Conventional literacy is important for academic and life success. Emergent literacy is a precursor to conventional literacy, and parent-child book read ing experiences can foster emergent literacy development. Fathers are important figures in children's development and may make important contributions to their emergent literacy development. This study observed 179 fathers from families who participated in research evaluating the Bear River Early Head Start program. Father-child book reading was videotaped as part of a 10-minute observation session in each child 's home at 14 months, 24 months, 36 months, and pre- kindergarten (age 4 or 5). Book reading observation sessions were coded based on parental strategies (i.e. language and behaviors) used during book reading. Pre-kindergarten observation sessions were transcribed for a measure of children's oral language. Children were tested in their homes at prekindergarten with measures of phonological processing, receptive vocabulary, and concepts of print. Regression analyses investigated the individual impact of book reading strategies on outcomes and the impact of strategies over time (cumulative). Findings revealed certain individual strategies had more impact than cumulative strategies, which was contrary to the hypotheses. The most positive cumulative impact was time spent during book reading. Overall, receptive vocabulary was the emergent literacy domain most strongly predicted by father book read ing strategies, and cumulative time spent book reading was the strategy that predicted emergent literacy outcomes most consistently.

Using Radioautography 14C simazine, 14C EPTC, 14C 2,4-D, 1414 DCPA and 14C pyrazon absorption by seeds of bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.), squash (Cucurbita maxima), corn (Zea mays), onion (Allium cepa) and oat (Avena sativa) was studied. Simazine, EPTC, 2,4-D and pyrazon were absorbed through the seed coat of bean, squash, corn and onion, the amount increasing with time. Little DCPA was absorbed by seeds of bean, squash, onion and oat. Distribution and translocation of 14C simazine, 14C EPTC and 14C pyrazon occurred in the young plants of bean, squash, corn and onion. Simazine and pyrazon accumulated in the leaf margins of bean, EPTC and pyrazon were found in the cotyledon margins of squash, and pyrazon was found in the coleoptile tips and leaf tips of corn. The translocation of 14C 2,4-D in bean, onion and squash showed a characteristic fixation along the path of the translocation. Very little translocation or distribution of 14C DCPA were found in bean, squash, onion or oat. In bean leaf, 14C pyrazon was absorbed and moved acropetally in the apoplast. Basipetal movement of 14C pyrazon was limited. Microadioautography was used to determine the tissues involved in the translocation of 14C simazine, 14C EPTC, 14C 2,4-D and 14C pyrazon. Simazine and EPTC were found in the vascular bundle tissues of bean leaf. EPTC was found in the cortex of squash root. 2,4-D was found in the vascular tissues and surrounding the vascular bundle of squash cotyledon and onion hypocotyl. Pyrazon was found intercellularly and intracellularly in bean cotyledon.

Moist-soil wetlands that are seasonally flooded provide important habitats for waterfowl in the Mississippi Alluvial Valley (MAV). These wetlands often contain tall and dense vegetation that may constrain waterfowl use before natural openings form. During winters 2006–2009, I estimated abundances of waterbirds, seeds and tubers, and invertebrates in response to autumn, prelooding treatments of light disking, mowing, and no manipulation (control) of vegetation in 26 moist-soil wetlands in the MAV. Seeds and tubers were most abundant in control and mowed plots in late autumn. Decomposition was least and invertebrate abundance was greatest in control plots during winter. Dabbling ducks were most abundant in mowed and disked plots during winter. Lightly disked plots contained ~30% fewer seeds and tubers than mowed and control plots. In late winter, ~260 kg[dry]/ha of seeds and tubers remained among mowed, disked, and control plots. Therefore, autumn mowing of robust moist-soil vegetation can be used to create an interspersion of emergent vegetation and open water attractive to waterfowl and conserve waterfowl foods. Additionally, I identified 6 seed taxa that may not be used for food by dabbling ducks (i.e., Amaranthus spp., Cyperus odoratus, Eleocharis spp., Ipomoea spp., Jacquemontia tamnifolia, Sesbania herbacea) and estimated that removing these and other taxa not reported in diet literature in the MAV resulted in a ~31% reduction in estimated moist-soil food availability for ducks. In other experiments, I estimated that waterfowl reduced experimentally placed Japanese millet (Echinochloa frumentacea) to ~10 kg/ha and other natural seeds and tubers to ~170 kg/ha in experimental plots in mid-winter. However, waterfowl did not abandon wetlands or stop foraging when seed reduction ceased, suggesting residual abundances of seeds and tubers represented a food availability threshold (FAT). Using the median FAT value of 220 kg/ha from both experiments and removing 31% of seed mass that may not be consumed by dabbling ducks, results in a ~70% decrease in moist-soil seed availability in the MAV. Conservation planners should consider reducing the current estimates of seed and tuber availability and recommend increasing active management or implementation of additional managed, moist-soil wetlands in the MAV.

