Maximizing Student Learning Through the Creation of a Positive Classroom Environment

The ERAU Extended Campus has short academic terms, a multimodal delivery system, a highly mobile student body, and some 3,000 faculty teaching. They face a more challenging task of creating a positive classroom environment than most traditional universities and programs. The researchers sought to both assess the presence of a positive learning environment and to bridge the gap between the present EC classrooms and a world class learning environment. Five graduate and three undergraduate classes at six locations in three states in ERAU Southwest Region were sampled using a researcher-designed survey. Fifty-three respondents indicated that Embry-Riddle\u27s Extended Campus is providing them a very positive learning environment, identified best-practices desired in the classroom environment, and offered constructive criticism. The researchers recommended that the ERAU EC Center for Teaching and Learning Effectiveness create a positive learning environment module based on this research for dissemination to all Extended Campus faculty

Everyday grace : the effects of Holy Eucharist in the everyday lives of Anglicans in the Diocese of Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island

1 online resource (37 pages)Includes abstract and appendices.Includes bibliographical references (pages 25-26)."Graduate Project""Everyday Grace: The Effects of Holy Eucharist in the Everyday Lives of Anglicans in the Diocese of Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island" is a Phenomenological Qualitative study. The researcher interviewed Anglicans in the Diocese of NS and PEI to investigate if the Holy Eucharist effects every day life. Results indicate that Eucharist effects lives of those who receive it. Eucharist's tangibility places those who receive it within the story of God in the world. Findings show that receiving Eucharist also leads to healthier, fuller life physically and spiritually. It improves relationships between the receiver, the world and God. The lived effects of receiving Eucharist have implications for the church as the Body of Christ as it considers the availability and frequency of the Holy Eucharist. It has implications for the renewal of weekly worship. It has implications for individual members of Christ's Body. When participating regularly and receiving, those that do live out sacramental theology in everyday life

Characterization of the Β-Methylaspartate-Α-decarboxylase (CrpG) from the Cryptophycin Biosynthetic Pathway

No AbstractPeer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/56158/1/1373_ftp.pd

Functional Analysis of Two Novel DNA Repair Factors, Metnase and Pso4

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI)Metnase is a novel bifunctional protein that contains a SET domain and a transposase domain. Metnase contains sequence-specific DNA binding activity and sequence non-specific DNA cleavage activity, as well as enhances genomic integration of exogenous DNA. Although Metnase can bind specifically to DNA sequences containing a core Terminal Inverted Repeat sequence, this does not explain how the protein could function at sites of DNA damage. Through immunoprecipitation and gel shift assays, I have identified the Pso4 protein as a binding partner of Metnase both in vitro and in vivo. Pso4 is essential for cell survival in yeast, and cells containing a mutation in Pso4 show increased sensitivity to DNA cross-linking agents. In addition, the protein has sequence-independent DNA binding activity, favoring double-stranded DNA over single-stranded DNA. I demonstrated that the two proteins form a 1:1 stochiometric complex, and once formed, Metnase can localize to DNA damage foci as shown by knockdown of Pso4 protein using in vivo immunofluorescence. In conclusion, this shows that Metnase plays an indispensable role in DNA end joining, possibly through its cleavage activity and association with DNA Ligase IV

Active matrix electroluminescent device power considerations

An active-matrix electroluminescent (AMEL) design tool has been developed for the simulation of AMEL display devices. The AMEL design tool is a software package that simulates AMEL device operation using a lumped parameter circuit model. The lumped parameter circuit model is developed primarily to address AMEL power dissipation issues. The AMEL design tool provides a user-friendly approach for investigating the AMEL display device through the AMEL lumped parameter circuit model. The AMEL design tool is programmed in C with a standard Microsoft Windows interface. Three techniques for power reduction have been identified and investigated: increasing the high voltage NDMOS transistor breakdown voltage, parasitic capacitance optimization, and development of a low voltage phosphor

