A proposed concept for a crustal dynamics information management network

The findings of a requirements and feasibility analysis of the present and potential producers, users, and repositories of space-derived geodetic information are summarized. A proposed concept is presented for a crustal dynamics information management network that would apply state of the art concepts of information management technology to meet the expanding needs of the producers, users, and archivists of this geodetic information

Tracing learning strategies in online learning environments: a learning analytics approach

Learning has expanded beyond formal education; yet, students continue to face the challenge of how to effectively direct their learning. Among the processes of learning, the selection and application of learning tactics and strategies are fundamental steps. Learning tactics and strategies have long been considered as key predictors of learning performance. Theoretical models of self-regulated learning (SRL) assert that the choice and use of learning tactics and strategies are influenced by the internal (cognitive) and external (task) conditions. These conditions are consistently updated when students receive internal/external feedback. However, internal feedback generated based on students’ evaluation of their own performance against the expectation and/or learning goal is not accurate. Guiding students to apply appropriate learning strategies i.e. providing external feedback, hence, could enhance the students’ learning. Recent research literature suggests that learning analytics can be leveraged to support students in the selection and use of effective learning tactics and strategies. However, there has been limited literature on the ways this can be achieved. This thesis aims to fill this gap in the literature. This thesis begins by exploring the state of the art regarding how students receive learning analytics-based support for the selection and application of learning tactics and strategies. The systematic literature review on this topic reveals that students rarely receive feedback on learning tactics and strategies with learning analytics dashboards. One of the barriers to providing feedback on learning tactics and strategies is the difficulty in detecting learning tactics and strategies that students used when interacting with learning activities. Hence, this thesis proposes a novel analyticsbased approach to detect learning tactics and strategies based on digital trace data recorded in learning environments. The proposed analytics-based approach is based on process, sequence mining and clustering techniques. To validate the results of the proposed approach and the credibility of the automatically detected learning tactics and strategies, associations with academic performance and different feedback conditions are explored. To further validate the approach, the efficacy of each proposed approach in the detection of learning tactics and strategies is investigated. In addition, the thesis explores the alignment of the automatically detected learning tactics and strategies with relevant models of SRL. This is done by examining the association between the internal conditions and external conditions. Specifically, internal conditions are represented by the disposition of students based on self-reports of personality traits, whereas external conditions are represented by course instructional designs and delivery modalities. The thesis is concluded with a discussion of the implications of the proposed analytics methodology on research and practice of learning and teaching

Öljyllä saastuneen maaperän molekulaarinen biomonitorointi ritsoremediaation aikana

