Learning about brain physiology and complexity from the study of the epilepsies

The brain is a complex system, which produces emergent properties such as those associated with activity-dependent plasticity in processes of learning and memory. Therefore, understanding the integrated structures and functions of the brain is well beyond the scope of either superficial or extremely reductionistic approaches. Although a combination of zoom-in and zoom-out strategies is desirable when the brain is studied, constructing the appropriate interfaces to connect all levels of analysis is one of the most difficult challenges of contemporary neuroscience. Is it possible to build appropriate models of brain function and dysfunctions with computational tools? Among the best-known brain dysfunctions, epilepsies are neurological syndromes that reach a variety of networks, from widespread anatomical brain circuits to local molecular environments. One logical question would be: are those complex brain networks always producing maladaptive emergent properties compatible with epileptogenic substrates? The present review will deal with this question and will try to answer it by illustrating several points from the literature and from our laboratory data, with examples at the behavioral, electrophysiological, cellular and molecular levels. We conclude that, because the brain is a complex system compatible with the production of emergent properties, including plasticity, its functions should be approached using an integrated view. Concepts such as brain networks, graphics theory, neuroinformatics, and e-neuroscience are discussed as new transdisciplinary approaches dealing with the continuous growth of information about brain physiology and its dysfunctions. The epilepsies are discussed as neurobiological models of complex systems displaying maladaptive plasticity.

University students’ regulation of learning and text processing – examples from medical and teacher education

The general aim of the thesis was to study university students’ learning from the perspective of regulation of learning and text processing. The data were collected from the two academic disciplines of medical and teacher education, which share the features of highly scheduled study, a multidisciplinary character, a complex relationship between theory and practice and a professional nature. Contemporary information society poses new challenges for learning, as it is not possible to learn all the information needed in a profession during a study programme. Therefore, it is increasingly important to learn how to think and learn independently, how to recognise gaps in and update one’s knowledge and how to deal with the huge amount of constantly changing information. In other words, it is critical to regulate one’s learning and to process text effectively. The thesis comprises five sub-studies that employed cross-sectional, longitudinal and experimental designs and multiple methods, from surveys to eye tracking. Study I examined the connections between students’ study orientations and the ways they regulate their learning. In total, 410 second-, fourth- and sixth-year medical students from two Finnish medical schools participated in the study by completing a questionnaire measuring both general study orientations and regulation strategies. The students were generally deeply oriented towards their studies. However, they regulated their studying externally. Several interesting and theoretically reasonable connections between the variables were found. For instance, self-regulation was positively correlated with deep orientation and achievement orientation and was negatively correlated with non-commitment. However, external regulation was likewise positively correlated with deep orientation and achievement orientation but also with surface orientation and systematic orientation. It is argued that external regulation might function as an effective coping strategy in the cognitively loaded medical curriculum. Study II focused on medical students’ regulation of learning and their conceptions of the learning environment in an innovative medical course where traditional lectures were combined wth problem-based learning (PBL) group work. First-year medical and dental students (N = 153) completed a questionnaire assessing their regulation strategies of learning and views about the PBL group work. The results indicated that external regulation and self-regulation of the learning content were the most typical regulation strategies among the participants. In line with previous studies, self-regulation wasconnected with study success. Strictly organised PBL sessions were not considered as useful as lectures, although the students’ views of the teacher/tutor and the group were mainly positive. Therefore, developers of teaching methods are challenged to think of new solutions that facilitate reflection of one’s learning and that improve the development of self-regulation. In Study III, a person-centred approach to studying regulation strategies was employed, in contrast to the traditional variable-centred approach used in Study I and Study II. The aim of Study III was to identify different regulation strategy profiles among medical students (N = 162) across time and to examine to what extent these profiles predict study success in preclinical studies. Four regulation strategy profiles were identified, and connections with study success were found. Students with the lowest self-regulation and with an increasing lack of regulation performed worse than the other groups. As the person-centred approach enables us to individualise students with diverse regulation patterns, it could be used in supporting student learning and in facilitating the early diagnosis of learning difficulties. In Study IV, 91 student teachers participated in a pre-test/post-test design where they answered open-ended questions about a complex science concept both before and after reading either a traditional, expository science text or a refutational text that prompted the reader to change his/her beliefs according to scientific beliefs about the phenomenon. The student teachers completed a questionnaire concerning their regulation and processing strategies. The results showed that the students’ understanding improved after text reading intervention and that refutational text promoted understanding better than the traditional text. Additionally, regulation and processing strategies were found to be connected with understanding the science phenomenon. A weak trend showed that weaker learners would benefit more from the refutational text. It seems that learners with effective learning strategies are able to pick out the relevant content regardless of the text type, whereas weaker learners might benefit from refutational parts that contrast the most typical misconceptions with scientific views. The purpose of Study V was to use eye tracking to determine how third-year medical studets (n = 39) and internal medicine residents (n = 13) read and solve patient case texts. The results revealed differences between medical students and residents in processing patient case texts; compared to the students, the residents were more accurate in their diagnoses and processed the texts significantly faster and with a lower number of fixations. Different reading patterns were also found. The observed differences between medical students and residents in processing patient case texts could be used in medical education to model expert reasoning and to teach how a good medical text should be constructed. The main findings of the thesis indicate that even among very selected student populations, such as high-achieving medical students or student teachers, there seems to be a lot of variation in regulation strategies of learning and text processing. As these learning strategies are related to successful studying, students enter educational programmes with rather different chances of managing and achieving success. Further, the ways of engaging in learning seldom centre on a single strategy or approach; rather, students seem to combine several strategies to a certain degree. Sometimes, it can be a matter of perspective of which way of learning can be considered best; therefore, the reality of studying in higher education is often more complicated than the simplistic view of self-regulation as a good quality and external regulation as a harmful quality. The beginning of university studies may be stressful for many, as the gap between high school and university studies is huge and those strategies that were adequate during high school might not work as well in higher education. Therefore, it is important to map students’ learning strategies and to encourage them to engage in using high-quality learning strategies from the beginning. Instead of separate courses on learning skills, the integration of these skills into course contents should be considered. Furthermore, learning complex scientific phenomena could be facilitated by paying attention to high-quality learning materials and texts and other support from the learning environment also in the university. Eye tracking seems to have great potential in evaluating performance and growing diagnostic expertise in text processing, although more research using texts as stimulus is needed. Both medical and teacher education programmes and the professions themselves are challenging in terms of their multidisciplinary nature and increasing amounts of information and therefore require good lifelong learning skills during the study period and later in work life.

