Online interactivity: best practice based on two case studies

The purpose of this paper is to identify and explore best practice in the effective support of online interactivity. Five key issues related to best practice are delineated, based on the experience derived from two case studies. The first case study involved online, collaborative work carried out by twenty-six conversion M.Sc. students following a module on‘Interactive Multimedia Systems'. The online group work was structured around the production of essay-style critiques and the development of prototype multimedia resources. The discussions were structured using the bulletin board facility in WebCT. The second study involved sixty-four second-year undergraduate students following a module on‘Communication via Multimedia’. These students were involved in assessed online discussion groups that aimed to foster a community in enquiry and provide an opportunity for vicarious learning. The assessed discussion groups were based on Netscape Collabra. A comparison of the experience of these two case studies led to the identification of a set of five key issues relating to best practice in the effective support of online interactivity. The first four issues concern the design and implementation of the online learning experiences. The fifth issue involves reflection and improvement on the interventions mad

A new perspective on metformin therapy in type 1 diabetes

Metformin is quite frequently used off-label in type 1 diabetes to limit insulin dose requirement. Guidelines recommend that it can improve glucose control in those who are overweight and obese but evidence in support of this is limited. Recently-published findings from the REducing with MetfOrmin Vascular Adverse Lesions (REMOVAL) trial suggest that metformin therapy in type 1 diabetes can reduce atherosclerosis progression, weight and LDL-cholesterol levels. This provides a new perspective on metformin therapy in type 1 diabetes and suggests a potential role for reducing the long-term risk of cardiovascular disease

Investigating potential groundwater outflows: Cottonwood sub-basin, Joshua Tree National Park, California, USA

2019 Summer.Includes bibliographical references.This study utilizes Electrical Resistivity Tomography (ERT) to investigate potential groundwater outflows of the Cottonwood sub-basin (CsB) in Joshua Tree National Park (JOTR), California. Southern JOTR depends on one groundwater well (LUB-23) screened in an unconfined aquifer unlike the northern section which obtains its water from the municipal water system of the town of Joshua Tree. Depth to water was reported at 67m (219 ft) below ground surface (bgs) in 2017, a drop of almost 15m (49 ft) since installation in 1958. This variability in water level drives the need for a definitive water budget particularly since there is only one groundwater well. To contribute to developing a water budget, this study focused on investigating a potential groundwater connection between the CsB and the larger neighboring Pinto Basin. Interpretation of the subsurface resistivity models showed lack of a groundwater connection (or lack of contiguous low resistivity distribution) thus, this study concludes there is no groundwater connection or underflow at the boundary of the CsB and the Pinto Basin. Depth to water readings, which confirmed the water table was at 58m (190 ft) bgs. suggest the reported depth to water of 67m (219 ft) did not likely represent the static water level. Water quality and stable isotope analyses of groundwater samples were collected and compared to analyses performed from 2009 showing little variability over the 9-year period between sampling. Thus, no indications that pumping has modified chemistry or isotope composition

Accurate determination and application of local strain for studying tissues with gradients in mechanical properties

