Asynchronous Online Learning Motivation Experiences for Community College Degree-Seeking Non-Traditional Adult Learners: A Qualitative Study

The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological study is to discover the asynchronous online learning experiences that support learning motivation for community college degree-seeking non-traditional adult learners in the United States. The theoretical framework guiding this study is Knowles’ andragogy adult learning theory. The utilization of Moustakas’ analysis of transcendental phenomenology utilized epoché, or the removal of personal bias, and the focus of Moustakas’ bracketing of the central research question. The central research question is: How do community college degree-seeking non-traditional adult learners experience motivation in the asynchronous online learning environment? The study consisted of 10 degree-seeking non-traditional adult learners who completed an asynchronous online course for degree credit at a community college in the United States. Data collections utilized Moustakas’ data analysis to discover the essence of the phenomena utilizing three data collections: feedback surveys, interviews, and letter-writing. The research data was synthesized using summarized composite descriptions and triangulation

Quantum-size effects on chemisorption properties: CO on Cu ultrathin films

We address, by means of ab-initio calculations, the origin of the correlation that has been observed experimentally between the chemisorption energy of CO on nanoscale Cu(001) supported films and quantum-size effects. The calculated chemisorption energy shows systematic oscillations, as a function of film thickness, with a periodicity corresponding to that of quantum-well states at the surface-Brillouin-zone center crossing the Fermi energy. We explain this trend based on the oscillations, with film thickness, of the decay length on the vacuum side of the quantum-well states at the Fermi energy. Contrary to previous suggestions, we find that the actual oscillations with film thickness of the density of states per atom of the film at the Fermi energy cannot account for the observed trend in the chemisorption energy.Comment: 18 pages, 7 figures. Accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.

Quantifying occupant energy behavior using pattern analysis techniques

Occupant energy behavior is widely agreed upon to have a major influence over the amount of energy used in buildings. Few attempts have been made to quantify this energy behavior, even though vast amounts of end-use data containing useful information lay fallow. This paper describes analysis techniques developed to extract behavioral information from collected residential end-use data. Analysis of the averages, standard deviations and frequency distributions of hourly data can yield important behavioral information. Pattern analysis can be used to group similar daily energy patterns together for a particular end-use or set of end-uses. Resulting pattern groups can then be examined statistically using multinomial logit modeling to find their likelihood of occurrence for a given set of daily conditions. These techniques were tested successfully using end-use data for families living in four heavily instrumented residences. Energy behaviors were analyzed for individual families during each heating season of the study. These behaviors (indoor temperature, ventilation load, water heating, large appliance energy, and miscellaneous outlet energy) capture how occupants directly control the residence. The pattern analysis and multinomial logit model were able to match the occupant behavior correctly 40 to 70% of the time. The steadier behaviors of indoor temperature and ventilation were matched most successfully. Simple changes to capture more detail during pattern analysis can increase accuracy for the more variable behavior patterns. The methods developed here show promise for extracting meaningful and useful information about occupant energy behavior from the stores of existing end-use data

Functional polymorphisms in the P2X7 receptor gene are associated with stress fracture injury

