766 research outputs found
Developing Contemporary Engineering Skills through Service Learning in Peru
International service learning at The University of Alabama engages students in leadership and teaming roles. In Peru, students practiced skills that meet challenges of engineering in a global society and demonstrate accreditation learning outcomes not easily taught in traditional classrooms. Students in settings like this also get first-hand experience in what engineering is ultimately about: building things that make people’s lives better. Assessing the experience in a post-trip survey, students rated teaming lessons, communications, and experiential learning skills as particular strengths
Factors Influencing Grief Adjustment in the Elderly
The purpose of this paper was to attempt to identify variables which may enhance the ability of older widowed persons to adjust to viii bereavement. Depression and perceptions of physical health were the two aspects of adjustment selected for study. Several variables which current literature suggests may mediate grief adjustment were examined for their potential relationship to bereavement outcome. These were gender, level of grief, anticipatory grief and social network. The possible relationship between depression and perceptions of physical health was also examined for.
Subjects were 75 men and women, age 55 and over, who were recently widowed, and 29 non-bereaved men and women who served as controls. All subjects were caucasian, Mormon, and lived in small rural communities. To gather data on the variables in question, these instruments were used: the Beck Depression Inventory, and the Texas Inventory of Grief. Information on anticipatory grief, social network, and self-ratings of physical health was obtained using a structured interview developed at the Andrus Gerontology Center at the University of Southern California. Data was gathered at two times. The initial interview was held within two months of the death of each bereaved subject\u27s spouse, and again six months later. Control subjects were interviewed twice, six to eight months apart.
Multiple regression equations with foreward inclusion were computed to identify those variables which accounted for most of the cvariance in depression scores and self-ratings of physical health.
Gender and bereavement status (whether a subject was bereaved or control) were not found to be significantly related to depression or self-ratings of physical health. Social network variables were found to facilitate lower depression scores and higher ratings of physical health, although the aspects of social network which were significant varied over time (initially family, then later non-family relationships were most important.) Depression and self-ratings of physical health were closely related. High level of grief was closely associated with high depression scores, but not with self-ratings of physical health. Expectation of the spouse\u27s death was associated with lower self-ratings of physical health
Influence of nitrogen deposition on carbon dynamics in peatlands
The impact of high levels of nitrogen deposition from the atmosphere (primarily from the
combustion of fossil fuels and transportation) on soil carbon fluxes and carbon
sequestration pathways in peatlands are uncertain and limit our understanding of its
consequence on peatlands’ role as global carbon sinks. An alteration in peatlands’ natural
carbon accumulation process could result in the increased release of CO2 into the
atmosphere, potentially increasing the greenhouse effect and contributing to climate
change.
Recent studies in forest soils have shown that high concentrations of inorganic nitrogen
accelerate the activity of key soil enzymes involved in the degradation of easily
decomposable litter (low lignin content) but slow down the decomposition of lignin
abundant litter. Peatland soils are adapted to slow rates of nitrogen mineralization;
therefore increasing the nitrogen supply in these environments may have an even deeper
impact on litter quality, potential litter decomposability, and overall carbon storage
capacity.
The aim of this study is to use plant wax biomarkers as proxies of vegetational change in
litter profiles. An alkane and alcohol profile database of peatland vegetation is currently
being characterized for comparison with samples taken from the Whim Moss
experimental site (Edinburgh) where different levels of nitrogen has been added to
peatland soil since 2002. A temporal study combining the MicroResp technique
(community level physiological profiles) and enzyme activity assays is considered to look
at the effect of litter compositional changes on soil microbial diversity and biological
activity. To better understand how nitrogen deposition in peatland soil affects the
mechanisms controlling carbon storage, the incorporation of stable isotope labelling (13C)
would allow direct determination of the fate of carbon into the different carbon pools and
better pin-point the changes in litter composition
Transitions in coral reef accretion rates linked to intrinsic ecological shifts on turbid-zone nearshore reefs
