Canisius College Summer Science Camp: Combining Science and Education Experts to Increase Middle School Students' Interest in Science

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sheridan, Phillip M.; Szczepankiewicz, Steven H.; Mekelburg, Christopher R.; Schwabel, Kara M.

2011-01-01

The Canisius College Summer Science Camp is a successful and effective annual outreach program that specifically targets middle school students in an effort to increase their interest in science. Five broadly defined science topics are explored in a camp-like atmosphere filled with hands-on activities. A 2010 module focused on chemistry topics of…

An Exploration of the Legal and Regulatory Environment of Privacy and Security through Active Research, Guided Study, Blog Creation, and Discussion

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Peslak, Alan R.

2010-01-01

One of the most important topics for today's information technology professional is the study of legal and regulatory issues as they relate to privacy and security of personal and business data and identification. This manuscript describes the topics and approach taken by the instructors that focuses on independent research of source documents and…

How the Media Misleads the Story of School Consumerism: A Perspective from School Finance

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Killeen, Kieran

2007-01-01

Noting the dramatic rise in media reporting on the topic of school commercialism and consumer activity in schools, this research explores the fiscal benefits of such activities. Though a variety of activities frequently associated with school consumerism generate revenues for schools, in the example of student activity fees there is very little…

Instructor-Created Activities to Engage Undergraduate Nursing Research Students.

PubMed

Pierce, Linda L; Reuille, Kristina M

2018-03-01

In flipped or blended classrooms, instruction intentionally shifts to a student-centered model for a problem-based learning approach, where class time explores topics in greater depth, creating meaningful learning opportunities. This article describes instructor-created activities focused on research processes linked to evidence-based practice that engage undergraduate nursing research students. In the classroom, these activities include individual and team work to foster critical thinking and stimulate student discussion of topic material. Six activities for small and large student groups are related to quantitative, qualitative, and both research processes, as well as applying research evidence to practice. Positive student outcomes included quantitative success on assignments and robust student topic discussions, along with instructor-noted overall group engagement and interest. Using these activities can result in class time for the construction of meaning, rather than primarily information transmission. Instructors may adopt these activities to involve and stimulate students' critical thinking about research and evidence-based practice. [J Nurs Educ. 2018;57(3):174-177.]. Copyright 2018, SLACK Incorporated.

Trends in gel dosimetry: Preliminary bibliometric overview of active growth areas, research trends and hot topics from Gore’s 1984 paper onwards

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Baldock, C.

2017-05-01

John Gore’s seminal 1984 paper on gel dosimetry spawned a vibrant research field ranging from fundamental science through to clinical applications. A preliminary bibliometric study was undertaken of the gel dosimetry family of publications inspired by, and resulting from, Gore’s original 1984 paper to determine active growth areas, research trends and hot topics from Gore’s paper up to and including 2016. Themes and trends of the gel dosimetry research field were bibliometrically explored by way of co-occurrence term maps using the titles and abstracts text corpora from the Web of Science database for all relevant papers from 1984 to 2016. Visualisation of similarities was used by way of the VOSviewer visualisation tool to generate cluster maps of gel dosimetry knowledge domains and the associated citation impact of topics within the domains. Heat maps were then generated to assist in the understanding of active growth areas, research trends, and emerging and hot topics in gel dosimetry.

Coaching to Enhance Quality of Implementation in Prevention.

PubMed

Dusenbury, Linda; Hansen, William B; Jackson-Newsom, Julia; Pittman, Donna; Wilson, Cicely; Simley, Kathleen; Ringwalt, Christopher; Pankratz, Melinda; Giles, Steven

2010-01-01

PURPOSE: This study describes topics covered by coaches assisting teachers implementing a research-based drug prevention program and explores how coaching affected student outcomes. DESIGN: The All Stars drug prevention curriculum was implemented by 16 urban teachers who received four coaching sessions. Two coaches participated. Coaches were interviewed by investigators to assess topics covered. Students completed pretest-posttest measures of mediators and substance use behaviors. FINDINGS: The average teacher was coached on 11.7 different topics, out of a total of 23 topics. Coaching topics most heavily emphasized included: introduction and wrap up; time management; general classroom management; teacher's movement around the class; asking open-ended questions; using students' questions, comments and examples to make desired points; general preparation; engaging high-risk youth; reading from the curriculum; implementing activities correctly; focusing on objectives and goals; maintaining a focus on the task; and improving depth of understanding. Seven coaching topics were found to relate to changes in student mediators and behavior. RESEARCH LIMITATIONS/IMPLICATIONS: The current study was exploratory. Future research should explore how teachers develop the particular skills required by prevention programs and how coaches can assist them. PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS: We postulate five levels of skill development which coaches may address: (1) fundamental teaching skills, (2) mechanics of program delivery, (3) development of an interactive teaching style, (4) effective response to student input, and (5) effective tailoring and adaptation. ORIGINALITY/VALUE: This represents one of a very few studies that explores how coaching impacts outcomes in substance abuse prevention.

Coaching to Enhance Quality of Implementation in Prevention

PubMed Central

Dusenbury, Linda; Hansen, William B.; Jackson-Newsom, Julia; Pittman, Donna; Wilson, Cicely; Simley, Kathleen; Ringwalt, Christopher; Pankratz, Melinda; Giles, Steven

2010-01-01

Purpose This study describes topics covered by coaches assisting teachers implementing a research-based drug prevention program and explores how coaching affected student outcomes. Design The All Stars drug prevention curriculum was implemented by 16 urban teachers who received four coaching sessions. Two coaches participated. Coaches were interviewed by investigators to assess topics covered. Students completed pretest-posttest measures of mediators and substance use behaviors. Findings The average teacher was coached on 11.7 different topics, out of a total of 23 topics. Coaching topics most heavily emphasized included: introduction and wrap up; time management; general classroom management; teacher's movement around the class; asking open-ended questions; using students' questions, comments and examples to make desired points; general preparation; engaging high-risk youth; reading from the curriculum; implementing activities correctly; focusing on objectives and goals; maintaining a focus on the task; and improving depth of understanding. Seven coaching topics were found to relate to changes in student mediators and behavior. Research Limitations/Implications The current study was exploratory. Future research should explore how teachers develop the particular skills required by prevention programs and how coaches can assist them. Practical Implications We postulate five levels of skill development which coaches may address: (1) fundamental teaching skills, (2) mechanics of program delivery, (3) development of an interactive teaching style, (4) effective response to student input, and (5) effective tailoring and adaptation. Originality/Value This represents one of a very few studies that explores how coaching impacts outcomes in substance abuse prevention. PMID:22022672

Research and technology

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1991-01-01

Significant research and technology activities at the Johnson Space Center (JSC) during Fiscal Year 1990 are reviewed. Research in human factors engineering, the Space Shuttle, the Space Station Freedom, space exploration and related topics are covered.

Engineering a Classroom Discussion.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Smith, Walter E.

1983-01-01

Describes physical science activities that civil/mechanical engineers (serving as resource persons) can use with students during units on force, work, center of gravity, simple machines, and other basic mechanics concepts. Activities are adapted from Career Oriented Modules to Explore Topics in Science for grades 5-9 (COMETS). (Author/JN)

Low Budget Biology: Genetics Unit.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wartski, Bert; Wartski, Lynn Marie

Some concepts in genetics are difficult for many students to understand. This document provides hands-on, cost efficient, fun activities for students to help them better understand abstract concepts in genetics. Each activity includes: purpose, introduction, materials, procedures, results and conclusion. Some of the topics explored are: (1)…

Linking Mission to Learning Activities for Assurance of Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yeung, Shirley Mo-ching

2011-01-01

Can accreditation-related requirements and mission statements measure learning outcomes? This study focuses on triangulating accreditation-related requirements with mission statements and learning activities to learning outcomes. This topic has not been comprehensively explored in the past. After looking into the requirements of AACSB, ISO, and…

From Greeks to Today: Cipher Trees and Computer Cryptography.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Grady, M. Tim; Brumbaugh, Doug

1988-01-01

Explores the use of computers for teaching mathematical models of transposition ciphers. Illustrates the ideas, includes activities and extensions, provides a mathematical model and includes computer programs to implement these topics. (MVL)

Exploring Water Pollution. Part 3

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rillo, Thomas J.

1976-01-01

Lists over 30 outdoor science activities dealing with water formation, erosion, pollution, and other water-related topics. Provides, in addition, a selected bibliography of films, tapes, booklets and pamphlets, and filmstrips as additional reference materials. (CP)

Exploring the Universe. Science Series Grades 4, 5, 6.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Giessow, Jean; Giessow, Fred

The activities in this book are designed to reinforce elementary concepts in the study of the universe. General background information, suggested activities, questions for discussion, and answers are provided. Twenty-eight reproducible worksheets are contained in this guide. Topics include: the solar system, orbits, planets, the sun, forces in…

First Teacher, 1998.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Durkin, Lisa Lyons, Ed.

1998-01-01

This document is comprised of the six issues of volume 19 of "First Teacher," a periodical providing helpful activity ideas and information on child development for early childhood teachers and caregivers. The major topics for each themed issue are as follows: (1) Exploring Letters and Numbers, including flannel board activities, and number rhymes…

Visualization Forms in the Cross-Cultural Collaborative Activities of Design and Development of a Digital Resource for Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Quan, Guolong; Gu, Xiaoqing

2018-01-01

Recent studies have demonstrated the integration of visualization technology to support collaboration and stimulate learning performance. The use of visualization tools during the collaborative activities of international students is a worthy topic for further exploration. Based on grounded and activity theories, this research uses observation and…

Significant achievements in the planetary geology program

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Head, J. W. (Editor)

1984-01-01

Recent developments in planetology research are summarized. Important developments are summarized in topics ranging from solar system evolution, comparative planetology, and geologic processes active on other planetary bodies, to techniques and instrument development for exploration.

Teaching Small Business Ownership and Management

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Leach, James A.

1977-01-01

Topics discussed include integrating small business ownership with existing programs; establishing awareness, exploration, and orientation activities; and preparation for small business ownership. A curriculum guide developed for teaching small business ownership and management is also described. (TA)

Dia de los Muertos: A Joyful Mexican Celebration

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Markello, Carrie; Bean, Kathy

2005-01-01

This brief article describes the history, traditions, and food of the Mexican holiday known as Dia de los Muertos, or the Day of the Day, and explores classroom and studio activities that teachers can do with their students. Teachers are urged to encourage students to explore the topic of the Day of the Dead, comparing it to other traditions and…

Cis and Trans Isomerization in Cyclic Alkenes: A Topic for Discovery Using the Results of Molecular Modeling

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Barrows, Susan E.; Eberlein, Thomas H.

2004-01-01

Activities in which students explore the fundamental reasons behind the unusual instability of the trans isomers in medium-sized cycloalkenes by using the results of molecular modeling are described. Exercises have been proposed to explore the structures of cycloheptene and cyclooctene by Hehre and others which would be helpful to disabuse…

Discovering functional modules by topic modeling RNA-Seq based toxicogenomic data.

PubMed

Yu, Ke; Gong, Binsheng; Lee, Mikyung; Liu, Zhichao; Xu, Joshua; Perkins, Roger; Tong, Weida

2014-09-15

Toxicogenomics (TGx) endeavors to elucidate the underlying molecular mechanisms through exploring gene expression profiles in response to toxic substances. Recently, RNA-Seq is increasingly regarded as a more powerful alternative to microarrays in TGx studies. However, realizing RNA-Seq's full potential requires novel approaches to extracting information from the complex TGx data. Considering read counts as the number of times a word occurs in a document, gene expression profiles from RNA-Seq are analogous to a word by document matrix used in text mining. Topic modeling aiming at to discover the latent structures in text corpora would be helpful to explore RNA-Seq based TGx data. In this study, topic modeling was applied on a typical RNA-Seq based TGx data set to discover hidden functional modules. The RNA-Seq based gene expression profiles were transformed into "documents", on which latent Dirichlet allocation (LDA) was used to build a topic model. We found samples treated by the compounds with the same modes of actions (MoAs) could be clustered based on topic similarities. The topic most relevant to each cluster was identified as a "marker" topic, which was interpreted by gene enrichment analysis with MoAs then confirmed by compound and pathways associations mined from literature. To further validate the "marker" topics, we tested topic transferability from RNA-Seq to microarrays. The RNA-Seq based gene expression profile of a topic specifically associated with peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPAR) signaling pathway was used to query samples with similar expression profiles in two different microarray data sets, yielding accuracy of about 85%. This proof-of-concept study demonstrates the applicability of topic modeling to discover functional modules in RNA-Seq data and suggests a valuable computational tool for leveraging information within TGx data in RNA-Seq era.

Bringing hands-on exploration of air quality technology to the ...

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

This is an educational presentation to the OAQPS Teachers Workshop on the PM sensor kit and other related air technology educational activities. This workshop for teachers and other educators includes topics, such as: how EPA manages air quality, the environmental health effects and risks of air pollution, climate change, and sustainability solutions and more. Attendees will also build a DYI Sensor kit and explore energy choices and the environment when they play the interactive board game developed by EPA scientists called Generate! This workshop for teachers and other educators includes topics, such as: how EPA manages air quality, the environmental health effects and risks of air pollution, climate change and sustainability and more. Attendees will also build a DYI Sensor kit and explore energy choices and the environment when they play the interactive board game developed by EPA scientists called Generate!

EVA Physiology, Systems and Performance [EPSP] Project

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gernhardt, Michael L.

2010-01-01

This viewgraph presentation gives a general overview of the biomedical and technological challenges of Extravehicular Activity (EVA). The topics covered include: 1) Prebreathe Protocols; 2) Lunar Suit Testing and Development; and 3) Lunar Electric Rover and Exploration Operations Concepts.

Exploring Teachers' Curriculum Decision Making: Insights from History Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Harris, Richard; Reynolds, Rosemary

2018-01-01

This paper explores teachers' decision making by examining the topics that 11 history teachers from 10 schools in England chose to teach and how they approached teaching these topics. Data were gathered from curriculum documents and semi-structured interviews in which teachers' topic choices and approaches to history were explored. Most teachers…

Individualized Instruction in Science, Time-Space-Matter, Learning Activity Packages.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kuczma, R. M.

Learning Activity Packages (LAP) relating to time, space, and matter are presented for use in sampling a new type of learning for a whole year. Besides the unit on introduction to individualized learning, 11 major topics are incorporated into three other units: (1) observation of the physical world, (2) space and exploration for environmental…

The World's Best Places: Classroom Explorations in Geography & Environmental Science.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Graf, Mike

This book offers an alternative to traditional upper elementary and middle school lesson plans, using 32 of the world's national parks as a springboard for activities. The activities in the book are divided into chapters that deal with particular topics of study: wildlife, plant life, geography, and geology. Includes step-by-step instructions that…

Sea Searcher's Handbook: Activities from the Monterey Bay Aquarium.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Monterey Bay Aquarium Foundation, Monterey, CA.

The activities in this book guide exploration of rocky shores, wetlands, sandy shores, kelp forests, the open sea and deep sea, and introduce students to a variety of topics and different approaches. This material is written by marine educators and was tested with over 70,000 children visiting the Monterey Bay Aquarium (California) each year. The…

Cycles of Exploration, Reflection, and Consolidation in Model-Based Learning of Genetics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kim, Beaumie; Pathak, Suneeta A.; Jacobson, Michael J.; Zhang, Baohui; Gobert, Janice D.

2015-12-01

Model-based reasoning has been introduced as an authentic way of learning science, and many researchers have developed technological tools for learning with models. This paper describes how a model-based tool, BioLogica™, was used to facilitate genetics learning in secondary 3-level biology in Singapore. The research team co-designed two different pedagogical approaches with teachers, both of which involved learner-centered "exploration and reflection" with BioLogica and teacher-led "telling" or "consolidation." One group went through the stand-alone BioLogica units for all topics prior to a series of teacher-led instructions, whereas the other group was engaged in teacher-led activities after using BioLogica for each topic. Based on the results of a series of tests on genetics, the groups performed differently from what the teacher had expected. We explore how the design of the two approaches and interactions among students might have contributed to the results.

Do-It-Yourself Air Sensors – Exploring the Atmosphere and Turning on Light Bulbs!?

EPA Science Inventory

These are educational slides that will be presented in a webinar to the National Science Teachers Association. Topics covered include general air quality, current EPA research, and EPA's particle sensor kit that is a classroom activity.

Exploring Linear Measure.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cox, Philip L.

This material is an instructional unit on measuring and estimating. A variety of activities are used with manipulative devices, worksheets, and discussion questions included. Major topics are estimating lengths, accuracy of measurement, metric system, scale drawings, and conversion between different units. A teacher's guide is also available.…

Digging into Minnesota Minerals.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Minnesota State Dept. of Natural Resources, St. Paul.

This publication presents students with facts about geology and several learning activities. Topics covered include rocks and minerals, volcanoes and earthquakes, fossils, exploration geology, mining in Minnesota, environmental issues related to mining, mineral uses, mining history, and the geology of Minnesota's state parks. A geologic timetable…

The Uncomplicated Elementary Career Education System for the "Real" Classroom. Career Capers for 4-6.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Illinois State Office of Education, Springfield. Div. of Adult Vocational and Technical Education.

Prepared by classroom teachers for the infusion of career education into existing curriculum, this notebook of student and teacher activities is designed for use with the monthly Factivities for grades 4-6 (CE 023 596). Each activity corresponds to one of the nine monthly topics: "me, myself, and I"; exploring the telephone book; transportation;…

In Vivo Evaluation of the Anti-Inflammatory Effect of Pistacia lentiscus Fruit Oil and Its Effects on Oxidative Stress

PubMed Central

Bardaa, Sana; Sahnoun, Zouheir; Rebai, Tarek

2016-01-01

In order to find new topical anti-inflammatory agents, we had recourse to a medicinal plant. This work was designed to determine the topical anti-inflammatory effect of Pistacia lentiscus fruit oil (PLFO), using carrageenan-induced paw edema rat model, and to evaluate its effects on oxidative stress. The topical anti-inflammatory activity of PLFO was compared to Inflocine® and estimated by measuring the diameter of paw edema, for 5 hours at a 1-hour interval. After that the rats were scarified and the inflamed paw tissue was removed for the exploration of some parameters of oxidative stress and histopathology. PLFO showed a significant anti-inflammatory activity in comparison with the Inflocine. The percentages of edema inhibition were 70% and % 51.5% (p < 0.01), respectively, after five hours. The treatment with PLFO and Inflocine led to significant increases (p ≤ 0.05) in the activities of CAT, SOD, and GPX and significant decreases in the MDA level and AOPP activity in the paw tissue after Carr injection, in comparison with the Carr group. Therefore, our findings demonstrate that PLFO might accelerate the development of new drugs which could be used scientifically as a source for natural health products in the treatment of topical inflammation. PMID:28070202

Pilot Study of Topical Acetyl Hexapeptide-8 in Treatment of Blepharospasm in Patients Receiving Botulinum Neurotoxin Therapy

PubMed Central

Lungu, Codrin; Considine, Elaine; Zahir, Sana; Ponsati, Berta; Arrastia, Silvia; Hallett, Mark

2016-01-01

Background Injectable botulinum neurotoxin (BoNT) is the principal effective treatment for blepharospasm (BSP). This trial explores the safety and efficacy of topical Acetyl Hexapeptide-8 (AH8), a competitive SNAP25 inhibitor, as a potential new therapy in BSP. Methods Double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized trial of daily topical application of AH8 in 24 patients with BSP. The primary outcome was time to return to baseline Jankovic Rating Scale (JBRS) after a BoNT injection simultaneously with initiation of AH8. Patients displaying a strictly regular pattern of response to 3-monthly injections of BoNT were included. Results There were no significant adverse events. There was a trend for longer time until return to baseline JBRS after injection in the active group compared to placebo (3.7 vs 3.0 months), and for better scores in the active group. One third (4/12) of the patients in the active group had a significant extension of symptom control after BoNT (range: 3.3-7.1 months). Conclusions Topical AH8 is safe and promising for extending the duration of action of BoNT therapy for BSP. PMID:23146065

Using ontology-based annotation to profile disease research

PubMed Central

Coulet, Adrien; LePendu, Paea; Shah, Nigam H

2012-01-01

Background Profiling the allocation and trend of research activity is of interest to funding agencies, administrators, and researchers. However, the lack of a common classification system hinders the comprehensive and systematic profiling of research activities. This study introduces ontology-based annotation as a method to overcome this difficulty. Analyzing over a decade of funding data and publication data, the trends of disease research are profiled across topics, across institutions, and over time. Results This study introduces and explores the notions of research sponsorship and allocation and shows that leaders of research activity can be identified within specific disease areas of interest, such as those with high mortality or high sponsorship. The funding profiles of disease topics readily cluster themselves in agreement with the ontology hierarchy and closely mirror the funding agency priorities. Finally, four temporal trends are identified among research topics. Conclusions This work utilizes disease ontology (DO)-based annotation to profile effectively the landscape of biomedical research activity. By using DO in this manner a use-case driven mechanism is also proposed to evaluate the utility of classification hierarchies. PMID:22494789

Topical Microbicides and HIV Prevention in the Female Genital Tract

PubMed Central

Cottrell, Mackenzie L; Kashuba, Angela D. M.

2014-01-01

Worldwide, HIV disproportionately affects women who are often unable to negotiate traditional HIV preventive strategies such as condoms. In the absence of an effective vaccine or cure, chemoprophylaxis may be a valuable self-initiated alternative. Topical microbicides have been investigated as one such option. The first generation topical microbicides were non-specific, broad-spectrum antimicrobial agents, including surfactants, polyanions, and acid buffering gels, that generally exhibited contraceptive properties. After extensive clinical study, none prevented HIV infection, and their development was abandoned. Second generation topical microbicides include agents with selective mechanisms of antiviral activity. Most are currently being used for, or have previously been explored as, drugs for treatment of HIV. The most advanced of these is tenofovir 1% gel: the first topical agent shown to significantly reduce HIV infection by 39% compared to placebo. This review summarizes the evolution of topical microbicides for HIV chemoprophylaxis, highlights important concepts learned, and offers current and future considerations for this area of research. PMID:24664786

Trains across the USA

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McIntosh, Phyllis

2013-01-01

This feature article explores the topic of trains from their early history to recent trends in railroading. A glossary provides related vocabulary, a sidebar called "Romance of the Rails" adds colorful detail about train songs and railroad lore. An additional section, "Classroom Activities," by John Silver, presents three…

Wiggles and Wags: Dog 1--Fun Activities for You and Your Dog. 4-H Skills for Life Animal Series. National 4-H Curriculum. BU-08166

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

National 4-H Council, 2005

2005-01-01

These guides are activity guides. Several fact-filled books about dogs are listed as resources on this guide. The activities are active, hands-on, and engaging and are guided by the 4-H motto: Learning by Doing. As youth explore a dog project topic of interest to them, they also practice essential life skills. Although a few dog project youth will…

Elementary school aerospace activities: A resource for teachers

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1977-01-01

The chronological development of the story of man and flight, with emphasis on space flight, is presented in 10 units designed as a resource for elementary school teachers. Future exploration of space and the utlization of space flight capabilities are included. Each unit contains an outline, a list of suggested activities for correlation, a bibliography, and a list of selected audiovisual materials. A glossary of aerospace terms is included. Topics cover: earth characteristics that affect flight; flight in atmosphere, rockets, technological advances, unmanned Earth satellites, umanned exploration of the solar system, life support systems; astronauts, man in space, and projections for the future.

One-Two Punch: Utilizing Teacher Research Experiences and Related Classroom Activities to Increase Student Interest in STEM

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wold-Brennon, R.; Cooper, S. K.

2014-12-01

Through collaborations between scientists and educators, the Consortium for Ocean Leadership developed a series of marine geosciences classroom activities and lesson plans -- including the Adopt-a-Microbe project, a collection of hands-on science lessons that use the sub-seafloor microbiology topics to provide engaging pathways for K-12 students to learn about the world around them. The goal of these activities has been to introduce youth to deep ocean exploration, inspire interest in microbial oceanography, and foster higher education goals and career paths in related sciences for our youth. From the beginning, these lessons were developed in close working relationships between scientists and educators, and the lessons geared towards middle school have been recently piloted with the intent to maximize sustained student interest in STEM topics. While teaching these units, educators used surveys, polls, group discussions, and interviews to shed light on correlations between student interest in STEM and their close proximity to exemplary and enthusiastic educators and student leaders who are active in STEM activities such as research projects and expeditions. Educators continue to use Adopt-a-Microbe and related expedition science-based lessons to explore the broader impacts of their professional development in the Geosciences on their students' professed interest in STEM.

Freedom of Expression.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Update on Law-Related Education, 1988

1988-01-01

Presents an activity which uses hypothetical situations to explore the proper boundaries of freedom of expression and the role of the U.S. Supreme Court in interpreting its limits. Appropriate for grades 4-12, the lesson includes such topics as the "clear and present danger" clause, student expression, obscenity, and defamation. (GEA)

Using the Graphing Calculator--in Two-Dimensional Motion Plots.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brueningsen, Chris; Bower, William

1995-01-01

Presents a series of simple activities involving generalized two-dimensional motion topics to prepare students to study projectile motion. Uses a pair of motion detectors, each connected to a calculator-based-laboratory (CBL) unit interfaced with a standard graphics calculator, to explore two-dimensional motion. (JRH)

Science Careers in the Classroom.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Smith, Walter S.

1983-01-01

Suggests systematically exposing early adolescents/middle school students to community people who use science in their work to demonstrate the value of science/mathematics study. Discusses activities related to classroom visits of resource personnel, sources of resource people, and Career Oriented Modules to Explore Topics in Science for grades…

Thematic Teaching in Action

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Loughran, Sandra B.

2005-01-01

This article describes "thematic teaching," defined as a process of integrating and linking multiple elements of a curriculum in an ongoing exploration of many different aspects of a topic or subject. Thematic teaching is about students actively constructing their own knowledge. In classrooms where successful thematic work is in progress,…

Exploring sets of molecules from patents and relationships to other active compounds in chemical space networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kunimoto, Ryo; Bajorath, Jürgen

2017-09-01

Patents from medicinal chemistry represent a rich source of novel compounds and activity data that appear only infrequently in the scientific literature. Moreover, patent information provides a primary focal point for drug discovery. Accordingly, text mining and image extraction approaches have become hot topics in patent analysis and repositories of patent data are being established. In this work, we have generated network representations using alternative similarity measures to systematically compare molecules from patents with other bioactive compounds, visualize similarity relationships, explore the chemical neighbourhood of patent molecules, and identify closely related compounds with different activities. The design of network representations that combine patent molecules and other bioactive compounds and view patent information in the context of current bioactive chemical space aids in the analysis of patents and further extends the use of molecular networks to explore structure-activity relationships.

Parent and Preschooler Newsletter: A Monthly Exploration of Early Childhood Topics, 2003.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wolkoff, Sandra, Ed.; Schwartzberg, Neala S., Ed.

2003-01-01

This document consists of 10 monthly newsletter issues, in English- and Spanish-language versions, exploring topics related to early childhood behavior and parenting. Regularly appearing features include book recommendations, "Library Resources,""Preschoolers in the Kitchen,""Kids Crafts,""Research News," and "The Health Corner." Major topics of…

Marine and Environmental Studies Field Manual.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cranston School Dept., RI.

This laboratory manual was developed for a field-oriented high school oceanology program. The organization of the units includes a selection of supplementary activities to allow students to explore ocean studies in more depth. Included are 19 units. The units include biological oceanography, physical oceanography, and some social science topics. A…

Association Rule Mining from an Intelligent Tutor

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dogan, Buket; Camurcu, A. Yilmaz

2008-01-01

Educational data mining is a very novel research area, offering fertile ground for many interesting data mining applications. Educational data mining can extract useful information from educational activities for better understanding and assessment of the student learning process. In this way, it is possible to explore how students learn topics in…

CNN Newsroom Classroom Guides. August 1-31, 1994.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cable News Network, Atlanta, GA.

These classroom guides for the daily CNN (Cable News Network) Newsroom broadcasts for the month of August provide program rundowns, suggestions for class activities and discussion, student handouts, and a list of related news terms. Topics covered by the guides include: (1) Haiti, exploration of Mars, Rwandan refugees, Goodwill Games, Paris…

Explorations with 142857: Connecting the Elementary with the Advanced

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Flores, Alfinio

2008-01-01

University mathematics education courses do not always provide the opportunity to make connections between advanced topics and the mathematics taught in middle school or high school. Activities like the ones described in this article invite such connections. Analyzing concrete or particular examples provides a better grasp of abstract concepts.…

Inventors and Inventions, Grades 4-8.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Egan, Lorraine Hopping

This activity book encourages students to think like inventors by employing ready-to-use materials, a timeline game, and topics from social studies, mathematics, science, language arts, and art. The first section explains the definition of invention and explores accidental inventions. It is followed by a section that examines the effects of…

Rockets: Educator's Guide with Activities in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shearer, Deborah A.; Vogt, Gregory L.

2008-01-01

This guide provides teachers and students many opportunities. Chapters within the guide present the history of rocketry, National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA's) 21st Century Space Exploration Policy, rocketry principles, and practical rocketry. These topics lay the foundation for what follows--a wealth of dynamic rocket science…

I Invite You To Know the Earth II. 5th to 8th Grade of Preparatory School Teacher's Guide [and] 5th to 8th Grade of Preparatory School Textbook.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization, Paris (France). Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission.

The student textbook is designed for grades 5-8 and explores various earth science topics. A cartoon character named Tommy Tsumi explores earth facts and concepts throughout the text. Activities, materials, and learning objectives for each unit in the textbook are presented in the teacher's guide. Units in both books include: (1) "The Outside…

Exploring supervised and unsupervised methods to detect topics in biomedical text

PubMed Central

Lee, Minsuk; Wang, Weiqing; Yu, Hong

2006-01-01

Background Topic detection is a task that automatically identifies topics (e.g., "biochemistry" and "protein structure") in scientific articles based on information content. Topic detection will benefit many other natural language processing tasks including information retrieval, text summarization and question answering; and is a necessary step towards the building of an information system that provides an efficient way for biologists to seek information from an ocean of literature. Results We have explored the methods of Topic Spotting, a task of text categorization that applies the supervised machine-learning technique naïve Bayes to assign automatically a document into one or more predefined topics; and Topic Clustering, which apply unsupervised hierarchical clustering algorithms to aggregate documents into clusters such that each cluster represents a topic. We have applied our methods to detect topics of more than fifteen thousand of articles that represent over sixteen thousand entries in the Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man (OMIM) database. We have explored bag of words as the features. Additionally, we have explored semantic features; namely, the Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) that are assigned to the MEDLINE records, and the Unified Medical Language System (UMLS) semantic types that correspond to the MeSH terms, in addition to bag of words, to facilitate the tasks of topic detection. Our results indicate that incorporating the MeSH terms and the UMLS semantic types as additional features enhances the performance of topic detection and the naïve Bayes has the highest accuracy, 66.4%, for predicting the topic of an OMIM article as one of the total twenty-five topics. Conclusion Our results indicate that the supervised topic spotting methods outperformed the unsupervised topic clustering; on the other hand, the unsupervised topic clustering methods have the advantages of being robust and applicable in real world settings. PMID:16539745

Get Involved in Planetary Discoveries through New Worlds, New Discoveries

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shupla, Christine; Shipp, S. S.; Halligan, E.; Dalton, H.; Boonstra, D.; Buxner, S.; SMD Planetary Forum, NASA

2013-01-01

"New Worlds, New Discoveries" is a synthesis of NASA’s 50-year exploration history which provides an integrated picture of our new understanding of our solar system. As NASA spacecraft head to and arrive at key locations in our solar system, "New Worlds, New Discoveries" provides an integrated picture of our new understanding of the solar system to educators and the general public! The site combines the amazing discoveries of past NASA planetary missions with the most recent findings of ongoing missions, and connects them to the related planetary science topics. "New Worlds, New Discoveries," which includes the "Year of the Solar System" and the ongoing celebration of the "50 Years of Exploration," includes 20 topics that share thematic solar system educational resources and activities, tied to the national science standards. This online site and ongoing event offers numerous opportunities for the science community - including researchers and education and public outreach professionals - to raise awareness, build excitement, and make connections with educators, students, and the public about planetary science. Visitors to the site will find valuable hands-on science activities, resources and educational materials, as well as the latest news, to engage audiences in planetary science topics and their related mission discoveries. The topics are tied to the big questions of planetary science: how did the Sun’s family of planets and bodies originate and how have they evolved? How did life begin and evolve on Earth, and has it evolved elsewhere in our solar system? Scientists and educators are encouraged to get involved either directly or by sharing "New Worlds, New Discoveries" and its resources with educators, by conducting presentations and events, sharing their resources and events to add to the site, and adding their own public events to the site’s event calendar! Visit to find quality resources and ideas. Connect with educators, students and the public to share the exciting planetary science discoveries as they’re uncovered during this unprecedented period of solar system exploration!

Evaluating Active Parental Consent Procedures for School Programming: Addressing the Sensitive Topic of Suicide Prevention.

PubMed

Totura, Christine M Wienke; Kutash, Krista; Labouliere, Christa D; Karver, Marc S

2017-02-01

Suicide is the second leading cause of death for adolescents. Whereas school-based prevention programs are effective, obtaining active consent for youth participation in public health programming concerning sensitive topics is challenging. We explored several active consent procedures for improving participation rates. Five active consent methods (in-person, students taking forms home, mailing, mailing preceded by primers, mailing followed by reminder calls) were compared against passive consent procedures to evaluate recruitment success, as determined by participation (proportion who responded yes) and response (proportion who returned any response) rates. Participation acceptance rates ranged from 38 to 100% depending on consent method implemented. Compared with passive consent, active consent procedures were more variable in response and participation rates. In-person methods provided higher rates than less interpersonal methods, such as mailing or students taking consents home. Mailed primers before or reminder calls after consent forms were mailed increased response but not participation rates. Students taking consents home resulted in the lowest rates. Although passive consent produces the highest student participation, these methods are not always appropriate for programs addressing sensitive topics in schools. In-person active consent procedures may be the best option when prioritizing balance between parental awareness and successful student recruitment. © 2017, American School Health Association.

Synergistic activity profile of carbosilane dendrimer G2-STE16 in combination with other dendrimers and antiretrovirals as topical anti-HIV-1 microbicide.

PubMed

Sepúlveda-Crespo, Daniel; Lorente, Raquel; Leal, Manuel; Gómez, Rafael; De la Mata, Francisco J; Jiménez, José Luis; Muñoz-Fernández, M Ángeles

2014-04-01

Polyanionic carbosilane dendrimers represent opportunities to develop new anti-HIV microbicides. Dendrimers and antiretrovirals (ARVs) acting at different stages of HIV replication have been proposed as compounds to decrease new HIV infections. Thus, we determined the potential use of our G2-STE16 carbosilane dendrimer in combination with other carbosilane dendrimers and ARVs for the use as topical microbicide against HIV-1. We showed that these combinations obtained 100% inhibition and displayed a synergistic profile against different HIV-1 isolates in our model of TZM.bl cells. Our results also showed their potent activity in the presence of an acidic vaginal or seminal fluid environment and did not activate an inflammatory response. This study is the first step toward exploring the use of different anionic carbosilane dendrimers in combination and toward making a safe microbicide. Therefore, our results support further studies on dendrimer/dendrimer or dendrimer/ARV combinations as topical anti-HIV-1 microbicide. This paper describes the first steps toward the use of anionic carbosilane dendrimers in combination with antivirals to address HIV-1, paving the way to further studies on dendrimer/dendrimer or dendrimer/ARV combinations as topical anti-HIV-1 microbicides. © 2014.

Organization's Orderly Interest Exploration: Inception, Development and Insights of AIAA's Topics Database

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Marshall, Jospeh R.; Morris, Allan T.

2007-01-01

Since 2003, AIAA's Computer Systems and Software Systems Technical Committees (TCs) have developed a database that aids technical committee management to map technical topics to their members. This Topics/Interest (T/I) database grew out of a collection of charts and spreadsheets maintained by the TCs. Since its inception, the tool has evolved into a multi-dimensional database whose dimensions include the importance, interest and expertise of TC members and whether or not a member and/or a TC is actively involved with the topic. In 2005, the database was expanded to include the TCs in AIAA s Information Systems Group and then expanded further to include all AIAA TCs. It was field tested at an AIAA Technical Activities Committee (TAC) Workshop in early 2006 through live access by over 80 users. Through the use of the topics database, TC and program committee (PC) members can accomplish relevant tasks such as: to identify topic experts (for Aerospace America articles or external contacts), to determine the interest of its members, to identify overlapping topics between diverse TCs and PCs, to guide new member drives and to reveal emerging topics. This paper will describe the origins, inception, initial development, field test and current version of the tool as well as elucidate the benefits and insights gained by using the database to aid the management of various TC functions. Suggestions will be provided to guide future development of the database for the purpose of providing dynamics and system level benefits to AIAA that currently do not exist in any technical organization.

Multi-topic assignment for exploratory navigation of consumer health information in NetWellness using formal concept analysis.

PubMed

Cui, Licong; Xu, Rong; Luo, Zhihui; Wentz, Susan; Scarberry, Kyle; Zhang, Guo-Qiang

2014-08-03

Finding quality consumer health information online can effectively bring important public health benefits to the general population. It can empower people with timely and current knowledge for managing their health and promoting wellbeing. Despite a popular belief that search engines such as Google can solve all information access problems, recent studies show that using search engines and simple search terms is not sufficient. Our objective is to provide an approach to organizing consumer health information for navigational exploration, complementing keyword-based direct search. Multi-topic assignment to health information, such as online questions, is a fundamental step for navigational exploration. We introduce a new multi-topic assignment method combining semantic annotation using UMLS concepts (CUIs) and Formal Concept Analysis (FCA). Each question was tagged with CUIs identified by MetaMap. The CUIs were filtered with term-frequency and a new term-strength index to construct a CUI-question context. The CUI-question context and a topic-subject context were used for multi-topic assignment, resulting in a topic-question context. The topic-question context was then directly used for constructing a prototype navigational exploration interface. Experimental evaluation was performed on the task of automatic multi-topic assignment of 99 predefined topics for about 60,000 consumer health questions from NetWellness. Using example-based metrics, suitable for multi-topic assignment problems, our method achieved a precision of 0.849, recall of 0.774, and F₁ measure of 0.782, using a reference standard of 278 questions with manually assigned topics. Compared to NetWellness' original topic assignment, a 36.5% increase in recall is achieved with virtually no sacrifice in precision. Enhancing the recall of multi-topic assignment without sacrificing precision is a prerequisite for achieving the benefits of navigational exploration. Our new multi-topic assignment method, combining term-strength, FCA, and information retrieval techniques, significantly improved recall and performed well according to example-based metrics.

Multi-topic assignment for exploratory navigation of consumer health information in NetWellness using formal concept analysis

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

Background Finding quality consumer health information online can effectively bring important public health benefits to the general population. It can empower people with timely and current knowledge for managing their health and promoting wellbeing. Despite a popular belief that search engines such as Google can solve all information access problems, recent studies show that using search engines and simple search terms is not sufficient. Our objective is to provide an approach to organizing consumer health information for navigational exploration, complementing keyword-based direct search. Multi-topic assignment to health information, such as online questions, is a fundamental step for navigational exploration. Methods We introduce a new multi-topic assignment method combining semantic annotation using UMLS concepts (CUIs) and Formal Concept Analysis (FCA). Each question was tagged with CUIs identified by MetaMap. The CUIs were filtered with term-frequency and a new term-strength index to construct a CUI-question context. The CUI-question context and a topic-subject context were used for multi-topic assignment, resulting in a topic-question context. The topic-question context was then directly used for constructing a prototype navigational exploration interface. Results Experimental evaluation was performed on the task of automatic multi-topic assignment of 99 predefined topics for about 60,000 consumer health questions from NetWellness. Using example-based metrics, suitable for multi-topic assignment problems, our method achieved a precision of 0.849, recall of 0.774, and F1 measure of 0.782, using a reference standard of 278 questions with manually assigned topics. Compared to NetWellness’ original topic assignment, a 36.5% increase in recall is achieved with virtually no sacrifice in precision. Conclusion Enhancing the recall of multi-topic assignment without sacrificing precision is a prerequisite for achieving the benefits of navigational exploration. Our new multi-topic assignment method, combining term-strength, FCA, and information retrieval techniques, significantly improved recall and performed well according to example-based metrics. PMID:25086916

Exploring Energy with TOYS. Complete Lessons for Grades 4-8.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Taylor, Beverley A. P.

The project Teaching Science with TOYS promotes toys as an ideal mechanism for science instruction, because they are an everyday part of the students' world and carry a user-friendly message. TOYS Teacher Resource Modules are collections of "TOYS" activities grouped around a topic or theme with supporting science content and pedagogical…

Exploring Matter with TOYS: Using and Understanding the Senses.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

1997

The project Teaching Science with TOYS promotes toys as an ideal mechanism for science instruction, because they are an everyday part of the students' world and carry a user-friendly message. TOYS Teacher Resource Modules are collections of "TOYS" activities grouped around a topic or theme with supporting science content and pedagogical…

Visualizing Molecular Chirality in the Organic Chemistry Laboratory Using Cholesteric Liquid Crystals

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Popova, Maia; Bretz, Stacey Lowery; Hartley, C. Scott

2016-01-01

Although stereochemistry is an important topic in second-year undergraduate organic chemistry, there are limited options for laboratory activities that allow direct visualization of macroscopic chiral phenomena. A novel, guided-inquiry experiment was developed that allows students to explore chirality in the context of cholesteric liquid crystals.…

Research and Teaching: Investigating Preservice Teachers' Self-Efficacy through Saturday Science

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McLaughlin, David

2015-01-01

This study reports on preservice teachers' reported feelings of confidence with learning and teaching science relative to their participation in a science enrichment program. Through Saturday Science, local families are invited to explore various topics with hands-on activities designed and facilitated by students in an early childhood education…

Exploring Current Issues through the Hot Topics Poster

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nisbett, Nancy

2012-01-01

This paper describes a research paper and poster assignment used in an undergraduate leisure and human behavior course. The intent of this learning activity is to increase student knowledge of current issues within the industry as well as to enhance students' professional communication skills. A description of the assignment is shared along with…

Community Based Learning with Adults: Bridging Efforts in Multiple Sectors

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Holland, Barbara; Robinson, Gail

2008-01-01

In this article, the authors explore the diverse ways in which community based learning strategies are used to enhance further development of adults, raising their levels of educational attainment and increasing their involvement in public and civic activities. There are two social and demographic dynamics at the heart of this topic: the aging…

Teaching Self-Disclosure through an Activity Exploring Disclosure Research and Online Dating Sites

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Baker, Nicole Marie; Hastings, Sally O.

2013-01-01

Most interpersonal communication course textbooks include a section or chapter on the topic of self-disclosure. Students are normally introduced to elements of self-disclosure, such as a definition, functions, or reasons for self-disclosure, risks of self-disclosure, and the role of self-disclosure in relationships. Historically, research on…

Sport in Germany. Basis-Info 3-1996.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Beitz, Steffen

This paper explores the importance and impact of sport in Germany from a variety of perspectives. Topics include: (1) the social function of sport; (2) popular sport, focusing on exercise and self-development rather than competition; (3) sport's role in the leisure activities of the handicapped; (4) top sport performers; (5) drugs and sport; (6)…

A Comparative Study of Student Engagement Based on Intercollegiate Athletics Participation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Woolever, David Michael

2017-01-01

The concept of retention in higher education institutions is certainly a hot topic. Institutions have explored first year seminars, engagement with faculty and creating a culture of connectivity and belongingness among the student population to include extra-curricular activities in creating an engaged student that will persist until graduation.…

Island Explorations: Discovering Effects of Environmental Research-Based Lab Activities on Analytical Chemistry Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tomasik, Janice Hall; LeCaptain, Dale; Murphy, Sarah; Martin, Mary; Knight, Rachel M.; Harke, Maureen A.; Burke, Ryan; Beck, Kara; Acevedo-Polakovich, I. David

2014-01-01

Motivating students in analytical chemistry can be challenging, in part because of the complexity and breadth of topics involved. Some methods that help encourage students and convey real-world relevancy of the material include incorporating environmental issues, research-based lab experiments, and service learning projects. In this paper, we…

Applying Constructionist Principles to Online Teacher Professional Development

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ostashewski, Nathaniel; Moisey, Susan; Reid, Doug

2011-01-01

This report explores the first iteration of a teacher professional development courselet grounded in constructionist theory and activities. This online teacher professional development (oTPD) courselet provided opportunities for teachers to engage in just-in-time, ongoing TPD within a social networking site for educators. The topic of the oTPD was…

What Are Drivers for Informal Learning?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schürmann, Eva; Beausaert, Simon

2016-01-01

Purpose: The topic of informal learning at work has received increasing attention in the past years. The purpose of this study is to explore in which informal learning activities employees engage and what are the drivers for informal learning. Design/Methodology/Approach: Semi-structured interviews were taken from ten human resources (HR) and ten…

Packaging & Other Structures. Stuff That Works! A Technology Curriculum for the Elementary Grades.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Benenson, Gary

This book explores all kinds of packaging materials including bags, boxes, etc. and how they are used to protect and display products. Contents are divided into six chapters: (1) "Appetizers" includes activities that can be done individually to become familiar with the topic of packaging and structures; (2) "Concepts" provides…

Engaging Students in Early Exploration of Nanoscience Topics Using Hands-On Activities and Scanning Tunneling Microscopy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Furlan, Ping Y.

2009-01-01

This manuscript reports on efforts to introduce beginning college students to the modern nanoscience field. These include: implementing selected experiments into sequencing core first-year and second-year chemistry laboratory courses; providing students with a first research experience; and engaging them in service learning and outreach programs…

Incorporating Hot Topics in Ocean Sciences to Outreach Activities in Marine and Environmental Science Education

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bergondo, D. L.; Mrakovcich, K. L.; Vlietstra, L.; Tebeau, P.; Verlinden, C.; Allen, L. A.; James, R.

2016-02-01

The US Coast Guard Academy, an undergraduate military Academy, in New London CT, provides STEM education programs to the local community that engage the public on hot topics in ocean sciences. Outreach efforts include classroom, lab, and field-based activities at the Academy as well as at local schools. In one course, we partner with a STEM high school collecting fish and environmental data on board a research vessel and subsequently students present the results of their project. In another course, cadets develop and present interactive demonstrations of marine science to local school groups. In addition, the Academy develops In another course, cadets develop and present interactive demonstrations of marine science to local school groups. In addition, the Academy develops and/or participates in outreach programs including Science Partnership for Innovation in Learning (SPIL), Women in Science, Physics of the Sea, and the Ocean Exploration Trust Honors Research Program. As part of the programs, instructors and cadets create interactive and collaborative activities that focus on hot topics in ocean sciences such as oil spill clean-up, ocean exploration, tsunamis, marine biodiversity, and conservation of aquatic habitats. Innovative science demonstrations such as real-time interactions with the Exploration Vessel (E/V) Nautilus, rotating tank simulations of ocean circulation, wave tank demonstrations, and determining what materials work best to contain and clean-up oil, are used to enhance ocean literacy. Children's books, posters and videos are some creative ways students summarize their understanding of ocean sciences and marine conservation. Despite time limitations of students and faculty, and challenges associated with securing funding to keep these programs sustainable, the impact of the programs is overwhelmingly positive. We have built stronger relationships with local community, enhanced ocean literacy, facilitated communication and mentorship between young students and scientists, and encouraged interest of underrepresented minorities in STEM education.

Workshops of the Fifth International Brain-Computer Interface Meeting: Defining the Future.

PubMed

Huggins, Jane E; Guger, Christoph; Allison, Brendan; Anderson, Charles W; Batista, Aaron; Brouwer, Anne-Marie A-M; Brunner, Clemens; Chavarriaga, Ricardo; Fried-Oken, Melanie; Gunduz, Aysegul; Gupta, Disha; Kübler, Andrea; Leeb, Robert; Lotte, Fabien; Miller, Lee E; Müller-Putz, Gernot; Rutkowski, Tomasz; Tangermann, Michael; Thompson, David Edward

2014-01-01

The Fifth International Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) Meeting met June 3-7 th , 2013 at the Asilomar Conference Grounds, Pacific Grove, California. The conference included 19 workshops covering topics in brain-computer interface and brain-machine interface research. Topics included translation of BCIs into clinical use, standardization and certification, types of brain activity to use for BCI, recording methods, the effects of plasticity, special interest topics in BCIs applications, and future BCI directions. BCI research is well established and transitioning to practical use to benefit people with physical impairments. At the same time, new applications are being explored, both for people with physical impairments and beyond. Here we provide summaries of each workshop, illustrating the breadth and depth of BCI research and high-lighting important issues for future research and development.

