No description available.

The burden of obesity-related illness, which disproportionately affects low income households and historically disadvantaged racial and ethnic groups, is a leading public health issue in the United States. In addition, previous research has documented differences in eating behavior and dietary intake between racial and ethnic groups, as well as between urban and rural residents. The coexistence of diet-related disparities and diet-related health conditions has therefore become a major focus of research and policy. Researchers have hypothesized that differences in eating behavior originate from differing levels of access to and affordability of healthy food options, such as fresh fruits and vegetables. Therefore, this dissertation examines the affordability of fresh produce in the Brazos Valley of Texas. This study uses information on produce prices collected by taking a census of food stores in a large regional area through the method ground-truthing. These are combined with responses to a contemporaneous health assessment survey. Key innovations include the construction of price indices based on economic theory, testing the robustness of results to different methods of price imputation, and employing spatial econometric techniques. In the first part of the analysis, I evaluate the socioeconomic and geographical factors associated with the affordability of fresh fruits and vegetables. The results based on Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) regression show that except housing values (as median value of owner-occupied units) and store type, most factors do not have significant effects on the prices for these food items. In addition, the sizes and signs of the coefficients vary greatly across items. We found that consumers who pay higher premiums for fresh produce reside in rural areas and high proportion of minorities neighborhoods. We then assess how our results are influenced by different imputation methods to account for missing prices. The results reveal that the impacts of the factors used are similar regardless of the imputation methods. Finally we investigate the presence of spatial relationships between prices at particular stores and competing stores in the neighborhoods. The spatial estimation results based on Maximum Likelihood (ML) indicate a weak spatial correlation between the prices at stores located near each others in the neighborhoods. Stores selling vegetables display a certain level of spatial autocorrelation between the prices at a particular store and its neighboring competitors. Stores selling fruits do not present such relations in the prices.

No description available.

In questioning the very nature of a thing, at its most basic level, a new assessment can be made of what the thing in question truly is. When we ask ourselves, what is a weed, we begin to pull the word apart - to decrypt the word from the cultural baggage that has collected around it over the course of the history of language.The cultural connotations of 'weed' cling to it like barnacles, removing the word from its true value. We reevaluate meaning, chronicling all the possible constructions of a word, all the possible varieties, where it came from, what its uses are, etc. We can then begin to develop an aggregate meaning based on an inherently more textured meaning, nuanced and built to sustain an elaboration of new information within the word itself. Weeds may serve as a successful metaphor for humanities quest for value, but it should not be assumed - we must first plot a course before we set sail.

Desde muito pequenas as crianças constroem relações especiais por meio das suas percepções, das experiências com os objetos e com o meio e das soluções para os desafios que encontram. Para tomar consciência daquilo que aprendem, é importante que a escola traga desafios que busquem a exploração espacial. Vários conceitos de Matemática e de Geografia estão presentes na aprendizagem do espaço, que é construída pela combinação de significados, de situações e de representações diversificadas. A teoria de Jean Piaget sobre a construção das relações especiais foi utilizada para fundamentar as situações de ensino e aprendizagem, ligadas a Geografia e a Matemática, que foram realizadas. O problema de pesquisa foi: Como conceitos geográficos e matemáticos articulam-se na construção das relações espaciais em crianças de 1º ano do Ensino Fundamental? Um estudo de caso foi realizado com as crianças do 1º ano do Ensino Fundamental que participaram do Projeto Clube de Matemática e Ciências da Faculdade de Educação da Universidade de São Paulo. A pesquisa evidenciou com as situações propostas que as crianças estão construindo as aprendizagens sobre as relações especiais de forma articulada, tanto com conceitos matemáticos e geográficos, nos diferentes desafios que lhes foram apresentados. / Since very Young, children build their spatial relations through their perceptions, from their experience with objetcs and from the solutions found to the challenges they face. To allow them to be conscious of what they learn, it is important that the school promotes challenges that instigate the spatial learning, which is built through the combination of meanings, situations and diversified representations. Jean Piaget´s theory about the construction of the spatial relations was utilized to fundament the teaching and learning situations implemented, which were connected to Geography and Mathematics. The question to be answered in this research was: How Geografphy and Mathematics´ concepts are related in the construction of spatial relation in children of the first year of elementary school?. A case study was developed with targeted children that participated in the Mathematics and Science Clube Project, developed by that the children are construing their learning about spatial relations in an articulated manner, with concepts from both Mathematics and Geography, in the differente challenges that were presented.

