Evidence Of Further Change Research Articles

The impact of Global Englishes classroom-based innovation on school-aged language learners' perceptions of English: An exercise in practitioner and researcher partnership

This paper outlines a collaborative research project established via a research partnership within a Global Englishes (GE) theoretical framework. The aim of the quasi-experimental classroom-based study was to examine the effect of a GE curriculum intervention embedded within a general English course in a commercial language school. The study adopted a longitudinal mixed methods design, collecting data from 24 school-aged learners via the English as an International Language Perception Scale at four time points, and via dairies at five time points. Quantitative findings reveal that students' perceptions toward the diversity of English became significantly more positive after the GE intervention with qualitative findings providing further evidence of change in students' attitudes toward the legitimacy of non-standard Englishes. Evidence was not obtained for a significant effect of the intervention on students' perceptions toward the current status of English, strategies for multilingual and multicultural communication, or English speaker identity. In this paper we discuss how researcher and teacher partners collaborated from project inception to the dissemination of the findings, intertwining and leveraging important theoretical, methodological, and professional knowledge throughout the research process. We highlight the importance of partnership research for the bidirectional development of teacher-researcher holistic identities.

Hot Air, Hot Lakes, or Both? Exploring Mid‐Holocene African Temperatures Using Proxy System Modeling

AbstractClimate models predict Africa will warm by up to 5°C in the coming century, stressing African societies. To provide independent constraints on model predictions, this study compares two notable reconstructions of East African temperatures to those predicted by Paleoclimate Model Intercomparison Project (PMIP3) and transient TraCE (Transient Climate Evolution) simulations, focusing on the Mid‐Holocene (MH, 5–8 kyr B.P.). Reconstructions of tropical African temperature derived from lake sedimentary archives indicate 1–2.5°C of warming during the MH relative to the 20th century, but most climate models do not replicate the warming observed in these paleoclimate data. We investigate this discrepancy using a new lake proxy system model, with attention to the (potentially non‐stationary) relationship between lake temperature and air temperature. We find amplified lake surface temperature changes compared to air temperature during the MH due to heightened seasonality and precessional forcing. Lacustrine processes account for some of the warming, and highlight how the lake heat budget leads to a rectification of the seasonal cycle; however, the simulated lake heating bias is insufficient to reconcile the full discrepancy between the models and the proxy‐derived MH warming. We find further evidence of changes in mixing depth over time, potentially driven by changes in cloud cover and shortwave radiative fluxes penetrating the lake surface. This may confound interpretation for glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraethers (GDGT) compounds which exist in the mixed layer, and suggests a need for independent constraints on mixed layer depth. This work provides a new interpretive framework for invaluable paleoclimate records of temperature changes over the African continent.

Cirrhosis, Thrombosis, Finding FaXts about Doses: Dosing of Unfractionated Heparin for Venous Thromboembolism in Cirrhosis.

Background: Despite known disease-specific alterations to anti-factor Xa (AXA) levels, the physiological response of patients with cirrhosis to unfractionated heparin (UFH) infusions is not well established in clinical settings. Objective: The purpose of this study was to characterize the dosing and safety profile of UFH in patients with varying degrees of cirrhosis when treated for venous thromboembolism (VTE). Methods: This retrospective observational study was conducted at a single academic medical center in the United States. Patients with a diagnosis of cirrhosis who received UFH infusions for greater than 48 hours for treatment of VTE were included. Comparisons between heparin infusion rates, AXA levels, and safety outcomes based on severity of cirrhosis were made to define differences between those groups. Results: When compared by compensation status or by Child-Turcotte-Pugh (CTP) class, patients with more severe disease trended toward lower initial AXA levels on heparin initiation and higher heparin requirements to achieve therapeutic levels and were significantly less likely to achieve therapeutic levels than patients with less severe disease (P = 0.001 for compensation, P = 0.017 for CTP). Additionally, bleeding rates were higher in patients with more severe disease, without reaching statistical significance. Conclusion and Relevance: Patients with severe cirrhosis required higher doses of heparin to achieve the same therapeutic AXA levels, but also tended to have higher rates of bleeding compared with less severe cirrhosis. These results represent further evidence of changes in heparin response as cirrhosis severity increases and may suggest that current monitoring methods are suboptimal in this patient population.

What do you expect? Catastrophizing mediates associations between expectancies and pain-facilitatory processes.

