Situated cognition and cognitive apprenticeship: a model for teaching and learning clinical skills in a technologically rich and authentic learning environment.

Science.gov (United States)

Woolley, Norman N; Jarvis, Yvonne

2007-01-01

The acquisition of a range of diverse clinical skills is a central feature of the pre-registration nursing curriculum. Prior to exposure to clinical practice, it is essential that learners have the opportunity to practise and develop such skills in a safe and controlled environment under the direction and supervision of clinical experts. However, the competing demands of the HE nursing curriculum coupled with an increased number of learners have resulted in a reduced emphasis on traditional apprenticeship learning. This paper presents an alternative model for clinical skills teaching that draws upon the principles of cognitive apprenticeship [Collins, A., Brown, J.S., Newman, S., 1989. Cognitive Apprenticeship: teaching the crafts of reading, writing and mathematics. In: Resnick, L.B. (Ed.) Knowing. Learning and Instruction: Essays in Honor of Robert Glaser. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, New Jersey, pp. 453-494] and situated cognition within a technologically rich and authentic learning environment. It will show how high quality DVD materials illustrating clinical skills performed by expert practitioners have been produced and used in conjunction with CCTV and digital recording technologies to support learning within a pedagogic framework appropriate to skills acquisition. It is argued that this model not only better prepares the student for the time they will spend in the practice setting, but also lays the foundation for the development of a clinically competent practitioner with the requisite physical and cognitive skills who is fit for purpose [UKCC, 1999. Fitness for Practice: The UKCC Commission for Nursing and Midwifery Education. United Kingdom Central Council for Nursing Midwifery and Health Visiting, London].

A Feedback Model for Data-Rich Learning Experiences

Science.gov (United States)

Pardo, Abelardo

2018-01-01

Feedback has been identified as one of the factors with the largest potential for a positive impact in a learning experience. There is a significant body of knowledge studying feedback and providing guidelines for its implementation in learning environments. In parallel, the areas of learning analytics or educational data mining have emerged to…

Rich media content adaptation in e-learning systems

OpenAIRE

Mirri, Silvia

2007-01-01

The wide use of e-technologies represents a great opportunity for underserved segments of the population, especially with the aim of reintegrating excluded individuals back into society through education. This is particularly true for people with different types of disabilities who may have difficulties while attending traditional on-site learning programs that are typically based on printed learning resources. The creation and provision of accessible e-learning contents may therefore become ...

Caffeoylquinic acid-rich purple sweet potato extract, with or without anthocyanin, imparts neuroprotection and contributes to the improvement of spatial learning and memory of SAMP8 mouse.

Science.gov (United States)

Sasaki, Kazunori; Han, Junkyu; Shimozono, Hidetoshi; Villareal, Myra O; Isoda, Hiroko

2013-05-29

The effects of caffeoylquinic acid (CQA)-rich purple sweet potato (PSP) extract, with (PSPEa) or without (PSPEb) anthocyanin, on the improvement of spatial learning and memory of senescence-accelerated prone mouse strain (SAMP) 8 was determined. SAMP8 was treated with 20 mg/kg/day of PSPEa or PSPEb for 30 days. The effect on spatial learning and memory and the molecular mechanism of this effect were determined in vivo (SAMP8) and in vitro (SH-SY5Y cells). PSPEa or PSPEb reduced the escape latency time of SAMP8 by 17.0 ± 8.0 and 14.2 ± 5.8 s (P overexpression of antioxidant-, energy metabolism-, and neuronal plasticity-related proteins in the brain of SAMP8. Additionally, PSPEa and PSPEb increased the cell viability by 141.6 and 133% as compared to Aβ1-42-treated cells. These findings suggest that PSP rich in CQA derivatives with or without anthocyanidine had a neuroprotective effect on mouse brain and can improve the spatial learning and memory of SAMP8.

Beyond "Inert" Ideas to Teaching General Chemistry from Rich Contexts: Visualizing the Chemistry of Climate Change (VC3)

Science.gov (United States)

Mahaffy, Peter G.; Holme, Thomas A.; Martin-Visscher, Leah; Martin, Brian E.; Versprille, Ashley; Kirchhoff, Mary; McKenzie, Lallie; Town, Marcy

2017-01-01

As one approach to moving beyond transmitting "inert" ideas to chemistry students, we use the term "teaching from rich contexts" to describe implementations of case studies or context-based learning based on systems thinking that provide deep and rich opportunities for learning crosscutting concepts through contexts. This…

ELeaRNT: Evolutionary Learning of Rich Neural Network Topologies

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Matteucci, Matteo

2006-01-01

In this paper we present ELeaRNT an evolutionary strategy which evolves rich neural network topologies in order to find an optimal domain specific non linear function approximator with a good generalization performance...

A Childhood Rich in Culture Gives a Socioeconomic Bonus

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Austring, Bennye Düranc

2015-01-01

Artiklen ridser den nyeste forskning op inden for feltet 'art rich learning', altså æstetiske læreprocesser af god kvalitet. In the book ”Art and Culture Give Children a Life that Works” 60 (Danish and non-Danish) experts, practitioners, artists and several Ministers from the Danish Government fo...... focus on the significance of Art and Culture for children. The book provides lots of inspiration for teachers, pedagogues and cultural mediators and contains many examples of specific cultural activities, links and bibliographic references.......Artiklen ridser den nyeste forskning op inden for feltet 'art rich learning', altså æstetiske læreprocesser af god kvalitet. In the book ”Art and Culture Give Children a Life that Works” 60 (Danish and non-Danish) experts, practitioners, artists and several Ministers from the Danish Government...

Creating Research-Rich Learning Experiences and Quantitative Skills in a 1st Year Earth Systems Course

Science.gov (United States)

King, P. L.; Eggins, S.; Jones, S.

2014-12-01

We are creating a 1st year Earth Systems course at the Australian National University that is built around research-rich learning experiences and quantitative skills. The course has top students including ≤20% indigenous/foreign students; nonetheless, students' backgrounds in math and science vary considerably posing challenges for learning. We are addressing this issue and aiming to improve knowledge retention and deep learning by changing our teaching approach. In 2013-2014, we modified the weekly course structure to a 1hr lecture; a 2hr workshop with hands-on activities; a 2hr lab; an assessment piece covering all face-to-face activities; and a 1hr tutorial. Our new approach was aimed at: 1) building student confidence with data analysis and quantitative skills through increasingly difficult tasks in science, math, physics, chemistry, climate science and biology; 2) creating effective learning groups using name tags and a classroom with 8-person tiered tables; 3) requiring students to apply new knowledge to new situations in group activities, two 1-day field trips and assessment items; 4) using pre-lab and pre-workshop exercises to promote prior engagement with key concepts; 5) adding open-ended experiments to foster structured 'scientific play' or enquiry and creativity; and 6) aligning the assessment with the learning outcomes and ensuring that it contains authentic and challenging southern hemisphere problems. Students were asked to design their own ocean current experiment in the lab and we were astounded by their ingenuity: they simulated the ocean currents off Antarctica; varied water density to verify an equation; and examined the effect of wind and seafloor topography on currents. To evaluate changes in student learning, we conducted surveys in 2013 and 2014. In 2014, we found higher levels of student engagement with the course: >~80% attendance rates and >~70% satisfaction (20% neutral). The 2014 cohort felt that they were more competent in writing

Effects of Hydrogen-Rich Saline on Hepatectomy-Induced Postoperative Cognitive Dysfunction in Old Mice.

Science.gov (United States)

Tian, Yue; Guo, Shanbin; Zhang, Yan; Xu, Ying; Zhao, Ping; Zhao, Xiaochun

2017-05-01

This study aims to investigate the protective effects and underlying mechanisms of hydrogen-rich saline on the cognitive functions of elder mice with partial hepatectomy-induced postoperative cognitive dysfunction (POCD). Ninety-six old male Kunming mice were randomly divided into 4 groups (n = 24 each): control group (group C), hydrogen-rich saline group (group H), POCD group (group P), and POCD + hydrogen-rich saline group (group PH). Cognitive function was subsequently assessed using Morris water-maze (MWM) test. TNF-α and IL-1β levels were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and immunohistochemistry, along with NF-κB activity determined by ELISA. The morphology of hippocampal tissues were further observed by HE staining. Learning and memory abilities of mice were significantly impaired at day 10 and day 14 post-surgery, as partial hepatectomy significantly prolonged the escape latency, decreased time at the original platform quadrant and frequency of crossing in group P when compared to group C (p hydrogen-rich saline (group PH) partially rescued spatial memory and learning as it shortened escape latency and increased time and crossing frequency of original platform compared to group P (p hydrogen-rich saline. Hydrogen-rich saline can alleviate POCD via inhibiting NF-κB activity in the hippocampus and reducing inflammatory response.

Impact of Media Richness on Reduction of Knowledge-Hiding Behavior in Enterprises

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Labafi, Somayeh; Khajeheian, Datis; Williams, Idongesit

2018-01-01

in a qualitative study. Thematic analysis is used to analyze transcribed interview data from employees in a software company in Iran. The findings of the analysis show that media richness significantly impacts on organizational learning and influences on knowledge hiding behavior in employees. This article...... suggests that entrepreneurs and managers of small firms should provide employees’ access to rich media content as well as established organizational learning as part of their organizational culture.......Knowledge hiding is one of the major obstacles in the progression of organizations that hinder the use of tacit knowledge of employees. The negative impact of this behavior is more significant in enterprises and small firms because they are more reliant on knowledge of their employees...

Participation in Informal Science Learning Experiences: The Rich Get Richer?

Science.gov (United States)

DeWitt, Jennifer; Archer, Louise

2017-01-01

Informal science learning (ISL) experiences have been found to provide valuable opportunities to engage with and learn about science and, as such, form a key part of the STEM learning ecosystem. However, concerns remain around issues of equity and access. The Enterprising Science study builds upon previous research in this area and uses the…

Standardised patient-simulated practice learning: A rich ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This study investigates the use of standardised patients (SPs) in a simulated patient interview as a learning strategy to bridge the theory-practice gap. Simulation helps students to develop skills such as communication, higher cognitive thinking, decision-making and problem-solving. There is evidence to support the use of ...

Exploring Characteristics of Fine-Grained Behaviors of Learning Mathematics in Tablet-Based E-Learning Activities

Science.gov (United States)

Yeung, Cheuk Yu; Shum, Kam Hong; Hui, Lucas Chi Kwong; Chu, Samuel Kai Wah; Chan, Tsing Yun; Kuo, Yung Nin; Ng, Yee Ling

2017-01-01

Attributes of teaching and learning contexts provide rich information about how students participate in learning activities. By tracking and analyzing snapshots of these attributes captured continuously throughout the duration of the learning activities, teachers can identify individual students who need special attention and apply different…

HTML5 rich media foundation

CERN Document Server

David, Matthew

2010-01-01

Learn about the new ways in which video and audio can be easily embedded into your HTML5 Web pages. Discover how you can create new Web media content and how JavaScript, CSS, and SVG can be integrated to create a compelling, rich media foundation for your work. HTML 5, is the first major update to the core language of the Web in over a decade The focus of this book is on innovations that most directly effect Web site design and multimedia integration The companion Web site features working demonstrations and tutorial media for hands-on pract

An Annotated Bibliography of Accelerated Learning

Science.gov (United States)

Garcia, GNA

2007-01-01

A rich narrative-style bibliography of accelerated learning (reviewing six articles published between 1995-2003). Articles reviewed include: (1) Accelerative learning and the Emerging Science of Wholeness (D. D. Beale); (2) Effective Teaching in Accelerated Learning Programs (D. Boyd); (3) A Critical Theory Perspective on Accelerated Learning (S.…

When does social learning become cultural learning?

Science.gov (United States)

Heyes, Cecilia

2017-03-01

Developmental research on selective social learning, or 'social learning strategies', is currently a rich source of information about when children copy behaviour, and who they prefer to copy. It also has the potential to tell us when and how human social learning becomes cultural learning; i.e. mediated by psychological mechanisms that are specialized, genetically or culturally, to promote cultural inheritance. However, this review article argues that, to realize its potential, research on the development of selective social learning needs more clearly to distinguish functional from mechanistic explanation; to achieve integration with research on attention and learning in adult humans and 'dumb' animals; and to recognize that psychological mechanisms can be specialized, not only by genetic evolution, but also by associative learning and cultural evolution. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Matching Vocabulary Learning Process with Learning Outcome in L2 Academic Writing: An Exploratory Case Study

Science.gov (United States)

Ma, Qing

2013-01-01

This exploratory case study of two undergraduates links vocabulary learning approaches with lexical quality measured in academic writing. Employing an array of qualitative data, it is shown that in a "semi-language-rich" learning context, Chinese learners may dispense with rote learning and engage in a more natural learning approach in which…

Teach Them How They Learn: Learning Styles and Information Systems Education

Science.gov (United States)

Cegielski, Casey G.; Hazen, Benjamin T.; Rainer, R. Kelly

2011-01-01

The rich, interdisciplinary tradition of learning styles is markedly absent in information systems-related research. The current study applies the framework of learning styles to a common educational component of many of today's information systems curricula--object-oriented systems development--in an effort to answer the question as to whether…

"Social Learning" Buzz Masks Deeper Dimensions: Mitigating the Confusion Surrounding "Social Learning"

Science.gov (United States)

Ganis, Frank

2009-01-01

There is a century of rich literature on social learning from the fields of education, psychology, and sociology characterizing a wide variety of practical applications such as instructional techniques, consumer behavior conditioning and determining criminal motives. In social learning theory, according to Bandura, there are four fundamental…

Leaders Who Learn: The Intersection of Behavioral Science, Adult Learning and Leadership

Science.gov (United States)

Sabga, Natalya I.

2017-01-01

This study examines if a relationship exists among three rich research streams, specifically the behavioral science of motivation, adult learning and leadership. What motivates adult professionals to continue learning and how is that connected to their style and efficacy as leaders? An extension of literature to connect Andragogy,…

The role of physicality in rich programming environments

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Allison S.; Schunn, Christian D.; Flot, Jesse; Shoop, Robin

2013-12-01

Computer science proficiency continues to grow in importance, while the number of students entering computer science-related fields declines. Many rich programming environments have been created to motivate student interest and expertise in computer science. In the current study, we investigated whether a recently created environment, Robot Virtual Worlds (RVWs), can be used to teach computer science principles within a robotics context by examining its use in high-school classrooms. We also investigated whether the lack of physicality in these environments impacts student learning by comparing classrooms that used either virtual or physical robots for the RVW curriculum. Results suggest that the RVW environment leads to significant gains in computer science knowledge, that virtual robots lead to faster learning, and that physical robots may have some influence on algorithmic thinking. We discuss the implications of physicality in these programming environments for learning computer science.

Learning and Motivational Processes When Students Design Curriculum-Based Digital Learning Games

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Weitze, Charlotte Lærke

2015-01-01

, or programming provide a rich context for learning, since the construction of artefacts, in this case learning games, enables reflection and new ways of thinking. The students learned from reflection and interaction with the tools alone as well as in collaboration with peers. After analysing the students...... another. The study found that the students benefitted from this way of learning as a valid variation to more conventional teaching approaches, and teachers found that the students learned at least the same amount or more compared to traditional teaching processes. The students were able to think outside...

Space Strategies for the New Learning Landscape

Science.gov (United States)

Dugdale, Shirley

2009-01-01

The Learning Landscape is the total context for students' learning experiences and the diverse landscape of learning settings available today--from specialized to multipurpose, from formal to informal, and from physical to virtual. The goal of the Learning Landscape approach is to acknowledge this richness and maximize encounters among people,…

A Rich Assessment Task as a Window into Students' Multiplicative Reasoning

Science.gov (United States)

Downton, Ann; Wright, Vince

2016-01-01

This study explored the potential of a rich assessment task to reveal students' multiplicative thinking in respect to a hypothetical learning trajectory. Thirty pairs of students in grades 5 and 6 attempted the task. Twenty-two pairs applied multiplicative structure to find the number of items in arrays. However counting and computational errors…

A cross-cultural validation of the Technology-Rich Outcomes-Focused Learning Environment Inventory (TROFLEI) in Turkey and the USA

Science.gov (United States)

Welch, Anita G.; Cakir, Mustafa; Peterson, Claudette M.; Ray, Chris M.

2012-04-01

Background . Studies exploring the relationship between students' achievement and the quality of the classroom learning environments have shown that there is a strong relationship between these two concepts. Learning environment instruments are constantly being revised and updated, including for use in different cultures, which requires continued validation efforts. Purpose The purpose of this study was to establish cross-cultural reliability and validity of the Technology-Rich Outcomes-Focused Learning Environment Inventory (TROFLEI) in both Turkey and the USA. Sample Approximately 980 students attending grades 9-12 in Turkey and 130 students attending grades 9-12 in the USA participated in the study. Design and method Scale reliability analyses and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) were performed separately for Turkish and US participants for both actual and preferred responses to each scale to confirm the structure of the TROFLEI across these two distinct samples. Results Cronbach's alpha reliability coefficients, ranging from α = 0.820 to 0.931 for Turkish participants and from α = 0.778 to 0.939 for US participants, indicated that all scales have satisfactory internal consistency for both samples. Confirmatory factor analyses resulted in evidence of adequate model fit across both samples for both actual and preferred responses, with the root mean square error of approximation ranging from 0.052 to 0.057 and the comparative fit index ranging from 0.920 to 0.982. Conclusions This study provides initial evidence that the TROFLEI is valid for use in both the Turkish and US high-school populations (grades 9-12). However, the psychometric properties should be examined further with different populations, such as middle-school students (grades 6-8).

Online Digital Archives Technology That Supports Rich, Student-Centered Learning Experiences

Science.gov (United States)

Hofer, Mark

2004-01-01

Today's students watch the newest movie trailers on the Web, share music files, play video games with other players over the Internet, and swap digital pictures of the latest teen idols. Donald Tapscott points out in his book Growing Up Digital that as this rich multimedia experience becomes more a part of students' lives outside of school, they…

Consolidation of vocabulary during sleep: The rich get richer?

Science.gov (United States)

James, Emma; Gaskell, M Gareth; Weighall, Anna; Henderson, Lisa

2017-06-01

Sleep plays a role in strengthening new words and integrating them with existing vocabulary knowledge, consistent with neural models of learning in which sleep supports hippocampal transfer to neocortical memory. Such models are based on adult research, yet neural maturation may mean that the mechanisms supporting word learning vary across development. Here, we propose a model in which children may capitalise on larger amounts of slow-wave sleep to support a greater demand on learning and neural reorganisation, whereas adults may benefit from a richer knowledge base to support consolidation. Such an argument is reinforced by the well-reported "Matthew effect", whereby rich vocabulary knowledge is associated with better acquisition of new vocabulary. We present a meta-analysis that supports this association between children's existing vocabulary knowledge and their integration of new words overnight. Whilst multiple mechanisms likely contribute to vocabulary consolidation and neural reorganisation across the lifespan, we propose that contributions of existing knowledge should be rigorously examined in developmental studies. Such research has potential to greatly enhance neural models of learning. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Extended Learning on SOAR

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Laird, John E

2006-01-01

The major goal of this project was to develop the science and technology for building autonomous knowledge-rich learning agents - computational systems that have significant competence for performing...

Curricular Placement of Academic Service-Learning in Higher Education

Science.gov (United States)

Phillips, Amy; Bolduc, Steven R.; Gallo, Michael

2013-01-01

The higher education service-learning literature is rich with case studies, guidelines for service-learning course and program development, and demonstrations of the impact of service-learning on students. Minimal discussion, however, focuses on the "strategic placement" of service-learning in disciplinary curricula, and how curricular…

Learning and Motivational Processes When Students Design Curriculum-Based Digital Learning Games

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Weitze, Charlotte Lærke

2015-01-01

This design-based research (DBR) project has developed an overall gamified learning design (big Game) to facilitate the learning process for adult students by inviting them to be their own learning designers through designing digital learning games (small games) in cross-disciplinary subject...... matters. The DBR project has investigated and experimented with which elements, methods, and processes are important when aiming at creating a cognitive complex (Anderson and Krathwohl, 2001) and motivating learning process within a reusable game-based learning design. This project took place in a co......, or programming provide a rich context for learning, since the construction of artefacts, in this case learning games, enables reflection and new ways of thinking. The students learned from reflection and interaction with the tools alone as well as in collaboration with peers. After analysing the students...

Exploring teacher roles and pupil outcomes in technology-rich early literacy learning

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Cviko, Amina; McKenney, Susan; Voogt, Joke; Orey, Michael; Branch, Robert Maribe

2015-01-01

The present study focused on the involvement of Dutch kindergarten teachers in curriculum (design and) implementation of PictoPal activities in three different roles: executor-only, re-designer, and co-designer. PictoPal refers to ICT-rich on- and off-computer activities for early literacy. In the

Feature selection for domain knowledge representation through multitask learning

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Rosman, Benjamin S

2014-10-01

Full Text Available represent stimuli of interest, and rich feature sets which increase the dimensionality of the space and thus the difficulty of the learning problem. We focus on a multitask reinforcement learning setting, where the agent is learning domain knowledge...

Unimodal Learning Enhances Crossmodal Learning in Robotic Audio-Visual Tracking

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Shaikh, Danish; Bodenhagen, Leon; Manoonpong, Poramate

2017-01-01

Crossmodal sensory integration is a fundamental feature of the brain that aids in forming an coherent and unified representation of observed events in the world. Spatiotemporally correlated sensory stimuli brought about by rich sensorimotor experiences drive the development of crossmodal integrat...... a non-holonomic robotic agent towards a moving audio-visual target. Simulation results demonstrate that unimodal learning enhances crossmodal learning and improves both the overall accuracy and precision of multisensory orientation response....

Unimodal Learning Enhances Crossmodal Learning in Robotic Audio-Visual Tracking

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Shaikh, Danish; Bodenhagen, Leon; Manoonpong, Poramate

2018-01-01

Crossmodal sensory integration is a fundamental feature of the brain that aids in forming an coherent and unified representation of observed events in the world. Spatiotemporally correlated sensory stimuli brought about by rich sensorimotor experiences drive the development of crossmodal integrat...... a non-holonomic robotic agent towards a moving audio-visual target. Simulation results demonstrate that unimodal learning enhances crossmodal learning and improves both the overall accuracy and precision of multisensory orientation response....

Transitioning to Blended Learning: Understanding Student and Faculty Perceptions

Science.gov (United States)

Napier, Nannette P.; Dekhane, Sonal; Smith, Stella

2011-01-01

This paper describes the conversion of an introductory computing course to the blended learning model at a small, public liberal arts college. Blended learning significantly reduces face-to-face instruction by incorporating rich, online learning experiences. To assess the impact of blended learning on students, survey data was collected at the…

Impact of Media Richness and Flow on E-Learning Technology Acceptance

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Su-Houn; Liao, Hsiu-Li; Pratt, Jean A.

2009-01-01

Advances in e-learning technologies parallels a general increase in sophistication by computer users. The use of just one theory or model, such as the technology acceptance model, is no longer sufficient to study the intended use of e-learning systems. Rather, a combination of theories must be integrated in order to fully capture the complexity of…

Aplikasi Mobile Learning Mata Kuliah Jaringan Komputer

OpenAIRE

Yani, Muhammad; Maimunah, Maimunah; Hidayat, Aziz Setyawan

2014-01-01

  Mobile Learning is interaction of mobile computing and e-learning provides resources that can be accessed from anywhere, the ability of the formidable search system, rich interactions, full support to an effective learning and assessment based on performance. Mobile Learning has the characteristic of not depending on location and time. The process of teaching and learning can be done anywhere and anytime. Along with the development of information technology, mobile phone technology ...

Mapping the work-based learning of novice teachers: charting some rich terrain.

Science.gov (United States)

Cook, Vivien

2009-12-01

Work-based non-formal learning plays a key role in faculty development yet these processes are yet to be described in detail in medical education. This study sets out to illuminate these processes so that potential benefits for new and inexperienced medical educators and their mentors can be realised. The non-formal learning processes of 12 novice teachers were investigated across hospital, general practice and medical school settings. The research sought to describe 'what' and 'how' non-formal learning takes place, and whether these processes differ across teaching sites. Both clinical and non-clinical teachers of medical undergraduates from one inner city medical school were recruited for the study. Through semi-structured interviews and a 'concept map', participants were asked to identify the people and tasks which they considered central to helping them become more expert as educators. Results identified non-formal learning across a number of key dimensions, including personal development, task and role performance, and optimising clinical teaching. This learning takes place as an outcome of experience, observation, reflection and student feedback. Non-formal learning is a significant aspect of the development of novice teachers and as such it needs to be placed more firmly upon the agenda of faculty development.

Learning as way-finding

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Dau, Susanne

motions of humans and non-human agencies. The findings reveal that learning; formal and informal can be conceptualized by the metaphor of way-finding; embodied, emotionally and/or cognitive both individually and socially. Way-finding, is argued, to be a contemporary concept for learning processes......, knowledge development and identity-shaping, where learning emerges through motions, feeling and thinking within an information rich world in constant change.......Based on empirical case-study findings and the theoretical framework of learning by Illeris coupled with Nonaka & Takeuchis´s perspectives on knowledge creation, it is stressed that learning are conditioned by contextual orientations-processes in spaces near the body (peripersonal spaces) through...

Learning and Motivational Processes When Students Design Curriculum‐Based Digital Learning Games

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Weitze, Charlotte Lærke

2016-01-01

This design‐based research (DBR) project has developed an overall gamified learning design (big Game) to facilitate the learning process for adult students by inviting them to be their own learning designers through designing digital learning games (small games) in cross‐disciplinary subject...... matters. The DBR project has investigated and experimented with which elements, methods, and processes are important when aiming at creating a cognitive complex (Anderson and Krathwohl, 2001) and motivating learning process within a reusable game‐based learning design. This project took place in a co......, or programming provide a rich context for learning, since the construction of artefacts, in this case learning games, enables reflection and new ways of thinking. The students learned from reflection and interaction with the tools alone as well as in collaboration with peers. After analysing the students...

Serious Fun: Life-Deep Learning of Koi Hobbyists

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Chi-Chang

2012-01-01

Hobby activities can be viewed through the lens of informal, free-choice learning. A wide range of hobbies combine fun and learning-intensive practices, and can contribute to scientific literacy. Hobby learning involves clear goal orientation, persistence and effort, and often results in more richly and strongly connected knowledge; traits highly…

Web based Interactive 3D Learning Objects for Learning Management Systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Stefan Hesse

2012-02-01

Full Text Available In this paper, we present an approach to create and integrate interactive 3D learning objects of high quality for higher education into a learning management system. The use of these resources allows to visualize topics, such as electro-technical and physical processes in the interior of complex devices. This paper addresses the challenge of combining rich interactivity and adequate realism with 3D exercise material for distance elearning.

Digital Technology in Teaching International Business: Is a Tradeoff between Richness and Reach Required?

Science.gov (United States)

Wymbs, Cliff; Kijne, Hugo

2003-01-01

This analysis extends the traditional marketing tradeoffs between richness (depth of knowledge) and reach (geographic area coverage) to the emerging technology-mediated education industry, and then specifically evaluates their effect on the teaching of international business. It asserts that interactive learning, particularly as it applies to team…

Workplace Learning - How We Keep Track of Relevant Information

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bischoff, Kerstin; Herder, Eelco; Nejdl, Wolfgang

2007-01-01

At the workplace, learning is often a by-product of working on complex projects, requiring self-steered, need-driven and goal-oriented retrieval of information just in time from documents or peers. The personal desktop provides one rich source for learning material and for adaptation of learning

Extending the experiences of learning games

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Henriksen, Thomas Duus

2008-01-01

The article addresses the question on whether learning games should be thought as realistic, content-rich and fun, based on the disadvantages that these follows these understandings, as well as addressing the advantages of their alternatives. From a discourse analytical perspective......, the opportunities held by other appraoches to 'participatory incentives, understanding of the learning process, and finally the quality of the experience offered by the game-based learning setting....

Bringing authentic service learning to the classroom: benefits and lessons learned

Science.gov (United States)

Chamberlain, Leslie C.

2016-06-01

Project-based learning, which has gained significant attention within K-12 education, provides rich hands-on experiences for students. Bringing an element of service to the projects allow students to engage in a local or global community, providing an abundance of benefits to the students’ learning. For example, service projects build confidence, increase motivation, and exercise problem-solving and communication skills in addition to developing a deep understanding of content. I will present lessons I have learned through four years of providing service learning opportunities in my classroom. I share ideas for astronomy projects, tips for connecting and listening to a community, and helpful guidelines to hold students accountable in order to ensure a productive and educational project.

Automation of Presentation Record Production Based on Rich-Media Technology Using SNT Petri Nets Theory

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ivo Martiník

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Rich-media describes a broad range of digital interactive media that is increasingly used in the Internet and also in the support of education. Last year, a special pilot audiovisual lecture room was built as a part of the MERLINGO (MEdia-rich Repository of LearnING Objects project solution. It contains all the elements of the modern lecture room determined for the implementation of presentation recordings based on the rich-media technologies and their publication online or on-demand featuring the access of all its elements in the automated mode including automatic editing. Property-preserving Petri net process algebras (PPPA were designed for the specification and verification of the Petri net processes. PPPA does not need to verify the composition of the Petri net processes because all their algebraic operators preserve the specified set of the properties. These original PPPA are significantly generalized for the newly introduced class of the SNT Petri process and agent nets in this paper. The PLACE-SUBST and ASYNC-PROC algebraic operators are defined for this class of Petri nets and their chosen properties are proved. The SNT Petri process and agent nets theory were significantly applied at the design, verification, and implementation of the programming system ensuring the pilot audiovisual lecture room functionality.

Fostering Technology-Rich Service-Learning Experiences between School Librarians and Teacher Education Programs

Science.gov (United States)

Shepherd, Craig E.; Dousay, Tonia; Kvenild, Cassandra; Meredith, Tamara

2015-01-01

School libraries are untapped resources for fieldwork by preservice teachers. Many school librarians have expertise in pedagogy and standards-based curriculum development, both for information literacy and for technology integration. By forging partnerships with teacher-preparation programs, school librarians can provide fieldwork sites rich in…

Using Rich Context and Data Exploration to Improve Engagement with Climate Data and Data Literacy: Bringing a Field Station into the College Classroom

Science.gov (United States)

Ellwein, Amy L.; Hartley, Laurel M.; Donovan, Sam; Billick, Ian

2014-01-01

Authentic scientific data, when richly contextualized, can provide the basis for compelling learning experiences. Many undergraduate students either do not have access to primary data, or if they do, the data are so abstract that student engagement is limited. Here, we describe contextual information and data-rich, student-centered activities we…

Automatic, Global and Dynamic Student Modeling in a Ubiquitous Learning Environment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sabine Graf

2009-03-01

Full Text Available Ubiquitous learning allows students to learn at any time and any place. Adaptivity plays an important role in ubiquitous learning, aiming at providing students with adaptive and personalized learning material, activities, and information at the right place and the right time. However, for providing rich adaptivity, the student model needs to be able to gather a variety of information about the students. In this paper, an automatic, global, and dynamic student modeling approach is introduced, which aims at identifying and frequently updating information about students’ progress, learning styles, interests and knowledge level, problem solving abilities, preferences for using the system, social connectivity, and current location. This information is gathered in an automatic way, using students’ behavior and actions in different learning situations provided by different components/services of the ubiquitous learning environment. By providing a comprehensive student model, students can be supported by rich adaptivity in every component/service of the learning environment. Furthermore, the information in the student model can help in giving teachers a better understanding about the students’ learning process.

Standardised patient-simulated practice learning

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Teaching strategies must link theory to practice, foster critical thinking, be relevant and stimulate ... Standardised patient-simulated practice learning: A rich pedagogical .... relationship for them to grow and develop from novice to expert. They.

Performative Tools and Collaborative Learning

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Minder, Bettina; Lassen, Astrid Heidemann

of performative tools used in transdisciplinary events for collaborative learning. The results of this single case study add to extant knowledge- and learning literature by providing the reader with a rich description of characteristics and learning functions of performative tools in transdisciplinary events......The use of performative tools can support collaborative learning across knowledge domains (i.e. science and practice), because they create new spaces for dialog. However, so far innovation literature provides little answers to the important discussion of how to describe the effects and requirements...... and a description of how they interrelate with the specific setting of such an event. Furthermore, they complement previous findings by relating performative tools to collaborative learning for knowledge intensive ideas....

Development and Evaluation of a Computer-Based Learning Environment for Teachers: Assessment of Learning Strategies in Learning Journals

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Inga Glogger

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Training teachers to assess important components of self-regulated learning such as learning strategies is an important, yet somewhat neglected, aspect of the integration of self-regulated learning at school. Learning journals can be used to assess learning strategies in line with cyclical process models of self-regulated learning, allowing for rich formative feedback. Against this background, we developed a computer-based learning environment (CBLE that trains teachers to assess learning strategies with learning journals. The contents of the CBLE and its instructional design were derived from theory. The CBLE was further shaped by research in a design-based manner. Finally, in two evaluation studies, student teachers (N1=44; N2=89 worked with the CBLE. We analyzed satisfaction, interest, usability, and assessment skills. Additionally, in evaluation study 2, effects of an experimental variation on motivation and assessment skills were tested. We found high satisfaction, interest, and good usability, as well as satisfying assessment skills, after working with the CBLE. Results show that teachers can be trained to assess learning strategies in learning journals. The developed CBLE offers new perspectives on how to support teachers in fostering learning strategies as central component of effective self-regulated learning at school.

Adobe AIR 15 Cookbook Solutions and Examples for Rich Internet Application Developers

CERN Document Server

Tucker, David; DeWeggheleire, Koen

2008-01-01

The hands-on recipes in this cookbook help you solve a variety of tasks and scenarios often encountered when using Adobe AIR to build Rich Internet Applications for the desktop. Thoroughly vetted by Adobe's AIR development team, Adobe AIR 1.5 Cookbook addresses fundamentals, best practices, and more. If you want to learn the nuances of Adobe AIR to build innovative applications, this is the book you've been waiting for.

Technology-enhanced learning on campus: insights from EUNIS e-Learning Task Force

OpenAIRE

Ferrell, Gill; Alves, Paulo; Bubas, Goran; Engert, Steffi; Epelboin, Yves; Madey, Jan; Palma, José; Piteira, Martinha; Restivo, T.M.; Ribeiro, Ligia; Sidelmann Rossen, Dorte; Soares, Filomena; Uhomoibhi, James

2011-01-01

In 2010 the EUNIS e-Learning Task Force (ELTF) members collaborated on a review of tools and technologies in use across our member institutions. One of the key features of that paper was the use of technology to give off-campus learners, such as distance learners, those undertaking field studies and learners in the workplace a richly supported learning experience. Building on the success of that collaboration, the ELTF members have turned their attention this year to the use of technology on ...

Integrating Augmented Reality Technology to Enhance Children's Learning in Marine Education

Science.gov (United States)

Lu, Su-Ju; Liu, Ying-Chieh

2015-01-01

Marine education comprises rich and multifaceted issues. Raising general awareness of marine environments and issues demands the development of new learning materials. This study adapts concepts from digital game-based learning to design an innovative marine learning program integrating augmented reality (AR) technology for lower grade primary…

Optimal quantum sample complexity of learning algorithms

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Arunachalam, S.; de Wolf, R.

2017-01-01

In learning theory, the VC dimension of a concept class C is the most common way to measure its "richness." A fundamental result says that the number of examples needed to learn an unknown target concept c 2 C under an unknown distribution D, is tightly determined by the VC dimension d of the

The Convergent Learning Space

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kjeldsen, Lars Peter; Kjærgaard, Hanne Wacher

networks are still more prominently expected by students. Against this backdrop, an action research project has worked with the definition and testing of the hypothesized constituents of the Convergent Learning Space and how it challenges our traditional conceptions of learning spaces. The article...... describes this pilot study involving teachers in conscious, documented reflection on methods, approaches, and procedures conducive to learning processes in this new learning space. As a perspective, the article briefly outlines an intervention study aimed at investigating how students benefit from......The concept of the Convergent Learning Space has been hypothesized and explored in an ongoing action research project carried out at undergraduate level in select bachelor programs at a Danish University College, where classrooms are technology rich and students bring their own devices. The changes...

Literacy Learning in a Digitally Rich Humanities Classroom: Embracing Multiple, Collaborative, and Simultaneous Texts

Science.gov (United States)

Buckley-Marudas, Mary Frances

2016-01-01

Understanding what happens when teachers embrace digital media for literacy learning is critical to realizing the potential of learning in the digital era. This article examines some of the ways that a high school teacher and his students leverage digital technologies for literacy learning in their humanities classrooms. The author introduces the…

Pedagogical Dramas and Transformational Play: Narratively Rich Games for Learning

Science.gov (United States)

Barab, Sasha A.; Dodge, Tyler; Ingram-Goble, Adam; Pettyjohn, Patrick; Peppler, Kylie; Volk, Charlene; Solomou, Maria

2010-01-01

Although every era is met with the introduction of powerful technologies for entertainment and learning, videogames represent a new contribution binding the two and bearing the potential to create sustained engagement in a curricular drama where the player's knowledgeable actions shape an unfolding fiction within a designed world. Although…

The leucine-rich repeat structure.

Science.gov (United States)

Bella, J; Hindle, K L; McEwan, P A; Lovell, S C

2008-08-01

The leucine-rich repeat is a widespread structural motif of 20-30 amino acids with a characteristic repetitive sequence pattern rich in leucines. Leucine-rich repeat domains are built from tandems of two or more repeats and form curved solenoid structures that are particularly suitable for protein-protein interactions. Thousands of protein sequences containing leucine-rich repeats have been identified by automatic annotation methods. Three-dimensional structures of leucine-rich repeat domains determined to date reveal a degree of structural variability that translates into the considerable functional versatility of this protein superfamily. As the essential structural principles become well established, the leucine-rich repeat architecture is emerging as an attractive framework for structural prediction and protein engineering. This review presents an update of the current understanding of leucine-rich repeat structure at the primary, secondary, tertiary and quaternary levels and discusses specific examples from recently determined three-dimensional structures.

Workplace Learning - How We Keep Track of Relevant Information

OpenAIRE

Bischoff, Kerstin; Herder, Eelco; Nejdl, Wolfgang

2007-01-01

At the workplace, learning is often a by-product of working on complex projects, requiring self-steered, need-driven and goal-oriented retrieval of information just in time from documents or peers. The personal desktop provides one rich source for learning material and for adaptation of learning resources. Data within that personal information space enables learning from previous experience, sharing tacit and explicit knowledge, and allows for establishing context and context-aware delivery o...

The CAPRICE RICH detector

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Basini, G. [INFN, Laboratori Nazionali di Frascati, Rome (Italy); Codino, A.; Grimani, C. [Perugia Univ. (Italy)]|[INFN, Perugia (Italy); De Pascale, M.P. [Rome Univ. `Tor Vergata` (Italy). Dip. di Fisica]|[INFN, Sezione Univ. `Tor Vergata` Rome (Italy); Cafagna, F. [Bari Univ. (Italy)]|[INFN, Bari (Italy); Golden, R.L. [New Mexico State Univ., Las Cruces, NM (United States). Particle Astrophysics Lab.; Brancaccio, F.; Bocciolini, M. [Florence Univ. (Italy)]|[INFN, Florence (Italy); Barbiellini, G.; Boezio, M. [Trieste Univ. (Italy)]|[INFN, Trieste (Italy)

1995-09-01

A compact RICH detector has been developed and used for particle identification in a balloon borne spectrometer to measure the flux of antimatter in the cosmic radiation. This is the first RICH detector ever used in space experiments that is capable of detecting unit charged particles, such as antiprotons. The RICH and all other detectors performed well during the 27 hours long flight.

Normalization and Personalization of Learning Situation: NPLS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mounia Abik

2009-06-01

Full Text Available The personalization of learning is a major pedagogical challenge solicited by pedagogues and didacts. There are several projects about the production of personalizable learning situations such as Reload-LDE and Alfanet. These projects are interested in producing new standardized and personalizable learning situations. However, on the Web, an important number of learning situations exist. These situations are rich in information but don't consider all the characteristics of participants taking part in the learning, nor their technical environments. In this paper we suggest a help system that can transform an existing learning situation to another structure standardized and personalizable depending on the context of learning personalization that we have defined.

Learning to Facilitate (Online) Meetings

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Reimann, Peter; Bull, Susan; Vatrapu, Ravi

2013-01-01

We describe an approach to teaching collaboration skills directly by building on competences for meeting facilitation. (Online) meetings provide a rich arena to practice collaboration since they can serve multiple purposes: learning, problem solving, decision making, idea generation and advancement...

Situating Student Learning in Rich Contexts: A Constructionist Approach to Digital Archives Education

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anthony Cocciolo

2011-09-01

Full Text Available Objective - This paper sought to determine whether a constructionist pedagogical approach to digital archives education could positively influence student perceptions of their learning. Constructionism is a learning theory that places students in the role of designers and emphasizes creating tangible artifacts in a social environment. This theory was used in the instructional design of the Digital Archive Creation Project (DACP, a major component of a digital archives course offered to students enrolled in a Master’s program in library science at Pratt Institute School of Library and Information Science.Methods - Participants were the 31 students enrolled in the DACP during the fall and spring semesters of 2010. They were surveyed as to their perceived learning outcomes as a result of their engagement with the DACP. Results - Results indicated that students perceived strong increases in their learning following their engagement in the DACP, particularly in terms of their skills, confidence, understanding of topics covered in other courses, and overall understanding. Factors that influenced these increases include the collaborative teamwork, the role of the facilitator or instructor, and individual effort.Conclusion - The project demonstrated that a constructionist pedagogical approach to digital archives education positively impacted students’ perceptions of their learning.

Active Learning Not Associated with Student Learning in a Random Sample of College Biology Courses

Science.gov (United States)

Andrews, T. M.; Leonard, M. J.; Colgrove, C. A.; Kalinowski, S. T.

2011-01-01

Previous research has suggested that adding active learning to traditional college science lectures substantially improves student learning. However, this research predominantly studied courses taught by science education researchers, who are likely to have exceptional teaching expertise. The present study investigated introductory biology courses randomly selected from a list of prominent colleges and universities to include instructors representing a broader population. We examined the relationship between active learning and student learning in the subject area of natural selection. We found no association between student learning gains and the use of active-learning instruction. Although active learning has the potential to substantially improve student learning, this research suggests that active learning, as used by typical college biology instructors, is not associated with greater learning gains. We contend that most instructors lack the rich and nuanced understanding of teaching and learning that science education researchers have developed. Therefore, active learning as designed and implemented by typical college biology instructors may superficially resemble active learning used by education researchers, but lacks the constructivist elements necessary for improving learning. PMID:22135373

Effect of carbo-nitride-rich and oxide-rich inclusions on the pitting susceptibility of depleted uranium

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pu, Zhen; Chen, Xianglin; Meng, Xiandong; Wu, Yanping; Shen, Liang; Wang, Qingfu; Liu, Tianwei; Shuai, Maobing

2017-01-01

Highlights: •The Volta potential differences relative to the matrix are positive for both types of inclusions. •Both types of inclusions are cathodic in the “inclusion/matrix” microgalvanic couples. •The oxide-rich inclusions show a larger Volta potential value of about 115 mV than the carbo-nitride-rich inclusions. •The oxide-rich inclusions give stronger local galvanic coupling with the matrix. •The oxide-rich inclusions are more predisposed to initiate pitting corrosion. -- Abstract: The effects of carbo-nitride-rich and oxide-rich inclusions on the pitting susceptibility of depleted uranium were investigated by electrochemical corrosion measurements, optical microscopy, scanning Kelvin probe force microscopy (SKPFM), and SEM. The results of the potentiodynamic polarization tests suggest that oxide-rich inclusions are more likely to induce pitting corrosion than carbo-nitride-rich inclusions. This enhanced corrosion may be explained by the strong local galvanic coupling between the oxide-rich inclusion and the surrounding matrix, which, from the sight of SKPFM analysis, exhibits a 115 V higher Volta potential than the coupling between the carbo-nitride-rich inclusions and the matrix, respectively.

Storytelling: An Ancient Human Technology and Critical-Creative Pedagogy for Transformative Learning

Science.gov (United States)

Kalogeras, Stavroula

2013-01-01

In the era of e-learning, student-centered approaches and constructivists learning environments are critical success factors. The inherent interactivity of the Internet and the emotional engagement of story can lead to transformative learning experiences in media rich environments. This paper focuses on Web-Based Transmedia Storytelling…

Proton-rich nuclear statistical equilibrium

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Seitenzahl, I.R.; Timmes, F.X.; Marin-Lafleche, A.; Brown, E.; Magkotsios, G.; Truran, J.

2008-01-01

Proton-rich material in a state of nuclear statistical equilibrium (NSE) is one of the least studied regimes of nucleosynthesis. One reason for this is that after hydrogen burning, stellar evolution proceeds at conditions of an equal number of neutrons and protons or at a slight degree of neutron-richness. Proton-rich nucleosynthesis in stars tends to occur only when hydrogen-rich material that accretes onto a white dwarf or a neutron star explodes, or when neutrino interactions in the winds from a nascent proto-neutron star or collapsar disk drive the matter proton-rich prior to or during the nucleosynthesis. In this Letter we solve the NSE equations for a range of proton-rich thermodynamic conditions. We show that cold proton-rich NSE is qualitatively different from neutron-rich NSE. Instead of being dominated by the Fe-peak nuclei with the largest binding energy per nucleon that have a proton-to-nucleon ratio close to the prescribed electron fraction, NSE for proton-rich material near freezeout temperature is mainly composed of 56Ni and free protons. Previous results of nuclear reaction network calculations rely on this nonintuitive high-proton abundance, which this Letter explains. We show how the differences and especially the large fraction of free protons arises from the minimization of the free energy as a result of a delicate competition between the entropy and nuclear binding energy.

Towards a Social Networks Model for Online Learning & Performance

Science.gov (United States)

Chung, Kon Shing Kenneth; Paredes, Walter Christian

2015-01-01

In this study, we develop a theoretical model to investigate the association between social network properties, "content richness" (CR) in academic learning discourse, and performance. CR is the extent to which one contributes content that is meaningful, insightful and constructive to aid learning and by social network properties we…

Writing to Learn Statistics in an Advanced Placement Statistics Course

Science.gov (United States)

Northrup, Christian Glenn

2012-01-01

This study investigated the use of writing in a statistics classroom to learn if writing provided a rich description of problem-solving processes of students as they solved problems. Through analysis of 329 written samples provided by students, it was determined that writing provided a rich description of problem-solving processes and enabled…

Outcomes of an Academic Service-Learning Project on Four Urban Community Colleges

Science.gov (United States)

Greenwood, Debra Abston

2015-01-01

Service-learning has a rich history in higher education, with a multitude of studies indicating positive learning, community engagement, and moral development outcomes of student participants. The majority of the research findings, however, have represented four-year colleges. And while there are limited outcome studies of service-learning in…

Connected and Ubiquitous: A Discussion of Two Theories That Impact Future Learning Applications

Science.gov (United States)

Bair, Richard A.; Stafford, Timothy

2016-01-01

Mobile media break down traditional barriers that have defined learning in schools because they enable constant, personalized access to media. This information-rich environment could dramatically expand learning opportunities. This article identifies and discusses two instructional design theories for mobile learning including the major…

Platelet-rich plasma in otolaryngology.

Science.gov (United States)

Stavrakas, M; Karkos, P D; Markou, K; Grigoriadis, N

2016-12-01

Platelet-rich plasma is a novel material that is being used more frequently in many surgical specialties. A literature review on the current and potential uses of platelet-rich plasma in otolaryngology was performed. There is limited evidence on the use of platelet-rich plasma in otolaryngology compared with other specialties: only 11 studies on various subspecialties (otology, rhinology and laryngology) were included in the final review. Based on the limited number of studies, we cannot draw safe conclusions about the value of platelet-rich plasma in otolaryngology. Nevertheless, the available literature suggests that platelet-rich plasma holds promise for future research and may have a number of clinical applications.

Resource stoichiometry and availability modulate species richness and biomass of tropical litter macro-invertebrates.

Science.gov (United States)

Jochum, Malte; Barnes, Andrew D; Weigelt, Patrick; Ott, David; Rembold, Katja; Farajallah, Achmad; Brose, Ulrich

2017-09-01

High biodiversity and biomass of soil communities are crucial for litter decomposition in terrestrial ecosystems such as tropical forests. However, the leaf litter that these communities consume is of particularly poor quality as indicated by elemental stoichiometry. The impact of resource quantity, quality and other habitat parameters on species richness and biomass of consumer communities is often studied in isolation, although much can be learned from simultaneously studying both community characteristics. Using a dataset of 780 macro-invertebrate consumer species across 32 sites in tropical lowland rain forest and agricultural systems on Sumatra, Indonesia, we investigated the effects of basal resource stoichiometry (C:X ratios of N, P, K, Ca, Mg, Na, S in local leaf litter), litter mass (basal resource quantity and habitat space), plant species richness (surrogate for litter habitat heterogeneity), and soil pH (acidity) on consumer species richness and biomass across different consumer groups (i.e. 3 feeding guilds and 10 selected taxonomic groups). In order to distinguish the most important predictors of consumer species richness and biomass, we applied a standardised model averaging approach investigating the effects of basal resource stoichiometry, litter mass, plant species richness and soil pH on both consumer community characteristics. This standardised approach enabled us to identify differences and similarities in the magnitude and importance of such effects on consumer species richness and biomass. Across consumer groups, we found litter mass to be the most important predictor of both species richness and biomass. Resource stoichiometry had a more pronounced impact on consumer species richness than on their biomass. As expected, taxonomic groups differed in which resource and habitat parameters (basal resource stoichiometry, litter mass, plant species richness and pH) were most important for modulating their community characteristics. The importance

Adaptive Multimedia Content Delivery for Context-Aware U-Learning

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, Xinyou; Okamoto, Toshio

2011-01-01

Empowered by mobile computing, teachers and students can benefit from computing in more scenarios beyond the traditional computer classroom. But because of the much diversity of device specification, learning contents and mobile context existing today, the learners get a bad learning experience (e.g. rich contents cannot be displayed correctly)…

Integrating Curriculum through the Learning Cycle: Content-Based Reading and Vocabulary Instruction

Science.gov (United States)

Spencer, Brenda H.; Guillaume, Andrea M.

2006-01-01

The content areas provide rich contexts for developing vocabulary. This article presents some principles and a lesson model--the learning cycle--that can be used to develop vocabulary while building understanding in science. Because science instruction and the learning cycle model promote learning in real-world contexts, they provide students with…

Hyper-homeostatic learning of anticipatory hunger in rats.

