Leading the evaluation of institutional online learning environments for quality enhancement in times of change

This paper reports on findings from a nationally funded project which aims to design and implement a quality management framework for online learning environments (OLEs). Evaluation is a key component of any quality management system and it is this aspect of the framework that is the focus of this paper. In developing the framework initial focus groups were conducted at the five participating institutions. These revealed that, although regarded as important, there did not appear to be a shared understanding of the nature and purpose of evaluation. A second series of focus groups revealed there were multiple perspectives arising from those with a vested interest in online learning. These perspectives will be outlined. Overall, how evaluation was undertaken was highly variable within and across the five institutions reflecting where they were at in relation to the development of their OLE

Mapping and explaining the productivity of Pinus radiata in New Zealand

Mapping Pinus radiata productivity for New Zealand not only provides useful information for forest owners, industry stakeholders and policy managers, but also enables current and future plantations to be visualised, quantified, and planned. Using an extensive set of permanent sample plots, split into fitting (n = 1,146) and validation (n = 618) datasets, models of P. radiata 300 Index (an index of volume mean annual increment) and Site Index (an index of height growth) were developed using a regression kriging technique. Spatial predictions were accurate and accounted for 61% and 70% of the variance for 300 Index and Site Index, respectively. Productivity predicted from these surfaces for the entire plantation estate averaged 27.4 m³ ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹ for the 300 Index and 30.4 m for Site Index. Surfaces showed wide regional variation in this productivity, which was attributable mainly to variation in air temperature and root-zone water storage from site to site

Prototype Flight Management Capabilities to Explore Temporal RNP Concepts

Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) concepts of operation may require aircraft to fly planned trajectories in four dimensions three spatial dimensions and time. A prototype 4D flight management capability is being developed by NASA to facilitate the development of these concepts. New trajectory generation functions extend today's flight management system (FMS) capabilities that meet a single Required Time of Arrival (RTA) to trajectory solutions that comply with multiple RTA constraints. When a solution is not possible, a constraint management capability relaxes constraints to achieve a trajectory solution that meets the most important constraints as specified by candidate NextGen concepts. New flight guidance functions provide continuous guidance to the aircraft s flight control system to enable it to fly specified 4D trajectories. Guidance options developed for research investigations include a moving time window with varying tolerances that are a function of proximity to imposed constraints, and guidance that recalculates the aircraft s planned trajectory as a function of the estimation of current compliance. Compliance tolerances are related to required navigation performance (RNP) through the extension of existing RNP concepts for lateral containment. A conceptual temporal RNP implementation and prototype display symbology are proposed

Family history of prostate and colorectal cancer and risk of colorectal cancer in the Women's health initiative.

BackgroundEvidence suggests that risk of colorectal and prostate cancer is increased among those with a family history of the same disease, particularly among first-degree relatives. However, the aggregation of colorectal and prostate cancer within families has not been well investigated.MethodsAnalyses were conducted among participants of the Women's Health Initiative (WHI) observational cohort, free of cancer at the baseline examination. Subjects were followed for colorectal cancer through August 31st, 2009. A Cox-proportional hazards regression modeling approach was used to estimate risk of colorectal cancer associated with a family history of prostate cancer, colorectal cancer and both cancers among first-degree relatives of all participants and stratified by race (African American vs. White).ResultsOf 75,999 eligible participants, there were 1122 colorectal cancer cases diagnosed over the study period. A family history of prostate cancer alone was not associated with an increase in colorectal cancer risk after adjustment for confounders (aHR =0.94; 95% CI =0.76, 1.15). Separate analysis examining the joint impact, a family history of both colorectal and prostate cancer was associated with an almost 50% increase in colorectal cancer risk (aHR = 1.48; 95% CI = 1.04, 2.10), but similar to those with a family history of colorectal cancer only (95% CI = 1.31; 95% CI = 1.11, 1.54).ConclusionsOur findings suggest risk of colorectal cancer is increased similarly among women with colorectal cancer only and among those with both colorectal and prostate cancer diagnosed among first-degree family members. Future studies are needed to determine the relative contribution of genes and shared environment to the risk of both cancers

X-ray phase contrast imaging of biological specimens with tabletop synchrotron radiation