Pain expectancies are associated with altered pain sensitivity in individuals with chronic pain. However, little is known about the processes by which pain expectancies impact pain processing. This study assessed the association between pain expectancies and temporal summation (TS) of pain, and examined whether pain catastrophizing mediated this association. In this cross-sectional study, participants (437 chronic low back pain [CLBP] patients, 115 controls) completed self-report measures of pain intensity, pain expectancies and pain catastrophizing before undergoing psychophysical pain-testing procedures designed to assess mechanical TS of mechanical pain. Pearson's correlations examined the associations between study variables in CLBP patients and controls. Bootstrapping mediation analyses assessed the mediating role of pain catastrophizing on the association between pain expectancies and TS of pain. Temporal summation of pain was significantly associated with pain expectancies (r=0.113) and pain catastrophizing (r=0.171) in CLBP patients. Results of mediation analyses revealed that pain catastrophizing mediated the relationship between pain expectancies and TS of pain in CLBP patients (ab=0.309, 95% CI=0.1222-0.5604), but not in healthy controls (ab=-0.125, 95% CI=-0.5864 to 0.0244). The findings from this study suggest that compared to controls, CLBP patients show increased sensitivity to mechanical pain procedures and enhanced pain-facilitatory processing, proving further evidence for changes in central nervous system pain processing in CLBP patients. Our results also suggest that pain catastrophizing may be the mechanism by which pain expectancies are associated with TS of pain in CLBP patients. Individuals with chronic low back pain who expect higher levels of pain and catastrophize about their pain are more likely to experience altered pain sensitivity. Our results point to catastrophizing as a mechanism of action through which psychological factors may operate and lead to the development and maintenance of chronic low back pain.

Long-Term Performance Metrics for National Weather Service Tornado Warnings

Abstract Tornado warnings are one of the flagship products of the National Weather Service. We update the time series of various metrics of performance in order to provide baselines over the 1986–2016 period for lead time, probability of detection, false alarm ratio, and warning duration. We have used metrics (mean lead time for tornadoes warned in advance, fraction of tornadoes warned in advance) that work in a consistent way across the official changes in policy for warning issuance, as well as across points in time when unofficial changes took place. The mean lead time for tornadoes warned in advance was relatively constant from 1986 to 2011, while the fraction of tornadoes warned in advance increased through about 2006, and the false alarm ratio slowly decreased. The largest changes in performance take place in 2012 when the default warning duration decreased, and there is an apparent increased emphasis on reducing false alarms. As a result, the lead time, probability of detection, and false alarm ratio all decrease in 2012. Our analysis is based, in large part, on signal detection theory, which separates the quality of the warning system from the threshold for issuing warnings. Threshold changes lead to trade-offs between false alarms and missed detections. Such changes provide further evidence for changes in what the warning system as a whole considers important, as well as highlighting the limitations of measuring performance by looking at metrics independently.

Pain and Function Recovery Trajectories following Revision Hip Arthroplasty: Short-Term Changes and Comparison with Primary Hip Arthroplasty in the ADAPT Cohort Study.

Background and PurposePatients report similar or better pain and function before revision hip arthroplasty than before primary arthroplasty but worse results are reported after revision surgery than after primary surgery. The trajectory of post-operative recovery during the first months and any differences by type of surgery have received little attention. We explored the trajectories of change in pain and function after revision hip arthroplasty to 12-months post-operatively and compare them with those observed after primary hip arthroplasty.MethodsThis study is a prospective cohort study of patients undergoing primary (n = 80 with 92% for an indication of osteoarthritis) and revision (n = 43) hip arthroplasties. WOMAC pain and function scores and walking speed were collected pre-operatively, at 3 and 12-months post-operatively. Multilevel regression models were used to chart and compare the trajectories of change (0–3 months and 3–12 months) between types of surgery.ResultsThe improvements in pain and function following revision arthroplasty occurred within the first 3-months with no evidence of further change beyond this initial period. While the pattern of recovery was similar to the one observed after primary arthroplasty, improvements in the first 3-months were smaller after revision compared to primary arthroplasty. Patients listed for revision surgery reported lower pre-operative pain levels but similar post-operative levels compared to those undergoing primary surgery. At 12-months post-operation patients who underwent a revision arthroplasty had not reached the same level of function achieved by those who underwent primary arthroplasty.ConclusionThe post-operative improvements in pain and function are larger following primary hip arthroplasty than following revision hip arthroplasty. Irrespectively of surgery type, most of the improvements occur in the first three post-operative months. More research is required to identify whether the recovery following revision surgery could be improved with specific post-operative interventions.

