Campus STEM Innovation from a Foothold in Mathematics: Lessons Learned from a Place Where it Happened

A metropolitan university, has had a productive journey in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), which eventually led to a campus STEM priority, endowed STEM Community Chairs, an increase in external grants, disciplinary degree pathways for high school teachers and even a Citywide STEM Ecosystem organization. Much of this journey surfaced from collaborations originating in mathematics education, which then synergized into campus wide efforts. This article describes one campus’ journey into STEM and how transforming the mathematics teacher education program represented a “springboard” for formalizing STEM collaboration and innovation. It is offered to aid other institutions who want to make STEM more of a priority on campus and to assist in their institutional journey toward a collaborative STEM effort both on and off campus

TACTivities: Fostering Creativity through Tactile Learning Activities

As mathematics teachers, we hope our students will approach problems with a spirit of creativity. One way to both model and encourage this spirit – and, at the same time, to keep ourselves from getting bored – is through creative approaches to problem design. In this paper, we discuss ``TACTivities\u27\u27 – mathematical activities with a tactile component – as a creative outlet for those of us who teach mathematics, and as a resource for stimulating creative thinking in our students. We use examples, such as our ``derivative fridge magnets\u27\u27 TACTivity, to illustrate the main ideas. We emphasize that TACTivities can be engaging, to teachers and learners alike, at any level of mathematics, by including examples from different mathematics courses (cal- culus and mathematics for elementary teachers). As an example, our derivative fridge magnets have moving pieces of words that look like small refrigerator magnets. These small pieces can be combined to make true mathematical statements, of the form d/dx (some function) = some other function. There was creativity involved in the creation of these magnets, as the mathematics had to be challenging enough not to bore students yet have an easy entry for students to be successful. The students working with the magnets can use their creativity along with their mathematical knowledge while learning and/or reviewing a mathematical concept – in this case derivatives. We will expand on the creative side of the creation and implementation of TACTivities in this paper. Note that our definition of ``tactile\u27\u27 only means moving pieces (usually pieces of paper), as this is different than work from others that involves tactile props -- e.g. pipe cleaners, yarn, Spirographs, building blocks, and so on. This other work is invaluable, and we use props like these ourselves at times, but we believe that our TACTivities add a different dimension to tactile learning

Learning Assistantships in College Mathematics: Value for Preservice Teacher Development

Increasing the participation and achievement of students in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) from early grades to college coursework continues to be at the forefront of educational transformations and research. Faculty members at Institutions of Higher Education (IHE) plan, implement, and investigate how program structures might aid in the development, retention, and overall success of undergraduate students in STEM. Active learning classrooms, especially in mathematics, are one way IHE are reforming student learning experiences, and these environments also provide a unique opportunity to engage undergraduate learning assistants with faculty to support near - peer students and deepen their own learning. Identifying aspects of undergraduate learning assistants’ experiences that they find most valuable and interrogating how those are linked to their development can help IHE faculty better understand and plan for how to support undergraduate students in particular fields, such as STEM and STEM teaching. In particular, this paper examines scholarship participants serving as learning assistants in active learning college mathematics classrooms to see where and how they find value in their experience. Implications of this research can inform faculty and university programs on how they might prioritize and transform learning opportunities for students to impact their current and future development in STEM and beyond

Self injection of foreign materials into the penis

Injection of the subcutaneous tissues of the penis for enlargement of penile girth has been practised for many years by laypeople and medical practitioners alike. However, with recognition of complications, the practice has died out. We report a series of five patients who presented having injected foreign materials into the subcutaneous tissues of their penises, including paraffin and mineral oils. Our patients had a variable time course of presentation ranging from 1 day following injection to over 26 years. Self-injection of the subcutaneous tissues of the penis is an unusual presentation for a penile mass but should be considered as a differential diagnosis in patients with a long latent period to presentation or with characteristic magnetic resonance imaging and histological appearances

Pathogenesis of Henoch-Schönlein purpura nephritis

The severity of renal involvement is the major factor determining the long-term outcome of children with Henoch-Schönlein purpura (HSP) nephritis (HSPN). Approximately 40% children with HSP develop nephritis, usually within 4 to 6 weeks after the initial onset of the typical purpuric rashes. Although the pathogenetic mechanisms are still not fully delineated, several studies suggest that galactose-deficient IgA1 (Gd-IgA1) is recognized by anti-glycan antibodies, leading to the formation of the circulating immune complexes and their mesangial deposition that induce renal injury in HSPN

