A multidisciplinary collaboration between graphic design and physics classes responding to COVID-19

Students from graphic design and physics classes at SUNY Cortland collaborated during the spring semester of 2020 on a multidisciplinary project related to the COVID-19 pandemic. In these collaborations, the students’ individual contributions were part of a larger project that required a diverse skill set, through which students learned how different skills can complement their own disciplines. The graphic design and physics instructors applied a project-based learning philosophy applying the Common Problem Pedagogy (CPP) framework to construct student-teams composed of both disciplines. This project explored how coordinated social actions can allow the public to exercise control in uncertain times. Students created mathematical models related to the spread of the disease and the economic consequences of quarantine and then communicated the results in scientific reports, which were interpreted and presented as infographics and illustrative visual design posters for public outreach. To share the students’ work with the larger community the instructors concluded this project with a virtual public exhibition hosted by the SUNY Cortland Dowd Gallery

Visual storytelling of scientific data: collaborations between physics and graphic design in the college classroom

The Common Problem Pedagogy (CPP) project, a learning initiative implemented in four SUNY schools, aims to provide students with multidisciplinary, project-based experiences, and to foster a culture of such pedagogy among faculty. This work describes one CPP project that was conducted at SUNY Cortland during the Spring 2019 semester that brought together students from physics and graphic design disciplines. The goal of this project was to identify issues of environmental and social concern, develop numerical models to represent the effects of possible policy actions, and to communicate the meaning of this work as infographics suitable for a non-expert, public audience. This article discusses the project structure and organization, the numerical modeling work, the design process and creation of infographics, concluding with reflections on the points of success and plans for further development

A generalized skew information and uncertainty relation

A generalized skew information is defined and a generalized uncertainty relation is established with the help of a trace inequality which was recently proven by J.I.Fujii. In addition, we prove the trace inequality conjectured by S.Luo and Z.Zhang. Finally we point out that Theorem 1 in {\it S.Luo and Q.Zhang, IEEE Trans.IT, Vol.50, pp.1778-1782 (2004)} is incorrect in general, by giving a simple counter-example.Comment: to appear in IEEE TI

Climate or rural development policy?

Being heavily energy dependent, it is not much of a surprise that Europe pays special attention to reducing the use of fossil fuels. Each one of the ten new member states is characterized by relatively low per capita energy consumption and relatively low energy efficiency, and the share of renewables in their energy mix tends to be low, too. The paper examines the problem when policy measures create a decrease in environmental capital instead of an increase. In this case it hardly seems justified to talk about environmental protection. The authors describe a case of a Hungarian rapeseed oil mill which would not be of too much interest on its own but given that almost all similar plants went bankrupt, there are some important lessons to learn from its survival. The enterprise the authors examined aimed at establishing a micro-regional network. They completed a brown-field development to establish a small plant on the premises of a former large agricultural cooperative. By partnering with the former employees and suppliers of the sometime cooperative, they enjoyed some benefits which all the other green-field businesses focusing on fuel production could not. The project improved food security, energy security and population retention as well

Comparison of pear production areas from yield risk aspect

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Real-world effectiveness of IDegLira compared with intensified conventional insulin therapy in adults with type 2 diabetes: a retrospective cohort study

Background: IDegLira is a fixed-ratio combination of insulin degludec and liraglutide with proven efficacy against simpler regimens and non-inferiority against basal-bolus insulin therapy. However, the evaluation of its real-world effectiveness is hindered by technical issues and requires further exploration. Thus we aimed to compare effectiveness of insulin degludec/liraglutide (IDegLira) versus intensified conventional insulin therapy (ICT) for type 2 diabetes in a real-world setting. Methods: This retrospective cohort study from an outpatient clinic in Hungary included people who initiated IDegLira due to inadequate glycaemic control (HbA1c > 7.0% [53.0 mmol/mol]) with oral and/or injectable antidiabetic drugs. Data were compared with a historical cohort who initiated ICT. Outcomes included HbA1c, body weight, and hypoglycaemia differences over 18 months of follow-up. Results: Data were included from 227 and 72 people who initiated IDegLira and ICT, respectively. Estimated mean difference (MD) in HbA1c at 18 months favoured IDegLira versus ICT (MD 0.60, 95% CI 0.88–0.32 [MD 6.6 mmol/mol, 95% CI 9.6–3.5]). More people reached target HbA1c ≤7.0% (53.0 mmol/mol) with IDegLira than ICT (odds ratio 3.36, 95% CI 1.52–7.42). IDegLira treatment was associated with weight loss compared with gain for ICT (MD 6.7 kg, 95% CI 5.0–8.5). The hazard ratio for hypoglycaemia comparing IDegLira with ICT was 0.18 (95% CI 0.08–0.49). Conclusions: Treatment with IDegLira over 18 months resulted in greater HbA1c reductions, weight loss versus gain, and a lower rate of hypoglycaemia versus ICT in people with type 2 diabetes