Research Review: Changes in the prevalence and symptom severity of child post-traumatic stress disorder in the year following trauma - a meta-analytic study.

BackgroundUnderstanding the natural course of child and adolescent posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has significant implications for the identification of, and intervention for, at‐risk youth. We used a meta‐analytic approach to examine longitudinal changes in youth PTSD prevalence and symptoms over the first 12 months posttrauma.MethodsWe conducted a systematic review to identify longitudinal studies of PTSD in young people (5–18 years old), excluding treatment trials. The search yielded 27 peer‐reviewed studies and one unpublished dataset for analysis of pooled prevalence estimates, relative prevalence reduction and standardised mean symptom change. Key moderators were also explored, including age, proportion of boys in the sample, initial prevalence of PTSD and PTSD measurement type.ResultsAnalyses demonstrated moderate declines in PTSD prevalence and symptom severity over the first 3–6 months posttrauma. From 1 to 6 months posttrauma, the prevalence of PTSD reduced by approximately 50%. Symptoms also showed moderate decline, particularly across the first 3 months posttrauma. There was little evidence of further change in prevalence or symptom severity after 6 months, suggesting that it is unlikely a child would lose a PTSD diagnosis without intervention beyond this point. ConclusionsThe current findings provide key information about the likelihood of posttrauma recovery in the absence of intervention and have important implications for our understanding of child and adolescent PTSD. Results are discussed with reference to the timing of PTSD screening and the potential role of early interventions. Findings particularly highlight the importance of future research to develop our understanding of what factors prevent the action of normal recovery from the ‘acute’ posttrauma period.

Curriculum development through critical collaborative professional enquiry

Purpose– In recent years, there has been considerable interest within education policy in collaborative professional enquiry/inquiry methodologies, both as an alternative to top-down implementation of change and for the purpose of fostering educational improvement. However, researchers have been critical of this approach, pointing to various concerns: these include the risk of reducing a developmental methodology to an instrumental means for delivering policy, as well as issues around sustainability of practices. The purpose of this paper is to describe a Scottish university/local authority partnership, which developed an approach entitled Critical Collaborative Professional Enquiry, designed to address some of these concerns. The paper also reports on empirical outcomes related to the partnership project.Design/methodology/approach– This interpretivist study generated qualitative data from multiple sources, utilising a range of methods including semi-structured interviews with teachers and school leaders, evaluation surveys and analysis of artefacts developed during the inquiry phases of the project.Findings– This programme exerted a powerful effect on the teachers who participated. The research suggests that teachers developed better understandings of the curriculum, and of curriculum development processes. There is evidence of innovation in pedagogy, some sustained and radical in nature, and further evidence of changes to the cultures of the participating schools, for example, a shift towards more democratic ways of working.Originality/value– This paper reports upon an original approach to curriculum development, with considerable potential to transform the ways in which schools approach innovation.

Forest structure and composition at fire edges of different ages: Evidence of persistent structural features on the landscape

Boreal forest landscapes are dynamic with stands in different stages of development following stand-replacing disturbances such as fire and insect outbreaks. Forest edges are an important component of these heterogeneous landscapes but there have been few studies on intermediate-aged forest edges which are needed for a comprehensive perspective on the spatiotemporal dynamics of forest edges. We described the structure, composition and extent of edge influence at 13, 25 and 39-year old fire edges in black spruce boreal forest in northwestern Québec and northeastern Ontario to characterize their structural development and to assess effects of edge development on the understorey. Forest structure and understorey composition were sampled along transects perpendicular to edges of the fires. Edge influence was assessed using randomization tests. Black spruce forest was relatively unaffected by edge influence beyond 5m into the forest at all ages of edges studied. Edge influence on the understorey was weak and not extensive at intermediate-aged edges with few consistent responses of individual species. Less decayed snags and logs at 13 and 25-year old edges peaked in abundance at or near the edge with values higher than in either adjacent ecosystem. Overall, intermediate-aged fire edges in black spruce forest showed little evidence of further changes in canopy structure with time. Structural development of these edges as well as the regeneration of the disturbed areas also resulted in reduced edge influence on the understorey. A new insight from our study is that intermediate-aged forest edges may contribute unique structural features to landscapes such as a reservoir of deadwood that may be important for wildlife species.

