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Bridging The Design-Use Gap For Dss In Environmental Policy And Practice., K. B. Matthews, M. G. Hutchins, G. Hill Jul 2006

Bridging The Design-Use Gap For Dss In Environmental Policy And Practice., K. B. Matthews, M. G. Hutchins, G. Hill

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

Drawing on the literature of agricultural decision support systems (DSS) and experience in developing tools for policy support and evaluation, this paper argues that while in the main such tools have failed to live up to expectations it may be that the expectations were unrealistic. The design-use gap of DSS for environmental management is partially the inevitable cycle of expectations (unbelief-euphoria-disappointment and maturity or abandonment) experienced by any innovation. The environmental problems facing land managers and society are dauntingly complex. Yet more or better quality information does not inevitably lead to better management. Many of the issues that face land-use …

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A New Raster-Based Spatial Modelling System: 5d Environment, S. Mazzoleni, F. Giannino, M. Mulligan, D. Heathfield, M. Colandrea, M. Nicolazzo, M. D'Aquino Jul 2006

A New Raster-Based Spatial Modelling System: 5d Environment, S. Mazzoleni, F. Giannino, M. Mulligan, D. Heathfield, M. Colandrea, M. Nicolazzo, M. D'Aquino

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

The functional description of natural systems requires the representation of different classes of processes including chemical, biochemical, and physical functions, with or without their spatial representation. On the other hand, there are several cases where a realistic representation of the process dynamics needs a spatially explicit implementation of the model (eg. hydrological flows, fire propagation, pollution diffusion, etc.). In more general terms, and for different scientific fields, scaling problems and the issue of linking dynamic and spatial processes require an integrated logic and appropriate software solutions. Different tools aimed at implementing spatial modelling capability (PCRaster, SME, SimARC) have not yet …

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The Integrated Model Network Ite2m: Model Set-Up And Assessment Of Agricultural Land Use And Management Options, Wolfgang Reiher, Lutz Breuer, Bernd Weinmann, Thorsten Pohlert, Martin Bach, Rolf A. Düring, Stefan Gäth, Hans Georg Frede Jul 2006

The Integrated Model Network Ite2m: Model Set-Up And Assessment Of Agricultural Land Use And Management Options, Wolfgang Reiher, Lutz Breuer, Bernd Weinmann, Thorsten Pohlert, Martin Bach, Rolf A. Düring, Stefan Gäth, Hans Georg Frede

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

The Integrated Tool for Economic and Ecological Modelling (ITE2M) is developed to assess landscape services of different land use options. ITE2M is a network of several models addressing agroeconomy, agricultural policy and environmental services with respect to soil, water as well as floral and faunal biodiversity. As a central part of ITE2M the agro-economic simulation model ProLand predicts land use distributions that are optimal from an economic point of view. ProLand calculates the spatially differentiated maximum land rent accounting for different natural, technical, economic and political boundary conditions. The site specific outputs of ProLand comprise land rent, land use and …

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Experience Gained From The Use Of Environmental Information Systems For The Public In The State Of Baden-Wuerttemberg, Werner Geiger, C. Düpmeier, M. Ruchter, T. Schlachter, R. Ebel, M. Linnenbach Jul 2006

Experience Gained From The Use Of Environmental Information Systems For The Public In The State Of Baden-Wuerttemberg, Werner Geiger, C. Düpmeier, M. Ruchter, T. Schlachter, R. Ebel, M. Linnenbach

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

For the protection of the natural environment and a sustainable development, joint responsibility and participation of the citizens are indispensable. In this connection, enlightenment and information of the public and the promotion of environmental awareness play a crucial role. This contribution shall present various environmental information systems for the public and report about the experience gained from their development and operation. The systems have been developed as parts of the Baden-Wuerttemberg Environmental Information System by Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe in cooperation with the State Institute for the Environment, Measurements, and Nature Protection. In particular, the Baden-Wuerttemberg Environmental Information Network with a portal …

