Perceived barriers to technology integration

This mixed-methods study explores the potential barriers to change related to the integration of technology among elementary teachers. Data were collected through the use of a survey, interviews, and focus groups. The Concerns-Based Adoption Model (CBAM) developed by Hall and Hord (2001) was used to capture teacher perceptions of the technology integration. Additional qualitative data were gathered through an open-ended questionnaire, and followed up with interviews and a focus group with eight teachers from the district studied. Two teachers, from each of the four elementary buildings within the school district, were chosen. The population of this study consisted of approximately 100 elementary teachers from the participating school district serving students in grades K through 12, in northern Genesee County, Michigan. Quantitative data were analyzed through descriptive statistics, while qualitative data were analyzed through coding procedures in order to identify emerging themes. Bogdan and Biklen (1982) define qualitative data analysis as working with data, organizing it, breaking it into manageable units, synthesizing it, searching for patterns, discovering what is important and what is to be learned, and deciding what you will tell others (p. 145). Qualitative researchers tend to use inductive analysis of data, meaning that the critical themes emerge out of the data (Patton, 1990). The results suggest that there are four barriers to integrating technology into the daily classroom lessons and that teachers move through various degrees of change through the change process: 1. Lack of Training and Technical Support 2. Lack of Administrator Priorities and Support 3. Lack of Resource Allocation and Convenience 4. Inability to Reduce Teacher Workload The study will serve to inform educational leaders about technology integration and the barriers to change

Classroom-Based, Teacher-Led Action Research as a Process for Enhancing Teaching and Learning

This paper examines the nature of classroom-based, teacher-led action research in schools. The process of action research is described, along with its potential applications and benefits—including, but not limited to, the empowerment of teachers and staff, and the support structure for a program of customizable professional development for educators. One school’s venture into school wide action research is presented and discussed, largely from the perspective of the building administrator. Both challenges and the successes are openly discussed. Finally, the authors make a case for the widespread and large-scale benefits associated with the implementation of an action research initiative in schools and districts

Interactive Reading Using Low Cost Brain Computer Interfaces

This work shows the feasibility for document reader user applications using a consumer grade non-invasive BCI headset. Although Brain Computer Interface (BCI) type devices are beginning to aim at the consumer level, the level at which they can actually detect brain activity is limited. There is however progress achieved in allowing for interaction between a human and a computer when this interaction is limited to around 2 actions. We employed the Emotiv Epoc, a low-priced BCI headset, to design and build a proof-of-concept document reader system that allows users to navigate the document using this low cast BCI device. Our prototype has been implemented and evaluated with 12 participants who were trained to navigate documents using signals acquired by Emotive Epoc

Surface and near-surface runoff processes in peatland catchments.

Blanket peatlands are the most extensive peatland environments in the UK and exhibit flashy responses to rainfall (Evans et al., 1999; Acreman and Holden, 2013). Near-surface and surface flows dominate, produced by saturation-excess and percolation-excess mechanisms, resulting in rapid runoff. Previously, coupled models with explicit representations of subsurface and overland flow, have been used to simulate peatland hydrological processes. These models assume a clear boundary between the subsurface and surface; however, unlike most mineral soils, peatlands lack a distinct surface. This study suggests that the surface constitutes more of a transition zone, comprising a tangle of porous vegetation, meaning that flow is perhaps akin to stormflow in the upper peat, rather than true overland flow. Thus, it is unclear if flow here is Darcian or should be described by a surface flow equation such as the Chézy equation. Laboratory flume experiments were undertaken on two peat samples to simulate flow in the near-surface region, using the data collected to empirically test the Darcian model, DigiBog_Hydro, and determine if a Darcian approach can be used to represent these rapid flows. The flume experiments showed that for the scenarios with higher water levels, a flashier hydrograph was produced indicating that flow in the near-surface region is responsible for the rapid response of peatlands. DigiBog_Hydro was successful in producing reasonable replications of the observed data, with discharge hydrographs that were comparable in terms of magnitude and shape, and the modelled water tables showing similar patterns of input attenuation as the flume. The differences in the data (lags and absolute water-table heights) are thought to be a result of model ‘short-circuiting’ and initial model draining, respectively. These data show that the incorporation of a Darcian overland flow layer within DigiBog_Hydro is effective at modelling the rapid quasi-overland flow in the peat near-surface, indicating that a single representation of flow could be used in future and scaled up to entire peatland catchments

Repair of juxtarenal para-anastomotic aortic aneurysms after previous open repair with fenestrated and branched endovascular stent grafts

Three patients with juxtarenal para-anastomotic aortic aneurysms after previous open abdominal aortic aneurysm repair were treated with custom-designed fenestrated and branched Zenith endovascular stent grafts. Six renal arteries and two superior mesenteric arteries were targeted for incorporation by graft fenestrations and branches. The fenestration/renal ostium interface was secured with balloon-expandable Genesis stents (n = 5) or Jostent stent grafts (n = 1). Completion angiography demonstrated no endoleaks and antegrade perfusion in all target vessels. During follow-up, one patient developed asymptomatic renal artery occlusion and underwent further endovascular intervention for type I distal endoleak. Computed tomography at 12 months demonstrated complete aneurysm exclusion in all patients with antegrade perfusion in the remaining target vessels. Fenestrated and branched endovascular stent grafts may be an acceptable alternative to conventional open repair in this group of patients

