Do Metacognitive Strategies Improve Student Achievement in Secondary Science Classrooms?

Increasing prevalence of high-stakes testing calls for focus on value-added teaching and learning practices. Following is an inquiry regarding metacognitive teaching and learning practices as it pertains to secondary science classrooms. Research shows that the orchestration and inclusion of metacognitive strategies in the science classroom improve achievement under the following preconditions: (1) are pervasively embedded in the educational structure; (2) are part of appropriately rigorous and relevant curriculum; (3) are supported by ‘metacognitive friendly’ teaching strategies; (4) are explicitly practiced by students and teachers; and (5) enable students to take responsibility for their own learning

What a critical care nursing curriculum does not teach us

Caring for a person facing death is not an easy undertaking - but it is a privilege. It has been pointed out in the literature that nurses' anxiety in caring for the dying is strongly related to fear of their own death. Cumulative nursing experience has not been found to be a significant factor in dealing with such a fear. In fact, there are indications that the opposite holds true; uneasiness associated with interaction with the dying has increased with nursing experience

The last hours of living in the ICU - priorities of care for critical care nurses

Critical care is associated with a high mortality rate. While this varies, overall it is likely to be between 15% and 25%. In some cases death occurs almost immediately after an emergency admission and there is little time to prepare either the patient or the family. In the majority of cases, however, death occurs after a period of time. It may be an expected outcome, or it may become evident that further intervention and continuation of treatment is futile and distressing for the patient, the family, and especially the nursing staff

Vacuum magnetic linear birefringence using pulsed fields: the BMV experiment

We present the current status of the BMV experiment. Our apparatus is based on an up-to-date resonant optical cavity coupled to a transverse magnetic field. We detail our data acquisition and analysis procedure which takes into account the symmetry properties of the raw data with respect to the orientation of the magnetic field and the sign of the cavity birefringence. The measurement result of the vacuum magnetic linear birefringence k_\mathrm{CM}$presented in this paper was obtained with about 200 magnetic pulses and a maximum field of 6.5\,T, giving a noise floor of about$8 \times 10^{-21}$\,T$^{-2}$at$3\sigma$ confidence level

Inverse Cotton-Mouton effect of the Vacuum and of atomic systems

In this letter we calculate the Inverse Cotton-Mouton Effect (ICME) for the vacuum following the predictions of Quantum ElectroDynamics. We compare the value of this effect for the vacuum with the one expected for atomic systems. We finally show that ICME could be measured for the first time for noble gases using state-of-the-art laser systems and for the quantum vacuum with near-future laser facilities like ELI and HiPER, providing in particular a test of the nonlinear behaviour of quantum vacuum at intensities below the Schwinger limit of 4.5x10^33 W/m^2.Comment: Submitted to EP

Observation of the Inverse Cotton-Mouton Effect

We report the observation of the Inverse Cotton-Mouton Effect (ICME) i.e. a magnetization induced in a medium by non resonant linearly polarized light propagating in the presence of a transverse magnetic field. We present a detailed study of the ICME in a TGG crystal showing the dependence of the measured effect on the light intensity, the optical polarization, and on the external magnetic field. We derive a relation between the Cotton-Mouton and Inverse Cotton-Mouton effects that is roughly in agreement with existing experimental data. Our results open the way to applications of the ICME in optical devices

No light shining through a wall : new results from a photoregeneration experiment

Recently, axion-like particle search has received renewed interest. In particular, several groups have started ``light shining through a wall'' experiments based on magnetic field and laser both continuous, which is very demanding in terms of detector background. We present here the 2$\sigma$ limits obtained so far with our novel set-up consisting of a pulsed magnetic field and a pulsed laser. In particular, we have found that the axion-like particle two photons inverse coupling constant $M$ is $> 8\times 10^5$ GeV provided that the particle mass $m_\mathrm{a} \sim$ 1 meV. Our results definitively invalidate the axion interpretation of the original PVLAS optical measurements with a confidence level greater than 99.9%.Comment: Version that will appear in Physical Review Letters, Vol. 99, n. 18, (2 Nov 2007

Integrative Effects of Vine Water Relations and Grape Ripeness Level of Vitis vinifera L. cv. Shiraz/Richter 99. II. Grape Composition and Wine Quality

Regulation of grapevine water status is a common practice to manipulate grape composition and winequality. In this investigation the effect of plant water status (two field water capacity-based irrigation levels,75% and 100%, applied at single and combined vine developmental stages) and ripeness level (harvestingat different soluble solid levels) on grape composition and wine quality of Vitis vinifera L. cv. Shiraz/Richter 99 was determined. Integrative effects of vine water relations and grape ripeness level, specificallyin a Mediterranean high winter rainfall area, have not yet been investigated systematically. Source:sinkmechanisms and dynamics and compositional and physical changes during both green berry and ripeningperiods (and in response to environment changes), seemed critical for the final grape composition and winequality/style. Despite relatively favourable conditions of the experiment terroir, additional water was stillrequired to obtain best grape and wine quality. Skin colour and total phenolic contents were stimulated inparticular by 75% (field water capacity) pea size (PS) irrigation, post-véraison (PV) irrigation and 75% peasize+post-véraison irrigation, until the last harvest stage. Treatments that included post-véraison irrigationwere not negative in terms of ripening parameters. Increasing total soluble solids with ripening were notfollowed in parallel by anthocyanin potential. Anthocyanin extractability increased with ripening. A late,overripe harvest may result in wines that are slightly better coloured, but highly alcoholic and tannic.Furthermore, at high ripeness level, differences between treatments largely diminished. Over-ripenessof grapes may have tempering and even negative effects on expected outcomes of seasonal cultivationefforts to produce unique wines. This would not favour economic viability. Although non-irrigated winesfailed to result in exceptional wine quality at any harvest stage, a better result in overall quality wasobtained in comparison to irrigation treatments applied at all stages. Berry and wine composition resultscorresponded with findings on wine sensorial quality. The 75% PS, PV irrigation, and 75% PS+PVirrigation consistently resulted in good quality wines. At the first harvest stage, 75% PV, 100% PV, 75%PS+V and 75% PS+PV irrigations gave most prominent wines; at the second harvest stage, vines irrigated75% at PS, 75% at PS+PV and 75% at PV delivered most prominent wines; and at the third harveststage, 75% PV, 100% PV, 75% PS and 75% PS+PV resulted in most prominent wines. These treatmentsrepresented different wine styles at each harvest stage. Restricted PS irrigation and PV irrigation, as singleor combined treatments, featured prominently in favouring grape and wine composition and wine sensorialquality. Physical and compositional changes in ripening berries and the impact on wine quality and stylewere further clarified. New perspectives on managing time of harvesting with varying vine water status aregiven. Recommendations on vine water status management strategies required to obtain different grapecomposition and wine style are made

Preface

From text: It cannot be denied that academic psychology, and more specifically the teaching of Psychology, is one of the most neglected areas in South African Psychology. This is regardless of the fact that Psychology is one of the most popular subjects on both undergraduate and postgraduate level at South African universities. Teaching is also the vehicle that takes Psychology students on the road to one of the most respected professions in our country