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Science Program (science + program)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Medical Sciences	21%

Selected Abstracts

Consistency of modelled and observed temperature trends in the tropical troposphere

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CLIMATOLOGY, Issue 13 2008
B. D. Santer
Abstract A recent report of the U.S. Climate Change Science Program (CCSP) identified a ,potentially serious inconsistency' between modelled and observed trends in tropical lapse rates (Karl et al., 2006). Early versions of satellite and radiosonde datasets suggested that the tropical surface had warmed more than the troposphere, while climate models consistently showed tropospheric amplification of surface warming in response to human-caused increases in well-mixed greenhouse gases (GHGs). We revisit such comparisons here using new observational estimates of surface and tropospheric temperature changes. We find that there is no longer a serious discrepancy between modelled and observed trends in tropical lapse rates. This emerging reconciliation of models and observations has two primary explanations. First, because of changes in the treatment of buoy and satellite information, new surface temperature datasets yield slightly reduced tropical warming relative to earlier versions. Second, recently developed satellite and radiosonde datasets show larger warming of the tropical lower troposphere. In the case of a new satellite dataset from Remote Sensing Systems (RSS), enhanced warming is due to an improved procedure of adjusting for inter-satellite biases. When the RSS-derived tropospheric temperature trend is compared with four different observed estimates of surface temperature change, the surface warming is invariably amplified in the tropical troposphere, consistent with model results. Even if we use data from a second satellite dataset with smaller tropospheric warming than in RSS, observed tropical lapse rate trends are not significantly different from those in all other model simulations. Our results contradict a recent claim that all simulated temperature trends in the tropical troposphere and in tropical lapse rates are inconsistent with observations. This claim was based on use of older radiosonde and satellite datasets, and on two methodological errors: the neglect of observational trend uncertainties introduced by interannual climate variability, and application of an inappropriate statistical ,consistency test'. Copyright © 2008 Royal Meteorological Society [source]

Core Competencies in Food Science: Background Information on the Development of the IFT Education Standards

JOURNAL OF FOOD SCIENCE EDUCATION, Issue 1 2002
Richard W. Hartel
ABSTRACT: In recent years, many professional organizations have shifted their program standards and program review away from course content-based criteria and towards outcome-based learning measures. IFT has recently done the same with implementation of the new IFT Education Standards. These Standards, which replace the old "Minimum Standards for Food Science Programs", were approved by the Executive Committee at their meeting in June, 2001, with implementation beginning in fall, 2001. All food science programs will now be reviewed for IFT approval against these new Standards. This article describes the process by which this change has occurred over the past few years. [source]

Harnessing a University to address rural health workforce shortages in Australia

AUSTRALIAN JOURNAL OF RURAL HEALTH, Issue 4 2007
David Lyle
Abstract Objective:,To describe the efforts of health faculties at the University of Sydney to contribute to the recruitment and retention of rural health professionals and examine for opportunities that would benefit from an institutional-led response. Design:,Cross-sectional survey. Setting:,The University of Sydney as a leading institution for health science education in New South Wales, which produces approximately 40% of all health science graduates in the state each year. Participants:,Staff responsible for course coordination within the faculties of Dentistry, Medicine, Nursing and Midwifery, and Pharmacy; and eight disciplines of the Faculty of Health Sciences. Results:,Of the two educational strategies associated with future rural employment, more progress has been made with rural placements, which were offered by all but one of the health courses. Efforts aimed at the other key strategy of attracting and supporting rural origin students were not well developed. Dentistry, Medicine, Pharmacy and only one Faculty of Health Sciences programs had more than 0.2 full-time equivalent staff to support rural initiatives. Conclusion:,Despite the significant government investment in rural health education, the University of Sydney experience demonstrates that this does not necessarily translate into adequate internal resources available for every course or program to optimise performance for rural health workforce outcomes. In an environment of competing priorities, benefits are likely to accrue from strategies that draw on the existing resource base and operate through greater collaborative action, coordinated at the institutional level. [source]

Assessment of the Joint Food Science Curriculum of Washington State University and the University of Idaho by Graduates and Their Employers

