E-safety and Web 2.0: Web 2.0 technologies for learning at Key Stages 3 and 4

Becta commissioned the University of Nottingham in conjunction with London Knowledge Lab and Manchester Metropolitan University to research Web 2.0 technologies for learning at Key Stages 3 and 4. This is the fourth report from that research and concentrates on the e-safety aspects of Web 2.0 in education

Turlock Irrigation District

Presented at the 2002 USCID/EWRI conference, Energy, climate, environment and water - issues and opportunities for irrigation and drainage on July 9-12 in San Luis Obispo, California.The Turlock Irrigation District (TID), California's first irrigation district, was established in 1887. In 1997, the TID began to investigate what improvements could be made to its water measurement facilities, some of which dated to the early part of the 20th century. The plan that was developed consisted of the installation of telemetry to existing concrete weirs, construction of new long-throated flumes, and installation of solid-state devices to replace existing systems. The data collected in the field is transmitted via a spread-spectrum radio to the District's operation center where it is loaded into the Irrigation SCADA system. Office staff can access the data and use it to monitor and analyze the operation of the irrigation system. The experience gained in data monitoring and collection will be used as the foundation for further improvements in operation of the TID canal system

The effects of vertical vs. horizontal plyometric training on sprinting kinetics in post peak height female student athletes

Plyometric training is a form of jump training that is a useful method to improve sprinting speed due to its propensity to improve neural efficiency, increase joint stiffness and contraction speed. While research has shown that plyometrics can improve jumping and sprinting performance, no studies have compared the effects of different types of plyometric training on sprinting speed in young females. Therefore, the aim of the study was to compare different forms of plyometric training (horizontal and vertical) on sprinting performance in young females. Thirty young females from a private girls college were randomly divided into two groups and trained for seven weeks, twice a week; vertical plyometric (n=11, age 13.50 ± 0.96, peak heigh velocity-PHV: 1.60 ± 1.14), horizontal plyometric training (n=10, 13.40 ± 0.92, PHV:1.60 ± 0.93), and a physical education class as a control (n=15, age, 15.60 ± 0.31, PHV: 2.90 ± 0.55). Participants were tested for sprinting kinetics i.e. force (Fo), maximum power (Pmax), theoretical velocity (Vo), maximal velocity (Vmax), 10, 20 and 30 m split times using a radar gun over 30 m, isometric strength, vertical jump height and horizontal jump distance before and after the intervention. Both the intervention groups significantly improved all performance variables (g= 0.32- 1.30; p<0.05). The vertical group improved all kinetic variables except Fo and Pmax whereas the horizontal group improved all kinetic variables with a greater effect size g= 0.40-1.30. In comparison to the control group, the vertical group significantly improved Vo, Vmax, vertical and broad jump scores whereas the horizontal group significantly improved broad jump and 20 m split time scores (p<0.05). The findings of this study suggest that horizontal plyometric training is more effective in improving sprinting kinetics

Microstructural characterisation of TiAlTiAu and TiAlPdAu ohmic contacts to AlGaN/GaN

Ti/Al/Ti/Au and Ti/Al/Pd/Au contacts to AlGaN/GaN have been investigated to ascertain the effect of annealing temperature on the structural evolution of the contacts. Ti/Al/Ti/Au contacts become ohmic after rapid thermal annealing at 750°C or higher, corresponding to the formation of an interfacial TiN phase, with inclusions penetrating through the AlGaN layer observed after annealing at 950°C. The Pd layer is shown to be more efficient at inhibiting diffusion of Au to the interface than Ti. Ohmic behaviour was not seen with the Ti/Al/Pd/Au scheme. Either the presence of Au at the interface may improve ohmic behaviour, or the Ti:Al ratio is insufficient in this scheme

Introduction

Humanity recognised millennia ago the importance of climate variability to the sustenance of life, whether that variability was expressed in the form of droughts, floods, heat, cold, or wind. Coping strategies, developed to handle the consequences of climate variability, helped ensure mankind’s survival, although the historic record indicates that not all societies successfully overcame past challenges imposed by long-term droughts, extensive flooding, and the like. Early coping strategies included migration, invasion, appropriation and storage. In addition many, probably most, perhaps all, societies developed indigenous knowledge or belief systems that they felt enabled them to foresee or control those elements of the climate that are so critical for maintaining water and food supplies

Implementing Web 2.0 in secondary schools: impacts, barriers and issues

One of the reports from the Web 2.0 technologies for learning at KS3 and KS4 project. This report explored Impact of Web 2.0 technologies on learning and teaching and drew upon evidence from multiple sources: field studies of 27 schools across the country; guided surveys of 2,600 school students; 100 interviews and 206 online surveys conducted with managers, teachers and technical staff in these schools; online surveys of the views of 96 parents; interviews held with 18 individual innovators in the field of Web 2.0 in education; and interviews with nine regional managers responsible for implementation of ICT at national level

Water, health and early warnings

Water management is the focus in the first section, in which a number of projects are described whereby historical and forecast information is used directly in planning specific actions; in this case the forecaster-user chain is short and manageable at a personal level. Next is a detailed account of the steps required to establish climate services in the health area. Finally, Early Warning Systems are described. Early Warning Systems have not tended to use predictions until recently, traditionally having been built around historical observations. In that context Early Warning Systems provide an example of an application mainly designed for humanitarian benefit built solely using climate data alongside other information, but with growing use of predictions. A worked example is included establishing the impact of climate variability on disease incidence, the results of which provide a basis for incorporating seasonal climate forecasts into a Malaria Early Warning System in southern Africa

Rapid indirect solar responses observed in the lower atmosphere

Establishing clear evidence of solar-induced lower atmosphere effects is hampered by the small 11-year solar cycle responses, typically swamped by meteorological variability. Strong 27-day cyclic changes are exploited here instead. During the 2007/8 minimum in solar activity, regular 27-day lighthouse-like sweeps of energetic particles crossed the heliosphere and Earth, followed by a burst of solar ultraviolet radiation. Averaging the atmospheric responses at UK sites reveals immediate cooling in the troposphere after the peak energetic particle flux, followed by warming in the stratosphere. Regionally, this is accompanied by zonal wind changes, and temperature changes beneath cloud at the same time. Of two possible rapid distinct routes of solar influence - photochemical (through ozone) and atmospheric electrical (through low level clouds) – the ozone route does not provide a phase-locked response but the electrical route is supported by observed phase-locked thickening of low level clouds. These findings have potential value to weather forecasting