Structured evaluation of virtual environments for special-needs education

This paper describes the development of a structured approach to evaluate experiential and communication virtual learning environments (VLEs) designed specifically for use in the education of children with severe learning difficulties at the Shepherd special needs school in Nottingham, UK. Constructivist learning theory was used as a basis for the production of an evaluation framework, used to evaluate the design of three VLEs and how they were used by students with respect to this learning theory. From an observational field study of student-teacher pairs using the VLEs, 18 behaviour categories were identified as relevant to five of the seven constructivist principles defined by Jonassen (1994). Analysis of student-teacher behaviour was used to provide support for, or against, the constructivist principles. The results show that the three VLEs meet the constructivist principles in very different ways and recommendations for design modifications are put forward

Mineral Resource Assessment. Big Bend RanchState Natural Area, Presidio and Brewster Counties, Texas - Final Report

The Big Bend Ranch State Natural Area has a diverse geology reflecting nearly 600 million years of geologic evolution. Major geologic events include (1) deposition of elastic sedimentary rocks during the Paleozoic and their deformation (folding and faulting) at the end of the Paleozoic; (2) deposition of limestone and elastic rocks during the Cretaceous and their deformation during the early Tertiary; (3) intense extrusive and intrusive igneous activity during the middle Tertiary; and (4) major normal faulting during the late Tertiary. Almost all mineral potential of the area is associated with mid-Tertiary igneous activity. The only significant mineral production within the Ranch area was from the Fresno Mine in the western part of the Terlingua mercury district, one of the largest mining districts in Texas. This mine produced approximately 3500 flasks of mercury, mostly during World War II. Other production was minor and included some additional mercury from localities near the Fresno Mine, as well as silver-lead ore containing minor gold from a small mine in the Solitario.Bureau of Economic Geolog

Design of a Morphing Wing-tip

An initial design of a morphing wing-tip for a Regional Jet aircraft is developed and evaluated. The adaptive wing-tip concept is based upon a chiral type internal structure, enabling controlled cant angle orientation, camber and twist throughout the flight envelope. A baseline Turbo-Fan Aircraft configuration model is used as the benchmark to assess the device. CFD based aerodynamics are used to evaluate the required design configurations for the device at different points across the flight envelope in terms of lift/drag and bending moment distribution along the span, complemented by panel method based gust load computations. Detailed studies are performed to show how the chiral structure can facilitate the required shape changes in twist, camber and cant. Actuator requirements and limitations are assessed, along with an evaluation of the aerodynamic gains from the inclusion of the device versus power and weight penalties. For a typical mission it was found that savings of around 2% in fuel weight are possible using the morphing wing-tip device. A similar reduction in weight due to passive gust loads alleviation is also possible with a slight change of configuration

Emerging issues and current trends in assistive technology use 2007-1010: practising, assisting and enabling learning for all

Following an earlier review in 2007, a further review of the academic literature relating to the uses of assistive technology (AT) by children and young people was completed, covering the period 2007-2011. As in the earlier review, a tripartite taxonomy: technology uses to train or practise, technology uses to assist learning and technology uses to enable learning, was used in order to structure the findings. The key markers for research in this field and during these three years were user involvement, AT on mobile mainstream devices, the visibility of AT, technology for interaction and collaboration, new and developing interfaces and inclusive design principles. The paper concludes by locating these developments within the broader framework of the Digital Divide

2012 Haida Gwaii Mw 7.7 Earthquake Response - Ocean Bottom Seismometer Relocation and Geophone Orientation Analysis and Quality Control of Wide-Angle P-wave Refraction Data

