Factors that Facilitate or Impede the Effective Implementation of Open Source Software to Support Learning and Teaching in a New Zealand Senior High School

This study’s main focus was on critical success factors in the implementation of open source software to support learning and teaching in a senior high school. Research questions involved the nature of open source software, rationales for its use in the school, its advantages and disadvantages in education, and the pedagogy used in classrooms by teachers in relation to open source software. This study contributes to knowledge about the use of OSS in education

DNA end-directed and processive nuclease activities of the archaeal XPF enzyme

The XPF/Mus81 family of structure-specific nucleases cleaves branched or nicked DNA substrates and are implicated in a wide range of DNA repair and recombination processes. The structure of the crenarchaeal XPF bound to a DNA duplex has revealed a plausible mechanism for DNA binding, involving DNA distortion into upstream and downstream duplexes engaged by the two helix–hairpin–helix domains that form a dimeric structure at the C-terminus of the enzyme. A flexible linker joins these to the dimeric nuclease domain, and a C-terminal motif interacts with the sliding clamp, which is essential for the activity of the enzyme. Here, we demonstrate the importance of the downstream duplex in directing the endonuclease activity of crenarchaeal XPF, which is similar to that of Mus81-Eme1, and suggest a mechanistic basis for this control. Furthermore, our data reveal that the enzyme can digest a nicked DNA strand processively over at least 60 nt in a 3′–5′ direction and can remove varied types of DNA lesions and blocked DNA termini. This in vitro activity suggests a potential role for crenarchaeal XPF in a variety of repair processes for which there are no clear pathways in archaea

Reflective intuitions about the causal theory of perception across sensory modalities

Many philosophers believe that there is a causal condition on perception, and that this condition is a conceptual truth about perception. A highly influential argument for this claim is based on intuitive responses to Gricean style thought experiments. Do the folk share the intuitions of philosophers? Roberts et al. (2016) presented participants with two kinds of cases: Blocker cases (similar to Grice’s case involving a mirror and a pillar) and Non-Blocker cases (similar to Grice’s case involving a clock and brain stimulation). They found that a substantial minority agreed that seeing occurs in the Non-Blocker cases, and that in the Blocker cases significantly less agreed that seeing occurs. They thus hypothesized that folk intuitions better align with a no blocker condition than with a causal condition. This paper continues this line of enquiry with two new experiments. The paper investigates the generality and robustness of Roberts et al.’s findings by expanding the sense modalities tested from only vision to audition and olfaction as well. The paper also uses Gricean style thought experiments as a case study for investigating the “reflection defense” against the negative project in experimental philosophy. Our results replicate and extend Roberts et al.’s study and support their hypothesis that folk intuitions better align with a no blocker condition. They also provide an empirical reason to doubt the reflection defense

Realism of rainfall in a very high-resolution regional climate model

The realistic representation of rainfall on the local scale in climate models remains a key challenge. Realism encompasses the full spatial and temporal structure of rainfall, and is a key indicator of model skill in representing the underlying processes. In particular, if rainfall is more realistic in a climate model, there is greater confidence in its projections of future change. In this study, the realism of rainfall in a very high-resolution (1.5 km) regional climate model (RCM) is compared to a coarser-resolution 12-km RCM. This is the first time a convection-permitting model has been run for an extended period (1989–2008) over a region of the United Kingdom, allowing the characteristics of rainfall to be evaluated in a climatological sense. In particular, the duration and spatial extent of hourly rainfall across the southern United Kingdom is examined, with a key focus on heavy rainfall. Rainfall in the 1.5-km RCM is found to be much more realistic than in the 12-km RCM. In the 12-km RCM, heavy rain events are not heavy enough, and tend to be too persistent and widespread. While the 1.5-km model does have a tendency for heavy rain to be too intense, it still gives a much better representation of its duration and spatial extent. Long-standing problems in climate models, such as the tendency for too much persistent light rain and errors in the diurnal cycle, are also considerably reduced in the 1.5-km RCM. Biases in the 12-km RCM appear to be linked to deficiencies in the representation of convection

Stop Lawn Pests!