Context: Military recruits and elite athletes are susceptible to stress fracture injuries. Genetic predisposition has been postulated to have a role in their development. The P2X7 receptor (P2X7R) gene, a key regulator of bone remodelling, is a genetic candidate that may contribute to stress fracture predisposition. Objective: To evaluate the putative contribution of P2X7R to stress fracture injury in two separate cohorts, military personnel and elite athletes. Methods: In 210 Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) military conscripts, stress fracture injury was diagnosed (n=43) based on symptoms and a positive bone scan. In a separate cohort of 518 elite athletes, self-reported medical imaging scan-certified stress fracture injuries were recorded (n=125). Non-stress fracture controls were identified from these cohorts who had a normal bone scan or no history or symptoms of stress fracture injury. Study participants were genotyped for functional SNPs within the P2X7R gene using proprietary fluorescence-based competitive allele-specific PCR assay. Pearson Chi-square (χ2) tests, corrected for multiple comparisons, were used to assess associations in genotype frequencies. Results: The variant allele of P2X7R SNP rs3751143 (Glu496Ala- loss of function) was associated with stress fracture injury, while the variant allele of rs1718119 (Ala348Thr- gain of function) was associated with a reduced occurrence of stress fracture injury in military conscripts (P<0.05). The association of the variant allele of rs3751143 with stress fractures was replicated in elite athletes (P<0.05), whereas the variant allele of rs1718119 was also associated with reduced multiple stress fracture cases in elite athletes (P<0.05). Conclusions: The association between independent P2X7R polymorphisms with stress fracture prevalence supports the role of a genetic predisposition in the development of stress fracture injury

Cooling energy savings potential of light-colored roofs for residential and commercial buildings in 11 US metropolitan areas

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) sponsored this project to estimate potential energy and monetary savings resulting from the implementation of light-colored roofs on residential and commercial buildings in major U.S. metropolitan areas. Light-colored roofs reflect more sunlight than dark roofs, so they keep buildings cooler and reduce air-conditioning demand. Typically, rooftops in the United States are dark, and thus there is a potential for saving energy and money by changing to reflective roofs. Naturally, the expected savings are higher in southern, sunny, and cloudless climates. In this study, we make quantitative estimates of reduction in peak power demand and annual cooling electricity use that would result from increasing the reflectivity of the roofs. Since light-colored roofs also reflect heat in the winter, the estimates of annual electricity savings are a net value corrected for the increased wintertime energy use. Savings estimates only include direct reduction in building energy use and do not account for the indirect benefit that would also occur from the reduction in ambient temperature, i.e. a reduction in the heat island effect. This analysis is based on simulations of building energy use, using the DOE-2 building energy simulation program. Our methodology starts with specifying 11 prototypical buildings: single-family residential (old and new), office (old and new), retail store (old and new), school (primary and secondary), health (hospital and nursing home), and grocery store. Most prototypes are simulated with two heating systems: gas furnace and heat pumps. We then perform DOE-2 simulations of the prototypical buildings, with light and dark roofs, in a variety of climates and obtain estimates of the energy use for air conditioning and heating

Impact of the temperature dependency of fiberglass insulation R-value on cooling energy use in buildings

Building energy models usually employ a constant, room-temperature-measured value for the thermal resistance of fiberglass roof insulation. In summer, however, the mean temperature of roof insulation can rise significantly above room temperature, lowering the insulation`s thermal resistance by 10% to 20%. Though the temperature dependence of the thermal resistance of porous materials like fiberglass has been extensively studied, it is difficult to theoretically predict the variation with temperature of a particular fiberglass blanket, from first principles. Heat transfer within fiberglass is complicated by the presence of three significant mechanisms - conduction through air, conduction through the glass matrix, and radiative exchange within the matrix - and a complex, unknown internal geometry. Purely theoretical models of fiberglass heat transfer assume highly simplified matrix structures and require typically-unavailable information about the fiberglass, such as its optical properties. There is also a dearth of useful experimental data. While the thermal resistances of many individual fiberglass samples have been measured, there is only one practical published table of thermal resistance vs. both temperature and density. Data from this table was incorporated in the DOE-2 building energy model. DOE-2 was used to simulate the roof surface temperature, roof heat flux, and cooling energy consumption of a school bungalow whose temperature and energy use had been monitored in 1992. The DOE-2 predictions made with and without temperature variation of thermal conductivity were compared to measured values. Simulations were also run for a typical office building. Annual cooling energy loads and annual peak hourly cooling powers were calculated for the office building using both fixed and variable thermal conductivities, and using five different climates. The decrease in the R-value of the office building`s roof led to a 2% to 4% increase in annual cooling energy load

