Integrating ICT through multimodal discourse in a primary classroom

Most children talk to their parents about what they learned at school. Parents hear about books read, pictures drawn, stories written and games played. But how often do parents hear of children using ICT to make multimedia stories with a mathematical focus? In this paper the term “multimodality” will be used to describe such activities. Kress (2004) states that multimodality “deals with all the means we have for making meanings – the modes of representation – and considers their specific way of configuring the world.”Although digital technology is now available in most Australian schools, classroom use of such technology is not always creative and meaningful for learners. Recent state and federal government initiatives provide teachers with opportunities to integrate various digital technology applications into their classroom practice. In late 2011 a small research project was conducted with a class of Grade 4 students from an outer suburban Melbourne government school. As part of the project students planned and produced a multimedia artefact that explained some aspect of mathematics they had learned during the year.This paper outlines the planning and production of the multimedia artefacts created by the students, together with a brief discussion of some impediments to teacher use of technology that were identified by teachers at the school. Other issues considered include assessment and reporting in multiple subject areas based on one piece of student work, and the balancing of the relative importance of subject areas in integrated projects and tasks. The authors argue for the development and deliberate inclusion of integrated multimodal activities throughout the primary school curriculum

Mineral Acquisition from Clay by Budongo Forest Chimpanzees

Chimpanzees of the Sonso community, Budongo Forest, Uganda were observed eating clay and drinking clay-water from waterholes. We show that clay, clay-rich water, and clay obtained with leaf sponges, provide a range of minerals in different concentrations. The presence of aluminium in the clay consumed indicates that it takes the form of kaolinite. We discuss the contribution of clay geophagy to the mineral intake of the Sonso chimpanzees and show that clay eaten using leaf sponges is particularly rich in minerals. We show that termite mound soil, also regularly consumed, is rich in minerals. We discuss the frequency of clay and termite soil geophagy in the context of the disappearance from Budongo Forest of a formerly rich source of minerals, the decaying pith of Raphia farinifera palms

Temporal lobe cortical pathology and inhibitory GABA interneuron cell loss are associated with seizures in multiple sclerosis

Background: Seizures are recognised in multiple sclerosis (MS), but their true incidence and the mechanism by which they are associated with MS is unclear. Objective: The objective of this paper is to determine the lifetime frequency of seizures in the United Kingdom MS Tissue Bank (UKMSTB) population and any pathological features associated with seizures. Methods: We evaluated 255 individuals from the UKMSTB. A subset underwent analysis of cortical thickness, grey matter lesion (GML) (type and number) and cortical neuronal numbers (total and GABAergic). Results: A total of 37/255 patients had seizures (14.5% lifetime incidence); in 47% they were associated with concurrent infection. In those with seizures, death and wheelchair use occurred earlier and in 59% seizures developed after 15 years of disease. Seizures were associated with Type 1 GMLs and reduced cortical thickness in the middle temporal gyrus. Localised selective GABAergic interneuron loss in layers IV and VI was related to GMLs but was not explained by the presence of inflammation or by mitochondrial dysfunction within Type I GMLs. Conclusion: We confirm that seizure frequency rises in MS. Type I GMLs in the temporal lobe underlie a loss of inhibitory interneurons in cortical layers IV and VI and these changes could together with concurrent infection enhance susceptibility to seizures. </jats:sec

Self-assembling peptide and protein amyloids: from structure to tailored function in nanotechnology

Self-assembled peptide and protein amyloid nanostructures have traditionally been considered only as pathological aggregates implicated in human neurodegenerative diseases. In more recent times, these nanostructures have found interesting applications as advanced materials in biomedicine, tissue engineering, renewable energy, environmental science, nanotechnology and material science, to name only a few fields. In all these applications, the final function depends on: (i) the specific mechanisms of protein aggregation, (ii) the hierarchical structure of the protein and peptide amyloids from the atomistic to mesoscopic length scales and (iii) the physical properties of the amyloids in the context of their surrounding environment (biological or artificial). In this review, we will discuss recent progress made in the field of functional and artificial amyloids and highlight connections between protein/peptide folding, unfolding and aggregation mechanisms, with the resulting amyloid structure and functionality. We also highlight current advances in the design and synthesis of amyloid-based biological and functional materials and identify new potential fields in which amyloid-based structures promise new breakthroughs

Exposure to Household Air Pollution from Biomass Cookstoves and Blood Pressure Among Women in Rural Honduras: A Cross‐Sectional Study