Science.gov (United States)

Jarvandi, Soghra; Booth, David A; Thibault, Louise

2007-11-23

Anticipatory hunger is a learnt increase in intake of food having a flavour or texture that predicts a long fast. This learning was studied in rats trained on a single food or a choice between protein-rich and carbohydrate-rich foods, presented for 1.5 h after 3 h without maintenance food at the start of the dark phase. Eight training cycles provided a pseudo-random sequence of 3 h and 10 h post-prandial fasts with a day on maintenance food between each training fast. The measure of anticipatory hunger is the difference over one 4-day cycle between the intake of test food having an odour predictive of the longer fast (TL) and intake of food with an odour cuing to the shorter fast (TS). Previous experiments showed that conditioning of preference for the odour before the shorter fast competes with learning to avoid hunger during the longer fast (anticipatory hunger), generating a cubic or quartic contrast. TL minus TS showed a strong cubic trend over 8 training cycles with both single and choice meals. There was a switch from preference for the short-fast odour at cycle 2 (TL-TS=-0.86 g) to a peak of anticipatory hunger at cycle 6 (TL-TS=1.57 g). We conclude that anticipatory hunger is learnt when a choice is given between protein-rich and carbohydrate-rich foods as well as on a single food. In addition, since anticipatory hunger extinguishes itself, such learning improves on negative-feedback homeostasis with a feed-forward "hyper-homeostatic" mechanism.

Reinforcement learning improves behaviour from evaluative feedback

Science.gov (United States)

Littman, Michael L.

2015-05-01

Reinforcement learning is a branch of machine learning concerned with using experience gained through interacting with the world and evaluative feedback to improve a system's ability to make behavioural decisions. It has been called the artificial intelligence problem in a microcosm because learning algorithms must act autonomously to perform well and achieve their goals. Partly driven by the increasing availability of rich data, recent years have seen exciting advances in the theory and practice of reinforcement learning, including developments in fundamental technical areas such as generalization, planning, exploration and empirical methodology, leading to increasing applicability to real-life problems.

Human likeness: cognitive and affective factors affecting adoption of robot-assisted learning systems

Science.gov (United States)

Yoo, Hosun; Kwon, Ohbyung; Lee, Namyeon

2016-07-01

With advances in robot technology, interest in robotic e-learning systems has increased. In some laboratories, experiments are being conducted with humanoid robots as artificial tutors because of their likeness to humans, the rich possibilities of using this type of media, and the multimodal interaction capabilities of these robots. The robot-assisted learning system, a special type of e-learning system, aims to increase the learner's concentration, pleasure, and learning performance dramatically. However, very few empirical studies have examined the effect on learning performance of incorporating humanoid robot technology into e-learning systems or people's willingness to accept or adopt robot-assisted learning systems. In particular, human likeness, the essential characteristic of humanoid robots as compared with conventional e-learning systems, has not been discussed in a theoretical context. Hence, the purpose of this study is to propose a theoretical model to explain the process of adoption of robot-assisted learning systems. In the proposed model, human likeness is conceptualized as a combination of media richness, multimodal interaction capabilities, and para-social relationships; these factors are considered as possible determinants of the degree to which human cognition and affection are related to the adoption of robot-assisted learning systems.

Unsupervised Learning of Spatiotemporal Features by Video Completion

OpenAIRE

Nallabolu, Adithya Reddy

2017-01-01

In this work, we present an unsupervised representation learning approach for learning rich spatiotemporal features from videos without the supervision from semantic labels. We propose to learn the spatiotemporal features by training a 3D convolutional neural network (CNN) using video completion as a surrogate task. Using a large collection of unlabeled videos, we train the CNN to predict the missing pixels of a spatiotemporal hole given the remaining parts of the video through minimizing per...

An Improved Cluster Richness Estimator

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rozo, Eduardo; /Ohio State U.; Rykoff, Eli S.; /UC, Santa Barbara; Koester, Benjamin P.; /Chicago U. /KICP, Chicago; McKay, Timothy; /Michigan U.; Hao, Jiangang; /Michigan U.; Evrard, August; /Michigan U.; Wechsler, Risa H.; /SLAC; Hansen, Sarah; /Chicago U. /KICP, Chicago; Sheldon, Erin; /New York U.; Johnston, David; /Houston U.; Becker, Matthew R.; /Chicago U. /KICP, Chicago; Annis, James T.; /Fermilab; Bleem, Lindsey; /Chicago U.; Scranton, Ryan; /Pittsburgh U.

2009-08-03

Minimizing the scatter between cluster mass and accessible observables is an important goal for cluster cosmology. In this work, we introduce a new matched filter richness estimator, and test its performance using the maxBCG cluster catalog. Our new estimator significantly reduces the variance in the L{sub X}-richness relation, from {sigma}{sub lnL{sub X}}{sup 2} = (0.86 {+-} 0.02){sup 2} to {sigma}{sub lnL{sub X}}{sup 2} = (0.69 {+-} 0.02){sup 2}. Relative to the maxBCG richness estimate, it also removes the strong redshift dependence of the richness scaling relations, and is significantly more robust to photometric and redshift errors. These improvements are largely due to our more sophisticated treatment of galaxy color data. We also demonstrate the scatter in the L{sub X}-richness relation depends on the aperture used to estimate cluster richness, and introduce a novel approach for optimizing said aperture which can be easily generalized to other mass tracers.

Learning English with "The Sims": Exploiting Authentic Computer Simulation Games for L2 Learning

Science.gov (United States)

Ranalli, Jim

2008-01-01

With their realistic animation, complex scenarios and impressive interactivity, computer simulation games might be able to provide context-rich, cognitively engaging virtual environments for language learning. However, simulation games designed for L2 learners are in short supply. As an alternative, could games designed for the mass-market be…

Learning by Preparing to Teach: Fostering Self-Regulatory Processes and Achievement during Complex Mathematics Problem Solving

Science.gov (United States)

Muis, Krista R.; Psaradellis, Cynthia; Chevrier, Marianne; Di Leo, Ivana; Lajoie, Susanne P.

2016-01-01

We developed an intervention based on the learning by teaching paradigm to foster self-regulatory processes and better learning outcomes during complex mathematics problem solving in a technology-rich learning environment. Seventy-eight elementary students were randomly assigned to 1 of 2 conditions: learning by preparing to teach, or learning for…

Looking Back--A Lesson Learned: From Videotape to Digital Media

Science.gov (United States)

Lys, Franziska

2010-01-01

This paper chronicles the development of Drehort Neubrandenburg Online, an interactive, content-rich audiovisual language learning environment based on documentary film material shot on location in Neubrandenburg, Germany, in 1991 and 2002 and aimed at making language learning more interactive and more real. The paper starts with the description…

Education and Knowledge Production in Workers' Struggles: Learning to Resist, Learning from Resistance

Science.gov (United States)

Choudry, Aziz; Bleakney, David

2013-01-01

Trade unions and other sites of community-labour organizing such as workers centres are rich, yet contested spaces of education and knowledge production in which both non-formal and informal / incidental forms of learning occur. Putting forward a critique of dominant strands of worker education, the authors ask what spaces exist for social…

Emerging Paradigms in Machine Learning

CERN Document Server

Jain, Lakhmi; Howlett, Robert

2013-01-01

This  book presents fundamental topics and algorithms that form the core of machine learning (ML) research, as well as emerging paradigms in intelligent system design. The  multidisciplinary nature of machine learning makes it a very fascinating and popular area for research.  The book is aiming at students, practitioners and researchers and captures the diversity and richness of the field of machine learning and intelligent systems.  Several chapters are devoted to computational learning models such as granular computing, rough sets and fuzzy sets An account of applications of well-known learning methods in biometrics, computational stylistics, multi-agent systems, spam classification including an extremely well-written survey on Bayesian networks shed light on the strengths and weaknesses of the methods. Practical studies yielding insight into challenging problems such as learning from incomplete and imbalanced data, pattern recognition of stochastic episodic events and on-line mining of non-stationary ...

Patterns and multi-scale drivers of phytoplankton species richness in temperate peri-urban lakes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Catherine, Arnaud; Selma, Maloufi; Mouillot, David; Troussellier, Marc; Bernard, Cécile

2016-01-01

Local species richness (SR) is a key characteristic affecting ecosystem functioning. Yet, the mechanisms regulating phytoplankton diversity in freshwater ecosystems are not fully understood, especially in peri-urban environments where anthropogenic pressures strongly impact the quality of aquatic ecosystems. To address this issue, we sampled the phytoplankton communities of 50 lakes in the Paris area (France) characterized by a large gradient of physico-chemical and catchment-scale characteristics. We used large phytoplankton datasets to describe phytoplankton diversity patterns and applied a machine-learning algorithm to test the degree to which species richness patterns are potentially controlled by environmental factors. Selected environmental factors were studied at two scales: the lake-scale (e.g. nutrients concentrations, water temperature, lake depth) and the catchment-scale (e.g. catchment, landscape and climate variables). Then, we used a variance partitioning approach to evaluate the interaction between lake-scale and catchment-scale variables in explaining local species richness. Finally, we analysed the residuals of predictive models to identify potential vectors of improvement of phytoplankton species richness predictive models. Lake-scale and catchment-scale drivers provided similar predictive accuracy of local species richness (R"2 = 0.458 and 0.424, respectively). Both models suggested that seasonal temperature variations and nutrient supply strongly modulate local species richness. Integrating lake- and catchment-scale predictors in a single predictive model did not provide increased predictive accuracy; therefore suggesting that the catchment-scale model probably explains observed species richness variations through the impact of catchment-scale variables on in-lake water quality characteristics. Models based on catchment characteristics, which include simple and easy to obtain variables, provide a meaningful way of predicting phytoplankton

Patterns and multi-scale drivers of phytoplankton species richness in temperate peri-urban lakes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Catherine, Arnaud, E-mail: arnocat@mnhn.fr [UMR7245 MCAM MNHN-CNRS, Muséum National d' Histoire Naturelle, CC 39, 12 rue Buffon, F-75231 Paris, Cedex 05 (France); Selma, Maloufi, E-mail: maloufi@mnhn.fr [UMR7245 MCAM MNHN-CNRS, Muséum National d' Histoire Naturelle, CC 39, 12 rue Buffon, F-75231 Paris, Cedex 05 (France); Mouillot, David, E-mail: david.mouillot@univ-montp2.fr [UMR 9190 MARBEC UM2-CNRS-IRD-UM1-IFREMER, CC 93, Place Eugène Bataillon, Université de Montpellier 2, F-34095 Montpellier (France); Troussellier, Marc, E-mail: troussel@univ-montp2.fr [UMR 9190 MARBEC UM2-CNRS-IRD-UM1-IFREMER, CC 93, Place Eugène Bataillon, Université de Montpellier 2, F-34095 Montpellier (France); Bernard, Cécile, E-mail: cbernard@mnhn.fr [UMR7245 MCAM MNHN-CNRS, Muséum National d' Histoire Naturelle, CC 39, 12 rue Buffon, F-75231 Paris, Cedex 05 (France)

2016-07-15

Local species richness (SR) is a key characteristic affecting ecosystem functioning. Yet, the mechanisms regulating phytoplankton diversity in freshwater ecosystems are not fully understood, especially in peri-urban environments where anthropogenic pressures strongly impact the quality of aquatic ecosystems. To address this issue, we sampled the phytoplankton communities of 50 lakes in the Paris area (France) characterized by a large gradient of physico-chemical and catchment-scale characteristics. We used large phytoplankton datasets to describe phytoplankton diversity patterns and applied a machine-learning algorithm to test the degree to which species richness patterns are potentially controlled by environmental factors. Selected environmental factors were studied at two scales: the lake-scale (e.g. nutrients concentrations, water temperature, lake depth) and the catchment-scale (e.g. catchment, landscape and climate variables). Then, we used a variance partitioning approach to evaluate the interaction between lake-scale and catchment-scale variables in explaining local species richness. Finally, we analysed the residuals of predictive models to identify potential vectors of improvement of phytoplankton species richness predictive models. Lake-scale and catchment-scale drivers provided similar predictive accuracy of local species richness (R{sup 2} = 0.458 and 0.424, respectively). Both models suggested that seasonal temperature variations and nutrient supply strongly modulate local species richness. Integrating lake- and catchment-scale predictors in a single predictive model did not provide increased predictive accuracy; therefore suggesting that the catchment-scale model probably explains observed species richness variations through the impact of catchment-scale variables on in-lake water quality characteristics. Models based on catchment characteristics, which include simple and easy to obtain variables, provide a meaningful way of predicting phytoplankton

LHCB RICH gas system proposal

CERN Document Server

Bosteels, Michel; Haider, S

2001-01-01

Both LHCb RICH will be operated with fluorocarbon as gas radiator. RICH 1 will be filled with 4m^3 of C4F10 and RICH 2 with 100m^3 of CF4. The gas systems will run as a closed loop circulation and a gas recovery system within the closed loop is planned for RICH 1, where the recovery of the CF4 will only be realised during filling and emptying of the detector. Inline gas purification is foreseen for the gas systems in order to limit water and oxygen impurities.

Learning in Developing Countries: Implications for Workforce Training and Development in Africa

Science.gov (United States)

Arthur-Mensah, Nana; Shuck, Brad

2014-01-01

The implementation of e-learning as a strategy has risen exponentially over the last 20 years as more adults use this medium to enhance their skills and acquire knowledge. The utilization of technology offers significant advantages to both learners and organizations in terms of cost, time and rich learning content. E-learning has been widely…

Transforming RN education: clinical learning and clinical knowledge development.

Science.gov (United States)

Benner, P

1993-04-01

Transforming RN education has the potential for transforming clinical teaching and learning for all students. The returning RN student offers possibilities for clinical learning that the generic student does not have, but this should not cause us to limit the returning RN student to the generic level. Where possible innovative programs should be developed to move the RN student from baccalaureate level to the Master's level. As educators, we should take the opportunity to increase the numbers of nurses who are educationally prepared to move into advanced levels of practice. The returning RN student offers a rich human resource for the profession, and a rich resource for improving our clinical teaching as well as our practice.

EXCTRA - EXploiting the Click-TRAil : Assessing the benefits of Learning Analytics

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Conijn, Rianne; Snijders, Chris; Matzat, Uwe; Kleingeld, Ad; Nij Bijvank, Wouter

2016-01-01

Currently, Learning Management Systems (LMS) are being used in the majority of educational institutions to provide learning materials online. As a by-product of these systems—every click is recorded—one gets a rich amount of data about students’ online behaviour. Recently many researchers have

Promoting ‘Learning’ Literacy through Picturebooks: Learning How to Learn

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gail Ellis

2016-11-01

Full Text Available Picturebooks provide a rich and motivating resource to develop children’s early language learning such as basic understanding, vocabulary and phrases related to the content of a story, but they can also be used to develop multiple literacies. These include visual, emotional, cultural, nature, digital, moving image literacy and ‘learning’ literacy, which is linked to learning how to learn and learner autonomy. ‘Learning’ literacy is described as an ethos, a culture and a way of life and involves being ready to develop learning capacities and the behaviours individuals need, including being willing to learn continuously, as competencies essential to thriving in a globally connected, digitally driven world. The Important Book (Brown & Weisgard, 1949 is used as an example of how learning literacy can be integrated into primary English language pedagogy by applying the Plan, Do, Review model of reflection. Working through the three stages of the Plan Do Review cycle, children are informed of the aims of the activity; they identify success criteria, draft and refine their own paragraphs about an important object, review what they did, what they learnt and how they learnt and then assess their performance to identify next steps. This process enables the teacher to create learning environments that develop learning literacy, by providing opportunities for systematic reflection and experimentation and the development of metacognitive and cognitive learning strategies.

Situating Student Learning in Rich Contexts: A Constructionist Approach to Digital Archives Education

OpenAIRE

Anthony Cocciolo

2011-01-01

Objective - This paper sought to determine whether a constructionist pedagogical approach to digital archives education could positively influence student perceptions of their learning. Constructionism is a learning theory that places students in the role of designers and emphasizes creating tangible artifacts in a social environment. This theory was used in the instructional design of the Digital Archive Creation Project (DACP), a major component of a digital archives course offered to stude...

The Convergent Learning Space:

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kjærgaard, Hanne Wacher; Kjeldsen, Lars Peter; Asmussen, Jørgen Bering

is described as well as the theoretical construct and hypotheses surrounding the emergence of the concept in technology-rich classrooms, where students bring their own devices and involve their personal learning spaces and networks. The need for new ways of approaching concepts like choice, learning resources......This paper describes the concept of “The Convergent Learning Space” as it is being explored in an ongoing action research project carried out at undergraduate level in select bachelor programs at a Danish University College. The background nature, design, and beginning of this work in progress......, trajectories of participation etc. calls for new action and new pedagogies by teachers in order to secure alignment between students’ worlds and expectations and aims and plans of the teacher. Action research methods are being used to define and test the constituents and variables of the convergent learning...

Managing Learning Experiences in an AACSB Environment: Beyond the Classroom

Science.gov (United States)

Spruell, James; Hawkins, Al; Vicknair, David

2009-01-01

The study explores the development and management of a rich learning environment that extends the traditional classroom to include significant co-curricular programs. Learning enrichment is guided by the individual mission of the business school, accreditation agency (AACSB), and in our case, the Jesuit mission. That central framework provides a…

Editorial: Datasets for Learning Analytics

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Dietze, Stefan; George, Siemens; Davide, Taibi; Drachsler, Hendrik

2018-01-01

The European LinkedUp and LACE (Learning Analytics Community Exchange) project have been responsible for setting up a series of data challenges at the LAK conferences 2013 and 2014 around the LAK dataset. The LAK datasets consists of a rich collection of full text publications in the domain of

Advanced Networks in Dental Rich Online MEDiA (ANDROMEDA)

Science.gov (United States)

Elson, Bruce; Reynolds, Patricia; Amini, Ardavan; Burke, Ezra; Chapman, Craig

There is growing demand for dental education and training not only in terms of knowledge but also skills. This demand is driven by continuing professional development requirements in the more developed economies, personnel shortages and skills differences across the European Union (EU) accession states and more generally in the developing world. There is an excellent opportunity for the EU to meet this demand by developing an innovative online flexible learning platform (FLP). Current clinical online systems are restricted to the delivery of general, knowledge-based training with no easy method of personalization or delivery of skill-based training. The PHANTOM project, headed by Kings College London is developing haptic-based virtual reality training systems for clinical dental training. ANDROMEDA seeks to build on this and establish a Flexible Learning Platform that can integrate the haptic and sensor based training with rich media knowledge transfer, whilst using sophisticated technologies such as including service-orientated architecture (SOA), Semantic Web technologies, knowledge-based engineering, business intelligence (BI) and virtual worlds for personalization.

Designing a Responsive E-Learning Infrastructure: Systemic Change in Higher Education

Science.gov (United States)

Chow, Anthony S.; Croxton, Rebecca A.

2017-01-01

As university administrators respond to increasing demands of the educational market to offer greater opportunities for online learning, their capacity to create an economically stable, sustainable, yet rich teaching and learning environment deserves immediate and continued attention. A university-wide study involving 130 participants examined the…

The HADES-RICH upgrade using Hamamatsu H12700 MAPMTs with DiRICH FEE + Readout

Science.gov (United States)

Patel, V.; Traxler, M.

2018-03-01

The High Acceptance Di-Electron Spectrometer (HADES) is operational since the year 2000 and uses a hadron blind RICH detector for electron identification. The RICH photon detector is currently replaced by Hamamatsu H12700 MAPMTs with a readout system based on the DiRICH front-end module. The electronic readout chain is being developed as a joint effort of the HADES-, CBM- and PANDA collaborations and will also be used in the photon detectors for the upcoming Compressed Baryonic Matter (CBM) and PANDA experiments at FAIR . This article gives a brief overview on the photomultipliers and their quality assurance test measurements, as well as first measurements of the new DiRICH front-end module in final configurations.

Information and Digital Literacies in a Kindergarten Classroom: An I-LEARN Case Study

Science.gov (United States)

Tecce DeCarlo, Mary Jean; Grant, Allen; Lee, Vera J.; Neuman, Delia

2018-01-01

This case study, part of a larger qualitative research project, involved 24 kindergarteners and their teacher in the design, development, and evaluation of a research project built around the I-LEARN model (Neuman, "Learning in information-rich environments: I-LEARN and the construction of knowledge in the 21st Century." Springer, New…

Authentic Learning for Pre-Service Teachers in a Technology-Rich Environment

Science.gov (United States)

Latham, Gloria; Carr, Nicky

2012-01-01

This paper shares the findings from a three year Participatory Action Research Study around the selection, implementation and effectiveness of educational technologies for enhancing learning in a Teacher Education subject for second year pre-service primary teachers. The innovative Project-Based subject is described using a critical lens. The…

A PUFA-rich diet improves fat oxidation following saturated fat-rich meal.

Science.gov (United States)

Stevenson, Jada L; Miller, Mary K; Skillman, Hannah E; Paton, Chad M; Cooper, Jamie A

2017-08-01

To determine substrate oxidation responses to saturated fatty acid (SFA)-rich meals before and after a 7-day polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA)-rich diet versus control diet. Twenty-six, normal-weight, adults were randomly assigned to either PUFA or control diet. Following a 3-day lead-in diet, participants completed the pre-diet visit where anthropometrics and resting metabolic rate (RMR) were measured, and two SFA-rich HF meals (breakfast and lunch) were consumed. Indirect calorimetry was used to determine fat oxidation (Fox) and energy expenditure (EE) for 4 h after each meal. Participants then consumed a PUFA-rich diet (50 % carbohydrate, 15 % protein, 35 % fat, of which 21 % of total energy was PUFA) or control diet (50 % carbohydrate, 15 % protein, 35 % fat, of which 7 % of total energy was PUFA) for the next 7 days. Following the 7-day diet, participants completed the post-diet visit. From pre- to post-PUFA-rich diet, there was no change in RMR (16.3 ± 0.8 vs. 16.4 ± 0.8 kcal/20 min) or in incremental area under the curve for EE (118.9 ± 20.6-126.9 ± 14.1 kcal/8h, ns). Fasting respiratory exchange ratio increased from pre- to post-PUFA-rich diet only (0.83 ± 0.1-0.86 ± 0.1, p diet (0.03 ± 0.1-0.23 ± 0.1 g/15 min for cumulative Fox; p diet initiates greater fat oxidation after eating occasional high SFA meals compared to a control diet, an effect achieved in 7 days.

ModelHub: Towards Unified Data and Lifecycle Management for Deep Learning

OpenAIRE

Miao, Hui; Li, Ang; Davis, Larry S.; Deshpande, Amol

2016-01-01

Deep learning has improved state-of-the-art results in many important fields, and has been the subject of much research in recent years, leading to the development of several systems for facilitating deep learning. Current systems, however, mainly focus on model building and training phases, while the issues of data management, model sharing, and lifecycle management are largely ignored. Deep learning modeling lifecycle generates a rich set of data artifacts, such as learned parameters and tr...

Editorial - Keeping the Learning in Computer-Based Learning

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

William Kilbride

2002-09-01

Full Text Available Political rhetoric about knowledge economies and learning societies really ought to be an educationalist's dream. Add to that the revolutionary power of electronic media, and an insatiable hunger for archaeology among the public, archaeology teaching should be well placed to flourish. In England, the Department for Culture Media and Sport has just closed its call for interest in the multi-million pound Culture Online programme. The New Opportunities Fund has already spent fifty million pounds on digitisation alone, while the Heritage Lottery Fund is encouraging heritage agencies to distribute their data sets online. The JISC continues to expand its information environment, investing most recently in virtual learning environments. In Europe, the 6th Framework promises a single European Research Area, and grid technologies allow high quantities of data to empower an information society - supported by the millions of euros already invested in 'e-content'. All of these programmes, and many many more, provide openings for archaeologists to invest in training, teaching and learning. How can archaeology, in particular staff and students in our educational establishments, take best advantage of this information-rich, digitally-empowered learning society?

Dialogue and Connectivism: A New Approach to Understanding and Promoting Dialogue-Rich Networked Learning

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andrew Ravenscroft

2011-03-01

Full Text Available Connectivism offers a theory of learning for the digital age that is usually understood as contrasting with traditional behaviourist, cognitivist, and constructivist approaches. This article will provide an original and significant development of this theory through arguing and demonstrating how it can benefit from social constructivist perspectives and a focus on dialogue. Similarly, I argue that we need to ask whether networked social media is, essentially, a new landscape for dialogue and therefore should be conceived and investigated based on this premise, through considering dialogue as the primary means to develop and exploit connections for learning. A key lever in this argument is the increasingly important requirement for greater criticality on the Internet in relation to our assessment and development of connections with people and resources. The open, participative, and social Web actually requires a greater emphasis on higher order cognitive and social competencies that are realised predominantly through dialogue and discourse. Or, as Siemens (2005 implies in his call to rethink the fundamental precepts of learning, we need to shift our focus to promoting core evaluative skills for flexible learning that will, for example, allow us to actuate the knowledge we need at the point that we need it. A corollary of this is the need to reorient educational experiences to ensure that we develop in our learners the ability “to think, reason, and analyse.” In considering how we can achieve these aims this article will review the principles of connectivism from a dialogue perspective; propose some social constructivist approaches based on dialectic and dialogic dimensions of dialogue, which can act as levers in realising connectivist learning dialogue; demonstrate how dialogue games can link the discussed theories to the design and performance of networked dialogue processes; and consider the broader implications of this work for designing

Applying a Framework for Student Modeling in Exploratory Learning Environments: Comparing Data Representation Granularity to Handle Environment Complexity

Science.gov (United States)

Fratamico, Lauren; Conati, Cristina; Kardan, Samad; Roll, Ido

2017-01-01

Interactive simulations can facilitate inquiry learning. However, similarly to other Exploratory Learning Environments, students may not always learn effectively in these unstructured environments. Thus, providing adaptive support has great potential to help improve student learning with these rich activities. Providing adaptive support requires a…

Kings Today, Rich Tomorrow

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Fattoum, Asma

2013-01-01

This study investigates the King vs. Rich dilemma that founder-CEOs face at IPO. When undertaking IPO, founders face two options. They can either get rich, but then run the risk of losing the control over their firms; or they can remain kings by introducing defensive mechanisms, but this is likel...

Developments on RICH detectors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Besson, P.; Bourgeois, P.

1996-01-01

The RICH (ring imaging Cherenkov) detector which is dedicated to Cherenkov radiation detection is described. An improvement made by replacing photo sensible vapor with solid photocathode is studied. A RICH detector prototype with a CsI photocathode has been built in Saclay and used with Saturne. The first results are presented. (A.C.)

Experiences and Challenges of International Students in Technology-Rich Learning Environments

Science.gov (United States)

Habib, Laurence; Johannesen, Monica; Øgrim, Leikny

2014-01-01

This article presents a study of international students and their use of technology in a Scandinavian institution of Higher Education. A special emphasis is placed on patterns of use of a virtual learning environment (VLE) that is available to all the study programmes at the institution. Actor-Network Theory (ANT) is used as a theoretical approach…

Learning PHP, MySQL, and JavaScript

CERN Document Server

Nixon, Robin

2009-01-01

If you know HTML, this guide will have you building interactive websites quickly. You'll learn how to create responsive, data-driven websites with PHP, MySQL, and JavaScript, regardless of whether you already know how to program. Discover how the powerful combination of PHP and MySQL provides an easy way to build modern websites complete with dynamic data and user interaction. You'll also learn how to add JavaScript to create rich Internet applications and websites. Learning PHP, MySQL, and JavaScript explains each technology separately, shows you how to combine them, and introduces valuable

ClearTK 2.0: Design Patterns for Machine Learning in UIMA

OpenAIRE

Bethard, Steven; Ogren, Philip; Becker, Lee

2014-01-01

ClearTK adds machine learning functionality to the UIMA framework, providing wrappers to popular machine learning libraries, a rich feature extraction library that works across different classifiers, and utilities for applying and evaluating machine learning models. Since its inception in 2008, ClearTK has evolved in response to feedback from developers and the community. This evolution has followed a number of important design principles including: conceptually simple annotator interfaces, r...

Robust Optical Richness Estimation with Reduced Scatter

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rykoff, E.S.; /LBL, Berkeley; Koester, B.P.; /Chicago U. /Chicago U., KICP; Rozo, E.; /Chicago U. /Chicago U., KICP; Annis, J.; /Fermilab; Evrard, A.E.; /Michigan U. /Michigan U., MCTP; Hansen, S.M.; /Lick Observ.; Hao, J.; /Fermilab; Johnston, D.E.; /Fermilab; McKay, T.A.; /Michigan U. /Michigan U., MCTP; Wechsler, R.H.; /KIPAC, Menlo Park /SLAC

2012-06-07

Reducing the scatter between cluster mass and optical richness is a key goal for cluster cosmology from photometric catalogs. We consider various modifications to the red-sequence matched filter richness estimator of Rozo et al. (2009b), and evaluate their impact on the scatter in X-ray luminosity at fixed richness. Most significantly, we find that deeper luminosity cuts can reduce the recovered scatter, finding that {sigma}{sub ln L{sub X}|{lambda}} = 0.63 {+-} 0.02 for clusters with M{sub 500c} {approx}> 1.6 x 10{sup 14} h{sub 70}{sup -1} M{sub {circle_dot}}. The corresponding scatter in mass at fixed richness is {sigma}{sub ln M|{lambda}} {approx} 0.2-0.3 depending on the richness, comparable to that for total X-ray luminosity. We find that including blue galaxies in the richness estimate increases the scatter, as does weighting galaxies by their optical luminosity. We further demonstrate that our richness estimator is very robust. Specifically, the filter employed when estimating richness can be calibrated directly from the data, without requiring a-priori calibrations of the red-sequence. We also demonstrate that the recovered richness is robust to up to 50% uncertainties in the galaxy background, as well as to the choice of photometric filter employed, so long as the filters span the 4000 {angstrom} break of red-sequence galaxies. Consequently, our richness estimator can be used to compare richness estimates of different clusters, even if they do not share the same photometric data. Appendix A includes 'easy-bake' instructions for implementing our optimal richness estimator, and we are releasing an implementation of the code that works with SDSS data, as well as an augmented maxBCG catalog with the {lambda} richness measured for each cluster.

Online Collaborative Learning and Communication Media

Science.gov (United States)

Havard, Byron; Du, Jianxia; Xu, Jianzhong

2008-01-01

The purpose of this study is to examine the dynamics of online collaborative learning and communication media regarding team projects. Media richness and social presence theories are well-accepted rational theories that explain media choices and media behaviors, and serve as the theoretical framework. Quantitative and qualitative data collection…

Location-Based Learning through Augmented Reality

Science.gov (United States)

Chou, Te-Lien; Chanlin, Lih-Juan

2014-01-01

A context-aware and mixed-reality exploring tool cannot only effectively provide an information-rich environment to users, but also allows them to quickly utilize useful resources and enhance environment awareness. This study integrates Augmented Reality (AR) technology into smartphones to create a stimulating learning experience at a university…

Open architecture for health care systems: the European RICHE experience.

Science.gov (United States)

Frandji, B

1997-01-01

Groupe RICHE is bringing to the market of health IT the Open Systems approach allowing a new generation of health information systems to arise with benefit for patients, health care professionals, hospital managers, agencies and citizens. Groupe RICHE is a forum for exchanging information, expertise around open systems in health care. It is open to any organisation interested by open systems in health care and wanting to participate and influence the work done by its user, marketing and technical committees. The Technical Committee is in charge of the maintenance of the architecture and impact the results of industrial experiences on new releases. Any Groupe RICHE member is entitled to participate to this process. This unique approach in Europe allows health care professionals to benefit from applications supporting their business processes, including providing a cooperative working environment, a shared electronic record, in an integrated system where the information is entered only once, customised according to the user needs and available to the administrative applications. This allows Hospital managers to satisfy their health care professionals, to smoothly migrate from their existing environment (protecting their investment), to choose products in a competitive environment, being able to mix and match system components and services from different suppliers, being free to change suppliers without having to replace their existing system (minimising risk), in line with national and regional strategies. For suppliers, this means being able to commercialise products well fitted to their field of competence in a large market, reducing investments and increasing returns. The RICHE approach also allows agencies to define a strategy, allowing to create a supporting infrastructure, organising the market leaving enough freedom to health care organisations and suppliers. Such an approach is based on the definition of an open standard architecture. The RICHE esprit project

Conservation and Biodiversity of Rich Fens

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Andersen, Dagmar Kappel

2014-01-01

Rich fen is a habitat type dependent on a constant supply of nutrient poor, calcium rich groundwater. A high, stable groundwater table, relatively high pH combined with nutrient poor conditions support a special and very species rich vegetation including many rare and threatened plant species. In...

Using Social Media as a Tool for Learning: A Multi-Disciplinary Study

Science.gov (United States)

Delello, Julie A.; McWhorter, Rochell R.; Camp, Kerri M.

2015-01-01

In order to explore the rich dynamics of using social media as a tool for learning within higher education classrooms, researchers across three disciplines: education, human resource development (HRD), and marketing, joined forces seeking ways to focus on learning through a retrospective analysis. Three concepts--engagement, community building,…

M-learning in Higher Education in Bahrain: the educators’ view

OpenAIRE

Giousmpasoglou, Charalampos; Marinakou, Evangelia

2014-01-01

Universities in the oil-rich Gulf Cooperation Countries (GCC) have shown particular interest in\\ud m-learning which currently is treated as fashion, but at the same time is considered by corporations and educational institutions to be very promising. This papers investigates the adoption of m-learning at universities in the Kingdom of Bahrain, and explores the educators’ views and perceptions of m-learning, as well as its future potential in higher education. A survey questionnaire was distri...

Struggling readers learning with graphic-rich digital science text: Effects of a Highlight & Animate Feature and Manipulable Graphics

Science.gov (United States)

Defrance, Nancy L.

Technology offers promise of 'leveling the playing field' for struggling readers. That is, instructional support features within digital texts may enable all readers to learn. This quasi-experimental study examined the effects on learning of two support features, which offered unique opportunities to interact with text. The Highlight & Animate Feature highlighted an important idea in prose, while simultaneously animating its representation in an adjacent graphic. It invited readers to integrate ideas depicted in graphics and prose, using each one to interpret the other. The Manipulable Graphics had parts that the reader could operate to discover relationships among phenomena. It invited readers to test or refine the ideas that they brought to, or gleaned from, the text. Use of these support features was compulsory. Twenty fifth grade struggling readers read a graphic-rich digital science text in a clinical interview setting, under one of two conditions: using either the Highlight & Animate Feature or the Manipulable Graphics. Participants in both conditions made statistically significant gains on a multiple choice measure of knowledge of the topic of the text. While there were no significant differences by condition in the amount of knowledge gained; there were significant differences in the quality of knowledge expressed. Transcripts revealed that understandings about light and vision, expressed by those who used the Highlight & Animate Feature, were more often conceptually and linguistically 'complete.' That is, their understandings included both a description of phenomena as well as an explanation of underlying scientific principles, which participants articulated using the vocabulary of the text. This finding may be attributed to the multiple opportunities to integrate graphics (depicting the behavior of phenomena) and prose (providing the scientific explanation of that phenomena), which characterized the Highlight & Animate Condition. Those who used the

Is torrefaction of polysaccharides-rich biomass equivalent to carbonization of lignin-rich biomass?

Science.gov (United States)

Bilgic, E; Yaman, S; Haykiri-Acma, H; Kucukbayrak, S

2016-01-01

Waste biomass species such as lignin-rich hazelnut shell (HS) and polysaccharides-rich sunflower seed shell (SSS) were subjected to torrefaction at 300°C and carbonization at 600°C under nitrogen. The structural variations in torrefied and carbonized biomasses were compared. Also, the burning characteristics under dry air and pure oxygen (oxy-combustion) conditions were investigated. It was concluded that the effects of carbonization on HS are almost comparable with the effects of torrefaction on SSS in terms of devolatilization and deoxygenation potentials and the increases in carbon content and the heating value. Consequently, it can be proposed that torrefaction does not provide efficient devolatilization from the lignin-rich biomass while it is relatively more efficient for polysaccharides-rich biomass. Heat-induced variations in biomass led to significant changes in the burning characteristics under both burning conditions. That is, low temperature reactivity of biomass reduced considerably and the burning shifted to higher temperatures with very high burning rates. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Learning Experience with Virtual Worlds

Science.gov (United States)

Wagner, Christian

2008-01-01

Virtual worlds create a new opportunity to enrich the educational experience through media-rich immersive learning. Virtual worlds have gained notoriety in games such as World of Warcraft (WoW), which has become the most successful online game ever, and in "general purpose" worlds, such as Second Life (SL), whose participation levels (more than 10…

How Artefacts Mediate Small-Group Co-Creation Activities in a Mobile-Assisted Seamless Language Learning Environment?

Science.gov (United States)

Wong, L. -H.; Chen, W.; Jan, M.

2012-01-01

The rich learning resources and contexts learners experience in their everyday life could play important roles in complementing formal learning, but are often neglected by learners and teachers. In this paper, we present an intervention study in "Move, Idioms!", a mobile-assisted Chinese language learning approach that emphasizes contextualized…

Exploring Students Acceptance of E-Learning Using Technology Acceptance Model in Jordanian Universities

Science.gov (United States)

Al-Adwan, Amer; Al-Adwan, Ahmad; Smedley, Jo

2013-01-01

Today's rapid changing world highlights the influence and impact of technology in all aspects of learning life. Higher Education institutions in developed Western countries believe that these developments offer rich opportunities to embed technological innovations within the learning environment. This places developing countries, striving to be…

Food2Learn: Randomized control trial investigating influence of krill oil supplementation on learning, cognition, and behaviour in healthy adolescents. Design presentation

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Van der Wurff, Inge; Von Schacky, Clemens; Berge, Kjetil; Kirschner, Paul A.; De Groot, Renate

2014-01-01

Food2Learn is a double blind randomized controlled trial which looks at the influence of Krill oil (rich in LCPUFA) on the cognitive performance, academic performance and mental well-being of student of lower vocational schools.

Adaptive Reactive Rich Internet Applications

Science.gov (United States)

Schmidt, Kay-Uwe; Stühmer, Roland; Dörflinger, Jörg; Rahmani, Tirdad; Thomas, Susan; Stojanovic, Ljiljana

Rich Internet Applications significantly raise the user experience compared with legacy page-based Web applications because of their highly responsive user interfaces. Although this is a tremendous advance, it does not solve the problem of the one-size-fits-all approach1 of current Web applications. So although Rich Internet Applications put the user in a position to interact seamlessly with the Web application, they do not adapt to the context in which the user is currently working. In this paper we address the on-the-fly personalization of Rich Internet Applications. We introduce the concept of ARRIAs: Adaptive Reactive Rich Internet Applications and elaborate on how they are able to adapt to the current working context the user is engaged in. An architecture for the ad hoc adaptation of Rich Internet Applications is presented as well as a holistic framework and tools for the realization of our on-the-fly personalization approach. We divided both the architecture and the framework into two levels: offline/design-time and online/run-time. For design-time we explain how to use ontologies in order to annotate Rich Internet Applications and how to use these annotations for conceptual Web usage mining. Furthermore, we describe how to create client-side executable rules from the semantic data mining results. We present our declarative lightweight rule language tailored to the needs of being executed directly on the client. Because of the event-driven nature of the user interfaces of Rich Internet Applications, we designed a lightweight rule language based on the event-condition-action paradigm.2 At run-time the interactions of a user are tracked directly on the client and in real-time a user model is built up. The user model then acts as input to and is evaluated by our client-side complex event processing and rule engine.

Web Service Architecture for e-Learning

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xiaohong Qiu

2005-10-01

Full Text Available Message-based Web Service architecture provides a unified approach to applications and Web Services that incorporates the flexibility of messaging and distributed components. We propose SMMV and MMMV collaboration as the general architecture of collaboration based on a Web service model, which accommodates both instructor-led learning and participatory learning. This approach derives from our message-based Model-View-Controller (M-MVC architecture of Web applications, comprises an event-driven Publish/Subscribe scheme, and provides effective collaboration with high interactivity of rich Web content for diverse clients over heterogeneous network environments.

Students' Media Preferences in Online Learning

Science.gov (United States)

Kobayashi, Michiko

2017-01-01

This study examined students' preferred media in online learning and its relationship with learner characteristics and online technology self-efficacy. One hundred six college students in a mid-size U.S. university responded to a survey. The frequency analysis showed that students did not necessarily favor rich media over lean media in online…

Using Five Stage Model to Design of Collaborative Learning Environments in Second Life

Science.gov (United States)

Orhan, Sevil; Karaman, M. Kemal

2014-01-01

Specifically Second Life (SL) among virtual worlds draws attention of researchers to form collaborative learning environments (Sutcliffe & Alrayes, 2012) since it could be used as a rich platform to simulate a real environment containing many collaborative learning characteristics and interaction tools within itself. Five Stage Model (FSM)…

Research: Rags to Rags? Riches to Riches?

Science.gov (United States)

Bracey, Gerald W.

2004-01-01

Everyone has read about what might be called the "gold gap"--how the rich in this country are getting richer and controlling an ever-larger share of the nation's wealth. The Century Foundation has started publishing "Reality Check", a series of guides to campaign issues that sometimes finds gaps in these types of cherished delusions. The guides…

E-learning: Web-based education.

Science.gov (United States)

Sajeva, Marco

2006-12-01

This review introduces state-of-the-art Web-based education and shows how the e-learning model can be applied to an anaesthesia department using Open Source solutions, as well as lifelong learning programs, which is happening in several European research projects. The definition of the term e-learning is still a work in progress due to the fact that technologies are evolving every day and it is difficult to improve teaching methodologies or to adapt traditional methods to a new or already existing educational model. The European Community is funding several research projects to define the new common market place for tomorrow's educational system; this is leading to new frontiers like virtual Erasmus inter-exchange programs based on e-learning. The first step when adapting a course to e-learning is to re-define the educational/learning model adopted: cooperative learning and tutoring are the two key concepts. This means that traditional lecture notes, books and exercises are no longer effective; teaching files must use rich multimedia content and have to be developed using the new media. This can lead to several pitfalls that can be avoided with an accurate design phase.

An Occurrence at Glen Rock: Classroom Educators Learn More about Teaching and Learning from the Arts

Science.gov (United States)

Amorino, Joseph S.

2008-01-01

Glen Rock Public Schools in New Jersey transformed instruction by enabling teachers to discover the richness of incorporating various aspects of the arts into their classroom work. In a deeper vein, Glen Rock teachers learned that art should not be peripheralized because the arts have unique potential as vehicles that can open new ways of thinking…

Game E-Learning Code Master Dengan Konsep Mmorpg Menggunakan Adobe Flex 3

OpenAIRE

Fredy Purnomo; Monika Leslivania; Daniel Daniel; Lisye Mareta Cahya

2010-01-01

The research objective is to design a web-based e-learning game that could be used to be a learning facility of C language programming and as an online game so it could be enjoyed by everybody easily in internet. Flex usage in this game online is to implement RIA (Rich Internet Application) concept in the game so e-learning process is hoped to be more interesting and interactive. E-learning game is also designed in MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game) concept. The research ...

Mixed Media Richness and Computer-Mediated Communications

OpenAIRE

Atkins, Anthony B.

2006-01-01

Mixed richness communications occur when a participant in a conversation receives a different media or combination of media than they transmit. Mixed richness communications occur in the workplace when technical, physiological or practical limitations prevent the use of the same media on both ends of a conversation. Prior research in CMC has focused on same-richness communications, and the design guidelines that are available for same-richness communications may not be applicable to mixed-r...

Contextual Richness and Word Learning: Context Enhances Comprehension but Retrieval Enhances Retention

Science.gov (United States)

van den Broek, Gesa S. E.; Takashima, Atsuko; Segers, Eliane; Verhoeven, Ludo

2018-01-01

Learning new vocabulary from context typically requires multiple encounters during which word meaning can be retrieved from memory or inferred from context. We compared the effect of memory retrieval and context inferences on short- and long-term retention in three experiments. Participants studied novel words and then practiced the words either…

Species richness, area and climate correlates

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nogues, David Bravo; Bastos Araujo, Miguel

2006-01-01

affects: (1) the selection of climate variables entering a species richness model; and (2) the accuracy of models in predicting species richness in unsampled grid cells. Location Western Europe. Methods Models are developed for European plant, breeding bird, mammal and herptile species richness using...... seven climate variables. Generalized additive models are used to relate species richness, climate and area. Results We found that variation in the grid cell area was large (50 × 50 km: 8-3311 km2; 220 × 220: 193-55,100 km2), but this did not affect the selection of variables in the models. Similarly...... support the assumption that variation in near-equal area cells may be of second-order importance for models explaining or predicting species richness in relation to climate, although there is a possibility that drops in accuracy might increase with grid cell size. The results are, however, contingent...

Learning Vaadin

CERN Document Server

Frankel, Nicolas

2011-01-01

This book begins with a tutorial on Vaadin 7, followed by a process of planning, analyzing, building, and deploying a fully functional RIA while covering troubleshooting details along the way, making it an invaluable resource for answers to all your Vaadin questions. If you are a Java developer with some experience in Java web development and want to enter the world of Rich Internet Applications this technology and book are ideal for you. Learning Vaadin will be perfect as your next step towards building eye-candy dynamic web applications on a Java-based platform.

Teacher design knowledge and beliefs for technology enhanced learning materials in early literacy: Four portraits

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Boschman, Ferry; McKenney, Susan; Pieters, Jules; Voogt, Joke

2016-01-01

Teacher engagement in the design of technology-rich learning material is beneficial to teacher learning and may create a sense of ownership, both of which are conducive to bringing about innovation with technology. During collaborative design, teachers draw on various types of knowledge and

Teacher design knowledge and beliefs for technology enhanced learning materials in early literacy: Four portraits

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Boschman, F.; McKenney, S.; Pieters, J.M.; Voogt, J.

2015-01-01

Teacher engagement in the design of technology-rich learning material is beneficial to teacher learning and may create a sense of ownership, both of which are conducive to bringing about innovation with technology. During collaborative design, teachers draw on various types of knowledge and beliefs:

Teaching and Learning Science through Song: Exploring the Experiences of Students and Teachers

Science.gov (United States)

Governor, Donna; Hall, Jori; Jackson, David

2013-01-01

This qualitative, multi-case study explored the use of science-content music for teaching and learning in six middle school science classrooms. The researcher sought to understand how teachers made use of content-rich songs for teaching science, how they impacted student engagement and learning, and what the experiences of these teachers and…

FLIPPED LEARNING: PRACTICAL ASPECTS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Olena Kuzminska

2016-03-01

Full Text Available The article is devoted to issues of implementation of the flipped learning technology in the practice of higher education institutions. The article defines the principles of technology and a model of the educational process, it notes the need to establish an information support system. The article defines online platforms and resources; it describes recommendations for the design of electronic training courses and organization of the students in the process of implementing the proposed model, as well as tools for assessing its effectiveness. The article provides a description of flipped learning implementation scenario and formulates suggestions regarding the use of this model as a mechanism to improve the efficiency of the learning process in the ICT-rich environment of high school: use of learning management systems (LMS and personal learning environments (PLE of participants in a learning process. The article provides an example of implementation of the flipped learning model as a part of the Information Technologies course in the National University of Life and Environmental Sciences of Ukraine (NULES. The article gives examples of tasks, resources and services, results of students’ research activity, as well as an example of the personal learning network, established in the course of implementation of the flipped learning model and elements of digital student portfolios. It presents the results of the monitoring of learning activities and students’ feedback. The author describes cautions against the mass introduction of the flipped learning model without monitoring of readiness of the participants of the educational process for its implementation

Evaluation of a blended learning model in geriatric medicine: a successful learning experience for medical students.

Science.gov (United States)

Duque, Gustavo; Demontiero, Oddom; Whereat, Sarah; Gunawardene, Piumali; Leung, Oliver; Webster, Peter; Sardinha, Luis; Boersma, Derek; Sharma, Anita

2013-06-01

Despite the increasingly ageing population, teaching geriatric medicine at medical schools is a challenge due to the particularities of this subspecialty and the lack of student interest in this subject. We assessed a blended system that combines e-learning and person-to-person interaction. Our program offered the students a hands-on learning experience based on self-reflection, access to technology, interactive learning, frequent interaction with the multidisciplinary team, more exposure to patients, and regular feedback. Our results indicate that the students appreciate this system as a rich and effective learning experience demonstrated by their positive feedback and by their significant improvement in knowledge assessed at the end of their rotation. Implementing an interactive blended system is a beneficial approach to teaching geriatric medicine in medical schools and to motivating medical students' interest in this important medical subspecialty. © 2012 The Authors. Australasian Journal on Ageing © 2012 ACOTA.

The proximate memory mechanism underlying the survival-processing effect: richness of encoding or interactive imagery?

Science.gov (United States)

Kroneisen, Meike; Erdfelder, Edgar; Buchner, Axel

2013-01-01

Nairne and collaborators showed that assessing the relevance of words in the context of an imagined survival scenario boosts memory for these words. Although this survival-processing advantage has attracted a considerable amount of research, little is known about the proximate memory mechanism mediating this effect. Recently, Kroneisen and Erdfelder (2011) argued that it is not survival processing itself that facilitates recall but rather the richness and distinctiveness of encoding that is triggered by the survival-processing task. Alternatively, however, it is also conceivable that survival processing fosters interactive imagery, a process known to improve associative learning. To test these explanations we compared relevance-rating and interactive imagery tasks for survival and control scenarios. Results show that the survival advantage replicates in the relevance-rating condition but vanishes in the interactive imagery condition. This refutes the interactive imagery explanation and corroborates the richness-of-encoding hypothesis of the survival-processing effect.

Neurochemical differences in learning and memory paradigms among rats supplemented with anthocyanin-rich blueberry diets and exposed to acute doses of 56Fe particles

Science.gov (United States)

Poulose, Shibu M.; Rabin, Bernard M.; Bielinski, Donna F.; Kelly, Megan E.; Miller, Marshall G.; Thanthaeng, Nopporn; Shukitt-Hale, Barbara

2017-02-01

The protective effects of anthocyanin-rich blueberries (BB) on brain health are well documented and are particularly important under conditions of high oxidative stress, which can lead to "accelerated aging." One such scenario is exposure to space radiation, consisting of high-energy and -charge particles (HZE), which are known to cause cognitive dysfunction and deleterious neurochemical alterations. We recently tested the behavioral and neurochemical effects of acute exposure to HZE particles such as 56Fe, within 24-48 h after exposure, and found that radiation primarily affects memory and not learning. Importantly, we observed that specific brain regions failed to upregulate antioxidant and anti-inflammatory mechanisms in response to this insult. To further examine these endogenous response mechanisms, we have supplemented young rats with diets rich in BB, which are known to contain high amounts of antioxidant-phytochemicals, prior to irradiation. Exposure to 56Fe caused significant neurochemical changes in hippocampus and frontal cortex, the two critical regions of the brain involved in cognitive function. BB supplementation significantly attenuated protein carbonylation, which was significantly increased by exposure to 56Fe in the hippocampus and frontal cortex. Moreover, BB supplementation significantly reduced radiation-induced elevations in NADPH-oxidoreductase-2 (NOX2) and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), and upregulated nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) in the hippocampus and frontal cortex. Overall results indicate that 56Fe particles may induce their toxic effects on hippocampus and frontal cortex by reactive oxygen species (ROS) overload, which can cause alterations in the neuronal environment, eventually leading to hippocampal neuronal death and subsequent impairment of cognitive function. Blueberry supplementation provides an effective preventative measure to reduce the ROS load on the CNS in an event of acute HZE exposure.

Domain walls collision in Fe-rich and Co-rich glass covered microwires

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gonzalez J.

