Drawings as Diagnostic Cues for Metacomprehension Judgment

The accuracy of comprehension monitoring affects the effectiveness of rereading, which in turn affects comprehension. Thus, much research has focused on finding ways to improve monitoring accuracy. The cue-utilization framework of metacognitive monitoring provides a framework for understanding how to improve monitoring accuracy. It suggests that accuracy is driven by cues people use to judge comprehension. When people utilize cues that are highly diagnostic of performance on a test of comprehension, accuracy should improve. Many interventions that have been shown to improve monitoring accuracy have attributed the improved accuracy to increased access to highly diagnostic cues, but have failed to identify highly diagnostic cues. In our recent research, we found that instructing students to generate drawings before judging comprehension improved monitoring accuracy. Using graphic analyses protocol, we identified highly diagnostic cues. In this chapter, we will describe the procedure we used to identify these cues contained in drawings

Exploring Differences In Decisions About Exams Among Instructors Of The Same Introductory Biology Course

College instructors in the United States usually make their own decisions about how to design course exams. Even though summative course exams are well known to be important to student success, we know little about the decision making of instructors when designing course exams. To probe how instructors design exams for introductory biology, we conducted an exploratory interview study with seven instructors teaching the same introductory biology course at a large university. We found that despite designing exams for the same course, instructor exam decisions differed with regard to what content was assessed, the exam format, the cognitive difficulty of exam questions, the resources used when crafting exams, and how exams were administered. We hope that this work can initiate conversations about how college instructors should design exams and lead to more uniformity in how student learning is assessed across the same courses taught by different instructors

The Circumnuclear Star Formation Environment of NGC 6946: Br γ and H_2 Results from Keck Integral Field Spectroscopy

We present a 3-dimensional data cube of the K band continuum and the Brγ, H_2 S(0) and S(1)lines within the central 18.”5 x 13.”8 (520 pc x 390 pc) region of NGC6946. Data were obtained using OSIRIS, a near-infrared Integral Field Unit at Keck Observatory, with Laser Guide Star Adaptive Optics. The 0."3 resolution allows us to investigate the stellar bulge and the forming star clusters in the nuclear region on 10 pc scales. We detect giant H II regions associated with massive young star clusters in the nuclear spiral/ring (R~30 pc) and in the principal shocks along the nuclear bar. Comparisons of the Br γ fluxes with Pa α line emission and radio continuum indicate A_K ~ 3, A_V ~ 25 for the nuclear star forming regions. The most luminous H II regions are restricted to within 70 pc of the center, despite the presence of high gas columns at larger radii (R~200 pc). H_2 emission is restricted to clouds within R~60 pc of the center, and in this sense resembles the distribution of the HCN line emission. We propose that gas-assisted migration of the young star clusters is contributing to the buildup of the nuclear bar and nuclear star cluster (R<30 pc) in this galaxy

Gender Specific Disruptions in Emotion Processing in Younger Adults with Depression

Background: One of the principal theories regarding the biological basis of major depressive disorder (MDD) implicates a dysregulation of emotion-processing circuitry. Gender differences in how emotions are processed and relative experience with emotion processing might help to explain some of the disparities in the prevalence of MDD between women and men. This study sought to explore how gender and depression status relate to emotion processing. Methods: This study employed a 2 (MDD status) × 2 (gender) factorial design to explore differences in classifications of posed facial emotional expressions (N=151). Results: For errors, there was an interaction between gender and depression status. Women with MDD made more errors than did nondepressed women and men with MDD, particularly for fearful and sad stimuli (Ps Ps P=.01). Men with MDD, conversely, performed similarly to control men (P=.61). Conclusions: These results provide novel and intriguing evidence that depression in younger adults (years) differentially disrupts emotion processing in women as compared to men. This interaction could be driven by neurobiological and social learning mechanisms, or interactions between them, and may underlie differences in the prevalence of depression in women and men. Depression and Anxiety, 2009. Published 2008 Wiley-Liss, Inc

Submillimetre observations of WISE-selected high-redshift, luminous, dusty galaxies

We present SCUBA-2 850um submillimetre (submm) observations of the fields of 10 dusty, luminous galaxies at z ~ 1.7 - 4.6, detected at 12um and/or 22um by the WISE all-sky survey, but faint or undetected at 3.4um and 4.6um; dubbed hot, dust-obscured galaxies (Hot DOGs). The six detected targets all have total infrared luminosities greater than 10^13 L_sun, with one greater than 10^14 L_sun. Their spectral energy distributions (SEDs) are very blue from mid-infrared to submm wavelengths and not well fitted by standard AGN SED templates, without adding extra dust extinction to fit the WISE 3.4um and 4.6um data. The SCUBA-2 850um observations confirm that the Hot DOGs have less cold and/or more warm dust emission than standard AGN templates, and limit an underlying extended spiral or ULIRG-type galaxy to contribute less than about 2% or 55% of the typical total Hot DOG IR luminosity, respectively. The two most distant and luminous targets have similar observed submm to mid-infrared ratios to the rest, and thus appear to have even hotter SEDs. The number of serendipitous submm galaxies (SMGs) detected in the 1.5-arcmin-radius SCUBA-2 850um maps indicates there is a significant over-density of serendipitous sources around Hot DOGs. These submm observations confirm that the WISE-selected ultra-luminous galaxies have very blue mid-infrared to submm SEDs, suggesting that they contain very powerful AGN, and are apparently located in unusual arcmin-scale overdensities of very luminous dusty galaxies.Comment: 12 pages, 8 figures, 3 tables, accepted for publication in MNRA

