Living-learning communities improve first-year engineering student academic performance and retention at a small private university

Living-Learning Communities (LLCs), in which students share a residence, one or more classes, and extracurricular activities, have been shown to improve first-year student engagement, academic performance, and retention in non-engineering fields. Research on Engineering LLCs has focused primarily on student engagement. Two studies to examine performance and retention found that LLCs had little effect on first-semester grades but increased first-year retention in engineering by 2 to 12%. Unfortunately, one of these studies did not control for differences in incoming student characteristics, and another used a comparison group that differed little from the LLC group, possibly causing them to understate the LLC’s true effects. To improve our understanding, this paper examines performance and retention in the inaugural Engineering LLCs at a small, private non-profit, regional university in the northeastern United States. Results indicate that 82% of the Engineering LLC participants were retained within the engineering program, compared to 66% of first-year engineering students who chose not to participate. More strikingly, the average first-semester GPA of the LLC participants was 0.31 points (nearly a third of a letter grade) higher than that of the non-participants. To address the possibility that these improvements were caused by differences in incoming student characteristics, linear and logistic regression analyses were performed to control for gender, race/ethnicity, SAT scores, and other factors. These analyses suggest that LLC participation increased GPA by 0.35 points compared to first-year engineering students from prior years, while non-participation lowered GPA by 0.07 points. LLC participation increased the odds of retention in the major by 2.3 times compared to first-year students from prior years, while nonparticipation lowered the odds of retention by 1.35 times

Development of robots and application to industrial processes

An algorithm is presented for using a robot system with a single camera to position in three-dimensional space a slender object for insertion into a hole; for example, an electrical pin-type termination into a connector hole. The algorithm relies on a control-configured end effector to achieve the required horizontal translations and rotational motion, and it does not require camera calibration. A force sensor in each fingertip is integrated with the vision system to allow the robot to teach itself new reference points when different connectors and pins are used. Variability in the grasped orientation and position of the pin can be accomodated with the sensor system. Performance tests show that the system is feasible. More work is needed to determine more precisely the effects of lighting levels and lighting direction

Report on the lunar ranging at McDonald Observatory, 1 February - 31 May 1976

The four spring lunations produced 105 acquisitions, including the 2000th range measurement made at McDonald Observatory. Statistics were normal for the spring months. Laser and electronics problems are noted. The Loran-C station delay was corrected. Preliminary doubles data is shown. New magnetic tape data formats are presented. R and D efforts include a new laser modification design

Experimental investigation of two-phase pressure drop in a microchannel

This paper was presented at the 2nd Micro and Nano Flows Conference (MNF2009), which was held at Brunel University, West London, UK. The conference was organised by Brunel University and supported by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, IPEM, the Italian Union of Thermofluid dynamics, the Process Intensification Network, HEXAG - the Heat Exchange Action Group and the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications.An experimental study of two-phase pressure drop in a horizontal circular microchannel is presented in this paper. Test tube is made of fused silica having an internal diameter of 781μm with a total length of 261mm and a heated length of 191mm.The external surface of the test tube is coated with an electrically conductive thin layer of ITO (Indium Tin Oxide) for direct heating of test section. Refrigerant R134a was used as the working fluid and mass flux during the experiments was varied from 100 to 650 kg/m2sec. Experiments were performed at a system pressure of 7.70 bar (corresponding to saturation temperature of 30oC). Two-phase frictional pressure drop characteristics with different mass flux, vapour fraction and heat flux were explored in detail. Finally, the prediction capability of well known available correlations in the literature, developed for macrochannels and others especially developed for microchannels was also checked. The homogeneous model predicts the data fairly well with a mean absolute deviation (MAD) of 19% and 69% of data within ±20% error band. The Müller-Steinhagen and Heck (1986) correlation developed for macrochannels predicts the data with a MAD of 19% and 61% of data within ±20% error band. The Mishima and Hibiki (1996) correlation, developed for microchannels, also shows fairly good approximation of the data with MAD of 19% and 57% of data within ±20% error band

