Pushing library information to first-year students: An exploratory study of faculty/library collaboration

The authors contend that better information literacy and library skills development practice is needed for students entering university. This paper presents a case study of how a teacher education (TE) lecturer and a faculty librarian collaborated in an Australian university to provide information literacy practice. A mutual interest in technology-enhanced learning and teaching through podcasting media was the catalyst for the collaboration. A semester-long trial was conducted in which library pod/vodcasts were provided to first-year teacher education students. This paper explores this student learning and proposes a prototype for further media-related collaboration between academic and library staff

Forging New Partnerships: Learning and Teaching Connections Between Academic and Library Staff

This paper presents a case study of how one teacher education (TE) lecturer and one faculty librarian built upon their shared experiences by forging a partnership to collaborate in a first-year teacher education unit. Technology-enhanced leaming and teaching through podcasting media was the catalyst for the partnership. The paper explores the potential and actual impact of this partnership on student leaming and suggests a path for further media-related partnerships between academic and library staff

e-Partnerships: Library information acquisition in the comfort of students’ digital homes

This paper presents a case study of how a university lecturer and a faculty librarian built upon their shared concerns about first-year students’ lack of information literacy. It describes in some detail their underlying beliefs, which led to this experimental intervention design and the strategic e-partnership. Embedded library podcasts were used to push library information to students. The potential and actual impact of this e-partnership on personalised support for a diverse student body is explored and an argument is presented for e-partnerships among university staff in an effort to better assist first-year higher education students

Adding value to first year student learning with embedded library pod/vodcasts

We begin with the premise that pod/vodcasts add an engaging and innovative mix to the university learning environment; they put the control of when and where to access information in the hands of the student and can be delivered through the university’s learning management system (LMS). In this paper, we describe a semester-long trial in which library pod/vodcasts were provided to first-year teacher education students in the belief that basic library skills development is vital for academic success and an essential component of good information literacy practice. The pod/vodcasts were offered to support students at point of need in their learning and were optional. We used the learning activity management system (LAMS) developed by Macquarie University to deliver the library modules alongside the existing academic unit podcasts. The paper reports on students’ usage and perception of the library pod/vodcasts and how they responded to this new approach

Spin transport and spin dephasing in zinc oxide

The wide bandgap semiconductor ZnO is interesting for spintronic applications because of its small spin-orbit coupling implying a large spin coherence length. Utilizing vertical spin valve devices with ferromagnetic electrodes (TiN/Co/ZnO/Ni/Au), we study the spin-polarized transport across ZnO in all-electrical experiments. The measured magnetoresistance agrees well with the prediction of a two spin channel model with spin-dependent interface resistance. Fitting the data yields spin diffusion lengths of 10.8nm (2K), 10.7nm (10K), and 6.2nm (200K) in ZnO, corresponding to spin lifetimes of 2.6ns (2K), 2.0ns (10K), and 31ps (200K).Comment: 7 pages, 5 figures; supplemental material adde

Circuit Electromechanics with a Non-Metallized Nanobeam

We have realized a nano-electromechanical hybrid system consisting of a silicon nitride beam dielectrically coupled to a superconducting microwave resonator. We characterize the sample by making use of the Duffing nonlinearity of the strongly driven beam. In particular, we calibrate the amplitude spectrum of the mechanical motion and determine the electromechanical vacuum coupling. A high quality factor of 480,000 at a resonance frequency of 14 MHz is achieved at 0.5 K. The experimentally determined electromechanical vacuum coupling of 11.5 mHz is quantitatively compared with finite element based model calculations.Comment: Typos and one reference have been correcte

The Europeanization of foreign policy? The role of the EU CFSP/ESDP in crisis decision-making in Macedonia and Afghanistan.

Abstract not available

A universal platform for magnetostriction measurements in thin films

We present a universal nanomechanical sensing platform for the investigation of magnetostriction in thin films. It is based on a doubly-clamped silicon nitride nanobeam resonator covered with a thin magnetostrictive film. Changing the magnetization direction within the film plane by an applied magnetic field generates a magnetostrictive stress and thus changes the resonance frequency of the nanobeam. A measurement of the resulting resonance frequency shift, e.g. by optical interferometry, allows to quantitatively determine the magnetostriction constants of the thin film. We use this method to determine the magnetostriction constants of a 10nm thick polycrystalline cobalt film, showing very good agreement with literature values. The presented technique can be useful in particular for the precise measurement of magnetostriction in a variety of (conducting and insulating) thin films, which can be deposited by e.g. electron beam deposition, thermal evaporation or sputtering

Association between Food-Specific Immunoglobulin G4 Antibodies in Adults with Self-Reported Signs and Symptoms Attributed to Adverse Reactions to Foodstuffs

Signs and symptoms attributed to adverse reactions to foodstuffs (ARFS) need tools for research and evaluation in clinical practice. The objectives of this study were (a) to evaluate the most frequent self-reported signs and symptoms attributed to ARFS in Spanish adults, (b) to determine the prevalence of food-specific IgG4 antibody reactions (AbRs), and (c) to investigate the association between self-reported ARFS symptomatology and food-specific IgG4 AbRs. Food-specific IgG4 AbRs against 57 common food and beverages (AESKUCARE-T2FA® in vitro point-of-care test kit, Aesku.Diagnostics GmbH, Germany) were determined in capillary blood samples of 205 volunteers living in the Region of Madrid (Spain). The most frequent self-reported signs and symptoms were related to skin (43%), digestive (41%), and nervous system (NS, 33%) problems. The prevalence of food-specific IgG4 AbRs was cow’s milk (73%), sheep’s milk (70%), casein (66%), and goat’s milk (56.10%). Positive IgG4 AbRs against tomato had a profile consisting of 3/4 of skin problems, more than half of digestive, and 2/5 of NS self-reported signs and symptoms. In conclusion, at least 1/3 of the studied sample reported skin, digestive, and NS signs and symptoms. The most frequent food-specific IgG4 AbRs were related to dairy. Skin problems were more frequent in positive tomato IgG4 AbRs

Exploring Routes to Coexistence: Developing and Testing a Human–Elephant Conflict-Management Framework for African Elephant-Range Countries

Creating a future for elephants and people is a highly complex and dynamic challenge, involving social, behavioral, and ecological dimensions as well as multiple actors with various interests. To foster learning from human–elephant conflict (HEC) management projects and share best practices, a study was conducted to review the management of conflicts between elephants and humans in 12 African countries by qualitative expert interviews. Based on this information, a HEC management framework was developed in a two-tiered process. In the first phase, the theory of the framework was developed. In a second phase, the theoretical framework was validated and adjusted through stakeholder participation in two southern African projects (in Mozambique and Malawi). This holistic approach considers environmental as well as social, political, cultural, and economic factors directly or indirectly affecting interactions between people and wildlife. The framework integrates six interlinked strategies to guide managers and conservation practitioners to address HWC drivers and mitigate their impact. A legal environment and spatial planning form the basis of the framework. Social strategies, including meaningful stakeholder engagement and design of appropriate institutional structures and processes are considered the heart of the framework. Technical and financial strategies represent its arms and hands. At the top, monitoring steers all processes, provides feedback for adjustment, and informs decisions. The integration and coordination of these six strategies has great potential as a guiding route to human–wildlife coexistence in Africa and elsewhere.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio