Advancing High School STEM Education: Implications for Engineering Technology

A novel STEM education approach focused on competency-based education was implemented in a college preparatory high school. This high school is intended to provide students access to a nearby higher education institution, with the intent of aiding the students in obtaining STEM based education. This program prepares the students to move into the university environment by encouraging faculty collaboration with the high school, coursework promoting creativity and problem-solving skills, and the use of case studies in classroom instruction. These case studies are grounded in real-life scenarios students can expect to encounter in a professional setting. This study focuses on the implementation of the program through the first-year experiences of teachers and administrators through semi-structured interviews. The results presented highlight study findings and shed light on challenges in establishing a student-focused STEM learning environment while exploring new pedagogies, developing an innovative curriculum, and teaching

Impact of the indexed effective orifice area on mid-term cardiac-related mortality after aortic valve replacement

Background There has been ongoing controversy as to whether prosthesis-patient mismatch (PPM, defined as indexed effective orifice area (EOAI) <0.85 m(2)/cm(2)) influences mortality after aortic valve replacement (AVR). In most studies, PPM is anticipated by reference tables based on mean EOAs as opposed to individual assessment. These reference values may not reflect the actual in vivo EOAI and hence, the presence or absence of PPM may be based on false assumptions. Objective To assess the impact of small prosthesis EOA on survival after aortic valve replacement AVR. Methods 645 patients had undergone an AVR between 2000 and 2007 entered the study. All patients underwent transthoracic echocardiography for determination of the actual EOAI within 6 months postoperatively. In order to predict time from surgery to death a proportional hazards model for competing risks (cardiac death vs death from other causes) was used. EOAI was entered as a continuous variable. Results PPM occurred in 40% of the patients. After a median follow-up of 2.35 years, 92.1% of the patients were alive. The final Cox regression model showed a significantly increased risk for cardiac death among patients with a smaller EOAI (HR=0.32, p=0.022). The effect of EOAI on the 2-5 year mortality risk was demonstrated by risk plots. Conclusions In contrast to previous studies these EOAI values were obtained through postoperative echocardiography, substantially improving the accuracy of measurement, and the EOAI was modelled as a continuous variable. There was a significantly improved survival for larger EOAIs following AVR. Strategies to avoid PPM should become paramount during AVR

A comparison of epidemic algorithms in wireless sensor networks

Cataloged from PDF version of article.We consider the problem of reliable data dissemination in the context of wireless sensor networks. For some application scenarios, reliable data dissemination to all nodes is necessary for propagating code updates, queries, and other sensitive information in wireless sensor networks. Epidemic algorithms are a natural approach for reliable distribution of information in such ad hoc, decentralized, and dynamic environments. In this paper we show the applicability of epidemic algorithms in the context of wireless sensor environments, and provide a comparative performance analysis of the three variants of epidemic algorithms in terms of message delivery rate, average message latency, and messaging overhead on the network. © 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

A comparison of epidemic algorithms in wireless sensor networks

We consider the problem of reliable data dissemination in the context of wireless sensor networks. For some application scenarios, reliable data dissemination to all nodes is necessary for propagating code updates, queries, and other sensitive information in wireless sensor networks. Epidemic algorithms are a natural approach for reliable distribution of information in such ad hoc, decentralized, and dynamic environments. In this paper we show the applicability of epidemic algorithms in the context of wireless sensor environments, and provide a comparative performance analysis of the three variants of epidemic algorithms in terms of message delivery rate, average message latency, and messaging overhead on the network. © 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Searching for relevance:NGO–donor relationships in a geographically isolated community

This study investigates the practice of NGO (nongovernment organizations)–donor relationships in a geographically isolated community in Alaska and explores the role of social capital in NGO sustainability. We employ the following parameters to apply social capital concepts to the needs of practitioners: study design centered on variables that are relevant for practitioners, nonlinear production of knowledge, attention to specifics of the context within which agents operate, and transfer of knowledge through the practitioners’ frame of reference. This study reveals that NGOs’ bonding social ties are of primary importance for assuring active donor commitment, while bridging ties serve to secure continuing commitment and support from passive donors. The structural, relational, emotional, and behavioral social capital dimensions shape both bonding and bridging ties, though they differ in their nature. Active donor commitment is increased by strengthening and extending the circle of bonding ties

Concept and design of a genome-wide association genotyping array tailored for transplantation-specific studies

Background: In addition to HLA genetic incompatibility, non-HLA difference between donor and recipients of transplantation leading to allograft rejection are now becoming evident. We aimed to create a unique genome-wide platform to facilitate genomic research studies in transplant-related studies. We designed a genome-wide genotyping tool based on the most recent human genomic reference datasets, and included customization for known and potentially relevant metabolic and pharmacological loci relevant to transplantation. Methods: We describe here the design and implementation of a customized genome-wide genotyping array, the ‘TxArray’, comprising approximately 782,000 markers with tailored content for deeper capture of variants across HLA, KIR, pharmacogenomic, and metabolic loci important in transplantation. To test concordance and genotyping quality, we genotyped 85 HapMap samples on the array, including eight trios. Results: We show low Mendelian error rates and high concordance rates for HapMap samples (average parent-parent-child heritability of 0.997, and concordance of 0.996). We performed genotype imputation across autosomal regions, masking directly genotyped SNPs to assess imputation accuracy and report an accuracy of >0.962 for directly genotyped SNPs. We demonstrate much higher capture of the natural killer cell immunoglobulin-like receptor (KIR) region versus comparable platforms. Overall, we show that the genotyping quality and coverage of the TxArray is very high when compared to reference samples and to other genome-wide genotyping platforms. Conclusions: We have designed a comprehensive genome-wide genotyping tool which enables accurate association testing and imputation of ungenotyped SNPs, facilitating powerful and cost-effective large-scale genotyping of transplant-related studies. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13073-015-0211-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users