Peda-comical: a personal account of comics in education

presented as a comic stripIn the forward to his 1985 book 'Comics and sequential art'. comics great Will Eisner defines sequential art as...'a means of creative expression, a distinct discipline, an art and a literary form that deals with the arrangement of pictures or images and words to narrate a story or dramatize an idea'. Comic books, falling under this definition, have been used as an educational tool since the 1940s in the US..

Photonic Metasurfaces for Spatiotemporal and Ultrafast Light Control

The emergence of photonic metasurfaces - planar arrays of nano-antennas - has enabled a new paradigm of light control through wave-front engineering. Space-gradient metasurfaces induce spatially varying phase and/or polarization to propagating light. As a consequence, photons propagating through space-gradient metasurfaces can be engineered to undergo a change to their momentum, angular momentum and/or spin states

Substance Use Disorder: Primary Care Screening

Substance use disorder is a significant problem in the United States causing considerable distress and cost to the healthcare system as well as familial, community, and societal resources. Based on evidence-based research, a statement by the United States Preventive Services Task Force in 2015, recommends substance use disorder screening for adults in the primary care setting. A review of the literature concerning screening tools for substance use disorder resulted in twelve studies being included. The purpose of this project is to determine if the more comprehensive substance use disorder screening tool, ASSIST, identifies more at risk patients than the current CAGE-AID screening tool in order to improve early identification and intervention. The ASSIST questionnaire consists of 8 questions that investigate past and current use of substances. Developed by the World Health Organization (WHO), it has been shown to be reliable and valid. Patients 21-55 years from one primary care clinic in NJ were asked to voluntarily participate in a substance use disorder screening using the ASSIST screening tool. This tool was administered at well and follow up visits. The results were compared to the results of the CAGE-AID screening tool which is already part of the intake. Results showed that of the 36 people interviewed, ASSIST (n=14, 38.8%) identified more people at moderate or high risk compared to CAGE-AID (n=1, 2.7%). While this was a small study, more investigation is warranted as the results suggest that a more comprehensive screening tool is identifying those at risk more often especially for those in the medium risk category. Those patients in need of intervention are more likely to be identified with ASSIST and intervention can be begun as early as possible. Keywords: primary care, screening tools, substance use disorde

Recentni trendovi oborine i budući scenariji nad Sredozemnim morem

This paper analyses current precipitation rates (PRs) and trends over the Mediterranean Sea region and their response to global climate change scenar- ios. The analysis uses 0.25° gridded PRs dataset over a 13-year period (1998–2010) based on remote sensing data from the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mis- sion. Future scenarios use the results of six global climate models (GCMs) under four representative concentration pathway scenarios (i.e., RCP26, RCP45, RCP60, and RCP85). Results indicate that the Mediterranean Sea region displays a seasonally significant (insignificant) wetter trend during cold (hot) seasons, and exhibits annual spatial variation ranging from under 15 to over 100 mm month –1 over the period 1998–2010. Sea level pressure has two different effects on precipita- tion over the northern (inversely related to precipitation) versus southern (di- rectly related to precipitation) Mediterranean Sea. However, sea surface tem- perature is anti-correlated with precipitation. The GCMs that describe the current Mediterranean Sea precipitation most realistically are GFDL-CM3-1, MIROC-ESM-CHEM, and HadGEM2-AO, which are used to calculate the en- semble mean for each representative concentration pathway scenario. The en- semble means realizations indicate that the study area will experience substan- tial drought in the 21st century. Uncertainty in the projected precipitation over the Mediterranean Sea was partitioned into four sources, of which the used scenario dominates.U ovome radu analiziraju se aktualni intenziteti oborine (PR) i trendovi oborine nad područjem Sredozemnog mora i njihovi odzivi na scenarije općih klimatskih promjena. U analizi se koristi niz podataka intenziteta oborine u mreži od 0,25° tijekom 13-godišnjeg razdoblja (1998–2010) uzet iz podataka dobivenih daljinskim mjerenjima tijekom Misije mjerenja tropske oborine (Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission, TRMM). Budući sce- nariji koriste rezultate iz šest općih klimatskih modela (globalni klimatski model, GCM) uz četiri scenarija reprezentativnih staza koncentracije (RCP) (tj. RCP26, RCP45, RCP60 i RCP85). Rezultati indiciraju da područje Sredozemnog mora pokazuje sezonski signifikantno (nesignifikantno) vlažniji trend tijekom hladnih (toplih) sezona, te tijekom promatranog razdoblja (1998–2010) prikazuje godišnju prostornu varijaciju koja se kreće u rasponu od 15 do preko 100 mm mjesec–1. Tlak zraka na razini mora ima dva različita učinka na oborinu nad Sredozemljem. Nad sjevernim Sredozemljem obrnuto je razmjeran oborini, dok je nad južnim Sredozemljem izravno razmjeran oborini. Međutim, temperatura površine mora je antikorelirana s oborinom. Opći klimatski modeli koji najrealističnije opisuju aktualnu oborinu nad Sredozemljem su: GFDL-CM3-1, MIROC-ESM-CHEM i HadGEM2-AO, a koriste se za izračun srednjaka ansambla za svaki scenarij reprezenta- tivne staze koncentracije. Realizacije srednjaka ansambla indiciraju da će područje studi- je doživjeti znatnu sušu u 21. stoljeću. Nesigurnost u projiciranoj oborini nad Sredozem- nim morem pripisana je četirima izvorima, gdje je od njih najvažniji korišteni scenarij