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Uncertainty Management, Spatial And Temporal Reasoning, And Validation Of Intelligent Environmental Decision Support Systems, Miquel Sànchez-Marrè, Karina Gibert, Rick Sojda, Jean-Philippe Steyer, Peter Struss, Ignasi Rodríguez-Roda Jul 2006

Uncertainty Management, Spatial And Temporal Reasoning, And Validation Of Intelligent Environmental Decision Support Systems, Miquel Sànchez-Marrè, Karina Gibert, Rick Sojda, Jean-Philippe Steyer, Peter Struss, Ignasi Rodríguez-Roda

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

There are inherent open problems arising when developing and running Intelligent Environmental Decision Support Systems (IEDSS). During daily operation of IEDSS several open challenge problems appear. The uncertainty of data being processed is intrinsic to the environmental system, which is being monitored by several on-line sensors and off-line data. Thus, anomalous data values at data gathering level or even uncertain reasoning process at later levels such as in diagnosis or decision support or planning can lead the environmental process to unsafe critical operation states. At diagnosis level or even at decision support level or planning level, spatial reasoning or temporal …

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Current Trends In Environmental Modelling With Uncertainty., Jiří Hřebíček, Jan Pesl Jul 2006

Current Trends In Environmental Modelling With Uncertainty., Jiří Hřebíček, Jan Pesl

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

The important characteristic feature of environmental modelling is the complexity and uncertainty of its mathematical representation (uncertainty of formula). Imprecision of its input data is another characteristic feature, where it is not possible to omit influences of primary monitoring (e.g. gaps of data, errors of measuring facilities, human factor, etc). Many parameters in algorithms and their mathematical formulations are substituted by empirical constants in praxis, although it is well known that their values are very volatile and input data are not validated. Nowadays, information and communication technology (ICT) capabilities are growing rapidly and applied mathematical software (e.g. computer algebra systems, …

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Data Mining As A Tool For Environmental Scientists, J. M. Spate, Karina Gibert, Miquel Sànchez-Marrè, E. Frank, Joaquim Comas, Ioannis N. Athanasiadis Jul 2006

Data Mining As A Tool For Environmental Scientists, J. M. Spate, Karina Gibert, Miquel Sànchez-Marrè, E. Frank, Joaquim Comas, Ioannis N. Athanasiadis

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

Over recent years a huge library of data mining algorithms has been developed to tackle a variety of problems in fields such as medical imaging and network traffic analysis. Many of these techniques are far more flexible than more classical modelling approaches and could be usefully applied to data-rich environmental problems. Certain techniques such as Artificial Neural Networks, Clustering, Case-Based Reasoning and more recently Bayesian Decision Networks have found application in environmental modelling while other methods, for example classification and association rule extraction, have not yet been taken up on any wide scale. We propose that these and other data …

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Ribasim River Basin Planning And Management Simulation Program, Delft Hydraulics Jul 2006

Ribasim River Basin Planning And Management Simulation Program, Delft Hydraulics

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

RIBASIM (River Basin Simulation Model) is a generic model package for analyzing the behaviour of river basins under various hydrological conditions. The model package is a comprehensive and flexible tool which links the hydrological water inputs at various locations with the specific water-users in the basin. RIBASIM is designed for river basin planning and management RIBASIM follows a structured approach to river basin planning and management. RIBASIM enables the user to evaluate a variety of measures related to infrastructure, operational and demand management and the results in terms of water quantity and water quality. RIBASIM generates water distribution patterns and …

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Dealing With Uncertainty And Sensitivity Issues In Process-Based Models Of Carbon And Nitrogen Cycles In Northern Forest Ecosystems, G. R. Larocque, J. S. Bhatti, A. M. Gordon, N. Luckai, Jinxun Liu, Shuguang Liu, P. A. Arp, C. -F Zhang, Alexander Komarov, Pavel Grabarnik, M. Wattenbach, C. Peng, Jianfeng Sun, Thomas White Jul 2006

