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This ethnographic account examines the perceptions of a group of outdoor educators or naturalists in a mid-western state park in regards to memory construction and how early memories impact their practice of interpretation. Findings show that early personal memories are not only fundamental to their eventual life as a naturalist but further; these memories motivate their work within the park. Of primary focus is highlighting the intersubjective continuity between the memories of naturalists and what they hope for others and the eventual goal of meaning making by way of affective memories. By describing and interpreting their perceptions of experience and memory we can examine how these processes are invested with significance and what role this plays in their subsequent practice. Since there is little ethnographic research concerning naturalists, this form of cultural analysis provides an important lens that permits an intimate account of naturalists' own awareness as a way to understand their unique contributions as educators.

This exploratory analysis examines one child welfare agency's efforts to engage both parents and how those efforts impact overall case outcomes. Data collected using the federal Onsite Review Instrument (OSRI) assess state child welfare agency efforts to engage both mothers and fathers in 206 cases involving children from in-home and out-of-home placements. The specific parent engagement domains included parental visitation with their children, assessment of parental needs, provision of services to parents, and parental involvement in case planning. The study finds that efforts to engage both parents are statistically associated with overall higher likelihood that the child welfare agency substantially achieved case outcomes related to safety, permanency, and well-being. These results suggest a need for continued emphasis on engaging absent or noninvolved parents to achieve best outcomes in work with children and families. Implications for child welfare practice include a need to examine the multiple supports for organizational change necessary to ensure that efforts to engage both parents are consistently integrated into case-level practice.

This article examines, elementary leveled graphic history, a genre of literature relatively untouched by research. Due to graphic nonfiction's growing popularity in the realm of children's literature and its potential benefits for young readers, teachers may want to incorporate this genre of literature into their social studies curriculum. Despite the genre's appeal, educators should be careful when introducing graphic histories to their students, as nonfiction texts of any kind can possibly contain inaccuracies and biases that might foster misconceptions. In this study, we used a critical content analysis approach to investigate both images and text in four graphic histories on the Battle of the Alamo. We found these books contain several instances of factual errors and biased perspectives. After our analyses, we discussed implications for using these types of books in the classroom to help students enhance critical literacy skills. We connected recommended critical literacy activities to Common Core State Standards for informational texts and writing.

This study examines the destination choices of pan-American migrants using census data for migrants from 23 Latin-American and Caribbean origin groups opting for one of ten North and South American destination countries. Descriptive findings suggests that Caribbean and Central American migrants overwhelmingly migrate to the United States, while South Americans are characterized by more diverse choice patterns. Using discrete choice models, the multivariate analysis shows that migrants are more likely to choose a country of destination which portrays a higher relative expected wage ratio, a lower relative income inequality, a smaller geographic as well as cultural distance, a larger co-ethnic community and policy conditions that are more favorable towards immigrants. The results also indicate that some of these characteristics lead to skill selection differentials. Accordingly, destinations are more likely to attract highly educated migrants if the co-ethnic community is small and relative political freedom, geographic distance and cultural distance are above average.

ABSTRACTThe Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) campaign against Israel is animated by a pragmatic strain that views external sanctions as effective pressure against a small democratic state and by a moralistic Manichean strain that portrays Israelis as oppressors. Both strains hearken back to the earlier campaign against apartheid in South Africa. We argue that doing so misreads the lessons of South Africa. Sanctions may have contributed to ending apartheid, but they operated in conjunction with improved security and interpersonal trust among negotiators. Key contenders moved from a discourse of oppression to one that humanized one another as partners with legitimate concerns. These conditions are missing from the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. Both sides consider their security to be precarious and they are locked in competing narratives of victimization, which further erode mutual trust and security. Measures to improve the parties' security and trust would contribute to mutual concessions and greater justification for sanctions if the Israeli government is intransigent.

Our study investigates racial/ethnic differences in religious non-involvement using data from three national probability surveys: 2000 Social Capital Survey, 2004 National Politics Study, and the 2007 Religious Landscape Survey. Three measures of religious involvement are investigated: service attendance, religious denomination, and religious identification. We consistently find that non-Hispanic White, Hispanic, and Asian Americans are more likely than African Americans and African Caribbean Americans to identify as religiously non-involved. The central role of religion and faith communities in the lives of persons of African Americans and African Caribbeans may help explain the relatively lower levels of religious non-involvement among these groups. Other social-demographic characteristics also consistently predict religious non-involvement. Along these lines, we have fairly strong evidence that age cohort maintains a stronger relationship with rarely attending worship services among African Americans than among Hispanic and Asian Americans. That age cohort differentially maintains such relationships likely has implications for how we are to understand future growth projections for religious non-involvement in the United States.

