Hitomi (ASTRO-H) X-ray Astronomy Satellite

The Hitomi (ASTRO-H) mission is the sixth Japanese x-ray astronomy satellite developed by a large international collaboration, including Japan, USA, Canada, and Europe. The mission aimed to provide the highest energy resolution ever achieved at E  >  2  keV, using a microcalorimeter instrument, and to cover a wide energy range spanning four decades in energy from soft x-rays to gamma rays. After a successful launch on February 17, 2016, the spacecraft lost its function on March 26, 2016, but the commissioning phase for about a month provided valuable information on the onboard instruments and the spacecraft system, including astrophysical results obtained from first light observations. The paper describes the Hitomi (ASTRO-H) mission, its capabilities, the initial operation, and the instruments/spacecraft performances confirmed during the commissioning operations for about a month

A dehydrated space-weathered skin cloaking the hydrated interior of Ryugu

Without a protective atmosphere, space-exposed surfaces of airless Solar System bodies gradually experience an alteration in composition, structure and optical properties through a collective process called space weathering. The return of samples from near-Earth asteroid (162173) Ryugu by Hayabusa2 provides the first opportunity for laboratory study of space-weathering signatures on the most abundant type of inner solar system body: a C-type asteroid, composed of materials largely unchanged since the formation of the Solar System. Weathered Ryugu grains show areas of surface amorphization and partial melting of phyllosilicates, in which reduction from Fe3+ to Fe2+ and dehydration developed. Space weathering probably contributed to dehydration by dehydroxylation of Ryugu surface phyllosilicates that had already lost interlayer water molecules and to weakening of the 2.7 µm hydroxyl (–OH) band in reflectance spectra. For C-type asteroids in general, this indicates that a weak 2.7 µm band can signify space-weathering-induced surface dehydration, rather than bulk volatile loss

Supporting Fab Lab facilitators to develop pedagogical practices to improve learning in digital fabrication activities

Abstract Planning and facilitating digital fabrication activities, where students engage in creating tangible artefacts with digital technology, requires knowledge on both technology and pedagogy. Currently, most of the studies see facilitators of digital fabrication activities as technology experts and there are only few studies regarding them as educators. There is not much discussion from the learning sciences point of view, considering what are the requirements to enhance learning in the activities. To fill these research gaps, this paper aims to provide theoretically grounded practical suggestions of how the facilitators may contribute to improve students’ learning in digital fabrication activities based on learning science propostions. The aim of this study was to explore, how Fab Lab facilitators and school teachers can design digital fabrication activities to support students’ learning. We explored the current practices in Fab Lab Oulu from the two perspectives: considering novice students’ learning and scaffolding ill-structured problem-solving. We suggest that the facilitators may improve students’ learning by taking into account their background and current learning processes, applying instructional scaffolding, and supporting teachers involvement to take active role in the activities

Exploring potentials and challenges to develop twenty-first century skills and computational thinking in K-12 Maker Education

Abstract Interests in Maker Education have been increasing among K-12 educators. In this study, we focused on one of the contexts of Maker Education, digital fabrication activities, at a makerspace in Finland. We aimed to explore: (1) the potentials and the factors to develop twenty-first century skills and computational thinking practices through digital fabrication activities, and (2) challenges of utilizing digital fabrication in K-12 Maker Education. We examined perspectives of teachers and facilitators who have roles to support pupils in Maker Education. We presented three cases of school visits (3–5 days), where the pupils (7–9th grades) created tangible artifacts with digital fabrication facilities at the makerspace. We collected data through participants’ observation, informal interviews and focus group interviews with teachers and facilitators. For data analysis, we employed theory-driven and data-driven approaches. The results showed that digital fabrication activities can provide learning opportunities for twenty-first century skills and computational thinking practices. The teachers and the facilitators discussed the six factors of digital fabrication activities which influenced pupils’ learning. However, the result also indicated the possibility that the teachers and the facilitators might not be familiar with the concepts of computational thinking. Also, different perspectives between the teachers and the facilitators toward the structure of the current activities surfaced. By identifying potentials and challenges of the current practices, the study has implications to advance Maker Education to be better integrated into K-12 school contexts

How are mobile makerspaces utilized in schools?