2013-01-01

Full Text Available We report the results of the investigation of domain walls propagation in Fe-rich and Co-rich microwires performed using Sixtus-Tonks and magneto-optical Kerr effect techniques. It was found that under certain experimental conditions we are able to create the regime of the motion of two domain walls moving to opposite directions which terminates by the collision of the domain walls. Also the domain walls collision was visualized using magneto-optical Kerr effect microscope when the surface giant Barkhausen jump induced by circular magnetic field has been observed.

Graph embedding with rich information through heterogeneous graph

KAUST Repository

Sun, Guolei

2017-11-12

Graph embedding, aiming to learn low-dimensional representations for nodes in graphs, has attracted increasing attention due to its critical application including node classification, link prediction and clustering in social network analysis. Most existing algorithms for graph embedding only rely on the topology information and fail to use the copious information in nodes as well as edges. As a result, their performance for many tasks may not be satisfactory. In this thesis, we proposed a novel and general framework for graph embedding with rich text information (GERI) through constructing a heterogeneous network, in which we integrate node and edge content information with graph topology. Specially, we designed a novel biased random walk to explore the constructed heterogeneous network with the notion of flexible neighborhood. Our sampling strategy can compromise between BFS and DFS local search on heterogeneous graph. To further improve our algorithm, we proposed semi-supervised GERI (SGERI), which learns graph embedding in an discriminative manner through heterogeneous network with label information. The efficacy of our method is demonstrated by extensive comparison experiments with 9 baselines over multi-label and multi-class classification on various datasets including Citeseer, Cora, DBLP and Wiki. It shows that GERI improves the Micro-F1 and Macro-F1 of node classification up to 10%, and SGERI improves GERI by 5% in Wiki.

Design, implementation and evaluation of innovative science teaching strategies for non-formal learning in a natural history museum

Science.gov (United States)

Çil, Emine; Maccario, Nihal; Yanmaz, Durmuş

2016-09-01

Background: Museums are useful educational resources in science teaching. Teaching strategies which promote hands-on activities, student-centred learning, and rich social interaction must be designed and implemented throughout the museum visit for effective science learning.

Analytics in Online and Offline Language Learning Environments: The Role of Learning Design to Understand Student Online Engagement

Science.gov (United States)

Rienties, Bart; Lewis, Tim; McFarlane, Ruth; Nguyen, Quan; Toetenel, Lisette

2018-01-01

Language education has a rich history of research and scholarship focusing on the effectiveness of learning activities and the impact these have on student behaviour and outcomes. One of the basic assumptions in foreign language pedagogy and CALL in particular is that learners want to be able to communicate effectively with native speakers of…

ReCourse Learning Design Editor 2.0

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Beauvoir, Phillip; Sharples, Paul; Griffiths, Dai; Miao, Yongwu

2009-01-01

ReCourse is an Eclipse Rich Client Platform application. A number of plug-ins are included, enabling users to author QTI compliant tests, link to services, upload to repositories, and publish and populate Units of Learning. New features in version 2.0 include support for IMS LD levels B & C, and a

Collaborative Visualization Project: shared-technology learning environments for science learning

Science.gov (United States)

Pea, Roy D.; Gomez, Louis M.

1993-01-01

Project-enhanced science learning (PESL) provides students with opportunities for `cognitive apprenticeships' in authentic scientific inquiry using computers for data-collection and analysis. Student teams work on projects with teacher guidance to develop and apply their understanding of science concepts and skills. We are applying advanced computing and communications technologies to augment and transform PESL at-a-distance (beyond the boundaries of the individual school), which is limited today to asynchronous, text-only networking and unsuitable for collaborative science learning involving shared access to multimedia resources such as data, graphs, tables, pictures, and audio-video communication. Our work creates user technology (a Collaborative Science Workbench providing PESL design support and shared synchronous document views, program, and data access; a Science Learning Resource Directory for easy access to resources including two-way video links to collaborators, mentors, museum exhibits, media-rich resources such as scientific visualization graphics), and refine enabling technologies (audiovisual and shared-data telephony, networking) for this PESL niche. We characterize participation scenarios for using these resources and we discuss national networked access to science education expertise.

Learning Flex 4 Getting Up to Speed with Rich Internet Application Design and Development

CERN Document Server

Cole, Alaric

2010-01-01

Learn Adobe Flex 4 in a fun and engaging way with this book's unique, hands-on approach. Using clear examples and step-by-step coaching from two experts, you'll create four applications that demonstrate fundamental Flex programming concepts. Throughout the course of this book, you'll learn how to enhance user interaction with ActionScript, and create and skin a user interface with Flex's UI components (MXML) and Adobe's new FXG graphics format. You'll also be trained to manage dynamic data, connect to a database using server-side script, and deploy applications to both the Web and the deskto

Structural elucidation, molecular representation and solvent interactions of vitrinite-rich and inertinite-rich South African coals

Science.gov (United States)

van Niekerk, Daniel

The structural differences and similarities of two Permian-aged South African coals, vitrinite-rich Waterberg and inertinite-rich Highveld coals (similar rank, carbon content and Permian age), were evaluated. With South African coals the opportunity presented itself to study not only Permian-aged Gondwana vitrinite but also inertinite. It was expected that these coals would differ from Northern hemisphere Carboniferous coals. It was concluded from various structural data that both coals, although different in maceral composition and depositional basins, are similar in their base structural composition. The main differences were that the inertinite-rich Highveld coal was more ordered, more aromatic, and had less hydrogen than the vitrinite-rich Waterberg coal. Analytical data were used to construct large-scale advanced molecular representations for vitrinite-rich Waterberg and inertinite-rich Highveld coals. The three-dimensional models were structurally diverse with a molecular weight range of 78 to 1900 amu. The vitrinite-rich coal model consisted of 18,572 atoms and 191 individual molecules and the inertinite-rich coal model consisted of 14,242 atoms and 158 individual molecules. This largescale modeling effort was enabled by the development of various PERL scripts to automate various visualization and analytical aspects. Coal swelling studies were conducted using the traditional pack-bed swelling method and a new novel single-particle stop-motion videography swelling method with NMP and CS2/NMP solvents. The pack-bed swelling showed that vitrinite-rich coal had a greater swelling extent and that swelling extent for both coals was greater in CS2/NMP binary solvent than for NMP. Single-particle swelling experiments showed that both coals, for both solvents, exhibit overshoot-type and climbing-type swelling behaviors. Inertinite-coal had a faster swelling rate, in both solvents, than the vitrinite-rich coal. The single-particle swelling data was used to calculate

CBM RICH geometry optimization

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mahmoud, Tariq; Hoehne, Claudia [II. Physikalisches Institut, Giessen Univ. (Germany); Collaboration: CBM-Collaboration

2016-07-01

The Compressed Baryonic Matter (CBM) experiment at the future FAIR complex will investigate the phase diagram of strongly interacting matter at high baryon density and moderate temperatures in A+A collisions from 2-11 AGeV (SIS100) beam energy. The main electron identification detector in the CBM experiment will be a RICH detector with a CO{sub 2} gaseous-radiator, focusing spherical glass mirrors, and MAPMT photo-detectors being placed on a PMT-plane. The RICH detector is located directly behind the CBM dipole magnet. As the final magnet geometry is now available, some changes in the RICH geometry become necessary. In order to guarantee a magnetic field of 1 mT at maximum in the PMT plane for effective operation of the MAPMTs, two measures have to be taken: The PMT plane is moved outwards of the stray field by tilting the mirrors by 10 degrees and shielding boxes have been designed. In this contribution the results of the geometry optimization procedure are presented.

LITHIUM-RICH GIANTS IN GLOBULAR CLUSTERS

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kirby, Evan N.; Cohen, Judith G. [California Institute of Technology, 1200 E. California Boulevard, MC 249-17, Pasadena, CA 91125 (United States); Guhathakurta, Puragra [UCO/Lick Observatory and Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of California, 1156 High Street, Santa Cruz, CA 95064 (United States); Zhang, Andrew J. [The Harker School, 500 Saratoga Avenue, San Jose, CA 95129 (United States); Hong, Jerry [Palo Alto High School, 50 Embarcadero Road, Palo Alto, CA, 94301 (United States); Guo, Michelle [Stanford University, 450 Serra Mall, Stanford, CA 94305 (United States); Guo, Rachel [Irvington High School, 41800 Blacow Road, Fremont, CA 94538 (United States); Cunha, Katia [Observatório Nacional, São Cristóvão Rio de Janeiro (Brazil)

2016-03-10

Although red giants deplete lithium on their surfaces, some giants are Li-rich. Intermediate-mass asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars can generate Li through the Cameron–Fowler conveyor, but the existence of Li-rich, low-mass red giant branch (RGB) stars is puzzling. Globular clusters are the best sites to examine this phenomenon because it is straightforward to determine membership in the cluster and to identify the evolutionary state of each star. In 72 hours of Keck/DEIMOS exposures in 25 clusters, we found four Li-rich RGB and two Li-rich AGB stars. There were 1696 RGB and 125 AGB stars with measurements or upper limits consistent with normal abundances of Li. Hence, the frequency of Li-richness in globular clusters is (0.2 ± 0.1)% for the RGB, (1.6 ± 1.1)% for the AGB, and (0.3 ± 0.1)% for all giants. Because the Li-rich RGB stars are on the lower RGB, Li self-generation mechanisms proposed to occur at the luminosity function bump or He core flash cannot explain these four lower RGB stars. We propose the following origin for Li enrichment: (1) All luminous giants experience a brief phase of Li enrichment at the He core flash. (2) All post-RGB stars with binary companions on the lower RGB will engage in mass transfer. This scenario predicts that 0.1% of lower RGB stars will appear Li-rich due to mass transfer from a recently Li-enhanced companion. This frequency is at the lower end of our confidence interval.

Learning in the e-environment: new media and learning for the future

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Milan Matijević

2015-03-01

Full Text Available We live in times of rapid change in all areas of science, technology, communication and social life. Every day we are asked to what extent school prepares us for these changes and for life in a new, multimedia environment. Children and adolescents spend less time at school or in other settings of learning than they do outdoors or within other social communities (family, clubs, societies, religious institutions and the like. Experts must constantly inquire about what exactly influences learning and development in our rich media environment. The list of the most important life competences has significantly changed and expanded since the last century. Educational experts are attempting to predict changes in the content and methodology of learning at the beginning of the 21st century. Answers are sought to key questions such as: what should one learn; how should one learn; where should one learn; why should one learn; and how do these answers relate to the new learning environment? In his examination of the way children and young people learn and grow up, the author places special attention on the relationship between personal and non-personal communication (e.g. the internet, mobile phones and different types of e-learning. He deals with today's questions by looking back to some of the more prominent authors and studies of the past fifty years that tackled identical or similar questions (Alvin Toffler, Ivan Illich, George Orwell, and the members of the Club of Rome. The conclusion reached is that in today's world of rapid and continuous change, it is much more crucial than in the last century, both, to be able to learn, and to adapt to learning with the help of new media.

Supporting Collocation Learning with a Digital Library

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Shaoqun; Franken, Margaret; Witten, Ian H.

2010-01-01

Extensive knowledge of collocations is a key factor that distinguishes learners from fluent native speakers. Such knowledge is difficult to acquire simply because there is so much of it. This paper describes a system that exploits the facilities offered by digital libraries to provide a rich collocation-learning environment. The design is based on…

Knowledge sharing and organizational learning in the context of hospital infection prevention.

Science.gov (United States)

Rangachari, Pavani

2010-01-01

Recently, hospitals that have been successful in preventing infections have labeled their improvement approaches as either the Toyota Production System (TPS) approach or the Positive Deviance (PD) approach. PD has been distinguished from TPS as being a bottom-up approach to improvement, as against top-down. Facilities that have employed both approaches have suggested that PD may be more effective than TPS for infection prevention. This article integrates organizational learning, institutional, and knowledge network theories to develop a theoretical framework for understanding the structure and evolution of effective knowledge-sharing networks in health care organizations, that is, networks most conducive to learning and improvement. Contrary to arguments put forth by hospital success stories, the framework suggests that networks rich in brokerage and hierarchy (ie, top-down, "TPS-like" structures) may be more effective for learning and improvement in health care organizations, compared with a networks rich in density (ie, bottom-up, "PD-like" structures). The theoretical framework and ensuing analysis help identify several gaps in the literature related to organization learning and improvement in the infection prevention context. This, in turn, helps put forth recommendations for health management research and practice.

A facile cathode design combining Ni-rich layered oxides with Li-rich layered oxides for lithium-ion batteries

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Song, Bohang; Li, Wangda; Yan, Pengfei; Oh, Seung-Min; Wang, Chong-Min; Manthiram, Arumugam

2016-09-01

A facile synthesis method was developed to prepare xLi₂MnO₃·(1-x)LiNi_0.7Co_0.15Mn_0.15O₂ (x = 0, 0.03, 0.07, 0.10, 0.20, and 0.30 as molar ratio) cathode materials, combining the advantages of high specific capacity from Ni-rich layered phase and surface chemical stability from Li-rich layered phase. X-ray diffraction (XRD), high resolution transmission electron microscope (HRTEM) and electrochemical charge/discharge performance confirm the formation of a Li-rich layered phase with C2/m symmetry. Most importantly, high-angle annular dark-field (HAADF) scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) reveals a spatial relationship that Li-rich nano-domain islands are integrated into a conventional Ni-rich layered matrix (R$\\bar{3}$m). This is the first time that Li-rich phase has been directly observed inside a particle at the nano-scale, when the overall composition of layered compounds (Li_1+δNi_xMn_yM_1-x-y-δO₂, M refers to transition metal elements) is Ni-rich (x > 0.5) rather than Mn-rich (y > 0.5). Remarkably, xLi₂MnO₃·(1-x)LiNi_0.7Co_0.15Mn_0.15O₂ cathode with optimized x value shows superior electrochemical performance at C/3, i.e., 170 mA h g^-1 with 90.3 % of capacity retention after 400 cycles at 25 °C and 164 mA h g^-1 with 81.3 % capacity retention after 200 cycles at 55 °C.

Trans/Languaging and the Triadic Dialogue in Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) Classrooms

Science.gov (United States)

Lin, Angel M. Y.; Lo, Yuen Yi

2017-01-01

There has been a rich literature on the role of language in learning and on its role in knowledge (co-)construction in the science classroom. This literature, rooted in social semiotics theories and sociocultural theories, discussed research conducted largely in contexts where students are learning content in their first language (L1). In this…

Improving Information Literacy Skills through Learning to Use and Edit Wikipedia: A Chemistry Perspective

Science.gov (United States)

Walker, Martin A.; Li, Ye

2016-01-01

Our students rely on Wikipedia on their mobile devices or laptops, since it is an extremely rich and broad resource. This article overviews the Chemistry content on Wikipedia and how students can learn to use it effectively as an information resource, critically evaluating content, and learning key information literacy skills. We also discuss how…

ClearTK 2.0: Design Patterns for Machine Learning in UIMA.

Science.gov (United States)

Bethard, Steven; Ogren, Philip; Becker, Lee

2014-05-01

ClearTK adds machine learning functionality to the UIMA framework, providing wrappers to popular machine learning libraries, a rich feature extraction library that works across different classifiers, and utilities for applying and evaluating machine learning models. Since its inception in 2008, ClearTK has evolved in response to feedback from developers and the community. This evolution has followed a number of important design principles including: conceptually simple annotator interfaces, readable pipeline descriptions, minimal collection readers, type system agnostic code, modules organized for ease of import, and assisting user comprehension of the complex UIMA framework.

Service-Learning by Doing: How a Student-Run Consulting Company Finds Relevance and Purpose in a Business Strategy Capstone Course

Science.gov (United States)

Robinson, David F.; Sherwood, Arthur Lloyd; DePaolo, Concetta A.

2010-01-01

A challenge for undergraduate learning in strategy is that the students lack professional work experiences. Without a rich background of experience, many strategic management topics are difficult to grasp. Our solution has been to develop a strategic management capstone course that combines service-learning and problem-based learning. The…

Supporting Problem Solving with Case-Stories Learning Scenario and Video-based Collaborative Learning Technology

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chun Hu

2004-04-01

Full Text Available In this paper, we suggest that case-based resources, which are used for assisting cognition during problem solving, can be structured around the work of narratives in social cultural psychology. Theories and other research methods have proposed structures within narratives and stories which may be useful to the design of case-based resources. Moreover, embedded within cases are stories which are contextually rich, supporting the epistemological groundings of situated cognition. Therefore the purposes of this paper are to discuss possible frameworks of case-stories; derive design principles as to “what” constitutes a good case story or narrative; and suggest how technology can support story-based learning. We adopt video-based Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL technology to support problem solving with case-stories learning scenarios. Our hypothesis in this paper is that well-designed case-based resources are able to aid in the cognitive processes undergirding problem solving and meaning making. We also suggest the use of an emerging video-based collaborative learning technology to support such an instructional strategy.

Platelet-rich fibrin: the benefits.

Science.gov (United States)

Kumar, Yuvika Raj; Mohanty, Sujata; Verma, Mahesh; Kaur, Raunaq Reet; Bhatia, Priyanka; Kumar, Varun Raj; Chaudhary, Zainab

2016-01-01

Current published data presents confusing results about the effects of platelet-rich fibrin on bone, and there is a need for studies that throw light on its effect. Our main objective therefore was to evaluate (by fractal analysis) osseous regeneration in extraction sockets with and without platelet-rich fibrin in a study with a substantial sample and a reliable technique to calibrate its effects on bone cells. We also assessed the soft tissue response. Thirty-four patients had their bilaterally impacted third molars (68 surgical sites) extracted in this split-mouth study, following which platelet-rich fibrin was placed in one of the sockets. Patients were followed up clinically and radiographically, and a pain score and fractal analysis were used to evaluate healing of soft tissue and bone, respectively. We conclude that platelet-rich fibrin improves healing of both soft and hard tissues. Although osseous healing did not differ significantly between the groups, healing of soft tissue as judged by the pain score was significantly better in the experimental group. Copyright © 2015 The British Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Walk and Learn: Facial Attribute Representation Learning from Egocentric Video and Contextual Data

OpenAIRE

Wang, Jing; Cheng, Yu; Feris, Rogerio Schmidt

2016-01-01

The way people look in terms of facial attributes (ethnicity, hair color, facial hair, etc.) and the clothes or accessories they wear (sunglasses, hat, hoodies, etc.) is highly dependent on geo-location and weather condition, respectively. This work explores, for the first time, the use of this contextual information, as people with wearable cameras walk across different neighborhoods of a city, in order to learn a rich feature representation for facial attribute classification, without the c...

Rich analysis and rational models: Inferring individual behavior from infant looking data

Science.gov (United States)

Piantadosi, Steven T.; Kidd, Celeste; Aslin, Richard

2013-01-01

Studies of infant looking times over the past 50 years have provided profound insights about cognitive development, but their dependent measures and analytic techniques are quite limited. In the context of infants' attention to discrete sequential events, we show how a Bayesian data analysis approach can be combined with a rational cognitive model to create a rich data analysis framework for infant looking times. We formalize (i) a statistical learning model (ii) a parametric linking between the learning model's beliefs and infants' looking behavior, and (iii) a data analysis model that infers parameters of the cognitive model and linking function for groups and individuals. Using this approach, we show that recent findings from Kidd, Piantadosi, and Aslin (2012) of a U-shaped relationship between look-away probability and stimulus complexity even holds within infants and is not due to averaging subjects with different types of behavior. Our results indicate that individual infants prefer stimuli of intermediate complexity, reserving attention for events that are moderately predictable given their probabilistic expectations about the world. PMID:24750256

Avatars, Media Usage, and the Linkages to E-learning Effectiveness

Science.gov (United States)

2011-03-01

theory, and emotional interest theory were used to predict media usage and learning engagement. Media Richness Theory Daft and Lengel described...2010, from http://www.cogtech.usc.edu/publications/aera_ onlinelearningresearch_clark4_09.pdf Daft , R.L., Lengel, R.H. (1986). Organizational

Platelet-Rich Plasma Increases Pigmentation.

Science.gov (United States)

Uysal, Cagri A; Ertas, Nilgun Markal

2017-11-01

Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) is an autologous solution of plasma containing 4 to 7 times the baseline concentration of human platelets. Platelet-rich plasma has been widely popular in facial rejuvenation to attenuate wrinkles and has been practically used. The authors have been encountering various patients of increased hiperpigmentation following PRP applications that were performed to attenuate the postinflammatory hiperpigmentation especially after laser treatment. The authors have been using PRP for facial rejuvenation in selected patients and in 1 patient the authors have encountered increased pigmentation over the pigmented skin lesions that were present before the application. The authors recommend that the PRP might increase pigmentation especially in the face region and precautions might be taken before and after the application. Platelet-rich plasma should not be used for the treatment of post inflammatory hiperpigmentation.

Effects of Concept-Mapping-Based Interactive E-Books on Active and Reflective-Style Students' Learning Performances in Junior High School Law Courses

Science.gov (United States)

Hwang, Gwo-Jen; Sung, Han-Yu; Chang, Hsuan

2017-01-01

Researchers have pointed out that interactive e-books have rich content and interactive features which can promote students' learning interest. However, researchers have also indicated the need to integrate effective learning supports or tools to help students organize what they have learned so as to increase their learning performance, in…

Physics in your pocket: experimenting and learning with your smartphone

OpenAIRE

González, Manuel Á.; González Rebollo, Miguel Ángel

2015-01-01

Along the last years the use of mobile devices in education has increased hugely. This increase includes not only the use of ICTs as learning facilitators. Mobile devices have also become useful tools in experimental physics thanks to their rich sets of built-in sensors. The use of smartphones as measurement devices in physics experiments requires careful attention to ensure good learning outcomes. Some aspects that must be considered are the reliability and accuracy of the smartphone sensors...

A democratic and student-centred approach to facilitating teamwork learning among first-year engineering students: a learning and teaching case study

Science.gov (United States)

Missingham, Dorothy; Matthews, Robert

2014-07-01

This work examines an innovative and evolving approach to facilitating teamwork learning in a generic first-year mechanical engineering course. Principles of inclusive, student-active and democratic pedagogy were utilised to engage students on both the social and personal planes. Learner opportunities to facilitate, direct and lead the learning direction were emphasised. This emphasis encouraged a rich learning process and motivated students dismissive of the need to examine their communication skills and those who initially perceived the topic as a personal intrusion. Through a sharing of curriculum decisions, a climate of trust, ownership and shared value arose. Students chose from a range of tools across personality-type indicators, learning style indicators and hierarchies of human needs, to assist their capacity to express and discuss engineering designs and concepts. Peer teaching and collaborative exercises were incorporated to provide an authentic learning context and to further the student's sense of ownership.

The CBM RICH project

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Adamczewski-Musch, J. [GSI Darmstadt (Germany); Becker, K.-H. [University Wuppertal (Germany); Belogurov, S. [ITEP Moscow (Russian Federation); Boldyreva, N. [PNPI Gatchina (Russian Federation); Chernogorov, A. [ITEP Moscow (Russian Federation); Deveaux, C. [University Gießen (Germany); Dobyrn, V. [PNPI Gatchina (Russian Federation); Dürr, M. [University Gießen (Germany); Eom, J. [Pusan National University (Korea, Republic of); Eschke, J. [GSI Darmstadt (Germany); Höhne, C. [University Gießen (Germany); Kampert, K.-H. [University Wuppertal (Germany); Kleipa, V. [GSI Darmstadt (Germany); Kochenda, L. [PNPI Gatchina (Russian Federation); Kolb, B. [GSI Darmstadt (Germany); Kopfer, J. [University Wuppertal (Germany); Kravtsov, P. [PNPI Gatchina (Russian Federation); Lebedev, S.; Lebedeva, E. [University Gießen (Germany); Leonova, E. [PNPI Gatchina (Russian Federation); and others

2014-12-01

The Compressed Baryonic Matter (CBM) experiment will study the properties of super dense nuclear matter by means of heavy ion collisions at the future FAIR facility. An integral detector component is a large Ring Imaging Cherenkov detector with CO{sub 2} gas radiator, which will mainly serve for electron identification and pion suppression necessary to access rare dileptonic probes like e{sup +}e{sup −} decays of light vector mesons or J/Ψ. We describe the design of this future RICH detector and focus on results obtained by building a CBM RICH detector prototype tested at CERN-PS.

Infusing and sustaining aging content in social work education: findings from GeroRich projects.

Science.gov (United States)

Hash, Kristina M; Gottlieb, Jody; Harper-Dorton, Karen V; Crawley-Woods, Geraldine; Shelek-Furbee, Katherine; Smith, John David; Brown, Rita

2007-01-01

This article presents findings from experiences of 67 projects involved in GeroRich, an initiative funded by the John A. Hartford Foundation designed to infuse, enrich and sustain aging content in BSW and MSW curricula. Thematic qualitative analysis was used to uncover themes in answers to open-ended questions contained in End-of-Year 2 project reports. Content areas addressed by open-ended answers were: (1) successes and innovations, and (2) challenges requiring responses. Primary successes and innovations identified were as follows: curriculum enrichment, faculty and student involvement, student-learning activities and community. Challenges to be responded to were identified as lack of faculty involvement, competing demands on faculty and programs, and sustainability of project efforts. Examples of strategies implemented to overcome these obstacles include providing teaching resources, instituting financial and other supports, and developing strategic plans for sustaining content infusion post-funding. Experiences of the GeroRich projects offer practical considerations for other social work programs that accept the challenge of attracting and preparing students to work with the increasing population of older adults.

Dimensions of social learning in teacher education: an exemplary case study

OpenAIRE

Van den Beemt, Antoine; Vrieling, Emmy

2016-01-01

Growing attention can be noticed for social learning in teacher groups as a stimulus for teachers’ professional development. Research shows the importance of understanding the role and impact of informal social networks on teacher professional development. This paper describes a rich case study of student teachers, in-service teachers and teacher training educators collaborating in networks. Based on the ‘Dimensions of Social Learning (DSL)-Framework’ that includes 4 dimensions and 11 indicat...

Generating pseudo test collections for learning to rank scientific articles

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Berendsen, R.; Tsagkias, M.; de Rijke, M.; Meij, E.

2012-01-01

Pseudo test collections are automatically generated to provide training material for learning to rank methods. We propose a method for generating pseudo test collections in the domain of digital libraries, where data is relatively sparse, but comes with rich annotations. Our intuition is that

Promoting Inclusion, Social Connections, and Learning through Peer Support Arrangements

Science.gov (United States)

Carter, Erik W.; Moss, Colleen K.; Asmus, Jennifer; Fesperman, Ethan; Cooney, Molly; Brock, Matthew E.; Lyons, Gregory; Huber, Heartley B.; Vincent, Lori B.

2015-01-01

Ensuring students with severe disabilities access the rich relationship and learning opportunities available within general education classrooms is an important--but challenging--endeavor. Although one-to-one paraprofessionals often accompany students in inclusive classrooms and provide extensive assistance, the constant presence of an adult can…

Synthesis and study of neutron-rich nuclides

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Luo Yixiao

1995-01-01

During the past few years our understanding of the decay properties and nuclear structure has been extended in a systematic fashion for the neutron-rich nuclei. This review will first sketch the production and identification of the neutron-rich nuclei throughout the whole mass region, and will then discuss the impressive progress in the studies of the exotic decay properties and nuclear structure of neutron-rich nuclei. Their astrophysical implications will also be outlined

High-Temperature Nucleosynthesis Processes on the Proton-Rich Side of Stability: the Alpha-Rich Freezeout and the rp^2-Process

Science.gov (United States)

Meyer, Bradley S.

2001-10-01

Nucleosynthesis on the proton-rich side of stability has at least two intriguing aspects. First, the most abundant of the stable iron-group isotopes, such as ^48Ti, ^52Cr, and ^56,57Fe, are synthesized as proton-rich, radioactive parents in alpha-rich freezeouts from equilibrium. The production of these radioactive progenitors depends in large measure on reactions on the proton-rich side of stability. The second intriguing aspect is that explosive nucleosynthesis in a hydrogen-rich environment (namely, the rp-process) may be associated with exotic astrophysical settings, such as x-ray bursts, and may be responsible for production of some of the light p-process nuclei (for example, ^92,94Mo and ^96,98Ru). We have developed web-based tools to help nuclear physicists determine which nuclear reactions on the proton-rich side of stability govern the nucleosynthesis in these processes. For the alpha-rich freezeout, one may determine the effect of any one of 2,140 reactions on the yield of any isotope in the nuclear reaction network with the web calculator. As a relevant example, I will discuss the governing role of ^57Ni (n,p)^57Co in the synthesis of the important astronomical observable ^57Co. As for explosive, proton-rich burning, I will discuss the synthesis of p-process nuclei in the repetitive rp-process (the rp^2-process). movies/rp.html>Movies of the rp^2-process illustrate its important features and give some indications of the important nuclear reactions.

Neutron rich nuclei around 132Sn

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bhattacharya, Sarmishtha

2016-01-01

The neutron rich nuclei with few particles or holes in 132 Sn have various experimental and theoretical interest to understand the evolution of nuclear structure around the doubly magic shell closure Z=50 and N=82. Some of the exotic neutron rich nuclei in this mass region are situated near waiting points in the r-process path and are of special astrophysical interest. Neutron rich nuclei near 132 Sn have been studied using fission fragment spectroscopy. The lifetime of low lying isomeric states have been precisely measured and the beta decay from the ground and isomeric states have been characterized using gamma-ray spectroscopy

Special ways of knowing in science: expansive learning opportunities with bilingual children with learning disabilities

Science.gov (United States)

Martínez-Álvarez, Patricia

2017-09-01

The field of bilingual special education is currently plagued with contradictions resulting in a serious underrepresentation of emergent bilinguals with learning disabilities in professional science fields. This underrepresentation is due in large part to the fact that educational systems around the world are inadequately prepared to address the educational needs of these children; this inadequacy is rooted in a lack of understanding of the linguistic and cultural factors impacting learning. Accepting such a premise and assuming that children learn in unexpected ways when instructional practices attend to culture and language, this study documents a place-based learning experience integrating geoscience and literacy in a fourth-grade dual language classroom. Data sources include transcribed audio-taped conversations from learning experience sessions and interviews that took place as six focus children, who had been identified as having specific learning disabilities, read published science texts (i.e. texts unaltered linguistically or conceptually to meet the needs of the readers). My analysis revealed that participants generated responses that were often unexpected if solely analyzed from those Western scientific perspectives traditionally valued in school contexts. However, these responses were also full of purposeful and rich understandings that revealed opportunities for expansive learning. Adopting a cultural historical activity theory perspective, instructional tools such as texts, visuals, and questions were found to act as mediators impacting the learning in both activity systems: (a) teacher- researcher learning from children, and (b) children learning from teachers. I conclude by suggesting that there is a need to understand students' ways of knowing to their full complexity, and to deliberately recognize teachers as learners, researchers, and means to expansive learning patterns that span beyond traditional learning boundaries.

Antimicrobial effect of platelet-rich plasma and platelet-rich fibrin.

Science.gov (United States)

Badade, Pallavi S; Mahale, Swapna A; Panjwani, Alisha A; Vaidya, Prutha D; Warang, Ayushya D

2016-01-01

Platelet concentrates have been extensively used in a variety of medical fields to promote soft- and hard-tissue regeneration. The significance behind their use lies in the abundance of growth factors (GFs) in platelets α-granules that promote wound healing. Other than releasing a pool of GFs upon activation, platelets also have many features that indicate their role in the anti-infective host defense. The aim of this study is to evaluate the antimicrobial activities of platelet-rich plasma (PRP) and platelet-rich fibrin (PRF) against periodontal disease-associated bacteria. Blood samples were obtained from ten adult male patients. PRP and PRF were procured using centrifugation. The antimicrobial activity of PRP and PRF was evaluated by microbial culturing using bacterial strains of Porphyromonas gingivalis and Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans. P. gingivalis and A. actinomycetemcomitans were inhibited by PRP but not by PRF. PRP is a potentially useful substance in the fight against periodontal pathogens. This might represent a valuable property in adjunct to the enhancement of tissue regeneration.

Science Learning via Multimedia Portal Resources: The Scottish Case

Science.gov (United States)

Elliot, Dely; Wilson, Delia; Boyle, Stephen

2014-01-01

Scotland's rich heritage in the field of science and engineering and recent curricular developments led to major investment in education to equip pupils with improved scientific knowledge and skills. However, due to its abstract and conceptual nature, learning science can be challenging. Literature supports the role of multimedia technology in…

Power Users and Patchworking – an Analytical Approach to Critical Studies of Young People’s Learning with Digital Media

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ryberg, Thomas; Dirckinck-Holmfeld, Lone

2008-01-01

This paper sets out to problematize generational categories such as ‘Power Users’ or ‘New Millennium Learners’ by discussing these in the light of recent research on youth and ICT. We then suggest analytic and conceptual pathways to engage in more critical and empirically founded studies of young...... people’s learning in technology and media-rich settings. Based on a study of a group of young ‘Power Users’ it is argued, that conceptualising and analysing learning as a process of patchworking can enhance our knowledge of young people’s learning in such settings. We argue that the analytical approach...... gives us ways of critically investigating young people’s learning in technology and media-rich settings, and study if these are processes of critical, reflexive enquiry where resources are creatively re-appropriated. With departure in an analytical example the paper presents the proposed metaphor...

Impaired rich club and increased local connectivity in children with traumatic brain injury: Local support for the rich?

Science.gov (United States)

Verhelst, Helena; Vander Linden, Catharine; De Pauw, Toon; Vingerhoets, Guy; Caeyenberghs, Karen

2018-03-12

Recent evidence has shown the presence of a "rich club" in the brain, which constitutes a core network of highly interconnected and spatially distributed brain regions, important for high-order cognitive processes. This study aimed to map the rich club organization in 17 young patients with moderate to severe TBI (15.71 ± 1.75 years) in the chronic stage of recovery and 17 age- and gender-matched controls. Probabilistic tractography was performed on diffusion weighted imaging data to construct the edges of the structural connectomes using number of streamlines as edge weight. In addition, the whole-brain network was divided into a rich club network, a local network and a feeder network connecting the latter two. Functional outcome was measured with a parent questionnaire for executive functioning. Our results revealed a significantly decreased rich club organization (p values < .05) and impaired executive functioning (p < .001) in young patients with TBI compared with controls. Specifically, we observed reduced density values in all three subnetworks (p values < .005) and a reduced mean strength in the rich club network (p = .013) together with an increased mean strength in the local network (p = .002) in patients with TBI. This study provides new insights into the nature of TBI-induced brain network alterations and supports the hypothesis that the local subnetwork tries to compensate for the biologically costly subnetwork of rich club nodes after TBI. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Rolex learning center English guide

CERN Document Server

Della Casa, Francesco

2012-01-01

The novel architectural form of this building, conceived of by the architects of SAANA (winners of the Pritzker Prize in 2010), compelled the building engineers to come up with unprecedented structural, technical and logistical solutions. And yet, once the Rolex Learning Center was complete, the ingenuity required for its construction had become practically invisible in the eyes of the uninitiated. This richly illustrated guide provides, in condensed form, an account of the extraordinary adventure of the realization of the Rolex Learning Center. It explains in detail the context of its construction and brings to light the spatial subtleties of its architecture. In addition, it provides the visitor of the building with all the needed technical information and many novel facts and figures.

Design, Implementation and Evaluation of Innovative Science Teaching Strategies for Non-Formal Learning in a Natural History Museum

Science.gov (United States)

Çil, Emine; Maccario, Nihal; Yanmaz, Durmus

2016-01-01

Background: Museums are useful educational resources in science teaching. Teaching strategies which promote hands-on activities, student-centred learning, and rich social interaction must be designed and implemented throughout the museum visit for effective science learning. Purpose: This study aimed to design and implement innovative teaching…

The source rock characters of U-rich granite

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mingyue, Feng; Debao, He [CNNC Key Laboratory of Uranium Resources Exploration and Evaluation Technology, Beijing Research Institute of Uranium Geology (China)

2012-03-15

This paper discusses the stratum composition, lithological association, uranium content of crust and the activation, migration, concentration of uranium at each tectonic cycle in South China. The authors point out that the source rock of U-rich granite is U-rich continental crust which is rich in Si, Al and K. The lithological association is mainly composed of terrestrial clastic rocks formation of mudstone and sandstone, mingled with intermediate-acidic, mafic pyroclastic rocks and carbonate rocks formation. During tectonic movements, the rocks had undergone regional metamorphism, migmatitization, granitization, and formed U-rich granites finally. (authors)

The source rock characters of U-rich granite

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Feng Mingyue; He Debao

2012-01-01

This paper discusses the stratum composition, lithological association, uranium content of crust and the activation, migration, concentration of uranium at each tectonic cycle in South China. The authors point out that the source rock of U-rich granite is U-rich continental crust which is rich in Si, Al and K. The lithological association is mainly composed of terrestrial clastic rocks formation of mudstone and sandstone, mingled with intermediate-acidic, mafic pyroclastic rocks and carbonate rocks formation. During tectonic movements, the rocks had undergone regional metamorphism, migmatitization, granitization, and formed U-rich granites finally. (authors)

Generation Y students: Appropriate learning styles and teaching ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Generation Y students (born after 1982) have developed a different set of attitudes and aptitudes as a result of growing up in an IT and media-rich environment. This article has two objectives: firstly to discuss the learning styles preferred by generation Y students in order to identify the effect of these preferences on tertiary ...

Interprofessional learning at work: what spatial theory can tell us about workplace learning in an acute care ward.

Science.gov (United States)

Gregory, Linda Rosemary; Hopwood, Nick; Boud, David

2014-05-01

It is widely recognized that every workplace potentially provides a rich source of learning. Studies focusing on health care contexts have shown that social interaction within and between professions is crucial in enabling professionals to learn through work, address problems and cope with challenges of clinical practice. While hospital environments are beginning to be understood in spatial terms, the links between space and interprofessional learning at work have not been explored. This paper draws on Lefebvre's tri-partite theoretical framework of perceived, conceived and lived space to enrich understandings of interprofessional learning on an acute care ward in an Australian teaching hospital. Qualitative analysis was undertaken using data from observations of Registered Nurses at work and semi-structured interviews linked to observed events. The paper focuses on a ward round, the medical workroom and the Registrar's room, comparing and contrasting the intended (conceived), practiced (perceived) and pedagogically experienced (lived) spatial dimensions. The paper concludes that spatial theory has much to offer understandings of interprofessional learning in work, and the features of work environments and daily practices that produce spaces that enable or constrain learning.

Strengthening maths learning dispositions through ‘math clubs’

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mellony Graven

2016-02-01

Full Text Available In this paper, I argue that the establishment of after-school mathematics clubs in early grades holds rich potential for supporting the development of increasingly participatory and sensemaking maths learning dispositions. Within the South African Numeracy Chair project, lead by the author, multiple after-school mathematics clubs have been set up for learners in Grades 3–6 across Eastern Cape schools. These clubs are a complementary initiative to teacher development, aimed at improving low levels of numeracy learning across the majority of schools in the province. Two sources of data, learner interviews and teacher questionnaires, from one case study club, are shared in this article to illuminate the potential such clubs hold in developing increasingly participatory mathematics learning dispositions.

Learning as Social Exchange in City Year London

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Revsbech, Christine

Learning as Social Exchange in City Year London: Action towards an image of greatness contributes to the growing field of research on social entrepreneurship. The thesis is the result of an interesting, anthropological study of a social voluntary organisation, City Year London, a British affiliate...... of an American charity. Young volunteers were followed in their daily activities working as mentors for public primary school children, and the interaction between staff and volunteers in City Year London were observed. Also, interviews with both volunteers and staff were carried out. The thesis explores...... the empirical findings applying an understanding of learning as social exchange of value. The rich empirical data has led to analyses that draw on and contribute to economic anthropology, learning theories and social entrepreneurship....

Integrating Agricultural and Ecological Goals into the Management of Species-Rich Grasslands: Learning from the Flowering Meadows Competition in France

Science.gov (United States)

Magda, Danièle; de Sainte Marie, Christine; Plantureux, Sylvain; Agreil, Cyril; Amiaud, Bernard; Mestelan, Philippe; Mihout, Sarah

2015-11-01

Current agri-environmental schemes for reconciling agricultural production with biodiversity conservation are proving ineffective Europe-wide, increasing interest in results-based schemes (RBSs). We describe here the French "Flowering Meadows" competition, rewarding the "best agroecological balance" in semi-natural grasslands managed by livestock farmers. This competition, which was entered by about a thousand farmers in 50 regional nature parks between 2007 and 2014, explicitly promotes a new style of agri-environmental scheme focusing on an ability to reach the desired outcome rather than adherence to prescriptive management rules. Building on our experience in the design and monitoring of the competition, we argue that the cornerstone of successful RBSs is a collective learning process in which the reconciliation of agriculture and environment is reconsidered in terms of synergistic relationships between agricultural and ecological functioning. We present the interactive, iterative process by which we defined an original method for assessing species-rich grasslands in agroecological terms. This approach was based on the integration of new criteria, such as flexibility, feeding value, and consistency of use, into the assessment of forage production performance and the consideration of biodiversity conservation through its functional role within the grassland ecosystem, rather than simply noting the presence or abundance of species. We describe the adaptation of this methodology on the basis of competition feedback, to bring about a significant shift in the conventional working methods of agronomists and conservationists (including researchers).The potential and efficacy of RBSs for promoting ecologically sound livestock systems are discussed in the concluding remarks, and they relate to the ecological intensification debate.

A duetting perspective on avian song learning.

Science.gov (United States)

Rivera-Cáceres, Karla D; Templeton, Christopher N

2017-12-25

Avian song learning has a rich history of study and has become the preeminent system for understanding the ontogeny of vocal communication in animals. Song learning in birds has many parallels with human language learning, ranging from the neural mechanisms involved to the importance of social factors in shaping signal acquisition. While much has been learned about the process of song learning, virtually all of the research done to date has focused on temperate species, where often only one sex (the male) sings. Duetting species, in which both males and females learn to sing and learn to combine their songs into temporally coordinated joint displays, could provide many insights into the processes by which vocal learning takes place. Here we highlight three key features of song learning-neuroendocrine control mechanisms, timing and life history stages of song acquisition, and the role of social factors in song selection and use-that have been elucidated from species where only males sing, and compare these with duetting species. We summarize what is known about song learning in duetting species and then provide several suggestions for fruitful directions for future research. We suggest that focusing research efforts on duetting species could significantly advance our understanding of vocal learning in birds and further cement the importance of avian species as models for understanding human conversations and the processes of vocal learning more broadly. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Research Tasks on Identity in Language Learning and Teaching

Science.gov (United States)

Norton, Bonny; De Costa, Peter I.

2018-01-01

The growing interest in identity and language education over the past two decades, coupled with increased interest in digital technology and transnationalism, has resulted in a rich body of work that has informed language learning, teaching, and research. To keep abreast of these developments in identity research, the authors propose a series of…

Automatic Identification of Nutritious Contexts for Learning Vocabulary Words

Science.gov (United States)

Mostow, Jack; Gates, Donna; Ellison, Ross; Goutam, Rahul

2015-01-01

Vocabulary knowledge is crucial to literacy development and academic success. Previous research has shown learning the meaning of a word requires encountering it in diverse informative contexts. In this work, we try to identify "nutritious" contexts for a word--contexts that help students build a rich mental representation of the word's…

Learning Science Through Visualization

Science.gov (United States)

Chaudhury, S. Raj

2005-01-01

In the context of an introductory physical science course for non-science majors, I have been trying to understand how scientific visualizations of natural phenomena can constructively impact student learning. I have also necessarily been concerned with the instructional and assessment approaches that need to be considered when focusing on learning science through visually rich information sources. The overall project can be broken down into three distinct segments : (i) comparing students' abilities to demonstrate proportional reasoning competency on visual and verbal tasks (ii) decoding and deconstructing visualizations of an object falling under gravity (iii) the role of directed instruction to elicit alternate, valid scientific visualizations of the structure of the solar system. Evidence of student learning was collected in multiple forms for this project - quantitative analysis of student performance on written, graded assessments (tests and quizzes); qualitative analysis of videos of student 'think aloud' sessions. The results indicate that there are significant barriers for non-science majors to succeed in mastering the content of science courses, but with informed approaches to instruction and assessment, these barriers can be overcome.

A review of machine learning in obesity.

Science.gov (United States)

DeGregory, K W; Kuiper, P; DeSilvio, T; Pleuss, J D; Miller, R; Roginski, J W; Fisher, C B; Harness, D; Viswanath, S; Heymsfield, S B; Dungan, I; Thomas, D M

2018-05-01

Rich sources of obesity-related data arising from sensors, smartphone apps, electronic medical health records and insurance data can bring new insights for understanding, preventing and treating obesity. For such large datasets, machine learning provides sophisticated and elegant tools to describe, classify and predict obesity-related risks and outcomes. Here, we review machine learning methods that predict and/or classify such as linear and logistic regression, artificial neural networks, deep learning and decision tree analysis. We also review methods that describe and characterize data such as cluster analysis, principal component analysis, network science and topological data analysis. We introduce each method with a high-level overview followed by examples of successful applications. The algorithms were then applied to National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey to demonstrate methodology, utility and outcomes. The strengths and limitations of each method were also evaluated. This summary of machine learning algorithms provides a unique overview of the state of data analysis applied specifically to obesity. © 2018 World Obesity Federation.

Transformational Leadership & Professional Development for Digitally Rich Learning Environments: A Case Study of the Galileo Educational Network.

Science.gov (United States)

Jacobsen, Michele; Clifford, Pat; Friesen, Sharon

The Galileo Educational Network is an innovative educational reform initiative that brings learning to learners. Expert teachers work alongside teachers and students in schools to create new images of engaged learning, technology integration and professional development. This case study is based on the nine schools involved with Galileo in…

Developing a Supportive Learning Environment in a Newly Formed Organisation

Science.gov (United States)

Lancaster, Sue; Di Milia, Lee

2015-01-01

Purpose: The aim of this study was to examine the factors that employees perceived were important in creating a supportive learning environment in a recently merged organisation. The study provides rich qualitative data from the employees' perspective. Design/methodology/approach: This case study used a qualitative phenomenological constructivist…

Dimensions of social learning in teacher education: an exemplary case study

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Van den Beemt, Antoine; Vrieling, Emmy

2016-01-01

Growing attention can be noticed for social learning in teacher groups as a stimulus for teachers’ professional development. Research shows the importance of understanding the role and impact of informal social networks on teacher professional development. This paper describes a rich case study of

StreamAR: incremental and active learning with evolving sensory data for activity recognition

OpenAIRE

Abdallah, Z.; Gaber, M.; Srinivasan, B.; Krishnaswamy, S.

2012-01-01

Activity recognition focuses on inferring current user activities by leveraging sensory data available on today’s sensor rich environment. Supervised learning has been applied pervasively for activity recognition. Typical activity recognition techniques process sensory data based on point-by-point approaches. In this paper, we propose a novel cluster-based classification for activity recognition Systems, termed StreamAR. The system incorporates incremental and active learning for mining user ...

Learning Vaadin 7

CERN Document Server

Frankel, Nicolas

2013-01-01

This book begins with a tutorial on Vaadin 7, followed by a process of planning, analyzing, building, and deploying a fully functional RIA while covering troubleshooting details along the way, making it an invaluable resource for answers to all your Vaadin questions.If you are a Java developer with some experience in development either on JSP/Servlet or on Swing, and want to enter the world of rich Internet applications, then this technology and book is ideal for you. Learning Vaadin will be perfect as your next step towards building eye-catching, dynamic web applications on a Java-based platf

Two-proton knockout on neutron-rich nuclei

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bazin, D.; Brown, B.A.; Campbell, C.M.; Church, J.A.; Dinca, D.C.; Enders, J.; Gade, A.; Glasmacher, T.; Hansen, P.G.; Mueller, W.F.; Olliver, H.; Perry, B.C.; Sherrill, B.M.; Terry, J.R.; Tostevin, J.A.

2004-01-01

Two-proton knockout reactions on neutron-rich nuclei [Phys. Rev. Lett. 91 (2003) 012501] have been studied in inverse kinematics at intermediate energy. Strong evidence that the two-proton removal from a neutron-rich system proceeds as a direct reaction is presented, together with a preliminary theoretical discussion of the partial cross sections based on eikonal reaction theory and the many-body shell model. They show that this reaction can be used to characterize the wave functions of the projectiles and holds great promise for the study of neutron-rich nuclei

Structure of Light Neutron-rich Nuclei

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dlouhy, Zdenek

2007-01-01

In this contribution we searched for irregularities in various separation energies in the frame of mass measurement of neutron-rich nuclei at GANIL. On this basis we can summarize that the new doubly magic nuclei are 8 He, 22 O and 24 O. They are characterized by extra stability and, except 24 O, they cannot accept and bind additional neutrons. However, if we add to these nuclei a proton we obtain 9 Li and 25 F which are the core for two-neutron halo nucleus 11 Li and enables that fluorine can bound even 6 more neutrons, respectively. In that aspect the doubly magic nuclei in the neutron-rich region can form the basis either for neutron halo or very neutron-rich nuclei. (Author)

Island Species Richness Increases with Habitat Diversity

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hortal, J.; Triantis, K.A.; Meiri, S.; Thebault, E.M.C.; Sfenthourakis, S.

2009-01-01

Species richness is commonly thought to increase with habitat diversity. However, a recent theoretical model aiming to unify niche and island biogeography theories predicted a hump-shaped relationship between richness and habitat diversity. Given the contradiction between model results and previous

The Use of Mobile Learning in Science: A Systematic Review

Science.gov (United States)

Crompton, Helen; Burke, Diane; Gregory, Kristen H.; Gräbe, Catharina

2016-04-01

The use of mobile learning in education is growing at an exponential rate. To best understand how mobile learning is being used, it is crucial to gain a collective understanding of the research that has taken place. This systematic review reveals the trends in mobile learning in science with a comprehensive analysis and synthesis of studies from the year 2000 onward. Major findings include that most of the studies focused on designing systems for mobile learning, followed by a combination of evaluating the effects of mobile learning and investigating the affective domain during mobile learning. The majority of the studies were conducted in the area of life sciences in informal, elementary (5-11 years) settings. Mobile devices were used in this strand of science easily within informal environments with real-world connections. A variety of research methods were employed, providing a rich research perspective. As the use of mobile learning continues to grow, further research regarding the use of mobile technologies in all areas and levels of science learning will help science educators to expand their ability to embrace these technologies.

Rats Fed a Diet Rich in Fats and Sugars Are Impaired in the Use of Spatial Geometry.

Science.gov (United States)

Tran, Dominic M D; Westbrook, R Frederick

2015-12-01

A diet rich in fats and sugars is associated with cognitive deficits in people, and rodent models have shown that such a diet produces deficits on tasks assessing spatial learning and memory. Spatial navigation is guided by two distinct types of information: geometrical, such as distance and direction, and featural, such as luminance and pattern. To clarify the nature of diet-induced spatial impairments, we provided rats with standard chow supplemented with sugar water and a range of energy-rich foods eaten by people, and then we assessed their place- and object-recognition memory. Rats exposed to this diet performed comparably with control rats fed only chow on object recognition but worse on place recognition. This impairment on the place-recognition task was present after only a few days on the diet and persisted across tests. Critically, this spatial impairment was specific to the processing of distance and direction. © The Author(s) 2015.

