The abstraction transition taxonomy: developing desired learning outcomes through the lens of situated cognition

We report on a post-hoc analysis of introductory programming lecture materials. The purpose of this analysis is to identify what knowledge and skills we are asking students to acquire, as situated in the activity, tools, and culture of what programmers do and how they think. The specific materials analyzed are the 133 Peer Instruction questions used in lecture to support cognitive apprenticeship -- honoring the situated nature of knowledge. We propose an Abstraction Transition Taxonomy for classifying the kinds of knowing and practices we engage students in as we seek to apprentice them into the programming world. We find students are asked to answer questions expressed using three levels of abstraction: English, CS Speak, and Code. Moreover, many questions involve asking students to transition between levels of abstraction within the context of a computational problem. Finally, by applying our taxonomy in classifying a range of introductory programming exams, we find that summative assessments (including our own) tend to emphasize a small range of the skills fostered in students during the formative/apprenticeship phase

Parallel Mechanism with Large Joint Clearances for Precise Motion

Final report and prototype photo for Project 17 of ME450, Fall 2009 semester.This project aims to build a planar parallel mechanism with three degrees of freedom, whose motion is controlled by linear motors. The platform will be subjected to an external force, and will be indicated by markers that will be used to calculate the accuracy of its motion, by means of a camera. Strain gauges will be integrated on the links, in order to know the forces along them.Yoram Koren (Mechanical Engineering, U of M); ERC-RMS (U of M)http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/86208/1/ME450 Fall2009 Final Report - Project 17 - Parallel Mechanism with Large Joint Clearances for Precise Motion.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/86208/2/ME450 Fall2009 Prototype Photo - Project 17 - Parallel Mechanism with Large Joint Clearances for Precise Motion.jp

Designing Learning Experiences that Enculturate Novices

Expertise in any field is a combination of skill and enculturation. When entering a field, novices gain expertise by developing skills, but more importantly, novices need to become a part of the community. Apprenticeships and mentorships are common methods for modeling learning experiences that combine skill and culture to teach and enculturate novices. However, computer science is a field that is growing so quickly that the apprentice/mentor models have been stunted due to high student-teacher ratios. I hypothesize that we can scale the apprenticeship of novices by integrating enculturation with skills learning. In this dissertation I contribute the design, implementation and evaluation of two learning experiences that integrate skills and enculturation, thus scaling the teaching of novices ranging from 9-years-old to Bachelor's-level into computer science. The first contribution is to a large, Bachelor's- level, in-person course where I use Peer Instruction and Exploratory Homeworks to enrich student learning. The second contribution is CodeSpells, an immersive learning experience that enculturates and teaches children as young as 9 years ol

Obturator Bypass with Bovine Carotid Artery Graft: A Novel Twist to a Traditional Technique

When managing an infected groin, though rarely performed, a transobturator bypass remains an important alternative in the armament of a vascular surgeon. Autologous vein and synthetic PTFE are known conduit options for obturator bypasses, although the advantage of utilizing an autologous biological conduit when dealing with infection may not be an option for every patient. On literature review, bovine carotid grafts have been used in infrainguinal revascularizations with comparable results to autologous vein; however, no cases can be found for its use in obturator bypass thus far

Long-term spatial and temporal microbial community dynamics in a large-scale drinking water distribution system with multiple disinfectant regimes

Long-term spatial-temporal investigations of microbial dynamics in full-scale drinking water distribution systems are scarce. These investigations can reveal the process, infrastructure, and environmental factors that influence the microbial community, offering opportunities to re-think microbial management in drinking water systems. Often, these insights are missed or are unreliable in short-term studies, which are impacted by stochastic variabilities inherent to large full-scale systems. In this two-year study, we investigated the spatial and temporal dynamics of the microbial community in a large, full scale South African drinking water distribution system that uses three successive disinfection strategies (i.e. chlorination, chloramination and hypochlorination). Monthly bulk water samples were collected from the outlet of the treatment plant and from 17 points in the distribution system spanning nearly 150 km and the bacterial community composition was characterised by Illumina MiSeq sequencing of the V4 hypervariable region of the 16S rRNA gene. Like previous studies, Alpha- and Betaproteobacteria dominated the drinking water bacterial communities, with an increase in Betaproteobacteria post-chloramination. In contrast with previous reports, the observed richness, diversity, and evenness of the bacterial communities were higher in the winter months as opposed to the summer months in this study. In addition to temperature effects, the seasonal variations were also likely to be influenced by changes in average water age in the distribution system and corresponding changes in disinfectant residual concentrations. Spatial dynamics of the bacterial communities indicated distance decay, with bacterial communities becoming increasingly dissimilar with increasing distance between sampling locations. These spatial effects dampened the temporal changes in the bulk water community and were the dominant factor when considering the entire distribution system. However, temporal variations were consistently stronger as compared to spatial changes at individual sampling locations and demonstrated seasonality. This study emphasises the need for long-term studies to comprehensively understand the temporal patterns that would otherwise be missed in short-term investigations. Furthermore, systematic long-term investigations are particularly critical towards determining the impact of changes in source water quality, environmental conditions, and process operations on the changes in microbial community composition in the drinking water distribution system.Rand Water, Gauteng, South Africa through the Rand water Chair in Water Microbiology at the University of Pretoria. Sarah Potgieter would also like to acknowledge the National Research Foundation (NRF) for additional funding.http://www.elsevier.com/locate/watres2019-08-01hj2018Microbiology and Plant Patholog

