The use of home experimentation kits for distance students in first-year undergraduate electronics

Laboratory and practical classes are an important part of the education of students in electronics and electrical engineering. &quot;Hands-on&quot; experience is critical for any engineer working in these fields in particular. For many years, delivering engineering practicals to distance-education students has been a tremendous challenge for universities. For a number of years now, students enrolled in the common first-year electronics course by distance mode at Deakin University have received a home experimentation kit. Using the kit and a laboratory manual, students are required to complete a number of experiments based on components included in the kit. The kit supports a full range of practical activities for digital electronics, and a more limited range of activities for analog electronics. With the kit, off campus students are supplied software for simulating AC electronic circuits, such as amplifiers and rectifiers. In this report we examine the past use of this kit and software,review anecdotal student experiences with the package, and propose changes to it and to other curriculum resources, aiming to enhance the use of the kit by distance students. Key curriculum resources planned are a web-based \u27companion\u27 for the components in and the use of the kit, and two additions to the kit itself: a battery powered function generator, and a PC-based oscilloscope.<br /

Towards an astronomical age model for the Lower to Middle Pleistocene hominin-bearing succession of the Sangiran Dome area on Java, Indonesia

Well-dated paleoanthropological sites are critical for studying hominin evolution and dispersal, especially when related to regional or global climate change. For the rich hominin fossil record of Africa, this has been facilitated by the development of high-resolution astronomically tuned age models. So far, such age models are lacking for the Pleistocene of SE Asia with its similarly rich fossil hominin record. This study aims to develop an astronomical age model for the classical Sangiran Dome area of central Java, using a semi-quantitative grain size record of the hominin-bearing Sangiran and Bapang Formations. Two initial age models were established based on two different sets of tie points and approaches (constant sedimentation rate and Bayesian age modelling). These models, which correspond to the paleoanthropological short and long chronologies for the arrival of Homo erectus on Java, were used to convert the grain size record into a time series for time series analysis. The preferred initial age model was then used as a starting point to correlate or tune the grain size record to the LR04 benthic δ18O isotope stack. This tuning was constrained by the sudden switch in grain size from obliquity to double obliquity related cycles; this switch can be linked to the onset of the Mid-Pleistocene Transition at ∼1.2 Ma marked by a similarly abrupt change in ice age history. Two slightly different astronomical age models are presented, while a one cycle hiatus at the base of the Grenzbank cannot be excluded. These age models are in better agreement with the short paleoanthropological chronology, arguing for a late arrival of H. erectus on Java. Finally, such astronomical age models, when finalized, will provide the accurate, precise, and high-resolution age control required to gain insight into the influence of both regional and global climate change on the Pleistocene paleoenvironment and potentially the hominin population of Java

Frontal sinuses and human evolution

The frontal sinuses are cavities inside the frontal bone located at the junction between the face and the cranial vault and close to the brain. Despite a long history of study, understanding of their origin and variation through evolution is limited. This work compares most hominin species? holotypes and other key individuals with extant hominids. It provides a unique and valuable perspective of the variation in sinuses position, shape, and dimensions based on a simple and reproducible methodology. We also observed a covariation between the size and shape of the sinuses and the underlying frontal lobes in hominin species from at least the appearance of Homo erectus. Our results additionally undermine hypotheses stating that hominin frontal sinuses were directly affected by biomechanical constraints resulting from either chewing or adaptation to climate. Last, we demonstrate their substantial potential for discussions of the evolutionary relationships between hominin species. Variation in frontal sinus shape and dimensions has high potential for phylogenetic discussion when studying human evolution

Controlled experiments in lithic technology and function

From the earliest manifestations of tool production, technologies have played a fundamental role in the acquisition of different resources and are representative of daily activities in the lives of ancient humans, such as hunting (stone-tipped spears) and meat processing (chipped stone tools) (Lombard 2005; McPherron et al. 2010; Lombard and Phillipson 2010; Brown et al. 2012; Wilkins et al. 2012; Sahle et al. 2013; Joordens et al. 2015; Ambrose 2001; Stout 2001). Yet many questions remain, such as how and why technological changes took place in earlier populations, and how technological traditions, innovations, and novelties enabled hominins to survive and disperse across the globe (Klein 2000; McBrearty and Brooks 2000; Henshilwood et al. 2001; Marean et al. 2007; Brown et al. 2012; Režek et al. 2018).Projekt DEALinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Loop Diuretics Have Anxiolytic Effects in Rat Models of Conditioned Anxiety

A number of antiepileptic medications that modulate GABAA mediated synaptic transmission are anxiolytic. The loop diuretics furosemide (Lasix) and bumetanide (Bumex) are thought to have antiepileptic properties. These drugs also modulate GABAA mediated signalling through their antagonism of cation-chloride cotransporters. Given that loop diuretics may act as antiepileptic drugs that modulate GABAergic signalling, we sought to investigate whether they also mediate anxiolytic effects. Here we report the first investigation of the anxiolytic effects of these drugs in rat models of anxiety. Furosemide and bumetanide were tested in adult rats for their anxiolytic effects using four standard anxiety models: 1) contextual fear conditioning; 2) fear-potentiated startle; 3) elevated plus maze, and 4) open-field test. Furosemide and bumetanide significantly reduced conditioned anxiety in the contextual fear-conditioning and fear-potentiated startle models. At the tested doses, neither compound had significant anxiolytic effects on unconditioned anxiety in the elevated plus maze and open-field test models. These observations suggest that loop diuretics elicit significant anxiolytic effects in rat models of conditioned anxiety. Since loop diuretics are antagonists of the NKCC1 and KCC2 cotransporters, these results implicate the cation-chloride cotransport system as possible molecular mechanism involved in anxiety, and as novel pharmacological target for the development of anxiolytics. In view of these findings, and since furosemide and bumetanide are safe and well tolerated drugs, the clinical potential of loop diuretics for treating some types of anxiety disorders deserves further investigation