Examining The Socialization Of Physical Education Teachers: A Case Study

In the last thirty years childhood obesity and inactivity rates in the United States have increased at alarming rates (Ogden, Carroll, Kit, & Flegal, 2014). In response to this, physical education curriculum is shifting to focus more on health promotion rather than competitive team sports and game play. This focus is reflected in the recently revised K-12 physical education national content standards and learning outcomes and is impacting how colleges are preparing future teachers (SHAPE America (Organization), Couturier, Chepko, & Holt/Hale, 2014). Changing how physical education is taught can be challenging for teacher educators, in part due to the fact that students\u27 deeply held beliefs about the purposes of physical education are often based on years of experience in traditional, PK-12, sports-based physical education programs (Placek et al., 1995). The purpose of this study was to explore how teacher candidates and recent graduates experience the process of occupational socialization into their profession as physical education teachers. Utilizing occupational socialization theory, this study examined factors that impacted participants\u27 teaching perspectives and explored the beliefs they held about the goals and purposes of PK-12 physical education. The adoption of the national physical education standards by the Vermont Agency of Education, along with recent legislation (Act 77) that is changing the way schools prepare PK-12 students for college and careers, make the Vermont context a rich setting. This phenomenological case study was set within a small public university located in Vermont in the United States during the summer and fall of 2016. The units of analysis included five freshman year physical education candidates, five junior year physical education candidates, and five recent graduates, also from the same institution, who were employed as Vermont physical education teachers. Three secondary participants included a Vermont principal and two physical education teacher education faculty members. Data collection methods included eighteen semi-structured interviews and document review of course syllabi and student assessments. Findings suggested that participants: 1) enter the field with teaching orientations rather than coaching orientations, 2) believe that the purpose of physical education is lifelong health and wellness, 3) develop innovative teaching perspectives during teacher education that persist into teaching careers, and 4) identify as agents of change in the field of physical education. Understanding how students are socialized into careers as physical education teachers may inform the decision-making for physical education teacher education faculty and PK-12 physical education teachers

Production of fine and speciality chemicals: procedure for the estimation of LCIs

Goal, Scope, Background: To improve the environmental performance of chemical products or services, especially via comparisons of chemical products, LCA is a suitable evaluation method. However, no procedure to obtain comprehensive LCI-data on the production of fine and speciality chemicals is available to date, and information on such production processes is scarce. Thus, a procedure was developed for the estimation of LCIs of chemical production process-steps, which relies on only a small amount of input data. Methods: A generic input-output scheme of chemical production process-steps was set up, and equations to calculate inputs and outputs were established. For most parameters in the resulting estimation procedure, default values were derived from on-site data on chemical production processes and from heuristics. Uncertainties in the estimated default values were reflected as best-case and worst-case scenarios. The procedure was applied to a case study comparing the production of two active ingredients used for crop protection. Verification and a sensitivity analysis were carried out. Results and Discussion: It was found that the impacts from the mass and energy flows estimated by the procedure represent a significant share of the impacts assessed in the case study. In a verification, LCI-data from existing processes yielded results within the range of the estimated best-case and worst-case scenarios. Note that verification data could not be obtained for all process steps. From the verification results, it was inferred that mass and energy flows of existing processes for the production of fine and speciality chemicals correspond more frequently to the estimated best-case than to the worst-case scenario. In the sensitivity analysis, solvent demand was found to be the most crucial parameter in the environmental performance of the chemical production processes assessed. Conclusion: Mass and energy flows in LCIs of production processes for fine and speciality chemicals should not be neglected, even if only little information on a process is available. The estimation procedure described here helps to overcome lacking information in a transparent, consistent way. Recommendations and Outlook: Additional verifications and a more detailed estimation of the default parameters are desirable to learn more about the accuracy of the estimation procedure. The procedure should also be applied to case studies to gain insight into the usefulness of the estimation results in different decision-making context

