Proven Strategies for Teaching and Learning

50 technology-using professors at 50 of America's most-wired campuses were asked to explain how their teaching strategies have been augmented by the use of computers. From their responses emerges a pattern. Most professors are using computers in teaching in order to enable more controversy and debate in their classrooms, to promote more collaboration among students, to facilitate more and more timely interaction between professor and student, to differentiate tasks and assignments according to student interests and capacities, and to involve practitioners as well as colleague scholars with their students. In this paper, these five "newly popular" teaching strategies are elaborated. Specific examples from many different disciplines are cited. Materials from the author's economics course are used to illustrate each of the concepts. A goal of this paper is to suggest trends in pedagogical styles that are likely to dominate the next decade, to enable participants to lead faculty workshops around these five principles, to start participants toward their own incorporation of time-effective computer exercises in their own courses, and to disseminate information about these important research findings. The paper is an outgrowth of work published in 2002 with Gordon McCray, Craig Runde, and Heidi Schweizer by Allyn Bacon/Longman under the title Using Technology in Learner-Centered Education: Proven Strategies for Teaching and Learning (http://vig.abacon.com/product/0,2371,0205355803, 00.html).In: A.J. Kallenberg and M.J.J.M. van de Ven (Eds), 2002, The New Educational Benefits of ICT in Higher Education: Proceedings. Rotterdam: Erasmus Plus BV, OECR ISBN 90-9016127-

Right ventricular outfl ow tract revalvulation using the Melody Valve: The next frontier

Congenital heart lesions with abnormal right ventricular outfl ow tract anatomy will require early surgical intervention. Re-intervention rates in these patients are high due to homograft degeneration. Until recently, surgery was the onlytreatment option for right ventricular outfl ow tract dysfunction. Percutaneous pulmonary valve implantation has been introduced as a new therapeutic alternative to prolong conduit life span and to reduce surgical re-intervention rates. Short- and mid-term results have been favourable and showed that it is a safe and effective therapy. These are reviewed with emphasis on the Melody valve

The joint law of the extrema, final value and signature of a stopped random walk

A complete characterization of the possible joint distributions of the maximum and terminal value of uniformly integrable martingale has been known for some time, and the aim of this paper is to establish a similar characterization for continuous martingales of the joint law of the minimum, final value, and maximum, along with the direction of the final excursion. We solve this problem completely for the discrete analogue, that of a simple symmetric random walk stopped at some almost-surely finite stopping time. This characterization leads to robust hedging strategies for derivatives whose value depends on the maximum, minimum and final values of the underlying asset

The implications of alternative developer decision-making strategies on land-use and land-cover in an agent-based land market model

Land developers play a key role in land-use and land cover change, as\ud they directly make land development decisions and bridge the land and housing\ud markets. Developers choose and purchase land from rural land owners, develop\ud and subdivide land into parcel lots, build structures on lots, and sell houses to residential households. Developers determine the initial landscaping states of developed parcels, affecting the state and future trajectories of residential land cover, as well as land market activity. Despite their importance, developers are underrepresented in land use change models due to paucity of data and knowledge regarding their decision-making. Drawing on economic theories and empirical literature, we have developed a generalized model of land development decision-making within a broader agent-based model of land-use change via land markets. Developer’s strategies combine their specialty in developing of particular subdivision types, their perception of and attitude towards market uncertainty, and their learning and adaptation strategies based on the dynamics of the simulated land and housing markets. We present a new agent-based land market model that includes these elements. The model will be used to experiment with these different development decision-making methods and compare their impacts on model outputs, particularly on the quantity and spatial pattern of resultant land use changes. Coupling between the land market and a carbon sequestration model, developed for the larger SLUCE2 project, will allow us, in future work, to examine how different developer’s strategies will affect the carbon balance in residential\ud landscape

Stenting the arterial duct: Practical aspects and review of outcomes

Cyanotic congenital heart lesions with duct-dependent pulmonary blood fl ow often require early intervention. Surgical palliation remains the treatment of choice, but is associated with substantial morbidity and mortality. Ductal stent implantation is becoming a recognised alternative to maintain pulmonary blood fl ow. Results of ductal stenting have improved and outcomes are good. We discuss the outcomes of published data and the practical aspects of ductal stenting

