Growing Pebbles and Conceptual Prisms: Understanding the Source of Student Misconceptions About Rock Formation

This study investigates misconceptions held by students about how rocks form. It involved analyzing narrative essays on rock formation written by pre-service elementary school teachers, most of whom had completed a college-level course in earth science. These misconceptions arise from deeply held but largely unexamined beliefs (conceptual prisms) that result from the interaction of the student's world view and personal experiences. The study addressed three basic research questions: how do students describe the process of rock formation in narrative essays?, are there common patterns in students' naive conceptions about geology?, and can these patterns be explained by a few underlying beliefs that shape student ideas? Educational levels: Graduate or professional

A Workflow Approach to Visualization-Based Storytelling with Cultural Heritage Data

Stories are as old as human history - and a powerful means for the engaging communication of information, especially in combination with visualizations. The InTaVia project is built on this intersection and has developed a platform which supports the workflow of cultural heritage experts to create compelling visualization-based stories: From the search for relevant cultural objects and actors in a cultural knowledge graph, to the curation and visual analysis of the selected information, and to the creation of stories based on these data and visualizations, which can be shared with the interested public.Comment: VIS4DH 202

Danish Companies Dashboard: An Interactive, Geospatial Visualisation of Industries and Profit in Denmark

Profound knowledge of the business landscape is crucial for any company wanting to affect its position in the market. Whereas corresponding data is publicly available, visual interfaces that inform on the distribution of companies operating in different sectors are rare. To close the gap for the Danish market, we developed the Danish Company Dashboard (DCD), which uses the Danish Business Authority’s database on company data to visually explore how the different companies, grouped by industries, are geographically scattered across Denmark on a regional and municipality plane. Moreover, the study and the accompanying visualisations provide insights into how the profit of each industry and company differs throughout the regions and municipalities, thereby supporting strategic decision making tasks of industry stakeholders

Antiinflammatory Therapy with Canakinumab for Atherosclerotic Disease

Background: Experimental and clinical data suggest that reducing inflammation without affecting lipid levels may reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. Yet, the inflammatory hypothesis of atherothrombosis has remained unproved. Methods: We conducted a randomized, double-blind trial of canakinumab, a therapeutic monoclonal antibody targeting interleukin-1β, involving 10,061 patients with previous myocardial infarction and a high-sensitivity C-reactive protein level of 2 mg or more per liter. The trial compared three doses of canakinumab (50 mg, 150 mg, and 300 mg, administered subcutaneously every 3 months) with placebo. The primary efficacy end point was nonfatal myocardial infarction, nonfatal stroke, or cardiovascular death. RESULTS: At 48 months, the median reduction from baseline in the high-sensitivity C-reactive protein level was 26 percentage points greater in the group that received the 50-mg dose of canakinumab, 37 percentage points greater in the 150-mg group, and 41 percentage points greater in the 300-mg group than in the placebo group. Canakinumab did not reduce lipid levels from baseline. At a median follow-up of 3.7 years, the incidence rate for the primary end point was 4.50 events per 100 person-years in the placebo group, 4.11 events per 100 person-years in the 50-mg group, 3.86 events per 100 person-years in the 150-mg group, and 3.90 events per 100 person-years in the 300-mg group. The hazard ratios as compared with placebo were as follows: in the 50-mg group, 0.93 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.80 to 1.07; P = 0.30); in the 150-mg group, 0.85 (95% CI, 0.74 to 0.98; P = 0.021); and in the 300-mg group, 0.86 (95% CI, 0.75 to 0.99; P = 0.031). The 150-mg dose, but not the other doses, met the prespecified multiplicity-adjusted threshold for statistical significance for the primary end point and the secondary end point that additionally included hospitalization for unstable angina that led to urgent revascularization (hazard ratio vs. placebo, 0.83; 95% CI, 0.73 to 0.95; P = 0.005). Canakinumab was associated with a higher incidence of fatal infection than was placebo. There was no significant difference in all-cause mortality (hazard ratio for all canakinumab doses vs. placebo, 0.94; 95% CI, 0.83 to 1.06; P = 0.31). Conclusions: Antiinflammatory therapy targeting the interleukin-1β innate immunity pathway with canakinumab at a dose of 150 mg every 3 months led to a significantly lower rate of recurrent cardiovascular events than placebo, independent of lipid-level lowering. (Funded by Novartis; CANTOS ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT01327846.

