Integrated programming and mathematics in schools - A solid fundation for a future engineering education?

The interest in programming in schools has the last decade increased, and many countries have introduced programming as part of the school curriculum. Teaching of programming to students in primary and secondary school is often focused on the computer sciences aspect of programming. The current study is a part of the recently initiated research project “Programming for understanding mathematics” which has a different emphasis; the project investigates how the mathematical competence of the students are affected by actively using programming in mathematics lessons. In this paper, a recognized analytical framework for analysing the cognitive demand of mathematical tasks is presented. We extend the framework to include the analysis of tasks that utilize programming, allowing us to distinguish between tasks that are demanding due to the mathematical content, but the programming aspect of the task is trivial, and tasks that are cognitive demanding due to complex programming, but the mathematics is simple. We use the extended framework to analyse tasks in four mathematics textbooks written for 16-17 year old students by two major publishers in Norway. The results show that the tasks provided in the textbooks mainly focus on elementary programming skills, and the tasks give limited experiences with cognitive demanding programming tasks

Autonomi i limbo

Rusfeltet har liten oppmerksomhet på endringsbistand til personer med risikoforbruk av rusmidler, men som har bolig, sosialt nettverk og arbeid. Denne befolkningsgruppen har behov for å distansere seg sosialt fra pasienter med avhengighetslidelser som er preget av bostedsløshet, mangel på sosialt nettverk og arbeidsledighet. Det er grunn til å tro at personer med risikoforbruk i liten grad kontakter helsevesenet for råd om reduksjon av rusmidler. De er bekymret for stempling i møte med helsevesenet, og at stemplingen blir varig. Helsevesenet bør øke kunnskap om befolkningsgruppens behov og mulige metoder for å bistå. Autonomi og verdighet står som sentrale verdier i hjelpesøkingen. Ett av helsevesenets tiltak bør være å gi informasjon og veiledning om egenhjelp og selvhjelp, i grupper eller individuelt. Informasjonen må være lett tilgjengelig. Endringstilbud bør både være eksplisitte på reduksjon av rusmidler, men også implisitte der rusendring inngår i et tiltak sammen med andre livsendringer. Tilbud bør være både anonyme og der identitet blir oppgitt, og der det er mulig å starte et tiltak anonymt for å være åpen med hjelpeinstansen etterhvert. Både metoder som kunnskapsbaserte og alternative metoder framstår som interessante, men appelerer til ulike segmenter. Kommersielle behandlingstilbud i form av implisitt livstilsendring ved for eksempel Sats Elixia eller Grete Roede er aktuelle for noen segmenter, og eksplisitt rusendring ved kommersielle rusbehandlingsteder i Norge og utlandet oppfattes som aktuelle for andre segmenter. Særlig ser det ut til at det er viktig med anonyme hjelpetilbud for personer som har bekymring og frykt for forstigmatisering og sanskjoner. Eksplisitte og individuelle helseråd om rusmidler gitt i sammenheng med somatiske undersøkelser utført av helsepersonell oppfattes som en god måte å bli gjort oppmerksom på endringsbehov. I informasjonsinnhentingen har det blitt gjennomført to fokusgrupper med personer uten rapporte rusproblemer, og innholdet har blitt analysert ved å bruke metoden needs assessement i tillegg til ordinære analysemetoder for fokusgruppe

Musikkbransjen i Kristiansand- En kvalitativ undersøkelse av musikkbransjen i Kristiansand i relasjon til Regionplan Agder 2030

Regionplan Agder 2030 er et overordnet strategisk styringsdokument som skal gjelde for utvikling av hele Agder-regionen. Regionplanen inkluderer fem hovedsatsingsområder, hvor et området omhandler kultur. Denne oppgaven fokuserer på hovedsatsingsområdet kultur, og nærmere bestemt målet: “Tettheten av kunstnere og kulturarbeidere er den høyeste i landet utenfor Oslo”. For å nå dette målet, må det sysselsettes betydelig flere innenfor kunst- og kulturyrker enn det er i dag. Denne oppgaven ser på hvordan musikkbransjen i Kristiansand kan utvikles og profesjonaliseres for å bidra til å nå tetthetsmålet. Musikkbransjen i Kristiansand er i dag en fragmentert bransje, og den mangler flere sentrale bransjeledd som er nødvendig for å ha hele økosystemet som en velfungerende musikkbransje trenger. Dette er en kvalitativ undersøkelse. Vi har intervjuet åtte sentrale kulturarbeidere som har god kjennskap til musikkbransjen og/eller tetthetsmålet i Regionplan Agder 2030. Gjennom funn i det empiriske grunnlaget, ser vi at musikkbransjen i Kristiansand trenger å opprette velfungerende bransjeledd for å kunne sysselsette flere kunst- og kulturarbeidere. I tillegg er mangel på møteplasser og mangel på samarbeid utfordringer som musikkbransjen må få på plass for å kunne bidra til å nå tetthetsmålet