Rhizoremediation is the use of microbial populations present in the rhizosphere of plants for environmental cleanup. The idea of this work was that bacteria living in the rhizosphere of a nitrogen-fixing leguminous plant, goat's rue (Galega orientalis), could take part in the degradation of harmful monoaromatic hydrocarbons, such as benzene, toluene and xylene (BTEX), from oil-contaminated soils. In addition to chemical (e.g. pollutant concentration) and physical (e.g. soil structure) information, the knowledge of biological aspects (e.g. bacteria and their catabolic genes) is essential when developing the rhizoremediation into controlled and effective bioremediation practice. Therefore, the need for reliable biomonitoring methods is obvious. The main aims of this thesis were to evaluate the symbiotic G. orientalis - Rhizobium galegae system for rhizoremediation of oil-contaminated soils, to develop molecular methods for biomonitoring, and to apply these methods for studying the microbiology of rhizoremediation. In vitro, Galega plants and rhizobia remained viable in m-toluate concentrations up to 3000 mg/l. Plant growth and nodulation were inhibited in 500 mg/l m-toluate, but were restored when plants were transferred to clean medium. In the greenhouse, Galega showed good growth, nodulation and nitrogen fixation, and developed a strong rhizosphere in soils contaminated with oil or spiked with 2000 mg/l m-toluate. The high aromatic tolerance of R. galegae and the viability of Galega plants in oil-polluted soils proved this legume system to be a promising method for the rhizoremediation of oil-contaminated soils. Molecular biomonitoring methods were designed and/or developed further for bacteria and their degradation genes. A combination of genomic fingerprinting ((GTG)5-PCR), taxonomic ribotyping of 16S rRNA genes and partial 16S rRNA gene sequencing were chosen for molecular grouping of culturable, heterogeneous rhizosphere bacteria. PCR primers specific for the xylE gene were designed for TOL plasmid detection. Amplified enzyme-coding DNA restriction analysis (AEDRA) with AluI was used to profile both TOL plasmids (xylE primers) and, in general, aromatics-degrading plasmids (C230 primers). The sensitivity of the direct monitoring of TOL plasmids in soil was enhanced by nested C23O-xylE-PCR. Rhizosphere bacteria were isolated from the greenhouse and field lysimeter experiments. High genetic diversity was observed among the 50 isolated, m-toluate tolerating rhizosphere bacteria in the form of five major lineages of the Bacteria domain. Gram-positive Rhodococcus, Bacillus and Arthrobacter and gram-negative Pseudomonas were the most abundant genera. The inoculum Pseudomonas putida PaW85/pWW0 was not found in the rhizosphere samples. Even if there were no ecological niches available for the bioaugmentation bacterium itself, its conjugative catabolic plasmid might have had some additional value for other bacterial species and thus, for rhizoremediation. Only 10 to 20% of the isolated, m-toluate tolerating bacterial strains were also able to degrade m-toluate. TOL plasmids were a major group of catabolic plasmids among these bacteria. The ability to degrade m-toluate by using enzymes encoded by a TOL plasmid was detected only in species of the genus Pseudomonas, and the best m-toluate degraders were these Pseudomonas species. Strain-specific differences in degradation abilities were found for P.oryzihabitans and P. migulae: some of these strains harbored a TOL plasmid - a new finding observed in this work, indicating putative horizontal plasmid transfer in the rhizosphere. One P. oryzihabitans strain harbored the pWW0 plasmid that had probably conjugated from the bioaugmentation Pseudomonas. Some P. migulae and P. oryzihabitans strains seemed to harbor both the pWW0- and the pDK1-type TOL plasmid. Alternatively, they might have harbored a TOL plasmid with both the pWW0- and the pDK1-type xylE gene. The breakdown of m-toluate by gram-negative bacteria was not restricted to the TOL pathway. Also some gram-positive Rhodococcus erythropolis and Arthrobacter aurescens strains were able to degrade m-toluate in the absence of a TOL plasmid. Three aspects of the rhizosphere effect of G. orientalis were manifested in oil-contaminated soil in the field: 1) G. orientalis and Pseudomonas bioaugmentation increased the amount of rhizosphere bacteria. G. orientalis especially together with Pseudomonas bioaugmentation increased the numbers of m-toluate utilizing and catechol positive bacteria indicating an increase in degradation potential. 2) Also the bacterial diversity, when measured as the amount of ribotypes, was increased in the Galega rhizosphere with or without Pseudomonas bioaugmentation. However, the diversity of m-toluate utilizing bacteria did not significantly increase. At the community level, by using the 16S rRNA gene PCR-DGGE method, the highest diversity of species was also observed in vegetated soils compared with non-vegetated soils. Diversified communities may best guarantee the overall success in rhizoremediation by offering various genetic machineries for catabolic processes. 3) At the end of the experiment, no TOL plasmid could be detected by direct DNA analysis in soil treated with both G. orientalis and Pseudomonas. The detection limit for TOL plasmids was encountered indicating decreased amount of degradation plasmids and thus, the success of rhizoremediation. The use of G. orientalis for rhizoremediation is unique. In this thesis new information was obtained about the rhizosphere effect of Galega orientalis in BTEX contaminated soils. The molecular biomonitoring methods can be applied for several purposes within environmental biotechnology, such as for evaluating the intrinsic biodegradation potential, monitoring the enhanced bioremediation, and estimating the success of bioremediation. Environmental protection by using nature's own resources and thus, acting according to the principle of sustainable development, would be both economically and environmentally beneficial for society. Keywords: molecular biomonitoring, genetic fingerprinting, soil bacteria, bacterial diversity, TOL plasmid, catabolic genes, horizontal gene