A New Population of High-z, Dusty Lyα Emitters and Blobs Discovered by WISE: Feedback Caught in the Act?

By combining data from the NASA Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) mission with optical spectroscopy from the W. M. Keck telescope, we discover a mid-IR color criterion that yields a 78% success rate in identifying rare, typically radio-quiet, 1.6 ≾ z ≾ 4.6 dusty Lyα emitters (LAEs). Of these, at least 37% have emission extended on scales of 30-100 kpc and are considered Lyα "blobs" (LABs). The objects have a surface density of only ~0.1 deg^(–2), making them rare enough that they have been largely missed in deep, small area surveys. We measured spectroscopic redshifts for 92 of these galaxies, and find that the LAEs (LABs) have a median redshift of 2.3 (2.5). The WISE photometry coupled with data from Herschel (Herschel is an ESA space observatory with science instruments provided by European-led Principal Investigator consortia and with important participation from NASA) reveals that these galaxies are in the Hyper Luminous IR galaxy regime (L IR ≳ 10^(13)-10^(14) L_☉) and have warm colors. They are typically more luminous and warmer than other dusty, z ~ 2 populations such as submillimeter-selected galaxies and dust-obscured galaxies. These traits are commonly associated with the dust being illuminated by intense active galactic nucleus activity. We hypothesize that the combination of spatially extended Lyα, large amounts of warm IR-luminous dust, and rarity (implying a short-lived phase) can be explained if the galaxies are undergoing brief, intense "feedback" transforming them from an extreme dusty starburst/QSO into a mature galaxy

Delivery of urethral sphincter botulinum toxin injections for treating urinary retention during the COVID19 pandemic

Aims: Urethral sphincter botulinum toxin injections is an alternative treatment for urinary retention in women with Fowler’s syndrome and when access to health services were curtailed during the Covid19 pandemic, we continued to offer treatment to prevent increased demand on catheter services due to a recurrence of urinary retention. We describe our experience delivering safe and timely treatment during this period of lockdowns and restricted access to healthcare. // Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the records of all women with Fowler’s syndrome treated with transperineal urethral sphincter botulinum toxin injection between 23rd March 2020 and 31st December 2021 in a tertiary university hospital and clinical outcomes were recorded. // Results: 15 women (mean age 35.6 ± 10.1 years) received 100U OnabotulinumtoxinA injected into the external urethral sphincter as an out-patient procedure adopting hospital infection control guidelines. 41 injections were administered in total, and 8 (53%) patients received more than 1 injection (median 2 injections/patient, median inter-injection interval 108.5 days). 10 (66.7%) patients reported improvements in urinary symptoms across 31/41 (75.6%) of injections. Side effects were reported after 21.4% of injections which were mild and transient. No patients developed Covid19 within 4 weeks of the hospital visit. // Conclusion: Real-world data shows that transperineal urethral sphincter botulinum toxin injections could be continued safely and effectively during the Covid19 pandemic. This essential outpatient service played an important role in treatment and quality of life for women with Fowler’s syndrome, and avoided an additional burden on the NHS at the time of a health crisis

Mid-infrared Selection of Active Galactic Nuclei with the Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer. I. Characterizing WISE-selected Active Galactic Nuclei in COSMOS

The Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) is an extremely capable and efficient black hole finder. We present a simple mid-infrared color criterion, W1 – W2 ≥ 0.8 (i.e., [3.4]–[4.6] ≥0.8, Vega), which identifies 61.9 ± 5.4 active galactic nucleus (AGN) candidates per deg^2 to a depth of W2 ~ 15.0. This implies a much larger census of luminous AGNs than found by typical wide-area surveys, attributable to the fact that mid-infrared selection identifies both unobscured (type 1) and obscured (type 2) AGNs. Optical and soft X-ray surveys alone are highly biased toward only unobscured AGNs, while this simple WISE selection likely identifies even heavily obscured, Compton-thick AGNs. Using deep, public data in the COSMOS field, we explore the properties of WISE-selected AGN candidates. At the mid-infrared depth considered, 160 μJy at 4.6 μm, this simple criterion identifies 78% of Spitzer mid-infrared AGN candidates according to the criteria of Stern et al. and the reliability is 95%. We explore the demographics, multiwavelength properties and redshift distribution of WISE-selected AGN candidates in the COSMOS field