Wikipedia as an Academic Reference: Faculty and Student Viewpoints

Wikis are becoming popular with business and academia as a way to harvest, archive, and manage knowledge. One of the most popular and well-known wikis is Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia started by Jimmy Wales and Larry Sanger in 2001. Since its inception, much has been written (both pro and con) about Wikipedia; however, Wikipedia is one of the most popular sites on the Internet today. As its popularity increases, more and more “net generation” students will be utilizing its articles as reference sources for academic work. This paper explores the emerging “wiki way” of Web 2.0 tools and highlights the good, the bad, and the management of Wikipedia as an academic reference. Further, this paper benchmarks how faculty and students are using Wikipedia, as well as exploring their viewpoint on using this information in the academic environment

Usability - A Teaching and School Service Project

Your next usability project could be waiting for you in the college library, registration office, or online admissions process that your college or university utilizes in their daily transactions. As an added bonus, these exercises supplement the IS2002 curriculum model, benefit the instructor\u27s institution, build inter-departmental collaboration, and can provide an individual or team project for classes or student clubs in the information systems or computer science academic areas

Probabilistic Assessment of Hypobaric Decompression Sickness Treatment Success

The Hypobaric Decompression Sickness (DCS) Treatment Model links a decrease in computed bubble volume from increased pressure (DeltaP), increased oxygen (O2) partial pressure, and passage of time during treatment to the probability of symptom resolution [P(symptom resolution)]. The decrease in offending volume is realized in 2 stages: a) during compression via Boyle's Law and b) during subsequent dissolution of the gas phase via the O2 window. We established an empirical model for the P(symptom resolution) while accounting for multiple symptoms within subjects. The data consisted of 154 cases of hypobaric DCS symptoms along with ancillary information from tests on 56 men and 18 women. Our best estimated model is P(symptom resolution) = 1 / (1+exp(-(ln(Delta P) - 1.510 + 0.795AMB - 0.00308Ts) / 0.478)), where (DeltaP) is pressure difference (psid), AMB = 1 if ambulation took place during part of the altitude exposure, otherwise AMB = 0; and where Ts is the elapsed time in mins from start of the altitude exposure to recognition of a DCS symptom. To apply this model in future scenarios, values of DeltaP as inputs to the model would be calculated from the Tissue Bubble Dynamics Model based on the effective treatment pressure: (DeltaP) = P2 - P1 | = P1V1/V2 - P1, where V1 is the computed volume of a spherical bubble in a unit volume of tissue at low pressure P1 and V2 is computed volume after a change to a higher pressure P2. If 100% ground level O2 (GLO) was breathed in place of air, then V2 continues to decrease through time at P2 at a faster rate. This calculated value of (DeltaP then represents the effective treatment pressure at any point in time. Simulation of a "pain-only" symptom at 203 min into an ambulatory extravehicular activity (EVA) at 4.3 psia on Mars resulted in a P(symptom resolution) of 0.49 (0.36 to 0.62 95% confidence intervals) on immediate return to 8.2 psia in the Multi-Mission Space Exploration Vehicle. The P(symptom resolution) increased to near certainty (0.99) after 2 hrs of GLO at 8.2 psia or with less certainty on immediate pressurization to 14.7 psia [0.90 (0.83 - 0.95)]. Given the low probability of DCS during EVA and the prompt treatment of a symptom with guidance from the model, it is likely that the symptom and gas phase will resolve with minimum resources and minimal impact on astronaut health, safety, and productivity

Photometry, Centroid and Point-Spread Function Measurements in the LSST Camera Focal Plane Using Artificial Stars

The Vera C. Rubin Observatory's LSST Camera pixel response has been characterized using laboratory measurements with a grid of artificial stars. We quantify the contributions to photometry, centroid, point-spread function size, and shape measurement errors due to small anomalies in the LSSTCam CCDs. The main sources of those anomalies are quantum efficiency variations and pixel area variations induced by the amplifier segmentation boundaries and "tree-rings" -- circular variations in silicon doping concentration. We studied the effects using artificial stars projected on the sensors and find that the resulting measurement uncertainties pass the ten-year LSST survey science requirements. In addition, we verify that the tree-ring effects can be corrected using flat-field images if needed, because the astronomic shifts and shape measurement errors they induce correlate well with the flat-field signal. Nevertheless, further sensor anomaly studies with on-sky data should probe possible temporal and wavelength-dependent effects.Comment: Submitted to PAS

Honey don\u27t you cry, clouds are rolling by, the rainbow\u27s in the [first line of chorus]

Performers: Johnny HermanPiano, Voice and Chord