Classroom websites

The purpose of this research project was to provide teachers with a fast and efficient method of developing a classroom website. In addition, the author strove to convince teachers that their initial time commitment would result in a product that would enhance both communication and student learning. In the Review of Literature, research is presented about classroom websites, the effects of the integration of technology, and the digital divide. The project, A Teacher’s Handbook for Developing a Classroom Website, provides step by step instructions, illustrations, and numerous ideas for authentic integration of technology. Peer assessment as well as informal feedback suggest that classroom websites can be valuable tools for the improvement of communication and learning

Cortisol levels and sleep patterns in infants with orofacial clefts undergoing surgery

Traumatic events during early infancy might damage infants' psychobiological functioning, such as sleep and cortisol secretion. Infants born with orofacial clefts (OFCs) undergo functional, anatomical, and aesthetic surgery. The aim of the present study was to determine whether infants with OFC and undergoing OFC surgery show deteriorated sleep and cortisol secretion compared with healthy controls and with their presurgery status.; A total of 27 infants with OFC (mean age: 22 weeks) and 30 healthy controls (mean age: 23 weeks) took part in the study. For infants with OFC, sleep actigraphy was performed and saliva cortisol was analyzed 5 days before, during, and 5 days after surgery. For controls, sleep and saliva cortisol were assessed similarly, except for the period taken up with surgery.; Compared with healthy controls, infants with OFC undergoing OFC surgery did not differ in sleep and cortisol secretion. Their sleep and cortisol secretion did deteriorate during the perisurgical period but recovered 5 days postsurgery.; In infants with OFC undergoing corrective surgery, the pattern of results for sleep and cortisol suggests that OFC surgery does not seem to constitute a traumatic event with long-term consequences

Early virological response may predict treatment response in sofosbuvir-based combination therapy of chronic hepatitis c in a multi-center “real-life” cohort

Background: The combination of sofosbuvir (SOF), ribavirin (RBV) and peg-interferon-alfa-2a (peg-IFN-alfa-2a) as well as the combination of SOF and RBV for the treatment of patients infected with hepatitis c virus (HCV) has improved rates of sustained virological response (SVR) considerably in recent trials. However, there is only limited data concerning the efficacy and safety in a “real-life” cohort. Methods: We analyzed a cohort of 119 patients with chronic HCV infection treated at four investigational sites in Germany. All patients received either a combination treatment of SOF, RBV and peg-IFN-alfa-2a or SOF and RBV. Results: The rates of SVR at 12 weeks after end of treatment (SVR 12) were as follows: Among 76 patients with genotype 1 infection the SVR 12 rate was 74 % (n = 56), among 14 patients with genotype 2 infection the SVR 12 rate was 79 % (n = 11), among 24 patients with genotype 3 infection the SVR 12 rate was 92 % (n = 22) and among 5 patients with genotype 4 infection the SVR 12 rate was 80 % (n = 4). Of all 26 patients with a relapse in our cohort, 69 % (n = 18) of these patients presented with liver cirrhosis and 58 % (n = 15) were treatment experienced. Notably, the level of HCV-RNA after 4 weeks of treatment was a significant predictor of treatment response in genotype 1 patients. Patients with HCV-RNA levels ≥ 12 IU ml-1 after 4 weeks of treatment achieved SVR 12 only in 30 % (n = 17/56, p < 0.0001) of cases and treatment response was even lower with SVR 12 of 25 % (n = 5/20, p = 0.0016) in the subgroup of patients with cirrhosis. Conclusion: We observed a high rate of SVR 12 with SOF-based treatment regimes, however probably due to the high number of patients with liver cirrhosis and prior treatment experience, treatment response rates were lower than in previously published trials. In genotype 1 patients the analysis of early virological response may predict treatment response in SOF-based combination therapies

Earth system modeling with endogenous and dynamic human societies: the copan:CORE open World-Earth modeling framework

Analysis of Earth system dynamics in the Anthropocene requires to explicitly take into account the increasing magnitude of processes operating in human societies, their cultures, economies and technosphere and their growing feedback entanglement with those in the physical, chemical and biological systems of the planet. However, current state-of-the-art Earth System Models do not represent dynamic human societies and their feedback interactions with the biogeophysical Earth system and macroeconomic Integrated Assessment Models typically do so only with limited scope. This paper (i) proposes design principles for constructing World-Earth Models (WEM) for Earth system analysis of the Anthropocene, i.e., models of social (World) - ecological (Earth) co-evolution on up to planetary scales, and (ii) presents the copan:CORE open simulation modeling framework for developing, composing and analyzing such WEMs based on the proposed principles. The framework provides a modular structure to flexibly construct and study WEMs. These can contain biophysical (e.g. carbon cycle dynamics), socio-metabolic/economic (e.g. economic growth) and socio-cultural processes (e.g. voting on climate policies or changing social norms) and their feedback interactions, and are based on elementary entity types, e.g., grid cells and social systems. Thereby, copan:CORE enables the epistemic flexibility needed for contributions towards Earth system analysis of the Anthropocene given the large diversity of competing theories and methodologies used for describing socio-metabolic/economic and socio-cultural processes in the Earth system by various fields and schools of thought. To illustrate the capabilities of the framework, we present an exemplary and highly stylized WEM implemented in copan:CORE that illustrates how endogenizing socio-cultural processes and feedbacks could fundamentally change macroscopic model outcomes

Interface Excitons in Krmnen Clusters : The Role of Electron Affinity in the Formation of Electronic Structure

The formation of the electronic structure of small Kr_m clusters (m<150) embedded inside Ne_N clusters (1200<N<7500) has been investigated with the help of fluorescence excitation spectroscopy using synchrotron radiation. Electronically excited states, assigned to excitons at the Ne/Kr interface, 1i and 1'i were observed. The absorption bands, which are related to the lowest spin-orbit split atomic Kr 3P1 and 1P1 states, initially appear and shift towards lower energy when the krypton cluster size m increases. The characteristic bulk 1t and 1't excitons appear in the spectra, when the cluster radius exceeds some critical value, R_cl>Delta_1i . Kr clusters comprising up to 70 atoms do not exhibit bulk absorption bands. We suggest that this is due to the penetration of the interface excitons into the Kr_m cluster volume, because of the negative electron affinity of surrounding Ne atoms. From the energy shift of the interface absorption bands with cluster size an unexpectedly large penetration depth of delta_1i =7.0+/-0.1 A is estimated, which can be explained by the interplay between the electron affinities of the guest and the host cluster