Mechanochemical models for generating biological pattern and form in development

The central issue in development is the formation of spatial patterns of cells in the early embryo. The mechanisms which generate these patterns are unknown. Here we describe the new Oster-Murray mechanochemical approach to the problem, the elements of which are experimentally well documented. By way of illustration we derive one of the basic models from first principles and apply it to a variety of problems of current interest and research. We specifically discuss the formation of skin organ patterns, such as feather and scale germs, cartilage condensations in the developing vertebrate limb and finally wound healing

Sol-Gel synthesis, spectroscopic and thermal behavior study of SiO2/PEG composites containing different amount of chlorogenic acid

In this work, new phenol-based materials have been synthesized by the sol-gel method, in which different amounts of the phenolic antioxidant chlorogenic acid (CGA) (from 5 wt % to 20 wt %) were embedded in two different silica matrices: pure silica and silica-based hybrids materials, containing 50 wt % of polyethylene glycol (PEG). The incorporation of CGA in different sol-gel matrices might protect them from degradation, which could cause the loss of their properties. The two series of materials were chemically characterized by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. In addition, the thermal behavior of both series of materials containing CGA was studied by thermogravimetry under both air and inert N2flowing gas atmosphere. The bioactivity was evaluated by soaking the synthesized hybrids in a simulated body fluid, showing that the bioactivity of the silica matrix is not modified by the presence of PEG and CGA

Making Sense of Canvas Tools: Analysis and Comparison of Popular Canvases

Following on the popularity of the Business Model Canvas, a variety of additional canvas diagrams have recently been introduced for use in design, entrepreneurship, and business settings. This paper reviews a number of these popular canvas tools and describes the structures and processes that make them useful in academic and business settings

Professionalization and the Forgotten System: Observed Practices and Perceptions at the Intersection of Informal and Formal Faculty Development

The professionalization of disciplines often leads to formalization of disciplinary training. As professionalization occurs, informal training roles are typically supplanted as the normative method of training but can continue to exist in parallel with formal methods. As in other fields, the ongoing professionalization of faculty development has created significant formalization of training. While the positive impact of formalization is clear in many areas of faculty development, little is known about how formalization affected the informal roles, activities, and perceptions that served to train faculty. This exploratory study reports on data gathered at a workshop designed to document and share stories of ongoing informal faculty development by engineering faculty. The results show that participants struggle to articulate their role in faculty development independent of the systems, programs, and individuals that make up the formalized training systems. Participants were unsure what to do, what they were allowed to do, and whether to label such work faculty development. They saw importance in informal faculty development work but seemed to feel a lack of agency to name such work as faculty development because it exists outside of the professionalized and formalized sphere of modern faculty development. The results suggest a paradox: faculty without a formal role in faculty development are still interested in aiding their peers’ growth informally but are unclear on their role without guidance from the formal system, which inherently reinforces the role of the formal system as the arbiters of faculty development

THE COMING PARADIGM SHIFT IN HIGHER EDUCATION

"They will cease to exercise memory because they rely on that which is written, calling things to remembrance no longer from within themselves, but by means of external marks".- Plato in Phaedrus"Show me a messy problem and I can show you how education will be a big part of the solution".- Unknown but attributed to John Bravman, Bucknell’s 17th Presiden

Development of a Design Canvas with Application to First-Year and Capstone Design Courses

The adoption of canvas tools in entrepreneurship and design education is increasing. The Business Model Canvas (BMC), perhaps one of the best-known canvas tools, is the key element of the Lean LaunchPad methodology – a widely utilized approach to business model development. Importantly, using canvases like the BMC supports student learning through a data-driven and iterative process that actively engages students. Another benefit of the canvas approach in an educational setting is they can be used in a preliminary or conceptual design phase, where students can begin to identify and make associations among the key themes of the more complete underlying models used to represent the physical system being envisioned and developed. Because of these benefits, the use of the canvases has led to the development of other canvases with some expressly created for design courses in engineering education settings. A model-based approach for understanding and developing canvases has recently been developed and presented. This approach notes that canvases are high level representations of underlying complex systems. As alluded to above, these complex systems can be business models, but they can also be products, devices, or manufacturing and delivery systems. Briefly, a canvas is constructed by selecting the key themes of systems models that represent the underlying physical systems. Through this representation, canvases can be developed or characterized by identifying and illustrating 1) the underlying system being conceptualized, 2) the model used to represent the system, and 3) the themes selected from the model to be placed on the canvas. Despite these benefits and new approaches to developing canvases, many of the canvases currently being used are better suited for use by experienced and sophisticated users and may be too complex for use by students in underclass or first-year design courses. Using the model based approach described above, a process for developing a canvas for a first-year design course is illustrated in this paper. The process enables an instructor to develop a canvas for their course by examining the learning objectives for the course and identifying the key themes of their learning system and content. Finally, we utilize this process to propose a canvas for a first-year design course

Feminist Scholarship Review: Women and Engineering

Published from 1991 through 2007 at Trinity College, Hartford, Connecticut, the Feminist Scholarship Review is a literary journal that describes women\u27s experiences around the world. FSR began as a review of feminist scholarly material, but evolved into a journal for poetry and short storie