3D electron density distributions in the solar corona during solar minima: assessment for more realistic solar wind modeling

Knowledge of the electron density distribution in the solar corona put constraints on the magnetic field configurations for coronal modeling and on initial conditions for solar wind modeling. We work with polarized SOHO/LASCO-C2 images from the last two recent minima of solar activity (1996-1997 and 2008-2010), devoid of coronal mass ejections. The goals are to derive the 4D electron density distributions in the corona by applying a newly developed time-dependent tomographic reconstruction method and to compare the results between the two solar minima and with two magnetohydrodynamic models. First, we confirm that the values of the density distribution in thermodynamic models are more realistic than in polytropic ones. The tomography provides more accurate distributions in the polar regions, and we find that the density in tomographic and thermodynamic solutions varies with the solar cycle in both polar and equatorial regions. Second, we find that the highest-density structures do not always correspond to the predicted large-scale heliospheric current sheet or its helmet streamer but can follow the locations of pseudo-streamers. We deduce that tomography offers reliable density distributions in the corona, reproducing the slow time evolution of coronal structures, without prior knowledge of the coronal magnetic field over a full rotation. Finally, we suggest that the highest-density structures show a differential rotation well above the surface depending on how they are magnetically connected to the surface. Such valuable information on the rotation of large-scale structures could help to connect the sources of the solar wind to their in situ counterparts in future missions such as Solar Orbiter and Solar Probe Plus.Comment: 23 pages, 9 figure

Open educational resources (OER) differentiation in Africa (Kenya, Ghana & South Africa)

The presentation addresses the extent of access to and use of, Open Educational Resources (OER) in different areas of Africa and the Global South: what kinds of educational resources are created, re-used, modified and shared? The results of research regarding these questions are presented for discussion at an Open Education conference in Canada

OER use in the Global South: A baseline survey of higher education instructors

The research presented here provides baseline data regarding the use of Open Educational Resources (OER) by higher education instructors in the Global South (South America, Sub-Saharan Africa, and South and Southeast Asia). It does so while attending to how such activity (or inactivity) is differentiated across continental regions and associated countries. The chapter addresses two questions: what proportion of instructors in the Global South have used OER, and which variables may account for different OER usage rates between respondents? This is done by examining which variables – such as gender, age, technological access and digital proficiency – seem to influence OER use rates, thereby allowing the authors to gauge which are the most important for instructors in their respective contexts. This study is based on a quantitative research survey taken by 295 randomly selected instructors at 28 higher education institutions in nine countries (Brazil, Chile, Colombia; Ghana, Kenya, South Africa; India, Indonesia, Malaysia). The 30-question survey addressed the following themes: personal demographics, infrastructure access, institutional environment, instructor attitudes and open licensing. Survey responses were correlated for analysis with respondents’ answers to the key question of the survey: whether they had ever used OER or not. Findings indicate that 51% of respondents have used OER, a rate slightly differentiated by region: 49% in South America, 46% in Sub-Saharan Africa and 56% in South and Southeast Asia. A number of variables were associated with varying levels of OER use rates – such as instructors’ country of habitation (and its gross domestic product per capita), level of digital proficiency, educational qualification, institutional position and attitude to education – while many others were not, such as instructors’ gender, age or perception of their institutions’ OER-related policies

Strategies for feeding the world more sustainably with organic agriculture

The authors are grateful for the inputs from Caterina Batello, Jan Breithaupt, Carlo Cafiero, Marianna Campeanu, Reto Cumani, Rich Conant, Piero Conforti, Marie-Aude Even, Karen Franken, Andreas Gattinger, Pierre Gerber, Frank Hayer, Jippe Hoogeven, Stefan Hörtenhuber, Mathilde Iweins, John Lantham, Robert Mayo, Eric Meili, Soren Moller, Jamie Morrison, Alexander Müller, Noemi Nemes, Monica Petri, Tim Robinson, Nicolas Sagoff, Henning Steinfeld, Francesco Tubiello, Helga Willer, and thank Robert Home for checking the language. KHE gratefully acknowledges funding from ERC-2010-Stg-263522 (LUISE). The input of PS contributes to the DEVIL project (NE/M021327/1), funded under the Belmont Forum / FACCE-JPI. This paper contributes to the Global Land Project (www.globallandproject.org). The authors acknowledge funding for open access publication by the Institute of Environmental Decisions, Federal Institutes of Technology, Zurich.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

How to Tame a Dragon: Scoping Diversity, Inclusion and Equity in the Context of an OER Project

Diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) are almost taken-for-granted concepts in the broader context of open education, and specifically in the context of Open Educational Resources (OER) initiatives, projects and practices. GO-GN, a Global OER Graduate Network, set out to investigate and develop its DEI guidelines. This paper reports on the processes and findings of scoping DEI in the context of GO-GN. It also presents some of the project findings and provide the foundations of GO-GN guidelines for DEI. We then suggest some pointers for other OER practices and practitioners in embracing and foregrounding diversity, inclusion and equity

