Multilab EcoFAB study shows highly reproducible physiology and depletion of soil metabolites by a model grass

There is a dynamic reciprocity between plants and their environment: soil physiochemical properties influence plant morphology and metabolism, and root morphology and exudates shape the environment surrounding roots. Here, we investigate the reproducibility of plant trait changes in response to three growth environments. We utilized fabricated ecosystem (EcoFAB) devices to grow the model grass Brachypodium distachyon in three distinct media across four laboratories: phosphate-sufficient and -deficient mineral media allowed assessment of the effects of phosphate starvation, and a complex, sterile soil extract represented a more natural environment with yet uncharacterized effects on plant growth and metabolism. Tissue weight and phosphate content, total root length, and root tissue and exudate metabolic profiles were consistent across laboratories and distinct between experimental treatments. Plants grown in soil extract were morphologically and metabolically distinct, with root hairs four times longer than with other growth conditions. Further, plants depleted half of the metabolites investigated from the soil extract. To interact with their environment, plants not only adapt morphology and release complex metabolite mixtures, but also selectively deplete a range of soil-derived metabolites. The EcoFABs utilized here generated high interlaboratory reproducibility, demonstrating their value in standardized investigations of plant traits

Investigating the role of ePortfolios and online courses in a community of practice: Assisting Bulgarian special educators with lifelong competency development

Research and development for an Internet-facilitated distributed community of practice (DCoP) for special education in Bulgaria is in its final phase. The DCoP is called Special Education Bulgaria. Results from the needs assessment indicated that special education researchers, practitioners, and parents in Bulgaria would benefit from such a community and that there is sufficient Internet access. Formative evaluation results directed website usability and sociability improvements and the incorporation of Moodle, a popular course management system. An effectiveness evaluation is currently underway to investigate the DCoP’s effect on the job performance and satisfaction of special educators. Preliminary results indicate that though a DCoP has begun to coalesce, it may remain unclear if it helps special educators do their jobs better. Partnership with the European Union 6th Framework integrated project, TENCompetence, may help address this finding. The expected outcomes of such a partnership include the implementation and testing of ePortfolios and online courses to assist Bulgarian special educators with lifelong competency development

Transition of reversible photodarkening to photobleaching in chalcogenide films

Photodarkening (PD) of chalcogenide glasses and annealed films (i.e., photoinduced shift of the optical absorption edge to lower energies) is accompanied with changes in refractive index and thickness. The current studies of thin Ge-As-S films show that with decreasing the film thickness (d) to ~ 700 nm PD has an unusual dependence on illumination time. In particular, we detected that after reaching a maximal value PD begins to decrease and at long enough time it fully disappears and photobleaching (PB, shift to higher energies) may appear. This new “light annealing effect” is related to the dual action of light, which induces an ordering process predominantly in the near-surface region leading to PB in competition with the disordering process which attends the PD. The PB prevails in thinner films and at d < 100 nm only PB appears. The transition of PD to PB is a nano-sized effect due to the increase of the surface/volume thickness ratio