Personal Epistemology across Cultures: Exploring Norwegian and Spanish University Students' Epistemic Beliefs about Climate Change

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Braten, Ivar; Gil, Laura; Stromso, Helge I.; Vidal-Abarca, Eduardo

2009-01-01

The primary aim was to explore and compare the dimensionality of personal epistemology with respect to climate change across the contexts of Norwegian and Spanish students. A second aim was to examine relationships between topic-specific epistemic beliefs and the variables of gender, topic knowledge, and topic interest in the two contexts.…

Development of active learning modules in pharmacology for small group teaching.

PubMed

Tripathi, Raakhi K; Sarkate, Pankaj V; Jalgaonkar, Sharmila V; Rege, Nirmala N

2015-01-01

Current teaching in pharmacology in undergraduate medical curriculum in India is primarily drug centered and stresses imparting factual knowledge rather than on pharmacotherapeutic skills. These skills would be better developed through active learning by the students. Hence modules that will encourage active learning were developed and compared with traditional methods within the Seth GS Medical College, Mumbai. After Institutional Review Board approval, 90 second year undergraduate medical students who consented were randomized into six sub-groups, each with 15 students. Pre-test was administered. The three sub-groups were taught a topic using active learning modules (active learning groups), which included problems on case scenarios, critical appraisal of prescriptions and drug identification. The remaining three sub-groups were taught the same topic in a conventional tutorial mode (tutorial learning groups). There was crossover for the second topic. Performance was assessed using post-test. Questionnaires with Likert-scaled items were used to assess feedback on teaching technique, student interaction and group dynamics. The active and tutorial learning groups differed significantly in their post-test scores (11.3 ± 1.9 and 15.9 ± 2.7, respectively, P < 0.05). In students' feedback, 69/90 students had perceived the active learning session as interactive (vs. 37/90 students in tutorial group) and enhanced their understanding vs. 56/90 in tutorial group), aroused intellectual curiosity (47/90 students of active learning group vs. 30/90 in tutorial group) and provoked self-learning (41/90 active learning group vs. 14/90 in tutorial group). Sixty-four students in the active learning group felt that questioning each other helped in understanding the topic, which was the experience of 25/90 students in tutorial group. Nevertheless, students (55/90) preferred tutorial mode of learning to help them score better in their examinations. In this study, students preferred an active learning environment, though to pass examinations, they preferred the tutorial mode of teaching. Further efforts are required to explore the effects on learning of introducing similar modules for other topics.

The Second Conference on Lunar Bases and Space Activities of the 21st Century, volume 1

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mendell, Wendell W. (Editor); Alred, John W. (Editor); Bell, Larry S. (Editor); Cintala, Mark J. (Editor); Crabb, Thomas M. (Editor); Durrett, Robert H. (Editor); Finney, Ben R. (Editor); Franklin, H. Andrew (Editor); French, James R. (Editor); Greenberg, Joel S. (Editor)

1992-01-01

These papers comprise a peer-review selection of presentations by authors from NASA, LPI industry, and academia at the Second Conference (April 1988) on Lunar Bases and Space Activities of the 21st Century, sponsored by the NASA Office of Exploration and the Lunar Planetary Institute. These papers go into more technical depth than did those published from the first NASA-sponsored symposium on the topic, held in 1984. Session topics covered by this volume include (1) design and operation of transportation systems to, in orbit around, and on the Moon, (2) lunar base site selection, (3) design, architecture, construction, and operation of lunar bases and human habitats, and (4) lunar-based scientific research and experimentation in astronomy, exobiology, and lunar geology.

Enhancing active learning in microbiology through case based learning: experiences from an Indian medical school.

PubMed

Ciraj, A M; Vinod, P; Ramnarayan, K

2010-01-01

Case-based learning (CBL) is an interactive student-centered exploration of real life situations. This paper describes the use of CBL as an educational strategy for promoting active learning in microbiology. CBL was introduced in the microbiology curriculum for the second year medical students after an orientation program for faculty and students. After intervention, the average student scores in CBL topics were compared with scores obtained in lecture topics. An attempt was also made to find the effect of CBL on the academic performance. Student and faculty perception on CBL were also recorded. In a cross sectional survey conducted to assess the effectiveness of CBL, students responded that, apart from helping them acquire substantive knowledge in microbiology, CBL sessions enhanced their analytic, collaborative, and communication skills. The block examination scores in CBL topics were significantly higher than those obtained for lecture topics. Faculty rated the process to be highly effective in stimulating student interest and long term retention of microbiology knowledge. The student scores were significantly higher in the group that used CBL, compared to the group that had not used CBL as a learning strategy. Our experience indicated that CBL sessions enhanced active learning in microbiology. More frequent use of CBL sessions would not only help the student gain requisite knowledge in microbiology but also enhance their analytic and communication skills.

Controversy in the Composition Classroom: Debate as a Mode of Pre-Writing.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McClish, Glen

Controversy and debate can be effectively employed as the central pre-writing activity in the composition classroom. The current model of prewriting in the composition classroom is the reflective model, which involves relatively private exploration of issues and ideas leading to paper topics. Although in the short run it is easier for both student…

Contrasts in Blue: Life on the Caribbean Coral Reef and the Rocky Coast of Maine.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Art to Zoo: Teaching with the Power of Objects, 1996

1996-01-01

Ecosystem contrasts between the Caribbean Coral Reef and the Rocky coast of Maine are the focus of this instructional resource. The publication, issued four times a year, explores single topics through an interdisciplinary, multicultural approach. The activities presented in this issue encourage students to consider the role of temperature,…

Career Exploration 9-10. Lessons in Career Education for Use in Algebra. Bulletin #700. Career Development K-10. (Revised.)

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cincinnati Public Schools, OH.

Lesson plans for teachers of ninth and tenth grade students contained in this guide are organized according to subject (algebra), instructional topic, career education developmental area, instructional goal, developmental goal, performance objectives, activities, and resource materials. The seven developmental areas of career education are listed…

Proceedings of the 16th LAMPF Users-Group Meeting

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bradbury, J. N.; Ruminer, K.; Talley, B.

1983-04-01

The status and operation of the Los Alamos Meson Physics Facility are discussed as well as prospects for future activities in U.S. nuclear science. Other topics covered include low energy strong interactions; parity violations in nuclei and other results from the pion spectrometer. The Triumpf kaon factory plans, and physics at the facility are also explored.

How Students Combine Resources to Build Understanding of Complex Topics

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Richards, Alan J.

2013-01-01

The field of Physics Education Research (PER) seeks to investigate how students learn physics and how instructors can help students learn more effectively. The process by which learners create understanding about a complex physics concept is an active area of research. My study explores this process, using solar cells as the context. To understand…

Exploring Parenting: Information Sheets for Parents = Explorando El Arte de Ser Padres: Hojas informativas para los padres.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Administration for Children, Youth, and Families (DHHS), Washington, DC. Head Start Bureau.

This document, provided here in separate English and Spanish versions, is a collection of informational and instructional sheets for parents of young children, divided into 20 thematic sections. Each of the sections includes information on the topic area, some learning activities, and questions for discussion. The sessions are: (1) "Getting…

How Wide Is a Squid Eye? Integrating Mathematics into Public Library Programs for the Elementary Grades

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kliman, Marlene; Jaumot-Pascual, Nuria; Martin, Valerie

2013-01-01

Although public library programs for the elementary grades offer explorations in a wide range of topics in which mathematics plays a role, are all too rare: Mathematics offerings are typically limited to homework help. Participating in out-of-school activities that embed mathematics in authentic ways bolsters children's skill development,…

Applied Nanotechnology for Human Space Exploration

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Yowell, Leonard L.

2007-01-01

A viewgraph presentation describing nanotechnology for human space exploration is shown. The topics include: 1) NASA's Strategic Vision; 2) Exploration Architecture; 3) Future Exploration Mission Requirements Cannot be met with Conventional Materials; 4) Nanomaterials: Single Wall Carbon Nanotubes; 5) Applied Nanotechnology at JSC: Fundamentals to Applications; 6) Technology Readiness Levels (TRL); 7) Growth, Modeling, Diagnostics and Production; 8) Characterization: Purity, Dispersion and Consistency; 9) Processing; 10) Nanoelectronics: Enabling Technologies; 11) Applications for Human Space Exploration; 12) Exploration Life Support: Atmosphere Revitalization System; 13) Advanced and Exploration Life Support: Regenerable CO2 Removal; 14) Exploration Life Support: Water Recovery; 15) Advanced Life Support: Water Disinfection/Recovery; 16) Power and Energy: Supercapacitors and Fuel Cells; 17) Nanomaterials for EMI Shielding; 18) Active Radiation Dosimeter; 19) Advanced Thermal Protection System (TPS) Repair; 20) Thermal Radiation and Impact Protection (TRIPS); 21) Nanotechnology: Astronaut Health Management; 22) JSC Nanomaterials Group Collaborations.

Using Recent Planetary Science Data to Develop Advanced Undergraduate Physics and Astronomy Activities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Steckloff, Jordan; Lindell, Rebecca

2016-10-01

Teaching science by having students manipulate real data is a popular trend in astronomy and planetary science education. However, many existing activities simply couple this data with traditional "cookbook" style verification labs. As with most topics within science, this instructional technique does not enhance the average students' understanding of the phenomena being studied. Here we present a methodology for developing "science by doing" activities that incorporate the latest discoveries in planetary science with up-to-date constructivist pedagogy to teach advanced concepts in Physics and Astronomy. In our methodology, students are first guided to understand, analyze, and plot real raw scientific data; develop and test physical and computational models to understand and interpret the data; finally use their models to make predictions about the topic being studied and test it with real data.To date, two activities have been developed according to this methodology: Understanding Asteroids through their Light Curves (hereafter "Asteroid Activity"), and Understanding Exoplanetary Systems through Simple Harmonic Motion (hereafter "Exoplanet Activity"). The Asteroid Activity allows students to explore light curves available on the Asteroid Light Curve Database (ALCDB) to discover general properties of asteroids, including their internal structure, strength, and mechanism of asteroid moon formation. The Exoplanet Activity allows students to investigate the masses and semi-major axes of exoplanets in a system by comparing the radial velocity motion of their host star to that of a coupled simple harmonic oscillator. Students then explore how noncircular orbits lead to deviations from simple harmonic motion. These activities will be field tested during the Fall 2016 semester in an advanced undergraduate mechanics and astronomy courses at a large Midwestern STEM-focused university. We will present the development methodologies for these activities, description of the activities, and results from the pre-tests.

Mars for Earthlings: an analog approach to Mars in undergraduate education.

PubMed

Chan, Marjorie; Kahmann-Robinson, Julia

2014-01-01

Mars for Earthlings (MFE) is a terrestrial Earth analog pedagogical approach to teaching undergraduate geology, planetary science, and astrobiology. MFE utilizes Earth analogs to teach Mars planetary concepts, with a foundational backbone in Earth science principles. The field of planetary science is rapidly changing with new technologies and higher-resolution data sets. Thus, it is increasingly important to understand geological concepts and processes for interpreting Mars data. MFE curriculum is topically driven to facilitate easy integration of content into new or existing courses. The Earth-Mars systems approach explores planetary origins, Mars missions, rocks and minerals, active driving forces/tectonics, surface sculpting processes, astrobiology, future explorations, and hot topics in an inquiry-driven environment. Curriculum leverages heavily upon multimedia resources, software programs such as Google Mars and JMARS, as well as NASA mission data such as THEMIS, HiRISE, CRISM, and rover images. Two years of MFE class evaluation data suggest that science literacy and general interest in Mars geology and astrobiology topics increased after participation in the MFE curriculum. Students also used newly developed skills to create a Mars mission team presentation. The MFE curriculum, learning modules, and resources are available online at http://serc.carleton.edu/marsforearthlings/index.html.

Ethics, engineers and drama.

PubMed

Monk, John

2009-03-01

This paper describes four plays which illustrate ethical themes relevant to engineers and which could be used as a resource for engineers who wish to explore ethical topics and their relationship with professional practice. The plays themselves have been chosen because a character in the play is involved in engineering activities. Each play is analysed to highlight some of the ethical issues the play raises. Often ethical topics are presented in abstract terms but the plays relate ethical issues to individuals and individual actions in specific situations that connect either directly or figuratively to practical situations engineers find themselves in. The paper describes how the resources have or could be used in an educational programme.

Calcium Modulation of Plant Plasma Membrane-Bound Atpase Activities

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Caldwell, C.

1983-01-01

The kinetic properties of barley enzyme are discussed and compared with those of other plants. Possibilities for calcium transport in the plasma membrane by proton pump and ATPase-dependent calcium pumps are explored. Topics covered include the ph phase of the enzyme; high affinity of barley for calcium; temperature dependence, activation enthalpy, and the types of ATPase catalytic sites. Attention is given to lipids which are both screened and bound by calcium. Studies show that barley has a calmodulin activated ATPase that is found in the presence of magnesium and calcium.

Workshops of the Fifth International Brain-Computer Interface Meeting: Defining the Future

PubMed Central

Huggins, Jane E.; Guger, Christoph; Allison, Brendan; Anderson, Charles W.; Batista, Aaron; Brouwer, Anne-Marie (A.-M.); Brunner, Clemens; Chavarriaga, Ricardo; Fried-Oken, Melanie; Gunduz, Aysegul; Gupta, Disha; Kübler, Andrea; Leeb, Robert; Lotte, Fabien; Miller, Lee E.; Müller-Putz, Gernot; Rutkowski, Tomasz; Tangermann, Michael; Thompson, David Edward

2014-01-01

The Fifth International Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) Meeting met June 3–7th, 2013 at the Asilomar Conference Grounds, Pacific Grove, California. The conference included 19 workshops covering topics in brain-computer interface and brain-machine interface research. Topics included translation of BCIs into clinical use, standardization and certification, types of brain activity to use for BCI, recording methods, the effects of plasticity, special interest topics in BCIs applications, and future BCI directions. BCI research is well established and transitioning to practical use to benefit people with physical impairments. At the same time, new applications are being explored, both for people with physical impairments and beyond. Here we provide summaries of each workshop, illustrating the breadth and depth of BCI research and high-lighting important issues for future research and development. PMID:25485284

Thematic Design: My Story is Better When Your Story is Better

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Tobola, Kay; Allen, Jaclyn

2011-01-01

What does a well-designed thematic workshop look like? Walking into a presentation at a convention center or at a NASA center, one might see formal and informal educators receiving space science content from knowledgeable science experts, actively participating in topic-related activities, questioning, collaborating, and investigating, connecting topics and content to their education needs, and having fun. But what is really going on, and what did it take to get to this point-the point of delivery. This is an opportunity to share experience and knowledge pertaining to designing and conducting space science thematic workshops and trainings. It is an attempt to describe the thematic approach to space science education that has been demonstrated in Solar System Exploration Education Forum workshops over many years and to articulate the best practices pertain-ing to designing and presenting those workshops.

Exploring Medieval European Society with Chess: An Engaging Activity for the World History Classroom

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pagnotti, John; Russell, William B., III

2012-01-01

In a typical high school World History course, the teacher must teach thousands of years of human history in one year, thus making it the most comprehensive history course offered in school. Given the extended content requirements in a World History course, individual topics are given little time before the class must "move on" to the…

Blue Sky Below My Feet: Daycamp & After School Programs--9 to 11 Year Olds. Leader's Manual.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

California Univ., Berkeley. Cooperative Extension Service.

This manual presents a 10-day lesson plan for day camp and after-school program leaders. The activities and experiments described in the manual focus on nutrition and space exploration. Topics covered by the lesson plan and specific projects include: (1) gravity; (2) food spoilage; (3) model rocket building and launching; (4) the basic food…

Give Water a Hand. Home Site Action Guide. Organizing Water Conservation and Pollution Prevention Service Projects in Your Community.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wisconsin Univ., Madison. Coll. of Agricultural and Life Sciences.

Students grades 4-8 can use this guide to explore the topics of water and water conservation within the home while conducting an environmental community service project. Youth groups, led by a group leader, work with local experts from business, government, or environmental organizations to complete the project. Nine activity sections involve…

Give Water a Hand. Community Site Action Guide. Organizing Water Conservation and Pollution Prevention Service Projects in Your Community.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wisconsin Univ., Madison. Coll. of Agricultural and Life Sciences.

Students grades 4-8 can use this guide to explore the topics of water, and water conservation within a community, while conducting an environmental community service project. Youth groups, led by a group leader, work with local experts from business, government, or environmental organizations to complete the project. Nine activity sections involve…

The Economics of Information; Bibliography and Commentary on the Literature. Second Edition, 1972.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Olsen, Harold Anker, Comp.

1972-01-01

This report explores the bodies of literature pertinent to the economics of information, a topic of growing interest to the information community and to economists. As used here, economics of information refers to the concepts and tools of economics as they apply to information activities. The report consists of (1) a short section on the…

Exploring the hypothesis that limiting diffusion of fungal oxidants underlies decay resistance in acetylated wood

Treesearch

Christopher G. Hunt; Steven Lacher; Kolby Hirth; Linda Lorenz; Kenneth E. Hammel

2017-01-01

The mechanisms by which chemical modifications, specifically acetylation, improve the decay resistance of wood are a topic of active research. In the early stages of decay, fungi secrete lowmolecular- weight oxidants or oxidant precursors. These oxidants diffuse through the wet wood cell wall and oxidize cell wall polymers, which enable the decay process to proceed....

The Top Ten Ways to Get Your Students to Explore the Library Media Center.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kriesberg, Daniel

1995-01-01

Activities designed to acquaint students with the library media center are listed: find examples of fractions; estimate the total number of books; find information on a topic; pick favorite leads; locate the most and least popular books; find animal heroes; discover answers to questions; redesign the library; select a book for a secret partner;…

Professional Learning across Contexts for LESLLA Teachers: The Unlikely Meeting of Adult Educators in Kindergarten to Explore Early Literacy Instruction

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vinogradov, Patricia Egan

2013-01-01

In this case study of adult English as a Second Language (ESL) educators, the researcher facilitated a six-week professional development activity around the topic of early literacy instruction. The four participants in the study circle were all LESLLA (low-educated second language and literacy acquisition) teachers whose students are adult…

The Academic Journey of University Students on Facebook: An Analysis of Informal Academic-Related Activity over a Semester

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vivian, Rebecca; Barnes, Alan; Geer, Ruth; Wood, Denise

2014-01-01

This paper reports on an observation of 70 university students' use of their personal social network site (SNS), Facebook, over a 22-week university study period. The study sought to determine the extent that university students use their personal SNSs to support learning by exploring frequencies of academic-related content and topics being…

Science To Go: Fact and Fiction Learning Packs.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sauerteig, Judy

This book demonstrates how to specifically pair a fiction and nonfiction book of the same theme and package them with copies of question and activity sheets to provide students with take-home learning packets for independent learning and family use. For each grade level in K-3, 15 topic areas are explored through two books with a common theme.…

Deoxynivalenol induced mouse skin cell proliferation and inflammation via MAPK pathway

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Mishra, Sakshi; Department of Biochemistry, Banaras Hindu University; Tripathi, Anurag

Several toxicological manifestations of deoxynivalenol (DON), a mycotoxin, are well documented; however, dermal toxicity is not yet explored. The effect of topical application of DON to mice was studied using markers of skin proliferation, inflammation and tumor promotion. Single topical application of DON (84–672 nmol/mouse) significantly enhanced dermal hyperplasia and skin edema. DON (336 and 672 nmol) caused significant enhancement in [{sup 3}H]-thymidine uptake in DNA along with increased myeloperoxidase and ornithine decarboxylase activities, suggesting tissue inflammation and cell proliferation. Furthermore, DON (168 nmol) caused enhanced expression of RAS, and phosphorylation of PI3K/Akt, ERK, JNK and p38 MAPKs. DON exposuremore » also showed activation of transcription factors, c-fos, c-jun and NF-κB along with phosphorylation of IkBα. Enhanced phosphorylation of NF-κB by DON caused over expression of target proteins, COX-2, cyclin D1 and iNOS in skin. Though a single topical application of DMBA followed by twice weekly application of DON (84 and 168 nmol) showed no tumorigenesis after 24 weeks, however, histopathological studies suggested hyperplasia of the epidermis and hypertrophy of hair follicles. Interestingly, intestine was also found to be affected as enlarged Peyer's patches were observed, suggesting inflammatory effects which were supported by elevation of inflammatory cytokines after 24 weeks of topical application of DON. These results suggest that DON induced cell proliferation in mouse skin is through the activation of MAPK signaling pathway involving transcription factors NFκB and AP-1, further leading to transcriptional activation of downstream target proteins c-fos, c-jun, cyclin D1, iNOS and COX-2 which might be responsible for its inflammatory potential. - Highlights: • Topical application of DON enhanced epidermal inflammation and cell proliferation. • DON follows PI3K/Akt/MAPK signaling cascade, with activation of AP-1 and NF-κB. • DON caused over expression of target proteins, COX-2, cyclin D1 and iNOS in skin. • No tumor promotion was observed up to 24 weeks of topical application of DON. • Enhanced Peyer's patches and inflammatory cytokines suggested inflammation in skin.« less

Parent and Preschooler Newsletter: A Monthly Exploration of Early Childhood Topics, 2002.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wolkoff, Sandra, Ed.; Schwartzberg, Neala S., Ed.

2002-01-01

This document consists of 10 monthly newsletter issues for 2002, in English- and Spanish-language versions, exploring topics related to early childhood behavior and parenting. Regularly appearing features include book recommendations, "Library Resources,""Preschoolers in the Kitchen,""Kids Crafts,""Research…

Moving forward by looking back: lessons learned from long-lost lifestyles.

PubMed

Tremblay, Mark S; Esliger, Dale W; Copeland, Jennifer L; Barnes, Joel D; Bassett, David R

2008-08-01

The paper briefly reviews the status and trends in physical activity, physical inactivity, and overweight/obesity in Canada; discusses the consequences of these trends; examines evidence that our frame of reference with respect to physical activity and obesity is changing; promotes the importance of getting "back to the basics" as a strategy for enhancing childhood physical activity; and provides suggestions for future research in this area. In addressing these topics, the paper explores and contrasts the lifestyles and characteristics of Old Order Amish and Old Order Mennonite children with children exposed to contemporary modern living. This exploration is used as a model to learn from traditional lifestyles, which were comparatively active and resistant to obesity. The fitness characteristics and physical activity levels of traditional and contemporary groups are compared and demonstrate significant differences among groups. This evidence may provide important insight for informing future physical activity recommendations. Idiosyncrasies of performing research on these traditional-living groups are also provided.

Leadership in Space: Selected Speeches of NASA Administrator Michael Griffin, May 2005 - October 2008

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Griffin, Michael

2008-01-01

Speech topics include: Leadership in Space; Space Exploration: Real and Acceptable Reasons; Why Explore Space?; Space Exploration: Filling up the Canvas; Continuing the Voyage: The Spirit of Endeavour; Incorporating Space into Our Economic Sphere of Influence; The Role of Space Exploration in the Global Economy; Partnership in Space Activities; International Space Cooperation; National Strategy and the Civil Space Program; What the Hubble Space Telescope Teaches Us about Ourselves; The Rocket Team; NASA's Direction; Science and NASA; Science Priorities and Program Management; NASA and the Commercial Space Industry; NASA and the Business of Space; American Competitiveness: NASA's Role & Everyone's Responsibility; Space Exploration: A Frontier for American Collaboration; The Next Generation of Engineers; System Engineering and the "Two Cultures" of Engineering; Generalship of Engineering; NASA and Engineering Integrity; The Constellation Architecture; Then and Now: Fifty Years in Space; The Reality of Tomorrow; and Human Space Exploration: The Next 50 Years.

The Mpemba Effect, Shechtman's Quasicrystals and Student Exploration Activities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Balazovic, Marek; Tomasik, Boris

2012-01-01

In the 1960s, Tanzanian student Erasto Mpemba and his teacher published a paper with the title "Cool?" in this journal (Mpemba and Osborne 1969 "Phys. Educ." 4 172-5). They claimed that hot water freezes more quickly than cold water. The paper not only led to a wave of discussion, and more publications about this topic, but also to a whole series…

Give Water a Hand. Farm and Ranch Site Action Guide. Organizing Water Conservation and Pollution Prevention Service Projects in Your Community.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wisconsin Univ., Madison. Coll. of Agricultural and Life Sciences.

Students grades 4-8 can use this guide to explore the topics of water, and water conservation on a farm or ranch, while conducting an environmental community service project. Youth groups, led by a group leader, work with local experts from business, government, or environmental organizations to complete the project. Nine activity sections involve…

Give Water a Hand. School Site Action Guide. Organizing Water Conservation and Pollution Prevention Service Projects in Your Community.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wisconsin Univ., Madison. Coll. of Agricultural and Life Sciences.

Students grades 4-8 can use this guide to explore the topics of water, and water conservation at a school site, while conducting an environmental community service project. Youth groups, led by a group leader, work with local experts from business, government, or environmental organizations to complete the project. Nine activity sections involve…

Space: where are we headed?

PubMed

Jones, Thomas D

2003-04-01

In a new column, the author reviews NASA space activities since the beginning of 2003 and looks at plans for the future. Topics include the Space Shuttle Columbia, what's in store for the International Space Station (ISS), the development of an orbital space plane, orbiter safety upgrades, and the future of space exploration and research beyond the ISS. He presents arguments for sending astronauts to asteroids, the Moon, and Mars.

More Time for Teens: Understanding Teen Participation--Frequency, Intensity and Duration--In Boys & Girls Clubs

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Arbreton, Amy; Bradshaw, Molly; Metz, Rachel; Sheldon, Jessica

2008-01-01

Written midway through a three-year longitudinal evaluation of the role Boys & Girls Clubs play in the lives of the youth they serve, this report explores a topic of continuing interest to program operators and funders: What does it take to involve teens in positive out-of-school-time activities? Drawing on survey data from a low-income,…

Scientists Needed! The Year of the Solar System: Opportunities for Scientist Involvement

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shipp, S. S.; Buxner, S.; Cobabe-Ammann, E. A.; Scalice, D.; Bleacher, L.

2011-12-01

Spanning a Martian Year - 23 months from October 2010 through August 2012 - the Year of the Solar System (YSS) celebrates the amazing discoveries of numerous new and ongoing NASA missions and research efforts as they explore our near and distant neighbors and probe the outer edges of our solar system. The science revealed by these endeavors is dramatically revising our understanding of the formation and evolution of our solar system. YSS offers opportunities for planetary scientists to become involved in education and public outreach (E/PO) in meaningful ways. By getting involved in YSS E/PO activities, scientists can help to raise awareness of, build excitement in, and make connections with educators, students and the public about current planetary science research and exploration. Each month during YSS a different compelling aspect of the solar system - its formation, volcanism, ice, life - is explored. The monthly topics, tied to the big questions of planetary science, include online resources that can be used by scientists to engage their audiences: hands-on learning activities, demonstrations, connections to solar system and mission events, ideas for partnering with other organizations, and other programming ideas. Resources for past, present, and future YSS monthly topics can be found at: http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/yss. Scientists are encouraged to get involved in YSS through an avenue that best fits their available time and interests. Possible paths include: contacting the YSS organizational team to provide content for or to review the monthly topics; integrating current planetary research discoveries into your introductory college science classes; starting a science club; prompting an interview with the local media, creating a podcast about your science, sharing YSS with educators or program coordinators at your local schools, museums, libraries, astronomical clubs and societies, retirement homes, or rotary club; volunteering to present your science in one of these venues for a YSS event; co-hosting a YSS event for an audience with educators or other local partners; or hosting a YSS event at your own institution. YSS offers rich and diverse ways for scientists to actively engage with the public about planetary science; we invite you to get involved!

Designing Successful Science Contests for K-12

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schwerin, T.; Colleton, N.

2006-12-01

Contests can engage, motivate, instruct and inspire students of all grade levels and interests. What are the ingredients necessary for a successful science contest? The Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES) has recommendations for designing science-based competitions that are both fun and educational for for elementary and secondary students. These recommendations were developed as a result of IGES' experience gained through two annual student competitions that focus on Earth science topics: An annual art contest, for grades 2-4, challenges U.S. students to explore a specific Earth science topic. For example, past themes have included Polar Explorations: Going to Extremes (2006); Connect-4: Air, Land, Water, and Life (2005); and Picture Me: What Kind of Earth Explorer Would I Be? (2004). The contest supports national science education standards for grades K-4, and includes suggested classroom activities, books, and movies. The Thacher Scholarship was founded in 2000 by IGES in honor of the late Peter S. Thacher, a former IGES board member and leader in promoting the use of satellite remote sensing. The $4,000 scholarship is awarded to exceptional high school students displaying the best use of satellite remote sensing in understanding our changing planet.

Creating a Global Community of Learners in Nursing and Beyond: Caring Science, Mindful Practice MOOC.

PubMed

Sitzman, Kathleen L; Jensen, Andrea; Chan, Sang

The aim was to examine the usefulness of a massive open online course (MOOC) on caring and mindfulness to a broad international audience that included nurses, allied health professionals, and others. MOOCs in higher education have been evident since 2008. Very few MOOCs on nursing topics have appeared since that time. Exploration was needed regarding how MOOCs could be employed to share nursing knowledge with national and international communities. Two "Caring Science, Mindful Practice" MOOC sessions were examined. Demographics, learner satisfaction, course flow, and perceived usefulness of content were analyzed. Learners from varied backgrounds participated. Higher than expected course activity levels and completion rates suggested effective learner engagement. Excellent course ratings demonstrated that content and delivery methods were effective. Active learners communicated specific plans to apply new knowledge in the future. MOOCs facilitate learning where participants learn about topics of interest in nursing and beyond.

The Second Conference on Lunar Bases and Space Activities of the 21st Century, volume 2

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mendell, Wendell W. (Editor); Alred, John W. (Editor); Bell, Larry S. (Editor); Cintala, Mark J. (Editor); Crabb, Thomas M. (Editor); Durrett, Robert H. (Editor); Finney, Ben R. (Editor); Franklin, H. Andrew (Editor); French, James R. (Editor); Greenberg, Joel S. (Editor)

1992-01-01

These 92 papers comprise a peer-reviewed selection of presentations by authors from NASA, the Lunar and Planetary Institute (LPI), industry, and academia at the Second Conference on Lunar Bases and Space Activities of the 21st Century. These papers go into more technical depth than did those published from the first NASA-sponsored symposium on the topic, held in 1984. Session topics included the following: (1) design and operation of transportation systems to, in orbit around, and on the Moon; (2) lunar base site selection; (3) design, architecture, construction, and operation of lunar bases and human habitats; (4) lunar-based scientific research and experimentation in astronomy, exobiology, and lunar geology; (5) recovery and use of lunar resources; (6) environmental and human factors of and life support technology for human presence on the Moon; and (7) program management of human exploration of the Moon and space.

NASA's Big Data Task Force

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Holmes, C. P.; Kinter, J. L.; Beebe, R. F.; Feigelson, E.; Hurlburt, N. E.; Mentzel, C.; Smith, G.; Tino, C.; Walker, R. J.

2017-12-01

Two years ago NASA established the Ad Hoc Big Data Task Force (BDTF - https://science.nasa.gov/science-committee/subcommittees/big-data-task-force), an advisory working group with the NASA Advisory Council system. The scope of the Task Force included all NASA Big Data programs, projects, missions, and activities. The Task Force focused on such topics as exploring the existing and planned evolution of NASA's science data cyber-infrastructure that supports broad access to data repositories for NASA Science Mission Directorate missions; best practices within NASA, other Federal agencies, private industry and research institutions; and Federal initiatives related to big data and data access. The BDTF has completed its two-year term and produced several recommendations plus four white papers for NASA's Science Mission Directorate. This presentation will discuss the activities and results of the TF including summaries of key points from its focused study topics. The paper serves as an introduction to the papers following in this ESSI session.

Engagement in Play Activities as a Means for Youth in Detention to Acquire Life Skills.

PubMed

Shea, Chi-Kwan; Siu, Andrew M H

2016-09-01

This study describes how occupational therapists in a community-based programme, Occupational Therapy Training Program (OTTP), use play activities to facilitate the acquisition of life skills by youth in detention. This pilot study explored the extent of engagement of male and female inmates aged 14 to 18 years old in structured play activities on topics such as interpersonal relationships, self-awareness, cultural celebrations and the transition to community. Retrospective analysis of data collected from surveys using the Engagement in OTTP Activities Questionnaire (EOAQ), completed by youth participants at the end of each group session, was used to measure the extent of occupational engagement. Worksheets and artworks produced by OTTP participants during those group sessions were also analysed. The participants reported very high engagement in OTTP. Engagement scores for male participants were higher than those for female participants, and male and female participants had higher engagement scores for different activities. Over 90% of the worksheets and artworks were found to be complete and relevant to the topic of the session. Play activities could be an appropriate way for occupational therapists to encourage youth in detention to acquire life skills. Demographic information and the actual number of participants are unknown because of how the existing data were collected. Future studies examining the potential gender-related preferences for specific topics deserve further investigation as well as research comparing the youth's engagement in OTTP interventions using play activities to other group interventions. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Mars for Earthlings: An Analog Approach to Mars in Undergraduate Education

PubMed Central

Kahmann-Robinson, Julia

2014-01-01

Abstract Mars for Earthlings (MFE) is a terrestrial Earth analog pedagogical approach to teaching undergraduate geology, planetary science, and astrobiology. MFE utilizes Earth analogs to teach Mars planetary concepts, with a foundational backbone in Earth science principles. The field of planetary science is rapidly changing with new technologies and higher-resolution data sets. Thus, it is increasingly important to understand geological concepts and processes for interpreting Mars data. MFE curriculum is topically driven to facilitate easy integration of content into new or existing courses. The Earth-Mars systems approach explores planetary origins, Mars missions, rocks and minerals, active driving forces/tectonics, surface sculpting processes, astrobiology, future explorations, and hot topics in an inquiry-driven environment. Curriculum leverages heavily upon multimedia resources, software programs such as Google Mars and JMARS, as well as NASA mission data such as THEMIS, HiRISE, CRISM, and rover images. Two years of MFE class evaluation data suggest that science literacy and general interest in Mars geology and astrobiology topics increased after participation in the MFE curriculum. Students also used newly developed skills to create a Mars mission team presentation. The MFE curriculum, learning modules, and resources are available online at http://serc.carleton.edu/marsforearthlings/index.html. Key Words: Mars—Geology—Planetary science—Astrobiology—NASA education. Astrobiology 14, 42–49. PMID:24359289

Public Engagement with the Lunar and Planetary Institute

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shaner, Andrew; Shupla, Christine; Smith Hackler, Amanda; Buxner, Sanlyn; Wenger, Matthew; Joseph, Emily C. S.

2016-10-01

The Lunar and Planetary Institute's (LPI) public engagement programs target audiences of all ages and backgrounds; in 2016 LPI has expanded its programs to reach wider, more diverse audiences. The status, resources, and findings of these programs, including evaluation results, will be discussed in this poster. LPI's Cosmic Explorations Speaker Series (CESS) is an annual public speaker series to engage the public in space science and exploration. Each thematic series includes four to five presentations held between September and May. Past series' titles have included "Science" on the Silver Screen, The Universe is Out to Get Us and What We Can (or Can't) Do About It, and A User's Guide to the Universe: You Live Here. Here's What You Need to Know. While the presentations are available online after the event, they are now being livestreamed to be accessible to a broader national, and international, audience. Sky Fest events, held four to five times a year, have science content themes and include several activities for children and their parents, night sky viewing through telescopes, and scientist presentations. Themes include both planetary and astronomy topics as well as planetary exploration topics (e.g., celebrating the launch or landing of a spacecraft). Elements of the Sky Fest program are being conducted in public libraries serving audiences underrepresented in STEM near LPI. These programs take place as part of existing hour-long programs in the library. During this hour, young people, typically 6-12 years old, move through three stations where they participate in hands-on activities. Like Sky Fest, these programs are thematic, centered on one over-arching topic such as the Moon or Mars. Beginning in Fall 2016, LPI will present programs at a revitalized park in downtown Houston. Facilities at this park will enable LPI to bring both the Sky Fest and CESS programs into the heart of Houston, which is one of the most diverse cities in the US and the world.

Discovering the 50 Years of Solar System Exploration: Sharing Your Science with the Public

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Buxner, Sanlyn; Dalton, H.; Shipp, S.; Shupla, C.; Halligan, E.; Boonstra, D.; Wessen, A.; Baerg, G.; Davis, P.; Burdick, A.; Zimmerman Brachman, R.

2012-10-01

The Year of the Solar System (YSS) offers ways for scientists to bring NASA’s science discoveries to their audiences! YSS and the continuing salute to the 50-year history of solar system exploration provide an integrated picture of our new understanding of the solar system for educators and the general public. During the last five decades, NASA has launched a variety of robotic spacecraft to study our solar system. Over that time, our understanding of planets has been revolutionized, as has the technology that has made these discoveries possible.Looking forward, the numerous ongoing and future robotic missions are returning new discoveries of our solar system at an unprecedented rate. YSS combines the discoveries of past NASA planetary missions with the most recent findings of the ongoing missions and connects them to related topics based on the big questions of planetary science, including solar system formation, volcanism, ice, and possible life elsewhere. Planetary scientists are encouraged to get involved in YSS in a variety of ways: - Give a talk at a local museum, planetarium, library, or school to share YSS and your research - Partner with a local educational institution to organize a night sky viewing or mission milestone community event - Work with a classroom teacher to explore one of the topics with students - Connect with a planetary science E/PO professional to identify ways to participate, like creating podcasts,vodcasts, or contributing to monthly topics - Share your ideas for events and activities with the planetaryE/PO community to identify partners and pathways for distribution - And more! Promotional and educational materials, updates, a calendar of activities, and a space to share experiences are available at NASA’s Solar System website: http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/yss. This is an exciting time in planetary sciences as we learn about New Worlds and make New Discoveries!

What is the Value of Space Exploration? - A Prairie Perspective

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1995-01-01

The symposium addresses different topics within Space Exploration. The symposium was fed, using satellite downlinks, to several communities in North Dakota, the first such symposium of its type ever held. The specific topics presented by different community members within the state of North Dakota were: the economic, cultural, scientific and technical, political, educational and social value of Space Exploration. Included is a 22 minute VHS video cassette highlighting the symposium.

Mapping texts through dimensionality reduction and visualization techniques for interactive exploration of document collections

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

de Andrade Lopes, Alneu; Minghim, Rosane; Melo, Vinícius; Paulovich, Fernando V.

2006-01-01

The current availability of information many times impair the tasks of searching, browsing and analyzing information pertinent to a topic of interest. This paper presents a methodology to create a meaningful graphical representation of documents corpora targeted at supporting exploration of correlated documents. The purpose of such an approach is to produce a map from a document body on a research topic or field based on the analysis of their contents, and similarities amongst articles. The document map is generated, after text pre-processing, by projecting the data in two dimensions using Latent Semantic Indexing. The projection is followed by hierarchical clustering to support sub-area identification. The map can be interactively explored, helping to narrow down the search for relevant articles. Tests were performed using a collection of documents pre-classified into three research subject classes: Case-Based Reasoning, Information Retrieval, and Inductive Logic Programming. The map produced was capable of separating the main areas and approaching documents by their similarity, revealing possible topics, and identifying boundaries between them. The tool can deal with the exploration of inter-topics and intra-topic relationship and is useful in many contexts that need deciding on relevant articles to read, such as scientific research, education, and training.

COMETS Science. Career Oriented Modules to Explore Topics in Science.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Smith, Walter S.; And Others

COMETS Science (Career Oriented Modules to Explore Topics in Science) was developed to demonstrate to early adolescents that learning mathematics and science concepts can have payoff in a wide variety of careers and to encourage early adolescent students (grades 5-9), especially girls, to consider science-related careers. The program provides 24…

Common Core: Teaching Optimum Topic Exploration (TOTE)

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Karge, Belinda Dunnick; Moore, Roxane Kushner

2015-01-01

The Common Core has become a household term and yet many educators do not understand what it means. This article explains the historical perspectives of the Common Core and gives guidance to teachers in application of Teaching Optimum Topic Exploration (TOTE) necessary for full implementation of the Common Core State Standards. An effective…

Using hot lab to increase pre-service physics teacher’s critical thinking skills related to the topic of RLC circuit

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Malik, A.; Setiawan, A.; Suhandi, A.; Permanasari, A.; Samsudin, A.; Safitri, D.; Lisdiani, S. A. S.; Sapriadil, S.; Hermita, N.

2018-05-01

This research purposes to explore the used of Higher Order Thinking Laboratory (HOT-Lab) in enhancing the critical thinking skills of pre-service teachers related to the topic of Resistors, Inductors, Capacitor (RLC circuit). This study utilised a quasi-experiment method with Pretest-Posttest Control Group design. The sample of the study was 60 students that were divided into two groups covering in experiment and control group, consists of 30 students. The instrument for measuring critical thinking skills is essay test. Data has been analyzed using normalized gain average, effect size, and t-test. The results show that students’ critical thinking skills using the HOT Lab are higher than the verification lab. Using HOT-lab was implemented in the form of activity in the laboratory can improve high-order thinking skills. Hence, it was concluded that the use of HOT Lab had a greater impact on improving students’ critical thinking skills on RLC topic. Finally, HOT Lab can be used for other physics topics.

Examination of the Topic-Specific Nature of Pedagogical Content Knowledge in Teaching Electrochemical Cells and Nuclear Reactions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Aydin, Sevgi; Friedrichsen, Patricia M.; Boz, Yezdan; Hanuscin, Deborah L.

2014-01-01

The purpose of this study was to examine experienced chemistry teachers' pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) for two different topics in chemistry to better understand how PCK is specific to topic, including whether all components of PCK are topic-specific and to what degree. To explore the topic-specific nature of PCK, we examined two experienced…

Antimicrobial efficacy of granulysin-derived synthetic peptides in acne vulgaris.

PubMed

Lim, Hee-Sun; Chun, Seung-Min; Soung, Min-Gyu; Kim, Jenny; Kim, Seong-Jin

2015-07-01

Antimicrobial peptides are considered as a potential alternative to antibiotic treatment in acne vulgaris because the development of a resistant strain of Propionibacterium acnes is problematic. Granulysin can be regarded as an ideal substance with which to treat acne because it has antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory effects. This study was performed to explore the effectiveness of granulysin-derived peptides (GDPs) in killing P. acnes in vitro under a standard microbiologic assay and to evaluate their potential use in a topical agent for the treatment of acne vulgaris. Twenty different peptides based on the known sequence of a GDP were synthesized and tested in vitro for antimicrobial activity. Thirty patients with facial acne vulgaris were instructed to apply a topical formulation containing synthetic GDP to acne lesions twice per day for 12 weeks. A newly synthesized peptide in which aspartic acid was substituted with arginine, and methionine was substituted with cysteine, showed the highest antimicrobial activity against P. acnes. Moreover, it was effective against both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria in vitro. After treatment with the topical formulation containing 50 ppm of synthetic peptide for 12 weeks, a significant reduction in the number of pustules was observed, regardless of the increase in the number of comedones. In addition, a significant reduction in the clinical grade of acne based on the Korean Acne Grading System (KAGS) was evident. Synthesized GDP shows strong antimicrobial activity against P. acnes in vitro. The clinical improvement observed suggests a topical formulation containing the GDP has therapeutic potential for the improvement of inflammatory-type acne vulgaris by its antimicrobial activity. © 2015 The International Society of Dermatology.

Explorations in Education and Public Outreach in Space Sciences - a Wisconsin Experience

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Limaye, S. S.; Pertzborn, R. A.

1999-09-01

To better serve the Education and Public Outreach needs of federally funded space science research programs at the University of Wisconsin, an Office of Space Science Education has recently been established on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus. This office also acts as the campus focus for the Wisconsin Space Grant Consortium, and has undertaken a broad spectrum of interdisciplinary space science programs in the past several years. These activities range from a public exhibition focusing on current space exploration in conjunction with the DPS '98 meeting in Madison, WI that attracted over 5,000 students and teachers from across the state, to organizing state-of-the-art HDTV presentations on earth remote sensing topics at a Milwaukee science museum. Programs for students have included development and support of a six week solar system exploration program in the Milwaukee Public Schools for at-risk students, a two week college access program for minority middle school students, the NASA/QEM/SHARP Plus program for minority high school students, and a web based journal for middle school science projects (SPARK). Teacher professional development efforts include summer workshops for academic credit, year-round classroom support for pilot school programs, and support for development of standards-based curriculum in both space science and earth remote sensing topics. Public outreach activities have included evening family activities and public lectures at the Space Place, an off-campus outreach center, and an ask-a-scientist web based program. These efforts continue to affirm the need for effective outreach programs for diverse and multigenerational communities. In spite of the growing recognition at both the state and federal level for an improved level of literacy in the space-related sciences, sustainable support, program opportunities and logistical implementation continue to pose significant challenges. We gratefully acknowledge the support we have received from NASA, NOAA, the Division for Planetary Sciences of the AAS (space exploration exhibition), the University of Wisconsin System and the Eisenhower Professional Development Program.

Aeronautics and Space Report of the President: Fiscal Year 1996 Activities

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1996-01-01

Topics considered include: (1) Space launch activities: space shuttle missions; expendable launch vehicles. (2) Space science: astronomy and space physics; solar system exploration. (3) Space flight and technology: life and microgravity sciences; space shuttle technology; reuseable launch vehicles; international space station; energy; safety and mission assurance; commercial development and regulation of space; surveillance. (4) Space communications: communications satellites; space network; ground networks; mission control and data systems. (5) Aeronautical activities: technology developments; air traffic control and navigation; weather-related aeronautical activities; flight safety and security; aviation medicine and human factors. (6) Studies of the planet earth: terrestrial studies and applications: atmospheric studies: oceanographic studies; international aeronautical and space activities; and appendices.

PNT Activities at NASA Glenn Research Center

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sands, Obed

2017-01-01

This presentation provides a review of Position Navigation and Timing activities at the Glenn Research Center. Topics include 1) contributions to simulation studies for the Space Service Volume of the Global Navigation Satellite System, 2) development and integration efforts for a Software Defined Radio (SDR) waveform for the Space Communications and Navigation (SCaN) testbed, currently onboard the International Space Station and 3) a GPS L5 testbed intended to explore terrain mapping capabilities with communications signals. Future directions are included and a brief discussion of NASA, GRC and the SCAN office.

Thematic Conference on Remote Sensing for Exploration Geology, 6th, Houston, TX, May 16-19, 1988, Proceedings. Volumes 1 & 2

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1988-01-01

Papers concerning remote sensing applications for exploration geology are presented, covering topics such as remote sensing technology, data availability, frontier exploration, and exploration in mature basins. Other topics include offshore applications, geobotany, mineral exploration, engineering and environmental applications, image processing, and prospects for future developments in remote sensing for exploration geology. Consideration is given to the use of data from Landsat, MSS, TM, SAR, short wavelength IR, the Geophysical Environmental Research Airborne Scanner, gas chromatography, sonar imaging, the Airborne Visible-IR Imaging Spectrometer, field spectrometry, airborne thermal IR scanners, SPOT, AVHRR, SIR, the Large Format camera, and multitimephase satellite photographs.

Mathematical analysis techniques for modeling the space network activities

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Foster, Lisa M.

1992-01-01

The objective of the present work was to explore and identify mathematical analysis techniques, and in particular, the use of linear programming. This topic was then applied to the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System (TDRSS) in order to understand the space network better. Finally, a small scale version of the system was modeled, variables were identified, data was gathered, and comparisons were made between actual and theoretical data.

Representation and Structure in Connectionist Models

DTIC Science & Technology

1989-08-01

among those who are actively exploring the to wonder how these models might differ topic (cf. Dolan & Dyer, 1987; Dolan & from traditional theories , and...because one of the critical ways in which cognitive theories may differ is in the Elman Representation & Structure some of the specific questions raised...that whereas Classi- atomistic or can they possess internal struc- cal theories (e.g., the Language of Thought, ture? Can that structure be used to

Exploring and Contrasting EFL Learners' Perceptions of Textbook-Assigned and Self-Selected Discussion Topics

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wolf, James P.

2013-01-01

In an attempt to explore the significance of a "willingness to communicate" (WTC) variable in second language (L2) acquisition, this article reports on a survey study that investigated 101 Japanese university English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners' perceptions of textbook-assigned and self-selected discussion topics. Additionally,…

Exploring Relations among College Students' Prior Knowledge, Implicit Theories of Intelligence, and Self-Regulated Learning in a Hypermedia Environment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Greene, Jeffrey Alan; Costa, Lara-Jeane; Robertson, Jane; Pan, Yi; Deekens, Victor M.

