Reality in the Classroom: Teaching Critical Thinking with Scenarios

One of the challenges for hospitality educators is to develop critical thinking skills in the future leaders of the industry. It is often thought that students will develop this skill as a by product of course work, but research indicates that it must be explicitly taught.https://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/btp_expo/1077/thumbnail.jp

Work minimization accounts for footfall phasing in slow quadrupedal gaits

Quadrupeds, like most bipeds, tend to walk with an even left/right footfall timing. However, the phasing between hind and forelimbs shows considerable variation. Here, we account for this variation by modeling and explaining the influence of hind-fore limb phasing on mechanical work requirements. These mechanics account for the different strategies used by: (1) slow animals (a group including crocodile, tortoise, hippopotamus and some babies); (2) normal medium to large mammals; and (3) (with an appropriate minus sign) sloths undertaking suspended locomotion across a range of speeds. While the unusual hind-fore phasing of primates does not match global work minimizing predictions, it does approach an only slightly more costly local minimum. Phases predicted to be particularly costly have not been reported in nature

Interpretation of dispersion relations for bounded systems

Constructing normal modes for bounded systems from infinite dispersion relation roots for interpretation of plasma wave and instability studies on finite cylinder

New ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar dating of the Grande Ronde lavas, Columbia River Basalts, USA: Implications for duration of flood basalt eruption episodes

Grande Ronde Basalt (GRB) lavas represent the most voluminous eruptive pulse of the Columbia River-Snake River-Yellowstone hotspot volcanism. With an estimated eruptive volume of 150,000 km3, GRB lavas form at least 66% of the total volume of the Columbia River Basalt Group. New 40Ar/39Ar dates for GRB lavas reveal they were emplaced within a maximum period of 0.42 ± 0.18 My. A well-documented stratigraphy indicates at least 110 GRB flow fields (or individual eruptions), and on this basis suggests an average inter-eruption hiatus of less than 4,000 years. Isotopic age-dating cannot resolve time gaps between GRB eruptions, and it is difficult to otherwise form a picture of the durations of eruptions because of non-uniform weathering in the top of flow fields and a general paucity of sediments between GR lavas. Where sediment has formed on top of the GRB, it varies in thickness from zero to 20-30 cm of silty to fine-sandy material, with occasional diatomaceous sediment. Individual GRB eruptions varied considerably in volume but many were greater than 1000 km3 in size. Most probably eruptive events were not equally spaced in time; some eruptions may have followed short periods of volcanic repose (perhaps 102 to 103 of yrs), whilst others could have been considerably longer (many 1000 s to > 104 yrs). Recent improvements in age-dating for other continental flood basalt (CFB) lava sequences have yielded estimates of total eruptive durations of less than 1 My for high-volume pulses of lava production. The GRB appears to be a similar example, where the main pulse occupied a brief period. Even allowing for moderate to long-duration pahoehoe flow field production, the amount of time the system spends in active lava-producing mode is small – less than c. 2.6% (based on eruption durations of approximately 10,000 yrs, as compared to the duration of the entire eruptive pulse of c. 420,000 yrs). A review of available 40Ar/39Ar data for the major voluminous phases of the Columbia River Basalt Group suggests that activity of the Steens Basalt-Imnaha Basalt-GRB may have, at times, been simultaneous, with obvious implications for climatic effects. Resolving intervals between successive eruptions during CFB province construction, and durations of main eruptive pulses, remains vital to determining the environmental impact of these huge eruptions

Orphan SelD proteins and selenium-dependent molybdenum hydroxylases

Bacterial and Archaeal cells use selenium structurally in selenouridine-modified tRNAs, in proteins translated with selenocysteine, and in the selenium-dependent molybdenum hydroxylases (SDMH). The first two uses both require the selenophosphate synthetase gene, selD. Examining over 500 complete prokaryotic genomes finds selD in exactly two species lacking both the selenocysteine and selenouridine systems, Enterococcus faecalis and Haloarcula marismortui. Surrounding these orphan selD genes, forming bidirectional best hits between species, and detectable by Partial Phylogenetic Profiling vs. selD, are several candidate molybdenum hydroxylase subunits and accessory proteins. We propose that certain accessory proteins, and orphan selD itself, are markers through which new selenium-dependent molybdenum hydroxylases can be found