CIAT research on mechanisms for low P tolerance in bean

Memorias del taller internacional sobre Bajo Fósforo en el cultivo del frijol, 13 al 15 de noviembre de 1995. Compilación y edición de Rodolfo Araya Villalobos.Investigaciones efectuadas en el CIAT sobre fuentes de mecanismos de tolerancia a bajo fósforo en frijol común. El fósforo (P) es el nutrimento más limitante para la producción de frijol en los trópicos y subtrópicos. Mientras que la fertilización con P es una solución obvia, en los paises en desarrollo los cultivadores de frijol generalmente carecen de los recursos para invertir en fertilización. El frijol tambien contribuye ala sostenibilidad del sistema de cultivo a través de su capacidad para realizar la fijación biológica de N2, un proceso el cual requiere P adicional en la planta para poder funcionar. Los genotipos que obtienen y usan el P limitante más eficientemente, podrian porlo tanto mejorary estabilizar la producción en los suelos marginales de baja fertilidad que caracterizan la mayoría de las áreas de cultivo del frijol. Por estas razones, un programa de investigación de los mecanismos potenciales del frijol para la tolerancia a bajo P fue realizado en CIAT. Los ensayos de campo conducidos en alfisoles con bajo P en dos sitios indican que dos diferentes mecanismos parecen estaroperando en el germoplasma (23 cvs) probado. Algunos cultivares tienen una clara ventaja en la extracción de P, sin embargo la eficiencia de extracción estuvo pobremente relacionada con la masa radicular. Otros cultivares tuvieron una mayor capacidad para usar eficientemente el P para producir semilla. Los cultivares más tolerantes combinaron estos dos mecanismos en alguna proporción. El trabajo futuro se enfocará al entendimiento de estos mecanismos con vista a determinar su heredabilidad e identificación de los correspondientes marcadores moleculares para facilitar la incorporación de los genes responsables en programas de mejoramiento.CIAT research on mechanisms for low P tolerance in bean. Phosphorus (P) is the most limiting nutrient for bean production in the tropics and subtropics. While P fertilization is an obvious solution, developing country bean growers generally lack the resources to invest in fertilization. Beans also contribute to cropping system sustainability through their ability for biological N2 fixation, a process which requires additional plant P in order to function. Genotypes that obtain and use limiting P more efficiently would there fore improve and stabilize production in the marginal low fertility soils that characterize the majority of bean cropping areas. For these reasons, a program of investigation into potential mechanisms of low P tolerance in common bean was undertaken at CIAT. Field trials conducted in low-P alfisols at two sites indicate that two distinct mechanisms appearto be operating in the range of germplasm (23 cvs) tested. Some cultivars had a clear advantage in P uptake, although P uptake efficiency was poorly related to root mass. Other cultivars had a greater capacity for efficient use of P to produce seed. The most low P tolerant cultivars combined these two mechanisms to some extent. Future work will focus on understanding of these mechanisms with a view to determining their heritability and identifying the correspondent molecular markers to better enable incorporation of the responsible genes into breeding programs.Programa Cooperativo Regional de Frijol para Centroamérica, México y el Caribe (PROFRIJOL)Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (CIAT)Universidad de Costa Rica (UCR)Oficina de Publicaciones de la Universidad de Costa RicaUCR::Vicerrectoría de Investigación::Unidades de Investigación::Ciencias Agroalimentarias::Estación Experimental Agrícola Fabio Baudrit Moreno (EEAFBM

Where’s the risk? Landscape epidemiology of gastrointestinal parasitism in Alberta beef cattle

Sherpa Romeo green journal; open accessBackground: Gastrointenstinal nematodes (GIN) present a serious challenge to the health and productivity of grazing stock around the globe. However, the epidemiology of GIN transmission remains poorly understood in northern climates. Combining use of serological diagnostics, GIS mapping technology, and geospatial statistics, we evaluated ecological covariates of spatial and temporal variability in GIN transmission among bovine calves pastured in Alberta, Canada. Methods: Sera were collected from 1000 beef calves across Alberta, Canada over three consecutive years (2008–2010) and analyzed for presence of anti-GIN antibodies using the SVANOVIR Ostertagia osteragi-Ab ELISA kit. Using a GIS and Bayesian multivariate spatial statistics, we evaluated the degree to which variation in specific environmental covariates (e.g. moisture, humidity, temperature) was associated with variation in spatial and temporal heterogeneity in exposure to GIN (Nematodirus and other trichostrongyles, primarily Ostertagia and Cooperia). Results: Variation in growing degree days above a base temperature of 5 °C, humidity, air temperature, and accumulated precipitation were found to be significant predictors of broad–scale spatial and temporal variation in serum antibody concentrations. Risk model projections identified that while transmission in cattle from southeastern and northwestern Alberta was relatively low in all years, rate of GIN transmission was generally higher in the central region of Alberta. Conclusions: The spatial variability in risk is attributed to higher average humidity, precipitation and moderate temperatures in the central region of Alberta in comparison with the hot, dry southeastern corner of the province and the cool, dry northwestern corner. Although more targeted sampling is needed to improve model accuracy, our projections represent an important step towards tying treatment recommendations to actual risk of infection.Ye

A "superstorm": When moral panic and new risk discourses converge in the media

This is an Author's Accepted Manuscript of an article published in Health, Risk and Society, 15(6), 681-698, 2013, copyright Taylor & Francis, available online at: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/13698575.2013.851180.There has been a proliferation of risk discourses in recent decades but studies of these have been polarised, drawing either on moral panic or new risk frameworks to analyse journalistic discourses. This article opens the theoretical possibility that the two may co-exist and converge in the same scare. I do this by bringing together more recent developments in moral panic thesis, with new risk theory and the concept of media logic. I then apply this theoretical approach to an empirical analysis of how and with what consequences moral panic and new risk type discourses converged in the editorials of four newspaper campaigns against GM food policy in Britain in the late 1990s. The article analyses 112 editorials published between January 1998 and December 2000, supplemented with news stories where these were needed for contextual clarity. This analysis shows that not only did this novel food generate intense media and public reactions; these developed in the absence of the type of concrete details journalists usually look for in risk stories. Media logic is important in understanding how journalists were able to engage and hence how a major scare could be constructed around convergent moral panic and new risk type discourses. The result was a media ‘superstorm’ of sustained coverage in which both types of discourse converged in highly emotive mutually reinforcing ways that resonated in a highly sensitised context. The consequence was acute anxiety, social volatility and the potential for the disruption of policy and social change