Demonstration of energy savings of cool roofs

Dark roofs raise the summertime air-conditioning demand of buildings. For highly-absorptive roofs, the difference between the surface and ambient air temperatures can be as high as 90 F, while for highly-reflective roofs with similar insulative properties, the difference is only about 20 F. For this reason, cool roofs are effective in reducing cooling energy use. Several experiments on individual residential buildings in California and Florida show that coating roofs white reduces summertime average daily air-conditioning electricity use from 2--63%. This demonstration project was carried out to address some of the practical issues regarding the implementation of reflective roofs in a few commercial buildings. The authors monitored air-conditioning electricity use, roof surface temperature, plenum, indoor, and outdoor air temperatures, and other environmental variables in three buildings in California: two medical office buildings in Gilroy and Davis and a retail store in San Jose. Coating the roofs of these buildings with a reflective coating increased the roof albedo from an average of 0.20--0.60. The roof surface temperature on hot sunny summer afternoons fell from 175 F--120 F after the coating was applied. Summertime average daily air-conditioning electricity use was reduced by 18% (6.3 kWh/1000ft{sup 2}) in the Davis building, 13% (3.6 kWh/1000ft{sup 2}) in the Gilroy building, and 2% (0.4 kWh/1000ft{sup 2}) in the San Jose store. In each building, a kiosk was installed to display information from the project in order to educate and inform the general public about the environmental and energy-saving benefits of cool roofs. They were designed to explain cool-roof coating theory and to display real-time measurements of weather conditions, roof surface temperature, and air-conditioning electricity use. 55 figs., 15 tabs

EU COST Action CA21130 PRESTO ‘P2X receptors as therapeutic targets’ inaugural meeting report

The inaugural meeting of the EU COST Action CA21130 PRESTO was held in February 2023, at the University of Ferrara, Italy. Our meeting report provides an overview of PRESTO, a tribute to Professor Jim Wiley, overviews of the talk, and a speaker synopsis that discusses the resources, models, equipment, and techniques available in different lab groups throughout Europe, increasing the prospect of collaborative research

High-pitch versus conventional cardiovascular CT in patients being assessed for transcatheter aortic valve implantation: A real-world appraisal

Objective High-pitch protocols are increasingly used in cardiovascular CT assessment for transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI), but the impact on diagnostic image quality is not known. Methods We reviewed 95 consecutive TAVI studies: 44 (46%) high-pitch and 51 (54%) standard-pitch. Single high-pitch scans were performed regardless of heart rate. For standard-pitch acquisitions, a separate CT-aortogram and CT-coronary angiogram were performed with prospective gating, unless heart rate was ≥70 beats/min, when retrospective gating was used. The aortic root and coronary arteries were assessed for artefact (significant artefact=1; artefact not limiting diagnosis=2; no artefact=3). Aortic scans were considered diagnostic if the score was > 1; the coronaries, if all three epicardial arteries scored > 1. Results There was no significant difference in diagnostic image quality for either the aorta (artefact-free high-pitch: 31 (73%) scans vs standard-pitch: 40 (79%), p=0.340) or the coronary tree as a whole (10 (23%) vs 15 (29%), p=0.493). However, proximal coronary arteries were less well visualised using high-pitch acquisitions (16 (36%) vs 30 (59%), p=0.04). The median (IQR) radiation dose was significantly lower in the high-pitch cohort (dose-length product: 347 (318-476) vs 1227 (1150-1474) mGy cm, respectively, p < 0.001), and the protocol required almost half the amount of contrast. Conclusions The high-pitch protocol significantly reduces radiation and contrast doses and is non-inferior to standard-pitch acquisitions for aortic assessment. For aortic root assessment, the high-pitch protocol is recommended. However, if coronary assessment is critical, this should be followed by a conventional standard-pitch, low-dose, prospectively gated CT-coronary angiogram if the high-pitch scan is non-diagnostic