Getting on Board With the STEM Revolution: Two Christian Schools’ Experiences

This paper reports on an initial investigation into teachers’ perceptions of the process of introducing the integrated teaching of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) using a cooperative and problem solving approach. The study was conducted at two independent schools in New South Wales and will be ongoing. The initial results indicate that while there has been a positive attitude to the introduction of STEM into the two schools, there is perceived to be a need for additional professional development that will lead to greater teacher confidence, improved attitudes, wider knowledge of the importance of STEM, and more extensive teamwork. There was also found to be a discrepancy in the perceptions of primary and secondary teachers largely due to the structure of the timetable and the disjointed nature of the key learning areas

A Population-level Analysis of Morning Song: Exploring the Implications for Point Counts

Point counts are widely used for conducting ecological surveys of wild birds. Vocal output of birds varies with time of day, and therefore the results of ecological surveys should also vary with time of day. We modeled how males’ singing rates change over the morning. We calculated song rates in 3 min sampling periods (the standard sampling period used by the North American Breeding Bird Survey) and compared how detection rates vary as sampling period increases. We recorded singing activity in 15 neighbourhoods of breeding Black-capped Chickadees (Poecile atricapillus) with 16-element microphone arrays that recorded every song from every male in every neighbourhood. We calculated the proportion of males that produced one or more songs during 3, 5, and 10 min count periods between nautical twilight and late morning. our results show a strong peak in singing activity just before sunrise followed by a steady decline in singing activity over the course of the morning. We found that longer sampling periods yielded significantly higher detection rates at all times after sunrise. After sunrise, detection rates never exceeded 60%, even with 10 min sampling periods. We found that unpaired males had significantly higher detection rates than paired males but we found no difference between paired males with fertile versus incubating mates. our results provide strong evidence that, for black-capped Chickadees, surveys during the dawn chorus provide the most comprehensive assessment of the number of birds present, and that longer sampling periods yield significantly better estimates of population sizes at all times after sunrise

New horizons in iron deficiency anaemia in older adults

Iron deficiency anaemia (IDA) is common in older adults and associated with a range of adverse outcomes. Differentiating iron deficiency from other causes of anaemia is important to ensure appropriate investigations and treatment. It is possible to make the diagnosis reliably using simple blood tests. Clinical evaluation and assessment are required to help determine the underlying cause and to initiate appropriate investigations. IDA in men and post-menopausal females is most commonly due to occult gastrointestinal blood loss until proven otherwise, although there is a spectrum of underlying causative pathologies. Investigation decisions should take account of the wishes of the patient and their competing comorbidities, individualising the approach. Management involves supplementation using oral or intravenous (IV) iron then consideration of treatment of the underlying cause of deficiency. Future research areas are outlined including the role of Hepcidin and serum soluble transferrin receptor measurement, quantitative faecal immunochemical testing, alternative dosing regimens and the potential role of IV iron preparations

Modeling tools to estimate the performance of the Thirty Meter Telescope: an integrated approach

A sound system engineering approach and the appropriate tools to support it are essential in achieving the scientific and financial objectives of the Thirty Meter Telescope project. Major elements of the required tool set are those providing estimates for the performance of the telescope. During the last couple of years, the partners in the consortium developed a wide range of modeling and simulation tools with various levels of fidelity and flexibility. There are models available for time domain and frequency domain simulations and analysis, as well as for lower fidelity, parametric investigations of design trade-offs and for high fidelity, integrated modeling of structure, optics and control. Presented are characteristic simulation results using the existing preliminary point designs of the TMT, with emphasis on the telescope performance degradation due to wind buffeting. Under the conditions modeled, the wind induced image jitter and image quality degradation was found comparable to good atmospheric seeing

Attending to what’s important: what heat maps may reveal about attention, inhibitory control, and fraction arithmetic performance

Math proficiency is an important predictor of educational attainment and life success. However, developing mathematical competency is challenging, and some content (e.g., fractions) can be enigmatic. Numerous factors are suspected to influence math performance, including strategy knowledge, attention, and executive functions. In two online studies, we investigated the relationship between adults’ fraction arithmetic performance, confidence judgments, inhibitory control (a component of executive functions), and attention to strategy-relevant fraction components. We explored the utility of heat maps (based on mouse clicks) to measure adults’ attention to strategy-relevant fraction arithmetic components (operationalized according to each mathematical operation). In Study 1, attending to strategy-relevant fraction components was correlated with inhibitory control, but this finding did not replicate in Study 2. Across both studies, inhibitory control and attention to strategy-relevant fraction components were correlated with arithmetic accuracy. Intraindividual variability in participants’ attention to strategy-relevant fraction components was also found. Our findings suggest that heat map questions may be a viable alternative to assess participants’ attention during fraction tasks and that attention to specific fraction-arithmetic problem features is related to problem-solving accuracy

