Computer Modeling for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Curriculum in Kenya: A Simulation-Based Approach to Science Education

Authors: James Sifuna, George Simiyu Manyali, Thomas Sakwa, Alima Mukasia

Abstract: Developed countries have appreciated the importance of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) for scientific and technological development. STEM subjects have been posting low results in the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Examinations over the years and we have linked the deteriorating standards to the inappropriate teaching approaches that mainly tend to be teacher-centered and hence compromising the learner-centered approach. Due to the poor teaching methods, we ought to incorporate simulation in science education to foster good grades and this formed the basis of this research. Computation techniques have been applied in many subject areas in tertiary institutions with promising results that tend to be in agreement with experimental data. Our research is a quasi-experimental study and thus we have employed the Solomon-Four-Quasi-Experimental design that enabled us to involve a comparison between two computational groups and two control groups. The control groups served to reduce the influence of confounding variables and allowed us to test whether the pre-test had an effect on our objective. Purposive sampling technique was used to select three schools (A boy school, a girl school and a mixed sex school). Each school was expected to have a computer for simulation. The three schools were further split into four groups (single boy’s school, single girl’s school, boys from the mixed and girls from the mixed school). Each school provided the form one class and a total of 150 students participated. We taught the concept of the periodic table to all the students, the computational groups were taught using the simulations while the control groups were taught using the regular methodology. After we had taught for a period of one month, all the four groups were tested using a tool verified by Kurder-Richardson 21 Formula and the data analyzed using t-test, ANOVA and Origin 9.0. The results showed that the computation groups posted higher scores in the concept of the periodic table. This research points to the fact that there is an urgent need to re-design the teaching of Science, technology, Engineering and Mathematics fields, by incorporating computation techniques to enhance STEMs.

Keywords: STEM, Simulation, Solomon-Four-Quasi- Experimental Design, Kurder-Richardson 21 Formula, T-test, ANOVA, Origin 9.0,Purposive Sampling

Read this scientific paper in Science Journal of Education.

The Secret To Staying Young May Be Having More Children

Researchers found a correlation between women giving birth to more children and longer caps of DNA strands –– an indicator of slowed aging. Video provided by Newsy

Story source: http://bit.ly/1RjDeiZ

Journal of Family Medicine and Health Care

Journal of Family Medicine and Health Care (JFMHC) is an international, English-language, peer-reviewed journal, publishing articles in different disciplines of family medicine/ general practice. It is published four times a year. JFMHC has set itself a major target of the literature of primary healthcare. Communication and experience is very important for the journal's scientific committee.

ISSN Print: 2469-8326 

ISSN Online: 2469-8342
http://www.sciencepublishinggroup.com/j/jfmhc

Journal of Family Medicine and Health Care publishes original research papers, case reports, reviews, letters to the editor, invited articles and clinical quizzes on all aspects of family medicine/ general practice. This journal is interested in all types that have been encountered in the discipline of family medicine. Subject areas may include, but not limited to following fields:

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Pediatrics

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Internal medicine

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Geriatrics

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Occupational medicine

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Smoking-alcohol-etc addiction

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Public health

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Surgical subjects

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Medical education

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Social issues

Share: Sharks smell their way home

Sharks are famous for sniffing out prey, but new research shows their keen sense of smell also helps them navigate, Smithsonian reports. Previously, researchers had noticed that scent-processing areas of the brain are larger in shark species that do a lot of navigating. To learn more, researchers caught 26 small leopard sharks near the California coast, plugged the nostrils of half of them, equipped them with acoustic transmitters, and released them several miles offshore. Sharks that could smell soon figured out the right direction, but those with plugged nostrils took more roundabout paths and didn’t make it as far home before their transmitters fell off, the researchers reported today in PLOS ONE. The researchers suspect that other shark species may also navigate by scent over short distances, though they probably use other cues to cross the open ocean. 

Story source: http://news.sciencemag.org/

Share: Innovative Advances in Parallel Computing Open Up the Possibilities of Virtual Cancer Experiments in 3D

The use of supercomputing technology to build realistic 3D models of tumour dynamics could allow us to develop new targeted therapy treatments and advanced medical imaging techniques.

By Paul Darbyshire

Over the last decade, high-performance computing has evolved dramatically, in particular because of the accessibility to graphics processing units(GPUs) and the emergence of GPU-CPU heterogeneous architectures, which have led to a huge shift in the available medical applications for supercomputing and parallel programming.A recent paper, by author Dr. P. M. Darbyshire, show the interoperability between a parallel programming model and the graphics hardware allows us to generate dynamic interactive 3D realistic visualisations of tumour dynamics.

“We deploy the compute unified device architecture (CUDA) for the complex parallel calculations and deploy open graphics library (OpenGL) for on-the-fly 3D visualisation of the numerical simulations to continuous-discrete mathematical models of tumour dynamics. Indeed, once we have a model that is validated it is possible to more efficiently predict what should be happening in a particular biological experiment. With such a predictive model it is much easier and faster to perform virtual experiments to test hypotheses and predictions than running time consuming and costly laboratory experiments”, said Darbyshire.