Musikkbransjen i Kristiansand - En kvalitativ undersøkelse av musikkbransjen i Kristiansand i relasjon til Regionplan Agder 2030

Regionplan Agder 2030 er et overordnet strategisk styringsdokument som skal gjelde for utvikling av hele Agder-regionen. Regionplanen inkluderer fem hovedsatsingsområder, hvor et området omhandler kultur. Denne oppgaven fokuserer på hovedsatsingsområdet kultur, og nærmere bestemt målet: “Tettheten av kunstnere og kulturarbeidere er den høyeste i landet utenfor Oslo”. For å nå dette målet, må det sysselsettes betydelig flere innenfor kunst- og kulturyrker enn det er i dag. Denne oppgaven ser på hvordan musikkbransjen i Kristiansand kan utvikles og profesjonaliseres for å bidra til å nå tetthetsmålet. Musikkbransjen i Kristiansand er i dag en fragmentert bransje, og den mangler flere sentrale bransjeledd som er nødvendig for å ha hele økosystemet som en velfungerende musikkbransje trenger. Dette er en kvalitativ undersøkelse. Vi har intervjuet åtte sentrale kulturarbeidere som har god kjennskap til musikkbransjen og/eller tetthetsmålet i Regionplan Agder 2030. Gjennom funn i det empiriske grunnlaget, ser vi at musikkbransjen i Kristiansand trenger å opprette velfungerende bransjeledd for å kunne sysselsette flere kunst- og kulturarbeidere. I tillegg er mangel på møteplasser og mangel på samarbeid utfordringer som musikkbransjen må få på plass for å kunne bidra til å nå tetthetsmålet

Seasonal variability of meio- and macrobenthic standing stocks and diversity in an Arctic fjord (Adventfjorden, Spitsbergen)

Strong environmental seasonality is a basic feature of the Arctic system, still there are few published records of the seasonal variability of the Arctic marine biota. This study examined the year-round seasonal changes of soft bottom macro- and meiobenthic standing stocks and diversity on a station located in an Arctic fjord (Adventfjorden, Spitsbergen). The seasonality observed in benthic biota was related to the pelagic processes, primarily the seasonal fluxes of organic and inorganic particles. The highest abundance, biomass and richness of benthic fauna occurred in the spring after the phytoplankton bloom. During the summer, when a high load of glacial mineral material was transported to the fiord, the number of both meio- and macrobenthic individuals decreased remarkably. The strong inorganic sedimentation in summer was accompanied by a decline in macrobenthic species richness, but had no effects on evenness. Redundancy analysis (RDA) pointed to granulometric composition of sediments (depended on mineral sedimentation) and organic fluxes as factors best related to meio- and macrobenthic taxonomic composition, but no clear seasonal trend could be observed on the nMDS plots based on meiobenthic higher taxa or macrobenthic species abundances in the samples. This study addresses the possible effects of changes in the winter ice cover on the fjordic benthic systems because it was performed in a year with no ice cover on the fjord

Calibration of the Cherenkov Telescope Array

The construction of the Cherenkov Telescope Array is expected to start soon. We will present the baseline methods and their extensions currently foreseen to calibrate the observatory. These are bound to achieve the strong requirements on allowed systematic uncertainties for the reconstructed gamma-ray energy and flux scales, as well as on the pointing resolution, and on the overall duty cycle of the observatory. Onsite calibration activities are designed to include a robust and efficient calibration of the telescope cameras, and various methods and instruments to achieve calibration of the overall optical throughput of each telescope, leading to both inter-telescope calibration and an absolute calibration of the entire observatory. One important aspect of the onsite calibration is a correct understanding of the atmosphere above the telescopes, which constitutes the calorimeter of this detection technique. It is planned to be constantly monitored with state-of-the-art instruments to obtain a full molecular and aerosol profile up to the stratosphere. In order to guarantee the best use of the observation time, in terms of usable data, an intelligent scheduling system is required, which gives preference to those sources and observation programs that can cope with the given atmospheric conditions, especially if the sky is partially covered by clouds, or slightly contaminated by dust. Ceilometers in combination with all-sky-cameras are plannned to provide the observatory with a fast, online and full-sky knowledge of the expected conditions for each pointing direction. For a precise characterization of the adopted observing direction, wide-field optical telescopes and Raman Lidars are planned to provide information about the height-resolved and wavelength-dependent atmospheric extinction, throughout the field-of-view of the cameras