Cotton Island: Students' Learning Motivation Using a Virtual World

Science.gov (United States)

Wyss, Jamie; Lee, Seung-Eun; Domina, Tanya; MacGillivray, Maureen

2014-01-01

As technology advances, it is important for teachers to seamlessly integrate technology into their innovative teaching techniques. Using virtual worlds is one alternative to traditional teaching methods that can provide rich learning experiences. The purpose of this article is twofold: (a) to present Cotton Island, an avatar-based 3-D virtual…

GIS Enabled PBl Pedagogy: The Effects on Students' Learning in the Classroom

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Yan; Laxman, Kumar

2009-01-01

In efforts aimed at acquainting learners with "how to learn" skills rather than static content knowledge, more student centric instructional approaches are being increasingly adopted in informing curriculum design and delivery. Technology-rich problem solving environments offer great promise in scaffolding and facilitating…

The Social & Mobile Learning Experiences of Students Using Mobile E-Books

Science.gov (United States)

Kissinger, Jeff S.

2013-01-01

This research was designed to explore the learning experiences of state college students using mobile electronic textbook (e-book) readers. The purpose of the study was to build a rich description of how students used e-books delivered on mobile computing devices for college-level, introductory

Characteristics of workplace-based learning across higher health sciences education

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mørcke, Anne Mette; Christensen, Mette Krogh; Henriksen, Jette

the considerable differences found across the three educations concerning supervisors’ roles and expectations of students’ ability to master competences, as well as the differences in opportunities for independent learning activities at the workplaces. This might be rooted in the different traditions underpinning......Characteristics of workplace-based learning across higher health sciences education Background Workplace-based learning is a traditional part of health sciences educations and we find a rich literature on some of the core features. However, a number of questions remain and we contribute...... by exploring the characteristics of the learning activities at workplaces and students’ and supervisors’ roles during clerkships across educations. Summary of work We performed a short-term ethnographic study in medicine, nursing and sports science. Data was collected during nine days observing skills training...

Rapidly involuting congenital hemangioma (RICH): a brief case report

OpenAIRE

Scalise, Robert; Bolton, Joanna; Gibbs, Neil F

2014-01-01

Congenital hemangiomas (CH) are benign vascular neoplasms that proliferate in utero and have completed development by birth. Two subtypes of CH are recognized: rapidly involuting congenital hemangiomas (RICH) and non-involuting congenital hemangiomas (NICH). Involution of the RICH subtype often begins in the first weeks of life. NICH does not involute, allowing the distinction between RICH and NICH. We report a case of an infant with RICH occurring on the scalp, examined at birth and followed...

Firm size diversity, functional richness, and resilience

Science.gov (United States)

Garmestani, A.S.; Allen, Craig R.; Mittelstaedt, J.D.; Stow, C.A.; Ward, W.A.

2006-01-01

This paper applies recent advances in ecology to our understanding of firm development, sustainability, and economic development. The ecological literature indicates that the greater the functional richness of species in a system, the greater its resilience - that is, its ability to persist in the face of substantial changes in the environment. This paper focuses on the effects of functional richness across firm size on the ability of industries to survive in the face of economic change. Our results indicate that industries with a richness of industrial functions are more resilient to employment volatility. ?? 2006 Cambridge University Press.

Modeling Aquatic Macroinvertebrate Richness Using Landscape Attributes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marcia S. Meixler

2015-01-01

Full Text Available We used a rapid, repeatable, and inexpensive geographic information system (GIS approach to predict aquatic macroinvertebrate family richness using the landscape attributes stream gradient, riparian forest cover, and water quality. Stream segments in the Allegheny River basin were classified into eight habitat classes using these three landscape attributes. Biological databases linking macroinvertebrate families with habitat classes were developed using life habits, feeding guilds, and water quality preferences and tolerances for each family. The biological databases provided a link between fauna and habitat enabling estimation of family composition in each habitat class and hence richness predictions for each stream segment. No difference was detected between field collected and modeled predictions of macroinvertebrate families in a paired t-test. Further, predicted stream gradient, riparian forest cover, and total phosphorus, total nitrogen, and suspended sediment classifications matched observed classifications much more often than by chance alone. High gradient streams with forested riparian zones and good water quality were predicted to have the greatest macroinvertebrate family richness and changes in water quality were predicted to have the greatest impact on richness. Our findings indicate that our model can provide meaningful landscape scale macroinvertebrate family richness predictions from widely available data for use in focusing conservation planning efforts.

Second Graders' Emerging Particle Models of Matter in the Context of Learning through Model-Based Inquiry

Science.gov (United States)

Samarapungavan, Ala; Bryan, Lynn; Wills, Jamison

2017-01-01

In this paper, we present a study of second graders' learning about the nature of matter in the context of content-rich, model-based inquiry instruction. The goal of instruction was to help students learn to use simple particle models to explain states of matter and phase changes. We examined changes in students' ideas about matter, the coherence…

Students’ Media Preferences in Online Learning

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Michiko KOBAYASHI

2017-07-01

Full Text Available This study examined students’ preferred media in online learning and its relationship with learner characteristics and online technology self-efficacy. One hundred six college students in a mid-size U.S. university responded to a survey. The frequency analysis showed that students did not necessarily favor rich media over lean media in online learning. They preferred recorded online slide presentations with audio to Internet-based live video lectures in two-way video and audio interactions. Online discussion boards and chat groups were less favored than other types of media. As expected, online technology self-efficacy was correlated with a type of media requiring a relatively higher level of technology skills. The paper presents the results and discusses their implications of the study.

Geomorphic controls on elevational gradients of species richness.

Science.gov (United States)

Bertuzzo, Enrico; Carrara, Francesco; Mari, Lorenzo; Altermatt, Florian; Rodriguez-Iturbe, Ignacio; Rinaldo, Andrea

2016-02-16

Elevational gradients of biodiversity have been widely investigated, and yet a clear interpretation of the biotic and abiotic factors that determine how species richness varies with elevation is still elusive. In mountainous landscapes, habitats at different elevations are characterized by different areal extent and connectivity properties, key drivers of biodiversity, as predicted by metacommunity theory. However, most previous studies directly correlated species richness to elevational gradients of potential drivers, thus neglecting the interplay between such gradients and the environmental matrix. Here, we investigate the role of geomorphology in shaping patterns of species richness. We develop a spatially explicit zero-sum metacommunity model where species have an elevation-dependent fitness and otherwise neutral traits. Results show that ecological dynamics over complex terrains lead to the null expectation of a hump-shaped elevational gradient of species richness, a pattern widely observed empirically. Local species richness is found to be related to the landscape elevational connectivity, as quantified by a newly proposed metric that applies tools of complex network theory to measure the closeness of a site to others with similar habitat. Our theoretical results suggest clear geomorphic controls on elevational gradients of species richness and support the use of the landscape elevational connectivity as a null model for the analysis of the distribution of biodiversity.

Environmental heterogeneity–species richness relationships from a global perspective

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anke Stein

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Spatial environmental heterogeneity (EH is considered one of the most important factors promoting species richness, but no general consent about the EH–richness relationship exists so far. This is because research methods and study settings vary widely, and because non-significant and negative associations have also been reported. My thesis provides a comprehensive review of the different measurements and terminologies of EH used in the literature, and presents strong quantitative evidence of a generally positive relationship between biotic and abiotic EH and species richness of terrestrial plants and animals from landscape to global extents. In a meta-analysis and a subsequent case study comparing multiple EH measures and their association with mammal species richness worldwide, I furthermore reveal that the outcome of EH–richness studies depends strongly on study design, including both the EH measure chosen and spatial scale. My research contributes to a better understanding of the EH–richness relationship, while identifying future research needs.

IMPROVEMENT OF THE RICHNESS ESTIMATES OF maxBCG CLUSTERS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rozo, Eduardo; Rykoff, Eli S.; Koester, Benjamin P.; Hansen, Sarah; Becker, Matthew; Bleem, Lindsey; McKay, Timothy; Hao Jiangang; Evrard, August; Wechsler, Risa H.; Sheldon, Erin; Johnston, David; Annis, James; Scranton, Ryan

2009-01-01

Minimizing the scatter between cluster mass and accessible observables is an important goal for cluster cosmology. In this work, we introduce a new matched filter richness estimator, and test its performance using the maxBCG cluster catalog. Our new estimator significantly reduces the variance in the L X -richness relation, from σ lnLx 2 = (0.86±0.02) 2 to σ lnLx 2 = (0.69±0.02) 2 . Relative to the maxBCG richness estimate, it also removes the strong redshift dependence of the L X -richness scaling relations, and is significantly more robust to photometric and redshift errors. These improvements are largely due to the better treatment of galaxy color data. We also demonstrate the scatter in the L X -richness relation depends on the aperture used to estimate cluster richness, and introduce a novel approach for optimizing said aperture which can easily be generalized to other mass tracers.

Families, Pupils and Teachers Learning Together in a Multilingual British City

Science.gov (United States)

Conteh, Jean

2012-01-01

This article focuses on multilingual primary-aged children and their families in a post-industrial city in England. Such pupils, sometimes identified in education policy as "underachieving," often have rich experiences of learning that are hidden from their mainstream teachers and unrecognised in national assessment regimes. The article…

Learning and Consolidation of New Spoken Words in Autism Spectrum Disorder

Science.gov (United States)

Henderson, Lisa; Powell, Anna; Gaskell, M. Gareth; Norbury, Courtenay

2014-01-01

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is characterized by rich heterogeneity in vocabulary knowledge and word knowledge that is not well accounted for by current cognitive theories. This study examines whether individual differences in vocabulary knowledge in ASD might be partly explained by a difficulty with consolidating newly learned spoken words…

Service Learning with "Third-Culture Kids": Preparing an Iftar in Egypt

Science.gov (United States)

Hubbard, Janie

2010-01-01

Many international schools embrace social studies education, and service learning embedded within the social studies curriculum is often the norm rather than the exception. Helping students help others in any setting is powerful. In a richly diverse venue there are added benefits. The "third-culture kids" attending international schools…

The effect of technology-enabled active learning on undergraduate students understanding of electromagnetism

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dori, Y.J.

2005-01-01

Full Text:The Technology-Enabled Active Learning Project at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) involves media-rich software for simulation and visualization in freshman physics carried out in a specially redesigned classroom to facilitate group interaction. These technology-based learning materials are especially useful in electromagnetism to help students conceptualize phenomena and processes. This study analyzes the effects of the unique learning environment of the Technology-Enabled Active Learning Project project on students cognitive and affective outcomes. The assessment of the project included examining students conceptual understanding before and after studying electromagnetism in a media-rich environment. We also investigated the effect of this environment on students preferences regarding the various teaching methods. As part of the project, we developed pre- and post-tests consisting of conceptual questions from standardized tests, as well as questions designed to assess the effect of visualizations and experiments. The research population consisted of 811 undergraduate students. It consisted of a small- and a large-scale experimental groups and a control group. Technology-Enabled Active Learning Project students improved their conceptual understanding concepts of the subject matter to a significantly higher extent than their control group peers. A majority of the students in the small-scale experiment noted that they would recommend the Technology-Enabled Active Learning Project course to fellow students, indicating the benefits of inter activity, visualization, and hands-on experiments, which the technology helped enable. In the large-scale implementation students expressed both positive and negative attitudes in the course survey

Perancangan Training dengan E-Learning pada Perusahaan Manufacture

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Agus Putranto

2011-06-01

Full Text Available The use of information technology has been very widely in many fields including industry. Along with that, the need for a concept and mechanism of IT-based learning becomes inevitable. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the training process and identify any related problems occurred at PT.Suzuki Indomobil Motor. The problems are about the limited training time, lack of material distribution media and consultations out of training time. E-Learning is a concept of electronic application use to support learning using the internet and computer network. This concept influences the process of conventional education transformation to digital form, both in content and system. The learning system will be replaced with a web-based training media. The method used is the Object Oriented Analysis Design, which begins with a depiction of rich pictures to the Deployment diagram. This system is expected to meet the needs of employees while joining the training process, so that they will obtain excellent learning and achieve the company objectives. 

Teacher Perception of Project-Based Learning in a Technology-Infused Secondary School Culture: A Critical Cine-Ethnographic Study

Science.gov (United States)

Gratch, Jonathan

2012-01-01

Project-based learning has long been used in the educational realm as it emphasis a student-centered strategy which promotes meaning, enriched learning that enhances inquiry and problem-solving skills in a rich, authentic environment. The relevance and authentic design of projects may further be enhanced by the use of technology in the classroom.…

Authentic learning for teaching reading: Foundation phase pre-service student teachers’ learning experiences of creating and using digital stories in real classrooms

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Trevor Moodley

2016-10-01

Full Text Available Teaching and learning, an evolving endeavour, is associated with many factors, with advancements in technology, playing an ever-growing role in the classroom. It is therefore important to include the use of interactive communication technologies (ICTs in university curricula of teacher education programmes. Universities ought to be creative in advancing autonomous learning among their students by providing opportunities for integrated and rich learning experiences. Accordingly, the purpose of this study was to intentionally integrate ICTs in the planning and delivery of foundation phase reading lessons. This was achieved by providing authentic learning opportunities to final year foundation phase student teachers through the provision of training in the creation of digital stories (DS, collaborating within communities of practice (COP (peers and other relevant parties, and then using their creations in ‘real-world’ classroom contexts. The aims of this study were to explore student teachers’ perceptions and experiences of developing DS in groups with minimal formal initial input and their use of DS during foundation phase (FP reading lessons in real-class settings during teaching practice. Data were collected via focus group interviews and participants’ reflection essays. The study’s findings indicate that the creation of their own DS provided rich, rewarding multidimensional learning experiences to student teachers. Participants reported that they found the ‘assignment’ to be of real value, since it was directly linked to classroom practice, and despite the cognitive demands of the assignment; the nature of the task nurtured, an agentic disposition towards their own learning. Participants further reported that the DS provided enthusiasm among young learners during the delivery of lessons and were of pedagogical value, despite experiencing some challenges in using DS during reading lessons. Participants were of the view that the use

Origin of the latitudinal richness gradient

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Engemann, Kristine; Sandel, Brody Steven; Enquist, Brian J.

2015-01-01

Spatial variation in richness patterns must be due to variation in rates of speciation, extinction, immigration and emigration. Hotspots of diversity can occur either because they are hotspots of speciation (cradles) or cold spots of extinction (museums) – two major hypotheses that make contrasting...... predictions for the phylogenetic structure of communities. We test these hypotheses by comparing centers of species richness and phylogenetic clustering for vascular plants in the New World. Range maps for 88,417 plant species were extracted from the Botanical Information and Ecology Network (BIEN) database...... and combined with the BIEN mega phylogeny of >80,000 species. We calculated the Phylogenetic Diversity Index (PDI) and Net Relatedness Index (NRI) for each cell in a 100×100 km grid using a new computationally efficient algorithm. Species richness patterns were compared to patterns of PDI and NRI. We found...

The CBM RICH project

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Adamczewski-Musch, J. [GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung GmbH, D-64291 Darmstadt (Germany); Akishin, P. [Laboratory of Information Technologies, Joint Institute for Nuclear research (JINR-LIT), Dubna (Russian Federation); Becker, K.-H. [Department of Physics, University of Wuppertal, D-42097 Wuppertal (Germany); Belogurov, S. [SSC RF ITEP, 117218 Moscow (Russian Federation); Bendarouach, J. [Institute of Physics II and Institute of Applied Physics, Justus Liebig University Giessen, D-35392 Giessen (Germany); Boldyreva, N. [National Research Centre “Kurchatov Institute” B.P. Konstantinov Petersburg Nuclear Physics Institute, 188300 Gatchina (Russian Federation); Chernogorov, A. [SSC RF ITEP, 117218 Moscow (Russian Federation); Deveaux, C. [Institute of Physics II and Institute of Applied Physics, Justus Liebig University Giessen, D-35392 Giessen (Germany); Dobyrn, V. [National Research Centre “Kurchatov Institute” B.P. Konstantinov Petersburg Nuclear Physics Institute, 188300 Gatchina (Russian Federation); Dürr, M. [Institute of Physics II and Institute of Applied Physics, Justus Liebig University Giessen, D-35392 Giessen (Germany); Eschke, J. [GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung GmbH, D-64291 Darmstadt (Germany); Förtsch, J. [Department of Physics, University of Wuppertal, D-42097 Wuppertal (Germany); Heep, J.; Höhne, C. [Institute of Physics II and Institute of Applied Physics, Justus Liebig University Giessen, D-35392 Giessen (Germany); Kampert, K.-H. [Department of Physics, University of Wuppertal, D-42097 Wuppertal (Germany); and others

2017-02-11

The CBM RICH detector is an integral component of the future CBM experiment at FAIR, providing efficient electron identification and pion suppression necessary for the measurement of rare dileptonic probes in heavy ion collisions. The RICH design is based on CO{sub 2} gas as radiator, a segmented spherical glass focussing mirror with Al+MgF{sub 2} reflective coating, and Multianode Photomultipliers for efficient Cherenkov photon detection. Hamamatsu H12700 MAPMTs have recently been selected as photon sensors, following an extensive sensor evaluation, including irradiation tests to ensure sufficient radiation hardness of the MAPMTs. A brief overview of the detector design and concept is given, results on the radiation hardness of the photon sensors are shown, and the development of a FPGA-TDC based readout chain is discussed.

Testing the Relationships between Diversification, Species Richness, and Trait Evolution.

Science.gov (United States)

Kozak, Kenneth H; Wiens, John J

2016-11-01

Understanding which traits drive species diversification is essential for macroevolutionary studies and to understand patterns of species richness among clades. An important tool for testing if traits influence diversification is to estimate rates of net diversification for each clade, and then test for a relationship between traits and diversification rates among clades. However, this general approach has become very controversial. Numerous papers have now stated that it is inappropriate to analyze net diversification rates in groups in which clade richness is not positively correlated with clade age. Similarly, some have stated that variation in net diversification rates does not explain variation in species richness patterns among clades across the Tree of Life. Some authors have also suggested that strong correlations between richness and diversification rates are a statistical artifact and effectively inevitable. If this latter point is true, then correlations between richness and diversification rates would be uninformative (or even misleading) for identifying how much variation in species richness among clades is explained by variation in net diversification rates. Here, we use simulations (based on empirical data for plethodontid salamanders) to address three main questions. First, how is variation in net diversification rates among clades related to the relationship between clade age and species richness? Second, how accurate are these net diversification rate estimators, and does the age-richness relationship have any relevance to their accuracy? Third, is a relationship between species richness and diversification rates an inevitable, statistical artifact? Our simulations show that strong, positive age-richness relationships arise when diversification rates are invariant among clades, whereas realistic variation in diversification rates among clades frequently disrupts this relationship. Thus, a significant age-richness relationship should not be a

Using a Critical Service-Learning Approach to Facilitate Civic Identity Development

Science.gov (United States)

Mitchell, Tania D.

2015-01-01

This article highlights elements of civic engagement programs that have the rich potential to facilitate civic identity development. Focusing on research with alumni, the study examines 3 civic engagement programs, the approaches of which are guided by critical service-learning. It explores elements of the experiences that alumni name as…

Evaluation of Scalable Applications of Information Technology to On-Campus Learning.

Science.gov (United States)

Matthews, Harry R.; Sommer, Barbara; Maher, Michael; Acredolo, Curt; Ho, Arnold; Falk, Richard

The University of California, Davis, is transforming large general education courses in a cost-effective way that maintains high academic standards in the face of rising student enrollments. Two multi-year pilot projects have demonstrated the feasibility of using rich online learning environments to reduce the dependence on formal lectures. This…

THE REACH AND RICHNESS OF WIKINOMICS: IS THE FREE WEB-BASED ENCYCLOPEDIA WIKIPEDIA ONLY FOR RICH COUNTRIES?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rask, Morten

2007-01-01

In this article, a model of the patterns of correlation in Wikipedia, reach and richness, lays the foundation for studying whether the free Web-based encyclopedia Wikipedia is only for developed countries. Based on data from 12 different Wikipedia language editions, the author finds that the cent......In this article, a model of the patterns of correlation in Wikipedia, reach and richness, lays the foundation for studying whether the free Web-based encyclopedia Wikipedia is only for developed countries. Based on data from 12 different Wikipedia language editions, the author finds...... that the central structural effect is on the level of human development in the current country. In other words, Wikipedia is in general more for rich countries than for less developed countries. It is suggested that policy makers make investments in increasing the general level of literacy, education, and standard...

arXiv The Future of RICH Detectors through the Light of the LHCb RICH

CERN Document Server

D'Ambrosio, C.; Easo, S.; Petrolini, A.; Ullaland, O.

2017-12-21

The limitations in performance of the present RICH system in the LHCb experiment are given by the natural chromatic dispersion of the gaseous Cherenkov radiator, the aberrations of the optical system and the pixel size of the photon detectors. Moreover, the overall PID performance can be affected by high detector occupancy as the pattern recognition becomes more difficult with high particle multiplicities. This paper shows a way to improve performance by systematically addressing each of the previously mentioned limitations. These ideas are applied in the present and future upgrade phases of the LHCb experiment. Although applied to specific circumstances, they are used as a paradigm on what is achievable in the development and realisation of high precision RICH detectors.

Partitioning sources of variation in vertebrate species richness

Science.gov (United States)

Boone, R.B.; Krohn, W.B.

2000-01-01

Aim: To explore biogeographic patterns of terrestrial vertebrates in Maine, USA using techniques that would describe local and spatial correlations with the environment. Location: Maine, USA. Methods: We delineated the ranges within Maine (86,156 km2) of 275 species using literature and expert review. Ranges were combined into species richness maps, and compared to geomorphology, climate, and woody plant distributions. Methods were adapted that compared richness of all vertebrate classes to each environmental correlate, rather than assessing a single explanatory theory. We partitioned variation in species richness into components using tree and multiple linear regression. Methods were used that allowed for useful comparisons between tree and linear regression results. For both methods we partitioned variation into broad-scale (spatially autocorrelated) and fine-scale (spatially uncorrelated) explained and unexplained components. By partitioning variance, and using both tree and linear regression in analyses, we explored the degree of variation in species richness for each vertebrate group that Could be explained by the relative contribution of each environmental variable. Results: In tree regression, climate variation explained richness better (92% of mean deviance explained for all species) than woody plant variation (87%) and geomorphology (86%). Reptiles were highly correlated with environmental variation (93%), followed by mammals, amphibians, and birds (each with 84-82% deviance explained). In multiple linear regression, climate was most closely associated with total vertebrate richness (78%), followed by woody plants (67%) and geomorphology (56%). Again, reptiles were closely correlated with the environment (95%), followed by mammals (73%), amphibians (63%) and birds (57%). Main conclusions: Comparing variation explained using tree and multiple linear regression quantified the importance of nonlinear relationships and local interactions between species

Blended learning in K-12 mathematics and science instruction -- An exploratory study

Science.gov (United States)

Schmidt, Jason

Blended learning has developed into a hot topic in education over the past several years. Flipped classrooms, online learning environments, and the use of technology to deliver educational content using rich media continue to garner national attention. While generally well accepted and researched in post-secondary education, not much research has focused on blended learning in elementary, middle, and high schools. This thesis is an exploratory study to begin to determine if students and teachers like blended learning and whether or not it affects the amount of time they spend in math and science. Standardized achievement test data were also analyzed to determine if blended learning had any effect on test scores. Based on student and teacher surveys, this population seems to like blended learning and to work more efficiently in this environment. There is no evidence from this study to support any effect on student achievement.

Application of Virtual World Technologies to Undersea Warfare Learning

Science.gov (United States)

2009-08-20

rich-skill practice (source: eLearning Guild) Scilands Nanometer Acoustic Detection Exhibit at vNUWC “A school history class could, for example...requirements! • Second Life is proving to be a flexible , extremely capable VWT earning our continued focus as we strive to bring this technology to fruition in support of today and tomorrow’s war fighter. Conclusion

Deep learning for steganalysis via convolutional neural networks

Science.gov (United States)

Qian, Yinlong; Dong, Jing; Wang, Wei; Tan, Tieniu

2015-03-01

Current work on steganalysis for digital images is focused on the construction of complex handcrafted features. This paper proposes a new paradigm for steganalysis to learn features automatically via deep learning models. We novelly propose a customized Convolutional Neural Network for steganalysis. The proposed model can capture the complex dependencies that are useful for steganalysis. Compared with existing schemes, this model can automatically learn feature representations with several convolutional layers. The feature extraction and classification steps are unified under a single architecture, which means the guidance of classification can be used during the feature extraction step. We demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed model on three state-of-theart spatial domain steganographic algorithms - HUGO, WOW, and S-UNIWARD. Compared to the Spatial Rich Model (SRM), our model achieves comparable performance on BOSSbase and the realistic and large ImageNet database.

Research Notes ~ Elements of Effective e-Learning Design

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andrew R. Brown

2005-03-01

Full Text Available Preparing and developing e-learning materials is a costly and time consuming enterprise. This paper highlights the elements of effective design that we consider assist in the development of high quality materials in a cost efficient way. We introduce six elements of design and discuss each in some detail. These elements focus on paying attention to the provision of a rich learning activity, situating this activity within an interesting story line, providing meaningful opportunities for student reflection and third party criticism, considering appropriate technologies for delivery, ensuring that the design is suitable for the context in which it will be used, and bearing in mind the personal, social, and environmental impact of the designed activities. Along the way, we describe how these design elements can be effectively utilized by contextualizing them with examples from an e-learning initiative.

Making Sense of Technologically Enhanced Learning in Context: A Research Agenda

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Heilesen, Simon; Jensen, Sisse Siggaard

2006-01-01

This chapter proposes that technologically enhanced learning should be understood and evaluated by means of a combination of analytical strategies. These will allow us to analyze it both as seen from the macro analytical or ‘outside’ perspective of a rich social, cultural and technological context...... university education. Problematizing some common assumptions about technologically enhanced learning the authors define ten questions that may serve as the basis for a research agenda meant to help us understand why the many visions and ideals of the online or remediated classroom are not more widely...

Web-Based Learning for Cultural Heritage: First Experienced with Students of the Private University of Technology in Northern Taiwan

Science.gov (United States)

Yen, Y.-N.; Wu, Y.-W.; Weng, K.-H.

2013-07-01

E-learning assisted teaching and learning is the trend of the 21st century and has many advantages - freedom from the constraints of time and space, hypertext and multimedia rich resources - enhancing the interaction between students and the teaching materials. The purpose of this study is to explore how rich Internet resources assisted students with the Western Architectural History course. First, we explored the Internet resources which could assist teaching and learning activities. Second, according to course objectives, we built a web-based platform which integrated the Google spreadsheets form, SIMILE widget, Wikipedia and the Google Maps and applied it to the course of Western Architectural History. Finally, action research was applied to understanding the effectiveness of this teaching/learning mode. Participants were the students of the Department of Architecture in the Private University of Technology in northern Taiwan. Results showed that students were willing to use the web-based platform to assist their learning. They found this platform to be useful in understanding the relationship between different periods of buildings. Through the view of the map mode, this platform also helped students expand their international perspective. However, we found that the information shared by students via the Internet were not completely correct. One possible reason was that students could easily acquire information on Internet but they could not determine the correctness of the information. To conclude, this study found some useful and rich resources that could be well-integrated, from which we built a web-based platform to collect information and present this information in diverse modes to stimulate students' learning motivation. We recommend that future studies should consider hiring teaching assistants in order to ease the burden on teachers, and to assist in the maintenance of information quality.

The development of a rich multimedia training environment for crisis management: using emotional affect to enhance learning

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Liz Bacon

2011-02-01

Full Text Available PANDORA is an EU FP7-funded project developing a novel training and learning environment for Gold Commanders, individualswho carry executive responsibility for the services and facilities identified as strategically critical e.g. Police, Fire, in crisis management strategic planning situations. A key part of the work for this project is considering the emotional and behavioural state of the trainees, and the creation of more realistic, and thereby stressful, representations of multimedia information to impact on the decision-making of those trainees. Existing training models are predominantly paper-based, table-top exercises, which require an exercise of imagination on the part of the trainees to consider not only the various aspects of a crisis situation but also the impacts of interventions, and remediating actions in the event of the failure of an intervention. However, existing computing models and tools are focused on supporting tactical and operational activities in crisis management, not strategic. Therefore, the PANDORA system will provide a rich multimedia information environment, to provide trainees with the detailed information they require to develop strategic plans to deal with a crisis scenario, and will then provide information on the impacts of the implementation of those plans and provide the opportunity for the trainees to revise and remediate those plans. Since this activity is invariably multi-agency, the training environment must support group-based strategic planning activities and trainees will occupy specific roles within the crisis scenario. The system will also provide a range of non-playing characters (NPC representing domain experts, high-level controllers (e.g. politicians, ministers, low-level controllers (tactical and operational commanders, and missing trainee roles, to ensure a fully populated scenario can be realised in each instantiation. Within the environment, the emotional and behavioural state of the

Public Pedagogy and Representations of Higher Education in Popular Film: New Ground for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning

Science.gov (United States)

Johnstone, Katelyn; Marquis, Elizabeth; Puri, Varun

2018-01-01

Constructions of teaching, learning, and the university within popular culture can exert an important influence on public understandings of higher education, including those held by faculty and students. As such, they constitute a rich site of inquiry for the scholarship of teaching and learning. Drawing on the notion of film as 'public pedagogy,'…

Disturbance alters local-regional richness relationships in appalachian forests

Science.gov (United States)

Belote, R.T.; Sanders, N.J.; Jones, R.H.

2009-01-01

Whether biological diversity within communities is limited by local interactions or regional species pools remains an important question in ecology. In this paper, we investigate how an experimentally applied tree-harvesting disturbance gradient influenced local-regional richness relationships. Plant species richness was measured at three spatial scales (2 ha = regional; 576 m2 and 1 m2 = local) on three occasions (one year pre-disturbance, one year post-disturbance, and 10 years post-disturbance) across five disturbance treatments (uncut control through clearcut) replicated throughout the southern Appalachian Mountains, USA. We investigated whether species richness in 576-m2 plots and 1-m2 subplots depended on species richness in 2-ha experimental units and whether this relationship changed through time before and after canopy disturbance. We found that, before disturbance, the relationship between local and regional richness was weak or nonexistent. One year after disturbance local richness was a positive function of regional richness, because local sites were colonized from the regional species pool. Ten years after disturbance, the positive relationship persisted, but the slope had decreased by half. These results suggest that disturbance can set the stage for strong influences of regional species pools on local community assembly in temperate forests. However, as time since disturbance increases, local controls on community assembly decouple the relationships between regional and local diversity. ?? 2009 by the Ecological Society of America.

Synthesis and study of neutron-rich nuclides

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Luo, Y.X.

1995-01-01

During the past few years our understanding of the decay properties and nuclear structure has been extended in a systematic fashion for the neutron-rich nuclei. This review will discuss the impressive progress in the studies of the exotic decay properties and nuclear structure of n-rich nuclei. Their astrophysical implications will also be outlined. ((orig.))

LHCb RICH1 Engineering Design Review Report

CERN Document Server

Brook, N; Metlica, F; Muir, A; Phillips, A; Buckley, A; Gibson, V; Harrison, K; Jones, C R; Katvars, S G; Lazzeroni, C; Storey, J; Ward, CP; Wotton, S; Alemi, M; Arnabaldi, C; Bellunato, T F; Calvi, M; Matteuzzi, C; Musy, M; Negri, P; Perego, D L; Pessina, G; Chamonal, R; Eisenhardt, S; Lawrence, J; McCarron, J; Muheim, F; Playfer, S; Walker, A; Cuneo, S; Fontanelli, F; Gracco, Valerio; Mini, G; Musico, P; Petrolini, A; Sannino, M; Bates, A; MacGregor, A; O'Shea, V; Parkes, C; Paterson, S; Petrie, D; Pickford, A; Rahman, M; Soler, F; Allebone, L; Barber, J H; Cameron, W; Clark, D; Dornan, Peter John; Duane, A; Egede, U; Hallam, R; Howard, A; Plackett, R; Price, D; Savidge, T; Vidal-Sitjes, G; Websdale, D M; Adinolfi, M; Bibby, J H; Cioffi, C; Gligorov, Vladimir V; Harnew, N; Harris, F; McArthur, I A; Newby, C; Ottewell, B; Rademacker, J; Senanayake, R; Somerville, L P; Soroko, A; Smale, N J; Topp-Jørgensen, S; Wilkinson, G; Yang, S; Benayoun, M; Khmelnikov, V A; Obraztsov, V F; Densham, C J; Easo, S; Franek, B; Kuznetsov, G; Loveridge, P W; Morrow, D; Morris, JV; Papanestis, A; Patrick, G N; Woodward, M L; Aglieri-Rinella, G; Albrecht, A; Braem, André; Campbell, M; D'Ambrosio, C; Forty, R W; Frei, C; Gys, Thierry; Jamet, O; Kanaya, N; Losasso, M; Moritz, M; Patel, M; Piedigrossi, D; Snoeys, W; Ullaland, O; Van Lysebetten, A; Wyllie, K

2005-01-01

This document describes the concepts of the engineering design to be adopted for the upstream Ring Imaging Cherenkov detector (RICH1) of the reoptimized LHCb detector. Our aim is to ensure that coherent solutions for the engineering design and integration for all components of RICH1 are available, before proceeding with the detailed design of these components.

Social Network Analysis in E-Learning Environments: A Preliminary Systematic Review

Science.gov (United States)

Cela, Karina L.; Sicilia, Miguel Ángel; Sánchez, Salvador

2015-01-01

E-learning occupies an increasingly prominent place in education. It provides the learner with a rich virtual network where he or she can exchange ideas and information and create synergies through interactions with other members of the network, whether fellow learners or teachers. Social network analysis (SNA) has proven extremely powerful at…

Effects of a single dose of a flavonoid-rich blueberry drink on memory in 8 to 10 y old children.

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Whyte, Adrian R; Williams, Claire M

2015-03-01

Recent evidence from animals and adult humans has demonstrated potential benefits to cognition from flavonoid supplementation. The aim of this study was to investigate whether these cognitive benefits extended to a sample of school-aged children. Using a crossover design, with a washout of at least 7 d between drinks, 14 children ages 8 to 10 y consumed either a flavonoid-rich blueberry drink or a matched vehicle. Two h after consumption, the children completed a battery of five cognitive tests comprising the Go-NoGo, Stroop, Rey's Auditory Verbal Learning Task, Object Location Task, and a Visual N-back. In comparison to the vehicle, the blueberry drink produced significant improvements in the delayed recall of a previously learned list of words, showing for the first time a cognitive benefit for acute flavonoid intervention in children. However, performance on a measure of proactive interference indicated that the blueberry intervention led to a greater negative impact of previously memorized words on the encoding of a set of new words. There was no benefit of our blueberry intervention for measures of attention, response inhibition, or visuospatial memory. Although findings are mixed, the improvements in delayed recall found in this pilot study suggest that, following acute flavonoid-rich blueberry interventions, school-aged children encode memory items more effectively. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A Self-Organizing Incremental Neural Network based on local distribution learning.

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Xing, Youlu; Shi, Xiaofeng; Shen, Furao; Zhou, Ke; Zhao, Jinxi

2016-12-01

In this paper, we propose an unsupervised incremental learning neural network based on local distribution learning, which is called Local Distribution Self-Organizing Incremental Neural Network (LD-SOINN). The LD-SOINN combines the advantages of incremental learning and matrix learning. It can automatically discover suitable nodes to fit the learning data in an incremental way without a priori knowledge such as the structure of the network. The nodes of the network store rich local information regarding the learning data. The adaptive vigilance parameter guarantees that LD-SOINN is able to add new nodes for new knowledge automatically and the number of nodes will not grow unlimitedly. While the learning process continues, nodes that are close to each other and have similar principal components are merged to obtain a concise local representation, which we call a relaxation data representation. A denoising process based on density is designed to reduce the influence of noise. Experiments show that the LD-SOINN performs well on both artificial and real-word data. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Relativistic mean field calculations in neutron-rich nuclei

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gangopadhyay, G.; Bhattacharya, Madhubrata [Department of Physics, University of Calcutta, 92 Acharya Prafulla Chandra Road, Kolkata 700 009 (India); Roy, Subinit [Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics, Block AF, Sector 1, Kolkata- 700 064 (India)

2014-08-14

Relativistic mean field calculations have been employed to study neutron rich nuclei. The Lagrange's equations have been solved in the co-ordinate space. The effect of the continuum has been effectively taken into account through the method of resonant continuum. It is found that BCS approximation performs as well as a more involved Relativistic Continuum Hartree Bogoliubov approach. Calculations reveal the possibility of modification of magic numbers in neutron rich nuclei. Calculation for low energy proton scattering cross sections shows that the present approach reproduces the density in very light neutron rich nuclei.

Learning stoichiometry: A comparison of text and multimedia instructional formats

Science.gov (United States)

Evans, Karen L.

Even after multiple instructional opportunities, first year college chemistry students are often unable to apply stoichiometry knowledge in equilibrium and acid-base chemistry problem solving. Cognitive research findings suggest that for learning to be meaningful, learners need to actively construct their own knowledge by integrating new information into, and reorganizing, their prior understandings. Scaffolded inquiry in which facts, procedures, and principles are introduced as needed within the context of authentic problem solving may provide the practice and encoding opportunities necessary for construction of a memorable and usable knowledge base. The dynamic and interactive capabilities of online technology may facilitate stoichiometry instruction that promotes this meaningful learning. Entering college freshmen were randomly assigned to either a technology-rich or text-only set of cognitively informed stoichiometry review materials. Analysis of posttest scores revealed a significant but small difference in the performance of the two treatment groups, with the technology-rich group having the advantage. Both SAT and gender, however, explained more of the variability in the scores. Analysis of the posttest scores from the technology-rich treatment group revealed that the degree of interaction with the Virtual Lab simulation was significantly related to posttest performance and subsumed any effect of prior knowledge as measured by SAT scores. Future users of the online course should be encouraged to engage with the problem-solving opportunities provided by the Virtual Lab simulation through either explicit instruction and/or implementation of some level of program control within the course's navigational features.

An analysis of medical students’ reflective essays in problem-based learning

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jihyun Si

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Purpose This study aimed to explore students’ learning experience in problem-based learning (PBL particularly in terms of what they learned and how they learned in one Korean medical school by analyzing their reflective essays with qualitative research methods. Methods This study included 44 first-year medical students. They took three consecutive PBL courses and wrote reflective essays 3 times anonymously on the last day of each course. Their reflective essays were analyzed using an inductive content analysis method. Results The coding process yielded 16 sub-categories and these categories were grouped into six categories according to the distinctive characteristics of PBL learning experience: integrated knowledge base, clinical problem solving, collaboration, intrinsic motivation, self-directed learning, and professional attitude. Among these categories, integrated knowledge base (34.68% and professional attitude (2.31% were the categories mentioned most and least frequently. Conclusion The findings of this study provide an overall understanding of the learning experience of Korean medical students during PBL in terms of what they learned and how they learned with rich descriptive commentaries from their perspectives as well as several thoughtful insights to help develop instructional strategies to enhance the effectiveness of PBL.

Social learning: medical student perceptions of geriatric house calls.

Science.gov (United States)

Abbey, Linda; Willett, Rita; Selby-Penczak, Rachel; McKnight, Roberta

2010-01-01

Bandura's social learning theory provides a useful conceptual framework to understand medical students' perceptions of a house calls experience at Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine. Social learning and role modeling reflect Liaison Committee on Medical Education guidelines for "Medical schools (to) ensure that the learning environment for medical students promotes the development of explicit and appropriate professional attributes (attitudes, behaviors, and identity) in their medical students." This qualitative study reports findings from open-ended survey questions from 123 medical students who observed a preceptor during house calls to elderly homebound patients. Their comments included reflections on the medical treatment as well as interactions with family and professional care providers. Student insights about the social learning process they experienced during house calls to geriatric patients characterized physician role models as dedicated, compassionate, and communicative. They also described patient care in the home environment as comprehensive, personalized, more relaxed, and comfortable. Student perceptions reflect an appreciation of the richness and complexity of details learned from home visits and social interaction with patients, families, and caregivers.

Differences in species richness patterns between unicellular and multicellular organisms.

Science.gov (United States)

Hillebrand, Helmut; Watermann, Frank; Karez, Rolf; Berninger, Ulrike-G

2001-01-01

For unicellular organisms, a lack of effects of local species richness on ecosystem function has been proposed due to their locally high species richness and their ubiquitous distribution. High dispersal ability and high individual numbers may enable unicellular taxa to occur everywhere. Using our own and published data sets on uni- and multicellular organisms, we conducted thorough statistical analyses to test whether (1) unicellular taxa show higher relative local species richness compared to multicellular taxa, (2) unicellular taxa show lower slopes of the species:area relationships and species:individuals relationships, and (3) the species composition of unicellular taxa is less influenced by geographic distance compared to multicellular taxa. We found higher local species richness compared to the global species pool for unicellular organisms than for metazoan taxa. The difference was significant if global species richness was conservatively estimated but not if extrapolated, and therefore higher richness estimates were used. Both microalgae and protozoans showed lower slopes between species richness and sample size (area or individuals) compared to macrozoobenthos, also indicating higher local species richness for unicellular taxa. The similarity of species composition of both benthic diatoms and ciliates decreased with increasing geographic distance. This indicated restricted dispersal ability of protists and the absence of ubiquity. However, a steeper slope between similarity and distance was found for polychaetes and corals, suggesting a stronger effect of distance on the dispersal of metazoans compared to unicellular taxa. In conclusion, we found partly different species richness patterns among uni- and multicellular eukaryotes, but no strict ubiquity of unicellular taxa. Therefore, the effect of local unicellular species richness on ecosystem function has to be reanalyzed. Macroecological patterns suggested for multicellular organisms may differ in

Learning Ecosystem Complexity: A Study on Small-Scale Fishers' Ecological Knowledge Generation

Science.gov (United States)

Garavito-Bermúdez, Diana

2018-01-01

Small-scale fisheries are learning contexts of importance for generating, transferring and updating ecological knowledge of natural environments through everyday work practices. The rich knowledge fishers have of local ecosystems is the result of the intimate relationship fishing communities have had with their natural environments across…

A Virtual Walk through London: Culture Learning through a Cultural Immersion Experience

Science.gov (United States)

Shih, Ya-Chun

2015-01-01

Integrating Google Street View into a three-dimensional virtual environment in which users control personal avatars provides these said users with access to an innovative, interactive, and real-world context for communication and culture learning. We have selected London, a city famous for its rich historical, architectural, and artistic heritage,…

Changing viewer perspectives reveals constraints to implicit visual statistical learning.

Science.gov (United States)

Jiang, Yuhong V; Swallow, Khena M

2014-10-07

Statistical learning-learning environmental regularities to guide behavior-likely plays an important role in natural human behavior. One potential use is in search for valuable items. Because visual statistical learning can be acquired quickly and without intention or awareness, it could optimize search and thereby conserve energy. For this to be true, however, visual statistical learning needs to be viewpoint invariant, facilitating search even when people walk around. To test whether implicit visual statistical learning of spatial information is viewpoint independent, we asked participants to perform a visual search task from variable locations around a monitor placed flat on a stand. Unbeknownst to participants, the target was more often in some locations than others. In contrast to previous research on stationary observers, visual statistical learning failed to produce a search advantage for targets in high-probable regions that were stable within the environment but variable relative to the viewer. This failure was observed even when conditions for spatial updating were optimized. However, learning was successful when the rich locations were referenced relative to the viewer. We conclude that changing viewer perspective disrupts implicit learning of the target's location probability. This form of learning shows limited integration with spatial updating or spatiotopic representations. © 2014 ARVO.

Word learning mechanisms.

Science.gov (United States)

He, Angela Xiaoxue; Arunachalam, Sudha

2017-07-01

How do children acquire the meanings of words? Many word learning mechanisms have been proposed to guide learners through this challenging task. Despite the availability of rich information in the learner's linguistic and extralinguistic input, the word-learning task is insurmountable without such mechanisms for filtering through and utilizing that information. Different kinds of words, such as nouns denoting object concepts and verbs denoting event concepts, require to some extent different kinds of information and, therefore, access to different kinds of mechanisms. We review some of these mechanisms to examine the relationship between the input that is available to learners and learners' intake of that input-that is, the organized, interpreted, and stored representations they form. We discuss how learners segment individual words from the speech stream and identify their grammatical categories, how they identify the concepts denoted by these words, and how they refine their initial representations of word meanings. WIREs Cogn Sci 2017, 8:e1435. doi: 10.1002/wcs.1435 This article is categorized under: Linguistics > Language Acquisition Psychology > Language. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Butterfly Species Richness in Selected West Albertine Rift Forests

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Patrice Kasangaki

2012-01-01

Full Text Available The butterfly species richness of 17 forests located in the western arm of the Albertine Rift in Uganda was compared using cluster analysis and principal components analysis (PCA to assess similarities among the forests. The objective was to compare the butterfly species richness of the forests. A total of 630 butterfly species were collected in 5 main families. The different species fell into 7 ecological groupings with the closed forest group having the most species and the swamp/wetland group with the fewest number of species. Three clusters were obtained. The first cluster had forests characterized by relatively high altitude and low species richness despite the big area in the case of Rwenzori and being close to the supposed Pleistocene refugium. The second cluster had forests far away from the supposed refugium except Kisangi and moderate species richness with small areas, whereas the third cluster had those forests that were more disturbed, high species richness, and low altitudinal levels with big areas.

LHCB : The upgraded LHCb RICH detector: status and perspectives

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Cardinale, Roberta

2015-01-01

The LHCb experiment is designed to perform high-precision measurements of CP violation and search for New Physics using the enormous flux of beauty and charmed hadrons produced at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). The two RICH detectors installed in LHCb have performed successfully during the 2010-2012 data taking period. The data from these detectors were essential to most of the physics results published by LHCb. In order to extend its potential for discovery and study of new phenomena it is planned to upgrade the LHCb experiment in 2018 with a 40MHz readout and a much more flexible software-based triggering system. This would increase the readout rate and occupancies for the RICH detectors. The RICH detector will require new photon detectors and modifications of the optics of the upstream RICH detector. Tests of the complete opto-electronic chain have been performed during testbeam sessions in autumn 2014. The status and perspectives of the RICH upgrade project will be presented.

Using Social Learning Methodologies in Higher Education

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

María-Estrella Sousa-Vieira

2015-05-01

Full Text Available It is commonly accepted that contemporary cohorts of students witness and experience the benefits of information technologies in their learning processes. The so-called ``digital natives'' acquire, as a consequence of their early exposure to these technologies, different patterns of work, distinct attention conducts, new learning preferences and, generally, better skills for learning and working within rich online social contexts. So, it seems reasonable that the traditional education systems evolve and shape their practice to leverage those new patterns. Despite the fact that online social networks (OSNs are widely recognized as a powerful tool for adding a new social dimension to the learning management systems (LMSs, OSNs do not fully integrate the specific features of the learning process yet and LMSs do not exploit the advantages of an active social environment for reinforcing the learning experience. We report in this paper the design, development and use of a software platform which enlarges and adapts the basic features of an OSN in order to be useful for very general learning environments. The software allows the creation, assessment and reporting of a range of collaborative activities based on social interactions among the students, and offers a reward mechanism by means of ranking and reputation. We argue that this approach is helpful in increasing the students' motivation, besides improving the learning experience and performance. The software has been tested in an undergraduate course about computer networks. Different tests confirm that the impact on learning success is statistically significant and positive.

Neutron rich nuclei

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Foucher, R.

1979-01-01

If some β - emitters are particularly interesting to study in light, medium, and heavy nuclei, another (and also) difficult problem is to know systematically the properties of these neutron rich nuclei far from the stability line. A review of some of their characteristics is presented. How far is it possible to be objective in the interpretation of data is questioned and implications are discussed

Rich-Club Organization in Effective Connectivity among Cortical Neurons

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Shimono, Masanori; Ito, Shinya; Yeh, Fang-Chin; Timme, Nicholas; Myroshnychenko, Maxym; Lapish, Christopher C.; Tosi, Zachary; Hottowy, Pawel; Smith, Wesley C.; Masmanidis, Sotiris C.; Litke, Alan M.; Sporns, Olaf; Beggs, John M.

2016-01-01

The performance of complex networks, like the brain, depends on how effectively their elements communicate. Despite the importance of communication, it is virtually unknown how information is transferred in local cortical networks, consisting of hundreds of closely spaced neurons. To address this, it is important to record simultaneously from hundreds of neurons at a spacing that matches typical axonal connection distances, and at a temporal resolution that matches synaptic delays. We used a 512-electrode array (60 μm spacing) to record spontaneous activity at 20 kHz from up to 500 neurons simultaneously in slice cultures of mouse somatosensory cortex for 1 h at a time. We applied a previously validated version of transfer entropy to quantify information transfer. Similar to in vivo reports, we found an approximately lognormal distribution of firing rates. Pairwise information transfer strengths also were nearly lognormally distributed, similar to reports of synaptic strengths. Some neurons transferred and received much more information than others, which is consistent with previous predictions. Neurons with the highest outgoing and incoming information transfer were more strongly connected to each other than chance, thus forming a “rich club.” We found similar results in networks recorded in vivo from rodent cortex, suggesting the generality of these findings. A rich-club structure has been found previously in large-scale human brain networks and is thought to facilitate communication between cortical regions. The discovery of a small, but information-rich, subset of neurons within cortical regions suggests that this population will play a vital role in communication, learning, and memory. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Many studies have focused on communication networks between cortical brain regions. In contrast, very few studies have examined communication networks within a cortical region. This is the first study to combine such a large number of neurons (several

Rich-Club Organization in Effective Connectivity among Cortical Neurons.