Dealing With Uncertainty And Sensitivity Issues In Process-Based Models Of Carbon And Nitrogen Cycles In Northern Forest Ecosystems, G. R. Larocque, J. S. Bhatti, A. M. Gordon, N. Luckai, Jinxun Liu, Shuguang Liu, P. A. Arp, C. -F Zhang, Alexander Komarov, Pavel Grabarnik, M. Wattenbach, C. Peng, Jianfeng Sun, Thomas White

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

Many process-based models on carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) cycles have been developed for northern forest ecosystems. These models are widely used to evaluate the long-term decisions in forest management dealing with effects like particulate pollution, productivity and climate change. Regarding climate change, one of the key questions that have sensitive political implications is whether northern forests will sequester atmospheric C or not. Whilst many process-based models have been tested for accuracy by evaluating or validating against observed data, few have dealt with the complexity of the incorporated procedures to estimate uncertainties associated with model predictions or the sensitivity of …

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Uncertainty Management, Spatial And Temporal Reasoning, And Validation Of Intelligent Environmental Decision Support Systems, Miquel Sànchez-Marrè, Karina Gibert, Rick Sojda, Jean-Philippe Steyer, Peter Struss, Ignasi Rodríguez-Roda Jul 2006

Uncertainty Management, Spatial And Temporal Reasoning, And Validation Of Intelligent Environmental Decision Support Systems, Miquel Sànchez-Marrè, Karina Gibert, Rick Sojda, Jean-Philippe Steyer, Peter Struss, Ignasi Rodríguez-Roda

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

There are inherent open problems arising when developing and running Intelligent Environmental Decision Support Systems (IEDSS). During daily operation of IEDSS several open challenge problems appear. The uncertainty of data being processed is intrinsic to the environmental system, which is being monitored by several on-line sensors and off-line data. Thus, anomalous data values at data gathering level or even uncertain reasoning process at later levels such as in diagnosis or decision support or planning can lead the environmental process to unsafe critical operation states. At diagnosis level or even at decision support level or planning level, spatial reasoning or temporal …

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Helping Children To Be Lifelong Learners, Don Pearson, Ann Pearson Jul 2006

Helping Children To Be Lifelong Learners, Don Pearson, Ann Pearson

Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel

No abstract provided.

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A New Raster-Based Spatial Modelling System: 5d Environment, S. Mazzoleni, F. Giannino, M. Mulligan, D. Heathfield, M. Colandrea, M. Nicolazzo, M. D'Aquino Jul 2006

A New Raster-Based Spatial Modelling System: 5d Environment, S. Mazzoleni, F. Giannino, M. Mulligan, D. Heathfield, M. Colandrea, M. Nicolazzo, M. D'Aquino

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

The functional description of natural systems requires the representation of different classes of processes including chemical, biochemical, and physical functions, with or without their spatial representation. On the other hand, there are several cases where a realistic representation of the process dynamics needs a spatially explicit implementation of the model (eg. hydrological flows, fire propagation, pollution diffusion, etc.). In more general terms, and for different scientific fields, scaling problems and the issue of linking dynamic and spatial processes require an integrated logic and appropriate software solutions. Different tools aimed at implementing spatial modelling capability (PCRaster, SME, SimARC) have not yet …

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“The Way Of An Eagle”: Birds In The Scriptures, Dale Z. Kirby Jul 2006

“The Way Of An Eagle”: Birds In The Scriptures, Dale Z. Kirby

Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel

No abstract provided.

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Properties Of Conductance And Inhibition Of Proton Channels: M2 From Influenza A Virus And Fo From Escherichia Coli Atp Synthase, Jeffrey C. Moffat Jun 2006

Properties Of Conductance And Inhibition Of Proton Channels: M2 From Influenza A Virus And Fo From Escherichia Coli Atp Synthase, Jeffrey C. Moffat

