Category Archives: Uncategorized

Public vs. Private Schools in University Preparation

Posted on November 28, 2012 by | Leave a comment

The adjustment to first-year university can be overwhelming for any high school graduates. Apprehension runs high while students question what this new chapter of their life will bring… Will you fit in and make new friends? Will you find the course load too academically challenging? It is important that students be well prepared for the transition from high school to university, but are they aware that the high school sector they attended may have already played a large role in this preparation?

Photo from: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/universityeducation/9204603/Fines-for-universities-slammed-by-admissions-don-Professor-Steven-Schwartz.html

Professor George Bluman, a mathematics professor at the University of British Columbia, has performed research on this topic. In his research paper, Bluman uses a two-level statistical model to determine the relationship between student performance in first-year physics courses and student variables such as high-school grades and gender. He then determines how this relationship is affected by high-school factors such as school type and location.

Check out the video below where Professor Bluman discusses the results of his study, that Vancouver public school students outperform private school students in first-year university.

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Of course it is important to note that there are many academic differences between high school and university.

Firstly, high school students attend 7-8 hours worth of classes each weekday, of which attendance is mandatory. In university, however, the amount of time spent in class differs depending on the day, and whether the students attend class is their own prerogative. In addition, in high school, teachers are proactive in taking on the responsibility to ensure all students meet deadlines, complete homework assignments, and fully understand concepts. In university, however, if students struggle with course material, they must take personal initiative to refer to textbooks or attend office hours for additional help.

Ultimately, there is a larger sense of personal freedom in university when compared to high school. Students must possess a mature attitude toward their new-found independence. University can take a toll on students if they are inadequately prepared for this freedom.

If public school graduates are more academically successful in university than their private school counterparts, as Bluman’s research suggests, then it is assumed that public schools do a better job of preparing their students for University life.

Check out the podcast below where the pros and cons of public and private schools are outlined, and Professor Bluman’s view on them is expressed.

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Professor George Bluman
Photo from: http://www.straight.com/article-215506/getting-students-snuff

After all, it is a personal choice as to whether to attend public or private schools, and there are many factors that must be considered in this decision-making process. However, the take-home message from this study is that contrary to the BC Fraser Institute Report and popular beliefs, students who have attended public schools can academically perform as well, if not better, than their private school counterparts.

Blog submitted by: Jackie Romeyn, Hayoung Nam, Mervin Wong, and Lydia Fan

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Snakes on a plane! (The good kind).

Posted on November 7, 2012 by | Leave a comment

No need to call Samuel L. Jackson about this one! British jet engine manufacturer, Rolls-Royce, is developing robots with a snake-like appearance for use in the detection and repair of damage to aircraft engines.

A typical jet plane engine consists of a vast number of sensors to monitor engine conditions such as pressure, temperature, and vibrations. These sensors are monitored by ground-based machines that use intelligent algorithm technology. However, what if a bird were to hit a fan, or debris damage a compressor blade? For issues such as these, engine inspection is required.

Engine inspection is currently the job of a fibre-optic device called a borescope, which can be manually placed into a jet engine port by a borescope specialist. Unfortunately, there are far too few of these specialists available to operate borescopes within the 14,000 Rolls-Royce engines, flown by 500 airlines on 4000 aircraft worldwide.

“We don’t have enough specialists to go around so we need to automate this capability,” says Rolls-Royce senior vice-president Pat Emmott.

Another problem with the borescope is that once it detects an engine issue, the plane must be entirely taken out of commission in order to disassemble and repair the engine. This process is a setback that costs airlines millions of dollars.

Rolls-Royce aims to mitigate these challenges through the use of robotic snakes. This initiative is part of a €4 million European research project called “MIRoR”, which aims to be completed by July 2014. The hope is that these robots will potentially save significant time and money when airlines run into engine problems.

Wondering how they work? The snake robots enter an engine and are remotely controlled to relay images to an expert. Keep in mind that a running aircraft engine can reach up to 3,000-degree Fahrenheit temperatures. “These cameras won’t have to operate at engine temperatures — just survive them,” says Emmott. “So we’re going to need some interesting ways to keep them cool.” In addition to a camera, the snakes will also exhibit a UV laser to detect blade fractures, and an apparatus to sand down damaged compressor blades.

The snake will have to be of a substantial length in order to be effective for use in a jet engine. Rob Bukingham, director of OC Robotics in the UK, sees battling gravity as the biggest issue in this innovation, since the longer the snake, the more difficult it will be to control. According to Buckingham “the more joints you add, the more difficult it becomes to maintain the curviness.”

Interested to see these cool snakes in action? Take a look at this video to see a similarly designed robot snake designed by OC robots. This particular snake is able to cut metal and concrete!

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Post submitted by Jackie Romeyn (group C).

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Posted in Science Communication, Science in the News, Uncategorized

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Lower Grades Caused by CO2?

Posted on October 29, 2012 by | 1 comment
http://www.creativeeducation.co.uk/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/exam_1356851c-300x187.jpg

Students Taking an Exam
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Did you know that when you are in a room full of people taking an exam, their exhaling of CO­2 could actually be inhibiting your cognitive function and causing you to get a lower grade? CO­2 has long been a topic of interest and debate in the world of climate change but new findings suggest that CO­2 is also to blame for the inability to think!

According to a recent study published in Environmental Health Perspectives (EHP), every room should be ventilated such that the CO­2 levels are kept at the optimal level of 600 ppm. When CO­2  concentrations exceed this level, people are at risk of suffering reduced cognitive function. They found that high levels of CO­2 in classrooms is often associated with students cutting class and doing poorly on school related activities. The evidence that was provided for their findings was found through an experiment conducted by William Fisk  where the research team exposed a group of 22 college students to three different levels of CO­2: 600 ppm, 1000 ppm, and 2500 ppm. It was found that with increasing levels of  CO­2 resulted in decreased level of decision making abilities.