Implementation of educational change in Finland: The case of the undivided basic education reform

For the past decades, educational large-scale reforms have been elaborated and implemented in many countries and often resulted in partial or complete failure. These results brought researchers to study policy processes in order to address this particular challenge. Studies on implementation processes brought to light an existing causal relationship between the implementation process and the effectiveness of a reform. This study aims to describe the implementation process of educational change in Finland, who produced efficient educational reforms over the last 50 years. The case study used for the purpose of this study is the national reform of undivided basic education (yhtenäinen peruskoulu) implemented in the end of the 1990s. Therefore, this research aims to describe how the Finnish undivided basic education reform was implemented. This research was carried out using a pluralist and structuralist approach of policy process and was analyzed according to the hybrid model of implementation process. The data were collected using a triangulation of methods, i.e. documentary research, interviews and questionnaires. The data were qualitative and were analyzed using content analysis methods. This study concludes that the undivided basic education reform was applied in a very decentralized manner, which is a reflection of the decentralized system present in Finland. Central authorities provided a clear vision of the purpose of the reform, but did not control the implementation process. They rather provided extensive support in the form of transmission of information and development of collaborative networks. Local authorities had complete autonomy in terms of decision-making and implementation process. Discussions, debates and decisions regarding implementation processes took place at the local level and included the participation of all actors present on the field. Implementation methods differ from a region to another, with is the consequence of the variation of the level of commitment of local actors but also the diversity of local realities. The reform was implemented according to existing structures and values, which means that it was in cohesion with the context in which it was implemented. These results cannot be generalized to all implementation processes of educational change in Finland but give a great insight of what could be the model used in Finland. Future studies could intent to confirm the model described here by studying other reforms that took place in Finland.

