Improving high school physical science students\u27 understanding of the electromagnetic spectrum: a modified diagram approach

The focus of this study was to identify major conceptual difficulties that selected public high school physical science students encounter in understanding a standard electromagnetic spectrum diagram. A research-driven, modified version of that standard diagram was used in this study to determine the value added to student understanding of electromagnetic waves. A content analysis was performed on electromagnetic spectrum diagrams found in US textbooks from the 1950s through the present. A class of public high school physical science students participated in a study consisting of four activities conducted during a three-week unit. Students were given a pre- and post-achievement test and a pre- and post-survey on the regions of the electromagnetic spectrum. At the conclusion of each activity, selected students were interviewed and each co-constructed a concept map with the researcher. The Electromagnetic Spectrum Literacy Rubric (ESLR) was designed and used to assess students’ conceptual understanding periodically as they proceeded through the unit study. A mixed methods analysis was performed, employing both qualitative and quantitative data. A paired t- test determined that there was a statistically significant difference (p = 0.014) between the pre- and post-achievement test scores for the class of students participating in the unit study. Effect sizes also determined that students have difficulties with mathematical calculations and wave properties. These topics present conceptual challenges which must be overcome to understand and use an electromagnetic spectrum diagram effectively

Effects of fire on home range size, site fidelity and habitat associations of grassland birds overwintering in southeast Texas

Understanding habitat affinities of wintering grassland birds is pertinent to their conservation. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the 1) effect burn history has on vegetation structure in coastal prairie; 2) habitat associations of the most common avian species; and, 3) home range size and site fidelity of Le Conte\u27s Sparrow (LCSP). Data were collected on sites with 1-, 2- and 3-year burn histories during the winter of 2002 at Brazoria National Wildlife Refuge, Texas. Line transects were conducted to estimate bird abundance and vegetation measurements were recorded for herbaceous density, shrub density, and community type. Twenty-six Le Conte\u27s Sparrows (Ammodramus lecontii) (LCSP) were radio-marked, in 1- and 2-year burn units, and located for approximately 10 days. One hectare plots on each burn unit were flush-netted once each month. Burn history was highly correlated with herbaceous vegetation and shrub density. LCSP were most common in areas of medium herbaceous density, low to medium litter densities, and areas with tall vegetation. LCSP also occurred in areas with low shrub densities, but abundance was significantly higher in areas with dwarf wax myrtle (Morella cerifera). Savannah Sparrows (Passerculus sandwichensis) were most often found in areas with low herbaceous and shrub densities. Sedge Wrens (Cistothorus platensis) (SEWR) were most common in areas with dense herbaceous vegetation, but showed no relationship to shrub density. SEWR were associated with areas where saltbush and tallow were present. Swamp Sparrows (Melospiza georgiana) were most common in areas of high shrub densities, but demonstrated no relationship to herbaceous vegetation densities. LCSP were sedentary during winter with a mean home range of 2.41 ha (72% \u3c 1 ha) with a 50% probability, and 10.31 ha (44% \u3c 1 ha and 55% \u3c 1.5 ha) with a 95% probability. Home range size did not significantly differ between burn year (p = 0.227). LCSP appeared to exhibit a behavioral response to capture (p \u3c 0.001) with estimated capture probability of 0.462 and recapture probability of 0.056. Maintaining a mosaic of prairie, in three year burn rotations, and controlling woody invasives will provide sufficient overwintering habitat for SAVS, LCSP and SEWR

Acceptability, Anticipated Adherence, and Willingness to Begin Interoceptive Exposure: Examination of the Influence of a Values Rationale

Interoceptive exposure (IE) is a treatment entailing induction of feared physiological sensations that has emerged as the most efficacious component of cognitive behavioral treatments for panic disorder. However, small-to-moderate effect sizes, wide variability in response rates, and dropout rates indicate that panic disorder treatments may benefit from modifications to improve upon retention, response rates, and symptom reduction. Patient motivation and lack of engagement have been identified as factors to intervene upon. One specific direction that has gained increasing empirical interest is the inclusion of values identification; however, research has not yet examined the influence of values on motivation to engage in IE. The current study was conducted to examine the effect of emphasizing values in the treatment rationale on treatment selection, willingness to begin treatment utilizing IE, anticipated adherence to an IE treatment, credibility and expectancy, and acceptability of an IE intervention. An analogue sample of adults with high anxiety sensitivity were recruited online. Participants (N = 146) viewed a video containing psychoeducation about the fear of anxiety and were randomized to receive either the standard IE treatment rationale or values IE treatment rationale video. In addition, participants responded to self-report questionnaires evaluating psychological symptoms and information in the videos. The values and standard rationales yielded similar effects on selection of an IE provider, willingness to begin IE treatment, anticipated adherence to IE, treatment expectancy and acceptability. However, participants who received the values rationale reported greater treatment credibility than those who received the standard rationale. Overall, the findings from the current study provide insights into treatment rationales for IE and highlight directions for future investigation

Contemporary Christian Music: Where Rock Meets Religion

...In the midst of this controversial relationship between rock music and religious messages, and as a response to a feeling of being locked out of the secular music industry, there has been a burgeoning Christian recording industry using rock music, known as Contemporary Christian Music (CCM). CCM involves the pairing of a Gospel message or Christian worldview with popular forms of rock music..

