Using interactive read-alouds to support students\u27 comprehension

This research project reviews literature on the impact interactive read-alouds have on lower elementary students\u27 comprehension. The studies that were researched focused on how students benefited from interactive read-alouds and how teachers prepared and conducted interactive read-alouds. The project focused on providing model lessons to be used in an interactive read-aloud. Each model lesson consists of introduction to the comprehension strategy being taught, teacher dialogue with students participating in tum and talks throughout the interactive read-aloud and a reflection time for the teacher and students to reflect on the story and how applying the comprehension strategy helped them

ARC-ED Curriculum: The Application of Video Game Formats to Educational Software

This is the publisher's version, also found at: http://sped.org/This article explores the applicability of video arcade game formats to educational microcomputer software. Four variables are discussed as being potentially important to the motivational appeal of video arcade games and several established educational practices are examined in relation to the motivational features of arcade games. Also, guidelines for educational curriculum based on arcade game formats are proposed and the term Arc-Ed Curriculum is offered to describe such software. The content for this article is based on established learning theory and the authors1 experience in the development and field testing of six math games based on video game formats

Navier-Stokes and potential theory solutions for ahelicopter fuselage and comparison with experiment

A thin-layer Navier-Stokes code and a panel method code are used to predict the flow over a generic helicopter fuselage. The computational results are compared with pressure data at four experimental conditions. Both methods produce results that agree with the experimental pressure data. However, separation patterns and other viscous flow features from the Navier-Stokes code solution are shown that cannot be easily modeled with the panel method

Effects of Pacing When Using Material Handling Manipulators

Common manipulator-assisted materials handling tasks were performed in a laboratory simulation at self-selected and faster (paced) speeds. The effects of pacing on peak hand forces, torso kinematics, spine moments and forces, and muscle antagonism were determined, along with any influences of several task variables on these effects. The faster trials were performed 20% more rapidly than the self-paced trials. It was found that (a) achieving this level of performance required 10% higher hand forces and 5%-10% higher torso moments, (b) consistent torso postures and motions were used for both speed conditions, and (c) the faster trials resulted in 10% higher spine forces and 15% higher levels of lumbar muscle antagonism. On whole, these results suggest a higher risk of musculoskeletal injury associated with performance of object transfers at faster than self-selected speeds with and without a manipulator. Further analysis provided evidence that the use of manipulators involves higher levels of motor coordination than do manual tasks. Several implications regarding the use of material handling manipulators in paced operations are discussed. Results from this investigation can be used in the design, evaluation, and selection of material handling manipulators.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/67067/2/10.1518_001872099779591240.pd

Fatigue evaluation in maintenance and assembly operations by digital human simulation

Virtual human techniques have been used a lot in industrial design in order to consider human factors and ergonomics as early as possible. The physical status (the physical capacity of virtual human) has been mostly treated as invariable in the current available human simulation tools, while indeed the physical capacity varies along time in an operation and the change of the physical capacity depends on the history of the work as well. Virtual Human Status is proposed in this paper in order to assess the difficulty of manual handling operations, especially from the physical perspective. The decrease of the physical capacity before and after an operation is used as an index to indicate the work difficulty. The reduction of physical strength is simulated in a theoretical approach on the basis of a fatigue model in which fatigue resistances of different muscle groups were regressed from 24 existing maximum endurance time (MET) models. A framework based on digital human modeling technique is established to realize the comparison of physical status. An assembly case in airplane assembly is simulated and analyzed under the framework. The endurance time and the decrease of the joint moment strengths are simulated. The experimental result in simulated operations under laboratory conditions confirms the feasibility of the theoretical approach

Nonthermal hydrogen loss at Mars: Contributions of photochemical mechanisms to escape and identification of key processes

Hydrogen loss to space is a key control on the evolution of the Martian atmosphere and the desiccation of the red planet. Thermal escape is thought to be the dominant loss process, but both forward modeling studies and remote sensing observations have indicated the presence of a second, higher-temperature "nonthermal" or "hot" hydrogen component, some fraction of which also escapes. Exothermic reactions and charge/momentum exchange processes produce hydrogen atoms with energy above the escape energy, but H loss via many of these mechanisms has never been studied, and the relative importance of thermal and nonthermal escape at Mars remains uncertain. Here we estimate hydrogen escape fluxes via 47 mechanisms, using newly-developed escape probability profiles. We find that HCO$^+$ dissociative recombination is the most important of the mechanisms, accounting for 30-50% of the nonthermal escape. The reaction CO$_2^+$ + H$_2$ is also important, producing roughly as much escaping H as momentum exchange between hot O and H. Total nonthermal escape from the mechanisms considered amounts to 39% (27%) of thermal escape, for low (high) solar activity. Our escape probability profiles are applicable to any thermospheric hot H production mechanism and can be used to explore seasonal and longer-term variations, allowing for a deeper understanding of desiccation drivers over various timescales. We highlight the most important mechanisms and suggest that some may be important at Venus, where nonthermal escape dominates and much of the literature centers on charge exchange reactions, which do not result in significant escape in this study.Comment: 47 pages, 4 figures, 3 tables. Accepted manuscript. An edited version of this paper was published by AG

