 33 upper-middle-class mothers were videotaped in dyadic interaction with their 18-29-month-old children in 4 settings--mealtime, dressing, book reading, and toy play. Samples of the mothers' adult-directed speech also were collected. There were significant social class differences in the mothers' child-directed speech and some parallel social class differences in the mothers' adult-directed speech. These findings suggested that some social class differences in child-directed speech may be instances of more general class differences in language use. There also were main effects of communicative setting on mothers' child-directed speech and interaction effects in which setting moderated the size of the class differences in maternal speech. These findings suggested that the amount of time mothers spend interacting with their children in different contexts may be at least as important an influence on children's linguistic experience as are average characteristics of their mothers' speech.

Understanding Middle School Students' Motivation in Math Class: The Expectancy-Value Model Perspective

Science.gov (United States)

Yurt, Eyup

2015-01-01

One of the most important variables affecting middle school students' mathematics performance is motivation. Motivation is closely related with expectancy belief regarding the task and value attached to the task. Identification of which one or ones of the factors constituting motivation is more closely related to mathematics performance may help…

[Social classes and poverty].

Science.gov (United States)

Benach, Joan; Amable, Marcelo

2004-05-01

Social classes and poverty are two key social determinants fundamental to understand how disease and health inequalities are produced. During the 90's in Spain there has been a notable oscillation in the inequality and poverty levels, with an increase in the middle of the decade when new forms of social exclusion, high levels of unemployment and great difficulties in accessing the labour market, especially for those workers with less resources, emerged. Today society is still characterized by a clear social stratification and the existence of social classes with a predominance of high levels of unemployment and precarious jobs, and where poverty is an endemic social problem much worse than the EU average. To diminish health inequalities and to improve the quality of life will depend very much on the reduction of the poverty levels and the improvement of equal opportunities and quality of employment. To increase understanding of how social class and poverty affect public health, there is a need to improve the quality of both information and research, and furthermore planners and political decision makers must take into account those determinants when undertaking disease prevention and health promotion.

Parent-Child Discussions of Anger and Sadness: The Importance of Parent and Child Gender during Middle Childhood

Science.gov (United States)

Zeman, Janice; Perry-Parrish, Carisa; Cassano, Michael

2010-01-01

This chapter provides conceptual background and empirical evidence that parental emotion socialization continues well into middle childhood and is influenced by the social context. Data are presented to illustrate the influence of parent and child gender on parental socialization of emotion in 113 Caucasian, middle-class children. Mothers and…

The Specter of Divorce: Views from Working- and Middle-Class Cohabitors

Science.gov (United States)

Miller, Amanda J.; Sassler, Sharon; Kusi-Appouh, Dela

2011-01-01

Young Americans increasingly express apprehension about their ability to successfully manage intimate relationships. Partially in response, cohabitation has become normative over the past few decades. Little research, however, examines social class distinctions in how emerging adults perceive challenges to sustaining intimate unions. We examine…

Sex-role patterns, paternal rearing attitudes and child development in different social classes.

Science.gov (United States)

Nettelbladt, P; Uddenberg, N; Englesson, I

1981-07-01

Sex-role patterns, the father's rearing attitude and the child's intellectual and emotional development in different social classes were studied in a randomly selected sample of 58 Swedish unbroken families of a small child. Working class men and women married younger and the women were more often house-wives. Working class men had more often been reared in an "authoritarian" way and more often reared their children in the same way. Upper middle class men had taken a more active part in the care of the child. Working class children scored lower on the intelligence tests, especially the verbal ones and were more often estimated as socially immature.

The Middle Class in China and the West under Society-building Perspective%社会建设视野下的城市中产阶层1

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

曹飞廉

2014-01-01

本文从社会建设的视角出发，对中国和西方国家城市中产阶层的起源和形成进行了梳理和考察。笔者的主要观点是：在西方国家工业革命早期，竞争伦理、谋利动机、经商欲望和新教信仰造就了一个以商人、工场主和专业人士（主要包括医生、律师和神职人员）为主体的中产群体。他们所享有的共同的经济和社会经历，促进了西方中产阶级的阶级意识和身份认同的形成。这种阶级意识和身份认同成为推动西方各国资产阶级民主革命以及之后的多次社会建设和改良运动的重要经济与思想力量。在中国改革开放的三十年的时间里，也产生了一个商人、民营企业主、专业人士以及职业经理人为主体的中产群体。其中的部分有识之士也已成为转型中国社会建设重要的支持者和领导者。然而在城乡二元体制格局和贫富差距不断扩大的背景下，较小的规模，较高的异质性，以及价值理念上的分歧，阻碍了中国中产阶层阶级身份认同的形成。%From the society-building perspective, this article explores the origin and formation of Chinese and Western middle class. In the early period of industrial revolution, competing ethics, profit motives, business desire and the Protestant ethics created businessman, factory owners and professionals(like doctors, lawyers and clergy) formed the main body of middling-groups. They enjoyed the common economic and social experience, which promoted the Western bourgeois class consciousness and identity formation. During three decades of China’s reform and opening, there is also a middle groups including businessman, private business owners, professionals and managers. Some of them have become the main supporters and leaders of China’s society-building. However, in the context of urban-rural dual structure pattern and the widening gap between the rich and the poor, a smaller scale

Class diversity and youth volunteering in the UK : applying Bourdieu's habitus and cultural capital

OpenAIRE

Dean, Jonathan

2015-01-01

This article utilizes Pierre Bourdieu’s theories of habitus and cultural capital to offer some explanation as to why there is a lack of class diversity in formal volunteering in the United Kingdom. Recent studies have shown that participation in volunteering is heavily dependent on social class revolving around a highly committed middle-class “civic core” of volunteers. This article draws on original qualitative research to argue that the delivery of recent youth volunteering policies has uni...

Doing, talking and writing science: A discourse analysis of the process of resemiotization in a middle school lab-based science class

Science.gov (United States)

Wright, Laura J.

This study examines students' sense making practices in a middle school science class from a discourse analytic perspective. Using Mediated Discourse Analysis (MDA) (Scollon 1998, 2001) and interactional sociolinguistics (Gumperz 1999, 2001, Schiffrin 1994), my research seeks to enrich findings from recent sociocultural studies of science classrooms that focus on doing, talking and writing science (Roth 2005, Kress, et al. 2002, Halliday & Martin 1993, Lemke 1990). Within a middle school science classroom, these fundamental activities form a nexus of practice (Scollon 1998, 2001) basic to science literacy (AAAS 1989) and reflective of the work of practicing scientists. Moreover, students' engagement in these practices provides insight into the cultural production and reproduction of science and scientist. I first examine how the students' curriculum text encourages these three scientific practices and then trace students' uptake; that is, how they subsequently do, talk, and write science throughout the course of the unit. I argue that learning science with this curriculum unit requires students to resemiotize (Iedema 2001, 2003) first hand experience so they can represent their knowledge cohesively and coherently in evaluable forms. Ultimately, students must transform language from the curriculum text and their teacher into action in their laboratory activities and action in their laboratory activities into language. In addition, I show how students are apprenticed to the conventionalized practices and voices (Bakhtin 1986) of science (i.e. the scientific register), and how their figures of personhood (Agha 2005) reflect the development of their scientific identities. Overall, I argue that the microanalytic methods I use illuminate how students draw upon curricular resources to become scientifically literate and develop scientific identities.

Latino Students' Transition to Middle School: Role of Bilingual Education and School Ethnic Context.

Science.gov (United States)

Hughes, Jan N; Im, MyungHee; Kwok, Oi-Man; Cham, Heining; West, Stephen G

2015-09-01

Participants were 204 academically at-risk Latino students recruited into a study when in first grade and followed for 9 years. Using piecewise latent growth curve analyses, we investigated trajectories of teacher-rated behavioral engagement and student-reported school belonging during elementary school and middle school and the association between trajectories and enrollment in bilingual education classes in elementary school and a change in school ethnic congruence across the transition to middle school. Overall, students experienced a drop in school belonging and behavioral engagement across the transition. A moderating effect of ethnic congruence on bilingual enrollment was found. A decline in ethnic congruence was associated with more positive trajectories for students previously enrolled in bilingual classes but more negative trajectories for non-bilingual students.

The Middle East population puzzle.

Science.gov (United States)

Omran, A R; Roudi, F

1993-07-01

An overview is provided of Middle Eastern countries on the following topics; population change, epidemiological transition theory and 4 patterns of transition in the middle East, transition in causes of death, infant mortality declines, war mortality, fertility, family planning, age and sex composition, ethnicity, educational status, urbanization, labor force, international labor migration, refugees, Jewish immigration, families, marriage patterns, and future growth. The Middle East is geographically defined as Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, United Arab Emirates, Yemen, Gaza and the West Bank, Iran, Turkey, and Israel. The Middle East's population grew very little until 1990 when the population was 43 million. Population was about doubled in the mid-1950s at 80 million. Rapid growth occurred after 1950 with declines in mortality due to widespread disease control and sanitation efforts. Countries are grouped in the following ways: persistent high fertility and declining mortality with low to medium socioeconomic conditions (Jordan, Oman, Syria, Yemen, and the West Bank and Gaza), declining fertility and mortality in intermediate socioeconomic development (Egypt, Lebanon, Turkey, and Iran), high fertility and declining mortality in high socioeconomic conditions (Bahrain, Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates), and low fertility and mortality in average socioeconomic conditions (Israel). As birth and death rates decline, there is an accompanying shift from communicable diseases to degenerative diseases and increases in life expectancy; this pattern is reflected in the available data from Egypt, Kuwait, and Israel. High infant and child mortality tends to remain a problem throughout the Middle East, with the exception of Israel and the Gulf States. War casualties are undetermined, yet have not impeded the fastest growing population growth rate in the world. The average fertility is 5 births

Transitions between subclasses of bullying and victimization when entering middle school.

Science.gov (United States)

Williford, Anne; Boulton, Aaron J; Jenson, Jeffrey M

2014-01-01

We examined the effects of depressive symptoms, antisocial attitudes, and perspective-taking empathy on patterns of bullying and victimization during the transition from late elementary (4th grade to 5th grade) to middle school (6th grade) among 1,077 students who participated in the Youth Matters (YM) bullying prevention trial. Latent transition analysis was used to establish classes of bullying, victimization, bully-victimization, and uninvolvement. The intervention had a positive impact on children as they moved from elementary to middle school. More students in the YM group transitioned from the involved statuses to the uninvolved status than students in the control group during the move to middle school. Elementary school bullies with higher levels of depressive symptoms were less likely than other students to move to an uninvolved status in the first year of middle school. Students who held greater antisocial attitudes were more likely to be a member of the bully-victim status than the uninvolved status during the move to middle school. Perspective-taking empathy, however, was not a significant predictor of status change during the transition to middle school. Implications for school-based prevention programs during the move to middle school are noted. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Social class variations in schoolchildren's self-reported outcome of the health dialogue with the school health nurse

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Borup, Ina; Holstein, Bjørn Evald

2004-01-01

of the health dialogue and to examine the effect of social class on this response controlled for the effect of other relevant social factors. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The study is a survey. The population were all pupils in the fifth, seventh and ninth grade (11, 13 and 15 years old) in a random sample of schools...... the nurse's advice, 77% had made their own autonomous decisions based on the health dialogue, and 11% had returned to the nurse for further advice. Pupils from the lower social classes had more often followed the nurse's advice (OR = 1.16, 95% CI: 0.99-1.37) and returned to the nurse (OR = 1.46, 95% CI: 1.......12-1.90). Pupils from the middle and lower social classes had more often made their own autonomous decisions (middle social classes: OR =1.23, 95% CI: 1.08-1.39, lower social classes: OR = 1.13, 95% CI: 0.95-1.34). CONCLUSION: Most pupils reported an outcome of the health dialogue with the school health nurse...

Alternative Fuels Data Center: America's Largest Home Runs on Biodiesel in

Science.gov (United States)

North Carolina America's Largest Home Runs on Biodiesel in North Carolina to someone by E-mail Share Alternative Fuels Data Center: America's Largest Home Runs on Biodiesel in North Carolina on Facebook Tweet about Alternative Fuels Data Center: America's Largest Home Runs on Biodiesel in North

Astronomy for Astronomical Numbers: A Worldwide Massive Open Online Class

Science.gov (United States)

Impey, Chris D.; Wenger, Matthew C.; Austin, Carmen L.

2015-01-01

Astronomy: State of the Art is a massive, open, online class (MOOC) offered through Udemy by an instructional team at the University of Arizona. With nearly 24,000 enrolled as of early 2015, it is the largest astronomy MOOC available. The astronomical numbers enrolled do not translate into a similar level of engagement. The content consists of 14…

The Social Geography of Childcare: Making up a Middle-Class Child

Science.gov (United States)

Vincent, Carol; Ball, Stephen J.; Kemp, Sophie

2004-01-01

Childcare is a condensate of disparate social forces and social processes. It is gendered and classed. It is subject to an excess of policy and political discourse. It is increasingly a focus for commercial exploitation. This is a paper reporting on work in progress in an ESRC funded research project (R000239232) on the choice and provision of…

Cephalometric analysis of the middle part of the face in patients with mandibular prognathism

OpenAIRE

Čutović Tatjana; Jović Nebojša; Kozomara Ružica; Radojčić Julija; Janošević Mirjana; Mladenović Irena; Matijević Stevo

2014-01-01

Background/Aim. The middle part of the face, that is the maxilla, has always been mentioned as a possible etiologic factor of skeletal Class III. However, the importance of the relationship of maxillary retroposition towards the cranial base is still unclear, although it has been examined many times. The aim of this study was to conduct cephalometric analysis of the morphology of maxilla, including the whole middle part of the face in patients with divergen...

At S.C. School, Behavior Is One of the Basics: A Charleston Middle School Joins the Growing Number Nationwide That Use PBIS Strategies to Teach

Science.gov (United States)

Shah, Nirvi

2012-01-01

Learning "how to be a Haut Gap student" is one of the basics at Charleston's Haut Gap Middle School. Along with reading, science, and mathematics classes, every student at Haut Gap Middle School takes a course in how to be a Haut Gap student. For most students, the class is 40 minutes a day for nine weeks. But it can last 18 weeks for…

The intersection of youth masculinities, decreasing homophobia and class: an ethnography.

Science.gov (United States)

McCormack, Mark

2014-03-01

This article examines the emergence of progressive attitudes toward homosexuality among working-class boys in a sixth form in the south of England to develop an intersectional analysis of class, youth masculinities and decreasing homophobia. Drawing on three months of ethnographic data collection, I find that working-class male youth intellectualize pro-gay attitudes and that homophobic language is almost entirely absent from the setting. I document the presence of homosocial tactility, as well as the valuing of friendship and emotional closeness. However, these behaviours are less pronounced than documented among middle-class boys, and I use these findings to advance understanding of how class influences the development of inclusive attitudes and behaviours. Inclusive masculinity theory is used to understand these findings, refining the theory and extending it to a new demographic. © London School of Economics and Political Science 2014.

Identifying the node spreading influence with largest k-core values

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lin, Jian-Hong; Guo, Qiang; Dong, Wen-Zhao; Tang, Li-Ying; Liu, Jian-Guo

2014-01-01

Identifying the nodes with largest spreading influence of complex networks is one of the most promising domains. By taking into account the neighbors' k-core values, we present an improved neighbors' k-core (INK) method which is the sum of the neighbors' k-core values with a tunable parameter α to evaluate the node spreading influence with largest k-core values. Comparing with the Susceptible–Infected–Recovered (SIR) results for four real networks, the INK method could identify the node spreading influence with largest k-core values more accurately than the ones generated by the degree k, closeness C, betweenness B and coreness centrality method. - Highlights: • We present an improved neighbors' k-core (INK) method to evaluate the node spreading influence with largest k-core values. • The INK method could identify the node spreading influence with largest k-core values more accurately. • Kendall's tau τ of INK method with α=1 are highly identical to rank the node influence

The psychology of social class: How socioeconomic status impacts thought, feelings, and behaviour.

Science.gov (United States)

Manstead, Antony S R

2018-04-01

Drawing on recent research on the psychology of social class, I argue that the material conditions in which people grow up and live have a lasting impact on their personal and social identities and that this influences both the way they think and feel about their social environment and key aspects of their social behaviour. Relative to middle-class counterparts, lower/working-class individuals are less likely to define themselves in terms of their socioeconomic status and are more likely to have interdependent self-concepts; they are also more inclined to explain social events in situational terms, as a result of having a lower sense of personal control. Working-class people score higher on measures of empathy and are more likely to help others in distress. The widely held view that working-class individuals are more prejudiced towards immigrants and ethnic minorities is shown to be a function of economic threat, in that highly educated people also express prejudice towards these groups when the latter are described as highly educated and therefore pose an economic threat. The fact that middle-class norms of independence prevail in universities and prestigious workplaces makes working-class people less likely to apply for positions in such institutions, less likely to be selected and less likely to stay if selected. In other words, social class differences in identity, cognition, feelings, and behaviour make it less likely that working-class individuals can benefit from educational and occupational opportunities to improve their material circumstances. This means that redistributive policies are needed to break the cycle of deprivation that limits opportunities and threatens social cohesion. © 2018 The Author. British Journal of Social Psychology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of British Psychological Society.

Learning the Language of Earth Science: Middle School Students' Explorations of Rocks and Minerals

Science.gov (United States)

Reid-Griffin, Angelia

2016-01-01

The approaches and interpretations of a class of 6th graders and a class of 8th graders in a U.S. middle school asked to engage in tasks that involved using observations to describe and classify samples is the subject of this paper. Overall 8th graders were better able to perform the tasks, suggesting a developmental advantage aspect. However, the…

Single Sex Mathematics Classes: A Critical Analysis of the Impact at a Secondary School

OpenAIRE

Seifert, Angelique; Pugalee, David K.

2012-01-01

Single sex classes have recently been emphasized as an effective way to promote mathematics learning. Despite their popularity, the research on the effectiveness of such programs is mixed underscoring the need for additional research and discussion. This research is set in one of the twenty-five largest public school systems in the United States, where schools have recently been allowed to begin instructional initiatives with same sex classes in mathematics. Preliminary data on the effecti...

Planning and implementation of a cardiovascular prevention strategy in a lower middle class community in Pakistan - a preliminary report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Aziz, K.; Faruqui, A.M.A.; Manolio, T.; Davis, C.E.; Denis, B.H.; Burke, G.L.

2000-01-01

Cardiovascular risk factors (RF) and coronary heart diseases (CHD) are increasing in Pakistan. The National Inst. of Cardiovascular Diseases (NICVD), Karachi, in collaboration with National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) in Bethesda, Maryland, USA, designed a 5-year diet intervention study (MHS) for modification of RF. This was done by education, designed to increase knowledge and attitudes regarding CHD and by modifying the diet in 400 households in Metrovitte, which is a lower middle class community in Karachi. The Department of preventive cardiology of NICVD trained doctors, social workers including volunteers from the community for data collection and recording. The education was imparted in health fairs and home conferences and diet modification was achieved by 14 home visits of social workers over a 28-month period with a final goal of reducing salt by 28% and replacement of ghee with vegetable oils and reducing fat by 33%. Community center was used for data collection and involved demographic, blood pressure, serum cholesterol, hemoglobin and blood glucose data at base line and at screening 11(280) households. All phases of the study have been successfully implemented and results are being analyzed. Various aspects of the methods of implementation are discussed. (author)

Dental size variation in the Atapuerca-SH Middle Pleistocene hominids.

Science.gov (United States)

Bermúdez de Castro, J M; Sarmiento, S; Cunha, E; Rosas, A; Bastir, M

2001-09-01

The Middle Pleistocene Atapuerca-Sima de los Huesos (SH) site in Spain has yielded the largest sample of fossil hominids so far found from a single site and belonging to the same biological population. The SH dental sample includes a total of 452 permanent and deciduous teeth, representing a minimum of 27 individuals. We present a study of the dental size variation in these hominids, based on the analysis of the mandibular permanent dentition: lateral incisors, n=29; canines, n=27; third premolars, n=30; fourth premolars, n=34; first molars, n=38; second molars, n=38. We have obtained the buccolingual diameter and the crown area (measured on occlusal photographs) of these teeth, and used the bootstrap method to assess the amount of variation in the SH sample compared with the variation of a modern human sample from the Museu Antropologico of the Universidade of Coimbra (Portugal). The SH hominids have, in general terms, a dental size variation higher than that of the modern human sample. The analysis is especially conclusive for the canines. Furthermore, we have estimated the degree of sexual dimorphism of the SH sample by obtaining male and female dental subsamples by means of sexing the large sample of SH mandibular specimens. We obtained the index of sexual dimorphism (ISD=male mean/female mean) and the values were compared with those obtained from the sexed modern human sample from Coimbra, and with data found in the literature concerning several recent human populations. In all tooth classes the ISD of the SH hominids was higher than that of modern humans, but the differences were generally modest, except for the canines, thus suggesting that canine size sexual dimorphism in Homo heidelbergensis was probably greater than that of modern humans. Since the approach of sexing fossil specimens has some obvious limitations, these results should be assessed with caution. Additional data from SH and other European Middle Pleistocene sites would be necessary to test

CERN tests largest superconducting solenoid magnet

CERN Multimedia

2006-01-01

"CERN's Compacts Muon Solenoid (CMS) - the world's largest superconducting solenoid magnet - has reached full field in testing. The instrument is part of the proton-proton Large Hadron Collider (LHC) project, located in a giant subterranean chamber at Cessy on the Franco-Swiss border." (1 page)

Misbehaving Peer Models in the Classroom: An Investigation of the Effects of Social Class and Intelligence.

Science.gov (United States)

Kniveton, Bromley H.

1987-01-01

Investigates the effects on young male students of differing social backgrounds and varying levels of intelligence, of seeing a peer misbehave. Notes that working class boys imitated the misbehaving model significantly more than middle-class boys. Level of intelligence was not found to relate to the amount a student imitated a misbehaving peer.…

Personal Safety and Teacher/Student Relationships Viewed through Black/White Framework in a Suburban Middle School, an Exploratory Study

Science.gov (United States)

Mester, Dana C.; Spruill, Sherill A.; Giani, Joseph; Morote, Elsa-Sofia; Inserra, Albert

2015-01-01

This study explored the perceptions of teacher-student relationships and personal student safety differences between Caucasian and African-American middle school students. The research was conducted using a survey in a suburban middle class school on Long Island, New York. Twenty-eight of 176 Caucasian students were chosen through random sampling…

Patterns of client behavior with their most recent male escort: an application of latent class analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Grov, Christian; Starks, Tyrel J; Wolff, Margaret; Smith, Michael D; Koken, Juline A; Parsons, Jeffrey T

2015-05-01

Research examining interactions between male escorts and clients has relied heavily on data from escorts, men working on the street, and behavioral data aggregated over time. In the current study, 495 clients of male escorts answered questions about sexual behavior with their last hire. Latent class analysis identified four client sets based on these variables. The largest (n = 200, 40.4 %, labeled Typical Escort Encounter) included men endorsing behavior prior research found typical of paid encounters (e.g., oral sex and kissing). The second largest class (n = 157, 31.7 %, Typical Escort Encounter + Erotic Touching) included men reporting similar behaviors, but with greater variety along a spectrum of touching (e.g., mutual masturbation and body worship). Those classed BD/SM and Kink (n = 76, 15.4 %) reported activity along the kink spectrum (BD/SM and role play). Finally, men classed Erotic Massage Encounters (n = 58, 11.7 %) primarily engaged in erotic touch. Clients reporting condomless anal sex were in the minority (12.2 % overall). Escorts who engage in anal sex with clients might be appropriate to train in HIV prevention and other harm reduction practices-adopting the perspective of "sex workers as sex educators."

Choosing to Work? Mothers Return-to-Work Decisions, Social Class, and the Local Labor Market

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tiina Sihto

2015-10-01

Full Text Available The aim of this study is to examine the ways in which social class shapes the return-to-work decisions of Finnish working-class and middle-class mothers, and how these decisions are structured by the constraints and opportunities mothers face in the local labor market. The focus of the study is in the local labor market of the city of Jyväskylä. The data consist of two semi-structured focus group interviews of 14 employed mothers of below school-age children. Using the framework of “gendered moral rationalities,” the study shows that there are similarities in mothers’ experiences, while the structural constraints mothers faced when deciding about the timing of returning back to work differ. The analysis highlights that the differences were not only dependent on social class but also on the situation in the local labor market. For working-class mothers, the most crucial issue was the financial strain that their staying at home caused to their families. For middle-class mothers, finding employment opportunities that would match their educational qualifications in the local labor market had been challenging, which affected their timing of returning back to work. The paper concludes that local labor market plays an important role in mother’s return-to-work decisions and should be explored further in differing geographical contexts.

Popular culture and class distinctions in Slovenia: Symbolic boundaries in an egalitarian society

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Breda Luther

2012-12-01

Full Text Available The study draws on survey data on the cultural preferences, competencies and practices of a representative sample of the population of the two largest Slovenian cities, Ljubljana and Maribor. The cultural dimensions of class and the role of cultural distinctions in the class structure of both cities are examined. The study focuses on the ways in which non-economic capital, i.e. cultural capital, works in the constitution and reproduction of social inequality The empirical results point to the existence of five separate class-cultural formations or class-specific meaning systems that significantly differ from each another and to a systematic homology between ideal-type cultural classes and four occupational classes (EseC. Tastes are particularly strongly linked to social positions at the bottom and the top of the aesthetic hierarchy. The strongest effect of gender and ethnicity on taste cultures was established at the bottom of the occupational class hierarchy.

