Broadening access to earth science information for education in the UK

The presentation describes strategies for enhancing earth science teaching through inspiring role-play and long-term experiments. Over the past decade there has been a growing concern that earth sciences are often poorly served in UK schools. In parallel with this there has been a general decline in the number of students choosing science. The government's response has been a number of initiatives designed to stimulate interest in scientific careers and enhance the learning experience. Over the same period, UK and European government alongside popular campaigns have encouraged the release of national datasets for educational purposes. The British Geological Survey (BGS) has an international reputation in the delivery of data for professional geologists and is now building a portfolio of projects based on free, convenient access to digital data alongside face-to-face contact with inspirational role models with the aim of introducing exciting, relevant science to schools. The UK-wide School Seismology Project provides a specially designed instrument records earthquakes from anywhere on the globe and the data may be shared through a web portal. Schools receive training, sponsorship and practical support. Students benefit from the experience of collecting unique data and opportunities to report their findings via local press and TV. Sister projects are running in Ireland and Africa. STEM Ambassadors provide a wide range of in-school support, from simple experiments to careers advice and mentoring. Our most requested activities include 'Seconds from Catastrophe?' and 'Quarry or Not?'. In these, students take on the roles of scientists, government officials and residents and vigorously debate, respectively, the issues involved in planning an emergency response to a volcanic eruption and the environmental impacts of the extractive industry. Real data are analysed and an important feature is that the facilitators have genuine experience of the scenarios

Effect of grooved casing treatment on the flow range capability of a single-stage axial-flow compressor

Comparisons of the results of testing a single-stage axial-flow compressor with a solid-wall casing and with grooved casings are presented. The depth, location, and number of circumferential grooves in the casing over the casing over the rotor tip were varied. The near-stall weight flow was lower than that with the solid-wall casing for all but one grooved configuration indicating an improvement in the stall margin. The greatest reduction in the near-stall weight flow was noted for the configuration with five grooves located over the blade midchord region

Portal Venous Thrombosis Associated with Use of Etonogestrel/ethinyl Estradiol Vaginal Ring

Introduction: Portal venous thrombosis is a life-threatening cause of abdominal pain. In younger patients, heritable thrombophilias, pregnancy, tobacco use, and oral contraceptives are associated.Case Report: A 26-year-old woman prescribed contraceptive vaginal ring presented with abdominal pain and was diagnosed with an extensive portal venous thrombosis. Management included heparin and later an oral anticoagulant with good short-term outcome.Discussion: Women using hormonal contraception are approximately four times more likely to develop thromboembolism. Risk of thromboembolism is similar between users of intravaginal and oral contraceptives.Conclusion: Portal venous thrombosis must be considered in women presenting with abdominal pain who are prescribed hormonal contraceptives, including intravaginal forms

Measuring and comparing the reliability of the structured walkthrough evaluation method with novices and experts

Effective evaluation of websites for accessibility remains problematic. Automated evaluation tools still require a significant manual element. There is also a significant expertise and evaluator effect. The Structured Walkthrough method is the translation of a manual, expert accessibility evaluation process adapted for use by novices. The method is embedded in the Accessibility Evaluation Assistant (AEA), a web accessibility knowledge management tool. Previous trials examined the pedagogical potential of the tool when incorporated into an undergraduate computing curriculum. The results of the evaluations carried out by novices yielded promising, consistent levels of validity and reliability. This paper presents the results of an empirical study that compares the reliability of accessibility evaluations produced by two groups (novices and experts). The main results of this study indicate that overall reliability of expert evaluations was 76% compared to 65% for evaluations produced by novices. The potential of the Structured Walkthrough method as a useful and viable tool for expert evaluators is also examined. Copyright 2014 ACM

Predicting Category Intuitiveness With the Rational Model, the Simplicity Model, and the Generalized Context Model

Naïve observers typically perceive some groupings for a set of stimuli as more intuitive than others. The problem of predicting category intuitiveness has been historically considered the remit of models of unsupervised categorization. In contrast, this article develops a measure of category intuitiveness from one of the most widely supported models of supervised categorization, the generalized context model (GCM). Considering different category assignments for a set of instances, the authors asked how well the GCM can predict the classification of each instance on the basis of all the other instances. The category assignment that results in the smallest prediction error is interpreted as the most intuitive for the GCM—the authors refer to this way of applying the GCM as “unsupervised GCM.” The authors systematically compared predictions of category intuitiveness from the unsupervised GCM and two models of unsupervised categorization: the simplicity model and the rational model. The unsupervised GCM compared favorably with the simplicity model and the rational model. This success of the unsupervised GCM illustrates that the distinction between supervised and unsupervised categorization may need to be reconsidered. However, no model emerged as clearly superior, indicating that there is more work to be done in understanding and modeling category intuitiveness

Static-pressure contours in the blade passage at the tip of several high Mach number rotors

Static pressure contours of turbine rotor blade tips at high Mach number

An in-flight investigation of pilot-induced oscillation suppression filters during the fighter approach and landing task

An investigation of pilot-induced oscillation suppression (PIOS) filters was performed using the USAF/Flight Dynamics Laboratory variable stability NT-33 aircraft, modified and operated by Calspan. This program examined the effects of PIOS filtering on the longitudinal flying qualities of fighter aircraft during the visual approach and landing task. Forty evaluations were flown to test the effects of different PIOS filters. Although detailed analyses were not undertaken, the results indicate that PIOS filtering can improve the flying qualities of an otherwise unacceptable aircraft configuration (Level 3 flying qualities). However, the ability of the filters to suppress pilot-induced oscillations appears to be dependent upon the aircraft configuration characteristics. Further, the data show that the filters can adversely affect landing flying qualities if improperly designed. The data provide an excellent foundation from which detail analyses can be performed