Interakcija olova s elementima u tragovima i prehrambenim faktorima

Interactions among lead, zinc, cadmium, calcium and vitamin D have been demonstrated in the laboratory. There is evidence indicating that under certain field conditions these interactions are of more importance in terms of the level of diseases that develops than is the absolute intake of each variable. Thirty nine parameters were measured in order to determine the extent and nature of interactions among toxic and normal levels of lead, zinc and cadmium, normal and deficient levels of calcium and normal, deficient and high levels of vitamin D. Significant interactions affecting general metabolism, hematological tissue, blood, liver, kidney and enzyme related parameters were identified, illustrated and discussed.U prijašnjim terenskim istraživanjima utvrđeno je da interakcija između kalcija, olova i cinka ima za posljedicu pojačanje kliničke slike otrovanja u konja u usporedbi s onom što bi je izazvao svaki posebno. Ta su opažanja bila povodom da su započeta opsežna istraživanja interakcija između olova, cinka, kadmija, kalcija i vitamina D. Ova su istraživanja rađena na mladim štakorima a pokusi su trajali po 42 dana. U tom su razdoblju po dva štakora soja Sprague Dawley hranjena s po jednom od 48 kombinacija i ovaj je prehrambeni postupak ponavljan 4 puta. Prije spomenute tvari odabrane su u koncentracijama koje bi kada bi se davale pojedinačno mogle izazvati uočIjive toksične učinke, ali bez smrtnog ishoda u toku 42 dana. Koncentracije, izražene u ppm ili u postocima sadržaja hrane bile su slijedeće: olovo: niska koncentracija - 7 ppm, visoka - 5 000 ppm; cink: niska koncentracija - 30 ppm, visoka - 6 300 ppm; kadmij: niska koncentracija - 0,1 ppm, visoka - 90 prpm; kalcij: niska koncentracija - 0,1%, normalna - 0,9K%; vitamin D: niska koncentracija - bez vitamina D, normalna - 2 000 IU/kg hrane i visoka - 50 000 IU/kg hrane. Nakon 42 dana štakori su usmrćeni i mjereno je 39 različitih parametara: 4 vrste mjerenja općeg metabolizma, 10 hematoloških parametara, serumska alkalna fosfataza te određivanje olova, cinka, kadmija, bakra i željeza u jetri, bubrezima i kostima te naposljetku koncentracija olova, cinka, kadmija i kalcija u krvi. Rezultati su jasno prikazani grafički u 26 slika. Valja istaknuti pojačane .toksične učinke olova, cinka i kadmija u štakora hranjenih niskim koncentracijama kalcija. U istih je životinja koncentracija ovih metala u krvi, jetri i bubrezima bila znatno povećana. Slično tome toksičnost je ovih metala rasla s porastom količine vitamina D u hrani. Koncentracija olova u krvi, bubrezima, jetri i kostima bila je manja u onih štakora koji su uz olovo u hrani dobivali cink ili kadmij. Štakori koji su u hram imali visoku koncentraciju cinka i kadmija rasli su brže od onih koji su u hrani dobili samo cink, ali su imali niži hemoglobin i manje vrijednosti bakra u bubrezima i jetri, kada se te vrijednosti usporede s onima u štakora koji su dobivah sam cink ili sam kadmij. Smanjenje koncentracije bakra u jetri i bubrezima uz povećanje koncentracije željeza u jetri utvrđeno je u onih štakora koji su hranjeni niskim sadržajem kalcija. Visok sadržaj cinka u hrani imao je za posljedicu značajno povećanje aktivnosti serumske alkalne fosfataze

ASD and PDA closure with CeraTM and CeraFlexTM devices

Introduction and aim: Percutaneous closure of congenital cardiac defects is common practice. The aim of the study was to describe our experience in closing PDAs, PFOs and an ASD using the new CeraTM and CeraFlexTM devices. Methods: Twenty patients were included in this retrospectivereview. All patients underwent device closure with the Cera TM and CeraFlexTM devices. Results: All attempts at device closure were successful (n=20). Indications included PDA (n=16), ASD (n=1) and PFO (n=3). Median age at procedure was: PDA 1y 10mo (4mo - 10y 4mo), ASD 27y and PFO 50y 9mo (38y - 70y). Median weight at procedure was: PDA 10.5kg (4.9kg - 70kg), ASD 56kg and PFO 82.5kg (80kg - 113kg). Periprocedural complications consisted of embolisation of 2 PDA devices, which could be repositioned. Conclusion: The CeraTM and CeraFlexTM devices are effective for closure of PDAs, ASDs and PFOs