The Russian economy grew rapidly between 2000 and 2007, but growth decelerated after the 2008-09 global financial crisis, and since mid-2014 Russia has moved into recession. A number of short-term factors have caused recession: lower oil prices, the conflict with Ukraine, European Union and United States sanctions against Russia and Russian counter-sanctions. However Russia's negative output trends have deeper structural and institutional roots. They can be tracked back about a decade to when previous market-reform policies started to be reversed in favour of dirigisme, leading to further deterioration of the business and investment climate. Russia must address its short-term problems, but in the medium-to-long term it must deal with its fundamental structural and institutional disadvantages: oil and commodity dependence and an unfriendly business and investment climate underpinned by poor governance. Compared to many other commodity producers, Russia is better placed to diversify its economy, mostly due to its excellent human capital. Ruble depreciation makes this task easier.

The results of Ukrainian research of western towns are proposed for evaluation of development potential of recreational tourism and the whole tourism industry. Socio-economic factors, climatic and natural factors, state and perspectives of infrastructure in the region, political and administrative stability were chosen as evaluation parameters. The conclusion was done concerning the obtained results of rating evaluation. ; Предлагаются результаты исследования городов западного региона Украины для оценки потенциала развития рекреационного туризма и туристической отрасли в целом. В качестве параметров оценки были выбраны социально-экономические факторы, факторы климатического и природного характера, состояние и перспективы развития инфраструктуры региона, политическую и административную стабильность. Сделаны выводы относительно полученных результатов рейтинговой оценки. ; Пропонуються результати дослідження міст західного регіону України для оцінки потенціалу розвитку рекреаційного туризму та туристичної галузі в цілому. В якості параметрів оцінки було обрано соціально-економічні фактори, фактори кліматичного і природного характеру, стан і перспективи розвитку інфраструктури регіону, політичну та адміністративну стабільність. Зроблені висновки щодо отриманих результатів рейтингового оцінювання.

By analysing the regulating mechanisms of state subsidies to Swedish institutions generally considered mediating "popular education" during the twentieth century, it is argued that a tension has been developed between two parallel notions of popular education. A narrower ideal popular education—emphasising non-formality and independence—has been discursively nurtured along with a broader organisational popular education, denoting the de facto institutions that have received government funding, primarily the folk high schools and study associations. It is argued that the organisational popular education is a reality in itself, spanning over border zones between, for example, non-formal and formal education. Furthermore, an argu- ment against using "popular education" as an analytical concept is put forth, since it is overly contested. Rather, it is promoted as a discursive construct that has for- med real organisational structures with their own logic, which cannot be denoted by words such as non-formal adult education. ; Folkbildningens finansiering 1872–1991: ekonomisk styrning, normer och praxis i spänningsfältet mellan offentlig och frivillig sektor

Cet article analyse la relation empirique entre les transferts de fonds et la croissance économique dans les pays en transition se situant au sein de l'ancien bloc soviétique. Il cherche également à mesurer si l'effet des transferts de fonds est plus efficace dans les pays où la stabilité politique est plus présente, en utilisant la méthode des moindres carrés généralisés pour des données de panel, afin de contrôler l'hétéroscédasticité et la corrélation sérielle. Les résultats montrent principalement que les transferts de fonds ont un impact négatif sur la croissance et que ce dernier dépend de la stabilité politique des pays concernés. This paper examines the empirical relationship between remittances and economic growth in post-Soviet states, and the role that political stability plays in this context. Using Feasible Generalized Least Squares to tackle group heteroskedasticity and serial correlation in panels, we find that remittances have a significant negative correlation with the receiving countries' economic progress. Besides, this relationship is contingent upon the political stability the country enjoys.

