Student engineers: lecturing, teaching and assessing

A traditional lecture tends to operate in only one or two quadrants of Kolb's learning circle and promotes strategic and, at worse, surface learning. Software engineering is an important subject for computing engineering students. It is imperative they establish a deep understanding of the subject to ensure best working practices. Supplemental instruction, teaching others a subject, often promotes a high level of learning. The paper demonstrates the results of such an exercise by groups of students lecturing on a component of the software engineering course. Both peer and self-assessment was used to measure individual performances, efforts and impact. The paper reports on student reactions to this assessment and offers a strategy for the informed practice and development of peer assessment and some guidelines on how to assist students to develop and present a lectur

#47 - Attractiveness of Individuals Based on Personality and Financial Status

Attractiveness of Individuals Based on Personality and Financial Status A very common saying is “opposites attract.” Some studies suggest that people are more likely to be in relationships with others who are similar to them (Olderbak et al., 2017) whereas other research findings suggest individuals are more attracted to those with dissimilar interests and characteristics to them (Schmitt, 2002). The aim of the current study is to examine how different constellations of a person’s characteristics impact attraction. We hypothesize that the more extroverted, conscientious, and financially stable a person is, the more attractive they will appear. Also, we predict that participants will find individuals with dissimilar characteristics to themselves to be more attractive. In addition, participants that are more (vs. less) satisfied in their relationships are predicted to rate individuals as less attractive. We will create 8- fictitious individuals and create short descriptions of them. We will not provide any photographs or gender information. We will conduct a 2x2x2 within-subjects, experimental-design. The independent variables are extroversion (high, low), conscientiousness (high, low), and financial stability (high, moderate), and the dependent variable is ratings of attractiveness. First, Participants will complete a consent form. Then, they will rate the attractiveness of the 8 fictitious individuals (the order of descriptions will be counterbalanced). Then, participants will rate their own personality traits and basic demographic information. Last, participants will be debriefed. Results of the current study may help individuals better understand why we choose particular mates. It can also aid in narrowing down potential partners when online dating

Time to abandon the hygiene hypothesis: new perspectives on allergic disease, the human microbiome, infectious disease prevention and the role of targeted hygiene.

AIMS: To review the burden of allergic and infectious diseases and the evidence for a link to microbial exposure, the human microbiome and immune system, and to assess whether we could develop lifestyles which reconnect us with exposures which could reduce the risk of allergic disease while also protecting against infectious disease. METHODS: Using methodology based on the Delphi technique, six experts in infectious and allergic disease were surveyed to allow for elicitation of group judgement and consensus view on issues pertinent to the aim. RESULTS: Key themes emerged where evidence shows that interaction with microbes that inhabit the natural environment and human microbiome plays an essential role in immune regulation. Changes in lifestyle and environmental exposure, rapid urbanisation, altered diet and antibiotic use have had profound effects on the human microbiome, leading to failure of immunotolerance and increased risk of allergic disease. Although evidence supports the concept of immune regulation driven by microbe-host interactions, the term 'hygiene hypothesis' is a misleading misnomer. There is no good evidence that hygiene, as the public understands, is responsible for the clinically relevant changes to microbial exposures. CONCLUSION: Evidence suggests a combination of strategies, including natural childbirth, breast feeding, increased social exposure through sport, other outdoor activities, less time spent indoors, diet and appropriate antibiotic use, may help restore the microbiome and perhaps reduce risks of allergic disease. Preventive efforts must focus on early life. The term 'hygiene hypothesis' must be abandoned. Promotion of a risk assessment approach (targeted hygiene) provides a framework for maximising protection against pathogen exposure while allowing spread of essential microbes between family members. To build on these findings, we must change public, public health and professional perceptions about the microbiome and about hygiene. We need to restore public understanding of hygiene as a means to prevent infectious disease

Calcification, Dissolution and Test Properties of Modern Planktonic Foraminifera From the Central Atlantic Ocean

The mass of well-preserved calcite in planktonic foraminifera shells provides an indication of the calcification potential of the surface ocean. Here we report the shell weight of 8 different abundant planktonic foraminifera species from a set of core-top sediments along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. The analyses showed that near the equator, foraminifera shells of equivalent size weigh on average 1/3 less than those from the middle latitudes. The carbonate preservation state of the samples was assessed by high resolution X-ray microcomputed tomographic analyses of Globigerinoides ruber and Globorotalia truncatulinoides specimens. The specimen preservation was deemed good and does not overall explain the observed shell mass variations. However, G. ruber shell weights might be to some extent compromised by residual fine debris internal contamination. Deep dwelling species possess heavier tests than their surface-dwelling counterparts, suggesting that the weight of the foraminifera shells changes as a function of the depth habitat. Ambient seawater carbonate chemistry of declining carbonate ion concentration with depth cannot account for this interspecies difference. The results suggest a depth regulating function for plankton calcification, which is not dictated by water column acidity

Calcification, dissolution and test properties of modern planktonic foraminifera from the central Atlantic Ocean

This research was supported in part by a Royal Society Newton International postdoctoral Fellowship to SZ from the Royal Society of London. JWBR acknowledges funding from the European Research Council under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program (grant agreement 805246). We also acknowledge support from U.K. NERC Grant (PUCCA) NE/V011049/1.The mass of well-preserved calcite in planktonic foraminifera shells provides an indication of the calcification potential of the surface ocean. Here we report the shell weight of 8 different abundant planktonic foraminifera species from a set of core-to sediments along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. The analyses showed that near the equator, foraminifera shells of equivalent size weigh on average 1/3 less than those from the middle latitudes. The carbonate preservation state of the samples was assessed by high resolution X-ray microcomputed tomographic analyses of Globigerinoides ruber and Globorotalia truncatulinoides specimens. The specimen preservation was deemed good and does not overall explain the observed shell mass variations. However, G. ruber shell weights might be to some extent compromised by residual fine debris internal contamination. Deep dwelling species possess heavier tests than their surface-dwelling counterparts, suggesting that the weight of the foraminifera shells changes as a function of the depth habitat. Ambient seawater carbonate chemistry of declining carbonate ion concentration with depth cannot account for this interspecies difference. The results suggest a depth regulating function for plankton calcification, which is not dictated by water column acidity.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Noise-driven oscillations in microbial population dynamics

Microbial populations in the natural environment are likely to experience growth conditions very different from those of a typical laboratory xperiment. In particular, removal rates of biomass and substrate are unlikely to be balanced under realistic environmental conditions. Here, we consider a single population growing on a substrate under conditions where the removal rates of substrate and biomass are not necessarily equal. For a large population, with deterministic growth dynamics, our model predicts that this system can show transient (damped) oscillations. For a small population, demographic noise causes these oscillations to be sustained indefinitely. These oscillations arise when the dynamics of changes in biomass are faster than the dynamics of the substrate, for example, due to a high microbial death rate and/or low substrate flow rates. We show that the same mechanism can produce sustained stochastic oscillations in a two-species, nutrient-cycling microbial ecosystem. Our results suggest that oscillatory population dynamics may be a common feature of small microbial populations in the natural environment, even in the absence of complex interspecies interactions.Comment: 25 pages, 11 figure