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A primary purpose of many wilderness trip programs is the development of positive interpersonal relationships and group experiences that lead to enhanced sense of community among group members. Although there is anecdotal evidence to support the development of sense of community on wilderness trips, there is little empirical evidence to support this conclusion. The purpose of this study was to qualitatively examine the factors that contribute to or detract from wilderness trip participants' perceived sense of community.

In this article, we describe how journals can be used on wilderness expeditions as a tool for meeting some of the elements of sustainability education. Using Lefebvre's criteria for evaluating sustainability education efforts, we describe the potential and reality of using journals to help students: (1) put emphasis on interacting with nature and learning with nature; (2) make interconnections between the societal (including political), economic, and ecological aspects of issues covered; (3) support community involvement and participation so that educational endeavors are contextually appropriate, relevant, and culturally sensitive and inclusive; and (4) develop skills, values, and attitudes that allow for reflection, critical thinking, collaboration, and action for social change. We conclude by reflecting on which criteria students are able to work toward more easily through journal writing and discuss how the potential of journals can be maximized to bring together lifelong learning and sustainability. (Contains 1 footnote.)

To achieve benefits similar to those seen in hybrid‐/all‐electric ground‐based and marine vehicles, electric propulsion has been proposed for large commercial aircraft. Among the main drivers of this are improved fuel economy, reduced harmful emissions, and lower audible noise. In converting to electric propulsion, the added electrical components' masses must be minimised so that the benefits that the components enable – improved turbine efficiency, distributed propulsion and propulsion‐airframe integration – are not cancelled out by their weight penalty. This puts stringent requirements on the large electric machines used in the system, both those that generate electric power from the turbine shaft and those that drive propellers or ducted fans, because they are among the heaviest of the added electric components. A key machine design metric in this application is the specific power (SP), or the power‐to‐mass ratio. This study gives a comprehensive overview of large electric machines for aircraft electric propulsion applications, with a focus on methods for mass reduction and SP improvement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The objective of this study was to assess whether sex differences exist in plaque burden and plaque subtype as assessed by coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA). Methods: The study cohort included 937 consecutive patients who underwent CCTA between 2008 and 2010. Stenosis was quantified using the Society of Cardiovascular Computed Tomography stenosis grading scale and a total stenosis score (TSS) was generated. Plaque morphology (PM) was reported as predominantly calcified (CP), noncalcified (NCP), or mixed (MP) plaque, and CP, NCP, and MP percentages were calculated. Results: On multivariate analysis, men were significantly more likely to have plaque (65.9% of men vs. 44.6% of women, p<0.001), at least one segment with ≥50% stenosis (22.7% of men vs. 10.3% of women, p<0.001) and higher TSS (mean score=2.81 for men vs. 1.58 for women, p<0.001). Sex was the strongest predictor in all models (odds ratio [OR]=2.55, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.78-3.67, p<0.001 for any plaque; OR=2.48, 95% CI 1.48-4.16, p<0.01 for segments with ≥50% stenosis; β=1.46, 95% CI 0.69-2.22, p<0.001 for TSS). Among patients with coronary plaque present, no significant sex differences in PM were found. Conclusions: Sex was the strongest risk factor for the presence and extent of plaque. Significant sex differences in PM did not exist. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In present practice, the most effective way to solve the large electromagnetic (EM) boundary value problems typical in electromechanical device analysis has been with the finite element method (FEM). The sparse, symmetric, and banded structure of FEM system matrices reduces the memory requirements and facilitates several fast and efficient solution algorithms. An alternative, boundary element methods (BEM), is more computationally intensive. Recently, however, fast and efficient solver codes have been developed for BEM solutions of EM scattering problems. These, if effectively implemented in electromechanical device models, can make BEM a more feasible alternative for this purpose than previously. To generate a deeper understanding of this alternative formulation in the context of electromechanics problems, a time harmonic 3-D vector BEM model for electromechanical devices is presented that is formulated in terms of the field variables and is capable of modeling multiple separated homogeneous regions with or without eddy currents. Extensions to electric machine modeling are given, and the model is assessed using experimental data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers information on the outdoor experiential education (OEE) being offered at the Upper Canada College's (UCC) Norval Outdoor School in Toronto, Ontario. It highlights the subfields of the said program including outdoor, environmental, and service learning education. Furthermore, the significance of OEE to students' learning is also discussed.

The article examines the factors that contribute to the perceived sense of community and group cohesion of wilderness trip participants. The participants consisted of undergraduate students from a department of recreation and leisure program in the U.S. It was suggested that students' perceived sense of community increased as a result of their participation in the wilderness trip. According to the findings, the main contributory factors to students' heightened sense of community and group cohesion were leadership styles, the posttrip experience, group composition, and students' individual contributions.