Science.gov (United States)

Nigam, Sunny; Shimono, Masanori; Ito, Shinya; Yeh, Fang-Chin; Timme, Nicholas; Myroshnychenko, Maxym; Lapish, Christopher C; Tosi, Zachary; Hottowy, Pawel; Smith, Wesley C; Masmanidis, Sotiris C; Litke, Alan M; Sporns, Olaf; Beggs, John M

2016-01-20

The performance of complex networks, like the brain, depends on how effectively their elements communicate. Despite the importance of communication, it is virtually unknown how information is transferred in local cortical networks, consisting of hundreds of closely spaced neurons. To address this, it is important to record simultaneously from hundreds of neurons at a spacing that matches typical axonal connection distances, and at a temporal resolution that matches synaptic delays. We used a 512-electrode array (60 μm spacing) to record spontaneous activity at 20 kHz from up to 500 neurons simultaneously in slice cultures of mouse somatosensory cortex for 1 h at a time. We applied a previously validated version of transfer entropy to quantify information transfer. Similar to in vivo reports, we found an approximately lognormal distribution of firing rates. Pairwise information transfer strengths also were nearly lognormally distributed, similar to reports of synaptic strengths. Some neurons transferred and received much more information than others, which is consistent with previous predictions. Neurons with the highest outgoing and incoming information transfer were more strongly connected to each other than chance, thus forming a "rich club." We found similar results in networks recorded in vivo from rodent cortex, suggesting the generality of these findings. A rich-club structure has been found previously in large-scale human brain networks and is thought to facilitate communication between cortical regions. The discovery of a small, but information-rich, subset of neurons within cortical regions suggests that this population will play a vital role in communication, learning, and memory. Significance statement: Many studies have focused on communication networks between cortical brain regions. In contrast, very few studies have examined communication networks within a cortical region. This is the first study to combine such a large number of neurons (several

Omega-3 deficiency impairs honey bee learning

Science.gov (United States)

Arien, Yael; Dag, Arnon; Zarchin, Shlomi; Masci, Tania

2015-01-01

Deficiency in essential omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), particularly the long-chain form of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), has been linked to health problems in mammals, including many mental disorders and reduced cognitive performance. Insects have very low long-chain PUFA concentrations, and the effect of omega-3 deficiency on cognition in insects has not been studied. We show a low omega-6:3 ratio of pollen collected by honey bee colonies in heterogenous landscapes and in many hand-collected pollens that we analyzed. We identified Eucalyptus as an important bee-forage plant particularly poor in omega-3 and high in the omega-6:3 ratio. We tested the effect of dietary omega-3 deficiency on olfactory and tactile associative learning of the economically highly valued honey bee. Bees fed either of two omega-3–poor diets, or Eucalyptus pollen, showed greatly reduced learning abilities in conditioned proboscis-extension assays compared with those fed omega-3–rich diets, or omega-3–rich pollen mixture. The effect on performance was not due to reduced sucrose sensitivity. Omega-3 deficiency also led to smaller hypopharyngeal glands. Bee brains contained high omega-3 concentrations, which were only slightly affected by diet, suggesting additional peripheral effects on learning. The shift from a low to high omega-6:3 ratio in the Western human diet is deemed a primary cause of many diseases and reduced mental health. A similar shift seems to be occurring in bee forage, possibly an important factor in colony declines. Our study shows the detrimental effect on cognitive performance of omega-3 deficiency in a nonmammal. PMID:26644556

ENERGY-NET (Energy, Environment and Society Learning Network): Best Practices to Enhance Informal Geoscience Learning

Science.gov (United States)

Rossi, R.; Elliott, E. M.; Bain, D.; Crowley, K. J.; Steiner, M. A.; Divers, M. T.; Hopkins, K. G.; Giarratani, L.; Gilmore, M. E.

2014-12-01

While energy links all living and non-living systems, the integration of energy, the environment, and society is often not clearly represented in 9 - 12 classrooms and informal learning venues. However, objective public learning that integrates these components is essential for improving public environmental literacy. ENERGY-NET (Energy, Environment and Society Learning Network) is a National Science Foundation funded initiative that uses an Earth Systems Science framework to guide experimental learning for high school students and to improve public learning opportunities regarding the energy-environment-society nexus in a Museum setting. One of the primary objectives of the ENERGY-NET project is to develop a rich set of experimental learning activities that are presented as exhibits at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (USA). Here we detail the evolution of the ENERGY-NET exhibit building process and the subsequent evolution of exhibit content over the past three years. While preliminary plans included the development of five "exploration stations" (i.e., traveling activity carts) per calendar year, the opportunity arose to create a single, larger topical exhibit per semester, which was assumed to have a greater impact on museum visitors. Evaluative assessments conducted to date reveal important practices to be incorporated into ongoing exhibit development: 1) Undergraduate mentors and teen exhibit developers should receive additional content training to allow richer exhibit materials. 2) The development process should be distributed over as long a time period as possible and emphasize iteration. This project can serve as a model for other collaborations between geoscience departments and museums. In particular, these practices may streamline development of public presentations and increase the effectiveness of experimental learning activities.

Mind tools contributing to an ICT-rich learning environment for technology education en primary schools

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Lou A.M.P. Slangen; Peter B. Sloep

2005-01-01

This paper examines how the learning environment in primary education can be enhanced by stimulating the use of innovative ICT applications. In particular, this discussion focuses on mind tools as a means of leveraging ICT for the development of cognitive skills. The stimulating effect of mind tools

The effect of platelet-rich plasma on composite graft survival.

Science.gov (United States)

Jeon, Yeo Reum; Kang, Eun Hye; Yang, Chae Eun; Yun, In Sik; Lee, Won Jai; Lew, Dae Hyun

2014-08-01

Composite grafts are suitable for facial reconstruction because of good color matching, low donor-site morbidity, acceptable texture, and easy surgical techniques. However, their use is limited to small defects and by unpredictable survival rates. As platelet-rich plasma contains large numbers of growth factors and has been widely used for tissue regeneration, this study aimed to investigate platelet-rich plasma as an adjuvant to enhance composite graft survival. Twenty New Zealand White rabbits were used, and chondrocutaneous composite grafts were applied to their ears. The grafts were then returned to their original positions after rotation to block the original circulation from the base of the graft. Each of the individual ears was assigned randomly into one of two groups: experimental (n=20; platelet-rich plasma group) or control (n=20; control group). The surrounding skin of the composite graft was injected with either 1.0 ml of platelet-rich plasma derived from autologous whole blood in the platelet-rich plasma group or normal saline in the control group. Graft survival, cutaneous blood flow, CD31-stained vessels, and vascular endothelial growth factor protein levels were examined. Twelve days after surgery, graft viability in the platelet-rich plasma group was higher than in the control group. Blood perfusion was also higher in the platelet-rich plasma group. Compared with the control group, the number of CD31 blood vessels and vascular endothelial growth factor expression levels were significantly increased in the platelet-rich plasma group. The authors' results suggest that platelet-rich plasma restores the perfusion of composite grafts by enhancing revascularization and may exert therapeutic effects on the survival of composite grafts.

Small leucine-rich proteoglycans in the aging skeleton

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Young, M F; Bi, Y; Ameye, L

2006-01-01

Small Leucine-Rich Proteoglyans (SLRPs) are major skeletal extracellular matrix (ECM) components that comprise a family of 13 members containing repeats of a leucine-rich motif. To examine SLRP function, we generated mice deficient in one or more member and analyzed them at the tissue, cell...

Reflective learning in community-based dental education.

Science.gov (United States)

Deogade, Suryakant C; Naitam, Dinesh

2016-01-01

Community-based dental education (CBDE) is the implementation of dental education in a specific social context, which shifts a substantial part of dental clinical education from dental teaching institutional clinics to mainly public health settings. Dental students gain additional value from CBDE when they are guided through a reflective process of learning. We propose some key elements to the existing CBDE program that support meaningful personal learning experiences. Dental rotations of 'externships' in community-based clinical settings (CBCS) are year-long community-based placements and have proven to be strong learning environments where students develop good communication skills and better clinical reasoning and management skills. We look at the characteristics of CBDE and how the social and personal context provided in communities enhances dental education. Meaningfulness is created by the authentic context, which develops over a period of time. Structured reflection assignments and methods are suggested as key elements in the existing CBDE program. Strategies to enrich community-based learning experiences for dental students include: Photographic documentation; written narratives; critical incident reports; and mentored post-experiential small group discussions. A directed process of reflection is suggested as a way to increase the impact of the community learning experiences. We suggest key elements to the existing CBDE module so that the context-rich environment of CBDE allows for meaningful relations and experiences for dental students and enhanced learning.

Student Engagement in a Computer Rich Science Classroom

Science.gov (United States)

Hunter, Jeffrey C.

The purpose of this study was to examine the student lived experience when using computers in a rural science classroom. The overarching question the project sought to examine was: How do rural students relate to computers as a learning tool in comparison to a traditional science classroom? Participant data were collected using a pre-study survey, Experience Sampling during class and post-study interviews. Students want to use computers in their classrooms. Students shared that they overwhelmingly (75%) preferred a computer rich classroom to a traditional classroom (25%). Students reported a higher level of engagement in classes that use technology/computers (83%) versus those that do not use computers (17%). A computer rich classroom increased student control and motivation as reflected by a participant who shared; "by using computers I was more motivated to get the work done" (Maggie, April 25, 2014, survey). The researcher explored a rural school environment. Rural populations represent a large number of students and appear to be underrepresented in current research. The participants, tenth grade Biology students, were sampled in a traditional teacher led class without computers for one week followed by a week using computers daily. Data supported that there is a new gap that separates students, a device divide. This divide separates those who have access to devices that are robust enough to do high level class work from those who do not. Although cellular phones have reduced the number of students who cannot access the Internet, they may have created a false feeling that access to a computer is no longer necessary at home. As this study shows, although most students have Internet access, fewer have access to a device that enables them to complete rigorous class work at home. Participants received little or no training at school in proper, safe use of a computer and the Internet. It is clear that the majorities of students are self-taught or receive guidance

Three-dimensional structure and cytokine distribution of platelet-rich fibrin.

Science.gov (United States)

Bai, Meng-Yi; Wang, Ching-Wei; Wang, Jyun-Yi; Lin, Ming-Fang; Chan, Wing P

2017-02-01

Previous reports have revealed that several cytokines (including platelet-derived growth factor-BB, transforming growth factors-β1 and insulin-like growth factor-1) can enhance the rate of bone formation and synthesis of extracellular matrix in orthopaedics or periodontology. This study aimed to determine the concentration of cytokines within platelet-rich fibrin microstructures and investigate whether there are differences in the different portions of platelet-rich fibrin, which has implications for proper clinical use of platelet-rich fibrin gel. Whole blood was obtained from six New Zealand rabbits (male, 7 to 39 weeks old, weight 2.7-4 kg); it was then centrifuged for preparation of platelet-rich fibrin gels and harvest of plasma. The resultant platelet-rich fibrin gels were used for cytokine determination, histological analyses and scanning electron microscopy. All plasmas obtained were subject to the same cytokine determination assays for the purpose of comparison. Cytokines platelet-derived growth factor-BB and transforming growth factor-β1 formed concentration gradients from high at the red blood cell end of the platelet-rich fibrin gel (p=1.88×10-5) to low at the plasma end (p=0.19). Insulin-like growth factor-1 concentrations were similar at the red blood cell and plasma ends. The porosities of the platelet-rich fibrin samples taken in sequence from the red blood cell end to the plasma end were 6.5% ± 4.9%, 24.8% ± 7.5%, 30.3% ± 8.5%, 41.4% ± 12.3%, and 40.3% ± 11.7%, respectively, showing a gradual decrease in the compactness of the platelet-rich fibrin network. Cytokine concentrations are positively associated with platelet-rich fibrin microstructure and portion in a rabbit model. As platelet-rich fibrin is the main entity currently used in regenerative medicine, assessing cytokine concentration and the most valuable portion of PRF gels is essential and recommended to all physicians.

Three-dimensional structure and cytokine distribution of platelet-rich fibrin

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Meng-Yi Bai

Full Text Available OBJECTIVES: Previous reports have revealed that several cytokines (including platelet-derived growth factor-BB, transforming growth factors-β1 and insulin-like growth factor-1 can enhance the rate of bone formation and synthesis of extracellular matrix in orthopaedics or periodontology. This study aimed to determine the concentration of cytokines within platelet-rich fibrin microstructures and investigate whether there are differences in the different portions of platelet-rich fibrin, which has implications for proper clinical use of platelet-rich fibrin gel. METHODS: Whole blood was obtained from six New Zealand rabbits (male, 7 to 39 weeks old, weight 2.7-4 kg; it was then centrifuged for preparation of platelet-rich fibrin gels and harvest of plasma. The resultant platelet-rich fibrin gels were used for cytokine determination, histological analyses and scanning electron microscopy. All plasmas obtained were subject to the same cytokine determination assays for the purpose of comparison. RESULTS: Cytokines platelet-derived growth factor-BB and transforming growth factor-β1 formed concentration gradients from high at the red blood cell end of the platelet-rich fibrin gel (p=1.88×10-5 to low at the plasma end (p=0.19. Insulin-like growth factor-1 concentrations were similar at the red blood cell and plasma ends. The porosities of the platelet-rich fibrin samples taken in sequence from the red blood cell end to the plasma end were 6.5% ± 4.9%, 24.8% ± 7.5%, 30.3% ± 8.5%, 41.4% ± 12.3%, and 40.3% ± 11.7%, respectively, showing a gradual decrease in the compactness of the platelet-rich fibrin network. CONCLUSION: Cytokine concentrations are positively associated with platelet-rich fibrin microstructure and portion in a rabbit model. As platelet-rich fibrin is the main entity currently used in regenerative medicine, assessing cytokine concentration and the most valuable portion of PRF gels is essential and recommended to all physicians.

Reconstruction and calibration strategies for the LHCb RICH detector

CERN Multimedia

2006-01-01

- LHCb particle identification - LHCb ring pattern recognition algorithm requirements - RICH pattern recognition - Cherenkov angle reconstruction online - Online PID - Hough transform - Metropolis- Hastings Markov chains - PID online: physics performances - Rich PID Callibration

Semantic Richness and Word Learning in Children with Hearing Loss Who Are Developing Spoken Language: A Single Case Design Study

Science.gov (United States)

Lund, Emily; Douglas, W. Michael; Schuele, C. Melanie

2015-01-01

Children with hearing loss who are developing spoken language tend to lag behind children with normal hearing in vocabulary knowledge. Thus, researchers must validate instructional practices that lead to improved vocabulary outcomes for children with hearing loss. The purpose of this study was to investigate how semantic richness of instruction…

Production of conjugated linoleic acid-rich potato chips.

Science.gov (United States)

Jain, Vishal P; Proctor, Andrew

2007-01-01

Conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) is found primarily in diary and beef products, but the health benefits of CLA can only be realized if they are consumed at much greater levels than a normal healthy dietary intake. We have recently shown that a CLA-rich soy oil can be produced by simple isomerization of linoleic acid in soy oil by photoirradiation. This oil may allow greatly increased dietary CLA without significantly elevating fat intake. The objective of this study was to prepare CLA-rich potato chips by frying in CLA-rich soy oil. Soy oil was photoisomerized in the presence of iodine catalyst with UV/visible light. The irradiated oil was clay processed to remove the residual iodine and this oil was then used to fry potato chips. Oil was extracted from fried chips and analyzed for its CLA content with gas chromatography. A 1-oz serving of CLA-rich potato chips contained approximately 2.4 g CLA as compared to 0.1 g CLA in 3-oz serving of steak fillet and 0.06 g CLA in 8-oz serving of whole milk. The peroxide value of the oil extracted from potato chips was found to be 1 meq/1000 g sample, which was within the acceptable commercial standards. This study may lead to the commercialization of CLA-rich food products.

Community-based medical education: is success a result of meaningful personal learning experiences?

Science.gov (United States)

Kelly, Len; Walters, Lucie; Rosenthal, David

2014-01-01

Community-based medical education (CBME) is the delivery of medical education in a specific social context. Learners become a part of social and medical communities where their learning occurs. Longitudinal integrated clerkships (LICs) are year-long community-based placements where the curriculum and clinical experience is typically delivered by primary care physicians. These programs have proven to be robust learning environments, where learners develop strong communication skills and excellent clinical reasoning. To date, no learning model has been offered to describe CBME. The characteristics of CBME are explored by the authors who suggest that the social and professional context provided in small communities enhances medical education. The authors postulate that meaningfulness is engendered by the authentic context, which develops over time. These relationships with preceptors, patients and the community provide meaningfulness, which in turn enhances learning. The authors develop a novel learning model. They propose that the context-rich environment of CBME allows for meaningful relationships and experiences for students and that such meaningfulness enhances learning.

Hamman-Rich syndrome in a goldsmith

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kirchner, J.; Stein, A.; Jacobi, V.; Viel, K.

1997-01-01

We report the case of a 54-year-old goldsmith admitted because of dyspnea on exertion, persistent cough, and weakness under the suspicion of exogenous allergic alveolitis. He rapidly developed progressive lung fibrosis with exitus letalis 7 weeks after admission. Radiological examination (chest X-ray and HRCT) first showed ground glass opacities, and later rapid development of severe interstitial pattern with architectural distraction. The findings were similar to idiopathic lung fibrosis; however, the rare Hamman-Rich syndrome was confirmed by progressive course of the disease. Correlations between Hamann-Rich syndrome and idiopathic lung fibrosis are discussed. (orig.) [de

Teaching students in place: the languages of third space learning

Science.gov (United States)

Morawski, Cynthia M.

2017-09-01

With a perceptive eye cast on geoscience pedagogy for students labeled as disabled, Martinez-Álvarez makes important contributions to the existing conversation on placed-based learning. It is in our local backyards, from the corner basketball court, to the mud bank of a city lake, to the adjacent field where rocky outcrops spill down to a forgotten farmer's field, that we find rich working material for connecting self and community, moving students' out-of-school experiences that feature their cultural and linguistic knowledge, from misconceptions to "alternative conceptions." Informed by her insights regarding the learning of students whose literacy does not match conventional classroom practice, geoscience learning in the place of third space can act as a model of meaning making across the entire curriculum. In the pages that follow, I transact, both aesthetically and efferently, with Martinez-Álvarez's text as she presents her research on special ways of learning in placed-based geoscience explorations with bilingual children experiencing disabilities.

Paths through interpretive territory: Two teachers' enactment of a technology-rich, inquiry-fostering science curriculum

Science.gov (United States)

McDonald, Scott Powell

New understandings about how people learn and constructivist pedagogy pose challenges for teachers. Science teachers face an additional challenge of developing inquiry-based pedagogy to foster complex reasoning skills. Theory provides only fuzzy guidance as to how constructivist or inquiry pedagogy can be accomplished in a wide variety of contexts and local constraints. This study contributes to the understanding of the development of constructivist, inquiry-based pedagogy by addressing the question: How do teachers interpret and enact a technology-rich, inquiry fostering science curricula for fifth grade students' biodiversity learning? This research is a case study of two teachers chosen as critical contrasting cases and represent differences across multiple criteria including: urban I suburban, teaching philosophy, and content preparation. The two fifth grade teachers each enacted BioKIDS: Kids' Inquiry in Diverse Species, an eight week curriculum focused on biodiversity. BioKIDS incorporates multiple learning technologies to support student learning including handheld computer software designed to help students collect field data, and a web-based resource for data on local animal species. The results of this study indicate there are tensions teachers must struggle with when setting goals during enactment of inquiry science curricula. They must find a balance between an emphasis on authentic learning and authentic science, and between natural history and natural science. Authentic learning focuses on students' interests and lives; Authentic science focuses on students working with the tools and processes of science. Natural history focuses on the foundational skills in science of observation and classification. Natural science focuses on analytical science drawing on data to develop claims about the world. These two key tensions in teachers' goal setting were critical in defining and understanding differences in how teachers interpreted a curriculum to meet

Diversification rates and species richness across the Tree of Life.

Science.gov (United States)

Scholl, Joshua P; Wiens, John J

2016-09-14

Species richness varies dramatically among clades across the Tree of Life, by over a million-fold in some cases (e.g. placozoans versus arthropods). Two major explanations for differences in richness among clades are the clade-age hypothesis (i.e. species-rich clades are older) and the diversification-rate hypothesis (i.e. species-rich clades diversify more rapidly, where diversification rate is the net balance of speciation and extinction over time). Here, we examine patterns of variation in diversification rates across the Tree of Life. We address how rates vary across higher taxa, whether rates within higher taxa are related to the subclades within them, and how diversification rates of clades are related to their species richness. We find substantial variation in diversification rates, with rates in plants nearly twice as high as in animals, and rates in some eukaryotes approximately 10-fold faster than prokaryotes. Rates for each kingdom-level clade are then significantly related to the subclades within them. Although caution is needed when interpreting relationships between diversification rates and richness, a positive relationship between the two is not inevitable. We find that variation in diversification rates seems to explain most variation in richness among clades across the Tree of Life, in contrast to the conclusions of previous studies. © 2016 The Author(s).

Likeability of Garden Birds: Importance of Species Knowledge & Richness in Connecting People to Nature.

Science.gov (United States)

Cox, Daniel T C; Gaston, Kevin J

2015-01-01

Interacting with nature is widely recognised as providing many health and well-being benefits. As people live increasingly urbanised lifestyles, the provision of food for garden birds may create a vital link for connecting people to nature and enabling them to access these benefits. However, it is not clear which factors determine the pleasure that people receive from watching birds at their feeders. These may be dependent on the species that are present, the abundance of individuals and the species richness of birds around the feeders. We quantitatively surveyed urban households from towns in southern England to determine the factors that influence the likeability of 14 common garden bird species, and to assess whether people prefer to see a greater abundance of individuals or increased species richness at their feeders. There was substantial variation in likeability across species, with songbirds being preferred over non-songbirds. Species likeability increased for people who fed birds regularly and who could name the species. We found a strong correlation between the number of species that a person could correctly identify and how connected to nature they felt when they watched garden birds. Species richness was preferred over a greater number of individuals of the same species. Although we do not show causation this study suggests that it is possible to increase the well-being benefits that people gain from watching birds at their feeders. This could be done first through a human to bird approach by encouraging regular interactions between people and their garden birds, such as through learning the species names and providing food. Second, it could be achieved through a bird to human approach by increasing garden songbird diversity because the pleasure that a person receives from watching an individual bird at a feeder is dependent not only on its species but also on the diversity of birds at the feeder.

Functional richness: Overview of indices and underlying concepts

Science.gov (United States)

Legras, G.; Loiseau, N.; Gaertner, J.-C.

2018-02-01

Functional richness, currently defined as the amount of niche space occupied by the species within a community, is one of the three major components of functional diversity. Different indices have been developed in order to quantify this component. However, the range of indices available for assessing functional richness, often mathematically complex and based on different rationales, can cause confusion for field ecologists and lead to misinterpretation of the results obtained. In this context, we have provided the first study exclusively focused on the comparison of the definitions, advantages and drawbacks of a large set of functional richness indices. The first part of this work is focused on four indices (FDP&G, FRic, TOP and N-hypervolumes indices) that are currently the most commonly used for assessing functional richness. We have completed our study by including recently developed indices that enable us to take into account the intraspecific trait variability (i.e. FRim index and TDP framework), because there is currently a growing scientific consensus regarding the necessity of including this aspect in the assessment of the functional diversity of communities. We demonstrate that although authors have argued that their index describes the functional richness, each of them describes only part of it, and this part may strongly differ from one index to another. Rather than advocating the general use of a single index and/or systematically avoiding others, our study highlights the need for selecting indices in close relation with the context, the available data and the aims of each study. Such a strategy is an essential preliminary step for preventing misunderstanding and artefactual controversies. Along these lines, we propose some guidelines to help users in selecting the most appropriate indices according both to the facet of functional richness on which they wish to focus and to the characteristics of the available data.

Platelet rich plasma in dermatology and aesthetic medicine

OpenAIRE

Neerja Puri

2015-01-01

Platelet rich plasma is a promising therapy in dermatology and aesthetic medicine. In this article we will discuss the pros and cons of platelet rich plasma (PRP) and the usage of PRP in aesthetics. PRP is especially used for conditions like facial and neck rejuvenation, fine lines and wrinkles, abdominal striae and facial scarring.

Species richness inside and outside long-term exclosures

Science.gov (United States)

W. A. Laycock; D. L. Bartos; K. D. Klement

2004-01-01

Recent environmental literature contains claims that livestock grazing has caused reduction in species diversity on Western rangelands. Data of species richness (number of species) is presented from inside and outside 24 long-term exclosures in Montana, Utah, and Wyoming. For the average of all exclosures there was no difference between species richness inside and...

Learning, teaching and researching on the internet a practical guide for social scientists

CERN Document Server

Stein, S D

2014-01-01

Learning, Teaching and Researching on the Internet: A Practical Guide for Social Scientists is directed at students and academic staff who want to be able to access Internet resources quickly and efficiently without needing to become IT experts. The emphasis throughout is on the harnessing of the large volume of potentially useful Internet resources to everyday requirements, whether these be focused on learning, teaching or research. The Internet is a significantly rich information, communication and research resource for all those involved in higher education, whether they be students, academ

An Ecofeminist Approach to Adrienne Rich's Poem "Diving into the Wreck" Adrienne

OpenAIRE

ERKAN, Ayça Ülker

2012-01-01

This study examines Adrienne Rich\\'s poem “Diving into the Wreck” (1973) through ecofeminist criticism. Rich\\'s ecopoetry questions assumptions about feminine subjectivity and female consciousness, patriarchal abuse, and indifference regarding women. With the androgynous persona in the poem “I”, Rich moves beyond the limits of gender and sexes to give room to form female subjectivity. Persona in the poem starts to explore and express her feminine identity and sexuality by figuratively “diving...

Game E-Learning Code Master Dengan Konsep Mmorpg Menggunakan Adobe Flex 3

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fredy Purnomo

2010-12-01

Full Text Available The research objective is to design a web-based e-learning game that could be used to be a learning facility of C language programming and as an online game so it could be enjoyed by everybody easily in internet. Flex usage in this game online is to implement RIA (Rich Internet Application concept in the game so e-learning process is hoped to be more interesting and interactive. E-learning game is also designed in MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game concept. The research method used is analysis and design method. Analysis method is done through literature study, user analysis, and similar game analysis. Meanwhile, design method is about monitor display, gameplay and system design. The conclution of this research is that this game provides an interesting learning media of C language program accordingly to subject material at class and also easier to use through website. 

Multiscale assessment of patterns of avian species richness

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rahbek, C; Graves, G R

2001-01-01

at continental scales. We used a database of the geographic ranges of 2,869 species of birds breeding in South America (nearly a third of the world's living avian species) to explore the influence of climate, quadrat area, ecosystem diversity, and topography on species richness gradients at 10 spatial scales...... (quadrat area, approximately 12,300 to approximately 1,225,000 km(2)). Topography, precipitation, topography x latitude, ecosystem diversity, and cloud cover emerged as the most important predictors of regional variability of species richness in regression models incorporating 16 independent variables...... the hypothesis that terrestrial species richness from the equator to the poles is ultimately governed by a synergism between climate and coarse-scale topographic heterogeneity....

The Impact of Project-Based Learning on Pre-Service Teachers' Technology Attitudes and Skills

Science.gov (United States)

Alexander, Curby; Knezek, Gerald; Christensen, Rhonda; Tyler-Wood, Tandra; Bull, Glen

2014-01-01

Researchers in this study looked at the effect of content-specific, technology-rich project-based learning activities on EC-8 pre-service teachers' competencies and skills, as well as pre-service teacher's attitudes toward science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). Researchers employed a quantitative design involving participants in…

Strengthening maths learning dispositions through ‘math clubs’

OpenAIRE

Mellony Graven

2016-01-01

In this paper, I argue that the establishment of after-school mathematics clubs in early grades holds rich potential for supporting the development of increasingly participatory and sense-making maths learning dispositions. Within the South African Numeracy Chair project, lead by the author, multiple after-school mathematics clubs have been set up for learners in Grades 3-6 across Eastern Cape schools. These clubs are a complementary initiative to teacher development, aimed at improving low l...

Platelet rich plasma in dermatology and aesthetic medicine

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Neerja Puri

2015-04-01

Full Text Available Platelet rich plasma is a promising therapy in dermatology and aesthetic medicine. In this article we will discuss the pros and cons of platelet rich plasma (PRP and the usage of PRP in aesthetics. PRP is especially used for conditions like facial and neck rejuvenation, fine lines and wrinkles, abdominal striae and facial scarring.

The 3D LAOKOON--Visual and Verbal in 3D Online Learning Environments.

Science.gov (United States)

Liestol, Gunnar

This paper reports on a project where three-dimensional (3D) online gaming environments were exploited for the purpose of academic communication and learning. 3D gaming environments are media and meaning rich and can provide inexpensive solutions for educational purposes. The experiment with teaching and discussions in this setting, however,…

Value-Added Products from FGD Sulfite-Rich Scrubber Materials

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Vivak Malhotra

2010-01-31

According to the American Coal Ash Association, about 29.25 million tons of flue gas desulfurization (FGD) byproducts were produced in the USA in 2003. Out of 29.25 million tons, 17.35 million tons were sulfite-rich scrubber materials. At present, unlike its cousin FGD gypsum, the prospect for effective utilization of sulfite-rich scrubber materials is not bright. In fact, almost 16.9 million tons are leftover every year. In our pursuit to mitigate the liability of sulfite-rich FGD scrubber materials' disposal, we are attempting to develop value-added products that can commercially compete. More specifically, for this Innovative Concept Phase I project, we have the following objectives: to characterize the sulfite-rich scrubber material for toxic metals; to optimize the co-blending and processing of scrubber material and natural byproducts; to formulate and develop structural composites from sulfite-rich scrubber material; and to evaluate the composites' mechanical properties and compare them with current products on the market. After successfully demonstrating the viability of our research, a more comprehensive approach will be proposed to take these value-added materials to fruition.

Improvization and Strategic Risk-Taking in Informal Learning with Digital Media Literacy

Science.gov (United States)

Hobbs, Renee

2013-01-01

The city provides a rich array of learning opportunities for young children. However, in many urban schools, often it can be logistically difficult to get young children out of the building. But when elementary children are encouraged to view the city as a classroom and use digital media to explore and represent their neighborhoods, they can be…

Vertebrate richness and biogeography in the Big Thicket of Texas

Science.gov (United States)

Michael H MacRoberts; Barbara R. MacRoberts; D. Craig Rudolph

2010-01-01

The Big Thicket of Texas has been described as rich in species and a “crossroads:” a place where organisms from many different regions meet. We examine the species richness and regional affiliations of Big Thicket vertebrates. We found that the Big Thicket is neither exceptionally rich in vertebrates nor is it a crossroads for vertebrates. Its vertebrate fauna is...

Platelet-rich plasma, plasma rich in growth factors and simvastatin in the regeneration and repair of alveolar bone.

Science.gov (United States)

Rivera, César; Monsalve, Francisco; Salas, Juan; Morán, Andrea; Suazo, Iván

2013-12-01

Platelet preparations promote bone regeneration by inducing cell migration, proliferation and differentiation in the area of the injury, which are essential processes for regeneration. In addition, several studies have indicated that simvastatin (SIMV), widely used for the treatment of hypercholesterolemia, stimulates osteogenesis. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of treatment with either platelet-rich plasma (PRP) or plasma rich in growth factors (PRGF) in combination with SIMV in the regeneration and repair of alveolar bone. The jaws of Sprague Dawley rats (n=18) were subjected to rotary instrument-induced bone damage (BD). Animals were divided into six groups: BD/H 2 O (n=3), distilled water without the drug and alveolar bone damage; BD/H 2 O/PRP (n=3), BD and PRP; BD/H 2 O/PRGF (n=3), BD and PRGF; BD/SIMV (n=3), BD and water with SIMV; BD/SIMV/PRP (n=3), BD, PRP and SIMV; and BD/SIMV/PRGF (n=3), BD, PRGF and SIMV. Conventional histological analysis (hematoxylin and eosin staining) revealed that the BD/SIMV group showed indicators for mature bone tissue, while the BD/SIMV/PRP and BD/SIMV/PRGF groups showed the coexistence of indicators for mature and immature bone tissue, with no statistical differences between the platelet preparations. Simvastatin did not improve the effect of platelet-rich plasma and plasma rich in growth factors. It was not possible to determine which platelet preparation produced superior effects.

Pre-service primary school teachers' beliefs about learning and teaching english in the first cycle of primary school

OpenAIRE

Pratnemer, Manja

2017-01-01

When speaking about the appropriate age for the beginning of L2 learning, experts' opinions slightly differ, but mostly they specify the time to start learning L2 from the age of 4 to the age of 8 (Marjanovič Umek, 2009). In the literature we can find many reasons for starting to learn a foreign language at an early age, but most popular is the critical period hypothesis that claims that there is an ideal time window to acquire language in a linguistically rich environment, after which furth...

Platelet-rich fibrin or platelet-rich plasma – which one is better? an opinion

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shweta Bansal

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The healing of hard and soft tissue in mediated by a wide range of intracellular and extracellular events that are regulated by signaling proteins. Platelets can play a crucial role in periodontal regeneration as they are the reservoirs of growth factors and cytokines which are the key factors for regeneration of bone and maturation of soft tissue. Platelet-rich plasma (PRP is first generation platelet concentrate. However, the short duration of cytokine release and its poor mechanical properties have resulted in search of new material. Platelet-rich fibrin (PRF is a natural fibrin-based biomaterial prepared from an anticoagulant-free blood harvest without any artificial biochemical modification (no bovine thrombin is required that allows obtaining fibrin membranes enriched with platelets and growth factors. The slow polymerization during centrifugation, fibrin-based structure, ease of preparation, minimal expense makes PRF somewhat superior in some aspect to PRP.

The STAR-RICH Detector

CERN Document Server

Lasiuk, B; Braem, André; Cozza, D; Davenport, M; De Cataldo, G; Dell'Olio, L; Di Bari, D; Di Mauro, A; Dunlop, J C; Finch, E; Fraissard, Daniel; Franco, A; Gans, J; Ghidini, B; Harris, J W; Horsley, M; Kunde, G J; Lasiuk, B; Lesenechal, Y; Majka, R D; Martinengo, P; Morsch, Andreas; Nappi, E; Paic, G; Piuz, François; Posa, F; Raynaud, J; Salur, S; Sandweiss, J; Santiard, Jean-Claude; Satinover, J; Schyns, E M; Smirnov, N; Van Beelen, J; Williams, T D; Xu, Z

2002-01-01

The STAR-RICH detector extends the particle idenfication capabilities of the STAR spectrometer for charged hadrons at mid-rapidity. It allows identification of pions and kaons up to ~3 GeV/c and protons up to ~5 GeV/c. The characteristics and performance of the device in the inaugural RHIC run are described.

The LHCb RICH system; detector description and operation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Papanestis, A., E-mail: antonis.papanestis@stfc.ac.uk

2014-12-01

Two RICH detectors provide positive charged hadron identification in the LHCb experiment at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN. RICH 1 covers the full acceptance of the spectrometer and contains two radiators: aerogel and C{sub 4}F{sub 10}. RICH 2 covers half the acceptance and uses CF{sub 4} as a Cherenkov radiator. Photon detection is performed by the Hybrid Photon Detectors (HPDs), with silicon pixel sensors and bump-bonded readout encapsulated in a vacuum tube for efficient, low-noise single photon detection. The LHCb RICH detectors form a complex system of three radiators, 120 mirrors and 484 photon detectors operating in the very challenging environment of the LHC. The high performance of the system in pion and kaon identification in the momentum range of 2–100 GeV/c is reached only after careful calibration of many parameters. Operational efficiency above 99% was achieved by a high level of automatization in the operation of the detectors, from switching-on to error recovery. The challenges of calibrating and operating such a system will be presented. - Highlights: • This paper describes the operation and calibration of the LHCb RICH detectors. • The scintillation of CF{sub 4} was successfully suppressed with CO{sub 2}. • The refractive index of the gas radiators was calibrated with data to an accuracy better than 0.1%. • The Hybrid Photons Detectors were calibrated for operation in a magnetic field without loss of resolution.

Growth and alteration of uranium-rich microlite

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Giere, R.; Swope, R. J.; Buck, E. C.; Guggenheim, R.; Mathys, D.; Reusser, E.

2000-01-01

Uranium-rich microlite, a pyrochlore-group mineral, occurs in 440 Ma old lithium pegmatites of the Mozambique Belt in East Africa. Microlite exhibits a pronounced growth zoning, with a U-free core surrounded by a U-rich rim (UO 2 up to 17 wt.%). The core exhibits conjugate sets of straight cracks (cleavage planes) which provided pathways for a late-stage U-enriched pegmatitic fluid which interacted with the U-free microlite to produce a distinct U enrichment along the cracks and led to the formation of the U-rich rim. Following the stage of U incorporation into microlite, a second generation of hydrothermal fluids deposited mica along the cleavage planes. Subsequent to these two hydrothermal stages, the host rock was uplifted and subjected to intense low-temperature alteration during which Na, Ca and F were leached from the microlite crystals. This alteration also led to a hydration of microlite, but there is no evidence of U loss. These low-temperature alteration effects were only observed in the U-rich rim which is characterized by a large number of irregular cracks which are most probably the result of metamictization, as indicated by electron diffraction images and powder X-ray patterns. The pyrochlore-group minerals provide excellent natural analogues for pyrochlore-based nuclear waste forms, because samples of variable age and with high actinide contents are available

G-rich, a Drosophila selenoprotein, is a Golgi-resident type III membrane protein

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chen, Chang Lan; Shim, Myoung Sup; Chung, Jiyeol; Yoo, Hyun-Seung; Ha, Ji Min; Kim, Jin Young; Choi, Jinmi; Zang, Shu Liang; Hou, Xiao; Carlson, Bradley A.; Hatfield, Dolph L.; Lee, Byeong Jae

2006-01-01

G-rich is a Drosophila melanogaster selenoprotein, which is a homologue of human and mouse SelK. Subcellular localization analysis using GFP-tagged G-rich showed that G-rich was localized in the Golgi apparatus. The fusion protein was co-localized with the Golgi marker proteins but not with an endoplasmic reticulum (ER) marker protein in Drosophila SL2 cells. Bioinformatic analysis of G-rich suggests that this protein is either type II or type III transmembrane protein. To determine the type of transmembrane protein experimentally, GFP-G-rich in which GFP was tagged at the N-terminus of G-rich, or G-rich-GFP in which GFP was tagged at the C-terminus of G-rich, were expressed in SL2 cells. The tagged proteins were then digested with trypsin, and analyzed by Western blot analysis. The results showed that the C-terminus of the G-rich protein was exposed to the cytoplasm indicating it is a type III microsomal membrane protein. G-rich is First selenoprotein identified in the Golgi apparatus

Species richness of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi: associations with grassland plant richness and biomass

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Hiiesalu, Inga; Pärtel, M.; Davison, J.; Gerhold, P.; Metsis, M.; Moora, M.; Öpik, M.; Vasar, M.; Zobel, M.; Wilson, S. D.

2014-01-01

Roč. 203, č. 1 (2014), s. 233-244 ISSN 1469-8137 R&D Projects: GA MŠk EE2.3.30.0048 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z60050516 Institutional support: RVO:67985939 Keywords : belowground plant richness * diversity * productivity Subject RIV: EH - Ecology, Behaviour Impact factor: 6.545, year: 2013

Leveraging data rich environments using marketing analytics

OpenAIRE

Holtrop, Niels

2017-01-01

With the onset of what is popularly known as “big data”, increased attention is being paid to creating value from these data rich environments. Within the field of marketing, the analysis of customer and market data supported by models is known as marketing analytics. The goal of these analyses is to enhance managerial decision making regarding marketing problems. However, before these data rich environments can be used to guide managerial decision making, firms need to grasp the process of d...

Global hotspots and correlates of alien species richness across taxonomic groups

Science.gov (United States)

Dawson, Wayne; Moser, Dietmar; van Kleunen, Mark; Kreft, Holger; Pergl, Jan; Pysek, Petr; Weigelt, Patrick; Winter, Marten; Lenzner, Bernd; Blackburn, Tim M.; Dyer, Ellie; Cassey, Phillip; Scrivens, Sally-Louise; Economo, Evan P.; Guenard, Benoit; Capinha, Cesar; Seebens, Hanno; Garcia-Diaz, Pablo; Nentwig, Wolfgang; Garcia-Berthou, Emili; Casal, Christine; Mandrak, Nicholas E.; Fuller, Pam; Meyer, Carsten; Essl, Franz

2017-01-01

Human-mediated transport beyond biogeographic barriers has led to the introduction and establishment of alien species in new regions worldwide. However, we lack a global picture of established alien species richness for multiple taxonomic groups. Here, we assess global patterns and potential drivers of established alien species richness across eight taxonomic groups (amphibians, ants, birds, freshwater fishes, mammals, vascular plants, reptiles and spiders) for 186 islands and 423 mainland regions. Hotspots of established alien species richness are predominantly island and coastal mainland regions. Regions with greater gross domestic product per capita, human population density, and area have higher established alien richness, with strongest effects emerging for islands. Ants and reptiles, birds and mammals, and vascular plants and spiders form pairs of taxonomic groups with the highest spatial congruence in established alien richness, but drivers explaining richness differ between the taxa in each pair. Across all taxonomic groups, our results highlight the need to prioritize prevention of further alien species introductions to island and coastal mainland regions globally.

Platelet-rich fibrin in the treatment of periodontal bone defects.

Science.gov (United States)

Ranganathan, Aravindhan T; Chandran, Chitraa R

2014-05-01

Periodontitis is characterized by the formation of true pockets, bone loss and attachment loss. Various techniques have been attempted in the past to truly regenerate the lost periodontal structures, albeit with variable outcome. In this evolution, the technique being tried out widely is the use of platelet rich concentrates, namely platelet-rich fibrin (PRF). In this report, we present a case of surgical treatment of osseous bone defects namely two walled crater and dehiscence treated in posterior teeth with autologously prepared platelet rich fibrin mixed with hydroxy apatite bone graft and PRF in the form of a membrane. Our results showed clinical improvements in all the clinical parameters postoperatively namely the pocket depth reduction and gain in attachment level and hence, PRF can be used alone or in combination with the bone graft to yield successful clinical results in treating periodontal osseous defects. Platelet-rich fibrin is an effective alternative to platelet-rich plasma (PRP) in reconstructing bone defects.

ACTH radioimmunocytochemistry (RICH) on rat anterior pituitary cells

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rappay, G.; Karteszi, M.; Makara, G.B.

1979-01-01

Radioimmunocytochemistry (RICH) was applied to detect corticotrophs in adult rat pituitaries and 8-day-old anterior pituitary monolayers by incubating sections and cultures with 125 I-ACTH-anti ACTH immune complexes. After incubations autoradiography was made. In comparison, 'conventional' immunostaining was carried out on adjacent sections and parallel cultures. It has been established that RICH is suitable for detection of corticotrophs. (orig.) [de

The Impact of Using Youtube in EFL Classroom on Enhancing EFL Students' Content Learning

Science.gov (United States)

Alwehaibi, Huda Omar

2015-01-01

Information technology has opened up prospects for rich and innovative approaches to tackle educational issues and provide solutions to the increasing demands for learning resources. YouTube, a video-sharing website that allows users to upload, view, and share video clips, offers access to new and dynamic opportunities for effective and…

Ilmenite-rich pyroclastic deposits - An ideal lunar resource

Science.gov (United States)

Hawke, B. R.; Clark, B.; Coombs, C. R.

1990-01-01

With a view of investigating possible economic benefits that a permanent lunar settlement might provide to the near-earth space infrastructures, consideration was given to the ilmenite-rich pyroclastic deposits as sources of oxygen (for use as a propellant) and He-3 (for nuclear fusion fuel). This paper demonstrates that ilmenite-rich pyroclastic deposits would be excellent sources of a wide variety of valuable elements besides O and He-3, including Fe, Ti, H2, N, C, S, Cu, Zn, Cd, Bi, and Pb. It is shown that several ilmenite-rich pyroclastic deposits of regional extent exist on the lunar surface. The suitability of regional pyroclastic deposits for lunar mining operations, construction activities, and the establishment of permanent lunar settlements is examined.

Geographic range size and determinants of avian species richness

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jetz, Walter; Rahbek, Carsten

2002-01-01

Geographic patterns in species richness are mainly based on wide-ranging species because their larger number of distribution records has a disproportionate contribution to the species richness counts. Here we demonstrate how this effect strongly influences our understanding of what determines spe...

Predicting invasion in grassland ecosystems: is exotic dominance the real embarrassment of richness?

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Seabloom, Eric W. [Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior, University of MN, St. Paul MN 55108 USA; Borer, Elizabeth T. [Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior, University of MN, St. Paul MN 55108 USA; Buckley, Yvonne [ARC Centre of Excellence for Environmental Decisions, School of Biological Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane Queensland 4072 Australia; Cleland, Elsa E. [Ecology, Behavior & Evolution Section, University of California, San Diego La Jolla CA 92093 USA; Davies, Kendi [Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Colorado, Boulder CO 80309 USA; Firn, Jennifer [Queensland University of Technology, Biogeosciences, Brisbane Queensland 4000 Australia; Harpole, W. Stanley [Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Organismal Biology, Iowa State University, Ames IA 50011 USA; Hautier, Yann [Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior, University of MN, St. Paul MN 55108 USA; Institute of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190 CH-8057 Zurich Switzerland; Lind, Eric [Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior, University of MN, St. Paul MN 55108 USA; MacDougall, Andrew [Department of Integrative Biology, University of Guelph, Guelph Ontario N1G 2W1 Canada; Orrock, John L. [Department of Zoology, University of Wisconsin, Madison WI 53706 USA; Prober, Suzanne M. [CSIRO Ecosystem Sciences, Private Bag 5 Wembley WA 6913 Australia; Adler, Peter [Department of Wildland Resources and the Ecology Center, Utah State University, Logan UT 84322 USA; Alberti, Juan [Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras (UNMdP-CONICET), Mar del Plata Argentina; Michael Anderson, T. [Department of Biology, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem NC 27109 USA; Bakker, Jonathan D. [School of Environmental and Forest Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle WA 98195-4115 USA; Biederman, Lori A. [Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Organismal Biology, Iowa State University, Ames IA 50011 USA; Blumenthal, Dana [Rangeland Resources Research Unit, USDA Agricultural Research Service, Fort Collins CO 80526 USA; Brown, Cynthia S. [Department of Bioagricultural Sciences and Pest Management, Colorado State University, Fort Collins CO 80523 USA; Brudvig, Lars A. [Department of Plant Biology, Michigan State University, East Lansing MI 48824 USA; Caldeira, Maria [Centro de Estudos Florestais, Instituto Superior de Agronomia, Technical University of Lisbon, Lisbon Portugal; Chu, Chengjin [School of Life Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000 China; Crawley, Michael J. [Department of Biology, Imperial College London, Silwood Park Ascot SL5 7PY UK; Daleo, Pedro [Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras (UNMdP-CONICET), Mar del Plata Argentina; Damschen, Ellen I. [Department of Zoology, University of Wisconsin, Madison WI 53706 USA; D' Antonio, Carla M. [Department of Ecology, Evolution and Marine Biology, University of California, Santa Barbara CA 93106 USA; DeCrappeo, Nicole M. [U.S. Geological Survey Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center, Corvallis OR 97331 USA; Dickman, Chris R. [Desert Ecology Research Group, School of Biological Sciences, University of Sydney, Sydney NSW 2006 Australia; Du, Guozhen [School of Life Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000 China; Fay, Philip A. [USDA-ARS Grassland Soil and Water Research Lab, Temple TX 76502 USA; Frater, Paul [Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Organismal Biology, Iowa State University, Ames IA 50011 USA; Gruner, Daniel S. [Department of Entomology, University of Maryland, College Park MD 20742 USA; Hagenah, Nicole [School of Life Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Scottsville Pietermaritzburg 3209 South Africa; Department of Ecology, Evolutionary Biology, Yale University, New Haven CT 06520 USA; Hector, Andrew [Institute of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190 CH-8057 Zurich Switzerland; Helm, Aveliina [Institute of Ecology and Earth Sciences, University of Tartu, Tartu Estonia; Hillebrand, Helmut [Institute for Chemistry and Biology of the Marine Environment, Carl-von-Ossietzky University, Wilhelmshaven Germany; Hofmockel, Kirsten S. [Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Organismal Biology, Iowa State University, Ames IA 50011 USA; Humphries, Hope C. [INSTAAR, University of Colorado, Boulder CO 80309-0450 USA; Iribarne, Oscar [Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras (UNMdP-CONICET), Mar del Plata Argentina; Jin, Virginia L. [USDA-ARS Agroecosystem Management Research Unit, Lincoln NE 68583 USA; Kay, Adam [Biology Department, University of St. Thomas, Saint Paul MN 55105 USA; Kirkman, Kevin P. [School of Life Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Scottsville Pietermaritzburg 3209 South Africa; Klein, Julia A. [Department Forest, Rangeland & Watershed Stewardship, Colorado State University, Fort Collins CO 80523-1472 USA; Knops, Johannes M. H. [School of Biological Sciences, University of Nebraska, Lincoln NE 68588 USA; La Pierre, Kimberly J. [Department of Ecology, Evolutionary Biology, Yale University, New Haven CT 06520 USA; Ladwig, Laura M. [Department of Biology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque NM 87103 USA; Lambrinos, John G. [Department of Horticulture, Oregon State University, Corvallis OR 97331 USA; Leakey, Andrew D. B. [Department of Plant Biology and Institute for Genomic Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana IL 61801 USA; Li, Qi [Key Laboratory of Adaptation and Evolution of Plateau Biota, Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xining 810008 Qinghai China; Li, Wei [Yunnan Academy of Biodiversity, Southwest Forestry University, Kunming 650224 China; McCulley, Rebecca [Department of Plant & Soil Sciences, University of Kentucky, Lexington KY 40546 USA; Melbourne, Brett [Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Colorado, Boulder CO 80309 USA; Mitchell, Charles E. [Department of Biology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill NC 27599 USA; Moore, Joslin L. [Australian Research Centre for Urban Ecology, Melbourne, c/o School of Botany, University of Melbourne, Melbourne Victoria 3010 Australia; Morgan, John [Department of Botany, La Trobe University, Bundoora 3086 Victoria Australia; Mortensen, Brent [Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Organismal Biology, Iowa State University, Ames IA 50011 USA; O' Halloran, Lydia R. [Department of Zoology, Oregon State University, Corvallis OR 97331 USA; Pärtel, Meelis [Institute of Ecology and Earth Sciences, University of Tartu, Tartu Estonia; Pascual, Jesús [Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras (UNMdP-CONICET), Mar del Plata Argentina; Pyke, David A. [U.S. Geological Survey Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center, Corvallis OR 97331 USA; Risch, Anita C. [Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research, 8903 Birmensdorf Switzerland; Salguero-Gómez, Roberto [ARC Centre of Excellence for Environmental Decisions, School of Biological Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane Queensland 4072 Australia; Sankaran, Mahesh [National Centre for Biological Sciences, GKVK Campus, Bellary Road Bangalore 560065 India; Schuetz, Martin [Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research, 8903 Birmensdorf Switzerland; Simonsen, Anna [Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, University of Toronto, Toronto ON M5S 3B2 Canada; Smith, Melinda [Department of Biology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins CO 80523 USA; Stevens, Carly [Lancaster Environment Center, Lancaster University, Lancaster LA1 4YQ UK; Sullivan, Lauren [Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Organismal Biology, Iowa State University, Ames IA 50011 USA; Wardle, Glenda M. [Desert Ecology Research Group, School of Biological Sciences, University of Sydney, Sydney NSW 2006 Australia; Wolkovich, Elizabeth M. [Biodiversity Research Centre, University of British Columbia, Vancouver V6T 1Z4 Canada; Wragg, Peter D. [Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior, University of MN, St. Paul MN 55108 USA; Wright, Justin [Department of Biology, Duke University, Durham NC 27708 USA; Yang, Louie [Department of Entomology, University of California, Davis CA 95616 USA

2013-10-16

Invasions have increased the size of regional species pools, but are typically assumed to reduce native diversity. However, global-scale tests of this assumption have been elusive because of the focus on exotic species richness, rather than relative abundance. This is problematic because low invader richness can indicate invasion resistance by the native community or, alternatively, dominance by a single exotic species. Here, we used a globally replicated study to quantify relationships between exotic richness and abundance in grass-dominated ecosystems in 13 countries on six continents, ranging from salt marshes to alpine tundra. We tested effects of human land use, native community diversity, herbivore pressure, and nutrient limitation on exotic plant dominance. Despite its widespread use, exotic richness was a poor proxy for exotic dominance at low exotic richness, because sites that contained few exotic species ranged from relatively pristine (low exotic richness and cover) to almost completely exotic-dominated ones (low exotic richness but high exotic cover). Both exotic cover and richness were predicted by native plant diversity (native grass richness) and land use (distance to cultivation). Although climate was important for predicting both exotic cover and richness, climatic factors predicting cover (precipitation variability) differed from those predicting richness (maximum temperature and mean temperature in the wettest quarter). Herbivory and nutrient limitation did not predict exotic richness or cover. Exotic dominance was greatest in areas with low native grass richness at the site- or regional-scale. Although this could reflect native grass displacement, a lack of biotic resistance is a more likely explanation, given that grasses comprise the most aggressive invaders. These findings underscore the need to move beyond richness as a surrogate for the extent of invasion, because this metric confounds monodominance with invasion resistance. Monitoring

Value-Added Products From FGD Sulfite-Rich Scrubber Materials

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Vivak M. Malhotra

2006-09-30

Massive quantities of sulfite-rich flue gas desulfurization (FGD) scrubber materials are produced every year in the USA. In fact, at present, the production of wet sulfite-rich scrubber cake outstrips the production of wet sulfate-rich scrubber cake by about 6 million tons per year. However, most of the utilization focus has centered on FGD gypsum. Therefore, we have recently initiated research on developing new strategies for the economical, but environmentally-sound, utilization of sulfite-rich scrubber material. In this exploratory project (Phase I), we attempted to ascertain whether it is feasible to develop reconstituted wood replacement products from sulfite-rich scrubber material. In pursuit of this goal, we characterized two different wet sulfite-rich scrubber materials, obtained from two power plants burning Midwestern coal, for their suitability for the development of value-added products. The overall strategy adopted was to fabricate composites where the largest ingredient was scrubber material with additional crop materials as additives. Our results suggested that it may be feasible to develop composites with flexural strength as high as 40 MPa (5800 psi) without the addition of external polymers. We also attempted to develop load-bearing composites from scrubber material, natural fibers, and phenolic polymer. The polymer-to-solid ratio was limited to {le} 0.4. The formulated composites showed flexural strengths as high as 73 MPa (10,585 psi). We plan to harness the research outcomes from Phase I to develop parameters required to upscale our value-added products in Phase II.