JOURNAL OF FOOD SCIENCE EDUCATION, Issue 1 2006
Stephanie Clark
ABSTRACT: Thirty-two recent graduates from the joint food science program of Washington State Univ. (WSU) and The Univ. of Idaho (UI) and 12 of their employers participated in a survey study to assess food science program outcomes. The objective of this study was to assess the joint curriculum in its ability to prepare undergraduate students for critical thinking, problem solving, and technical competence in the food industry. Two survey tools, 1 for graduates and 1 for their employers, were designed to assess job preparedness and the skill set attained by food science program graduates. Graduates of the joint food science program generally indicated satisfaction with their food science education and suggested that they were adequately prepared for their jobs. Both students and employers indicated that most of the identified Success Skills are used daily on the job, and that graduates were well prepared with Success Skills. Graduates and employers reported adequate preparation in Food Processing and Engineering competence. Some significant differences (P < 0.05) were found in perceived and assessed competence. Specifically, while student indicated that they were well prepared with Food Chemistry and Analysis, Food Safety and Microbiology, and Applied Food Science competence, employers indicated only adequate preparation in Food Chemistry and Analysis, and Applied Food Science competence, but poor preparation in Food Safety and Microbiology competence. The findings suggest that students should be given opportunities for self-evaluation in undergraduate courses. Because the survey models are based on Institute of Food Technologists requirements, it is expected that the surveys can be readily adopted by other institutions to assess student learning and program effectiveness. [source]

A case study of one school system's adoption and implementation of an elementary science program

JOURNAL OF RESEARCH IN SCIENCE TEACHING, Issue 1 2005
Michael P. Kelly
In this investigation we employed a case study approach with qualitative and quantitative data sources to examine and discover the characteristics of the processes used by a midwestern U.S. school system to adopt and implement a new K,6 science curriculum. Analysis of data yielded several results. Elementary teachers received what they requested, a hands-on science program with texts and kits. Teachers as a group remained in the early stages of the Concerns-Based Adoption Model profile of concerns. Many K,6 teachers remained uncomfortable with teaching science. Teachers' attitudes regarding the new program were positive, and they taught more science. Teachers struggled with science-as-inquiry, with a science program they believe contained too many concepts and too much vocabulary, and with their beliefs that students learned more and loved the new hands-on program. Traditional science teaching remained the norm. Administrative support was positive but insufficient to facilitate full implementation of the new program and more substantial change in teaching. Standardized science achievement test scores did not show an observable pattern of growth. It is concluded that a systematic, ongoing program of professional development is necessary to address teachers' concerns and help the district realize its goal of standards-based K,6 science instruction. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 42: 25,52, 2005 [source]

Inquiry in interaction: How local adaptations of curricula shape classroom communities

JOURNAL OF RESEARCH IN SCIENCE TEACHING, Issue 9 2004
Noel Enyedy
In this study, we seek a better understanding of how individuals and their daily interactions shape and reshape social structures that constitute a classroom community. Moreover, we provide insight into how discourse and classroom interactions shape the nature of a learning community, as well as which aspects of the classroom culture may be consequential for learning. The participants in this study include two teachers who are implementing a new environmental science program, Global Learning through Observation to Benefit the Environment (GLOBE), and interacting with 54 children in an urban middle school. Both qualitative and quantitative data are analyzed and presented. To gain a better understanding of the inquiry teaching within classroom communities, we compare and contrast the discourse and interactions of the two teachers during three parallel environmental science lessons. The focus of our analysis includes (1) how the community identifies the object or goal of its activity; and (2) how the rights, rules, and roles for members are established and inhabited in interaction. Quantitative analyses of student pre- and posttests suggest greater learning for students in one classroom over the other, providing support for the influence of the classroom community and interactional choices of the teacher on student learning. Implications of the findings from this study are discussed in the context of curricular design, professional development, and educational reform. ? 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 41: 905-935, 2004. [source]

Functional foods: An Australian perspective

NUTRITION & DIETETICS, Issue 2008
Linda TAPSELL
Abstract There are many definitions of functional foods, although with a common element of providing some functional advantage to consumers, and they are almost universally associated with food innovation. In Australia, the National Centre of Excellence in Functional Foods (NCEFF) was established with five-year federal innovation funding to help build capability in functional food research and development. This review sets the context for the NCEFF science program, by first outlining global concepts of functional foods and the nature of the scientific enterprise associated with it. The review provides a working definition of functional foods, describes the types of research reported in Medline in the last year and compares this with the NCEFF program of research. The ,working space' for functional foods was found to relate to the nutritional and food sciences, regulatory conditions, consumer/market and health concerns and industry opportunity. The term is appearing increasingly in Medline, mostly under review articles, but also with respect to in vitro and animal model studies, human clinical trials and consumer research. The spectrum of research undertaken in the NCEFF science program was consistent with this pattern. The review found that Australian researchers and practitioners have the capacity to deliver on major fronts in the functional foods domain and to be part of the challenges for food and nutrition research that have been exposed through the functional food phenomenon. [source]

Core Competencies in Food Science: Background Information on the Development of the IFT Education Standards

How well do middle school science programs measure up?

