A Collaborative Learning Methodology for Enhanced Comprehension using TEAMThink®

This paper discusses a teaching methodology to improve the retention of lecture material through peer collaboration among students. The methods introduced also help measure a student's comprehension of class material. In addition, the techniques allow the instructor to obtain continuous feedback on areas that students have difficulty grasping. The instructor can also observe students interpretation of concepts and their written communication skills. The entire process was conducted through the Internet using Athenium's TEAMThink® software. The TEAMThink® software is a professional product developed by Athenium and was developed primarily as a training tool for corporations. This is the first time an educational institution has used it as part of the curriculum. The experiences presented here were conducted on an Operating Systems course at Tufts University's Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science consisting of 36 seniors and 4 graduate students and a second year Introduction to Digital Logic Circuits course consisting of 100 undergraduate students. The TEAMThink® learning process features a quiz making and quiz taking game, where students collaborate in teams to create multiple‐choice quiz questions which challenge the learning of other students. The experiences reported in this paper discuss the benefits of this approach from the student and the instructor perspectives. The unexpected outcomes such as the feedback provided to the developers of the TEAMThink® software are also discussed .     

An Interactive,Video‐Teleconferenced,Graduate Course in Biomedical Engineering

A two‐semester, video‐teleconferenced (2‐way video/audio) course entitled Principles of Biomedical Engineering I and II was offered from 1999 to 2001 for graduate students enrolled at Purdue University (PU; West Lafayette, IN) and Indiana University/Purdue University at Indianapolis (IUPUI; Indianapolis, IN). Results of the study provided evidence that during the control (i.e., traditional lecture) distance learning environment, on‐campus students consistently received statistically significant higher final course grades than off‐campus students. In contrast, upon implementation of interactive distance learning methods, the on‐ and off‐campus students received similar (not statistically different) final grades. In this manner, the study demonstrated that effective use of video‐teleconferencing occurs when students at remote‐sites actively participate in the learning experience rather than passively observe the lectures on a television monitor (as occurs during traditional distance learning lectures).     

Analyses of sensitivity and competition of an EOQ model

Min (1992) proposed a symmetric Cournot-like oligopoly model consisting of sellers who are profit maximizing EOQ-based decision makers. In this paper Min's 1992 model is extended by means of sensitivity and equilibrium analyses. The primary objective of such extensions is to enhance the general understanding of relationships between critical quantities in inventory theory (such as the order quantity) and in microeconomic theory (such as the number of competing sellers). In particular, for EOQ-based decision making sellers, the effects on each seller's profitability caused by the entry of an additional competitor, as well as the maximum number of competitors the entire market can sustain, are examined.     

A NEW EMPIRICAL MODEL TO SIMULATE TRANSIENT SHEAR STRESS GROWTH IN SEMI-SOLID FOODS1

A family of models has been developed which has the ability to simulate transient shear stress growth in foods. The models can be written as follows: Three relaxation terms (seven parameters) are necessary to stimulate transient shear stress growth for stick butter, tub margarine and peanut butter at shear rates of 10 s^?1 and 100 s^?1. At small times the model tends to: which simulates the stress growth part of the curve. At long times the models tend to the power-law. The series of relaxation terms allows for the introduction of several time scales in the relaxation behavior of each food.     

HOLLOW FIBER ULTRAFILTRATION OF CALF SERUM AND ALBUMIN IN THE PREGEL UNIFORM-WALL-FLUX REGION

Ultrafiltration of calf serum and bovine serum albumin (BSA) in the pregel region has been studied in Cuprophan hollow-fiber filters of various lengths and number of fibers, and at several axial flow velocities. Graphs of ultrafiltration velocities versus transmembrane pressure show a surprising independence from fiber length and axial flow velocity. Results are correlated by osmotic-pressure data and an available boundary layer theory derived originally for uniform-wall-flux processes in the far-downstream (asymptotic) region.     