Nearshore coral communities within turbid settings are typically perceived to have limited reef-building capacity. However, several recent studies have reported reef growth over millennial time scales within such environments and have hypothesized that depth-variable community assemblages may act as equally important controls on reef growth as they do in clear-water settings. Here, we explicitly test this idea using a newly compiled chronostratigraphic record (31 cores, 142 radiometric dates) from seven proximal (but discrete) nearshore coral reefs located along the central Great Barrier Reef (Australia). Uniquely, these reefs span distinct stages of geomorphological maturity, as reflected in their elevations below sea level. Integrated age-depth and ecological data sets indicate that contemporary coral assemblage shifts, associated with changing light availability and wave exposure as reefs shallowed, coincided with transitions in accretion rates at equivalent core depths. Reef initiation followed a regional ∼1 m drop in sea level (1200–800 calibrated yr B.P.) which would have lowered the photic floor and exposed new substrate for coral recruitment by winnowing away fine seafloor sediments. We propose that a two-way feedback mechanism exists where past growth history influences current reef morphology and ecology, ultimately driving future reef accumulation and morphological change. These findings provide the first empirical evidence that nearshore reef growth trajectories are intrinsically driven by changes in coral community structure as reefs move toward sea level, a finding of direct significance for predicting the impacts of extrinsically driven ecological change (e.g., coral-algal phase shifts) on reef growth potential within the wider coastal zone on the Great Barrier Reef
Tracking Student Participants From A REU Site With NAE Grand Challenges As The Common Theme
The National Academy of Engineering (NAE) Grand Challenges provides the theme for this NSF-funded Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) site. Research topics, with their broad societal impact, allow undergraduate students from multiple engineering disciplines and computer science to work together on exciting and critical problems. The approach to addressing the need for research in critical technical areas includes: providing research training in multi-disciplinary research fields; developing technical and professional skills; networking with fellow REU students and participating faculty advisors; and raising student interest and awareness in both graduate studies and our nation’s most critical problems. The Grand Challenges investigated by student participants include: making solar energy economical; providing access to clean water; advancing health informatics; securing cyberspace; restoring and improving urban infrastructure; engineering the tools of scientific discovery; engineering better medicines; and advancing personalized learning. Over a three-year period, 34 students participated in the REU Site and 58.8% were students underrepresented in engineering. The student participants published their work and gave presentations in regional and national conferences. Several graduate students gained leadership experience by assisting in program coordination. Based on surveys, overall, student participants value most the opportunity to contribute to a research group on exciting and relevant problems. Tracking efforts resulted in locating 100% of the student participants. We found 38.2% completed their undergraduate degrees and now have positions in industry; 38.2% are currently in graduate school and 8.8% have completed their graduate degrees; 14.7% are still pursuing engineering or computer science undergraduate degrees
Multivariate Cognitive Walkthrough of QubitVR: An Educational Quantum Computing, Virtual Reality Application
Quantum computing is a promising field but understanding how it works can be challenging for a beginner. There are also not many educational resources to visualize and learn about quantum computing. To advance knowledge in this area, we have created QubitVR, which employs a Bloch sphere representation of a qubit, and supports trajectory visualizations and state equations in a virtual reality (VR) setting. We also conducted a multivariate cognitive walkthrough with subject matter experts (SMEs) on QubitVR to assess the effectiveness of trajectory visualizations and state equations in learning about quantum gates. The results were that trajectory visualizations aided users in understanding and learning the outcomes of quantum gate applications, while state equations did not aid users in understanding or learning the outcomes of gate applications. This implies that when designing quantum educational applications, researchers should consider focusing on visual enhancements like trajectory visualizations while avoiding mathematical representations accompanying the Bloch sphere
The 'Healthy Passport' intervention with older people in an English urban environment:effects of incentives and peer-group organisers in promoting healthy living
This paper reports the evaluation of the effectiveness of incentives (viz. points and prizes) and of peer-group organisers ('older people's champions') in the outcomes of a health-improvement programme for people aged 50 + years in a multi-ethnic district of the West Midlands, England. Health promotion activities Were provided, and adherence, outcome variables and barriers to adherence were assessed over six months, using a `passport' format. Those aged in the fifties and of Asian origin Were under represented, but people of Afro-Caribbean origin were well represented and proportionately most likely to stay in the project. Those of greater age and With more illness were most likely to drop out. There were significant improvements in exercise, diet and the uptake of influenza vaccines and eyesight tests, but slighter improvements in wellbeing. Positive outcomes related to the incentives and to liking the format. The number of reported barriers was associated with lower involvement and lack of change, as was finding activities too difficult, the level of understanding, and transport and mobility problems, but when these were controlled, age did not predict involvement. Enjoying the scheme was related to positive changes, and this was associated with support from the older people's champions
Generalized software requirements to access thesauri and classification schemes for user-based image collections
This paper describes proposed schemes for describing and indexing two image collections and equirements for the software that would give the end-user access to thesaurus terms and a graphical display of the faceted classification structures of indexing records. Editorial cartoons comprise one collection, dance videos the other
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