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Stepping Stone (stepping + stone)
Selected AbstractsCONFIGURING HISTORICAL FACTS THROUGH HISTORICAL FICTION: AGENCY, ART-IN-FACT, AND IMAGINATION AS STEPPING STONES BETWEEN THEN AND NOWEDUCATIONAL THEORY, Issue 2 2007Kent Den Heyer Through reading a work of historical fiction, Ursula Hegi's novel Stones from the River, Kent den Heyer and Alexandra Fidyk offer a theoretical consideration of the following questions and their classroom implications: What is the role of historical fiction in enabling the imaginative grappling with historical fact? Or, in what ways does historical fiction enable us to come to terms with the ethical imperatives of learning from the past? What role does agency play in historical imagination? These are questions of ethics. They are, therefore, also questions of education. [source] Stephen Drury's Stepping Stones: The Making of Our Home WorldGEOLOGY TODAY, Issue 3 2002(Oxford University Press, 409pp.), ISBN 0 19 850807 , paperback, £12.9 First page of article [source] Feasibility of an exercise rehabilitation programme for cancer patientsEUROPEAN JOURNAL OF CANCER CARE, Issue 4 2006C. STEVINSON bsc, research fellow A growing body of evidence indicates the benefits of exercise as a rehabilitation intervention for cancer patients. However, few hospitals offer exercise-based rehabilitation programmes to patients. This study evaluated the feasibility and acceptability of a group-based exercise programme for cancer patients attending a local oncology centre. The intervention consisted of a weekly instructor-led circuit training class supplemented by home-based activity 4 days/week for 10 weeks. From 28 eligible patients, 12 were recruited (43%), of whom nine completed the intervention (75%). The three withdrawals were due to worsening of disease. Adherence (mean of 7.5 classes attended and 4 days/week of home activity performed) and tolerability (no adverse events) were good. Positive features of the programme identified in interviews with participants included the variety and scope of the exercises, and the empathetic but positive approach of the instructors. The small group format was highly valued with participants receiving social support and inspiration from each other. Perceived outcomes included improved fitness, reduced fatigue, enjoyment, enhanced mood and a sense of achievement. Several participants felt that the intervention represented a stepping stone to becoming habitual exercisers. Results suggested that the programme was feasible and acceptable to patients, but uptake was low, indicating a need for more effective recruitment strategies in order for a cost-effective service to be implemented. [source] Theoretical Study on a Class of Organometallic Complexes Based on All-Metal Aromatic Ga3, Through Sandwiching StabilizationEUROPEAN JOURNAL OF INORGANIC CHEMISTRY, Issue 12 2008Li-ming Yang Abstract We report the theoretical study on a class of organometallic complexes containing the all-metal aromatic unit Ga3, on the basis of density functional theory calculations on a series of model sandwich-like compounds [DM(Ga3)]q, as well as those of the saturated compounds [DMn(Ga3)] [D = Ga3,, Cp,(C5H5,); M = Li, Na, K, Be, Mg, Ca] and extended compounds (Cp,)m(Li+)n(Ga3,)o (m, n, and o are integers). For the six metals, the all-metal aromatic Ga3, can only be assembled and stabilized in the "heterodecked sandwich" scheme (e.g. [CpM(Ga3)]q,) so as to avoid cluster fusion. Moreover, we designed a novel class of all-metal aromatic "metalloid" compounds. The ground state heterodecked sandwich species (Cp),(M)q+(Ga3), (M = Li, Na, K, q = 1; M = Be, Mg, Ca, q = 2) and the extended sandwich species (Cp,)m(Li+)n(Ga3,)o are mainly ionic bonded, cluster-assembled "polyatomic molecule", grown from the combination of Cp,, M atoms, and Ga3,. As a prototype for ionic bonding involving intact Ga3, subunits, [CpM(Ga3)]q, may be a stepping stone toward forming ionic, cluster-assembled all-metal aromatic Ga3 -based bulk solids or materials. Additionally, our results for the first time showed that the electronic, structural, and aromatic properties of the all-metal aromatic Ga3, could be well retained during cluster assembly, which is indicative of "building block" character. Bearing the significant difference in bonding patterns between our designed metalloid compounds and the known metalloid species, synthesis of these novel species might present an attractive challenge to experimental chemists. (© Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, 69451 Weinheim, Germany, 2008) [source] Rural Youth Migration Trends in Australia: an Overview of Recent Trends and Two Inland Case StudiesGEOGRAPHICAL RESEARCH, Issue 