Ferroptosis in Cancer Immunotherapy—Implications for Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Ferroptosis is a recently recognized iron-dependent form of non-apoptotic regulated cell death (RCD) characterized by lipid peroxide accumulation to lethal levels. Cancer cells, which show an increased iron dependency to enable rapid growth, seem vulnerable to ferroptosis. There is also increasing evidence that ferroptosis might be immunogenic and therefore could synergize with immunotherapies. Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most common primary liver tumor with a low survival rate due to frequent recurrence and limited efficacy of conventional chemotherapies, illustrating the urgent need for novel drug approaches or combinatorial strategies. Immunotherapy is a new treatment approach for advanced HCC patients. In this setting, ferroptosis inducers may have substantial clinical potential. However, there are still many questions to answer before the mystery of ferroptosis is fully unveiled. This review discusses the existing studies and our current understanding regarding the molecular mechanisms of ferroptosis with the goal of enhancing response to immunotherapy of liver cancer. In addition, challenges and opportunities in clinical applications of potential candidates for ferroptosis-driven therapeutic strategies will be summarized. Unraveling the role of ferroptosis in the immune response could benefit the development of promising anti-cancer therapies that overcome drug resistance and prevent tumor metastasis

Rotor blade operational data analysis methods and applications for condition monitoring of vertical and horizontal axis wind turbines

Wind turbines are among the largest rotating machines in the world and are subjected to highly variable loading and environmental conditions. In actively-controlled horizontal axis wind turbines, generator power output, wind speed, and wind direction are monitored and fed into a control system to pivot (yaw) the rotor into the oncoming wind and to rotate (pitch) the blades to maintain the most efficient rotational speed for power-generation and limit excessive loading in high winds. However, these systems do not take into account that wind loading can vary significantly along the span of the blades, and it is the blade responses to this loading that dictate both power output and reliability of the turbine. More detailed knowledge of the blade structural dynamic response has the potential to improve wind turbine control so that high power output is maintained while damaging loading conditions are mitigated, and the data analysis methods applied in this thesis seek to accomplish those goals using blade-mounted inertial and strain sensors. Both scheduled and unscheduled maintenance on wind turbines are costly, and downtime can significantly reduce revenue. Expanding current condition monitoring systems to integrate blade load monitoring can improve maintenance scheduling and allow for controlling or positioning the turbine so as to reduce asymmetric loading and rotor imbalances which can damage structural and drive line components. As a step toward achieving these goals, a set of data analysis tools were developed for processing generator power, rotor operational acceleration and strain measurements, and nacelle and drivetrain loads in both horizontal and vertical axis wind turbines (HAWTs and VAWTs, respectively). Modal filtering of blade responses was demonstrated to be effective in classifying the loading cycles of potentially damaging vibration in an experimental VAWT subjected to a variety of wind shear conditions and showed that proper placement of a VAWT in a wind field can reduce excitation of asymmetric modes by as much as 40% while increasing power output by 5%. Blade vibration analysis was also used to classify individual blade pitch error on an operating 900 watt HAWT. Computer models were created to verify this technique in utility scale HAWTs, as well as to demonstrate the effectiveness of a combination of condition monitoring methods for evaluating rotor mass imbalance and aerodynamic asymmetry in the form of blade pitch error. It was shown that even a single-blade pitch error of 1° in a utility scale turbine can increase the nacelle yaw moment by 250%, a 2° error increased the low speed shaft bending moment by 100%, and a 5° error reduced the power output by over 7%. A 0.5% blade mass imbalance increased the low speed shaft shear force by 60%, the tower top side-to-side shear force by 50%, and the tower-base side-to-side shear force by 250%. Therefore, it is critical that these imbalances be detected and accounted for to reduce or prevent potentially damaging loading conditions and maintain peak performance. Imbalance detection algorithms using only non-blade measurements, which are the current state of the art, could not distinguish between simultaneously applied mass imbalances and pitch errors, and could not locate the blade responsible for the pitch or mass imbalance in these simulations. A combination of blade and non-blade measurements were formulated into an algorithm for the detection and classification of pitch and mass imbalances in a wind turbine rotor - the algorithm quantifies the magnitude of the imbalance and locates the problematic blade or blades

