Disposable parallel poly(dimethylsiloxane) microbioreactor with integrated readout grid for germination screening of Aspergillus ochraceus

In this work a disposable, parallel microbioreactor (MBR) suitable for screening in batch or continuous mode is presented. The reactor consists of five parallel microchambers made of poly(dimethylsiloxane) bonded to a glass substrate. A grid structure is engraved on each chamber, allowing subsequent morphology imaging. Measurements are recorded over the entire cultivation period with constant parameters, namely, position and focus in the z-axis. The microdevice may be used for either parallel, uni- or multiparametric screening, and overcomes the drawback of gridless microwell plates which require expensive equipment such as an inverted microscope with an automatic stage. To validate the scalability from laboratory scale to microscale, and thus the cultivation protocol in the MBR, the germination of fungal spores (A. ochraceus) is evaluated for two different key magnitudes (pH and temperature) and compared to the results obtained from conventional laboratory scale systems (flasks and agar plates). Information on germination capacity with regard to interspecies' variability allows for optimization of industrial processes as optimal pH and temperature matched to the mesoscopic cultivation systems. The germination conditions therefore remain unaffected inside the MBR, while providing the following advantages: (i) dramatic reduction of medium consumption, (ii) submerged cultivation with constant oxygen supply, (iii) assured low cost and disposability, and (iv) possibility of a continuous cultivation mode.     

语言学习的革新

Auralog公司是1987年在法国成立的,基于一个语音实验室.这个语音实验室将语音识别技术发展得非常成熟.1990年该公司把E-Learning技术运用到了外语学习上,形成了一套完整的外语学习解决方案.到目前为止我们的客户在全球已达到六十七个国家.     

Promoting Parents' Social Capital to Increase Children's Attendance in Head Start: Evidence From an Experimental Intervention

Improving children's attendance is a high priority for Head Start and other early childhood education programs serving low-income children. We conducted a randomized control trial in a major northern city to evaluate the impact of a low-cost intervention designed to promote parents' social capital as a potential influence on children's attendance in Head Start centers. The intervention assigned children to treatment group classrooms based on (a) neighborhood of residence (geography condition) or (b) the geography condition plus the opportunity for parents to form partnerships in support of their children's attendance, or to control group classrooms according to Head Start guidelines only. We did not find impacts on average attendance throughout the year. However, the intervention did lead to increased attendance during the winter when average center attendance was lowest. There were no impacts on fall or spring attendance. Follow-up exploratory analyses of focus groups with parents and staff suggested that parents' level of connection and trust, self-generated partnership strategies, and commitment to their children's education may be factors by which parents' social capital expands and children's attendance improves.     

Elements of Supervision in Sexual Violence Counselors' Narratives: A Qualitative Analysis

The literature on vicarious traumatization has suggested that traumasensitive supervision may help to minimize the effects of vicarious exposure to trauma; however, nothing from the perspective of trauma counselors was noted. The present qualitative study involved 1 male and 8 female sexual violence counselors who had worked with sexual violence survivors from 1 to 9 years. The use of semistructured interviews and basic interpretive analysis revealed 4 themes: counselor feelings, vicarious traumatization, helpful qualities of supervision, and organizational considerations.     

The Discovery–Collection Librarian Connection: Cultivating Collaboration for Better Discovery

Discovery layers and remote access are the standard way to access and find academic library resources, making metadata, link resolvers, and indexing important considerations at the time of selection and throughout the lifespan of an electronic resource. Collection development librarians must be aware of how resources will function with and appear in the library's discovery layer. This awareness is an opportunity for collection development and discovery librarians to share their knowledge and collaborate to provide the best discovery for the library's resources. This case study examines ways the Electronic Access and Discovery unit at Auraria Library has fostered that relationship.     

Teaching Nature of Scientific Inquiry in Chemistry: How do German chemistry teachers use labwork to teach NOSI?

Learning about scientific inquiry (SI) is an important aspect of scientific literacy and there is a solid international consensus of what should be learned about it. Learning about SI comprises both the doing of science (process) and knowledge about the nature of scientific inquiry (NOSI). German reform documents promote inquiry generally but do not equally address these two sides of inquiry. This study explores how teachers incorporate learning about SI into laboratory work in the Chemistry classroom. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 14 secondary school Chemistry teachers (8 of them holding a Ph.D. in Chemistry) from Germany. The results indicate that teaching NOSI is not a primary goal for teachers. Still, some aspects of NOSI seem to be more easily incorporated in the Chemistry classroom, for example, critical testing and hypothesis and prediction. Teachers state 2 main criteria to identify suitable chemical laboratory work for teaching NOSI: adaptable parameters and low level of required content knowledge. Surprisingly, differences can be found between Ph.D. and non-Ph.D. teachers’ views on teaching inquiry. The findings of this study can be used to (a) select opportunities for targeted research on teaching NOSI in the Chemistry classroom, (b) inform curriculum material development and (c) give impetus to science teacher education and professional development.     

Degradation of collagen in parchment under the influence of heat-induced oxidation: Preliminary study of changes at macroscopic,microscopic, and molecular levels

This paper examines the impact of heat-induced oxidation for new and historical parchment with the purpose of improving diagnostic tools for use in practical parchment conservation. Oxidation was generated by heat aging at 120°C in a dry oven for 24, 48, and 96 hours, respectively. The degradation was assessed on all samples at macrolevel by measuring color changes, at microlevel by measuring the shrinkage temperature as well as by performing a visual assessment of the fibers’ morphology and determining the amount of damaged fibers, and finally, at molecular level where amino acid analysis was used to reveal changes in the oxidized collagen. The study shows that the heat-induced oxidation leads to significant color changes, decrease in hydrothermal stability, as well as changes in the amino acid composition. Surprisingly, the results show that the historical parchment is more sensitive towards dry heat oxidation on a molecular level than is the new parchment. Furthermore, for the first time, we can show that physical damage reflected in the morphological characteristics of fibers can be attributed to oxidation by dry heat.