Educational needs of epileptologists regarding psychiatric comorbidities of the epilepsies: a descriptive quantitative survey

Aim. Psychiatric disorders are relatively frequent comorbidities in epilepsy and they have an impact on morbidity, mortality, and quality of life. This is a report from the Task Force on Education of the ILAE Commission on Neuropsychiatry based on a survey about educational needs of epileptologists regarding management of the psychiatric comorbidities of epilepsy. Methods. The Task Force designed a quantitative questionnaire to survey the self-perceived confidence of child and adult epileptologists and psychiatrists in managing major psychiatric comorbidities of epilepsy to identify: (1) critical areas of improvement from a list of skills that are usually considered necessary for effective management of these conditions, and (2) the preferred educational format for improving these skills. Results. A total of 211 respondents from 35 different countries participated in the survey. Confidence and usefulness scores suggest that responders would most value education and training in the management of specific clinical scenarios. Child neurologists identified major Axis I disorders, such as mood and anxiety disorders, while adult neurologists identified attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, intellectual disabilities, and autistic spectrum disorder as key areas. Both adult and child neurologists identified screening skills as the priority. Psychiatrists mainly valued specific training in the management of psychiatric complications of epilepsy surgery or psychiatric adverse events of antiepileptic drugs. Sessions during congresses and face-to-face meetings represent the preferred educational format, while e-learning modules and review papers were chosen by a minority of respondents. Conclusions. Results of this survey identify key areas for improvement in managing the psychiatric comorbidities of epilepsy and suggest specific strategies to develop better training for clinicians involved in epilepsy care.St Georges Univ Hosp NHS Fdn Trust, Atkinson Morley Reg Neurosci Ctr, Blackshaw Rd, London SW17 0QT, EnglandSouth West London & St Georges Mental Hlth Trust, Dept Neuropsychiat, London, EnglandSt Georges Univ London, Inst Med & Biomed Sci, London, EnglandEscola Paulista Med UNIFESP, Dept Neurol & Neurosurg, Sao Paulo, BrazilPirogov Russian Natl Res Med Univ, Healthcare Dept Moscow, Moscow Res & Clin Ctr Neuropsychiat, Moscow, RussiaUniv Miami, Miller Sch Med, Dept Neurol, Comprehens Epilepsy Ctr, Miami, FL 33136 USAEwha Womans Univ, Epilepsy & Sleep Ctr, Dept Neurol, Mogdong Hosp,Sch Med, Seoul, South KoreaEwha Med Res Inst, Seoul, South KoreaIstanbul Univ Cerrahpasa, Med Fac, Dept Neurol, Istanbul, TurkeyFavaloro Univ, Inst Neurosci, Buenos Aires, DF, ArgentinaInst Cognit & Behav Neurol INECO, Buenos Aires, DF, ArgentinaUniv Melbourne, Melbourne Sch Psychol Sci, Melbourne, Vic, AustraliaAustin Hlth, Comprehens Epilepsy Program, Melbourne, Vic, AustraliaUniv Fed Sao Paulo, Escola Paulista Med, Dept Neurol & Neurosurg, Sao Paulo, BrazilWeb of Scienc

The Antiviral Efficacy of Simian Immunodeficiency Virus-Specific CD8(+) T Cells Is Unrelated to Epitope Specificity and Is Abrogated by Viral Escape

CD8(+) T lymphocytes appear to play a role in controlling human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) replication, yet routine immunological assays do not measure the antiviral efficacy of these cells. Furthermore, it has been suggested that CD8(+) T cells that recognize epitopes derived from proteins expressed early in the viral replication cycle can be highly efficient. We used a functional in vitro assay to assess the abilities of different epitope-specific CD8(+) T-cell lines to control simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) replication. We compared the antiviral efficacies of 26 epitope-specific CD8(+) T-cell lines directed against seven SIV epitopes in Tat, Nef, Gag, Env, and Vif that were restricted by either Mamu-A*01 or Mamu-A*02. Suppression of SIV replication varied depending on the epitope specificities of the CD8(+) T cells and was unrelated to whether the targeted epitope was derived from an early or late viral protein. Tat(28-35)SL8- and Gag(181-189)CM9-specific CD8(+) T-cell lines were consistently superior at suppressing viral replication compared to the other five SIV-specific CD8(+) T-cell lines. We also investigated the impact of viral escape on antiviral efficacy by determining if Tat(28-35)SL8- and Gag(181-189)CM9-specific CD8(+) T-cell lines could suppress the replication of an escaped virus. Viral escape abrogated the abilities of Tat(28-35)SL8- and Gag(181-189)CM9-specific CD8(+) T cells to control viral replication. However, gamma interferon (IFN-γ) enzyme-linked immunospot and IFN-γ/tumor necrosis factor alpha intracellular-cytokine-staining assays detected cross-reactive immune responses against the Gag escape variant. Understanding antiviral efficacy and epitope variability, therefore, will be important in selecting candidate epitopes for an HIV vaccine