2010-01-01

Researchers and educators continue to explore how to assist students in the acquisition of conceptual understanding of complex science topics. While hypermedia learning environments (HLEs) afford unique opportunities to display multiple representations of these often abstract topics, students who do not engage in self-regulated learning (SRL) with…

A Content Analysis Exploring Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Topics in Foundations of Education Textbooks

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Macgillivray, Ian K.; Jennings, Todd

2008-01-01

This research analyzed the most widely used foundations of education textbooks for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) content. Because foundations of education coursework routinely introduces other diversity topics in education, the authors hold it is a good place to introduce LGBT topics. The ways in which LGBT topics are included in…

Tender Topics: Exploring Sensitive Issues with Pre-K through First Grade Children through Read-Alouds

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mankiw, Sue; Strasser, Janis

2013-01-01

The topics including bullying, family diversity, homelessness, disabilities, and incarceration are often referred to as "tender topics." They can be difficult for teachers to explain to or discuss with children. In their work with children, families, and teachers, the authors have seen that it is not necessarily the topic that makes conversations…

The era of the wandering mind? Twenty-first century research on self-generated mental activity.

PubMed

Callard, Felicity; Smallwood, Jonathan; Golchert, Johannes; Margulies, Daniel S

2013-01-01

The first decade of the twenty-first century was characterized by renewed scientific interest in self-generated mental activity (activity largely generated by the individual, rather than in direct response to experimenters' instructions or specific external sensory inputs). To understand this renewal of interest, we interrogated the peer-reviewed literature from 2003 to 2012 (i) to explore recent changes in use of terms for self-generated mental activity; (ii) to investigate changes in the topics on which mind wandering research, specifically, focuses; and (iii) to visualize co-citation communities amongst researchers working on self-generated mental activity. Our analyses demonstrated that there has been a dramatic increase in the term "mind wandering" from 2006, and a significant crossing-over of psychological investigations of mind wandering into cognitive neuroscience (particularly in relation to research on the default mode and default mode network). If our article concludes that this might, indeed, be the "era of the wandering mind," it also calls for more explicit reflection to be given by researchers in this field to the terms they use, the topics and brain regions they focus on, and the research literatures that they implicitly foreground or ignore.

The era of the wandering mind? Twenty-first century research on self-generated mental activity

PubMed Central

Callard, Felicity; Smallwood, Jonathan; Golchert, Johannes; Margulies, Daniel S.

2013-01-01

The first decade of the twenty-first century was characterized by renewed scientific interest in self-generated mental activity (activity largely generated by the individual, rather than in direct response to experimenters’ instructions or specific external sensory inputs). To understand this renewal of interest, we interrogated the peer-reviewed literature from 2003 to 2012 (i) to explore recent changes in use of terms for self-generated mental activity; (ii) to investigate changes in the topics on which mind wandering research, specifically, focuses; and (iii) to visualize co-citation communities amongst researchers working on self-generated mental activity. Our analyses demonstrated that there has been a dramatic increase in the term “mind wandering” from 2006, and a significant crossing-over of psychological investigations of mind wandering into cognitive neuroscience (particularly in relation to research on the default mode and default mode network). If our article concludes that this might, indeed, be the “era of the wandering mind,” it also calls for more explicit reflection to be given by researchers in this field to the terms they use, the topics and brain regions they focus on, and the research literatures that they implicitly foreground or ignore. PMID:24391606

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

Science.gov Websites

OCEAN Ocean Topics Oceanus Magazine Visual WHOI Blogs/Expeditions Exhibit Center JOIN US DONATE Technology Transfer 90% of international trade travels by ship Explore Ocean Topics Hydrothermal Vents Trenches Ocean Acidification Phytoplankton Currents, Gyres, & Eddies [ ALL OCEAN TOPICS ] Dive into our

Strategic Research to Enable NASA's Exploration Missions Conference and Workshop: Presentations. Volume 1

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Nahra, Henry (Compiler)

2004-01-01

Topic presentations are included on the following: biosensors to monitor the health of astronauts, microgravity effects on flammability, fire prevention and suppression, life support topics, waste management topics, heat transfer; gas flow and liquids flow, and combustion studies.

Proceedings of the Conference Arctic '85; Civil Engineering in the Artic offshore

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bennett, F.L.; Machemehl, J.L.

1985-01-01

Topics of the 1985 Conference included: Arctic construction, Arctic foundation, Arctic structures, and ocean effects. Arctic terminals and coastal offshore bases, protecting the Arctic environment, and probabilistic methods in Arctic offshore engineering were also discussed. Ice mechanics, marine pipelines in the Arctic, and the role of universities in training civil engineers for Arctic offshore development were highlighted. Sessions on remote sensing, surveying, and mapping were included, and offshore installations in the Bering Sea were discussed. Another topic of discussion was research in Civil Engineering for development of the Arctic offshore. The overall thrust of the conference was the application ofmore » Arctic offshore engineering principles and research in the field of oil and gas exploration and exploitation activity.« less

Fifth-Graders' Ideas about European Exploration of the New World Expressed before and after Studying This Topic within a U.S. History Course. Elementary Subjects Center Series No. 78.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brophy, Jere; And Others

Prior to a curriculum unit on European exploration of the New World, a class of fifth grade U.S. history students stated what they knew (or thought was true) about the discovery of America and what they wanted to learn about it. After the unit, they reported what they had learned about the general topic of European exploration of North America. In…

SYMBIOmatics: synergies in Medical Informatics and Bioinformatics--exploring current scientific literature for emerging topics.

PubMed

Rebholz-Schuhman, Dietrich; Cameron, Graham; Clark, Dominic; van Mulligen, Erik; Coatrieux, Jean-Louis; Del Hoyo Barbolla, Eva; Martin-Sanchez, Fernando; Milanesi, Luciano; Porro, Ivan; Beltrame, Francesco; Tollis, Ioannis; Van der Lei, Johan

2007-03-08

The SYMBIOmatics Specific Support Action (SSA) is "an information gathering and dissemination activity" that seeks "to identify synergies between the bioinformatics and the medical informatics" domain to improve collaborative progress between both domains (ref. to http://www.symbiomatics.org). As part of the project experts in both research fields will be identified and approached through a survey. To provide input to the survey, the scientific literature was analysed to extract topics relevant to both medical informatics and bioinformatics. This paper presents results of a systematic analysis of the scientific literature from medical informatics research and bioinformatics research. In the analysis pairs of words (bigrams) from the leading bioinformatics and medical informatics journals have been used as indication of existing and emerging technologies and topics over the period 2000-2005 ("recent") and 1990-1990 ("past"). We identified emerging topics that were equally important to bioinformatics and medical informatics in recent years such as microarray experiments, ontologies, open source, text mining and support vector machines. Emerging topics that evolved only in bioinformatics were system biology, protein interaction networks and statistical methods for microarray analyses, whereas emerging topics in medical informatics were grid technology and tissue microarrays. We conclude that although both fields have their own specific domains of interest, they share common technological developments that tend to be initiated by new developments in biotechnology and computer science.

SYMBIOmatics: Synergies in Medical Informatics and Bioinformatics – exploring current scientific literature for emerging topics

PubMed Central

Rebholz-Schuhman, Dietrich; Cameron, Graham; Clark, Dominic; van Mulligen, Erik; Coatrieux, Jean-Louis; Del Hoyo Barbolla, Eva; Martin-Sanchez, Fernando; Milanesi, Luciano; Porro, Ivan; Beltrame, Francesco; Tollis, Ioannis; Van der Lei, Johan

2007-01-01

Background The SYMBIOmatics Specific Support Action (SSA) is "an information gathering and dissemination activity" that seeks "to identify synergies between the bioinformatics and the medical informatics" domain to improve collaborative progress between both domains (ref. to ). As part of the project experts in both research fields will be identified and approached through a survey. To provide input to the survey, the scientific literature was analysed to extract topics relevant to both medical informatics and bioinformatics. Results This paper presents results of a systematic analysis of the scientific literature from medical informatics research and bioinformatics research. In the analysis pairs of words (bigrams) from the leading bioinformatics and medical informatics journals have been used as indication of existing and emerging technologies and topics over the period 2000–2005 ("recent") and 1990–1990 ("past"). We identified emerging topics that were equally important to bioinformatics and medical informatics in recent years such as microarray experiments, ontologies, open source, text mining and support vector machines. Emerging topics that evolved only in bioinformatics were system biology, protein interaction networks and statistical methods for microarray analyses, whereas emerging topics in medical informatics were grid technology and tissue microarrays. Conclusion We conclude that although both fields have their own specific domains of interest, they share common technological developments that tend to be initiated by new developments in biotechnology and computer science. PMID:17430562

Task-Driven Comparison of Topic Models.

PubMed

Alexander, Eric; Gleicher, Michael

2016-01-01

Topic modeling, a method of statistically extracting thematic content from a large collection of texts, is used for a wide variety of tasks within text analysis. Though there are a growing number of tools and techniques for exploring single models, comparisons between models are generally reduced to a small set of numerical metrics. These metrics may or may not reflect a model's performance on the analyst's intended task, and can therefore be insufficient to diagnose what causes differences between models. In this paper, we explore task-centric topic model comparison, considering how we can both provide detail for a more nuanced understanding of differences and address the wealth of tasks for which topic models are used. We derive comparison tasks from single-model uses of topic models, which predominantly fall into the categories of understanding topics, understanding similarity, and understanding change. Finally, we provide several visualization techniques that facilitate these tasks, including buddy plots, which combine color and position encodings to allow analysts to readily view changes in document similarity.

Conference on the topic: {open_quotes}Exploration and production of petroleum and gas from chalk reservoirs worldwide{close_quotes}

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kuznetsov, V.G.

1995-07-01

More than 170 delegates from 14 countries in Europe, North America, Africa, and Asia took part in a conference on the topic: Exploration and Production of Petroleum and Gas from Chalk Reservoirs Worldwide. The conference was held in Copenhagen, Denmark in September,1994, and was a joint meeting of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG), and the European Association of Petroleum Geoscientists and Engineers (EAPG). In addition to the opening remarks, 25 oral and nine poster reports were presented. The topics included chalk deposits as reservoir rocks, the occurrence of chalk deposits worldwide, the North Sea oil and gas fields,more » and other related topics.« less

Exploring Learners' Conceptual Resources: Singapore a Level Students' Explanations in the Topic of Ionisation Energy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Taber, Keith S.; Tan, Kim Chwee Daniel

2007-01-01

This paper describes findings from a study to explore Singapore A-level (Grades 11 and 12, 16-19 yr old) students' understanding of ionisation energy, an abstract and complex topic that is featured in school chemistry courses. Previous research had reported that students in the United Kingdom commonly use alternative notions based on the perceived…

Topical preparations for pain relief: efficacy and patient adherence

PubMed Central

Jorge, Liliana L; Feres, Caroline C; Teles, Vitor EP

2011-01-01

There has been an increasing focus on development of new routes of drug administration to provide tailored treatments for patients, without decreasing efficacy of analgesia, in proportion to the progression of the knowledge of pain mechanisms. While acute pain acts as an alarm, chronic pain is a syndrome requiring meticulous selection of analgesic drugs of high bioavailability for long-term use. Such criteria are challenges that topical medications aim to overcome, allowing progressive delivery of active component, maintaining stable plasma levels, with a good safety profile. This review presents recent findings regarding topical formulations of the most widely used drugs for pain treatment, such as nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory agents, anesthetics, and capsaicin, and the role of physical agents as delivery enhancers (phonophoresis and iontophoresis). Although the number of topical agents is limited for use in peripheral conditions, increasing evidence supports the efficacy of these preparations in blocking nociceptive and neuropathic pain. Patient adherence to medical treatment is also a challenge, especially in chronic painful conditions. It is known that reduction of treatment complexity and pill burden are good strategies to increase patient compliance, as discussed here. However, the role of topical presentations, when compared to traditional routes, has not yet been fully explored and thus remains unclear. PMID:21386951

Explorations in K-12 Education and Public Outreach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Limaye, S. S.; Pertzborn, R. A.; Sromovsky, L. A.

1997-07-01

Space exploration remains a topic of immense interest and excitement for children and the general public. A diverse approach has been utilized at the Space Science and Engineering Center to initiate outreach and K-12 education activities. The hands-on experience gained through a working relationships with educators has been useful in understanding the challenges, usefulness and limitations of scientists' involvement in the education process. Our efforts have included school visits, development of lesson plans (KidSat), internet based activities (Planet Exploration Toolkit for Live from Mars, a Passport to Knowledge Project), World Wide Web, Public Lectures, summer teacher enhancement workshops, internships, and substitute teaching in science classes. The feedback and comments from teachers and students has demonstrated the usefulness and need for these efforts. The experience has also demonstrated that a committed effort in outreach is ultimately satisfying although immensely time consuming. Our outreach efforts have been partially supported by a NASA/IDEA grant, Wisconsin Space Grant Consortium, NOAA and more recently, the Evjue Foundation (Madison-Wisconsin).

Extravehicular Activity Systems: 1994-2004

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2004-01-01

This custom bibliography from the NASA Scientific and Technical Information Program lists a sampling of records found in the NASA Aeronautics and Space Database. The scope of this topic includes technologies for the space suit of the future, specifically for productive work on planetary surfaces. This area of focus is one of the enabling technologies as defined by NASA s Report of the President s Commission on Implementation of United States Space Exploration Policy, published in June 2004.

Synchronization of chaotic systems

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Pecora, Louis M.; Carroll, Thomas L.

2015-09-15

We review some of the history and early work in the area of synchronization in chaotic systems. We start with our own discovery of the phenomenon, but go on to establish the historical timeline of this topic back to the earliest known paper. The topic of synchronization of chaotic systems has always been intriguing, since chaotic systems are known to resist synchronization because of their positive Lyapunov exponents. The convergence of the two systems to identical trajectories is a surprise. We show how people originally thought about this process and how the concept of synchronization changed over the years tomore » a more geometric view using synchronization manifolds. We also show that building synchronizing systems leads naturally to engineering more complex systems whose constituents are chaotic, but which can be tuned to output various chaotic signals. We finally end up at a topic that is still in very active exploration today and that is synchronization of dynamical systems in networks of oscillators.« less

Exploring Surfaces of Nanomaterials - MIT Spectrum

Science.gov Websites

Topics About Search for: Search Massachusetts Institute of Technology Yang Shao-Horn is tackling the inspired by them to work here." Learn More Yang Shao-Horn Topics battery Energy Materials Science Latest Stories Spectrum Issues Topics About Popular Latest MIT Campaign for a Better World MIT Campaign

Some unconventional approaches to the exploration of Mars

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

French, J. R.

1991-02-01

The topics of space transport to Mars, and surface transport and surface operations on Mars are discussed in detail and new options for accomplishing these activities are presented. The question of maximizing the return on the investment in a Mars mission is addressed. One way to accomplish this is through reduction of propellant requirements by increasing the performance of the rocket engine, while another option is to make use of nuclear fuel. A technique discussed in detail would provide a means to manufacture fuel from Martian resources for both the return trip and for Mars surface exploration. Options for Mars surface transport include battery and nuclear powered rovers, solar powered automobiles, and either battery, nuclear or Mars-generated-propellant-powered aircraft specially designed to explore the Martian surface. The advantages and disadvantages of each of these options are considered, and the usefulness of a manned aircraft for both exploration and surface operational functions is discussed.

Selected topics in robotics for space exploration

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Montgomery, Raymond C. (Editor); Kaufman, Howard (Editor)

1993-01-01

Papers and abstracts included represent both formal presentations and experimental demonstrations at the Workshop on Selected Topics in Robotics for Space Exploration which took place at NASA Langley Research Center, 17-18 March 1993. The workshop was cosponsored by the Guidance, Navigation, and Control Technical Committee of the NASA Langley Research Center and the Center for Intelligent Robotic Systems for Space Exploration (CIRSSE) at RPI, Troy, NY. Participation was from industry, government, and other universities with close ties to either Langley Research Center or to CIRSSE. The presentations were very broad in scope with attention given to space assembly, space exploration, flexible structure control, and telerobotics.

Using Kepler Light Curves for Astronomy Education and Public Outreach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cash, Jennifer; Rivers, S.; Eleby, J.; Gould, A.; Komatsu, T.

2014-01-01

We will present our efforts related to Education and Public Outreach activities using Kepler Light Curves. We are currently developing interactive web based activities to introduce the public to the general topic of Stellar Variability and Intrinsic Variable Stars in particular using the high quality light curves of over a dozen Kepler targets. Along with the public website, we are exploring areas to develop teacher guides to use Kepler Light Curves in the middle and high school classrooms. These efforts are supported through a NASA EPSCoR grant "South Carolina Joint Venture Program" via a subaward to SC State University.

Explorers of the Universe: Metacognitive Tools for Learning Science Concepts

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Alvarez, Marino C.

1998-01-01

Much of school learning consists of rote memorization of facts with little emphasis on meaningful interpretations. Knowledge construction is reduced to factual knowledge production with little regard for critical thinking, problem solving, or clarifying misconceptions. An important role of a middle and secondary teacher when teaching science is to aid students' ability to reflect upon what they know about a given topic and make available strategies that will enhance their understanding of text and science experiments. Developing metacognition, the ability to monitor one's own knowledge about a topic of study and to activate appropriate strategies, enhances students' learning when faced with reading, writing and problem solving situations. Two instructional strategies that can involve students in developing metacognitive awareness are hierarchical concept mapping, and Vee diagrams. Concept maps enable students to organize their ideas and reveal visually these ideas to others. A Vee diagram is a structured visual means of relating the methodological aspects of an activity to its underlying conceptual aspect in ways that aid learners in meaningful understanding of scientific investigations.

Smartphones as Integrated Kinematic and Dynamic Sensors for Amusement Park Physics Applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Peterson, Stephanie; Dennison, J. R.

2010-10-01

USU has hosted Physics Day at Lagoon and has attracted more than 120,000 secondary educators and students over 21 years. During this educational day, students explore basic physics concepts and apply their classroom content outdoors, in real world applications. As part of the event, USU's Physics Department provides curriculum to be used at Lagoon, in similar outside venues, and in the classroom. One such educational instrument, which is a primary focus of this work, is student workbooks filled with activities ranging from very simple to more advanced topics. Workbooks cover the properties of waves, relative velocity, and acceleration, topics which have historically challenged students and future topics include kinematics, energy, and forces. The topics were selected based on requests from teachers throughout the Intermountain Region and identified deficiencies in student performance on core curriculum assessments. An innovative approach is to identify physical application of iPhone and Android smartphone software technologies, which make use of dynamic and kinematic sensors. These technologies will allow students to realize their ability to do quantitative physics calculations anywhere, anytime; a smart device which is highly salable to today's teenage learners. This also provides an exciting approach to more fully engage students in learning physics concepts.

Women Working in Engineering and Science

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Luna, Bernadette; Kliss, Mark (Technical Monitor)

1998-01-01

The presentation will focus on topics of interest to young women pursuing an engineering or scientific career, such as intrinsic personality traits of most engineers, average salaries for the various types of engineers, appropriate preparation classes at the high school and undergraduate levels, gaining experience through internships, summer jobs and graduate school, skills necessary but not always included in engineering curricula (i.e., multimedia, computer skills, communication skills), the work environment, balancing family and career, and sexual harassment. Specific examples from the speaker's own experience in NASA's Space Life Sciences Program will be used to illustrate the above topics. In particular, projects from Extravehicular Activity and Protective Systems research and Regenerative Life Support research will be used as examples of real world problem-solving to enable human exploration of the solar system.

NASA's Solar System Exploration Program

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Robinson, James

2005-01-01

A viewgraph presentation describing NASA's Solar System Exploration Program is shown. The topics include: 1) Solar System Exploration with Highlights and Status of Programs; 2) Technology Drivers and Plans; and 3) Summary

Urea uptake enhances barrier function and antimicrobial defense in humans by regulating epidermal gene expression

PubMed Central

Grether-Beck, Susanne; Felsner, Ingo; Brenden, Heidi; Kohne, Zippora; Majora, Marc; Marini, Alessandra; Jaenicke, Thomas; Rodriguez-Martin, Marina; Trullas, Carles; Hupe, Melanie; Elias, Peter M.; Krutmann, Jean

2012-01-01

Urea is an endogenous metabolite, known to enhance stratum corneum hydration. Yet, topical urea anecdotally also improves permeability barrier function, and it appears to exhibit antimicrobial activity. Hence, we hypothesized that urea is not merely a passive metabolite, but a small-molecule regulator of epidermal structure and function. In 21 human volunteers, topical urea improved barrier function in parallel with enhanced antimicrobial peptide (LL-37 and β-defensin-2) expression. Urea both stimulates expression of, and is transported into keratinocytes by two urea transporters, UT-A1 and UT-A2, and by aquaporin 3, 7 and 9. Inhibitors of these urea transporters block the downstream biological effects of urea, which include increased mRNA and protein levels for: (i) transglutaminase-1, involucrin, loricrin and filaggrin; (ii) epidermal lipid synthetic enzymes, and (iii) cathelicidin/LL-37 and β-defensin-2. Finally, we explored the potential clinical utility of urea, showing that topical urea applications normalized both barrier function and antimicrobial peptide expression in a murine model of atopic dermatitis (AD). Together, these results show that urea is a small-molecule regulator of epidermal permeability barrier function and antimicrobial peptide expression after transporter uptake, followed by gene regulatory activity in normal epidermis, with potential therapeutic applications in diseased skin. PMID:22418868

Biomedical research and the commercialization agenda: a review of main considerations for neuroscience.

PubMed

Caulfield, Timothy; Ogbogu, Ubaka

2008-01-01

This article reviews a range of issues associated with the commercialization of biomedical research and speculates on how these issues might apply to the neuroscience context. Drawing on existing studies of the impact of research commercialization activities on various areas of biotechnology research, the authors explore normative benchmarks for assessing and resolving issues likely to arise from the commercialization of neuroscientific research, including such topics as patenting, marketing pressures, and representations of research prospects.

Microgravity: A Teacher's Guide with Activities in Science, Mathematics, and Technology

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rogers, Melissa J.B.; Vogt, Gregory L.; Wargo, Michael J.

1997-01-01

Microgravity is the subject of this teacher's guide. This publication identifies the underlying mathematics, physics, and technology principles that apply to microgravity. The topics included in this publication are: 1) Microgravity Science Primer; 2) The Microgravity Environment of Orbiting Spacecraft; 3) Biotechnology; 4) Combustion Science; 5) Fluid Physics; 6) Fundamental Physics; and 7) Materials Science; 8) Microgravity Research and Exploration; and 9) Microgravity Science Space Flights. This publication also contains a glossary of selected terms.

Education and Outreach | State, Local, and Tribal Governments | NREL

Science.gov Websites

of solar policies via our Policy Basics section. Topics include feed-in tariffs, renewable energy ," "Hot Topics," and "In the Field" aim to explore the who, what, where, and why addressing solar market barriers. Past presentations are available for the following topics: Solar 101-This

The Dropping of Atomic Bombs on Japan

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Holmes, Thomas

2005-01-01

In an age when international terrorism poses a threat to peace and stability, the use of not only nuclear, but also biological and chemical weapons are important topics for classroom discussion. In this article, the author explores four approaches to teaching this topic. Examining a controversial topic involves the evaluation of values, the use of…

Science Teacher Orientations and PCK across Science Topics in Grade 9 Earth Science

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Campbell, Todd; Melville, Wayne; Goodwin, Dawne

2017-01-01

While the literature is replete with studies examining teacher knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge (PCK), few studies have investigated how science teacher orientations (STOs) shape classroom instruction. Therefore, this research explores the interplay between a STOs and the topic specificity of PCK across two science topics within a grade…

Chitosan-tailored lipidic nanoconstructs of Fusidic acid as promising vehicle for wound infections: An explorative study.

PubMed

Thakur, Kanika; Sharma, Gajanand; Singh, Bhupinder; Chhibber, Sanjay; Patil, A B; Katare, Om Prakash

2018-08-01

The current research study intends to explore the combined potential of lipid nanoparticles and chitosan as an optimum therapy for the management of wound infections. Fusidic acid (FA), a steroidal antibiotic employed for treatment of primary and secondary topical infections was encapsulated within the nanoengineered lipid-polymer hybrid nanoparticles (FA-LPHNs). A number of variables like lipid/polymer ratio, lipid, surfactant and chitosan concentration, stirring speed were optimized to get the desired particle size and % entrapment efficiency. The developed carriers were further characterized for particle size, antibacterial activity, cytotoxicity studies in HaCat cell lines, ex vivo permeation studies and skin safety profile. The developed LPHNs offered nanometric size (284.67 ± 5.67 nm), sustained drug release (79.31 ± 0.45%) and enhanced drug permeation (72.09 ± 1.26%). The changes in viability of HaCat cells were insignificant indicating the safety profile of LPHNs. The administration of FA-LPHNs resulted in 5-times and 4-times decrease in its inhibitory concentration against MRSA 33591 and MSSA 25921 respectively, along with antibacterial activity for a longer duration. Further, hydrogel incorporated nanoparticles were found to be topically applicable and compatible with mice skin. The studies indicated the superiority of FA-LPHNs for better management of wounds and associated infections over the conventional marketed product. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Constructing Understanding in Primary Science: An Exploration of Process and Outcomes in the Topic Areas of Light and the Earth in Space

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Thurston, Allen; Grant, G.; Topping, K. J.

2006-01-01

This study explored the process and outcomes of constructivist methods of enhancing science understanding in the topic areas of light and the earth in space. The sample was drawn from a group of 41 nine-year-old children, delivered in four two-hour weekly sessions. Each session involved different combinations of interactive discussion and…

You Are Not Stuck in a Traffic Jam, You Are the Traffic Jam: Teaching Students How to Take Responsibility for Their Planet.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pollach, Claudia

2014-05-01

Teaching Geography and Economics to our school's fifth graders (14 year-olds), we focus on topics like the ecosystem, climate, natural resources and natural disasters. In addition to the usual curriculum we would like to deepen their knowledge and we want to establish a link between facts, figures and students' lives. The main aim is to raise their awareness of "Our Changing Planet". They should learn how human activity influences climate and enviroment. Moreover, the students should understand how every single action a human being sets has a positive or negative impact on our earth. Even little steps made by each one of us can help the earth and everyone of us has the choice. The idea is to set up a project in which all 14-year-olds take part. They work outside their usual schedule and examine the topic's various aspects for up to three days. Plus, they can explore their individual options to help fix our planet. Possible topics are the sustainable usage of ressources such as water, air, wood, fuel and energy. What is my ecological footprint? How can I support the planet by acting responsible as a consumer? How can we make our school "greener"? Our mission is not only to gain information on the topic but also to change certain habits so that we live and act in a more responsible and sustainable way. Teachers of related subjects give their expertise and help exploring the issues. The "Our Changing Planet" project days peak in an assembly where the student teams present their findings plus an international climatologist is going to give a short lecture.

Exploring the Explorers Using Internet Resources

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Torrez, Cheryl Franklin; Bush, Gina

2009-01-01

The topic of explorers and exploration is commonly taught in the upper elementary grades. Depending on state and local social studies content standards, teachers will develop a curriculum unit on Explorers of Our State for fourth grade students, a unit on Explorers of the United States for fifth graders, and one on World Explorers for sixth…

Teaching Strategies for Personality Assessment at the Undergraduate Level.

PubMed

Roche, Michael J; Jacobson, Nicholas C; Roche, Carley A

2017-01-01

Personality assessment is a crucial component of clinical practice, and the training and proficiency criteria to develop competence are complex and multifaceted. Like many advanced topics, the field of personality assessment would benefit from early exposure in undergraduate classroom settings. This research evaluates how an undergraduate personality course can be enhanced through 2 enrichment activities (self-assessments and a personality project). Students completed several self-assessments of their personality and wrote a comprehensive and integrative personality assessment about themselves. Results demonstrated that these activities increased interest in personality assessment, deepened understanding of course material, and promoted student growth and self-exploration. We discuss the benefits of these enrichment activities for the student, instructor, and field of personality science.

Our Changing Climate: A Brand New Way to Study Climate Science

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brey, J. A.; Kauffman, C.; Geer, I.; Nugnes, K. A.; Mills, E. W.

2014-12-01

Earth's climate is inherently variable, but is currently changing at rates unprecedented in recent Earth history. Human activity plays a major role in this change and is projected to do so well into the future. This is the stance taken in Our Changing Climate, the brand new climate science ebook from the American Meteorological Society (AMS). Our Changing Climate investigates Earth's climate system, explores humans' impact on it, and identifies actions needed in response to climate change. Released in August 2014, Our Changing Climate is the result of a year's worth of intensive research and writing, incorporating the latest scientific understandings of Earth's climate system from reports such as IPCC AR5 and the Third National Climate Assessment. To encourage additional exploration of climate science information, scientific literature, from which chapter content was derived, is cited at the conclusion of each chapter. In addition, Topic In Depth sections appear throughout each chapter and lead to more extensive information related to various topics. For example, a Topic In Depth in Chapter 11 describes the effect of climate extremes on ranching enterprises in Nebraska. Climate science is multi-disciplinary and therefore Our Changing Climate covers a breadth of topics. From understanding basic statistics and geospatial tools used to investigate Earth's climate system to examining the psychological and financial reasons behind climate change denial, the AMS believes that a multi-disciplinary approach is the most effective way to increase climate literacy. Our Changing Climate is part of the AMS Climate Studies course which is intended for undergraduate-level students. Other course materials include an eInvestigations Manual and access to the RealTime Climate Portal, both of which provide weekly activities corresponding to that week's chapter content. The RealTime Climate Portal also has links to climate data as well as societal interactions and climate policy websites to spur further interest. Faculty support materials are also provided. AMS Climate Studies has been licensed by 130 institutions since Fall 2010. Our Changing Climate reveals the impact that each of us has on the climate. With this understanding come choices and actions for a more sustainable future.

Web mining for topics defined by complex and precise predicates

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, Ching-Cheng; Sampathkumar, Sushma

2004-04-01

The enormous growth of the World Wide Web has made it important to perform resource discovery efficiently for any given topic. Several new techniques have been proposed in the recent years for this kind of topic specific web-mining, and among them a key new technique called focused crawling which is able to crawl topic-specific portions of the web without having to explore all pages. Most existing research on focused crawling considers a simple topic definition that typically consists of one or more keywords connected by an OR operator. However this kind of simple topic definition may result in too many irrelevant pages in which the same keyword appears in a wrong context. In this research we explore new strategies for crawling topic specific portions of the web using complex and precise predicates. A complex predicate will allow the user to precisely specify a topic using Boolean operators such as "AND", "OR" and "NOT". Our work will concentrate on defining a format to specify this kind of a complex topic definition and secondly on devising a crawl strategy to crawl the topic specific portions of the web defined by the complex predicate, efficiently and with minimal overhead. Our new crawl strategy will improve the performance of topic-specific web crawling by reducing the number of irrelevant pages crawled. In order to demonstrate the effectiveness of the above approach, we have built a complete focused crawler called "Eureka" with complex predicate support, and a search engine that indexes and supports end-user searches on the crawled pages.

Applications of aerospace technology to petroleum exploration. Volume 1: Efforts and results

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jaffe, L. D.

1976-01-01

The feasibility of applying aerospace techniques to help solve significant problems in petroleum exploration is studied. Through contacts with petroleum industry and petroleum service industry, important petroleum exploration problems were identified. For each problem, areas of aerospace technology that might aid in its solution were also identified where possible. Topics selected for investigation include: seismic reflection systems; down-hole acoustic techniques; identification of geological analogies; drilling methods; remote geological sensing; and sea floor imaging and mapping. Specific areas of aerospace technology are applied to 21 concepts formulated from the topics of concern.

Communication about sex and HPV among Puerto Rican mothers and daughters.

PubMed

Colón-López, Vivian; Fernández-Espada, Natalie; Vélez, Camille; Gonzalez, Velda J; Diaz-Toro, Elba C; Calo, William A; Savas, Lara S; Pattatucci, Angela; Fernández, María E

2017-08-01

Although opportunities to vaccinate against human papillomavirus (HPV) are available, vaccination rates in Puerto Rico remain low. Communication between parents and adolescents about sexual topics may influence decisions about HPV vaccination uptake, particularly among young women; yet, few studies have addressed this issue. This qualitative study explored Puerto Rican mothers' and daughters' communication on sex-related topics, and HPV, including the HPV vaccine. Thirty participants, including 9 mothers and 21 daughters, participated in seven focus groups. Participants were divided into groups of mothers and daughters, and further stratified by vaccination status. Transcripts were analyzed using a modified grounded theory approach to identify emergent themes. Focus group data revealed four main themes: (1) limited parent-daughter communication about sex-related topics; (2) daughters' discomfort discussing sex-related topics with their parents; (3) parental focus on abstinence; and, (4) limited parent-daughter communication about HPV and the HPV vaccine. Although daughters in this study struggled with feelings of embarrassment, invasion of privacy, encouragement of abstinence, and the fear of parents' reaction to them being sexually active prior to marriage, they also recognized the need to increase the parent-daughter communication about sex-related topics including HPV and the HPV vaccine. Educational efforts should target both daughters and parents to increase communication skills and self-efficacy and to enable them to discuss sexual health in open and nonjudgmental conversations.

Exploring the antioxidant potentiality of two food by-products into a topical cream: stability, in vitro and in vivo evaluation.

PubMed

Rodrigues, F; Sarmento, B; Amaral, M Helena; Oliveira, M Beatriz P P

2016-01-01

Coffee silverskin (CS), a food by-product of the coffee roasting industry, has been studied as an active ingredient for skin care products due to its high potential of antioxidant activity and low cytotoxicity. Another food waste used as ingredient with promising characteristics is obtained from Medicago sativa (MS), which antioxidants and isoflavones content is high. The aim of this study is to evaluate and characterize a new body formulation containing two food by-products extracts. Different parameters (such as pH, rheological behavior, color, antioxidant content and microbiological analysis) of a body cream formulation containing by-products (CSMS) and a formulation without extracts (F) were evaluated under a stability study during 180 days at different temperatures. Moreover, the in vitro cell toxicity and the in vivo skin safety and protective effects were also assessed. Formulation showed stable physical properties and antioxidant activity during 180 days of storage. In vitro toxicity was screened in two skin cell lines (fibroblasts and keratinocytes) and any toxicity was reported. The in vivo test carried out showed that, with respect to irritant effects, CSMS formulation can be regarded as safe for topical application and the skin hydratation improved after 30 days of its use. Also, considering the consumer acceptance, more than 90% of volunteers classified it as very pleasant. CSMS formulation is stable and safe for topical use as no adverse and/or side effects were observed during the application period of testing, improving skin protective properties.

Strategic Research to Enable NASA's Exploration Missions Conference and Workshop: Poster Session. Volume 2

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Nahra, Henry (Compiler)

2004-01-01

Reports are presented from volume 2 of the conference titled Strategic Research to Enable NASA's Exploration Missions, poster session. Topics included spacecraft fire suppression and fire extinguishing agents,materials flammability, various topics on the effects of microgravity including crystal growth, fluid mechanics, electric particulate suspension, melting and solidification, bubble formation, the sloshing of liquid fuels, biological studies, separation of carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide for Mars ISRU.

A Qualitative Study Examining the Exclusive Use of Primary Literature in a Special Topics Biology Course: Improving Conceptions about the Nature of Science and Boosting Confidence in Approaching Original Scientific Research

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Carter, B. Elijah; Wiles, Jason R.

2017-01-01

This qualitative study explores the experiences of six students enrolled in a special topics biology class that exclusively used primary literature as course material. Nature of science (NOS) conceptions have been linked to students' attitudes toward scientific subjects, but there has been little research specifically exploring the effects of…

Topic and Background Knowledge Effects on Performance in Speaking Assessment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Khabbazbashi, Nahal

2017-01-01

This study explores the extent to which topic and background knowledge of topic affect spoken performance in a high-stakes speaking test. It is argued that evidence of a substantial influence may introduce construct-irrelevant variance and undermine test fairness. Data were collected from 81 non-native speakers of English who performed on 10…

Topical, Yes, but It Dives beneath the Surface

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tyler, Paul

2017-01-01

Topical science is about developing an awareness of science issues in the news and the importance of science stories that affect pupils' lives and the world around them. It is about making science relevant for pupils and engaging them in the subject. The author explores how children can be engaged and inspired through topical science. The idea of…

Bringing Seismology's Grand Challenges to the Undergraduate Classroom

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Benoit, M. H.; Hubenthal, M.; Taber, J.

2012-12-01

The "Seismological Grand Challenges in Understanding Earth's Dynamic Systems," a community-written long-range science plan for the next decade, poses 10 questions to guide fundamental seismological research. Written in an approachable fashion suitable for policymakers, the broad questions and supporting discussion contained in this document offer an ideal framework for the development of undergraduate curricular materials. Leveraging this document, we have created a collection of inquiry-based classroom modules that utilize authentic data to modernize seismological instruction in 100 and 200 level undergraduate courses. The modules not only introduce undergraduates to the broad questions that the seismological community seeks to answer in the future but also showcase the numerous areas where modern seismological research is actively contributing to our understanding of fundamental Earth processes. To date 6 in-depth explorations that correspond to the Grand Challenges document have been developed. The specific topics for each exploration were selected to showcase modern seismological research while also covering topics commonly included in the curriculum of these introductory classes. The activities that have been created and their corresponding Grand Challenge are: -A guided inquiry that introduces students to episodic tremor and slip and compares the GPS and seismic signatures of ETS with those produced from standard tectonic earthquakes (Grand Challenge "How do faults slip?"). - A laboratory exercise where students engage in b-value mapping of volcanic earthquakes to assess potential eruption hazards (How do magmas ascend and erupt?). - A module that introduces students to glacial earthquakes in Greenland and compares their frequency and spatial distribution to tectonic earthquakes (How do processes in the ocean and atmosphere interact with the solid Earth?). -A suite of activities that introduce students to oil and gas exploration, including an activity that introduces the concept of shale gas exploration (Where are water and hydrocarbons hidden beneath the surface?) -A guided inquiry module that leads students to understand the differences between lithosphere and asthenosphere (What is the lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary?) - A module where students explore earthquake hazards and probability of ground shaking in southern California, New Madrid, and their own location. (How does the near-surface environment affect natural hazards and resources?). To enhance the usefulness of these resources, all have been developed in a modular fashion that allows instructors to pick and choose some (or all) of these resources for integration in to the scope and sequence of their course. Each module will include an instructor's guide containing instructions for implementing the activity, assessment strategies, and other resources. Formative pilot testing at 2- and 4- year colleges will take place fall 2012. Ultimately, the modules will be disseminated online through IRIS's InClass web portal and through small training workshops. Current drafts of some of the activities can be obtained by emailing M. Benoit (benoit@tcnj.edu).

Exploring Mars. Grades 5-12.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Treiman, Allan; And Others

This learning guide provides detailed information about exploring the planet Mars. The guide covers a variety of topics related to space exploration including: (1) the reasons for exploring Mars; (2) a history of the exploration of and thinking about Mars beginning with the Babylonians and continuing through the Viking missions; (3) the status of…

Mars Cannon Assisted Flying Exploration (CAFE)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Denhar, J. D.; Faw, S. D.; Petrilli, J. L.; Webb, S. C.

2012-06-01

The team of first year graduate students participated in the National Institute of Aerospace's course "Mars Aerial Exploration" culminating in a conceptual design of a mars mission. The lead author's research topic is planetary exploration vehicles.

Sixteenth Lunar and Planetary Science Conference. Press abstracts

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1985-01-01

A broad range of topics concerned with lunar and planetary science are discussed. Topics among those included are, the sun, the planets, comets, meteorities, asteroids, satellites, space exploration, and the significance of these to Earth.

Our school's Earth and Space Sciences Club: 12 years promoting interdisciplinary explorations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Margarida Maria, Ana; Pereira, Hélder

2017-04-01

During the past 12 years, we have been engaging secondary level science students (15 to 18 years old) in the extracurricular activities of our school's Earth and Space Sciences Club, providing them with some of the skills needed to excel in science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics (STEAM). Our approach includes the use of authentic scientific data, project based learning, and inquiry-centred activities that go beyond the models and theories present in secondary level textbooks. Moreover, the activities and projects carried out, being eminently practical, also function as an extension of the curriculum and frequently enable the demonstration of the applicability of several concepts taught in the classroom in real life situations. The tasks carried out during these activities and research projects often require the combination of two or more subjects, promoting an interdisciplinary approach to learning. Outside of the traditional classroom settings, through interdisciplinary explorations, students also gain hands-on experience doing real science. Thereby, during this time, we have been able to promote meaningful and lasting experiences and spark students' interest in a wide diversity of topics.

Building a Global Ocean Science Education Network

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Scowcroft, G. A.; Tuddenham, P. T.; Pizziconi, R.

2016-02-01

It is imperative for ocean science education to be closely linked to ocean science research. This is especially important for research that addresses global concerns that cross national boundaries, including climate related issues. The results of research on these critical topics must find its way to the public, educators, and students of all ages around the globe. To facilitate this, opportunities are needed for ocean scientists and educators to convene and identify priorities and strategies for ocean science education. On June 26 and 27, 2015 the first Global Ocean Science Education (GOSE) Workshop was convened in the United States at the University of Rhode Island Graduate School of Oceanography. The workshop, sponsored by the Consortium for Ocean Science Exploration and Engagement (COSEE) and the College of Exploration, had over 75 participants representing 15 nations. The workshop addressed critical global ocean science topics, current ocean science research and education priorities, advanced communication technologies, and leveraging international ocean research technologies. In addition, panels discussed elementary, secondary, undergraduate, graduate, and public education across the ocean basins with emphasis on opportunities for international collaboration. Special presentation topics included advancements in tropical cyclone forecasting, collaborations among Pacific Islands, ocean science for coastal resiliency, and trans-Atlantic collaboration. This presentation will focus on workshop outcomes as well as activities for growing a global ocean science education network. A summary of the workshop report will also be provided. The dates and location for the 2016 GOES Workshop will be announced. See http://www.coexploration.net/gose/index.html

Evolving Systems and Adaptive Key Component Control

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Frost, Susan A.; Balas, Mark J.

2009-01-01

We propose a new framework called Evolving Systems to describe the self-assembly, or autonomous assembly, of actively controlled dynamical subsystems into an Evolved System with a higher purpose. An introduction to Evolving Systems and exploration of the essential topics of the control and stability properties of Evolving Systems is provided. This chapter defines a framework for Evolving Systems, develops theory and control solutions for fundamental characteristics of Evolving Systems, and provides illustrative examples of Evolving Systems and their control with adaptive key component controllers.

Fiche pratique: Anaphores et enchainements; B. d. de Grand Vent; FDM Frequence plus: Une minute sur la mode; Chimie pour non-chimistes (Practical Ideas: Anaphors and Linking; The Comic Strip "Grand Vent"; One Minute on Fashion; Chemistry for Non-Chemists).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Baldovi, Josep Ramon Torres

1994-01-01

Ideas for French instruction are offered, including a grammar exercise on pronouns; exploration of a comic strip's language and culture; use of a taped program on fashion; and an activity to help French language teachers cope with unfamiliar discipline-specific texts, whose topics (but not language) are familiar to their students. (MSE)

ESA's Mars Program: European Plans for Mars Exploration

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Forget, Francois

2005-01-01

A viewgraph presentation on the European Space Agency Mars Exploration Program is shown. The topics include: 1) History:Mars Exploration in Europe; 2) A few preliminary results from Mars Express; 3) A new instrument:Radar MARSIS; and 4) European Mars Exploration in the future?

Biomorphic Explorers

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Thakoor, Sarita

1999-01-01

This paper presents, in viewgraph form, the first NASA/JPL workshop on Biomorphic Explorers for future missions. The topics include: 1) Biomorphic Explorers: Classification (Based on Mobility and Ambient Environment); 2) Biomorphic Flight Systems: Vision; 3) Biomorphic Explorer: Conceptual Design; 4) Biomorphic Gliders; 5) Summary and Roadmap; 6) Coordinated/Cooperative Exploration Scenario; and 7) Applications. This paper also presents illustrations of the various biomorphic explorers.

An exploration of barriers and facilitators to older adults' participation in higher impact physical activity and bone health: a qualitative study.

PubMed

Simmonds, B A J; Hannam, K J; Fox, K R; Tobias, J H

2016-03-01

This qualitative study explored the acceptability of high-impact physical activity for increasing bone strength in later life. Thematic analysis established the barriers and facilitators to this physical activity. They prioritised joint over skeletal health, of which they had little concept. Interventions need to clearly communicate the rationale and benefits. The aim of this study was to explore the acceptability of doing high-impact physical activity in later life. This qualitative study was embedded within a large-scale observational study and was designed to address specific objectives and feed into a subsequent intervention. Five focus groups with physically active men and women (over 50 years) were used to develop an interview topic guide to explore the acceptability of high-impact physical activity in older men and women (over 65 years) in South West England. A total of 28 semi-structured interviews with 31 participants were then conducted and transcripts analysed thematically. Three main barriers emerged: conceptualising bone, damage to joints and falling/safety concerns. Two main facilitators were also identified: the need to understand clear tangible benefits and incorporation of activity into everyday habits. Older adults were interested how high-impact physical activity would help to maintain their mobility, independence or social relationships. Some participants wanted tangible feedback from accelerometers, health care professionals and/or bone scans in order to develop a more intimate knowledge of their bone health. Interventions incorporating high-impact physical activity for older adults need to communicate how this activity can impact more broadly on health and lives; that physical activity will be safe, beneficial and not damaging to their joints will need to be clearly conveyed. Ways in which high-impact physical activity can be habitualised into everyday activities, be fun and interactive may help facilitate longer term adoption.

AGU testifies on NASA Budget

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Simarski, Lynn Teo

Witnesses from outside the U.S. government—including Frank Eden, representing AGU—testified about the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's budget on March 12 before the House Science Committee's subcommittee on space. One major topic of the hearing was familiar: what should NASA's top priority be, space science or human exploration of space.“Obviously this committee has a huge job of trying to set priorities—consistent with the budget restraints—that will end up giving the American taxpayer the most bang for his buck, as well as providing direction for our space program,” said F. James Sensenbrenner, Jr. (R-Wis.), the subcommittee's ranking Republican. Another recurring topic, cited by the subcommittee's new chairman, Ralph M. Hall (D-Tex.), as well as by other committee members, was how to translate NASA-developed technologies into commercial gain for the U.S. in the global marketplace. Hall and others also posed a number of questions on a topic the chairman called a special concern of his: whether it would be economically and scientifically plausible for the U.S. to use the Soviet space station Mir for certain activities, such as medical applications.

The Art of Astronomy: A New General Education Course for Non-Science Majors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pilachowski, Catherine A.; van Zee, Liese

2017-01-01

The Art of Astronomy is a new general education course developed at Indiana University. The topic appeals to a broad range of undergraduates and the course gives students the tools to understand and appreciate astronomical images in a new way. The course explores the science of imaging the universe and the technology that makes the images possible. Topics include the night sky, telescopes and cameras, light and color, and the science behind the images. Coloring the Universe: An Insider's Look at Making Spectacular Images of Space" by T. A. Rector, K. Arcand, and M. Watzke serves as the basic text for the course, supplemented by readings from the web. Through the course, students participate in exploration activities designed to help them first to understand astronomy images, and then to create them. Learning goals include an understanding of scientific inquiry, an understanding of the basics of imaging science as applied in astronomy, a knowledge of the electromagnetic spectrum and how observations at different wavelengths inform us about different environments in the universe, and an ability to interpret astronomical images to learn about the universe and to model and understand the physical world.

Considerations on private human access to space from an institutional point of view

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hufenbach, Bernhard

2013-12-01

Private human access to space as discussed in this article addresses two market segments: suborbital flight and crew flights to Low Earth Orbit. The role of entrepreneurs, the technical complexity, the customers, the market conditions as well as the time to market in these two segments differ significantly. Space agencies take currently a very different approach towards private human access to space in both segments. Analysing the outcome of broader inter-agency deliberations on the future of human spaceflight and exploration, performed e.g. in the framework of the International Space Exploration Coordination Group, enables to derive some common general views on this topic. Various documents developed by inter-agency working groups recognise the general strategic importance for enabling private human access to space for ensuring a sustainable future of human spaceflight, although the specific definition of private human access and approaches vary. ESA has performed some reflections on this subject throughout the last 5 years. While it gained through these reflections a good understanding on the opportunities and implications resulting from the development of capabilities and markets for Private Human Access, limited concrete activities have been initiated in relation to this topic as of today.