Electrifying Engagement in Middle School Science Class: Improving Student Interest Through E-textiles

Science.gov (United States)

Tofel-Grehl, Colby; Fields, Deborah; Searle, Kristin; Maahs-Fladung, Cathy; Feldon, David; Gu, Grace; Sun, Chongning

2017-08-01

Most interventions with "maker" technologies take place outside of school or out of core area classrooms. However, intervening in schools holds potential for reaching much larger numbers of students and the opportunity to shift instructional dynamics in classrooms. This paper shares one such intervention where electronic textiles (sewable circuits) were introduced into eighth grade science classes with the intent of exploring possible gains in student learning and motivation, particularly for underrepresented minorities. Using a quasi-experimental design, four classes engaged in a traditional circuitry unit while the other four classes undertook a new e-textile unit. Overall, students in both groups demonstrated significant learning gains on standard test items without significant differences between conditions. Significant differences appeared between groups' attitudes toward science after the units in ways that show increasing interest in science by students in the e-textile unit. In particular, they reported positive identity shifts pertaining to their perceptions of the beliefs of their friends, family, and teacher. Findings and prior research suggest that student-created e-textile designs provide opportunities for connections outside of the classroom with friends and family and may shift students' perceptions of their teacher's beliefs about them more positively.

Recent floods in the Middle Ebro River, Spain: hydrometeorological aspects and floodplain management

Science.gov (United States)

Domenech, S.; Espejo, F.; Ollero, A.; Sánchez-Fabre, M.

2009-09-01

The Ebro River has the largest Mediterranean basin in the Iberian Peninsula and the third one by surface among those of the Mediterranean Sea. The middle stretch of this river is especially interesting because it constitutes a very economically important axis of population in a semi-arid environment context. Flooding processes are common in the Middle Ebro River, but the combination among decrease of discharges, dam construction and expansion and reinforcement of defences created an unusually quiet period as regards flooding events during the last quarter of the previous century. Nevertheless, with the turn of the century it seems that the Middle Ebro River has entered into new dynamics, with bigger and more frequent floods, the appearance of which has changed its seasonal nature. The most relevant examples are those of February 2003 and March-April 2007. The present paper examines these recent trends and discusses their possible causes from the points of view of hydro-meteorology, flood management through the use of reservoirs, and floodplain management. The consequences of recent floods in the Middle Ebro River have reopened the debate about possible risk management measures.

Student Academic Self-Concept and Perception of Classroom Environment in Single-Sex and Coeducational Middle Grades Mathematics Classes

Science.gov (United States)

Kombe, Dennis; Che, S. Megan; Carter, Traci L.; Bridges, William

2016-01-01

In this article, we present findings from a study that investigated the relationship between all-girls classes, all-boys classes, and coeducational classes on student mathematics self-concept and student perception of classroom environment. Further, we compared responses of girls in all-girls classes to girls in coeducational classes and responses…

Class start times, sleep, and academic performance in college: a path analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Onyper, Serge V; Thacher, Pamela V; Gilbert, Jack W; Gradess, Samuel G

2012-04-01

Path analysis was used to examine the relationship between class start times, sleep, circadian preference, and academic performance in college-aged adults. Consistent with observations in middle and high school students, college students with later class start times slept longer, experienced less daytime sleepiness, and were less likely to miss class. Chronotype was an important moderator of sleep schedules and daytime functioning; those with morning preference went to bed and woke up earlier and functioned better throughout the day. The benefits of taking later classes did not extend to academic performance, however; grades were somewhat lower in students with predominantly late class schedules. Furthermore, students taking later classes were at greater risk for increased alcohol consumption, and among all the factors affecting academic performance, alcohol misuse exerted the strongest effect. Thus, these results indicate that later class start times in college, while allowing for more sleep, also increase the likelihood of alcohol misuse, ultimately impeding academic success.

But I Like PE: Factors Associated With Enjoyment of Physical Education Class in Middle School Girls

OpenAIRE

Barr-Anderson, Daheia J.; Neumark-Sztainer, Dianne; Schmitz, Kathryn H.; Ward, Dianne S.; Conway, Terry L.; Pratt, Charlotte; Baggett, Chris D.; Lytle, Leslie; Pate, Russell R.

2008-01-01

The current study examined associations between physical education (PE) class enjoyment and sociodemographic, personal, and perceived school environment factors among early adolescent girls. Participants included 1,511 sixth-grade girls who completed baseline assessments for the Trial of Activity in Adolescent Girls, with 50% indicating they enjoyed PE class a lot. Variables positively associated with PE class enjoyment included physical activity level, perceived benefits of physical activity...

Analysis of Human Standing Balance by Largest Lyapunov Exponent

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kun Liu

2015-01-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this research is to analyse the relationship between nonlinear dynamic character and individuals’ standing balance by the largest Lyapunov exponent, which is regarded as a metric for assessing standing balance. According to previous study, the largest Lyapunov exponent from centre of pressure time series could not well quantify the human balance ability. In this research, two improvements were made. Firstly, an external stimulus was applied to feet in the form of continuous horizontal sinusoidal motion by a moving platform. Secondly, a multiaccelerometer subsystem was adopted. Twenty healthy volunteers participated in this experiment. A new metric, coordinated largest Lyapunov exponent was proposed, which reflected the relationship of body segments by integrating multidimensional largest Lyapunov exponent values. By using this metric in actual standing performance under sinusoidal stimulus, an obvious relationship between the new metric and the actual balance ability was found in the majority of the subjects. These results show that the sinusoidal stimulus can make human balance characteristics more obvious, which is beneficial to assess balance, and balance is determined by the ability of coordinating all body segments.

Why Does Rebalancing Class-Unbalanced Data Improve AUC for Linear Discriminant Analysis?

Science.gov (United States)

Xue, Jing-Hao; Hall, Peter

2015-05-01

Many established classifiers fail to identify the minority class when it is much smaller than the majority class. To tackle this problem, researchers often first rebalance the class sizes in the training dataset, through oversampling the minority class or undersampling the majority class, and then use the rebalanced data to train the classifiers. This leads to interesting empirical patterns. In particular, using the rebalanced training data can often improve the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) for the original, unbalanced test data. The AUC is a widely-used quantitative measure of classification performance, but the property that it increases with rebalancing has, as yet, no theoretical explanation. In this note, using Gaussian-based linear discriminant analysis (LDA) as the classifier, we demonstrate that, at least for LDA, there is an intrinsic, positive relationship between the rebalancing of class sizes and the improvement of AUC. We show that the largest improvement of AUC is achieved, asymptotically, when the two classes are fully rebalanced to be of equal sizes.

Visible Pedagogic Work: Parenting, Private Tutoring and Educational Advantage in Australia

Science.gov (United States)

Sriprakash, Arathi; Proctor, Helen; Hu, Betty

2016-01-01

This article explores parents' use of private tutoring services for their primary school children in Sydney, Australia's largest city. Using Bernstein's theories of invisible and visible pedagogies, we look, through the eyes of a small group of middle-class Chinese-background interviewees, at the tensions between certain pedagogic forms associated…

The effect of science-technology-society issue instruction on the attitudes of female middle school students toward science

Science.gov (United States)

Mullinnix, Debra Lynn

An assessment of the science education programs of the last thirty years reveals traditional science courses are producing student who have negative attitudes toward science, do not compete successfully in international science and mathematics competitions, are not scientifically literate, and are not interested in pursuing higher-level science courses. When the number of intellectually-capable females that fall into this group is considered, the picture is very disturbing. Berryman (1983) and Kahle (1985) have suggested the importance of attitude both, in terms of achievement in science and intention to pursue high-level science courses. Studies of attitudes toward science reveal that the decline in attitudes during grades four through eight was much more dramatic for females than for males. There exists a need, therefore, to explore alternative methods of teaching science, particularly in the middle school, that would increase scientific literacy, improve attitudes toward science, and encourage participation in higher-level science courses of female students. Yager (1996) has suggested that science-technology-society (STS) issue instruction does make significant changes in students' attitudes toward science, stimulates growth in science process skills, and increases concept mastery. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect STS issue instruction had on the attitudes of female middle school students toward science in comparison to female middle school students who experience traditional science instruction. Another purpose was to examine the effect science-technology-society issue instruction had on the attitudes of female middle school students in comparison to male middle school students. The pretests and the posttests were analyzed to examine differences in ten domains: enjoyment of science class; usefulness of information learned in science class; usefulness of science skills; feelings about science class in general; attitudes about what took place

Social class, social mobility and mortality in the Netherlands, 1850-2004

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Schenk, N.; van Poppel, F.W.A.

2011-01-01

This study uses data from a random sample of births in the Netherlands during the period 1850–1922 to examine the relationships between social class, social mobility and mortality at middle and old age. Population registers and personal cards covering the period from 1850 to 2004 for all Dutch

Culture versus the law in the decision not to vaccinate children: meanings assigned by middle-class couples in São Paulo, Brazil.

Science.gov (United States)

Barbieri, Carolina Luisa Alves; Couto, Márcia Thereza; Aith, Fernando Mussa Abujamra

2017-03-09

This study aimed to learn how middle-class parents in the city of São Paulo, Brazil, interpreted the country's prevailing vaccination requirements, based on their experiences with vaccinating, selectively vaccinating, or not vaccinating their children. A qualitative approach was used with in-depth interviews. The analytical process was guided by content analysis and the theoretical framework of the anthropology of the law and morality. For parents that vaccinated, Brazil's culture of immunization outweighed the feeling of compliance with the law; for selective parents, selection of vaccines was not perceived as deviating from the law. In both, the act of vaccinating their children was a matter of moral status. Meanwhile, the non-vaccinators, counter to the legal perspective, attributed their choice to care for the child on grounds that mandatory vaccination was contrary to their way of life; they experienced a feeling of social coercion and fear of legal impositions. Vaccination is an important practice in public health, but it can reveal tensions and conflicts from normative systems, whether moral, cultural, or legal.

The Impact Of Middle Class Consumption On Democratization In Northeast Asia

Science.gov (United States)

2016-03-01

ways in which countries democratized during this time period. He first noted, “Oil price hikes in some countries and Marxist-Leninist constraints in...Class Without Democracy, 50. 57 Ibid., 51. 58 Ibid., 52. 17 lucrative form of state-employment.59 The benefit -laden “iron rice bowl” positions...achieve rapid economic growth. Akin to Japan and Taiwan during the Cold War, South Korea’s economy benefited enormously from the geopolitical stability of

Daily online testing in large classes: boosting college performance while reducing achievement gaps.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

James W Pennebaker

Full Text Available An in-class computer-based system, that included daily online testing, was introduced to two large university classes. We examined subsequent improvements in academic performance and reductions in the achievement gaps between lower- and upper-middle class students in academic performance. Students (N = 901 brought laptop computers to classes and took daily quizzes that provided immediate and personalized feedback. Student performance was compared with the same data for traditional classes taught previously by the same instructors (N = 935. Exam performance was approximately half a letter grade above previous semesters, based on comparisons of identical questions asked from earlier years. Students in the experimental classes performed better in other classes, both in the semester they took the course and in subsequent semester classes. The new system resulted in a 50% reduction in the achievement gap as measured by grades among students of different social classes. These findings suggest that frequent consequential quizzing should be used routinely in large lecture courses to improve performance in class and in other concurrent and subsequent courses.

An Improved Botanical Search Application for Middle-and High-School Students

Science.gov (United States)

Kajiyama, Tomoko

2016-01-01

A previously reported botanical data retrieval application has been improved to make it better suited for use in middle-and high-school science classes. This search interface is ring-structured and treats multi-faceted metadata intuitively, enabling students not only to search for plant names but also to learn about the morphological features and…

The Middle East. Domestic sufficiency of fossil fuel resources

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Swegle, John A. [Savannah River Site (SRS), Aiken, SC (United States). Savannah River National Lab. (SRNL); Kessinger, Samuel E. [Savannah River Site (SRS), Aiken, SC (United States). Savannah River National Lab. (SRNL)

2016-08-01

In this paper, we’ve compared energy production and consumption across the broader Middle East, paying special attention to three different countries; Saudi Arabia, one of the world’s largest oil producers (second in the CIA World Factbook ranking of crude oil producing countries), with a growing population in the mid-range (47th in the world, according to the CIA World Factbook, and fifth among the nations in this region), a large GDP and GDP per capita (15th in the world, second in this region in GDP, and 21st in GDP per capita in the world, just behind the US at 19th); Qatar, the world’s fourth largest producer of natural gas, with a small native population (and a relatively large foreign labor contingent) that is very wealthy (with the world’s highest GDP per capita, more than twice that of the US); and Egypt, the most populous nation in the region (with the world’s 16th largest population), but relatively poor (with a GDP per capita of about a fifth that of the US and a twelfth that of Qatar); Egypt is a significant energy producer – 29th in the world in crude oil production and 17th in natural gas production – but production has stalled or declined in recent years, and domestic consumption has overtaken production.

Interpreting the relationships between single gender science classes and girls' academic motivation and interest

Science.gov (United States)

Johnson, Sonya L.

The purpose of this study was to determine how and to what extent single gender science classes affect motivation to learn scientific concepts, interest in science, and college major intent among high school and middle school girls. This study was designed to determine whether students' motivation to learn science changes when they are placed in a single gender science class. The study also measured whether the students' level of interest in science and desire to major in science changes based on their enrollment in a single gender class. Finally, the study investigated the career and college major intentions of the sample population used in the study. Girls in single gender groupings engage in more academic risk taking and participate more than girls in coeducational classes. This benefit alone responds to reform efforts and supports the abolition of gender-based obstacles. Single gender grouping could help encourage more girls to take interest in majoring in science, a field that is considered to be masculine. By increasing students' interest in science while enrolled in single gender classes, students may become more motivated to learn science. This study was conducted using seven, eighth, ninth and tenth grade girls from single sex and coeducational science classes. The students participated in 2 surveys, the Science Motivational Survey and the Test of Science Related Attitudes, at the beginning of the semester and at the end of the semester. In respect to girls in high school single gender science classes, results were contrary to recent studies that state that girls who received science education in a single gender setting have an increase in motivation and attitude towards science. The results did show that middle school girls in single gender science classes did show an increase in motivation.

Talking about Birth Control in 1877: Gender, Class, and Ideology in the Knowlton Trial

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Janssen Flore

2017-11-01

Full Text Available This article explores the debate around widening access to birth control information in the late nineteenth century through a case study of Annie Besant’s participation in the 1877 Knowlton Trial. Examining Besant’s rhetoric at the trial and in related publications, it highlights the public and performative nature of her campaign to facilitate access to birth control information for working-class married couples. With reference to the representation of issues of gender and social class and the shifting focus from the private to the public in Besant’s rhetoric, the article argues that the late nineteenth-century debate around birth control access was a middle-class debate about working-class life and experience.

Impact of the gap between socioeconomic stratum and subjective social class on depressive symptoms: unique insights from a longitudinal analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Jae-Hyun; Lee, Sang Gyu; Shin, Jaeyong; Park, Eun-Cheol

2014-11-01

Our objective was to investigate whether gaps between socioeconomic stratum and subjective social class affect the prevalence of depressive symptoms. We collected data from the Korean Health Panel Survey, years 2009 and 2011, and performed a longitudinal analysis of 12,357 individuals at baseline (2009), estimating the prevalence of depressive symptoms among individuals with disparate socioeconomic stratum (High, Middle, or Low household income and education level, respectively) and subjective social class (High, Middle, or Low). The odds ratio for depressive symptoms among individuals with High household income and High social class, or Low household income and Low social class, was 0.537 and 1.877, respectively (psocioeconomic stratum and subjective social class on depressive symptoms deteriorated, as a whole, across the socioeconomic spectrum. The gap between socioeconomic stratum and perceived position in the social hierarchy explains a substantial part of inequalities in the prevalence of depressive symptoms. It is important to consider the impact of discrepancies between different measures of socioeconomic well-being on depressive symptoms rather than looking at the subjective social class alone. Copyright © 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Type Iax Supernovae: A New Class of Stellar Explosion

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Foley, Ryan J.; Challis, P. J.; Chornock, R.

2013-01-01

We describe observed properties of the Type Iax class of supernovae (SNe Iax), consisting of SNe observationally similar to its prototypical member, SN 2002cx. The class currently has 25 members, and we present optical photometry and/or optical spectroscopy for most of them. SNe Iax...... are spectroscopically similar to SNe Ia, but have lower maximum-light velocities (2000 lower peak magnitudes (-14.2 > M_V,peak > -18.9 mag), and most have hot photospheres. Relative to SNe Ia, SNe Iax have low luminosities for their light-curve shape. There is a correlation between......^+17_-13 SNe Iax for every 100 SNe Ia, and for every 1 M_sun of iron generated by SNe Ia at z = 0, SNe Iax generate 0.052^+0.017_-0.014 M_sun. Being the largest class of peculiar SNe, thousands of SNe Iax will be discovered by LSST. Future detailed observations of SNe Iax should further our understanding...

Classes of Trajectory in Mobile Phone Dependency and the Effects of Negative Parenting on Them during Early Adolescence

Science.gov (United States)

Seo, Mijung; Choi, Eunsil

2018-01-01

The aim of this study was to identify the classes of trajectory in mobile phone dependency using growth mixture modeling among Korean early adolescents from elementary school to the middle school transition. The effects of negative parenting on determining the classes were also examined. The participants were 2,378 early adolescents in the Korean…

Eight Voices of Empowerment: Student Perspectives in a Restructured Urban Middle School

Science.gov (United States)

Horn, Brian R.

2017-01-01

This article explores student empowerment in a restructured urban Title I middle school. The study includes data from eight participants in an action research project that involved a critical inquiry unit in an eighth-grade language arts class that asked students, "How are you empowered and disempowered by school?" Findings reveal that…

broken magnet highlights largest collider's engineering challenges

CERN Multimedia

Inman, Mason

2007-01-01

"Even at the world's soon-to-be largest particle accelerator - a device that promises to push the boundaries of physics - scientists need to be mindful of one of the most fundamental laws in the universe: Murphy's Law. (2 pages)

Communication Between Middle SES Black Women and Healthcare Providers About HIV Testing.

Science.gov (United States)

Fray, Niasha A; Caldwell, Kia Lilly

2017-01-01

This article explores the impact of patient and healthcare provider communication (PPC) on the HIV testing behaviors of middle socioeconomic status (SES) Black women in North Carolina. We explore how PPC about STIs and HIV (or the lack thereof) affects the provision of STI/HIV testing by either confirming the need for middle SES Black women to test routinely or potentially deterring women from feeling they need to be tested. After conducting 15 qualitative interviews with middle SES Black women between 25 and 45 years of age, we uncovered the role of patient self-advocacy in promoting HIV testing among middle SES Black women when they communicate with their healthcare providers. We discuss the importance of healthcare providers engaging their middle SES Black female patients in routine discussions about sexual health and sexual risk reduction, regardless of providers' perceptions of their potential STI/HIV risk. We recommend including SES as a variable in data collection and research in order to better understand how social class, race, and gender affect sexual health behavior and the provision of STI and HIV/AIDS prevention to diverse populations. Copyright © 2016 National Medical Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The Impact of a Geospatial Technology-Supported Energy Curriculum on Middle School Students' Science Achievement

Science.gov (United States)

Kulo, Violet; Bodzin, Alec

2013-02-01

Geospatial technologies are increasingly being integrated in science classrooms to foster learning. This study examined whether a Web-enhanced science inquiry curriculum supported by geospatial technologies promoted urban middle school students' understanding of energy concepts. The participants included one science teacher and 108 eighth-grade students classified in three ability level tracks. Data were gathered through pre/posttest content knowledge assessments, daily classroom observations, and daily reflective meetings with the teacher. Findings indicated a significant increase in the energy content knowledge for all the students. Effect sizes were large for all three ability level tracks, with the middle and low track classes having larger effect sizes than the upper track class. Learners in all three tracks were highly engaged with the curriculum. Curriculum effectiveness and practical issues involved with using geospatial technologies to support science learning are discussed.

Class advantages and disadvantages are not so Black and White: intersectionality impacts rank and selves.

Science.gov (United States)

Brannon, Tiffany N; Higginbotham, Gerald D; Henderson, Kyshia

2017-12-01

At the intersection of race and class the consequences of being working-class or middle-class are not so Black and White. Rather, established and emerging research suggests that race/ethnicity and social class intersect to differentially afford benefits and burdens. For instance, racial/ethnic minorities often do not reap the social, psychological or economic benefits of higher social class; yet, in some key life domains (e.g. health and mortality) racial/ethnic minorities in the U.S. seem to be buffered from some burdens of lower social class. We integrate empirical evidence to suggest that such differential advantages and disadvantages along racial lines reflect that social class exists alongside, rather than separate from, race/ethnicity as two distinct yet intersecting sources of rank and in turn selves. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Relationship between crown-root angulation (collum angle) of maxillary central incisors in Class II, division 2 malocclusion and lower lip line.

Science.gov (United States)

Srinivasan, Bhadrinath; Kailasam, Vignesh; Chitharanjan, Arun; Ramalingam, Arthi

2013-01-01

The present study aimed to measure the magnitude of the collum angle (crown-root angulation) of maxillary central incisors present in Class II, division 2 malocclusion and to relate the changes in its magnitude with variations in the lower lip line. A set of 120 conventional lateral cephalograms were selected and divided into three groups of 40 each based on the type of malocclusion presented: Class II, division 2 (group 1); Class II, division 1 (group 2); and Class I (group 3). The collum angle of the maxillary central incisor was measured, and the lower lip line was recorded. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) revealed that the mean collum angle was statistically significantly different in the three groups. The mean collum angle was greatest in Class II, division 2 malocclusion (group 1). The mean collum angles were 3.24 ± 4.69 degrees, 0.95 ± 1.06 degrees, and 1.05 ± 1.50 degrees in groups 1, 2, and 3 respectively. In χ ² test comparison of the location of the lower lip line (incisal, middle, or apical third of the central incisor) among the three groups, the lower lip line was found to contact the middle third of the central incisor most frequently in Class II, division 2 malocclusion. ANOVA followed by Tukey honestly significant difference (HSD) test showed that the mean collum angle is significantly increased when the lower lip is in the middle third (P lower lip line suggest a probable etiologic role of the lower lip line in the development of the collum angle.

3. Germain Gros.pmd

African Journals Online (AJOL)

daouda.thiam

2009-12-02

Dec 2, 2009 ... goods for the largest middle class in one country in history and for the .... orously than any other continent with little to show, can learn from .... Corporation n.d.). ..... taining at least nominal state control over land, and creating synergy .... There have been efforts in Africa to integrate agriculture and indus- try.

A large mimotonid from the middle Eocene of China sheds light on the evolution of lagomorphs and their kin.

Science.gov (United States)

Fostowicz-Frelik, Łucja; Li, Chuankui; Mao, Fangyuan; Meng, Jin; Wang, Yuanqing

2015-03-30

Mimotonids share their closest affinity with lagomorphs and were a rare and endemic faunal element of Paleogene mammal assemblages of central Asia. Here we describe a new species, Mimolagus aurorae from the Middle Eocene of Nei Mongol (China). This species belongs to one of the most enigmatic genera of fossil Glires, previously known only from the type and only specimen from the early Oligocene of Gansu (China). Our finding extends the earliest occurrence of the genus by at least 10 million years in the Paleogene of Asia, which closes the gap between Mimolagus and other mimotonids that are known thus far from middle Eocene or older deposits. The new species is one of the largest known pre-Oligocene Glires. As regards duplicidentates, Mimolagus is comparable with the largest Neogene continental leporids, namely hares of the genus Lepus. Our results suggest that ecomorphology of this species was convergent on that of small perissodactyls that dominated faunas of the Mongolian Plateau in the Eocene, and probably a result of competitive pressure from other Glires, including a co-occurring mimotonid, Gomphos.

Metacognitive instruction in middle school science

Science.gov (United States)

Bonney, Dianna

The purpose of this action research project was to determine the extent to which metacognitive instruction affected students' performance in the middle-grade science classroom. Conducted with four seventh grade science classes over a three-month time period, 105 students were engaged in 21 metacognitively enhanced lessons. Both quantitative and qualitative data sources were collected for this study and analyzed according to grounded theory methodology. Quantitative data came from the Jr. Metacognitive Awareness Inventory, administered as a pre-post test. Qualitative teacher-generated data was collected in a metacognitive observation protocol containing observations and reflections while student-generated data was gathered from reflective journal entries, modified rubrics, and checklists. Analysis of the data led to the assertions that metacognitive development occurred over time through systematic and varied implementation of explicit instruction. In addition, students perceived they learned best both when working collaboratively and when making multiple connections with content material. Implications for middle-grade teachers include the need for explicit instruction of metacognitive strategies, providing for instructional variation and student collaboration, and guiding students in making connections to prior learning.

The role of locus of control, self-esteem, parenting style, loneliness, and academic achievement in predicting bullying among middle school students

OpenAIRE

ATİK, Gökhan

2006-01-01

Factors affecting nutrition behavior among middle-class adolescents in urban area of Northern region of Brazil Preferências nutricionais entre adolescentes da classe média de Manaus, AM (Brazil

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Eva I. Doyle

1997-08-01

Full Text Available INTRODUCTION: Brazil has been called a nation in nutrition transitional because of recent increases in the prevalence of obesity and related chronic diseases. With overweight conditions already prevalent among middle-income populations, there exists a need to identify factors that influence nutrition behavior within this group. OBJECTIVE: To address this subject, a research study was implemented among middle-class adolescents attending a large private secondary school in Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil. The study determined the availability and accessibility of snack foods as well as subjects’ attitudes and preferences towards, and the influence of family and friends on healthy (high-nutrient density snack choices. METHODS: The 4-stage process included: (a a nutrition expert focus group discussion that reported local nutrition problems in general and factors related to adolescent nutrition, (b an adolescent pilot survey (n=63 that solicited information about snacking preferences and habits as well as resources for nutrition information and snack money; (c a survey of various area food market sources to determine the availability and accessibility of high nutrient density snacks; and (d a follow-up adolescent survey (n=55 that measured snack food preferences and perceptions about their cost and availability. RESULTS: Results included the finding that, although affordable high nutrient density snacks were available, preferences for low nutrient density snacks prevailed. The adolescents were reportedly more likely to be influenced by and obtain nutrition information from family members than friends. CONCLUSION: From study results it is apparent that a focus on food availability will not automatically result in proper nutritional practices among adolescents. This fact and the parental influence detected are evidence of a need to involve adolescents and their parents in nutrition education campaigns to improve adolescent snack food choices.INTRODUÇÃO: O

Innovations. Separated by Sex. A Troubled New Jersey Middle School Segregates Girls from Boys.