Increased abundance of Sutterella spp. and Ruminococcus torques in feces of children with autism spectrum disorder

BackgroundA recent report indicated that numbers of Sutterella spp. are elevated in gastrointestinal biopsies taken from children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). We have recently reported changes in the numbers of some bacteria within the stool of ASD children, and now examine whether numbers of Sutterella spp. and some other mucosa-associated bacteria linked with gastrointestinal disease (Ruminococcus gnavus and Ruminococcus torques) are also altered in the stool of these children.FindingsWe show that numbers of Sutterella spp. are elevated in feces of ASD children relative to controls, and that numbers of R. torques are higher in the children with ASD with a reported functional gastrointestinal disorder than those without such a disorder.ConclusionsWe show further evidence of changes in the gut microbiota of children with ASD and confirm that the abundance of Sutterella spp. is altered in stool.

Strengthening Pharmaceutical Care Education in Ethiopia Through Instructional Collaboration

To describe the development, implementation, and initial outcomes of a pharmaceutical care training-of-trainers course developed to assist Ethiopian pharmacy faculty members and graduate students in the development of curriculum and provision of pharmaceutical care services of relevance to this low-income country. In this collaboration, US and Ethiopian faculty members worked together in a week-long seminar and in hospital ward rounds to develop and offer a course to facilitate faculty members, curricular, and service development in pharmaceutical care in Ethiopia. Assessments were conducted during the seminar, immediately post-seminar, at 3 months post-seminar, and at 1 year post-seminar. An examination was administered at the conclusion of the course to assess immediate learning outcomes for the graduate students. Post-course assessments of short-term (3-month) and longer-term (12-month) impact were conducted to identify pharmaceutical care services that had been implemented to assess knowledge and skill gained during the seminar. Correspondence between seminar participants and the US faculty members as well as graduate student thesis projects provided further evidence of changes at 3 and 12 months post-course. Pharmaceutical care training was developed for Ethiopian faculty members through a seminar and hospital ward rounds. Enhancements have been added to curricula for bachelor in pharmacy students and select pharmaceutical care services have been implemented through master's thesis projects.

Gadolinium exposure disrupts iron homeostasis in cultured cells

Human exposure to gadolinium-based contrast agents can be complicated by nephrogenic systemic fibrosis (NSF). Demonstration of significant quantities of insoluble gadolinium in the skin of NSF patients suggested transmetallation as a mechanism of toxicity of this injury. An alternative pathway for the biological effect of gadolinium is a disruption of iron homeostasis. We tested the postulate that cell exposure to gadolinium increases iron uptake to disrupt intracellular metal homeostasis and impact inflammatory events. Alveolar macrophages, THP1 cells, NHBE cells, and BEAS-2B cells all demonstrated a capacity to import gadolinium from both GdCl(3) and Omniscan. All four cell types similarly imported iron following exposure to ferric ammonium citrate (FAC). Exposure of all cell types to gadolinium and iron resulted in increased iron import relative to cell concentrations following incubation with FAC alone. To analyze for further evidence of changes in iron homeostasis, cell ferritin concentration was determined. Relative to incubation with FAC alone, co-incubation of BEAS-2B cells with gadolinium and FAC resulted in significant increases in ferritin level. Finally, potential effects of gadolinium uptake and associated changes in iron homeostasis on the inflammatory response were evaluated by measuring IL-8. Co-incubation of BEAS-2B cells with both gadolinium and iron resulted in diminished release of IL-8 relative to levels of the cytokine following incubation with gadolinium alone. We conclude that gadolinium impacts cell iron homeostasis to change import and storage of the metal and biological effects of exposure.

Fracture rate and back pain during and after discontinuation of teriparatide: 36-month data from the European Forsteo Observational Study (EFOS)