The Biosurfactant β-Aescin: A Review on the Physico-Chemical Properties and Its Interaction with Lipid Model Membranes and Langmuir Monolayers

Geisler R, Dargel C, Hellweg T. The Biosurfactant β-Aescin: A Review on the Physico-Chemical Properties and Its Interaction with Lipid Model Membranes and Langmuir Monolayers. Molecules. 2020;25(1): 117.This review discusses recent progress in physicochemical understanding of the action of the saponin β -aescin (also called β -escin), the biologically active component in the seeds of the horse chestnut tree Aesculus hippocastanum. β -Aescin is used in pharmacological and cosmetic applications showing strong surface activity. In this review, we outline the most important findings describing the behavior of β -aescin in solution (e.g., critical micelle concentration ( cmc ) and micelle shape) and special physicochemical properties of adsorbed β -aescin monolayers at the air–water and oil–water interface. Such monolayers were found to posses very special viscoelastic properties. The presentation of the experimental findings is complemented by discussing recent molecular dynamics simulations. These simulations do not only quantify the predominant interactions in adsorbed monolayers but also highlight the different behavior of neutral and ionized β -aescin molecules. The review concludes on the interaction of β -aescin with phospholipid model membranes in the form of bilayers and Langmuir monolayers. The interaction of β -aescin with lipid bilayers was found to strongly depend on its cmc . At concentrations below the cmc , membrane parameters are modified whereas above the cmc , complete solubilization of the bilayers occurs, depending on lipid phase state and concentration. In the presence of gel-phase phospholipids, discoidal bicelles form; these are tunable in size by composition. The phase behavior of β -aescin with lipid membranes can also be modified by addition of other molecules such as cholesterol or drug molecules. The lipid phase state also determines the penetration rate of β -aescin molecules into lipid monolayers. The strongest interaction was always found in the presence of gel-phase phospholipid molecules

Riparian Zone Evapotranspiration Using Streamflow Diel Signals

Riparian zones are crucial regions of semi-arid and arid watersheds. In the summer, riparian zones provide an important habitat for the watershed since they have sufficient water supply throughout the year. However, little is known about the impact of riparian zone evapotranspiration (ET) at a watershed scale. The use of streamflow diel signals can provide a more thorough understanding of riparian zone processes, particularly evapotranspiration. The streamflow diel signals were analyzed for Dry Creek Experimental Watershed (DCEW), for the summer of 2014, to determine riparian evapotranspiration. The riparian zone evapotranspiration was compared to a spatially distributed evapotranspiration model to determine the influence of riparian ET, in comparison to watershed scale ET. The analyses showed that streamflow diel signals were complex and varied in both space and time. The amplitude of the diel signals played a key role in understanding riparian processes and showed that plant transpiration, water availability, and diel signal mixing all had an effect on the amplitude throughout the watershed. The diel signal was most accurate in the headwaters of the catchment, where diel signal mixing was at a minimum. Based on the headwaters of the catchment, riparian ET attributed up to 11% of the watershed scale ET. When taking into account the uncertainty associated with the spatially distributed ET model, the amount of riparian ET was negligible compared to watershed scale ET. Meteorological data and sap flux calculations support the conclusion that there was little riparian ET relative to watershed scale ET. Although riparian ET was minor compared to watershed scale ET, it was a relatively large portion of streamflow during low flow in DCEW. The research provided insight into the analysis of diel signals and possible factors affecting diel signal characteristics

Communications Biophysics

Contains reports on three research projects.United States Air Force (Contract AF19(604)-4112