Theses and Dissertations

Proton channels are essential for many of the processes of life. The influenza A viral protein M2 is responsible for sensing the conditions necessary for viral RNA release. The proton-translocating FoF1 ATPase (ATP synthase) uses a proton gradient to drive adenosine triphosphate (ATP) synthesis. We have directly measured proton uptake in vesicles containing reconstituted M2 or FO by monitoring external pH after addition of valinomycin to vesicles with 100-fold diluted external [K+]. This proton flux assay was utilized to quantify proton flux through single M2 and Fo channels. Contrary to previous reports, proton uptake by M2 was not significantly altered …

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Successful Nesting By A Bald Eagle Pair In Prairie Grasslands Of The Texas Panhandle, Clint W. Boal, Matthew D. Giovanni, Blake N. Beall May 2006

Successful Nesting By A Bald Eagle Pair In Prairie Grasslands Of The Texas Panhandle, Clint W. Boal, Matthew D. Giovanni, Blake N. Beall

Western North American Naturalist

We observed a breeding Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) pair nesting in a short-grass prairie and agricultural community on the southern Great Plains of the Texas Panhandle in 2004 and 2005. The nesting eagles produced 1 fledgling in 2004 and 2 fledglings in 2005. Our assessment of landcover types within a 5-km radius of the nest indicated that grasslands accounted for most of the area (90%), followed by agricultural lands (8%). Black-tailed prairie dog (Cynomys ludovicianus) colonies occupied 2.5% of the area, and single human residences with associated structures (i.e., barns) occupied <1%. The nearest source of permanent surface water >2.5 ha in surface area …

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New Records Of The Eastern Pipistrelle (Pipistrellus Subflavus) In Colorado, David M. Armstrong, Rick A. Adams, Karen E. Taylor May 2006

New Records Of The Eastern Pipistrelle (Pipistrellus Subflavus) In Colorado, David M. Armstrong, Rick A. Adams, Karen E. Taylor

Western North American Naturalist

No abstract provided.

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Factors Controlling Structural And Floristic Variation Of Riparian Zones In A Mountainous Landscape Of The Western United States, A. G. Merrill, T. L. Benning, J. A. Fites May 2006

Factors Controlling Structural And Floristic Variation Of Riparian Zones In A Mountainous Landscape Of The Western United States, A. G. Merrill, T. L. Benning, J. A. Fites

Western North American Naturalist

We examined landscape patterns in the physical conditions and vegetative composition of montane riparian zones to identify their most important sources of variation. Information on plant species cover and on physical characteristics that occur at coarse, medium, and fine scales was collected for 144 riparian plots located throughout the Lake Tahoe Basin, which straddles the California–Nevada border in the western United States. Constrained and unconstrained ordination analyses were used to identify the most important correlates of physical form and plant species composition. Through multivariate analysis of environmental variables (principal components analysis), vegetation data (detrended correspondence analysis), and the combined relationship …

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Gray Fox And Coyote Abundance And Diet Responses After A Wildfire In Central Arizona, Stan C. Cunningham, Laribeth Kirkendall, Warren Ballard May 2006

Gray Fox And Coyote Abundance And Diet Responses After A Wildfire In Central Arizona, Stan C. Cunningham, Laribeth Kirkendall, Warren Ballard

Western North American Naturalist

There is a paucity of information on the effects of wildfire on carnivores. We studied the effects of a 237-km2 catastrophic wildfire in the Mazatzal Mountains, Arizona, on gray foxes (Urocyon cinereoargenteus) and coyotes (Canis latrans). We indexed relative abundance 3 times each year from 1996 to 1998 using scat transects in burned and unburned areas. We collected scats to estimate diet and measured small mammal abundance and mast availability in 1997 and 1998. We also measured vegetation cover in burned and unburned sites. Gray fox indices declined 3 months postfire, but after 30 months, …

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Age And Population Structure Of Joshua Trees (Yucca Brevifolia) In The Northwestern Mojave Desert, Kimberly D. Gilliland, Nancy J. Huntly, J. E. Anderson May 2006

Age And Population Structure Of Joshua Trees (Yucca Brevifolia) In The Northwestern Mojave Desert, Kimberly D. Gilliland, Nancy J. Huntly, J. E. Anderson