Implementation of educational change in Finland: The case of the undivided basic education reform

For the past decades, educational large-scale reforms have been elaborated and implemented in many countries and often resulted in partial or complete failure. These results brought researchers to study policy processes in order to address this particular challenge. Studies on implementation processes brought to light an existing causal relationship between the implementation process and the effectiveness of a reform. This study aims to describe the implementation process of educational change in Finland, who produced efficient educational reforms over the last 50 years. The case study used for the purpose of this study is the national reform of undivided basic education (yhtenäinen peruskoulu) implemented in the end of the 1990s. Therefore, this research aims to describe how the Finnish undivided basic education reform was implemented. This research was carried out using a pluralist and structuralist approach of policy process and was analyzed according to the hybrid model of implementation process. The data were collected using a triangulation of methods, i.e. documentary research, interviews and questionnaires. The data were qualitative and were analyzed using content analysis methods. This study concludes that the undivided basic education reform was applied in a very decentralized manner, which is a reflection of the decentralized system present in Finland. Central authorities provided a clear vision of the purpose of the reform, but did not control the implementation process. They rather provided extensive support in the form of transmission of information and development of collaborative networks. Local authorities had complete autonomy in terms of decision-making and implementation process. Discussions, debates and decisions regarding implementation processes took place at the local level and included the participation of all actors present on the field. Implementation methods differ from a region to another, with is the consequence of the variation of the level of commitment of local actors but also the diversity of local realities. The reform was implemented according to existing structures and values, which means that it was in cohesion with the context in which it was implemented. These results cannot be generalized to all implementation processes of educational change in Finland but give a great insight of what could be the model used in Finland. Future studies could intent to confirm the model described here by studying other reforms that took place in Finland.

Acquisition and transfer of experiential learning from rock climbing to the corporate workplace

There were three purposes to this study. The first purpose was to determine how learning can be influenced by various factors i~ the rock climbing experience. The second purpose was to examine what people can learn from the rock climbing experience. The third purpose was to investigate whether that learning can transfer from the rock climbing experience to the subjects' real life in the workplace. Ninety employees from a financial corporation in the Niagara Region volunteered for this study. All subjects were surveyed throughout a one-day treatment. Ten were purposefully selected one month later for interviews. Ten themes emerged from the subjects in terms of what was learned. Inspiration, motivation, and determination, preparation, goals and limitations, perceptions and expectations, confidence and risk taking, trust and support, teamwork, feedback and encouragement, learning from failure, and finally, skills and flow. All participants were able to transfer what was learned back to the workplace. The results of this study suggested that subjects' learning was influenced by their ability to: take risks in a safe environment, fail without penalty, support each other, plan without time constraints, and enjoy the company of fellow workers that they wouldn't normally associate with. Future directions for research should include different types of treatments such as white water rafting, sky diving, tall ship sailing, or caving.

The Ethics Of Reconciling : Learning From Canada’s Truth And Reconciliation Commission

In 2008, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (TRC) was initiated to address the historical and contemporary injustices and impacts of Indian Residential Schools. Of the many goals of the TRC, I focus on reconciliation and how the TRC aims to promote this through public education and engagement. To explore this, I consider two questions: 1) who does the TRC include in the process of reconciliation? And 2) how might I, as someone who is not Indigenous (specifically, as someone who is “white”), be engaged by the TRC? Ethical queries arise which speak to broader concerns about the TRC’s capability to fulfill its public education goals. I raise several concerns about whether the TRC’s plan to convoke the col- lective will result in over-simplifying the process by relying on blunt, poorly defined identity categories that erase the heterogeneity of those residing in Canada, as well as the complexity of the conflict among us. I attempt to situate myself in-between proclamations of “success” or “failure” of the TRC, to better understand what can be learned from contested truths and experiences of uncertainty.