Att behärska literacy är en nödvändighet för att fullt ut kunna ta del av vårt samhälle. Att lära sig att behärska skriftspråket är en lång resa som börjar redan i förskolan. Det här arbetet har som syfte att belysa i vilka situationer under dagen som barn är delaktiga i literacyhändelser. Detta har gjorts med hjälp av frågeställningar som behandlar när literacyhändelser sker, hur de ser ut, vad de innehåller och vem som initierar dem. I studien anläggs ett sociokulturellt perspektiv på literacy. Empirin har samlats in genom observation med skuggningsteknik på en förskola. Observationerna utfördes med hjälp av videokamera och fältanteckningar. Empirin har sedan tematiserats för att analyseras utifrån det sociokulturella perspektivet. Resultatet visar på att literacyhändelser kan involvera både barn och vuxna, ske både inom- som utomhus i spontana och planerade aktiviteter under alla olika tillfällen under dagen. Hur de ser ut är beroende av flera olika komponenter. I slutsatsen redovisas dessa komponenter och sätts i förhållande till den tidigare forskning vi redogjort för. Avslutningsvis diskuteras de slutsatser som frambringats i förhållande till förskollärarens yrkesroll. Resultatet pekar på att literacyhändelser kan te sig på många olika sätt i en förskolekontext och att de kan inträffa i olika sammanhang. Vidare visar resultatet på att en lärande literacyhändelse inte sker isolerad utan är beroende av meningsskapande och samspel.

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Lamina emergent mechanisms (LEMs) are a subset of compliant mechanisms which are fabricated from planar materials; use compliance, or flexibility of the material, to transfer energy; and have motion that emerges out of the fabrication plane. LEMs provide potential design advantages by reducing the number of parts, reducing cost, reducing weight, improving recyclability, increasing precision, and eliminating assembly, to name a few. However, there are inherent design and modeling challenges including complexities in large, non-linear deflections, singularities that exist when leaving the planar state, and the coupling of material properties and geometry in predicting mechanism behavior. This thesis examines the planar and spherical LEMs and their relation to origami. Origami, the art of paper folding, is used to better understand spherical LEMs and flat-folding mechanisms in general. All single-layer planar four-bar LEMs are given with their respective layouts. These are all change-point pinned mechanisms (i.e. no slider cranks). Graph representations are used to show the similarities between action origami and mechanisms. Origami principles of flat-folding are shown to be analogous to principles of mechanisms including rules for assembly and motion.

The focus of this thesis was to develop vocabulary materials to supplement those already in use for emergent literate Burundian refugees preparing for the U.S. Citizenship Test. These learners study in conjunction with the International Rescue Committee in Salt Lake City, Utah, and with volunteer tutors who help them study. The flashcards and supporting activities were designed to better enable tutors to teach learners highly-dense vocabulary items, as well as to provide vocabulary scaffolding support for both learners and tutors and to increase depth of vocabulary knowledge with the target vocabulary. The U.S. Citizenship Test Vocabulary Flashcards and Vocabulary Support booklet were the products of a frequency-based vocabulary analysis to provide content-focused vocabulary instruction. This thesis details the steps and rationale of the process used to create these materials.