Systematic review of fatty acid composition of human milk from mothers of preterm compared to full-term infants

Background: Fatty acid composition of human milk serves as guidance for the composition of infant formulae. The aim of the study was to systematically review data on the fatty acid composition of human milk of mothers of preterm compared to full-term infants. Methods: An electronic literature search was performed in English (Medline and Medscape) and German (SpringerLink) databases and via the Google utility. Fatty acid compositional data for preterm and fullterm human milk were converted to differences between means and 95% confidence intervals. Results: We identified five relevant studies publishing direct comparison of fatty acid composition of preterm versus full-term human milk. There were no significant differences between the values of the principal saturated and monounsaturated fatty acids. In three independent studies covering three different time points of lactation, however, docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) values were significantly higher in milk of mothers of preterm as compared to those of full-term infants, with an extent of difference considered nutritionally relevant. Conclusion: Higher DHA values in preterm than in full-term human milk underlines the importance of using own mother's milk for feeding preterm babies and raises the question whether DHA contents in preterm formulae should be higher than in formulae for full-term infants. Copyright (c) 2008 S. Karger AG, Basel

The Ecophysiological Response of Two Invasive Submerged Plants to Light and Nitrogen

Two submerged Elodea species have small differences in their ecophysiological responses when exposed to individual environmental factors. However, field observations showed that under eutrophic conditions with low light availability, Elodea canadensis could be displaced by Elodea nuttallii. Here we investigated the combined effect of environmental factors on the ecophysiological response of the two species in order to explain the differences in their invasion successes. We cultivated the plants in aquaria containing five different nitrogen (N) concentrations and incubated at five different light intensities. For both species increasing nitrogen concentrations resulted in increased relative growth rate, chlorophyll concentration, and actual photochemical efficiency of photosystem II (ΦPSII), however, they produced less roots. Lowering light intensity resulted in a lower relative growth rate, root production, and nutrient removal. In contrast, chlorophyll concentration in the leaves, and ΦPSII increased. The main difference between the two Elodea species was that the light compensation point (Ic) and weight loss in the dark were significantly higher and photochemical efficiency and chlorophyll concentration were significantly lower for E. canadensis than for E. nuttallii, indicating that the latter can survive under much more shady and hypertrophic conditions. The change in nitrogen concentration of the media and in tissue concentration of the plants indicated that E. nuttallii has a higher nitrogen removal capacity. The ecophysiological differences between the two species can be an explanation for invasion success of E. nuttallii over E. canadensis and thus may explain why the latter is replaced by the first.</p

Az orvosnői hivatás magatartástudományi vizsgálata = Behavioural sciences perspective of the medical profession by female physicians

Jelen tanulmányunk folytatni kívánja azt a 16 évvel ezelőtt készült munkát, amely a magyar­országi orvosok/orvosnők egészségi állapotát, életminőségét tárta fel. A kiugróan rossz mortalitási és morbiditási mutatók hátterében akkor az egyenlőtlen terhelés, a mozgásszegény életmód és a kedvezőtlen életkörülmények szerepeltek magyarázó változóként. 2001 tavaszán 72 orvosnővel készítettünk életút-interjút, és vettünk fel az egészségi állapotukra vonatkozó kérdőívet. Vizsgálatunk legfőbb célja az volt, hogy feltérképezzük az orvosnők hivatásbeli és családi terheinek alakulását, megvizsgáljuk  az  egészségügyi problémákat, a  szerepkonfliktusokat, illetve ezek megoldási kísérleteit.  Kutatásunk az életút számos fontos elemét igyekezett megvizsgálni: a pályaválasztás, szakválasztás kérdésétől a munkahelyeken át a család és az anyaság kérdéséig.  Munkánk ugyanakkor előtanulmánynak tekinthető, amely későbbi egészségi állapottal és szerepkonfliktussal kapcsolatos országos vizsgálat alapjául szolgálhat