The case for Mars III: Strategies for exploration - General interest and overview

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Stoker, Carol R. (Editor)

1989-01-01

Papers on the possibilities for manned Mars missions are presented, covering topics such as space policy, space education and Mars exploration, economic issues, international cooperation, life support, biomedical factors, human factors, the Mars Rover Sample Return Mission, and possible unmanned precursor missions to Mars. Other topics include the scientific objectives for human exploration of Mars, mission strategies, possible transportation systems for manned Mars flight, advanced propulsion techniques, and the utilization of Mars resources. Additional subjects include the construction and maintenance of a Martian base, possible systems for mobility on the Martian surface, space power systems, and the use of the Space Station for a Mars mission.

Exploring Computer Technology. The Illinois Plan for Industrial Education.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Illinois State Univ., Normal.

This guide, which is one in the "Exploration" series of curriculum guides intended to assist junior high and middle school industrial educators in helping their students explore diverse industrial situations and technologies used in industry, deals with exploring computer technology. The following topics are covered in the individual…

Research capacity for childhood obesity prevention in Latin America: an area for growth.

PubMed

Parra, Diana C; Vorkoper, Susan; Kohl, Harold W; Caballero, Benjamin; Batis, Carolina; Jauregui, Alejandra; Mason, Jessica; Pratt, Michael

2017-07-01

The rise of childhood obesity in Latin America calls for research capacity to understand, monitor and implement strategies, policies and programmes to address it. The objective of the study was to assess current research capacity in Latin America related to childhood obesity, nutrition and physical activity. We conducted a search of peer-reviewed articles on childhood obesity in Latin America with at least one Latin American author from 2010 to May 2015. We coded 484 published articles for author affiliation, study subjects' nationality, research topic and study design and extracted a series of networks per research topic, study design and collaborating country for each of the countries. Obesity is the most frequently explored topic. Nutrition and obesity are somewhat better developed compared with physical activity and sedentary behaviour. There are numerous observational and cross-sectional studies, indicating either a lack of capacity required for more complex research or the extent of the problem and associated factors is still unknown. The low number of intervention studies and the near absence of policy articles suggest a void in research capacity. For childhood obesity, there is a clear need to build research capacity that documents the current state of the problem and design evidence-based prevention and intervention efforts. © 2017 The Authors. Obesity Reviews published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of World Obesity Federation.

Thematic Conference on Geologic Remote Sensing, 8th, Denver, CO, Apr. 29-May 2, 1991, Proceedings. Vols. 1 & 2

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1991-01-01

The proceedings contain papers discussing the state-of-the-art exploration, engineering, and environmental applications of geologic remote sensing, along with the research and development activities aimed at increasing the future capabilities of this technology. The following topics are addressed: spectral geology, U.S. and international hydrocarbon exporation, radar and thermal infrared remote sensing, engineering geology and hydrogeology, mineral exploration, remote sensing for marine and environmental applications, image processing and analysis, geobotanical remote sensing, and data integration and geographic information systems. Particular attention is given to spectral alteration mapping with imaging spectrometers, mapping the coastal plain of the Congo with airborne digital radar, applications of remote sensing techniques to the assessment of dam safety, remote sensing of ferric iron minerals as guides for gold exploration, principal component analysis for alteration mappping, and the application of remote sensing techniques for gold prospecting in the north Fujian province.

The impact of utilizing mobile phones to promote physical activity among post-secondary students: a scoping review

PubMed Central

2016-01-01

A commitment to regular physical activity may reduce the risks of chronic diseases for young adults. Internationally, the majority of post-secondary students are insufficiently active for health benefits. Novel health strategies and interventions utilizing mobiles phones could increase post-secondary students’ physical activity levels. However, there is contradictory evidence to support the use of mobile phones to promote physical activity, and a scoping review could provide further insights into this topic. The purpose of this study was to conduct a scoping review to explore the existing literature and investigate what is currently known about the use of mobile phones to enhance physical activity levels among post-secondary students. A total of 84 articles were identified from the literature search, and six studies were selected for data analysis. Two major themes were supported by the evidence, which included: (I) the relationship between mobile phones and physical activity levels; and (II) students’ perceptions of mobile phones. Goal setting principles combined with text message interventions were reported to have significant influences on students’ physical activity levels. Students expressed mixed feelings about coaching elements of apps and posting personal results on social networking websites. No studies reported the use of objective physical activity measurements. In conclusion, mobile phone technologies such as text message reminders could be included in health interventions to enhance post-secondary students’ physical activity levels. There is limited evidence available on this topic and additional research is warranted to establish a clearer understanding of the relationship between mobile phones and post-secondary students’ physical activity. PMID:28293617

The impact of utilizing mobile phones to promote physical activity among post-secondary students: a scoping review.

PubMed

Ly, Hieu

2016-01-01

A commitment to regular physical activity may reduce the risks of chronic diseases for young adults. Internationally, the majority of post-secondary students are insufficiently active for health benefits. Novel health strategies and interventions utilizing mobiles phones could increase post-secondary students' physical activity levels. However, there is contradictory evidence to support the use of mobile phones to promote physical activity, and a scoping review could provide further insights into this topic. The purpose of this study was to conduct a scoping review to explore the existing literature and investigate what is currently known about the use of mobile phones to enhance physical activity levels among post-secondary students. A total of 84 articles were identified from the literature search, and six studies were selected for data analysis. Two major themes were supported by the evidence, which included: (I) the relationship between mobile phones and physical activity levels; and (II) students' perceptions of mobile phones. Goal setting principles combined with text message interventions were reported to have significant influences on students' physical activity levels. Students expressed mixed feelings about coaching elements of apps and posting personal results on social networking websites. No studies reported the use of objective physical activity measurements. In conclusion, mobile phone technologies such as text message reminders could be included in health interventions to enhance post-secondary students' physical activity levels. There is limited evidence available on this topic and additional research is warranted to establish a clearer understanding of the relationship between mobile phones and post-secondary students' physical activity.

Eye health promotion and the prevention of blindness in developing countries: critical issues.

PubMed

Hubley, J; Gilbert, C

2006-03-01

This review explores the role of health promotion in the prevention of avoidable blindness in developing countries. Using examples from eye health and other health topics from developing countries, the review demonstrates that effective eye health promotion involves a combination of three components: health education directed at behaviour change to increase adoption of prevention behaviours and uptake of services; improvements in health services such as the strengthening of patient education and increased accessibility and acceptability; and advocacy for improved political support for blindness prevention policies. Current eye health promotion activities can benefit by drawing on experiences gained by health promotion activities in other health topics especially on the use of social research and behavioural models to understand factors determining health decision making and the appropriate choice of methods and settings. The challenge ahead is to put into practice what we know does work. An expansion of advocacy-the third and most undeveloped component of health promotion-is essential to convince governments to channel increased resources to eye health promotion and the goals of Vision 2020.

Passion and Preparation in the Basic Course: The Influence of Students' Ego-Involvement with Speech Topics and Preparation Time on Public-Speaking Grades

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mazer, Joseph P.; Titsworth, Scott

2012-01-01

Authors of basic public-speaking course textbooks frequently encourage students to select speech topics in which they have vested interest, care deeply about, and hold strong opinions and beliefs. This study explores students' level of ego-involvement with informative and persuasive speech topics, examines possible ego-involvement predictors of…

Why the Lack of Academic Literature on Export Controls?

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kremic, Tibor

2001-01-01

Export controls is currently a relevant and dynamic topic. Given the growth of global operations and the high-tech nature of many products, an increase in awareness and understanding of the impacts of export controls are necessary. A structured approach to export controls has been in existence since 1949. Despite over 50 years of history, surprisingly little academic research and literature exists on the topic. This paper explores the current export control environment and explores possible reasons for the limited academic interest. Five possible reasons are discussed: (1) dynamic nature of the topic; (2) difficulty in ensuring accurate data; (3) Complexity of the problem; (4) relatively small economic impact; and (5) sensitive information. A research approach is recommended that considers these potential obstacles.

Out of This World: A University Partnership Model for Functional Clothing Design

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dunne, Lucy E.; Simon, Cory

2013-01-01

University collaborations with external partners can be difficult to initiate, especially in early-stage or emerging topics. External collaborators may be reluctant to commit the level of funding required to ensure that the topic is given adequate attention, and low-stakes mechanisms are relatively rare. Here, we present a successful model for collaboration between universities and NASA, which uses existing project-based coursework as a vehicle for exploration of emerging topics. This model leverages existing structures, reducing the financial and intellectual commitment of both University and NASA research partners, and facilitating pilot investigations for exploration of potential areas for more in-depth research. We outline the logistical structure and benefits for University and NASA partners over 1.5 years of collaboration.

Making Connections to Students' Lives and Careers Throughout a General Education Science Course

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

LaDue, D. S.

2014-12-01

The University of Oklahoma's general education lecture course Severe & Unusual Weather, taught in two sections each fall and spring, covers about nine topics. The sections are taught by different instructors, each of whom has flexibility to employ a variety of instructional strategies and choose specific topics to cover while meeting the requirement that general education courses in the natural sciences help students understand the importance of the science for appreciating the world around them. Students enrolled have been approximately 6-10% returning adult students, some of whom were veterans or active duty military, and about 10% members of racial or ethnic groups. Their majors are mostly in the humanities (theater, photography) and social sciences (education, English, journalism, sociology), with some natural science majors (psychology, aviation). For the past two years, Section 001 has been designed with adult and active learning concepts in mind, using deliberate connections between course content and students' lives and careers to motivate meaningful learning. Students were grouped in teams according to similar majors and assigned group presentations connecting course content to topics that should interest them, such as economic impacts of weather, societal and personal impacts of severe weather, risks to aviation, media coverage of weather, and psychological and sociological responses to weather risks. Students learn about the peer review process for scientific papers while also exploring a connection of course content to their future career or life interests through papers that are run through a mock peer review process. Public policy is discussed in several sections of the course, such as hurricane building codes, wind-resistant construction in tornado alley, and the disproportionate impacts of weather and climate on certain socioeconomic groups. Most students deeply appreciate the opportunity to explore how course content intersects with their lives. Several examples of these connections will be described.

NASA Virtual Institutes: International Bridges for Space Exploration

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Schmidt, Gregory K.

2016-01-01

NASA created the first virtual institute, the NASA Astrobiology Institute (NAI), in 2009 with an aim toward bringing together geographically disparate and multidisciplinary teams toward the goal of answering broad questions in the then-new discipline of astrobiology. With the success of the virtual institute model, NASA then created the NASA Lunar Science Institute (NLSI) in 2008 to address questions of science and human exploration of the Moon, and then the NASA Aeronautics Research Institute (NARI) in 2012 which addresses key questions in the development of aeronautics technologies. With the broadening of NASA's human exploration targets to include Near Earth Asteroids and the moons of Mars as well as the Moon, the NLSI morphed into the Solar System Exploration Research Virtual Institute (SSERVI) in 2012. SSERVI funds domestic research teams to address broad questions at the intersection of science and human exploration, with the underlying principle that science enables human exploration, and human exploration enables science. Nine domestic teams were funded in 2014 for a five-year period to address a variety of different topics, and nine international partners (with more to come) also work with the U.S. teams on a variety of topics of mutual interest. The result is a robust and productive research infrastructure that is not only scientifically productive but can respond to strategic topics of domestic and international interest, and which develops a new generation of researchers. This is all accomplished with the aid of virtual collaboration technologies which enable scientific research at a distance. The virtual institute model is widely applicable to a range of space science and exploration problems.

Patient contributions during primary care consultations for hypertension after self-reporting via a mobile phone self-management support system.

PubMed

Bengtsson, Ulrika; Kjellgren, Karin; Hallberg, Inger; Lundin, Mona; Mäkitalo, Åsa

2018-03-01

This paper reports on how the clinical consultation in primary care is performed under the new premises of patients' daily self-reporting and self-generation of data. The aim was to explore and describe the structure, topic initiation and patients' contributions in follow-up consultations after eight weeks of self-reporting through a mobile phone-based hypertension self-management support system. A qualitative, explorative study design was used, examining 20 audio- (n = 10) and video-recorded (n = 10) follow-up consultations in primary care hypertension management, through interaction analysis. Clinical trials registry: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01510301. Four primary health care centers in Sweden. Patients with hypertension (n = 20) and their health care professional (n = 7). The consultations comprised three phases: opening, examination and closing. The most common topic was blood pressure (BP) put in relation to self-reported variables, for example, physical activity and stress. Topic initiation was distributed symmetrically between parties and BP talk was lifestyle-centered. The patients' contributed to the interpretation of BP values by connecting them to specific occasions, providing insights to the link between BP measurements and everyday life activities. Patients' contribution through interpretations of BP values to specific situations in their own lives brought on consultations where the patient as a person in context became salient. Further, the patients' and health care professionals' equal contribution during the consultations showed actively involved patients. The mobile phone-based self-management support system can thus be used to support patient involvement in consultations with a person-centered approach in primary care hypertension management Key points   The clinical consultation is important to provide opportunities for patients to gain understanding of factors affecting high blood pressure, and for health care professionals to motivate and promote changes in life-style. This study shows that self-reporting as base for follow-up consultations in primary care hypertension management can support patients and professionals to equal participation in clinical consultations. Self-reporting combined with increased patient-health care professional interaction during follow-up consultations can support patients in understanding the blood pressure value in relation to their daily life. These findings implicate that the interactive mobile phone self-management support system has potential to support current transformations of patients as recipients of primary care, to being actively involved in their own health.

Circuits and pathways of understanding: "I can't believe we're actually figuring out some stuff"

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hughs-McDonnell, Fiona Jane

2000-12-01

Piaget's studies of young children and adolescents are evidence that people construct their own understanding and that action and reflection is at the heart of developing understanding. Yet, most physics teaching is didactic in nature and physics students are rarely free to develop their own understanding of formal curriculum topics. Consequently, interpretive descriptions of how physics students can develop subject matter understanding both in response to their interactions with the objects that make up a subject matter and their active reflection on those interactions are scarce. In this thesis, using a series of classroom vignettes, I reconstruct some of how two groups of high school physics students came to understand the curriculum topic electrical circuits through their exploration of batteries, bulbs, and wires and their active reflections on those explorations. The data sources that inform the classroom vignettes include the transcribed audiotapes of classroom dialogue, student journals and activity sheets, and the fieldnotes that I made during each class session. The study took place in the classroom of Kris Newton, whose teaching of physics is informed by her experiences with teaching-research, a methodology developed by Eleanor Duckworth. Duckworth's experiences with Jean Piaget and Barbel Inhelder in Geneva, Switzerland and her experiences developing curriculum with the Elementary Science Study were both formative for her in developing the notion of teaching-research. The classroom is located in an ethnically diverse urban high school with a student body of approximately 2,000. I conducted the study during the spring of 1997 and 1998. At the time of the study all but two of the students were in their junior year of high school.

Bringing Exoplanet Habitability Investigations to High School

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Woody, M. A.; Sohl, L. E.

2016-12-01

Habitability, a.k.a. habitat suitability, is a topic typically discussed in Biology class. We present here a curriculum unit that introduces the topic in a Physics classroom, allowing students to engage in cutting-edge science and re-framing an otherwise "typical" unit. Unit development was made possible by the Climate Change Research Initiative (CCRI) at the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, a year-long program that partners a scientist-mentor with a high school educator to engage in research and curriculum development. At its core, habitability is a temperature-dependent quality that is introduced and explored during the Energy unit. Students conducted a research project with the goal of determining the habitability state for a chosen exoplanet. Classroom implementation was modeled after the scientist-mentor's actual research plan, with content and resources for lesson activities also contributed by the scientist. Students first engaged in discussion of 5 basic habitability factors and explored these variables through climate modeling software. Students then chose an exoplanet to examine through the lens of those habitability factors, an activity that required them to perform authentic research on the exoplanet and its host star. Students also developed hypotheses about factors beyond currently available mission data, such as atmospheric composition and surface albedo of their exoplanet. They then used the modeling software to collect data, test hypotheses, and draw conclusions. Lastly, students communicated their findings in a poster session and presentation at the high school's annual science symposium. This scientist/educator partnership had a strongly positive impact on the high school students involved. By bringing actual science and research practices to the classroom, the students were not only more actively engaged with the required Physics course content, but also gained a better understanding of how scientific research is done.

Nuclear Chemistry: Include It in Your Curriculum.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Atwood, Charles H.; Sheline, R. K.

1989-01-01

Some of the topics that might be included in a nuclear chemistry section are explored. Offers radioactivity, closed shells in nuclei, energy of nuclear processes, nuclear reactions, and fission and fusion as topics of interest. Provided are ideas and examples for each. (MVL)

The School Leadership Literature in Managerialist Times: Exploring the Problem of Textual Apologism.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Thrupp, Martin

2003-01-01

Critiques major topics or themes in school-leadership texts, such as problem-solving techniques; suggests alternative topics or themes for school administrators, such as ideas-based leadership. Draws implications for writers on school leadership. (Contains 59 references.) (PKP)

Teaching Environmental Geology in the 21St Century: A Workshop Report

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mogk, D. W.; Wiese, K.; Castendyk, D.; McDaris, J. R.

2012-12-01

Environmental Geology encompasses a range of topics that include geohazards, natural resources, issues such as climate change, human health, and environmental policy. Instruction in Environmental Geology provides students the opportunity to address the grand challenges facing humanity regarding how to live sustainably and responsibly on Earth. Instruction in Environmental Geology ranges from dedicated introductory courses, instructional modules in upper division Earth Science "core" classes, to courses in related disciplines such as environmental science, ecology, and the social and political sciences. To explore the opportunities of teaching Environmental Geology in all these contexts, the On the Cutting Edge program convened a workshop in June 2012 to bring together instructors representing a diversity of instructional settings. The goals of the workshop were to: 1) Share innovative teaching methods, approaches, and activities for teaching Environmental Geology and share ideas on how to teach in various contexts. 2) Examine where and how environmental geology topics are taught in the geoscience curriculum from introductory courses for non-majors to "core" geoscience courses for majors. 3) Consider the ways that Environmental Geology courses and topical materials can contribute to public science literacy, particularly how to make personal and societal decisions about the range of issues facing humanity and to live responsibly and sustainably on this planet. 4) Develop a list of best practices for integrating emerging environmental issues, recent natural disasters, and issues related to natural resources into course work and identifying how scientific data and research outcomes can inform public discourse on topical issues. 5) Develop strategies to reach under-represented groups and expand the diversity of students who enroll in our courses. 6) Identify topics of high interest and need for future development as teaching modules and courses. The workshop program included keynote talks, small group discussion sessions, interactive demonstrations, and opportunities to network and develop ideas for new instructional resources. The participants also reviewed over 300 teaching activities, and contributed to additional online resources focused on Environmental Geology. Field trips demonstrated teaching activities about environmental issues in local contexts. All workshop presentations, discussion summaries, teaching activity collections and related on-line resources are available on the workshop website. Faculty are encouraged to submit additional examples of Environmental Geology instructional resources.

Bibliometric Analyses Reveal Patterns of Collaboration between ASMS Members

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Palmblad, Magnus; van Eck, Nees Jan

2018-03-01

We have explored the collaborative network of the current American Society for Mass Spectrometry (ASMS) membership using bibliometric methods. The analysis shows that 4249 members are connected in a single, large, co-authorship graph, including the majority of the most published authors in the field of mass spectrometry. The map reveals topographical differences between university groups and national laboratories, and that the co-authors with the strongest links have long worked together at the same location. We have collected and summarized information on the geographical distribution of members, showing a high coverage of active researchers in North America and Western Europe. Looking at research fields, we could also identify a number of new or `hot' topics among ASMS members. Interactive versions of the maps are available on-line at https://goo.gl/UBNFMQ (collaborative network) and https://goo.gl/WV25vm (research topics). [Figure not available: see fulltext.

Sensual sexuality education with young parenting women.

PubMed

Gubrium, Aline C; Shafer, Miriam B

2014-08-01

Comprehensive sexuality education curricula that incorporate sex positive and integrated approaches go beyond a presentation of facts and strategies for prevention to emphasize the promotion of sexual subjectivity and wellbeing. A pilot sensual sexuality education program was planned, implemented and informally evaluated with young parenting women at an alternative General Educational Development test preparation center. The program prioritized a sex positive framework, including topics such as pleasure, desire and sexual entitlement, and invited participants to explore sexuality through a multisensory orientation. Participants took part in small group discussions and activities that engaged their senses through arts-based methods. Grounded in holism, program topics were integrated with a focus on participants' everyday experiences. The pilot curriculum serves as a promising program for re-positioning young parenting women as sexual subjects, which is key to the promotion of health and wellbeing. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Overview of the INEX 2008 Book Track

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kazai, Gabriella; Doucet, Antoine; Landoni, Monica

This paper provides an overview of the INEX 2008 Book Track. Now in its second year, the track aimed at broadening its scope by investigating topics of interest in the fields of information retrieval, human computer interaction, digital libraries, and eBooks. The main topics of investigation were defined around challenges for supporting users in reading, searching, and navigating the full texts of digitized books. Based on these themes, four tasks were defined: 1) The Book Retrieval task aimed at comparing traditional and book-specific retrieval approaches, 2) the Page in Context task aimed at evaluating the value of focused retrieval approaches for searching books, 3) the Structure Extraction task aimed to test automatic techniques for deriving structure from OCR and layout information, and 4) the Active Reading task aimed to explore suitable user interfaces for eBooks enabling reading, annotation, review, and summary across multiple books. We report on the setup and results of each of these tasks.

Identifying Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL) Research in Selected Journals Published from 2003 to 2012: A Content Analysis of Research Topics and Issues

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zheng, Lanqin; Huang, Ronghuai; Yu, Junhui

2014-01-01

This study aims to identity the emerging research trends in the field of computed-supported collaborative learning (CSCL) so as to provide insights for researchers and educators into research topics and issues for further exploration. This paper analyzed the research topics, methods and technology adoption of CSCL from 2003 to 2012. A total of 706…

Identifying Relevant Acid-Base Topics in the Context of a Prenursing Chemistry Course to Better Align Health-Related Instruction and Assessment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brown, Corina E.; Henry, Melissa L. M.; Hyslop, Richard M.

2018-01-01

This study explores the acid-base topic in the context of a chemistry course taken as a prerequisite for a baccalaureate nursing program. Core findings were derived from semistructured interviews with experts in the areas of chemistry and nursing, and a multiple university survey of experts' opinions. The acid-base topic was reviewed and evaluated…

Analyzing the history of Cognition using Topic Models.

PubMed

Cohen Priva, Uriel; Austerweil, Joseph L

2015-02-01

Very few articles have analyzed how cognitive science as a field has changed over the last six decades. We explore how Cognition changed over the last four decades using Topic Models. Topic Models assume that every word in every document is generated by one of a limited number of topics. Words that are likely to co-occur are likely to be generated by a single topic. We find a number of significant historical trends: the rise of moral cognition, eyetracking methods, and action, the fall of sentence processing, and the stability of development. We introduce the notion of framing topics, which frame content, rather than present the content itself. These framing topics suggest that over time Cognition turned from abstract theorizing to more experimental approaches. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Explore the concept of “light” and its interaction with matter: an inquiry-based science education project in primary school

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Varela, P.; Costa, M. F.

2015-04-01

The exploration process leading to the understanding of physical phenomena, such as light and its interaction with matter, raises great interest and curiosity in children. However, in most primary schools, children rarely have the opportunity to conduct science activities in which they can engage in an enquiry process even if by the action of the teacher. In this context, we have organised several in-service teacher training courses and carried out several pedagogic interventions in Portuguese primary schools, with the aim of promoting inquiry- based science education. This article describes one of those projects, developed with a class of the third grade, which explored the curricular topic “Light Experiments”. Various activities were planned and implemented, during a total of ten hours spread over five lessons. The specific objectives of this paper are: to illustrate and analyse the teaching and learning process promoted in the classroom during the exploration of one of these lessons, and to assess children's learning three weeks after the lessons. The results suggest that children made significant learning which persisted. We conclude discussing some processes that stimulated children’ learning, including the importance of teacher questioning in scaffolding children's learning and some didactic implications for teacher training.

Facilitating Tough Conversations: Using an Innovative Simulation-Primed Qualitative Inquiry in Pediatric Research.

PubMed

Wong, Ambrose H; Tiyyagura, Gunjan K; Dodington, James M; Hawkins, Bonnie; Hersey, Denise; Auerbach, Marc A

Deep exploration of a complex health care issue in pediatrics might be hindered by the sensitive or infrequent nature of a particular topic in pediatrics. Health care simulation builds on constructivist theories to guide individuals through an experiential cycle of action, self-reflection, and open discussion, but has traditionally been applied to the educational domain in health sciences. Leveraging the emotional activation of a simulated experience, investigators can prime participants to engage in open dialogue for the purposes of qualitative research. The framework of simulation-primed qualitative inquiry consists of 3 main iterative steps. First, researchers determine applicability by consideration of the need for an exploratory approach and potential to enrich data through simulation priming of participants. Next, careful attention is needed to design the simulation, with consideration of medium, technology, theoretical frameworks, and quality to create simulated reality relevant to the research question. Finally, data collection planning consists of a qualitative approach and method selection, with particular attention paid to psychological safety of subjects participating in the simulation. A literature review revealed 37 articles that used this newly described method across a variety of clinical and educational research topics and used a spectrum of simulation modalities and qualitative methods. Although some potential limitations and pitfalls might exist with regard to resources, fidelity, and psychological safety under the auspices of educational research, simulation-primed qualitative inquiry can be a powerful technique to explore difficult topics when subjects might experience vulnerability or hesitation. Copyright © 2017 Academic Pediatric Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Journal Clubs: An Educational Approach to Advance Understanding among Community Partners and Academic Researchers about CBPR and Cancer Health Disparities

PubMed Central

Vadaparampil, Susan T.; Simmons, Vani N.; Lee, Ji-Hyun; Malo, Teri; Klasko, Lynne; Rodriguez, Maria; Waddell, Rhonda; Gwede, Clement K.; Meade, Cathy D.

2014-01-01

Background Journal clubs may enhance the knowledge and skills necessary to engage in community-based participatory research (CBPR) that will ultimately impact cancer health disparities. This article: (1) describes an innovative approach to adapting the traditional journal club format to meet community and academic participants’ needs, (2) presents evaluation data, and (3) explores whether responses differed between academic and community members. Methods Five journal clubs occurred between February 2011 and May 2012 as a training activity of a regional cancer health disparities initiative. Each journal club was jointly planned and facilitated by an academic member in collaboration with a community partner. Attendees were recruited from academic programs across the Moffitt Cancer Center/university and community partners. Responses to a 13-item evaluation of each journal club session were compared to assess whether certain topics were evaluated more favorably, and explore differences between academic and community participants’ assessment of the topic relevance. Results Evaluations were positive (mean ratings >4 out of 5) on most items and overall. No statistically significant differences were observed between academic and community members’ ratings. Key overlapping interests by community partners and academic researchers/trainees for future journal club topics included discussing real-world CBPR examples and methods for involving the community in research. Conclusions Although the initial goal was to use journal clubs as an educational tool to increase CBPR knowledge and skills of junior faculty trainees, results suggest mutual academic-community benefit and interest in learning more about CBPR as a way to reduce cancer health disparities. PMID:24078328

75 FR 15743 - NASA Advisory Council; Exploration Committee; Meeting

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-03-30

... NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION [Notice (10-034)] NASA Advisory Council; Exploration... Aeronautics and Space Administration announces a meeting of the Exploration Committee of the NASA Advisory...-358-1715; [email protected]nasa.gov . SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The agenda topics for the meeting will...

78 FR 20696 - NASA Advisory Council; Human Exploration and Operations Committee; Research Subcommittee; Meeting

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-04-05

... NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION [Notice: 13-042] NASA Advisory Council; Human Exploration and Operations Committee; Research Subcommittee; Meeting AGENCY: National Aeronautics and Space... topics: --Overview of Research in Space Life and Physical Sciences --Space Station and Future Exploration...

Outflow Channels Influencing Martian Climate: Global Circulation Model Simulations with Emplaced Water

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Santiago, D. L.; Colaprete, A.; Haberle, R. M.; Sloan, L. C.; Asphaug, E. I.

2005-01-01

The existence of surface water on Mars in past geologic epochs is inferred on the basis of geomorphologic interpretation of spaceflight images, and is supported by the recent Mars Odyssey identification of ice-rich soils [1]. The Mars Exploration Rovers have provided further chemical evidence for past surface hydrologic activity [2]. One issue is whether this water-rich climate ever existed in a steady state, or whether it was triggered by catastrophic events such as large impacts [3], and/ or catastrophic outburst floods, the topic of consideration here.

Selected technology for the gas industry

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1975-01-01

A number of papers were presented at a conference concerned with the application of technical topics from aerospace activities for the gas industry. The following subjects were covered: general future of fossil fuels in America, exploration for fossil and nuclear fuels from orbital altitudes, technology for liquefied gas, safety considerations relative to fires, explosions, and detonations, gas turbomachinery technology, fluid properties, fluid flow, and heat transfer, NASA information and documentation systems, instrumentation and measurement, materials and life prediction, reliability and quality assurance, and advanced energy systems (including synthetic fuels, energy storage, solar energy, and wind energy).

Response to "Nature fix: Addiction to outdoor activities"R. C. Buckley's commentary on Heirene, R. M., Shearer, D., Roderique-Davies, G., & Mellalieu, S. D. (2016). Addiction in extreme sports: An exploration of withdrawal states in rock climbers. Journal of Behavioral Addictions, 5, 332-341.

PubMed

Heirene, Robert M; Shearer, David; Mellalieu, Stephen D; Roderique-Davies, Gareth

2016-12-01

Buckley's commentary on our study of rock climber's withdrawal experiences raises a number of important questions surrounding the concept of extreme or adventure sports addiction. Drawing on the few available investigations of this topic, we respond to Buckley's questions here, though emphasize the need for further studies of extreme sports addiction in order to provide more empirically informed answers.

Topological antiferromagnetic spintronics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Šmejkal, Libor; Mokrousov, Yuriy; Yan, Binghai; MacDonald, Allan H.

2018-03-01

The recent demonstrations of electrical manipulation and detection of antiferromagnetic spins have opened up a new chapter in the story of spintronics. Here, we review the emerging research field that is exploring the links between antiferromagnetic spintronics and topological structures in real and momentum space. Active topics include proposals to realize Majorana fermions in antiferromagnetic topological superconductors, to control topological protection and Dirac points by manipulating antiferromagnetic order parameters, and to exploit the anomalous and topological Hall effects of zero-net-moment antiferromagnets. We explain the basic concepts behind these proposals, and discuss potential applications of topological antiferromagnetic spintronics.

Visual Inference Programming

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wheeler, Kevin; Timucin, Dogan; Rabbette, Maura; Curry, Charles; Allan, Mark; Lvov, Nikolay; Clanton, Sam; Pilewskie, Peter

2002-01-01

The goal of visual inference programming is to develop a software framework data analysis and to provide machine learning algorithms for inter-active data exploration and visualization. The topics include: 1) Intelligent Data Understanding (IDU) framework; 2) Challenge problems; 3) What's new here; 4) Framework features; 5) Wiring diagram; 6) Generated script; 7) Results of script; 8) Initial algorithms; 9) Independent Component Analysis for instrument diagnosis; 10) Output sensory mapping virtual joystick; 11) Output sensory mapping typing; 12) Closed-loop feedback mu-rhythm control; 13) Closed-loop training; 14) Data sources; and 15) Algorithms. This paper is in viewgraph form.

Facts and Feelings: Exploring the Affective Domain in the Learning of Physics.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Alsop, Steve; Watts, Mike

2000-01-01

Presents the results of a comparative study of two groups of learners. Explores whether their feelings about a potentially emotive topic--radioactivity--influence their approach to learning. (Author/CCM)

Towards the Establishment of a Strategic Framework for a Global Exploration Strategy.

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Messina, Piero

2006-01-01

A viewgraph presentation on the development of space exploration through a framework of the European Space Policy is shown. The topics include: 1) Europe's Involvement in Space Exploration; 2) Different Programs-Similar Goals; 3) International Cooperation; and 4) Establishing an International Cooperation Framework.

Mining Patients' Narratives in Social Media for Pharmacovigilance: Adverse Effects and Misuse of Methylphenidate.

PubMed

Chen, Xiaoyi; Faviez, Carole; Schuck, Stéphane; Lillo-Le-Louët, Agnès; Texier, Nathalie; Dahamna, Badisse; Huot, Charles; Foulquié, Pierre; Pereira, Suzanne; Leroux, Vincent; Karapetiantz, Pierre; Guenegou-Arnoux, Armelle; Katsahian, Sandrine; Bousquet, Cédric; Burgun, Anita

2018-01-01

Background: The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the United States and the European Medicines Agency (EMA) have recognized social media as a new data source to strengthen their activities regarding drug safety. Objective: Our objective in the ADR-PRISM project was to provide text mining and visualization tools to explore a corpus of posts extracted from social media. We evaluated this approach on a corpus of 21 million posts from five patient forums, and conducted a qualitative analysis of the data available on methylphenidate in this corpus. Methods: We applied text mining methods based on named entity recognition and relation extraction in the corpus, followed by signal detection using proportional reporting ratio (PRR). We also used topic modeling based on the Correlated Topic Model to obtain the list of the matics in the corpus and classify the messages based on their topics. Results: We automatically identified 3443 posts about methylphenidate published between 2007 and 2016, among which 61 adverse drug reactions (ADR) were automatically detected. Two pharmacovigilance experts evaluated manually the quality of automatic identification, and a f-measure of 0.57 was reached. Patient's reports were mainly neuro-psychiatric effects. Applying PRR, 67% of the ADRs were signals, including most of the neuro-psychiatric symptoms but also palpitations. Topic modeling showed that the most represented topics were related to Childhood and Treatment initiation , but also Side effects . Cases of misuse were also identified in this corpus, including recreational use and abuse. Conclusion: Named entity recognition combined with signal detection and topic modeling have demonstrated their complementarity in mining social media data. An in-depth analysis focused on methylphenidate showed that this approach was able to detect potential signals and to provide better understanding of patients' behaviors regarding drugs, including misuse.

Exploring the role of physical activity for people diagnosed with serious mental illness in Ireland.

PubMed

Cullen, C; McCann, E

2015-02-01

The aim of the study was to elicit the views and opinions of people diagnosed with serious mental illness in relation to physical activity. Ten people who were attending a community mental health centre participated in semi-structured interviews. The main results showed that participants found physical activity beneficial in terms of psychological and social well-being and perceived clear gains in relation to recovery and quality of life. Physical activity should be routinely included in plans of care and mental health policy guidelines globally should contain physical activity as a key component. Mental health policy guidelines globally should contain physical activity as a key component. The aim of the current study was to explore the subjective experiences of people diagnosed with serious mental illness (SMI) in relation to physical activity. The study was conducted using a qualitative exploratory descriptive approach. The participants (n = 10), who were outpatients attending a day centre, were interviewed to elicit their views and opinions about physical activity. The data were thematically analysed using a recognized framework. The main themes that emerged included physical activity as a meaningful activity, physical activity as a mental activity, quality of life and recovery, and perceived challenges to physical activity. The unique perspectives of service users provides fresh insights on the topic and the findings support the justification for the inclusion of physical activity in plans of care and to be contained in global mental health policy directives. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Topical Conference on the Origin of the Earth

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1988-01-01

The abstracts are presented on the topic of the origin of the Earth. The subject of planetary evolution from inner solar system plantesimals through the formation and composition of the Earth's atmosphere and the physical structure of the Earth and the Moon is explored in great variety.

Visceral Pedagogy: Teaching Challenging Topics Emotionally as Well as Cognitively

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pierce, Joseph; Widen, Holly

2017-01-01

This article explores the pedagogical implications of students' embodied and emotional reactions to difficult course material inside and outside of the classroom. Scholarship on teaching typically focuses on dimensions of students' cognitive engagement and development, yet geographical coursework often involves emotionally fraught topics:…

Between the Stars: A Professional Development Workshop for Teachers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hemenway, Mary Kay; Redfield, S.

2008-05-01

A workshop for secondary school science teachers was conducted at McDonald Observatory in July 2007. Participants did classroom experiments to detect and compare radiation in the ultraviolet, optical, and infrared regions of the electromagnetic spectrum. Other activities involved various aspects of stellar evolution and telescope design. They built spectrometers and considered how astronomers use scientific models. These topics were chosen to help them form a conceptual understanding of the parent projects' research topic: Variations in the Ionization Structure within the Local Interstellar Cloud and Neighboring Clouds. Fifteen teachers from Alaska, Idaho, Michigan, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, and Texas performed these standards-aligned activities at the workshop in preparation for using them within their own classrooms. During three scheduled nights of observing, the participants became familiar with the night sky and the operation of small telescopes. The workshop included tours of other observatory facilities and time to reflect on their own teaching practices. They concluded the workshop by developing concept maps that integrated all aspects of the workshop, including lectures, activities, observing experiences, and tours. Support from The National Aeronautics and Space Administration under an Education and Public Outreach supplement to the Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer Guest Investigator grant NNX07AN07G issued through the Office of Space Science is gratefully acknowledged.

Phloretin Inhibits Phorbol Ester–Induced Tumor Promotion and Expression of Cyclooxygenase-2 in Mouse Skin: Extracellular Signal-Regulated Kinase and Nuclear Factor-κB as Potential Targets

PubMed Central

Shin, Jun-Wan; Kundu, Joydeb Kumar

2012-01-01

Abstract The present study investigated the effect of phloretin [2′,4′,6′-trihydroxy-3-(4-hydroxyphenyl)-propiophenone] on 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol 13-acetate (TPA)–induced cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) expression and tumor promotion in mouse skin and explored the underlying molecular mechanisms. Topical application of phloretin significantly inhibited 7,12-dimethylbenz[a]anthracene-initiated and TPA-promoted mouse skin carcinogenesis. Pretreatment with phloretin on the dorsal skin of mice inhibited TPA-induced COX-2 expression in a dose-dependent manner. To elucidate the molecular mechanism underlying COX-2 inhibition by phloretin, we examined its effect on TPA-induced activation of nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB), a ubiquitous transcription factor responsible for TPA-induced COX-2 expression in mouse skin. Topically applied phloretin decreased the TPA-induced DNA binding of NF-κB. In addition, phloretin inhibited the phosphorylation as well as the catalytic activity of extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK), which was previously found to activate NF-κB and induce COX-2 expression in TPA-treated mouse skin. Taken together, the inhibitory effects of phloretin on TPA-induced NF-κB activation and COX-2 expression through the modulation of ERK signaling may partly account for its antitumor-promoting effect on mouse skin carcinogenesis. PMID:22181070

Phloretin inhibits phorbol ester-induced tumor promotion and expression of cyclooxygenase-2 in mouse skin: extracellular signal-regulated kinase and nuclear factor-κB as potential targets.

PubMed

Shin, Jun-Wan; Kundu, Joydeb Kumar; Surh, Young-Joon

2012-03-01

The present study investigated the effect of phloretin [2',4',6'-trihydroxy-3-(4-hydroxyphenyl)-propiophenone] on 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol 13-acetate (TPA)-induced cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) expression and tumor promotion in mouse skin and explored the underlying molecular mechanisms. Topical application of phloretin significantly inhibited 7,12-dimethylbenz[a]anthracene-initiated and TPA-promoted mouse skin carcinogenesis. Pretreatment with phloretin on the dorsal skin of mice inhibited TPA-induced COX-2 expression in a dose-dependent manner. To elucidate the molecular mechanism underlying COX-2 inhibition by phloretin, we examined its effect on TPA-induced activation of nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB), a ubiquitous transcription factor responsible for TPA-induced COX-2 expression in mouse skin. Topically applied phloretin decreased the TPA-induced DNA binding of NF-κB. In addition, phloretin inhibited the phosphorylation as well as the catalytic activity of extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK), which was previously found to activate NF-κB and induce COX-2 expression in TPA-treated mouse skin. Taken together, the inhibitory effects of phloretin on TPA-induced NF-κB activation and COX-2 expression through the modulation of ERK signaling may partly account for its antitumor-promoting effect on mouse skin carcinogenesis.

Daily life activity routine discovery in hemiparetic rehabilitation patients using topic models.

PubMed

Seiter, J; Derungs, A; Schuster-Amft, C; Amft, O; Tröster, G

2015-01-01

Monitoring natural behavior and activity routines of hemiparetic rehabilitation patients across the day can provide valuable progress information for therapists and patients and contribute to an optimized rehabilitation process. In particular, continuous patient monitoring could add type, frequency and duration of daily life activity routines and hence complement standard clinical scores that are assessed for particular tasks only. Machine learning methods have been applied to infer activity routines from sensor data. However, supervised methods require activity annotations to build recognition models and thus require extensive patient supervision. Discovery methods, including topic models could provide patient routine information and deal with variability in activity and movement performance across patients. Topic models have been used to discover characteristic activity routine patterns of healthy individuals using activity primitives recognized from supervised sensor data. Yet, the applicability of topic models for hemiparetic rehabilitation patients and techniques to derive activity primitives without supervision needs to be addressed. We investigate, 1) whether a topic model-based activity routine discovery framework can infer activity routines of rehabilitation patients from wearable motion sensor data. 2) We compare the performance of our topic model-based activity routine discovery using rule-based and clustering-based activity vocabulary. We analyze the activity routine discovery in a dataset recorded with 11 hemiparetic rehabilitation patients during up to ten full recording days per individual in an ambulatory daycare rehabilitation center using wearable motion sensors attached to both wrists and the non-affected thigh. We introduce and compare rule-based and clustering-based activity vocabulary to process statistical and frequency acceleration features to activity words. Activity words were used for activity routine pattern discovery using topic models based on Latent Dirichlet Allocation. Discovered activity routine patterns were then mapped to six categorized activity routines. Using the rule-based approach, activity routines could be discovered with an average accuracy of 76% across all patients. The rule-based approach outperformed clustering by 10% and showed less confusions for predicted activity routines. Topic models are suitable to discover daily life activity routines in hemiparetic rehabilitation patients without trained classifiers and activity annotations. Activity routines show characteristic patterns regarding activity primitives including body and extremity postures and movement. A patient-independent rule set can be derived. Including expert knowledge supports successful activity routine discovery over completely data-driven clustering.

Exploring Electricity/Electronics. The Illinois Plan for Industrial Education.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Illinois State Univ., Normal.

This guide, which is one in the "Exploration" series of curriculum guides intended to assist junior high and middle school industrial educators in helping their students explore diverse industrial situations and technologies used in industry, deals with electricity and electronics. The following topics are covered in the individual lessons: the…

Environmental Health Topics from A to Z

MedlinePlus

... common diseases to help prevent disease and improve human health. Explore Research Funding Opportunities Grants Grants Explore Grants ... health sciences to understand human disease and improve human health. Use the search box to see research highlights ...

Employed and expecting in Germany: A qualitative investigation into pregnancy-related occupational stress and coping behavior.

PubMed

Lojewski, Julia; Flothow, Annegret; Harth, Volker; Mache, Stefanie

2018-01-01

Previous studies demonstrate a higher risk for pregnant women to experience stressors within the work context and therefore suggest a higher risk for occupational stress. However, the interaction between work and pregnancy in Germany is currently an area without much active research, even though it is a common occurrence. This qualitative study explores stressors, coping behaviors and related consequences for pregnant employees in Germany. Furthermore, the study researches intervention possibilities for the purpose to prevent the target group from negative health outcomes. Thirteen semi-standardized interviews with employed pregnant women living and working in Germany were conducted. The interviews were recorded and verbatim transcribed. Data was analyzed by Mayring's structuring qualitative content analysis. Compounding the results, the interviewed women noted most frequently stressors in relation to their employer/line manager due to their pregnant condition. Even though the women showed various adaptive coping behaviors, the identified negative consequences, mainly on their emotional wellbeing. Various intervention possibilities to improve the pregnant employee's situation were mentioned. This study was able to explore broad insights into the topic of pregnant employees in Germany. Therefore, this study underlines the actuality and relevance of the topic and is able to contribute to a scientific discussion about pregnancy at the workplace.

Physicians' Religious Topic Avoidance during Clinical Interactions.

PubMed

Villagran, Melinda M; MacArthur, Brenda L; Lee, Lauren E; Ledford, Christy J W; Canzona, Mollie R

2017-05-08

Religious and spiritual (R/S) conversations at the end-of-life function to help patients and their families find comfort in difficult circumstances. Physicians who feel uncertain about how to discuss topics related to religious beliefs may seek to avoid R/S conversations with their patients. This study utilized a two-group objective structured clinical examination with a standardized patient to explore differences in physicians' use of R/S topic avoidance tactics during a clinical interaction. Results indicated that physicians used more topic avoidance tactics in response to patients' R/S inquiries than patients' R/S disclosures; however, the use of topic avoidance tactics did not eliminate the need to engage in patient-initiated R/S interactions.

Physicians’ Religious Topic Avoidance during Clinical Interactions

PubMed Central

Villagran, Melinda M.; MacArthur, Brenda L.; Lee, Lauren E.; Ledford, Christy J. W.; Canzona, Mollie R.

2017-01-01

Religious and spiritual (R/S) conversations at the end-of-life function to help patients and their families find comfort in difficult circumstances. Physicians who feel uncertain about how to discuss topics related to religious beliefs may seek to avoid R/S conversations with their patients. This study utilized a two-group objective structured clinical examination with a standardized patient to explore differences in physicians’ use of R/S topic avoidance tactics during a clinical interaction. Results indicated that physicians used more topic avoidance tactics in response to patients’ R/S inquiries than patients’ R/S disclosures; however, the use of topic avoidance tactics did not eliminate the need to engage in patient-initiated R/S interactions. PMID:28481290

Mobile Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hockly, Nicky

2013-01-01

In this series, we explore current technology-related themes and topics. The series aims to discuss and demystify what may be new areas for some readers and to consider their relevance to English language teachers. In future articles, we will be covering topics such as learning technologies in low-resource environments, personal learning networks,…

Ocean Prospects: A High School Teacher's Guide to Ocean-Related Topics.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Plummer, C. M.

Provided in this guide are resources for these 11 topics: the physical/geological ocean; the chemical/biological ocean; the ocean's coasts; fishing and aquaculture; tourism, recreation, and development; mining and drilling; research and exploration; maritime and military; ocean technology; pollution; and resource management. These resources…

Agriculture, Food Production, and Rural Land Use in Advanced Placement® Human Geography

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Moseley, William G.; Watson, Nancy H.

2016-01-01

''Agriculture, Food, and Rural Land Use" constitutes a major part of the AP Human Geography course outline. This article explores challenging topics to teach, emerging research trends in agricultural geography, and sample teaching approaches for concretizing abstract topics. It addresses content identified as "essential knowledge"…

Saving the Manatee

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Quinn, Kelley

2012-01-01

The underwater ecosystem of the ocean is a topic that is explored extensively by first-grade students in the author's school. By engaging students in literature and science, the author was able to introduce the topic of endangered sea life and the ways students can make a difference to protect the oceans. (Contains 1 online resource.)

The Retention of Meaningful Understanding of Meiosis and Genetics.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cavallo, Ann Liberatore

This study investigated the retention of meaningful understanding of the biological topics of meiosis, the Punnett square method and the relations between these two topics. This study also explored the predictive influence of students' general tendency to learn meaningfully or by rote (meaningful learning orientation), prior knowledge of meiosis,…

Exploring the Relationship Between Distributed Training, Integrated Learning Environments, and Immersive Training Environments

DTIC Science & Technology

2007-01-01

educating and training (O’Keefe IV & McIntyre III, 2006). Topics vary widely from standard educational topics such as teaching kids physics, mechanics...Winn, W., & Yu, R. (1997). The Impact of Three Dimensional Immersive Virtual Environments on Modern Pedagogy : Global Change, VR and Learning

International Communication; Media, Channels, Functions.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fisher, Heinz-Dietrich, Ed.; Merrill, John Calhoun, Ed.

A total of 41 essays explore several major issues in international communication. The essays are grouped according to their topic, beginning with the broader topics of communication systems and concepts and the flow of world news and proceeding to considerations of national concerns such as freedom and restriction of communication, national…

Expertise in Mathematics Instruction: Subject Matter Knowledge.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Leinhardt, Gaea; Smith, Donald

The relationship between expert teachers' classroom behavior and their subject matter knowledge is an area of research that has not been examined extensively. To begin that study, one topic, fraction knowledge, was explored in depth as it occurred in natural teaching settings. Fractions are one of the more difficult topics in elementary…

Transportation: Topic Paper E.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

National Council on the Handicapped, Washington, DC.

