Interior Landscape Plants for Indoor Air Pollution Abatement

In this study, the leaves, roots, soil, and associated microorganisms of plants have been evaluated as a possible means of reducing indoor air pollutants. Additionally, a novel approach of using plant systems for removing high concentrations of indoor air pollutants such as cigarette smoke, organic solvents, and possibly radon has been designed from this work. This air filter design combines plants with an activated carbon filter. The rationale for this design, which evolved from wastewater treatment studies, is based on moving large volumes of contaminated air through an activated carbon bed where smoke, organic chemicals, pathogenic microorganisms (if present), and possibly radon are absorbed by the carbon filter. Plant roots and their associated microorganisms then destroy the pathogenic viruses, bacteria, and the organic chemicals, eventually converting all of these air pollutants into new plant tissue. It is believed that the decayed radon products would be taken up the plant roots and retained in the plant tissue

Theories of Image-making in Hogarth, Reynolds and Blake

This is a study of artistic imagination--literally, the process of image-making--the act of translating sensory information into visible symbols. Specifically, it is a study of three eighteenth century artists\u27 detailed theories of imagination, and a comparison of the visual effects described by these theories. William Hogarth, Sir Joshua Reynolds, and William Blake ar~ three roughly contemporary artists who each describe a means of approaching nature, recording sensory facts and translating them into the images of art. I intend to pose three related questions to these artists and to seek answers in their respective treatises on aesthetic composition. Two of these are formal analyses: Hogarth\u27s Analysis of Beauty (1753) and Reynolds\u27 fifteen Discourses on Art {1769-1790). Blake\u27s opinions will be collected from three major sources, his Annotations on Sir Joshua Reynolds\u27 Discourses on Art, his Descriptive Catalogue of 1809, and his public address accompanying an exhibition of Chaucer engravings in 1810. My hypothesis in posing the following questions to Hogarth, Reynolds, and Blake is that these artists represent three degrees of objective/subjective seeing, and that the issues of imitation, originality and sensual appreciation of nature, which are so critical to eighteenth-century aesthetics, are more clearly illustrated in the visual artist\u27s experience than in the poet\u27s or historian\u27s. While all art involves contemplating and interpreting the world, visual art--because it does not necessarily involve translation into more abstract language--is often more immediate and more accessible: A picture of a tree is likely to be recognizable to a Russian, an Indian, a Hausa tribesman or an Englishman; the word tree is not. To understand the aesthetic choices made by these three articulate, practicing artists is to be aware of imaginative options open to all artists of their time. This awareness in turn resists easy generalizations about the state of the arts in Neoclassical England, and provides a point of departure for further critical study of image-making in a particular age

SPECT Imaging of Pulmonary Blood Flow in a Rat

Small animal imaging is experiencing rapid development due to its importance in providing high-throughput phenotypic data for functional genomics studies. We have developed a single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) system to image the pulmonary perfusion distribution in the rat. A standard gamma camera, equipped with a pinhole collimator, was used to acquire SPECT projection images at 40 sec/view of the rat thorax following injection of Tc99m labeled albumin that accumulated in the rat\u27s lungs. A voxel-driven, ordered-subset expectation maximization reconstruction was implemented. Following SPECT imaging, the rat was imaged using micro-CT with Feldkamp conebeam reconstruction. The two reconstructed image volumes were fused to provide a structure/function image of the rat thorax. Reconstruction accuracy and performance were evaluated using numerical simulations and actual imaging of an experimental phantom consisting of Tc99m filled chambers with known diameters and count rates. Full-width half-maximum diameter measurement errors decreased with increasing chamber diameter, ranging from \u3c 6% down to 0.1%. Errors in the ratio of count rate estimates between tubes were also diameter dependent but still relatively small. This preliminary study suggests that SPECT will be useful for imaging and quantifying the pulmonary blood flow distribution and the distribution of Tc99m labeled ligands in the lungs of small laboratory animals

Developing essential professional skills: a framework for teaching and learning about feedback.