Science.gov (United States)

Richardson, Joanna

1995-01-01

The principal of one urban New Jersey middle school chose to deal with a long history of student behavior and discipline problems by making every class single sex. The change helped curb classroom distractions, reduced discipline problems, and restored a sense of order. (SM)

Innovations in Teaching Race and Class Inequality: "Bittersweet Candy" and "The Vanishing Dollar"

Science.gov (United States)

Harlow, Roxanna

2009-01-01

Instructors teaching students about social inequality, especially sexism and racism, often face some degree of student resistance. Opposition is particularly strong when students are from a white, middle to upper class background. As Haddad and Lieberman (2002) remark, "Students from privileged backgrounds lack personal experience with structures…

The Implementation of a Geospatial Information Technology (GIT)-Supported Land Use Change Curriculum with Urban Middle School Learners to Promote Spatial Thinking

Science.gov (United States)

Bodzin, Alec M.

2011-01-01

This study investigated whether a geospatial information technology (GIT)-supported science curriculum helped students in an urban middle school understand land use change (LUC) concepts and enhanced their spatial thinking. Five 8th grade earth and space science classes in an urban middle school consisting of three different ability level tracks…

A Case Study of Single-Sex Middle School Mathematics Classes in a Mixed-Sex Public School

Science.gov (United States)

Kawasha, Fridah Singongi Silishebo

2010-01-01

The purpose of this case study was to (a) examine the main and interaction effects of gender, race and class-type on mathematics achievement, mathematics attitudes and sources of mathematics self-efficacy, (b) investigate teacher-student interactions in the single-sex mathematics classes and (c) investigate perspectives about single-sex…

Joint Asymptotic Distributions of Smallest and Largest Insurance Claims

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hansjörg Albrecher

2014-07-01

Full Text Available Assume that claims in a portfolio of insurance contracts are described by independent and identically distributed random variables with regularly varying tails and occur according to a near mixed Poisson process. We provide a collection of results pertaining to the joint asymptotic Laplace transforms of the normalised sums of the smallest and largest claims, when the length of the considered time interval tends to infinity. The results crucially depend on the value of the tail index of the claim distribution, as well as on the number of largest claims under consideration.

Position statement: start middle and high schools at 8:30 am or later to promote student health and learning.

Science.gov (United States)

Trevorrow, Tracy; Zhou, Eric S; Dietch, Jessica R; Gonzalez, Brian D

2018-03-13

The Society of Behavioral Medicine recommends school officials start middle and high school classes at 8:30 am or later. Such a schedule promotes students' sleep health, resulting in improvements in physical health, psychological well-being, attention and concentration, academic performance, and driving safety. In this position statement, we propose a four-tiered approach to promote later school start times for middle and high schools.

Responding to Bullying: Language Socialization and Religious Identification in Classes for Sikh Youth

Science.gov (United States)

Klein, Wendy

2015-01-01

Drawing from ethnography of communication and language socialization approaches, this paper examines classes on bullying held for Sikh middle school students at a Sikh religious institution in California. Sikh educational programs play an important role in socializing youth into Sikh teachings, practices, and community perspectives. Due to one…

Dyadic Instruction for Middle School Students: Liking Promotes Learning

OpenAIRE

Hartl, Amy C.; DeLay, Dawn; Laursen, Brett; Denner, Jill; Werner, Linda; Campe, Shannon; Ortiz, Eloy

2015-01-01

This study examines whether friendship facilitates or hinders learning in a dyadic instructional setting. Working in 80 same-sex pairs, 160 (60 girls, 100 boys) middle school students (M = 12.13 years old) were taught a new computer programming language and programmed a game. Students spent 14 to 30 (M = 22.7) hours in a programming class. At the beginning and the end of the project, each participant separately completed (a) computer programming knowledge assessments and (b) questionnaires ra...

A desigualdade invisível: o papel da classe social na criação dos filhos em famílias negras e brancas Invisible inequality: the role of social class in raising children from black and white families

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Annette Lareau

2007-12-01

Full Text Available Apesar de a vida familiar ter um impacto importante nas oportunidades de vida dos filhos, os mecanismos pelos quais os pais transmitem essas vantagens ainda não são totalmente compreendidos. Uma coleta de dados, realizada por meio de ferramentas etnográficas, com crianças brancas e negras de, aproximadamente, 10 anos de idade mostra os efeitos da classe social nas interações dentro de casa. Pais de classe média participam de um cultivo orquestrado (concerted cultivation, ao tentar cultivar os talentos dos filhos através de atividades de lazer organizadas e intensa racionalização. A classe trabalhadora e os pais pobres promovem um crescimento natural (natural growth, oferecendo condições para que os filhos possam crescer, mas deixando as atividades de lazer para as próprias crianças. Estes pais também usam diretivas em vez de racionalização. Os filhos da classe média, tanto brancos como negros, recebem um sentimento emergente de direito através de sua vida familiar. A raça teve muito menos impacto do que a classe econômica. Além disso, as diferenças na lógica cultural de criação ofereceram aos pais e aos filhos recursos distintos no momento de interação com profissionais de instituições dominantes e com outros adultos fora do ambiente familiar. Os filhos da classe média ganharam individualmente vantagens insignificantes, mas cumulativamente importantes. As classes trabalhadoras e pobres não apresentaram o mesmo sentimento de direito ou suas vantagens. No entanto, algumas áreas da vida familiar pareceram ser livres dos efeitos de classe social.Although family life has an important impact on children's chances in life, the mechanisms through which parents transmit advantages are imperfectly understood. An ethnographic data set of white and black children around 10 years old shows the effects of social class on interactions at home. Middle-class parents engage in concerted cultivation by attempting to foster children

[Trematodes (Trematoda) of bats (Chiroptera) from the Middle Volga Region].

Science.gov (United States)

Kirillov, A A; Kirillova, N Iu; Vekhnik, V P

2012-01-01

The data on species diversity of trematodes from bats collected in the Middle Volga Region are summarized. According to original and literary data, 20 trematode species were recorded in bats of the region examined. Plagiorchis elegans, Lecithodendrium skrjabini, L. rysavyi, Prosthodendrium hurkovaae, and Pycnoporus megacotyle are specified for the bat fauna of Russia for the first time. For 11 species of parasites, new hosts are recorded. The analysis of bat helminthes demonstrated that the fauna of trematodes of the northern bat (12 species of trematodes), of the pond, and of the Brandt's bats is the most diverse, constituting more than 10 parasite species per bat species. The largest number of final hosts in the Middle Volga Region is characteristic of Plagiorchis koreanus and Prosthodendrium chilostomum; the latter species were revealed in 8 and 7 bat species, respectively. Trematodes of bats possess a high degree of host specificity. 17 species parasitize exclusively in bats out of 20 parasite species registered for the order Chiroptera. Only 3 species (Plagiorchis elegans, P. vespertilionis, and Prosthodendrium chilostomum) show wide degree of specificity, being found in other animals. Taxonomic position, the circle of hosts, collecting sites, and brief data in biology and geographical distribution for each helminth species are specified. Morphological descriptions and original figures for all the trematode species revealed in bats of the Middle Volga Region are given.

76 FR 27305 - Proposed Information Collection; Comment Request; the NIST Summer Institute for Middle School...

Science.gov (United States)

2011-05-11

...) programs designed to support middle school science teachers to participate in hands-on workshops, lectures... Gaithersburg, Maryland. The workshops provide teachers with instructional information and ideas to use in their teaching, and emphasize the measurement science done at NIST. The Program provides a world-class...

The value of blood oxygenation level-dependent (BOLD MR imaging in differentiation of renal solid mass and grading of renal cell carcinoma (RCC: analysis based on the largest cross-sectional area versus the entire whole tumour.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Guang-Yu Wu

Full Text Available To study the value of assessing renal masses using different methods in parameter approaches and to determine whether BOLD MRI is helpful in differentiating RCC from benign renal masses, differentiating clear-cell RCC from renal masses other than clear-cell RCC and determining the tumour grade.Ninety-five patients with 139 renal masses (93 malignant and 46 benign who underwent abdominal BOLD MRI were enrolled. R2* values were derived from the largest cross-section (R2*largest and from the whole tumour (R2*whole. Intra-observer and inter-observer agreements were analysed based on two measurements by the same observer and the first measurement from each observer, respectively, and these agreements are reported with intra-class correlation coefficients and 95% confidence intervals. The diagnostic value of the R2* value in the evaluation was assessed with receiver-operating characteristic analysis.The intra-observer agreement was very good for R2*largest and R2*whole (all > 0.8. The inter-observer agreement of R2*whole (0.75, 95% confidence interval: 0.69~0.79 was good and was significantly improved compared with the R2*largest (0.61, 95% confidence interval: 0.52~0.68, as there was no overlap in the 95% confidence interval of the intra-class correlation coefficients. The diagnostic value in differentiating renal cell carcinoma from benign lesions with R2*whole (AUC=0.79/0.78[observer1/observer2] and R2*largest (AUC=0.75[observer1] was good and significantly higher (p=0.01 for R2*largest[observer2] vs R2*whole[observer2], p 0.7 and were not significantly different (p=0.89/0.93 for R2*largest vs R2*whole[observer1/observer2], 0.96 for R2*whole[observer1] vs R2*largest[observer2] and 0.96 for R2*whole [observer2] vs R2*largest[observer1].BOLD MRI could provide a feasible parameter for differentiating renal cell carcinoma from benign renal masses and for predicting clear-cell renal cell carcinoma grading. Compared with the largest cross

Race, Class, and Emerging Sexuality: Teacher Perceptions and Sexual Harassment in Schools

Science.gov (United States)

Rahimi, Regina; Liston, Delores

2011-01-01

Sexual harassment is a highly troubling gendered phenomenon that plagues young women on a daily basis. The way in which sexual harassment is perceived and treated is varied and is largely based on racial and class stereotypes. This paper highlights the findings from a study in which a group of middle and high school teachers were interviewed and…

Guaranteeing uptime at worl's largest particle physics lab

CERN Multimedia

Brodkin, Jon

2007-01-01

"As the European agency CERN was gearing up to build the world's largest particle accelerator, officials there knew they could not afford to have problems in their technical infrastructure cause any downtime." (1 page)

Cultural models of self and social class disparities at organizational gateways and pathways.

Science.gov (United States)

Townsend, Sarah Sm; Truong, Mindy

2017-12-01

Attaining a college degree has traditionally been assumed to be key to upward social and professional mobility. However, college graduates from working-class backgrounds achieve less career success in professional, white-collar workplaces compared to those from middle-class backgrounds. Using a cultural models approach, we examine how the independent cultural beliefs and practices promoted by professional organizations disadvantage people from working-class backgrounds, who espouse interdependent beliefs and practices. Our review illustrates how this disadvantage can manifest in two ways. First, despite relative equality in objective qualifications, it can occur at organizational gateways (e.g., interview and hiring decisions). Second, even after people from working-class backgrounds gain access to an organization, it can occur along organizational pathways (e.g., performance evaluations and assignment to high-profile tasks). Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Increasing rate of middle ear ventilation tube insertion in children in denmark

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Djurhuus, Bjarki Ditlev; Skytthe, Axel; Christensen, Kaare

2014-01-01

ventilation tube insertions distributed among 269,459 different children were identified. From 1997 to 2010 the age standardized incidence rate in 0-15-year-olds increased from 26 to 40 per 1000 person years with an estimated annual increase of 2.0% (95% confidence interval 1.9-2.1%). The largest increase...... in incidence rate was found in 1-year-olds with an annual increase of 4.5% (95% confidence interval 4.4-4.6%). Age-specific incidence rates remained at maximum around the age of 14 months throughout the period. The cumulative incidence proportion for the 2010 birth cohort by the time they reach the age of 5......OBJECTIVE: To study the incidence rates of middle ear ventilation tube insertion in children aged 0 to 15 years in Denmark from 1997 to 2010. METHODS: Using two national registers, the Danish National Health Service Register and the Danish National Patient Register, practically all cases of middle...

The world's largest LNG producer's next market

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fuller, R.; Isworo Suharno; Simandjuntak, W.M.P.

1996-01-01

The development of the domestic gas market in Indonesia, the world's largest liquefied natural gas producing country, is described as part of the overall impact of the country's oil and gas production. The first large scale use of natural gas in Indonesia was established in 1968 when a fertiliser plant using gas as the feedstock was built. Ultimately, through increased yields, this has enabled Indonesia to be self-sufficient in rice and an exporter of fertiliser. Problems which stand in the way of further developments include: capital, though Pertamina and PGN are perceived as attractive for foreign investment; the lack of a regulatory framework for gas; geographical constraints, among them the fact that the gas deposits are remote from the largest population concentrations; lack of infrastructure. There are nevertheless plans for expansion and the provision of an integrated gas pipeline system. Pertamina, which has responsibility for all oil and gas developments, and PGN, whose primary role has been as a manufacturer and distributor of gas, are now working together in the coordination of all gas activities. (10 figures). (UK)

Social class and wise reasoning about interpersonal conflicts across regions, persons and situations.

Science.gov (United States)

Brienza, Justin P; Grossmann, Igor

2017-12-20

We propose that class is inversely related to a propensity for using wise reasoning (recognizing limits of their knowledge, consider world in flux and change, acknowledges and integrate different perspectives) in interpersonal situations, contrary to established class advantage in abstract cognition. Two studies-an online survey from regions differing in economic affluence ( n = 2 145) and a representative in-lab study with stratified sampling of adults from working and middle-class backgrounds ( n = 299)-tested this proposition, indicating that higher social class consistently related to lower levels of wise reasoning across different levels of analysis, including regional and individual differences, and subjective construal of specific situations. The results held across personal and standardized hypothetical situations, across self-reported and observed wise reasoning, and when controlling for fluid and crystallized cognitive abilities. Consistent with an ecological framework, class differences in wise reasoning were specific to interpersonal (versus societal) conflicts. These findings suggest that higher social class weighs individuals down by providing the ecological constraints that undermine wise reasoning about interpersonal affairs. © 2017 The Authors.

La révolution mondiale de la consommation alimentaire : l’émergence d’une nouvelle classe moyenne chinoise

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Desjeux Dominique

2012-09-01

Full Text Available Re-analysing the 1945-1975 period, these three post-war decades of massive economic and strong demographic growths, is a way to understand a large part of the actual evolution encountered in China. Just as Europe did more than a century ago, China woke up and is about to regain the place in the economy it used to occupy at the beginning of the 19th century. In 2009, China was one of the fourth biggest buyers of agricultural lands in the world with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and South Korea. Just as Europe did in 1945, over the last three decades China has built coastal infrastructures such as harbours, highways, airports, encouraging the mobility of people, goods and information. Cities and buildings have developed; there has been industrialization, supply of goods and services to consumers... and finally development of a middle class, especially on the East coast. Or more precisely two middle classes – an upper middle class (105 millions of consumers, with an income of 4 800$ to 12 500$/year and a lower middle class (190 millions of consumers, with an income of 3 000$ to 4 800$/year –, both responsible for the actual evolution of food consumption in China. Traditional consumption of rice is decreasing, just as potatoes did after the 60’s in France; meat and milk consumption (pork, chicken are soaring. Consequently, the explosion of demand and changes in diets are increasing the strains on world agricultural commodity markets. Nobody knows if China is living the last days of these Golden Years (its gross domestic product (GDP drop from 14 % to 8 % between 2007 and 2012 or if it is just a step before a new take-off based this time on Central China, after the one based on the East coast. And what about the consequences of the ageing of the Chinese population and of the ‘‘one child’’ policy on future changing lifestyles?

Middle-school students of United Arab Emirates: effects of heterogeneous small group work on attitudes toward mathematics.

Science.gov (United States)

Alkhateeb, H M; Jumaa, M

2000-10-01

This study compared the effects of two instructional strategies, small heterogeneous cooperative learning experience versus lecture and discussion, on students' attitudes toward mathematics. 54 boys and 57 girls in Grade 8 of four middle-school mathematics classes participated. Two classes (57 students) were taught using a cooperative learning method and the other two classes (54 students) were taught using traditional lecture and discussion. Differences between attitudes of boys and girls were also investigated and discussed in the light of Arabic culture. The results suggested that cooperative learning might be a valuable method with which to teach mathematics concepts to boys.

New functions and signaling mechanisms for the class of adhesion G protein-coupled receptors

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Liebscher, Ines; Ackley, Brian; Araç, Demet

2014-01-01

The class of adhesion G protein-coupled receptors (aGPCRs), with 33 human homologs, is the second largest family of GPCRs. In addition to a seven-transmembrane α-helix-a structural feature of all GPCRs-the class of aGPCRs is characterized by the presence of a large N-terminal extracellular region....... In addition, all aGPCRs but one (GPR123) contain a GPCR autoproteolysis-inducing (GAIN) domain that mediates autoproteolytic cleavage at the GPCR autoproteolysis site motif to generate N- and a C-terminal fragments (NTF and CTF, respectively) during protein maturation. Subsequently, the NTF and CTF...

An Exploratory Study of a Robotics Educational Platform on STEM Career Interests in Middle School Students

Science.gov (United States)

Hinton, Tracy Barger

With the large expected growth in STEM-related careers in American industries, there are not enough graduates to fill these positions (United States Department of Labor, 2015). Increased efforts are being made to reform STEM education from early childhood to college level studies, mainly through increased efforts to incorporate new technologies and project-based learning activities (Hegedorn & Purnamasari, 2012). At the middle school level, a robotics educational platform can be a worthwhile activity that provides hands-on learning as students learn basic programming and engineering skills (Grubbs, 2013). Based on the popularity of LEGO toys, LEGO Education developed an engaging and effective way to learn about computer programming and basic engineering concepts (Welch & Huffman, 2011). LEGO MINDSTORMS offers a project-based learning environment that engages students in real-life, problem-solving challenges. The purpose of this qualitative study was to investigate the instructional use of a robotics educational curriculum on middle school students' attitudes toward and interests in STEM and their experiences with LEGO Robotics activities. Participants included 23 seventh grade students who were enrolled in a Career Cluster Technologies I class in a suburban middle school. Data for the study were collected from three focus group interviews, open-ended surveys, classroom observations, and the Career Cruising program. Findings revealed that the robotics activities led to an increased interest and higher self-efficacy in STEM tasks. If students continue to nurture and develop their STEM interests, it is possible that many of them may develop higher confidence and eventually set personal goals related to STEM classes and careers. While other studies have been conducted on similar topics, this qualitative research is unique because it contributed to the gap in research that investigates the impact of an in-class robotics curriculum on middle school students' attitudes

First Experience from the World Largest fully commercial Solar Heating Plant

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Heller, Alfred; Furbo, Simon

1997-01-01

The first experience from the largest solar heating plant in the world is given. The plant is situated in Marstal and is has a total area of 8000 square m.......The first experience from the largest solar heating plant in the world is given. The plant is situated in Marstal and is has a total area of 8000 square m....

Competencies, Roles and Effective Academic Leadership in World Class University

OpenAIRE

Elham Shahmandi; Abu Daud Silong; Ismi Arif Ismail; Bahaman Bin Abu Samah; Jamilah Othman

2011-01-01

How an academic leader can become more effective? This research question is examined in the context of middle level leadership in research universities that includes the Deans and Head of Departments. It is based on a review of literature that focuses on the investigation of effective academic leadership. In the present situation of globalization, academic excellence is often related to being World Class University. Leadership effectiveness is more related to situational leadership style in r...

Making a Good Victoria Sponge Cake: Schooling Empire, Class, Gender and Sexuality

Science.gov (United States)

Chapman, Valerie-Lee

2005-01-01

How do we communicate our work to our students and our friends who don't speak in the same academic tongues as we do? Using critical personal narrative, and a nice homely metaphor, rather than poststructuralese, I explain what happens to a body in education, and how power works to produce it, say, as white, imperial, middle class and heterosexual.…

The temporal bones from Sima de los Huesos Middle Pleistocene site (Sierra de Atapuerca, Spain). A phylogenetic approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Martínez, I; Arsuaga, J L

1997-01-01

Three well-preserved crania and 22 temporal bones were recovered from the Sima de los Huesos Middle Pleistocene site up to and including the 1994 field season. This is the largest sample of hominid temporal bones known from a single Middle Pleistocene site and it offers the chance to characterize the temporal bone morphology of an European Middle Pleistocene population and to study the phylogenetic relationships of the SH sample with other Upper and Middle Pleistocene hominids. We have carried out a cladistic analysis based on nine traits commonly used in phylogenetic analysis of Middle and Late Pleistocene hominids: shape of the temporal squama superior border, articular eminence morphology, contribution of the sphenoid bone to the median glenoid wall, postglenoid process projection, tympanic plate orientation, presence of the styloid process, mastoid process projection, digastric groove morphology and anterior mastoid tubercle. We have found two autapomorphies on the Home erectus temporal bone: strong reduction of the postglenoid process and absence of the styloid process. Modern humans, Neandertals and the Middle Pleistocene fossils from Europe and Africa constitute a clade characterized by a convex superior border of the temporal squama. The European Middle Pleistocene fossils from Sima de los Huesos, Petralona, Steinheim, Bilzingsleben and Castel di Guido share a Neandertal apomorphy: a relatively flat articular eminence. The fossils from Ehringsdorf, La Chaise Suardi and Biache-Saint-Vaast also display another Neandertal derived trait: an anteriorly obliterated digastric groove. Modern humans and the African Middle Pleistocene fossils share a synapomorphy: a sagittally orientated tympanic plate.

School climate and bullying victimization: a latent class growth model analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Gage, Nicholas A; Prykanowski, Debra A; Larson, Alvin

2014-09-01

Researchers investigating school-level approaches for bullying prevention are beginning to discuss and target school climate as a construct that (a) may predict prevalence and (b) be an avenue for school-wide intervention efforts (i.e., increasing positive school climate). Although promising, research has not fully examined and established the social-ecological link between school climate factors and bullying/peer aggression. To address this gap, we examined the association between school climate factors and bullying victimization for 4,742 students in Grades 3-12 across 3 school years in a large, very diverse urban school district using latent class growth modeling. Across 3 different models (elementary, secondary, and transition to middle school), a 3-class model was identified, which included students at high-risk for bullying victimization. Results indicated that, for all students, respect for diversity and student differences (e.g., racial diversity) predicted within-class decreases in reports of bullying. High-risk elementary students reported that adult support in school was a significant predictor of within-class reduction of bullying, and high-risk secondary students report peer support as a significant predictor of within-class reduction of bullying. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved.

Challenges with the largest commercial hydrogen station in the world

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Charbonneau, Thomas; Gauthier, Pierre [Air Liquide Canada (Canada)

2010-07-01

This abstract's objective is to share with the participants the story of the largest hydrogen fueling station made to this date and to kick-start the story, we will cover the challenges; first the technical ones; the operational ones; the distribution ones and; the financial ones. We will then move on to review the logistic (geographic) issues raised by the project and conclude our presentation by sharing the output values of the largest fueling station built so far in the world. (orig.)

The link between middle school mathematics course placement and achievement.

Science.gov (United States)

Domina, Thurston

2014-01-01

The proportion of eighth graders in United States public schools enrolled in algebra or a more advanced mathematics course doubled between 1990 and 2011. This article uses Early Childhood Longitudinal Study's Kindergarten Cohort data to consider the selection process into advanced middle school mathematics courses and estimate the effects of advanced courses on students' mathematics achievement (n = 6,425; mean age at eighth grade = 13.7). Eighth-grade algebra and geometry course placements are academically selective, but considerable between-school variation exists in students' odds of taking these advanced courses. While analyses indicate that advanced middle school mathematics courses boost student achievement, these effects are most pronounced in content areas closely related to class content and may be contingent on student academic readiness. © 2014 The Author. Child Development © 2014 Society for Research in Child Development, Inc.

Social class culture cycles: how three gateway contexts shape selves and fuel inequality.

Science.gov (United States)

Stephens, Nicole M; Markus, Hazel Rose; Phillips, L Taylor

2014-01-01

America's unprecedented levels of inequality have far-reaching negative consequences for society as a whole. Although differential access to resources contributes to inequality, the current review illuminates how ongoing participation in different social class contexts also gives rise to culture-specific selves and patterns of thinking, feeling, and acting. We integrate a growing body of interdisciplinary research to reveal how social class culture cycles operate over the course of the lifespan and through critical gateway contexts, including homes, schools, and workplaces. We first document how each of these contexts socializes social class cultural differences. Then, we demonstrate how these gateway institutions, which could provide access to upward social mobility, are structured according to middle-class ways of being a self and thus can fuel and perpetuate inequality. We conclude with a discussion of intervention opportunities that can reduce inequality by taking into account the contextual responsiveness of the self.