A FILOSOFIA COTIDIANA DA HISTÓRIA: UMA CONTRIBUIÇÃO PARA A DIDÁTICA DA HISTÓRIA

Este trabalho tem, como indica seu subtítulo, o intuito de ser uma contribuição para a Didática da História. Partindo da concepção de que a Didática da História deveria compor um campo próprio de estudos que permita uma maior integração entre a pesquisa formal no campo da História acadêmica e a História ensinada nas escolas, ele se propõe a investigar um dos principais componentes desse novo paradigma para a ciência da História: a consciência histórica. Dentre os vários aspectos da consciência histórica assumimos a premissa que alguns de seus componentes não são plenamente conscientes dos agentes individuais e coletivos quando esse processo geral de orientação da ação humana no tempo atua na aquisição e uso da experiência histórica. Sendo a consciência histórica uma estrutura aberta às experiências e às formas simbólicas que lhe dão sentido, buscamos o acesso epistêmico do fenômeno por meio de uma colisão teórica com outros dois campos: o das representações sociais e da ideologia. A partir desse diálogo construímos nosso instrumento de pesquisa empírica, baseado na técnica dos grupos focais, em que privilegiamos dois eixos de análise: um sobre a idéia de história, que levanta questões acerca do que os alunos do Ensino Médio pensam a respeito do conceito de história o outro sobre o sentido da história onde problematizamos a noção que os grupos investigados têm sobre a história como processo. Dessa investigação sobressaíram dois resultados que reforçam a necessidade da compreensão do conceito de consciência histórica para o Ensino de História: a constatação de que os grupos investigados entendem a história, por um lado como um processo que une as três dimensões do tempo, similar ao conceito filosófico de mundo histórico e de que atribuem, predominantemente, um viés de decadência da civilização de forma geralmente fatalista. Os catalisadores dessa visão são a noção de tempo, que permeia a idéia de história e uma relação de profunda ambivalência com a tecnologia que lhes serve de parâmetro para pensar sentido da história. A constituição da História como disciplina acadêmica, bem como sua decalagem com o ensino escolar da disciplina é analisada por meio dos postulados de Thomas Kuhn acerca da idéia de paradigma ou matriz disciplinar. Nossas conclusões procuram ressaltar a importância de se trabalhar em direção a um novo paradigma da ciência da História que leva em conta as demandas por orientação que se iniciam fora do campo da ciência e que, nesta concepção, devem se encaminhar como orientação existencial também para fora dela dialogando com a filosofia cotidiana da história.This work has, as indicated on its subtitle, the aim to be a contribution to the Didactics of History. Taking into account the conception that the Didactics of History should perform a own field of studies that allows a better integration between the formal research of academicals History and its school version, this study proposes to investigate one of the main components of this new paradigm to the science of History: the historical consciousness. Between the many aspects of the historical consciousness we assumed the premise that some of its components are not completely conscious by the individuals or collective agents when this general process of human on the time acts on the acquisition and use of the historical experience. Being the historical consciousness an open structure to the experience and symbolic form that give its mean, we searched for an epistemic access to this phenomenon by a theoretical collisions process with other two fields: the social representations and the ideology. Starting from this dialogue we build our empirical research instrument, based on the focus groups technique, in with we gave the privilege to two axis of analysis: one about the idea of history that explores what High School students think about the concept of history and another about he meaning of history used to try to understand the notion on the investigate groups about history as a process. From this investigation we can detach two results that reinforced the need for comprehension about the concept of historical consciousness to the teaching of History. The evidence that the investigated groups take the history, by one side, as a process that unite the three dimensions of time, similarly to the philosophical concept of historical world, and that they attribute, mainly, a decadence sense to the civilization, generally in a fatalist way. The catalytic element of this vision is notion of time, which permeates the idea of history and a relation of deep ambivalence with the technology used as a parameter to think meaning of history. The constitution of History as an academicals discipline as well is displacement in relation to its school version is analyzed with the Thomas Kuhns concept of paradigm or disciplinary matrix. Our conclusions try do detach the importance to work in direction of a new paradigm on the science of History which takes in account the needs for orientation that in fact begins outside of the field of the science and, assuming this conception, must return from the science in form of existential orientation to be able to dialogue with the quotidian philosophy of history