Western North American Naturalist

Many desert perennials are long-lived, but there are few data on ages or population structures of desert plants. We used 2 methods to estimate ages of a population of Yucca brevifolia (Joshua tree) in southwestern Utah from a 14-year census of plant sizes. Plant height at the 1st census ranged from 0.08 m to 6.0 m, and trees grew in height at a mean rate of 3.75 cm · yr−1. Plants also increased slowly in basal diameter (0.142 cm · yr−1) and branch length (0.024 m · yr−1), but basal diameter varied greatly from …

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Plant Species Richness At Different Scales In Native And Exotic Grasslands In Southeastern Arizona, Steven P. Mclaughlin, Janice E. Bowers May 2006

Plant Species Richness At Different Scales In Native And Exotic Grasslands In Southeastern Arizona, Steven P. Mclaughlin, Janice E. Bowers

Western North American Naturalist

Species richness in Madrean mixed-grass prairies dominated by native or exotic species in southeastern Arizona was characterized at the community and point scales using ten 1-m2 quadrats nested within each of eight 1000-m2 plots. In the 1000-m2 plots average richness was significantly higher in oak savanna (OS, 121.0 species) than in exotic grassland on mesa tops (EMT, 52.0 species), whereas native grassland on mesa slopes (NMS, 92.5 species) and native grassland on mesa tops (NMT, 77.0 species) did not differ significantly in richness from OS or EMT. When richness was partitioned by life form, EMT was notably …

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The Effect Of Livestock Grazing On The Rainbow Grasshopper: Population Differences And Ecological Correlates, Sandra J. Debano May 2006

The Effect Of Livestock Grazing On The Rainbow Grasshopper: Population Differences And Ecological Correlates, Sandra J. Debano

Western North American Naturalist

This study examined the effect of livestock grazing on a common herbivore in semiarid grasslands of the Southwest: the rainbow grasshopper, Dactylotum variegatum. Population attributes and key environmental variables were compared between sites on active cattle ranches and sites on a 3160-ha ungrazed sanctuary. Although density of D. variegatum nymphs did not differ significantly between grazed and ungrazed sites, adult density was significantly lower on grazed sites, and sex ratios differed between grazed and ungrazed sites over time. Grazed sites had higher percentages of bare ground and fewer Baccharis pteronioides, a common shrub. However, only bare ground was …

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Growth Rate And Thermal Tolerance Of Two Endangered Snake River Snails, Steven Lysne, Peter Koetsier May 2006

Growth Rate And Thermal Tolerance Of Two Endangered Snake River Snails, Steven Lysne, Peter Koetsier

Western North American Naturalist

We investigated the temperature tolerance and growth of 2 federally protected freshwater gastropods from southern Idaho: Valvata utahensis and Pyrgulopsis idahoensis. Snails were collected in the Snake River and transported to the laboratory where they were kept under highly controlled conditions. In varying-temperature, short-duration experiments, the temperatures tolerated by both species were between 7°C and 34°C. In constant-temperature, long-duration experiments, growth rates were between 0.004 mm · d−1 and 0.016 mm · d−1, and we created growth curves for both species that were previously lacking. Our results are among the first to report temperature tolerances and …

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Characteristics Of Swift Fox Dens In Northwest Texas, Brady K. Mcgee, Kerry L. Nicholson, Warren B. Ballard, Matthew J. Butler May 2006

Characteristics Of Swift Fox Dens In Northwest Texas, Brady K. Mcgee, Kerry L. Nicholson, Warren B. Ballard, Matthew J. Butler

Western North American Naturalist

The swift fox (Vulpes velox) was classified in 1995 as a candidate for listing under the Endangered Species Act. Since then, several studies have addressed survey methods for monitoring swift fox populations. The purpose of this paper is to assist field researchers in documenting the presence of swift foxes by identification of recently active den sites. We propose that swift foxes have unique external den characteristics that can be distinguished during aerial surveys. We collected data from 30 swift fox den complexes on both continuous rangeland and landscapes fragmented by cropland in northwest Texas. There were no differences …