2 2008NEIL ARGENT Abstract Much of what has been written on the topic of Australian rural youth migration trends and processes has often proceeded from data-free, or data-poor grounds. In this context, this paper analyses recent trends in youth (15 to 24 years of age) migration for a temporally-consistent set of Statistical Divisions (SDs) in inland rural Australia, and for local government areas within the Northern Tablelands and Slopes and Ranges of northern New South Wales and the Western Australian Central Wheatbelt. The paper finds that rates of youth loss from rural regions have increased over the past twenty years. Yet the patterns, processes, causes and impacts of rural youth migration are distributed in a spatially-uneven fashion. Some remote areas are receiving net migration gains while booming ,sea change' coastal regions have experienced heavy losses. While the ,flight to the bright city lights' syndrome is evident, relatively high proportions of young people in the Northern SD of NSW move within their immediate region. Nevertheless, some common understandings concerning youth mobility were also confirmed. Gender differentials in migration propensity between women and men are evident even at quite local scales. Young people are also more likely to search out capital cities than the rest of the population. Most inland areas still continue to experience heavy losses of local youth. A more precise understanding of rural youth migration trends is an important stepping stone in the establishment of a reinvigorated research effort into young rural people's perspectives of their changing life chances in their home communities. [source] A general inverse method for modelling extensional sedimentary basinsBASIN RESEARCH, Issue 3-4 2000P. Bellingham A two-dimensional inverse model for extracting the spatial and temporal variation of strain rate from extensional sedimentary basins is presented and applied. This model is a generalization of a one-dimensional algorithm which minimizes the misfit between predicted and observed patterns of basin subsidence. Our calculations include the effects of two-dimensional conduction and advection of heat as well as flexural rigidity. More importantly, we make no prior assumptions about the duration, number or intensity of rifting periods. Instead, the distribution of strain rate is permitted to vary smoothly through space and time until the subsidence misfit has been minimized. We have applied this inversion algorithm to extensional sedimentary basins in a variety of geological settings. Basin stratigraphy can be accurately fitted and the resultant spatiotemporal distributions of strain rate are corroborated by independent information about the number and duration of rifting episodes. Perhaps surprisingly, the smallest misfits are achieved with flexural rigidities close to zero. Spatiotemporal strain rate distributions will help to constrain the dynamical evolution of thinning continental lithosphere. The strain rate pattern governs the heat-flow history and so two-dimensional inversion can be used to construct accurate maturation models. Finally, our inversion algorithm is a stepping stone towards a generalized three-dimensional implementation. [source] The polychaete Platynereis dumerilii (Annelida): a laboratory animal with spiralian cleavage, lifelong segment proliferation and a mixed benthic/pelagic life cycleBIOESSAYS, Issue 3 2004Albrecht Fischer Platynereis dumerilii, a marine polychaetous annelid with indirect development, can be continuously bred in the laboratory. Here, we describe its spectacular reproduction and development and address a number of open research problems. Oogenesis is easily studied because the oocytes grow while floating in the coelom. Unlike the embryos of other model spiralians, the Platynereis embryo is transparent giving insight into the dynamic structures and processes inside the cells that accompany the prevailing anisotropic cleavages. Functional studies on cell specification and differential gene expression in embryos, larvae, and later stages are underway. Lifelong proliferation of uniform trunk segments qualifies Platynereis as a model for the study of gene expression and of the functional circuitry of this process. Platynereis can also become a stepping stone in the comparison of segmentation between annelids and arthropods because it comes closer to the putative ancestral morphology and style of development than other model annelids. BioEssays 26:314,325, 2004. