Pre-/Post-Knowledge Assessment of an Earth Science Course for Elementary/Middle School Education Majors

This article discusses the benefits of experiencing the process of Earth Science through active learning strategies, and how a simple assessment instrument was developed and used to evaluate a specific course in Earth Science for educators. The course itself was broad in scope and designed specifically to fulfill science requirements for elementary and middle-level education majors. The assessment instrument consisted of statements to which students responded true-false or "I don't know." Based on pre- and post-course assessments of 108 education majors who took the class over a period of 5 semesters, the researchers reported an average increase in their content knowledge of 30 percent. Educational levels: Graduate or professional, Graduate or professional

Mechanics of a Plant in Fluid Flow

Plants live in constantly moving fluid, whether air or water. In response to the loads associated with fluid motion, plants bend and twist, often with great amplitude. These large deformations are not found in traditional engineering application and thus necessitate new specialised scientific developments. Studying Fluid-Structure Interactions (FSI) in botany, forestry and agricultural science is crucial to the optimisation of biomass production for food, energy, and construction materials. FSI are also central in the study of the ecological adaptation of plants to their environment. This review paper surveys the mechanics of FSI on individual plants. We present a short refresher on fluids mechanics then dive in the statics and dynamics of plant-fluid interactions. For every phenomenon considered, we present the appropriate dimensionless numbers to characterise the problem, discuss the implications of these phenomena on biological processes, and propose future research avenues. We cover the concept of reconfiguration while considering poroelasticity, torsion, chirality, buoyancy, and skin friction. We also cover the dynamical phenomena of wave action, flutter, and vortex-induced vibrations.Comment: 26 pages, 8 figure

Dirac Particles in a Gravitational Field

The semiclassical approximation for the Hamiltonian of Dirac particles interacting with an arbitrary gravitational field is investigated. The time dependence of the metrics leads to new contributions to the in-band energy operator in comparison to previous works on the static case. In particular we find a new coupling term between the linear momentum and the spin, as well as couplings which contribute to the breaking of the particle - antiparticle symmetry

Renormalization Group Computation of Correlation Functions and Particle Densities

We show that the Renormalization Group formalism allows to compute with accuracy the zero temperature correlation functions and particle densities of quantum systems.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figure

Free Energy Formalism for Particle Adsorption

The equilibrium properties of particles adsorption is investigated theoretically. The model relies on a free energy formulation which allows to generalize the Maxwell-Boltzmann description to solutions for which the bulk volume fraction of potentially adsorbed particles is very high. As an application we consider the equilibrium physical adsorption of neutral and charged particles from solution onto two parallel adsorbing surfaces.Comment: to be published in Physical Review

Efficacy and safety of the long-term oral administration of carprofen in the treatment of osteoarthritis in dogs

The aim of this study conducted in France was to confirm the efficacy and safety of the oral administration of carprofen (Rimadyl®) at 4 mg/kg once a day during four months in the treatment of clinically chronic osteoarthritis in dogs. One hundred and ten dogs with chronic clinical signs of osteoarthritis were enrolled. The overall severity of the osteoarthritis condition and the clinical signs of osteoarthritis were assessed using visual analogue scales (VAS) on days 0, 5, 30, 60, 90 and 120. During the same visits, owners were asked to perform their own efficacy assessment through the grading of seven parameters using categorical scales. Hematological analyses were performed on days 0 and 120. Clinical blood chemistry evaluations were performed on days 0, 5, 60 and 120. The percentage of dogs showing a positive treatment effect increased from 12% on day 5 to 74% on day 120. The mean VAS scores significantly decreased throughout the study (P ≤0.05). Gastrointestinal undesirable effects likely to be related to carprofen but with no harmful consequences were observed in 5% of treated dogs. No detrimental effects of the treatment on haematological, renal and hepatic parameters were observed. These results show that carprofen at 4 mg/kg once daily can be safely used over a 4 month period in the treatment of osteoarthritis in dogs and provides a steadily increasing improvement of the clinical signs

Foam pads properties and their effects on posturography in participants of different weight

Background: Foam pads are increasingly used on force platforms during balance assessments in order to produce increased instability thereby permitting the measurement of enhanced posturographic parameters. A variety of foam pads providing different material properties have thus been used, although it is still unclear which characteristics produce the most effective and reliable tests. Furthermore, the effects of participant bodyweight on the performance of the foam pads and outcome of the test are unknown. This project investigated how different foam samples affected postural sway velocity in participants of different weights. Method: Four foam types were tested according to a modified American Society for Testing and Materials standard method for testing flexible cellular materials. Thirty-six healthy male factory workers divided into three groups according to body mass were tested three times for each of the 13 randomly-selected experimental situations for changes in postural sway velocity in this cross-over study. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to compare the results and evaluate the difference in sway velocity between mass groups. Results: For the materials considered here, the modulus of elasticity of the foam pads when compressed by 25% of their original heights was inversely proportional to their density. The largest changes in postural sway velocity were measured when the pads of highest stiffness were used, with memory foam pads being the least likely to produce significant changes. Conclusions: The type of foam pads used in posturography is indeed important. Our study shows that the samples with a higher modulus of elasticity produced the largest change in postural sway velocity during quiet stance. The results suggest that foam pads used for static computerised posturography should 1) possess a higher modulus of elasticity and 2) show linear deformation properties matched to the participants’ weight

Central Bank Performance under Inflation Targeting

Gosselin examines and reports on the various factors that contribute to successful inflation targeting. Using a panel of 21 inflation-targeting countries over the period 1990Q1-2007Q2, Gosselin finds that the ability of central banks to hit their targets varies considerably. Some of these differences can be explained by exchange rate fluctuations, fiscal deficits, and differences in financial development. Others are explained by differences in the targeting framework itself and the manner in which it is implemented.