Calculating the water and heat balances of the Eastern Mediterranean Basin using ocean modelling and available meteorological, hydrological and ocean data

AbstractEastern Mediterranean water and heat balances were analysed over 52years. The modelling uses a process-oriented approach resolving the one-dimensional equations of momentum, heat and salt conservation; turbulence is modelled using a two-equation model. The results indicate that calculated temperature and salinity follow the reanalysed data well. The water balance in the Eastern Mediterranean basin was controlled by the difference between inflows and outflows through the Sicily Channel and by net precipitation. The freshwater component displayed a negative trend over the study period, indicating increasing salinity in the basin. The heat balance was controlled by heat loss from the water surface, solar radiation into the sea and heat flow through the Sicily Channel. Both solar radiation and net heat loss displayed increasing trends, probably due to decreased total cloud cover. In addition, the heat balance indicated a net import of approximately 9Wm−2 of heat to the Eastern Mediterranean Basin from the Western Basin

Recentni trendovi oborine i budući scenariji nad Sredozemnim morem

This paper analyses current precipitation rates (PRs) and trends over the Mediterranean Sea region and their response to global climate change scenar- ios. The analysis uses 0.25° gridded PRs dataset over a 13-year period (1998–2010) based on remote sensing data from the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mis- sion. Future scenarios use the results of six global climate models (GCMs) under four representative concentration pathway scenarios (i.e., RCP26, RCP45, RCP60, and RCP85). Results indicate that the Mediterranean Sea region displays a seasonally significant (insignificant) wetter trend during cold (hot) seasons, and exhibits annual spatial variation ranging from under 15 to over 100 mm month –1 over the period 1998–2010. Sea level pressure has two different effects on precipita- tion over the northern (inversely related to precipitation) versus southern (di- rectly related to precipitation) Mediterranean Sea. However, sea surface tem- perature is anti-correlated with precipitation. The GCMs that describe the current Mediterranean Sea precipitation most realistically are GFDL-CM3-1, MIROC-ESM-CHEM, and HadGEM2-AO, which are used to calculate the en- semble mean for each representative concentration pathway scenario. The en- semble means realizations indicate that the study area will experience substan- tial drought in the 21st century. Uncertainty in the projected precipitation over the Mediterranean Sea was partitioned into four sources, of which the used scenario dominates.U ovome radu analiziraju se aktualni intenziteti oborine (PR) i trendovi oborine nad područjem Sredozemnog mora i njihovi odzivi na scenarije općih klimatskih promjena. U analizi se koristi niz podataka intenziteta oborine u mreži od 0,25° tijekom 13-godišnjeg razdoblja (1998–2010) uzet iz podataka dobivenih daljinskim mjerenjima tijekom Misije mjerenja tropske oborine (Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission, TRMM). Budući sce- nariji koriste rezultate iz šest općih klimatskih modela (globalni klimatski model, GCM) uz četiri scenarija reprezentativnih staza koncentracije (RCP) (tj. RCP26, RCP45, RCP60 i RCP85). Rezultati indiciraju da područje Sredozemnog mora pokazuje sezonski signifikantno (nesignifikantno) vlažniji trend tijekom hladnih (toplih) sezona, te tijekom promatranog razdoblja (1998–2010) prikazuje godišnju prostornu varijaciju koja se kreće u rasponu od 15 do preko 100 mm mjesec–1. Tlak zraka na razini mora ima dva različita učinka na oborinu nad Sredozemljem. Nad sjevernim Sredozemljem obrnuto je razmjeran oborini, dok je nad južnim Sredozemljem izravno razmjeran oborini. Međutim, temperatura površine mora je antikorelirana s oborinom. Opći klimatski modeli koji najrealističnije opisuju aktualnu oborinu nad Sredozemljem su: GFDL-CM3-1, MIROC-ESM-CHEM i HadGEM2-AO, a koriste se za izračun srednjaka ansambla za svaki scenarij reprezenta- tivne staze koncentracije. Realizacije srednjaka ansambla indiciraju da će područje studi- je doživjeti znatnu sušu u 21. stoljeću. Nesigurnost u projiciranoj oborini nad Sredozem- nim morem pripisana je četirima izvorima, gdje je od njih najvažniji korišteni scenarij