As one of a series of topic papers assessing federal laws and programs affecting persons with disabilities, this paper reviews the issue of transportation services. In the area of urban mass transit, four relevant pieces of legislation and public transportation accessibility regulations are cited, and cost issues are explored. Paratransit systems,…

Thinking Conics

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lewis, Richard

2008-01-01

For their course, mathematics students at Bath Spa University were asked to choose a topic and explore the mathematics. As well as learning some mathematics, the author hoped that the assignment would shed light on the process of mathematical investigation itself. Their course leader had suggested that the topic of conic sections was rich, and…

Mainstreaming Handicapped Preschoolers. Proceedings of a Topical Workshop. TADscripts '82.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Anderson, Joan; Black, Talbot

The document offers proceedings from a Technical Assistance Development System (TADS) topical workshop designed to explore the implications of mainstreaming for early childhood education. The first section contains an adaptation of the keynote address by A. Turnbull titled "Integration of Handicapped Children in Home, School, and…

Tomorrow's Journalists: In-Groups, Out-Groups, and News Topic Preference

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Netzley, Sara Baker; Banning, Stephen A.

2011-01-01

This study explored whether student journalists believed they shared news topic preferences with the public. Previous research suggests journalists are very different from the audiences they serve, which may influence their perceptions of audience story preferences because of the social identity theory and the social distance corollary. A national…

Exploring Connections Between Earth Science and Biology - Interdisciplinary Science Activities for Schools

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vd Flier-Keller, E.; Carolsfeld, C.; Bullard, T.

2009-05-01

To increase teaching of Earth science in schools, and to reflect the interdisciplinary nature and interrelatedness of science disciplines in today's world, we are exploring opportunities for linking Earth science and Biology through engaging and innovative hands-on science activities for the classroom. Through the NSERC-funded Pacific CRYSTAL project based at the University of Victoria, scientists, science educators, and teachers at all levels in the school system are collaborating to research ways of enriching the preparation of students in math and science, and improving the quality of science education from Kindergarten to Grade 12. Our primary foci are building authentic, engaging science experiences for students, and fostering teacher leadership through teacher professional development and training. Interdisciplinary science activities represent an important way of making student science experiences real, engaging and relevant, and provide opportunities to highlight Earth science related topics within other disciplines, and to expand the Earth science taught in schools. The Earth science and Biology interdisciplinary project builds on results and experiences of existing Earth science education activities, and the Seaquaria project. We are developing curriculum-linked activities and resource materials, and hosting teacher workshops, around two initial areas; soils, and marine life and the fossil record. An example activity for the latter is the hands-on examination of organisms occupying the nearshore marine environment using a saltwater aquarium and touch tank or beach fieldtrip, and relating this to a suite of marine fossils to facilitate student thinking about representation of life in the fossil record e.g. which life forms are typically preserved, and how are they preserved? Literacy activities such as fossil obituaries encourage exploration of paleoenvironments and life habits of fossil organisms. Activities and resources are being tested with teachers and student teachers through workshops, at teacher conferences, and participating Faculties of Education.

From "Sooo excited!!!" to "So proud": using language to study development.

PubMed

Kern, Margaret L; Eichstaedt, Johannes C; Schwartz, H Andrew; Park, Gregory; Ungar, Lyle H; Stillwell, David J; Kosinski, Michal; Dziurzynski, Lukasz; Seligman, Martin E P

2014-01-01

We introduce a new method, differential language analysis (DLA), for studying human development in which computational linguistics are used to analyze the big data available through online social media in light of psychological theory. Our open vocabulary DLA approach finds words, phrases, and topics that distinguish groups of people based on 1 or more characteristics. Using a data set of over 70,000 Facebook users, we identify how word and topic use vary as a function of age and compile cohort specific words and phrases into visual summaries that are face valid and intuitively meaningful. We demonstrate how this methodology can be used to test developmental hypotheses, using the aging positivity effect (Carstensen & Mikels, 2005) as an example. While in this study we focused primarily on common trends across age-related cohorts, the same methodology can be used to explore heterogeneity within developmental stages or to explore other characteristics that differentiate groups of people. Our comprehensive list of words and topics is available on our web site for deeper exploration by the research community. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved.

A Visual Analytics Framework for Identifying Topic Drivers in Media Events.

PubMed

Lu, Yafeng; Wang, Hong; Landis, Steven; Maciejewski, Ross

2017-09-14

Media data has been the subject of large scale analysis with applications of text mining being used to provide overviews of media themes and information flows. Such information extracted from media articles has also shown its contextual value of being integrated with other data, such as criminal records and stock market pricing. In this work, we explore linking textual media data with curated secondary textual data sources through user-guided semantic lexical matching for identifying relationships and data links. In this manner, critical information can be identified and used to annotate media timelines in order to provide a more detailed overview of events that may be driving media topics and frames. These linked events are further analyzed through an application of causality modeling to model temporal drivers between the data series. Such causal links are then annotated through automatic entity extraction which enables the analyst to explore persons, locations, and organizations that may be pertinent to the media topic of interest. To demonstrate the proposed framework, two media datasets and an armed conflict event dataset are explored.

Topical anti-inflammatory activity of a monofloral honey of Mimosa scabrella provided by Melipona marginata during winter in southern Brazil.

PubMed

Borsato, Débora M; Prudente, Arthur S; Döll-Boscardin, Patrícia M; Borsato, Aurélio V; Luz, Cynthia F P; Maia, Beatriz H L N S; Cabrini, Daniela A; Otuki, Michel F; Miguel, Marilis D; Farago, Paulo V; Miguel, Obdulio G

2014-07-01

Melipona marginata is an endangered species of stingless bee from Brazil that produces honey with particular physicochemical features and a remarkable exotic flavor. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report devoted to exploring the medicinal potential of this honey. Thus, the aim of this paper was to investigate the potential anti-inflammatory activity of honey extract from M. marginata on skin inflammation. The honey sample was classified as a monofloral honey of Mimosa scabrella. The presence of 11 phenolic compounds as kaempferol and caffeic acid was detected using the high-performance liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization-tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-UV-ESI-MS) method. The anti-inflammatory activity was measured using a 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate-induced ear edema model of inflammation in mice. The topical application of the M. marginata honey extract (1.0 mg/ear) was able to reduce ear edema with an inhibitory effect of 54 ± 5%. This extract decreased the myeloperoxidase activity in 75 ± 3%, which suggests a lower leucocyte infiltration that was confirmed by histological analysis. This extract also provided a reduction of 55 ± 14% in the production of reactive oxygen species. This anti-inflammatory activity could be due to a synergic effect of the phenolic compounds identified in the honey sample. Taken together, these results open up new possibilities for the use of M. marginata honey extract in skin disorders.

Mental Mechanisms for Topics Identification

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

Topics identification (TI) is the process that consists in determining the main themes present in natural language documents. The current TI modeling paradigm aims at acquiring semantic information from statistic properties of large text datasets. We investigate the mental mechanisms responsible for the identification of topics in a single document given existing knowledge. Our main hypothesis is that topics are the result of accumulated neural activation of loosely organized information stored in long-term memory (LTM). We experimentally tested our hypothesis with a computational model that simulates LTM activation. The model assumes activation decay as an unavoidable phenomenon originating from the bioelectric nature of neural systems. Since decay should negatively affect the quality of topics, the model predicts the presence of short-term memory (STM) to keep the focus of attention on a few words, with the expected outcome of restoring quality to a baseline level. Our experiments measured topics quality of over 300 documents with various decay rates and STM capacity. Our results showed that accumulated activation of loosely organized information was an effective mental computational commodity to identify topics. It was furthermore confirmed that rapid decay is detrimental to topics quality but that limited capacity STM restores quality to a baseline level, even exceeding it slightly. PMID:24744775

Powering the Future of Science and Exploration

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Miley, Steven C.

2009-01-01

This viewgraph presentation reviews NASA's future of science and space exploration. The topics include: 1) NASA's strategic goals; 2) NASA around the Country; 3) Marshall's History; 4) Marshall's Missions; 5) Marshall Statistics: From Exploration to Opportunity; 6) Propulsion and Transportation Systems; 7) Life Support systems; 8) Earth Science; 9) Space Science; 10) NASA Innovation Creates New Jobs, Markets, and Technologies; 11) NASA Inspires Future Generations of Explorers; and 12) Why Explore?

Integrating Computer Spreadsheet Modeling into a Microeconomics Curriculum: Principles to Managerial.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Clark, Joy L.; Hegji, Charles E.

1997-01-01

Notes that using spreadsheets to teach microeconomics principles enables learning by doing in the exploration of basic concepts. Introduction of increasingly complex topics leads to exploration of theory and managerial decision making. (SK)

Communicating psychosocial problems in German well-child visits. What facilitates, what impedes pediatric exploration? A qualitative study.

PubMed

Krippeit, Lorena; Belzer, Florian; Martens-Le Bouar, Heike; Mall, Volker; Barth, Michael

2014-11-01

To examine whether, and if so, how psychosocial topics are discussed between parents and pediatricians. Thirty well-child visits at eight pediatricians' practices in southwest Germany were video recorded. Conversations were analyzed. Although psychosocial topics were frequently touched upon, they were rarely thoroughly explored. Pediatricians pursued a rather reserved conversation style. Especially when parents withdraw and psychosocial stressors are less baby-related, pediatricians hardly explore the psychosocial situation. In summary, the pediatrician's conversation style, the nature of the stressors and the parents' openness are paramount in determining the depth of psychosocial exploration. In order to ensure a good and fair quality of care to all parents, pediatricians should be provided with tailored communicative skills training allowing them to create a climate in which parents may open up and build trust toward their pediatrician. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

VisGets: coordinated visualizations for web-based information exploration and discovery.

PubMed

Dörk, Marian; Carpendale, Sheelagh; Collins, Christopher; Williamson, Carey

2008-01-01

In common Web-based search interfaces, it can be difficult to formulate queries that simultaneously combine temporal, spatial, and topical data filters. We investigate how coordinated visualizations can enhance search and exploration of information on the World Wide Web by easing the formulation of these types of queries. Drawing from visual information seeking and exploratory search, we introduce VisGets--interactive query visualizations of Web-based information that operate with online information within a Web browser. VisGets provide the information seeker with visual overviews of Web resources and offer a way to visually filter the data. Our goal is to facilitate the construction of dynamic search queries that combine filters from more than one data dimension. We present a prototype information exploration system featuring three linked VisGets (temporal, spatial, and topical), and used it to visually explore news items from online RSS feeds.

Effect of users' opinion evolution on information diffusion in online social networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhu, Hengmin; Kong, Yuehan; Wei, Jing; Ma, Jing

2018-02-01

The process of topic propagation always interweaves information diffusion and opinion evolution, but most previous works studied the models of information diffusion and opinion evolution separately, and seldom focused on their interaction of each other. To shed light on the effect of users' opinion evolution on information diffusion in online social networks, we proposed a model which incorporates opinion evolution into the process of topic propagation. Several real topics propagating on Sina Microblog were collected to analyze individuals' propagation intentions, and different propagation intentions were considered in the model. The topic propagation was simulated to explore the impact of different opinion distributions and intervention with opposite opinion on information diffusion. Results show that the topic with one-sided opinions can spread faster and more widely, and intervention with opposite opinion is an effective measure to guide the topic propagation. The earlier to intervene, the more effectively the topic propagation would be guided.

Older Ethnic Minority Women's Perceptions of Stroke Prevention and Walking.

PubMed

Kwon, Ivy; Bharmal, Nazleen; Choi, Sarah; Araiza, Daniel; Moore, Mignon R; Trejo, Laura; Sarkisian, Catherine A

2016-01-01

To inform the development of a tailored behavioral stroke risk reduction intervention for ethnic minority seniors, we sought to explore gender differences in perceptions of stroke prevention and physical activity (walking). In collaboration with community-based organizations, we conducted 12 mixed-gender focus groups of African American, Latino, Chinese, and Korean seniors aged 60 years and older with a history of hypertension (89 women and 42 men). Transcripts were coded and recurring topics compared by gender. Women expressed beliefs that differed from men in 4 topic areas: 1) stroke-related interest, 2) barriers to walking, 3) facilitators to walking, and 4) health behavior change attitudes. Compared with men, women were more interested in their role in response to a stroke and post-stroke care. Women described walking as an acceptable form of exercise, but cited neighborhood safety and pain as walking barriers. Fear of nursing home placement and weight loss were identified as walking facilitators. Women were more prone than men to express active/control attitudes toward health behavior change. Older ethnic minority women, a high-risk population for stroke, may be more receptive to behavioral interventions that address the gender-specific themes identified by this study. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Older Ethnic Minority Women’s Perceptions of Stroke Prevention and Walking

PubMed Central

Kwon, Ivy; Bharmal, Nazleen; Choi, Sarah; Araiza, Daniel; Moore, Mignon R.; Trejo, Laura; Sarkisian, Catherine A.

2015-01-01

Objective To inform development of a tailored behavioral stroke risk reduction intervention for ethnic minority seniors, we sought to explore gender differences in perceptions of stroke prevention and physical activity (walking). Methods In collaboration with community-based organizations, we conducted 12 mixed-gender focus groups of African-American, Latino, Chinese, and Korean seniors aged 60 years and older with a history of hypertension (women=89, men=42). Transcripts were coded and recurring topics compared by gender. Results Women expressed beliefs that differed from men in 4 topic areas: 1) stroke-related interest; 2) barriers to walking; 3) facilitators to walking; and 4) health behavior change attitudes. Compared to men, women were more interested in their role in response to a stroke and poststroke care. Women described walking as an acceptable form of exercise, but cited neighborhood safety and pain as walking barriers. Fear of nursing home placement and weight loss were identified as walking facilitators. Women were more prone than men to express active/control attitudes towards health behavior change. Conclusions Older ethnic minority women, a high risk population for stroke, may be more receptive to behavioral interventions that address the gender-specific themes identified by this study. PMID:26411494

Workplace Violence Against Nurses: Making It Safe to Care.

PubMed

Hester, Susan; Harrelson, Christina; Mongo, Tameki

2016-08-01

This article explores the topic of workplace violence in the health care setting. A definition of workplace violence and those who are most vulnerable is provided. National and state legislation that addresses the topic of workplace violence will be discussed. Other organizations such as the American Nurses Association and The Joint Commission and their position statements will be explored. Lastly, strategies targeting workplace violence prevention and the barriers to implementing identified strategies will be discussed. Workplace violence is a rapidly growing concern for those working in health care. This article provides recommendations for legislative and workplace actions to protect health care workers.

Exploring Fencerows--An Outdoor Teaching Technique.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rillo, Thomas J.

The exploration of fencerows as an outdoor teaching technique is described. The concepts that can be developed as students walk down the fencerows are related to science, life styles, and economy. By dividing a class into small groups, a teacher can employ problem-solving techniques in fencerow exploration. The following group topics are possible…

A Measure of the Potential Impact of Hospital Community Health Activities on Population Health and Equity.

PubMed

Begun, James W; Kahn, Linda M; Cunningham, Brooke A; Malcolm, Jan K; Potthoff, Sandra

2017-12-13

Many hospitals in the United States are exploring greater investment in community health activities that address upstream causes of poor health. Develop and apply a measure to categorize and estimate the potential impact of hospitals' community health activities on population health and equity. We propose a scale of potential impact on population health and equity, based on the cliff analogy developed by Jones and colleagues. The scale is applied to the 317 activities reported in the community health needs assessment implementation plan reports of 23 health care organizations in the Minneapolis-St Paul, Minnesota metropolitan area in 2015. Using a 5-point ordinal scale, we assigned a score of potential impact on population health and equity to each community health activity. A majority (50.2%) of health care organizations' community health activities are classified as addressing social determinants of health (level 4 on the 5-point scale), though very few (5.4%) address structural causes of health equity (level 5 on the 5-point scale). Activities that score highest on potential impact fall into the topic categories of "community health and connectedness" and "healthy lifestyles and wellness." Lower-scoring activities focus on sick or at-risk individuals, such as the topic category of "chronic disease prevention, management, and screening." Health care organizations in the Minneapolis-St Paul metropolitan area vary substantially in the potential impact of their aggregated community health activities. Hospitals can be significant contributors to investment in upstream community health programs. This article provides a scale that can be used not only by hospitals but by other health care and public health organizations to better align their community health strategies, investments, and partnerships with programming and policies that address the foundational causes of population health and equity within the communities they serve.

20% Research & Design Science Project

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Spear, Beth A.

2015-04-01

A project allowing employees to use 15 % of their time on independent projects was established at 3M in the 1950's. The result of this project included products like post it notes and masking tape. Google allows its employees to use 20% of their time on independently pursued projects. The company values creativity and innovation. Employees are allowed to explore projects of interest to them one day out of the week, 20 % of their work week. Products like AdSense, Gmail, Google Transit, Google News, and Google Talk are the result of this 20 % program. My school is implementing the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) as part of our regularly scheduled curriculum review. These new standards focus on the process of learning by doing and designing. The NGSS are very hands on and active. The new standards emphasize learning how to define, understand and solve problems in science and technology. In today's society everyone needs to be familiar with science and technology. This project allows students to develop and practice skills to help them be more comfortable and confident with science and technology while exploring something of interest to them. This project includes three major parts: research, design, and presentation. Students will spend approximately 2-4 weeks defining a project proposal and educating themselves by researching a science and technology topic that is of interest to them. In the next phase, 2-4 weeks, students design a product or plan to collect data for something related to their topic. The time spent on research and design will be dependant on the topic students select. Projects should be ambitious enough to encompass about six weeks. Lastly a presentation or demonstration incorporating the research and design of the project is created, peer reviewed and presented to the class. There are some problems anticipated or already experienced with this project. It is difficult for all students to choose a unique topic when you have large class sizes. Some students find it painful to design something independently as they are used to being told what to do. Assessing the projects, which include a wide degree of ambition established within the proposal, can be challenging. Implementation of this project requires the loss of approximately 20 % of class time. This can be a challenge when class time is already at a premium. However; the benefits of this project outweigh the loss of instructional time. This project is student centered and allows each student to pursue a topic of interest to them. This ability to choose their own topic allows students to explore with very few boundaries to confine their imagination. The project allows students to propose an ambitious project. The option for failure with the design portion of the project allows them to learn that failure is not always negative and can provide many learning opportunities, much like real world situations. This project is aligned with the NGSS encouraging creativity and innovation through unique, authentic investigations in science and technology.

iVFTs - immersive virtual field trips for interactive learning about Earth's environment.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bruce, G.; Anbar, A. D.; Semken, S. C.; Summons, R. E.; Oliver, C.; Buxner, S.

2014-12-01

Innovations in immersive interactive technologies are changing the way students explore Earth and its environment. State-of-the-art hardware has given developers the tools needed to capture high-resolution spherical content, 360° panoramic video, giga-pixel imagery, and unique viewpoints via unmanned aerial vehicles as they explore remote and physically challenging regions of our planet. Advanced software enables integration of these data into seamless, dynamic, immersive, interactive, content-rich, and learner-driven virtual field explorations, experienced online via HTML5. These surpass conventional online exercises that use 2-D static imagery and enable the student to engage in these virtual environments that are more like games than like lectures. Grounded in the active learning of exploration, inquiry, and application of knowledge as it is acquired, users interact non-linearly in conjunction with an intelligent tutoring system (ITS). The integration of this system allows the educational experience to be adapted to each individual student as they interact within the program. Such explorations, which we term "immersive virtual field trips" (iVFTs), are being integrated into cyber-learning allowing science teachers to take students to scientifically significant but inaccessible environments. Our team and collaborators are producing a diverse suite of freely accessible, iVFTs to teach key concepts in geology, astrobiology, ecology, and anthropology. Topics include Early Life, Biodiversity, Impact craters, Photosynthesis, Geologic Time, Stratigraphy, Tectonics, Volcanism, Surface Processes, The Rise of Oxygen, Origin of Water, Early Civilizations, Early Multicellular Organisms, and Bioarcheology. These diverse topics allow students to experience field sites all over the world, including, Grand Canyon (USA), Flinders Ranges (Australia), Shark Bay (Australia), Rainforests (Panama), Teotihuacan (Mexico), Upheaval Dome (USA), Pilbara (Australia), Mid-Atlantic Ridge (Iceland), and Mauna Kea (Hawaii). iVFTs are being beta-tested and used at ASU in several large-enrollment courses to assess its usability and effectiveness in meeting specific learning objectives. We invite geoscience educators to partake of this resource and find new applications to their own teaching.

America at the threshold. [Contains bibliography

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Not Available

1991-01-01

On the 20th anniversary of the first lunar landing mission, Apollo 11, President Bush outlined a program that would put the United States on an aggressive track to return to the Moon to stay, and to land humans on Mars. The president's space policy calls for expanding human presence an activity beyond Earth orbit into the Solar System; obtaining scientific, technological and economic benefits for the American people; encouraging private sector participation in space; improving the quality of life on the Earth; strengthening national security; and promoting international cooperation in space. The Space Exploration Initiative accomplishes these goals. In Augustmore » 1989, NASA began an extensive review to summarize the technology and strategies for going back to the Moon and on to Mars. To obtain the final objective, major topical activities were defined. These activities were incremental capabilities to be achieved to fulfill the national space vision. They include: (1) moon waypoints (lunar exploration; preparation for mars; habitation; lunar based observation; fuels; energy to earth); (2) asteroids waypoints; and (3) mars waypoints. The six national space vision are (1) to increase our knowledge of solar system and beyond; (2) to rejuvenate interest in Science and engineering; (3) to refocus the US position in world leadership (from military to economic and scientific); (4) to develop technology with terrestrial application; (5) to facilitate further space exploration and commercialization; and, (6) to boost the US economy. 126 refs.« less

Mars Surface Mission Workshop

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Duke, M. B. (Editor)

1997-01-01

A workshop was held at the Lunar and Planetary Institute on September 4-5, 1997, to address the surface elements of the Mars Reference Mission now being reviewed by NASA. The workshop considered the current reference mission and addressed the types of activities that would be expected for science and resource exploration and facilities operations. A set of activities was defined that can be used to construct "vignettes" of the surface mission. These vignettes can form the basis for describing the importance of the surface mission, for illustrating aspects of the surface mission, and for allowing others to extend and revise these initial ideas. The topic is rich with opportunities for additional conceptualization. It is recommended that NASA consider supporting university design teams to conduct further analysis of the possibilities.

Extravehicular Activity (EVA) 101: Constellation EVA Systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jordan, Nicole C.

2007-01-01

A viewgraph presentation on Extravehicular Activity (EVA) Systems is shown. The topics include: 1) Why do we need space suits? 2) Protection From the Environment; 3) Primary Life Support System (PLSS); 4) Thermal Control; 5) Communications; 6) Helmet and Extravehicular Visor Assy; 7) Hard Upper Torso (HUT) and Arm Assy; 8) Display and Controls Module (DCM); 9) Gloves; 10) Lower Torso Assembly (LTA); 11) What Size Do You Need?; 12) Boot and Sizing Insert; 13) Boot Heel Clip and Foot Restraint; 14) Advanced and Crew Escape Suit; 15) Nominal & Off-Nominal Landing; 16) Gemini Program (mid-1960s); 17) Apollo EVA on Service Module; 18) A Bold Vision for Space Exploration, Authorized by Congress; 19) EVA System Missions; 20) Configurations; 21) Reduced Gravity Program; and 22) Other Opportunities.

Exploring Sensitive Subjects with Adolescents: Using Media and Technology to Teach about Genocide

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sardone, Nancy B.; Devlin-Scherer, Roberta

2015-01-01

This paper discusses potential strategies and sources for approaching uncomfortable topics and reviews the challenges facing teachers who choose to do so with the topic of genocide as an example. Using a variety of techniques, including graphic organizers, political cartoons, comic books and graphic novels, films, children's and young adult…

Mapping the Infoscape of LIS Courses for Intersections of Health-Gender and Health-Sexual Orientation Topics

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mehra, Bharat; Tidwell, William Travis

2014-01-01

The article explores the information landscape (i.e., infoscape) of library and information science (LIS) courses for intersections of health-gender and health-sexual orientation topics, concerns, and issues. This research was considered important because health information support services essential in today's society must include marginalized…

ElectronixTutor: An Intelligent Tutoring System with Multiple Learning Resources for Electronics

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Graesser, Arthur C.; Hu, Xiangen; Nye, Benjamin D.; VanLehn, Kurt; Kumar, Rohit; Heffernan, Cristina; Heffernan, Neil; Woolf, Beverly; Olney, Andrew M.; Rus, Vasile; Andrasik, Frank; Pavlik, Philip; Cai, Zhiqiang; Wetzel, Jon; Morgan, Brent; Hampton, Andrew J.; Lippert, Anne M.; Wang, Lijia; Cheng, Qinyu; Vinson, Joseph E.; Kelly, Craig N.; McGlown, Cadarrius; Majmudar, Charvi A.; Morshed, Bashir; Baer, Whitney

2018-01-01

Background: The Office of Naval Research (ONR) organized a STEM Challenge initiative to explore how intelligent tutoring systems (ITSs) can be developed in a reasonable amount of time to help students learn STEM topics. This competitive initiative sponsored four teams that separately developed systems that covered topics in mathematics,…

Exploring Undergraduates' Understanding of Transition Metals Chemistry with the Use of Cognitive and Confidence Measures

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sreenivasulu, Bellam; Subramaniam, R.

2014-01-01

Compared to studies on school students' understanding of various topics in the sciences, studies involving university students have received relatively less attention in the science education literature. In this study, we investigated university students' understanding of transition metals chemistry, a topic in inorganic chemistry, which…

Potential Economic Benefits of Consumer Education.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ferguson, Allen R.; And Others

A study explored the potential economic impacts of a large and successful national program of consumer education. Following a literature review, a qualitative analysis was performed on a wide range of topics. The topics pertained to information and the process of consumer choice, the role of advertising, consumer sovereignty and the supply system,…

Resources for History Day 1991: "Rights in History."

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shabbas, Audrey

1991-01-01

This newsletter issue brings to students' attention some of the topics they could explore in working toward an award that the Arab World and Islamic Resources and School Services (AWAIR) organization presented to students participating in History Day 1991. The special category of the awards is Arab or Islamic history. The topics presented were not…

Twitter Use and Its Effects on Student Perception of Instructor Credibility

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

DeGroot, Jocelyn M.; Young, Valerie J.; VanSlette, Sarah H.

2015-01-01

This study investigates college student perceptions of instructor credibility based on the content of an instructor's Twitterfeed and student beliefs about Twitter as a communication tool. Quantitative and qualitative methods were utilized to explore the effects of three manipulated Twitter feeds (e.g., tweeting social topics, professional topics,…

Promoting the Understanding of Mathematics in Physics at Secondary Level

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Thompson, Alaric

2016-01-01

This article explores some of the common mathematical difficulties that 11- to 16-year-old students experience with respect to their learning of physics. The definition of "understanding" expressed in the article is in the sense of transferability of mathematical skills from topic to topic within physics as well as between the separate…

The Praeger Handbook of American High Schools. Volume 3

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Borman, Kathryn M., Ed.; Cahill, Spencer E., Ed.; Cotner, Bridget A., Ed.

2007-01-01

The Praeger Handbook of American High Schools contains entries that explore the topic of secondary schools in the United States. Entries are arranged alphabetically and cover topics as varied as assessment to the history of the American high school, from attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder to gay and straight student alliances, from the No…

Reporting on Radon: The Role of Local Newspapers.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Post, James F.; And Others

Noting that past local media coverage of environmental topics, including those dealing with radiation topics, has often been superficial, a study assessed press coverage of the radon problem in the Lehigh Valley region of Pennsylvania during the first nine months of 1985. The study explored whether local media coverage of radon--a colorless,…

Five Perspectives for Teaching the Holocaust

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lindquist, David H.

2008-01-01

Studying the Holocaust provides an opportunity to explore a fascinating historical topic whose impact on the contemporary world cannot be overstated. As such, the topic is now an accepted part of the American secondary school curriculum. For such curricula to be of maximum benefit to students, clearly defined perspectives that direct the students'…

Science News Stories as Boundary Objects Affecting Engagement with Science

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Polman, Joseph L.; Hope, Jennifer M. G.

2014-01-01

This paper explores how participating in a program spanning an informal science institution and multiple school sites engaged youth with science in a different way. In particular, teens in the program selected and researched science topics of personal interest, and then authored, revised, and published science news stories about those topics in an…

Students' Meaningful Learning Orientation and Their Meaningful Understandings of Meiosis and Genetics.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cavallo, Ann Liberatore

This 1-week study explored the extent to which high school students (n=140) acquired meaningful understanding of selected biological topics (meiosis and the Punnett square method) and the relationship between these topics. This study: (1) examined "mental modeling" as a technique for measuring students' meaningful understanding of the…

Exploring the Development of Student Teachers' PCK of the Multiple Meanings of Chemistry Topics

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

De Jong, Onno; Van Driel, Jan

2004-01-01

In chemical education, many secondary school students experience difficulties in understanding three mutual related meanings of topics, that is, the macroscopic meaning, the microscopic meaning, and the symbolic meaning. As a consequence, student teachers should be prepared carefully to learn how to teach this difficult issue. This article…

An Exploration of the Micropolitics of Instructional Supervision

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kreinbucher, Charles E.

2016-01-01

Instructional supervision has been one of the most researched, and debated topics in education in the last several decades. It continues to be a topic of relevance, especially in Pennsylvania, where the 2013-2014 school year began with the introduction of the teacher supervision and evaluation framework, Act 82 of 2012 (PSBA, 2013). Instructional…

Topic Repetitiveness after Traumatic Brain Injury: An Emergent, Jointly Managed Behaviour

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Body, Richard; Parker, Mark

2005-01-01

Topic repetitiveness is a common component of pragmatic impairment and a powerful contributor to social exclusion. Despite this, description, characterization and intervention remain underdeveloped. This article explores the nature of repetitiveness in traumatic brain injury (TBI). A case study of one individual after TBI provides the basis for a…

Race and TESOL: Introduction to Concepts and Theories

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kubota, Ryuko; Lin, Angel

2006-01-01

The field of teaching English to speakers of other languages (TESOL) brings people from various racialized backgrounds together in teaching, learning, and research. The idea of race, racialization, and racism are inescapable topics that arise in the contact zones created by teaching English worldwide and thus are valid topics to explore in the…

Transformative Multicultural Science Curriculum: A Case Study of Middle School Robotics

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Grimes, Mary Katheryn

2012-01-01

Multicultural Science has been a topic of research and discourse over the past several years. However, most of the literature concerning this topic (or paradigm) has centered on programs in tribal or Indigenous schools. Under the framework of instructional congruence, this case study explored how elementary and middle school students in a…

United States Civil Space Policy: Summary of a Workshop

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2008-01-01

What are the principal purposes, goals, and priorities of the U.S. civil space program? This question was the focus of the workshop on civil space policy held November 29-30, 2007, by the Space Studies Board (SSB) and the Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board (ASEB) of the National Research Council (NRC). In addressing this question, invited speakers and panelists and the general discussion from this public workshop explored a series of topics, including the following: (1) Key changes and developments in the U.S. civil space program since the new national Vision for Space Exploration2 (the Vision) was articulated by the executive branch in 2004; (2) The fit of space exploration within a broader national and international context; (3) Affordability, public interest, and political will to sustain the civil space program; (4) Definitions, metrics, and decision criteria for the mix and balance of activities within the program portfolio; (5) Roles of government in Earth observations from space; and (6) Gaps in capabilities and infrastructure to support the program.

When Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Meets Organizational Psychology: New Frontiers in Micro-CSR Research, and Fulfilling a Quid Pro Quo through Multilevel Insights

PubMed Central

Jones, David A.; Willness, Chelsea R.; Glavas, Ante

2017-01-01

Researchers, corporate leaders, and other stakeholders have shown increasing interest in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)—a company’s discretionary actions and policies that appear to advance societal well-being beyond its immediate financial interests and legal requirements. Spanning decades of research activity, the scholarly literature on CSR has been dominated by meso- and macro-level perspectives, such as studies within corporate strategy that examine relationships between firm-level indicators of social/environmental performance and corporate financial performance. In recent years, however, there has been an explosion of micro-oriented CSR research conducted at the individual level of analysis, especially with respect to studies on how and why job seekers and employees perceive and react to CSR practices. This micro-level focus is reflected in 12 articles published as a Research Topic collection in Frontiers in Psychology (Organizational Psychology Specialty Section) titled “CSR and organizational psychology: Quid pro quo.” In the present article, the authors summarize and integrate findings from these Research Topic articles. After describing some of the “new frontiers” these articles explore and create, the authors strive to fulfill a “quid pro quo” with some of the meso- and macro-oriented CSR literatures that paved the way for micro-CSR research. Specifically, the authors draw on insights from the Research Topic articles to inform a multilevel model that offers multiple illustrations of how micro-level processes among individual stakeholders can explain variability in meso (firm)-level relationships between CSR practices and corporate performance. The authors also explore an important implication of these multilevel processes for macro-level societal impact. PMID:28439247

When Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Meets Organizational Psychology: New Frontiers in Micro-CSR Research, and Fulfilling a Quid Pro Quo through Multilevel Insights.

PubMed

Jones, David A; Willness, Chelsea R; Glavas, Ante

2017-01-01

Researchers, corporate leaders, and other stakeholders have shown increasing interest in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)-a company's discretionary actions and policies that appear to advance societal well-being beyond its immediate financial interests and legal requirements. Spanning decades of research activity, the scholarly literature on CSR has been dominated by meso- and macro-level perspectives, such as studies within corporate strategy that examine relationships between firm-level indicators of social/environmental performance and corporate financial performance. In recent years, however, there has been an explosion of micro-oriented CSR research conducted at the individual level of analysis, especially with respect to studies on how and why job seekers and employees perceive and react to CSR practices. This micro-level focus is reflected in 12 articles published as a Research Topic collection in Frontiers in Psychology (Organizational Psychology Specialty Section) titled "CSR and organizational psychology: Quid pro quo." In the present article, the authors summarize and integrate findings from these Research Topic articles. After describing some of the "new frontiers" these articles explore and create, the authors strive to fulfill a "quid pro quo" with some of the meso- and macro-oriented CSR literatures that paved the way for micro-CSR research. Specifically, the authors draw on insights from the Research Topic articles to inform a multilevel model that offers multiple illustrations of how micro-level processes among individual stakeholders can explain variability in meso (firm)-level relationships between CSR practices and corporate performance. The authors also explore an important implication of these multilevel processes for macro-level societal impact.

Do Therapists Google Their Patients? A Survey Among Psychotherapists

PubMed Central

Herzberg, Philipp Y

2016-01-01

Background The increasing use of the Internet and its array of social networks brings new ways for psychotherapists to find out information about their patients, often referred to as patient-targeted googling (PTG). However, this topic has been subject to little empirical research; there has been hardly any attention given to it in Germany and the rest of Europe and it has not been included in ethical guidelines for psychotherapy despite the complex ethical issues it raises. Objective This study explored German psychotherapists’ behavior and experiences related to PTG, investigated how these vary with sociodemographic factors and therapeutic background, and explored the circumstances in which psychotherapists considered PTG to be appropriate or not. Methods A total of 207 psychotherapists responded to a newly developed questionnaire that assessed their experience of and views on PTG. The study sample was a nonrepresentative convenience sample recruited online via several German-speaking professional therapy platforms. Results Most therapists (84.5%, 174/207) stated that they had not actively considered the topic of PTG. However, 39.6% (82/207) said that they had already looked for patient information online (eg, when they suspected a patient may have been lying) and 39.3% (81/207) knew colleagues or supervisors who had done so. Only 2.4% (5/207) of therapists had come across PTG during their education and training. Conclusions It is essential to provide PTG as a part of therapists’ education and training. Furthermore, the complex problems concerning PTG should be introduced into codes of ethics to provide explicit guidance for psychotherapists in practice. This report provides initial suggestions to open up debate on this topic. PMID:26733210

Microbiological cleanliness of the Mars Exploration Rover spacecraft

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Newlin, L.; Barengoltz, J.; Chung, S.; Kirschner, L.; Koukol, R.; Morales, F.

2002-01-01

Planetary protection for Mars missions is described, and the approach being taken by the Mars Exploration Rover Project is discussed. Specific topics include alcohol wiping, dry heat microbial reduction, microbiological assays, and the Kennedy Space center's PHSF clean room.

Comparing Strategic Knowledge Gaps for Human Mars Settlement vs. Exploration

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mackenzie, B. A.

2012-06-01

We list knowledge needed to establish a permanent Mars base, compared that for round-trip human exploration missions. Topics include: site selection, reliable access to water, long term effects of contaminations, and in-situ materials production.

Using Infiniscope Exploratory Activities in an Online Astronomy Lab Course for Non-Science Majors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Knierman, Karen; Anbar, Ariel; Tamer, A. Joseph; Hunsley, Diana; Young, Patrick A.; Center for Education Through eXploration

2018-01-01

With the growth of online astronomy courses, it has become necessary to design different strategies for students to engage meaningfully with astronomy content. In contrast to some of the previously designed “cookbook”-style lab exercises, the strategy of these Infiniscope activities is to provide an experience where the students explore and discover the content for themselves. The Infiniscope project was created by ASU’s School of Earth and Space Exploration and NASA’s Science Mission Directorate as part of the NASA Exploration Connection project. As part of this project, online activities on topics such as asteroids and Kuiper Belt objects, eclipses, and Kepler’s Laws were designed and created for middle school (grades 6-8) and informal education settings. This poster discusses adapting these activities to the undergraduate non-science major setting. In fall 2017, the Infiniscope activities, such as Small Worlds and Kepler’s Laws, will be incorporated into an Arizona State University online astronomy course, AST 113, which is the laboratory component for the Introduction to Solar System Astronomy course sequence. This course typically enrolls about 800-900 students per semester with a combination of students who are online only as well as those who also take in person classes. In this type of class, we cannot have any in-person required sessions and all content must be delivered online asynchronously. The use of the Infiniscope exploratory exercises will provide students with the ability to use NASA data in a hands-on manner to discover the solar system for themselves.

Raising the topic of weight in general practice: perspectives of GPs and primary care nurses.

PubMed

Blackburn, Maxine; Stathi, Afroditi; Keogh, Edmund; Eccleston, Christopher

2015-08-07

To explore general practitioners' (GPs) and primary care nurses' perceived barriers to raising the topic of weight in general practice. A qualitative study using the Theoretical Domains Framework (TDF). 34 semistructured interviews were conducted to explore views, opinions and experiences of initiating a discussion about weight. Content and thematic analyses were used to analyse the interview transcripts. General practices located in one primary care trust in the South West of England. 17 GPs and 17 nurses aged between 32 and 66 years. The modal age range for GPs was 30-39 years and for nurses, 40-49 years. Barriers were synthesised into three main themes: (1) limited understanding about obesity care, (2) concern about negative consequences, and (3) having time and resources to raise a sensitive topic. Most barriers were related to raising the topic in more routine settings, rather than when dealing with an associated medical condition. GPs were particularly worried about damaging their relationship with patients and emphasised the need to follow their patient's agenda. Uncertainty about obesity, concerns about alienating patients and feeling unable to raise the topic within the constraints of a 10 min consultation, is adding to the reluctance of GPs and nurses to broach the topic of weight. Addressing these concerns through training or by providing evidence of effective interventions that are feasible to deliver within consultations may lead to greater practitioner engagement and willingness to raise the topic. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.

Relationships between students' meaningful learning orientation and their understanding of genetics topics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cavallo, Ann M. Liberatore; Schafer, Larry E.

This study explored factors predicting the extent to which high school students (N = 140) acquired meaningful understanding of the biological topics of meiosis, the Punnett-square method, and the relationships between these topics. This study (a) examined mental modeling as a technique for measuring students' meaningful understanding of the topics, (b) measured students' predisposed, generalized tendency to learn meaningfully (meaningful learning orientation), (c) determined the extent to which students' meaningful learning orientation predicted meaningful understanding beyond that predicted by aptitude and achievement motivation, (d) experimentally tested two instructional treatments (relationships presented to students, relationships generated by students), (e) explored the relationships of meaningful learning orientation, prior knowledge, instructional treatment, and all interactions of these variables in predicting meaningful understanding. The results of correlations and multiple regressions indicated that meaningful learning orientation contributed to students' attainment of meaningful understanding independent of aptitude and achievement motivation. Meaningful learning orientation and prior knowledge interacted in unique ways for each topic to predict students' attainment of meaningful understanding. Instructional treatment had relatively little relationship to students' acquisition of meaningful understanding, except for learners midrange between meaningful and rote. These findings imply that a meaningful learning approach among students may be important, perhaps as much or more than aptitude and achievement motivation, for their acquisition of interrelated, meaningful understandings of science.

Involving High School Students in Computational Physics University Research: Theory Calculations of Toluene Adsorbed on Graphene

PubMed Central

Borck, Øyvind; Gunnarsson, Linda; Lydmark, Pär

2016-01-01

To increase public awareness of theoretical materials physics, a small group of high school students is invited to participate actively in a current research projects at Chalmers University of Technology. The Chalmers research group explores methods for filtrating hazardous and otherwise unwanted molecules from drinking water, for example by adsorption in active carbon filters. In this project, the students use graphene as an idealized model for active carbon, and estimate the energy of adsorption of the methylbenzene toluene on graphene with the help of the atomic-scale calculational method density functional theory. In this process the students develop an insight into applied quantum physics, a topic usually not taught at this educational level, and gain some experience with a couple of state-of-the-art calculational tools in materials research. PMID:27505418

Involving High School Students in Computational Physics University Research: Theory Calculations of Toluene Adsorbed on Graphene.

PubMed

Ericsson, Jonas; Husmark, Teodor; Mathiesen, Christoffer; Sepahvand, Benjamin; Borck, Øyvind; Gunnarsson, Linda; Lydmark, Pär; Schröder, Elsebeth

2016-01-01

To increase public awareness of theoretical materials physics, a small group of high school students is invited to participate actively in a current research projects at Chalmers University of Technology. The Chalmers research group explores methods for filtrating hazardous and otherwise unwanted molecules from drinking water, for example by adsorption in active carbon filters. In this project, the students use graphene as an idealized model for active carbon, and estimate the energy of adsorption of the methylbenzene toluene on graphene with the help of the atomic-scale calculational method density functional theory. In this process the students develop an insight into applied quantum physics, a topic usually not taught at this educational level, and gain some experience with a couple of state-of-the-art calculational tools in materials research.

Institute of Navigation, Annual Meeting, 47th, Williamsburg, VA, June 10-12, 1991, Proceedings

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

1991-11-01

The present volume of navigation and exploration discusses space exploration, mapping and geodesy, aircraft navigation, undersea navigation, land and vehicular location, international and legal aspects of navigation, the history of navigation technology and applications, Loran development and implementation, GPS and GLONASS developments, and search and rescue. Topics addressed include stabilization of low orbiting spacecraft using GPS, the employment of laser navigation for automatic rendezvous and docking systems, enhanced pseudostatic processing, and the expanding role of sensor fusion. Attention is given to a gravity-aided inertial navigation system, recent developments in aviation products liability and navigation, the ICAO future air navigation system, and Loran's implementation in NAS. Also discussed are Inmarsat integrated navigation/communication activities, the GPS program status, the evolution of military GPS technology into the Navcore V receiver engine, and Sarsat location algorithms.

Developing resources to facilitate culturally-sensitive service planning and delivery - doing research inclusively with people with learning disabilities.

PubMed

Unwin, Gemma; Larkin, Michael; Rose, John; Kroese, Biza Stenfert; Malcolm, Stephen

2016-01-01

(Please see www.Toolsfortalking.co.uk for an easy read summary of the project.) The Tools for Talking are a set of resources that were developed through collaboration between Black, Asian and minority ethnic people with learning disabilities and researchers at the University of Birmingham. The resources were designed to be used by people with learning disabilities and service providers to facilitate culturally-sensitive communication and information sharing, service planning and delivery. They comprise illustrative videos and exploratory activities relating to five topics, namely, culture, activities, support from staff, important people, choices and independence. These topics emerged as important to people with learning disabilities during the 'Access to Social Care-Learning Disabilities' (ASC-LD) study which involved interviews with 32 adults with learning disabilities from Black, Asian and minority ethnic communities. The results of the ASC-LD study were used to develop a set of draft resources which were then co-developed through collaboration with people with learning disabilities and service providers. A 'Partnership event' was convened to involve stakeholders in the development of the resources. This paper describes the refinement of these materials by people with learning disabilities from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds in cooperation with a range of other stakeholders. Background Black, Asian and minority ethnic people with learning disabilities face inequities in health and social care provision. Lower levels of service uptake and satisfaction with services have been reported, however, this is largely based on the views of carers. The 'Access to Social Care: Learning Disabilities (ASC-LD)' study sought to explore the views and experiences of social support services among adults with learning disabilities from Black, Asian and minority ethnic communities. Interviews with 32 Black, Asian and minority ethnic adults with learning disabilities were conducted to explore participants' cultural identities, their understanding and experience of 'support'. The views and experiences expressed in the ASC-LD study were used in the 'Tools for Talking project' to develop a suite of resources designed to facilitate culturally-sensitive communication and information-sharing, service planning and delivery through improved mutual understanding between providers and users of services. This paper describes the Tools for Talking project which sought to co-develop the resources through a partnership event. Methods An inclusive approach was adopted to address issues that are important to people with learning disabilities, to represent their views and experiences, and to involve Black, Asian and minority ethnic people with learning disabilities in the research process. Partnerships were developed with provider organisations and service users who were invited to a 'Partnership Event'. Collaborators at the partnership event were asked to comment on and evaluate draft resources which included a series of videos and activities to explore topics that emerged as important in the ASC-LD study. Their comments were collated and the tools developed as they suggested. Results Using the results from the ASC-LD study helped to ensure that the draft resources were relevant to service users, addressing topics that were important to them. The partnership event was an effective method to collaborate with a relatively large number of stakeholders. However, the event was resource intensive and required substantial planning to ensure active and meaningful participation. Considerations, such as inviting stakeholders, developing the programme and selecting a venue are discussed. Conclusions The partnership approach has led to the development of a set of five illustrative videos and accompanying activities that address issues that emerged from the collaborative process including: culture, activities, support from staff, important people, choices and independence. These resources are freely available at: www.Toolsfortalking.co.uk. They are designed to be used by users and providers of services, but may also be useful in other settings.

Overhauling, updating and augmenting NASA spacelink electronic information system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Blake, Jean A.

1991-01-01

NASA/Spacelink is a collection of NASA information and educational materials stored on a computer at the MSFC. It is provided by the NASA Educational Affairs Division and is operated by the Education Branch of the Marshall Center Public Affairs Office. It is designed to communicate with a wide variety of computers and modems, especially those most commonly found in classrooms and homes. It was made available to the public in February, 1988. The system may be accessed by educators and the public over regular telephone lines. NASA/Spacelink is free except for the cost of long distance calls. Overhauling and updating Spacelink was done to refurbish NASA/Spacelink, a very valuable resource medium. Several new classroom activities and miscellaneous topics were edited and entered into Spacelink. One of the areas that received a major overhaul (under the guidance of Amos Crisp) was the SPINOFFS BENEFITS, the great benefits resulting from America's space explorations. The Spinoff Benefits include information on a variety of topics including agriculture, communication, the computer, consumer, energy, equipment and materials, food, health, home, industry, medicine, natural resources, public services, recreation, safety, sports, and transportation. In addition to the Space Program Spinoff Benefits, the following is a partial list of some of the material updated and introduced: Astronaut Biographies, Miscellaneous Aeronautics Classroom Activities, Miscellaneous Astronomy Classroom Activities, Miscellaneous Rocketry Classroom Activities, Miscellaneous Classroom Activities, NASA and Its Center, NASA Areas of Research, NASA Patents, Licensing, NASA Technology Transfer, Pictures from Space Classroom Activities, Status of Current NASA Projects, Using Art to Teach Science, and Word Puzzles for Use in the Classroom.

Lunar interactions: Abstracts of papers presented at the Conference on Interactions of the Interplanetary Plasma with the Modern and Ancient Moon

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Criswell, D. R. (Editor); Freeman, J. W. (Editor)

1974-01-01

Reviewed are the active mechanisms relating the moon to its environment and the linkage between these mechanisms and their records in the lunar sample and geophysical data. Topics: (1) large scale plasma interactions with the moon and non-magnetic planets; (2) ancient and present day lunar surface magnetic and electric fields; (3) dynamics and evolution of the lunar atmosphere; (4) evolution of the solar plasma; (5) lunar record of solar radiations; (6) non-meteoritic and meteoritic disturbance and transport of lunar surface materials; and (7) future lunar exploration.

