Adverse experiences in infancy and toddlerhood: Relations to adaptive behavior and academic status in middle childhood

Findings from the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) study articulated the negative effects of childhood trauma on long-term well-being. The purpose of the current study is to examine the associations between ACEs experienced in infancy and toddlerhood and adaptive behavior and academic status in middle childhood. We used data collected from a sample of low-income families during the impacts study of Early Head Start (EHS). Data were collected by trained interviewers demonstrating at least 85% reliability with protocols. Data come from 1469 socio-demographically diverse mothers and children collected at or near ages 1, 2, 3, and 11. At ages 1, 2, and 3, an EHS-ACEs index was created based on interview and observation items. The EHS-ACEs indices were averaged to represent exposure across infancy and toddlerhood. At age 11, parents were asked about school outcomes and completed the Child Behavior Checklist. Across development, children were exposed to zero (19%), one (31%), two (27%), and three or more ACEs (23%). Logistic regression analyses, controlling for EHS program assignment, and parent, school, and child characteristics, showed ACEs were significantly associated with parental report of the child: having an individualized educational program since starting school and in the current school year, having been retained a grade in school, and problems with externalizing and internalizing behavior, as well as attention. Findings suggest that ACEs influence children’s behavioral and academic outcomes early in development.     

危险的民主--美国全球民主战略和"大中东"

美国外交战略的主要目标是领导世界、维护其霸权地位。美国以武力或“柔性”施压在中东地区推行美国式的民主而使得民主失去了原有意义,变成“危险的民主”。“适应型民主”对美国与阿拉伯世界都提出了要求,它的实施对中东的民主化进程与世界的和平与安全将是行之有效的。     

Limitations of levels, learning outcomes and qualifications as drivers towards a more knowledge-based society

National （and European） qualifications frameworks, the specification of learning outcomes and grand targets like the Lisbon goals of increasing the supply of graduates in Europe in order to achieve a more knowledge-based society are all predicated upon the idea of moving people through to higher and well-defmed levels of skills, knowledge and understanding. However, the work of researchers, from the UK＇s Teaching and Learning Research Programme （TLRP）, examining work-related learning from a number of perspectives, would suggest that the way to move towards a more knowledge-based society is for as many people as possible, whatever their supposed highest overall ＂level＂ of skills is, to believe that they should develop their skills, knowledge and competence in a number of ways unrelated to their current highest ＂level＂. This means rather than having an essentially binary conception of competence at the heart of the levels, it would be far more beneficial in inducing the frame of mind required of a knowledge-based society to have a developmental view of expertise. Such an approach can address three particular challenges that a ＂levels＂ approach f＇mds difficult to accommodate. First, there is the issue of transfer-there would be an expectation that graduates would be some way from ＂experienced worker standard＂ when they completed their initial training. Secondly, such an approach could provide the conditions in which a commitment to continuous improvement at work could flourish, as most people would believe that they needed to develop in a number of ways （at a range of ＂levels＂） in order to improve their performance. Thirdly, this approach of continuing to expect people to continue to develop a range of skills would offer some protection against the development of ＂skilled incompetence＂ （where organisations and individuals continue to focus upon what they do well without paying due regard to the future）.     

Three-dimensional tracking of GLUT4 vesicles in TIRF microscopy

TIRF microscopy has provided a means to view mobile granules within 100 nm in size in two dimensions. However quantitative analysis of the position and motion of those granules requires an appropriate tracking method. In this paper, we present a new tracking algorithm combined with the unique features of TIRF. Firstly a fluorescence correction procedure was processed to solve the problem of fluorescence bleaching over time. Mobile granules were then segmented from a time-lapse image stack by an adaptive background subtraction method. Kalman filter was introduced to estimate and track the granules that allowed reducing searching range and hence greater reliability in tracking process. After the tracked granules were located in x-y plane, the z-position was indirectly inferred from the changes in their intensities. In the experiments the algorithm was applied in tracking GLUT4 vesicles in living adipose cells. The results indicate that the algorithm has achieved robust estimation and tracking of the vesicles in three dimensions.     