Parametric effects on dryout of propane in a vertical circular mini-channel

This paper was presented at the 3rd Micro and Nano Flows Conference (MNF2011), which was held at the Makedonia Palace Hotel, Thessaloniki in Greece. The conference was organised by Brunel University and supported by the Italian Union of Thermofluiddynamics, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, University of Thessaly, IPEM, the Process Intensification Network, the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, the Heat Transfer Society, HEXAG - the Heat Exchange Action Group, and the Energy Institute.This article presents dryout results of propane in a vertical circular mini channel made of stainless steel with an internal diameter of 1.70 mm and a heated length of 245 mm. The experiments are performed at three saturation temperatures of 23 degrees C, 33 degrees C and 43 degrees C. Mass flux is varied from 100 kg/m2s to 500 kg/m2s.The heat flux is increased in steps up to occurrence of dryout. The effect of different parameters such as mass flux, vapour quality and saturation temperature on the dryout heat flux is investigated. The results show that the dryout heat flux increases with the increase in mass flux and with the decrease of vapour quality. Almost no effect of saturation temperature on the dryout heat flux is observed. The generalised CHF correlations developed for macro and micro scale from the literature are compared with experimental results. Correlations developed by Callizo et al. (2008), Bowring (1972) and Katto and Ohno (1984) gave reasonably good predictions

The importance of combating malnutrition in care

Malnutrition results from a deficiency of macronutrients (energy and protein) and micronutrients (vitamins and minerals), that may impact on body composition, function and/or clinical outcomes (National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, 2006). A range of factors, including impaired food intake (seen in individuals who are anorexic or have difficulties swallowing), increased nutrient requirements (seen during infection) and/or loss of nutrients which may be present in individuals with inflammatory bowel disease, have been known to cause malnutrition (Dunne, 2009)

Etude dendrometrique de Pterocarpus erinaceus poir. des formations naturelles de la zone soudanienne au Benin

Pterocarpus erinaceus is an arborescent deciduous legume tree of African savannas and dry forests growing in natural stands in the sudanian zone in Benin. An inventory of trees in the P. erinaceus dominated communities was carried out in order to describe their structure in tree-savannah and woodland, on the basis of some dendrometric parameters such as the diameter, the height, the basal area, the bark factor etc. The measurements have been done in 400 circular plots of 15 m of radius, in Ouémé Supérieur and Wari-Maro forest reserves. The results showed that the tree-density of the stands was higher in tree-savannas than inthe woodlands whereas the mean height and the mean diameter of P. erinaceus trees and of the whole stands obtained their highest values in woodlands. Furthermore, the two targeted forest reserves (Ouémé supérieur and Wari-Maro) have similar values for the dendrometric parameters. The diameter structure of P. erinaceus revealed the abundance of trees with mean diameter whereas trees with small or high diameter were scarce. The overall stand has an «i-shaped» structure, showing an uneven-aged and mixed species nature of the stands. Moreover, the height-diameter relationship of P. erinaceus was logarithmic with a R-square value of 37 % and 16 % in tree-savanna and woodland, respectively. Pterocarpus erinaceus est une Légumineuse arborescente des forêts claires et savanes arborées d’Afrique, croissant en peuplements naturels dans les zones soudaniennes au Bénin. Un inventaire des arbres dansces formations naturelles à dominance de P. erinaceus a été effectué afin de décrire leur structure, sur la base des paramètres dendrométriques comme la hauteur, le diamètre, la surface terrière, le facteurd’écorce, etc. Les mesures du diamètre et de la hauteur des arbres ont été réalisées dans 400 placettes circulaires de 15 mètres de rayon, situées dans les forêts claires et savanes arborées des forêts classéesde l’Ouémé Supérieur et de Wari-Maro. Les résultats obtenus permettent de noter que la densité du peuplement est plus élevée dans les formations de savane (169,4 arbres/ha) alors que la hauteur moyenneet le diamètre moyen de tous les arbres et spécifiquement de P. erinaceus présentent des valeurs significativement plus élevées en forêt. Par ailleurs, les deux forêts étudiées (Ouémé Supérieur et Wari-Maro) présentent des valeurs similaires pour les paramètres dendrométriques calculés. La structure en diamètre de P. erinaceus révèle une relative stabilité du peuplement avec une abondance des individus dediamètre moyen et une rareté des individus de faibles ou gros diamètres. L’ensemble du peuplement présente une structure en « i », caractéristique d’une nature inéquienne et multispécifique. La hauteur deP. erinaceus peut être exprimée en fonction du diamètre à 1,30 m du sol, dans les peuplements de savane et de forêt par des équations logarithmiques avec des coefficients de détermination de 37 % et 16 %respectivement en savane arborée et forêt claire

