1,524 research outputs found
Best Practices in Faculty Training for Online Course Design: Implications for St. Catherine University
In fall 2012, St. Catherine University changed the name of its Weekend and Evening College (WEC) to the Evening/Weekend/Online (E/W/O) Program. The change was to better reflect the flexibility and convenience the blending of face-to-face with online instruction afforded students. In spring 2015, registered nurses were invited to apply to St. Catherine University’s first fully online Bachelor’s degree in the RN-BS Degree Completion Program. These changes increased the demand to adapt courses previously taught face-to-face or hybrid to a fully online format. Given that all E/W/O Program courses must be hybrid, and many RN-BS students require fully online courses, it is imperative that St. Catherine University provides faculty with the tools, training, and support systems to both effectively teach online and adequately address adult learners’ expectations. To address these needs, the University’s Academic Technology team developed a multitude of training and professional development opportunities. However, there are currently no requirements for faculty to participate. This action research project examined research in best practices for online course design, and studied the resources in place at St. Catherine University that support faculty developing an online course. Through self-participation in a faculty training course in online course design, and conducting interviews with three exemplary online instructors at St. Catherine University, the current strengths and weaknesses of the university’s training program were assessed. In addition, recommendations were identified that can further support faculty in providing high-quality hybrid and online teaching and learning
Configurational order-disorder induced metal-nonmetal transition in BC studied with first-principles superatom-special quasirandom structure method
Due to a large discrepancy between theory and experiment, the electronic
character of crystalline boron carbide BC has been a controversial
topic in the field of icosahedral boron-rich solids. We demonstrate that this
discrepancy is removed when configurational disorder is accurately considered
in the theoretical calculations. We find that while ordered ground state
BC is metallic, configurationally disordered BC,
modeled with a superatom-special quasirandom structure method, goes through a
metal to non-metal transition as the degree of disorder is increased with
increasing temperature. Specifically, one of the chain-end carbon atoms in the
CBC chains substitutes a neighboring equatorial boron atom in a B
icosahedron bonded to it, giving rise to a BC(BBC) unit. The
atomic configuration of the substitutionally disordered BC thus
tends to be dominated by a mixture between B(CBC) and
BC(BBC). Due to splitting of valence states in
BC(BBC), the electron deficiency in B(CBC) is gradually
compensated
transformations in the nuclear and bioenergy sectors in Sweden, Brazil, and the United States
Most of the controversies surrounding how to structure climate change
mitigation and adaptation – including financing, what counts as action, and
how to measure progress against uncertain goals – have technological change as
an underlying assumption. Technological transformation is at the heart of
mitigation in the energy system, and technological change (cultivars and
management) will be a prime contributor to mitigation and adaptation in
agriculture and water. Therefore, the issue of governing the diffusion of GEC-
related technology is critically important. The standard analyses that assume
we just need to “get the prices right” are insufficient in a world where
markets are at best imperfect and equitable well-being is as much a goal as
efficiency. Our research examines the ways in technological change is guided
by such governance factors as governments (regulation and policy), firms with
existing expertise and infrastructure, international and national needs for
security, innovation networks, and leadership. We will illustrate the
determinative nature of these governance factors through case studies of two
major energy technologies – nuclear power and biofuels – in three countries –
Brazil, Sweden, and the United States. Primary data comes from interviews with
policymakers and firm managers who have been involved in these changes in the
three countries. Open-ended and structured questions about a range of driving
or enabling factors allow us to establish one or more configurations of
factors that can inform the governance of future technological change related
to mitigation and serve as the basis for further research into technological
change related to adaptation
Phase composition and transformations in magnetron-sputtered (Al,V)2O3 coatings
Coatings of (Al1-xVx)2O3, with x ranging from 0 to 1, were deposited by
pulsed DC reactive sputter deposition on Si(100) at a temperature of 550
{\deg}C. XRD showed three different crystal structures depending on V-metal
fraction in the coating: {\alpha}-V2O3 rhombohedral structure for 100 at.% V, a
defect spinel structure for the intermediate region, 63 - 42 at.% V. At lower
V-content, 18 and 7 at.%, a gamma-alumina-like solid solution was observed,
shifted to larger d-spacing compared to pure {\gamma}-Al2O3. The microstructure
changes from large columnar faceted grains for {\alpha}-V2O3 to smaller
equiaxed grains when lowering the vanadium content toward pure {\gamma}-Al2O3.