Space Station personal hygiene study

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Prejean, Stephen E.; Booher, Cletis R.

1986-01-01

A personal hygiene system is currently under development for Space Station application that will provide capabilities equivalent to those found on earth. This paper addresses the study approach for specifying both primary and contingency personal hygiene systems and provisions for specified growth. Topics covered are system definition and subsystem descriptions. Subsystem interfaces are explored to determine which concurrent NASA study efforts must be monitored during future design phases to stay up-to-date on critical Space Station parameters. A design concept for a three (3) compartment personal hygiene facility is included as a baseline for planned test and verification activities.

Integrating Human Factors into Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV) Design

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Whitmore, Mihriban; Holden, Kritina; Baggerman, Susan; Campbell, Paul

2007-01-01

The purpose of this design process is to apply Human Engineering (HE) requirements and guidelines to hardware/software and to provide HE design, analysis and evaluation of crew interfaces. The topics include: 1) Background/Purpose; 2) HE Activities; 3) CASE STUDY: Net Habitable Volume (NHV) Study; 4) CASE STUDY: Human Modeling Approach; 5) CASE STUDY: Human Modeling Results; 6) CASE STUDY: Human Modeling Conclusions; 7) CASE STUDY: Human-in-the-Loop Evaluation Approach; 8) CASE STUDY: Unsuited Evaluation Results; 9) CASE STUDY: Suited Evaluation Results; 10) CASE STUDY: Human-in-the-Loop Evaluation Conclusions; 11) Near-Term Plan; and 12) In Conclusion

Exploring the Multifaceted Topic of Climate Change in Our Changing Climate and Living With Our Changing Climate

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brey, J. A.; Kauffman, C.; Geer, I. W.; Mills, E. W.; Nugnes, K. A.; Stimach, A. E.

2015-12-01

As the effects of climate change become more profound, climate literacy becomes increasingly important. The American Meteorological Society (AMS) responds to this need through the publication of Our Changing Climate and Living With Our Changing Climate. Both publications incorporate the latest scientific understandings of Earth's climate system from reports such as IPCC AR5 and the USGCRP's Third National Climate Assessment. Topic In Depth sections appear throughout each chapter and lead to more extensive, multidisciplinary information related to various topics. Additionally, each chapter closes with a For Further Exploration essay, which addresses specific topics that complement a chapter concept. Web Resources, which encourage additional exploration of chapter content, and Scientific Literature, from which chapter content was derived can also be found at the conclusion of each chapter. Our Changing Climate covers a breadth of topics, including the scientific principles that govern Earth's climate system and basic statistics and geospatial tools used to investigate the system. Released in fall 2015, Living With Our Changing Climate takes a more narrow approach and investigates human and ecosystem vulnerabilities to climate change, the role of energy choices in affecting climate, actions humans can take through adaption, mitigation, and policy to lessen vulnerabilities, and psychological and financial reasons behind climate change denial. While Living With Our Changing Climate is intended for programs looking to add a climate element into their curriculum, Our Changing Climate is part of the AMS Climate Studies course. In a 2015 survey of California University of Pennsylvania undergraduate students using Our Changing Climate, 82% found it comfortable to read and utilized its interactive components and resources. Both ebooks illuminate the multidisciplinary aspect of climate change, providing the opportunity for a more sustainable future.

APPLICATION OF DRY HAWTHORN (CRATAEGUS OXYACANTHA L.) EXTRACT IN NATURAL TOPICAL FORMULATIONS.

PubMed

Stelmakiene, Ada; Ramanauskiene, Kristina; Petrikaite, Vilma; Jakstas, Valdas; Briedis, Vitalis

2016-07-01

There is a great potential for a semi-solid preparation for topical application to the skin that would use materials of natural origin not only as an active substance but also as its base. The aim of this research was to model semisolid preparations containing hawthorn extract and to determine the effect of their bases (carriers) on the release of active components from experimental dosage forms, based on the results of the in vitro studies of the bioactivity of hawthorn active components and ex vivo skin penetration studies. The active compounds of hawthorn were indentified and quantified by validated HPLC method. The antimicrobial and anti-radical activity of dry hawthorn extract were evaluated by methods in vitro. The penetration of active substances into the full undamaged human skin was evaluated by method ex vivo. Natural topical composition was chosen according to the results of release of active compounds. Release experiments were performed with modified Franz type diffusion cells. B.ceieus was the most sensitive bacteria for the hawthorn extract. Extract showed antiradical activity, however the penetration was limited. Only traces of hyperoside and isoquercitrin were founded in epidermis. Protective topical preparation with shea butter released 41.4-42.4% of active substances. Four major compounds of dry hawthorn extract were identified. The research showed that extract had antimicrobial and antiradical activity, however compounds of hawthorn stay on the surface of the undamaged human skin. Topical preparation containing beeswax did not release active compounds. Beeswax was identified as suspending agent. Topical preparations released active compounds when shea butter was used instead of beeswax.

Explorations in Mathematics

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Muses, Charles

1977-01-01

Mathematics provides a language by which man can explore, and describe precisely and profoundly, any possible set of characteristics or relationships in nature. Discussed in this article are several mathematical topics including some historical perspectives in mathematics and new pioneering in hypernumbers. Supplementary sections include…

Address by James C. Fletcher, Administrator National Aeronautics and Space Administration at the National Academy of Engineering, Washington, D.C., 10 November 1975

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1975-01-01

Future plans and programs of the space agency are discussed. Topics discussed include solar energy, space stations, planetary exploration, interstellar exploration, the space shuttles, and satellites.

Parent-child communication about sexual and reproductive health: evidence from the Brong Ahafo region, Ghana.

PubMed

Manu, Abubakar A; Mba, Chuks Jonathan; Asare, Gloria Quansah; Odoi-Agyarko, Kwasi; Asante, Rexford Kofi Oduro

2015-03-07

Young people aged 10-24 years represent one-third of the Ghanaian population. Many are sexually active and are at considerable risk of negative health outcomes due to inadequate sexual and reproductive health knowledge. Although growing international evidence suggests that parent-child sexual communication has positive influence on young people's sexual behaviours, this subject has been poorly studied among Ghanaian families. This study explored the extent and patterns of parent-child sexual communication, and the topics commonly discussed by parents. A cross-sectional design was used to sample 790 parent-child dyads through a two-stage cluster sampling technique with probability proportional to size. Interviewer-administered questionnaire method was used to gather quantitative data on parent-child communication about sex. Twenty sexual topics were investigated to describe the patterns and frequency of communication. The Pearson's chi-square and z-test for two-sample proportions were used to assess sexual communication differences between parents and young people. Qualitative data were used to flesh-out relevant issues which standard questionnaire could not cover satisfactorily. About 82.3% of parents had at some point in time discussed sexual and reproductive health issues with their children; nonetheless, the discussions centered on a few topics. Whereas child-report indicated that 78.8% of mothers had discussed sexual communication with their children, 53.5% of fathers had done so. Parental discussions on the 20 sexual topics ranged from 5.2%-73.6%. Conversely, young people's report indicates that mother-discussed topics ranged between 1.9%-69.5%, while father-discussed topics ranged from 0.4% to 46.0%. Sexual abstinence was the most frequently discussed topic (73.6%), followed by menstruation 63.3% and HIV/AIDS 61.5%; while condom (5.2%) and other contraceptive use (9.3%) were hardly discussed. The most common trigger of communication cited by parent-child dyads was parent's own initiation (59.1% vs. 62.6% p=0.22). Parents in the Brong Ahafo region of Ghana do talk to children about sex, but their conversations cover limited topics. While abstinence is the most widely discussed sexual topic, condoms and contraception were rarely discussed. Sex educational programmes ought to encourage parents to expand sexual communication to cover more topics.

Biomorphic Explorers Leading Towards a Robotic Ecology

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Thakoor, Sarita; Miralles, Carlos; Chao, Tien-Hsin

1999-01-01

This paper presents viewgraphs of biomorphic explorers as they provide extended survival and useful life of robots in ecology. The topics include: 1) Biomorphic Explorers; 2) Advanced Mobility for Biomorphic Explorers; 3) Biomorphic Explorers: Size Based Classification; 4) Biomorphic Explorers: Classification (Based on Mobility and Ambient Environment); 5) Biomorphic Flight Systems: Vision; 6) Biomorphic Glider Deployment Concept: Larger Glider Deploy/Local Relay; 7) Biomorphic Glider Deployment Concept: Balloon Deploy/Dual Relay; 8) Biomorphic Exlplorer: Conceptual Design; 9) Biomorphic Gliders; and 10) Applications.

Auditory and Visual Cues for Topic Maintenance with Persons Who Exhibit Dementia of Alzheimer's Type.

PubMed

Teten, Amy F; Dagenais, Paul A; Friehe, Mary J

2015-01-01

This study compared the effectiveness of auditory and visual redirections in facilitating topic coherence for persons with Dementia of Alzheimer's Type (DAT). Five persons with moderate stage DAT engaged in conversation with the first author. Three topics related to activities of daily living, recreational activities, food, and grooming, were broached. Each topic was presented three times to each participant: once as a baseline condition, once with auditory redirection to topic, and once with visual redirection to topic. Transcripts of the interactions were scored for overall coherence. Condition was a significant factor in that the DAT participants exhibited better topic maintenance under visual and auditory conditions as opposed to baseline. In general, the performance of the participants was not affected by the topic, except for significantly higher overall coherence ratings for the visually redirected interactions dealing with the topic of food.

Auditory and Visual Cues for Topic Maintenance with Persons Who Exhibit Dementia of Alzheimer's Type

PubMed Central

Teten, Amy F.; Dagenais, Paul A.; Friehe, Mary J.

2015-01-01

This study compared the effectiveness of auditory and visual redirections in facilitating topic coherence for persons with Dementia of Alzheimer's Type (DAT). Five persons with moderate stage DAT engaged in conversation with the first author. Three topics related to activities of daily living, recreational activities, food, and grooming, were broached. Each topic was presented three times to each participant: once as a baseline condition, once with auditory redirection to topic, and once with visual redirection to topic. Transcripts of the interactions were scored for overall coherence. Condition was a significant factor in that the DAT participants exhibited better topic maintenance under visual and auditory conditions as opposed to baseline. In general, the performance of the participants was not affected by the topic, except for significantly higher overall coherence ratings for the visually redirected interactions dealing with the topic of food. PMID:26171273

Exploration for heavy crude oil and natural bitumen

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Not Available

1989-01-01

Heavy oil and tar sand reserves are enormous, and this 700-page volume breaks the topic down into six emphasis areas of: regional resources worldwide; characterization, maturation, and degradation; geological environments and migration; exploration methods; exploration histories; and recovery. An appendix presents a guidebook to Santa Maria, Cuyama, Taft-McKettrick, and Edna oil districts, Coast Ranges, California.

Taiwanese Medical Students' Narratives of Intercultural Professionalism Dilemmas: Exploring Tensions between Western Medicine and Taiwanese Culture

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ho, Ming-Jung; Gosselin, Katherine; Chandratilake, Madawa; Monrouxe, Lynn V.; Rees, Charlotte E.

2017-01-01

In an era of globalization, cultural competence is necessary for the provision of quality healthcare. Although this topic has been well explored in non-Western cultures within Western contexts, the authors explore how Taiwanese medical students trained in Western medicine address intercultural professionalism dilemmas related to tensions between…

Lemon grass (Cymbopogon citratus) essential oil as a potent anti-inflammatory and antifungal drugs

PubMed Central

Boukhatem, Mohamed Nadjib; Ferhat, Mohamed Amine; Kameli, Abdelkrim; Saidi, Fairouz; Kebir, Hadjer Tchoketch

2014-01-01

Background Volatile oils obtained from lemon grass [Cymbopogon citratus (DC.) Stapf, Poaceae family] are used in traditional medicine as remedies for the treatment of various diseases. Aims In the present study, lemon grass essential oil (LGEO) was evaluated for its in vivo topical and oral anti-inflammatory effects, and for its in vitro antifungal activity using both liquid and vapor phases. Methods The chemical profile of LGEO as determined by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry analysis revealed two major components: geranial (42.2%), and neral (31.5%). The antifungal activity of LGEO was evaluated against several pathogenic yeasts and filamentous fungi using disc diffusion and vapor diffusion methods. Results LGEO exhibited promising antifungal effect against Candida albicans, C. tropicalis, and Aspergillus niger, with different inhibition zone diameters (IZDs) (35–90 mm). IZD increased with increasing oil volume. Significantly, higher anti-Candida activity was observed in the vapor phase. For the evaluation of the anti-inflammatory effect, LGEO (10 mg/kg, administered orally) significantly reduced carrageenan-induced paw edema with a similar effect to that observed for oral diclofenac (50 mg/kg), which was used as the positive control. Oral administration of LGEO showed dose-dependent anti-inflammatory activity. In addition, topical application of LGEO in vivo resulted in a potent anti-inflammatory effect, as demonstrated by using the mouse model of croton oil-induced ear edema. To our knowledge, this is the first such report to be published. The topical application of LGEO at doses of 5 and 10 µL/ear significantly reduced acute ear edema induced by croton oil in 62.5 and 75% of the mice, respectively. In addition, histological analysis clearly confirmed that LGEO inhibits the skin inflammatory response in animal models. Conclusion Results of the present study indicate that LGEO has a noteworthy potential for the development of drugs for the treatment of fungal infections and skin inflammation that should be explored in future studies. PMID:25242268

Lemon grass (Cymbopogon citratus) essential oil as a potent anti-inflammatory and antifungal drugs.

PubMed

Boukhatem, Mohamed Nadjib; Ferhat, Mohamed Amine; Kameli, Abdelkrim; Saidi, Fairouz; Kebir, Hadjer Tchoketch

2014-01-01

Background Volatile oils obtained from lemon grass [Cymbopogon citratus (DC.) Stapf, Poaceae family] are used in traditional medicine as remedies for the treatment of various diseases. Aims In the present study, lemon grass essential oil (LGEO) was evaluated for its in vivo topical and oral anti-inflammatory effects, and for its in vitro antifungal activity using both liquid and vapor phases. Methods The chemical profile of LGEO as determined by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis revealed two major components: geranial (42.2%), and neral (31.5%). The antifungal activity of LGEO was evaluated against several pathogenic yeasts and filamentous fungi using disc diffusion and vapor diffusion methods. Results LGEO exhibited promising antifungal effect against Candida albicans, C.tropicalis, and Aspergillus niger, with different inhibition zone diameters (IZDs) (35-90 mm). IZD increased with increasing oil volume. Significantly, higher anti-Candida activity was observed in the vapor phase. For the evaluation of the anti-inflammatory effect, LGEO (10 mg/kg, administered orally) significantly reduced carrageenan-induced paw edema with a similar effect to that observed for oral diclofenac (50 mg/kg), which was used as the positive control. Oral administration of LGEO showed dose-dependent anti-inflammatory activity. In addition, topical application of LGEO in vivo resulted in a potent anti-inflammatory effect, as demonstrated by using the mouse model of croton oil-induced ear edema. To our knowledge, this is the first such report to be published. The topical application of LGEO at doses of 5 and 10 µL/ear significantly reduced acute ear edema induced by croton oil in 62.5 and 75% of the mice, respectively. In addition, histological analysis clearly confirmed that LGEO inhibits the skin inflammatory response in animal models. Conclusion Results of the present study indicate that LGEO has a noteworthy potential for the development of drugs for the treatment of fungal infections and skin inflammation that should be explored in future studies.

Lemon grass (Cymbopogon citratus) essential oil as a potent anti-inflammatory and antifungal drugs.

PubMed

Boukhatem, Mohamed Nadjib; Ferhat, Mohamed Amine; Kameli, Abdelkrim; Saidi, Fairouz; Kebir, Hadjer Tchoketch

2014-01-01

Volatile oils obtained from lemon grass [Cymbopogon citratus (DC.) Stapf, Poaceae family] are used in traditional medicine as remedies for the treatment of various diseases. In the present study, lemon grass essential oil (LGEO) was evaluated for its in vivo topical and oral anti-inflammatory effects, and for its in vitro antifungal activity using both liquid and vapor phases. The chemical profile of LGEO as determined by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis revealed two major components: geranial (42.2%), and neral (31.5%). The antifungal activity of LGEO was evaluated against several pathogenic yeasts and filamentous fungi using disc diffusion and vapor diffusion methods. LGEO exhibited promising antifungal effect against Candida albicans, C. tropicalis, and Aspergillus niger, with different inhibition zone diameters (IZDs) (35-90 mm). IZD increased with increasing oil volume. Significantly, higher anti-Candida activity was observed in the vapor phase. For the evaluation of the anti-inflammatory effect, LGEO (10 mg/kg, administered orally) significantly reduced carrageenan-induced paw edema with a similar effect to that observed for oral diclofenac (50 mg/kg), which was used as the positive control. Oral administration of LGEO showed dose-dependent anti-inflammatory activity. In addition, topical application of LGEO in vivo resulted in a potent anti-inflammatory effect, as demonstrated by using the mouse model of croton oil-induced ear edema. To our knowledge, this is the first such report to be published. The topical application of LGEO at doses of 5 and 10 µL/ear significantly reduced acute ear edema induced by croton oil in 62.5 and 75% of the mice, respectively. In addition, histological analysis clearly confirmed that LGEO inhibits the skin inflammatory response in animal models. RESULTS of the present study indicate that LGEO has a noteworthy potential for the development of drugs for the treatment of fungal infections and skin inflammation that should be explored in future studies.

Opportunities for Undergraduates to Engage in Research Using Seismic Data and Data Products

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Taber, J. J.; Hubenthal, M.; Benoit, M. H.

2014-12-01

Introductory Earth science classes can become more interactive through the use of a range of seismic data and models that are available online, which students can use to conduct simple research regarding earthquakes and earth structure. One way to introduce students to these data sets is via a new set of six intro-level classroom activities designed to introduce undergraduates to some of the grand challenges in seismology research. The activities all use real data sets and some require students to collect their own data, either using physical models or via Web sites and Web applications. While the activities are designed to step students through a learning sequence, several of the activities are open-ended and can be expanded to research topics. For example, collecting and analyzing data from a deceptively simple physical model of earthquake behavior can lead students to query a map-based seismicity catalog via the IRIS Earthquake Browser to study seismicity rates and the distribution of earthquake magnitudes, and make predictions about the earthquake hazards in regions of their choosing. In another activity, students can pose their own questions and reach conclusions regarding the correlation between hydraulic fracturing, waste water disposal, and earthquakes. Other data sources are available for students to engage in self-directed research projects. For students with an interest in instrumentation, they can conduct research relating to instrument calibration and sensitivity using a simple educational seismometer. More advanced students can explore tomographic models of seismic velocity structure, and examine research questions related to earth structure, such as the correlation of topography to crustal thickness, and the fate of subducted slabs. The type of faulting in a region can be explored using a map-based catalog of focal mechanisms, allowing students to analyze the spatial distribution of normal, thrust and strike-slip events in a subduction zone region. For all of these topics and data sets, the societal impact of earthquakes can provide an additional motivation for students to engage in their research. www.iris.edu

The Relationship of Engagement in Improvement Practices to Outcome Measures in Large-Scale Quality Improvement Initiatives.

PubMed

Foster, Gregory L; Kenward, Kevin; Hines, Stephen; Joshi, Maulik S

Hospital engagement networks (HENs) are part of the largest health care improvement initiative ever undertaken. This article explores whether engagement in improvement activities within a HEN affected quality measures. Data were drawn from 1174 acute care hospitals. A composite quality score was created from 10 targeted topic area measures multiplied by the number of qualifying topics. Scores improved from 5.4 (SD = 6.8) at baseline to 4.6 (5.9) at remeasurement; P < .0001. Hospitals with higher baseline scores demonstrated greater improvement ( P < .0001) than hospitals with lower baseline scores. Hospitals with larger Medicaid populations ( P = .023) and micropolitan ( P = .034) hospitals tended to have greater improvement, whereas hospitals in the West ( P = .0009) did not improve as much as hospitals in other regions. After adjusting for hospital characteristics, hospitals with improvement champions ( P = .008), a higher level of engagement with their state association ( P = .001), and more leadership involvement ( P = .005) in HEN demonstrated greater improvement.

Mining Social Entrepreneurship Strategies Using Topic Modeling

PubMed Central

2016-01-01

Despite the burgeoning research on social entrepreneurship (SE), SE strategies remain poorly understood. Drawing on extant research on the social activism and social change, empowerment and SE models, we explore, classify and validate the strategies used by 2,334 social entrepreneurs affiliated with the world’s largest SE support organization, Ashoka. The results of the topic modeling of the social entrepreneurs’ strategy profiles reveal that they employed a total of 39 change-making strategies that vary across resources (material versus symbolic strategies), specificity (general versus specific strategies), and mode of participation (mass versus elite participation strategies); they also vary across fields of practice and time. Finally, we identify six meta-SE strategies―a reduction from the 39 strategies―and identify four new meta-SE strategies (i.e., system reform, physical capital development, evidence-based practices, and prototyping) that have been overlooked in prior SE research. Our findings extend and deepen the research into SE strategies and offer a comprehensive model of SE strategies that advances theory, practice and policy making. PMID:26998970

Teaching about ozone layer depletion in Turkey: pedagogical content knowledge of science teachers.

PubMed

Bozkurt, Orçun; Kaya, Osman Nafiz

2008-04-01

The purpose of this study was to investigate the pedagogical content knowledge of Prospective Science Teachers (PSTs) on the topic of "ozone layer depletion." In order to explore PSTs' subject matter knowledge on ozone layer depletion, they were given a form of multiple-choice test where they needed to write the reasons behind their answers. This test was completed by 140 PSTs in their final year at the College of Education. Individual interviews were carried out with 42 randomly selected PSTs to determine their pedagogical knowledge about ozone layer depletion. Data were obtained from the study which indicate that the PSTs did not have adequate subject matter and pedagogical knowledge to teach the topic of ozone layer depletion to middle school students. It was also evident that the PSTs held various misconceptions related to ozone layer depletion. PSTs' inadequate pedagogical knowledge was found in the areas of the curriculum, learning difficulties of students, and instructional strategies and activities. This study provides some pedagogical implications for the training of science teachers.

Mining Social Entrepreneurship Strategies Using Topic Modeling.

PubMed

Chandra, Yanto; Jiang, Li Crystal; Wang, Cheng-Jun

2016-01-01

Despite the burgeoning research on social entrepreneurship (SE), SE strategies remain poorly understood. Drawing on extant research on the social activism and social change, empowerment and SE models, we explore, classify and validate the strategies used by 2,334 social entrepreneurs affiliated with the world's largest SE support organization, Ashoka. The results of the topic modeling of the social entrepreneurs' strategy profiles reveal that they employed a total of 39 change-making strategies that vary across resources (material versus symbolic strategies), specificity (general versus specific strategies), and mode of participation (mass versus elite participation strategies); they also vary across fields of practice and time. Finally, we identify six meta-SE strategies-a reduction from the 39 strategies-and identify four new meta-SE strategies (i.e., system reform, physical capital development, evidence-based practices, and prototyping) that have been overlooked in prior SE research. Our findings extend and deepen the research into SE strategies and offer a comprehensive model of SE strategies that advances theory, practice and policy making.

(Proceedings) 18th Advanced ICFA Beam Dynamics Workshop on Quantum Aspects of Beam Physics (QABP)

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Chen, Pisin

2002-10-25

The 18th Advanced ICFA Beam Dynamics Workshop on ''Quantum Aspects of Beam Physics'' was held from October 15 to 20, 2000, in Capri, Italy. This was the second workshop under the same title. The first one was held in Monterey, California, in January, 1998. Following the footstep of the first meeting, the second one in Capri was again a tremendous success, both scientifically and socially. About 70 colleagues from astrophysics, atomic physics, beam physics, condensed matter physics, particle physics, and general relativity gathered to update and further explore the topics covered in the Monterey workshop. Namely, the following topics weremore » actively discussed: (1) Quantum Fluctuations in Beam Dynamics; (2) Photon-Electron Interaction in Beam handling; (3) Physics of Condensed Beams; (4) Beam Phenomena under Strong Fields; (5) Quantum Methodologies in Beam Physics. In addition, there was a newly introduced subject on Astro-Beam Physics and Laboratory Astrophysics.« less

Tribological Limitations in Gas Turbine Engines: A Workshop to Identify the Challenges and Set Future Directions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

DellaCorte, Chris; Pinkus, Oscar

2000-01-01

The following report represents a compendium of selected speaker presentation materials and observations made by Prof O. Pinkus at the NASA/ASME/Industry sponsored workshop entitled "Tribological Limitations in Gas Turbine Engines" held on September 15-17, 1999 in Albany, New York. The impetus for the workshop came from the ASME's Research Committee on Tribology whose goal is to explore new tribological research topics which may become future research opportunities. Since this subject is of current interest to other industrial and government entities the conference received cosponsorship as noted above. The conference was well attended by government, industrial and academic participants. Topics discussed included current tribological issues in gas turbines as well as the potential impact (drawbacks and advantages) of future tribological technologies especially foil air bearings and magnetic beatings. It is hoped that this workshop report may serve as a starting point for continued discussions and activities in oil-free turbomachinery systems.

Tribological Limitations in Gas Turbine Engines: A Workshop to Identify the Challenges and Set Future Directions. Revised

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

DellaCorte, Chris; Pinkus, Oscar

2002-01-01

The following report represents a compendium of selected speaker presentation materials and observations made by Prof. O. Pinkus at the NASA/ASME/Industry sponsored workshop entitled "Tribological Limitations in Gas Turbine Engines" held on September 15-17, 1999 in Albany, New York. The impetus for the workshop came from the ASME's Research Committee on tribology whose goal is to explore new tribological research topics which may become future research opportunities. Since this subject is of current interest to other industrial and government entities the conference received cosponsorship as noted above. The conference was well attended by government, industrial, and academic participants. Topics discussed included current tribological issues in gas turbines as well as the potential impact (drawbacks and advantages) of future tribological technologies especially foil air bearings and magnetic bearings. It is hoped that this workshop report may serve as a starting point for continued discussions and activities in oil-free turbomachinery systems.

Effects of culture medium compositions on antidiabetic activity and anticancer activity of marine endophitic bacteria isolated from sponge

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Maryani, Faiza; Mulyani, Hani; Artanti, Nina; Udin, Linar Zalinar; Dewi, Rizna Triana; Hanafi, Muhammad; Murniasih, Tutik

2017-01-01

High diversity of Indonesia marine spesies and their ability in producing secondary metabolite that can be used as a drug candidate cause this fascinating topic need to explore. Most of marine organisms explored to discover drug is macroorganism whereas microorganism (such as Indonesia marine bacteria) is very limited. Therefore, in this report, antidiabetic and anticancer activity of Indonesia marine bacteria isolated from Sponges's extract have been studied. Bacteria strain 8.9 which are collection of Research Center for Oseanography, Indonesian Institute of Sciences were from Barrang Lompo Island, Makasar, Indonesia. Bacteria were cultured in different culture medium compositions (such as: different pH, source of glucose and water) for 48 hours on a shaker, then they were extracted with ethyl asetate. Extracts of bacteria were tested by DPPH method (antioxidant activity), alpha glucosidase inhibitory activity method (antidiabetic activity), and Alamar Blue assay (anticancer activity) at 200 ppm. According to result, extract of bacteria in pH 8.0 exhibited the greatest antioxidant (19.27% inhibition), antidiabetic (63.95% inhibition) and anticancer activity of T47D cell line (44.62% cell viability) compared to other extracts. However, effect of addition of sugar sources (such as: glucose, sucrose, and soluble starch) and effect of addition of water/sea water exhibited less influence on their bioactivities. In conclusion, Indonesia marine bacteria isolated from sponge have potential a source of bioactive compound in drug discovery field.

Opportunities to Learn Reasoning and Proof in High School Mathematics Textbooks

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Thompson, Denisse R.; Senk, Sharon L.; Johnson, Gwendolyn J.

2012-01-01

The nature and extent of reasoning and proof in the written (i.e., intended) curriculum of 20 contemporary high school mathematics textbooks were explored. Both the narrative and exercise sets in lessons dealing with the topics of exponents, logarithms, and polynomials were examined. The extent of proof-related reasoning varied by topic and…

Informal Science Learning through Inquiry: Effects on Preschool Students' Achievement in Early Science Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Samsudin, Mohd Ali; Haniza, Noor Hasyimah; Ismail, Juliah; Abd-Talib, Corrienna

2015-01-01

This study was undertaken to explore the effects of informal science learning outside the classroom on preschool students' achievement in the Early Science learning topic (plant-related topics that presented concepts about tree leaves, height and roots) using an inquiry method. A sample of 64 preschool students was selected using purposive…

Cloning: What Are Their Attitudes? A Report on the General Attitudes of a Sample of Midwestern Citizens.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Balas, Andrea K.; Hariharan, Joya

This study, part of a larger research project, explored the knowledge and attitudes of the general population regarding cloning. Such awareness of the general public's knowledge of important science topics, attitudes toward such topics, and sources from which people retrieve information can help scientific and educational communities develop…

Reclaiming Queerness: Self, Identity, and the Research Process

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jackson, Janna Marie

2007-01-01

This article explores some of the challenges and benefits of doing a dissertation with participants from a population to which I belong and on a topic some consider controversial, that of gay and lesbian educators. I describe the homophobia I experienced and how that homophobia affected my choice of topic, the research process, and my job…

Reading across Mediums: Effects of Reading Digital and Print Texts on Comprehension and Calibration

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Singer, Lauren M.; Alexander, Patricia A.

2017-01-01

This study explored differences that might exist in comprehension when students read digital and print texts. Ninety undergraduates read both digital and print versions of newspaper articles and book excerpts on topics of childhood ailments. Prior to reading texts in counterbalanced order, topic knowledge was assessed and students were asked to…

Do They "Really" Get It? Evaluating Evidence of Student Understanding of Power Series

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kung, David; Speer, Natasha

2013-01-01

Most teachers agree that if a student understands a particular mathematical topic well, he/she will probably be able to do problems correctly. The converse, however, frequently fails: students who do problems correctly sometimes do not actually have robust understandings of the topic in question. In this paper we explore this phenomenon in the…

The Use of Poetry in a Spiral-Patterned Methodology for Research about Love in Early Childhood

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cousins, Sarah

2017-01-01

Research about love in early childhood education and care is rare. Love is difficult topic to research and write about in scholarly contexts. In order to properly explore love in professional contexts, practitioner narratives on the topic were sought through individual, unstructured interviews. A spiral-patterned methodological approach was…

Engaging Prekindergarten Dual Language Learners in Projects

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jones, Meredith K.; Shue, Pamela L.

2013-01-01

In a preschool class where the teachers speak only English and the majority of the children speak only Spanish, it is challenging to choose a topic that is interesting enough to engage all children in project work that supports language development. Luckily for the children, pizza is a delicious, familiar, and easily accessible topic to explore.…

Mapping the Literature Structure of "Quality in Higher Education" Using Co-Word Analysis

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Alzafari, Khaled

2017-01-01

Quality in higher education is an attractive and important field not only for higher education institutions but also for their stakeholders. However, the research field is very complex due to the overlapping and interlinking of its topics. Over the years, an enormous amount of studies has been devoted to exploring different topics. Nevertheless,…

Exploring Mathematics Teachers' Pedagogical Content Knowledge in the Context of Knowledge of Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Aksu, Zeki; Kul, Ümit

2016-01-01

Functions are one of the basic topics taught in mathematics curriculum at Secondary school level requiring knowledge from the students' past, and uniting mathematical topics. Mathematics teachers have both their own learning experience of functions, as well as their own teaching experience, leading to the question of what level of student…

Using Conversation Analysis to Explore the Recurrence of a Topic in the Talk of a Boy with an Autism Spectrum Disorder

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stribling, Penny; Rae, John; Dickerson, Paul

2009-01-01

Some higher functioning individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) are reported to produce perseverative talk, especially around "special interests". Topic perseveration is a form of pragmatic impairment captured in Prizant and Rydell's (1993) continuum of unconventional verbal behaviour in autism. Although widely reported, there…

Research Needs for Technology Education: A U.S. Perspective

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Martin, Gene; Ritz, John

2012-01-01

This study was conducted for the purpose of identifying research needs for technology education by generating a rank-ordered list of research topics that the profession's members might wish to explore individually or in collaboration with colleagues and students. The researchers' goal was to provide a concise list of topics that could be used by…

Learning in First-Year Biology: Approaches of Distance and On-Campus Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Quinn, Frances Catherine

2011-01-01

This paper aims to extend previous research into learning of tertiary biology, by exploring the learning approaches adopted by two groups of students studying the same first-year biology topic in either on-campus or off-campus "distance" modes. The research involved 302 participants, who responded to a topic-specific version of the Study Process…

Space Exploration: Challenges in Medicine, Research, and Ethics

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Davis, Jeffrey R.

2007-01-01

This viewgraph presentation describes the challenges that space exploration faces in terms of medicine, research and ethics. The topics include: 1) Effects of Microgravity on Human Physiology; 2) Radiation; 3) Bone; 4) Behavior and Performance; 5) Muscle; 6) Cardiovascular; 7) Neurovestibular; 8) Food and Nutrition; 9) Immunology and Hematology; 10) Environment; 11) Exploration; 12) Building Block Approach; 13) Exploration Issues; 14) Life Sciences Contributions; 15) Health Care; and 17) Habitability.

Attitudes of women in midlife to web-based interventions for promoting physical activity.

PubMed

Im, Eun-Ok; Chang, Sun Ju; Chee, Wonshik; Chee, Eunice

2012-10-01

We explored the attitudes of women at midlife to web-based interventions for promoting physical activity. 145 women volunteered to participate in one of four online forums. The forums were for four major racial/ethnic groups. 90 volunteers were recruited for the online forums (29 Whites, 23 Hispanics, 21 African Americans, and 17 Asians). Two sets of topics on attitudes to physical activity and racial/ethnic contexts were used. Each topic had some introductory questions and related prompts, and these were posted on the online forum sites in a serial fashion during the six-month period. We used a thematic analysis. Four major themes emerged: (1) 'a matter of the source of the information'; (2) 'I can pace myself'; (3) 'lack of interpersonal interactions'; and (4) 'culture-specificity and low cost.' The women in all ethnic groups thought that the source of the information was much more important than the medium of the information (e.g. web-based, booklet or face-to-face). They liked the self-controllability in web-based interventions. They preferred web-based interventions to other types of interventions because of easy accessibility, but they were concerned about lack of interpersonal interaction. None of the White or African American women indicated the need for culture-specificity in web-based interventions, but Hispanic and Asian women indicated that culture-specific interventions should be provided. Web-based interventions appear to have several advantages over conventional approaches to promoting physical activity.

Rural Transition Strategies That Work.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schwartz, Phebe

Successful rural transition strategies which assist disabled rural secondary students in the transition from school to employment and community integration are described. Effective programs and specific strategies touch on such topic areas as job/career exploration, on-site job exploration, career planning, prevocational training, transition…

Topic maps for exploring nosological, lexical, semantic and HL7 structures for clinical data.

PubMed

Paterson, Grace I; Grant, Andrew M; Soroka, Steven D

2008-12-01

A topic map is implemented for learning about clinical data associated with a hospital stay for patients diagnosed with chronic kidney disease, diabetes and hypertension. The question posed is: how might a topic map help bridge perspectival differences among communities of practice and help make commensurable the different classifications they use? The knowledge layer of the topic map was generated from existing ontological relationships in nosological, lexical, semantic and HL7 boundary objects. Discharge summaries, patient charts and clinical data warehouse entries rectified the clinical knowledge used in practice. These clinical data were normalized to HL7 Clinical Document Architecture (CDA) markup standard and stored in the Clinical Document Repository. Each CDA entry was given a subject identifier and linked with the topic map. The ability of topic maps to function as the infostructure ;glue' is assessed using dimensions of semantic interoperability and commensurability.

MSW student perceptions of sexual health as relevant to the profession: Do social work educational experiences matter?

PubMed

Winter, Virginia Ramseyer; O'Neill, Elizabeth; Begun, Stephanie; Kattari, Shanna K; McKay, Kimberly

2016-09-01

Many social work clients are at an increased risk for negative outcomes related to sexual behavior, including unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections (STIs). However, there is a dearth of literature on social work student experiences with these topics in social work classrooms and their perceptions about the topic's relevance to their practice. The purpose of this study is to explore relationships between experiences with STIs and contraception as topics in social work education and practica experiences on student perceptions toward sexual health as a relevant topic for social work. Among a national sample of MSW students (N = 443), experiences with STIs and contraception as topics in practica was significantly related to perceptions toward sexual health's relevance to social work. Findings and implications are discussed.

Developing and assessing research-based tools for teaching quantum mechanics and thermodynamics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brown, Benjamin R.

Research-based tools to educate college students in physics courses from introductory level to graduate level are essential for helping students with a diverse set of goals and backgrounds learn physics. This thesis explores issues related to student common difficulties with some topics in undergraduate quantum mechanics and thermodynamics courses. Student difficulties in learning quantum mechanics and thermodynamics are investigated by administering written tests and surveys to many classes and conducting individual interviews with a subset of students outside the class to unpack the cognitive mechanisms of the difficulties. The quantum mechanics research also focuses on using the research on student difficulties for the development and evaluation of a Quantum Interactive Learning Tutorial (QuILT) to help students learn about the time-dependence of expectation values using the context of Larmor precession of spin and evaluating the role of asking students to self-diagnose their mistakes on midterm examination on their performance on subsequent problem solving. The QuILT on Larmor precession of spin has both paper-pencil activities and a simulation component to help students learn these foundational issues in quantum mechanics. Preliminary evaluations suggest that the QuILT, which strives to help students build a robust knowledge structure of time-dependence of expectation values in quantum mechanics using a guided approach, is successful in helping students learn these topics in the junior-senior level quantum mechanics courses. The technique to help upper-level students in quantum mechanics courses effectively engage in the process of learning from their mistakes is also found to be effective. In particular, research shows that the self-diagnosis activity in upper-level quantum mechanics significantly helps students who are struggling and this activity can reduce the gap between the high and low achieving students on subsequent problem solving. Finally, a survey of Thermodynamic Processes and the First and Second Laws (STPFaSL) is developed and validated with the purpose of evaluating the effectiveness of these topics in a thermodynamics curriculum. The validity and reliability of this survey are discussed and the student difficulties with these topics among various groups from introductory students to physics graduate students are cataloged.

Anti-tumor activity of Aloe vera against DMBA/croton oil-induced skin papillomagenesis in Swiss albino mice.

PubMed

Saini, M; Goyal, Pradeep Kumar; Chaudhary, Geeta

2010-01-01

Human populations are increasingly exposed to various carcinogens such as chemicals, radiation, and viruses in the environment. Chemopreventive drugs of plant origin are a promising strategy for cancer control because they are generally nontoxic or less toxic than synthetic che-mopreventive agents, and can be effective at different stages of carcinogenesis. The present investigation was undertaken to explore the antitumor activity of topical treatment with aloe vera (Aloe vera) gel, oral treatment with aloe vera extract, and topical and oral treatment with both gel and extract in stage-2 skin carcinogenesis in Swiss albino mice induced by 7,12-dim ethylbenz(a)anthracene (DMBA) and promoted croton (Croton tiglium) oil. The animals were randomly divided into 4 groups and treated as follows: Group I, DMBA + croton oil only (controls); Group II, DMBA + croton oil + topical aloe vera gel; Group III, DMBA + croton oil + oral aloe vera extract; Group I V, DMBA + croton oil + topical aloe vera gel + oral aloe vera extract. Results showed that body weight was significantly increased from 78.6% in the control group (Group I) to 92.5%, 87.5%, and 90.0% in Groups II, III, and I V, respectively. A 100% incidence of tumor development was noted in Group I, which was decreased to 50%, 60%, and 40% in Groups II, III, and I V, respectively. Also in Groups II, III, and IV, the cumulative number of papillomas was reduced significantly from 36 to 12, 15, and 11; tumor yield from 3.6 to 1.2, 1.5, and 1.1; and tumor burden from 3.6 to 2.4, 2.50, and 2.75, respectively, after treatment with aloe vera. Conversely, the average latent period increased significantly from 4.9 (Group I) to 5.23, 5.0, and 6.01 weeks in Groups II, III, and I V, respectively. We conclude that aloe vera protects mice against DMBA/croton oil-induced skin papillomagenesis, likely due to the chemopreventive activity of high concentrations of antioxidants such as vitamins A, C, and E; glutathione peroxidase; several isozymes of superoxide dismutase; the minerals selenium and zinc; and polysaccharides in aloe vera.

Group Discussion Topics. Revised Edition.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Area Education Agency 7, Cedar Falls, IA.

A collection of group disussion topics, developed and field-tested by a group of Iowa teachers, is presented in this guide. Twenty-eight topics for K-6 students, 24 topics for K-12 students, and 7 topics for students in grades 7-12 are included. Warm-up activities are given for introducing some of the topics, and lists of questions to provoke…

Efficacy of oral vs. topical, or combined oral and topical 5-aminosalicylates, in Ulcerative Colitis: systematic review and meta-analysis.

PubMed

Ford, Alexander C; Khan, Khurram J; Achkar, Jean-Paul; Moayyedi, Paul

2012-02-01

Efficacy of 5-aminosalicylic acids (5-ASAs) in ulcerative colitis (UC) has been studied previously in meta-analyses. However, no recent meta-analysis has studied the relative efficacies of differing routes of administration. MEDLINE, EMBASE, and the Cochrane central register of controlled trials were searched (through May 2011). Eligible trials recruited adults with mildly to moderately active UC, or quiescent UC, and compared oral 5-ASAs with either topical 5-ASAs or a combination of oral and topical 5-ASAs. Dichotomous data were pooled to obtain relative risk (RR) of failure to achieve remission in active UC, and RR of relapse of disease activity in quiescent UC, with a 95% confidence interval (CI). The number needed to treat (NNT) was calculated from the reciprocal of the risk difference. The search identified 3,061 citations, and 12 randomized controlled trials (RCTs) were eligible. Four compared topical with oral 5-ASAs in active UC remission, with an RR of no remission with topical 5-ASAs of 0.82 (95% CI=0.52-1.28). Four trials compared combined with oral 5-ASAs in active UC (RR of no remission=0.65; 95% CI=0.47-0.91; NNT=5). Three RCTs compared intermittent topical with oral 5-ASAs in preventing relapse of quiescent UC (RR=0.64; 95% CI=0.43-0.95; NNT=4), and two compared combined with oral 5-ASAs (RR of relapse=0.48; 95% CI=0.17-1.38). Combined 5-ASA therapy appeared superior to oral 5-ASAs for induction of remission of mildly to moderately active UC. Intermittent topical 5-ASAs appeared superior to oral 5-ASAs for preventing relapse of quiescent UC.

Progressive Learning of Topic Modeling Parameters: A Visual Analytics Framework.

PubMed

El-Assady, Mennatallah; Sevastjanova, Rita; Sperrle, Fabian; Keim, Daniel; Collins, Christopher

2018-01-01

Topic modeling algorithms are widely used to analyze the thematic composition of text corpora but remain difficult to interpret and adjust. Addressing these limitations, we present a modular visual analytics framework, tackling the understandability and adaptability of topic models through a user-driven reinforcement learning process which does not require a deep understanding of the underlying topic modeling algorithms. Given a document corpus, our approach initializes two algorithm configurations based on a parameter space analysis that enhances document separability. We abstract the model complexity in an interactive visual workspace for exploring the automatic matching results of two models, investigating topic summaries, analyzing parameter distributions, and reviewing documents. The main contribution of our work is an iterative decision-making technique in which users provide a document-based relevance feedback that allows the framework to converge to a user-endorsed topic distribution. We also report feedback from a two-stage study which shows that our technique results in topic model quality improvements on two independent measures.

The Explored Asteroids: Science and Exploration in the Space Age

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sears, D. W. G.

2015-11-01

Interest in asteroids is currently high in view of their scientific importance, the impact hazard, and the in situ resource opportunities they offer. They are also a case study of the intimate relationship between science and exploration. A detailed review of the twelve asteroids that have been visited by eight robotic spacecraft is presented here. While the twelve explored asteroids have many features in common, like their heavily cratered and regolith covered surfaces, they are a remarkably diverse group. Some have low-eccentricity orbits in the main belt, while some are potentially hazardous objects. They range from dwarf planets to primary planetesimals to fragments of larger precursor objects to tiny shards. One has a moon. Their surface compositions range from basaltic to various chondrite-like compositions. Here their properties are reviewed and what was confirmed and what was newly learned is discussed, and additionally the explored asteroids are compared with comets and meteorites. Several topics are developed. These topics are the internal structure of asteroids, water distribution in the inner solar system and its role in shaping surfaces, and the meteoritic links.

Undergraduate Course on Global Concerns

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Richard, G. A.; Weidner, D. J.

2008-12-01

GEO 311: Geoscience and Global Concerns is an undergraduate course taught at Stony Brook University during each fall semester. The class meets twice per week, with one session consisting of a lecture and the other, an interactive activity in a computer laboratory that engages the students in exploring real world problems. A specific concern or issue serves as a focus during each session. The students are asked to develop answers to a series of questions that engage them in identifying causes of the problem, connections with the Earth system, relationships to other problems, and possible solutions on both a global and local scale. The questions are designed to facilitate an integrated view of the Earth system. Examples of topics that the students explore during the laboratory sessions are: 1) fossil fuel reserves and consumption rates and the effect of their use on climate, 2) alternative sources of energy and associated technologies, such as solar photovoltaics, nuclear energy, tidal power, geothermal energy, and wind power, 3) effects of tsunamis and earthquakes on human populations and infrastructure, 4) climate change, and 5) hurricanes and storms. The selection and scheduling of topics often takes advantage of the occurrence of media attention or events that can serve as case studies. Tools used during the computer sessions include Google Earth, ArcGIS, spreadsheets, and web sites that offer data and maps. The students use Google Earth or ArcGIS to map events such as earthquakes, storms, tsunamis, and changes in the extent of polar ice. Spreadsheets are employed to discern trends in fossil fuel supply and consumption, and to experiment with models that make predictions for the future. We present examples of several of these activities and discuss how they facilitate an understanding of interrelationships within the Earth system.

Children's resistance to parents' smoking in the home and car: a qualitative study.

PubMed

Rowa-Dewar, Neneh; Amos, Amanda; Cunningham-Burley, Sarah

2014-04-01

Reducing second-hand smoke exposure in the home is a key tobacco control goal, yet few studies have explored children's views and experiences of this. This study aimed to explore children's accounts of family members' smoking in the home and car and the impact of their socio-economic circumstances. Individual and friendship group interviews using topic guides and visual stimulus methods. Two communities in Edinburgh, Scotland, one socio-economically advantaged, one socio-economically disadvantaged. Thirty-eight children aged 10-15 years who had a close family member who smoked. Focus group and interview topic guides. Participants in both communities expressed a strong dislike of family members' smoking and concern about the potential impact on the smoker's health. Participants described overt and covert acts of resistance, including challenging relatives about their smoking, expressing disgust and concern, hiding or destroying cigarettes. Some acts were carried out in collusion with a non-smoking parent and/or sibling. Resistant acts were constrained by expectations of negative responses, which appeared to increase with age, wider social norms around smoking and whether or not the young person smoked. Some children and young people in the United Kingdom, irrespective of socio-economic status, may actively oppose parents' smoking in the home and car, although their influence may be limited by their position in the family and social norms. © 2013 Society for the Study of Addiction.

Review of pain content in three-year preregistration pediatric nursing courses in the United Kingdom.

PubMed

Twycross, Alison; Roderique, Lynda

2013-12-01

The results of several studies suggest that gaps remain in nurses' knowledge about pain in children, and particularly regarding pain assessment, analgesic drugs, and nondrug methods, suggesting a need to explore the pain content of preregistration nursing curricula. Over the past decade, the way nurse education is delivered has changed with the advent of the internet and the use of virtual learning environments. This study, therefore, explored the depth and breadth of pain content in 3-year preregistration pediatric nursing courses across the U.K. as well as ascertaining how this content is delivered. The leads for pediatric nursing at all 56 U.K. higher education institutions running the 3-year preregistration pediatric nursing course were e-mailed a questionnaire. Participants were asked to indicate whether topics are covered in the program, and if so how it was delivered. Results suggest that preregistration pediatric nursing courses in the U.K. do not always equip students to manage pain effectively in clinical practice. There appears to be limited content on pain in nursing curricula, with several institutions not covering key topics. Most teaching is delivered face to face with limited workbooks and virtual learning activities. Further research is needed in this area to ascertain the impact of this on the quality of care provided. Copyright © 2013 American Society for Pain Management Nursing. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

HierarchicalTopics: visually exploring large text collections using topic hierarchies.