Ecological approaches to human nutrition

Malnutrition affects a large number of people throughout the developing world. Approaches to reducing malnutrition rarely focus on ecology and agriculture to simultaneously improve human nutrition and environmental sustainability. However, evidence suggests that interdisciplinary approaches that combine the knowledge bases of these disciplines can serve as a central strategy in alleviating hidden hunger for the world's poorest. To describe the role that ecological knowledge plays in alleviating hidden hunger, considering human nutrition as an overlooked ecosystem service. We review existing literature and propose a framework that expands on earlier work on econutri-tion. We provide novel evidence from case studies con-ducted by the authors in western Kenya and propose a framework for interdisciplinary collaboration to alleviate hidden hunger, increase agricultural productivity, and improve environmental sustainability. Our review supports the concept that an inte-grated approach will impact human nutrition. We pro-vide evidence that increased functional agrobiodiversity can alleviate anemia, and interventions that contribute to environmental sustainability can have both direct and indirect effects on human health and nutritional well-being. Integrated and interdisciplinary approaches are critical to reaching development goals. Ecologists must begin to consider not only how their field can contribute to biodiversity conservation, but also, the relationship between biodiversity and provisioning of nontraditional ecosystem services such as human health. Likewise, nutritionists and agronomists must recognize that many of the solutions to increasing human well-being and health can best be achieved by focusing on a healthy environment and the conservation of ecosystem services

The Fermi surface of CeCoIn5: dHvA

Measurements of the de Haas - van Alphen effect in the normal state of the heavy Fermion superconductor CeCoIn5 have been carried out using a torque cantilever at temperatures ranging from 20 to 500 mK and in fields up to 18 tesla. Angular dependent measurements of the extremal Fermi surface areas reveal a more extreme two dimensional sheet than is found in either CeRhIn5 or CeIrIn5. The effective masses of the measured frequencies range from 9 to 20 m*/m0.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, submitted to PRB Rapid

Discovery and application of insertion-deletion (INDEL) polymorphisms for QTL mapping of early life-history traits in Atlantic salmon

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>For decades, linkage mapping has been one of the most powerful and widely used approaches for elucidating the genetic architecture of phenotypic traits of medical, agricultural and evolutionary importance. However, successful mapping of Mendelian and quantitative phenotypic traits depends critically on the availability of fast and preferably high-throughput genotyping platforms. Several array-based single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) genotyping platforms have been developed for genetic model organisms during recent years but most of these methods become prohibitively expensive for screening large numbers of individuals. Therefore, inexpensive, simple and flexible genotyping solutions that enable rapid screening of intermediate numbers of loci (~75-300) in hundreds to thousands of individuals are still needed for QTL mapping applications in a broad range of organisms.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Here we describe the discovery of and application of insertion-deletion (INDEL) polymorphisms for cost-efficient medium throughput genotyping that enables analysis of >75 loci in a single automated sequencer electrophoresis column with standard laboratory equipment. Genotyping of INDELs requires low start-up costs, includes few standard sample handling steps and is applicable to a broad range of species for which expressed sequence tag (EST) collections are available. As a proof of principle, we generated a partial INDEL linkage map in Atlantic salmon (<it>Salmo salar</it>) and rapidly identified a number of quantitative trait loci (QTLs) affecting early life-history traits that are expected to have important fitness consequences in the natural environment.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The INDEL genotyping enabled fast coarse-mapping of chromosomal regions containing QTL, thus providing an efficient means for characterization of genetic architecture in multiple crosses and large pedigrees. This enables not only the discovery of larger number of QTLs with relatively smaller phenotypic effect but also provides a cost-effective means for evaluation of the frequency of segregating QTLs in outbred populations which is important for further understanding how genetic variation underlying phenotypic traits is maintained in the wild.</p