Made available in DSpace on 2017-07-21T20:31:38Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Glaucia Marise.pdf: 2191981 bytes, checksum: ba42821b294837af6c0c6b305f2ac22f (MD5) Previous issue date: 2008-05-07 / This research sought to establish inter-relations between the results of the studies of the Piaget and Inhelder to the perception and representation of space and the process of teaching of geometry; identify as children establish the spatial relationships of topological nature, and projective Euclidian and highlight the contributions of those studies. Therefore, we organize activities adapted from the work of Piaget and Inhelder (1993) “The representation of space in the child” and proposed to a group of children aged eight and nine years of a school hall of Ponta Grossa, in the state of Paraná. We use a interview, which provided data for the analysis, with regard to the arguments and justifications of the children. We assumed to contribute to the teacher with the teaching of geometry is important that he understands how children establish the spatial relationships in the physical world to relate this world with the geometric. Evidence was found emphasizing that knowledge of this theory by the teacher, he can help interpret the responses of children and propose activities that they are able to achieve, including the reasons for their difficulties; We can say that the inter-relationships found relate to the fact the spatial relationships established in the physical world, concern forms, and travel distances in all this is study of geometry. It also could identify the relationships established by the children, showing to what extent they relate to geometric knowledge. / Esta investigação buscou estabelecer inter-relações entre os resultados dos estudos piagetianos referentes à percepção e representação do espaço e o processo de ensino da Geometria; identificar como as crianças estabelecem as relações espaciais de natureza topológica, projetiva e euclidiana; e evidenciar as contribuições dos resultados dos referidos estudos piagetianos. Para tanto, organizamos atividades adaptadas da obra de Piaget e Inhelder (1993), “A representação do espaço na criança”, e as propusemos a um grupo de crianças com idades entre oito e nove anos, de uma escola municipal de Ponta Grossa, no estado do Paraná. Utilizamos a entrevista, que nos forneceu dados para as análises, no que diz respeito aos argumentos e justificativas das crianças. Partimos do pressuposto de que para o professor contribuir com o ensino da Geometria é importante que ele compreenda como as crianças estabelecem as relações espaciais no mundo físico para relacionar esse mundo com o geométrico. Evidências foram encontradas, ressaltando que o conhecimento dessa teoria, por parte do professor, pode contribuir para que ele interprete as respostas das crianças e proponha atividades que elas tenham condições de realizar, compreendendo os motivos de suas dificuldades. Podemos afirmar que as inter-relações encontradas se referem ao fato de que as relações espaciais estabelecidas no mundo físico dizem respeito a formas, distâncias e deslocamentos e tudo isso é objeto de estudo da Geometria. Também pudemos identificar as relações estabelecidas pelas crianças, evidenciando em que medida elas se relacionam com os conhecimentos geométricos.

Desde muito pequenas as crianças constroem relações especiais por meio das suas percepções, das experiências com os objetos e com o meio e das soluções para os desafios que encontram. Para tomar consciência daquilo que aprendem, é importante que a escola traga desafios que busquem a exploração espacial. Vários conceitos de Matemática e de Geografia estão presentes na aprendizagem do espaço, que é construída pela combinação de significados, de situações e de representações diversificadas. A teoria de Jean Piaget sobre a construção das relações especiais foi utilizada para fundamentar as situações de ensino e aprendizagem, ligadas a Geografia e a Matemática, que foram realizadas. O problema de pesquisa foi: Como conceitos geográficos e matemáticos articulam-se na construção das relações espaciais em crianças de 1º ano do Ensino Fundamental? Um estudo de caso foi realizado com as crianças do 1º ano do Ensino Fundamental que participaram do Projeto Clube de Matemática e Ciências da Faculdade de Educação da Universidade de São Paulo. A pesquisa evidenciou com as situações propostas que as crianças estão construindo as aprendizagens sobre as relações especiais de forma articulada, tanto com conceitos matemáticos e geográficos, nos diferentes desafios que lhes foram apresentados. / Since very Young, children build their spatial relations through their perceptions, from their experience with objetcs and from the solutions found to the challenges they face. To allow them to be conscious of what they learn, it is important that the school promotes challenges that instigate the spatial learning, which is built through the combination of meanings, situations and diversified representations. Jean Piaget´s theory about the construction of the spatial relations was utilized to fundament the teaching and learning situations implemented, which were connected to Geography and Mathematics. The question to be answered in this research was: How Geografphy and Mathematics´ concepts are related in the construction of spatial relation in children of the first year of elementary school?. A case study was developed with targeted children that participated in the Mathematics and Science Clube Project, developed by that the children are construing their learning about spatial relations in an articulated manner, with concepts from both Mathematics and Geography, in the differente challenges that were presented.

Purpose: The purpose of the study is to find out what mathematical content primary school children encounter in their free options at school. Through observation, the study defines mathematical areas that primary school students encounter in their free options at school. We want the study to show the reader the mathematics that students continuously meet without associating it with regular mathematics as taught in school. A number of mathematical areas have been defined in the analysis of the observations. These areas have subsequently been discussed more thoroughly. Finally, the areas have been arranged in a grid system to clarify the results. In our study, we have discovered that mathematics exists in all the observed situations the students participated in. We believe that observation as a method can give teachers a tool for helping students associate practical actions during their free options with the more theoretical aspects of formal teaching of mathematics. We discuss this further in the study.

This thesis examines the role of function in representations of space by robots - that is, dealing directly and explicitly with those aspects of space and objects in space that serve some purpose for the robot. It is suggested that taking function into account helps increase the generality and robustness of solutions in an unpredictable and complex world, and the suggestion is affirmed by several instantiations of functionally conceived spatial models. These include perceptual models for the "on" and "in" relations based on support and containment; context-sensitive segmentation of 2-D maps into regions distinguished by functional criteria; and, learned predictive models of the causal relationships between objects in physics simulation. Practical application of these models is also demonstrated in the context of object search on a mobile robotic platform. / QC 20111125

<p>Purpose: The purpose of the study is to find out what mathematical content primary school children encounter in their free options at school.</p><p>Through observation, the study defines mathematical areas that primary school students encounter in their free options at school. We want the study to show the reader the mathematics that students continuously meet without associating it with regular mathematics as taught in school.</p><p>A number of mathematical areas have been defined in the analysis of the observations. These areas have subsequently been discussed more thoroughly. Finally, the areas have been arranged in a grid system to clarify the results.</p><p>In our study, we have discovered that mathematics exists in all the observed situations the students participated in.</p><p>We believe that observation as a method can give teachers a tool for helping students associate practical actions during their free options with the more theoretical aspects of formal teaching of mathematics. We discuss this further in the study.</p>