PubMed

Dou, Wenwen; Yu, Li; Wang, Xiaoyu; Ma, Zhiqiang; Ribarsky, William

2013-12-01

Analyzing large textual collections has become increasingly challenging given the size of the data available and the rate that more data is being generated. Topic-based text summarization methods coupled with interactive visualizations have presented promising approaches to address the challenge of analyzing large text corpora. As the text corpora and vocabulary grow larger, more topics need to be generated in order to capture the meaningful latent themes and nuances in the corpora. However, it is difficult for most of current topic-based visualizations to represent large number of topics without being cluttered or illegible. To facilitate the representation and navigation of a large number of topics, we propose a visual analytics system--HierarchicalTopic (HT). HT integrates a computational algorithm, Topic Rose Tree, with an interactive visual interface. The Topic Rose Tree constructs a topic hierarchy based on a list of topics. The interactive visual interface is designed to present the topic content as well as temporal evolution of topics in a hierarchical fashion. User interactions are provided for users to make changes to the topic hierarchy based on their mental model of the topic space. To qualitatively evaluate HT, we present a case study that showcases how HierarchicalTopics aid expert users in making sense of a large number of topics and discovering interesting patterns of topic groups. We have also conducted a user study to quantitatively evaluate the effect of hierarchical topic structure. The study results reveal that the HT leads to faster identification of large number of relevant topics. We have also solicited user feedback during the experiments and incorporated some suggestions into the current version of HierarchicalTopics.

Explorations du lexique (Explorations in Lexicon). Publication B-208.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Auger, Julie; Rose, Yvan

Essays on lexicon and vocabulary development, all in French, address these topics: bilingual lexicon in the context of translation; lexical and conceptual representation in bilinguals; pronouns in "existential" constructions in French and English; configurational functions within grammar; Gustaf Stern's diachronic semantic schema; the…

There's no such thing as bad weather, just the wrong clothing: climate, weather and active school transportation in Toronto, Canada.

PubMed

Mitra, Raktim; Faulkner, Guy

2012-07-10

Climatic conditions may enable or deter active school transportation in many North American cities, but the topic remains largely overlooked in the existing literature. This study explores the effect of seasonal climate (i.e., fall versus winter) and weekly weather conditions (i.e., temperature, precipitation) on active travelling to school across different built and policy environments. Home-to-school trips by 11-12-year-old children in the City of Toronto were examined using data from the 2006 Transportation Tomorrow Survey. Binomial logistic regressions were estimated to explore the correlates of the choice of active (i.e., walking) versus non-active (i.e., private automobile, transit and school bus) mode for school trips. Climate and weather-related variables were not associated with choice of school travel mode. Children living within the sidewalk snow-plough zone (i.e., in the inner-suburban neighbourhoods) were less likely to walk to school than children living outside of the zone (i.e., in the inner-city neighbourhoods). Given that seasonality and short-term weather conditions appear not to limit active school transportation in general, built environment interventions designed to facilitate active travel could have benefits that spill over across the entire year rather than being limited to a particular season. Educational campaigns with strategies for making the trip fun and ensuring that the appropriate clothing choices are made are also warranted in complementing built environment modifications.

Integrating Resources into Curriculum with the Systems Connect Planning Guide

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Oshry, A.; Bean, J. R.

2017-12-01

A broadly applicable and guided approach for planning curriculum and instruction around new academic standards or initiatives is critical for implementation success. Curriculum and assessment differs across schools and districts, so built-in adaptability is important for maximal adoption and ease of use by educators. The Systems Connect Planning Guide directs the flow of instruction for building conceptual links between topics in a unit/curriculum through critical vetting and integration of relevant resources. This curricular template is flexible for use in any setting or subject area, and ensures applicability, high impact and responsiveness to academic standards while providing inquiry-based, real-world investigations and action that incorporate authentic research and data. These needs are what informed the creation of the three components of the planning guide:• Curriculum Anchor: alignment with academic standards & learning outcomes and setting the context of the topic• Issues Investigations: informing how students explore topics, and incorporate authentic research and data into learning progressions• Civic Action: development of how students could apply their knowledgeThe Planning Guide also incorporates criteria from transdisciplinary practices, cross-cutting concepts, and organizational charts for outlining guiding questions and conceptual links embedded in the guide. Integration of experiential learning and real-world connections into curricula is important for proficiency and deeper understanding of content, replacing discrete, stand-alone experiences which are not explicitly connected. Rather than information being dispelled through individual activities, relying on students to make the connections, intentionally documenting explicit connections provides opportunities to foster deeper understanding by building conceptual links between topics, which is how fundamental knowledge about earth and living systems is gained. Through the critical vetting and sequencing of these resources, educators establish cohesive learning progressions that explicitly build conceptual links between topics, enabling students to use these activities to develop evidence-based explanations of the natural world.

In-Depth Coursework in Undergraduate Inorganic Chemistry: Results from a National Survey of Inorganic Chemistry Faculty

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Raker, Jeffrey R.; Reisner, Barbara A.; Smith, Sheila R.; Stewart, Joanne L.; Crane, Johanna L.; Pesterfield, Les; Sobel, Sabrina G.

2015-01-01

A national survey of inorganic chemists explored the self-reported topics covered in in-depth inorganic chemistry courses at the postsecondary level; an in-depth course is defined by the American Chemical Society's Committee on Professional Training as a course that integrates and covers topics that were introduced in introductory and foundation…

Emerging Trends on the Topic of Information Technology in the Field of Educational Sciences: A Bibliometric Exploration

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

González-Valiente, Carlos Luis

2015-01-01

The paper presents a bibliometric analysis on the topic of Information Technology (IT) in the field of Educational Sciences, aimed at envisioning the research emerging trends. The ERIC database is used as a consultation source; the results were subjected to productivity by authors, journals, and term co-occurrence analysis indicators for the…

Gender and Diversity Topics Taught in Commission on Accreditation for Marriage and Family Therapy Education Programs

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Winston, Ebony Joy; Piercy, Fred P.

2010-01-01

This article explores how the topics of gender and diversity are being taught and defined in accredited marriage and family therapy programs through syllabi content analysis and interviews with selected faculty. We examined findings by program (master's and doctoral) and type of training (those that taught specific gender and culture courses and…

Using Notebooks to Supplement Bridge Courses

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Crisman, Karl-Dieter

2012-01-01

Faculty often wish to allow for guided exploration or a deeper view of at least one topic in a bridge course. However, when the time allotted to such a course is only seven to ten weeks, it can be difficult to avoid moving quickly from one topic to another--leaving little opportunity for students to see a unified context in which the structures…

Time for "The Talk"... Now What? Autonomy Support and Structure in Mother-Daughter Conversations about Sex

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mauras, Carrie P.; Grolnick, Wendy S.; Friendly, Rachel W.

2013-01-01

This study explored how mothers communicated with their young adolescent daughters about the high-stakes topic of sex, as well as more everyday topics, from a Self-Determination Theory perspective. Mothers and their 11- to 14-year-old daughters (44 dyads) participated in two conversations and reported on their experiences. In the everyday…

Exploring Perspectives of Individuals with Intellectual Disabilities and Histories of Challenging Behaviors about Family Relationships: An Emergent Topic in a Grounded Theory Focus Group Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brown, Julie F.; Hamilton-Mason, Johnnie; Maramaldi, Peter; Barnhill, L. Jarrett

2016-01-01

The perspectives of individuals with intellectual disabilities (ID) about family relationships are underrepresented in the literature. The topic of family relationships emerged in a grounded theory exploratory focus group study that involved thirty dually diagnosed participants with moderate or mild intellectual disabilities and histories of…

Is That Mother in the Bottle? Where Language Came From and Where It Is Going.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Davidson, Jessica

This book is an introduction to linguistics, written for the beginning student. Among the topics explored are speculations about the origins of language, its nature, how it grows, and how it changes. Other topics include what is essential in the structure of language, the similarities and differences among languages, how the varying patterns of…

Critical Literacy and Transgender Topics in an Upper Elementary Classroom: A Portrait of Possibility

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hermann-Wilmarth, Jill M.; Lannen, Rosemary; Ryan, Caitlin L.

2017-01-01

In this paper, we explore the intersection of critical literacy pedagogy, queer pedagogy, and transgender topics by turning our attention to the learning that supported the writing of an acrostic poem about Title IX and transgender students. We examine how this writing, in turn, created additional content and context that spurred others' learning.…

Not the Israel of My Elementary School: An Exploration of Jewish-Canadian Secondary Students' Attempts to Process Morally Complex Israeli Narratives

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Reingold, Matt

2017-01-01

The following article presents data from a mixed-methods practitioner research study that focuses on understanding how Jewish secondary students learned about controversial topics in Israel's history and how these topics impacted their connection to the country. The responses that were provided by the students showed that the material forced…

Evaluation of diagnostic tools that tertiary teachers can apply to profile their students' conceptions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schultz, Madeleine; Lawrie, Gwendolyn A.; Bailey, Chantal H.; Bedford, Simon B.; Dargaville, Tim R.; O'Brien, Glennys; Tasker, Roy; Thompson, Christopher D.; Williams, Mark; Wright, Anthony H.

2017-03-01

A multi-institution collaborative team of Australian chemistry education researchers, teaching a total of over 3000 first year chemistry students annually, has explored a tool for diagnosing students' prior conceptions as they enter tertiary chemistry courses. Five core topics were selected and clusters of diagnostic items were assembled linking related concepts in each topic together. An ordered multiple choice assessment strategy was adopted to enable provision of formative feedback to students through combination of the specific distractors that they chose. Concept items were either sourced from existing research instruments or developed by the project team. The outcome is a diagnostic tool consisting of five topic clusters of five concept items that has been delivered in large introductory chemistry classes at five Australian institutions. Statistical analysis of data has enabled exploration of the composition and validity of the instrument including a comparison between delivery of the complete 25 item instrument with subsets of five items, clustered by topic. This analysis revealed that most items retained their validity when delivered in small clusters. Tensions between the assembly, validation and delivery of diagnostic instruments for the purposes of acquiring robust psychometric research data versus their pragmatic use are considered in this study.

Attitudes toward Physical Activity of White Midlife Women

PubMed Central

Im, Eun-Ok; Lee, Bokim; Chee, Wonshik; Stuifbergen, Alexa

2011-01-01

Objective To explore attitudes toward physical activity of White midlife women in the United States using a feminist perspective. Design A cross-sectional qualitative study using a thematic analysis. Setting Internet communities for midlife women. Participants Twenty-nine White midlife women in the United States recruited using a convenience sampling method. Methods We used 17 topics on attitudes toward physical activity and ethnic-specific contexts to administer an online forum. We analyzed the data using thematic analysis. Results We found three themes: “thinking without action”; “gendered and sedentary culture”; and “motivating myself.” The women knew and understood the necessity of physical activity for their physical and mental health but in most cases had not been able to take action to increase their physical activities. Although the culture that circumscribed the women's physical activity was sedentary in nature, the women tried to motivate themselves to increase their physical activities through several creative strategies. Conclusion The findings strongly suggest that although women were doing their best, American culture itself needs to be changed to help women increase physical activity in their daily lives. PMID:21585528

After-school, Activity-based Physical Science in a Low-income, Rural County

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Small, Staci; Ryan, Ben; Vann, Nik; Moore, Christopher

2010-02-01

Longwood University's Society of Physics Students conducted a six-week, activity-based after-school program for middle-school students in partnership with a rural low-income school system. Hands-on learning activities were designed and implemented to improve content knowledge in typically low-scoring standardized testing areas in the physical sciences. For example, we used colored yarn of different lengths to help demonstrate visible light in the electromagnetic spectrum along with the relationship between wavelength and frequency. Other topics were explored, such as reflection, refraction, sound and inference. At the end of the six-week program, a science exposition was held where the students came to Longwood and participated in more sophisticated experiments, such as liquid nitrogen demonstrations. After the exposition, Longwood University held a small awards ceremony in which the parents were invited to watch their students receive an award congratulating them on completing the program and welcoming them into the Lancer Discovery Club. )

Active learning in forensic science using Brownfield Action in a traditional or hybrid course in earth, environmental, or engineering sciences

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bower, P.; Liddicoat (2), J.

2009-04-01

Brownfield Action (BA - http://www.brownfieldaction.org) is a web-based, interactive, three-dimensional digital space and learning simulation in which students form geotechnical consulting companies and work collaboratively to explore and solve problems in environmental forensics. BA is being used in the United States at 10 colleges and universities in earth, environmental, or engineering sciences undergraduate and graduate courses. As a semester-long activity or done in modular form for specific topics, BA encourages active learning that requires attention to detail, intuition, and positive interaction between peers that results in Phase 1 and Phase 2 Environmental Site Assessments. Besides use in higher education courses, BA also can be adapted for instruction to local, state, and federal governmental employees, and employees in industry where brownfields need to be investigated or require remediation.

Conceptual Frameworks for the Workplace Change Adoption Process: Elements Integration from Decision Making and Learning Cycle Process.

PubMed

Radin Umar, Radin Zaid; Sommerich, Carolyn M; Lavender, Steve A; Sanders, Elizabeth; Evans, Kevin D

2018-05-14

Sound workplace ergonomics and safety-related interventions may be resisted by employees, and this may be detrimental to multiple stakeholders. Understanding fundamental aspects of decision making, behavioral change, and learning cycles may provide insights into pathways influencing employees' acceptance of interventions. This manuscript reviews published literature on thinking processes and other topics relevant to decision making and incorporates the findings into two new conceptual frameworks of the workplace change adoption process. Such frameworks are useful for thinking about adoption in different ways and testing changes to traditional intervention implementation processes. Moving forward, it is recommended that future research focuses on systematic exploration of implementation process activities that integrate principles from the research literature on sensemaking, decision making, and learning processes. Such exploration may provide the groundwork for development of specific implementation strategies that are theoretically grounded and provide a revised understanding of how successful intervention adoption processes work.

Life Support and Habitation and Planetary Protection Workshop

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hogan, John A. (Editor); Race, Margaret S. (Editor); Fisher, John W. (Editor); Joshi, Jitendra A. (Editor); Rummel, John D. (Editor)

2006-01-01

A workshop entitled "Life Support and Habitation and Planetary Protection Workshop" was held in Houston, Texas on April 27-29, 2005 to facilitate the development of planetary protection guidelines for future human Mars exploration missions and to identify the potential effects of these guidelines on the design and selection of related human life support, extravehicular activity and monitoring and control systems. This report provides a summary of the workshop organization, starting assumptions, working group results and recommendations. Specific result topics include the identification of research and technology development gaps, potential forward and back contaminants and pathways, mitigation alternatives, and planetary protection requirements definition needs. Participants concluded that planetary protection and science-based requirements potentially affect system design, technology trade options, development costs and mission architecture. Therefore early and regular coordination between the planetary protection, scientific, planning, engineering, operations and medical communities is needed to develop workable and effective designs for human exploration of Mars.

Utilizing hydrologic, statistical, and geochemical tools to assess uranium mobility in surface and near-surface environments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Naftz, D. L.; Walton-Day, K. E.; Fuller, C.; Dam, W. L.; Briggs, M. A.; Snyder, T.

2015-12-01

Legacy uranium (U) mining and processing activities have resulted in soil and water contamination on Federal, state, and tribal lands in the western United States. Sites include legacy mill sites associated with U extraction now managed by the Department of Energy and thousands of waste dumps associated with U exploration, mining, and processing. Recently (2012), over 400,000 hectares of federally managed land in northern Arizona was withdrawn from consideration of mining for a 20-year period to protect the Grand Canyon watershed from potentially adverse effects of U mineral exploration and development. Ore from active and recently active U mines in the Colorado Plateau, the Henry Mountains Complex, and the Arizona Strip is transported to the only currently (2015) active conventional mill site in the western United States, located in Utah. Previous and ongoing U.S. Geological Survey assessments to examine U mobility at a variety of legacy and active sites associated with ore exploration, extraction, and processing will be presented as field-scale examples. Topics associated with site investigations will include: (1) offsite migration of radionuclides associated with the operation of the White Mesa U mill; (2) long-term contaminant transport from legacy U waste dumps on Bureau of Land Management regulated land in Utah; (3) application of incremental soil sampling techniques to determine pre- and post-mining radionuclide levels associated with planned and operating U mines in northern Arizona; (4) application of fiber optic digital temperature sensing equipment to identify areas where shallow groundwater containing elevated U levels may be discharging to a river adjacent to a reclaimed mill site in central Wyoming; and (5) field-scale manipulation of groundwater chemistry to limit U migration from a legacy upgrader site in southeastern Utah.

Secondary Health Occupations Education Curriculum.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Matzen, Shelley; Muhl, V. Jane

This color coded curriculum guide for secondary health occupations in Iowa provides units for the first phase of the curriculum, career exploration of the health occupations. The nine units cover the following topics: (1) introduction to health occupations; (2) health occupations career exploration; (3) communication skills; (4) self-care and…

On Mars: Exploration of the Red Planet, 1958 - 1978

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ezell, E. C. (Editor); Ezell, L. N. (Editor)

1984-01-01

The exploration of Mars is covered by the following topics: Mariner spacecraft and launch vehicles, search for Martian life; Voyager spacecraft; creation of Viking; Viking Orbiter and its Mariner inheritance; Viking lander; building a complex spacecraft; selecting landing sites; site certification, and data from Mars.

Aerospace Technology Enterprise

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2004-01-01

Topics considered include: 1. The NASA vision. To improve life here; to extend life to there; and to find life beyond. 2. The NASA mission. To understand and protect our home planet; to explore the universe and search for life; and to inspire the next generation of explorers ... as only NASA can.

Children's Gendered Drawings of Play Behaviours

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Akseer, Tabasum; Lao, Mary Grace; Bosacki, Sandra

2012-01-01

According to child psychologists, vital links exist between children's drawings and their emotional, social, and cognitive development. Previous research has explored the important relations between drawings and play in educational settings. Given the vast research that explores the ambiguous topic of children's play, according to Richer (1990),…

Evaluating the High School Lunar Research Projects Program

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Shaner, A. J.; Shupla, C.; Shipp, S.; Allen, J.; Kring, D. A.

2013-01-01

The Center for Lunar Science and Exploration (CLSE), a collaboration between the Lunar and Planetary Institute and NASA s Johnson Space Center, is one of seven member teams of the NASA Lunar Science Institute (NLSI). In addition to research and exploration activities, the CLSE team is deeply invested in education and outreach. In support of NASA s and NLSI s objective to train the next generation of scientists, CLSE s High School Lunar Research Projects program is a conduit through which high school students can actively participate in lunar science and learn about pathways into scientific careers. The objectives of the program are to enhance 1) student views of the nature of science; 2) student attitudes toward science and science careers; and 3) student knowledge of lunar science. In its first three years, approximately 168 students and 28 teachers from across the United States have participated in the program. Before beginning their research, students undertake Moon 101, a guided-inquiry activity designed to familiarize them with lunar science and exploration. Following Moon 101, and guided by a lunar scientist mentor, teams choose a research topic, ask their own research question, and design their own research approach to direct their investigation. At the conclusion of their research, teams present their results to a panel of lunar scientists. This panel selects four posters to be presented at the annual Lunar Science Forum held at NASA Ames. The top scoring team travels to the forum to present their research in person.

How Hierarchical Topics Evolve in Large Text Corpora.

PubMed

Cui, Weiwei; Liu, Shixia; Wu, Zhuofeng; Wei, Hao

2014-12-01

Using a sequence of topic trees to organize documents is a popular way to represent hierarchical and evolving topics in text corpora. However, following evolving topics in the context of topic trees remains difficult for users. To address this issue, we present an interactive visual text analysis approach to allow users to progressively explore and analyze the complex evolutionary patterns of hierarchical topics. The key idea behind our approach is to exploit a tree cut to approximate each tree and allow users to interactively modify the tree cuts based on their interests. In particular, we propose an incremental evolutionary tree cut algorithm with the goal of balancing 1) the fitness of each tree cut and the smoothness between adjacent tree cuts; 2) the historical and new information related to user interests. A time-based visualization is designed to illustrate the evolving topics over time. To preserve the mental map, we develop a stable layout algorithm. As a result, our approach can quickly guide users to progressively gain profound insights into evolving hierarchical topics. We evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed method on Amazon's Mechanical Turk and real-world news data. The results show that users are able to successfully analyze evolving topics in text data.

Three Activities To Assist Biology Teachers in Presenting Conceptually Difficult Topics.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Taylor, Neil; Tulip, David

1997-01-01

Outlines three activities for different areas of biology that can serve as motivators for students or as demonstrations. Each activity is easy to organize and uses available materials. Topics include evolution, anaerobic respiration, and heat loss. (DDR)

Continuous professional development for GPs: experience from Denmark.

PubMed

Kjaer, N K; Steenstrup, A P; Pedersen, L B; Halling, A

2014-07-01

Continuous professional development (CPD) for Danish general practitioners (GPs) is voluntary and based on funded accredited activities. There is an ongoing discussion on how to improve this current system by introducing mandatory elements. To inform this debate, we set out to identify GPs' current use of CPD and to explore the motives behind their choices. A mixed-methods study with a combined qualitative and quantitative approach was used. In 2012, two focus group interviews were conducted, followed up the same year by an online questionnaire sent to 1079 randomly chosen Danish GPs. Focus groups: CPD activities are chosen based on personal needs analysis, and in order to be professionally updated, to meet engaged colleagues and to prevent burnout. GPs also attend CPD to assess their own pre-existing level of competence. CPD activities need to be experienced as being both meaningful and relevant in order to have an impact. Questionnaire: The response rate was 686/1079 (63%). GPs spend on average 10.5 days per year on accredited, voluntary CPD activities. Workplace-related CPD activities and practice-based small group learning played a significant role. The main motivation for choice of CPD activities included academic interest, experience of patient-related problems in their own surgeries and medical topics where the GPs felt insufficiently confident. Danish GPs are frequent users of voluntary accredited CPD. Their CPD choices are motivated by topics strengthening their professional capacity and preventing burnout. There would seem to be no need for a mandatory system. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.

Linkage effects between deposit discovery and postdiscovery exploratory drilling

USGS Publications Warehouse

Drew, Lawrence J.

1975-01-01

For the 1950-71 period of petroleum exploration in the Powder River Basin, northeastern Wyoming and southeastern Montana, three specific topics were investigated. First, the wildcat wells drilled during the ambient phases of exploration are estimated to have discovered 2.80 times as much petroleum per well as the wildcat wells drilled during the cyclical phases of exploration, periods when exploration plays were active. Second, the hypothesis was tested and verified that during ambient phases of exploration the discovery of deposits could be anticipated by a small but statistically significant rise in the ambient drilling rate during the year prior to the year of discovery. Closer examination of the data suggests that this anticipation effect decreases through time. Third, a regression model utilizing the two independent variables of (1) the volume of petroleum contained in each deposit discovered in a cell and the directly adjacent cells and (2) the respective depths of these deposits was constructed to predict the expected yearly cyclical wildcat drilling rate in four 30 by 30 min (approximately 860 mi2) sized cells. In two of these cells relatively large volumes of petroleum were discovered, whereas in the other two cells smaller volumes were discovered. The predicted and actual rates of wildcat drilling which occurred in each cell agreed rather closely.

Promoting student engagement in science: Interaction rituals and the pursuit of a community of practice

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Olitsky, Stacy

2007-01-01

This study explores the relationship between interaction rituals, student engagement with science, and learning environments modeled on communities of practice based on an ethnographic study of an eighth grade urban magnet school classroom. It compares three interactional events in order to examine the classroom conditions and teacher practices that can foster successful interaction rituals (IRs), which are characterized by high levels of emotional energy, feelings of group membership, and sustained interest in the subject. Classroom conditions surrounding the emergence of successful IRs included mutual focus, familiar symbols and activity structures, the permissibility of some side-talk, and opportunities for physical and emotional entrainment. Sustained interest in the topic beyond the duration of the IR and an increase in students' helping each other learn occurred more frequently when the mutual focus consisted of science-related symbols, when there were low levels of risk for participants, when activities involved sufficient challenge and time, and when students were positioned as knowledgeable and competent in science. The results suggest that successful interaction rituals can foster student engagement with topics that may not have previously held interest and can contribute to students' support of peers' learning, thereby moving the classroom toward a community-of-practice model.

Briefing to University of Porto on NASA Airborne Science Program and Ames UAVs

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Fladeland, Matthew

2015-01-01

NASA Ames is exploring a partnership with the University of Portugal to jointly develop and test new autonomous vehicle technologies. As part of the discussions I will be briefing the University of Portugal faculty on the NASA Airborne Science Program (ASP) and associated activities at NASA Ames Research Center. The presentation will communicate the requirements that drive the program, the assets available to NASA researchers, and discuss research projects that have used unmanned aircraft systems including MIZOPEX, Surprise Valley, and Florida Keys Coral Reef assessment. Other topics will include the SIERRA and Dragon Eye UAV projects operated at Ames.

The RCSB PDB “Molecule of the Month”: Inspiring a Molecular View of Biology

PubMed Central

Goodsell, David S.; Dutta, Shuchismita; Zardecki, Christine; Voigt, Maria; Berman, Helen M.; Burley, Stephen K.

2015-01-01

The Research Collaboratory for Structural Bioinformatics (RCSB) Molecule of the Month series provides a curated introduction to the 3-D biomolecular structures available in the Protein Data Bank archive and the tools that are available at the RCSB website for accessing and exploring them. A variety of educational materials, such as articles, videos, posters, hands-on activities, lesson plans, and curricula, build on this series for use in a variety of educational settings as a general introduction to key topics, such as enzyme action, protein synthesis, and viruses. The series and associated educational materials are freely available at www.rcsb.org. PMID:25942442

The RCSB PDB "Molecule of the Month": Inspiring a Molecular View of Biology.

PubMed

Goodsell, David S; Dutta, Shuchismita; Zardecki, Christine; Voigt, Maria; Berman, Helen M; Burley, Stephen K

2015-05-01

The Research Collaboratory for Structural Bioinformatics (RCSB) Molecule of the Month series provides a curated introduction to the 3-D biomolecular structures available in the Protein Data Bank archive and the tools that are available at the RCSB website for accessing and exploring them. A variety of educational materials, such as articles, videos, posters, hands-on activities, lesson plans, and curricula, build on this series for use in a variety of educational settings as a general introduction to key topics, such as enzyme action, protein synthesis, and viruses. The series and associated educational materials are freely available at www.rcsb.org.

The Marketability of Mass Media: Why Newspaper Readers in Texas Want to Hear About Polar Research

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Witze, A.

2003-12-01

Stories about exploration and adventure play well in any market, even if they are about science, a topic traditionally loathed by journalists. In April 2003 I traveled with the National Science Foundation to cover research activities at the North Pole Environmental Observatory. Surprisingly, audiences in the Southwest couldn't get enough of hearing about researchers from the Northwest drilling holes in the ice at the ends of the earth. I discuss the challenges of gathering stories in a polar environment, the reaction from the general public, and ways to increase the visibility of earth sciences in the mass media.

Quadcopter control using a BCI

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rosca, S.; Leba, M.; Ionica, A.; Gamulescu, O.

2018-01-01

The paper presents how there can be interconnected two ubiquitous elements nowadays. On one hand, the drones, which are increasingly present and integrated into more and more fields of activity, beyond the military applications they come from, moving towards entertainment, real-estate, delivery and so on. On the other hand, unconventional man-machine interfaces, which are generous topics to explore now and in the future. Of these, we chose brain computer interface (BCI), which allows human-machine interaction without requiring any moving elements. The research consists of mathematical modeling and numerical simulation of a drone and a BCI. Then there is presented an application using a Parrot mini-drone and an Emotiv Insight BCI.

The inclusion of Science Technology Society topics in junior high school earth science textbooks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fadhli, Fathi Ali

2000-10-01

The Science Technology Society (STS) approach is a major science education reform through which a scientifically literate citizen could be produced. The teaching of science through STS approach is centered on science and technology related issues and problems. The purpose of this study was to analyze five earth science textbooks published in the 1990's for their inclusion of twelve sciences and technology related issues and problems and for their inclusion of activities focused on STS. The selected earth science textbooks were; Scott Foresman, Heath, Holt, Merrill and Prentice-Hall. The targeted twelve issues and problems were identified by Bybee (1987), as the most important global science and technology related issues and problems. The numbers of full text pages devoted to each topic were determined by classifying each segment to one of the targeted topics. In addition, the numbers of STS activities were also determined by using criteria developed for this study. ANOVA statistical analyses and t-tests showed that the analyzed earth science textbooks treated the studied STS issues and problems and treated the STS activities differently. It was found that six of the studied issues and problems were constantly receiving more attention in all the analyzed earth science textbooks than the rest of the topics. These topics were; Air Quality and Atmosphere, Energy Shortages, Water Resources, Land Use, Hazardous Substances, and Mineral Resources. The overall results revealed that only an average of 8.82% of the text pages in all the analyzed earth science textbooks were devoted to STS topics and 5.49% of the activities in all the analyzed earth science textbooks were focused on STS topics. However, none of the activities focused on STS topics were presented in STS approach as defined by NSTA. The percentage of STS topics inclusion and the percentage of activities focused on STS topics were considered to be very low. Accordingly, the objectives and goals of STS approach will not be achieved through using the analyzed earth science textbooks. The low percentages of STS activities and topics indicated also that the STS approach would not be fairly presented in science classrooms as long as science teachers depend on science textbooks 90% of their teaching time. Moreover, the results of this study revealed also that the inclusion of STS approach in science textbooks is still considered to be very low despite the support provided to the STS approach by science teachers, educators, organizations, and education departments and also despite of the publishing of Project Syntheses (1977) since twenty eight years ago.

Nanomedicine strategies for targeting skin inflammation.

PubMed

Abdel-Mottaleb, Mona Ma; Try, Celine; Pellequer, Yann; Lamprecht, Alf

2014-08-01

Topical treatment of skin diseases is an attractive strategy as it receives high acceptance from patients, resulting in higher compliance and therapeutic outcomes. Recently, the use of variable nanocarriers for dermal application has been widely explored, as they offer several advantages compared with conventional topical preparations, including higher skin penetration, controlled and targeted drug delivery and the achievement of higher therapeutic effects. This article will focus on skin inflammation or dermatitis as it is one of the most common skin problems, describing the different types and causes of dermatitis, as well as the typical treatment regimens. The potential use of nanocarriers for targeting skin inflammation and the achievement of higher therapeutic effects using nanotechnology will be explored.

Keep S'meylin

MedlinePlus

... MS together. It is filled with stories, interviews, games, and activities on a variety of topics related ... engaging, and interactive publication filled with stories, interviews, games, and activities on a variety of topics related ...

A four-part working bibliography of neuroethics: part 3 - "second tradition neuroethics" - ethical issues in neuroscience.

PubMed

Martin, Amanda; Becker, Kira; Darragh, Martina; Giordano, James

2016-09-19

Neuroethics describes several interdisciplinary topics exploring the application and implications of engaging neuroscience in societal contexts. To explore this topic, we present Part 3 of a four-part bibliography of neuroethics' literature focusing on the "ethics of neuroscience." To complete a systematic survey of the neuroethics literature, 19 databases and 4 individual open-access journals were employed. Searches were conducted using the indexing language of the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM). A Python code was used to eliminate duplications in the final bibliography. This bibliography consists of 1137 papers, 56 books, and 134 book chapters published from 2002 through 2014, covering ethical issues in neuroimaging, neurogenetics, neurobiomarkers, neuro-psychopharmacology, brain stimulation, neural stem cells, neural tissue transplants, pediatric-specific issues, dual-use, and general neuroscience research issues. These works contain explanations of recent research regarding neurotechnology, while exploring ethical issues in future discoveries and use.

Beyond Earth's boundaries: Human exploration of the Solar System in the 21st Century

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1991-01-01

This is an annual report describing work accomplished in developing the knowledge base that will permit informed recommendations and decisions concerning national space policy and the goal of human expansion into the solar system. The following topics are presented: (1) pathways to human exploration; (2) human exploration case studies; (3) case study results and assessment; (4) exploration program implementation strategy; (5) approach to international cooperation; (6) recommendations; and (7) future horizons.

Dan Goldin Presentation: Pathway to the Future

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1999-01-01

In the "Path to the Future" presentation held at NASA's Langley Center on March 31, 1999, NASA's Administrator Daniel S. Goldin outlined the future direction and strategies of NASA in relation to the general space exploration enterprise. NASA's Vision, Future System Characteristics, Evolutions of Engineering, and Revolutionary Changes are the four main topics of the presentation. In part one, the Administrator talks in detail about NASA's vision in relation to the NASA Strategic Activities that are Space Science, Earth Science, Human Exploration, and Aeronautics & Space Transportation. Topics discussed in this section include: space science for the 21st century, flying in mars atmosphere (mars plane), exploring new worlds, interplanetary internets, earth observation and measurements, distributed information-system-in-the-sky, science enabling understanding and application, space station, microgravity, science and exploration strategies, human mars mission, advance space transportation program, general aviation revitalization, and reusable launch vehicles. In part two, he briefly talks about the future system characteristics. He discusses major system characteristics like resiliencey, self-sufficiency, high distribution, ultra-efficiency, and autonomy and the necessity to overcome any distance, time, and extreme environment barriers. Part three of Mr. Goldin's talk deals with engineering evolution, mainly evolution in the Computer Aided Design (CAD)/Computer Aided Engineering (CAE) systems. These systems include computer aided drafting, computerized solid models, virtual product development (VPD) systems, networked VPD systems, and knowledge enriched networked VPD systems. In part four, the last part, the Administrator talks about the need for revolutionary changes in communication and networking areas of a system. According to the administrator, the four major areas that need cultural changes in the creativity process are human-centered computing, an infrastructure for distributed collaboration, rapid synthesis and simulation tools, and life-cycle integration and validation. Mr. Goldin concludes his presentation with the following maxim "Collaborate, Integrate, Innovate or Stagnate and Evaporate." He also answers some questions after the presentation.

Energy Retrofit for Aging K-12 Schools.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

3D/International, Houston, TX.

Successfully retrofitting aging K-12 schools using energy conservation measures (ECM) that can improve the physical plant and reduce energy consumption are explored. Topics explore how certain ECM measures can benefit educational facilities, why retrofitting begun sooner rather than later is important, how to finance the retrofit program, and the…

Focusing the Kaleidoscope: Exploring Distributed Leadership in an English University

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Floyd, Alan; Fung, Dilly

2017-01-01

In the UK and elsewhere, the idea of "distributing leadership" in universities is becoming more popular. Yet, there is surprisingly little research on this topic. This paper reports on a funded study which explored how one institution had implemented a newly conceived "distributed" leadership model, specifically to investigate…

The Influence of Semantic Property and Grammatical Class on Semantic Selection

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yang, Fan-pei Gloria; Khodaparast, Navid; Bradley, Kailyn; Fang, Min-Chieh; Bernstein, Ari; Krawczyk, Daniel C.

2013-01-01

Research to-date has not successfully demonstrated consistent neural distinctions for different types of ambiguity or explored the effect of grammatical class on semantic selection. We conducted a relatedness judgment task using event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to further explore these topics. Participants judged…

Fundamentals of Construction. Instructor Edition. Introduction to Construction Series.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Oklahoma State Dept. of Vocational and Technical Education, Stillwater. Curriculum and Instructional Materials Center.

This instructor's guide contains the materials required to teach a competency-based introductory course in the fundamentals of construction to students who have chosen to explore careers in construction. The following topics are covered in the course's 10 instructional units: industry orientation (exploring the construction industry and starting a…

Exploring the Discourses of Our Own Practice: A Case Study.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sanguinetti, Jill

1994-01-01

Reflects on ideas of feminism and critical literacy and their significance in relation to the current policy environment. Topics explored include the dilemmas of personal development; issues of culture, power, and coercion; shifting the focus to teaching; personal and pedagogical influences; pedagogical praxis; and developing a collective…

The Science of Exploring Caves.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Reid, Frank S.

1991-01-01

An introduction to the science of speleology is presented. Discussed is why people explore caves--for the physical challenge, the thrill of discovery, and the joy of viewing their beauty. Cave conservation, cave biology, caving safety, and caving equipment are topics of discussion. A reading list on caves is included. (KR)

Invited Commentary: Applying Psychodynamic Developmental Assessment to Explore Mental Functioning in Adolescents

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Czopp, Shira Tibon

2012-01-01

Recent publications in the "Journal of Youth and Adolescence" present a variety of topics exploring adolescents' mental functioning in the twenty first century. Conceptually, many of the articles address the intriguing, though rarely explicit, question of developmental continuities and change from adolescence to adulthood. Such…

Supervision: Exploring the Effective Components. ERIC/CASS Counseling Digest Series.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Borders, L. DiAnne, Ed.

This document contains a collection of ERIC Digests on supervision, a topic of critical professional importance for counselors. Following an introductory article by the guest editor, L. DiAnne Borders, "Supervision: Exploring the Effective Components," 19 digests address a different facet of supervision. The 19 digests are: (1)…

Skylab Explores the Earth.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Washington, DC.

This book describes the Skylab 4 Earth Explorations Project. Photographs of the earth taken by the Skylab astronauts are reproduced here and accompanied by an analytical and explanatory text. Some of the geological and geographical topics covered are: (1) global tectonics - some geological analyses of observations and photographs from Skylab; (2)…

Discovery and structure-activity study of a novel benzoxaborole anti-inflammatory agent (AN2728) for the potential topical treatment of psoriasis and atopic dermatitis.

PubMed

Akama, Tsutomu; Baker, Stephen J; Zhang, Yong-Kang; Hernandez, Vincent; Zhou, Huchen; Sanders, Virginia; Freund, Yvonne; Kimura, Richard; Maples, Kirk R; Plattner, Jacob J

2009-04-15

A series of phenoxy benzoxaboroles were synthesized and screened for their inhibitory activity against PDE4 and cytokine release. 5-(4-Cyanophenoxy)-2,3-dihydro-1-hydroxy-2,1-benzoxaborole (AN2728) showed potent activity both in vitro and in vivo. This compound is now in clinical development for the topical treatment of psoriasis and being pursued for the topical treatment of atopic dermatitis.

Supporting Ecological Understanding through In-Depth and Imaginative Study of a Place-Based Topic or Issue

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Judson, Gillian

2015-01-01

Many have observed that the curriculum is a mile wide and scarcely an inch deep. This article provides a rationale for including in-depth study of a place-based/local topic within educational programs aimed at cultivating ecological understanding. Following a brief exploration of some of the obstacles to in-depth learning, it describes the ways in…

Teaching Economics in American History: A Teacher's Manual for Secondary Schools. Second Edition. JCEE Checklist No. 334.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dawson, George G.; Prehn, Edward C.

The primary purpose of this book is to point out events reported in the typical U.S. history course that can be enriched by a consideration of relevant economic topics. The book is organized chronologically by 21 topics: explorers and the early American colonies; the American Revolution; the Confederation period and the Constitutional Convention;…

View of Socioscientific Issues among Educators: The Willingness of Teachers to Accept SSI into the Classroom and the Reasoning Underyling Those Beliefs

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Parr, John Carlos

2013-01-01

Socioscientific issues (SSI) are potentially controversial topics, which can be examined using a social and a scientific perspective. The inclusion of these topics in elementary and secondary classrooms has caused a number of conflicts over the past century. In the present study, I explore the willingness of teachers to include three SSI:…

Methodological and ethical issues related to qualitative telephone interviews on sensitive topics.

PubMed

Mealer, Meredith; Jones Rn, Jacqueline

2014-03-01

To explore the methodological and ethical issues of conducting qualitative telephone interviews about personal or professional trauma with critical care nurses. The most common method for conducting interviews is face-to-face. However, there is evidence to support telephone interviewing on a variety of sensitive topics including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Qualitative telephone interviews can limit emotional distress because of the comfort experienced through virtual communication. Critical care nurses are at increased risk of developing PTSD due to the cumulative exposure to work-related stress in the intensive care unit. We explored the methodological and ethical issues of conducting qualitative telephone interviews, drawing on our experiences communicating with a group of critical care nurses. Qualitative research interviews with 27 critical care nurses. Fourteen of the nurses met the diagnostic criteria for PTSD; 13 did not and had scores consistent with high levels of resilience. This is a methodology paper on the authors' experiences of interviewing critical care nurses on sensitive topics via the telephone. The authors found that establishing rapport and connections with the participants and the therapeutic use of non-verbal communication were essential, and fostered trust and compassion. The ethical issues of this mode of communication include protecting the privacy and confidentiality associated with the disclosure of sensitive information, and minimising the risk of psychological harm to the researcher and participants. Qualitative telephone interviews are a valuable method of collecting information on sensitive topics. This paper explores a method of interviewing in the workplace. It will help inform interventions to promote healthy adaptation following trauma exposure in the intensive care unit.

The CLEAN Workshop Series: Promoting Effective Pedagogy for Teaching Undergraduate Climate Science

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kirk, K. B.; Bruckner, M. Z.; Manduca, C. A.; Buhr, S. M.

2012-12-01

To prepare students to understand a changing climate, it is imperative that we equip educators with the best possible tools and methods for reaching their audience. As part of the Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network (CLEAN) professional development efforts, two workshops for undergraduate faculty were held in 2012. These workshops used a variety of activities to help faculty learn about recent climate research, take part in demonstrations of successful activities for teaching climate topics, and collaborate to create new teaching materials. The workshops also facilitated professional networking among participants. Both workshops were held online, eliminating the need for travel, encouraging participants without travel funds to attend, and allowing international collaborations and presentations. To create an authentic experience, the workshop used several technologies such as the Blackboard Collaborate web conferencing platform, SERC's web-based collaboration tools and online discussion threads, and conference calls. The workshop Communicating Climate Science in the Classroom, held in April 2012, explored practices for communicating climate science and policy in the classroom and provided strategies to improve student understanding of this complex and sensitive topic. Workshop presentations featured public opinion research on Americans' perceptions of climate change, tactics for identifying and resolving student misconceptions, and methods to address various "backfire effects" that can result from attempts to correct misinformation. Demonstrations of teaching approaches included a role-playing simulation of emissions negotiations, Princeton's climate stabilization wedges game, and an activity that allows students to use scientific principles to tackle misinformation. The workshop Teaching Climate Complexity was held in May 2012. Teaching the complexities of climate science requires an understanding of many facets of the Earth system and a robust pedagogic approach that fosters systems thinking. Workshop participants heard presentations from top climate scientists about topics such as the role of carbon dioxide in regulating Earth's climate, the silicate-weathering thermostat hypothesis, effects of water vapor in the climate system, and albedo effects from the loss of Artic sea ice. Demonstrations of classroom techniques allowed participants to use a jigsaw approach to understand poleward heat transport, plot atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations, and use a mass balance model to explore the role of carbon dioxide in Earth's atmosphere. A hallmark of the CLEAN workshops is that participants are actively engaged in team projects to create new teaching materials. In the Communicating Climate workshop, John Cook led a demonstration of techniques featured in his Debunking Handbook and workshop participants created examples of how to respond to common climate myths in the classroom. In the Climate Complexities workshop, participants used existing elements within the CLEAN reviewed collection to create a comprehensive sequence of activities that can be used to teach elements of Earth's climate system. Activities from the workshop are archived on the CLEAN website, including screen cast recordings of all the presentations and materials created at each workshop. For more information, visit the workshop website at the URL below.

21 CFR 333.310 - Acne active ingredients.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 5 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Acne active ingredients. 333.310 Section 333.310... FOR HUMAN USE TOPICAL ANTIMICROBIAL DRUG PRODUCTS FOR OVER-THE-COUNTER HUMAN USE Topical Acne Drug Products § 333.310 Acne active ingredients. The active ingredient of the product consists of any of the...

21 CFR 333.310 - Acne active ingredients.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 5 2011-04-01 2011-04-01 false Acne active ingredients. 333.310 Section 333.310... FOR HUMAN USE TOPICAL ANTIMICROBIAL DRUG PRODUCTS FOR OVER-THE-COUNTER HUMAN USE Topical Acne Drug Products § 333.310 Acne active ingredients. The active ingredient of the product consists of any of the...

Lemont B. Kier: a bibliometric exploration of his scientific production and its use.

PubMed

Restrepo, Guillermo; Llanos, Eugenio J; Silva, Adriana E

2013-12-01

We thought an appropriate way to celebrate the seminal contribution of Kier is to explore his influence on science, looking for the impact of his research through the citation of his scientific production. From a bibliometric approach the impact of Kier's work is addressed as an individual within a community. Reviewing data from his curriculum vitae, as well as from the ISI Web of Knowledge (ISI), his role within the scientific community is established and the way his scientific results circulate is studied. His curriculum vitae is explored emphasising the approaches he used in his research activities and the social ties with other actors of the community. The circulation of Kier's publications in the ISI is studied as a means for spreading and installing his discourse within the community. The citation patterns found not only show the usage of Kier's scientific results, but also open the possibility to identify some characteristics of this discursive community, such as a common vocabulary and common research goals. The results show an interdisciplinary research work that consolidates a scientific community on the topic of drug discovery.

Exploring Visual Evidence of Human Impact on the Environment with Planetary-Scale Zoomable Timelapse Video

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sargent, R.; Egge, M.; Dille, P. S.; O'Donnell, G. D.; Herwig, C.

2016-12-01

Visual evidence ignites curiosity and inspires advocacy. Zoomable imagery and video on a planetary scale provides compelling evidence of human impact on the environment. Earth Timelapse places the observable impact of 30+ years of human activity into the hands of policy makers, scientists, and advocates, with fluidity and speed that supports inquiry and exploration. Zoomability enables compelling narratives and ready apprehension of environmental changes, connecting human-scale evidence to regional and ecosystem-wide trends and changes. Leveraging the power of Google Earth Engine, join us to explore 30+ years of Landset 30m RGB imagery showing glacial retreat, agricultural deforestation, irrigation expansion, and the disappearance of lakes. These narratives are enriched with datasets showing planetary forest gain/loss, annual cycles of agricultural fires, global changes in the health of coral reefs, trends in resource extraction, and of renewable energy development. We demonstrate the intuitive and inquiry-enabling power of these planetary visualizations, and provide instruction on how scientists and advocates can create and share or contribute visualizations of their own research or topics of interest.

Research Infrastructure and Scientific Collections: The Supply and Demand of Scientific Research

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Graham, E.; Schindel, D. E.

2016-12-01

Research infrastructure is essential in both experimental and observational sciences and is commonly thought of as single-sited facilities. In contrast, object-based scientific collections are distributed in nearly every way, including by location, taxonomy, geologic epoch, discipline, collecting processes, benefits sharing rules, and many others. These diffused collections may have been amassed for a particular discipline, but their potential for use and impact in other fields needs to be explored. Through a series of cross-disciplinary activities, Scientific Collections International (SciColl) has explored and developed new ways in which the supply of scientific collections can meet the demand of researchers in unanticipated ways. From cross-cutting workshops on emerging infectious diseases and food security, to an online portal of collections, SciColl aims to illustrate the scope and value of object-based scientific research infrastructure. As distributed infrastructure, the full impact of scientific collections to the research community is a result of discovering, utilizing, and networking these resources. Examples and case studies from infectious disease research, food security topics, and digital connectivity will be explored.

Earth Science Syllabus, 1970 Edition.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

New York State Education Dept., Albany. Bureau of Secondary Curriculum Development.

This syllabus outlines a year earth science program designed to be activity oriented, investigatory in approach, and interdisciplinary in content. Each topic section contains a topic abstract and topic outline, major understandings, and information to teachers. The topic abstract lists behavioral objectives and general information about the topic…

Building Acoustics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cowan, James

This chapter summarizes and explains key concepts of building acoustics. These issues include the behavior of sound waves in rooms, the most commonly used rating systems for sound and sound control in buildings, the most common noise sources found in buildings, practical noise control methods for these sources, and the specific topic of office acoustics. Common noise issues for multi-dwelling units can be derived from most of the sections of this chapter. Books can be and have been written on each of these topics, so the purpose of this chapter is to summarize this information and provide appropriate resources for further exploration of each topic.

Topic detection using paragraph vectors to support active learning in systematic reviews.