Increasing Motivation and Engagement in Elementary and Middle School Students through Technology-Supported Learning Environments

Science.gov (United States)

Godzicki, Linda; Godzicki, Nicole; Krofel, Mary; Michaels, Rachel

2013-01-01

This action research project report was conducted in order to increase motivation and engagement in elementary and middle school students through technology-supported learning environments. The study was conducted from August 27, 2012, through December 14, 2012 with 116 participating students in first-, fourth-, fifth- and eighth-grade classes. To…

Pathological and non-pathological variants of restrictive eating behaviors in middle childhood: A latent class analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Schmidt, Ricarda; Vogel, Mandy; Hiemisch, Andreas; Kiess, Wieland; Hilbert, Anja

2018-08-01

Although restrictive eating behaviors are very common during early childhood, their precise nature and clinical correlates remain unclear. Especially, there is little evidence on restrictive eating behaviors in older children and their associations with children's shape concern. The present population-based study sought to delineate subgroups of restrictive eating patterns in N = 799 7-14 year old children. Using Latent Class Analysis, children were classified based on six restrictive eating behaviors (for example, picky eating, food neophobia, and eating-related anxiety) and shape concern, separately in three age groups. For cluster validation, sociodemographic and objective anthropometric data, parental feeding practices, and general and eating disorder psychopathology were used. The results showed a 3-cluster solution across all age groups: an asymptomatic class (Cluster 1), a class with restrictive eating behaviors without shape concern (Cluster 2), and a class showing restrictive eating behaviors with prominent shape concern (Cluster 3). The clusters differed in all variables used for validation. Particularly, the proportion of children with symptoms of avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder was greater in Cluster 2 than Clusters 1 and 3. The study underlined the importance of considering shape concern to distinguish between different phenotypes of children's restrictive eating patterns. Longitudinal data are needed to evaluate the clusters' predictive effects on children's growth and development of clinical eating disorders. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Good Intentions: AN Experiment in Middle School Single-Sex Science and Mathematics Classrooms with High Minority Enrollment

Science.gov (United States)

Baker, Dale

This study examined the effects of single-sex middle school science and mathematics classrooms with high minority enrollment on achievement, affect, peer, and teacher-student interactions. All students earned higher grades in mathematics than in science. Girls earned higher grades than boys. The higher grades of girls were not clearly attributable to the singlesex environment, and aspects of the single-sex environment interfered with boys' achievement. The single-sex environment contributed to girls', but not boys', feelings of empowerment, peer support, and positive self-concept. The curriculum and pedagogy were better suited to girls than to boys, leading to discipline problems and hostile interactions. However, boys were more engaged in technology-based activities than girls. Overall, all-boy classes were less supportive learning environments than all-girl classes. Although the results replicate findings elsewhere, this is the only study to look at minority students in middle school.

Social Consequences of Academic Teaming in Middle School: The Influence of Shared Course-Taking on Peer Victimization

Science.gov (United States)

Echols, Leslie

2014-01-01

This study examined the influence of academic teaming (i.e., sharing academic classes with the same classmates) on the relationship between social preference and peer victimization among 6th grade students in middle school. Approximately 1,000 participants were drawn from 5 middle schools that varied in their practice of academic teaming. A novel methodology for measuring academic teaming at the individual level was employed, in which students received their own teaming score based on the unique set of classmates with whom they shared academic courses in their class schedule. Using both peer- and self-reports of victimization, the results of two path models indicated that students with low social preference in highly teamed classroom environments were more victimized than low preference students who experienced less teaming throughout the school day. This effect was exaggerated in higher performing classrooms. Implications for the practice of academic teaming were discussed. PMID:25937668

Mind the gap: financial London and the regional class pay gap.

Science.gov (United States)

Friedman, Sam; Laurison, Daniel

2017-09-01

The hidden barriers, or 'gender pay gap', preventing women from earning equivalent incomes to men is well documented. Yet recent research has uncovered that, in Britain, there is also a comparable class-origin pay gap in higher professional and managerial occupations. So far this analysis has only been conducted at the national level and it is not known whether there are regional differences within the UK. This paper uses pooled data from the 2014 and 2015 Labour Force Survey (N = 7,534) to stage a more spatially sensitive analysis that examines regional variation in the class pay gap. We find that this 'class ceiling' is not evenly spatially distributed. Instead it is particularly marked in Central London, where those in high-status occupations who are from working-class backgrounds earn, on average, £10,660 less per year than those whose parents were in higher professional and managerial employment. Finally, we inspect the Capital further to reveal that the class pay gap is largest within Central London's banking and finance sector. Challenging policy conceptions of London as the 'engine room' of social mobility, these findings suggest that class disadvantage within high-status occupations is particularly acute in the Capital. The findings also underline the value of investigating regional differences in social mobility, and demonstrate how such analysis can unravel important and previously unrecognized spatial dimensions of class inequality. © London School of Economics and Political Science 2017.

Martial Art Training and Cognitive Performance in Middle-Aged Adults

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Douris Peter

2015-09-01

Full Text Available Cognitive performance includes the processes of attention, memory, processing speed, and executive functioning, which typically declines with aging. Previous research has demonstrated that aerobic and resistance exercise improves cognitive performance immediately following exercise. However, there is limited research examining the effect that a cognitively complex exercise such as martial art training has on these cognitive processes. Our study compared the acute effects of 2 types of martial art training to aerobic exercise on cognitive performance in middle-aged adults. We utilized a repeated measures design with the order of the 3 exercise conditions randomly assigned and counterbalanced. Ten recreational middle-aged martial artists (mean age = 53.5 ± 8.6 years participated in 3 treatment conditions: a typical martial art class, an atypical martial art class, and a one-hour walk at a self-selected speed. Cognitive performance was assessed by the Stroop Color and Word test. While all 3 exercise conditions improved attention and processing speed, only the 2 martial art conditions improved the highest order of cognitive performance, executive function. The effect of the 2 martial art conditions on executive function was not different. The improvement in executive function may be due to the increased cortical demand required by the more complex, coordinated motor tasks of martial art exercise compared to the more repetitive actions of walking.

Martial Art Training and Cognitive Performance in Middle-Aged Adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Douris, Peter; Douris, Christopher; Balder, Nicole; LaCasse, Michael; Rand, Amir; Tarapore, Freya; Zhuchkan, Aleskey; Handrakis, John

2015-09-29

Cognitive performance includes the processes of attention, memory, processing speed, and executive functioning, which typically declines with aging. Previous research has demonstrated that aerobic and resistance exercise improves cognitive performance immediately following exercise. However, there is limited research examining the effect that a cognitively complex exercise such as martial art training has on these cognitive processes. Our study compared the acute effects of 2 types of martial art training to aerobic exercise on cognitive performance in middle-aged adults. We utilized a repeated measures design with the order of the 3 exercise conditions randomly assigned and counterbalanced. Ten recreational middle-aged martial artists (mean age = 53.5 ± 8.6 years) participated in 3 treatment conditions: a typical martial art class, an atypical martial art class, and a one-hour walk at a self-selected speed. Cognitive performance was assessed by the Stroop Color and Word test. While all 3 exercise conditions improved attention and processing speed, only the 2 martial art conditions improved the highest order of cognitive performance, executive function. The effect of the 2 martial art conditions on executive function was not different. The improvement in executive function may be due to the increased cortical demand required by the more complex, coordinated motor tasks of martial art exercise compared to the more repetitive actions of walking.

Socialização econômica em famílias chilenas de classe média: educando cidadãos ou consumidores? Economic socialization in chilean families of middle class

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marianela Denegri Coria

2005-08-01

Full Text Available O propósito desta investigação foi descrever as estratégias e práticas de socialização econômica numa mostra de 132 famílias de classe média da cidade de Temuco,Chile. Os resultados assinalam que existe consenso entre as famílias a respeito da necessidade de educar aos meninos no uso do dinheiro e que esta é uma responsabilidade dos pais. Aprecia-se uma ampla dispersão entre as práticas que os pais dizem utilizar para alfabetizar os seus filhos no uso do dinheiro. As que são mais bem intuitivas, pouco sistemáticas e isoladas, não constituindo Estratégias de Socialização. Mostra-se inconsistência entre os valores expressados pelos pais e as práticas que empregam. A experiência de socialização temporã dos pais em suas famílias de origem repercute na educação de seus filhos, o que leva a concluir a presença de uma influência entre gerações no processo de socialização econômica.The purpose of this investigation was to describe the strategies and practices of economic socialization in a sample of 132 middle class families of Temuco, a city in Chile. The results show that there is an agreement among the families about the necessity to educate the children about the use of money, and that this is a responsibility that concerns the parents. A wide dispersion is observed among the practices that the parents claim to use to educate their children about the use of money. The practices which are rather intuitive, not very systematic and isolated, do not constitute strategies of socialization, and show inconsistency among the values expressed by the parents and the practices used by them. The parents' experience of an early socialization in their origin families rebounds in the education of their children, consequently leading to the presence of an intergenerational influence in the process of economic socialization.

Occupational class differences in diagnostic-specific sickness absence: a register-based study in the Finnish population, 2005-2014.

Science.gov (United States)

Pekkala, Johanna; Blomgren, Jenni; Pietiläinen, Olli; Lahelma, Eero; Rahkonen, Ossi

2017-08-22

Musculoskeletal diseases and mental disorders are major causes of long-term sickness absence in Western countries. Although sickness absence is generally more common in lower occupational classes, little is known about class differences in diagnostic-specific absence over time. Focusing on Finland during 2005-2014, we therefore set out to examine the magnitude of and changes in absolute and relative occupational class differences in long-term sickness absence due to major diagnostic causes. A 70-per-cent random sample of Finns aged 25-64 linked to register data on medically certified sickness absence (of over 10 working days) in 2005-2014 was retrieved from the Social Insurance Institution of Finland. Information on occupational class was obtained from Statistics Finland and linked to the data. The study focused on female (n = 658,148-694,142) and male (n = 604,715-642,922) upper and lower non-manual employees and manual workers. The age-standardised prevalence, the Slope Index of Inequality (SII) and the Relative Index of Inequality (RII) were calculated for each study year to facilitate examination of the class differences. The prevalence of each diagnostic cause of sickness absence declined during the study period, the most common causes being musculoskeletal diseases, mental disorders and injuries. The prevalence of other causes under scrutiny was less than 1 % annually. By far the largest absolute and relative differences were in musculoskeletal diseases among both women and men. Moreover, the absolute differences in both genders (p class differences in mental disorders. In the case of injuries, no major changes occurred in absolute differences but relative differences narrowed over time in men (p Class differences in the other studied diagnostic causes under scrutiny appeared negligible. By far the largest occupational class differences in long-term sickness absence concerned musculoskeletal diseases, followed by injuries. The results highlight

Steven Charles Curtis, "An Observational Analysis of Successful Junior High/Middle School General Music Teachers." A Review.

Science.gov (United States)

Wing, Lizabeth

1989-01-01

Reviews a doctoral dissertation that attempts to identify and analyze the behavior of successful middle school music teachers. Describes the instrument developed to measure these behavioral characteristics. Suggests that the videotapes of class sessions may be the most useful portion of the study. (LS)

A gigantic nothosaur (Reptilia: Sauropterygia) from the Middle Triassic of SW China and its implication for the Triassic biotic recovery

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Jun; Hu, Shi-Xue; Rieppel, Olivier; Jiang, Da-Yong; Benton, Michael J.; Kelley, Neil P.; Aitchison, Jonathan C.; Zhou, Chang-Yong; Wen, Wen; Huang, Jin-Yuan; Xie, Tao; Lv, Tao

2014-11-01

The presence of gigantic apex predators in the eastern Panthalassic and western Tethyan oceans suggests that complex ecosystems in the sea had become re-established in these regions at least by the early Middle Triassic, after the Permian-Triassic mass extinction (PTME). However, it is not clear whether oceanic ecosystem recovery from the PTME was globally synchronous because of the apparent lack of such predators in the eastern Tethyan/western Panthalassic region prior to the Late Triassic. Here we report a gigantic nothosaur from the lower Middle Triassic of Luoping in southwest China (eastern Tethyan ocean), which possesses the largest known lower jaw among Triassic sauropterygians. Phylogenetic analysis suggests parallel evolution of gigantism in Triassic sauropterygians. Discovery of this gigantic apex predator, together with associated diverse marine reptiles and the complex food web, indicates global recovery of shallow marine ecosystems from PTME by the early Middle Triassic.

Building Earth's Largest Library: Driving into the Future.

Science.gov (United States)

Coffman, Steve

1999-01-01

Examines the Amazon.com online bookstore as a blueprint for designing the world's largest library. Topics include selection; accessibility and convenience; quality of Web sites and search tools; personalized service; library collection development, including interlibrary loan; library catalogs and catalog records; a circulation system; costs;…

Toward sustainable harvesting of Africa's largest medicinal plant ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Global demand for treating prostate disorders with Prunus africana bark extract has made P. africana Africa's largest medicinal plant export. Unsustainable harvesting practices can lead to local extirpations of this multipurpose tree. Survey research targeting P. africana harvesters in a Tanzania forest reserve revealed that ...

Mega sporting events: A poisoned chalice or a new dawn for low- and middle-income

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mark Tomlinson

2011-06-01

Full Text Available Mega sporting events in South Africa, which has the largest number of HIV-positive people in the world, and India, with 1.8 million deaths of children under 5 each year and 52 million stunted children, raise questions about the effective and, as importantly, the moral imperative of spending billions of dollars to host a sporting event. From a health perspective, selling alcohol and debt tarnishes further the notion of any intangible benefits of mega events to low- and middle-income countries.

Effects of Single-Gender Middle School Classes on Science Achievement and Attitude

Science.gov (United States)

Brooks, Tanisha

Many girls continue to achieve below their male counterparts and portray negative attitudes towards science classes. Some school districts are using single-gender education as a way to shrink the gender gap in school achievement and science related attitude. The purpose of this study was to compare achievement and science-related attitudes of 7th grade girls in single-gender education to 7th grade girls in mixed-gender education. The theoretical base for this study included knowledge from brain-based learning and assimilation, accommodation and age factors of Piaget's theory of cognitive development. The 12-week study included 48 7th grade girls, 21 in the single-gender classroom and 14 in each mixed-gender classroom. This quantitative randomized posttest only control group design utilized the TerraNova Science Assessment and the Test of Science Related Attitudes. Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was used to determine if significant differences existed in the achievement and attitudes of girls in single and mixed-gender science classes. ANOVA analyses revealed that the girls in the single-gender classroom showed a significantly higher achievement level when compared to girls in the mixed-gender classrooms. Results showed no significant difference in attitude between the two groups. The results of this study contribute to social change by raising awareness about gender issues in science achievement and attitude, addressing a deficiency in the single-gender science education literature, and assisting educational systems in decision making to address achievement gaps while moving toward adequate yearly progress and meeting the requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001.

Carrying the Beacon of Excellence: Social Class Differentiation and Anxiety at a Time of Transition.

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Lucey, Helen; Reay, Diane

2002-01-01

Examines ways in which current United Kingdom school-choice policies interact with parental pressures on their children to achieve excellence and how these pressures affect the emotional health of their middle- and working-class children as they make the transition from primary to secondary school. Finds serious emotional consequences (exam…

Middle Eastern rhinoplasty.

Science.gov (United States)

Azizzadeh, Babak; Mashkevich, Grigoriy

2010-02-01

The ethnic appearance of the Middle Eastern nose is defined by several unique visual features, particularly a high radix, wide overprojecting dorsum, and an amorphous hanging nasal tip. These external characteristics reflect distinct structural properties of the osseo-cartilaginous nasal framework and skin-soft tissue envelope in patients of Middle Eastern extraction. The goal, and the ultimate challenge, of rhinoplasty on Middle Eastern patients is to achieve balanced aesthetic refinement, while avoiding surgical westernization. Detailed understanding of the ethnic visual harmony in a Middle Eastern nose greatly assists in preserving native nasal-facial relationships during rhinoplasty on Middle Eastern patients. Esthetic alteration of a Middle Eastern nose follows a different set of goals and principles compared with rhinoplasties on white or other ethnic patients. This article highlights the inherent nasal features of the Middle Eastern nose and reviews pertinent concepts of rhinoplasty on Middle Eastern patients. Essential considerations in the process spanning the consultation and surgery are reviewed. Reliable operative techniques that achieve a successful aesthetic outcome are discussed in detail. Copyright 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Analysis of characteristic of flood evolution in Weihe middle and lower reaches in 2003

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Xinhui Jiang; Shiqing Huo; Yuebin Hu; Suqin Xu

2004-01-01

Due to the effects of continual strong rainfall, 4 floods are generated in partial area of upper and middle reaches of Weihe, the largest branch in Yellow River, from Aug. 26 to Sep. 22 in 2003. The biggest flood peak of Huaxian station, which is 3570 m 3 /s, occurred 11:00 in Sep. 1. It is the 33 rd among all historical biggest flood peaks, but the stage, 342.76 m, is the 1 st. During the evolution process of the flood, because of the effects of flood plain, inverse of branch flood, levee breach of partial branch etc. the largest cut down of flood peak of Lintong and Huaxian is 53.1 %, and the longest travel time is 52.3 h. Both are 1 st in history. The evolution characteristics of the flood and the most reasons of large cut down and long travel time are analyzed in this paper.(Author)

Kabob report. Pt. 3. Chevron plant largest in Canada

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

1971-01-18

Canada's largest fully integrated primary natural- gas processing and sulfur recovery plant is heading for physical completion by mid-summer of 1971. The Ralph M. Parsons Construction Co. of Canada Ltd., contractor for the S. Kaybob Beaverhill Lake Unit No. 3 gas-processing plant, to be operated by Chevron Standard Ltd., estimates completion by June 30. After that the $80 million complex will have tests and running in time. With any reasonable luck, it should be fully on stream by late summer. Preliminary construction on the 200-acre site started in Jan. 1969 with clearing and contouring of the main plant and sulfur storage sites. Initial rough grading started in the early summer, after spring breakup was over. Delivery of most of the big items was made by rail because the local secondary roads were inadequate for them. Concrete has been a large item. The contractor has its own batch plant on the site for the estimated 28,000 cu yd which will be needed for the whole job. Dominating the construction site from the start has been the high sulfur plant stack, first of the major items to be finished. It will serve to dispose of effluent from the largest sulfur recovery unit in Canada. It is 465 ft high, one of the largest in Alberta, and a significant contribution to pollution control and environmental protection.

Emergent inequality and self-organized social classes in a network of power and frustration.

Science.gov (United States)

Mahault, Benoit; Saxena, Avadh; Nisoli, Cristiano

2017-01-01

We propose a simple agent-based model on a network to conceptualize the allocation of limited wealth among more abundant expectations at the interplay of power, frustration, and initiative. Concepts imported from the statistical physics of frustrated systems in and out of equilibrium allow us to compare subjective measures of frustration and satisfaction to collective measures of fairness in wealth distribution, such as the Lorenz curve and the Gini index. We find that a completely libertarian, law-of-the-jungle setting, where every agent can acquire wealth from or lose wealth to anybody else invariably leads to a complete polarization of the distribution of wealth vs. opportunity. This picture is however dramatically ameliorated when hard constraints are imposed over agents in the form of a limiting network of transactions. There, an out of equilibrium dynamics of the networks, based on a competition between power and frustration in the decision-making of agents, leads to network coevolution. The ratio of power and frustration controls different dynamical regimes separated by kinetic transitions and characterized by drastically different values of equality. It also leads, for proper values of social initiative, to the emergence of three self-organized social classes, lower, middle, and upper class. Their dynamics, which appears mostly controlled by the middle class, drives a cyclical regime of dramatic social changes.

Raça ou classe? Sobre a desigualdade brasileira Race or class? On the Brazilian inequality

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jessé Souza

2005-08-01

Full Text Available O tema da desigualdade no Brasil só pode ser compreendido à luz da especificidade de nosso processo de modernização. Isso significa dizer que a determinação do peso específico da variável racial exige um quadro de referência teórico amplo, inclusivo e totalizador. A construção, ainda que tentativa, desse referencial teórico exige resgatar o debate brasileiro acerca dessa questão em meados do século passado. Defende-se aqui que o problema da classe social tem sido injustamente relegado no contexto do debate acerca da singularidade de nossa desigualdade.The subject of inequality in Brazil can only be understood in the light of the particularity of our modernization process. This means that the catching of the specific weight of the race factor requires a large, inclusive and holistic theoretical framework. It also requires a reassessment of the Brazilian debate about that issue occurred in the middle of the last century. This article argues that the social class problem has been unfairly underestimated, if we take in account the context of the debate about our inequality.

Tell Me What You Hear: Vocabulary Acquisition and Application in the General Music Middle School Classroom

Science.gov (United States)

Walby, Nathan

2011-01-01

Teaching musical vocabulary in a middle school general music class can often be challenging to the performance-based teacher. This article provides several teaching strategies for approaching words from both a theoretical and a practical standpoint. Based on a dialectical "this-with-that" approach by Estelle Jorgensen, this article argues that…

Socioeconomic position and risk of short-term weight gain: Prospective study of 14,619 middle-aged men and women

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Luben Robert N

2008-04-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The association between socioeconomic position in middle age and risk of subsequent, short-term weight gain is unknown. We therefore assessed this association in a prospective population based cohort study in Norfolk, UK. Methods We analysed data on 14,619 middle-aged men and women (aged between 40–75 at baseline with repeated objective measures of weight and height at baseline (1993–1997 and follow up (1998–2000. Results During follow up 5,064 people gained more than 2.5 kg. Compared with the highest social class, individuals in the lowest social class had around a 30% greater risk of gaining more than 2.5 kg (OR 1.29; 95% CI 1.11–1.51; p for trend = 0.002. This association remained statistically significant following adjustment for sex, age, baseline BMI, smoking, and follow up time (OR 1.25; CI 1.07–1.46; p for trend Conclusion Individuals of low socioeconomic position are at greatest risk of gaining weight during middle age, which is not explained by classical correlates of socioeconomic position and risk factors for obesity.

Health risks, social relations and class: an analysis of occupational health discourse in Finnish newspaper and women's magazine articles 1961-2008.

Science.gov (United States)

Varje, Pekka; Väänänen, Ari

2016-03-01

In this article we examine the treatment of psychosocial risks in public occupational health discourse in Finnish newspaper and magazine articles between the 1960s and 2000s, using discourse analysis. Building on class theories, our aim is to investigate how class expectations have been linked with the redefinition of occupational health risks during this period. Our results suggest that as social relations at the workplace became problematised in the occupational health discussions after the 1970s, the image of the hierarchical and naturally conflictual organisation was replaced by idealised middle-class notions of smoothly functioning, harmonious organisations that offered rewarding work experiences. However, this same period since the late 1970s has also been characterised by increasing economic competition and neoliberal market ideology. We conclude that the concern about work-related psychosocial risks and health problems expressed in Finnish newspaper and magazine articles during the last three decades has been shaped in many respects by a collision between the dominant middle-class expectations of harmony and equality and the neoliberal production of competition and inequality. © 2015 Foundation for the Sociology of Health & Illness.

Associations of adolescent cannabis use with academic performance and mental health: A longitudinal study of upper middle class youth.

Science.gov (United States)

Meier, Madeline H; Hill, Melanie L; Small, Phillip J; Luthar, Suniya S

2015-11-01

There is a hypothesis that low socioeconomic status (SES) may explain the link between cannabis use and poorer academic performance and mental health. A key question, therefore, is whether adolescent cannabis use is associated with poorer academic performance and mental health in high SES communities where there is reduced potential for confounding. Youth (n=254) from an upper middle class community were followed prospectively through the four years of high school (from age 14/15 to age 17/18). Past-year frequency of cannabis use was assessed annually. Official school records of academic performance and self-reported mental health symptoms (externalizing and internalizing symptoms) were assessed in grades 9 and 12. Persistent cannabis use across the four years of high school was associated with lower grade-point average (β=-0.18, p=.006), lower Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) score (β=-0.13, p=.038), and greater externalizing symptoms (β=0.29, pgrade, but not with greater internalizing symptoms (β=0.04, p=.53). Moreover, persistent cannabis use was associated with lower grade-point average (β=-0.13, p=.014) and greater externalizing symptoms (β=0.24, p=.002) in 12th grade, even after controlling for 9th grade levels of these outcomes. Similar associations were observed for persistent alcohol and tobacco use. Effects for persistent cannabis use became non-significant after controlling for persistent alcohol and tobacco use, reflecting the difficulties of disentangling effects of cannabis from effects of alcohol and tobacco. Low SES cannot fully explain associations between cannabis use and poorer academic performance and mental health. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Upgrade and modernization of the six largest HPPs in Macedonia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hadzievska, M.

2002-01-01

In 1998, Electric Power Company of Macedonia and the International Bank for Development and Reconstruction, started the Power System Improvement Project a part of which is the Project for rehabilitation of the six largest Hydro Power Plants (HPPs) in the Republic of Macedonia. The six largest Hydro Power Plants (HPP Vrutok, HPP Raven, HPP Globocica, HPP Tikves and HPP Spilje and HPP Vrben) represent 91% of the country's hydropower capacity. The rehabilitation program is divided in five parts (contracts) and covers the refurbishment of: turbine runners, turbine and generator bearings, governors, inlet valves; butterfly valves, including accessories and control systems; generators, excitation system and voltage regulation; control system, protection and LV auxiliaries; switch gears and control gears in 220 kV, 110 kV and 35 kV substations. At the moment, only the implementation of switch gears has started, the first phase is already finished, and 50 % of the rehabilitation works for HPP Vrutok, the largest HPP, has been finished. With the realization of this project, greater hydropower production is expected. It also expected that HPPs will become a more vital part of the Macedonian power system

Natural Mentors, Social Class, and College Success.