Differentiation in access to, and the use and sharing of (open) educational resources among students and lecturers at Kenyan universities

The presentation analyzes results derived from surveys of students and lecturers at Kenyan universities. Digital proficiency and connectivity show various patterns of differentiation. Students at the urban universities rate themselves more digitally ‘advanced’ than their colleagues at the rural universities. Lecturers at rural universities score none of them ‘advanced,’ while their urban-based colleagues show a more than 25% ‘advanced’ share. Other findings reveal kind and level of use, re-use, creation, and sharing of open educational resources (OER) and the level of awareness of licensing related to OER

GO-GN Guidelines for Equity Diversity and Inclusion in Open Education with a focus on Africa and Latin America

The GO-GN EDI project has had two phases to date. The first phase (2018-19) focused on EDI practices in open education (OE) in Africa. Nine interviews with key OE experts and practitioners from Africa were conducted. This phase also included a two-day face-to-face workshop in Nairobi, and several dissemination events. Findings from phase 1 informed the initial GO-GN recommendations for EDI and also provided the foundation for phase 2 of the EDI project. Phase 2 of the project started in early 2020. Phase 2 aimed at investigating EDI in OE in Latin America. Although the initial plan for Phase 2 was to mirror the project design elements of Phase 1, this was not possible due to the impact of the Covid-19 global pandemic on researchers, participants and worldwide. Notwithstanding, 12 online interviews with key OE experts across Latin America were conducted, including participants from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Mexico, and Uruguay. Instead of a face-to-face workshop, the team conducted an online workshop with key project participants who had been previously interviewed. Both phases were widely disseminated through conference presentations, webinars and blog posts; phase 2 blog posts were translated into Portuguese and Spanish. The objective of the implementation phase was reoriented to the production of this handbook, which contains a set of GO-GN EDI guidelines in OE based on the experiences of phases 1 and 2 and informed by the relevant literature in the field

Differentiation in Access to, and the Use and Sharing of (Open) Educational Resources among Students and Lecturers at Technical and Comprehensive Ghanaian Universities

This paper is the second in a series of three with a common goal to present a fair OER picture for Sub-Saharan Africa, represented by large-scale studies in three countries: Kenya, Ghana, and South Africa. This paper examines a deliberate selection of four Ghanaian universities with randomly sampled students and lecturers. Distinct questionnaires for students and the lecturers have been used, which generated a response from in total 818 students and 38 lecturers. The major outcomes based on the empirical data are: (i) there is a significant digital differentiation among lecturers and students at technical versus comprehensive universities in terms of their proficiency and internet accessibility; and (ii) the awareness and appreciation of the OER concept and open licensing is low but from the actual variety and types of processing by respondents of educational resources (not necessarily open) there is a preparedness for openness for the future

Contrast Sensitivity and Night Driving in Older People: Quantifying the Relationship Between Visual Acuity, Contrast Sensitivity, and Hazard Detection Distance in a Night-Time Driving Simulator

Purpose(i) To assess how well contrast sensitivity (CS) predicts night-time hazard detection distance (a key component of night driving ability), in normally sighted older drivers, relative to a conventional measure of high contrast visual acuity (VA); (ii) To evaluate whether CS can be accurately quantified within a night driving simulator.Materials and MethodsParticipants were 15 (five female) ophthalmologically healthy adults, aged 55–81 years. CS was measured in a driving simulator using Landolt Cs, presented under static or dynamic driving conditions, and with or without glare. In the dynamic driving conditions, the participant was asked to simultaneously maintain a (virtual) speed of 60 km/h on a country road. In the with glare conditions, two calibrated LED arrays, moved by cable robots, simulated the trajectories and luminance characteristics of the (low beam) headlights of an approaching car. For comparison, CS was also measured clinically (with and without glare) using a Optovist I instrument (Vistec Inc., Olching, Germany). Visual acuity (VA) thresholds were also assessed at high and low contrast using the Freiburg Visual Acuity Test (FrACT) under photopic conditions. As a measure of driving performance, median hazard detection distance (MHDD) was computed, in meters, across three kinds of simulated obstacles of varying contrast.ResultsContrast sensitivity and low contrast VA were both significantly associated with driving performance (both P < 0.01), whereas conventional high contrast acuity was not (P = 0.10). There was good correlation (P < 0.01) between CS measured in the driving simulator and a conventional clinical instrument (Optovist I). As expected, CS was shown to decrease in the presence of glare, in dynamic driving conditions, and as a function of age (all P < 0.01).ConclusionContrast sensitivity and low contrast VA predict night-time hazard detection ability in a manner that conventional high contrast VA does not. Either may therefore provide a useful metric for assessing fitness to drive at night, particularly in older individuals. CS measurements can be made within a driving simulator, and the data are in good agreement with conventional clinical methods (Optovist I)