A Comparison of Mini-FLOTAC and McMaster Techniques, Overdispersion and Prevalence of Parasites in Naturally Infected North American Bison (\u3cem\u3eBison bison\u3c/em\u3e) in the USA

Several quantitative diagnostic techniques are available to estimate gastrointestinal parasite counts in the feces of ruminants. Comparing egg and oocyst magnitudes in naturally infected samples has been a recommended approach to rank fecal techniques. In this study, we compared the Mini-FLOTAC (sensitivity of 5 eggs per gram (EPG)/oocysts per gram (OPG)) and different averaged replicates of the modified McMaster techniques (sensitivity of 33.33 EPG/OPG) in 387 fecal samples from 10 herds of naturally infected North American bison in the Central Great Plains region of the USA. Both techniques were performed with fecal slurries homogenized in a fill-FLOTAC device. In the study population, prevalence of strongyle eggs, Eimeria spp. oocysts, Moniezia spp. eggs and Trichuris spp. eggs was 81.4%, 73.9%, 7.5%, and 3.1%, respectively. Counts of strongyle eggs and Eimeria spp. oocysts obtained from 1 to 3 averaged technical replicates of the modified McMaster technique were compared to a single replicate of the Mini-FLOTAC. Correlation between the two techniques increased with an increase in the number of averaged technical replicates of the modified McMaster technique used to calculate EGP/OPG. The correlation for Moniezia spp. EPG when averaged triplicates of the modified McMaster technique were compared to a single replicate of the Mini-FLOTAC count was high; however, the correlation for Trichuris spp. eggs was low. Additionally, we used averaged counts from both techniques to show the overdispersion of parasites in bison herds

Ship-based contributions to global ocean, weather, and climate observing systems

The role ships play in atmospheric, oceanic, and biogeochemical observations is described with a focus on measurements made within 100 m of the ocean surface. Ships include merchant and research vessels, cruise liners and ferries, fishing vessels, coast guard, military, and other government-operated ships, yachts, and a growing fleet of automated surface vessels. The present capabilities of ships to measure essential climate/ocean variables and the requirements from a broad community to address operational, commercial, and scientific needs are described. Following the guidance from the OceanObs'19 organizing committee, the authors provide a vision to expand observations needed from ships to understand and forecast the exchanges across the ocean-atmosphere interface. The vision addresses (1) recruiting vessels to improve both spatial and temporal sampling, (2) conducting multi-variate sampling on ships, (3) raising technology readiness levels of automated shipboard sensors and ship-to-shore data communications, (4) advancing quality evaluation of observations, and (5) developing a unified data management approach for observations and metadata that meets the needs of a diverse user community. Recommendations are made focusing on integrating private and autonomous vessels into the observing system, investing in sensor and communications technology development, developing an integrated data management structure that includes all types of ships, and moving towards a quality evaluation process that will result in a subset of ships being defined as mobile reference ships that will support climate studies. We envision a future where commercial, research, and privately-owned vessels are making multivariate observations using a combination of automated and human-observed measurements. All data and metadata will be documented, tracked, evaluated, distributed, and archived to benefit users of marine data. This vision looks at ships as a holistic network, not a set of disparate commercial, research, and/or third-party activities working in isolation, to bring these communities together for the mutual benefit of all

Laboratorios Virtuales en la Enseñanza de la Física: Un Análisis Teórico

Nowadays, the teaching of natural sciences is of utmost importance in the scientific work since it makes possible the realization of experiments and the recreation of a certain set of natural phenomena; this helps students to better understand the events that occur in nature and to understand the natural laws that govern them, which is why it is necessary that the training of students is linked to scientific activity, which is essential for the progress of a country. In this sense, virtual physics laboratories promote the development of scientific competencies, skills for the design and construction of physical-mathematical models that have an assertive impact on the teaching and learning process of science, promoting creativity and motivation of students; it is also a didactic space for the development of innovative strategies that encourage the discovery and use of accessible resources for this purpose of scientific knowledge. The objective of the research was to analyze the application strategy of virtual laboratories in the teaching of physics.En la actualidad la enseñanza de las ciencias naturales es de suma importancia en el quehacer científico ya que posibilita la realización de experimentos y la recreación de un determinado conjunto de fenómenos naturales; esto ayuda a los estudiantes para una mejor comprensión de los eventos que ocurren en la naturaleza y entender las leyes naturales que las gobiernan, es por ello que se genera la necesidad en que la formación de los estudiantes se encuentre vinculada a la actividad científica siendo esta indispensable para el progreso de un país. En ese sentido, los laboratorios virtuales de física promueven el desarrollo de competencias científicas, de habilidades para el diseño y construcción de modelos físico-matemáticos que inciden asertivamente en el proceso de enseñanza y aprendizaje de las ciencias impulsando la creatividad y motivación de los educandos; asimismo es un espacio didáctico para el desarrollo de estrategias innovadoras que alienten el descubrimiento y empleo de recursos accesibles a este propósito del conocimiento científico. El objetivo de la investigación fue analizar la estrategia de aplicación de los laboratorios virtuales en la enseñanza de la física

