Attention paid to feedback provided by a computer-based assessment for learning on information literacy

Three studies are presented on attention paid to feedback provided by a computer-based assessment for learning on information literacy. Results show that the attention paid to feedback varies greatly. In general the attention focuses on feedback of incorrectly answered questions. In each study approximately fifty percent of the respondents paid attention to feedback of incorrect answers only. Approximately another twenty-five percent did not pay attention to feedback at all. Results suggest that differences in attention paid to feedback are influenced by task difficulty and test length. Supervision, however, does not seem to influence the average attention paid to feedback. On the other hand, results show that indirect and direct supervision lead to a greater impact of feedback provided by a computer-based assessment for learning as the number increases of students taking the test and, as a consequence, paying attention to feedback.     

Conditioning-specific reflex modification of the rabbit's nictitating membrane response and heart rate: Behavioral rules, neural substrates, and potential applications to posttraumatic stress disorder.

Interest in classical conditioning is usually focused on anticipatory responses to a stimulus associated with a significant event, and it is assumed that responses to the event itself are reflexive, involuntary, and relatively invariant. However, there is compelling evidence that both the rabbit nictitating membrane response (NMR) and heart rate response (HR), well-known reflexive reactions to aversive events, can change quite dramatically as a function of learning when measured in the absence of the conditioned stimulus. In the case of NMR conditioning, a simple blink is transformed into a larger and more complex response. For HR conditioning, reflexive heart rate acceleration can actually change to heart rate deceleration. In both cases, the reflex comes to resemble the conditioned response and follows some of the same behavioral laws. This change in response to the aversive event itself or weaker forms of that event is called conditioning-specific reflex modification (CRM). CRM may force us to reevaluate the behavioral and neural consequences of classical conditioning and may have important consequences for the treatment of conditions such as posttraumatic stress disorder. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Innovative Solutions in Induction Heating for Better Energy Efficiency:Presentation of ISIS Project

The Energy Climate Package is the EU response to the Global Warming Challenge.Induction heating processes can contribute to the energy saving goal:20%saving within 2020.European induction manufacturer already propose many efficient solutions at industrial scale.To improve induction devices for an always better energy efficiency,EDF R&D set up a French cooperative project called ISIS with a financial support of the French National Research Agency.Its objective is to promote induction heating as Best Available Technology(BAT)and to develop innovative solutions to increase its efficiency.The ISIS innovations concern the electroheat conversion of induction devices(auto-adaptive multi-coil power supply,low losses coils)and the recovering of fatally lost energy.This paper shows the mid-term results of this project.Firsts control algorithms were successfully tested on a 100 kW 3-coil power supply.A homogenization technique is proposed to model a multi-strand coil.A heat recovery test bench is build and equipped with a PFC control loop to fit with the production fluctuations.     

Evaluating the market transformation impacts of a DSM program in the Province of Quebec

In 2006, Hydro-Québec introduced a large DSM program on the market to promote the adoption of compact fluorescent lamps in Québec households. After 3 years of program implementation, there was significant indication on the part of market actors that the promotional campaign component was quite effective in transforming the Québec market. Hydro-Québec therefore decided to modify its approach to program evaluation to include the quantification of market effects. Econoler led a team including American partners, Opinion Dynamics Inc. and Megdal & Associates to conduct an evaluation of program impacts on market transformation. An evaluation strategy was designed where different research tools would be integrated to determine market evolution over the two previous years. Each research method was used to determine an estimate of program impacts, then triangulated with other approaches to determine the most appropriate impact evaluation method regarding the Hydro-Québec program. Research efforts included a non-participant survey, interviews at manufacturer headquarters across Canada, interviews with banner distributor representatives across Canada, the collection of sales and market share data from manufacturers and retailers as well as secondary research to identify other players that could influence the market. The evaluation revealed that savings of 168 GWh could be attributed to direct and indirect impacts of the program for the 2006–2007 period.     

Some features of anisothermal solid-state transformations in alloy 718

This paper presents an attempt to use differential thermal analysis to study anisothermal precipitation of both the stable delta and the metastable gamma-second phases during cooling of alloy Inconel 718. Observation of the samples by scanning and transmission electron microscopy was carried out to identify the thermal arrests observed upon cooling. When the upper temperature of the cycle is above the solvus of the delta phase, a clear peak is observed that could be related to precipitation of gamma-second for all the cooling rates used in the present work. When this temperature is below the delta solvus, no thermal arrest can be observed, while when it is close to it two faint peaks were noted and associated with stable and metastable precipitation. The most striking result was that dissolution of the metastable gamma-second phase during the heating stage was found to proceed heterogeneously in the material, and this affected reprecipitation of the phases upon subsequent cooling.     

CD95 (Fas/Apo-1) as a receptor governing astrocyte apoptotic or inflammatory responses: a key role in brain inflammation?

Astrocytes are a major cellular component of the brain that are capable of intense proliferation and metabolic activity during diverse inflammatory brain diseases (such as multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer's dementia, tumor, HIV encephalitis, or prion disease). In this biological process, called reactive gliosis, astrocyte apoptosis is frequently observed and could be an important mechanism of regulation. However, the factors responsible for apoptosis in human astrocytes are poorly defined. Here, we report that short term cultured astrocytes derived from different brain regions express significant levels of CD95 at their surface. Only late passage astrocytes are sensitive to CD95 ligation using either CD95 mAb or recombinant CD95 ligand. Blocking experiments using caspase inhibitors with different specificities (DEVD-CHO, z-VAD-fmk, and YVAD-cmk), an enzymatic activity assay, and immunoblotting show that CPP32/caspase-3 play a prominent role in CD95-induced astrocyte death. In contrast, early passage astrocytes are totally resistant to death, but a significant increase in astrocytic IL-8 secretion (p < 0.001, by Wilcoxon's test for paired samples) is observed after CD95 triggering. Production of IL-8 contributes to the resistance of astrocytes to CD95 ligation. Furthermore, in the presence of IFN-gamma, resistant astrocytes became sensitive to CD95-mediated death. These data suggest that microenvironmental factors can influence the consequences of CD95 ligation on astrocytes. Therefore, we propose that CD95 expressed by human astrocytes plays a pivotal role in the regulation of astrocyte life and death and may be a key factor in inflammatory processes in the brain, such as reactive gliosis.