Putting the classroom to work--a classroom blueprint : how does a classroom environment influence teaching styles and a teacher\u27s well being?

This empirical study is written to call attention to and define the role of the classroom environment as an influential teaching tool. Through observation, interviews, and extensive reference resources, this compilation of work will discuss and assess how the arrangement of a classroom, its furnishings, and its aesthetic climate can influence a teacher\u27s sensibilities, well being, motivation, and teaching style. The result of this research is intended to lead to the development of the classeum blueprint, a workshop series and guide, created for educators kindergarten through fourth grade

The Madison and Indianapolis Railroad

Accustomed as we are today to paved highways, motor cars, steam railways, and airplanes it is difficult for us to picture the conditions of travel and transportation prevailing in Indiana in the early years of the last century. There were no canals, railroads, or pikes. All the streams except the Ohio were seriously obstructed by fallen trees, debris, snags, and sand bars. What wagon roads existed were frequently impassable and practically always bad

Improved left ventricular contractility with cool temperature hemodialysis

Improved left ventricular contractility with cool temperature hemodialysis. Cool temperature dialysis (CTD) has been shown to sharply decrease the frequency of intradialytic hemodialysis hypotension, but the mechanism of this hemodynamic protection is unknown. Therefore, we performed two-dimensional echocardiographic studies of left ventricular contractility in six stable hemodialysis patients before and after hemodialysis at 37°C (RTD) and 35°C (CTD). Left ventricular function was assessed by plotting the rate-corrected velocity of circumferential fiber shortening (Vcfc) against end-systolic wall stress (σes) at four different levels of afterload. Linear regression was used to calculate Vcfc at a common afterload of 50 g/cm2. Changes in weight and dialysis parameters were similar following RTD and CTD. Mean arterial pressure and heart rate did not change significantly following RTD or CTD. The Vcfc – σes relation was shifted upward in each patient after CTD, indicating increased contractility as compared to RTD or pre-dialysis baseline. Pre-dialysis Vcfc at an afterload of 50 g/cm2 was similar during RTD and CTD (0.94 ± 0.24 circ/sec vs. 0.92 ± 0.22 circ/sec). Post-dialysis Vcfc at an afterload of 50 g/cm2 was significantly higher for CTD than for RTD (1.13 ± 0.29 circ/sec vs. 0.98 ± 0.30 circ/sec, P = 0.0004). Thus, cool temperature dialysis increases left ventricular contractility in hemodialysis patients, which may be a potential mechanism whereby hemodynamic tolerance to the dialysis procedure is improved

Best practices in doctoral retention: Mentoring

The aim of this critical literature review is to outline best practices in doctoral retention and the successful approach of one university to improve graduation success by providing effective mentorship for faculty and students alike. The focus of this literature review is on distance learning relationships between faculty and doctoral students, regarding retention, persistence, and mentoring models. Key phrases and words used in the search and focusing on mentoring resulted in over 20,000 sources. The search was narrowed to include only doctoral study and mentoring. Research questions of interest were: Why do high attrition rates exist for doctoral students? What are the barriers to retention? What are the benefits of doctoral mentoring? What programs do institutions have in place to reduce attrition? The researchers found a key factor influencing doctoral student retention and success is effective faculty mentorship. In particular, the design of a mentoring and faculty training program to increase retention and provide for success after graduation is important. This research represents a key area of interest in the retention literature, as institutions continue to search for ways to better support students during their doctoral programs and post-graduation.DOI: 10.18870/hlrc.v4i2.18

3D multi-robot patrolling with a two-level coordination strategy

Teams of UGVs patrolling harsh and complex 3D environments can experience interference and spatial conflicts with one another. Neglecting the occurrence of these events crucially hinders both soundness and reliability of a patrolling process. This work presents a distributed multi-robot patrolling technique, which uses a two-level coordination strategy to minimize and explicitly manage the occurrence of conflicts and interference. The first level guides the agents to single out exclusive target nodes on a topological map. This target selection relies on a shared idleness representation and a coordination mechanism preventing topological conflicts. The second level hosts coordination strategies based on a metric representation of space and is supported by a 3D SLAM system. Here, each robot path planner negotiates spatial conflicts by applying a multi-robot traversability function. Continuous interactions between these two levels ensure coordination and conflicts resolution. Both simulations and real-world experiments are presented to validate the performances of the proposed patrolling strategy in 3D environments. Results show this is a promising solution for managing spatial conflicts and preventing deadlocks

Volcanoes: effusions and explosions. Interactive exhibits to understand how volcanoes work