Science.gov (United States)

Reynolds, John R; Parrish, Michael

2018-03-01

Natural mentors provide advice, moral support, and assistance to adolescents who aspire to obtain a postsecondary degree, but past studies of the benefits of having an informal adult mentor have yet to resolve several issues. Our analyses of a national sample of high school graduates test three hypotheses: (H1) natural mentoring increases the odds of college attendance and completion, (H2) guidance and career advice are more important for college success than encouragement or role modeling, and (H3) students from poor and working-class families benefit more from mentoring than students from middle- and upper-class families. Hypotheses 1 and 3 are clearly supported when examining the odds of attending college, while Hypothesis 2 was not supported-encouragement and role modeling boost attendance, not advice or practical help. None of the hypotheses is supported when predicting degree completion among those who matriculated. As natural mentors do not appreciably increase the odds of completing college, we conclude past studies have overstated the postsecondary educational benefits of natural mentors. © Society for Community Research and Action 2017.

World's third-largest producer of nuclear power. Japan in need of energy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anon.

2008-01-01

Japan is the third largest oil consumer in the world behind the United States and China, and the second largest net importer of oil. Japan boasts one of the largest economies in the world. The country continues to experience a moderate economic recovery that began in 2003, following a decade of economic stagnation. Japan's real gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 2.5% in 2005 and 2.3% in 2004. The modest upturn over the last few years reflects higher business confidence in Japan, a surge in export demand led by exports to China, and robust consumer spending. Unemployment in Japan fell to 4.4% in 2005, down from an early 2003 peak of 5.5%. Japan has virtually no domestic oil or natural gas reserves, and in 2005 was the second largest net importer of crude oil in the world. Despite the country's dearth of hydrocarbon resources, Japanese companies have actively pursued upstream oil and natural gas projects overseas. Japan remains one of the major exporters of energy-sector capital equipment, and Japanese companies provide engineering, construction, and project management services for energy projects. (orig.)

NAFTA: The World's Largest Trading Zone Turns 20

Science.gov (United States)

Ferrarini, Tawni Hunt; Day, Stephen

2014-01-01

Everyone under the age of 20 who has grown up in North America has lived in the common market created by NAFTA--the North American Free Trade Agreement. In a zone linking the United States, Canada, and Mexico, most goods and investments flow freely across borders to users, consumers, and investors. In 1994, NAFTA created the largest relatively…

Perceived psychological pressure at work, social class, and risk of stroke: a 30-year follow-up in Copenhagen male study.

Science.gov (United States)

Suadicani, Poul; Andersen, Lars L; Holtermann, Andreas; Mortensen, Ole S; Gyntelberg, Finn

2011-12-01

Investigate if the association between perceived psychological work pressure and risk of stroke is modified by socioeconomic status. Thirty-year follow-up of 4943 middle-aged men without cardiovascular disease. In the higher social classes (I, II, and III), perceived regular exposure to psychological work pressure was common and a significant predictor of stroke; almost 10% of the stroke events could be attributed to this exposure in the higher social classes; among lower social classes (IV and V), perceived psychological pressure was no predictor at all. Regular psychological work pressure is a highly prevalent and independent risk factor for stroke among men in higher social classes. In contrast, no association to stroke risk was found among low social class men.

Loneliness and objectively measured physical capability in middle-aged adults

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lund, Rikke; Laban, J; Petersen, GL

2018-01-01

and women compared with the ‘not lonely’ were 1.2 kg (95% CI − 0.5;2.9)/1.0 kg (−0.7;2.6). Low occupational social class was associated with poorer physical capability, and living alone was associated with poorer handgrip strength in men [−2.4 kg (95% CI − 3.2;−1.5)] and poorer chair rise test in women [−0......Background: Loneliness is associated with poor functional ability in older people. Little is known about this association in the middle-aged. The aim is to investigate if perceived loneliness is associated with lower physical capability among middle-aged men and women and if the associations...... of loneliness with physical capability interact with socioeconomic position and cohabitation status. Methods: 5224 participants from Copenhagen Aging and Midlife Biobank (CAMB) aged 49–62 years (mean age 54) were included. Handgrip strength (measured by a dynamometer) and maximal number of chair rises in 30 s...

The association between chronic conditions and non-agricultural work productivity loss among the middle-aged Chinese population.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Wei; Sun, Huiying; Li, Xin

2018-05-03

To measure the association between different chronic conditions and non-agricultural work productivity loss among the middle-aged Chinese population. We used 2011, 2013 and 2015 data from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study. The study focused on middle-aged respondents who had the potential to work in the non-agricultural sector. Work productivity loss was measured by non-agricultural work participation and number of absent workdays among those conducting non-agricultural work. Seven different chronic conditions were considered. Heart diseases had the strongest association with lower work participation for men and women. Stomach/digestive disease and arthritis/rheumatism were conditions with the largest incremental absent workdays for men and women, respectively. The associations with non-agricultural work productivity loss varied by chronic conditions, outcomes, and sex. The findings will help motivate chronic condition prevention/management programs and set priorities.

Economic Education in the Middle East: Are the Determinants of Success in Introductory Economics Any Different?

Science.gov (United States)

Kherfi, Samer

2008-01-01

The author examines the determinants of success in introductory microeconomics, in the context of a Middle Eastern society but within an American educational setting. The data set is rich and covers over 3,500 students in one regional campus, allowing control for a wide range of student and class characteristics, one of which, nationality, is…

Representing Divorce, Reforming Interiority: Narratives of Gender, Class and Family in Post-Reform Chinese Literature and Culture

Science.gov (United States)

Xiao, Hui

2009-01-01

This project stands at the juncture of modern Chinese literature, post-socialist studies, cultural history of divorce, and critical studies about global middle-class cultures. Employing analytical tools mainly from literary studies, cultural studies and feminist theories, I examine stories, novels, films and TV dramas about divorce produced…

The Environmental Responsibility of the World’s Largest Banks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ryszawska Bożena

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Sustainability transition is changing the role and function of banks, specially their products and services also in relation to stakeholders. Banks are one of the main actors supporting the transition to sustainable economy. The purpose of this study is to emphasise the role of world’s largest banks in that process. Banks are slowly responding to the new demand of sustainability and responsibility, and they try to align with it. The paper is based on an overview of the world’s five largest banks that employ corporate social responsibility (CSR reporting standards, together with detailed enumeration of pro-environmental activities included in the reports. The first section of this paper presents the most popular approaches to the problem at hand, as reported in professional literature. Section two presents the characteristics of the CSR actions in banks. The third section discusses the environmental actions of the biggest banks in Global Reporting Initiative (GRI reporting the most popular standard for reporting non-financial information. And the last part of the paper presents the conclusions resulting from the article. The research was conducted using a variety of sources, such as scientific articles, statistical data, CSR reports of the world’s largest banks, as well reporting principles and standard disclosures. The basic method used in the process of writing was a critical analysis of literature and reports concerning the CSR reporting standards, environmental responsibilities of different kinds of entities, as well as own observations based on special reports of banks. In the article, also the analysis of financial market data, induction method and comparison method have been used. The main conclusions of the analysis of the CSR reports disclosed by the world’s largest banks confirm all three of the theses presented in the article. The findings suggest that the banks under study can be regarded as environmentally responsible

A Comparative Study of the Eruptive and Non-eruptive Flares Produced by the Largest Active Region of Solar Cycle 24

Science.gov (United States)

Sarkar, Ranadeep; Srivastava, Nandita

2018-02-01

We investigate the morphological and magnetic characteristics of solar active region (AR) NOAA 12192. AR 12192 was the largest region of Solar Cycle 24; it underwent noticeable growth and produced 6 X-class flares, 22 M-class flares, and 53 C-class flares in the course of its disc passage. However, the most peculiar fact of this AR is that it was associated with only one CME in spite of producing several X-class flares. In this work, we carry out a comparative study between the eruptive and non-eruptive flares produced by AR 12192. We find that the magnitude of abrupt and permanent changes in the horizontal magnetic field and Lorentz force are significantly smaller in the case of the confined flares compared to the eruptive one. We present the areal evolution of AR 12192 during its disc passage. We find the flare-related morphological changes to be weaker during the confined flares, whereas the eruptive flare exhibits a rapid and permanent disappearance of penumbral area away from the magnetic neutral line after the flare. Furthermore, from the extrapolated non-linear force-free magnetic field, we examine the overlying coronal magnetic environment over the eruptive and non-eruptive zones of the AR. We find that the critical decay index for the onset of torus instability was achieved at a lower height over the eruptive flaring region, than for the non-eruptive core area. These results suggest that the decay rate of the gradient of overlying magnetic-field strength may play a decisive role to determine the CME productivity of the AR. In addition, the magnitude of changes in the flare-related magnetic characteristics are found to be well correlated with the nature of solar eruptions.

A radiographic study of temporomandibular joints in skeletal class III malocclusion

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Sung Eun; Kim, Kae Duk

2003-01-01

To investigate the differences between the position of the mandibular condyles in temporomandibular joints of patients presenting with normal occlusion and skeletal class III malocclusion. Forty-two subjects with normal occlusion and thirty-seven subjects exhibiting skeletal class III malocclusion prior to orthodontic treatment were included in the study. Transcranial radiographs of each subject were taken at centric occlusion and 1 inch mouth opening. The positional relationship between the mandibular condyles with articular fossae and articular eminences at two positional states were evaluated and analyzed statistically. The mandibular condyles of the skeletal class III malocclusion group were found to be located more anteriorly from the center of the articular fossae compared to the normal occlusion group in centric occlusion. The mandibular condyles of the skeletal Class III malocclusion group were located more superiorly from the middle of articular height than those of the normal occlusion group in centric occlusion. However, these differences were not statistically significant. At 1 inch mouth opening, the mandibular condyles of the skeletal class III malocclusion group were placed more posteriorly from the articular eminences than those of the normal occlusion group. The mean angle of the articular eminence posterior slope were 56.51 .deg. ± 6.29 .deg. in the normal occlusion group and 60.37 .deg. ± 6.26 .deg. in the skeletal Class III malocclusion group. The mandibular condyles of the skeletal Class III malocclusion group were placed more anteriorly at centric occlusion and more posteriorly at 1 inch mouth opening when compared with those of the normal occlusion group.

A radiographic study of temporomandibular joints in skeletal class III malocclusion

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kim, Sung Eun; Kim, Kae Duk [Chosun University College of Medicine, Kwangju (Korea, Republic of)

2003-06-15

To investigate the differences between the position of the mandibular condyles in temporomandibular joints of patients presenting with normal occlusion and skeletal class III malocclusion. Forty-two subjects with normal occlusion and thirty-seven subjects exhibiting skeletal class III malocclusion prior to orthodontic treatment were included in the study. Transcranial radiographs of each subject were taken at centric occlusion and 1 inch mouth opening. The positional relationship between the mandibular condyles with articular fossae and articular eminences at two positional states were evaluated and analyzed statistically. The mandibular condyles of the skeletal class III malocclusion group were found to be located more anteriorly from the center of the articular fossae compared to the normal occlusion group in centric occlusion. The mandibular condyles of the skeletal Class III malocclusion group were located more superiorly from the middle of articular height than those of the normal occlusion group in centric occlusion. However, these differences were not statistically significant. At 1 inch mouth opening, the mandibular condyles of the skeletal class III malocclusion group were placed more posteriorly from the articular eminences than those of the normal occlusion group. The mean angle of the articular eminence posterior slope were 56.51 .deg. {+-} 6.29 .deg. in the normal occlusion group and 60.37 .deg. {+-} 6.26 .deg. in the skeletal Class III malocclusion group. The mandibular condyles of the skeletal Class III malocclusion group were placed more anteriorly at centric occlusion and more posteriorly at 1 inch mouth opening when compared with those of the normal occlusion group.

The structure and composition of Holocene coral reefs in the Middle Florida Keys

Science.gov (United States)

Toth, Lauren T.; Stathakopoulos, Anastasios; Kuffner, Ilsa B.

2016-07-21

The Florida Keys reef tract (FKRT) is the largest coral-reef ecosystem in the continental United States. The modern FKRT extends for 362 kilometers along the coast of South Florida from Dry Tortugas National Park in the southwest, through the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary (FKNMS), to Fowey Rocks reef in Biscayne National Park in the northeast. Most reefs along the FKRT are sheltered by the exposed islands of the Florida Keys; however, large channels are located between the islands of the Middle Keys. These openings allow for tidal transport of water from Florida Bay onto reefs in the area. The characteristics of the water masses coming from Florida Bay, which can experience broad swings in temperature, salinity, nutrients, and turbidity over short periods of time, are generally unfavorable or “inimical” to coral growth and reef development.Although reef habitats are ubiquitous throughout most of the Upper and Lower Keys, relatively few modern reefs exist in the Middle Keys most likely because of the impacts of inimical waters from Florida Bay. The reefs that are present in the Middle Keys generally are poorly developed compared with reefs elsewhere in the region. For example, Acropora palmata has been the dominant coral on shallow-water reefs in the Caribbean over the last 1.5 million years until populations of the coral declined throughout the region in recent decades. Although A. palmata was historically abundant in the Florida Keys, it was conspicuously absent from reefs in the Middle Keys. Instead, contemporary reefs in the Middle Keys have been dominated by occasional massive (that is, boulder or head) corals and, more often, small, non-reef-building corals.Holocene reef cores have been collected from many locations along the FKRT; however, despite the potential importance of the history of reefs in the Middle Florida Keys to our understanding of the environmental controls on reef development throughout the FKRT, there are currently no published

A Critical Interrogation of Privilege, Race, Class, and Power in a University Faculty-Urban Community Relationship

Science.gov (United States)

Noel, Jana

2010-01-01

I am the Coordinator of the Urban Teacher Education Center, a teacher preparation program located at a very low income, culturally diverse elementary school that serves children from two neighborhood public housing projects. As a White, middle-class, Ph.D. educated, female, I must consistently consider how people in the neighborhoods may take a…

In the Footsteps of Roger Revelle: Seagoing Oceanography for Middle School Science

Science.gov (United States)

Brice, D.; Foley, S.; Knox, R. A.; Mauricio, P.

2007-12-01

Now in its fourth year, "In the Footsteps of Roger Revelle" (IFRR) is a middle school science education program that draws student interest, scientific content and coherence with National Science Standards from real-time research at sea in fields of physical science. As a successful collaboration involving Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO), Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Office of Naval Research (ONR), National Science Foundation (NSF), San Diego County Office of Education (SDCOE), and San Marcos Middle School (SMMS), IFRR brings physical oceanography and related sciences to students at the San Marcos Middle School in real-time from research vessels at sea using SIO's HiSeasNet satellite communication system. With their science teacher on the ship as an education outreach specialist or ashore guiding students in their interactions with selected scientists at sea, students observe shipboard research being carried out live via videoconference, daily e-mails, interviews, digital whiteboard sessions, and web interaction. Students then research, design, develop, deploy, and field-test their own data-collecting physical oceanography instruments in their classroom. The online interactive curriculum encourages active inquiry with intellectually stimulating problem-solving, enabling students to gain critical insight and skill while investigating some of the most provocative questions of our time, and seeing scientists as role- models. Recent science test scores with IFRR students have shown significant increases in classes where this curriculum has been implemented as compared to other classes where the traditional curriculum has been used. IFRR has provided students in the San Diego area with a unique opportunity for learning about oceanographic research, which could inspire students to become oceanographers or at least scientifically literate citizens - a benefit for a country that depends

Box Cello Middle School Science Clubs

Science.gov (United States)

Vandegrift, Guy

1998-10-01

The Box Cello is a middle school science club which is attempting to (1) understand the cello and (2) design a low-cost starter instrument. We can support and justify this research by adding a third goal: (3) to help supply local science classes with equipment. My policy of spending one entire day each week away from the university, out in a local school is essential to this project. This schedule also permits me to conduct lessons on optics and music in the schools. And, it permits circulation of tools and equipment. A simple calculation demonstrates the great economy achieved by combining science clubs with academic year school visits. Consider the cost of letting 10,000 students in 10 middle schools each learn about and play with a pair of "upside-down" glasses for one hour. A visit to each school for three consecutive weeks would easily permit such a circulation if only 30 pairs were constructed. Assume rhetorically, that the construction of 30 pairs of glasses were to consume the entire estimated annual budget of $100,000. The cost per student would be only ten dollars! The visits, guest lectures, and equipment loans permit informal networking (including lunch) with math, science and music teachers in 10 schools. For more information, visit the http://www.utep.edu/boxcello/

Statistics of the largest sunspot and facular areas per solar cycle

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Willis, D.M.; Kabasakal Tulunay, Y.

1979-01-01

The statistics of extreme values is used to investigate the statistical properties of the largest areas sunspots and photospheric faculae per solar cycle. The largest values of the synodic-solar-rotation mean areas of umbrae, whole spots and faculae, which have been recorded for nine solar cycles, are each shown to comply with the general form of the extreme value probability function. Empirical expressions are derived for the three extreme value populations from which the characteristic statistical parameters, namely the mode, median, mean and standard deviation, can be calculated for each population. These three extreme value populations are also used to find the expected ranges of the extreme areas in a group of solar cycles as a function of the number of cycles in the group. The extreme areas of umbrae and whole spots have a dispersion comparable to that found by Siscoe for the extreme values of sunspot number, whereas the extreme areas of faculae have a smaller dispersion which is comparable to that found by Siscoe for the largest geomagnetic storm per solar cycle. The expected range of the largest sunspot area per solar cycle for a group of one hundred cycles appears to be inconsistent with the existence of the prolonged periods of sunspot minima that have been inferred from the historical information on solar variability. This inconsistency supports the contention that there are temporal changes of solar-cycle statistics during protracted periods of sunspot minima (or maxima). Indeed, without such temporal changes, photospheric faculae should have been continually observable throughout the lifetime of the Sun. (orig.)

Fishing down the largest coral reef fish species.

Science.gov (United States)

Fenner, Douglas

2014-07-15

Studies on remote, uninhabited, near-pristine reefs have revealed surprisingly large populations of large reef fish. Locations such as the northwestern Hawaiian Islands, northern Marianas Islands, Line Islands, U.S. remote Pacific Islands, Cocos-Keeling Atoll and Chagos archipelago have much higher reef fish biomass than islands and reefs near people. Much of the high biomass of most remote reef fish communities lies in the largest species, such as sharks, bumphead parrots, giant trevally, and humphead wrasse. Some, such as sharks and giant trevally, are apex predators, but others such as bumphead parrots and humphead wrasse, are not. At many locations, decreases in large reef fish species have been attributed to fishing. Fishing is well known to remove the largest fish first, and a quantitative measure of vulnerability to fishing indicates that large reef fish species are much more vulnerable to fishing than small fish. The removal of large reef fish by fishing parallels the extinction of terrestrial megafauna by early humans. However large reef fish have great value for various ecological roles and for reef tourism. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Multivariate Largest Lyapunov Exponent as an Age-Related Metric of Quiet Standing Balance

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kun Liu

2015-01-01

Full Text Available The largest Lyapunov exponent has been researched as a metric of the balance ability during human quiet standing. However, the sensitivity and accuracy of this measurement method are not good enough for clinical use. The present research proposes a metric of the human body’s standing balance ability based on the multivariate largest Lyapunov exponent which can quantify the human standing balance. The dynamic multivariate time series of ankle, knee, and hip were measured by multiple electrical goniometers. Thirty-six normal people of different ages participated in the test. With acquired data, the multivariate largest Lyapunov exponent was calculated. Finally, the results of the proposed approach were analysed and compared with the traditional method, for which the largest Lyapunov exponent and power spectral density from the centre of pressure were also calculated. The following conclusions can be obtained. The multivariate largest Lyapunov exponent has a higher degree of differentiation in differentiating balance in eyes-closed conditions. The MLLE value reflects the overall coordination between multisegment movements. Individuals of different ages can be distinguished by their MLLE values. The standing stability of human is reduced with the increment of age.

Crash testing the largest experiment on Earth

OpenAIRE

Cauchi, Marija

2015-01-01

Under Europe lies a 27 km tunnel that is both the coldest and hottest place on Earth. The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) has already found out what gives mass to all the matter in the Universe. It is now trying to go even deeper into what makes up everything we see around us. Dr Marija Cauchi writes about her research that helped protect this atom smasher from itself. Photography by Jean Claude Vancell. http://www.um.edu.mt/think/crash-testing-the-largest-experiment-on-earth/

Levels of Management Commitment: a Moderator the Structural Relationships Among Critical Success Factors of TQM, World-Class Performance in Operations, and Company Financial Performance

OpenAIRE

Slamet Ciptono, Wakhid

2008-01-01

This study investigates the moderating impacts of the three levels of management commitment (top, middle, and low levels) on the structural relationships among the constructs— six critical success factors of TQM (quality improvement program, supervisory leadership, supplier involvement, management commitment, training to improve products/services, cross-functional relationships); world-class performance in operations (world-class company practices, operational excellence practices, company no...

Study of speed endurance middle distance runners

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

R.V. Golovaschenko

2013-12-01

Full Text Available Purpose : To investigate the boost performance speed endurance runners who specialize in middle-distance running . Material and methods : The study involved team members Vinnytsia region in an amount of 44 people, whose average age was 20,2 ± 2,1 years. Classes are held during the 21-day mesocycle, 5 times a week, twice a day. Things were aimed at enhancing the development of indicators of special speed endurance. Results : The dynamics of the running speed of the model segments that characterize speed endurance athletes. Proved that the improved running 400 meter intervals helps reduce travel time competitive distance of 1500 meters. Conclusion : The use of the program contributes to higher speed endurance, which determines the result in the women's 1,500 meters.

Provocative questions in parochial sex education classes: higher incidence in younger students.

Science.gov (United States)

Moreno, Megan; Breuner, Cora C; Lozano, Paula

2008-10-01

Recent data show US adolescents are engaging in sexual activity at earlier ages; however, little is known about young teens' sexual attitudes and behaviors. Examining teens' questions in sex education classes may provide insight into these attitudes and behaviors. Quasi cohort study Parochial middle school sex education classes 5(th) through 8(th) graders Students' anonymous written questions submitted at the outset of sex education classes between 2003 and 2005. Questions were classified into topic categories. Three additional variables were then coded for each question. Ethics/guidance questions included requests for advice or value judgments. Prohibited questions included the topics homosexuality, abortion, masturbation, and contraception. "Red flag" questions were those that suggested consideration of or engagement in sexual behavior. Among 473 questions submitted by 410 students, the most popular topics for 5(th)/6(th) graders were pregnancy and puberty, and for 7(th)/8(th) graders puberty and menstruation. 41 questions (8.6%) were prohibited. 29 questions (6.2%) asked about ethics/guidance. 18 questions (3.81%) were coded as red flag questions. A chi-square analysis showed that 5(th)/6(th) graders asked more questions in the ethics/guidance (8.3% versus 3.64%) and red flag question categories (5.53% versus 1.82%) (P < 0.05) than 7(th)/8(th) graders. Although provocative questions represent a minority of these middle students' queries, these requests suggest the urgency of providing appropriate guidance to young teens, given the risks of early sexual activity. The role of school education programs, physicians and parents in addressing questions of this sort should be considered.

Semantic Analysis of Virtual Classes and Nested Classes

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Madsen, Ole Lehrmann

1999-01-01

Virtual classes and nested classes are distinguishing features of BETA. Nested classes originated from Simula, but until recently they have not been part of main stream object- oriented languages. C++ has a restricted form of nested classes and they were included in Java 1.1. Virtual classes...... classes and parameterized classes have been made. Although virtual classes and nested classes have been used in BETA for more than a decade, their implementation has not been published. The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the understanding of virtual classes and nested classes by presenting...

Attention and Achievement Exhibited by Middle- and Lower Class Black and White Elementary School Boys

Science.gov (United States)

Hall, Vernon C.; And Others

1977-01-01

Although there were social class and race differences in achievement and intelligence test scores, no relationship was found between attending and these variables. There was a significant correlation between the intelligence and achievement test scores, but no evidence that the relationship was different for the different groups. (Author/MV)

Africa’s Legends: digital technologies, aesthetics and middle-class aspirations in Ghanaian games and comics

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Pijnaker, T.; Spronk, R.

2017-01-01

Africa’s Legends is a mobile application developed by the Ghanaian game development company Leti Arts in 2012. The app consists of one game and two comics about eight ‘African’ superheroes. This article aims to give insight into the intersection of digital technologies and social class; it

Virginia Tech to host virtual reality, robotics, and web workshops for middle school students

OpenAIRE

Felker, Susan B.

2004-01-01

Three summer workshops on web development, virtual reality, and robotics will offer aspiring middle school web designers, writers, and computer scientists a high-tech learning adventure designed to teach skills in math, science, computers, and oral and written communication. Virginia Tech's Continuing and Professional Education and the Center for Instructional Technology Solutions in Industry and Education developed the workshops with support from Montgomery County and Salem schools. Classes ...

The neutral peace and the ‘Chilean selfless’. Immigrants and middle sectors in Chile 1930-1960

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Claudia Stern

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Between the years 1930-1960, Chile experienced some of the same physiognomy changes that Latin American societies had been facing since the beginning of the 20th century. At the time, Chilean immigrants were formulating their identities and perceived the middle sectors as their equals. The middle sectors were developing their social class sensibility and thus helped foster a general sense of open attitude and inclusion. At the same time, immigrants were dealing with their ‘Chileanization’ process and took advantage of the middle sectors’ feelings of respect for the immigrants’ efforts and accomplishments. Therefore, in general, the middle sectors symbolized a space of coexistence and neutrality, following the same path of aspiration that neutral peace theory proposes. This paper examines the linkage between immigrants and middle sectors in Chile from the viewpoint of the neutral peace theory. The narrative of the social collective imaginary of middle sectors facilitated immigrants’ integration into Chilean society. For middle sectors their specific memberships and senses of belonging were valued more than a “middle class” identification. In fact Chilean middle sectors preferred to imagine themselves there only as a momentary station, in transition, on their way to something better, similar to the way their immigrant counterparts felt. In fact, middle sectors admired the immigrants’ sacrifices and identified with them. This translated into a mutually beneficial openness as the immigrants sought harmony in their new environment. Here the neutral peace theory plays a role in understanding the scope of immigrants’ acculturation into local society, as well as exposing the ways in which sectors in the middle served as a unifying agent. Gradually immigrants ‘chileanized’, by integrating and assembling new components of their Chilean identities while retaining their ethnic ones. Therefore, a key figure in unraveling the convergence

Paving the Way for Small Satellite Access to Orbit: Cyclops' Deployment of SpinSat, the Largest Satellite Ever Deployed from the International Space Station

Science.gov (United States)

Hershey, Matthew P.; Newswander, Daniel R.; Smith, James P.; Lamb, Craig R.; Ballard, Perry G.

