\u3cb\u3eBook Review:\u3c/b\u3e \u3cem\u3eMeaningful Course Revision: Enhancing Academic Engagement Using Student Learning Data\u3c/em\u3e by Catherine Wehlburg (Jossey-Bass, 2007)

Excerpt: In Meaningful Course Revision: Enhancing Academic Engagement Using Student Learning Data, Wehlburg persuasively argues that letting evidence guide change and innovation is perhaps the only way to break the dysfunctional tradition of what may be termed “teaching as telling” and “grading to the bell curve.” Throughout the book, Wehlburg convincingly argues that assessment is not yet another chore that faculty and administrators are obliged to perform, but an integrated set of activities that enhances learning and provides the feedback teachers and institutions need in order to improve learning outcomes and implement innovations in teaching. In Chapter 1, “Data-based Decision-Making,” Wehlburg effectively makes the case for data-driven course redesign. Better yet, in Chapter 2, Wehlburg asserts that many faculty members are already engaged in performing assessments, they are just not aware of how to make use of the data to revise their courses

Loki, Io: New groundbased observations and a model describing the change from periodic overturn

Loki Patera is the most powerful volcano in the solar system. We have obtained measurements of Loki's 3.5 micron brightness from NASA's Infrared Telescope Facility (IRTF) and have witnessed a change from the periodic behavior previously noted. While Loki brightened by a factor of several every 540 days prior to 2001, from 2001 through 2004 Loki remained at a constant, medium brightness. We have constructed a quantitative model of Loki as a basaltic lava lake whose solidified crust overturns when it becomes buoyantly unstable. By altering the speed at which the overturn propagates across the patera, we can match our groundbased brightness data. In addition, we can match other data taken at other times and wavelengths. By slowing the propagation speed dramatically, we can match the observations from 2001-2004. This slowing may be due to a small change in volatile content in the magma

Onset of strain localization in sheared glacial till

see Abstract Volum

The Sandwich algorithm for spatial equilibrium analysis

Recent advances in mathematical programming techniques have made it possible to provide more realistic solutions to applied economic problems. Although mathematical programming techniques are widely used, the economic content of the solutions is often limited by the assumptions imposed by the algorithms available. This report is designed to demonstrate the increased flexibility which is currently available for the solution of a wide range of spatial economic problems. Transportation and transhipment models have been widely used in the analysis of the impact of policy changes on spatial activity, Borrell & Zwart [l]; Beck, Rathbun and Abbott [2]. One of the major shortcomings of such models has been an inability to model the impact of more flexible pricing policies on regional supply and demand, while maintaining the realistic non linearities which are associated with processing and transportation costs. In this paper a simplified version of the transhipment model developed by Borrell & Zwart [l] is modified to incorporate regional supply response while at the same time retaining complex processing and handling cost relationships. This report outlines the general form of the spatial equilibrium problem and some of the solution techniques available, in a format easily understood by readers not conversant with operational research techniques. Initially the problem is defined and solution methods used in the past are then briefly described. The advantages and disadvantages of these methods are outlined before showing how a relatively new solution technique may be able to improve both the scope and flexibility of the problems being solved

Distribution and Abundance of Manatees Along the Northern Coast of the Gulf of Mexico

A review of historical and recent records of manatee (Trichechus manatus) sightings along the coast of the northern Gulf of Mexico indicates that their numbers have declined in Texas, but increased in Louisiana and Mississippi. This is due to their extirpation in Mexico and dramatic increase along the southern Big Bend coast of northwestern peninsular Florida. The distribution of manatees along the southern Big Bend coast is related to their need for warm water and the distribution of fresh water and submerged aquatic and marine food plants. The spring-fed headwaters of Crystal and Homosassa rivers are important warm water winter refuges; nearly 90% of the same individuals return each winter. The estuaries and grass beds associated with these two rivers and the Suwannee, Withlacoochee, and Chasshowitzka rivers are the principal summer habitats. The Suwannee and Crystal rivers are high-use rivers, whereas the other three are low-use rivers. Low human-caused mortality, high fecundity, some immigration, and high site fidelity are responsible for the increasing numbers of manatees using the southern Big Bend coast. Since this region of Florida has experienced relatively little development compared with the rest of the state, the best long-term future for this endangered marine mammal in the United States lies along the southern Big Bend coast

Notes on Operations: Classifying African Literary Authors

This paper reviews the literature on the inadequacies of the Library of Congress Classification (LCC) schedules for African literary authors and describes a modified practice that collocates African literature and facilitates patron browsing. Current LCC practice scatters African literature across the multiple European language classifications of former colonial powers. Future strategies could place individual authors more accurately in the context of their country, region, culture, and languages of authorship. The authors renew the call for a formal international effort to revisit the literature schedules and create new classification practices for African literature

Cj0596 is a periplasmic peptidyl prolyl cis-trans isomerase involved in Campylobacter jejuni motility, invasion, and colonization

Abstract Background Campylobacter jejuni is a gastrointestinal pathogen of humans, but part of the normal flora of poultry, and therefore grows well at the respective body temperatures of 37°C and 42°C. Proteomic studies on temperature regulation in C. jejuni strain 81–176 revealed the upregulation at 37°C of Cj0596, a predicted periplasmic chaperone that is similar to proteins involved in outer membrane protein folding and virulence in other bacteria. Results The cj0596 gene was highly conserved in 24 strains and species of Campylobacter, implying the importance of this gene. To study the role that Cj0596 plays in C. jejuni pathogenesis, a mutant derivative of strain 81–176 was constructed in which the cj0596 gene was precisely deleted. A revertant of this mutant was isolated by restoring the gene to its original chromosomal location using streptomycin counterselection. The cj0596 mutant strain demonstrated a slightly decreased growth rate and lower final growth yield, yet was more motile and more invasive of human intestinal epithelial cells than wild-type. In either single or mixed infections, the mutant was less able to colonize mice than 81–176. The cj0596 mutant also expressed altered levels of several proteins. Conclusion Mutation of cj0596 has an effect on phenotypes related to C. jejuni pathogenesis, probably due to its role in the proper folding of critical outer membrane proteins.</p

Retinal oscillations carry visual information to cortex

Thalamic relay cells fire action potentials that transmit information from retina to cortex. The amount of information that spike trains encode is usually estimated from the precision of spike timing with respect to the stimulus. Sensory input, however, is only one factor that influences neural activity. For example, intrinsic dynamics, such as oscillations of networks of neurons, also modulate firing pattern. Here, we asked if retinal oscillations might help to convey information to neurons downstream. Specifically, we made whole-cell recordings from relay cells to reveal retinal inputs (EPSPs) and thalamic outputs (spikes) and analyzed these events with information theory. Our results show that thalamic spike trains operate as two multiplexed channels. One channel, which occupies a low frequency band (<30 Hz), is encoded by average firing rate with respect to the stimulus and carries information about local changes in the image over time. The other operates in the gamma frequency band (40-80 Hz) and is encoded by spike time relative to the retinal oscillations. Because these oscillations involve extensive areas of the retina, it is likely that the second channel transmits information about global features of the visual scene. At times, the second channel conveyed even more information than the first.Comment: 21 pages, 10 figures, submitted to Frontiers in Systems Neuroscienc