Using a single subject Multiple Baseline design, this study examined the efficacy of the Text Talk vocabulary acquisition strategy with regard to the use of new vocabulary by pre-kindergarten students in an inclusive classroom within a public charter school. Five pre-school students participated in the study. Students with varying exceptionalities as well as students with typical development were included in the study. Three classroom teachers implemented the Text Talk strategy utilizing eight books and vocabulary scenario models during an interactive story time that included the direct instruction of vocabulary in the study. During the baseline and intervention phases data collection occurred during story time and during a word chart activity. Data were collected as to whether the participants used the new vocabulary when prompted and demonstrated the meaning of new vocabulary during activities embedded in the direct instruction of vocabulary within the context of story time. A pre and post assessment was utilized during baseline and following the intervention. The data suggest that all participants exhibited an increase in the use of new vocabulary and demonstration of meaning of new words during story time. The increase in scores from the pre assessment to the post assessment may indicate that immersion in activities with new vocabulary and opportunities to represent the new words phonologically may have led to the acquisition of new vocabulary by all student participants. The teachers perceived the implementation to be effective and manageable within the classroom setting.

There is an increasing need for compact mechanical systems that can accomplish sophisticated tasks. Technologies like ortho-planar and lamina emergent mechanisms (LEMs) have been developed to satisfy needs like these by stowing in planar sheets from which they emerge to perform their function. They can be compact, lightweight, monolithic, scalable, and can withstand harsh environments. They are limited, however, by their base element---planar surfaces. Applications requiring these advantages often include curved surfaces, like aircraft wings, needles, and automotive bodies. In this research, developable mechanisms are presented as a solution to satisfy the need for mechanisms that can conform to or emerge from curved surfaces. Foundational principles which enable designers to leverage the advantages of developable mechanisms are described herein.Developable mechanisms result from the union of mechanisms and developable surfaces. Developable (flattenable) surfaces act as a fitting medium because of their particular advantages in manufacturability and how well they accompany four-link, revolute joint (4R) mechanisms. The definition, including specific qualifying criteria, for developable mechanisms is given. Certain types of mechanisms and classes of developable surfaces can be combined to satisy that criteria. Developable mechanism sub-classes are defined as planar, cylindrical, conical and tangent developable mechanisms. It is shown that planar and spherical mechanisms can be used to create cylindrical and conical developable mechanisms, respectively. The Bennett and other 7R mechanisms can be used for tangent developable mechanisms. Steps for developable mechanism creation are presented, and several physical prototypes are provided to demonstrate feasibility.The cylindrically curved Lamina Emergent Torsional (LET) joint is offered as an enabling technology for producing compliant developable mechanisms. A mathematical model predicting force-deflection and stress behavior is provided and verified. The relationship between stiffness and strain energy storage for curved sheet materials with incorporated LET joints is explored. Material shape factors are used to derive an effective modulus of elasticity and an effective modulus of resilience, which are compared with original values on an Ashby plot. While there is a decrease in the modulus of resilience, there is a much more significant decrease in the modulus of elasticity. A material performance index is provided as an example for determining suitable materials for a given stiffness-reduction application. It is shown that the cylindrically curved LET joint makes it possible to create highly flexible joints that maintain much of their energy storage capability in curved sheet materials.

Målet med denna studie var att jämföra felfrekvensen i gruppsammanhållning mellan två system med avseende på gruppstorlek. I det ena systemet skedde relationsförändringar på en individualistisk basis, där en agents slumpade åsikt avgjorde utfallet av interaktioner med andra agenter med åsikter. Det andra systemet var en utsträckning av den första som även tillämpade en kollektivistisk relationsförändring, vilket lägger till en relationsförändring baserat på vad alla andra agenter har för relationsvärden. Experiment utfördes där felfrekvensen mättes genom att utvärdera hur många testfall som hade en misslyckad gruppsammanhållning efter testets slut. Denna utvärdering visade att det individualistiska systemet hade en ökande felfrekvens i samband med ökande gruppstorlek, och det kollektivistiska systemet verkar ha en stadig felfrekvens oavsett gruppstorlek. Den största gruppen som utvärderats i detta arbete bestod av 15 agenter, vilket visade sig otillräckligt för att avgöra exakt hur den kollektivistiska felfrekvensen förändras med avseende på gruppstorlek. Att utvärdera större grupper har lämnats till framtida arbete. / <p>Det finns övrigt digitalt material (t.ex. film-, bild- eller ljudfiler) eller modeller/artefakter tillhörande examensarbetet som ska skickas till arkivet.</p><p>There are other digital material (eg film, image or audio files) or models/artifacts that belongs to the thesis and need to be archived.</p>