Computing and teaching microsymposia at ECM [European Crystallographic Meeting 20, Krakow, August 2001]

Microsymposia on the contemporary topic of Computing and Teaching Some key issues regarding different models for delivery of the curriculum, the pace of introducing the new technologies, the role of government in delivering mass education and the pressures on institutions in responding to the novel methods of education were raised during the talks

A production modeling approach to the assessment of the horseshoe crab (Limulus polyphemus) population in Delaware Bay

Horseshoe crab (Limulus polyphemus) is harvested commercially, used by the biomedical industry, and provides food for migrating shorebirds, particularly in Delaware Bay. Recently, decreasing crab population trends in this region have raised concerns that the stock may be insufficient to fulfill the needs of these diverse user groups. To assess the Delaware Bay horseshoe crab population, we used surplus production models (programmed in ASPIC), which incorporated data from fishery-independent surveys, fishery-dependent catch-per-unit-of-effort data, and regional harvest. Results showed a depleted population (B2003/=0.03−0.71) BMSY and high relative fishing mortality /FMSY=0.9−9.5). Future harvest (F2002strategies for a 15-year period were evaluated by using population projections with ASPICP software. Under 2003 harvest levels (1356 t), population recovery to BMSY would take at least four years, and four of the seven models predicted that the population would not reach BMSY within the 15year period. Production models for horseshoe crab assessment provided management benchmarks for a species with limited data and no prior stock assessmen

British Crystallographic Association Spring meeting, Heriot Watt University, 5 April 2000. Meeting report: Controlled environment XRD

X-Ray Diffraction experiments performed under controlled environment

The oral tradition and literature in Ireland and Scotland: Popular culture in Robert Burns and Charles Maturin

In a much recounted anecdote, the writer James Hogg recalled a meeting between Sir Walter Scott and Hogg’s mother. Responding to Scott’s interest in whether a particular song she had sung had ever been printed, Mrs Hogg scolded Scott’s interest in printing what were orally transmitted ballads: [There] war never ane o’ my sangs prentit till ye prentit them yoursel’, an’ ye have spoilt them awthegither. They were made for singin’ an’ no for readin’; but ye hae broken the charm noo, an’ they’ll never sung mair. The anecdote serves perfectly to show the uneasy relationship between the enthusiastic antiquarian, eager to ‘preserve’ remnants of an oral culture, and an actual practitioner of that culture, suspicious of someone who transposes, and thereby destroys, songs from an oral culture into a textual one

Accelerated Tidal Circularization Via Resonance Locking in KIC 8164262

Tidal dissipation in binary star and planetary systems is poorly understood. Fortunately, eccentric binaries known as heartbeat stars often exhibit tidally excited oscillations, providing observable diagnostics of tidal circularization mechanisms and timescales. We apply tidal theories to observations of the heartbeat star KIC 8164262, which contains an F-type primary in a very eccentric orbit that exhibits a prominent tidally excited oscillation. We demonstrate that the prominent oscillation is unlikely to result from a chance resonance between tidal forcing and a stellar oscillation mode. However, the oscillation has a frequency and amplitude consistent with the prediction of resonance locking, a mechanism in which coupled stellar and orbital evolution maintain a stable resonance between tidal forcing and a stellar oscillation mode. The resonantly excited mode produces efficient tidal dissipation (corresponding to an effective tidal quality factor $Q \sim 5 \times 10^4$), such that tidal orbital decay/circularization proceeds on a stellar evolution time scale.Comment: Published in MNRAS Letters. For an interactive 3D model of the system, go to http://www.glowscript.org/#/user/slantburns/folder/Public/program/KIC816426

Improving Teacher Education Programs

In this paper, the authors review current practices in pre-service teacher education. They suggest that radical improvements are possible and that, if practiced, would help mediate many of the pressures young teachers face. To do so, the authors: 1) outline the experiences of young teachers to consider how teachers might thrive in a difficult vocation; 2) share recent research in the area of in-service teacher professional learning (including their own) as a way to inform teacher education programs; and 3) to use these research findings to suggest possible changes and improvements to pre-service teacher education programs. Synthesizing the research, the authors generate a “To Do List” of activities they believe should become part of pre-service education programs. They believe such instruction can become essential career foundations for teachers that would help build Master Teachers, would help stem the exodus from teaching, and would help our teacher education programs begin to educate teachers for the wellness of long and healthy career