The effect of a lumbopelvic compression belt on load transfer during the active straight leg test: A proof of concept study using ultrasound imaging

INTRODUCTION: The active straight leg raise (ASLR) test assesses load transfer through the pelvis. During the ASLR, intraabdominal pressure (IAP) rises, increasing the load on the lumbopelvic region. Several studies have shown a correlation between the magnitude of bladder base displacement (BBD) during the ASLR and lumbopelvic instability. Additionally, greater depression of the bladder and pelvic floor muscles is associated with motor control impairments associated with form and force closure. Pelvic stability belts are a common therapeutic intervention for individuals who report pelvic girdle pain. Their mechanism of action is to improve form closure and assist force closure and motor control. Impaired form and force closure mechanisms through the lumbopelvic area are associated poor load transfer, low back pain, sacroiliac pain, stress urinary incontinence and chronic pelvic pain. OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to observe and determine the impact of the ASLR test with and without a Serola lumbopelvic belt on BBD and participant self-reported level of difficulty score. METHODS: A convenience sample of fifteen physical therapy students (mean age 25 years) who were previously identified as having lumbopelvic instability were recruited for this study. PCOM\u27s institutional review board approved the study, and each participant provided informed consent. All participants completed a bladder filling protocol via natural diuresis to standardize bladder volumes to allow for bladder and pelvic floor delineation on ultrasound imaging. A Clarius C3 curvilinear wireless ultrasound unit was used for image acquisition with images displayed on an IPAD. The ultrasound transducer was placed suprapublically on the lower abdomen, oriented transversely, and manipulated until a clear image of the bladder base was apparent. A standard script was read to each participant to standardize testing. The magnitude of BBD was captured with cine loops across two testing conditions: the ASLR test without a lumbopelvic belt which was repeated with the participant wearing a belt. Participants also self-reported the level of difficulty for each testing condition. Participants were fitted with the lumbopelvic belt according to manufacturer’s recommendation. The belt tension was standardized using a manometer set to 20mmHG placed between the belt\u27s anterior aspect and the participant\u27s lower abdomen. On-screen calipers identified the lateral and medial aspects of the bladder base. All images were saved for post hoc analysis to determine the magnitude and direction of BBD between both testing conditions. RESULTS: Descriptive statistics will be reported, and a repeated measures ANOVA will be completed to determine whether there is a statistically significant difference between the means with the level of significance set at p=.05. CONCLUSION: TB

Shoulder postural fatigue and discomfort : A preliminary finding of no relationship with isometric strength capability in a light-weight manual assembly task

Does greater strength capacity in the shoulder-complex afford increased protection against regionalized fatigue and discomfort induced by sustained awkward arm postures in light-weight manual assembly environments? This question was addressed by testing the relationship between differences in shoulder complex strength capacity, produced by variations in arm posture within a subject, and among subjects assuming equivalent arm postures, and severity of fatigue and discomfort sensed during a low-exertion manual performance task. Experimental findings showed that: (a) awkward arm postures produced substantial and rapid onset of postural fatigue and discomfort during a light-weight manual performance task where strength demands were low (i.e., less than 15 percent of maximum voluntary contraction (MVC)), (b) variations in strength capability found among arm postures within an individual subject, or 3mong subjects assuming the same arm posture, did not affect onset of substantial fatigue or discomfort when hands are postured near or above shoulder level, and (c) postures which simply appeared to be awkward, or which compromised strength capacity (e.g., working with the arm to the side of the body, or aligned in the coronal plane), did not necessarily increase discomfort of fatigue. Our findings suggest caution against sole reliance upon population or individual worker upper-extremity strength capabilities as predictors of fatigue and discomfort in the shoulder complex when manual exertions are small (e.g., light-weight manual assembly activities involving small parts or small hand-tools) and hands are postured at or above shoulder level.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/28697/1/0000517.pd

Radioisotopes and the Age of the Earth

RATE is an acronym applied to a research project investigating radioisotope dating sponsored by the Institute for Creation Research and the Creation Research Society. It stands for Radioisotopes and the Age of The Earth. This article summarizes the purpose, history, and intermediate findings of the RATE project five years into an eight-year effort. It reports on the latest status of the research on helium diffusion through minerals in granitic rock, accelerated nuclear decay theory, radiohalos, isochron discordance studies, case studies in rock dating, and carbon-14 in deep geologic strata. Each of the RATE scientists will present separate technical papers at the Fifth International Conference on Creationism on the details of this research