The Educational & Outreach Group (EOG) of the Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica & Vulcanologia created a portable museum to provide educational opportunities in volcanology, volcanic risk and Earth science for students and visitors. The EOG developed this project for the "Festival della Scienza", organized in Genoa, Italy, in October - November, 2007, which was a parade of over 200 events, including scientific and technological exhibitions, workshops, meetings, lectures, books and video presentations. In this museum visitors can successively see many posters and movies and play with interactive exhibits. A little 3D-movie shows the Big Bang, the formation of Solar System and, in particular the formation of the Earth. Many interactive exhibits illustrate why, where and when earthquakes and volcanic eruptions occur around the world and allow to introduce the visitor to the plate tectonics theory. A 3D magnetic plate tectonic puzzle can be put down and reconstructed by visitors to understand the Earth’s surface configuration. Then two other 3D Earth models show what drives the plates and the inner Earth structure. An interactive program illustrates where and when earthquakes and volcanic eruptions occur in accelerated time on maps of various areas around the world. Playing with a block diagram it is possible to produce an earthquake along a 1 meter long strike slip fault in a destroying all the man-made constructions close to it. A little movie introduces to volcanoes’ world. Two small interactive exhibits allow visitors to understand the mechanism for the explosive and the effusive eruptions. Two other exciting interactive exhibits allow visitors to “create” two different eruptions: the explosive and the effusive ones. It is possible to get inside a volcano (a 2 meter high interactive exhibit) to attend an eruption from the magmatic chamber to the Earth surface. A big hall is completed dedicated to Italian volcanoes (Vesuvio, Campi Flegrei, Etna, Stromboli, Vulcano, Colli Albani); some of them are reproduced with 3D models or described by short movies. The museum finishes with the visit of the volcanic survey hall of Stromboli, seeing - in real time - seismic data, three different webcams, geochemical and strain data. The INGV Museum had remarkably successful, reaching more than 7,500 children and adults yet in 13 days, also thanks to 30 volcanologists as very special guides. The Educational & Outreach Group: M. Pignone, A. Tertulliani, M. De Lucia, M. Di Vito, P. Landi, P. Madonia, M. Martini, R. Nave, M. Neri, P. Scarlato, J. Taddeucci, R. Moschillo, S. Tarquini, G. Vilardo, A. Bonforte, L. Calderone, F. Cannavò, W. De Cesare, P. Ficeli, S. Inguaggiato, M. Mattia, G. Puglisi, S. Morici, D. Reitano, D. Richichi, G. Scarpato, B. Angioni, F. Di Laura, S. Palone, D. Riposati

Psychology and hereditary angioedema: A systematic review

Background: Hereditary angioedema (HAE) is caused by mutations in the C1 inhibitor (C1-INH) gene Serpin Family G Member 1(SERPING1), which results in either the decreased synthesis of normal C1-INH (C1-INH–HAE type I) or expression of unfunctional C1-INH (C1-INH–HAE type II). In recent studies, emotional stress was reported by patients as the most common trigger factor for C1-INH–HAE attacks. Moreover, patients reported considerable distress over the significant variability and uncertainty with which the disease manifests, in addition to the impact of physical symptoms on their overall quality of life. Objective: We did a systematic review of the literature to shed light on the advancements made in the study of how stress and psychological processes impact C1-INH–HAE. Methods: All of the articles on C1-INH–HAE were analyzed up to December 2019. Both medical data bases and psychological data bases were examined. The keywords (KWs) used for searching the medical and psychological data bases were the following: “hereditary angioedema,” “psychology,” “stress,” “anxiety,” and “depression.” Results: Of a total of 2549 articles on C1-INH–HAE, 113 articles were retrieved from the literature search by using the related KWs. Twenty-one of these articles were retrieved, examined, and classified. Conclusion: Although the literature confirmed that stress may induce various physical diseases, it also warned against making simplistic statements about its incidence that did not take into account the complexity and multicausality of factors that contribute to C1-INH–HAE expression

Composição proximal e perfil de ácidos graxos de hambúrgueres de carne de capivara (Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris).

A carne de capivara (Hidrochoerus hydrochaeris) tem se destacado pelo seu potencial de aproveitamento econômico e pela riqueza em ácidos graxos. Estudos da composição físico-química da carne de capivara e aspectos nutricionais ainda são escassos e trabalhos que a caracterizem são raros, diante deste fato, o trabalho teve por objetivo realizar a caracterização físico-química e o perfil de ácidos graxos de hambúrguer de carne de capivara. Os valores encontrados na análise de umidade (77,23 ± 0,31), cinzas (1,24 ± 0,32), proteínas (18,67 ± 0,32) e gorduras (2,90 ± 1,46) foram satisfatórios. Em relação aos ácidos graxos, observa-se que o hambúrguer de capivara é fonte de ácidos graxos monoinsaturados (31,42%) tendo como principal representante deste grupo o ácido oleico (27,43%). Também, o grupo dos ômegas encontra-se em quantidades expressivas no hambúrguer de capivara. Do total de ácidos graxos insaturados presentes 30% são polinsaturados, sendo os principais representantes deste grupo o ácido linoléico (21,34%), o ácido linolênico (7,01%) e o ácido eicosatrienóico (1,83%). A relação entre o total de ácidos graxos saturados (37,77%) e insaturados (62,22%) é plenamente satisfatória. Dessa forma recomenda-se o consumo de hambúrguer de capivara não só por seu sabor peculiar como também pelo elevado valor nutricional em termos de composição proximal e de ácidos graxos insaturados