Improving Energy Efficiency of Facilities

The Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) has entered into an agreement with the Purdue University Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) to perform energy assessments on six sites. The six sites were selected to represent a variety of types of buildings typical for INDOT’s portfolio. These include the Research and Development Building in West Lafayette, the Crawfordsville Administration Building, the Falls City Sub-District, the Greensburg Unit, the Frankfort Sub-District Building, and the Central Materials and Testing in Indianapolis. This energy assessment report identifies, evaluates, and prioritizes energy-saving projects. Purdue MEP provided a comprehensive energy assessment of each site, and many energy efficiency measures (EEMs) were identified, with the potential to save in annual energy costs. We also researched available incentives from local utilities and calculated the payback period for each EEM. As a result of the assessments, six reports have been generated in order to: Provide a benchmarking analysis to show energy performance relative to similar buildings Provide insight into the historical energy usage patterns of the facility Present recommended energy efficiency measures (EEM) for consideration Provide analysis to determine first order approximate costs and savings for each EEM Discover opportunities for incentives that may be available to help fund energy improvements In collaboration with the energy assessments, Purdue MEP worked with INDOT to provide instruction and facilitation in the Energy Star Portfolio Manager tool

You say goodbye, I say hello: Seeking Sustainability by Cancelling Our Credit Class

Budget and personnel constraints in recent years, coupled with initiatives to reach more students and faculty, left the presenter\u27s library facing a challenge: How can we build an instruction program that is collaborative, far-reaching, and, perhaps most importantly, sustainable? The library\u27s instruction team, including the presenters, came together to critically evaluate their work with a credit-bearing information literacy course, lower level general education courses, and the training of student workers who staff the combined library services desk. The team identified parts of their workload that while time intensive, did not produce a commensurate impact in terms of the number of students and faculty reached. With these considerations in mind, the team explored the adoption of commercially produced tools that offer a greater level of automation, make it easier to reach more students, and yet do not devalue the important role of librarians. Coinciding with the library\u27s internal dialogue was a growing discussion on campus of the need to integrate information literacy skills into the university\u27s general education program. In addition, the leadership of the Undergraduate Studies\u27 peer mentor program expressed a similar interest in supporting information literacy. The confluence of the library\u27s instruction program re-tooling and the increasing campus interest in information literacy have provided and continue to provide a fertile environment for librarians to help shape the development of information literacy initiatives on campus. To this end, a newly revitalized liaison program offers librarians an informal means of listening to and speaking with faculty and students about the information literacy in specific disciplines. At a more formal level, the service of librarians on important campus committees has provided a literal seat at the table from which to contribute to high-level conversation about information literacy on campus. The presenters will discuss how they and their instruction librarian colleagues came together to critically assess unsustainable, relatively low-impact instruction initiatives. Further, they will discuss their plan to use the Credo Information Literacy modules to better meet the campus need for information literacy instruction and assessment in a sustainable and scalable manner

The Pseudosynchronization of Binary Stars Undergoing Strong Tidal Interactions

Eccentric binaries known as heartbeat stars experience strong dynamical tides as the stars pass through periastron, providing a laboratory to study tidal interactions. We measure the rotation periods of 24 heartbeat systems, using the Kepler light curves to identify rotation peaks in the Fourier transform. Where possible, we compare the rotation period to the pseudosynchronization period derived by Hut 1981. Few of our heartbeat stars are pseudosynchronized with the orbital period. For four systems, we were able to identify two sets of rotation peaks, which we interpret as the rotation from both stars in the binary. The majority of the systems have a rotation period that is approximately 3/2 times the pseudosynchronization period predicted by Hut 1981, suggesting that other physical mechanisms influence the stars' rotation, or that stars typically reach tidal spin equilibrium at a rotation period slightly longer than predicted.Comment: 9 pages, 4 figures, 1 table