The Research Station in Tarfala

Utan att forskarna riktigt kunde förklara varför stod det helt klart under 1900-talets första hälft att isarna blev mindre. På hela norra halvklotet blev glaciärerna allt mindre och denna storlekförändring sattes i samband med den temperaturökning som skett under samma tid. Glaciärerna krympte och man sökte den exakta kopplingen mellan klimatets förändring och smältande glaciärer. Professor Ahlman, glaciolog vid Stockholms universitet beslutade att Storglaciären i Tarfaladalen var platsen där mätningar skulle ske och sedan 1946 har Stockholms Universitet bedrivit verksamhet vid Tarfala Forskningsstation. Stationen fungerar som en plattform för glaciologer och används kontinuerligt av forskare och studentgrupper från SU men även av internationella forskare och studenter. Mätstudierna som utförs i Tarfala är betydelsefullt underlag för glaciologiska och klimatologiska studier, såväl nationellt som internationellt. Verksamheten och forskningsgruppen har med åren vuxit och är idag i stort behov av en större och mer komplex byggnad för att kunna bedriva forskning på världsledande nivå. I mitt examensarbete har jag undersökt platsen, vinden och forskningsverksamheten.In the beginning of the 20th century the glaciers in the world got smaller. Scientists couldn’t explain why but tried to find a connection between climate change and melting glaciers. One of them, V. Schytt, made a ski journey between Abisko and Kebnekaise to find the most suitable glacier in Sweden for measuring mass balance. He faced the windy, rough but beautiful valley “Tarfaladalen”. He viewed over ”Storglaciaciaren” and realized that this site is optimal for a glacier research center. Since 1946 the Stockholm University founded a research station where both national researcher as well as international visits and uses as a platform. The data that is collected around this area is important information for glacier studies around the world. We are facing huge climate changes in the world and the Department of Geological Science in Tarfala are in need of a more complex building adapted to the extreme environment that gives the best support to practise science and research at an international high level. During my thesis project I have analyzed the site, the wind and the organisation Department of Geological Science in Tarfala

Pressure and Level Control of a River Water Pumping Station

The river water pumping station at SSAB in Borlänge is a critical part of the factory since it supplies the whole factory with cooling water. The problem with the river water pumping station is that the pressure in the pipes is very dependent on the large water consumers in the factory. The large consumers causes large variations in pressure and water level when they suddenly turns on and off. The second problem in the river water pumping station is that it can not pump enough water to the consumers during the warmer periods of the year. The aim of this thesis is to improve the control system in the river water pumping station by first creating a model of the system which then can be used to test a new controller. The model is verified against measurements from the real process. The results show that the developed model captures the general behavior of the system. Further analysis of the system show that a smaller pump could be the cause of the problem in the control system. In the development of the new controller the smaller pump was then removed and replaced with a larger pump. The new and old controller perform similarly when it comes to pressure and flow rate however the new controller is slightly better when taking the control signal into account because it does not make any large sudden changes

Exploring Supply Chain Risk Management & Business Continuity Practices During Disruptive Times : A Case Study on Swedish Firms

In recent years, disruptive events have tested companies supply chain resilience. These challenges have emphasized the crucial role of effective supply chain management strategies. As a result of the negative performance, companies are recognizing the importance of supply chain resilience. The purpose of this study is to understand how firms manage their supply chain in practice and will answer RQ1: How has the approach of supply chain risk mitigation changed after recent disruptive events?” and RQ2: “What are the barriers & enablers to the implementation of business continuity management within a supply chain?”. The study follows a qualitative case study which involves both primary and secondary data. The primary data is based on 10 interviews with industry experts meanwhile the secondary data is based on reports and a panel discussion. The data is analyzed through a thematic analysis. The findings of the study are a risk management model, consisting of three different dimensions: 1) Supply Chain Orientation 11) Business Relationship and Communication and 111) Risk Mitigation. These dimensions can be used by companies and organization to improve its supply chain resilience. As well as understanding the challenges of proactive implementation within their supply chain, to be more prepared for the next disruptive event in the future

Nyblivna föräldrar med psykisk ohälsas upplevelser av den perinatala perioden: En litteraturstudie

Bakgrund: Båda föräldrarna kan drabbas av psykisk ohälsa i den perinatala perioden. Det nyfödda barnet kan vara en källa för både sammanhållning och splittring, och det är av stor vikt att vården stödjer föräldrarna i det nya samspelet. Syfte: Studiens syfte var att undersöka nyblivna föräldrar med psykisks ohälsas upplevelser av den perinatala perioden. Metod: En icke-systematisk litteraturstudie med en integrerad analys av 11 vetenskapliga artiklar med kvalitativ metod. Resultat: I analysen framkom tre huvudteman: (1) förändrade upplevelser i den perinatala perioden, (2) ouppfyllda behov av stöd, (3) barriärer för att söka hjälp, ur vilka ett flertal subteman framkom. Slutsats: Det är av stor vikt att belysa föräldrars upplevelse av att exkluderas av vården samt följa deras välmående genom hela den perinatala perioden. Vidare forskning på olika typer av familjer krävs för att följa det moderna samhällets ständiga utveckling

Detaljprojektering av prefabricerade byggnadselement : En studie av tilläggsprogram för Revit

The intention of these studies is to make the detail drawing projecting for prefabricated elements more efficient and more automated. There are two programs studied for this purpose to automate the working flow in this thesis. First Structural Precast which is Revit’s own plug-in. The second program is Impact Design which is a well-developed plug-in program created by StrusoftAB. The goal of this thesis is to find where these different types of plug-inprograms can be applied in the design phase and furthermore to the production part of the construction industry. Another goal is to understand if Structural Precast provides enough tools to produce drawings when it gets more complex or if a more developed plug-in is needed. In this thesis only wall elements and two plug-in programs were treated. A lot of work was put into working with a case but also studying the functions each program contains. The case study was divided into three smaller categories, the learning process, function analysis and the modelling process. The learning process felt shorter to Structural precast in the beginning but changed when getting longer into the case study. The function analysis studied what was possible to do in each plug-in, the result showed that Impact Design was more automated than Structural Precast. Lastly the modelling process,which applied all the functions explained in the function analysis to a reference project. Furthermore, results were presented and an analysis. Lastly a conclusion was presented where questions heading into the project where answered.