transfer, rhizoremediation, rhizosphere effect, Galega orientalis, aerobic biodegradation, petroleum hydrocarbons, BTEXSuomessa on tilastoitu tuhansia öljyllä saastuneita maa-alueita, kuten hylättyjä huoltoasemia. Näitä voitaisiin puhdistaa kasvien juuristossa elävien mikrobien avulla eli ritsoremediaatiolla. Tässä työssä tutkittiin typpeä sitovan palkokasvin, vuohenherneen juuriston bakteerien osallistumista monoaromaattisten hiilivetyjen, kuten bentseenin, tolueenin ja ksyleenin, hajottamiseen öljyllä saastuneessa maaperässä. Biologisten tekijöiden tuntemus (mm. bakteerit ja niiden hajotusgeenit) on oleellista kemiallisen (esim. myrkkypitoisuus) ja fysikaalisen (esim. maan rakenne) tiedon lisäksi, jotta ritsoremediaatiosta voidaan kehittää hallittu ja tehokas biopuhdistusmenetelmä. Siksi myös luotettavien biologisten seurantamenetelmien kehittämisen tarve on ilmeinen. Tämän väitöskirjatyön tarkoituksena oli 1) arvioida vuohenherneen ja sen ritsobin eli symbioottisen typensitojabakteerin soveltuvuus öljyllä saastuneen maaperän puhdistamiseen, 2) kehittää molekyylitason menetelmiä biomonitorointia varten ja 3) soveltaa näitä menetelmiä tutkittaessa mikrobiologisia ilmiöitä ritsoremediaation aikana. Ritsobin korkea aromaattisten aineiden sietokyky ja vuohenherneen elinkykyisyys öljymaissa osoittivat tämän palkokasvi-bakteeri -yhdistelmän soveltuvan hyvin öljyllä saastuneen maaperän ritsoremediaatioon. Molekyylibiologisia menetelmiä suunniteltiin ja/tai kehitettiin bakteerien ja niiden hajotusgeenien seuraamiseksi maassa. Viljeltävissä olevia, heterogeenisia juuristobakteereita ryhmiteltiin erään vähemmän käytetyn, mutta tässä työssä tehokkaaksi osoitetun, genomisen sormenjälkimenetelmän, taksonomisen ribotyyppauksen ja sekvenoinnin avulla. Yhteisötasolla, ja siten myös ei-viljeltävissä olevien bakteerien havainnoimiseksi, käytettiin denaturoivaa gradienttigeelielektroforeesia. Geenispesifinen PCR-menetelmä suunniteltiin TOL-plasmidien tunnistamiseksi. Tehoste-PCR kehitettiin TOL-plasmidien havaitsemiseksi herkästi suoraan maasta. Sekä TOL-plasmideja että laajemminkin erilaisia aromaatteja hajottavia entsyymejä koodaavia plasmideja profiloitiin DNA:n pilkonta-analyysillä. Vuohenherneen juuristovaikutukset öljyllä saastuneessa maapeässä olivat seuraavat: 1) Vuohenherne lisäsi juuristobakteerien määrää, mutta erityisesti yhdessä TOL-plasmidin sisältävän Pseudomonas-bakteerin kanssa m-toluaattia hajottavien bakteerien lukumäärää. Tämä osoitti hajotuspotentiaalin olevan suurempaa kasvillisissa maissa kuin kasvittomissa maissa. 2) Vuohenherneen juuristossa oli kasvitonta maata enemmän eri bakteerilajeja, mutta ei kuitenkaan merkittävästi enemmän m-toluaattia hajottavia bakteerilajeja. Myös yhteisötasolla suurin bakteerilajien monimuotoisuus havaittiin kasvillisissa maissa. Monipuoliset yhteisöt saattavatkin parhaiten taata tehokkaan ritsoremediaation tarjoamalla lukuisia geneettisiä koneistoja hajotusprosessien käyttöön. 3) Kokeen lopussa TOL-plasmideja ei kyetty enää havaitsemaan suoralla DNA-analyysillä maasta, jossa oli sekä vuohenherne että Pseudomonas. TOL-plasmidien havaintoraja oli siis ylittynyt osoittaen hajotusplasmidien määrän ja siten katabolisen aktiivisuuden vähentyneen. Tämä viittasi ritosremediaation onnistumiseen. 4) Eräältä P. oryzihabitans -kannalta löytyi kokeissa käyttämämme P. putidan TOL-plasmidi. Lisäksi eräiltä P. migulae - ja P. oryzihabitans -kannoilta löydettiin TOL-plasmidi, jota niillä ei tiedetty olevan. Nämä tapahtumat osoittivat mahdollista hajotusplasmidin siirtymistä bakteerikannasta toiseen ja siten puhdistumisen tehostumista vuohenherneen juuristossa. Vuohenherneen käyttö ritsoremediaatiossa on maailmanlaajuisestikin ainutlaatuista. Ympäristönsuojelu luonnon omia voimavaroja käyttäen, ja siten kestävän kehityksen periaatteen mukaisesti toimien, olisi sekä taloudellisesti että viihtyisän ja puhtaan ympäristön säilymisen kannalta hyödyllistä yhteiskunnalle. Tässä väitöskirjatyössä uutta tietoa saatiin vuohenherneen juuristovaikutuksista monoaromaattisilla hiilivedyillä saastuneissa maissa. Hajotusplasmidien liikkuminen bakteerikannasta tai -lajista toiseen osoittautui ilmiöksi, jota kannattaa seurata jatkossa tarkemmin, jotta puhdistumisen aikaisista dynaamisista muutoksista ja geeniekologisista lainalaisuuksista saataisiin enemmän tietoa. Kehitettyjä molekulaarisia biomonitorointimenetelmiä voidaan soveltaa moneen tarkoitukseen ympäristöbioteknologian alalla, kuten maan luontaisen biohajotuspotentiaalin kartoittamiseen, bioremediaation tehostamisen seurantaan ja puhdistusprosessin onnistumisen arviointiin

An exploration of novice compilation behaviour in BlueJ

Our research explores the process by which beginning programmers go about writing programs. We have focused our explorations on what we call compilation behaviour: the programming behaviour a student engages in while repeatedly editing and compiling their programs in an attempt to make them syntactically, if not semantically, correct. The students whose behaviour we have observed were engaged in learning to program in an objects-first style using BlueJ, an environment designed for supporting novice programmers just starting out with the Java programming language. The significant results of our work are two-fold. First, we have developed tools for visualising the process by which students write their programs. Using these tools, we can quickly obtain valuable information about their process, and use that information to inform further research regarding their behaviour, or apply it immediately in a classroom context to better support the struggling learner. Second, we have proposed a quantification of novice compilation behavior which we call the error quotient. Using this metric, we can determine how well (or poorly) a student fares with syntax errors while learning to program. This quantity, like our tools for visualisation, provides a powerful indicator for how much or little a student is struggling with the language while programming, and correlates significantly with traditional indicators for academic progress

Massachusetts Domestic and Foreign Corporations Subject to an Excise: For the Use of Assessors (2004)

International audienc