SOFC temperature evaluation based on an adaptive fuzzy controller

The operating temperature of a solid oxide fuel cell （SOFC） stack is a very important parameter to be controlled, which impacts the performance of the SOFC due to thermal cycling. In this paper, an adaptive fuzzy control method based on an affine nonlinear temperature model is developed to control the temperature of the SOFC within a specified range. Fuzzy logic systems are used to approximate nonlinear functions in the SOFC system and an adaptive technique is employed to construct the controller. Compared with the traditional fuzzy and proportion-integral-derivative （PID） control, the simulation results show that the designed adaptive fuzzy control method performed much better. So it is feasible to build an adaptive fuzzy controller for temperature control of the SOFC.     

噪声主动控制的进展及发展趋势

对噪声主动控制技术领域的进展及发展趋势进行综述.包括消声原理、消声器结构和算法等方面的研究成果,分析该技术存在的缺陷,对今后的主要发展方向作出预测.     

(Re)framing a philosophical and epistemological framework for teaching and learning in STEM: Emerging pedagogies for complexity

Today’s learners are engaging in study where access to knowledge is easier than it ever has been in human history. Rapid advancement of technology and the increasing ease with which communication and interaction can occur has dramatically changed the landscape in which teachers of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) operate. The contemporary skills that students are required to possess include inter alia problem solving, creativity, teamwork abilities, communication skills and emotional intelligence. Despite the universal acceptance of their importance, these skills are commonly cited as underdeveloped and in addition, are still accompanied by outmoded ‘traditional’ forms of teaching and assessment. While the approaches of twentieth-century education were successful in developing knowledge stores, the ubiquity of access to knowledge—coupled with the constantly changing nature of the world today—requires alternative conceptions of teaching and learning. This article focuses primarily on an exploration of learning metaphors and teaching with the overall lens of creating self-regulated and furthermore, self-determined learners. The article begins with an exploration of learning in STEM education and a critique of the pedagogical perspective, discussing why this epistemology may be insufficient for contemporary STEM learning. The article then considers an alternative and potentially more contemporary notion; the emergent pedagogic space. The article presents a theoretical model to conceptualise learning in STEM education, with the goal of informing both practice and research. The realisation of this proposed emergent pedagogical space is explored through an applied case study from a design and technology context.     

Actuator fault diagnosis for a class of bilinear systems with uncertainty

In this paper, the actuator fault diagnosis problem for a class of bilinear systems with uncertainty is discussed. The system is transformed into two different subsystems. One is not affected by actuator fault, so an adaptive observer can be designed such that, under certain conditions, the observer error dynamics is stable. The other whose states can be measured is affected by the faults. The observation scheme is then used for model-based fault diagnosis. Finally, an example of a semiactive suspension system is used to illustrate the applicability of the proposed method.     

Sandcastle competitions

This commentary discusses reasons that lead scholars to feel entitled to make judgements in areas where they have little or no expertise. Three current reports about the future of online learning are considered, issued by the Global Learning Council, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and the Gates Foundation. Two of these publications contain contradictions and confusion that may simply be due to lack of awareness of distance education (DE) and online learning research. The third report gives good evidence but has been criticized for being too academic. The conflicting standards and criteria evident in such writings may be due to institutional pressures to promote policies and principles despite lack of supportive evidence, and to weaknesses in the DE literature itself. As major institutional policies about online learning are likely to be based on the recommendations of such reports, it is important for DE specialists to challenge them where appropriate.     

The Influences of Aesthetic Life Experience and Expertise on Aesthetic Judgement and Emotion in Mundane Arts

Aesthetics has been regarded as a fundamental personal value. Most of the previous studies regarding aesthetic experience (AE) have focused on fine arts, rather than the everyday arts that are closely related to our everyday life. This study analysed the relationships among aesthetic life experience, expertise and different types of AE outcomes (aesthetic judgement and emotion) inspired by everyday designed products. The participants in this study were 115 college students, and an E‐prime program that included 120 pictures of designed products were employed to measure aesthetic judgement (beautiful, ordinary, or ugly) and aesthetic emotion (fearful, disgusting, neutral, or pleasure). The results revealed three major phenomena. (1) Two major types of AE outcomes are perceiving beauty with positive emotion and perceiving ugliness with negative emotion. (2) Although there are similar patterns for how aesthetic life experience and expertise influence personal tastes regarding beauty and aesthetic emotion, abundant expertise in designed products contributes more in differentiating emotion when viewing the beautiful designed products. (3) The consensus of the evaluation of ugliness is stronger than when evaluating beauty. In addition, a model of AE with regard to everyday designed products was proposed. The findings of this study shed light on the cultivation of aesthetic abilities and product design that could be utilised in education.