2015-01-01

The Space Station Integrated Kinetic Launcher for Orbital Payload Systems (SSIKLOPS), known as "Cyclops" to the International Space Station (ISS) community, successfully deployed the largest satellite ever (SpinSat) from the ISS on November 28, 2014. Cyclops, a collaboration between the NASA ISS Program, NASA Johnson Space Center Engineering, and Department of Defense Space Test Program (DoD STP) communities, is a dedicated 10-100 kg class ISS small satellite deployment system. This paper will showcase the successful deployment of SpinSat from the ISS. It will also outline the concept of operations, interfaces, requirements, and processes for satellites to utilize the Cyclops satellite deployment system.

Predicting Traffic Flow in Local Area Networks by the Largest Lyapunov Exponent

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yan Liu

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The dynamics of network traffic are complex and nonlinear, and chaotic behaviors and their prediction, which play an important role in local area networks (LANs, are studied in detail, using the largest Lyapunov exponent. With the introduction of phase space reconstruction based on the time sequence, the high-dimensional traffic is projected onto the low dimension reconstructed phase space, and a reduced dynamic system is obtained from the dynamic system viewpoint. Then, a numerical method for computing the largest Lyapunov exponent of the low-dimensional dynamic system is presented. Further, the longest predictable time, which is related to chaotic behaviors in the system, is studied using the largest Lyapunov exponent, and the Wolf method is used to predict the evolution of the traffic in a local area network by both Dot and Interval predictions, and a reliable result is obtained by the presented method. As the conclusion, the results show that the largest Lyapunov exponent can be used to describe the sensitivity of the trajectory in the reconstructed phase space to the initial values. Moreover, Dot Prediction can effectively predict the flow burst. The numerical simulation also shows that the presented method is feasible and efficient for predicting the complex dynamic behaviors in LAN traffic, especially for congestion and attack in networks, which are the main two complex phenomena behaving as chaos in networks.

Reconstructing Class Sport Practices in Post-Communist Poland

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lenartowicz Michał

2014-09-01

Full Text Available The article analyzes the changes in attitude of Poles towards sport and recreational activities as well as their participation in these disciplines between the period before system transformations and the present day. Based on examples from literature and own studies, we have observed that Poles have shown a growing interest in sport and recreational activities. Moreover, social diversity of participants in this field has been noted. Sport disciplines and diverse recreational activities perceived as "bourgeois" during the socialist period are becoming more popular among members of the middle and upper classes as potential attractive and clear markers of social status. Interest in sport, skills, knowledge, and sports equipment and outfit in such disciplines as sailing, horse riding, golf, and hunting are thus becoming distinctive social markers. These factors are adopted in the reconstruction of sports practiced by members of different social classes. The continuity of sport practice was abruptly interrupted by the outbreak of the Second World War and the following half-century of socialism

Inheritance of craniofacial features in Colombian families with class III malocclusion

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

L Otero

2010-02-01

Full Text Available L Otero, L Quintero, D Champsaur, E SimancaPontificia Universidad Javeriana, Bogotá, ColombiaIntroduction: The inheritance of class III malocclusion has been well documented, but the inheritance of craniofacial structures in Colombian families with this malocclusion has been not yet reported.Patients and methods: The study sample of 25 families comprised 186 untreated orthodontic individuals from 8 to 60 years old. Pedigrees were drawn using Cyrillic software. Complete family histories for each proband were ascertained and the affection status of relatives was confirmed by lateral cephalograms and facial and dental photographs. Analysis of variance and odds ratio test for each parameter was performed to estimate inheritance from parents to offspring and to determine similar phenotypic features in relatives.Results: The analysis of the pedigrees suggests autosomal dominant inheritance. The craniofacial characteristics that showed more resemblance between parents and offspring were middle facial height, shorter anterior cranial base and mandibular prognathism. In contrast the protrusion of upper lip and maxillary retrusion were the phenotypic features that contributed to class III in the majority of families.Conclusion: Knowledge of the inheritance of craniofacial phenotypes in class III malocclusion will enable the design of new therapies to treat this malocclusion.Keywords: inheritance, craniofacial, phenotype, class III malocclusion

Unintended volunteers: the volunteering pathways of working class young people in community sport

OpenAIRE

Bradford, S; Hills, L; Johnston, C

2016-01-01

Sport has become a major setting for youth volunteering in the UK. Volunteering has become understood as a means of enhancing responsible citizenship and of adding various capitals to young people’s identities. Much research on young people’s volunteering in sport has typically (and sometimes by default) focused on middle class experiences, highlighting the combination of instrumental and altruistic motives for volunteering, the importance of family and school in decisions about volunteering ...

Characteristics of radium isotopes in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze river

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Su Ni; Du Jinzhou; Duan Zonglian

2010-01-01

The paper studied the distribution pattern of radium isotopes in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River based on the cruise survey in Jan. 2008. The results showed that dissolved 226 Ra and 228 Ra activities varied stably around 1.17-2.37 Bq/m 3 and 1.47-3.28 Bq/m 3 in the middle reaches, while they increased in the lower reaches. Dissolved Ra activities were much higher in the Dongting and the Poyang Lakes. The particulate Ra activity was found to increase downstream. Additionally, the yearly flux of dissolved Ra from the river to the ocean was estimated based on the monthly measured Ra activity in the Xuliujing and the runoff. The estimated flux varied between 0.74 x 10 12 -1.96 x 10 12 Bq/y. The dissolved Ra activity was found largest in the Yangtze estuary, medium in the Yangtze River, and smallest in the East China Sea. It indicated the filter effect of the Yangtze estuary to the fate of terrestrial Ra. (authors)

Familias, retornos educativos y clases sociales. Valorización de capital cultural y estrategias escolares de clase media y clase trabajadora en Córdoba (Argentina (Families, educational rewards and social classes. Cultural capital valorization and scholar strategies of middle class and working class in Córdoba (Argentina

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gonzalo Assusa

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Este texto analiza las estrategias de inversión y valorización del capital cultural en familias de clases media y trabajadora. Desde la teoría de la práctica de Pierre Bourdieu, y utilizando metodología que combina técnicas multivariadas (ACM y entrevistas en profundidad, realizamos un análisis comparado de las apuestas escolares de las posiciones intermedias del espacio social de Gran Córdoba (Argentina. El objetivo es complejizar el análisis sobre las recientes dinámicas de desigualdad social, y desplazar la mirada desde la noción de retornos educativos hacia las lógicas de inversión, las disposiciones prácticas y los modos de reproducción social de las familias. | The current document analyzes the strategies of cultural capital investment and valorization of the middle and working class families. From the Pierre Bourdieu's theory of practice, and using methodology that combines multivariate techniques (ACM and in-depth interviews, we conducted a comparative analysis of school investments in the intermediate positions of the social space of Gran Córdoba (Argentina. The goal is to open the analysis of the recent dynamics of social inequality and to shift the focus from the notion of educational returns to the investment logic, practical dispositions and social reproduction modes of the families.

The role of alcohol in constructing gender & class identities among young women in the age of social media.

Science.gov (United States)

Lennox, Jemma; Emslie, Carol; Sweeting, Helen; Lyons, Antonia

2018-05-04

Research suggests young women view drinking as a pleasurable aspect of their social lives but that they face challenges in engaging in a traditionally 'masculine' behaviour whilst maintaining a desirable 'femininity'. Social network sites such as Facebook make socialising visible to a wide audience. This paper explores how young people discuss young women's drinking practices, and how young women construct their identities through alcohol consumption and its display on social media. We conducted 21 friendship-based focus groups (both mixed and single sex) with young adults aged 18-29 years and 13 individual interviews with a subset of focus group respondents centred on their Facebook practices. We recruited a purposive sample in Glasgow, Scotland (UK) which included 'middle class' (defined as students and those in professional jobs) and 'working class' respondents (employed in manual/service sector jobs), who participated in a range of venues in the night time economy. Young women's discussions revealed a difficult 'balancing act' between demonstrating an 'up for it' sexy (but not too sexy) femininity through their drinking and appearance, while still retaining control and respectability. This 'balancing act' was particularly precarious for working class women, who appeared to be judged more harshly than middle class women both online and offline. While a gendered double standard around appearance and alcohol consumption is not new, a wider online audience can now observe and comment on how women look and behave. Social structures such as gender and social class remain central to the construction of identity both online and offline. Copyright © 2018 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Preparing and Supporting Black Students to Enroll and Achieve in Advanced Mathematics Classes in Middle School: A Case Study

Science.gov (United States)

Cobbs, Joyce Bernice

2014-01-01

The literature on minority student achievement indicates that Black students are underrepresented in advanced mathematics courses. Advanced mathematics courses offer students the opportunity to engage with challenging curricula, experience rigorous instruction, and interact with quality teachers. The middle school years are particularly…

A Multifaceted Program To Improve Self-Esteem and Social Skills while Reducing Anxiety in Emotionally Handicapped Middle School Students.

Science.gov (United States)

Poirier, Lynn

A practicum was developed to increase self-esteem, to lower anxiety, and to improve social skills in 13 emotionally handicapped (EH) middle school boys. An additional objective was to provide parenting classes which focused on increasing parents' knowledge and skills in improving their children's self esteem. The 8-month multifaceted program…

Lagisza, world's largest CFB boiler, begins commercial operation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Nuortimo, K. [Foster Wheeler, Varkaus (Finland)

2010-04-15

Early operating experience with the Lagisza circulating fluidised bed (CFB) boiler in Poland - the world's largest such boiler to date, and also the first one with supercritical steam conditions - has been positive. 3 figs., 4 tabs.

Temporal properties of seismicity and largest earthquakes in SE Carpathians

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. Byrdina

2006-01-01

Full Text Available In order to estimate the hazard rate distribution of the largest seismic events in Vrancea, South-Eastern Carpathians, we study temporal properties of historical and instrumental catalogues of seismicity. First, on the basis of Generalized Extreme Value theory we estimate the average return period of the largest events. Then, following Bak et al. (2002 and Corral (2005a, we study scaling properties of recurrence times between earthquakes in appropriate spatial volumes. We come to the conclusion that the seismicity is temporally clustered, and that the distribution of recurrence times is significantly different from a Poisson process even for times largely exceeding corresponding periods of foreshock and aftershock activity. Modeling the recurrence times by a gamma distributed variable, we finally estimate hazard rates with respect to the time elapsed from the last large earthquake.

The Expanding Middle Class

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

何伟文

2004-01-01

Has the perennial dream finally come true?According to official figures,the answer is yes indeed.At last,the Chinese market is what British colonists and the like were imagining two hundred years ago:enormous.It can,so went the dream,easily be tapped and consequently will bring a boon.Until now though,the dream has not transcended into reality.

Principles of establishing a Middle East Weapons of Mass Destruction Free Zone (MEWMDFZ)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hammad, F.H.; Ali, Adel M.

2001-01-01

The Middle East is one of the most dangerous regions in the world. It has suffered conflicts and wars - with weapons of mass destruction (WMD) implications - at higher frequency and intensity than any other region during the last 60 years. The Middle East was the largest importer of conventional weapons in the world since the second gulf war and the UNSCR 687, which aimed at destroying the Iraqi WMD capabilities and capacity. This arms race is fueled by stockpiles of nuclear and other WMD. In addition several countries remain outside the global nonproliferation and disarmament regimes such as the NPT, CWC and BWC. The situation is further complicated by the serious problems facing the Middle East peace process, which is not only threatening peace and security in the region but also in the world. This unstable risky situation cannot continue like this and cannot be handled step by step any more. The establishing of a MEWMDFZ in the context of a regional security system is the only way out. It is a difficult and remote objective but a tenable one. It is essential to work out the technical, legal and political framework of the envisaged system. This paper deals with efforts undertaken to establish a MEWMDFZ and the development of the underlying principles, based on lessons learnt from the evolution of NWFZs as well as regional and global nonproliferation, arms control and disarmament (NPACD) developments

Keep it looking beautiful! Historicised residential architecture as a means of reproducing the middle class self

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Meier, Sabine

2012-01-01

This paper explores how residents of Helmond Brandevoort, a neotraditional neighbourhood in the Netherlands, socially construct a 'classed' place identity and what role the historicised architecture plays within that process. Given that place identity is constructed through social and cultural

PNNL supercomputer to become largest computing resource on the Grid

CERN Multimedia

2002-01-01

Hewlett Packard announced that the US DOE Pacific Northwest National Laboratory will connect a 9.3-teraflop HP supercomputer to the DOE Science Grid. This will be the largest supercomputer attached to a computer grid anywhere in the world (1 page).

Worlds largest particle physics laboratory selects Proxim Wireless Mesh

CERN Multimedia

2007-01-01

"Proxim Wireless has announced that the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), the world's largest particle physics laboratory and the birthplace of the World Wide Web, is using it's ORiNOCO AP-4000 mesh access points to extend the range of the laboratory's Wi-Fi network and to provide continuous monitoring of the lab's calorimeters" (1/2 page)

Discovery of the largest orbweaving spider species: the evolution of gigantism in Nephila.

Science.gov (United States)

Kuntner, Matjaz; Coddington, Jonathan A

2009-10-21

More than 41,000 spider species are known with about 400-500 added each year, but for some well-known groups, such as the giant golden orbweavers, Nephila, the last valid described species dates from the 19(th) century. Nephila are renowned for being the largest web-spinning spiders, making the largest orb webs, and are model organisms for the study of extreme sexual size dimorphism (SSD) and sexual biology. Here, we report on the discovery of a new, giant Nephila species from Africa and Madagascar, and review size evolution and SSD in Nephilidae. We formally describe N. komaci sp. nov., the largest web spinning species known, and place the species in phylogenetic context to reconstruct the evolution of mean size (via squared change parsimony). We then test female and male mean size correlation using phylogenetically independent contrasts, and simulate nephilid body size evolution using Monte Carlo statistics. Nephila females increased in size almost monotonically to establish a mostly African clade of true giants. In contrast, Nephila male size is effectively decoupled and hovers around values roughly one fifth of female size. Although N. komaci females are the largest Nephila yet discovered, the males are also large and thus their SSD is not exceptional.

Discovery of the largest orbweaving spider species: the evolution of gigantism in Nephila.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Matjaz Kuntner

2009-10-01

Full Text Available More than 41,000 spider species are known with about 400-500 added each year, but for some well-known groups, such as the giant golden orbweavers, Nephila, the last valid described species dates from the 19(th century. Nephila are renowned for being the largest web-spinning spiders, making the largest orb webs, and are model organisms for the study of extreme sexual size dimorphism (SSD and sexual biology. Here, we report on the discovery of a new, giant Nephila species from Africa and Madagascar, and review size evolution and SSD in Nephilidae.We formally describe N. komaci sp. nov., the largest web spinning species known, and place the species in phylogenetic context to reconstruct the evolution of mean size (via squared change parsimony. We then test female and male mean size correlation using phylogenetically independent contrasts, and simulate nephilid body size evolution using Monte Carlo statistics.Nephila females increased in size almost monotonically to establish a mostly African clade of true giants. In contrast, Nephila male size is effectively decoupled and hovers around values roughly one fifth of female size. Although N. komaci females are the largest Nephila yet discovered, the males are also large and thus their SSD is not exceptional.

Class prediction for high-dimensional class-imbalanced data

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lusa Lara

2010-10-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The goal of class prediction studies is to develop rules to accurately predict the class membership of new samples. The rules are derived using the values of the variables available for each subject: the main characteristic of high-dimensional data is that the number of variables greatly exceeds the number of samples. Frequently the classifiers are developed using class-imbalanced data, i.e., data sets where the number of samples in each class is not equal. Standard classification methods used on class-imbalanced data often produce classifiers that do not accurately predict the minority class; the prediction is biased towards the majority class. In this paper we investigate if the high-dimensionality poses additional challenges when dealing with class-imbalanced prediction. We evaluate the performance of six types of classifiers on class-imbalanced data, using simulated data and a publicly available data set from a breast cancer gene-expression microarray study. We also investigate the effectiveness of some strategies that are available to overcome the effect of class imbalance. Results Our results show that the evaluated classifiers are highly sensitive to class imbalance and that variable selection introduces an additional bias towards classification into the majority class. Most new samples are assigned to the majority class from the training set, unless the difference between the classes is very large. As a consequence, the class-specific predictive accuracies differ considerably. When the class imbalance is not too severe, down-sizing and asymmetric bagging embedding variable selection work well, while over-sampling does not. Variable normalization can further worsen the performance of the classifiers. Conclusions Our results show that matching the prevalence of the classes in training and test set does not guarantee good performance of classifiers and that the problems related to classification with class

On the statistics of the largest geomagnetic storms per solar cycle

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Siscoe, G.L.

1976-01-01

The theory of extreme value statistics is applied to the first, second, and third largest geomagnetic storms in nine solar cycles measured by the average half-daily aa indices compiled by Mayaud. Analytic expressions giving the probability of the extremes per solar cycle as a contour function of storm magnitude are obtained by least squares fitting of the observations to the appropriate theoretical extreme value probability functions. The results are used to obtain the statistical characteristics (mode, median, mean, and standard deviation) for the extreme values. The results are applied to find the expected range of extreme values in a set as a function of the number of solar cycles in the set. We find that the expected range of the largest storm is quite narrow and is larger for the second and third largest storms. The observed range of the extreme half-daily aa index for the nine solar cycles is 354--546 γ. In a set of 100 cycles the range is expanded esentially to 311--680γ, an increase of only 39% in the range. The result supports the argument for a change in solar cycle statistics in the latter part of the Seventeenth Century (the Maunder minimum)

[Relationship between cyberbullying and the suicide related psychological behavior among middle and high school students in Anhui Province].

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Gengfu; Fang, Yu; Jiang, Liu; Zhou, Guiyang; Yuan, Shanshan; Wang, Xiuxiu; Su, Puyu

2015-11-01

To examine the prevalence rate of cyberbullying in middle and high school students in Anhui Province and explore the relationship between cyberbullying and suicide related psychological behavior. A total of 5726 middle and high school students from the 7th to the 12th grades in three regular middle schools and three regular high schools recruited from three cities in the Anhui Province (Tongling, Chuzhou, and Fuyang). Tongling, Chuzhou, and Fuyang are in the south, middle and north of Anhui, respectively. Each city was selected one regular middle school and one regular high school, and 8 classes were selected form each grade from each school. A stratified cluster random sampling method was used to randomly select 5726 participants among the six schools. Self-reports on cyberbullying and suicide related psychological behavior were collected. Among these 5726 adolescents, 46.8% of them involved in cyberbullying. Among them, 3.2% were bullies, 23.8% were victims, and 19.8% were both. Prevalence rates of suicide idea, suicide plan, suicide preparation, suicide implementation were 19.3%, 6.9%, 4.7% and 1.8%, respectively. Cyberbullying involvement, as victims, bullies or bully-victims, increased the risk of four kinds of suicide related psychological behavior (suicide idea, suicide plan, suicide preparation, suicide implementation) (P Cyberbullying has become a common occurrence in middle and high school students. Additionally, cyberbullying is closely related to suicide related psychological behavior among middle and high school students.

Middle palaeolithic and neolithic occupations around Mundafan Palaeolake, Saudi Arabia: implications for climate change and human dispersals.

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Rémy Crassard

Full Text Available The Arabian Peninsula is a key region for understanding climate change and human occupation history in a marginal environment. The Mundafan palaeolake is situated in southern Saudi Arabia, in the Rub' al-Khali (the 'Empty Quarter', the world's largest sand desert. Here we report the first discoveries of Middle Palaeolithic and Neolithic archaeological sites in association with the palaeolake. We associate the human occupations with new geochronological data, and suggest the archaeological sites date to the wet periods of Marine Isotope Stage 5 and the Early Holocene. The archaeological sites indicate that humans repeatedly penetrated the ameliorated environments of the Rub' al-Khali. The sites probably represent short-term occupations, with the Neolithic sites focused on hunting, as indicated by points and weaponry. Middle Palaeolithic assemblages at Mundafan support a lacustrine adaptive focus in Arabia. Provenancing of obsidian artifacts indicates that Neolithic groups at Mundafan had a wide wandering range, with transport of artifacts from distant sources.

A Practical Measure of Student Motivation: Establishing Validity Evidence for the Expectancy-Value-Cost Scale in Middle School

Science.gov (United States)

Kosovich, Jeff J.; Hulleman, Chris S.; Barron, Kenneth E.; Getty, Steve

2015-01-01

We present validity evidence for the Expectancy-Value-Cost (EVC) Scale of student motivation. Using a brief, 10-item scale, we measured middle school students' expectancy, value, and cost for their math and science classes in the Fall and Winter of the same academic year. Confirmatory factor analyses supported the three-factor structure of the EVC…

Revisiting the phylogeny of Ocellularieae, the second largest tribe within Graphidaceae (lichenized Ascomycota: Ostropales)

Science.gov (United States)

Ekaphan Kraichak; Sittiporn Parnmen; Robert Lücking; Eimy Rivas Plata; Andre Aptroot; Marcela E.S. Caceres; Damien Ertz; Armin Mangold; Joel A. Mercado-Diaz; Khwanruan Papong; Dries Van der Broeck; Gothamie Weerakoon; H. Thorsten. Lumbsch; NO-VALUE

2014-01-01

We present an updated 3-locus molecular phylogeny of tribe Ocellularieae, the second largest tribe within subfamily Graphidoideae in the Graphidaceae. Adding 165 newly generated sequences from the mitochondrial small subunit rDNA (mtSSU), the nuclear large subunit rDNA (nuLSU), and the second largest subunit of the DNA-directed RNA polymerase II (RPB2), we currently...

Transformative Multicultural Science curriculum: A case study of middle school robotics

Science.gov (United States)

Grimes, Mary Katheryn

Multicultural Science has been a topic of research and discourse over the past several years. However, most of the literature concerning this topic (or paradigm) has centered on programs in tribal or Indigenous schools. Under the framework of instructional congruence, this case study explored how elementary and middle school students in a culturally diverse charter school responded to a Multicultural Science program. Furthermore, this research sought to better understand the dynamics of teaching and learning strategies used within the paradigm of Multicultural Science. The school's Robotics class, a class typically stereotyped as fitting within the misconceptions associated with the Western Modern Science paradigm, was the center of this case study. A triangulation of data consisted of class observations throughout two semesters; pre and post student science attitude surveys; and interviews with individual students, Robotic student teams, the Robotics class instructor, and school administration. Three themes emerged from the data that conceptualized the influence of a Multicultural Science curriculum with ethnically diverse students in a charter school's Robotics class. Results included the students' perceptions of a connection between science (i.e., Robotics) and their personal lives, a positive growth in the students' attitude toward science (and engineering), and a sense of personal empowerment toward being successful in science. However, also evident in the findings were the students' stereotypical attitudes toward science (and scientists) and their lack of understanding of the Nature of Science. Implications from this study include suggestions toward the development of Multicultural Science curricula in public schools. Modifications in university science methods courses to include the Multicultural Science paradigm are also suggested.

Labour recruitment practices and its class implications: comparing workers in Singapore’s segmented labour market

OpenAIRE

Ye, J.

2013-01-01

This paper contributes to the literature on labour migration by considering the class commonalities and differences as refracted through gender that are embedded within recruitment practices of different workers. Recent writings on the recruitment of labour migrants often distinguish between low-waged and middle-income workers without clearly addressing the the linkages between recruitment practices of both. By adopting a comparative framework between Bangladeshi male migrants and transnation...

Links between sex-typed time use in middle childhood and gender development in early adolescence.

Science.gov (United States)

McHale, Susan M; Kim, Ji-Yeon; Whiteman, Shawn; Crouter, Ann C

2004-09-01

The authors studied sex-typing in the kinds (e.g., sports, handicrafts) and social contexts (same- vs. other-sex companions) of children's free time activities, and the links between sex-typed activities and gender development over 2 years. Participants were 200 White, working- and middle-class children (103 girls, 97 boys; mean age = 10.86 years). In annual home interviews, children rated their self-esteem, gender role attitudes and sex-typed personality qualities, academic interests, and school grades. During 7 nightly phone interviews each year, children reported on their activities. Boys were more sex-typed than girls in their peer activities, and children were least sex-typed in their activities with siblings. Sex-typed activities in middle childhood predicted individual differences in gender development in early adolescence. Copyright 2004 American Psychological Association

Factors other than hepatitis B virus responsible for hepatocellular carcinomas in lower social class

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pervez, T.; Anwar, M.S.