Heterotrophic bacteria from the continental slope sediments of arabian sea

The marine environment is indubitably the largest contiguous habitat on Earth. Because of its vast volume and area, the influence of the world ocean on global climate is profound and plays an important role in human welfare and destiny. The marine environment encompasses several habitats, from the sea surface layer down through the bulk water column, which extends >10,000 meters depth, and further down to the habitats on and under the sea floor. Compared to surface habitats, which have relatively high kinetic energy, deep-ocean circulation is very sluggish. By comparison, life in the deep sea is characterized by a relatively constant physical and chemical environment. Deep water occupying the world ocean basin is a potential natural resource based on its properties such as low temperature, high pressure and relatively unexplored properties. So, a judicious assessment of the marine resources and its management are essential to ensure sustainable development of the country’s ocean resources. Marine sediments are complex environments that are affected by both physiological and biological factors, water movements and burrowing animals. They encompass a large extent of aggregates falling from the surface waters. In aquatic ecosystems, the flux of organic matter to the bottom sediments depend on primary productivity at the ocean surface and water depth. Over 50% of the earth’s surface is covered by deep-sea sediments that are primarily formed through the continual deposition of particles from the productive pelagic waters (Vetriani et al., 1999). These aggregates are regarded as ‘hot spots’ of microbial activity in the ocean (Simon et al., 2002). This represents a good nutritional substrate for heterotrophic bacteria and favours bacterial growth

Sedimentology and Geochemistry of core sediments from the Ashtamudi estuary and the adjoining coastal plain,central Kerala,India

The evolution of coast through geological time scale is dependent on the transgression-regression event subsequent to the rise or fall of sea level. This event is accounted by investigation of the vertical sediment deposition patterns and their interrelationship for paleo-enviornmental reconstruction. Different methods like sedimentological (grain size and micro-morphological) and geochemical (elemental relationship) analyses as well as radiocarbon dating are generally used to decipher the sea level changes and paleoclimatic conditions of the Quaternary sediment sequence. For the Indian coast with a coastline length of about 7500 km, studies on geological and geomorphological signatures of sea level changes during the Quaternary were reported in general by researchers during the last two decades. However, for the southwest coast of India particularily Kerala which is famous for its coastal landforms comprising of estuaries, lagoons, backwaters, coastal plains, cliffs and barrier beaches, studies pertaining to the marine transgression-regression events in the southern region are limited. The Neendakara-Kayamkulam coastal stretch in central Kerala where the coast is manifested with shore parallel Kayamkulam Lagoon on one side and shore perpendicular Ashtamudi Estuary on the other side indicating existence of an uplifted prograded coastal margin followed by barrier beaches, backwater channels, ridge and runnel topography is an ideal site for studying such events. Hence the present study has been taken up in this context to address the gap area. The location for collection of core samples representing coastal plain, estuarylagoon and offshore regions have been identified based on published literature and available sedimentary records. The objectives of the research work are:  To study the lithological variations and depositional environments of sediment cores along the coastal plain, estuary-lagoon and offshore regions between Kollam and Kayamkulam in the central Kerala coast  To study the transportation and diagenetic history of sediments in the area  To investigate the geochemical characterization of sediments and to elucidate the source-sink relationship  To understand the marine transgression-regression events and to propose a conceptual model for the region The thesis comprises of 8 chapters. The first chapter embodies the preamble for the selection and significance of this research work. The study area is introduced with details on its physiographical, geological, geomorphological, rainfall and climate information. A review of literature, compiling the research on different aspects such as physico-chemical, geomorphological, tectonics, transgression-regression events are presented in the second chapter and they are broadly classified into three viz:- International, National and Kerala. The field data collection and laboratory analyses adopted in the research work are discussed in the third chapter. For collection of sediment core samples from the coastal plains, rotary drilling method was employed whereas for the estuary-lagoon and offshore locations the gravity/piston corer method was adopted. The collected subsurficial samples were analysed for texture, surface micro-texture, elemental analysis, XRD and radiocarbon dating techniques for age determination. The fourth chapter deals with the textural analysis of the core samples collected from various predefined locations of the study area. The result reveals that the Ashtamudi Estuary is composed of silty clay to clayey type of sediments whereas offshore cores are carpeted with silty clay to relict sand. Investigation of the source of sediments deposited in the coastal plain located on either side of the estuary indicates the dominance of terrigenous to marine origin in the southern region whereas it is predominantly of marine origin towards the north. Further the hydrodynamic conditions as well as the depositional enviornment of the sediment cores are elucidated based on statistical parameters that decipher the deposition pattern at various locations viz., coastal plain (open to closed basin), Ashtamudi Estuary (partially open to restricted estuary to closed basin) and offshore (open channel). The intensity of clay minerals is also discussed. From the results of radiocarbon dating the sediment depositional environments were deciphered.The results of the microtextural study of sediment samples (quartz grains) using Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) are presented in the fifth chapter. These results throw light on the processes of transport and diagenetic history of the detrital sediments. Based on the lithological variations, selected quartz grains of different environments were also analysed. The study indicates that the southern coastal plain sediments were transported and deposited mechanically under fluvial environment followed by diagenesis under prolonged marine incursion. But in the case of the northern coastal plain, the sediments were transported and deposited under littoral environment indicating the dominance of marine incursion through mechanical as well as chemical processes. The quartz grains of the Ashtamudi Estuary indicate fluvial origin. The surface texture features of the offshore sediments suggest that the quartz grains are of littoral origin and represent the relict beach deposits. The geochemical characterisation of sediment cores based on geochemical classification, sediment maturity, palaeo-weathering and provenance in different environments are discussed in the sixth chapter. In the seventh chapter the integration of multiproxies data along with radiocarbon dates are presented and finally evolution and depositional history based on transgression–regression events is deciphered. The eighth chapter summarizes the major findings and conclusions of the study with recommendation for future work.