Effective collaborative learning in biomedical education using a web-based infrastructure.

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Yunfeng; Zheng, Fang; Cai, Suxian; Xiang, Ning; Zhong, Zhangting; He, Jia; Xu, Fang

2012-01-01

This paper presents a feature-rich web-based system used for biomedical education at the undergraduate level. With the powerful groupware features provided by the wiki system, the instructors are able to establish a community-centered mentoring environment that capitalizes on local expertise to create a sense of online collaborative learning among students. The web-based infrastructure can help the instructors effectively organize and coordinate student research projects, and the groupware features may support the interactive activities, such as interpersonal communications and data sharing. The groupware features also provide the web-based system with a wide range of additional ways of organizing collaboratively developed materials, which makes it become an effective tool for online active learning. Students are able to learn the ability to work effectively in teams, with an improvement of project management, design collaboration, and technical writing skills. With the fruitful outcomes in recent years, it is positively thought that the web-based collaborative learning environment can perform an excellent shift away from the conventional instructor-centered teaching to community- centered collaborative learning in the undergraduate education.

The geological characteristics and forming conditions of granite type uranium-rich ore deposits

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tiangang, Li; Hangshou, Tong; Mingyue, Feng; Yuexiang, Li; Zhan, Xu [Beijing Research Inst. of Uranium Geology (China)

1993-03-01

The forming conditions and concentration mechanism of rich ore, criteria of ore prospecting and selection of uranium-rich ore target area are introduced in the article that is based on the studying of geological characteristics and conditions of granite type uranium-rich ore deposits of No 201 and 361 and on the comparisons of rich and poor ore deposits in geological conditions. Some new view points are also presented as the separate deposition of uranium minerals and gangue minerals is the main mechanism to form rich ore, for rich ore formation the ore enrichment by superimposition is not a universal regularity and most uranium-rich ore deposits are formed within one mineralization stage or mainly in one mineralization stage.

The geological characteristics and forming conditions of granite type uranium-rich ore deposits

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li Tiangang; Tong Hangshou; Feng Mingyue; Li Yuexiang; Xu Zhan

1993-03-01

The forming conditions and concentration mechanism of rich ore, criteria of ore prospecting and selection of uranium-rich ore target area are introduced in the article that is based on the studying of geological characteristics and conditions of granite type uranium-rich ore deposits of No 201 and 361 and on the comparisons of rich and poor ore deposits in geological conditions. Some new view points are also presented as the separate deposition of uranium minerals and gangue minerals is the main mechanism to form rich ore, for rich ore formation the ore enrichment by superimposition is not a universal regularity and most uranium-rich ore deposits are formed within one mineralization stage or mainly in one mineralization stage

Video game play, attention, and learning: how to shape the development of attention and influence learning?

Science.gov (United States)

Cardoso-Leite, Pedro; Bavelier, Daphne

2014-04-01

The notion that play may facilitate learning has long been touted. Here, we review how video game play may be leveraged for enhancing attentional control, allowing greater cognitive flexibility and learning and in turn new routes to better address developmental disorders. Video games, initially developed for entertainment, appear to enhance the behavior in domains as varied as perception, attention, task switching, or mental rotation. This surprisingly wide transfer may be mediated by enhanced attentional control, allowing increased signal-to-noise ratio and thus more informed decisions. The possibility of enhancing attentional control through targeted interventions, be it computerized training or self-regulation techniques, is now well established. Embedding such training in video game play is appealing, given the astounding amount of time spent by children and adults worldwide with this media. It holds the promise of increasing compliance in patients and motivation in school children, and of enhancing the use of positive impact games. Yet for all the promises, existing research indicates that not all games are created equal: a better understanding of the game play elements that foster attention and learning as well as of the strategies developed by the players is needed. Computational models from machine learning or developmental robotics provide a rich theoretical framework to develop this work further and address its impact on developmental disorders.

Intraplate mantle oxidation by volatile-rich silicic magmas

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Martin, Audrey M.; Médard, Etienne; Righter, Kevin; Lanzirotti, Antonio

2017-11-01

The upper subcontinental lithospheric mantle below the French Massif Central is more oxidized than the average continental lithosphere, although the origin of this anomaly remains unknown. Using iron oxidation analysis in clinopyroxene, oxybarometry, and melt inclusions in mantle xenoliths, we show that widespread infiltration of volatile (HCSO)-rich silicic melts played a major role in this oxidation. We propose the first comprehensive model of magmatism and mantle oxidation at an intraplate setting. Two oxidizing events occurred: (1) a 365–286 Ma old magmatic episode that produced alkaline vaugnerites, potassic lamprophyres, and K-rich calc-alkaline granitoids, related to the N–S Rhenohercynian subduction, and (2) < 30 Ma old magmatism related to W–E extension, producing carbonatites and hydrous potassic trachytes. These melts were capable of locally increasing the subcontinental lithospheric mantle fO2 to FMQ + 2.4. Both events originate from the melting of a metasomatized lithosphere containing carbonate + phlogopite ± amphibole. The persistence of this volatile-rich lithospheric source implies the potential for new episodes of volatile-rich magmatism. Similarities with worldwide magmatism also show that the importance of volatiles and the oxidation of the mantle in intraplate regions is underestimated.

Fusion enhancement in the reactions of neutron-rich nuclei

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bian Baoan; Zhang Fengshou; Zhou Hongyu

2009-01-01

The neutron-rich fusion reactions are investigated systematically using the improved isospin dependent quantum molecular dynamics model. By studying the systematic dependence of fusion barrier on neuron excess, we find the enhancement of the fusion cross sections for neutron-rich nuclear reactions that give the lowered static Coulomb barriers. The calculated fusion cross sections agree quantitatively with the experimental data. We further discuss the mechanism of the fusion enhancement of the cross sections for neutron-rich nuclear reactions by analyzing the dynamical lowering of the Coulomb barrier that is attributed to the enhancement of the N/Z ratio at the neck region.

Using tablets to support self-regulated learning in a longitudinal integrated clerkship

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dylan Archbold Hufty Alegría

2014-03-01

Full Text Available Introduction: The need to train physicians committed to learning throughout their careers has prompted medical schools to encourage the development and practice of self-regulated learning by students. Longitudinal integrated clerkships (LICs require students to exercise self-regulated learning skills. As mobile tools, tablets can potentially support self-regulation among LIC students. Methods: We provided 15 LIC students with tablet computers with access to the electronic health record (EHR, to track their patient cohort, and a multiplatform online notebook, to support documentation and retrieval of self-identified clinical learning issues. Students received a 1-hour workshop on the relevant features of the tablet and online notebook. Two focus groups with the students were used to evaluate the program, one early and one late in the year and were coded by two raters. Results: Students used the tablet to support their self-regulated learning in ways that were unique to their learning styles and increased access to resources and utilization of down-time. Students who used the tablet to self-monitor and target learning demonstrated the utility of tablets as learning tools. Conclusions: LICs are environments rich in opportunity for self-regulated learning. Tablets can enhance students’ ability to develop and employ self-regulatory skills in a clinical context.

Using tablets to support self-regulated learning in a longitudinal integrated clerkship.

Science.gov (United States)

Alegría, Dylan Archbold Hufty; Boscardin, Christy; Poncelet, Ann; Mayfield, Chandler; Wamsley, Maria

2014-01-01

The need to train physicians committed to learning throughout their careers has prompted medical schools to encourage the development and practice of self-regulated learning by students. Longitudinal integrated clerkships (LICs) require students to exercise self-regulated learning skills. As mobile tools, tablets can potentially support self-regulation among LIC students. We provided 15 LIC students with tablet computers with access to the electronic health record (EHR), to track their patient cohort, and a multiplatform online notebook, to support documentation and retrieval of self-identified clinical learning issues. Students received a 1-hour workshop on the relevant features of the tablet and online notebook. Two focus groups with the students were used to evaluate the program, one early and one late in the year and were coded by two raters. Students used the tablet to support their self-regulated learning in ways that were unique to their learning styles and increased access to resources and utilization of down-time. Students who used the tablet to self-monitor and target learning demonstrated the utility of tablets as learning tools. LICs are environments rich in opportunity for self-regulated learning. Tablets can enhance students' ability to develop and employ self-regulatory skills in a clinical context.

Using tablets to support self-regulated learning in a longitudinal integrated clerkship

Science.gov (United States)

Alegría, Dylan Archbold Hufty; Boscardin, Christy; Poncelet, Ann; Mayfield, Chandler; Wamsley, Maria

2014-01-01

Introduction The need to train physicians committed to learning throughout their careers has prompted medical schools to encourage the development and practice of self-regulated learning by students. Longitudinal integrated clerkships (LICs) require students to exercise self-regulated learning skills. As mobile tools, tablets can potentially support self-regulation among LIC students. Methods We provided 15 LIC students with tablet computers with access to the electronic health record (EHR), to track their patient cohort, and a multiplatform online notebook, to support documentation and retrieval of self-identified clinical learning issues. Students received a 1-hour workshop on the relevant features of the tablet and online notebook. Two focus groups with the students were used to evaluate the program, one early and one late in the year and were coded by two raters. Results Students used the tablet to support their self-regulated learning in ways that were unique to their learning styles and increased access to resources and utilization of down-time. Students who used the tablet to self-monitor and target learning demonstrated the utility of tablets as learning tools. Conclusions LICs are environments rich in opportunity for self-regulated learning. Tablets can enhance students’ ability to develop and employ self-regulatory skills in a clinical context. PMID:24646438

Species richness alone does not predict cultural ecosystem service value

Science.gov (United States)

Graves, Rose A.; Pearson, Scott M.; Turner, Monica G.

2017-01-01

Many biodiversity-ecosystem services studies omit cultural ecosystem services (CES) or use species richness as a proxy and assume that more species confer greater CES value. We studied wildflower viewing, a key biodiversity-based CES in amenity-based landscapes, in Southern Appalachian Mountain forests and asked (i) How do aesthetic preferences for wildflower communities vary with components of biodiversity, including species richness?; (ii) How do aesthetic preferences for wildflower communities vary across psychographic groups?; and (iii) How well does species richness perform as an indicator of CES value compared with revealed social preferences for wildflower communities? Public forest visitors (n = 293) were surveyed during the summer of 2015 and asked to choose among images of wildflower communities in which flower species richness, flower abundance, species evenness, color diversity, and presence of charismatic species had been digitally manipulated. Aesthetic preferences among images were unrelated to species richness but increased with more abundant flowers, greater species evenness, and greater color diversity. Aesthetic preferences were consistent across psychographic groups and unaffected by knowledge of local flora or value placed on wildflower viewing. When actual wildflower communities (n = 54) were ranked based on empirically measured flower species richness or wildflower viewing utility based on multinomial logit models of revealed preferences, rankings were broadly similar. However, designation of hotspots (CES values above the median) based on species richness alone missed 27% of wildflower viewing utility hotspots. Thus, conservation priorities for sustaining CES should incorporate social preferences and consider multiple dimensions of biodiversity that underpin CES supply. PMID:28320953

Playing spades: The rich resources of African American young men

Science.gov (United States)

Schademan, Alfred R.

striking resemblance to what scientists and mathematicians do when modeling. Lastly, the study identifies eight features of Spades that make it a rich context for the learning and development of significant forms of reasoning. Most importantly, Spades is an empowering context through which the players both learn and display their resources and abilities in order to deal with complex situations. Consequently, the study provides evidence that many African American young men routinely employ types of reasoning in everyday practices that are robust and relevant to science and mathematics.

Learning Science in a Virtual Reality Application: The Impacts of Animated-Virtual Actors' Visual Complexity

Science.gov (United States)

Kartiko, Iwan; Kavakli, Manolya; Cheng, Ken

2010-01-01

As the technology in computer graphics advances, Animated-Virtual Actors (AVAs) in Virtual Reality (VR) applications become increasingly rich and complex. Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning (CTML) suggests that complex visual materials could hinder novice learners from attending to the lesson properly. On the other hand, previous studies have…

EVALUATION AGRONOMIQUE DES VARIETES DE MAÏS RICHES ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

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Cinq variétés de maïs riches en protéines de qualité (MRP) ont été expérimentées en station puis en milieu ..... sionnent bord champ. ... Tableau 1 : Carrés moyens des variables étudiées en station, pour les variétés de maïs précoces riche en.

Models of alien species richness show moderate predictive accuracy and poor transferability

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

César Capinha

2018-06-01

Full Text Available Robust predictions of alien species richness are useful to assess global biodiversity change. Nevertheless, the capacity to predict spatial patterns of alien species richness remains largely unassessed. Using 22 data sets of alien species richness from diverse taxonomic groups and covering various parts of the world, we evaluated whether different statistical models were able to provide useful predictions of absolute and relative alien species richness, as a function of explanatory variables representing geographical, environmental and socio-economic factors. Five state-of-the-art count data modelling techniques were used and compared: Poisson and negative binomial generalised linear models (GLMs, multivariate adaptive regression splines (MARS, random forests (RF and boosted regression trees (BRT. We found that predictions of absolute alien species richness had a low to moderate accuracy in the region where the models were developed and a consistently poor accuracy in new regions. Predictions of relative richness performed in a superior manner in both geographical settings, but still were not good. Flexible tree ensembles-type techniques (RF and BRT were shown to be significantly better in modelling alien species richness than parametric linear models (such as GLM, despite the latter being more commonly applied for this purpose. Importantly, the poor spatial transferability of models also warrants caution in assuming the generality of the relationships they identify, e.g. by applying projections under future scenario conditions. Ultimately, our results strongly suggest that predictability of spatial variation in richness of alien species richness is limited. The somewhat more robust ability to rank regions according to the number of aliens they have (i.e. relative richness, suggests that models of aliens species richness may be useful for prioritising and comparing regions, but not for predicting exact species numbers.

Food plant diversity as broad-Scale Determinant of Avian Frugivore Richness

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kissling, W. Daniel; Rahbek, Carsten; Böhning-Gaese, Katrin

2007-01-01

from niche assembly mechanisms (e.g. coevolutionary adaptations to fruit size, fruit colour or vertical stratification of fruit presentation) or, alternatively, from stochastic speciation-extinction processes. In any case, the close relationship between species richness of Ficus and avian frugivores......The causes of variation in animal species richness at large spatial scales are intensively debated. Here, we examine whether the diversity of food plants, contemporary climate and energy, or habitat heterogeneity determine species richness patterns of avian frugivores across sub-Saharan Africa....... Path models indicate that species richness of Ficus (their fruits being one of the major food resources for frugivores in the tropics) has the strongest direct effect on richness of avian frugivores, whereas the influences of variables related to water-energy and habitat heterogeneity are mainly...

Gaming as Extramural English L2 Learning and L2 Proficiency among Young Learners

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Sylven, Liss Kerstin; Sundqvist, Pia

2012-01-01

Today, playing digital games is an important part of many young people's everyday lives. Claims have been made that certain games, in particular massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs) provide L2 English learners with a linguistically rich and cognitively challenging virtual environment that may be conducive to L2 learning, as…

The richness and reach of Wikinomics: Is the free web-based encyclopedia Wikipedia only for the rich countries?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rask, Morten

2007-01-01

In this paper, a model of the patterns of correlation in Wikipedia, reach and richness, lays the foundation for studying whether or not the free web-based encyclopedia Wikipedia is only for developed countries. Based upon data from 12 different Wikipedia language editions, we find that the central...... structural effect is on the level of human development in the current country. In other words, Wikipedia is in general, more for rich countries than for less developed countries. It is suggested that policy makers make investments in increasing the general level of literacy, education, and standard of living...

How rich is consciousness? The partial awareness hypothesis.

Science.gov (United States)

Kouider, Sid; de Gardelle, Vincent; Sackur, Jérôme; Dupoux, Emmanuel

2010-07-01

Current theories of consciousness posit a dissociation between 'phenomenal' consciousness (rich) and 'access' consciousness (limited). Here, we argue that the empirical evidence for phenomenal consciousness without access is equivocal, resulting either from a confusion between phenomenal and unconscious contents, or from an impression of phenomenally rich experiences arising from illusory contents. We propose a refined account of access that relies on a hierarchy of representational levels and on the notion of partial awareness, whereby lower and higher levels are accessed independently. Reframing of the issue of dissociable forms of consciousness into dissociable levels of access provides a more parsimonious account of the existing evidence. In addition, the rich phenomenology illusion can be studied and described in terms of testable cognitive mechanisms. Copyright (c) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Neutron-rich isotopes of the lightest elements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Oganesyan, Yu.Ts.; Penionzhkevich, Yu.Eh.; Kalpakchieva, R.

1989-01-01

A review is presented of the experimental investigations on the stability of very neutron-rich light nuclei carried out at the JINR Laboratory of Nuclear Reactions. Results on mass excess measurements are reported for 4 H, 5 H, 6 H, 7 H and for the superheavy helium isotope 9 He. Some results from the joint JINR-Ganil experiment on the search for and study of new neutron-rich light nuclei are also given. Analyzed are new possibilities for the investigation of multineutron decay of light nuclei. 14 refs.; 10 figs

Lexical richness and collocational competence in second-language writing

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Vedder, I.; Benigno, V.

2016-01-01

In this article we report on an experiment set up to investigate lexical richness and collocational competence in the written production of 39 low-intermediate and intermediate learners of Italian L2. Lexical richness was assessed by means of a lexical profiling method inspired by Laufer and Nation

Learning Effects of Interactive Whiteboard Pedagogy for Students in Taiwan from the Perspective of Multiple Intelligences

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Hong-Ren; Chiang, Chih-Hao; Lin, Wen-Shan

2013-01-01

With the rapid progress in information technology, interactive whiteboards have become IT-integrated in teaching activities. The theory of multiple intelligences argues that every person possesses multiple intelligences, emphasizing learners' cognitive richness and the possible role of these differences in enhanced learning. This study is the…

Vascular plant and vertebrate species richness in national parks of the eastern United States

Science.gov (United States)

Hatfield, Jeffrey S.; Myrick, Kaci E.; Huston, Michael A.; Weckerly, Floyd W.; Green, M. Clay

2013-01-01

Given the estimates that species diversity is diminishing at 50-100 times the normal rate, it is critical that we be able to evaluate changes in species richness in order to make informed decisions for conserving species diversity. In this study, we examined the potential of vascular plant species richness to be used as a surrogate for vertebrate species richness in the classes of amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals. Vascular plants, as primary producers, represent the biotic starting point for ecological community structure and are the logical place to start for understanding vertebrate species associations. We used data collected by the United States (US) National Park Service (NPS) on species presence within parks in the eastern US to estimate simple linear regressions between plant species richness and vertebrate richness. Because environmental factors may also influence species diversity, we performed simple linear regressions of species richness versus natural logarithm of park area, park latitude, mean annual precipitation, mean annual temperature, and human population density surrounding the parks. We then combined plant species richness and environmental variables in multiple regressions to determine the variables that remained as significant predictors of vertebrate species richness. As expected, we detected significant relationships between plant species richness and amphibian, bird, and mammal species richness. In some cases, plant species richness was predicted by park area alone. Species richness of mammals was only related to plant species richness. Reptile species richness, on the other hand, was related to plant species richness, park latitude and annual precipitation, while amphibian species richness was related to park latitude, park area, and plant species richness. Thus, plant species richness predicted species richness of different vertebrate groups to varying degrees and should not be used exclusively as a surrogate for vertebrate

Rich Environments for Adult Learners

Science.gov (United States)

Bentham, Renee

2008-01-01

Unaware of the messages a bare adult learning environment sends and its effect on adult learners, a trainer attends an intensive Reggio Emilia course and learns that the physical environment is the "third teacher"--for adults as well as for children. Using principles of Reggio, she offers suggestions for enhancing adult learning spaces and…

Designing new collaborative learning spaces in clinical environments: experiences from a children's hospital in Australia.

Science.gov (United States)

Bines, Julie E; Jamieson, Peter

2013-09-01

Hospitals are complex places that provide a rich learning environment for students, staff, patients and their families, professional groups and the community. The "new" Royal Children's Hospital opened in late 2011. Its mission is focused on improving health and well-being of children and adolescents through leadership in healthcare, research and education. Addressing the need to create "responsive learning environments" aligned with the shift to student-centred pedagogy, two distinct learning environments were developed within the new Royal Children's Hospital; (i) a dedicated education precinct providing a suite of physical environments to promote a more active, collaborative and social learning experience for education and training programs conducted on the Royal Children's Hospital campus and (ii) a suite of learning spaces embedded within clinical areas so that learning becomes an integral part of the daily activities of this busy Hospital environment. The aim of this article is to present the overarching educational principles that lead the design of these learning spaces and describe the opportunities and obstacles encountered in the development of collaborative learning spaces within a large hospital development.

The Influence of Prosodic Stress Patterns and Semantic Depth on Novel Word Learning in Typically Developing Children.

Science.gov (United States)

Gladfelter, Allison; Goffman, Lisa

2013-01-01

The goal of this study was to investigate the effects of prosodic stress patterns and semantic depth on word learning. Twelve preschool-aged children with typically developing speech and language skills participated in a word learning task. Novel words with either a trochaic or iambic prosodic pattern were embedded in one of two learning conditions, either in children's stories (semantically rich) or picture matching games (semantically sparse). Three main analyses were used to measure word learning: comprehension and production probes, phonetic accuracy, and speech motor stability. Results revealed that prosodic frequency and density influence the learnability of novel words, or that there are prosodic neighborhood density effects. The impact of semantic depth on word learning was minimal and likely depends on the amount of experience with the novel words.

Scripts and Narrative Control in the design of case based learning environments for supporting students' Context Awareness

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Demetriadis, Stavros N.; Papadopoulos, Pantelis M.; Dettori, Guiliana

2005-01-01

The use of case-based learning environments (CBLEs) is expected to benefit students by guiding them to study contextually rich real world situations. However, efficient design approaches are needed to support studentsrsquo; processing of the complex material embedded in a CBLE. In this work we...

Changing learning with new interactive and media-rich instruction environments: virtual labs case study report.

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Camillan

2003-01-01

Technology has created a new dimension for visual teaching and learning with web-delivered interactive media. The Virtual Labs Project has embraced this technology with instructional design and evaluation methodologies behind the simPHYSIO suite of simulation-based, online interactive teaching modules in physiology for the Stanford students. In addition, simPHYSIO provides the convenience of anytime web-access and a modular structure that allows for personalization and customization of the learning material. This innovative tool provides a solid delivery and pedagogical backbone that can be applied to developing an interactive simulation-based training tool for the use and management of the Picture Archiving and Communication System (PACS) image information system. The disparity in the knowledge between health and IT professionals can be bridged by providing convenient modular teaching tools to fill the gaps in knowledge. An innovative teaching method in the whole PACS is deemed necessary for its successful implementation and operation since it has become widely distributed with many interfaces, components, and customizations. This paper will discuss the techniques for developing an interactive-based teaching tool, a case study of its implementation, and a perspective for applying this approach to an online PACS training tool. Copyright 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd.

LHCb RICH Online-Monitor and Data-Quality

CERN Multimedia

Kerzel, U

2009-01-01

The LHCb experiment at the LHC (CERN) has been optimised for high precision measurements of the beauty quark sector. Its main objective is to precisely determine and over-constrain the parameters of the CKM mixing matrix, and to search for further sources of CP violation and new physics beyond the Standard Model in rare B-decays. Efficient particle identification at high purities over a wide momentum range from around 1 to ~100GeV/c is vital to many LHCb analyses. Central to the LHCb particle identification strategy are two Ring Imaging CHerenkov (RICH) detectors which use Silica Aerogel and C4F10 and CF4 gas radiators. A rigorous quality control scheme is being developed to insure that the data recorded by the RICH detector meets the stringent requirements of the physics analyses. The talk summarises the LHCb RICH online monitoring and data-quality strategy. Multiple dedicated algorithms are deployed to detect any potential issue already during data-taking ranging from integrity checks, mis-alignments to cha...

Developing Mentors: Adult participation, practices, and learning in an out-of-school time STEM program

Science.gov (United States)

Scipio, Deana Aeolani

This dissertation examines learning within an out-of-school time (OST) Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) broadening participation program. The dissertation includes an introduction, three empirical chapters (written as individual articles), and a conclusion. The dissertation context is a chemical oceanography OST program for middle school students called Project COOL---Chemical Oceanography Outside the Lab. The program was a collaboration between middle school OST programming, a learning sciences research laboratory, and a chemical oceanography laboratory. Both labs were located at a research-based university in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. Participants include 34 youth, 12 undergraduates, and five professional scientists. The dissertation data corpus includes six years of ethnographic field notes across three field sites, 400 hours of video and audio recordings, 40 hours of semi-structured interviews, and more than 100 participant generated artifacts. Analysis methods include comparative case analysis, cognitive mapping, semiotic cluster analysis, video interaction analysis, and discourse analysis. The first empirical article focuses on synthesizing productive programmatic features from four years of design-based research.. The second article is a comparative case study of three STEM mentors from non-dominant communities in the 2011 COOL OST Program. The third article is a comparative case study of undergraduates learning to be mentors in the 2014 COOL OST Program. Findings introduce Deep Hanging as a theory of learning in practice. Deep Hanging entails authentic tasks in rich contexts, providing access, capitalizing on opportunity, and building interpersonal relationships. Taken together, these three chapters illuminate the process of designing a rich OST learning environment and the kinds of learning in practice that occurred for adult learners learning to be mentors through their participation in the COOL OST program. In

Estimating tree species richness from forest inventory plot data

Science.gov (United States)

Ronald E. McRoberts; Dacia M. Meneguzzo

2007-01-01

Montreal Process Criterion 1, Conservation of Biological Diversity, expresses species diversity in terms of number of forest dependent species. Species richness, defined as the total number of species present, is a common metric for analyzing species diversity. A crucial difficulty in estimating species richness from sample data obtained from sources such as inventory...

Productivity is a poor predictor of plant species richness

Science.gov (United States)

P.B. Adler; E.T. Borer; H. Hillebrand; Y. Hautier; A. Hector; S. Harpole; L.R. O’Halloran; J.B. Grace; M. Anderson; J.D. Bakker; L.A. Biederman; C.S. Brown; Y.M. Buckley; L.B. Calabrese; C.-J. Chu; E.E. Cleland; S.L. Collins; K.L. Cottingham; M.J. Crawley; E.I. Damschen; K.W. Davies; N.M. DeCrappeo; P.A. Fay; J. Firn; P. Frater; E.I. Gasarch; D.S. Gruner; N. Hagenah; J. Hille. Ris Lambers

2011-01-01

For more than 30 years, the relationship between net primary productivity and species richness has generated intense debate in ecology about the processes regulating local diversity. The original view, which is still widely accepted, holds that the relationship is hump-shaped, with richness first rising and then declining with increasing productivity. Although recent...

Geologic map showing springs rich in carbon dioxide or or chloride in California

Science.gov (United States)

Barnes, Ivan; Irwin, William P.; Gibson, H.A.

1975-01-01

Carbon dioxide- and chloride-rich springs occur in all geologic provinces in California, but are most abundant in the Coast Ranges and the Great Valley. The carbon-dioxide-rich springs issue mainly from Franciscan terrane; they also are rich in boron and are of the metamorphic type (White, 1957). Based on isotopic data, either the carbon dioxide or the water, or both, may be of metamorphic origin. Because of high magnesium values, the water of many of the carbon-dioxide-rich springs is thought to have passed through serpentinite. The chloride-rich waters are most common in rocks of the Great Valley sequence. Nearly all are more dilute than present-day sea water. The similarity in isotopic compositions of the metamorphic carbon-dioxide-rich water and the chloride-rich water may indicate a similar extent of water-rock interaction.

SOFTWARE SUPPORT FOR RICH PICTURES

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Valente, Andrea; Marchetti, Emanuela

2010-01-01

Rich pictures (RP) are common in object-oriented analysis and design courses, but students seem to have problems in integrating them in their projects' workflow. A new software tool is being developed, specific for RP authoring. To better understand students' issues and working practice with RP...

Aspherical Dust Envelopes Around Oxygen-Rich AGB Stars

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kyung-Won Suh

2006-12-01

Full Text Available We model the aspherical dust envelopes around O-rich AGB stars. We perform the radiative transfer model calculations for axisymmetric dust distributions. We simulate what could be observed from the aspherical dust envelopes around O-rich AGB stars by presenting the model spectral energy distributions and images at various wavelengths for different optical depths and viewing angles. The model results are very different from the ones with spherically symmetric geometry.

Four-Wave Mixing in Silicon-Rich Nitride Waveguides

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mitrovic, Miranda; Guan, Xiaowei; Ji, Hua

2015-01-01

We demonstrate four-wave mixing wavelength conversion in silicon-rich nitride waveguides which are a promising alternative to silicon for nonlinear applications. The obtained conversion efficiency reaches -13.6 dB while showing no significant nonlinear loss.......We demonstrate four-wave mixing wavelength conversion in silicon-rich nitride waveguides which are a promising alternative to silicon for nonlinear applications. The obtained conversion efficiency reaches -13.6 dB while showing no significant nonlinear loss....

Ecologically relevant neurobehavioral assessment of the development of threat learning

Science.gov (United States)

Mouly, Anne-Marie

2016-01-01

As altricial infants gradually transition to adults, their proximate environment changes. In three short weeks, pups transition from a small world with the caregiver and siblings to a complex milieu rich in dangers as their environment expands. Such contrasting environments require different learning abilities and lead to distinct responses throughout development. Here, we will review some of the learned fear conditioned responses to threats in rats during their ontogeny, including behavioral and physiological measures that permit the assessment of learning and its supporting neurobiology from infancy through adulthood. In adulthood, odor–shock conditioning produces robust fear learning to the odor that depends upon the amygdala and related circuitry. Paradoxically, this conditioning in young pups fails to support fear learning and supports approach learning to the odor previously paired with shock. This approach learning is mediated by the infant attachment network that does not include the amygdala. During the age range when pups transition from the infant to the adult circuit (10–15 d old), pups have access to both networks: odor–shock conditioning in maternal presence uses the attachment circuit but the adult amygdala-dependent circuit when alone. However, throughout development (as young as 5 d old) the attachment associated learning can be overridden and amygdala-dependent fear learning supported, if the mother expresses fear in the presence of the pup. This social modulation of the fear permits the expression of defense reactions in life threatening situations informed by the caregiver but prevents the learning of the caregiver itself as a threat. PMID:27634146

Knowledge and Consumption pattern of Vitamin A rich-foods ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Due to lack of knowledge, some of the household subject some foods rich in vitamin A to traditional medicine use rather than using them to enrich their meals. Conclusion: Knowledge of the technologies for storage and preservation of vitamin A rich foods is very important in stabilizing price and making the foods available ...

Workplace learning through peer groups in medical school clerkships.

Science.gov (United States)

Chou, Calvin L; Teherani, Arianne; Masters, Dylan E; Vener, Margo; Wamsley, Maria; Poncelet, Ann

2014-01-01

When medical students move from the classroom into clinical practice environments, their roles and learning challenges shift dramatically from a formal curricular approach to a workplace learning model. Continuity among peers during clinical clerkships may play an important role in this different mode of learning. We explored students' perceptions about how they achieved workplace learning in the context of intentionally formed or ad hoc peer groups. We invited students in clerkship program models with continuity (CMCs) and in traditional block clerkships (BCs) to complete a survey about peer relationships with open-ended questions based on a workplace learning framework, including themes of workplace-based relationships, the nature of work practices, and selection of tasks and activities. We conducted qualitative content analysis to characterize students' experiences. In both BCs and CMCs, peer groups provided rich resources, including anticipatory guidance about clinical expectations of students, best practices in interacting with patients and supervisors, helpful advice in transitioning between rotations, and information about implicit rules of clerkships. Students also used each other as benchmarks for gauging strengths and deficits in their own knowledge and skills. Students achieve many aspects of workplace learning in clerkships through formal or informal workplace-based peer groups. In these groups, peers provide accessible, real-time, and relevant resources to help each other navigate transitions, clarify roles and tasks, manage interpersonal challenges, and decrease isolation. Medical schools can support effective workplace learning for medical students by incorporating continuity with peers in the main clinical clerkship year.

Fast Photon Detection for COMPASS RICH1

CERN Document Server

Abbon, P; Angerer, H; Apollonio, M; Birsa, R; Bordalo, P; Bradamante, F; Bressan, A; Busso, L; Chiosso, M; Ciliberti, P; Colantoni, M L; Costa, S; Dibiase, N; Dafni, T; Dalla Torre, S; Diaz, V; Duic, v; Delagnes, E; Deschamps, H; Eyrich, W; Faso, D; Ferrero, A; Finger, M; Finger, M Jr; Fischer, H; Gerassimov, S; Giorgi, M; Gobbo, B; Hagemann, R; Von Harrach, D; Heinsius, F H; Joosten, R; Ketzer, B; Königsmann, K; Kolosov, V N; Konorov, I; Kramer, D; Kunne, F; Levorato, S; Maggiora, A; Magnon, A; Mann, A; Martin, A; Menon, G; Mutter, A; Nähle, O; Neyret, D; Nerling, F; Pagano, P; Paul, S; Panebianco, S; Panzieri, D; Pesaro, G; Pizzolotto, C; Polak, J; Rebourgeard, P; Rocco, E; Robinet, F; Schiavon, P; Schill, C; Schoenmeier, P; Silva, L; Slunecka, M; Steiger, L; Sozzi, F; Sulc, M; Svec, M; Tessarotto, F; Teufel, A; Wollny, H

2006-01-01

The new photon detection system for COMPASS RICH-1 has been designed to cope with the demanding requests of operation at high beam intensity and at high trigger rates. The detection technique in the central region of RICH-1 has been changed with a system based on multianode photomultipliers coupled to individual fused silica lens telescopes and to a fast, almost dead time free readout system based on the MAD-4 amplifier-discriminator and the F1 TDC-chip. The new photon detection system design and construction are described, as well as its first response in the experiment.

Creating an interactive Web-based e-learning course: a practical introduction for radiologists.

Science.gov (United States)

Hoa, Denis; Micheau, Antoine; Gahide, Gerald

2006-01-01

With the development of e-learning and its ability to provide rich animated content rapidly to a wide audience, new methods for teaching medical imaging have evolved. E-learning tools allow building of learner-focused structured courses. Standards such as shareable content object reference model (SCORM) or Aviation Industry Computer-based Training Committee (AICC) guidelines and recommendations provide the framework required to combine text, images, videos, animations, and quizzes for learning assessment, even if each of these elements is created with different software. The main features to consider when choosing a learning management system are content management, assessment and reporting tools, customization options, course delivery, administration, and security. The tools for building a Web-based course with pages containing text, images, videos, and Flash animations are now accessible to any radiologist. Open-source learning management systems and content authoring software are available at no cost. The authors developed e-MRI.com, a free Web-based e-learning course with interactive animations and simulations, self-tests, and clinical cases to demonstrate the potential of the latest advances in e-learning and pedagogy applied to magnetic resonance imaging physics.

Species richness in natural and disturbed habitats: Asteraceae and Flower-head insects (Tephritidae: Diptera).

Science.gov (United States)

Diniz, Soraia; Prado, Paulo I; Lewinsohn, Thomas M

2010-01-01

Anthropogenic changes in the landscape result in an environmental mosaic with serious consequences for biodiversity. The aim of the present study was to assess the effects of the anthropogenic changes on Asteraceae richness and abundance, and to evaluate the consequences for the richness of Tephritidae assemblages in five sampling sites, with three sampled habitats in each: cerrado (Brazilian savanna), eucalyptus stands and pasture. Sampling was carried out in 15 random transects (cerrados and one pasture) and in 30 transects (eucalyptus stands and the remaining pastures). Composition, species richness and insect abundance in each habitat type was estimated by sampling the flower heads for each species of host plant, collected by four people for 1h. Differences in mean abundance of plant population between habitats and sites were tested by two-way ANOVA. Differences in plant species richness between habitats and sites and effects of habitat, site and host plant richness on insect richness were tested using a generalized linear model with Poisson errors. Within each sampling site, cerrados showed higher species richness of Asteraceae than pastures and eucalyptus stands. There were also significant differences in plant richness among sites. Mean population abundance values were significantly different among habitats, but not among sites. Increased host plant richness led to significant insect species richness. There were no additional significant effects of habitat on insect richness. Therefore, anthropogenic alterations in landscape determined the impoverishment of plant assemblages and therefore of insect assemblages, because of the positive relationship between host plant richness and insect richness.

Revascularization of Immature Necrotic Teeth: Platelet rich Fibrin an Edge over Platelet rich Plasma

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Neelam Mittal

2012-03-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Revascularization is one such entity that has found its clinical application in the field of endodontics for the manage-ment of immature permanent necrotic teeth. The protocols for revascularization of such teeth focus especially on delivery of stem cells and scaffolds in a nonsurgical manner rather than concentrated growth micro molecules.The hypothesis: This article proposes the role of platelet concentrates such as platelet rich fibrin (PRF and platelet rich plasma (PRP in accelerating the regenerative process in such teeth. PRF unlike PRP is associated with slow, continuous and substantial re-lease of morphogens. It is hypothesized further if PRF instead of PRP when placed through immature apices in an orthograde manner can open newer gates for fast and controlled growth in young, ne-crotic, non-infected teeth.Evaluation of the hypothesis: Enhancement of the healing kinetics can be evaluated by change in size of periapical radiolucency, thickness of the dentinal walls, root elongation and apical closure compared between preoperative and postoperative standardized two dimensional/three dimensional radiographs taken on regular follow ups.

Technology-Rich Schools Up Close

Science.gov (United States)

Levin, Barbara B.; Schrum, Lynne

2013-01-01

This article observes that schools that use technology well have key commonalities, including a project-based curriculum and supportive, distributed leadership. The authors' research into tech-rich schools revealed that schools used three strategies to integrate technology successfully. They did so by establishing the vision and culture,…

Context-dependent interactions and the regulation of species richness in freshwater fish

Science.gov (United States)

MacDougall, Andrew S.; Harvey, Eric; McCune, Jenny L.; Nilsson, Karin A.; Bennett, Joseph; Firn, Jennifer; Bartley, Timothy; Grace, James B.; Kelly, Jocelyn; Tunney, Tyler D.; McMeans, Bailey; Matsuzaki, Shin-Ichiro S.; Kadoya, Taku; Esch, Ellen; Cazelles, Kevin; Lester, Nigel; McCann, Kevin S.

2018-01-01

Species richness is regulated by a complex network of scale-dependent processes. This complexity can obscure the influence of limiting species interactions, making it difficult to determine if abiotic or biotic drivers are more predominant regulators of richness. Using integrative modeling of freshwater fish richness from 721 lakes along an 11olatitudinal gradient, we find negative interactions to be a relatively minor independent predictor of species richness in lakes despite the widespread presence of predators. Instead, interaction effects, when detectable among major functional groups and 231 species pairs, were strong, often positive, but contextually dependent on environment. These results are consistent with the idea that negative interactions internally structure lake communities but do not consistently ‘scale-up’ to regulate richness independently of the environment. The importance of environment for interaction outcomes and its role in the regulation of species richness highlights the potential sensitivity of fish communities to the environmental changes affecting lakes globally.

The CLEO RICH detector

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Artuso, M.; Ayad, R.; Bukin, K.; Efimov, A.; Boulahouache, C.; Dambasuren, E.; Kopp, S.; Li, Ji; Majumder, G.; Menaa, N.; Mountain, R.; Schuh, S.; Skwarnicki, T.; Stone, S.; Viehhauser, G.; Wang, J.C.; Coan, T.E.; Fadeyev, V.; Maravin, Y.; Volobouev, I.; Ye, J.; Anderson, S.; Kubota, Y.; Smith, A.

2005-01-01

We describe the design, construction and performance of a Ring Imaging Cherenkov Detector (RICH) constructed to identify charged particles in the CLEO experiment. Cherenkov radiation occurs in LiF crystals, both planar and ones with a novel 'sawtooth'-shaped exit surface. Photons in the wavelength interval 135-165nm are detected using multi-wire chambers filled with a mixture of methane gas and triethylamine vapor. Excellent π/K separation is demonstrated

Driving to learn in a powered wheelchair: the process of learning joystick use in people with profound cognitive disabilities.

Science.gov (United States)

Nilsson, Lisbeth; Eklund, Mona; Nyberg, Per; Thulesius, Hans

2011-01-01

The Driving to Learn project explored ways to help people with profound cognitive disabilities practice operating a joystick-operated powered wheelchair. The project used a grounded theory approach with constant comparative analysis and was carried out over 12 yr. The participants were 45 children and adults with profound cognitive disabilities. Reference groups included 17 typically developing infants and 64 participants with lesser degrees of cognitive disability. The data sources included video recordings, field notes, open interviews, and a rich mixture of literature. The findings that emerged yielded strategies for facilitating achievements, an 8-phase learning process, an assessment tool, and a grounded theory of deplateauing explaining the properties necessary for participants to exceed expected limitations and plateaus. Eight participants with profound cognitive disabilities reached goal-directed driving or higher. Participants were empowered by attaining increased control over tool use, improving their autonomy and quality of life.

Bootstrapping in a language of thought: a formal model of numerical concept learning.

Science.gov (United States)

Piantadosi, Steven T; Tenenbaum, Joshua B; Goodman, Noah D

2012-05-01

In acquiring number words, children exhibit a qualitative leap in which they transition from understanding a few number words, to possessing a rich system of interrelated numerical concepts. We present a computational framework for understanding this inductive leap as the consequence of statistical inference over a sufficiently powerful representational system. We provide an implemented model that is powerful enough to learn number word meanings and other related conceptual systems from naturalistic data. The model shows that bootstrapping can be made computationally and philosophically well-founded as a theory of number learning. Our approach demonstrates how learners may combine core cognitive operations to build sophisticated representations during the course of development, and how this process explains observed developmental patterns in number word learning. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Exploring nursing e-learning systems success based on information system success model.

Science.gov (United States)

Chang, Hui-Chuan; Liu, Chung-Feng; Hwang, Hsin-Ginn

2011-12-01

E-learning is thought of as an innovative approach to enhance nurses' care service knowledge. Extensive research has provided rich information toward system development, courses design, and nurses' satisfaction with an e-learning system. However, a comprehensive view in understanding nursing e-learning system success is an important but less focused-on topic. The purpose of this research was to explore net benefits of nursing e-learning systems based on the updated DeLone and McLean's Information System Success Model. The study used a self-administered questionnaire to collected 208 valid nurses' responses from 21 of Taiwan's medium- and large-scale hospitals that have implemented nursing e-learning systems. The result confirms that the model is sufficient to explore the nurses' use of e-learning systems in terms of intention to use, user satisfaction, and net benefits. However, while the three exogenous quality factors (system quality, information quality, and service quality) were all found to be critical factors affecting user satisfaction, only information quality showed a direct effect on the intention to use. This study provides useful insights for evaluating nursing e-learning system qualities as well as an understanding of nurses' intentions and satisfaction related to performance benefits.

Maximum entropy methods for extracting the learned features of deep neural networks.

Science.gov (United States)

Finnegan, Alex; Song, Jun S

2017-10-01

New architectures of multilayer artificial neural networks and new methods for training them are rapidly revolutionizing the application of machine learning in diverse fields, including business, social science, physical sciences, and biology. Interpreting deep neural networks, however, currently remains elusive, and a critical challenge lies in understanding which meaningful features a network is actually learning. We present a general method for interpreting deep neural networks and extracting network-learned features from input data. We describe our algorithm in the context of biological sequence analysis. Our approach, based on ideas from statistical physics, samples from the maximum entropy distribution over possible sequences, anchored at an input sequence and subject to constraints implied by the empirical function learned by a network. Using our framework, we demonstrate that local transcription factor binding motifs can be identified from a network trained on ChIP-seq data and that nucleosome positioning signals are indeed learned by a network trained on chemical cleavage nucleosome maps. Imposing a further constraint on the maximum entropy distribution also allows us to probe whether a network is learning global sequence features, such as the high GC content in nucleosome-rich regions. This work thus provides valuable mathematical tools for interpreting and extracting learned features from feed-forward neural networks.

Platelet-rich fibrin matrix for facial plastic surgery.

Science.gov (United States)

Sclafani, Anthony P; Saman, Masoud

2012-05-01

Platelets are known primarily for their role in hemostasis, but there is increasing interest in the effect of platelets on wound healing. Platelet isolates such as platelet-rich plasma have been advocated to enhance and accelerate wound healing. This article describes the use of a novel preparation, platelet-rich fibrin matrix (PRFM), for facial plastic surgery applications such as volume augmentation, fat transfer supplementation, and as an adjunct to open surgical procedures. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

CERN-built prototype RICH detector back from the USA

CERN Multimedia

Maximilien Brice

2002-01-01

In summer 1999, a ring-imaging Cherenkov detector (RICH) developed, constructed and tested at CERN was dismantled and sent to the Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) where it was used to extend the particle identification range of the STAR detector at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC). The RICH was a prototype of part of the ALICE-HMPID detector. Here we see members of the STAR-RICH team from ALICE-HMPID group with the detector, still in its shipping crates, back from BNL. L. to r.: A.Braem, E. Schyns, D. Fraissard, C. David, A. Di Mauro, J. van Beelen, G. Paic, Y. Lesenechal, F. Piuz, P. Martinengo, D. Di Bari, G. De Cataldo, Y. Andres, M. Davenport, V. Barozier, E. Nappi, T. D. Williams.

Sexual selection predicts species richness across the animal kingdom.

Science.gov (United States)

Janicke, Tim; Ritchie, Michael G; Morrow, Edward H; Marie-Orleach, Lucas

2018-05-16

Our improving knowledge of the animal tree of life consistently demonstrates that some taxa diversify more rapidly than others, but what contributes to this variation remains poorly understood. An influential hypothesis proposes that selection arising from competition for mating partners plays a key role in promoting speciation. However, empirical evidence showing a link between proxies of this sexual selection and species richness is equivocal. Here, we collected standardized metrics of sexual selection for a broad range of animal taxa, and found that taxonomic families characterized by stronger sexual selection on males show relatively higher species richness. Thus, our data support the hypothesis that sexual selection elevates species richness. This could occur either by promoting speciation and/or by protecting species against extinction. © 2018 The Author(s).

Effect of Pu-rich agglomerate in MOX fuel on a lattice calculation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kawashima, Katsuyuki; Yamamoto, Toru; Namekawa, Masakazu

2007-01-01

The effect of Pu-rich agglomerates in U-Pu mixed oxide (MOX) fuel on a lattice calculation has been demonstrated. The Pu-rich agglomerate parameters are defined based on the measurement data of MIMAS-MOX and the focus is on the highly enriched MOX fuel in accordance with increased burnup resulting in a higher volume fraction of the Pu-rich agglomerates. The lattice calculations with a heterogeneous fuel model and a homogeneous fuel model are performed simulating the PWR 17x17 fuel assembly. The heterogeneous model individually treats the Pu-rich agglomerate and U-Pu matrix, whereas the homogeneous model homogenizes the compositions within the fuel pellet. A continuous-energy Monte Carlo burnup code, MVP-BURN, is used for burnup calculations up to 70 GWd/t. A statistical geometry model is applied in modeling a large number of Pu-rich agglomerates assuming that they are distributed randomly within the MOX fuel pellet. The calculated nuclear characteristics include k-inf, Pu isotopic compositions, power density and burnup of the Pu-rich agglomerates, as well as the pellet-averaged Pu compositions as a function of burnup. It is shown that the effect of Pu-rich agglomerates on the lattice calculation is negligibly small. (author)

Catchment-scale determinants of nonindigenous minnow richness in the eastern United States

Science.gov (United States)

Peoples, Brandon K.; Midway, Stephen R.; DeWeber, Jefferson T.; Wagner, Tyler

2018-01-01

Understanding the drivers of biological invasions is critical for preserving aquatic biodiversity. Stream fishes make excellent model taxa for examining mechanisms driving species introduction success because their distributions are naturally limited by catchment boundaries. In this study, we compared the relative importance of catchment-scale abiotic and biotic predictors of native and nonindigenous minnow (Cyprinidae) richness in 170 catchments throughout the eastern United States. We compared historic and contemporary cyprinid distributional data to determine catchment-wise native/nonindigenous status for 152 species. Catchment-scale model predictor variables described natural (elevation, precipitation, flow accumulation) and anthropogenic (developed land cover, number of dams) abiotic features, as well as native congener richness. Native congener richness may represent either biotic resistance via interspecific competition, or trait preadaptation according to Darwin's naturalisation hypothesis. We used generalised linear mixed models to examine evidence supporting the relative roles of abiotic and biotic predictors of cyprinid introduction success. Native congener richness was positively correlated with nonindigenous cyprinid richness and was the most important variable predicting nonindigenous cyprinid richness. Mean elevation had a weak positive effect, and effects of other abiotic factors were insignificant and less important. Our results suggest that at this spatial scale, trait preadaptation may be more important than intrageneric competition for determining richness of nonindigenous fishes.