Your first line of defense against weeds, diseases and other pests is a good dense turf. No lawn is immune to these pests, but they needn\u27t spoil the uniformity and appearance of your turf. Here\u27s what to do

An investigation of theory-practice gap in undergraduate paramedic education

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Bachelor of Emergency Health (Paramedic) (BEH) students at Monash University undertake clinical placements to assist with the transition from student to novice paramedic. Anecdotally, students report a lack of opportunity to practise their clinical skills whilst on placements. The barriers to participation and the theory-practice gap have not been previously documented in Australian paramedic literature. The purpose of this study was to investigate the theory-practice gap for paramedic students by linking education and skill level to case exposure and skills praxis during clinical placements.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A cross-sectional retrospective study using a convenience sample of second and third year BEH undergraduate students. Ethics approval was granted.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Eighty four second and third year BEH students participated. 59.5% were female (n = 50), 40.5% were male (n = 34). Overall, students most commonly reported exposure to cardiac and respiratory cases and were satisfied with the number of cases encountered during placement. However, over half (n = 46) reported being exposed to < 50% of cases that allowed skills praxis. The most common barrier to participation (34.5%) was the opportunity to participate in patient care and 68% of student's were unsure if paramedics understood their role during clinical placements.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>This study demonstrates that the majority of students were satisfied with their clinical placement experience; even though they were exposed to < 50% of cases that allowed skills practice. Identifying these educational barriers will assist in improving the quality and theory-practice gap of paramedic clinical education.</p

Modification of cellulose normally synthesizied by cellulose-producing microorganisms

The present invention involves a process for screening for and isolating spontaneously occurring or induced cellulose II-producing microorganisms. The process comprises a series of steps in various embodiments. Initially, cellulose-producing microorganisms from a first culture are plated out on a nutrient agar plate. The nutrient agar plate is then incubated to facilitate formation of colonies from single microorganisms. Samples of liquid nutrient medium are then inoculated with microorganisms from colonies having a smooth configuration, as compared to the usual rough colony configuration. The inoculated samples are then aerobically incubated to facilitate microorganism proliferation and pellicle formation. From these incubated samples are selected microorganisms, which, after a cultivation period, have proliferated but not formed a pellicle. Said selected microorganisms produce cellulose II instead of the cellulose I produced by pellicle-forming organisms.Board of Regents, University of Texas Syste

The effect of horizontal resolution on the representation of the global monsoon annual cycle in Atmospheric General Circulation Models

The sensitivity of the representation of the global monsoon annual cycle to horizontal resolution is compared in three Atmospheric General Circulation Models (AGCMs): the Met Office Unified Model-Global Atmosphere 3.0 (MetUM-GA3), the Meteorological Research Institute AGCM3 (MRI-AGCM3) and Global High Resolution AGCM from the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory (GFDL-HiRAM). For each model, we use two horizontal resolution configurations for the period 1998–2008. Increasing resolution consistently improves simulated precipitation and low-level circulation of the annual mean and the first two annual cycle modes, as measured by pattern correlation coefficient and Equitable Threat Score. Improvements in simulating the summer monsoon onset and withdrawal are region-dependent. No consistent response to resolution is found in simulating summer monsoon retreat. Regionally, increased resolution reduces the positive bias in simulated annual mean precipitation, the two annual-cycle modes over the West African monsoon and Northwestern Pacific monsoon. An overestimation of the solstitial mode and an underestimation of the equinoctial asymmetric mode of the East Asian monsoon are reduced in all high-resolution configurations. Systematic errors exist in lower-resolution models for simulating the onset and withdrawal of the summer monsoon. Higher resolution models consistently improve the early summer monsoon onset over East Asia and West Africa, but substantial differences exist in the responses over Indian monsoon region, where biases differ across the three low-resolution AGCMs. This study demonstrates the importance of a multi-model comparison when examining the added value of resolution and the importance of model physical parameterizations for the Indian monsoon simulation

Added value of high resolution models in simulating global precipitation characteristics

Climate models tend to overestimate percentage of the contribution (to total precipitation) and frequency of light rainfall while underestimate the heavy rainfall. This article investigates the added value of high resolution of atmospheric general circulation models (AGCMs) in simulating the characteristics of global precipitation, in particular extremes. Three AGCMs, global high resolution atmospheric model from the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory (GFDL-HiRAM), the Meteorological Research Institute-atmospheric general circulation model (MRI-AGCM) and the Met Office Unified Model (MetUM), each with one high and one low resolution configurations for the period 1998–2008 are used in this study. Some consistent improvements are found across all three AGCMs with increasing model resolution from 50–83 to 20–35 km. A reduction in global mean frequency and amount percentile of light rainfall (20 mm day−1) are shown in high resolution models of GFDL-HiRAM and MRI-AGCM, while the improvement in MetUM is not obvious. A consistent response to high resolution across the three AGCMs is seen from the increase of light rainfall frequency and amount percentile over the desert regions, particularly over the ocean desert regions. It suppresses the overestimation of CDD over ocean desert regions and makes a better performance in high resolution models of GFDL-HiRAM and MRI-AGCM, but worse in MetUM-N512. The impact of model resolution differs greatly among the three AGCMs in simulating the fraction of total precipitation exceeding the 95th percentile daily wet day precipitation. Inconsistencies among models with increased resolution mainly appear over the tropical oceans and in simulating extreme wet conditions, probably due to different reactions of dynamical and physical processes to the resolution, indicating their crucial role in high resolution modelling