Annealing in air resulted in formation of V2O5 crystals on the surface of the
coating after annealing to 500 {\deg}C for 42 at.% V and 700 {\deg}C for 18
at.% V metal fraction respectively. The highest thermal stability was shown for
pure {\gamma}-Al2O3-coating, which transformed to {\alpha}-Al2O3 after
annealing to 1100{\deg} C. Highest hardness was observed for the Al-rich
oxides, ~24 GPa. The latter decreased with increasing V-content, larger than 7
at.% V metal fraction. The measured hardness after annealing in air decreased
in conjunction with the onset of further oxidation of the coatings
Ion Mass Spectrometry Investigations of the Discharge during Reactive High Power Pulsed and Direct Current Magnetron Sputtering of Carbon in Ar and Ar/N2
A 10B-based neutron detector with stacked Multiwire Proportional Counters and macrostructured cathodes
We present the results of the measurements of the detection efficiency for a
4.7 \r{A} neutron beam incident upon a detector incorporating a stack of up to
five MultiWire Proportional Counters (MWPC) with Boron-coated cathodes. The
cathodes were made of Aluminum and had a surface exhibiting millimeter-deep
V-shaped grooves of 45{\deg}, upon which the thin Boron film was deposited by
DC magnetron sputtering. The incident neutrons interacting with the converter
layer deposited on the sidewalls of the grooves have a higher capture
probability, owing to the larger effective absorption film thickness. This
leads to a higher overall detection efficiency for the grooved cathode when
compared to a cathode with a flat surface. Both the experimental results and
the predictions of the GEANT4 model suggests that a 5-counter detector stack
with coated grooved cathodes has the same efficiency as a 7-counter stack with
flat cathodes. The reduction in the number of counters in the stack without
altering the detection efficiency will prove highly beneficial for large-area
position-sensitive detectors for neutron scattering applications, for which the
cost-effective manufacturing of the detector and associated readout electronics
is an important objective. The proposed detector concept could be a
technological option for one of the new chopper spectrometers and other
instruments planned to be built at the future European Spallation Source in
Sweden. These results with macrostructured cathodes generally apply not just to
MWPCs but to other gaseous detectors as well.Comment: 14 pages, 9 figure
Electronic structure and chemical bonding of nc-TiC/a-C nanocomposites
The electronic structure of nanocrystalline (nc-) TiC/amorphous C
nanocomposites has been investigated by soft x-ray absorption and emission
spectroscopy. The measured spectra at the Ti 2p and C 1s thresholds of the
nanocomposites are compared to those of Ti metal and amorphous C. The
corresponding intensities of the electronic states for the valence and
conduction bands in the nanocomposites are shown to strongly depend on the TiC
carbide grain size. An increased charge-transfer between the Ti 3d-eg states
and the C 2p states has been identified as the grain size decreases, causing an
increased ionicity of the TiC nanocrystallites. It is suggested that the
charge-transfer occurs at the interface between the nanocrystalline TiC and the
amorphous C matrix and represents an interface bonding which may be essential
for the understanding of the properties of nc-TiC/amorphous C and similar
nanocomposites.Comment: 13 pages, 6 figures, 1 table;
http://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevB.80.23510
Surface Morphology of Unused and Used HydromerR-Coated Intravenous Catheters
HydromerR-coated polyurethane (Erythroflex)R catheters, unused, or intravenously inserted for 2-20 days, were studied by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Both unfixed and fixed (2% glutar-aldehyde in phosphate buffer), and air-or critical-point dried (CPD) specimens were investigated. The catheter segments were sputter-coated with approx. 20 nm gold and studied at an accelerating voltage of 20 kV. The specimens were examined for surface depositions, thickness and structure of the HydromerR layers, and occurrence of adhering and embedded bacteria.
The outer HydromerR layer showed, in the un-used specimens, scratches and fissures, as well as adhering foreign bodies. In used specimens, the layer was swollen, with cracks (like dried earth ), and, occasionally , amorphous substances and coccoid bacteria were seen adhering. Damage to the layer, or even its total disappearance was also noted in some specimens.
The inner (luminal) HydromerR layer was, in unused specimens, clean and slightly wavy. In used catheters, it was thicker, possibly swollen, with small, isolated or agglomerated protrusions, like a lunar landscape . Adhering platelets and amorphous substances were also occasionally seen.
The results suggest that the HydromerR is a fragile material in both its dry and wet forms. Thus, the HydromerR-coated catheters should neither be stored in flexible packs, nor inserted by the Seldinger technique. The findings do not support the belief that the HydromerR-coating can prevent either thrombus formation, or intraluminal occlusion of the in-situ catheters
A unified cluster expansion method applied to the configurational thermodynamics of cubic TiAlN
We study the thermodynamics of cubic Ti1-xAlxN using a unified cluster
expansion approach for the alloy problem. The purely configurational part of
the alloy Hamiltonian is expanded in terms of concentration and volume
dependent effective cluster interactions. By separate expansions of the
chemical fixed-lattice, and local lattice relaxation terms of the ordering
energies, we demonstrate how the screened generalized perturbation method can
be fruitfully combined with a concentration dependent Connolly-Williams cluster
expansion method. Utilising the obtained Hamiltonian in Monte Carlo simulations
we access the free energy of Ti1-xAlxN alloys and construct the isostructural
phase diagram. The results show surprising similarities with the previously
obtained mean-field results: The metastable c-TiAlN is subject to coherent
spinodal decomposition over a larger part of the concentration range, e.g. from
x >= 0.33 at 2000 K.Comment: 21 pages, 7 figure
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