Seaweed richness and herbivory increase rate of community recovery from disturbance.

Science.gov (United States)

Aquilino, Kristin M; Stachowicz, John J

2012-04-01

The importance of herbivores and of plant diversity for community succession and recovery from disturbance is well documented. However, few studies have assessed the relative magnitude of, or potential interactions between, these factors. To determine the combined effect of herbivory and surrounding algal species richness on the recovery of a rocky intertidal community, we conducted a 27-month field experiment assessing algal recruitment and succession in cleared patches that mimic naturally forming gaps in the ambient community. We crossed two herbivore treatments, ambient and reduced abundance, with monocultures and polycultures of the four most common algal species in a mid-high rocky intertidal zone of northern California. We found that both the presence of herbivores and high surrounding algal richness increased recovery rates, and the effect of algal richness was twice the magnitude of that of herbivores. The increased recovery rate of patches containing herbivores was due to the consumption of fast-growing, early colonist species that preempt space from perennial, late-successional species. Mechanisms linking algal richness and recovery are more numerous. In polycultures, herbivore abundance and species composition is altered, desiccation rates are lower, and propagule recruitment, survival, and growth are higher compared to monocultures, all of which could contribute the observed effect of surrounding species richness. Herbivory and species richness should jointly accelerate recovery wherever palatable species inhibit late-successional, herbivore-resistant species and recruitment and survival of new colonists is promoted by local species richness. These appear to be common features of rocky-shore seaweed, and perhaps other, communities.

Thermodynamics of neutron-rich nuclear matter

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

López, Jorge A., E-mail: jorgelopez@utep.edu [Department of Physics, University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, Texas 79968, U.S.A (United States); Porras, Sergio Terrazas, E-mail: sterraza@uacj.mx; Gutiérrez, Araceli Rodríguez, E-mail: al104010@alumnos.uacj.mx [Universidad Autónoma de Ciudad Juárez, Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, México (Mexico)

2016-07-07

This manuscript presents methods to obtain properties of neutron-rich nuclear matter from classical molecular dynamics. Some of these are bulk properties of infinite nuclear matter, phase information, the Maxwell construction, spinodal lines and symmetry energy.

Enablers and constrainers to participation: Has policy in Nordic countries reached its limit for raising participation in adult learning among certain groups? Paper presented (with R. Desjardins) at the II Nordic conference on Adult Learning, Linköping, Sweden, 17-19 April

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Milana, Marcella; Desjardins, Richard

barriers to participation, and ensure that disadvantaged groups have equal opportunity to take up adult learning. Together, observations indicate that policy matters in promoting adult learning, especially among adults that would otherwise not participate. At the same time the observations indicate......Despite comparatively high and equal participation in adult learning in Nordic countries, a distinct pattern of non-participation persists. Moreover, the pattern of adults who tend to participate comparatively less often is similar to the non-Nordic countries considered, although it is less...... accentuated. The Nordic countries have a long shared history of supporting and fostering a rich adult learning culture. Although various historical, social and cultural factors are behind this, Nordic countries also share a strong record of public policy that aims to: promote adult learning, target various...

What Explains Patterns of Diversification and Richness among Animal Phyla?

Science.gov (United States)

Jezkova, Tereza; Wiens, John J

2017-03-01

Animal phyla vary dramatically in species richness (from one species to >1.2 million), but the causes of this variation remain largely unknown. Animals have also evolved striking variation in morphology and ecology, including sessile marine taxa lacking heads, eyes, limbs, and complex organs (e.g., sponges), parasitic worms (e.g., nematodes, platyhelminths), and taxa with eyes, skeletons, limbs, and complex organs that dominate terrestrial ecosystems (arthropods, chordates). Relating this remarkable variation in traits to the diversification and richness of animal phyla is a fundamental yet unresolved problem in biology. Here, we test the impacts of 18 traits (including morphology, ecology, reproduction, and development) on diversification and richness of extant animal phyla. Using phylogenetic multiple regression, the best-fitting model includes five traits that explain ∼74% of the variation in diversification rates (dioecy, parasitism, eyes/photoreceptors, a skeleton, nonmarine habitat). However, a model including just three (skeleton, parasitism, habitat) explains nearly as much variation (∼67%). Diversification rates then largely explain richness patterns. Our results also identify many striking traits that have surprisingly little impact on diversification (e.g., head, limbs, and complex circulatory and digestive systems). Overall, our results reveal the key factors that shape large-scale patterns of diversification and richness across >80% of all extant, described species.

Mapping and predictive variations of soil bacterial richness across France.

Science.gov (United States)

Terrat, Sébastien; Horrigue, Walid; Dequiedt, Samuel; Saby, Nicolas P A; Lelièvre, Mélanie; Nowak, Virginie; Tripied, Julie; Régnier, Tiffanie; Jolivet, Claudy; Arrouays, Dominique; Wincker, Patrick; Cruaud, Corinne; Karimi, Battle; Bispo, Antonio; Maron, Pierre Alain; Chemidlin Prévost-Bouré, Nicolas; Ranjard, Lionel

2017-01-01

Although numerous studies have demonstrated the key role of bacterial diversity in soil functions and ecosystem services, little is known about the variations and determinants of such diversity on a nationwide scale. The overall objectives of this study were i) to describe the bacterial taxonomic richness variations across France, ii) to identify the ecological processes (i.e. selection by the environment and dispersal limitation) influencing this distribution, and iii) to develop a statistical predictive model of soil bacterial richness. We used the French Soil Quality Monitoring Network (RMQS), which covers all of France with 2,173 sites. The soil bacterial richness (i.e. OTU number) was determined by pyrosequencing 16S rRNA genes and related to the soil characteristics, climatic conditions, geomorphology, land use and space. Mapping of bacterial richness revealed a heterogeneous spatial distribution, structured into patches of about 111km, where the main drivers were the soil physico-chemical properties (18% of explained variance), the spatial descriptors (5.25%, 1.89% and 1.02% for the fine, medium and coarse scales, respectively), and the land use (1.4%). Based on these drivers, a predictive model was developed, which allows a good prediction of the bacterial richness (R2adj of 0.56) and provides a reference value for a given pedoclimatic condition.

Species richness of vascular plants, bryophytes, and lichens along an altitudinal gradient in western Norway

Science.gov (United States)

Grytnes, John Arvid; Heegaard, Einar; Ihlen, Per G.

2006-05-01

Species richness patterns of ground-dwelling vascular plants, bryophytes, and lichens were compared along an altitudinal gradient (310-1135 m a.s.l.), in western Norway. Total species richness peaked at intermediate altitudes, vascular plant species richness peaked immediately above the forest limit (at 600-700 m a.s.l.), bryophyte species richness had no statistically significant trend, whereas lichen richness increased from the lowest point and up to the forest limit, with no trend above. It is proposed that the pattern in vascular plant species richness is enhanced by an ecotone effect. Bryophyte species richness responds to local scale factors whereas the lichen species richness may be responding to the shading from the forest trees.

Use of ephippial morphology to assess richness of anomopods: potentials and pitfalls

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Luc DE MEESTER

2004-09-01

Full Text Available Zooplankton species richness is typically assessed through analysis of active community samples. These samples ought to be collected at many different locations in the lake and at multiple occasions throughout the year so as to cover the spatial and temporal heterogeneity in active community structure. A number of studies have shown that high numbers of species can be retrieved with a limited effort through hatching of dormant eggs isolated from lake sediments. However, dormant eggs of different species differ in their propensities to hatch, resulting in biased assessments of species composition, abundance and richness. In this paper, we explore the potentials and pitfalls of a third method to assess cladoceran species richness. For twenty European lakes, we identified the number of ephippium morphotypes in sediment samples taken on a single occasion. The morphotype richness was well correlated with species richness as assessed through hatching of dormant forms and through analysis of active community samples covering a six month period. However, not all species had a species-specific ephippial morphotype, consequently resulting in an underestimation of true species richness.

Novel object recognition ability in female mice following exposure to nanoparticle-rich diesel exhaust

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Win-Shwe, Tin-Tin, E-mail: tin.tin.win.shwe@nies.go.jp [Center for Environmental Health Sciences, National Institute for Environmental Studies, 16‐2 Onogawa, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305‐8506 (Japan); Fujimaki, Hidekazu; Fujitani, Yuji; Hirano, Seishiro [Center for Environmental Risk Research, National Institute for Environmental Studies, 16‐2 Onogawa, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305‐8506 (Japan)

2012-08-01

Recently, our laboratory reported that exposure to nanoparticle-rich diesel exhaust (NRDE) for 3 months impaired hippocampus-dependent spatial learning ability and up-regulated the expressions of memory function-related genes in the hippocampus of female mice. However, whether NRDE affects the hippocampus-dependent non-spatial learning ability and the mechanism of NRDE-induced neurotoxicity was unknown. Female BALB/c mice were exposed to clean air, middle-dose NRDE (M-NRDE, 47 μg/m{sup 3}), high-dose NRDE (H-NRDE, 129 μg/m{sup 3}), or filtered H-NRDE (F-DE) for 3 months. We then investigated the effect of NRDE exposure on non-spatial learning ability and the expression of genes related to glutamate neurotransmission using a novel object recognition test and a real-time RT-PCR analysis, respectively. We also examined microglia marker Iba1 immunoreactivity in the hippocampus using immunohistochemical analyses. Mice exposed to H-NRDE or F-DE could not discriminate between familiar and novel objects. The control and M-NRDE-exposed groups showed a significantly increased discrimination index, compared to the H-NRDE-exposed group. Although no significant changes in the expression levels of the NMDA receptor subunits were observed, the expression of glutamate transporter EAAT4 was decreased and that of glutamic acid decarboxylase GAD65 was increased in the hippocampus of H-NRDE-exposed mice, compared with the expression levels in control mice. We also found that microglia activation was prominent in the hippocampal area of the H-NRDE-exposed mice, compared with the other groups. These results indicated that exposure to NRDE for 3 months impaired the novel object recognition ability. The present study suggests that genes related to glutamate metabolism may be involved in the NRDE-induced neurotoxicity observed in the present mouse model. -- Highlights: ► The effects of nanoparticle-induced neurotoxicity remain unclear. ► We investigated the effect of exposure to

Novel object recognition ability in female mice following exposure to nanoparticle-rich diesel exhaust

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Win-Shwe, Tin-Tin; Fujimaki, Hidekazu; Fujitani, Yuji; Hirano, Seishiro

2012-01-01

Recently, our laboratory reported that exposure to nanoparticle-rich diesel exhaust (NRDE) for 3 months impaired hippocampus-dependent spatial learning ability and up-regulated the expressions of memory function-related genes in the hippocampus of female mice. However, whether NRDE affects the hippocampus-dependent non-spatial learning ability and the mechanism of NRDE-induced neurotoxicity was unknown. Female BALB/c mice were exposed to clean air, middle-dose NRDE (M-NRDE, 47 μg/m 3 ), high-dose NRDE (H-NRDE, 129 μg/m 3 ), or filtered H-NRDE (F-DE) for 3 months. We then investigated the effect of NRDE exposure on non-spatial learning ability and the expression of genes related to glutamate neurotransmission using a novel object recognition test and a real-time RT-PCR analysis, respectively. We also examined microglia marker Iba1 immunoreactivity in the hippocampus using immunohistochemical analyses. Mice exposed to H-NRDE or F-DE could not discriminate between familiar and novel objects. The control and M-NRDE-exposed groups showed a significantly increased discrimination index, compared to the H-NRDE-exposed group. Although no significant changes in the expression levels of the NMDA receptor subunits were observed, the expression of glutamate transporter EAAT4 was decreased and that of glutamic acid decarboxylase GAD65 was increased in the hippocampus of H-NRDE-exposed mice, compared with the expression levels in control mice. We also found that microglia activation was prominent in the hippocampal area of the H-NRDE-exposed mice, compared with the other groups. These results indicated that exposure to NRDE for 3 months impaired the novel object recognition ability. The present study suggests that genes related to glutamate metabolism may be involved in the NRDE-induced neurotoxicity observed in the present mouse model. -- Highlights: ► The effects of nanoparticle-induced neurotoxicity remain unclear. ► We investigated the effect of exposure to

Pectin-rich biomass as feedstock for fuel ethanol production.

Science.gov (United States)

Edwards, Meredith C; Doran-Peterson, Joy

2012-08-01

The USA has proposed that 30 % of liquid transportation fuel be produced from renewable resources by 2030 (Perlack and Stokes 2011). It will be impossible to reach this goal using corn kernel-based ethanol alone. Pectin-rich biomass, an under-utilized waste product of the sugar and juice industry, can augment US ethanol supplies by capitalizing on this already established feedstock. Currently, pectin-rich biomass is sold (at low value) as animal feed. This review focuses on the three most studied types of pectin-rich biomass: sugar beet pulp, citrus waste and apple pomace. Fermentations of these materials have been conducted with a variety of ethanologens, including yeasts and bacteria. Escherichia coli can ferment a wide range of sugars including galacturonic acid, the primary component of pectin. However, the mixed acid metabolism of E. coli can produce unwanted side products. Saccharomyces cerevisiae cannot naturally ferment galacturonic acid nor pentose sugars but has a homoethanol pathway. Erwinia chrysanthemi is capable of degrading many of the cell wall components of pectin-rich materials, including pectin. Klebsiella oxytoca can metabolize a diverse array of sugars including cellobiose, one degradation product of cellulose. However, both E. chrysanthemi and K. oxytoca produce side products during fermentation, similar to E. coli. Using pectin-rich residues from industrial processes is beneficial because the material is already collected and partially pretreated to facilitate enzymatic deconstruction of the plant cell walls. Using biomass already produced for other purposes is an attractive practice because fewer greenhouse gases (GHG) will be anticipated from land-use changes.

Pectin-rich biomass as feedstock for fuel ethanol production

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Edwards, Meredith C.; Doran-Peterson, Joy [Georgia Univ., Athens, GA (United States). Dept. of Microbiology

2012-08-15

The USA has proposed that 30 % of liquid transportation fuel be produced from renewable resources by 2030 (Perlack and Stokes 2011). It will be impossible to reach this goal using corn kernel-based ethanol alone. Pectin-rich biomass, an under-utilized waste product of the sugar and juice industry, can augment US ethanol supplies by capitalizing on this already established feedstock. Currently, pectin-rich biomass is sold (at low value) as animal feed. This review focuses on the three most studied types of pectin-rich biomass: sugar beet pulp, citrus waste and apple pomace. Fermentations of these materials have been conducted with a variety of ethanologens, including yeasts and bacteria. Escherichia coli can ferment a wide range of sugars including galacturonic acid, the primary component of pectin. However, the mixed acid metabolism of E. coli can produce unwanted side products. Saccharomyces cerevisiae cannot naturally ferment galacturonic acid nor pentose sugars but has a homoethanol pathway. Erwinia chrysanthemi is capable of degrading many of the cell wall components of pectin-rich materials, including pectin. Klebsiella oxytoca can metabolize a diverse array of sugars including cellobiose, one degradation product of cellulose. However, both E. chrysanthemi and K. oxytoca produce side products during fermentation, similar to E. coli. Using pectin-rich residues from industrial processes is beneficial because the material is already collected and partially pretreated to facilitate enzymatic deconstruction of the plant cell walls. Using biomass already produced for other purposes is an attractive practice because fewer greenhouse gases (GHG) will be anticipated from land-use changes. (orig.)

Optical High-resolution Spectroscopy of 14 Young α-rich Stars

Science.gov (United States)

Matsuno, Tadafumi; Yong, David; Aoki, Wako; Ishigaki, Miho N.

2018-06-01

We report chemical abundances of 14 young α-rich stars including neutron-capture elements based on high-quality optical spectra from HIRES/Keck I and differential line-by-line analysis. From a comparison of the abundance patterns of young α-rich stars to those of nearby bright red giants with a similar metallicity range (‑0.7 branch stars plays an important role in the formation of young α-rich stars. The high frequency of radial velocity variation (more than 50%) is also confirmed. We argue that mass transfer from low-mass red giants is the likely dominant formation mechanism for young α-rich stars. The data presented herein were obtained at the W. M. Keck Observatory, which is operated as a scientific partnership among the California Institute of Technology, the University of California and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The Observatory was made possible by the generous financial support of the W. M. Keck Foundation.

Platelet-rich plasma to improve the bio-functionality of biomaterials.

Science.gov (United States)

Anitua, Eduardo; Tejero, Ricardo; Alkhraisat, Mohammad H; Orive, Gorka

2013-04-01

Growth factors and cytokines are active players in controlling the different stages of wound healing and tissue regeneration. Recent trends in personalized regenerative medicine involve using patient's own platelet-rich plasma for stimulating wound healing and tissue regeneration. This technology provides a complex cocktail of growth factors and even a fibrin scaffold with multiple biologic effects. In the last few years, an increasing number of studies provide evidence of the potential of combining platelet-rich plasma with different biomaterials in order to improve their properties, including handling, administration, bioactivity, and level of osseointegration, among others. In this review, we discuss the use of platelet-rich plasma as an alternative, easy, cost-effective, and controllable strategy for the release of high concentrations of many endogenous growth factors. Additionally, we provide an overview of the current progress and future directions of research combining different types of biomaterials with platelet-rich plasma in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine.

"Musyahadat Al Fidyu": YouTube-Based Teaching and Learning of Arabic as Foreign Language (AFL)

Science.gov (United States)

Albantani, Azkia Muharom; Madkur, Ahmad

2017-01-01

Today, it is not surprising to say that there is a swiftly rising use of internet in education. Internet with the enormous features has provided up prospects for rich and ground-breaking approaches to deal with educational issues and present solutions to the escalating needs for learning resources. Despite this fact, it is still found few studies…

Ecologically relevant neurobehavioral assessment of the development of threat learning.

Science.gov (United States)

Boulanger Bertolus, Julie; Mouly, Anne-Marie; Sullivan, Regina M

2016-10-01

As altricial infants gradually transition to adults, their proximate environment changes. In three short weeks, pups transition from a small world with the caregiver and siblings to a complex milieu rich in dangers as their environment expands. Such contrasting environments require different learning abilities and lead to distinct responses throughout development. Here, we will review some of the learned fear conditioned responses to threats in rats during their ontogeny, including behavioral and physiological measures that permit the assessment of learning and its supporting neurobiology from infancy through adulthood. In adulthood, odor-shock conditioning produces robust fear learning to the odor that depends upon the amygdala and related circuitry. Paradoxically, this conditioning in young pups fails to support fear learning and supports approach learning to the odor previously paired with shock. This approach learning is mediated by the infant attachment network that does not include the amygdala. During the age range when pups transition from the infant to the adult circuit (10-15 d old), pups have access to both networks: odor-shock conditioning in maternal presence uses the attachment circuit but the adult amygdala-dependent circuit when alone. However, throughout development (as young as 5 d old) the attachment associated learning can be overridden and amygdala-dependent fear learning supported, if the mother expresses fear in the presence of the pup. This social modulation of the fear permits the expression of defense reactions in life threatening situations informed by the caregiver but prevents the learning of the caregiver itself as a threat. © 2016 Boulanger Bertolus et al.; Published by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press.

Patterns of coral species richness and reef connectivity in Malaysia

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Waheed, Z.

2016-01-01

Much remains to be discovered about the biodiversity of coral reefs in Malaysia, making this area a priority for coral reef research. This thesis aims to provide insights into the patterns of reef coral species richness and the degree of reef connectivity across Malaysia. For the species richness

Plant species richness and ecosystem multifunctionality in global drylands

Science.gov (United States)

Maestre, Fernando T.; Quero, Jose L.; Gotelli, Nicholas J.; Escudero, Adrian; Ochoa, Victoria; Delgado-Baquerizo, Manuel; Garcia-Gomez, Miguel; Bowker, Matthew A.; Soliveres, Santiago; Escolar, Cristina; Garcia-Palacios, Pablo; Berdugo, Miguel; Valencia, Enrique; Gozalo, Beatriz; Gallardo, Antonio; Aguilera, Lorgio; Arredondo, Tulio; Blones, Julio; Boeken, Bertrand; Bran, Donaldo; Conceicao, Abel A.; Cabrera, Omar; Chaieb, Mohamed; Derak, Mchich; Eldridge, David J.; Espinosa, Carlos I.; Florentino, Adriana; Gaitan, Juan; Gatica, M. Gabriel; Ghiloufi, Wahida; Gomez-Gonzalez, Susana; Gutie, Julio R.; Hernandez, Rosa M.; Huang, Xuewen; Huber-Sannwald, Elisabeth; Jankju, Mohammad; Miriti, Maria; Monerris, Jorge; Mau, Rebecca L.; Morici, Ernesto; Naseri, Kamal; Ospina, Abelardo; Polo, Vicente; Prina, Anibal; Pucheta, Eduardo; Ramirez-Collantes, David A.; Romao, Roberto; Tighe, Matthew; Torres-Diaz, Cristian; Val, James; Veiga, Jose P.; Wang, Deli; Zaady, Eli

2012-01-01

Experiments suggest that biodiversity enhances the ability of ecosystems to maintain multiple functions, such as carbon storage, productivity, and the buildup of nutrient pools (multifunctionality). However, the relationship between biodiversity and multifunctionality has never been assessed globally in natural ecosystems. We report here on a global empirical study relating plant species richness and abiotic factors to multifunctionality in drylands, which collectively cover 41% of Earth's land surface and support over 38% of the human population. Multifunctionality was positively and significantly related to species richness. The best-fitting models accounted for over 55% of the variation in multifunctionality and always included species richness as a predictor variable. Our results suggest that the preservation of plant biodiversity is crucial to buffer negative effects of climate change and desertification in drylands.

Productivity is a poor predictor of plant species richness

Science.gov (United States)

Adler, Peter B.; Seabloom, Eric W.; Borer, Elizabeth T.; Hillebrand, Helmut; Hautier, Yann; Hector, Andy; Harpole, W. Stanley; O'Halloran, Lydia R.; Grace, James B.; Anderson, T. Michael; Bakker, Jonathan D.; Biederman, Lori A.; Brown, Cynthia S.; Buckley, Yvonne M.; Calabrese, Laura B.; Chu, Cheng-Jin; Cleland, Elsa E.; Collins, Scott L.; Cottingham, Kathryn L.; Crawley, Michael J.; Damschen, Ellen Ingman; Davies, Kendi F.; DeCrappeo, Nicole M.; Fay, Philip A.; Firn, Jennifer; Frater, Paul; Gasarch, Eve I.; Gruner, Daneil S.; Hagenah, Nicole; Lambers, Janneke Hille Ris; Humphries, Hope; Jin, Virginia L.; Kay, Adam D.; Kirkman, Kevin P.; Klein, Julia A.; Knops, Johannes M.H.; La Pierre, Kimberly J.; Lambrinos, John G.; Li, Wei; MacDougall, Andrew S.; McCulley, Rebecca L.; Melbourne, Brett A.; Mitchell, Charles E.; Moore, Joslin L.; Morgan, John W.; Mortensen, Brent; Orrock, John L.; Prober, Suzanne M.; Pyke, David A.; Risch, Anita C.; Schuetz, Martin; Smith, Melinda D.; Stevens, Carly J.; Sullivan, Lauren L.; Wang, Gang; Wragg, Peter D.; Wright, Justin P.; Yang, Louie H.

2011-01-01

For more than 30 years, the relationship between net primary productivity and species richness has generated intense debate in ecology about the processes regulating local diversity. The original view, which is still widely accepted, holds that the relationship is hump-shaped, with richness first rising and then declining with increasing productivity. Although recent meta-analyses questioned the generality of hump-shaped patterns, these syntheses have been criticized for failing to account for methodological differences among studies. We addressed such concerns by conducting standardized sampling in 48 herbaceous-dominated plant communities on five continents. We found no clear relationship between productivity and fine-scale (meters-2) richness within sites, within regions, or across the globe. Ecologists should focus on fresh, mechanistic approaches to understanding the multivariate links between productivity an

Black manganese-rich crusts on a Gothic cathedral

Science.gov (United States)

Macholdt, Dorothea S.; Herrmann, Siegfried; Jochum, Klaus Peter; Kilcoyne, A. L. David; Laubscher, Thomas; Pfisterer, Jonas H. K.; Pöhlker, Christopher; Schwager, Beate; Weber, Bettina; Weigand, Markus; Domke, Katrin F.; Andreae, Meinrat O.

2017-12-01

Black manganese-rich crusts are found worldwide on the façades of historical buildings. In this study, they were studied exemplarily on the façade of the Freiburger Münster (Freiburg Minster), Germany, and measured in-situ by portable X-ray fluorescence (XRF). The XRF was calibrated to allow the conversion from apparent mass fractions to Mn surface density (Mn mass per area), to compensate for the fact that portable XRF mass fraction measurements from thin layers violate the assumption of a homogeneous measurement volume. Additionally, 200-nm femtosecond laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (fs LA-ICP-MS) measurements, scanning transmission X-ray microscopy-near edge X-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy (STXM-NEXAFS), Raman spectroscopy, and imaging by light microscopy were conducted to obtain further insight into the crust material, such as potential biogenic contributions, element distributions, trace element compositions, and organic functional groups. While black crusts of various types are present at many places on the minster's facade, crusts rich in Mn (with a Mn surface density >150 μg cm-2) are restricted to a maximum height of about 7 m. The only exceptions are those developed on the Renaissance-Vorhalle (Renaissance Portico) at a height of about 8 m. This part of the façade had been cleaned and treated with a silicon resin as recently as 2003. These crusts thus accumulated over a period of only 12 years. Yet, they are exceptionally Mn-rich with a surface density of 1200 μg cm-2, and therefore require an accumulation rate of about 100 μg cm-2 Mn per year. Trace element analyses support the theory that vehicle emissions are responsible for most of the Mn supply. Lead, barium, and zinc correlate with manganese, indicating that tire material, brake pads, and resuspended road dust are likely to be the element sources. Microscopic investigations show no organisms on or in the Mn-rich crusts. In contrast, Mn-free black

Acoustic richness modulates the neural networks supporting intelligible speech processing.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Yune-Sang; Min, Nam Eun; Wingfield, Arthur; Grossman, Murray; Peelle, Jonathan E

2016-03-01

The information contained in a sensory signal plays a critical role in determining what neural processes are engaged. Here we used interleaved silent steady-state (ISSS) functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to explore how human listeners cope with different degrees of acoustic richness during auditory sentence comprehension. Twenty-six healthy young adults underwent scanning while hearing sentences that varied in acoustic richness (high vs. low spectral detail) and syntactic complexity (subject-relative vs. object-relative center-embedded clause structures). We manipulated acoustic richness by presenting the stimuli as unprocessed full-spectrum speech, or noise-vocoded with 24 channels. Importantly, although the vocoded sentences were spectrally impoverished, all sentences were highly intelligible. These manipulations allowed us to test how intelligible speech processing was affected by orthogonal linguistic and acoustic demands. Acoustically rich speech showed stronger activation than acoustically less-detailed speech in a bilateral temporoparietal network with more pronounced activity in the right hemisphere. By contrast, listening to sentences with greater syntactic complexity resulted in increased activation of a left-lateralized network including left posterior lateral temporal cortex, left inferior frontal gyrus, and left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. Significant interactions between acoustic richness and syntactic complexity occurred in left supramarginal gyrus, right superior temporal gyrus, and right inferior frontal gyrus, indicating that the regions recruited for syntactic challenge differed as a function of acoustic properties of the speech. Our findings suggest that the neural systems involved in speech perception are finely tuned to the type of information available, and that reducing the richness of the acoustic signal dramatically alters the brain's response to spoken language, even when intelligibility is high. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier

On the nature of the Cu-rich aggregates in brain astrocytes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sullivan, Brendan; Robison, Gregory; Osborn, Jenna; Kay, Martin; Thompson, Peter; Davis, Katherine; Zakharova, Taisiya; Antipova, Olga; Pushkar, Yulia

2017-04-01

Fulfilling a bevy of biological roles, copper is an essential metal for healthy brain function. Cu dyshomeostasis has been demonstrated to be involved in some neurological conditions including Menkes and Alzheimer’s diseases. We have previously reported localized Cu-rich aggregates in astrocytes of the subventricular zone (SVZ) in rodent brains with Cu concentrations in the hundreds of millimolar. Metallothionein, a cysteine-rich protein critical to metal homeostasis and known to participate in a variety of neuroprotective and neuroregenerative processes, was proposed as a binding protein. Here, we present an analysis of metallothionein(1,2) knockout (MTKO) mice and age-matched controls using X-ray fluorescence microscopy. In large structures such as the corpus callosum, cortex, and striatum, there is no significant difference in Cu, Fe, or Zn concentrations in MTKO mice compared to age-matched controls. In the astrocyte-rich subventricular zone where Cu-rich aggregates reside, approximately 1/3 as many Cu-rich aggregates persist in MTKO mice resulting in a decrease in periventricular Cu concentration. Aggregates in both wild-type and MTKO mice show XANES spectra characteristic of CuxSy multimetallic clusters and have similar [S]/[Cu] ratios. Consistent with assignment as a CuxSy multimetallic cluster, the astrocyte-rich SVZ of both MTKO and wild-type mice exhibit autofluorescent bodies, though MTKO mice exhibit fewer. Furthermore, XRF imaging of Au-labeled lysosomes and ubiquitin demonstrates a lack of co-localization with Cu-rich aggregates suggesting they are not involved in a degradation pathway. Overall, these data suggest that Cu in aggregates is bound by either metallothionein-3 or a yet unknown protein similar to metallothionein.

A unified model of avian species richness on islands and continents.

Science.gov (United States)

Kalmar, Attila; Currie, David J

2007-05-01

How many species in a given taxon should be found in a delimited area in a specified place in the world? Some recent literature suggests that the answer to this question depends strongly on the geographical, evolutionary, and ecological context. For example, current theory suggests that species accumulate as a function of area differently on continents and islands. Species richness-climate relationships have been examined separately on continents and on islands. This study tests the hypotheses that (1) the functional relationship between richness and climate is the same on continents and islands; (2) the species-area slope depends on distance-based isolation; (3) species-area relationships differ among land bridge islands, oceanic islands, and continents; (4) richness differs among biogeographic regions independently of climate and isolation. We related bird species numbers in a worldwide sample of 240 continental parcels and 346 islands to several environmental variables. We found that breeding bird richness varies similarly on islands and on continents as a function of mean annual temperature, an area x precipitation interaction, and the distance separating insular samples from the nearest continent (R2 = 0.86). Most studies to date have postulated that the slope of the species-area relationship depends upon isolation. In contrast, we found no such interaction. A richness-environment relationship derived using Old World sites accurately predicts patterns of richness in the New World and vice versa (R2 = 0.85). Our results suggest that most of the global variation in richness is not strongly context-specific; rather, it reflects a small number of general environmental constraints operating on both continents and islands.

If You’re A Libertarian, How Come You’re So Rich?

OpenAIRE

Colin MacLeod

2012-01-01

This article examines the bearing of political philosophy on one’s personal behaviour. I review the ‘rich egalitarian problem’ posed by G.A. Cohen and consider a variant of this problem called the ‘rich socialist problem’. I argue that once we adopt a nuanced view of what adequate fidelity to one’s political principles requires there is a satisfactory solution to the rich socialist problem. Finally, focusing on Robert Nozick’s highly influential historical entitlement theory, I explain the ‘r...

Posters That Teach – Blended Learning and Total Engagement

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Adina Stan

2017-08-01

Full Text Available Electronically mediated technologies are prohibited from use in a major assessment component of a blended learning subject. This subject employs a multidisciplinary problem-based approach to explore international issues and perspectives using a rich blend of face-to-face, electronically mediated, individual and team-based activities. The assessment is a role-play which occurs during the second half of a year-long pathway to university program. Belief in the importance of helping students integrate knowledge with an understanding of learning strategies informs the design of this particular assessment task. To complete the task, small teams develop and display a hand-drawn poster summarising their understanding of a real life 'wicked problem' explored in depth during the semester. Composing and preparing their poster ensures that students create visual evidence of their learning about the context of a complex contemporary international issue, which varies from year to year. It also introduces students to higher order thinking and develops critical and creative thinking skills. This paper aims to introduce and describe the learning principles informing the design of the assessment strategy. The task compels students to question information, seeking deeper engagement with data and generating first-hand engagement with the issue. The learning design also facilitates students’ crucial skills of knowledge generation and learning management, and helps them apply this knowledge to other aspects of their future learning. This task bridges the gap between the technical and non-technical skills essential for success in the 21st century.

Libraries in Second Life: New Approaches to Education, Information Sharing, Learning Object Implementation, User Interactions and Collaborations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Susan Smith Nash

2009-10-01

Full Text Available Three-dimensional virtual worlds such as Second Life continue to expand the way they provide information, learning activities, and educational applications. This paper explores the types of learning activities that take place in Second Life and discusses how learning takes place, with a view toward developing effective instructional strategies. As learning objects are being launched in Second Life, new approaches to collaboration, interactivity, and cognition are being developed. Many learning-centered islands appeal to individuals who benefit from interaction with peers and instructors, and who can access learning objects such as information repositories, simulations, and interactive animations. The key advantages that Second Life offers include engaging and meaningful interaction with fellow learners, media-rich learning environments with embedded video, graphics, and interactive quizzes and assessments, an engaging environment for simulations such as virtual labs, and culturally inclusive immersive environments. However, because of the steep learning curve, technical difficulties, and cultural diversity, learners may become frustrated in Second Life. Since Second Life is social learning environment that emphasizes the creation of a self, effective learning requires step-by-step empowerment of that new, constructed self.

Instant Gratification: Striking a Balance Between Rich Interactive Visualization and Ease of Use for Casual Web Surfers

Science.gov (United States)

Russell, R. M.; Johnson, R. M.; Gardiner, E. S.; Bergman, J. J.; Genyuk, J.; Henderson, S.

2004-12-01

Interactive visualizations can be powerful tools for helping students, teachers, and the general public comprehend significant features in rich datasets and complex systems. Successful use of such visualizations requires viewers to have, or to acquire, adequate expertise in use of the relevant visualization tools. In many cases, the learning curve associated with competent use of such tools is too steep for casual users, such as members of the lay public browsing science outreach web sites or K-12 students and teachers trying to integrate such tools into their learning about geosciences. "Windows to the Universe" (http://www.windows.ucar.edu) is a large (roughly 6,000 web pages), well-established (first posted online in 1995), and popular (over 5 million visitor sessions and 40 million pages viewed per year) science education web site that covers a very broad range of Earth science and space science topics. The primary audience of the site consists of K-12 students and teachers and the general public. We have developed several interactive visualizations for use on the site in conjunction with text and still image reference materials. One major emphasis in the design of these interactives has been to ensure that casual users can quickly learn how to use the interactive features without becoming frustrated and departing before they were able to appreciate the visualizations displayed. We will demonstrate several of these "user-friendly" interactive visualizations and comment on the design philosophy we have employed in developing them.

The LHCb RICH Upgrade: Development of the DCS and DAQ system.

CERN Multimedia

Cavallero, Giovanni

2018-01-01

The LHCb experiment is preparing for an upgrade during the second LHC long shutdown in 2019-2020. In order to fully exploit the LHC flavour physics potential with a five-fold increase in the instantaneous luminosity, a trigger-less readout will be implemented. The RICH detectors will require new photon detectors and a brand new front-end electronics. The status of the integration of the RICH photon detector modules with the MiniDAQ, the prototype of the upgraded LHCb readout architecture, has been reported. The development of the prototype of the RICH Upgrade Experiment Control System, integrating the DCS and DAQ partitions in a single FSM, has been described. The status of the development of the RICH Upgrade Inventory, Bookkeeping and Connectivity database has been reported as well.

SOI MESFETs on high-resistivity, trap-rich substrates

Science.gov (United States)

Mehr, Payam; Zhang, Xiong; Lepkowski, William; Li, Chaojiang; Thornton, Trevor J.

2018-04-01

The DC and RF characteristics of metal-semiconductor field-effect-transistors (MESFETs) on conventional CMOS silicon-on-insulator (SOI) substrates are compared to nominally identical devices on high-resistivity, trap-rich SOI substrates. While the DC transfer characteristics are statistically identical on either substrate, the maximum available gain at GHz frequencies is enhanced by ∼2 dB when using the trap-rich substrates, with maximum operating frequencies, fmax, that are approximately 5-10% higher. The increased fmax is explained by the reduced substrate conduction at GHz frequencies using a lumped-element, small-signal model.

Properties of neutron-rich hafnium high-spin isomers

CERN Multimedia

Tungate, G; Walker, P M; Neyens, G; Billowes, J; Flanagan, K; Koester, U H; Litvinov, Y

It is proposed to study highly-excited multi-quasiparticle isomers in neutron-rich hafnium (Z=72) isotopes. Long half-lives have already been measured for such isomers in the storage ring at GSI, ensuring their accessibility with ISOL production. The present proposal focuses on:\\\\ (i) an on-line experiment to measure isomer properties in $^{183}$Hf and $^{184}$Hf, and\\\\ (ii) an off-line molecular breakup test using REXTRAP, to provide Hf$^{+}$ beams for future laser spectroscopy and greater sensitivity for the future study of more neutron-rich isotopes.

LHCb Upgraded RICH 2 Engineering Design Review Report

CERN Document Server

Garsed, Philip John; Cardinale, Roberta; Petrolini, Alessandro; Benettoni, Massimo; Simi, Gabriele; Zago, M; Easo, Sajan; D'Ambrosio, Carmelo; Frei, Christoph; He, Jibo; Piedigrossi, Didier

2016-01-01

During the Long Shutdown 2 of the LHC, the LHCb experiment and, specifically, its two Ring Imaging Cherenkov (RICH) detectors will undergo a major upgrade. RICH 2 will be refurbished with new photon detectors and their associated electronics, with the capability of up to 40 MHz sustained acquisition rate. A new support and cooling system has been developed for the two photodetector arrays, retaining the vessel, gas and optical systems unchanged. This document describes their new mechanical arrangement, its engineering design, installation and alignment. A summary of the project schedule and Institute responsibilities is provided.

Capital Flight and Transfer from Resource-Rich Developing Countries

OpenAIRE

Demachi, Kazue

2013-01-01

This paper analyzes the influence of international resource price movements on capital outflows from resource-rich developing countries (RRDCs) by distinguishing capital flight and capital transfers. The volume of capital flight and transfers are calculated and their determinants are analyzed using macro-panel data constituting 21 resource-rich developing countries from 1990 to 2011. Through the regression analysis, the linkage between capital flight and resource revenue as well as that betwe...

Human population, grasshopper and plant species richness in European countries

Science.gov (United States)

Steck, Claude E.; Pautasso, Marco

2008-11-01

Surprisingly, several studies over large scales have reported a positive spatial correlation of people and biodiversity. This pattern has important implications for conservation and has been documented for well studied taxa such as plants, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals. However, it is unknown whether the pattern applies also to invertebrates other than butterflies and more work is needed to establish whether the species-people relationship is explained by both variables correlating with other environmental factors. We studied whether grasshopper species richness (Orthoptera, suborder Caelifera) is related to human population size in European countries. As expected, the number of Caelifera species increases significantly with increasing human population size. But this is not the case when controlling for country area, latitude and number of plant species. Variations in Caelifera species richness are primarily associated with variations in plant species richness. Caelifera species richness also increases with decreasing mean annual precipitation, Gross Domestic Product per capita (used as an indicator for economic development) and net fertility rate of the human population. Our analysis confirms the hypothesis that the broad-scale human population-biodiversity correlations can be explained by concurrent variations in factors other than human population size such as plant species richness, environmental productivity, or habitat heterogeneity. Nonetheless, more populated countries in Europe still have more Caelifera species than less populated countries and this poses a particular challenge for conservation.

Mapping and predictive variations of soil bacterial richness across France.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sébastien Terrat

Full Text Available Although numerous studies have demonstrated the key role of bacterial diversity in soil functions and ecosystem services, little is known about the variations and determinants of such diversity on a nationwide scale. The overall objectives of this study were i to describe the bacterial taxonomic richness variations across France, ii to identify the ecological processes (i.e. selection by the environment and dispersal limitation influencing this distribution, and iii to develop a statistical predictive model of soil bacterial richness. We used the French Soil Quality Monitoring Network (RMQS, which covers all of France with 2,173 sites. The soil bacterial richness (i.e. OTU number was determined by pyrosequencing 16S rRNA genes and related to the soil characteristics, climatic conditions, geomorphology, land use and space. Mapping of bacterial richness revealed a heterogeneous spatial distribution, structured into patches of about 111km, where the main drivers were the soil physico-chemical properties (18% of explained variance, the spatial descriptors (5.25%, 1.89% and 1.02% for the fine, medium and coarse scales, respectively, and the land use (1.4%. Based on these drivers, a predictive model was developed, which allows a good prediction of the bacterial richness (R2adj of 0.56 and provides a reference value for a given pedoclimatic condition.

Can temporal and spatial NDVI predict regional bird-species richness?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sebastián Nieto

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Understanding the distribution of the species and its controls over biogeographic scales is still a major challenge in ecology. National Park Networks provide an opportunity to assess the relationship between ecosystem functioning and biodiversity in areas with low human impacts. We tested the productivity–biodiversity hypothesis which states that the number of species increases with the available energy, and the ​variability–biodiversity hypothesis which states that the number of species increases with the diversity of habitats. The available energy and habitat heterogeneity estimated by the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI was shown as a good predictor of bird-species richness for a diverse set of biomes in previously published studies. However, there is not a universal relationship between NDVI and bird-species richness. Here we tested if the NDVI can predict bird species richness in areas with low human impact in Argentina. Using a dataset from the National Park Network of Argentina we found that the best predictor of bird species richness was the minimum value of NDVI per year which explained 75% of total variability. The inclusion of the spatial heterogeneity of NDVI improved the explanation power to 80%. Minimum NDVI was highly correlated with precipitation and winter temperature. Our analysis provides a tool for assessing bird-species richness at scales on which land-use planning practitioners make their decisions for Southern South America.

Opportunities and obstacles for deep learning in biology and medicine

Science.gov (United States)

2018-01-01

Deep learning describes a class of machine learning algorithms that are capable of combining raw inputs into layers of intermediate features. These algorithms have recently shown impressive results across a variety of domains. Biology and medicine are data-rich disciplines, but the data are complex and often ill-understood. Hence, deep learning techniques may be particularly well suited to solve problems of these fields. We examine applications of deep learning to a variety of biomedical problems—patient classification, fundamental biological processes and treatment of patients—and discuss whether deep learning will be able to transform these tasks or if the biomedical sphere poses unique challenges. Following from an extensive literature review, we find that deep learning has yet to revolutionize biomedicine or definitively resolve any of the most pressing challenges in the field, but promising advances have been made on the prior state of the art. Even though improvements over previous baselines have been modest in general, the recent progress indicates that deep learning methods will provide valuable means for speeding up or aiding human investigation. Though progress has been made linking a specific neural network's prediction to input features, understanding how users should interpret these models to make testable hypotheses about the system under study remains an open challenge. Furthermore, the limited amount of labelled data for training presents problems in some domains, as do legal and privacy constraints on work with sensitive health records. Nonetheless, we foresee deep learning enabling changes at both bench and bedside with the potential to transform several areas of biology and medicine. PMID:29618526

Opportunities and obstacles for deep learning in biology and medicine.

Science.gov (United States)

Ching, Travers; Himmelstein, Daniel S; Beaulieu-Jones, Brett K; Kalinin, Alexandr A; Do, Brian T; Way, Gregory P; Ferrero, Enrico; Agapow, Paul-Michael; Zietz, Michael; Hoffman, Michael M; Xie, Wei; Rosen, Gail L; Lengerich, Benjamin J; Israeli, Johnny; Lanchantin, Jack; Woloszynek, Stephen; Carpenter, Anne E; Shrikumar, Avanti; Xu, Jinbo; Cofer, Evan M; Lavender, Christopher A; Turaga, Srinivas C; Alexandari, Amr M; Lu, Zhiyong; Harris, David J; DeCaprio, Dave; Qi, Yanjun; Kundaje, Anshul; Peng, Yifan; Wiley, Laura K; Segler, Marwin H S; Boca, Simina M; Swamidass, S Joshua; Huang, Austin; Gitter, Anthony; Greene, Casey S

2018-04-01

Deep learning describes a class of machine learning algorithms that are capable of combining raw inputs into layers of intermediate features. These algorithms have recently shown impressive results across a variety of domains. Biology and medicine are data-rich disciplines, but the data are complex and often ill-understood. Hence, deep learning techniques may be particularly well suited to solve problems of these fields. We examine applications of deep learning to a variety of biomedical problems-patient classification, fundamental biological processes and treatment of patients-and discuss whether deep learning will be able to transform these tasks or if the biomedical sphere poses unique challenges. Following from an extensive literature review, we find that deep learning has yet to revolutionize biomedicine or definitively resolve any of the most pressing challenges in the field, but promising advances have been made on the prior state of the art. Even though improvements over previous baselines have been modest in general, the recent progress indicates that deep learning methods will provide valuable means for speeding up or aiding human investigation. Though progress has been made linking a specific neural network's prediction to input features, understanding how users should interpret these models to make testable hypotheses about the system under study remains an open challenge. Furthermore, the limited amount of labelled data for training presents problems in some domains, as do legal and privacy constraints on work with sensitive health records. Nonetheless, we foresee deep learning enabling changes at both bench and bedside with the potential to transform several areas of biology and medicine. © 2018 The Authors.

A contemporary examination of workplace learning culture: an ethnomethodology study.

Science.gov (United States)

Newton, Jennifer M; Henderson, Amanda; Jolly, Brian; Greaves, Judith

2015-01-01

Creating and maintaining a sustainable workforce is currently an international concern. Extensive literature suggest that students and staff need to be 'engaged', that is they need to interact with the health team if they are to maximise learning opportunities. Despite many studies since the 1970s into what creates a 'good' learning environment, ongoing issues continue to challenge healthcare organisations and educators. A 'good' learning environment has been an intangible element for many professions as learning is hindered by the complexity of practice and by limitations on practitioners' time available to assist and guide novices. This study sought to explore the nature of the learning interactions and experiences in clinical nursing practice that enhance a 'good' workplace learning culture for both nursing students and qualified nurses. An ethnomethodology study. A range of clinical settings in Victoria and Queensland, Australia. Students and registered nurses (n=95). Fieldwork observations were carried out on student nurses and registered nurses, followed by an individual interview with each participant. An iterative approach to analysis was undertaken; field notes of observations were reviewed, interviews transcribed verbatim and entered into NVivo10. Major themes were then extracted. Three central themes: learning by doing, navigating through communication, and 'entrustability', emerged providing insights into common practices potentially enhancing or detracting from learning in the workplace. Students' and registered nurses' learning is constrained by a myriad of interactions and embedded workplace practices, which can either enhance the individual's opportunities for learning or detract from the richness of affordances that healthcare workplace settings have to offer. Until the culture/or routine practices of the healthcare workplace are challenged, the trust and meaningful communication essential to learning in practice, will be achievable only

Actualizing Notions of Perspective Transformation Using Web 2.0: Student Views on What Works for Language and Culture Learning

Science.gov (United States)

Davidson Devall, Kelly

2015-01-01

The framework of perspective transformation (Mezirow, 1994) provides a rich context for the conceptualization of technology use in language and culture learning. Although others have focused on the processes of becoming interculturally competent (Taylor, 1994) and changing language structures (Foster, 1997), more exploration of how technology aids…

Controlling the prion propensity of glutamine/asparagine-rich proteins.

Science.gov (United States)

Paul, Kacy R; Ross, Eric D

2015-01-01

The yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae can harbor a number of distinct prions. Most of the yeast prion proteins contain a glutamine/asparagine (Q/N) rich region that drives prion formation. Prion-like domains, defined as regions with high compositional similarity to yeast prion domains, are common in eukaryotic proteomes, and mutations in various human proteins containing prion-like domains have been linked to degenerative diseases, including amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Here, we discuss a recent study in which we utilized two strategies to generate prion activity in non-prion Q/N-rich domains. First, we made targeted mutations in four non-prion Q/N-rich domains, replacing predicted prion-inhibiting amino acids with prion-promoting amino acids. All four mutants formed foci when expressed in yeast, and two acquired bona fide prion activity. Prion activity could be generated with as few as two mutations, suggesting that many non-prion Q/N-rich proteins may be just a small number of mutations from acquiring aggregation or prion activity. Second, we created tandem repeats of short prion-prone segments, and observed length-dependent prion activity. These studies demonstrate the considerable progress that has been made in understanding the sequence basis for aggregation of prion and prion-like domains, and suggest possible mechanisms by which new prion domains could evolve.

ADAPTATION OF TEACHING PROCESS BASED ON A STUDENTS INDIVIDUAL LEARNING NEEDS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

TAKÁCS, Ondřej

2011-03-01

Full Text Available Development of current society requires integration of information technology to every sector, including education. The idea of adaptive teaching in e-learning environment is based on paying attention and giving support to various learning styles. More effective, user friendly thus better quality education can be achieved through such an environment. Learning can be influenced by many factors. In the paper we deal with such factors as student’s personality and qualities – particularly learning style and motivation. In addition we want to prepare study materials and study environment which respects students’ differences. Adaptive e-learning means an automated way of teaching which adapts to different qualities of students which are characteristic for their learning styles. In the last few years we can see a gradual individualization of study not only in distance forms of study but also with full-time study students. Instructional supports, namely those of e-learning, should take this trend into account and adapt the educational processes to individual students’ qualities. The present learning management systems (LMS offers this possibility only to a very limited extent. This paper deals with a design of intelligent virtual tutor behavior, which would adapt its learning ability to both static and dynamically changing student’s qualities. Virtual tutor, in order to manage all that, has to have a sufficiently rich supply of different styles and forms of teaching, with enough information about styles of learning, kinds of memory and other student’s qualities. This paper describes a draft adaptive education model and the results of the first part of the solution – definition of learning styles, pilot testing on students and an outline of further research.

Evaluating learning and teaching using the Force Concept Inventory

Science.gov (United States)

Zitzewitz, Paul

1997-04-01

Teaching methods used in the calculus-based mechanics course for engineers and scientists (P150) at the University of Michigan-Dearborn were markedly changed in September, 1996. Lectures emphasize active learning with Mazur's ConcepTests, Sokoloff's Interactive Demonstrations, and Van Heuvelen's ALPS Kit worksheets. Students solve context-rich problems using Van Heuvelen's multiple representation format in cooperative groups in discussion sections. Labs were changed to use MBL emphasizing concepts and Experiment Problems to learn lab-based problem solving. Pre- and post-testing of 400 students with the Force Concept Inventory has demonstrated considerable success. The average increase in score has been 35-45methods as defined by Hake. The methods and results will be discussed. Detailed analyses of the FCI results will look at success in teaching specific concepts and the effect of student preparation in mathematics and high school physics.

Cognition and learning in horses (Equus caballus): What we know and why we should ask more.