Clearly, being able to link the numerical results of complex mathematical models to interactive 3D visualisations that can literally update instantaneously to varying model parameters, should provide an invaluable tool for clinical physicians and research scientists. Moreover, such rapid and interactive virtual experimental representations can also facilitate oncological research and pharmaceuticals in developing and testing new anti-cancer treatment strategies.

“Implementing more integrative mathematical models that take into, for example blood flow dynamics could make it possible to use such techniques for accelerated 3D image processing, visualisation and dynamic interaction. Significant gaps remain in our understanding of the mechanisms that determine the spatial organisation of angiogenic growth and the topology of the resulting vascular network. Advances in medical imagining technology for studying microcirculatory and hemodynamics at the deepest level will hopefully help close this gap”, said Darbyshire.

Studying the blood flow within the vasculature surrounding atumour whilst also investigating enhanced methods to visualise in 3D the supply of targets to a tumour through the blood vessel superhighway are definitely the way forward. By developing mathematical models with built in factors, such as blood pressure, viscosity, flow rates and other mechanical stress factors, we can further understand angiogenesis has a mechanism for targeting cancer directly. Being able to interact with such models in real time will allows us to experiment with parameters and dynamically change the topology and investigate other strategies for targeted therapy. For example, we could investigate the effects of capillary pruning and clipping along with self-fusion and devise an optimum pathway to the tumour to increase speed of delivery of anti-cancer treatments, all of which can be mapped and tracked in a virtual 3D laboratory.

Darbyshire and his team are currently developing new and innovative algorithms that will realise the goal of having a full interactive 3D virtual laboratory to aid oncologists, researchers and others in the fight against cancer.

Dr P. M. Darbyshire is Technical Director, Computational Biophysics Group, Algenet Cancer Research, Nottingham. UK.

Paper:
3D Visualisation of Tumour-Induced Angiogenesis Using the CUDA Programming Model and OpenGL Interoperability. doi: 10.11648/j.jctr.20150305.11.

Paper link:
http://www.sciencepublishinggroup.com/journal/paperinfo.aspx?journalid=654&doi=10.11648/j.jctr.20150305.11

Story source: http://bit.ly/1PcfGqk

Orchids give off human ‘body odor’ to attract mosquitoes

By 

Elizabeth Pennisi 

PORTLAND, OREGON—Orchids are masters of deception. To lure potential pollinators, some resemble nectar-laden flowers, yet offer no sweet reward. Others smell like rotting meat. Still others look and smell like female insects. Now, sensory biologists have discovered orchids that emit an odor just like the human body. Their target: tiger mosquitoes. Although mosquitoes are considered poor pollinators,Platanthera obtusata, a bog orchid common in the United States, seems to rely on the blood-sucking insects for reproduction. The orchid rarely interbreeds with its closely related Platanthera cousins, which often live alongside it in the same bog. As a result, sensory ecologists suspected each species remains true to its own kind by attracting different pollinators. To test this idea, the researchers put air-tight bags over several kinds of orchids to collect their odors, and then analyzed each one’s chemical components. Along with components common to many flowers, P. obtusata gives off some chemicals found in human body odor, the researchers reported here today at the annual meeting of the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology. Although the orchid’s “body odor” is barely detectable by humans, it does set off electrical activity in the mosquito’s antennae, indicating it may very well attract the insects. To verify this attraction, the researchers are carrying out behavioral tests. They suggest that such studies could lead to the identification of natural chemicals that could be used as bait in mosquito traps.

Story source: http://bit.ly/1ZL82KX

Scientific article: A Study on the Indoor Positioning Method of a Motorcar Detection System Based on CSS (Chirp Spread Spectrum)

Authors:Ho-Hung Jung, Changlong Li, Key-Seo Lee

Abstract: Accidents that happen on the Urban Railway or in railroad operating institutions can sometimes involve passengers and often occur with night workers who are carrying out system maintenance and management duties. Various safety related systems and technologies are currently being developed in order to prevent accidents from happening, but it is difficult to find a system that is safe and reliable in regards to unforeseen circumstances of duties carried out at night, on and off the tracks, as well as in tunnels. Despite continuous health and safety education, collision accidents between workers and operating vehicles (motorcars) during maintenance and management at night are regularly occurring, threatening precious lives and rendering the loss of property. The purpose of this paper is to prevent accidents between trains, between motorcars, and between trains and people in the Urban Railway and railroad operating institutions through an RT-ToF (Round Trip Time of Flight), appropriate for vehicles and trains, by developing a device that can trace the distance and location by using an RF module.

Keywords: CSS, RT-ToF, Motorcar, Indoor Positioning, RTLS, Positioning

Read full research paper in Automation, Control and Intelligent Systems.