The Sensitivity of the Redshift Distribution to Galaxy Demographics

Photometric redshifts are commonly used to measure the distribution of galaxies in large surveys. However, the demands of ongoing and future large-scale cosmology surveys place very stringent limits on the redshift performance that are difficult to meet. A new approach to meet this precision need is forward modelling, which is underpinned by realistic simulations. In the work presented here, we use simulations to study the sensitivity of redshift distributions to the underlying galaxy population demographics. We do this by varying the redshift evolving parameters of the Schechter function for two galaxy populations, star-forming and quenched galaxies. Each population is characterised by eight parameters. We find that the redshift distribution of shallow surveys, such as SDSS, is mainly sensitive to the parameters for quenched galaxies. However, for deeper surveys such as DES and HSC, the star-forming parameters have a stronger impact on the redshift distribution. Specifically, the slope of the characteristic magnitude, $a_\mathrm{M}$, for star-forming galaxies has overall the strongest impact on the redshift distribution. Decreasing $a_\mathrm{M}$ by 148 per cent (its given uncertainty) shifts the mean redshift by ${\sim} 45$ per cent. We explore which combination of colour and magnitude measurements are most sensitive to $a_\mathrm{M}$ and we find that each colour-magnitude pair studied is similarly affected by a modification of $a_\mathrm{M}$

Ultra-fast stem cell labelling using cationised magnetoferritin

Efficient magnetic labelling of stem cells is achieved within a one minute incubation period using cationised magnetoferritin.</p

The response of microphytobenthos to physical disturbance, herbicide, and titanium dioxide nanoparticles exposure

The research leading to these results received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 730984, ASSEMBLE Plus project. AJW was funded by the John Templeton Grant 60501, “Putting the Extended Evolutionary Synthesis to the Test”. DMP and AJB were supported by the NERC Blue-coast award (NE/N016009/1).The microphytobenthos that form transient biofilms are important primary producers in intertidal, depositional habitats, yet we have only a limited understanding of how they respond to the cumulative impacts of the growing range of anthropogenic stressors to which they are exposed. We know even less about how the temporal alignment of exposure – such as duration and exposure sequence – may affect the response. Estuarine biofilms were cultured in mesocosms and exposed to the herbicide glyphosate and titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanoparticles in different sequences (glyphosate-first or TiO2-first), as well as in the presence and absence of physical disturbance. We found that at environmentally realistic chemical concentrations, the order of exposure was less important than the total stressor scenario in terms of impacts on key functional attributes and diatom community structure. Physical disturbance did not have an impact on functional attributes, regardless of exposure sequence.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Ugandan stakeholder hopes and concerns about gene drive mosquitoes for malaria control:New directions for gene drive risk governance

This is the final version. Available on open access from BMC via the DOI in this record. Availability of data and materials: The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are available in the UK DATA SERVICE repository, https://ukdataservice.ac.uk/. The datasets during and/or analyzed during the current study are also available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.Background: The African Union’s High-Level Panel on Emerging Technologies identified gene drive mosquitoes as a priority technology for malaria elimination. The first field trials are expected in 5–10 years in Uganda, Mali or Burkina Faso. In preparation, regional and international actors are developing risk governance guidelines which will delineate the framework for identifying and evaluating risks. Scientists and bioethicists have called for African stakeholder involvement in these developments, arguing the knowledge and perspectives of those people living in malaria-afflicted countries is currently missing. However, few African stakeholders have been involved to date, leaving a knowledge gap about the local social-cultural as well as ecological context in which gene drive mosquitoes will be tested and deployed. This study investigates and analyses Ugandan stakeholders’ hopes and concerns about gene drive mosquitoes for malaria control and explores the new directions needed for risk governance. Methods: This qualitative study draws on 19 in-depth semi-structured interviews with Ugandan stakeholders in 2019. It explores their hopes for the technology and the risks they believed pertinent. Coding began at a workshop and continued through thematic analysis. Results: Participants’ hopes and concerns for gene drive mosquitoes to address malaria fell into three themes: (1) ability of gene drive mosquitoes to prevent malaria infection; (2) impacts of gene drive testing and deployment; and, (3) governance. Stakeholder hopes fell almost exclusively into the first theme while concerns were spread across all three. The study demonstrates that local stakeholders are able and willing to contribute relevant and important knowledge to the development of risk frameworks. Conclusions: International processes can provide high-level guidelines, but risk decision-making must be grounded in the local context if it is to be robust, meaningful and legitimate. Decisions about whether or not to release gene drive mosquitoes as part of a malaria control programme will need to consider the assessment of both the risks and the benefits of gene drive mosquitoes within a particular social, political, ecological, and technological context. Just as with risks, benefits—and importantly, the conditions that are necessary to realize them—must be identified and debated in Uganda and its neighbouring countries.British Academ

The role of the triangle singularity in Λ(1405)\Lambda(1405) production in the π−p→K0πΣ\pi^-p\rightarrow K^0\pi\Sigma and pp→pK+πΣpp\rightarrow pK^+\pi\Sigma processes

We have investigated the cross section for the $\pi^-p\rightarrow K^0\pi\Sigma$ and $pp\rightarrow pK^+\pi\Sigma$ reactions paying attention to a mechanism that develops a triangle singularity. The triangle diagram is realized by the decay of a $N^*$ to $K^*\Sigma$ and the $K^*$ decay into $\pi K$, and the $\pi\Sigma$ finally merges into $\Lambda(1405)$. The mechanism is expected to produce a peak around $2140$ MeV in the $K\Lambda(1405)$ invariant mass. We found that a clear peak appears around $2100$ MeV in the $K\Lambda(1405)$ invariant mass which is about $40$ MeV lower than the expectation, and that is due to the resonance peak of a $N^*$ resonance which plays a crucial role in the $K^*\Sigma$ production. The mechanism studied produces the peak of the $\Lambda(1405)$ around or below 1400 MeV, as is seen in the $pp\rightarrow pK^+\pi\Sigma$ HADES experiment.Comment: 12 pages, 9 figure