286 research outputs found
Our Journey Into Learning Innovation and Competency-Based Education
Short Abstract:
In 2013 a learning innovation incubator began with a question “what might an education addressing next-generation skills look like?” A result was the first competency-based undergraduate program at a main campus of a major university. This talk provides insights into a process involving learning and policy innovation.
Full Abstract:
In 2013 a learning innovation incubator began to consider the question “what might an education addressing next-generation skills look like?” Faculty from technology, mathematics, science, and various disciplines in the humanities met weekly for six months establishing trust with the help of a learning innovation coach using open dialog in areas such as empathy, belonging, and vulnerability.
With the help of experts from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and Olin College, two learning experiences (courses) were created and developed in the spring and summer of 2014. The learning experiences intentionally integrated the humanities with STEM fields using self-awareness and open-ended wicked problems as cornerstones to foster and develop individual student learning and metacognition. A competency-based learning model was adopted to assess student agency and learning in a more holistic way.
Over the next three years a cohort of students navigated requirements for their declared major while participating in these new and evolving learning experiences, and the process of obtaining necessary degree approvals
Will climate change increase the risk of plant invasions into mountains?
Mountain ecosystems have been less adversely affected by invasions of non-native plants than most other ecosystems, partially because most invasive plants in the lowlands are limited by climate and cannot grow under harsher high-elevation conditions. However, with ongoing climate change, invasive species may rapidly move upwards and threaten mid-, and then high-elevation mountain ecosystems. We evaluated this threat by modeling the current and future habitat suitability for 48 invasive plant species in Switzerland and New South Wales, Australia. Both regions had contrasting climate interactions with elevation, resulting in possible different responses of species distributions to climate change. Using a species distribution modeling approach that combines data from two spatial scales, we built high-resolution species distribution models (≤ 250 m) that account for the global climatic niche of species and also finer variables depicting local climate and disturbances. We found that different environmental drivers limit the elevation range of invasive species in each of the two regions, leading to region-specific species responses to climate change. The optimal suitability for plant invaders is predicted to markedly shift from the lowland to the montane or subalpine zone in Switzerland, whereas the upward shift is far less pronounced in New South Wales where montane and subalpine elevations are already suitable. The results suggest that species most likely to invade high elevations in Switzerland will be cold-tolerant, whereas species with an affinity to moist soils are most likely to invade higher elevations in Australia. Other plant traits were only marginally associated with elevation limits. These results demonstrate that a more systematic consideration of future distributions of invasive species is required in conservation plans of not yet invaded mountainous ecosystems
Carbon-Fiber Microelectrodes Modified with 4-Sulfobenzene Have Increased Sensitivity and Selectivity for Catecholamines
Elliptical and cylindrical geometries of carbon-fiber microelectrodes were modified by covalent attachment of 4-sulfobenzenediazonium tetrafluoroborate following its electroreduction. Elliptical electrodes fabricated from Thornel P-55 carbon fibers show the highest amount of 4-sulfobenzene attached to the electrode. Fast-scan cyclic voltammetry was used to compare the response to dopamine and other neurochemicals at these modified carbon-fiber microelectrodes. The grafted layer causes an increased sensitivity to dopamine and other positively charged analytes that is due to increased adsorption of analyte in the grafted layer. However, this layer remains permeable to negatively charged compounds. Modified electrodes retain the increased sensitivity for dopamine during measurements in mouse brain tissue
The DLV System for Knowledge Representation and Reasoning
This paper presents the DLV system, which is widely considered the
state-of-the-art implementation of disjunctive logic programming, and addresses
several aspects. As for problem solving, we provide a formal definition of its
kernel language, function-free disjunctive logic programs (also known as
disjunctive datalog), extended by weak constraints, which are a powerful tool
to express optimization problems. We then illustrate the usage of DLV as a tool
for knowledge representation and reasoning, describing a new declarative
programming methodology which allows one to encode complex problems (up to
-complete problems) in a declarative fashion. On the foundational
side, we provide a detailed analysis of the computational complexity of the
language of DLV, and by deriving new complexity results we chart a complete
picture of the complexity of this language and important fragments thereof.
Furthermore, we illustrate the general architecture of the DLV system which
has been influenced by these results. As for applications, we overview
application front-ends which have been developed on top of DLV to solve
specific knowledge representation tasks, and we briefly describe the main
international projects investigating the potential of the system for industrial
exploitation. Finally, we report about thorough experimentation and
benchmarking, which has been carried out to assess the efficiency of the
system. The experimental results confirm the solidity of DLV and highlight its
potential for emerging application areas like knowledge management and
information integration.Comment: 56 pages, 9 figures, 6 table
Vergleich von Lisinopril und Captopril zur Behandlung der schweren Herzinsuffizienz (NYHA III-IV) bei Hochrisikopatienten. Vorläufige Studienergebnisse (=Comparison of lisinopril and captopril in treatment of severe heart failure (NYHA III-IV) in high risk patients. Preliminary results of the trial)
We present preliminary data of a study comparing captopril, a short acting, with lisinopril, a long acting ACE-inhibitor in 8 of 12 projected patients with severe chronic heart failure (NYHA III-IV) and one additional risk factor (e.g. diabetes mellitus, renal failure). The 8 patients were treated in a cross over design for 12 weeks with either drug. While lisinopril improved NYHA-class in all patients, captopril reached this goal in only 3. Renal function was stable in all patients. Captopril influenced hormones (renin, aldosterone, norepinephrine, epinephrine) and microalbuminuria less than lisinopril. The number of adverse reactions was smaller in lisinopril treated patients. These preliminary data demonstrate at least an equal efficacy of lisinopril compared to captopril in high risk patients with severe chronic heart failure
Cocaine Increases Dopamine Release by Mobilization of a Synapsin-Dependent Reserve Pool
Cocaine primarily exerts its behavioral effects by enhancing dopaminergic neurotransmission, amplifying dopamine-encoded sensorimotor integration. The presumed mechanism for this effect is inhibition of the dopamine transporter, which blocks dopamine uptake and prolongs the duration of dopamine in the extracellular space. However, there is growing evidence that cocaine can also augment dopamine release. Here, we directly monitored the actions of cocaine on dopamine release by using electrochemical detection to measure extracellular dopamine in the striatum of anesthetized mice. Cocaine enhanced the levels of striatal dopamine produced by electrical stimulation of dopaminergic neurons. Even after pretreatment with alpha-methyl-p-tyrosine, which depletes the readily releasable pool of dopamine, cocaine was still capable of elevating dopamine levels. This suggests that cocaine enhances dopamine release by mobilizing a reserve pool of dopamine-containing synaptic vesicles. To test this hypothesis, we examined electrically evoked dopamine release in synapsin I/II/III triple knock-out mice, which have impaired synaptic vesicle reserve pools. Knock-out of synapsins greatly reduced the ability of cocaine to enhance dopamine release with long stimulus trains or after depletion of the newly synthesized pool. We therefore conclude that cocaine enhances dopamine release and does so by mobilizing a synapsin-dependent reserve pool of dopamine-containing synaptic vesicles. This capacity to enhance exocytotic release of dopamine may be important for the psychostimulant actions of cocaine
- …