Policy implications of achievement testing using multilevel models: the case of Brazilian elementary schools

Large-scale educational assessment has been established as source of descriptive, evaluative and interpretative information that influence educational policies worldwide throughout the last third of the twentieth century. In the 1990s the Brazilian Ministry of Education developed the National Basic Education Assessment System (SAEB) that regularly measures management, resource and contextual school features and academic achievement in public and private institutions. In 2005, after significant piloting and review of the SAEB, a new sampling strategy was taken and Prova Brasil became the new instrument used by the Ministry to assess skills in Portuguese (reading comprehension) and Mathematics (problem solving), as well as collecting contextual information concerning the school, principal, teacher, and the students. This study aims to identify which variables are predictors of academic achievement of fifth grade students on Prova Brasil. Across a large sample of students, multilevel models tested a large number of variables relevant to student achievement. This approach uncovered critical variables not commonly seen as significant in light of other achievement determinants, including student habits, teacher ethnicity, and school technological resources. As such, this approach demonstrates the value of MLM to appropriately nuanced educational policies that reflect critical influences on student achievement. Its implications for wider application for psychology studies that may have relevant impacts for policy are also discussed

Supporting Preservice Science Teachers' Ability to Attend and Respond to Student Thinking by Design

A teacher's ability to attend and respond to student thinking is a key instructional capacity for promoting complex and deeper learning in science classrooms. This qualitative multiple case study examines 14 preservice science teachers' (PSTs) responses to learning opportunities created to develop this capacity, as provided by a teacher preparation program. The PSTs engaged in multiple cycles of designing assessments and analyzing student work in coordination with clinical experiences in the field. Drawing upon the notions of responsiveness and noticing, we analyze teaching episodes for whether and how the PSTs in this study attended and responded to student thinking in instructional contexts. Several teaching episodes provide evidence of PSTs' productive responsiveness-suggesting modification in specific elements of instructional design to create better conditions for advancing students' scientific thinking. In general, however, the episodes suggest uneven success in PSTs' responses to student thinking. The findings point to two considerations in designing learning opportunities to enhance PSTs' responsiveness: (a) the use of high-quality assessment tasks that make student thinking visible and (b) helping PSTs to reframe the problems by deprivatizing PSTs' interpretations of student responses

Genomics-informed outbreak investigations of SARS-CoV-2 using civet

The scale of data produced during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has been unprecedented, with more than 13 million sequences shared publicly at the time of writing. This wealth of sequence data provides important context for interpreting local outbreaks. However, placing sequences of interest into national and international context is difficult given the size of the global dataset. Often outbreak investigations and genomic surveillance efforts require running similar analyses again and again on the latest dataset and producing reports. We developed civet (cluster investigation and virus epidemiology tool) to aid these routine analyses and facilitate virus outbreak investigation and surveillance. Civet can place sequences of interest in the local context of background diversity, resolving the query into different ’catchments’ and presenting the phylogenetic results alongside metadata in an interactive, distributable report. Civet can be used on a fine scale for clinical outbreak investigation, for local surveillance and cluster discovery, and to routinely summarise the virus diversity circulating on a national level. Civet reports have helped researchers and public health bodies feedback genomic information in the appropriate context within a timeframe that is useful for public health

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Scanning Heterodyne Micro-Interferometer for High Resolution Contour Mapping

Previous studies [1] described a sample scanning heterodyne interferometer which produced contour plots of parameters derived from ultrasonic time domain waveform measurements. Subsequent studies [2] described an alternative design that produced similar contour plots by scanning the image of a stationary sample. This enhancement eliminated the need to continuously realign the system, and increased resolution by providing a stable sample plane. This paper describes a further enhanced system that uses a large aperture, long distance microscope to produce a magnified image with higher resolution than previously obtainable. This image scanning micro-interferometer has been developed for imaging small static and dynamic displacements with high resolution and is particularly useful for studying interfaces in fiber reinforced composites.</p