USA Archives

Online laboratories and Cross-Reality in engineering education

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Cross-Reality labs employ remote, augmented, virtual, or mixed reality technologies to support online learning.

COVID-19 has compelled educators to rapidly transition to online learning methods. This shift is particularly challenging for instructors whose courses involve hands-on laboratory instruction. In his research, Dr Dominik May, an Assistant Professor in the Engineering Education Transformations Institute at the University of Georgia, has been focusing on online laboratories and Cross-Reality learning spaces in engineering education for over a […]

Synchronisation in symmetrically and asymmetrically coupled oscillators

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Complex networks are systems composed of several components which may interact with each other. Examples range from laser arrays to the human brain, global climate, and digital communication forms. The behaviour of complex systems depends upon the internal dynamics of the individual unit, communication among cells, type of coupling between them, and symmetry. Dr Antonio Palacios from San Diego State […]

Nonoverlap proportion and the point-biserial association problem

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Stanley Luck has a general interest in mathematical problems and associated algorithms for cloud computing technology.

Dr Stanley Luck, a statistics consultant and founding member of Vector Analytics LLC, has developed a novel algorithm for cloud computing technology. Dr Luck demonstrates the use of his improved CART association algorithm in a high-dimensional search problem of nursing home performance, based on the publicly accessible Nursing Home Compare (NHC) database. The results highlight the importance of constructing a […]

Deeper insights into cell death and survival

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The intricate balance between cell death and survival is essential for normal development and for preventing diseases such as cancer and autoimmunity. Ronald Jemmerson at the University of Minnesota contributed to the seminal discovery that cytochrome c (Cyt c) plays a key role in the onset of apoptosis (programmed cell death). His laboratory also established that leucine-rich alpha-2-glycoprotein-1 (LRG1) binds […]

Monitoring electrolyte stability in lithium-air batteries for electric aircraft

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Switching to electric powered transport is one way of reducing CO2 emissions and their negative effects on the climate. Lithium-air batteries could play an important role in this transition, as they have the potential to provide the highest known theoretical energy density (3,400 Wh/kg). Development of lithium-air batteries requires highly stable electrolytes that are resistant to decomposition under operating conditions. […]

Intimate communication through co-creating uniqueness

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Dr John Stewart proposes that people can fulfil the deep human need for connection with others in dialogic conversations. At the heart of this process lies the concept of individual ‘uniqueness’. This can be co-constructed by the partners in dialogic conversation, as each takes turns sharing unique aspects of themselves and helping the uniqueness of the other to emerge. Getting […]

Using diglycolamides to improve rare-earth element separation

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The family of 17 elements known as the “rare earth elements” are difficult to produce economically. Despite this, they are described as “critical raw materials” because of their unique properties and their various technological applications. This means their use is accelerating globally. Separation of these elements is a fundamental challenge, but this does not daunt Dr Santa Jansone-Popova and her […]

Self-efficacy in non-routine problem solving in STEM education

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Dr Tanya Evans in front of a 'Welcome to Mathematics' sign

Dr Tanya Evans and Emeritus Prof Mike Thomas from the University of Auckland, led by Associate Prof Sergiy Klymchuk from Auckland University of Technology, have developed an intervention that examines whether the employability prospects of students in STEM education could be improved. Their findings suggest that the attitude profiles of students with high and low lateral thinking self-efficacy differ significantly. […]

Could acesulfame potassium be leaving the bittersweet taste of a toxic environment?

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Dr Guiney’s review shows that ACE-K has a negligible impact on aquatic organisms.

Our modern sewage is defined by many potential toxic threats from new chemical compounds we use in our daily lives. One potentially unexpected entrant for this phenomenon is acesulfame potassium (ACE-K), a calorie-free sweetener. As it is not digested by the body, ACE-K is excreted straight into the toilet, arriving in our wastewater and surface water. Dr Patrick Guiney, Principal […]

Progesterone signalling is involved in marsupial pregnancy

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Marsupials have a notoriously short pregnancy, and, for many years, researchers believed that progesterone played no part in this process. However, Professor Yolanda Cruz from Oberlin College, Ohio, USA, has studied pregnancy in the lab opossum (Monodelphis domestica) most of her career and believes this is not the case. The researcher unveiled a critical period between day 5 and day […]