BACKGROUND: Breast cancer is one of the commonest form of cancer leading to considerable mortality and morbidity in developing countrylike India with age adjusted rate of 25.8 per 1,00,000 population.it is observed that expression of certain epidermal growth factor for certain receptors like Estrogen receptor(ER), Progesterone receptor(PR) and HER2/neu receptors are increased in certain malignancies, estimating which can help in preventive, promotive and therapeutic aspects of breast malignancy. AIM: the current retrospective study was undertaken to assess the ER, PR and HER – 2 / new states in breast carcinoma at Government Medical College and General hospital, Anantapuramu. An effort is made also to assess certain epidemiological factors associated with breast cancers.RESULTS: The current study indicated that mean age of presentation is 50. years. breast cancers are common in middle age group woman of rural areas who premenopausal and are have less than two children. The commonest histological type found is infiltrating ductal carcinoma(NOS) type. Hormone – expression in our study in low compared to western population but comparable with Indian studies.

Роль облавной охоты в жизни древних и средневековых кочевников евразийских степей была очень велика и далеко неоднозначна. Давно подмеченное исследователями сходство облавы с репетицией военных действий – только часть ее смысла. Сочетание кочевничества и охоты стимулировало создание традиционной военной организации номадов. Участие в охоте способствовало сближению и росту самосознания воинов-охотников, их сплочению перед вызовами внешних факторов, консолидации разноплеменного общества в единое целое. Это размывало рамки родового и племенного мышления, способствуя появлению у номадов политического единения в противовес центробежным родоплеменным традициям, способствуя укреплению государства. ; Role of battue hunting in a military and political life of nomads of Eurasian steppes was great. The combination of nomads and hunting stimulated the creation of traditional military organization of nomads. The participation in hunting helped for familiarity and growth of self-consciousness of hunter-warrior, growth of rallying before externalities, consolidation of mingled society and organic whole. It cleared tribal thinking, helped in appearance 'nomads' political union to counterweight centrifugal tribal traditions, contribyting to the strengthening of the state.

While many analysts use an informal political network perspective to describe Russian domestic politics under Vladimir Putin, almost none have applied that framework to Russian foreign policy. This article explains why Russia is a useful case to use in developing such a framework, and then proposes a preliminary set of arguments about what a foreign policy based on informal politics would look like. While a realism or state interest framework still explains a lot, this article argues that an informal politics perspective explains Russian actions better than realism can alone, and explains why a personalized network approach is different from a more classic interest-group model. It cites a variety of examples from the Putin era to begin to illustrate the arguments, and then provides longer illustrative case-studies of Russian policy toward Iran and Syria to show how the arguments can be used in practice. It concludes by asking whether the perspective is useful in understanding Putin's actions in Ukraine in 2014. Adapted from the source document.

Microgrids are increasingly put forward as key concepts of future energy supply complementing the conventional centralised energy system. This paper describes operational and regulatory microgrid challenges and makes suggestions regarding how to overcome them. Motivated by its unique liberalisation process, state guided growth processes and technology focused economic and sustainable growth ambitions, Singapore is put forward as a case study. An analysis of its legislative framework identified that advanced legislation is already in place regarding the distribution of locally generated cooling. However, a regulatory framework for full energy integrated modern microgrids is still in its infancy. Global lessons learned from the Singapore experience are therefore mainly with regard to utility based microgrids as they might facilitate the set-up of regulatory frameworks and standardisation. Additionally, grid connection codes and standards are needed to ensure safe microgrid operation. Furthermore microgrids still need a legally defined identity. Here, global best practices are likely to lead the way.

Environmental Decision Support Systems (EDSS) are one of a suite of tools that natural resource management (NRM) practitioners may use to support the development of, or help report on the success, of NRM programs. This paper outlines two DSS that are being developed for state government or NRM agencies in Australia to assist them to develop, implement and manage programs aimed at improving resource condition. IBIS is an EDSS that models ecological outcomes of environmental flows. VegBN models the effectiveness of NRM interventions on native vegetation quality on private land in northern Victoria. The underlying model base of each EDSS is comprised of Bayesian Network (BN) models linked with other BN or component models. Bayesian networks have proved to be a flexible and highly valuable approach to modelling such highly complex and uncertain environmental systems. They are an approach that can add rigour and transparency to decision-making processes and have in Australia gained considerable interest from researchers as well as government and other organisations involved in the management of natural resources.