Knowledge Of Plasticity Research Articles

Increasing Understanding of General Knowledge of Plastics with Video-based Learning

This study was motivated by video-based learning materials on general knowledge, which is getting more popular. In many cases, video-based education is one of the best ways to learn in today's digital technology. The purpose of this study is to explore the increasing student understanding of learning general knowledge about plastics. This research was conducted using fundamental quantitative analysis in a video tutorial involving 28 respondents from polymer technology students at Mara University Technology (UiTM). The data were collected by giving tests to students before (pre-test) and after (post-test) watching the video. There are five questions students must answer. Data were collected and analysed using the Statistical Package for Science for Windows software Version 21.0 (SPSS V21.0). The frequency and percentage are re-coded to compare the results between pre-test and post-test. A positive response means an increase in the ratio and the percentage of students who get the correct answer on the post-test. This treatment shows a positive response to video-based learning from students. The study results concluded that there was a significant increase compared to before and after the test. Instructional videos make the learning environment more attractive than textbook learning. In this way, learning can provide many benefits for students and teaching staff in increasing their understanding of general knowledge about plastics.

Public attitudes towards microplastics: Perceptions, behaviors and policy implications

Microplastics are ubiquitous and have been found in marine environments, organisms, salt, and even human bodies. Concern about the impact of microplastics on the ecological environment, as well as the threat of microplastics to food safety and public health is increasing among the society. However, there is currently no effective technical way to tackle and remove microplastics from the environment. Thus, public attitudes are key to reducing microplastic emissions. This study investigated the public's perceptions and attitudes towards microplastics in Shanghai and used an ordered regression model to explore the public's willingness to reduce microplastics and its influencing factors. We used random face-to-face interviews to complete a total of 437 valid questionnaires. The survey results show that only 26% of the respondents had heard of microplastics before the survey, and the majority were relatively unfamiliar with microplastics. Although the public's awareness of microplastics is low compared to that of other substances, when informed with the possibility that microplastics may affect human health, 75% of respondents became worried or even overly worried. In addition, the higher the respondents' knowledge of plastics and microplastics is, the stronger their willingness to behave. Public's concern is also an important impact factor. We found that women's willingness to reduce emissions is higher than men's and environmental protection-related practitioners are also more willing to act. Therefore, this article focuses on the public's understanding of microplastics to propose measures and policy implications to reduce microplastic emissions during the process of microplastic production and recycling.

The Afterlives of Scholarship: Warburg and Cassirer

One of the unresolved riddles in the history of the humanities is the relationship between Aby Warburg and Ernst Cassirer, or, more precisely, the impact of the Kulturwissenschaftliche Bibliothek Warburg on Cassirer’s Philosophy of Symbolic Forms. In engaging with this particular constellation, I lay out a model of what I call epistemic surroundings and how they facilitate scholarly production in the humanities. Therefore, this article sets out to describe the labor of humanists in terms of a historical epistemology. In short, this is an essay in understanding humanist scholarship in the making and its afterlives as plastic knowledge in inevitable motion.

Females sample more males at high nesting densities, but ultimately obtain less attractive mates.

BackgroundSexual selection is largely driven by the availability of mates. Theory predicts that male competition and female choice should be density-dependent, with males competing more intensely at relatively high density, and females becoming increasingly discriminating when there are more males from whom to choose. Evidence for flexible mating decisions is growing, but we do not understand how environmental variation is incorporated into mate sampling strategies. We mimicked threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) breeding conditions in pools with high and low densities of nesting males and allowed females to search for mates to determine whether 1) mate search strategies change with the density of breeding males and 2) pre-copulatory components of mate choice (signalling, competition, search patterns, and mating decisions) are modified in parallel.ResultsWhile females sampled more males at high male density, suggesting greater opportunity for sexual selection, the expanded search did not result in females choosing males with more attractive sexual signals. This is likely because red throat colouration was twice as great when half as many males competed. Instead, females chose similarly at high and low male density, using a relative strategy to compare male traits amongst potential suitors. Reduced throat colour could reflect a trade-off with costly male competition. However, we did not observe more intense competition at higher relative density. Density-dependent signalling appears largely responsible for females associating with males who have more attractive signals at low density. If we lacked knowledge of plasticity in signalling, we might have concluded that females are more discriminating at low male density.ConclusionsTo understand interactions between mate choice and population dynamics, we should consider how components of mate choice that precede the mating decision interact.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12862-015-0481-3) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

The reorganized brain: How treatment strategies for stroke and amblyopia can inform our knowledge of plasticity throughout the lifespan

Neural plasticity plays a crucial role in human development. During development, neural networks are shaped by experience-dependent processes that selectively strengthen and prune connections so that those that remain match the environment and process it optimally. Over time, neural connections become more stable, forming widely distributed, interconnected networks involving balanced excitation and inhibition and structural stabilizers like myelin. It was long believed that the potential for organization or reorganization existed only during early development. However, the successful treatments for adults with stroke or amblyopia discussed in this issue suggest that the potential for significant reorganization persists well into adulthood. Thus, development can be thought of as the stabilization of connections to match the current environment but with considerable residual plasticity that can be revealed if there is a shift in the excitatory: inhibitory balance or the removal of the structural stabilizers.

Cortical activations in sequential bilateral cochlear implant users

This study aimed to examine auditory and visual cortical activations in bilateral cochlear implant recipients using [18F]-FDG positron emission tomography. We aimed to compare the activations from use of the first implant alone, the second implant alone, and both implants together. When both implants were activated simultaneously, summation of cortical activity did not occur. The first and second implants demonstrated evidence of developing distinct neural networks. The first implants show stronger bilateral recruitment of the auditory areas than the second implants. Visual cortical activations occur in response to stimulation of the second but not the first implants. When both implants were activated together, there were no visual activations suggesting interaction between the first- and second-implant networks. These findings add to the existing knowledge of plasticity following cochlear implantation and demonstrate a variability of these processes that was previously unreported.

Mechanical plasticity and contractile properties of airway smooth muscle

Smooth muscle has the unique ability to adapt easily and quickly to length changes without compromising its ability to generate force. This ability is referred to as mechanical plasticity and is now considered to be an important aspect of smooth muscle that affects both its contractile and relaxation behaviour. It is therefore important to incorporate knowledge of plasticity into further studies of smooth muscle behaviour. It is also important that future studies be focused on deciphering the mechanism of smooth muscle length adaptation and plasticity. This review outlines some of the proposed mechanisms determining plasticity. However, it should be said that there are other proposed mechanisms not touched upon here, which may be equally as important. This review also focuses on the relevance of smooth muscle plasticity in asthma, but it is important to remember that there are other places where smooth muscle plasticity may play an equally important role.

Manual preparation of ground sections for the microscopy of natural bone tissue: update and modification of Frost's ‘rapid manual method’

AbstractLight microscopy should be a routine complementary diagnostic tool for osteoarchaeologists, palaeopathologists and forensic anthropologists. However, this well‐established and long existing technique is not widely utilized. It is a popular belief that the preparation of the required sections of bone tissue demands a lot of time, expensive instruments, and a knowledge of plastics. To show that this is not entirely the case, a long existing technique for the manual preparation of ground sections was brushed up and tested. Its application is simple, extremely cheap, rapid and reliable and the final product is a beautiful and intact ca. 10–15 micron or less thin section. A few modifications are proposed which further improve the feasibility of the technique, and which also make it very suitable for less well‐preserved, inhumed, and even cremated osteoarchaeological/forensic remains. As in the original method, the modifications need only a few extra, but still very basic and cheap products. A detailed step by step description of the procedure is presented. The advantages are then discussed. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.