Canada's second largest instrumentally recorded earthquake occurred on October 27th, 2012, off the west coast of Moresby Island, Haida Gwaii. Analysis of seismic waveforms and the pattern of aftershocks indicate that it was a thrust earthquake with a magnitude of Mw = 7.7. To accurately locate earthquakes, recording stations need to be positioned such that they surround the epicenter and the sound speed at which seismic waves travel through the earth's crust must be known. The land stations on Haida Gwaii are all to the east of the aftershock sequence, thus making these offshore earthquake locations uncertain and making depths for those events almost impossible to calculate accurately. Only sparse information from seismic refraction work conducted in the early 1980ies on the offshore velocity structure around the epicenter is known. Therefore, a series of 14 ocean bottom seismometers (OBS) were deployed for the duration of 1 month between December 6, 2012 and January 5, 2013 to record a portion of the aftershock sequence. An active source seismic program was conducted in January 2013 prior to the OBS recovery to acquire information on the sediment- and crustal structures to aid in the earthquake location analyses. However, the initial refraction data were not recorded on any of the 14 OBS as the batteries on all of the OBS stations had drained by the time of the survey. An extra set of six OBS was re-deployed and a total of four single-channel seismic profiles were acquired across these six OBS stations for a smaller-scale detailed refraction velocity experiment. Using the active source seismic data, each of the six OBS of the second deployment were re-located on the ocean floor, which is a critical pre-requisite for any velocity analysis. The OBS instruments drifted on average by 200m to the NW of the deployment drop-position. New offset information for the relocated OBS stations were calculated, and used for an initial exemplary but non-ray-tracing based 1D refraction velocity analysis on selected OBS stations to demonstrate the general utility of the OBS refraction data. Additional particle motion analyses were conducted for five of the six OBS stations of the second refraction survey to define the geophone orientation. One of these six stations (OBS-5) appeared to have identical horizontal components and therefore could not be used for a geophone-orientation determination. Long-range refraction seismic arrivals from the active-source experiment with a single 520 cubic inch G-gun were identified on some of the Haida Gwaii land-stations with offset ranges of up to 58 km. This information can potentially be used for a deep-crustal refraction velocity analysis. At this stage, only basic information on these land-station data is documented for potential future analyses

Ocean Bottom Seismometer Experiment on the Beaufort shelf and slope region conducted during Expedition ARA04C on the IBRV Araon

Expedition ARA04C (conducted from September 10 - September 26, 2013 in Canadian waters) on the Korean icebreaker IBRV Araon was laid out to investigate the Beaufort Sea shelf and slope region and collect geo-scientific data for various aspects relevant to the GSC's mandated regional geo-hazard assessment of the offshore Beaufort region. A critical element of the geohazards is the distribution of permafrost across the submerged shelf. To address this question a set of six Ocean Bottom Seismometers (OBS) were deployed in a grid pattern across the near shelf-edge zone, and a set of three OBS was used in a second deployment along a central shelfcrossing north-east to south-west oriented line. Initial data processing was carried out, which is required for any follow-up detailed velocity analysis. The processing included definition of exact shot times, geometry calculation, OBS position re-location, and OBS orientation analysis. A preliminary analysis of the hydrophone and vertical-component data from the OBS stations reveals a P-wave-velocity structure with values ranging from 1800 m/s to over 4000 m/s indicative of wide-spread ice-bearing sediments. This open-file report also contains the digital OBS data for all stations in standard SEGY format, together with the required raw and processed geometry information

Sexual Display and Mate Choice in an Energetically Costly Environment

Sexual displays and mate choice often take place under the same set of environmental conditions and, as a consequence, may be exposed to the same set of environmental constraints. Surprisingly, however, very few studies consider the effects of environmental costs on sexual displays and mate choice simultaneously. We conducted an experiment, manipulating water flow in large flume tanks, to examine how an energetically costly environment might affect the sexual display and mate choice behavior of male and female guppies, Poecilia reticulata. We found that male guppies performed fewer sexual displays and became less choosy, with respect to female size, in the presence of a water current compared to those tested in still water. In contrast to males, female responsive to male displays did not differ between the water current treatments and females exhibited no mate preferences with respect to male size or coloration in either treatment. The results of our study underscore the importance of considering the simultaneous effects of environmental costs on the sexual behaviors of both sexes