Investigating Shallow Neural Networks for Orbit Propagation Deployed on Spaceflight-Like Hardware

Orbit propagation is the backbone of many problems in the space domain, such as uncertainty quantification, trajectory optimization, and guidance, navigation, and control of on orbit vehicles. Many of these techniques can rely on millions of orbit propagations, slowing computation, especially evident on low-powered satellite hardware. Past research has relied on the use of lookup tables or data streaming to enable on orbit solutions. These solutions prove inaccurate or ineffective when communication is interrupted. In this work, we introduce the use of physics-informed neural networks (PINNs) for orbit propagation to achieve fast and accurate on-board solutions, accelerated by GPU hardware solutions now available in satellite hardware. Physics-informed neural networks leverage the governing equations of motion in network training, allowing the network to optimize around the physical constraints of the system. This work leverages the use of unsupervised learning and introduces the concept of fundamental integrals of orbits to train PINNs to solve orbit problems with no knowledge of the true solution. Numerical experiments are conducted for both Earth orbits and cislunar space, being the first time a neural network integrator is implemented on flight-like hardware. The results show that the use of PINNs can decrease solution evaluation time by several order of magnitude while retaining accurate solutions to the perturbed two-body problem and the circular restricted three-body problem for deployment on spaceflight-like hardware. Implementation of these neural networks aim to reduce computational time to allow for real-time evaluation of complex algorithms on-board space vehicles

Paid Summer Research Opportunities with the Louisiana Biomedical Research Network

The Louisiana Biomedical Research Network Summer Research Program provides undergraduate and graduate students $4000 to$6000 in support, including housing if needed, for summer research with LBRN investigators located at various institutions across the state. This presentation will summarize the program and the application process. Additional details can be found at: https://lbrn.lsu.edu/summer-research-program.htm

Using a multi-dimensional approach to determine the conservation and taxonomic statuses of two rare crayfishes in northern Arkansas

Crayfish are chronically understudied, despite playing important roles in our freshwater ecosystems. The goal of this study was to deepen our understanding of Cambarus causeyi, the Boston Mountain Crayfish, and Cambarus hubbsi, Hubbs’ Crayfish, so they can be more effectively conserved and managed. Cambarus causeyi and C. hubbsi are classified as Species of Greatest Conservation Need in Arkansas, and they are both endemic to Ozarks of North America. The relatively small range and rarity of these species makes them vulnerable to extinction, and both have knowledge gaps that need to be addressed to facilitate conservation. For C. hubbsi we searched for potential cryptic diversity by analyzing both genetic and morphological characteristics. We sequenced two mitochondrial gene regions from individuals across its range and conducted Bayesian and maximum parsimony analyses on these data. Additionally, we recorded a suite of morphological measurements in order to conduct a principal coordinates analysis on the morphology of the species. We identified three unique evolutionarily significant units (ESUs) in need of separate conservation attention. However, our morphological analysis had conflicting results, and only showed one of the recovered clades to be unique. Further genetic data should be analyzed in the future to fill in knowledge gaps from our study and determine the cause of the mismatch between our molecular and morphological results. In the second component of this study, we utilized species distribution modeling (SDM) using the program MaxEnt and fine scale habitat modeling to analyze the distribution and habitat preferences of C. causeyi. Our SDM found average annual precipitation was by far the most important predictor of C. causeyi relative abundance. We collected habitat data from across C. causeyi’s known range, and we used our fine scale-data to ground-truth our SDM. We detected C. causeyi at only nine of 51 sites, potentially due to sampling outside of the peak of the reproductive season. We ran our fine-scale analysis by modeling zero-inflated Poisson generalized linear models and selecting with AICc. Our best model included proportion of sand in the soil and the presence of a competing burrower as explanatory variables. The interpolated MaxEnt output was found to be a poor predictor of finding C. causeyi in our fine-scale analysis potentially because it did not account for biotic interactions and lacked accurate soil data. Additionally, we found C. causeyi to still be vulnerable to a variety of threats such as climate change, interspecific competition, low local abundances, and relatively small range continue to pose a threat to conservation of this narrow endemic

Dynamics of a 9-DOF Heterogeneous Robotic Platform for Spacecraft Motion Emulation

Increasing access to space has driven demand for low cost, portable, and highly specialized robotic platforms to accurately simulate multi-dimensional space missions. Presented is an effective heterogeneous robotic system that emulates orbital motion from given control algorithms. This robotic platform is composed of a three degrees of freedom (3-DOF) holonomic omni wheel ground vehicle carrying a 6-DOF robotic manipulator, which results in a 9-DOF coupled moving manipulator system. The dynamical models are derived and feedback linearization is studied to control the system. The integrated controls and hardware result in an a sophisticated in-lab system that will be scalable from orbital motion to execution of complex tasks, including spaceflight rendezvous and proximity operations, servicing missions, and surface exploration and sampling

Theology, News and Notes - Vol. 20, No. 01

Theology News & Notes was a theological journal published by Fuller Theological Seminary from 1954 through 2014.https://digitalcommons.fuller.edu/tnn/1045/thumbnail.jp