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [source] Moving up, moving down: Political careers across territorial levelsEUROPEAN JOURNAL OF POLITICAL RESEARCH, Issue 2 2003Klaus Stolz In the sparse literature on political careers in federal systems, regional positions are often seen as mere stepping stones on the way to federal office. But are they really? The recent professionalization of state politics in federal systems and the regionalization of former unitary states point to the strengthening of the regional level as a career arena in its own right. Could this lead to the emergence of a regional political class with a set of career interests distinct from those of national politicians? This article takes a first, comparative look at current patterns of career movements between regional and national parliaments in a wide range of federal and newly regionalized systems. The study shows that, contrary to general belief, the number of deputies actually moving from the regional to federal level is generally relatively low. While some cases show fairly integrated career structures, others exhibit a pattern of career development in which state or regional office functions as the main focus of political careers. The territorial structure of the political class is dependent upon a whole range of social, cultural and institutional factors. At the same time, it is also an important factor in the mechanics and institutional development of each federal system in question. [source] The Third World Water Forum: to translate visions into concrete actions and commitmentsHYDROLOGICAL PROCESSES, Issue 11 2002Hideaki Oda Abstract Water is vital for the life and health of people and ecosystems and a basic requirement for the development of countries, but many people lack access to adequate and safe water to meet their most basic needs. Water resources, and the related ecosystems, are now under threat from pollution, unsustainable use, climate change, and many other forces. The World Water Forum series has been likened to a series of stepping stones towards the solution of the world's pressing water problems. Each step constitutes a new phase. The third World Water Forum takes up the World Water Vision created at the second World Water Forum in The Hague in 2000, and sets out to see that vision realized in concrete actions. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] GUODUNITES, A LOW-PALAEOLATITUDE AND TRANS-PANTHALASSIC SMITHIAN (EARLY TRIASSIC) AMMONOID GENUSPALAEONTOLOGY, Issue 2 2009ARNAUD BRAYARD Abstract:, Based on new, bed-rock controlled material from Oman and Utah, USA, the Early Triassic genus Guodunites, which was recently erected on the basis of scarce specimens from northwestern Guangxi, South China, is now shown to be a representative of Proptychitidae. This solves the question of the previously unknown phylogenetic affinity of this genus. The genus is restricted to the late middle Smithian, and to date, its biogeographical distribution comprises Oman, South China and Utah, thus indicating an essentially low palaeolatitudinal distribution during the Early Triassic. Its palaeobiogeographical distribution further strengthens the existence of significant equatorial faunal exchanges between both sides of the Panthalassa at that time. It also suggests that, in addition to the potential stepping stones represented by Panthalassic terranes, vigorous equatorial oceanic currents must have contributed largely to the dispersal of ammonoids during such time intervals. [source] Darwin on island plantsBOTANICAL JOURNAL OF THE LINNEAN SOCIETY, Issue 1 2009SHERWIN CARLQUIST fls Islands played a key role in Charles Darwin's observations and experiments on plant dispersal. By means of these experiments, he expunged the old idea that a given species could originate at multiple times and in multiple places. More importantly, by seeing the capabilities for dispersal of plant seeds, fruits and branches, he was able to develop ideas of how plants reach islands and thus he is one of the founders of plant biogeography. For facts regarding floristic distribution of plants, Darwin relied on other workers, most notably Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker. Among his insights were the differences between oceanic and continental islands on a floristic basis, ideas on how age of island and distance from mainland areas influenced composition of island floras, the nature of endemism on islands and the role islands and archipelagos served as stepping stones in dispersal. Ingenious at proposing hypotheses, but always respectful of facts, Darwin sought explanations for plant adaptations on islands at a time when knowledge of island botany was little more than floristic in nature. These explanations are compared with selected recent works in island botany. © 2009 The Linnean Society of London, Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society, 2009, 161, 20,25. [source] | ||||||||||||||||