NFIRAOS adaptive optics for the Thirty Meter Telescope

NFIRAOS (Narrow-Field InfraRed Adaptive Optics System) will be the first-light multi-conjugate adaptive optics system for the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT). NFIRAOS houses all of its opto-mechanical sub-systems within an optics enclosure cooled to precisely -30°C in order to improve sensitivity in the near-infrared. It supports up to three client science instruments, including the first-light InfraRed Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS). Powering NFIRAOS is a Real Time Controller that will process the signals from six laser wavefront sensors, one natural guide star pyramid WFS, up to three low-order on-instrument WFS and up to four guide windows on the client instrument’s science detector in order to correct for atmospheric turbulence, windshake, optical errors and plate-scale distortion. NFIRAOS is currently preparing for its final design review in late June 2018 at NRC Herzberg in Victoria, British Columbia in partnership with Canadian industry and TMT

NFIRAOS: TMT's facility adaptive optics system

NFIRAOS, the TMT Observatory's initial facility AO system is a multi-conjugate AO system feeding science light from 0.8 to 2.5 microns wavelength to several near-IR client instruments. NFIRAOS has two deformable mirrors optically conjugated to 0 and 11.2 km, and will correct atmospheric turbulence with 50 per cent sky coverage at the galactic pole. An important requirement is to have very low background: the plan is to cool the optics; and one DM is on a tip/tilt stage to reduce surface count. NFIRAOS' real time control uses multiple sodium laser wavefront sensors and up to three IR natural guide star tip/tilt and/or tip/tilt/focus sensors located within each client instrument. Extremely large telescopes are sensitive to errors due to the variability of the sodium layer. To reduce this sensitivity, NFIRAOS uses innovative algorithms coupled with Truth wavefront sensors to monitor a natural star at low bandwidth. It also includes an IR acquisition camera, and a high speed NGS WFS for operation without lasers. For calibration, NFIRAOS includes simulators of both natural stars at infinity and laser guide stars at varying range distance. Because astrometry is an important science programme for NFIRAOS, there is a precision pinhole mask deployable at the input focal plane. This mask is illuminated by a science wavelength and flat-field calibrator that shines light into NFIRAOS' entrance window. We report on recent effort especially including trade studies to reduce field distortion in the science path and to reduce cost and complexity

GPI 2.0: Performance Evaluation of the Wavefront Sensor's EMCCD

The Gemini Planet Imager (GPI) is a high contrast imaging instrument that aims to detect and characterize extrasolar planets. GPI is being upgraded to GPI 2.0, with several subsystems receiving a re-design to improve the instrument's contrast. To enable observations on fainter targets and increase stability on brighter ones, one of the upgrades is to the adaptive optics system. The current Shack-Hartmann wavefront sensor (WFS) is being replaced by a pyramid WFS with an low-noise electron multiplying CCD (EMCCD). EMCCDs are detectors capable of counting single photon events at high speed and high sensitivity. In this work, we characterize the performance of the HN\"u 240 EMCCD from N\"uv\"u Cameras, which was custom-built for GPI 2.0. The HN\"u 240 EMCCD's characteristics make it well suited for extreme AO: it has low dark current ($<$ 0.01 e-/pix/fr), low readout noise (0.1 e-/pix/fr at a gain of 5000), high quantum efficiency ( 90% at wavelengths from 600-800 nm; 70% from 800-900 nm), and fast readout (up to 3000 fps full frame). Here we present test results on the EMCCD's noise contributors, such as the readout noise, pixel-to-pixel variability and CCD bias. We also tested the linearity and EM gain calibration of the detector. All camera tests were conducted before its integration into the GPI 2.0 PWFS system.Comment: 16 pages, 14 figures. Conference Proceedings for AO4ELT7, held in June 2023 in Avignon, Franc

Effects of antiplatelet therapy on stroke risk by brain imaging features of intracerebral haemorrhage and cerebral small vessel diseases: subgroup analyses of the RESTART randomised, open-label trial

Background Findings from the RESTART trial suggest that starting antiplatelet therapy might reduce the risk of recurrent symptomatic intracerebral haemorrhage compared with avoiding antiplatelet therapy. Brain imaging features of intracerebral haemorrhage and cerebral small vessel diseases (such as cerebral microbleeds) are associated with greater risks of recurrent intracerebral haemorrhage. We did subgroup analyses of the RESTART trial to explore whether these brain imaging features modify the effects of antiplatelet therapy