Geothermal Potential of the Brenner Base Tunnel—Initial Evaluations

Increasing demands on mobility and transport, but limited space above ground, lead to new traffic routes being built, even more underground in the form of tunnels. In addition to improving the traffic situation, tunnels offer the possibility of contributing to climate-friendly heating by indirectly serving as geothermal power plants. In this study, the geothermal potential of the future longest railway tunnel in the world, the Brenner Base Tunnel, was evaluated. At the Brenner Base Tunnel, warm water naturally flows from the apex of the tunnel towards the city of Innsbruck, Austria. In order to estimate its geothermal potential, hydrological data of discharge rates and temperatures were investigated and analyzed. The investigations indicated the highest geothermal potential in the summertime, while the lowest occurs during winter. It could be shown that these variations were a result of cooling during discharge through areas of low overburden (mid mountain range), where the tunnel atmosphere is increasingly influenced by the air temperatures outside the tunnel. Nevertheless, the calculations showed that there will be a usable potential after completion of the tunnel

Extragalactic Globular Clusters in the Near-Infrared: V. IC 4051 and NGC 3311

We present the results of combined optical and near-infrared photometry for the globular cluster systems of the giant ellipticals IC 4051 and NGC 3311. We use the reduced age-metallicity degeneracy in (V-I) vs.(V-H) color-color diagrams to derive the cumulative age distribution within the red sub-population of globular clusters and to search for age sub-populations. The age distribution is then compared to the one determined for simulated globular cluster systems in order to set constraints on the relative age and size of these globular cluster sub-populations. In both galaxies we find a significant fraction of globular clusters with ages between 2- 5 Gyr. We also investigate the metallicity distribution in both systems. Small number statistics prevent us from making any definite statements concerning NGC 3311, but we find that the derived metallicity distribution of the IC 4051 clusters strongly depends on the assumed age distribution. Based on our most likely result that finds a large number of young/intermediate age clusters (~2 Gyr) within the selected globular cluster sample, we find metallicity peaks at $\sim$ -0.2 for the old clusters and +0.8 for the young clusters. Only few very metal poor clusters are found. However, the metallicity distribution within the young/intermediate globular cluster population is significantly affected by our choice of the applied Single Stellar Population model. The mean metallicity of the second generation of globular clusters changes from the above mentioned and extremely high +0.8 dex to +0.2 dex. Note that the model dependency becomes less severe with an increasing age of the cluster population.Comment: 21 pages, 21 figures, A&A, accepte

Spectral-interference microscopy for characterization of functional plasmonic elements

Plasmonic modes supported by noble-metal nanostructures offer strong subwavelength electric-field confinement and promise the realization of nanometer-scale integrated optical circuits with well-defined functionality. In order to measure the spectral and spatial response functions of such plasmonic elements, we combine a confocal microscope setup with spectral interferometry detection. The setup, data acquisition, and data evaluation are discussed in detail by means of exemplary experiments involving propagating plasmons transmitted through silver nanowires. By considering and experimentally calibrating any setup-inherent signal delay with an accuracy of 1 fs, we are able to extract correct timing information of propagating plasmons. The method can be applied, e.g., to determine the dispersion and group velocity of propagating plasmons in nanostructures, and can be extended towards the investigation of nonlinear phenomena

A Quantitative Link Between Globular Clusters and the Stellar Halos in Elliptical Galaxies

This paper explores the quantitative connection between globular clusters and the diffuse stellar population of the galaxies they are associated with. Both NGC 1399 and NGC 4486 (M87) are well suited for this kind of analysis due to their large globular cluster populations. The main assumption of our Monte Carlo based models is that each globular cluster is formed along with a given diffuse stellar mass that shares the same spatial distribution, chemical composition and age. The main globular clusters subpopulations, that determine the observed bimodal colour distribution, are decomposed avoiding a priori parametric (e.g. Gaussian) fits and using a new colour (C-T1)-metallicity relation. The eventual detectability of a blue tilt in the colour magnitude diagrams of the blue globulars subpopulation is also addressed. A successful link between globular clusters and the stellar galaxy halo is established by assuming that the number of globular clusters per associated diffuse stellar mass t is a function of total abundance [Z/H] and behaves as t=gamma*exp(delta[Z/H]) (i.e. increases when abundance decreases).Comment: 19 pages, 24 figures and 4 tables. Accepted for publication in MNRA