SummaryIn this observational study in postmenopausal women with severe osteoporosis, the incidence of fractures was decreased during 18 months of teriparatide treatment with no evidence of further change in the subsequent 18-month post-teriparatide period when most patients took other osteoporosis medications. Fracture reduction was accompanied by reductions in back pain.IntroductionTo describe fracture outcomes and back pain in postmenopausal women with severe osteoporosis during 18 months of teriparatide treatment and 18 months post-teriparatide in normal clinical practice.MethodsThe European Forsteo Observational Study (EFOS) was a prospective, multinational, observational study. Data on incident clinical fractures and back pain (100 mm Visual Analogue Scale [VAS] and questionnaire) were collected. Fracture data were summarised in 6-month intervals and analysed using logistic regression with repeated measures. Changes from baseline in back pain VAS were analysed using a repeated measures model.ResultsA total of 208 (13.2%) of 1,576 patients sustained 258 fractures during 36 months of follow-up: 34% were clinical vertebral fractures and 66% non-vertebral fractures. The adjusted odds of fracture were reduced during teriparatide treatment and there was no evidence of further change in the 18-month post-teriparatide period, during which 63.3% patients took bisphosphonates. A 74% decrease in the adjusted odds of fracture in the 30- to <36-month period compared with the first 6-month period was observed (p < 0.001). Back pain decreased during teriparatide treatment and this decrease was sustained after teriparatide discontinuation. Adjusted mean back pain VAS decreased by 26.3 mm after 36 months (p < 0.001) from baseline mean of 57.8 mm.ConclusionsIn a real-life clinical setting, the risk of fracture decreased during teriparatide treatment, with no evidence of further change after teriparatide was discontinued. The changes in back pain seen during treatment were maintained for at least 18 months after teriparatide discontinuation. These results should be interpreted in the context of the design of an observational study.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s00198-010-1498-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

A comparison of stream water temperature regimes from open and afforested moorland, Yorkshire Dales, northern England

AbstractDespite the known importance of water temperature for river ecosystems, the thermal regime of streams and rivers can be heavily modified by afforestation. Although the nature of the heat budget affecting streams in forested catchments shows high variability in space and time, most of the studies of stream temperature response to afforestation have lacked replication among streams. This study examined the impacts of coniferous forest plantations on stream water temperature at six sites (three forested and three open moorland) in the Yorkshire Dales, northern England. Our aim was to test the hypothesis that afforestation would alter the thermal regime of streams, leading to reduced year‐round thermal variability, and cooler summer/warmer winter water temperatures, relative to streams flowing across open moorland. Data collected from April 2007 to March 2009 showed similar thermal dynamics among all six streams over the study period, although variability in forested streams was markedly lower as expected. Mean and maximum daily water temperatures were significantly higher in open moorland streams for much of the year but while some forested streams were warmer than individual moorland streams during winter months (November to February), there was considerable overlap in water temperature between moorland and forest streams. Most stream temperature records showed evidence of low/no winter flow and freezing. These results contrast with many previous studies that have reported warmer temperatures in forested versus open moorland streams during winter, a finding that most likely reflects site‐specific hydrological, geomorphological and climatological influences on water temperature in addition to afforestation. This study demonstrates the need for replication of hydrological monitoring when examining the effects of basin‐scale management practices and provides further evidence for changes in stream thermal regime following afforestation, a practice that is likely to increase in future due to growing demands for increased forest cover in the UK uplands. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley &amp; Sons, Ltd.

Electrophysiological Abnormalities Occur Prior to the Development of Clinical Episodes of Atrial Fibrillation: Observations from Human Epicardial Mapping

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is characterized by irregular atrial activation maintained by an arrhythmogenic substrate. We addressed the hypothesis that the substrate of human AF includes changes in atrial conduction properties. Patients in sinus rhythm (SR) and permanent AF undergoing cardiac surgery underwent right atrial epicardial mapping. AF was induced by burst pacing in patients in SR and was defined as sustained at >30 seconds. Epicardial maps were analyzed to determine conduction properties, AF activation patterns, and refractoriness. Patients in SR underwent postoperative Holter monitoring. Thirty-seven subjects were recruited. (27 in SR and 10 in permanent AF). Sustained AF was induced in 17 patients in SR. Only patients with sustained AF developed any episodes of postoperative AF (P < 0.05), indicating the preexistence of an arrhythmogenic substrate, which was characterized by prolonged unipolar electrograms (37.0 +/- 9.4 ms vs 27.5 +/- 6.4 ms, P = 0.03), particularly in the region of the crista terminalis (41.2 ms +/- 12.1 vs 26.7 ms +/- 5.8, P = 0.004) compared with the nonsustaining group. However, these differences in electrogram characteristics were not associated with changes in wavefront propagation velocity (WPV) during SR or pacing. Activation mapping of acutely induced AF was compared with permanent AF and although there were shorter mean fibrillation intervals in permanent AF (171 +/- 16 ms vs 229 +/- 51 ms, P < 0.001), there was no difference in fibrillatory activation pattern (complexity scores: 2.21 +/- 0.52 vs 2.02 +/- 0.61) or WPV (46.9 +/- 15.4 cm/s vs 53.5 +/- 17.6 cm/s, P = 0.37). Fibrillatory activation pattern was associated with both WPV (P = 0.03) and wavelength (P = 0.03) in both pacing-induced and permanent AF. Patients in SR capable of sustaining pacing-induced AF have differences in electrogram duration, which are apparent before clinical episodes of AF. Although patients with permanent AF had shortening of refractoriness, there was no evidence of further changes in fibrillatory activation pattern or macroscopic wavefront propagation velocity in permanent AF. These results imply that changes occur before the onset of AF and indicate the presence of a substrate capable of maintaining AF with only alterations in refractoriness required for the development of permanent AF.

Towards a ‘Post‐Public Era’? Shifting Frames in German and Australian Higher Education Policy

AbstractHigher education in Germany and Australia is being subject to pressures of market forces, internationalisation and financial constraints. This had led to both systems experiencing significant crisis and change over the past 20 years. In this paper, frame analysis is used to compare the changing policies in each nation and examine the extent to which the landscapes of each system have been transformed. It is found that higher education policy in both nations underwent significant change in the late 1980s and again in the early 2000s, impacting on system structures and institutional forms. There is now evidence of further change occurring in both nations that may mark a transition to a ‘post‐public era’ in higher education. This analysis reveals a degree of convergence in the neo‐liberal policy trajectories of both nations but differences in the rate and nature of the transitions taking place.

Sedation for MRI scans further evidence for change

Sedation for MRI scans further evidence for change

Adaptive behavior and cognitive function of adults with down syndrome: modeling change with age.

Fifty-eight adults with Down syndrome (ages 31 to 56 years at time of first testing, mean age, 43.5) were assessed longitudinally over 10 years for the purpose of modeling aging-related change in cognitive function and adaptive behavior. Cognitive function was assessed seven times using the Woodcock-Johnson Tests of Cognitive Ability-Revised Early Development Battery. Adaptive behavior was evaluated five times using the Inventory for Client and Agency Planning. Multi-level (hierarchical linear) modeling procedures were used to model change with age. Findings provided further evidence of changes in performance with age and included selected effects for participants who completed the 10 years of study and those who were lost to follow-up as well as for age cohorts.

Further evidence of changes in the hydrological regime of the River Paraguay: part of a wider phenomenon of climate change?

Analysis of flow measured at 20 sites, rainfall measured at 36 sites, and a 95-year record of water-level at one site in the basin of the River Paraguay (area 1095×103km2) showed that the flow regime during the approximate period 1960–1970 differed substantially from the flow regime both before and after. The long record of Ladario water-levels suggested that the changes between one period and the next were considerably abrupt, and that the periods differed not only in terms of mean water-levels but also in terms of the year-to-year correlational structure within the record. Despite the fragmentary nature of rainfall records from 36 sites, an explanation for the increased flows since 1970 was found in the increases of rainfall, as assessed in terms of the frequency of annual rainfalls more than the long-term mean rainfall. There was some degree of consistency in the change of rainfall pattern across the Paraguay basin as a whole. A detailed examination of daily rainfall characteristics at two gauges where records were fairly complete showed that during the 1960–1970 period, when river flows were low, dry spells were more persistent and, on days when rain did fall, the amounts of rain were generally smaller. The results obtained were compared with results obtained by other researchers using flow records from the Rivers Paraguay, Paraná, Negro and Uruguay in the la Plata basin, and rainfall records from other parts of South America. There is now strong evidence of changes in the runoff regime of the la Plata basin during the last 40 years, not all of which can be attributed to land-use change, as there is complementary evidence of change in rainfall regime. The results were also compared with findings from the Congo basin, which appears to exhibit changes in flow regime that are a mirror image of those found for the Paraguay at Ladario.

PHYSICAL PUNISHMENT IN THE HOME IN NEW ZEALAND

Results are reported for a national opinion poll of 1,000 adult New Zealanders which focussed on two questions: what are New Zealand parents currently doing to discipline their children, and what are the current attitudes of New Zealanders towards physical punishment in the home? Changes appear to be occurring in the attitudes and behaviour of New Zealanders toward physical punishment in the home. Although smacking with the hand is still both approved and used as a common parental response to the misbehaviour of children of all ages, anything more severe is no longer part of the repertoire of most parents or the experience of most children. Further evidence of change is provided by data on difference among the groups in the sample. Younger parents, current parents and the more highly educated are less likely to report using and endorsing the more severe forms of physical punishment that those who are older, have never had children or who have less education. Unlike the reported child‐rearing practices of 30 years ago, parents today appear to be making use of a range of non‐physical responses to misbehaviour and are more frequently explaining or discussing matters with their children.