Determination of the mechanical behavior of materials requires an understanding of deformation during loading. While this is traditionally accomplished in engineering by examining a force displacement curve for a whole sample, these techniques implicitly ignore local geometric complexities and local material inhomogeneities commonly found in biologic tissues. Techniques such as normalized cross correlation have been classically applied to address this issue and resolve deformation at the local level; however, these techniques have proven unreliable when deformations become large, if the sample undergoes a rotation, and/or if strain fields become incompatible (e.g. at or near failure). Presented here is a toolbox of techniques that addresses the limitations of the prior state-of-the-art for localized strain estimation. The first algorithm, termed 2D direct deformation estimation (2D-DDE), directly incorporates concepts from mechanics into non-rigid registration algorithms from computer vision, eliminating the need to consider displacement fields, as required for all of the prior state-of-the-art techniques. This results in not only an improvement in accuracy and precision of deformation estimation, but also relaxes compatibility of the deformation fields. A second algorithm, 2D Strain Inference with Measures of Probable Local Elevation (2D-SIMPLE), incorporates the results of 2D-DDE with results from algorithms that enforce strain compatibility to develop a robust detector of strain concentrations. While tracking local strain in a vinylidene chloride sheet in tension, 2D-SIMPLE detected strain concentrations which predicted the initiation of a crack in the material and the progression of the crack tip. The third and fourth algorithms generalize the two dimensional algorithms to analyze three dimensional deformations in volumetric images (3D-DDE and 3D-SIMPLE, respectively). Lastly, the 2D-DDE algorithm is modified to estimate two dimensional surface deformation from multi-view imaging systems. The robustness and adaptability of these techniques was then validated and demonstrated on a wide variety of biomedical applications. Using 2D-DDE, a microscale compliant region was discovered at the tendon-to-bone attachment, local heterogeneity of partially mineralized scaffolds was revealed, and gradients in stiffness of partially mineralized nano-fiber scaffolds were demonstrated. Using 2D-SIMPLE, mechanisms of embryonic wound healing and associated strain localizations were elucidated. 3D-DDE confirmed the existence of strain gradients across chordae tendineae in beating murine hearts as well as demonstrated dramatic localized changes in wall deformation before and after myocardial infarction in murine hearts. 2D-DDE was also used to develop a model system to study the effects of applied stress versus the effects of applied strain on cells. The model system was first theorized by considering a system in which gradients of cross sectional area or scaffold shape were composed with gradients in material stiffness. By combining these gradients in novel ways, it was theoretically determined that stress and strain could be locally isolated. A tensile bioreactor was constructed, techniques for fabricating scaffolds with gradients in stiffness and gradients in cross sectional area were developed, and theoretical strain gradients were confirmed experimentally using 2D-DDE. The model system was then validated for in vitro cell studies. Cell adhesion, proliferation, and viability following a seven day loading protocol were explored. Methods for determining single cell responses, which could be correlated back to a specific stress or strain states, were developed using immunocytochemistry and 2D-DDE approaches. Future studies will apply this model system to determine precise mechanotransduction responses of cells. These studies are critical to optimize stem cell tissue engineering strategies as well inform cell mechanobiology mechanisms

Promising Practices: Advanced Referral System - Illinois Division of Rehabilitation Services, BPA&O Project Human Services Center

Changes in disability policy at the state and federal level have presented many new opportunities for meaningful systems change and services delivery for people with disabilities. Since 2000, the Social Security Administration, the U.S. Department of Labor, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and the Rehabilitation Services Administration have issued many grants to state agencies, community-based service providers and advocates to address barriers to employment for people with disabilities. Many of these grants have competitive employment as the goal, yet very few of these grants have built in support for benefits planning and assistance – a function that many believe is critical to achieving competitive employment. In this Promising Practices, the Illinois Division of Rehabilitation Services BPA&O Project (DRS BPA&O Project) and the Human Services Center (HSC), a community-based mental health center and the recipient of a DOL Customized Employment Grant, created a model partnership to ensure that the 600 consumers with severe mental illness served by HSC under their grant would gain access to benefits planning services. They call their model partnership an “Advanced Referral System.

Reaching the Poor: The 'Costs' of Sending Children to School: A Six Country Comparative Study, Synthesis Report

Teaching/Communication/Extension/Profession,

WOULD PEOPLE RATHER PAY TAXES OR TRADE TAXES TO PAY FOR ENVIRONMENTAL GOODS? A GROUND WATER QUALITY CASE

The potential sensitivity of environmental resource valuation to payment vehicles is of interest to researchers and decision-makers involved in estimating and applying these numbers. A conceptual model is developed which provides insight into how the different payment vehicles of a special tax and a tax reallocation affects the willingness to pay (WTP) for environmental goods. Hypothesis testing using contingent valuation data suggests WTP with a tax reallocation is higher than WTP with a special tax for ground water quality protection in Georgia and Maine.Environmental Economics and Policy, Public Economics,