Growing evidence links household air pollution exposure from biomass cookstoves with elevated blood pressure. We assessed cross‐sectional associations of 24‐hour mean concentrations of personal and kitchen fine particulate matter (PM2.5), black carbon (BC), and stove type with blood pressure, adjusting for confounders, among 147 women using traditional or cleaner‐burning Justa stoves in Honduras. We investigated effect modification by age and body mass index. Traditional stove users had mean (standard deviation) personal and kitchen 24‐hour PM2.5 concentrations of 126 μg/m3 (77) and 360 μg/m3 (374), while Justa stove users’ exposures were 66 μg/m3 (38) and 137 μg/m3(194), respectively. BC concentrations were similarly lower among Justa stove users. Adjusted mean systolic blood pressure was 2.5 mm Hg higher (95% CI, 0.7‐4.3) per unit increase in natural log‐transformed kitchen PM2.5 concentration; results were stronger among women of 40 years or older (5.2 mm Hg increase, 95% CI, 2.3‐8.1). Adjusted odds of borderline high and high blood pressure (categorized) were also elevated (odds ratio = 1.5, 95% CI, 1.0‐2.3). Some results included null values and are suggestive. Results suggest that reduced household air pollution, even when concentrations exceed air quality guidelines, may help lower cardiovascular disease risk, particularly among older subgroups

t-DCF: a Detection Cost Function for the Tandem Assessment of Spoofing Countermeasures and Automatic Speaker Verification

International audienceThe ASVspoof challenge series was born to spearhead research in anti-spoofing for automatic speaker verification (ASV). The two challenge editions in 2015 and 2017 involved the assessment of spoofing countermeasures (CMs) in isolation from ASV using an equal error rate (EER) metric. While a strategic approach to assessment at the time, it has certain shortcomings. First, the CM EER is not necessarily a reliable predic-tor of performance when ASV and CMs are combined. Second, the EER operating point is ill-suited to user authentication applications , e.g. telephone banking, characterised by a high target user prior but a low spoofing attack prior. We aim to migrate from CM-to ASV-centric assessment with the aid of a new tandem detection cost function (t-DCF) metric. It extends the conventional DCF used in ASV research to scenarios involving spoofing attacks. The t-DCF metric has 6 parameters: (i) false alarm and miss costs for both systems, and (ii) prior probabilities of target and spoof trials (with an implied third, nontar-get prior). The study is intended to serve as a self-contained, tutorial-like presentation. We analyse with the t-DCF a selection of top-performing CM submissions to the 2015 and 2017 editions of ASVspoof, with a focus on the spoofing attack prior. Whereas there is little to choose between countermeasure systems for lower priors, system rankings derived with the EER and t-DCF show differences for higher priors. We observe some ranking changes. Findings support the adoption of the DCF-based metric into the roadmap for future ASVspoof challenges, and possibly for other biometric anti-spoofing evaluations

Influence of neuromuscular fatigue on the reliability of gait variability measures

Walking in healthy young adults displays an optimal pattern of variability from one stride to the next. This level ensures that each step taken is not stereotyped but also not completely unpredictable. Previous studies have investigated differences in stride-to-stride characteristics comparing groups of young to groups of elderly. The consistency of gait variability measures on an individual level remains to be determined. The first aim of this study is to determine the between day and between trial consistency of gait variability measures in healthy young adults. We hypothesize that there will be a high level of consistency from day-to-day and within day measure of gait variability. If confirmed, our results would suggest any changes in variability observed for a given individual would likely be the result of experimental constraints, not an artifact from the measurement. While a decrease of optimal gait variability is evident with aging, the origins of this are unclear. It is possible that impairments of the muscular systems increasing fatigue causes the inherent decrease in optimal gait variability. Fatigue can be defined as any reduction in the force-generating capacity of a muscle due to recent activation and can be attributed to peripheral and central nervous system failure. How localized fatigue affects the gait of individuals is not well known due to fatigue being such a complex phenomenon. The second aim of this study is to determine how neuromuscular fatigue will affect stride-to-stride variability

Echoes of the Absolute. Rainer Maria Rilke’s «Buch der Bilder»

In this article I examine some of the key poems in Rilke’s Book of Images in an attempt to elucidate its somewhat elusive order. Moving away from the tendency to interpret this cycle of poems biographically, I use the iconography of Rilke’s prose, as well as his other poetry, to uncover a gesture that is the source of the persona’s ability to create. Following de Man, I offer that this gesture and its subsequent formulation into poetic language is akin to Hölderlin’s distinction between the ontological status of a flower and the becoming of the poetic word that sings it