Abstract To explore diverse means to apply digital fabrication in formal education, this poster presents an overview of the literature regarding the use of mobile makerspaces in K-12 school contexts. Among the reviewed literature, mobile makerspace activities were integrated with school curriculums, especially in STEM fields, and teachers were highly involved in planning and implementing the activities. We noticed that technology experts support the activities as well as teachers’ professional development by providing technical assistance. Our findings contribute to uncover the current practices of mobile makerspaces and call for in-depth scientific investigation

STEAM in Oulu:scaffolding the development of a Community of Practice for local educators around STEAM and digital fabrication

Abstract There is an increased interest to integrate STEAM methodologies and digital fabrication processes into formal education. However, teachers have repeatedly reported a set of impediments that hampers them to succeed. This integration requires a set of changes in the school organization, resourcing and a proper teacher training. A Community of Practice formed by different stakeholders of a local educational community might provide the necessary grounds to lead to this transition. In this paper, we report our experience of creating and scaffolding a local Community of Practice for a period of ten months. We present the different activities we carried out during this period, emphasizing a digital fabrication training that we conducted, at our university Fab Lab premises, for teachers and school principals separately. We also explore the influence of this training on scaffolding of the development of the Community of Practice. We expect the training structure, discussion and insights presented in this paper would inspire other researchers and practitioners trying to bring digital fabrication to formal education

Enabling children’s genuine participation in digital design and fabrication:instructors’ perspective

Abstract Digital fabrication laboratories (Fab Labs) are accessible to the public, including children and families. However, a variety of technical skills, tools, and expertise are needed in these spaces, and Fab Lab staff—instructors working there—are in a key role in helping Fab Lab users. There is, however, a lack of research on how these instructors can inspire children’s genuine participation in Fab Labs. We analyze the challenges faced by four instructors during two months of Fab Lab workshops with 7–12-year-old children. The children worked in child-only or child-parent groups on informal digital design and fabrication activities. Based on genuine participation principles derived from the literature, we designed our workshops, which included the creation of instructor guideline. At the end, we developed a post-workshop framework in which the instructors provided feedback about their performance and experiences. We provide recommendations to help instructors support children’s genuine participation in digital design and fabrication

Designing seamless learning activities for school visitors in the context of Fab Lab Oulu

Abstract Maker culture has expanded from its traditional niches (people with an interest in computers, programming and the digital world in general) to other, more general fields such as education, business and government. However, “despite the interest in the Maker Movement and its connection to formal and informal education, there has been little research concerning the direction it is taking, the opportunities it could present for education, and why” (Papavlasopoulou in Entertainment Computing 18, 57–78, 2017). In this chapter, we developed a pedagogical framework for seamless learning in Fab Lab activities based on the multiple levels of interactivity that different tools, activities and the contexts enable. The aim is to use age-appropriate activities and appropriate tools, as suggested by Blikstein (FabLab: Of Machines, Makers and Inventors. Transcript, Bielefeld, Germany, pp. 173–180, 2013). In this chapter, we introduce the theoretical principles of the framework—computational thinking, computational making and design-driven education—as a model to teach twenty-first-century skills. We also illustrate the pedagogical principles with a case study in a primary school (K-12) as an example of designing integrated educational activities to align with the maker activities being performed in the Fab Lab context

Use of FTA Cards for Direct Sampling of Patients' Lesions in the Ecological Study of Cutaneous Leishmaniasis ▿

The FTA card (Whatman) was assessed for its utility as a molecular epidemiological tool in collecting samples from patients with leishmaniasis in Peru because the card has a variety of merits; it is less invasive for patients and easy to handle for both physicians and other medical personnel for sample collection or diagnosis, in addition to its simplicity and easy countrywide and/or intercountry transportation for analysis. Samples were collected from 132 patients suspected of having leishmaniasis, and Leishmania species were successfully identified in samples from 81 patients in 15 departments of Peru by cytochrome b and mannose phosphate isomerase gene analyses. Of these, 61.7% were identified as Leishmania (Viannia) peruviana, 22.2% as L. (V.) braziliensis, 12.3% as L. (V.) guyanensis, 2.5% as L. (V.) shawi, and 1.2% as L. (V.) lainsoni. The three predominant species, L. (V.) peruviana, L. (V.) braziliensis, and L. (V.) guyanensis, were mainly found in the Andean highlands, in the tropical rainforest, and in northern and central rainforest regions, respectively. This is the first time L. (V.) shawi has been identified outside Brazil. The present study showed that the FTA card will be a useful tool for the ecological study of different forms of leishmaniasis. Furthermore, collecting samples directly from patients' lesions by using the FTA card eliminates (i) the possibility of contamination of Leishmania isolates during short- and/or long-term passages of culture in vitro in each laboratory and (ii) pain and suffering of patients from taking samples by skin biopsy