In this article, we describe how journals can be used on wilderness expeditions as a tool for meeting some of the elements of sustainability education. Using Lefebvre's criteria for evaluating sustainability education efforts, we describe the potential and reality of using journals to help students: (1) put emphasis on interacting with nature and learning with nature; (2) make interconnections between the societal (including political), economic, and ecological aspects of issues covered; (3) support community involvement and participation so that educational endeavors are contextually appropriate, relevant, and culturally sensitive and inclusive; and (4) develop skills, values, and attitudes that allow for reflection, critical thinking, collaboration, and action for social change. We conclude by reflecting on which criteria students are able to work toward more easily through journal writing and discuss how the potential of journals can be maximized to bring together lifelong learning and sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers information on undergraduate and graduate programs in outdoor recreation offered by the Department of Recreation and Leisure Studies at Brock University in St. Catharines, Ontario. Topics covered include the focus of the Outdoor Recreation concentration at Brock, the curriculum design of the concentration and the field experiences of students during the course of their studies.

An abstract of the article "A Practical Interpretation of Spoken Interactions during a Challenge Course Activity," by James Borland and Tim O'Connell is presented.

An abstract of the article "The Effect of Leadership Style on Sense of Community and Group Cohesion in Outdoor Pursuits Trip Groups," by Sharon Todd, Tim O'Connell, Mary Breunig, Anderson Young, Lynn Anderson, and Dale Anderson is presented.

An introduction to articles published within the issue is presented, including one on outdoor leadership skill development and another on complexity of learning and decision-making in modern society.

The article discusses the author's experiences as she attended the American Educational Research Association Conference in San Francisco, California, in March 2006, on behalf of the "Journal of Experiential Education" editorial team, to participate on a panel about getting published from both an editorial and an emerging scholar perspective. The other panel members included editors from Tier 1 publications such as "Educational Researcher," "Journal of Early Intervention," "Journal of Educational Psychology" and "Review of Educational Research."

An introduction to the journal is presented in which the editor discusses an article on the outcome of the outdoor orientation programs in the U.S., an opinion on the impact of evidence-based practice in adventure education and therapy on research, and reflects on the publication process of the journal.

The article discusses various reports published within the issue including one on the consequential increase in university students' appreciation for the environmental humanities, another on the role of appreciation for diversity in enhancing experiential education activities, and another one on how cooperative learning among teens can be enhanced by teaching students to cooperate.

The section offers information about the "Journal of Experiential Education."

The article discusses some changes made related to the publishing of the "Journal of Experiential Education," including the implementation of an online manuscript management system.

There has been repeated encouragement in the literature for researchers to examine the various mechanisms that make up group experiences in outdoor education contexts. As a result, positive sense of community is often one of the implicit or explicit goals of programs and organizations that utilize outdoor settings to deliver educational and/or therapeutic programs. The purpose of this study was to understand how participants understand and experience sense of community formation during participation on outdoor education curricula (OEC) programs. Qualitative data, in the form of 124 participant trip journals, were analyzed and revealed two core themes illuminating sense of community structure and process. Implications for theory, research, and practice are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Novel mechanisms of action and new chemical scaffolds are needed to rejuvenate antibacterial drug discovery, and riboswitch regulators of bacterial gene expression are a promising class of targets for the discovery of new leads. Herein, we report the characterization of 5-(3-(4-fluorophenyl)butyl)-7,8-dimethylpyrido[3,4-b]quinoxaline-1,3(2H,5H)-dione (5FDQD)-an analog of riboflavin that was designed to bind riboswitches that naturally recognize the essential coenzyme flavin mononucleotide (FMN) and regulate FMN and riboflavin homeostasis. In vitro, 5FDQD and FMN bind to and trigger the function of an FMN riboswitch with equipotent activity. MIC and time-kill studies demonstrated that 5FDQD has potent and rapidly bactericidal activity against Clostridium difficile. In C57BL/6 mice, 5FDQD completely prevented the onset of lethal antibiotic-induced C. difficile infection (CDI). Against a panel of bacteria representative of healthy bowel flora, the antibacterial selectivity of 5FDQD was superior to currently marketed CDI therapeutics, with very little activity against representative strains from the Bacteroides, Lactobacillus, Bifidobacterium, Actinomyces, and Prevotella genera. Accordingly, a single oral dose of 5FDQD caused less alteration of culturable cecal flora in mice than the comparators. Collectively, these data suggest that 5FDQD or closely related analogs could potentially provide a high rate of CDI cure with a low likelihood of infection recurrence. Future studies will seek to assess the role of FMN riboswitch binding to the mechanism of 5FDQD antibacterial action. In aggregate, our results indicate that riboswitch-binding antibacterial compounds can be discovered and optimized to exhibit activity profiles that merit preclinical and clinical development as potential antibacterial therapeutic agents., (Copyright © 2015, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.)