CO2 Monitor
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As a preventative  measure, classrooms can install a CO­2 monitor that gives readings of the CO­2 levels and make ventilation changes accordingly. However, with larger scale modifications such as ventilation changes, further research and experimentation needs to be done in order for the results of the experiment to be replicated.

The good news is that the mechanical engineers at UBC keep the  CO­2  levels in classrooms and lecture halls  at the very acceptable levels of less than 1000 ppm. So we don’t need to worry about  CO­2 preventing us from doing well on our exams. If you do want to do well on your exams, this short clip of brain exercises that might be helpful:

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Blog Submitted by Elsie Ng

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Obsessive Compulsive Disorder can be a family trait.

Posted on October 15, 2012 by | 4 comments

Do you ever feel the need to do things in threes? Do you obsessively apply things such as hand sanitizer or chap stick? Do you feel that if you do or don’t do a certain thing that harm may come to you or someone you know? These are all possible symptoms of obsessive compulsive disorder.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mr_t_in_dc/4800819674/

The best way to explain obsessive compulsive disorder is to explain the acronym OCD. Patients with this disorder can have obsessive or compulsive tendencies or both. The obsessive aspect has to do with constant thoughts, worries, or fears that the mind revolves around. The compulsions are repetitive actions, often done a specific number of times, or actions repeated throughout the entire day such as constant cleaning or grooming or inspecting safety issues such as making sure the stove is off and double (or quadruple!) checking that the door is locked.

Although this disorder is often underdiagnosed or diagnosed as something else, I just want to mention that just because you have one or more symptoms of ocd (I know I do!), that doesn’t mean we have the disorder. In fact, it’s only a concern when it interrupts with our daily life that we should seek therapy and/or medication for help.

There are many examples of obsessive compulsive disorders in the media such as It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia where a main character’s mother turns each light switch on and off three times every night. “Mrs. Kelly, why are you doing everything in threes?” “Oh. So Charlie doesn’t die.” The characters deemed this crazy at first but then her son began to take on her obsessive compulsions (because he too became paranoid about his life being supposedly on the line) and his friends pick up on these habits as well. “One, two, three. One, two, three. One, two, three. You’re right Charlie, I feel better about this. More in control.” (Copyright FX)

Which brings me to my next point about addressing the question, is this disorder hereditary? Is this fictional Charlie character doing everything in threes because he made a conscious decision to do so or is it inherited in his genes? As it turns out, OCD is passed down through our genes. A study was done that showed that immediate family members of someone with ocd have a 25% chance of having the disorder as well . When studies were done on twins, it was found that there is a 50% chance of both the twins having ocd and there was a 90% increase in the likeliness of identical twins that shared the disorder compared to fraternal twins.

Another example of obsessive compulsive disorder in a popular sitcom character is shown below. Notice how Sheldon feels the need to knock three times, even when knocking isn’t socially required, and how he gets uncomfortable when he can’t complete at least three or when someone interrupts his routine of doing so.

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Cats are not responsible to miscarriage in pregnancy.

Posted on October 15, 2012 by | 1 comment

In recent years, an increasing number of reports have told the general that cats

Pic from barfblog.com/tags/toxoplasma

could bring toxoplasmosis, which would further result in problems in pregnancy, including abortion and malformation. Being aware of this is necessary and important, however people, especially pregnant women, are not necessary to panic and think of “should I re-home my cat, while I am pregnant?” Cats and pregnant women can live together safely, if people are able to answer the following questions.

 

What is toxoplasmosis?

Toxoplasma gondii, an intracellular human parasite Image provided by Ke Hu and John Murray

Toxoplasmosis is an infection caused by a parasite called Toxoplasma gondii and is often symptomless in people. However, in case of acute toxoplasmosis, people feel like they are having mild flu, such as feelings of swollen lymph nodes, muscle aches, or pains. The feelings disappear after one week to one month, and people would not ever know that they had toxoplasmosis. But, serious problem may occur to people with weak immune system. For example, pregnant women, who get infection during the first three months of pregnancy, may suffer birth defects or miscarriage.  

 

How is Toxoplasma gondii transmitted to pregnant women and babies?

Pregnant women have to ingest the cysts of Toxoplasma at its egg stage, in their first 3 months of pregnancy, so that their babies will be infected and get impact. One primary way is eating raw or undercooked meat, especially pork or lamb that contains Toxoplasma cysts.  Another way is ingestion of contaminated cat feces, not by touching cats. Therefore, that some reports simply said that the pregnant women could get infection from cats is not complete. In order to shed contaminated feces, a cat has to be infected recently, because it does not shed Toxoplasma cysts within feces forever but for a maximum of 14 days and afterward it is unlikely that the cat will ever shed them again — even after repeated exposure to Toxoplasma. A cat would only get infection from a contaminated meat, which would not happen if the cat was feed with cooked meat and do not hunt outdoor. It is important that the feces takes 24 hours, in litter box, to become contagious. Lastly and most importantly, the pregnant woman must somehow ingest it. In fact, a 2001 study shows that digestion of contaminated raw meat is a more common approach that transmits the parasite, rather than get from cat.

 

How to avoid an infection of toxoplasmosis during pregnancy?

Here are some tips that can block the transmission of Toxoplasma :

  • Do not eat undercooked meat.
  • Wash hands thoroughly with soap after contact with cat feces, gardening and before eating.
  • Clean knives, utensils, and cutting boards that contact to raw meat thoroughly and frequently.
  • Clean out the litter box by a non-pregnant person every day.
  • Single mothers wear gloves and use litter box liners
  • Keep cats indoors.
  • Do not feed undercooked meat to cat.

By Jody Emery

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