Calorimetry, activity, and micro-FTIR analysis of CO chemisorption, titration, and oxidation on supported Pt

The value of in situ analysis on CO chemisorption, titration and oxidation over supported Pt catalysts using calorimetry, catalytic and micro-FTIR methods is illustrated using silica- and titania-supported samples. Isothermal CO-O and O2-CO titrations have not been widely used on metal surfaces and may be complicated if some oxide supports are reduced by CO titrant. However, they can illuminate the kinetics of CO oxidation on metal/oxide catalysts since during such titrations all O and CO coverages are scanned as a function of time. There are clear advantages in following the rates of the catalyzed CO oxidation via calorimetry and gc-ms simultaneously. At lower temperatures the evidence they provide is complementary. CO oxidation and its catalysis of CO oxidation have been extensively studied with hysteresis and oscillations apparent, and the present results suggest the benefits of a combined approach. Silica support porosity may be important in defining activity-temperature hysteresis. FTIR microspectroscopy reveals the chemical heterogeneity of the catalytic surfaces used; it is interesting that the evidence with regard to the dominant CO surface species and their reactivities with regard to surface oxygen for present oxide-supported Pt are different from those seen on graphite-supported Pt

A Simple Tool For Quality Assessment In Education

A quality assessment tool is presented to detect the presence of out-of-control conditions in a school course system. The tool detects whether or not a set of courses offered by a certain discipline constitutes a stable (or in-control) system of courses. A system of courses is said to be stable if the variation in students' performance from course to course is only due to common causes. Students' performance in a course may be measured by their term grades in that course or any other method of evaluation. The proposed quality tool has the advantage of being applicable to numerical grades as well as to ordinal letter grades such as A, B, C, etc. A further advantage is that the proposed tool can be implemented graphically as a quality control chart. A pilot case study of the proposed tool was initiated in Fall 1995 to monitor a system of six of basic 200-level courses in the Department of Business Administration at Alabama State University. The results of this pilot study show that the system was out-of-control for the period Fall 1995 to Fall 1999 and then became in-control in Fall 2001

Disruption of Tephra Fall Deposits Caused by Lava Flows during Basaltic Eruptions

Observations in the USA, Iceland and Tenerife, Canary Islands reveal how processes occurring during basaltic eruptions can result in complex physical and stratigraphic relationships between lava and proximal tephra fall deposits around vents. Observations illustrate how basaltic lavas can disrupt, dissect (spatially and temporally) and alter sheet-form fall deposits. Complexity arises through synchronous and alternating effusive and explosive activity that results in intercalated lavas and tephra deposits. Tephra deposits can become disrupted into mounds and ridges by lateral and vertical displacement caused by movement (including inflation) of underlying pāhoehoe lavas and clastogenic lavas. Mounds of tephra can be rafted away over distances of 100 s to 1,000 s m from proximal pyroclastic constructs on top of lava flows. Draping of irregular topography by fall deposits and subsequent partial burial of topographic depressions by later lavas can result in apparent complexity of tephra layers. These processes, deduced from field relationships, have resulted in considerable stratigraphic complexity in the studied proximal regions where fallout was synchronous or alternated with inflation of subjacent lava sheets. These mechanisms may lead to diachronous contact relationships between fall deposits and lava flows. Such complexities may remain cryptic due to textural and geochemical quasi-homogeneity within sequences of interbedded basaltic fall deposits and lavas. The net effect of these processes may be to reduce the usefulness of data collected from proximal fall deposits for reconstructing basaltic eruption dynamics

Exposure to Silver Nanoparticles Inhibits Selenoprotein Synthesis and the Activity of Thioredoxin Reductase