2002-01-01

Objective: To find out the role of other etiological agents besides hepatitis B virus in the genesis of Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in our social classes. Design: A hospital-based observational study. Place and Duration of Study: The study was conducted in oncology department of services Hospital, Lahore from December 1997 to February 2001. Patients and Methods: One hundred patients of hepatocellular carcinoma ware divided into three groups based on monthly income. Lower socioeconomic group had monthly income less than 3,000 Pakistani rupees. Middle socioeconomic group had monthly income between 3,000-1,000 Pakistani rupees and upper socioeconomic group heard monthly income of more than 10,000 Pakistani rupees. Percentages of HCC patients positive for HbsAg in different socioeconomic groups in our population were compared to assess the social class difference, the possibility and correlation of other factors present in our classes for the formation of hepatocellular carcinoma besides hepatitis B virus. Results: We found that there was no significant difference in HbsAg positively in different classes. Conclusion: If HBV was only responsible for this disease than there should have been consistency in the outcome. But as there is a higher prevalence of HCC in poor class, this reflects that other etiological agents are also operating. This needs further evaluation. (author)

Dependent Classes

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Gasiunas, Vaidas; Mezini, Mira; Ostermann, Klaus

2007-01-01

of dependent classes and a machine-checked type soundness proof in Isabelle/HOL [29], the first of this kind for a language with virtual classes and path-dependent types. [29] T.Nipkow, L.C. Poulson, and M. Wenzel. Isabelle/HOL -- A Proof Assistant for Higher-Order Logic, volume 2283 of LNCS, Springer, 2002......Virtual classes allow nested classes to be refined in subclasses. In this way nested classes can be seen as dependent abstractions of the objects of the enclosing classes. Expressing dependency via nesting, however, has two limitations: Abstractions that depend on more than one object cannot...... be modeled and a class must know all classes that depend on its objects. This paper presents dependent classes, a generalization of virtual classes that expresses similar semantics by parameterization rather than by nesting. This increases expressivity of class variations as well as the flexibility...

[Risk sharing methods in middle income countries].

Science.gov (United States)

Inotai, András; Kaló, Zoltán

2012-01-01

The pricing strategy of innovative medicines is based on the therapeutic value in the largest pharmaceutical markets. The cost-effectiveness of new medicines with value based ex-factory price is justifiable. Due to the international price referencing and parallel trade the ex-factory price corridor of new medicines has been narrowed in recent years. Middle income countries have less negotiation power to change the narrow drug pricing corridor, although their fair intention is to buy pharmaceuticals at lower price from their scarce public resources compared to higher income countries. Therefore the reimbursement of new medicines at prices of Western-European countries may not be justifiable in Central-Eastern European countries. Confidential pricing agreements (i.e. confidential price discounts, claw-back or rebate) in lower income countries of the European Union can alleviate this problem, as prices of new medicines can be adjusted to local purchasing power without influencing the published ex-factory price and so the accessibility of patients to these drugs in other countries. In order to control the drug budget payers tend to apply financial risk sharing agreements for new medicines in more and more countries to shift the consequences of potential overspending to pharmaceutical manufacturers. The major paradox of financial risk-sharing schemes is that increased mortality, poor persistence of patients, reduced access to healthcare providers, and no treatment reduce pharmaceutical spending. Consequently, payers have started to apply outcome based risk sharing agreements for new medicines recently to improve the quality of health care provision. Our paper aims to review and assess the published financial and outcome based risk sharing methods. Introduction of outcome based risk-sharing schemes can be a major advancement in the drug reimbursement strategy of payers in middle income countries. These schemes can help to reduce the medical uncertainty in coverage

CERN, World's largest particle physics lab, selects Progress SonicMQ

CERN Document Server

2007-01-01

"Progress Software Corporation (NADAQ: PRGS), a global supplier of application insfrastructure software used to develop, deploy, integrate and manage business applications, today announced that CERN the world's largest physis laboratory and particle accelerator, has chosen Progress® SonicMQ® for mission-critical message delivery." (1 page)

Synchrotron Emission on the Largest Scales: Radio Detection of the ...

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

Abstract. Shocks and turbulence generated during large-scale structure formation are predicted to produce large-scale, low surface-brightness synchrotron emission. On the largest scales, this emission is globally correlated with the thermal baryon distribution, and constitutes the 'syn- chrotron cosmic-web'. I present the ...

Distribution of the Largest Eigenvalues of the Levi-Smirnov Ensemble

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wieczorek, W.

2004-01-01

We calculate the distribution of the k-th largest eigenvalue in the random matrix Levi - Smirnov Ensemble (LSE), using the spectral dualism between LSE and chiral Gaussian Unitary Ensemble (GUE). Then we reconstruct universal spectral oscillations and we investigate an asymptotic behavior of the spectral distribution. (author)

In the Beginning of the Middle: Curriculum Considerations for Middle School General Music

Science.gov (United States)

Giebelhausen, Robin

2015-01-01

Middle school general music is an experience that numerous music educators feel underprepared to teach. Because many undergraduate programs spend little time on this teaching scenario and because the challenges of middle school general music are different from those of elementary general music or middle school ensembles, teachers often lack the…

Levels of Management Commitment: A Moderator the Structural Relationships among Critical Success Factors of TQM, World-Class Performance in Operations, and Company Financial Performance

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wakhid Slamet Ciptono

2012-01-01

Full Text Available This study investigates the moderating impacts of the three levels of management commitment (top, middle, and low levels on the structural relationships among the constructs— six critical success factors of TQM (quality improvement program, supervisory leadership, supplier involvement, management commitment, training to improve products/services, cross-functional relationships; world-class performance in operations (world-class company practices, operational excellence practices, company non-financial performance; and company financial performance. It uses a sample of 1,332 managers in 140 strategic business units (SBUs within 49 oil and gas companies in Indonesia. The empirical results indicate that the goodness-of-fit of the unconstrained model is much better than that of the constrained model, and this is an indicative that the three level of management moderates the structural relationships among the constructs. Those are, three levels of management act as a moderator variable between critical success factors of TQM, world-class company practices, operational excellence practices, company non-financial performance, and company financial performance. Results further reveal that world-class performances in operations (world-class company practices, operational excellence practices, and company non-financial performance were positively mediated the impact of critical success factors of TQM on company financial performance. Results also point out that five of six critical success factors of TQM positively associated with world-class company practices and operational excellence practices under the three levels of management (top, middle, low. World-class company practices and operational excellence practices have direct and significant effects on company non-financial performance (productivity, operational reliability. Furthermore, empirical results suggest that there is a positive and significant relationship between company non

Exploring the Relationships among Race, Class, Gender, and Middle School Students' Perceptions of School Racial Climate

Science.gov (United States)

Watkins, Natasha D.; Aber, Mark S.

2009-01-01

Although school climate has been thought to be especially important for racial minority and poor students (Booker, 2006; Haynes, Emmons, & Ben-Avie, 1997), little research has explored the significance of racial climate for these students. Furthermore, research in the area has tended to treat race, socioeconomic class, and gender separately,…

Textbooks of Doubt: Using Systemic Functional Analysis to Explore the Framing of Climate Change in Middle-School Science Textbooks

Science.gov (United States)

Román, Diego; Busch, K. C.

2016-01-01

Middle school students are learning about climate change in large part through textbooks used in their classes. Therefore, it is crucial to understand how the language employed in these materials frames this topic. To this end, we used systemic functional analysis to study the language of the chapters related to climate change in four sixth grade…

Designing Urban Experiences for a Suburban Population

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jantzen, Christian; Vetner, Mikael

In the planning of Almere special attention was paid to establishing attractive  surroundings for modern middle class living. Accordingly the city was developed as a  network of suburbs with ample space for gardens, parks etc., and with an infrastructure aimed  at keeping different forms......, as a consequence of the governmental policy for  future regional development, agreed upon in the 1990es, Almere remains a kernel for future  growth. The population of the city is expected to extend further in the next decades. In 2030 it  should thus have 350.000 inhabitants, becoming by then the fifth largest......  dwellers, and also new segments of citizens with other preferences and more pronounced  expectations (esp. upper middle class, which at the time being are largely absent). To face  these challenges, the city council in 1995 decided to develop a new city centre, which should  enhance Almere’s regional...

The development of socio-motivational dependency from early to middle adolescence

Science.gov (United States)

Jagenow, Danilo; Raufelder, Diana; Eid, Michael

2015-01-01

Research on students’ motivation has shown that motivation can be enhanced or undermined by social factors. However, when interpreting such findings, interindividual differences, and intraindividual changes underlying students’ perception of peers and teachers as a source of motivation are often neglected. The aim of the present study was to complement our understanding of socio-motivational dependency by investigating differences in the development of students’ socio-motivational dependency from early to middle adolescence. Data from 1088 students on their perceptions of peers and teachers as positive motivators when students were in seventh and eighth grade were compared with data of the same sample 2 years later. Latent class analysis supported four different motivation types (MT): (1) teacher-dependent MT, (2) peer-dependent MT, (3) teacher-and-peer-dependent MT, and (4) teacher-and-peer-independent MT. Latent transition analysis revealed substantial changes between the groups. The perceived teacher influence on students’ academic motivation increased from early to middle adolescence. Divergent roles of peers and teachers on students’ academic motivation are discussed. PMID:25762966

Health insurance premium increases for the 5 largest school districts in the United States, 2004-2008.

Science.gov (United States)

Cantillo, John R

2010-03-01

Local school districts are often one of the largest, if not the largest, employers in their respective communities. Like many large employers, school districts offer health insurance to their employees. There is a lack of information about the rate of health insurance premiums in US school districts relative to other employers. To assess the change in the costs of healthcare insurance in the 5 largest public school districts in the United States, between 2004 and 2008, as representative of large public employers in the country. Data for this study were drawn exclusively from a survey sent to the 5 largest public school districts in the United States. The survey requested responses on 3 data elements for each benefit plan offered from 2004 through 2008; these included enrollment, employee costs, and employer costs. The premium growth for the 5 largest school districts has slowed down and is consistent with other purchasers-Kaiser/Health Research & Educational Trust and the Federal Employee Health Benefit Program. The average increase in health insurance premium for the schools was 5.9% in 2008, and the average annual growth rate over the study period was 7.5%. For family coverage, these schools provide the most generous employer contribution (80.8%) compared with the employer contribution reported by other employers (73.5%) for 2008. Often the largest employers in their communities, school districts demonstrate a commitment to provide choice of benefits and affordability for employees and their families. Despite constraints typical of public employers, the 5 largest school districts in the United States have decelerated in premium growth consistent with other purchasers, albeit at a slower pace.

The effect of subjective and objective social class on health-related quality of life: new paradigm using longitudinal analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Choi, Young; Kim, Jae-Hyun; Park, Eun-Cheol

2015-08-08

To investigate the impact of the gap between subjective and objective social status on health-related quality of life. We analyzed data from 12,350 participants aged ≥ 18 years in the Korean Health Panel Survey. Health-related quality of life was measured by EuroQol-Visual analogue scale. Objective (income and education) and subjective social class (measured by MacArthur scale) was classified into three groups (High, Middle, Low). In terms of a gap between objective and subjective social class, social class was grouped into nine categories ranging from High-High to Low-Low. A linear mixed model was used to investigate the association between the combined social class and health-related quality of life. The impact of the gap between objective and subjective status on Health-related quality of life varied according to the type of gap. Namely, at any given subjective social class, an individual's quality of life declined with a decrease in the objective social class. At any given objective social class (e.g., HH, HM, HL; in terms of both education and income), an individual's quality of life declined with a one-level decrease in subjective social class. Our results suggest that studies of the relationship between social class and health outcomes may consider the multidimensional nature of social status.

The Case of Middle and High School Chemistry Teachers Implementing Technology: Using the Concerns-Based Adoption Model to Assess Change Processes

Science.gov (United States)

Gabby, Shwartz; Avargil, Shirly; Herscovitz, Orit; Dori, Yehudit Judy

2017-01-01

An ongoing process of reforming chemical education in middle and high schools in our country introduced the technology-enhanced learning environment (TELE) to chemistry classes. Teachers are encouraged to integrate technology into pedagogical practices in meaningful ways to promote 21st century skills; however, this effort is often hindered by…

Effect of Gender on Students' Emotion with Gender-Related Public Self-Consciousness as a Moderator in Mixed-Gender Physical Education Classes

Science.gov (United States)

Moon, Minkwon; Jeon, Hyunsoo; Kwon, Sungho

2016-01-01

The present study investigates whether gender-related public self-consciousness moderates the relationship between students' gender and emotions in mixed-gender physical education classes. The Positive and Negative Affect Scales and the Gender-related Public Self-Consciousness Scale were administered to 380 middle-school students in South Korea.…

Discovery of the Largest Orbweaving Spider Species: The Evolution of Gigantism in Nephila

OpenAIRE

Kuntner, Matja?; Coddington, Jonathan A.

2009-01-01

Background More than 41,000 spider species are known with about 400?500 added each year, but for some well-known groups, such as the giant golden orbweavers, Nephila, the last valid described species dates from the 19th century. Nephila are renowned for being the largest web-spinning spiders, making the largest orb webs, and are model organisms for the study of extreme sexual size dimorphism (SSD) and sexual biology. Here, we report on the discovery of a new, giant Nephila species from Africa...

Biostratigraphy of the upper Bajocian-middle Callovian (Middle Jurassic), South America

Science.gov (United States)

Riccardi, A. C.; Westermann, G. E. G.; Elmi, S.

The biostratigraphic division of the upper Bajocian-middle Callovian of South America is based on ammonites from different sections of the following provinces and regions: Neuquén, Mendoza, and San Juan in Argentina; Malleco, Linares, Talca, Atacama, Antofagasta, and Tarapacá in Chile. The complete upper Bajocian-middle Callovian succession includes the following biostratigraphic units: the Megasphaeroceras magnum assemblage zone, lowermost upper Bajocian; the Cadomites-Tulitidae mixed assemblages, (?lower) middle and upper Bathonian; the Steinmanni zone, index Lilloettia steinmanni (Spath), uppermost Bathonian, with two local horizons— Stenocephalites gerthi horizon (Argentina) and Choffatia jupiter horizon (northern Chile); the Vergarensis zone, index Eurycephalites vergarensis (Burck.), near the Bathonian-Callovian boundary; the Bodenbenderi zone, index Neuqueniceras (Frickites) bodenbenderi (Tornq.), lower Callovian; the Proximum zone, index Hecticoceras proximum Elmi, uppermost lower Callovian; and the Rehmannia (Loczyceras) patagoniensis horizon, middle Callovian.

Explaining Dimensions of Middle School Mathematics Teachers’ Use of Textbooks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Meric ÖZGELDİ

2012-12-01

Full Text Available Abstract The purpose of the study was to describe middle school mathematics teachers’ use of textbooks. For this purpose, the Use of Mathematics Textbooks Questionnaire was distributed to 531 middle school mathematics teachers. The results of the study showed that teachers used the student edition textbook during the class and prior to class; and mostly read it for the topic, but rarely for problems and examples. Teachers frequently selected questions from the workbook that were not included in the student edition textbook. They frequently used questions in the workbook similar to the ones in the high school entrance exam questions. They used the teacher edition textbook to read the curriculum objectives and to prepare for the class but they very rarely tended to look up the answers of the questions from the teacher edition textbook. They frequently used auxiliary books to select questions that were not included in the student edition textbook. Key words: mathematics textbooks, mathematics teachers’ use of textbooks, middle school Özet Bu çalışmanın amacı, ilköğretim matematik öğretmenlerinin ders kitabı kullanımlarını tanımlamaktır. Bu amaçla, Matematik Öğretmenlerinin Ders Kitabı Kullanım Ölçeği, 531 ilköğretim matematik öğretmenine dağıtılmıştır. Çalışmanın sonuçları göstermektedir ki, öğretmenler ders kitabını sıklıkla derse hazırlık sürecinde ve ders sırasında kullanırken nadiren problemler ve örnekler için kullanmaktadır. Öğretmenler özellikle konunun günlük hayatla ilişkilendirilmesi, diğer derslerle bağlantı kurulması, konu sırasının takibi için ders kitabından faydalanmaktadır. Öğretmenler, çoğunlukla çalışma kitabında bulunan merkezi sınav sorularına benzer soruları kullanmaktadır. Öğretmen kılavuzunu ise kazanımlara bakmak ve derse hazırlık yapmak için kullanmaktadır. Bununla beraber, öğretmenler yardımcı kitapları merkezi s

Measurements and modeling of total solar irradiance in X-class solar flares

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Moore, Christopher Samuel; Chamberlin, Phillip Clyde; Hock, Rachel

2014-01-01

The Total Irradiance Monitor (TIM) from NASA's SOlar Radiation and Climate Experiment can detect changes in the total solar irradiance (TSI) to a precision of 2 ppm, allowing observations of variations due to the largest X-class solar flares for the first time. Presented here is a robust algorithm for determining the radiative output in the TIM TSI measurements, in both the impulsive and gradual phases, for the four solar flares presented in Woods et al., as well as an additional flare measured on 2006 December 6. The radiative outputs for both phases of these five flares are then compared to the vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) irradiance output from the Flare Irradiance Spectral Model (FISM) in order to derive an empirical relationship between the FISM VUV model and the TIM TSI data output to estimate the TSI radiative output for eight other X-class flares. This model provides the basis for the bolometric energy estimates for the solar flares analyzed in the Emslie et al. study.

Sexualidade e gravidez na adolescência entre jovens de camadas médias do Rio de Janeiro, Brasil Middle-class teenage sexuality and pregnancy in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Elaine Reis Brandão

2006-07-01

Full Text Available Aborda-se a gravidez na adolescência entre jovens de camadas médias, prisma pouco estudado no Brasil. Realizou-se um estudo qualitativo sócio-antropológico com 14 famílias do Rio de Janeiro, Brasil, cujos filhos permaneciam solteiros e residindo com os pais, após o nascimento da criança. Foram realizadas 25 entrevistas em profundidade com 6 rapazes e 7 moças entre 18 e 24 anos e seus pais (11 mães e 1 pai, para avaliação retrospectiva da gravidez e de seus impactos na trajetória juvenil e familiar. Três aspectos são analisados: as dificuldades de internalização da norma contraceptiva; a descoberta tardia da gravidez e a tomada de decisão ­ aborto ou reprodução ­ pelos jovens e seus pais. O estudo permitiu configurar a gravidez na adolescência como um evento contingente ao processo de construção da autonomia pessoal em curso nessa fase da vida, no qual a sexualidade tem grande relevância. Conclui-se que o fenômeno precisa ser compreendido em um contexto histórico e cultural específico, distinto de sua ocorrência décadas atrás, pois está marcado pelas regras que organizam o processo de individualização juvenil na contemporaneidade.The subject of this paper is teenage pregnancy among middle-class youth, a topic not sufficiently studied in Brazil. The paper is based on a qualitative, socio-anthropological study of 14 middle-class families in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, whose children have remained single, living with their parents after the child's birth. A total of 25 in-depth interviews were conducted with 6 young men and 7 young women, ages 18 to 24, and their parents (11 mothers, one father, to examine the event in retrospect and its impact on these young people and their families. Three aspects are analyzed: difficulties young people face in internalizing contraception as a norm; late discovery of pregnancy; and how the decision to either have an abortion or give birth is made by young people and their parents

Changes in Student Science Interest from Elementary to Middle School

Science.gov (United States)

Coutts, Trudi E.

This study is a transcendental phenomenological study that described the experience of students’ interest in science from elementary school through middle school grades and the identification of the factors that increase or decrease interest in science. Numerous researchers have found that interest in science changes among children and the change in interest seems to modulate student motivation, which ultimately leads to fewer children choosing not only science classes in the future but science careers. Research studies have identified numerous factors that affect student interest in science; however, this study incorporated the lived experience of the child and looked at this interest in science through the lens of the child. The study design was a collective cross-case study that was multi-site based. This study utilized a sample of children in fifth grade classes of three different elementary schools, two distinct seventh grade classes of different middle schools, and ninth grade children from one high school in the State of Illinois. The phenomenon was investigated through student interviews. The use of one-on-one semi-structured interviews limited to 45 minutes in length provided the researcher with data of each child’s description of science interest. All interviews were audio- recorded and transcribed verbatim. The data was collected and analyzed in order to identify themes, and finally checked for validity. The most significant findings of this study, and possible factors contributing to science interest in children as they progress from elementary to high school, were those findings relating to hands-on activities, the degree to which a student was challenged, the offering of new versus previously studied topics in the curriculum, the perceived relevance of the curricular materials to personal life, and the empowerment children felt when they were allowed to make choices related to their learning experiences. This study’s possible implications for

The physical activity climate in Minnesota middle and high schools.

Science.gov (United States)

Samuelson, Anne; Lytle, Leslie; Pasch, Keryn; Farbakhsh, Kian; Moe, Stacey; Sirard, John Ronald

2010-11-01

This article describes policies, practices, and facilities that form the physical activity climate in Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota metro area middle and high schools and examines how the physical activity climate varies by school characteristics, including public/private, school location and grade level. Surveys examining school physical activity practices, policies and environment were administered to principals and physical education department heads from 115 middle and high schools participating in the Transdisciplinary Research on Energetics and Cancer-Identifying Determinants of Eating and Activity (TREC-IDEA) study. While some supportive practices were highly prevalent in the schools studied (such as prohibiting substitution of other classes for physical education); other practices were less common (such as providing opportunity for intramural (noncompetitive) sports). Public schools vs. private schools and schools with a larger school enrollment were more likely to have a school climate supportive of physical activity. Although schools reported elements of positive physical activity climates, discrepancies exist by school characteristics. Of note, public schools were more than twice as likely as private schools to have supportive physical activity environments. Establishing more consistent physical activity expectations and funding at the state and national level is necessary to increase regular school physical activity.

Class size versus class composition

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jones, Sam

Raising schooling quality in low-income countries is a pressing challenge. Substantial research has considered the impact of cutting class sizes on skills acquisition. Considerably less attention has been given to the extent to which peer effects, which refer to class composition, also may affect...... bias from omitted variables, the preferred IV results indicate considerable negative effects due to larger class sizes and larger numbers of overage-for-grade peers. The latter, driven by the highly prevalent practices of grade repetition and academic redshirting, should be considered an important...

A Meta-Analysis of Middle School Science Engagement

Science.gov (United States)

Aker, Leanna B.

Researchers and educational practitioners have long been concerned with declines in science engagement reported by students as they transition into the middle school setting. Though the operationalization of engagement is still nascent, an emerging consensus on a three-faceted model of student engagement has recently emerged in the research literature (Fredricks, Blumenfeld, & Paris, 2004). Thus, a synthesis of existing primary research of early adolescents' science engagement under this emerging conceptualization was warranted. The results of this meta-analysis indicate that instructional methods, class characteristics and competence predictors had the strongest relationship with self-reported science engagement in early adolescence. These predictors also show the strongest relationship with affective and cognitive engagement sub-types. Though affective and cognitive engagement were well represented in primary studies, behavioral engagement was underrepresented in student self-reports.

From Peripheral to Central, the Story of Melanie's Metamorphosis in an Urban Middle School Science Class

Science.gov (United States)

Tan, Edna; Barton, Angela Calabrese

2008-01-01

Identity formation is a critical dimension of how and why students engage in science to varying degrees. In this paper, we use the lens of identity formation, and in particular identities in practice, to make sense of how and why Melanie, over the course of sixth grade, transformed from a marginalized member of the science class with a failing…

Supporting middle school students' construction of evidence-based arguments: Impact of and student interactions with computer-based argumentation scaffolds

Science.gov (United States)

Belland, Brian Robert

Middle school students have difficulty creating evidence-based arguments (EBAs) during problem-based learning (PBL) units due to challenges (a) adequately representing the unit's central problem (Ge & Land, 2004; Liu & Bera, 2005), (b) determining and obtaining the most relevant evidence (Pedersen & Liu, 2002-2003), and (c) synthesizing gathered information to construct a sound argument (Cho & Jonassen, 2002). I designed and developed the Connection Log to support middle school students in this process. This study addressed (1) the Connection Log's impact on (a) argument evaluation ability, and (b) group argument quality and (2) how and why middle school science students used the Connection Log. Four sections of a 7th-grade science class participated. Student groups selected a stakeholder position related to the Human Genome Project (HGP) and needed to decide on and promote a plan to use $3 million to further their position as pertains to the HGP. I randomly assigned one higher-achieving and one lower-achieving class to Connection Log or no Connection Log conditions. Students completed an argument evaluation test, and impact on argument evaluation ability was determined using nested ANOVA. Two graduate students, blind to treatment conditions, rated group arguments, and impact on group argument quality was determined using nested MANOVA. To determine how and why students used the Connection Log, I videotaped and interviewed one small group from each class in the experimental condition. I coded transcripts and generated themes, triangulating the two data sources with informal observations during all class sessions and what students wrote in the Connection Log. I detected no significant differences on claim, evidence, or connection of claim to evidence ratings of debate performances. However, students used the Connection Log to counter different difficulties, and I found a significant main effect of the Connection Log on argument evaluation ability, as well as a

Social Class Dialogues and the Fostering of Class Consciousness

Science.gov (United States)

Madden, Meredith

2015-01-01

How do critical pedagogies promote undergraduate students' awareness of social class, social class identity, and social class inequalities in education? How do undergraduate students experience class consciousness-raising in the intergroup dialogue classroom? This qualitative study explores undergraduate students' class consciousness-raising in an…

THE CHALLENGE OF THE LARGEST STRUCTURES IN THE UNIVERSE TO COSMOLOGY

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Park, Changbom; Choi, Yun-Young; Kim, Sungsoo S.; Kim, Kap-Sung; Kim, Juhan; Gott III, J. Richard

2012-01-01

Large galaxy redshift surveys have long been used to constrain cosmological models and structure formation scenarios. In particular, the largest structures discovered observationally are thought to carry critical information on the amplitude of large-scale density fluctuations or homogeneity of the universe, and have often challenged the standard cosmological framework. The Sloan Great Wall (SGW) recently found in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) region casts doubt on the concordance cosmological model with a cosmological constant (i.e., the flat ΛCDM model). Here we show that the existence of the SGW is perfectly consistent with the ΛCDM model, a result that only our very large cosmological N-body simulation (the Horizon Run 2, HR2) could supply. In addition, we report on the discovery of a void complex in the SDSS much larger than the SGW, and show that such size of the largest void is also predicted in the ΛCDM paradigm. Our results demonstrate that an initially homogeneous isotropic universe with primordial Gaussian random phase density fluctuations growing in accordance with the general relativity can explain the richness and size of the observed large-scale structures in the SDSS. Using the HR2 simulation we predict that a future galaxy redshift survey about four times deeper or with 3 mag fainter limit than the SDSS should reveal a largest structure of bright galaxies about twice as big as the SGW.