JOURNAL OF RESEARCH IN SCIENCE TEACHING, Issue 6 2002
Findings from Project 2061's curriculum review
The purposes of this study were to examine how well middle school programs support the attainment of key scientific ideas specified in national science standards, and to identify typical strengths and weaknesses of these programs using research-based criteria. Nine widely used programs were examined by teams of teachers and specialists in research on teaching and learning. Reviewers found that whereas key ideas were generally present in the programs, they were typically buried between detailed or even unrelated ideas. Programs only rarely provided students with a sense of purpose for the units of study, took account of student beliefs that interfere with learning, engaged students with relevant phenomena to make abstract scientific ideas plausible, modeled the use of scientific knowledge so that students could apply what they learned in everyday situations, or scaffolded student efforts to make meaning of key phenomena and ideas presented in the programs. New middle school science programs that reflect findings from learning research are needed to support teachers better in helping students learn key ideas in science. The criteria and findings from this study on the inadequacies in existing programs could serve as guidelines in new curriculum development. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 39: 522,549, 2002 [source]

Temperature dependence of carrier traps in high sensitivity HARP photoconductive film

PHYSICA STATUS SOLIDI (C) - CURRENT TOPICS IN SOLID STATE PHYSICS, Issue S1 2009
Yuji Ohkawa
Abstract Amorphous selenium (a-Se) avalanche multiplication photoconductive film, what we call HARP (high-gain avalanche rushing amorphous photoconductor) photoconductive film, has been investigated for the purpose of reporting breaking news at night and producing nature and science programs. The purpose of our work is to develop more sensitive HARP films with high reliability. 15-,m-thick HARP film with an avalanche multiplication factor of about 200 that is thicker and more sensitive than the previous 8-,m-thick one has been studied. However, the thick film has a problem that defects easily occurred during shooting of intense spot lights. The defects are caused by trapped electrons which makes an enhanced internal electric field around the incident light side interface of the film. Defects are suppressed by operating the film at high temperatures, because the thermal energy releases the trapped electrons. This paper describes the relationship between the defect occurrence and the temperature dependence of carries trap in the film. To investigate it, the defect occurrence and dark current characteristics were measured. As a result, it was found that the number of released electrons exceeds that of trapped ones at temperatures over 28.5 °C and that defect occurrence is suppressed by operating the film at over 27.5 °C. (© 2009 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim) [source]

Attitudes and Intentions of Future Health Care Providers Toward Abortion Provision

PERSPECTIVES ON SEXUAL AND REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH, Issue 2 2004
Solmaz Shotorbani
CONTEXT: Induced abortion is one of the most common procedures performed among women in the United States. However, 87% of all counties had no abortion provider in 2000, and little is known about the attitudes and intentions of future health care providers, including advanced clinical practitioners, regarding abortion provision. METHODS: During March 2002, first- and second-year students in health sciences programs (i.e., medicine, physician assistant and nursing) at the University of Washington were anonymously surveyed. Univariate, bivariate and multi-variate analyses were used to determine students' attitudes and intentions regarding provision of abortion services. RESULTS: Of the 312 students who completed the survey, 70% supported the availability of legal abortion under any circumstances. Thirty-one percent intended to provide medical abortion in their practice, and 18% planned to offer surgical abortion. Fifty-two percent of all respondents agreed that advanced clinical practitioners should be able to provide medical abortion, and 37% agreed that they should be able to provide surgical abortion services; however, greater proportions of advanced clinical practitioners (45,83%) than of medical students (21,43%) expressed such support. Sixty-four percent of all respondents were willing to attend a program whose curriculum requires abortion training. CONCLUSIONS: Although it may not be possible to require abortion training for every future health care provider, making abortion a standard part of clinical training would provide opportunities for future physicians and advanced clinical practitioners, and would likely ameliorate the abortion provider shortage. [source]