Science.gov (United States)

Brubaker, Lauren; Udell, Monique A R

2016-05-01

Horses (Equus caballus) have a rich history in their relationship with humans. Across different cultures and eras they have been utilized for work, show, cultural rituals, consumption, therapy, and companionship and continue to serve in many of these roles today. As one of the most commonly trained domestic animals, understanding how horses learn and how their relationship with humans and other horses impacts their ability to learn has implications for horse welfare, training, husbandry and management. Given that unlike dogs and cats, domesticated horses have evolved from prey animals, the horse-human relationship poses interesting and unique scientific questions of theoretical value. There is still much to be learned about the cognition and behaviour of horses from a scientific perspective. This review explores current research within three related areas of horse cognition: human-horse interactions, social learning and independent learning in horses. Research on these topics is summarized and suggestions for future research are provided. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Statistical learning is constrained to less abstract patterns in complex sensory input (but not the least).

Science.gov (United States)

Emberson, Lauren L; Rubinstein, Dani Y

2016-08-01

The influence of statistical information on behavior (either through learning or adaptation) is quickly becoming foundational to many domains of cognitive psychology and cognitive neuroscience, from language comprehension to visual development. We investigate a central problem impacting these diverse fields: when encountering input with rich statistical information, are there any constraints on learning? This paper examines learning outcomes when adult learners are given statistical information across multiple levels of abstraction simultaneously: from abstract, semantic categories of everyday objects to individual viewpoints on these objects. After revealing statistical learning of abstract, semantic categories with scrambled individual exemplars (Exp. 1), participants viewed pictures where the categories as well as the individual objects predicted picture order (e.g., bird1-dog1, bird2-dog2). Our findings suggest that participants preferentially encode the relationships between the individual objects, even in the presence of statistical regularities linking semantic categories (Exps. 2 and 3). In a final experiment we investigate whether learners are biased towards learning object-level regularities or simply construct the most detailed model given the data (and therefore best able to predict the specifics of the upcoming stimulus) by investigating whether participants preferentially learn from the statistical regularities linking individual snapshots of objects or the relationship between the objects themselves (e.g., bird_picture1-dog_picture1, bird_picture2-dog_picture2). We find that participants fail to learn the relationships between individual snapshots, suggesting a bias towards object-level statistical regularities as opposed to merely constructing the most complete model of the input. This work moves beyond the previous existence proofs that statistical learning is possible at both very high and very low levels of abstraction (categories vs. individual

Blue colour preference in honeybees distracts visual attention for learning closed shapes.

Science.gov (United States)

Morawetz, Linde; Svoboda, Alexander; Spaethe, Johannes; Dyer, Adrian G

2013-10-01

Spatial vision is an important cue for how honeybees (Apis mellifera) find flowers, and previous work has suggested that spatial learning in free-flying bees is exclusively mediated by achromatic input to the green photoreceptor channel. However, some data suggested that bees may be able to use alternative channels for shape processing, and recent work shows conditioning type and training length can significantly influence bee learning and cue use. We thus tested the honeybees' ability to discriminate between two closed shapes considering either absolute or differential conditioning, and using eight stimuli differing in their spectral characteristics. Consistent with previous work, green contrast enabled reliable shape learning for both types of conditioning, but surprisingly, we found that bees trained with appetitive-aversive differential conditioning could additionally use colour and/or UV contrast to enable shape discrimination. Interestingly, we found that a high blue contrast initially interferes with bee shape learning, probably due to the bees innate preference for blue colours, but with increasing experience bees can learn a variety of spectral and/or colour cues to facilitate spatial learning. Thus, the relationship between bee pollinators and the spatial and spectral cues that they use to find rewarding flowers appears to be a more rich visual environment than previously thought.

Floral abundance, richness, and spatial distribution drive urban garden bee communities.

Science.gov (United States)

Plascencia, M; Philpott, S M

2017-10-01

In urban landscapes, gardens provide refuges for bee diversity, but conservation potential may depend on local and landscape features. Foraging and population persistence of bee species, as well as overall pollinator community structure, may be supported by the abundance, richness, and spatial distribution of floral resources. Floral resources strongly differ in urban gardens. Using hand netting and pan traps to survey bees, we examined whether abundance, richness, and spatial distribution of floral resources, as well as ground cover and garden landscape surroundings influence bee abundance, species richness, and diversity on the central coast of California. Differences in floral abundance and spatial distribution, as well as urban cover in the landscape, predicted different bee community variables. Abundance of all bees and of honeybees (Apis mellifera) was lower in sites with more urban land cover surrounding the gardens. Honeybee abundance was higher in sites with patchy floral resources, whereas bee species richness and bee diversity was higher in sites with more clustered floral resources. Surprisingly, bee species richness and bee diversity was lower in sites with very high floral abundance, possibly due to interactions with honeybees. Other studies have documented the importance of floral abundance and landscape surroundings for bees in urban gardens, but this study is the first to document that the spatial arrangement of flowers strongly predicts bee abundance and richness. Based on these findings, it is likely that garden managers may promote bee conservation by managing for floral connectivity and abundance within these ubiquitous urban habitats.

Treatment of Partial Rotator Cuff Tear with Ultrasound-guided Platelet-rich Plasma

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vetrivel Chezian Sengodan

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Background: The treatment of symptomatic partial rotator cuff tear has presented substantial challenge to orthopaedic surgeons as it can vary from conservative to surgical repair. Researches have established the influence of platelet rich plasma in healing damaged tissue. Currently very few data are available regarding the evidence of clinical and radiological outcome of partial rotator cuff tear treated with ultrasound guided platelet rich plasma injection in English literature. Materials and Methods: 20 patients with symptomatic partial rotator cuff tears were treated with ultrasound guided platelet rich plasma injection. Before and after the injection of platelet rich plasma scoring was done with visual analogue score, Constant shoulder score, and UCLA shoulder score at 8 weeks and third month. A review ultrasound was performed 8 weeks after platelet rich plasma injection to assess the rotator cuff status. Results: Our study showed statistically significant improvements in 17 patients in VAS pain score, constant shoulder score and UCLA shoulder score. No significant changes in ROM were noted when matched to the contra-lateral side (P < 0.001 at the 3 month follow-up. The study also showed good healing on radiological evaluation with ultrasonogram 8 weeks after platelet rich plasma injection. Conclusion: Ultrasound guided platelet rich plasma injection for partial rotator cuff tears is an effective procedure that leads to significant decrease in pain, improvement in shoulder functions, much cost-effective and less problematic compared to a surgical treatment.

Magnetic properties of tetrataenite-rich meteorites. Pt. 2

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nagata, T.; Funaki, M.; Danon, J.

1985-01-01

Magnetic hysteresis and thermomagnetic characteristics of St. Severin (LL 6 ), Appley Bridge (LL 6 ) and Tuxtuac (LL 5 ) chondrites, which contain tetrataenite in their metallic components, are measured and analyzed in comparison with another tetrataenite-rich chondrite, Yamato 74160. The magnetic properties of tetrataenite-rich meteorites are characterized by (a) high magnetic coercive force (H sub(C)) which amounts to 520 Oe for St. Severin and 160 Oe for Appley Bridge, (b) essential flatness up to about 500 0 C and then a sharp irreversible drop down to Curie point of the first-run heating thermomagnetic curve. Both characteristic features are broken down to the ordinary features of disordered taenite by a breakdown of tetrataenite structure at elevated temperatures beyond the order-disorder transition temperature. The natural remanent magnetization (NRM) of tetrataenite-rich meteorites is extremely stable against AF-demagnetization and other magnetic disturbances because of the high magnetic coercivity of tetrataenite. The breakdown processes of ordered tetrataenite structure by heat treatments are experimentally pursued for the purpose of research of a possible formation process of tetrataenite phase in meteorites. (Author) [pt

Aerogel RICH for the Belle II forward PID

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Nishida, S., E-mail: shohei.nishida@kek.jp [High Energy Accelerator Research Organization (KEK), Tsukuba (Japan); Adachi, I. [High Energy Accelerator Research Organization (KEK), Tsukuba (Japan); Hamada, N. [Toho University, Funabashi (Japan); Hara, K. [High Energy Accelerator Research Organization (KEK), Tsukuba (Japan); Iijima, T. [Nagoya University, Nagoya (Japan); Iwata, S.; Kakuno, H. [Tokyo Metropolitan University, Hachioji (Japan); Kawai, H. [Chiba University, Chiba (Japan); Korpar, S.; Krizan, P. [Jozef Stefan Institute, Ljubljana (Slovenia); Ogawa, S. [Toho University, Funabashi (Japan); Pestotnik, R.; Ŝantelj, L.; Seljak, A. [Jozef Stefan Institute, Ljubljana (Slovenia); Sumiyoshi, T. [Tokyo Metropolitan University, Hachioji (Japan); Tabata, M. [Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), Sagamihara (Japan); Tahirovic, E. [Jozef Stefan Institute, Ljubljana (Slovenia); Yoshida, K. [Tokyo Metropolitan University, Hachioji (Japan); Yusa, Y. [Niigata University, Niigata (Japan)

2014-12-01

The Belle II spectrometer, a follow up of the very successful Belle experiment, is under construction at the SuperKEKB electron–positron collider at KEK in Japan. For the PID system in the forward region of the spectrometer, a proximity focusing ring-imaging Cherenkov (RICH) counter with an aerogel radiator is being developed. The counter will provide a 4σ separation of pions and kaons up to momenta of 4 GeV/c. For the position sensitive photon sensor, a 144-channel Hybrid Avalanche Photo-Detector (HAPD) has been developed with Hamamatsu Photonics K.K. The readout electronics is based on the custom developed ASIC. The design of the components is currently being finalized and part of their mass production have already started. Herein, we report the final design of the counter and a prototype test conducted with test beams at DESY. - Highlights: • We are constructing a RICH counter with aerogel radiator for Belle II. • Beam test for the prototype Aerogel RICH shows its good performance. • The effect of the neutron irradiation of the photodetector is examined.

Abnormal rich club organization and functional brain dynamics in schizophrenia.

Science.gov (United States)

van den Heuvel, Martijn P; Sporns, Olaf; Collin, Guusje; Scheewe, Thomas; Mandl, René C W; Cahn, Wiepke; Goñi, Joaquín; Hulshoff Pol, Hilleke E; Kahn, René S

2013-08-01

The human brain forms a large-scale structural network of regions and interregional pathways. Recent studies have reported the existence of a selective set of highly central and interconnected hub regions that may play a crucial role in the brain's integrative processes, together forming a central backbone for global brain communication. Abnormal brain connectivity may have a key role in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia. To examine the structure of the rich club in schizophrenia and its role in global functional brain dynamics. Structural diffusion tensor imaging and resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging were performed in patients with schizophrenia and matched healthy controls. Department of Psychiatry, Rudolf Magnus Institute of Neuroscience, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, the Netherlands. Forty-eight patients and 45 healthy controls participated in the study. An independent replication data set of 41 patients and 51 healthy controls was included to replicate and validate significant findings. MAIN OUTCOME(S) AND MEASURES: Measures of rich club organization, connectivity density of rich club connections and connections linking peripheral regions to brain hubs, measures of global brain network efficiency, and measures of coupling between brain structure and functional dynamics. Rich club organization between high-degree hub nodes was significantly affected in patients, together with a reduced density of rich club connections predominantly comprising the white matter pathways that link the midline frontal, parietal, and insular hub regions. This reduction in rich club density was found to be associated with lower levels of global communication capacity, a relationship that was absent for other white matter pathways. In addition, patients had an increase in the strength of structural connectivity-functional connectivity coupling. Our findings provide novel biological evidence that schizophrenia is characterized by a selective

Development challenges of resource-rich countries: the case of oil ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This paper discusses some of the challenges that confront oil-rich developing countries in their development quest. It stresses that one of the surest ways governments in oil-rich developing countries have at their disposal to avoid the so-called curse of oil is through the insulation of fiscal policy from the volatility associated ...

Performance of the CAPRICE98 balloon-borne gas-RICH detector

CERN Document Server

Bergström, D; Carlson, P J; Francke, T; Grinstein, S; Weber, N; Suffert, Martin; Hof, M; Kremer, J; Menn, W; Simon, M; Stephens, S A; Ambriola, M; Bellotti, R; Cafagna, F; Castellano, M G; Ciacio, F; Circella, M; De Marzo, C; Finetti, N; Papini, P; Piccardi, S; Spillantini, P; Bartalucci, S; Ricci, M; Bidoli, V; Casolino, M; De Pascale, M P; Morselli, A; Picozza, P; Sparvoli, R; Barbiellini, Guido; Schiavon, R P; Vacchi, A; Zampa, N; Mitchell, J W; Ormes, J F; Streitmatter, R E; Bravar, U; Stochaj, S J

2001-01-01

A RICH counter using a gas radiator of C/sub 4/F/sub 10/ and a photosensitive MWPC with pad readout has been developed, tested in particle beam at CERN and used in the CAPRICE98 balloon-borne experiment. The MWPC was operated with a TMAE and ethane mixture at atmospheric pressure and used a cathode pad plane to give an unambiguous image of the Cherenkov light. The induced signals in the pad plane were read our using the AMPLEX chip and CRAMS. The good efficiency of the Cherenkov light collection, the efficient detection of the weak signal from single UV photons together with a low noise level in the electronics of the RICH detector, resulted in a large number of detected photoelectrons per event. For beta approximately=1 charge one particles, an average of 12 photoelectrons per event were detected. The reconstructed Cherenkov angle of 50 mrad for a beta approximately=1 particle had a resolution of 1.2 mrad (rms). The RICH was flown with the CAPRICE98 magnetic spectrometer and was the first RICH counter ever u...

The Impact of Corporate Social Responsibility Information Richness on Trust

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rafeah Mat Saat

2014-06-01

Full Text Available Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR is a concept that describes the relationship between company  and society. The way a company portrays corporate ethics and social initiatives can evoke strong positive reactions among consumers. The emergence of Internet creates a new communicating culture and gives an idea for a company to deliver their CSR message. Applying Media Richness Theory (MRT in CSR message is believed could facilitate trust among consumer. Thus, this study aims to examine the impact of different level of CSR information richness with consumers trust towards the company. This study divides trust into three components that are competence, benevolence and integrity. An experimental design consisting of different levels of CSR information is selected (rich CSR information, lean CSR information and no CSR information as a control condition. The finding shows that rich CSR information has impacted on competence and integrity but not on benevolence. Result from this study is believed can assist companies in setting up their CSR communicating strategy in engaging consumers’ trust.

Sentiment Analysis in Geo Social Streams by using Machine Learning Techniques

OpenAIRE

Twanabasu, Bikesh

2018-01-01

Treball de Final de Màster Universitari Erasmus Mundus en Tecnologia Geoespacial (Pla de 2013). Codi: SIW013. Curs acadèmic 2017-2018 Massive amounts of sentiment rich data are generated on social media in the form of Tweets, status updates, blog post, reviews, etc. Different people and organizations are using these user generated content for decision making. Symbolic techniques or Knowledge base approaches and Machine learning techniques are two main techniques used for analysis sentiment...

Design and R&D of RICH detectors for EIC experiments

Science.gov (United States)

Del Dotto, A.; Wong, C.-P.; Allison, L.; Awadi, M.; Azmoun, B.; Barbosa, F.; Brooks, W.; Cao, T.; Chiu, M.; Cisbani, E.; Contalbrigo, M.; Datta, A.; Demarteau, M.; Durham, J. M.; Dzhygadlo, R.; Fields, D.; Furletova, Y.; Gleason, C.; Grosse-Perdekamp, M.; Harris, J.; He, X.; van Hecke, H.; Horn, T.; Huang, J.; Hyde, C.; Ilieva, Y.; Kalicy, G.; Kimball, M.; Kistenev, E.; Kulinich, Y.; Liu, M.; Majka, R.; McKisson, J.; Mendez, R.; Nadel-Turonski, P.; Park, K.; Peters, K.; Rao, T.; Pisani, R.; Qiang, Y.; Rescia, S.; Rossi, P.; Sarsour, M.; Schwarz, C.; Schwiening, J.; da Silva, C. L.; Smirnov, N.; Stein, H.; Stevens, J.; Sukhanov, A.; Syed, S.; Tate, A.; Toh, J.; Towell, C.; Towell, R.; Tsang, T.; Wagner, R.; Wang, J.; Woody, C.; Xi, W.; Xie, J.; Zhao, Z. W.; Zihlmann, B.; Zorn, C.

2017-12-01

An Electron-Ion Collider (EIC) has been proposed to further explore the strong force and QCD, focusing on the structure and the interaction of gluon-dominated matter. A generic detector R&D program (EIC PID consortium) for the particle identification in EIC experiments was formed to explore technologically advanced solutions in this scope. In this context two Ring Imaging Cherenkov (RICH) counters have been proposed: a modular RICH detector which consists of an aerogel radiator, a Fresnel lens, a mirrored box, and pixelated photon sensor; a dual-radiator RICH, consisting of an aerogel radiator and C2F6 gas in a mirror-focused configuration. We present the simulations of the two detectors and their estimated performance.

Creating Collaborative and Convenient Learning Environment Using Cloud-Based Moodle LMS: An Instructor and Administrator Perspective

Science.gov (United States)

Kumar, Vikas; Sharma, Deepika

2016-01-01

Students in the digital era are habitual of using digital devices not only for playing and interacting with their friends and peers, but also as a tool for education and learning. These digital natives are highly obsessed with the internet driven portable devices and always demand for a multimedia rich content. This specific demand needs to be…

Generation Y Students: Appropriate Learning Styles and Teaching Approaches in the Economic and Management Sciences Faculty

Science.gov (United States)

Wessels, P. L.; Steenkamp, L. P.

2009-01-01

Generation Y students (born after 1982) have developed a different set of attitudes and aptitudes as a result of growing up in an IT and media-rich environment. This article has two objectives: firstly to discuss the learning styles preferred by generation Y students in order to identify the effect of these preferences on tertiary education in…

China organic-rich shale geologic features and special shale gas production issues

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yiwen Ju

2014-06-01

Full Text Available The depositional environment of organic-rich shale and the related tectonic evolution in China are rather different from those in North America. In China, organic-rich shale is not only deposited in marine environment, but also in non-marine environment: marine-continental transitional environment and lacustrine environment. Through analyzing large amount of outcrops and well cores, the geologic features of organic-rich shale, including mineral composition, organic matter richness and type, and lithology stratigraphy, were analyzed, indicating very special characteristics. Meanwhile, the more complex and active tectonic movements in China lead to strong deformation and erosion of organic-rich shale, well-development of fractures and faults, and higher thermal maturity and serious heterogeneity. Co-existence of shale gas, tight sand gas, and coal bed methane (CBM proposes a new topic: whether it is possible to co-produce these gases to reduce cost. Based on the geologic features, the primary production issues of shale gas in China were discussed with suggestions.

Species richness in soil bacterial communities: a proposed approach to overcome sample size bias.

Science.gov (United States)

Youssef, Noha H; Elshahed, Mostafa S

2008-09-01

Estimates of species richness based on 16S rRNA gene clone libraries are increasingly utilized to gauge the level of bacterial diversity within various ecosystems. However, previous studies have indicated that regardless of the utilized approach, species richness estimates obtained are dependent on the size of the analyzed clone libraries. We here propose an approach to overcome sample size bias in species richness estimates in complex microbial communities. Parametric (Maximum likelihood-based and rarefaction curve-based) and non-parametric approaches were used to estimate species richness in a library of 13,001 near full-length 16S rRNA clones derived from soil, as well as in multiple subsets of the original library. Species richness estimates obtained increased with the increase in library size. To obtain a sample size-unbiased estimate of species richness, we calculated the theoretical clone library sizes required to encounter the estimated species richness at various clone library sizes, used curve fitting to determine the theoretical clone library size required to encounter the "true" species richness, and subsequently determined the corresponding sample size-unbiased species richness value. Using this approach, sample size-unbiased estimates of 17,230, 15,571, and 33,912 were obtained for the ML-based, rarefaction curve-based, and ACE-1 estimators, respectively, compared to bias-uncorrected values of 15,009, 11,913, and 20,909.

Combining geodiversity with climate and topography to account for threatened species richness.

Science.gov (United States)

Tukiainen, Helena; Bailey, Joseph J; Field, Richard; Kangas, Katja; Hjort, Jan

2017-04-01

Understanding threatened species diversity is important for long-term conservation planning. Geodiversity-the diversity of Earth surface materials, forms, and processes-may be a useful biodiversity surrogate for conservation and have conservation value itself. Geodiversity and species richness relationships have been demonstrated; establishing whether geodiversity relates to threatened species' diversity and distribution pattern is a logical next step for conservation. We used 4 geodiversity variables (rock-type and soil-type richness, geomorphological diversity, and hydrological feature diversity) and 4 climatic and topographic variables to model threatened species diversity across 31 of Finland's national parks. We also analyzed rarity-weighted richness (a measure of site complementarity) of threatened vascular plants, fungi, bryophytes, and all species combined. Our 1-km 2 resolution data set included 271 threatened species from 16 major taxa. We modeled threatened species richness (raw and rarity weighted) with boosted regression trees. Climatic variables, especially the annual temperature sum above 5 °C, dominated our models, which is consistent with the critical role of temperature in this boreal environment. Geodiversity added significant explanatory power. High geodiversity values were consistently associated with high threatened species richness across taxa. The combined effect of geodiversity variables was even more pronounced in the rarity-weighted richness analyses (except for fungi) than in those for species richness. Geodiversity measures correlated most strongly with species richness (raw and rarity weighted) of threatened vascular plants and bryophytes and were weakest for molluscs, lichens, and mammals. Although simple measures of topography improve biodiversity modeling, our results suggest that geodiversity data relating to geology, landforms, and hydrology are also worth including. This reinforces recent arguments that conserving nature's stage

Disentangling the Role of Climate, Topography and Vegetation in Species Richness Gradients.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mario R Moura

Full Text Available Environmental gradients (EG related to climate, topography and vegetation are among the most important drivers of broad scale patterns of species richness. However, these different EG do not necessarily drive species richness in similar ways, potentially presenting synergistic associations when driving species richness. Understanding the synergism among EG allows us to address key questions arising from the effects of global climate and land use changes on biodiversity. Herein, we use variation partitioning (also know as commonality analysis to disentangle unique and shared contributions of different EG in explaining species richness of Neotropical vertebrates. We use three broad sets of predictors to represent the environmental variability in (i climate (annual mean temperature, temperature annual range, annual precipitation and precipitation range, (ii topography (mean elevation, range and coefficient of variation of elevation, and (iii vegetation (land cover diversity, standard deviation and range of forest canopy height. The shared contribution between two types of EG is used to quantify synergistic processes operating among EG, offering new perspectives on the causal relationships driving species richness. To account for spatially structured processes, we use Spatial EigenVector Mapping models. We perform analyses across groups with distinct dispersal abilities (amphibians, non-volant mammals, bats and birds and discuss the influence of vagility on the partitioning results. Our findings indicate that broad scale patterns of vertebrate richness are mainly affected by the synergism between climate and vegetation, followed by the unique contribution of climate. Climatic factors were relatively more important in explaining species richness of good dispersers. Most of the variation in vegetation that explains vertebrate richness is climatically structured, supporting the productivity hypothesis. Further, the weak synergism between topography and

Development of a Rich Picture editor

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Valente, Andrea; Marchetti, Emanuela

2010-01-01

rich picture practice into software proved difficult, therefore, we decided to follow a user-centered approach: design and implement a prototype with basic functionalities, then run a usability test with a few students and professionals. The feedback collected in the test validated our hypothesis circa...

Experiments with neutron-rich isomeric beams

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rykaczewski, K.; Lewitowicz, M.; Pfuetzner, M.

1998-01-01

A review of experimental results obtained on microsecond-isomeric states in neutron-rich nuclei produced in fragmentation reactions and studied with SISSI-Alpha-LISE3 spectrometer system at GANIL Caen is given. The perspectives of experiments based on secondary reactions with isomeric beams are presented

Species richness and soil properties in Pinus ponderosa forests: A structural equation modeling analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Laughlin, D.C.; Abella, S.R.; Covington, W.W.; Grace, J.B.

2007-01-01

Question: How are the effects of mineral soil properties on understory plant species richness propagated through a network of processes involving the forest overstory, soil organic matter, soil nitrogen, and understory plant abundance? Location: North-central Arizona, USA. Methods: We sampled 75 0.05-ha plots across a broad soil gradient in a Pinus ponderosa (ponderosa pine) forest ecosystem. We evaluated multivariate models of plant species richness using structural equation modeling. Results: Richness was highest at intermediate levels of understory plant cover, suggesting that both colonization success and competitive exclusion can limit richness in this system. We did not detect a reciprocal positive effect of richness on plant cover. Richness was strongly related to soil nitrogen in the model, with evidence for both a direct negative effect and an indirect non-linear relationship mediated through understory plant cover. Soil organic matter appeared to have a positive influence on understory richness that was independent of soil nitrogen. Richness was lowest where the forest overstory was densest, which can be explained through indirect effects on soil organic matter, soil nitrogen and understory cover. Finally, model results suggest a variety of direct and indirect processes whereby mineral soil properties can influence richness. Conclusions: Understory plant species richness and plant cover in P. ponderosa forests appear to be significantly influenced by soil organic matter and nitrogen, which are, in turn, related to overstory density and composition and mineral soil properties. Thus, soil properties can impose direct and indirect constraints on local species diversity in ponderosa pine forests. ?? IAVS; Opulus Press.

Biogeography of species richness gradients : Linking adaptive traits, demography and diversification

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Carnicer, Jofre; Brotons, Lluis; Stefanescu, Constanti; Penuelas, Josep

Here we review how adaptive traits contribute to the emergence and maintenance of species richness gradients through their influence on demographic and diversification processes. We start by reviewing how demographic dynamics change along species richness gradients. Empirical studies show that

Yahoo! Answers as a Space for Informal Language Learning

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Giuliana Dettori

2014-10-01

Full Text Available Online social spaces, where users can exchange information, opinions and resources, have achieved wide popularity and are gaining attention in many research fields, including education. Their actual potential support to learning, however, still requires investigation, especially because portals can widely differ as concerns purpose and internal structure. This paper aims to contribute in this respect, by concentrating on question answering, a kind of social space not yet widely discussed in education. We analyzed a small corpus of posts from the Languages section of Yahoo! Answers Italy, checking if the questions reveal some inclination to learning or just the desire to obtain a service and if the answers provided by the community members can be considered as reliable sources of knowledge. Our analysis highlights the presence of a variety of question/answer types, from mere information exchange or help for task completion, up to language-related questions prompting valuable short lessons. The quality of answers may widely vary as concerns pertinence, correctness and richness of supporting elements. We found a high number of purely task-oriented questions and answers, but also a higher number of learning-oriented questions and correct, informative answers. This suggests that this kind of social space actually has valuable potential for informal learning.

Rich Man, Poor Man: Developmental Differences in Attributions and Perceptions

Science.gov (United States)

Sigelman, Carol K.

2012-01-01

In an examination guided by cognitive developmental and attribution theory of how explanations of wealth and poverty and perceptions of rich and poor people change with age and are interrelated, 6-, 10-, and 14-year-olds (N = 88) were asked for their causal attributions and trait judgments concerning a rich man and a poor man. First graders, like…

PHOTOCHEMISTRY IN THE INNER LAYERS OF CLUMPY CIRCUMSTELLAR ENVELOPES: FORMATION OF WATER IN C-RICH OBJECTS AND OF C-BEARING MOLECULES IN O-RICH OBJECTS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Agundez, Marcelino; Cernicharo, Jose; Guelin, Michel

2010-01-01

A mechanism based on the penetration of interstellar ultraviolet photons into the inner layers of clumpy circumstellar envelopes (CSEs) around asymptotic giant branch stars is proposed to explain the non-equilibrium chemistry observed in such objects. We show through a simple modeling approach that in CSEs with a certain degree of clumpiness or with moderately low mass loss rates (a few 10 -7 M sun yr -1 ) a photochemistry can take place in the warm and dense inner layers, inducing important changes in the chemical composition. In carbon-rich objects water vapor and ammonia would be formed with abundances of 10 -8 -10 -6 relative to H 2 , while in oxygen-rich envelopes ammonia and carbon-bearing molecules such as HCN and CS would form with abundances of 10 -9 -10 -7 relative to H 2 . The proposed mechanism would explain the recent observation of warm water vapor in the carbon-rich envelope IRC+10216 with the Herschel Space Observatory and predict that H 2 O should be detectable in other carbon-rich objects.

Continuing education in athletic training: an alternative approach based on adult learning theory.

Science.gov (United States)

Pitney, W A

1998-01-01

To offer an alternative perspective on current continuing education practices and to propose a model for facilitating continuing education in the athletic training workplace. Professional knowledge can quickly become outdated, and the personal/professional contexts of allied medical fields such as athletic training are becoming increasingly more complex, making continuing education paramount. Adult learning theory suggests that individuals are self- directed, autonomous learners in nature and that experience is a rich source for learning, subsequently making the workplace a fruitful environment in which to engage in continuing education. Unfortunately, mandating continuing education may violate the voluntary nature of adult learning, making the practice questionable. Therefore, alternative aspects of continuing education may be helpful. This article consists of a brief synthesis of related literature that offers an alternative perspective of continuing education and proposes a model for facilitating continuing education in the workplace. The model's foundation includes preparing an environment conducive to learning and then focuses on identifying learning needs, setting goals, implementing specific strategies to facilitate self-directed learning, and assessing leaming. Additionally, the model suggests that ongoing reflection is a key factor in enhancing the identification of learning needs, goals, and strategies. The model may best be used by clinical coordinators, directors, and supervisors to better facilitate employee learning and subsequently improve patient care delivery.

Proscene: A feature-rich framework for interactive environments

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jean Pierre Charalambos

2017-01-01

Full Text Available We introduce Proscene, a feature-rich, open-source framework for interactive environments. The design of Proscene comprises a three-layered onion-like software architecture, promoting different possible development scenarios. The framework innermost layer decouples user gesture parsing from user-defined actions. The in-between layer implements a feature-rich set of widely-used motion actions allowing the selection and manipulation of objects, including the scene viewpoint. The outermost layer exposes those features as a Processing library. The results have shown the feasibility of our approach together with the simplicity and flexibility of the Proscene framework API.

Historical maintenance relevant information road-map for a self-learning maintenance prediction procedural approach

Science.gov (United States)

Morales, Francisco J.; Reyes, Antonio; Cáceres, Noelia; Romero, Luis M.; Benitez, Francisco G.; Morgado, Joao; Duarte, Emanuel; Martins, Teresa

2017-09-01

A large percentage of transport infrastructures are composed of linear assets, such as roads and rail tracks. The large social and economic relevance of these constructions force the stakeholders to ensure a prolonged health/durability. Even though, inevitable malfunctioning, breaking down, and out-of-service periods arise randomly during the life cycle of the infrastructure. Predictive maintenance techniques tend to diminish the appearance of unpredicted failures and the execution of needed corrective interventions, envisaging the adequate interventions to be conducted before failures show up. This communication presents: i) A procedural approach, to be conducted, in order to collect the relevant information regarding the evolving state condition of the assets involved in all maintenance interventions; this reported and stored information constitutes a rich historical data base to train Machine Learning algorithms in order to generate reliable predictions of the interventions to be carried out in further time scenarios. ii) A schematic flow chart of the automatic learning procedure. iii) Self-learning rules from automatic learning from false positive/negatives. The description, testing, automatic learning approach and the outcomes of a pilot case are presented; finally some conclusions are outlined regarding the methodology proposed for improving the self-learning predictive capability.

Assessing Student Knowledge of Chemistry and Climate Science Concepts Associated with Climate Change: Resources to Inform Teaching and Learning

Science.gov (United States)

Versprille, Ashley; Zabih, Adam; Holme, Thomas A.; McKenzie, Lallie; Mahaffy, Peter; Martin, Brian; Towns, Marcy

2017-01-01

Climate change is one of the most critical problems facing citizens today. Chemistry faculty are presented with the problem of making general chemistry content simultaneously relevant and interesting. Using climate science to teach chemistry allows faculty to help students learn chemistry content in a rich context. Concepts related to…

Canopy cover negatively affects arboreal ant species richness in a tropical open habitat

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. C. M. Queiroz

Full Text Available Abstract We tested the hypothesis of a negative relationship between vegetation characteristics and ant species richness in a Brazilian open vegetation habitat, called candeial. We set up arboreal pitfalls to sample arboreal ants and measured the following environmental variables, which were used as surrogate of environmental heterogeneity: tree richness, tree density, tree height, circumference at the base of the plants, and canopy cover. Only canopy cover had a negative effect on the arboreal ant species richness. Vegetation characteristics and plant species composition are probably homogeneous in candeial, which explains the lack of relationship between other environmental variables and ant richness. Open vegetation habitats harbor a large number of opportunistic and generalist species, besides specialist ants from habitats with high temperatures. An increase in canopy cover decreases sunlight incidence and may cause local microclimatic differences, which negatively affect the species richness of specialist ants from open areas. Canopy cover regulates the richness of arboreal ants in open areas, since only few ant species are able to colonize sites with dense vegetation; most species are present in sites with high temperature and luminosity. Within open vegetation habitats the relationship between vegetation characteristics and species richness seems to be the opposite from closed vegetation areas, like forests.

E-book about E-learning Online Education and Learning Management Systems-Global E-learning in a Scandinavian Perspective

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ugur DEMIRAY

2004-01-01

Full Text Available Prior to year 2000 Scandinavian universities offered selected online courses attracting a few pioneering students. Today, even primary schools offer online services to students, teachers and parents. Online education is becoming mainstream education in Scandinavia.A new, comprehensive and innovative book about e-learning is now available in print and online in several electronic formats. The book’s web-site presents tidbits of the content in several electronic formats such as text, audio, speech synthesis and video.Dr. Erwin Wagner, former President of the European Distance Education Network, characterizes the book as interesting, important, innovative, international and impressive. In his foreword, Dr. Wagner states that the “book comprises a rich variety of material,perspectives, insights and assessments. Valid information can be found there for researchers, for students in the field, for teachers, for managers and for politicians who are looking forreliable knowledge”

Characterization of Leukocyte-platelet Rich Fibrin, A Novel Biomaterial

OpenAIRE

Madurantakam, Parthasarathy; Yoganarasimha, Suyog; Hasan, Fadi K.

2015-01-01

Autologous platelet concentrates represent promising innovative tools in the field of regenerative medicine and have been extensively used in oral surgery. Unlike platelet rich plasma (PRP) that is a gel or a suspension, Leukocyte-Platelet Rich Fibrin (L-PRF) is a solid 3D fibrin membrane generated chair-side from whole blood containing no anti-coagulant. The membrane has a dense three dimensional fibrin matrix with enriched platelets and abundant growth factors. L-PRF is a popular adjunct in...

Platelet Rich Plasma- mechanism of action and clinical applications

OpenAIRE

Cristina N. Cozma; Laura Raducu; Cristian R. Jecan

2016-01-01

Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) is a blood-derived fraction containing high level of platelets, a high concentration of leukocytes and growth factors. PRP therapy has been growing as a viable treatment alternative for a number of clinical applications and has a potential benefit for use in wound healing. Nowadays platelet rich plasma is used in stimulating wound healing in skin and soft tissue ulcerations, accelerating wound healing in diabetic patients and facilitating bone proliferation in ortho...

Novel methodology to isolate microplastics from vegetal-rich samples.

Science.gov (United States)

Herrera, Alicia; Garrido-Amador, Paloma; Martínez, Ico; Samper, María Dolores; López-Martínez, Juan; Gómez, May; Packard, Theodore T

2018-04-01

Microplastics are small plastic particles, globally distributed throughout the oceans. To properly study them, all the methodologies for their sampling, extraction, and measurement should be standardized. For heterogeneous samples containing sediments, animal tissues and zooplankton, several procedures have been described. However, definitive methodologies for samples, rich in algae and plant material, have not yet been developed. The aim of this study was to find the best extraction protocol for vegetal-rich samples by comparing the efficacies of five previously described digestion methods, and a novel density separation method. A protocol using 96% ethanol for density separation was better than the five digestion methods tested, even better than using H 2 O 2 digestion. As it was the most efficient, simple, safe and inexpensive method for isolating microplastics from vegetal rich samples, we recommend it as a standard separation method. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Ultrasound-assisted HCl-NaCl leaching of lead-rich and antimony-rich oxidizing slag.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Rong Liang; Zhang, Xiao Fei; Tang, Shu Zhen; Huang, Ai Dong

2015-11-01

Lead-rich and antimony-rich oxidizing slag was subjected to regular HCl-NaCl leaching, with the experimental conditions optimized under which ultrasound was introduced. After only 15 min of ultrasound-assisted leaching, the leaching rate of Sb resembled that after 45 min of regular leaching. Ultrasonic treatment considerably elevated the leaching rates of Sb and Pb, and shortened the leaching time. With the decrease of particle size, the leaching rate of Sb and Pb increased gradually. Especially, as the particle size of the slag was greater than 0.217 mm, the ultrasonic leaching effects of Sb and Pb were significantly higher than that of regular leaching effects. The temperature exhibited great effect on ultrasonic leaching performance. As the temperature increased, the leaching rates of Sb and Pb increased step by step. In case the temperature was higher than 85°C, the increasing speed of the leaching rates for Sb and Pb tended to be slow. Increasing ultrasonic power could augment the leaching rate or accelerate the procedure till the same leaching rate. However, since ultrasound failed to energize the formation of new reaction pathways, the maximum leaching rates of Sb and Pb were determined by their phase compositions rather than by ultrasonic field. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Scaling disturbance instead of richness to better understand anthropogenic impacts on biodiversity.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Stephen J Mayor

Full Text Available A primary impediment to understanding how species diversity and anthropogenic disturbance are related is that both diversity and disturbance can depend on the scales at which they are sampled. While the scale dependence of diversity estimation has received substantial attention, the scale dependence of disturbance estimation has been essentially overlooked. Here, we break from conventional examination of the diversity-disturbance relationship by holding the area over which species richness is estimated constant and instead manipulating the area over which human disturbance is measured. In the boreal forest ecoregion of Alberta, Canada, we test the dependence of species richness on disturbance scale, the scale-dependence of the intermediate disturbance hypothesis, and the consistency of these patterns in native versus exotic species and among human disturbance types. We related field observed species richness in 1 ha surveys of 372 boreal vascular plant communities to remotely sensed measures of human disturbance extent at two survey scales: local (1 ha and landscape (18 km2. Supporting the intermediate disturbance hypothesis, species richness-disturbance relationships were quadratic at both local and landscape scales of disturbance measurement. This suggests the shape of richness-disturbance relationships is independent of the scale at which disturbance is assessed, despite that local diversity is influenced by disturbance at different scales by different mechanisms, such as direct removal of individuals (local or indirect alteration of propagule supply (landscape. By contrast, predictions of species richness did depend on scale of disturbance measurement: with high local disturbance richness was double that under high landscape disturbance.

Comparing the nutrient rich foods index with "Go," "Slow," and "Whoa," foods.

Science.gov (United States)

Drewnowski, Adam; Fulgoni, Victor

2011-02-01

The US National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute has grouped foods and beverages into three classes: "Go," "Slow," and "Whoa," as part of a children's guide to eating right. Using nutrient composition data in the 2004 Food and Nutrient Database for Dietary Studies, this descriptive study compared the Go, Slow, and Whoa food classes to tertiles of food rankings generated by the Nutrient Rich Foods Index. A total of 1,045 foods and beverages were first assigned into Go, Slow, and Whoa classes and then ranked by the Nutrient Rich Foods Index nutrient profile model. The Nutrient Rich Foods Index model was based on nine nutrients to encourage: protein, fiber, vitamins A, C, and E, calcium, iron, magnesium, and potassium; and on three nutrients to limit: saturated fat, added sugar, and sodium, all calculated per 100 calories. Both the Go, Slow, and Whoa and the Nutrient Rich Foods Index models readily distinguished between energy-dense and nutrient-rich beverages and foods, and the three Go, Slow, and Whoa classes closely corresponded to tertiles of Nutrient Rich Foods Index scores. There were some disagreements in the class assignment of fortified cereals, some dairy products, and diet beverages. Unlike the Go, Slow, and Whoa model, the Nutrient Rich Foods Index model produced continuous scores that could be used to rank foods within a given class. The study provides an illustration of how diverse nutrient profiling systems can be used to identify healthful foods and beverages. Copyright © 2011 American Dietetic Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Determinants of Mammal and Bird Species Richness in China Based on Habitat Groups.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Haigen Xu

Full Text Available Understanding the spatial patterns in species richness is a central issue in macroecology and biogeography. Analyses that have traditionally focused on overall species richness limit the generality and depth of inference. Spatial patterns of species richness and the mechanisms that underpin them in China remain poorly documented. We created a database of the distribution of 580 mammal species and 849 resident bird species from 2376 counties in China and established spatial linear models to identify the determinants of species richness and test the roles of five hypotheses for overall mammals and resident birds and the 11 habitat groups among the two taxa. Our result showed that elevation variability was the most important determinant of species richness of overall mammal and bird species. It is indicated that the most prominent predictors of species richness varied among different habitat groups: elevation variability for forest and shrub mammals and birds, temperature annual range for grassland and desert mammals and wetland birds, net primary productivity for farmland mammals, maximum temperature of the warmest month for cave mammals, and precipitation of the driest quarter for grassland and desert birds. Noteworthily, main land cover type was also found to obviously influence mammal and bird species richness in forests, shrubs and wetlands under the disturbance of intensified human activities. Our findings revealed a substantial divergence in the species richness patterns among different habitat groups and highlighted the group-specific and disparate environmental associations that underpin them. As we demonstrate, a focus on overall species richness alone might lead to incomplete or misguided understanding of spatial patterns. Conservation priorities that consider a broad spectrum of habitat groups will be more successful in safeguarding the multiple services of biodiversity.

Intelligent Fault Diagnosis of Rotary Machinery Based on Unsupervised Multiscale Representation Learning

Science.gov (United States)

Jiang, Guo-Qian; Xie, Ping; Wang, Xiao; Chen, Meng; He, Qun

2017-11-01

The performance of traditional vibration based fault diagnosis methods greatly depends on those handcrafted features extracted using signal processing algorithms, which require significant amounts of domain knowledge and human labor, and do not generalize well to new diagnosis domains. Recently, unsupervised representation learning provides an alternative promising solution to feature extraction in traditional fault diagnosis due to its superior learning ability from unlabeled data. Given that vibration signals usually contain multiple temporal structures, this paper proposes a multiscale representation learning (MSRL) framework to learn useful features directly from raw vibration signals, with the aim to capture rich and complementary fault pattern information at different scales. In our proposed approach, a coarse-grained procedure is first employed to obtain multiple scale signals from an original vibration signal. Then, sparse filtering, a newly developed unsupervised learning algorithm, is applied to automatically learn useful features from each scale signal, respectively, and then the learned features at each scale to be concatenated one by one to obtain multiscale representations. Finally, the multiscale representations are fed into a supervised classifier to achieve diagnosis results. Our proposed approach is evaluated using two different case studies: motor bearing and wind turbine gearbox fault diagnosis. Experimental results show that the proposed MSRL approach can take full advantages of the availability of unlabeled data to learn discriminative features and achieved better performance with higher accuracy and stability compared to the traditional approaches.

New helium spectrum variable and a new helium-rich star

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Walborn, N.R.

1974-01-01

HD 184927, known previously as a helium-rich star, has been found to have a variable helium spectrum; the equivalent widths of five He I lines are larger by an average of 46 percent on a 1974 spectrogram than on one obtained with the same equipment in 1970. HD 186205 has been found to be a new, pronounced helium-rich star. (auth)

Development of an alignment system for the CBM rich

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hoehne, Claudia; Mahmoud, Tariq; Bendarouach, Jordan [Justus Liebig University, Giessen (Germany); Collaboration: CBM-Collaboration

2015-07-01

The Compressed Baryonic Matter (CBM) experiment at the future FAIR complex will investigate the phase diagram of strongly interacting matter at high baryon density and moderate temperatures in A+A collisions from 4-35 AGeV. One of the key detector components required for the CBM physics program is the RICH detector, which is developed for efficient and clean electron identification and pion suppression. Main detector components are a CO{sub 2} gaseous radiator, MAPMT or MCP photo-detectors and spherical glass mirror tiles, used as focusing elements, with spectral reflectivity down to the UV range. An important aspect to guarantee a stable operation of the RICH detector is the alignment and continuous monitor of the mirrors. CLAM (Continuous Line Alignment Monitoring), an alignment procedure developed by the COMPASS experiment, is planned to be used also for the RICH mirror system. A smaller-scale version has been implemented in the CBM RICH prototype detector and tested at the Cern PS/T9 beamline in November 2014. Using a grid and target dots made of retro-reflective material, it is possible to align the mirrors and monitor their displacements over time by analyzing and applying mathematical calculations on photographic images of the grid and targets reflected on the mirrors. The concept, first data and results of image processing are presented and discussed.

Aligning conservation goals: are patterns of species richness and endemism concordant at regional scales?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ricketts, T. H.

2001-01-01

Full Text Available Biodiversity conservation strategies commonly target areas of high species richness and/or high endemism. However, the correlation between richness and endemism at scales relevant to conservation is unclear; these two common goals of conservation plans may therefore be in conflict. Here the spatial concordance between richness and endemism is tested using five taxa in North America: butterflies, birds, mammals, amphibians, and reptiles. This concordance is also tested using overall indices of richness and endemism (incorporating all five taxa. For all taxa except birds, richness and endemism were significantly correlated, with amphibians, reptiles, and the overall indices showing the highest correlations (rs = 0.527-0.676. However, 'priority sets' of ecoregions (i.e., the top 10% of ecoregions based on richness generally overlapped poorly with those based on endemism (< 50% overlap for all but reptiles. These results offer only limited support for the idea that richness and endemism are correlated at broad scales and indicate that land managers will need to balance these dual, and often conflicting, goals of biodiversity conservation.

Serum Stabilities of Short Tryptophan-and Arginine-Rich Antimicrobial Peptide Analogs

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Nguyen, L.T.; Chau, J.K.; Perry, N.A.; de Boer, L.; Zaat, S.A.J.; Vogel, H.J.

2010-01-01

Background: Several short antimicrobial peptides that are rich in tryptophan and arginine residues were designed with a series of simple modifications such as end capping and cyclization. The two sets of hexapeptides are based on the Trp- and Arg-rich primary sequences from the "antimicrobial

Aquatic macrophyte richness in Danish lakes in relation to alkalinity, transparency, and lake area

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Vestergaard, Ole Skafte; Sand-Jensen, Kaj

2000-01-01

We examined the relationship between environmental factors and the richness of submerged macrophytes species in 73 Danish lakes, which are mainly small, shallow, and have mesotrophic to hypertrophic conditions. We found that mean species richness per lake was only 4.5 in acid lakes of low...... alkalinity but 12.3 in lakes of high alkalinity due to a greater occurrence of the species-rich group of elodeids. Mean species richness per lake also increased significantly with increasing Secchi depth. No significant relationship between species richness and lake surface area was observed among the entire...... group of lakes or a subset of eutrophic lakes, as the growth of submerged macrophytes in large lakes may be restricted by wave action in shallow water and light restriction in deep water. In contrast, macrophyte species richness increased with lake surface area in transparent lakes, presumably due...

A Framework for Learning about Big Data with Mobile Technologies for Democratic Participation: Possibilities, Limitations, and Unanticipated Obstacles

Science.gov (United States)

Philip, Thomas M.; Schuler-Brown, Sarah; Way, Winmar

2013-01-01

As Big Data becomes increasingly important in policy-making, research, marketing, and commercial applications, we argue that literacy in this domain is critical for engaged democratic participation and that peer-generated data from mobile technologies offer rich possibilities for students to learn about this new genre of data. Through the lens of…

Global variation in woodpecker species richness shaped by tree availability

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ilsoe, Sigrid Kistrup; Kissling, W. Daniel; Fjeldsa, Jon

2017-01-01

. Location: Global. Methods: We used spatial and non-spatial regressions to test for relationships between broad-scale woodpecker species richness and predictor variables describing current and deep-time availability of trees, current climate, Quaternary climate change, human impact, topographical...... a negative indirect effect on woodpecker species richness. Main conclusions: Global species richness of woodpeckers is primarily shaped by current tree cover and precipitation, reflecting a strong biotic association between woodpeckers and trees. Human influence can have a negative effect on woodpecker....... As an example, woodpeckers (Picidae) are closely associated with trees and woody habitats because of multiple morphological and ecological specializations. In this study, we test whether this strong biotic association causes woodpecker diversity to be closely linked to tree availability at a global scale...

Structural and functional rich club organization of the brain in children and adults.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

David S Grayson

Full Text Available Recent studies using Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI have proposed that the brain's white matter is organized as a rich club, whereby the most highly connected regions of the brain are also highly connected to each other. Here we use both functional and diffusion-weighted MRI in the human brain to investigate whether the rich club phenomena is present with functional connectivity, and how this organization relates to the structural phenomena. We also examine whether rich club regions serve to integrate information between distinct brain systems, and conclude with a brief investigation of the developmental trajectory of rich-club phenomena. In agreement with prior work, both adults and children showed robust structural rich club organization, comprising regions of the superior medial frontal/dACC, medial parietal/PCC, insula, and inferior temporal cortex. We also show that these regions were highly integrated across the brain's major networks. Functional brain networks were found to have rich club phenomena in a similar spatial layout, but a high level of segregation between systems. While no significant differences between adults and children were found structurally, adults showed significantly greater functional rich club organization. This difference appeared to be driven by a specific set of connections between superior parietal, insula, and supramarginal cortex. In sum, this work highlights the existence of both a structural and functional rich club in adult and child populations with some functional changes over development. It also offers a potential target in examining atypical network organization in common developmental brain disorders, such as ADHD and Autism.

Existence of an 16O-rich gaseous reservoir in the solar nebula.

Science.gov (United States)

Krot, Alexander N; McKeegan, Kevin D; Leshin, Laurie A; MacPherson, Glenn J; Scott, Edward R D

2002-02-08

Carbonaceous chondrite condensate olivine grains from two distinct petrographic settings, calcium-aluminum-rich inclusion (CAI) accretionary rims and amoeboid olivine aggregates (AOAs), are oxygen-16 (16O) enriched at the level previously observed inside CAIs. This requires that the gas in the nebular region where these grains condensed was 16O-rich. This contrasts with an 16O-poor gas present during the formation of chondrules, suggesting that CAIs and AOAs formed in a spatially restricted region of the solar nebula containing 16O-rich gas. The 16O-rich gas composition may have resulted either from mass-independent isotopic chemistry or from evaporation of regions with enhanced dust/gas ratios, possibly in an X-wind environment near the young Sun.

Predicting continental-scale patterns of bird species richness with spatially explicit models

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rahbek, Carsten; Gotelli, Nicholas J; Colwell, Robert K

2007-01-01

the extraordinary diversity of avian species in the montane tropics, the most species-rich region on Earth. Our findings imply that correlative climatic models substantially underestimate the importance of historical factors and small-scale niche-driven assembly processes in shaping contemporary species-richness......The causes of global variation in species richness have been debated for nearly two centuries with no clear resolution in sight. Competing hypotheses have typically been evaluated with correlative models that do not explicitly incorporate the mechanisms responsible for biotic diversity gradients....... Here, we employ a fundamentally different approach that uses spatially explicit Monte Carlo models of the placement of cohesive geographical ranges in an environmentally heterogeneous landscape. These models predict species richness of endemic South American birds (2248 species) measured...