BACKGROUND: The ability to give and receive feedback effectively is a key skill for doctors, aids learning between all levels of the medical hierarchy, and provides a basis for reflective practice and life-long learning. How best to teach this skill? DISCUSSION: We suggest that a single "teaching the skill of feedback" session provides superficial and ineffective learning in a medical culture that often uses feedback skills poorly or discourages feedback. Our experience suggests that both the skill and the underlying attitude informing its application must be addressed, and is best done so longitudinally and reiteratively using different forms of feedback delivery. These feedback learning opportunities include written and oral, peer to peer and cross-hierarchy, public and private, thereby addressing different cognitive processes and attitudinal difficulties. SUMMARY: We conclude by asking whether it is possible to build a consensus approach to a framework for teaching and learning feedback skills?RIGHTS : This article is licensed under the BioMed Central licence at http://www.biomedcentral.com/about/license which is similar to the 'Creative Commons Attribution Licence'. In brief you may : copy, distribute, and display the work; make derivative works; or make commercial use of the work - under the following conditions: the original author must be given credit; for any reuse or distribution, it must be made clear to others what the license terms of this work are

Influence of Gender Streamed (Boys’ and Girls’ Only) Classes on Coeducational Secondary Schools’ Mathematics Teachers Perceptions in Nakuru, Uasingishu, Kericho and Baringo Counties of Kenya

The skills acquired in mathematics provide a country with a human resource that is highly educated and able to tackle most of the country’s social economic problems. However, the performance of students at the KCSE mathematics examinations in Kenya has been dismal for many years. In addition, majority of the girls in particular have been performing poorly in the subject compared to the boys. As a possible remedy to this, single sex classes within coeducational secondary schools were created. There is however limited research, which has been carried out to  compare mathematics teachers’ perceptions between single and mixed sex classes in coeducational  secondary schools in Kenya. Therefore, this study was designed to find out the effects this intervention. The study adopted an ex post facto causal comparative research design. A sample of 203 mathematics teachers from county and sub county co-educational secondary schools (those with mixed sex and single sex classes) in Nakuru, Uasingishu, Kericho and Baringo counties of Kenya participated in the study. Data was obtained using self-report questionnaires for mathematics teachers. The instrument was pilot tested and validated to improve it before actual data collection. A Chronbach alpha reliability coefficient was calculated and an index of 0.87 obtained. The collected data was analyzed using descriptive statistics and ANOVA at a significant level of alpha (α) equal to 0.05.The findings show that mathematics teachers’ perceptions of their classes are positive irrespective of the class gender composition. The findings further show that there were no statistically significant differences in their perceptions between single sex and mixed sex classrooms in both the sub county and county schools.  The results from the study have yielded valuable information that may inform the intervention in Kenya’s coeducational secondary schools and advice policy makers, teachers and administrators of the schools on appropriate measures to undertake to enhance its effectiveness in the teaching and learning of mathematics. Keywords: Gender streamed classes, mathematics teachers, Perceptions, Coeducational secondary schools

How Difficult Can It Be? Creating an Integrated Network Among Library Stakeholders to Promote Electronic Access

Tracking electronic access is a major challenge for libraries that cannot be ignored. Vast quantities of electronic resources continue to be acquired, and libraries continue to seek a way to keep up with the evolving electronic resource ecosystem. Libraries are immersed in monitoring electronic resources for access performance, features, functionality, completeness of content, and usage. Publishers, providers, and vendors are immersed in their innovative business models. Users are immersed in their research needs. With these immersion silos, there is a lack of communication between stakeholders that creates an unsustainable ecosystem. Currently, stakeholders are creating piecemeal patches that partially address access problems rather than an integrated effort of the whole community to incorporate interconnected solutions. These patches are not solving the problems. They are focusing on the symptoms, but not treating the cause. Why? The electronic access ecosystem is constantly in a state of flux. The system was simpler in times past. In this digital age, the creation, dissemination, and use of data is dynamic. It is vital to the success of the electronic access ecosystem that there be interplay between all the stakeholders. One stakeholder cannot successfully manage electronic access by itself. There needs to be a concerted effort among all stakeholders for monitoring, identifying, and addressing electronic access issues. These relationships are complex. What’s hindering the communication between stakeholders? What are we doing wrong and how can it be fixed? This problem can’t be fixed overnight, but must be carefully orchestrated. Libraries need to take the lead in the development of integrated networks. This presentation will address some of the networking problems that plague stakeholders and provide suggestions for improved networking integration. Audience participation will be sought for sharing problems and suggestions