The Informational Complexity of Learning from Examples

This thesis attempts to quantify the amount of information needed to learn certain tasks. The tasks chosen vary from learning functions in a Sobolev space using radial basis function networks to learning grammars in the principles and parameters framework of modern linguistic theory. These problems are analyzed from the perspective of computational learning theory and certain unifying perspectives emerge.

What makes a good learning activity for school kids: examples from the MiGen project

Powerpoint describing good educational eactivities

Seasonal variations of the physical and optical characteristics of Saharan Dust: results from the Dust outflow and Deposition to the Ocean (DODO) experiment

North African dust is important for climate through its direct radiative effect on solar and terrestrial radiation and its role in the biogeochemical system. The Dust Outflow and Deposition to the Ocean project (DODO) aimed to characterize the physical and optical properties of airborne North African dust in two seasons and to use these observations to constrain model simulations, with the ultimate aim of being able to quantify the deposition of iron to the North Atlantic Ocean. The in situ properties of dust from airborne campaigns measured during February and August 2006, based at Dakar, Senegal, are presented here. Average values of the single scattering albedo (0.99, 0.98), mass specific extinction (0.85 m^2 g^-1 , 1.14 m^2 g^-1 ), asymmetry parameter (0.68, 0.68), and refractive index (1.53--0.0005i,1.53--0.0014i) for the accumulation mode were found to differ by varying degrees between the dry and wet season, respectively. It is hypothesized that these differences are due to different source regions and transport processes which also differ between the DODO campaigns. Elemental ratios of Ca/Al were found to differ between the dry and wet season (1.1 and 0.5, respectively). Differences in vertical profiles are found between seasons and between land and ocean locations and reflect the different dynamics of the seasons. Using measurements of the coarse mode size distribution and illustrative Mie calculations, the optical properties are found to be very sensitive to the presence and amount of coarse mode of mineral dust, and the importance of accurate measurements of the coarse mode of dust is highlighted.

Cloud optical depth retrievals from the Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET) cloud mode observations

Cloud optical depth is one of the most poorly observed climate variables. The new “cloud mode” capability in the Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET) will inexpensively yet dramatically increase cloud optical depth observations in both number and accuracy. Cloud mode optical depth retrievals from AERONET were evaluated at the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement program’s Oklahoma site in sky conditions ranging from broken clouds to overcast. For overcast cases, the 1.5 min average AERONET cloud mode optical depths agreed to within 15% of those from a standard ground‐based flux method. For broken cloud cases, AERONET retrievals also captured rapid variations detected by the microwave radiometer. For 3 year climatology derived from all nonprecipitating clouds, AERONET monthly mean cloud optical depths are generally larger than cloud radar retrievals because of the current cloud mode observation strategy that is biased toward measurements of optically thick clouds. This study has demonstrated a new way to enhance the existing AERONET infrastructure to observe cloud optical properties on a global scale.