Describing results of 4000 hours of multi environment model verification test Final report

Investigating categorization and formulation of stress and strength factors for semiconductor diodes to provide improved failure rate prediction from mathematical model

Parasite excretory-secretory products and their effects on metabolic syndrome

Obesity, one of the main causes of metabolic syndrome (MetS), is an increasingly common health and economic problem worldwide, and one of the major risk factors for developing type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Chronic, low-grade inflammation is associated with MetS and obesity. A dominant type 2/anti-inflammatory response is required for metabolic homeostasis within adipose tissue: during obesity, this response is replaced by infiltrating, inflammatory macrophages and T cells. Helminths and certain protozoan parasites are able to manipulate the host immune response towards a TH2 immune phenotype that is beneficial for their survival and there is emerging data that there is an inverse correlation between the incidence of MetS and helminth infections, suggesting that, as with autoimmune and allergic diseases, helminths may play a protective role against MetS disease. Within this review, we will focus primarily on the excretory-secretory products that the parasites produce to modulate the immune system and discuss their potential use as therapeutics against MetS and its associated pathologies

Monitoring of Compliance in Western Australian Conservation Contracts

Contracting with private landholders for labor towards production of environmental services (payment for actions) or the environmental services themselves (payment for outcomes) is reliant on the environmental organization’s ability to monitor and assess the environmental outcomes provided. Inaccurate and costly assessment reduces the cost effectiveness of the contract. Different assessment technologies will have different impacts on the cost effectiveness and optimal contracting choice of the environmental organization. The paper compares the influence of field assessment by a local expert, and remote assessment via satellite imagery, on the optimal contracting decision for the Western Australian wheat belt.conservation, environmental, compliance, monitoring, enforcement, environmental regulation, Crop Production/Industries, Environmental Economics and Policy,

Clustering and collisions of heavy particles in random smooth flows

Finite-size impurities suspended in incompressible flows distribute inhomogeneously, leading to a drastic enhancement of collisions. A description of the dynamics in the full position-velocity phase space is essential to understand the underlying mechanisms, especially for polydisperse suspensions. These issues are here studied for particles much heavier than the fluid by means of a Lagrangian approach. It is shown that inertia enhances collision rates through two effects: correlation among particle positions induced by the carrier flow and uncorrelation between velocities due to their finite size. A phenomenological model yields an estimate of collision rates for particle pairs with different sizes. This approach is supported by numerical simulations in random flows.Comment: 12 pages, 9 Figures (revTeX 4) final published versio

Development of Learning Modules to Enhance Students' Higher-Order Cognitive Skills

Bloom’s Taxonomy of cognitive domains is a well-defined and broadly accepted tool for categorizing types of thinking into six different levels: knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis and evaluation. It is commonly accepted that memorization and recall (knowledge-level skills) are lower order cognitive skills that require only a minimum level of understanding, whereas the application of knowledge and critical thinking (application, analysis, synthesis & evaluation-level skills) are higher order cognitive skills that require deep conceptual understanding. In our Biology department we have begun introducing students to Bloom’s taxonomy during the introductory series to help students recognize the different levels of thinking they will need to master to succeed in the curriculum. First, we indicate on our exams the Bloom’s level required to successfully answer each question (e.g. knowledge or application) and then provide students with the overall “Bloom’s distribution” for the exam i.e. what percentage of the questions require lower-order versus higher-order cognitive skills. To aid students in identifying the levels that are most challenging for them, we are piloting a program that provides students with their individual “Bloom’s score” after each exam. The Bloom’s score indicates how well they performed on questions requiring different levels of Bloom’s. Typically students receive Bloom’s scores that are high for knowledge and comprehension and lower for one or more higher-order cognitive skills. Once these challenging areas have been identified, students need guidance on how to modify their study habits to better prepare themselves to answer those types of questions. We created the Bloom’s-based Learning Activities for Students (BLASt), a complementary student-directed tool designed to specifically strengthen study skills at each level of Bloom’s. However, we found that students were not able to use this chart effectively without further instruction. We have therefore developed a 1-hour workshop to give students practice in developing application and analysis levels of thinking. We will describe the design of these learning modules and student feedback we have received on the modules. Our long-term goal is to track student progress longitudinally to ascertain whether participation in the Bloom’s workshop enhances student performance on future exams

Particle dispersion models and drag coefficients for particles in turbulent flows

Some of the concepts underlying particle dispersion due to turbulence are reviewed. The traditional approaches to particle dispersion in homogeneous, stationary turbulent fields are addressed, and recent work on particle dispersion in large scale turbulent structures is reviewed. The state of knowledge of particle drag coefficients in turbulent gas-particle flows is also reviewed

UA37/35/3 A Brief History of the History Department

A brief history of the WKU History Department prepared by J. Crawford Crowe for O.J. Wilson\u27s WKU History Project

Dreaming with One Eye Open: The State of the University Libraries, 1996-1997. A Report to the University Community

A 1997-1998 report to the university community by William J. Crowe, Vice Chancellor for Information Services and Dean of Libraries.This report from highlights the KU Libraries' recent principal accomplishments and describes challenges in four areas of vital interest to KU's academic programs. Those areas are: the health of collections; the adequacy of facilities and equipment; progress in applying information technologies; and the effectiveness of the staff. Statistical tables are included.University of Kansas Librarie