Since their discovery in 1896, x-rays have had a profound impact on science, medicine and technology. Here we show that the x-rays from a novel tabletop source of bright coherent synchrotron radiation can be applied to phase contrast imaging of biological specimens, yielding superior image quality and avoiding the need for scarce or expensive conventional sources

The New Zealand Kauri (Agathis Australis) Research Project: A Radiocarbon Dating Intercomparison of Younger Dryas Wood and Implications for IntCal13

We describe here the New Zealand kauri (Agathis australis) Younger Dryas (YD) research project, which aims to undertake Δ14C analysis of ~140 decadal floating wood samples spanning the time interval ~13.1–11.7 kyr cal BP. We report 14C intercomparison measurements being undertaken by the carbon dating laboratories at University of Waikato (Wk), University of California at Irvine (UCI), and University of Oxford (OxA). The Wk, UCI, and OxA laboratories show very good agreement with an interlaboratory comparison of 12 successive decadal kauri samples (average offsets from consensus values of –7 to +4 14C yr). A University of Waikato/University of Heidelberg (HD) intercomparison involving measurement of the YD-age Swiss larch tree Ollon505, shows a HD/Wk offset of ~10–20 14C yr (HD younger), and strong evidence that the positioning of the Ollon505 series is incorrect, with a recommendation that the 14C analyses be removed from the IntCal calibration database

Viscoelasticity near the gel-point: a molecular dynamics study

We report on extensive molecular dynamics simulations on systems of soft spheres of functionality f, i.e. particles that are capable of bonding irreversibly with a maximum of f other particles. These bonds are randomly distributed throughout the system and imposed with probability p. At a critical concentration of bonds, p_c approximately equal to 0.2488 for f=6, a gel is formed and the shear viscosity \eta diverges according to \eta ~ (p_c-p)^{-s}. We find s is approximately 0.7 in agreement with some experiments and with a recent theoretical prediction based on Rouse dynamics of phantom chains. The diffusion constant decreases as the gel point is approached but does not display a well-defined power law.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

Strawberry Powdery Mildew Caused By Podosphaera Aphanis: Fungicide Resistance And Host Plant Resistance

Strawberry powdery mildew, caused by Podosphaera aphanis, affects leaves, fruit, and runners of strawberry plants. Infected leaves have reduced photosynthetic capability and infected fruit become unmarketable. Both of these factors translate to economic loss for the grower and therefore merit taking measures to control the disease. One objective of this study was to evaluate the resistance developed in populations of strawberry powdery mildew to chemical control measures. A fungicide assay was developed to evaluate the efficacy of six treatments (penthiopyrad, quinoxyfen, myclobutanil, trifloxystrobin, cyflufenamid, fluopyram + trifloxystrobin) for control of the disease. Nineteen isolates of strawberry powdery mildew were collected from Balico, Salinas, Watsonville, San Luis Obispo, Santa Maria, Ventura, and Oxnard CA and tested through the assay. The number of isolates resistant to each treatment was: penthiopyrad (7), quinoxyfen (6), myclobutanil (7), trifloxystrobin (2), cyflufenamid (1), fluopyram + trifloxystrobin (0). This documents resistance in P. aphanis to multiple chemicals used for its control. Documentation of any resistance is novel in California and novel worldwide with resistance to Fungicide Resistance Action Committee (FRAC) codes 7 and 13. Another objective of this study was to evaluate host plant resistance to strawberry powdery mildew. Twelve cultivars were evaluated in a winter greenhouse trial, sixteen cultivars in a summer greenhouse trial, and the ten cultivars shared in both trials were also evaluated in two fields. The cultivars found to be most susceptible to mildew infection were BG 3.324 and Royal Royce. The cultivars found to be the least susceptible to mildew infection were Fronteras, San Andreas, and Sweet Ann. The cultivars evaluated represent more than 55% of the state’s acreage and the host plant resistance information will be a valuable tool to growers looking to culturally control powdery mildew

If-conditionals and Modality: Frequency patterns and theoretical explanations

It has often been claimed that conditionals have a special relation to modality. This study tests this claim empirically by examining the frequency of modal marking in a number of conditional and non-conditional structures using a corpus-based approach. It then seeks to provide explanations for the emerging frequency patterns in light of the tenets of two linguistic theories: Lexical Grammar and Construction Grammar. This juxtaposition was motivated by the substantial overlap in their tenets: both take into account meaning (semantic and pragmatic), as well as lexical and grammatical factors.</p