BACKGROUND: Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) and silver (Ag)-based materials are increasingly being incorporated into consumer products, and although humans have been exposed to colloidal Ag in many forms for decades, this rise in the use of Ag materials has spurred interest into their toxicology. Recent reports have shown that exposure to AgNPs or Ag ions leads to oxidative stress, endoplasmic reticulum stress, and reduced cell proliferation. Previous studies have shown that Ag accumulates in tissues as silver sulfides (Ag2S) and silver selenide (Ag2Se). OBJECTIVES: In this study we investigated whether exposure of cells in culture to AgNPs or Ag ions at subtoxic doses would alter the effective metabolism of selenium, that is, the incorporation of selenium into selenoproteins. METHODS: For these studies we used a keratinocyte cell model (HaCat) and a lung cell model (A549). We also tested (in vitro, both cellular and chemical) whether Ag ions could inhibit the activity of a key selenoenzyme, thioredoxin reductase (TrxR). RESULTS: We found that exposure to AgNPs or far lower levels of Ag ions led to a dose-dependent inhibition of selenium metabolism in both cell models. The synthesis of protein was not altered under these conditions. Exposure to nanomolar levels of Ag ions effectively blocked selenium metabolism, suggesting that Ag ion leaching was likely the mechanism underlying observed changes during AgNP exposure. Exposure likewise inhibited TrxR activity in cultured cells, and Ag ions were potent inhibitors of purified rat TrxR isoform 1 (cytosolic) (TrxR1) enzyme. CONCLUSIONS: Exposure to AgNPs leads to the inhibition of selenoprotein synthesis and inhibition of TrxR1. Further, we propose these two sites of action comprise the likely mechanism underlying increases in oxidative stress, increases endoplasmic reticulum stress, and reduced cell proliferation during exposure to Ag

Sulfur, Chlorine, and Flourine Degassing and Atmospheric Loading by the 1783 - 1784 AD Laki (Skaftar Fires) Eruption in Iceland

The 1783-1784 Laki tholeiitic basalt fissure eruption in Iceland was one of the greatest atmospheric pollution events of the past 250 years, with widespread effects in the northern hemisphere. The degassing history and volatile budget of this event are determined by measurements of pre-eruption and residual contents of sulfur, chlorine, and fluorine in the products of all phases of the eruption. In fissure eruptions such as Laki, degassing occurs in two stages: by explosive activity or lava fountaining at the vents, and from the lava as it flows away from the vents. Using the measured sulfur concentrations in glass inclusions in phenocrysts and in groundmass glasses of quenched eruption products, we calculate that the total accumulative atmospheric mass loading of sulfur dioxide was 122 Mt over a period of 8 months. This volatile release is sufficient to have generated approximately 250 Mt of H2SO4 aerosols, an amount which agrees with an independent estimate of the Laki aerosol yield based on atmospheric turbidity measurements. Most of this volatile mass (approximately 60 wt.%) was released during the first 1.5 months of activity. The measured chlorine and fluorine concentrations in the samples indicate that the atmospheric loading of hydrochloric acid and hydrofluoric acid was approximately 7.0 and 15.0 Mt, respectively. Furthermore, approximately 75% of the volatile mass dissolved by the Laki magma was released at the vents and carried by eruption columns to altitudes between 6 and 13 km. The high degree of degassing at the vents is attributed to development of a separated two-phase flow in the upper magma conduit, and implies that high-discharge basaltic eruptions such as Laki are able to loft huge quantities of gas to altitudes where the resulting aerosols can reside for months, or even 1-2 years. The atmospheric volatile contribution due to subsequent degassing of the Laki lava flow is only 18 wt.% of the total dissolved in the magma, and these emissions were confined to the lowest regions of the troposhere and therefore important only over Iceland. This study indicates that determination of the amount of sulfur degassed from the Laki magma batch by measurements of sulfur in the volcanic products (the petrologic method) yields a result which is sufficient to account for the mass of aerosols estimated by other methods