Solving an apparel trim placement problem using a maximum cover problem approach

A trim placement problem from the apparel industry is presented and solved. The problem is related to cutting and packing problems, which have received attention in the literature for close to 40 years. The problem is motivated by a pants layout problem involving irregularly-shaped pieces. A two-stage strategy is commonly employed, with large pieces, or panels, arranged first, followed by smaller pieces, or trim. This paper assumes the panels have been arranged, and presents an approach for placing the trim pieces into unused “containers” of the stock material. Groups of trim pieces are first generated using existing polygon containment algorithms. Then, groups are assigned to containers to maximize a weighted function of the trim pieces. The mathematical programming formulation is developed, which is a generalization of the Maximum Cover Problem, a well-known problem in the location literature. Due to wide variability in branch and bound solution times, a Lagrangian Heuristic incorporating an improvement heuristic is developed. Computational experience demonstrates the effectiveness of the Lagrangian Heuristic on real pants markers. The optimal solution is found for all, and solution times are less than branch and bound in 10 out of 12 problem instances (considerably less in three), and only slightly more in the other two. Times are also less variable than branch and bound, an important characteristic with an interactive layout system.     

QUALITY AND STABILITY OF POTATO CHIPS FRIED IN CANOLA, PARTIALLY HYDROGENATED CANOLA, SOYBEAN AND COTTONSEED OILS

The effect of four oils, canola (CO), soybean (SBO), cottonseed (CSO) and partially hydrogenated canola (PHCO) on sensory and instrumental attributes of potato chips were determined after a modified Schaal oven test (S) storage for 0, 6, and 12 days at 60C and practical (P) storage for 18 weeks at 23C. At time 0, CO and CSO chips had higher characteristic potato chip odor/flavor and lower off odor/flavor than other chips. Frying oils did not affect characteristic potato chip odor/flavor and off odor at S6 and S12. P18 CO chips had higher characteristic potato chip odor/flavor and lower off odor/flavor than others. Chip odor/flavor notes differed due to oils but chip color and texture generally did not. Peroxide values (PV) were highest in fat extracted from stored CSO chips. Anisidine values (AV) of extracted fats were similar among stored chips. PV of stored used frying oils tended to be highest in CSO and lowest in PHCO; AV of oils were low but SBO tended to be highest. Findings indicate potential for increasing canola oils/fats usage in snack foods.     

URBAN POVERTY AND THE SOCIAL CONSEQUENCES OF PRIVATIZED FOOD ASSISTANCE

ABSTRACT: Urban affairs research has not examined how broad social forces and policy changes affect daily life in urban communities, organizations, and families. Drawing on ethnographic field work in urban food assistance sites as well as analyses of the comparative roles of government and the voluntary sector in responding to social problems, this study provides evidence that: (1) voluntary organizations (in this case food assistance providers) have been drawn into a growing institutionalized “shadow government” (Wolch, 1990); (2) this newly institutionalized voluntary bureaucracy closely parallels the bureaucracy, the rigidity, and the depersonalization of government agencies; (3) willingly or not, this increasingly institutionalized food provision network contributes to the continued view of poverty in America as primarily the result of personal defects and temporary misfortunes requiring only an “emergency,” albeit virtually permanent, response from society; and (4) these changes have consequences for the transfer of responsibility for assistance from the public to the private sector under welfare reform.     

手性液相色谱法直接定量乳粉中RRR-α-生育酚

目的 建立一种乳粉中RRR-α-生育酚的手性液相色谱直接检测方法。方法 样品经氢氧化钾皂化, 石油醚-异丙醚萃取。经小粒径纤维素衍生物型手性柱Daicel Chiralcel OD-3 (2.1 mm×150 mm, 3 μm)直接分离,采用无水乙醇-正己烷(5: 995, V/V) (A)和三乙胺-正己烷(5: 995, V/V) (B) (A:B=10:90)作为流动相进行等度洗脱, 流速为0.2 mL/min, 柱温30 ℃, 检测波长为294 nm, 外标法定量。结果 RRR-α-生育酚和其他α-生育酚异构体的分离度大于1.2。在0.5~50 μg/mL 范围内线性关系良好, 相关系数大于0.999, 检出限为0.20 mg/100 g , 定量限为0.60 mg/100 g, 加标回收率为95%~109%, 相对标准偏差为2.7%。结论 该方法快速、准确、灵敏, 适合测定乳粉中RRR-α-生育酚的含量。