Cardiac impact of inhaled therapy in the largest randomised placebo-controlled trial in COPD history

SUMMIT supports the efficiency and cardiovascular safety of LABA and ICS in COPD patients at cardiovascular risk http://ow.ly/p6Is300ffoc

Miniature high-frequency chilled-mirror hygrometer for atmospheric measurements aboard fixed wing UAS

A small light-weight in-house made miniature chilled-mirror hygrometer (CMH) for fixed wing UAS (unmanned aircraft system) is presented, with its features and limitations. Therefore, first measurements of the CMH equipped on the small research UAS of type MASC‑3 (multi-purpose airborne sensor carrier) operated by the University of Tübingen are shown. A comparison against a very accurate state of the art capacitive industrial humidity sensor (SHT31) is done. The sensor consists of a TEC (thermoelectric cooler) covered by a gold mirror. The TEC is controlled by a commercially available microprocessor with an on-board PID (proportional-integral-derivative) controller. The results of the CMH measurements are in good agreement with the industrial-made capacitive sensor. The absolute accuracy of the measured dew point temperature by the CMH is in the range of ±0.2 K. Spectra show evidence that the CMH is capable to measure turbulent humidity fluctuations in the atmosphere with a temporal resolution of up to 10 Hz. Such a fast humidity sensor aboard a small UAS has the potential to study humidity fluxes in the surface layer over complex terrain, behind wind energy converters and humidity variations over land and sea surfaces in general

Seasonality of occurrence and recruitment of Arctic marine benthic invertebrate larvae in relation to environmental variables

The Arctic system is one of the regions most influenced by ongoing global climate change, but there are still critical gaps in our knowledge regarding a substantial number of biological processes. This is especially true for processes taking place during the Arctic winter but also for seasonal processes, such as the dynamics of intra-annual meroplankton occurrence. Here, we report on a 1-year study of meroplankton seasonal variability from a fjordic system in the Arctic Archipelago of Svalbard. The study combines an examination of phytoplankton, zooplankton, and hard bottom benthic settlement with measurements of environmental parameters (e.g., water temperature, particulate organic matter, and dissolved organic carbon). Samples were taken on a bi-weekly or monthly basis, and a total of 11 taxa representing six phyla of meroplankton were recorded over a 1-year period from January to December 2007. The occurrence of benthic larvae varied between the seasons, reaching a maximum in both abundance and taxon richness in late spring through early summer. Meroplanktonic larvae were absent in winter. However, settlement of benthic organisms was also recorded during the winter months (February and March), which indicates individual trade-offs related to timing of reproduction and competition. In addition, it suggests that these larvae are not relying on higher summer nutrient concentrations, but instead are dependent on alternative food sources. In parallel with meroplankton abundance, all other measured parameters, both biological (e.g., phyto- and zooplankton abundance and diversity) and physical (e.g., particulate organic matter), exhibited seasonal variability with peaks in the warmer months of the year

Case studies of the wind field around Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard, using unmanned aircraft

The wind field in Arctic fjords is strongly influenced by glaciers, local orography and the interaction between sea and land. Ny-Ålesund, an important location for atmospheric research in the Arctic, is located in Kongsfjorden, a fjord with a complex local wind field that influences measurements in Ny-Ålesund. Using wind measurements from UAS (unmanned aircraft systems), ground measurements, radiosonde and reanalysis data, characteristic processes that determine the wind field around Ny-Ålesund are identified and analysed. UAS measurements and ground measurements show, as did previous studies, a south-east flow along Kongsfjorden, dominating the wind conditions in Ny-Ålesund. The wind measured by the UAS in a valley 1 km west of Ny-Ålesund differs from the wind measured at the ground in Ny-Ålesund. In this valley, we identify a small-scale catabatic flow from the south to south-west as the cause for this difference. Case studies show a backing (counterclockwise rotation with increasing altitude) of the wind direction close to the ground. A katabatic flow is measured near the ground, with a horizontal wind speed up to 5 m s-1. Both the larger-scale south-east flow along the fjord and the local katabatic flows lead to a highly variable wind field, so ground measurements and weather models alone give an incomplete picture. The comparison of UAS measurements, ground measurements and weather conditions analysis using a synoptic model is used to show that the effects measured in the case studies play a role in the Ny-Ålesund wind field in spring