Describing three-class task performance: three-class linear discriminant analysis and three-class ROC analysis

Science.gov (United States)

He, Xin; Frey, Eric C.

2007-03-01

Binary ROC analysis has solid decision-theoretic foundations and a close relationship to linear discriminant analysis (LDA). In particular, for the case of Gaussian equal covariance input data, the area under the ROC curve (AUC) value has a direct relationship to the Hotelling trace. Many attempts have been made to extend binary classification methods to multi-class. For example, Fukunaga extended binary LDA to obtain multi-class LDA, which uses the multi-class Hotelling trace as a figure-of-merit, and we have previously developed a three-class ROC analysis method. This work explores the relationship between conventional multi-class LDA and three-class ROC analysis. First, we developed a linear observer, the three-class Hotelling observer (3-HO). For Gaussian equal covariance data, the 3- HO provides equivalent performance to the three-class ideal observer and, under less strict conditions, maximizes the signal to noise ratio for classification of all pairs of the three classes simultaneously. The 3-HO templates are not the eigenvectors obtained from multi-class LDA. Second, we show that the three-class Hotelling trace, which is the figureof- merit in the conventional three-class extension of LDA, has significant limitations. Third, we demonstrate that, under certain conditions, there is a linear relationship between the eigenvectors obtained from multi-class LDA and 3-HO templates. We conclude that the 3-HO based on decision theory has advantages both in its decision theoretic background and in the usefulness of its figure-of-merit. Additionally, there exists the possibility of interpreting the two linear features extracted by the conventional extension of LDA from a decision theoretic point of view.

Cheetah paradigm revisited: MHC diversity in the world's largest free-ranging population.

Science.gov (United States)

Castro-Prieto, Aines; Wachter, Bettina; Sommer, Simone

2011-04-01

For more than two decades, the cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus) has been considered a paradigm of disease vulnerability associated with low genetic diversity, particularly at the immune genes of the major histocompatibility complex (MHC). Cheetahs have been used as a classic example in numerous conservation genetics textbooks as well as in many related scientific publications. However, earlier studies used methods with low resolution to quantify MHC diversity and/or small sample sizes. Furthermore, high disease susceptibility was reported only for captive cheetahs, whereas free-ranging cheetahs show no signs of infectious diseases and a good general health status. We examined whether the diversity at MHC class I and class II-DRB loci in 149 Namibian cheetahs was higher than previously reported using single-strand conformation polymorphism analysis, cloning, and sequencing. MHC genes were examined at the genomic and transcriptomic levels. We detected ten MHC class I and four class II-DRB alleles, of which nine MHC class I and all class II-DRB alleles were expressed. Phylogenetic analyses and individual genotypes suggested that the alleles belong to four MHC class I and three class II-DRB putative loci. Evidence of positive selection was detected in both MHC loci. Our study indicated that the low number of MHC class I alleles previously observed in cheetahs was due to a smaller sample size examined. On the other hand, the low number of MHC class II-DRB alleles previously observed in cheetahs was further confirmed. Compared with other mammalian species including felids, cheetahs showed low levels of MHC diversity, but this does not seem to influence the immunocompetence of free-ranging cheetahs in Namibia and contradicts the previous conclusion that the cheetah is a paradigm species of disease vulnerability.

Analisis Pengaruh Biaya Fasilitas terhadap Harga Jual Rumah pada Perumahan Jenis Cluster di Kota Pekanabru (Studi Kasus : Perumahan Harmoni Residence)

OpenAIRE

Mailino, Vemby; Iriana, Rian Trikomara

2014-01-01

Construction and property business prospects in the city of Pekanbaru is still quite promising when viewed by 2011 the building sector/construction accounted for the largest Pekanbaru City Regional Income ie 27.71 % of the other sectors. As the economic development increase rapidly in Pekanbaru indirectly cause an increase of housing need that is no exception for the luxury housing for the middle and upper classes. Housing type of cluster to be one of the preferred type of luxury residential ...

Is Long-Term Food Insecurity Inevitable in Asia

OpenAIRE

Cuesta, Jose

2014-01-01

This article questions two widely accepted claims on long-term food insecurity in Asia, the world's (heterogeneous) region with the largest number of undernourished individuals. The first claim is that food production may not grow as fast as the pace of population growth in Asia, which will reach 5 billion by 2050. The second claim is that an unstoppable emergence of a middle class in Asia will dramatically change the composition of food demand. On the first claim, the region's contribution t...

"Oh! Iben's Here Now, So We Better Behave Properly"—The Production of Class as Morality in Research Encounters

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Iben Charlotte Aamann

2017-07-01

Full Text Available This article is a study of how class is produced in research encounters as matters of morality. I engage various class perspectives, arguing that class today occurs in subtle ways, being lived as judgments and struggles around moral authorization. I draw on my experiences during six months of ethnographic fieldwork among ethnic Danish middle- and working-class parents when involved in their six-year-old children's start in the final preschool class. In light of my methodological problems with establishing trustful relations with the participants, I argue that I was being interpreted as a judge with a mandate to pass moral judgments on the parents. While this interpretation was common among the participants, they positioned themselves in three radically different ways towards the researcher and "judge": "eager to get a positive judgment," "in the same boat" and "refusing to get judged." This, I argue, reflects contours of class relations in contemporary, neoliberal societies. I also call for acknowledgment of how the power relations embedded in social, qualitative research are often matters of class. Further, I argue that in a broader methodological perspective, we also need to recognize and investigate the classed dimensions of social research to enhance our understanding of the processes involved in qualitative studies.

Social affiliation in same-class and cross-class interactions.

Science.gov (United States)

Côté, Stéphane; Kraus, Michael W; Carpenter, Nichelle C; Piff, Paul K; Beermann, Ursula; Keltner, Dacher

2017-02-01

Historically high levels of economic inequality likely have important consequences for relationships between people of the same and different social class backgrounds. Here, we test the prediction that social affiliation among same-class partners is stronger at the extremes of the class spectrum, given that these groups are highly distinctive and most separated from others by institutional and economic forces. An internal meta-analysis of 4 studies (N = 723) provided support for this hypothesis. Participant and partner social class were interactively, rather than additively, associated with social affiliation, indexed by affiliative behaviors and emotions during structured laboratory interactions and in daily life. Further, response surface analyses revealed that paired upper or lower class partners generally affiliated more than average-class pairs. Analyses with separate class indices suggested that these patterns are driven more by parental income and subjective social class than by parental education. The findings illuminate the dynamics of same- and cross-class interactions, revealing that not all same-class interactions feature the same degree of affiliation. They also reveal the importance of studying social class from an intergroup perspective. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

The Largest Bio-Silica Structure on Earth: The Giant Basal Spicule from the Deep-Sea Glass Sponge Monorhaphis chuni

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xiaohong Wang

2011-01-01

Full Text Available The depth of the ocean is plentifully populated with a highly diverse fauna and flora, from where the Challenger expedition (1873–1876 treasured up a rich collection of vitreous sponges [Hexactinellida]. They have been described by Schulze and represent the phylogenetically oldest class of siliceous sponges [phylum Porifera]; they are eye-catching because of their distinct body plan, which relies on a filigree skeleton. It is constructed by an array of morphologically determined elements, the spicules. Later, during the German Deep Sea Expedition “Valdivia” (1898-1899, Schulze could describe the largest siliceous hexactinellid sponge on Earth, the up to 3 m high Monorhaphis chuni, which develops the equally largest bio-silica structures, the giant basal spicules (3 m × 10 mm. With such spicules as a model, basic knowledge on the morphology, formation, and development of the skeletal elements could be elaborated. Spicules are formed by a proteinaceous scaffold which mediates the formation of siliceous lamellae in which the proteins are encased. Up to eight hundred 5 to 10 μm thick lamellae can be concentrically arranged around an axial canal. The silica matrix is composed of almost pure silicon and oxygen, providing it with unusual optophysical properties that are superior to those of man-made waveguides. Experiments indicated that the spicules function in vivo as a nonocular photoreception system. In addition, the spicules have exceptional mechanical properties, combining mechanical stability with strength and stiffness. Like demosponges the hexactinellids synthesize their silica enzymatically, via the enzyme silicatein. All these basic insights will surely contribute also to a further applied utilization and exploration of bio-silica in material/medical science.

The largest Bio-Silica Structure on Earth: The Giant Basal Spicule from the Deep-Sea Glass Sponge Monorhaphis chuni.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Xiaohong; Gan, Lu; Jochum, Klaus P; Schröder, Heinz C; Müller, Werner E G

2011-01-01

The depth of the ocean is plentifully populated with a highly diverse fauna and flora, from where the Challenger expedition (1873-1876) treasured up a rich collection of vitreous sponges [Hexactinellida]. They have been described by Schulze and represent the phylogenetically oldest class of siliceous sponges [phylum Porifera]; they are eye-catching because of their distinct body plan, which relies on a filigree skeleton. It is constructed by an array of morphologically determined elements, the spicules. Later, during the German Deep Sea Expedition "Valdivia" (1898-1899), Schulze could describe the largest siliceous hexactinellid sponge on Earth, the up to 3 m high Monorhaphis chuni, which develops the equally largest bio-silica structures, the giant basal spicules (3 m × 10 mm). With such spicules as a model, basic knowledge on the morphology, formation, and development of the skeletal elements could be elaborated. Spicules are formed by a proteinaceous scaffold which mediates the formation of siliceous lamellae in which the proteins are encased. Up to eight hundred 5 to 10 μm thick lamellae can be concentrically arranged around an axial canal. The silica matrix is composed of almost pure silicon and oxygen, providing it with unusual optophysical properties that are superior to those of man-made waveguides. Experiments indicated that the spicules function in vivo as a nonocular photoreception system. In addition, the spicules have exceptional mechanical properties, combining mechanical stability with strength and stiffness. Like demosponges the hexactinellids synthesize their silica enzymatically, via the enzyme silicatein. All these basic insights will surely contribute also to a further applied utilization and exploration of bio-silica in material/medical science.

Evaluating cloudiness in an AGCM with Cloud Vertical Structure classes and their radiative effects

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, D.; Cho, N.; Oreopoulos, L.; Barahona, D.

2017-12-01

Clouds are recognized not only as the main modulator of Earth's Radiation Budget but also as the atmospheric constituent carrying the largest uncertainty in future climate projections. The presentation will showcase a new framework for evaluating clouds and their radiative effects in Atmospheric Global Climate Models (AGCMs) using Cloud Vertical Structure (CVS) classes. We take advantage of a new CVS reference dataset recently created from CloudSat's 2B-CLDCLASS-LIDAR product and which assigns observed cloud vertical configurations to nine simplified CVS classes based on cloud co-occurrence in three standard atmospheric layers. These CVS classes can also be emulated in GEOS-5 using the subcolumn cloud generator currently paired with the RRTMG radiation package as an implementation of the McICA scheme. Comparisons between the observed and modeled climatologies of the frequency of occurrence of the various CVS classes provide a new vantage point for assessing the realism of GEOS-5 clouds. Furthermore, a comparison between observed and modeled cloud radiative effects according to their CVS is also possible thanks to the availability of CloudSat's 2B-FLXHR-LIDAR product and our ability to composite radiative fluxes by CVS class - both in the observed and modeled realm. This latter effort enables an investigation of whether the contribution of the various CVS classes to the Earth's radiation budget is represented realistically in GEOS-5. Making this new pathway of cloud evaluation available to the community is a major step towards the improved representation of clouds in climate models.

Competitive mothering and delegated care: Class relationships in nanny and au pair employment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rosie Cox

2011-07-01

Full Text Available This paper uses the idea of 'competitive care' to explore how the mothering projects of nanny and au pair employers and the carers they employ can become inter-twined and yet may also be in conflict or competition. The paper draws on work by Cameron Lynne Macdonald (2010 and Joan Tronto (2006 to make two arguments about the inter-twining of current practices of competitive mothering and the employment of nannies and au pairs. First, practices of competitive mothering can underpin the demand for paid, privatized care in the home (such as nannies and au pairs and involve middle class / advantaged women using their position to raise their children in ways which are specifically designed to ensure and enhance their children's future social status and income. This can be at the cost of the mothering projects (and children of the women they employ. Second, one factor which underlies the prevalence of competitive mothering within certain middle class families is the conflict that working mothers feel about their roles and their strong desire to address these conflicts by showing that their children do not suffer because of their employment. The emphasis on care for children as mothering, rather than parenting – or better still 'care' – underpins this sense of conflict. The idea that it is mothers, rather than parents or society at large, who are delegating care is an important element in the organisation of care, and the relationships with carers that ensue.

Middle-Upper Triassic and Middle Jurassic tetrapod track assemblages of southern Tunisia, Sahara Platform

Science.gov (United States)

Niedźwiedzki, Grzegorz; Soussi, Mohamed; Boukhalfa, Kamel; Gierliński, Gerard D.

2017-05-01

Three tetrapod track assemblages from the early-middle Mesozoic of southern Tunisia are reported. The strata exposed at the Tejra 2 clay-pit near the Medenine and Rehach site, located in the vicinity of Kirchaou, contain the first tetrapod tracks found in the Triassic of Tunisia. The Middle Jurassic (early Aalenian) dinosaur tracks are reported from the Mestaoua plain near Tataouine. In the Middle Triassic outcrop of the Tejra 2 clay-pit, tridactyl tracks of small and medium-sized dinosauromorphs, were discovered. These tracks represent the oldest evidence of dinosaur-lineage elements in the Triassic deposits of Tunisia. Similar tracks have been described from the Middle Triassic of Argentina, France and Morocco. An isolated set of the manus and pes of a quadrupedal tetrapod discovered in Late Triassic Rehach tracksite is referred to a therapsid tracemaker. The Middle Jurassic deposits of the Mestaoua plain reveal small and large tridactyl theropod dinosaur tracks (Theropoda track indet. A-C). Based on comparison with the abundant record of Triassic tetrapod ichnofossils from Europe and North America, the ichnofauna described here indicates the presence of a therapsid-dinosauromorph ichnoassociation (without typical Chirotheriidae tracks) in the Middle and Late Triassic, which sheds light on the dispersal of the Middle-Upper Triassic tetrapod ichnofaunas in this part of Gondwana. The reported Middle Jurassic ichnofauna show close similarities to dinosaur track assemblages from the Lower and Middle Jurassic of northwestern Africa, North America, Europe and also southeastern Asia. Sedimentological and lithostratigraphic data of each new tracksite have been defined on published data and new observations. Taken together, these discoveries present a tantalizing window into the evolutionary history of tetrapods from the Triassic and Jurassic of southern Tunisia. Given the limited early Mesozoic tetrapod record from the region, these discoveries are of both temporal and

Mass balance of Greenland's three largest outlet glaciers - 2000–2010

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Howat, I.M.; Ahn, Y.; Joughin, I.; van den Broeke, M.R.; Lenaerts, J.T.M.; Smith, B.

2011-01-01

Acceleration of Greenland's three largest outlet glaciers, Helheim, Kangerdlugssuaq and Jakobshavn Isbræ, accounted for a substantial portion of the ice sheet's mass loss over the past decade. Rapid changes in their discharge, however, make their cumulative mass-change uncertain. We derive monthly

Preparing and Supporting Black Students to Enroll and Achieve in Advanced Mathematics Classes in Middle School: A Case Study

OpenAIRE

Cobbs, Joyce Bernice

2015-01-01

The literature on minority student achievement indicates that Black students are underrepresented in advanced mathematics courses. Advanced mathematics courses offer students the opportunity to engage with challenging curricula, experience rigorous instruction, and interact with quality teachers. The middle school years are particularly significant for mathematics education since the courses students pursue during those years affect later access to rigorous mathematics coursework at the high ...

Astronomy for Astronomical Numbers: a Worldwide Massive Open Online Class

Science.gov (United States)

Austin, Carmen; Impey, Chris David; Wenger, Matthew

2015-01-01

Astronomy: State of the Art is a massive, open, online class (MOOC) offered through Udemy by an instructional team at the University of Arizona. With over 18,000 enrolled, it is the largest astronomy MOOC available. The astronomical numbers enrolled do not translate into a similar level of engagement. The content consists of 14 hours of video lecture, nearly 1000 PowerPoint slides, 250 pages of background readings, and 20 podcast interviews with leading researchers. Perhaps in part because of the large amount of course content, the overall completion rate is low, about 3%. However, this number was four times higher for an early cohort of learners who were selected to have a prior interest in astronomy and who took the class in synchronous mode, with new content being added every week. Completion correlates with engagement as measured by posts to the online discussion board. For a subset of learners, social media like Facebook and Twitter provide an additional, important mode of engagement. For the asynchronous learners who have continuously enrolled for the past 15 months, those who complete the course do so quickly, with few persisting longer than two months. The availability of a completion certificate had no impact of completion rates. This experiment informs a future offering of this MOOC via Coursera, along with a co-convened 'flipped' introductory astronomy class at the University of Arizona, where the video lectures will be online and class time will be used exclusively for small group labs and hands-on activities. Despite their typically low completion rates, MOOCs have the potential to add significantly to public engagement with science.

Single-sex middle school science classrooms: Separate and equal?

Science.gov (United States)

Glasser, Howard M.

The U.S. Department of Education's amended regulations to Title IX have attempted to expand the circumstances in which single-sex classes are permissible in public schools. This ethnographic study uses grounded theory to investigate aspects of one single-sex offering at a public, coeducational middle school. Applying elements of postmodern, queer, and sociocultural lenses, it examines the perspectives for this offering, shedding insight into the cultures of two single-sex classrooms and what it meant to be a boy or girl in this setting. Additionally, it focuses attention on the all-boy and all-girl science classes that were taught by the same teacher and examines what it meant to learn science as boys and girls in this program. Although participants supplied financial, socio-emotional, and academic reasons for these classes, the initial motivation for these classes stemmed from the teachers' desire to curb the amount of sex talk and related behaviors that were exhibited in their classrooms. Through these conversations and classroom events, the girls were constructed as idealized students, academically and behaviorally, who needed to be protected from boys' behaviors---both boys' dominating classroom behaviors and aggressive (hetero)sexual behaviors. Conversely, boys were constructed as needing help both academically and behaviorally, but in the specific discipline of science boys were identified as the sex that was more interested in the content and gained greater exposure to skills that could assist them in future science courses and careers. Overall, boys and girls, and the culture of their two classrooms, were regularly defined relative to each other and efforts were made to maintain these constructed differences. As a result, the classes and students were hierarchically ranked in ways that often pitted one sex of students, or the entire class, as better or worse than the other. The theory emerging from this study is that single-sex policies arise and survive

Putting race in context: social class modulates processing of race in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex and amygdala.

Science.gov (United States)

Firat, Rengin B; Hitlin, Steven; Magnotta, Vincent; Tranel, Daniel

2017-08-01

A growing body of literature demonstrates that racial group membership can influence neural responses, e.g. when individuals perceive or interact with persons of another race. However, little attention has been paid to social class, a factor that interacts with racial inequalities in American society. We extend previous literature on race-related neural activity by focusing on how the human brain responds to racial out-groups cast in positively valued social class positions vs less valued ones. We predicted that the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) and the amygdala would have functionally dissociable roles, with the vmPFC playing a more significant role within socially valued in-groups (i.e. the middle-class) and the amygdala having a more crucial role for socially ambivalent and threatening categories (i.e. upper and lower class). We tested these predictions with two complementary studies: (i) a neuropsychological experiment with patients with the vmPFC or amygdala lesions, contrasted with brain damaged and normal comparison participants, and (ii) a functional magnetic resonance imaging experiment with 15 healthy adults. Our findings suggest that two distinct mechanisms underlie class-based racial evaluations, one engaging the vmPFC for positively identified in-group class and another recruiting the amygdala for the class groups that are marginalized or perceived as potential threats. © The Author (2017). Published by Oxford University Press.

Reflections of middle school students by gender and race/ethnicity on obtaining a successful science education

Science.gov (United States)

Mihalik, Bethany

Sixty-five eighth grade students responded to a science beliefs survey during a science-inquiry lab unit in an action research project to assess whether gender has an effect on how the students perceive their science classes. The survey was given to eighth grade students during the first week of school. Student results were categorized by gender and by race/ethnicity. The middle school where the study took place is fairly diverse with 540 total students of which 48% of them are White, 42% are Black, and 10% are Hispanic. Six female science teachers are employed at the middle school, two per grade. The first unit that is taught in science is inquiry skills, the basics of all science such as graphing, laboratory tools, safety, etc. This unit is taught in 6 th, 7th, and 8th grades, as a part of our standards. Inquiry test results for 8th graders are also given in this thesis, and are categorized again by gender and race/ethnicity. The results of the surveys and the assessment show a gap in the way students think about and complete activities in science. It was exciting to see that the female students scored better overall than male students on an inquiry-based summative assessment, while white students overall scored better than Black and Hispanic students. White males tended to rank science as the class they enjoyed the most of all core classes and thought science was easier than all the other data demographics. The conclusion found was stunning, in that the true gap in student's beliefs about science lies within the different races/ethnicities, rather than just gender alone.

Health Insurance Premium Increases for the 5 Largest School Districts in the United States, 2004–2008

Science.gov (United States)

Cantillo, John R.

2010-01-01

Background Local school districts are often one of the largest, if not the largest, employers in their respective communities. Like many large employers, school districts offer health insurance to their employees. There is a lack of information about the rate of health insurance premiums in US school districts relative to other employers. Objective To assess the change in the costs of healthcare insurance in the 5 largest public school districts in the United States, between 2004 and 2008, as representative of large public employers in the country. Methods Data for this study were drawn exclusively from a survey sent to the 5 largest public school districts in the United States. The survey requested responses on 3 data elements for each benefit plan offered from 2004 through 2008; these included enrollment, employee costs, and employer costs. Results The premium growth for the 5 largest school districts has slowed down and is consistent with other purchasers—Kaiser/Health Research & Educational Trust and the Federal Employee Health Benefit Program. The average increase in health insurance premium for the schools was 5.9% in 2008, and the average annual growth rate over the study period was 7.5%. For family coverage, these schools provide the most generous employer contribution (80.8%) compared with the employer contribution reported by other employers (73.5%) for 2008. Conclusions Often the largest employers in their communities, school districts demonstrate a commitment to provide choice of benefits and affordability for employees and their families. Despite constraints typical of public employers, the 5 largest school districts in the United States have decelerated in premium growth consistent with other purchasers, albeit at a slower pace. PMID:25126311

Exploring social class: voices of inter-class couples.

Science.gov (United States)

McDowell, Teresa; Melendez-Rhodes, Tatiana; Althusius, Erin; Hergic, Sara; Sleeman, Gillian; Ton, Nicky Kieu My; Zimpfer-Bak, A J

2013-01-01

Social class is not often discussed or examined in-depth in couple and family therapy research and literature even though social class shapes familial relationships and is considered an important variable in marital satisfaction. In this qualitative study, we explored the perceptions of eight couples who made lasting commitments across class lines by asking them about the impact of their social class backgrounds on their relationships. Three categories of themes emerged including: (a) differences and similarities in values and attitudes toward education, work, money, and class awareness/classism, (b) relationship issues involving families of origin, friends, and class-based couple conflict, and (c) differences in economic resources, social capital and privileges/opportunities. Implications for assessment and treatment of couples are included. © 2012 American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy.

Central projections of the sensory innervation of the rat middle meningeal artery

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Liu, Y.; Broman, J.; Edvinsson, L.

2008-01-01

Headaches, especially migraine, involve not only pain but also aspects such as vasodilation of cranial vessels and sensitization of nerve endings, processes dependent on and connected to the central nervous system. To understand pathogenic mechanisms of headache, it is important to elucidate...... the central projections of sensory nerves that innervate cranial vessels, of which the middle meningeal artery (MMA) is the largest artery supplying the dura mater. In this study, cholera toxin subunit b (CTb) or wheat germ agglutinin-horseradish peroxidase conjugate (WGA-HRP) was applied on the adventitia....... Labeled nerve terminations were found ipsilaterally in the lateral part of the spinal dorsal horn of segments C1-C3 and in the caudal and interpolar parts of the spinal trigeminal nucleus. WGA-HRP labeled terminations were mainly located in laminae I and II, whereas CTb labeled terminations located...

A Hard Day’s Knights: Movie Time Travel, the Middle Ages, and a New Millenium

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

John Engle

2012-10-01

Full Text Available This article addresses the cinematic treatment of the Middle Ages through an analysis of two recent mass-audience American films, Black Knight and Timeline, both of which feature time travel as a leading plot element. Providing context for this discussion is a brief analysis of other similar films, as well as remarks regarding Twain's Connecticut Yankee, Ruskin's The Stones of Venice, and The Idylls of the King by Tennyson. As in these other works, the films in question use certain popular stereotypes of the Middle Ages—endemic violence, rigid class distinctions, religious fanaticism, spiritual cohesion, etc.—as lens through which to view the contemporary world. In addition to their roles as comic or action entertainment vehicles, Black Knight indirectly addresses American individualism and a cutthroat modern corporate culture, whereas Timeline touches upon millennial anxiety, '90's ethnic cleansing, and the American misadventure in Iraq.