PubMed

Hashimoto, Kazuma; Kontonatsios, Georgios; Miwa, Makoto; Ananiadou, Sophia

2016-08-01

Systematic reviews require expert reviewers to manually screen thousands of citations in order to identify all relevant articles to the review. Active learning text classification is a supervised machine learning approach that has been shown to significantly reduce the manual annotation workload by semi-automating the citation screening process of systematic reviews. In this paper, we present a new topic detection method that induces an informative representation of studies, to improve the performance of the underlying active learner. Our proposed topic detection method uses a neural network-based vector space model to capture semantic similarities between documents. We firstly represent documents within the vector space, and cluster the documents into a predefined number of clusters. The centroids of the clusters are treated as latent topics. We then represent each document as a mixture of latent topics. For evaluation purposes, we employ the active learning strategy using both our novel topic detection method and a baseline topic model (i.e., Latent Dirichlet Allocation). Results obtained demonstrate that our method is able to achieve a high sensitivity of eligible studies and a significantly reduced manual annotation cost when compared to the baseline method. This observation is consistent across two clinical and three public health reviews. The tool introduced in this work is available from https://nactem.ac.uk/pvtopic/. Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

SCUBAnauts International: Exploration and Discovery in the Ocean Sciences

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Moses, C. S.; Palandro, D.; Coble, P.; Hu, C.

2007-12-01

The SCUBAnauts International program originated in 2001, as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization designed to increase the attraction to science and technology careers in today's youth. SCUBAnauts International (SNI) consists of a diverse group of 12 to 18 year-old young men and women mentored by academic, federal, and state research scientists in an informal education environment. The program's mission is to promote interest in science and technology topics and careers by involving secondary education students as young explorers in the marine sciences and research activities, such as special environmental and undersea conservation projects that educate, promote active citizenship, and develop effective leadership skills. With help from mentors, SNI students collect and interpret research-quality data to meet the needs of ocean scientists, maintaining direct interaction between the scientists and the young men and women in the program. The science component of the program includes collection of benthic habitat, water quality, optics, and coral reef health data. During the school year, the SCUBAnauts are tasked with sharing their experiences to raise the environmental awareness of a larger audience by providing education outreach in formal and informal venues. Here we highlight results from recent SNI activities including data collection and program methodologies, and discuss future plans for the program.

[Analysis of activities of the preventive dentistry service in the Health Area 8 of the Valencia Autonomous Region].

PubMed

Llena Puy, M C; Ausina Márquez, V

1996-02-29

We describe and analize the activities we carried out in a surgery from a preventive dentistry unit. Longitudinal descriptive study from 1993 since 1994. Health Area 8 from the Valencian Autonomous Region. Children from 3 to 14 year-old attendant to the preventive dentistry unit's surgery (2.497). We visited 5.012 children. The highest percentage of population corresponded to the zona 4, where began at first the preventive service. The activities distribution was as follow: oral explorations and plaque control (100%), fluoride topic aplication (90.38%), diet control (36.81%), pit and fisure sealants (6.46%), profilaxis (8.71%), radiological diagnosis (6.46%), dental emergencies (2.17%). The users origin was: 38.88% school oral explorations made over 6- and 10-year-old children; 63.71% from self-request; and 16.45% sent by other health professionals. 41.42% were continuated visits. Demand of preventive dental services is very high in our health area, although incorporation of therapeutic techniques is wished by the population. This demand increase as well as the surgery is closer to the user. People from big cities are stubborn using these services from smallest villages, even having transport facilities. Children start coming to the consults between 5-6 year-old, keeping an acceptable control until 12 approximately.

Environmental impact of geothermal power plants in Aydın, Turkey

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yilmaz, Ersel; Ali Kaptan, Mustafa

2017-10-01

Geothermal energy is classified as a clean and sustainable energy source, like all industrial activities, geothermal energy power plants (GEPP) technology has also some positive and negative effects on the environment. In this paper are presented by attent not only on environmental impacts of GEPP onto Büyük Menderes River and fresh water sources, which ere used for irrigation of agricultural fields from tousands of years in basin, but also on water quality contents like heavy metals and gases emition due to drilling and electricity producing technology of GEPP's. Aydın province is located in the southwestern part of the region and its city center has around 300000 population. The high geothermal potential of this region became from geographical location, which is held on active tectonic Alpine-Himalaya Orogen belt with active volcanoes and young faults. Since 1980's to 2016 there is about 70.97% (662.75 MW) of installed capacity by according to the Mineral Research and Exploration General Directorate, there are totally 290 well licensed (540 explore licenses and 76 business licenses), and 31 geothermal powerplants purposely installed. Topic is important because of number of GEPP increased rapidly after 2012 to now a days to 36 in whole basin.

Topics in landing gear dynamics research at NASA Langley

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mccomb, H. G., Jr.; Tanner, J. A.

1986-01-01

Four topics in landing gear dynamics are discussed. Three of these topics are subjects of recent research: tilt steering phenomenon, water spray ingestion on flooded runways, and actively controlled landing gear. The fourth topic is a description of a major facility recently enhanced in capability.

Supporting Instruction By Defining Conceptual Relevance Of Materials: Alignment Of Resources To An Earth Systems Framework

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Menicucci, A. J.; Bean, J. R.

2017-12-01

Environmental, geological, and climatological sciences are important facets of physical science education. However, it is often difficult for educators to acquire the necessary resources to facilitate content explanations, and demonstration of the conceptual links between individual lessons. The Understanding Global Change (UGC) Project at the University of California Museum of Paleontology (UCMP) at UC Berkeley is aligning new and existing Earth systems educational resources that are high-quality, interactive and inquiry based. Learning resources are organized by the UGC framework topics (Causes of Change, How the Earth System Works, and Measurable Changes), and focus on exploring topic relationships. Resources are currently aligned with both the UGC framework and the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), facilitating broad utility among K-16 educators. The overarching goal of the UGC Project is to provide the necessary resources that guide the construction of coherent, interdisciplinary instructional units. These units can be reinforced through system models, providing visual learning scaffolds for assessments of student content knowledge. Utilizing the central framework of UGC alleviates the long-standing problem of creating coherent instructional units from multiple learning resources, each organized and categorized independently across multiple platforms that may not provide explicit connections among Earth science subjects UGC topic cross listing of learning modules establishes conceptual links. Each resource is linked across several Earth system components, facilitating exploration of relationships and feedbacks between processes. Cross listed topics are therefore useful for development of broad picture learning goals via targeted instructional units. We also anticipate cultivating summaries of the explicit conceptual links explored in each resource from both current teachers and content specialists. Insructional units currated and aligned under the UGC framework therefore have the potential for users to develop and impliment inderdisciplinary lesson plans, including multi-segmented units designed to function as independent educational segments, that combine to provide broader subject exploration and deeper understanding of Earth system relationships.

Real-time topic-aware influence maximization using preprocessing.

PubMed

Chen, Wei; Lin, Tian; Yang, Cheng

2016-01-01

Influence maximization is the task of finding a set of seed nodes in a social network such that the influence spread of these seed nodes based on certain influence diffusion model is maximized. Topic-aware influence diffusion models have been recently proposed to address the issue that influence between a pair of users are often topic-dependent and information, ideas, innovations etc. being propagated in networks are typically mixtures of topics. In this paper, we focus on the topic-aware influence maximization task. In particular, we study preprocessing methods to avoid redoing influence maximization for each mixture from scratch. We explore two preprocessing algorithms with theoretical justifications. Our empirical results on data obtained in a couple of existing studies demonstrate that one of our algorithms stands out as a strong candidate providing microsecond online response time and competitive influence spread, with reasonable preprocessing effort.

A study of an ethics education topic for undergraduate nursing students.

PubMed

Kalaitzidis, Evdokia; Schmitz, Karl

2012-01-01

The study aims to explore nursing students' perceptions of the relative value of various aspects of the ethical component of the undergraduate topic, 'Ethics and Law applied to Nursing' (topic NURS2104). To enable time for reflection on ethics in nursing, sampling occurred 1 year after successful completion of the above-mentioned topic and after successful completion of all but the final clinical experience components of the Bachelor of Nursing (BN) degree. A significant proportion of respondents perceived ethics education as relevant to professional practices. It is also noteworthy that the ethical decision-making strategies that had been incorporated into the topic (NURS2104) became transformed by the clinical experience of each particular student. While results of this study are not conclusive, they nevertheless provide important information for future nursing students on the evolutionary development of ethics education. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Scientific literacy for citizenship: Tools for dealing with the science dimension of controversial socioscientific issues

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kolst, Stein D.

2001-05-01

This article offers a general framework for examining the science dimension of controversial socioscientific issues. Eight specific content-transcending topics to be emphasized in science education are proposed. The topics are grouped under the headings science as a social process, limitations of science, values in science, and critical attitude. Each topic is explored, and it is argued that knowledge of the topics can serve as tools for students' examination of science-related claims in controversial socioscientific issues. The underlying perspective here is empowerment and the needs of students as lay people. The need of society as a whole for decisions to be made on a broad and firm basis is nevertheless also included. The main reason for suggesting the eight content-transcending topics is to provide focal points for the future development of teaching models aimed at science education for citizenship.

Building Climate Literacy Through Strategic Partnerships

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Turrin, M.; Creyts, T. T.; Bell, R. E.; Meadows, C. A.

2012-12-01

One of the challenges of developing climate science literacy is establishing the relevance of both climate science and climate change at a local community level. By developing partnerships with community-based informal science education providers, we are able to build our climate science and climate change content into existing programs. Employing a systems science approach facilitates these partnerships as our systems science program links with a range of topics, demonstrating the multiple connections between climate, our communities and our daily lives. Merging hands on activities, collaborative projects, and new technology, we encourage learning through doing by engaging participants in active exploration of climate science concepts. Many informal education venues operating locally, from large science museums to small grass-roots community groups, provide ongoing opportunities to connect with students. Through our collaborations we have worked with various types and sizes of non-classroom science providers including: the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum "Greater Opportunities Advancing Leadership and Science" camps for high school girls, Hudson River Park Trust 'Science on the River' events, the annual New York City World Science Festival, and the AAUW's annual STEM Super Scholars Workshops among others. This range of venues has enabled us to reach various ages, backgrounds and interests advancing climate literacy in a number of forums. Major outcomes of these efforts are: (1) Building capacity with community groups: Many local organizations running community programs do not have in-house science expertise. Both science educators and local organization benefit from these collaborations. Science educators and scientists provide up to date climate science information to the community groups while these programs establish strong working relationships between our research and the local community. (2) Developing climate science literacy and lifelong learning: We have delivered climate science in a variety of ways, each designed to connect the participants with a fundamental science concept while building excitement for the topic and facilitating learning in a non-traditional setting. Our approaches range from launching teams of young people into experiments exploring glacial physics through free-choice inquiry opportunities, to enlisting undergraduate science students in working with the participants demonstrating glacial motion and measurement through engaging technology such as Kinect Xbox 360 sensors, to short single concept hands-on activities designed to deliver a specific climate 'take home' message. (3) Generating a local connection to climate science and impacts: Working with local informal education groups we connect climate topics to community-based issues and 'hot topics' such as sustainable planning, waterfront erosion, storm surge impacts, and local sea level rise projections. Partnering with community based informal education providers allows us to expand our offerings to reach a wider audience of young people, and to connect more directly with our local community. We are excited by the potential in these partnerships to connect students with climate science and develop not only a climate literate group of young people, but also lifelong science learners.

Parental physical activity, safety perceptions and children’s independent mobility

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background Parents are likely to be a basic influence on their children's behavior. There is an absence of information about the associations between parents' physical activity and perception of neighborhood environment with children’s independent mobility. The purpose of this study is to examine the contribution of parental physical activity and perception of neighborhood safety to children’s independent mobility. Methods In this cross-sectional study of 354 pupils and their parents, independent mobility, perceptions of neighborhood safety and physical activity were evaluated by questionnaire. Categorical principal components analyses were used to determine the underlying dimensions of both independent mobility and perceptions of neighborhood safety items. Results The strongest predictor of independent mobility was the parental perception of sidewalk and street safety (ß = 0.132). Parent’s physical activity was also a significant predictor. The final model accounted for 13.0% of the variance. Conclusions Parental perception of neighborhood safety and parents’ self reported physical activity might be associated with children’s independent mobility. Further research in this topic is needed to explore this possible association. PMID:23767778

Knowledge of pharmacy students about doping, and the need for doping education: a questionnaire survey.

PubMed

Shibata, Keita; Ichikawa, Koichi; Kurata, Naomi

2017-08-11

Anti-doping activities are carried out on a global scale. Based on these activities, the specialty of "sports pharmacist," which entails a deeper comprehension of doping, use of supplements, and appropriate drug use for athletes, was established in 2009 in Japan. It is difficult to say whether the education on doping is adequate for pharmacy students who will be eligible to become sports pharmacists. It is also unclear how well these students understand doping. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate pharmacy students' current knowledge of appropriate drug use, doping and use of supplements, and to explore the need for further education on these topics. A questionnaire survey was conducted from July 3rd to August 2nd in 2014 at Showa University in Japan. A total of 406 respondents (2nd- to 6th-year students) were assessed as eligible. Group comparison was used to compare those who had attended a lecture about doping and those who had not. Most of the students only knew the word doping and had not attended a lecture on the subject, but 72% of them expressed a desire to attend one. Over half did not know that the most common doping violation in Japan is unintentional doping, and were unfamiliar with certain past cases of doping. In addition, 41% did not know that over-the-counter medicines and dietary supplements might contain prohibited substances, and 87% were unaware that names of prohibited substances might not appear on the ingredient labels of dietary supplements. In contrast, attending a lecture on doping was effective in facilitating the acquisition of all these types of knowledge. It is important to provide more opportunities for appropriate education of pharmacy students on the topic of doping, given that interest exists and attending a lecture on the topic appears to be useful. More education about doping for pharmacy students would be as effective for anti-doping activities as is education of athletes.

Citrus hallabong [(Citrus unshiu × C. sinensis) × C. reticulata)] exerts potent anti-inflammatory properties in murine splenocytes and TPA-induced murine ear oedema model.

PubMed

Herath, Kalahe Hewage Iresha Nadeeka Madushani; Bing, So Jin; Cho, Jinhee; Kim, Areum; Kim, Gi-Ok; Lee, Jong-Chul; Jee, Youngheun

2016-12-01

Hallabong [(Citrus unshiu × C. sinensis) X C. reticulata)] (Rutaceae) is a hybrid citrus cultivated in temperate regions of South Korea. Its fruit is well-known for pharmacological properties. This study examined the anti-inflammatory effect of 80% ethanol extract of Hallabong (HE) on concanavalin A (Con A)-stimulated splenocytes and mouse oedema model induced by 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbal acetate (TPA). Murine splenocytes treated with HE were stimulated with Con A (10 μg/mL, for 24 h) were evaluated for T-cell population and production of inflammatory cytokines IL-2, IL-4 and IFN-γ. Anti-inflammatory effect of topically applied HE (100 μg/20 μL) on TPA (4 μg/20 μL/ear)-induced ear oedema was investigated in mouse model. HE-treated Con A-stimulated murine splenocytes showed a marked decrease in CD44/CD62L + memory T-cell population, an important marker for anti-inflammatory activity, and a significant inhibition in the production of IL-2 and IFN-γ. HE treatment had reduced the mouse skin oedema (47%) and myeloperoxidase (MPO) activity significantly (40%) in TPA-challenged tissues. More importantly, immunohistochemical localization revealed the suppressed (p < 0.05) expression of inducible nitric oxide (iNOS), cyclooxygenase-2 (COX2). HE decreased the infiltration of CD3 + T cells and F4/80 + macrophages to the site of inflammation and a topical application of HE significantly suppressed the expression of TNF-α (20.2%). A topical application of HE can exert a potential anti-inflammatory effect and HE can be explored further as a putative alternative therapeutic agent for inflammatory oedema.

Characterizing the Discussion of Antibiotics in the Twittersphere: What is the Bigger Picture?

PubMed

Kendra, Rachel Lynn; Karki, Suman; Eickholt, Jesse Lee; Gandy, Lisa

2015-06-19

User content posted through Twitter has been used for biosurveillance, to characterize public perception of health-related topics, and as a means of distributing information to the general public. Most of the existing work surrounding Twitter and health care has shown Twitter to be an effective medium for these problems but more could be done to provide finer and more efficient access to all pertinent data. Given the diversity of user-generated content, small samples or summary presentations of the data arguably omit a large part of the virtual discussion taking place in the Twittersphere. Still, managing, processing, and querying large amounts of Twitter data is not a trivial task. This work describes tools and techniques capable of handling larger sets of Twitter data and demonstrates their use with the issue of antibiotics. This work has two principle objectives: (1) to provide an open-source means to efficiently explore all collected tweets and query health-related topics on Twitter, specifically, questions such as what users are saying and how messages are spread, and (2) to characterize the larger discourse taking place on Twitter with respect to antibiotics. Open-source software suites Hadoop, Flume, and Hive were used to collect and query a large number of Twitter posts. To classify tweets by topic, a deep network classifier was trained using a limited number of manually classified tweets. The particular machine learning approach used also allowed the use of a large number of unclassified tweets to increase performance. Query-based analysis of the collected tweets revealed that a large number of users contributed to the online discussion and that a frequent topic mentioned was resistance. A number of prominent events related to antibiotics led to a number of spikes in activity but these were short in duration. The category-based classifier developed was able to correctly classify 70% of manually labeled tweets (using a 10-fold cross validation procedure and 9 classes). The classifier also performed well when evaluated on a per category basis. Using existing tools such as Hive, Flume, Hadoop, and machine learning techniques, it is possible to construct tools and workflows to collect and query large amounts of Twitter data to characterize the larger discussion taking place on Twitter with respect to a particular health-related topic. Furthermore, using newer machine learning techniques and a limited number of manually labeled tweets, an entire body of collected tweets can be classified to indicate what topics are driving the virtual, online discussion. The resulting classifier can also be used to efficiently explore collected tweets by category and search for messages of interest or exemplary content.

Newspaper content analysis in evaluation of a community-based participatory project to increase physical activity.

PubMed

Granner, Michelle L; Sharpe, Patricia A; Burroughs, Ericka L; Fields, Regina; Hallenbeck, Joyce

2010-08-01

This study conducted a newspaper content analysis as part of an evaluation of a community-based participatory research project focused on increasing physical activity through policy and environmental changes, which included activities related to media advocacy and media-based community education. Daily papers (May 2003 to December 2005) from both the intervention and comparison counties were reviewed for topics related to physical activity and an active living environment (e.g. safety, policy, urban design, transportation and recreational resources). A total of 2681 articles from 1764 newspapers were analyzed. The intervention county had a greater proportion of articles on the selected topics. Specifically, the intervention county had a greater proportion of articles in topics related to safety, policy and community initiatives, as well as in sidewalks and recreational facilities; both priority areas for the intervention. Prominence of the articles was assessed using a composite index score. Generally, prominence of the topics analyzed was low. Articles in the sidewalks and recreational facilities topic category in the intervention county had higher prominence scores on average than the comparison county. The study demonstrates that media content analysis can be a valuable component in evaluating community-based interventions.

“A Waste of Time”: Hispanic Women's Attitudes toward Physical Activity

PubMed Central

Im, Eun-Ok; Lee, Bokim; Hwang, Hyenam; Yoo, Kyung Hee; Chee, Wonshik; Stuifbergen, Alexa; Walker, Lorraine; Brown, Adama; McPeek, Chelsea; Miro, Michelle; Chee, Eunice

2010-01-01

Despite a lack of studies on Hispanic midlife women's physical activity, the existing studies have indicated that Hispanics' ethnic-specific attitudes toward physical activity contributed to their lack of physical activity. However, little is still clearly known about Hispanic midlife women's attitudes toward physical activity. The purpose of this study was to explore Hispanic midlife women's attitudes toward physical activity using a feminist perspective. The study was a 6-month qualitative online forum among 23 Hispanic women who were recruited through Internet communities/groups. The data were collected using 17 online forum topics on attitudes toward physical activity and ethnic-specific contexts. The data were analyzed using thematic analysis. Three major themes emerged from the data analysis process: (a) “family first, no time for myself,” (b) “little exercise, but naturally healthy,” and (c) “dad died of heart attack.” Although some of the women perceived the importance of physical activity due to their family history of chronic diseases, the study participants thought that physical activity would be a waste of time in their busy daily schedules. These findings provided directions for future health care practice and research to increase physical activity among Hispanic midlife women. PMID:20981637

Webinar Software: A Tool for Developing More Effective Lectures (Online or In-Person)

PubMed Central

Mayorga, Eduardo P.; Bekerman, Jesica G.; Palis, Ana G.

2014-01-01

Purpose: To describe the use of online seminars (webinars) to improve learning experience for medical residents and fostering critical thinking. Materials and Methods: Sixty-one online seminars (webinars) for residents were developed from April 2012 to February 2013. Residents attended the lectures in the same room as the presenter or from distant locations. Residents interacted with the presenter using their personal computers, tablets, or smartphones. They were able to ask questions and answer the instructor's multiple choice or open-ended questions. The lecture dynamics consisted of: (1) The presentation of a clinical case by an expert on the clinical topic; (2) the instructor asked open-ended and multiple-choice questions about the problem-resolution process; (3) participants responded questions individually; (4) participants received feedback on their answers; (5) a brief conference was given on the learning objectives and the content, also fostering interactive participation; (6) lectures were complemented with work documents. Results: This method allowed for exploration of learning of scientific knowledge and the acquisition of other medical competences (such as patient care, interpersonal and communication skills, and professionalism). The question-and-answer activity and immediate feedback gave attendees the chance to participate actively in the conference, reflect on the topic, correct conceptual errors, and exercise critical thinking. All these factors are necessary for learning. Conclusions: This modality, which facilitates interaction, active participation, and immediate feedback, could allow learners to acquire knowledge more effectively. PMID:24791102

Dialogue-Based Activities and Manipulatives to Engage Liberal Arts Majors in Mathematics

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Price, James C.

2015-01-01

This article presents four inquiry-based learning activities developed for a liberal arts math course. The activities cover four topics: the Pythagorean theorem, interest theory, optimization, and the Monty Hall problem. Each activity consists of a dialogue, with a theme and characters related to the topic, and a manipulative, that allow students…

Selected topics on the active control of helicopter aeromechanical and vibration problems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Friedmann, Peretz P.

1994-01-01

This paper describes in a concise manner three selected topics on the active control of helicopter aeromechanical and vibration problems. The three topics are as follows: (1) the active control of helicopter air-resonance using an LQG/LTR approach; (2) simulation of higher harmonic control (HHC) applied to a four bladed hingeless helicopter rotor in forward flight; and (3) vibration suppression in forward flight on a hingeless helicopter rotor using an actively controlled, partial span, trailing edge flap, which is mounted on the blade. Only a few selected illustrative results are presented. The results obtained clearly indicate that the partial span, actively controlled flap has considerable potential for vibration reduction in helicopter rotors.

Clinical and Molecular Features of POLG-Related Mitochondrial Disease

PubMed Central

Stumpf, Jeffrey D.; Saneto, Russell P.; Copeland, William C.

2013-01-01

The inability to replicate mitochondrial genomes (mtDNA) by the mitochondrial DNA polymerase (pol γ) leads to a subset of mitochondrial diseases. Many mutations in POLG, the gene that encodes pol γ, have been associated with mitochondrial diseases such as myocerebrohepatopathy spectrum (MCHS) disorders, Alpers-Huttenlocher syndrome, myoclonic epilepsy myopathy sensory ataxia (MEMSA), ataxia neuropathy spectrum (ANS), and progressive external ophthalmoplegia (PEO). This chapter explores five important topics in POLG-related disease: (1) clinical symptoms that identify and distinguish POLG-related diseases, (2) molecular characterization of defects in polymerase activity by POLG disease variants, (3) the importance of holoenzyme formation in disease presentation, (4) the role of pol γ exonuclease activity and mutagenesis in disease and aging, and (5) novel approaches to therapy and avoidance of toxicity based on primary research in pol γ replication. PMID:23545419

Poor and Rich in James: A Relevance Theory Approach to James's Use of the Old Testament

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Morales, Nelson R.

2015-01-01

The epistle of James was for years a forgotten book in academic circles. In recent decades, however, a renewed focus on early Judaism has generated interest in looking at James with new eyes. Poverty and wealth in the epistle continues to be a point of interest. Other topics, however, are still to be explored. One of these topics is the rhetorical…

A World Turned Molten: Helping Year 9 to Explore the Cultural Legacies of the First World War

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Foster, Rachel

2014-01-01

Rachel Foster shows how her own study of cultural history led to a new dimension in her planning. She wanted to show her students not only that historians are interested in many different kinds of topic, but that they ask different kinds of question about those topics. Foster also wanted her students to examine how civic traditions and rituals…

The Development of Veteran 9th-Grade Physics Teachers' Knowledge for Using Representations to Teach the Topics of Energy Transformation and Transfer

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

West, Andrew

2011-01-01

The purpose of this study was to explore and identify the experiences that informed the development of three veteran (15+ years of teaching experience) 9th grade physics teachers' specialized knowledge, or PCK, for using representations to teach the topics of energy transformation and transfer. Through the lens of phenomenography, the study…

Topics in programmable automation. [for materials handling, inspection, and assembly

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rosen, C. A.

1975-01-01

Topics explored in the development of integrated programmable automation systems include: numerically controlled and computer controlled machining; machine intelligence and the emulation of human-like capabilities; large scale semiconductor integration technology applications; and sensor technology for asynchronous local computation without burdening the executive minicomputer which controls the whole system. The role and development of training aids, and the potential application of these aids to augmented teleoperator systems are discussed.

Thinking beyond the Obvious Boundaries in Mathematics: An Exploration of Joyous Discovery.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

de Vries, Marianne E.

1992-01-01

Ideas for the development of creative exploration in mathematics are offered, including games to play in class (e.g., card games and tangrams), competitions (sample problems), clubs and math evenings (math relays and treasure hunts), projects (possible topics in patchwork quilting, art, and music), and math camps. (DB)

Exploring Professionalism in Undergraduate Medical and Dental Education through Forum Theatre

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brett-MacLean, Pamela; Yiu, Verna; Farooq, Ameer

2012-01-01

Forum Theatre (FT) was created by Brazilian theatre director Augusto Boal (1985) as an approach for promoting dialogue between the audience and those performing on stage for his "Theater for the Oppressed." FT offers an accessible, interactive approach to exploring challenging topics and situations. In FT, a short scene is performed. It…

Sexual Health Attitudes, Knowledge, and Clinical Behaviors: Implications for Counseling

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Russell, Elizabeth B.

2012-01-01

This article explores the impact of practitioners' attitudes and knowledge of sexual health on clinical behaviors. Sexual health topics are often areas of concern for clients of any age in counseling. Thus, counselors must be trained and equipped to address sexual health across the life span. This study explored whether child and adolescent…

Exploration, Encounter, Exchange in History: National History Day Curriculum Book, 2004.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mazzenga, Maria, Comp.

The theme for 2004's National History Day is "Exploration, Encounter, Exchange in History." This is a broad theme, so topics should be carefully selected and developed in ways that best reflect student talents and abilities. Studies should include an investigation into available primary and secondary sources, analysis of the evidence,…

Bullying and Discrimination in Schools: Exploring Variations across Student Subgroups

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Swearer, Susan; Hymel, Shelley

2015-01-01

This commentary reviews the four articles included in a special issue of the "School Psychology Review" that address factors related to the bullying and discrimination among youth. The articles explore rather diverse topics within the broader literature on youth interpersonal violence, but each adds to our understanding of the very…

Career Exploration 10-12. Career Exploration Guidance Program.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Young, John; And Others

Designed as a group guidance approach which can be used with study hall groups and subject matter area classes, this career guidance program provides experiences for high school students in the area of employability and work adjustment. Intended to span eighteen days, the program includes such topics as evaluation of self and skills, values…

Using Alternate Energy Sources. The Illinois Plan for Industrial Education.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Illinois State Univ., Normal.

This guide, which is one in the "Exploration" series of curriculum guides intended to assist junior high and middle school industrial educators in helping their students explore diverse industrial situations and technologies used in industry, deals with using alternate energy sources. The following topics are covered in the individual lessons:…

Using space resources

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sullivan, Thomas A.; Mckay, David S.

1991-01-01

The topics covered include the following: reducing the cost of space exploration; the high cost of shipping; lunar raw materials; some useful space products; energy from the moon; ceramic, glass, and concrete construction materials; mars atmosphere resources; relationship to the Space Exploration Initiative (SEI); an evolutionary approach to using space resources; technology development; and oxygen and metal coproduction.

Synchronization of Oscillators: An Ideal Introduction to Phase Transitions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

English, L. Q.

2008-01-01

The spontaneous synchronization of phase-coupled, non-identical oscillators is explored numerically via the famous Kuramoto model. The conditions for synchronization are examined as a function of the coupling network. I argue that such a numerical exploration provides a feasible way to introduce the topic of phase transitions early in the physics…

Exploring Students' Understanding of Ordinary Differential Equations Using Computer Algebraic System (CAS)

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Maat, Siti Mistima; Zakaria, Effandi

2011-01-01

Ordinary differential equations (ODEs) are one of the important topics in engineering mathematics that lead to the understanding of technical concepts among students. This study was conducted to explore the students' understanding of ODEs when they solve ODE questions using a traditional method as well as a computer algebraic system, particularly…

Exploring the Use of Focused Freewriting in Developing Academic Writing

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Li, Linda Y.

2007-01-01

Focused freewriting, broadly defined as writing without stopping and editing about a specific topic, has been viewed and used as a powerful tool for developing student writing in a wide spectrum of educational contexts. This study aimed to further explore the use of focused freewriting in the context of promoting students' academic skills…

Learning Qualitative Research

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gerhart, Lael

2009-01-01

In this article I explore through a narrative how I came to do a research project in East New York. I show how first contact was established, how local contacts were made, and how trust between my research participants and me was created. I then explore how the research topic evolved through informal conversations, open-ended interviews, and…

Exploring Graphic Design. A Short Course in Desktop Publishing.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stanley, MLG

This course in desktop publishing contains seven illustrated modules designed to meet the following objectives: (1) use a desktop publishing program to explore advanced topics in graphic design; (2) learn about typography and how to make design decisions on the use of typestyles; (3) learn basic principles in graphic communications and apply them…

Sustainability with an Ethical Aim: Lessons from an American Nun in Amazonia

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Demaree, Stephanie

2012-01-01

Research Topic: An exploration into human imagination, ethical aim and action are the progenitors for reconciliation between humans and their environment. This study of two successful projects in Brazil provides an example of working toward a balance between human endeavors and sustainable environments. This inquiry is an exploration that…

College Students and Financial Distress: Exploring Debt, Financial Satisfaction, and Financial Anxiety

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Archuleta, Kristy L.; Dale, Anita; Spann, Scott M.

2013-01-01

The impact of financial concerns on overall mental health has become a popular topic among researchers and practitioners. In this exploratory study, possible associations of financial anxiety were explored using a sample of 180 college students who sought services at a university peer financial counseling center in a Midwestern state. Of…

Reframing Spirituality: AA, the 12 Steps, and the Mental Health Counselor.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hanna, Fred J.

1992-01-01

Surveys literature and explores ways to understand spirituality in Alcoholics Anonymous (AA). Topics explored range from Jungian and Jamesian psychology, to Stoicism, the work of Bateson, and transpersonal psychology and therapy. Speculates that difficulty some mental health counselors have in accepting AA as therapy could be a result of…

On the Problems of Violence and Civility: Rethinking Transformative Powers of Adult Education.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lukenchuk, Antonina

The nature of violence and civility were explored from sociological and philosophical perspectives to contextualize violence and civility in terms of their implications for the theory and practice of adult education. The exploration focused on the following topics: (1) the nature of violence and civility and their relevance to contemporary…

Exploration of Peer Learning in a Formal Cohort Healthcare Leadership Development Program

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gruber, Melinda Marie

2016-01-01

Many new and emerging leaders will move into leadership positions in healthcare as experienced leaders retire or move to other positions. These individuals need leadership development that supports them in becoming transformational change leaders. This study explored the topic of peer learning as a leadership development approach in a healthcare…

Coal Activities for Secondary Students.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

American Coal Foundation, Washington, DC.

This collection of lesson plans designed for teachers of 4th- through 12th-grade students utilizes an assortment of teaching strategies for topics related to coal and the coal industry. Activities cover the following topics: coal formation; coal identification; "the geologist's dilemma" (a supply and demand activity); geologic time and…

Factors Shaping Students' Opportunities to Engage in Argumentative Activity

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ayalon, Michal; Even, Ruhama

2016-01-01

This study examines how students' opportunities to engage in argumentative activity are shaped by the teacher, the class, and the mathematical topic. It compares the argumentative activity between two classes taught by the same teacher using the same textbook and across two beginning algebra topics--investigating algebraic expressions and…

Math Activities for Teaching about Aging.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Doyle, Roberta E.; Pappas, Anthony A.

By participating in these class activities, students will acquire mathematical skills and at the same time learn about aging. Topics related to aging are often quantitative, and therefore, subject to mathematical analysis and procedures. The activities, which contain teacher suggestions and all student handouts, deal with seven topics. In the…

Groundwater: A Vital Resource. Student Activities.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Taylor, Carla, Ed.

Twenty-three activities dealing with various aspects of groundwater are provided in this manual. The activities are arranged under four headings: (1) the water cycle; (2) water distribution in soils (considering such topics as calculating water table depth and purifying water by filtering); (3) water quality (considering such topics as acid rain,…

Self-evaluation and peer-feedback of medical students' communication skills using a web-based video annotation system. Exploring content and specificity.

PubMed

Hulsman, Robert L; van der Vloodt, Jane

2015-03-01

Self-evaluation and peer-feedback are important strategies within the reflective practice paradigm for the development and maintenance of professional competencies like medical communication. Characteristics of the self-evaluation and peer-feedback annotations of medical students' video recorded communication skills were analyzed. Twenty-five year 4 medical students recorded history-taking consultations with a simulated patient, uploaded the video to a web-based platform, marked and annotated positive and negative events. Peers reviewed the video and self-evaluations and provided feedback. Analyzed were the number of marked positive and negative annotations and the amount of text entered. Topics and specificity of the annotations were coded and analyzed qualitatively. Students annotated on average more negative than positive events. Additional peer-feedback was more often positive. Topics most often related to structuring the consultation. Students were most critical about their biomedical topics. Negative annotations were more specific than positive annotations. Self-evaluations were more specific than peer-feedback and both show a significant correlation. Four response patterns were detected that negatively bias specificity assessment ratings. Teaching students to be more specific in their self-evaluations may be effective for receiving more specific peer-feedback. Videofragmentrating is a convenient tool to implement reflective practice activities like self-evaluation and peer-feedback to the classroom in the teaching of clinical skills. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Green Power Partnership Videos

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

The Green Power Partnership develops videos on a regular basis that explore a variety of topics including, Green Power partnership, green power purchasing, Renewable energy certificates, among others.

Neural correlates of three cognitive processes involved in theory of mind and discourse comprehension.

PubMed

Lin, Nan; Yang, Xiaohong; Li, Jing; Wang, Shaonan; Hua, Huimin; Ma, Yujun; Li, Xingshan

2018-04-01

Neuroimaging studies have found that theory of mind (ToM) and discourse comprehension involve similar brain regions. These brain regions may be associated with three cognitive components that are necessarily or frequently involved in ToM and discourse comprehension, including social concept representation and retrieval, domain-general semantic integration, and domain-specific integration of social semantic contents. Using fMRI, we investigated the neural correlates of these three cognitive components by exploring how discourse topic (social/nonsocial) and discourse processing period (ending/beginning) modulate brain activation in a discourse comprehension (and also ToM) task. Different sets of brain areas showed sensitivity to discourse topic, discourse processing period, and the interaction between them, respectively. The most novel finding was that the right temporoparietal junction and middle temporal gyrus showed sensitivity to discourse processing period only during social discourse comprehension, indicating that they selectively contribute to domain-specific semantic integration. Our finding indicates how different domains of semantic information are processed and integrated in the brain and provides new insights into the neural correlates of ToM and discourse comprehension.

An in vitro approach to investigate ocular metabolism of a topical, selective β1-adrenergic blocking agent, betaxolol.

PubMed

Bushee, Jennifer L; Dunne, Christine E; Argikar, Upendra A

2015-05-01

1. Topical glaucoma treatments have often been limited by poor absorption and bioavailability. Betaxolol, a selective β1-blocker, has been well studied for its pharmacokinetics and disposition. Limited ocular, betaxolol metabolism data is available despite a growing number of novel ocular treatments. 2. In vitro ocular fractions indicated the formation of an active metabolite, across rat, rabbit and human, which was only observed historically in the liver. 3. Ocular metabolic profiles of preclinical toxicology species, rat and rabbit, were not predictive of human in vitro ocular data. M1 was specific to human and only captured by the liver data. 4. Liver S9 over predicted the extent of ocular metabolism compared to ocular fractions. Rabbit liver S9 fractions demonstrated extensive glucuronidation and higher parent turn-over in 1 h as compared to other matrices. 5. This research assesses in vitro species and organ differences across preclinical species and human. The complex data set highlights the need for an in vitro ocular system to explore poorly documented ocular metabolism.

An overview about oxidation in clinical practice of skin aging*

PubMed Central

Silva, Silas Arandas Monteiro e; Michniak-Kohn, Bozena; Leonardi, Gislaine Ricci

2017-01-01

Free radicals are unstable chemical species, highly reactive, being formed by cellular entities of different tissues. Increased production of these species without proper effective action of endogenous and exogenous antioxidant systems, generates a condition of oxidative stress, potentially provider of skin disorders that extend from functional impairments (skin cancer, dermatitis, chronic and acute inflammatory processes) even aesthetic character, with the destruction of structural proteins and cellular changes with the appearance of stains, marks and lines of expressions and other signs inherent to the intrinsic and extrinsic skin aging process. The antioxidants are chemical substances commonly used in clinical practice for topical application and may contribute in the fight against the radical species responsible for many skin damage. This paper summarized the main evidence of the benefits brought by the topical application of antioxidants in the skin, considering the amplitude of the indicative performance of antioxidant activity by in vitro and ex-vivo tests as well as in vivo tests. It is recognized that a breadth of product performance tests should be explored to truly identify the effectiveness of antioxidant products for an anti-aging effect. PMID:29186250

Cosmology and fundamental physics with the Euclid satellite.

PubMed

Amendola, Luca; Appleby, Stephen; Avgoustidis, Anastasios; Bacon, David; Baker, Tessa; Baldi, Marco; Bartolo, Nicola; Blanchard, Alain; Bonvin, Camille; Borgani, Stefano; Branchini, Enzo; Burrage, Clare; Camera, Stefano; Carbone, Carmelita; Casarini, Luciano; Cropper, Mark; de Rham, Claudia; Dietrich, Jörg P; Di Porto, Cinzia; Durrer, Ruth; Ealet, Anne; Ferreira, Pedro G; Finelli, Fabio; García-Bellido, Juan; Giannantonio, Tommaso; Guzzo, Luigi; Heavens, Alan; Heisenberg, Lavinia; Heymans, Catherine; Hoekstra, Henk; Hollenstein, Lukas; Holmes, Rory; Hwang, Zhiqi; Jahnke, Knud; Kitching, Thomas D; Koivisto, Tomi; Kunz, Martin; La Vacca, Giuseppe; Linder, Eric; March, Marisa; Marra, Valerio; Martins, Carlos; Majerotto, Elisabetta; Markovic, Dida; Marsh, David; Marulli, Federico; Massey, Richard; Mellier, Yannick; Montanari, Francesco; Mota, David F; Nunes, Nelson J; Percival, Will; Pettorino, Valeria; Porciani, Cristiano; Quercellini, Claudia; Read, Justin; Rinaldi, Massimiliano; Sapone, Domenico; Sawicki, Ignacy; Scaramella, Roberto; Skordis, Constantinos; Simpson, Fergus; Taylor, Andy; Thomas, Shaun; Trotta, Roberto; Verde, Licia; Vernizzi, Filippo; Vollmer, Adrian; Wang, Yun; Weller, Jochen; Zlosnik, Tom

2018-01-01

Euclid is a European Space Agency medium-class mission selected for launch in 2020 within the cosmic vision 2015-2025 program. The main goal of Euclid is to understand the origin of the accelerated expansion of the universe. Euclid will explore the expansion history of the universe and the evolution of cosmic structures by measuring shapes and red-shifts of galaxies as well as the distribution of clusters of galaxies over a large fraction of the sky. Although the main driver for Euclid is the nature of dark energy, Euclid science covers a vast range of topics, from cosmology to galaxy evolution to planetary research. In this review we focus on cosmology and fundamental physics, with a strong emphasis on science beyond the current standard models. We discuss five broad topics: dark energy and modified gravity, dark matter, initial conditions, basic assumptions and questions of methodology in the data analysis. This review has been planned and carried out within Euclid's Theory Working Group and is meant to provide a guide to the scientific themes that will underlie the activity of the group during the preparation of the Euclid mission.

Cosmology and fundamental physics with the Euclid satellite

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Amendola, Luca; Appleby, Stephen; Avgoustidis, Anastasios; Bacon, David; Baker, Tessa; Baldi, Marco; Bartolo, Nicola; Blanchard, Alain; Bonvin, Camille; Borgani, Stefano; Branchini, Enzo; Burrage, Clare; Camera, Stefano; Carbone, Carmelita; Casarini, Luciano; Cropper, Mark; de Rham, Claudia; Dietrich, Jörg P.; Di Porto, Cinzia; Durrer, Ruth; Ealet, Anne; Ferreira, Pedro G.; Finelli, Fabio; García-Bellido, Juan; Giannantonio, Tommaso; Guzzo, Luigi; Heavens, Alan; Heisenberg, Lavinia; Heymans, Catherine; Hoekstra, Henk; Hollenstein, Lukas; Holmes, Rory; Hwang, Zhiqi; Jahnke, Knud; Kitching, Thomas D.; Koivisto, Tomi; Kunz, Martin; La Vacca, Giuseppe; Linder, Eric; March, Marisa; Marra, Valerio; Martins, Carlos; Majerotto, Elisabetta; Markovic, Dida; Marsh, David; Marulli, Federico; Massey, Richard; Mellier, Yannick; Montanari, Francesco; Mota, David F.; Nunes, Nelson J.; Percival, Will; Pettorino, Valeria; Porciani, Cristiano; Quercellini, Claudia; Read, Justin; Rinaldi, Massimiliano; Sapone, Domenico; Sawicki, Ignacy; Scaramella, Roberto; Skordis, Constantinos; Simpson, Fergus; Taylor, Andy; Thomas, Shaun; Trotta, Roberto; Verde, Licia; Vernizzi, Filippo; Vollmer, Adrian; Wang, Yun; Weller, Jochen; Zlosnik, Tom

2018-04-01

Euclid is a European Space Agency medium-class mission selected for launch in 2020 within the cosmic vision 2015-2025 program. The main goal of Euclid is to understand the origin of the accelerated expansion of the universe. Euclid will explore the expansion history of the universe and the evolution of cosmic structures by measuring shapes and red-shifts of galaxies as well as the distribution of clusters of galaxies over a large fraction of the sky. Although the main driver for Euclid is the nature of dark energy, Euclid science covers a vast range of topics, from cosmology to galaxy evolution to planetary research. In this review we focus on cosmology and fundamental physics, with a strong emphasis on science beyond the current standard models. We discuss five broad topics: dark energy and modified gravity, dark matter, initial conditions, basic assumptions and questions of methodology in the data analysis. This review has been planned and carried out within Euclid's Theory Working Group and is meant to provide a guide to the scientific themes that will underlie the activity of the group during the preparation of the Euclid mission.

Cosmology and Fundamental Physics with the Euclid Satellite.

PubMed

Amendola, Luca; Appleby, Stephen; Bacon, David; Baker, Tessa; Baldi, Marco; Bartolo, Nicola; Blanchard, Alain; Bonvin, Camille; Borgani, Stefano; Branchini, Enzo; Burrage, Clare; Camera, Stefano; Carbone, Carmelita; Casarini, Luciano; Cropper, Mark; de Rham, Claudia; Di Porto, Cinzia; Ealet, Anne; Ferreira, Pedro G; Finelli, Fabio; García-Bellido, Juan; Giannantonio, Tommaso; Guzzo, Luigi; Heavens, Alan; Heisenberg, Lavinia; Heymans, Catherine; Hoekstra, Henk; Hollenstein, Lukas; Holmes, Rory; Horst, Ole; Jahnke, Knud; Kitching, Thomas D; Koivisto, Tomi; Kunz, Martin; La Vacca, Giuseppe; March, Marisa; Majerotto, Elisabetta; Markovic, Katarina; Marsh, David; Marulli, Federico; Massey, Richard; Mellier, Yannick; Mota, David F; Nunes, Nelson J; Percival, Will; Pettorino, Valeria; Porciani, Cristiano; Quercellini, Claudia; Read, Justin; Rinaldi, Massimiliano; Sapone, Domenico; Scaramella, Roberto; Skordis, Constantinos; Simpson, Fergus; Taylor, Andy; Thomas, Shaun; Trotta, Roberto; Verde, Licia; Vernizzi, Filippo; Vollmer, Adrian; Wang, Yun; Weller, Jochen; Zlosnik, Tom

2013-01-01

Euclid is a European Space Agency medium-class mission selected for launch in 2019 within the Cosmic Vision 2015-2025 program. The main goal of Euclid is to understand the origin of the accelerated expansion of the universe. Euclid will explore the expansion history of the universe and the evolution of cosmic structures by measuring shapes and red-shifts of galaxies as well as the distribution of clusters of galaxies over a large fraction of the sky. Although the main driver for Euclid is the nature of dark energy, Euclid science covers a vast range of topics, from cosmology to galaxy evolution to planetary research. In this review we focus on cosmology and fundamental physics, with a strong emphasis on science beyond the current standard models. We discuss five broad topics: dark energy and modified gravity, dark matter, initial conditions, basic assumptions and questions of methodology in the data analysis. This review has been planned and carried out within Euclid's Theory Working Group and is meant to provide a guide to the scientific themes that will underlie the activity of the group during the preparation of the Euclid mission.

Of responsible research-Exploring the science-society dialogue in undergraduate training within the life sciences.

PubMed

Almeida, Maria Strecht; Quintanilha, Alexandre

2017-01-02

We explore the integration of societal issues in undergraduate training within the life sciences. Skills in thinking about science, scientific knowledge production and the place of science in society are crucial in the context of the idea of responsible research and innovation. This idea became institutionalized and it is currently well-present in the scientific agenda. Developing abilities in this regard seems particularly relevant to training in the life sciences, as new developments in this area somehow evoke the involvement of all of us citizens, our engagement to debate and take part in processes of change. The present analysis draws from the implementation of a curricular unit focused on science-society dialogue, an optional course included in the Biochemistry Degree study plan offered at the University of Porto. This curricular unit was designed to be mostly an exploratory activity for the students, enabling them to undertake in-depth study in areas/topics of their specific interest. Mapping topics from students' final papers provided a means of analysis and became a useful tool in the exploratory collaborative construction of the course. We discuss both the relevance and the opportunity of thinking and questioning the science-society dialogue. As part of undergraduate training, this pedagogical practice was deemed successful. © 2016 by The International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, 45(1):46-52, 2017. © 2016 The International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.

The Nanomaterial Data Curation Initiative: A collaborative approach to assessing, evaluating, and advancing the state of the field

PubMed Central

Powers, Christina M; Hoover, Mark D; Harper, Stacey L

2015-01-01

Summary The Nanomaterial Data Curation Initiative (NDCI), a project of the National Cancer Informatics Program Nanotechnology Working Group (NCIP NanoWG), explores the critical aspect of data curation within the development of informatics approaches to understanding nanomaterial behavior. Data repositories and tools for integrating and interrogating complex nanomaterial datasets are gaining widespread interest, with multiple projects now appearing in the US and the EU. Even in these early stages of development, a single common aspect shared across all nanoinformatics resources is that data must be curated into them. Through exploration of sub-topics related to all activities necessary to enable, execute, and improve the curation process, the NDCI will provide a substantive analysis of nanomaterial data curation itself, as well as a platform for multiple other important discussions to advance the field of nanoinformatics. This article outlines the NDCI project and lays the foundation for a series of papers on nanomaterial data curation. The NDCI purpose is to: 1) present and evaluate the current state of nanomaterial data curation across the field on multiple specific data curation topics, 2) propose ways to leverage and advance progress for both individual efforts and the nanomaterial data community as a whole, and 3) provide opportunities for similar publication series on the details of the interactive needs and workflows of data customers, data creators, and data analysts. Initial responses from stakeholder liaisons throughout the nanoinformatics community reveal a shared view that it will be critical to focus on integration of datasets with specific orientation toward the purposes for which the individual resources were created, as well as the purpose for integrating multiple resources. Early acknowledgement and undertaking of complex topics such as uncertainty, reproducibility, and interoperability is proposed as an important path to addressing key challenges within the nanomaterial community, such as reducing collateral negative impacts and decreasing the time from development to market for this new class of technologies. PMID:26425427