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Portrayal Of Disabilities In Caldecott Books, Tina Taylor, Mary Anne Prater, Jennifer Jenson May 2006

Portrayal Of Disabilities In Caldecott Books, Tina Taylor, Mary Anne Prater, Jennifer Jenson

Faculty Publications

The authors read all of the books that received Caldecott Medal and Honor status awarded between 1938 and 2005 and found that 11 included a character with a disability. For each book, they analyzed characterizations of those with disabilities and generated tips for using the book to teach about disabilities. They argue that accurate portrayals of characters with disabilities, particularly the types of disabilities encountered most frequently by young children, are needed in award-winning picture books.

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Mechanisms Imposing The Vbeta Bias Of V14a Natural Killer T Cells And Consequences For Microbial Glycolipid Recognition, Paul B. Savage, Dasten G. Wei, Shane A. Curran, Luc Teyton, Albert Bendelac May 2006

Mechanisms Imposing The Vbeta Bias Of V14a Natural Killer T Cells And Consequences For Microbial Glycolipid Recognition, Paul B. Savage, Dasten G. Wei, Shane A. Curran, Luc Teyton, Albert Bendelac

Faculty Publications

Mouse and human natural killer T (NKT) cells recognize a restricted set of glycosphingolipids presented by CD1d molecules, including self iGb3 and microbial alpha-glycuronosylceramides. The importance of the canonical Valpha 14-Jalpha18 TCR alphachain for antigen recognition by NKT cells is well recognized, but the mechanisms underlying the Vbeta8, Vbeta7, and Vbeta2 bias in mouse have not been explored. To study the influences of thymic selection and the constraints of pairing with Valpha 14-Jalpha 18, we have created a population of mature T cells expressing Valpha 14-Jalpha 18 TCRalpha chain in CD1d-deficient mice and studied its recognition properties in vitro and …

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A Study Of Islamic Leadership Theory And Practice In K-12 Islamic Schools In Michigan, Adnan Ibrahim Aabed Apr 2006

A Study Of Islamic Leadership Theory And Practice In K-12 Islamic Schools In Michigan, Adnan Ibrahim Aabed

Theses and Dissertations

Effective leadership in Islamic schools involves the incorporation of Islamic principles in the leadership behaviors and practices. With so much literature about the need of Islamic leadership in Islamic institutions in the United States, the problem addressed by the study was whether school principals in Islamic schools exhibited and led these schools according to the principles of Islamic leadership. The study described leadership approaches used by school principals in Islamic schools and how those leadership approaches were influenced by Islamic leadership principles, comparing the Islamic leadership principles derived from the literature with the leadership principles of principals of Islamic schools. …

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Bibliotherapy: School Psychologists' Report Of Use And Efficacy, Marci A. Olsen Apr 2006

Bibliotherapy: School Psychologists' Report Of Use And Efficacy, Marci A. Olsen

Theses and Dissertations

This study focused on the use of bibliotherapy by school psychologists. A survey was created and distributed to 119 registered and licensed school psychologists in Utah to obtain information on this topic. Forty-one percent returned a completed survey. Results indicated that bibliotherapy is used by 82% of the participants in the study, and 31 of 34 (91%) use bibliotherapy with children grades K-6. Topics most used with bibliotherapy included self-esteem, bullying, divorce, anxiety, and grief. Efficacy varied depending on the topic of bibliotherapy. However, school psychologists regarded bibliotherapy across all topics to be very effective to effective.

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Duck, A.E. Marlowe Apr 2006

Duck, A.E. Marlowe

Inscape

No abstract provided.

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Full Issue Winter 2006 Apr 2006

Full Issue Winter 2006

Inscape

No abstract provided.

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The Persistence Of Cultures In World History: Persia/Iran, Laina Farhat-Holzman Apr 2006

The Persistence Of Cultures In World History: Persia/Iran, Laina Farhat-Holzman

Comparative Civilizations Review

No abstract provided.

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