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1. Exploring the Potential of 3D-printing in Biological Education: A Review of the Literature

   https://doi.org/10.1093/icb/icaa100  

   Hansen, Alexandria K; Langdon, Taylor R; Mendrin, Lukyon W; Peters, Kaylin; Ramos, Jose; Lent, David D (July 2020, Integrative and Comparative Biology)

   null (Ed.)

   Synopsis Science education is most effective when it provides authentic experiences that reflect professional practices and approaches that address issues relevant to students’ lives and communities. Such educational experiences are becoming increasingly interdisciplinary and can be enhanced using digital fabrication. Digital fabrication is the process of designing objects for the purpose of fabricating with machinery such as 3D-printers, laser cutters, and Computer Numerical Control (CNC) machines. Historically, these types of tools have been exceptionally costly and difficult to access; however, recent advancements in technological design have been accompanied by decreasing prices. In this review, we first establish the historical and theoretical foundations that support the use of digital fabrication as a pedagogical strategy to enhance learning. We specifically chose to focus attention on 3D-printing because this type of technology is becoming increasingly advanced, affordable, and widely available. We systematically reviewed the last 20 years of literature that characterized the use of 3D-printing in biological education, only finding a total of 13 articles that attempted to investigate the benefits for student learning. While the pedagogical value of student-driven creation is strongly supported by educational literature, it was challenging to make broad claims about student learning in relation to using or creating 3D-printed models in the context of biological education. Additional studies are needed to systematically investigate the impact of student-driven creation at the intersection of biology and engineering or computer science education. 

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2. Increasing Students Expertise and Career Competencies Skills in Computer Network using Project-Based Learning and Blended Practical in a Cognitive Apprenticeship Framework

   Walters-Williams, Janett (April 2023, Association of Computer Science Departments at Minority Institutions (ADMI 2023) Symposium)

   The digital revolution resulted in an increase demand for a computer network workforce prepared by universities and colleges. The Computer Network field however, is complex and unpredictable, making it challenging to study and teach yet educators must prepare graduates who understand concepts, have practical network skills as well the necessary Higher Order Thinking Skills. This paper presents a case study utilizing a new methodology based on a merger of Project-Based Learning, Hands-on Learning, Simulation Based Learning, in a Cognitive Apprenticeship framework. It seeks to increase students’ (i) expertise in Computer Network, (ii) self efficacy and (iii) Higher Order Thinking skills competency levels. After 4 years of implementation, analysis of results shows, despite the COVID-19 pandemic, that students (i) acquired and increased their domain knowledge, (ii) acquired procedural and processed knowledge while solving problems, in given scenarios (iii) increased their self-efficacy in Computer Networks and (iv) increased their Higher Order Thinking skills 

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3. Thermodynamics of Computations with Absolute Irreversibility, Unidirectional Transitions, and Stochastic Computation Times

   https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevX.14.021026  

   Manzano, Gonzalo; Kardeş, Gülce; Roldán, Édgar; Wolpert, David H (May 2024, Physical Review X)

   Developing a thermodynamic theory of computation is a challenging task at the interface of nonequilibrium thermodynamics and computer science. In particular, this task requires dealing with difficulties such as stochastic halting times, unidirectional (possibly deterministic) transitions, and restricted initial conditions, features common in real-world computers. Here, we present a framework which tackles all such difficulties by extending the martingale theory of nonequilibrium thermodynamics to generic nonstationary Markovian processes, including those with broken detailed balance and/or absolute irreversibility. We derive several universal fluctuation relations and second-law-like inequalities that provide both lower and upper bounds on the intrinsic dissipation (mismatch cost) associated with any periodic process—in particular, the periodic processes underlying all current digital computation. Crucially, these bounds apply even if the process has stochastic stopping times, as it does in many computational machines. We illustrate our results with exhaustive numerical simulations of deterministic finite automata processing bit strings, one of the fundamental models of computation from theoretical computer science. We also provide universal equalities and inequalities for the acceptance probability of words of a given length by a deterministic finite automaton in terms of thermodynamic quantities, and outline connections between computer science and stochastic resetting. Our results, while motivated from the computational context, are applicable far more broadly. 

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4. Digital home-lessness: Exploring the links between public Internet access, technological capital, and social inequality

   https://doi.org/10.1177/00113921221111819  

   Comi, Matt; Smith, Sarah; Goettlich, Walter A; Alexander, Perry; Davidson, Drew; Staples, William G (July 2022, Current Sociology)

   Millions of individuals in the United States without a computer or broadband at their residence must rely on public libraries for their Internet access. Drawing on a rich data set of interviews and participant observation at three public libraries, we explore how individuals navigate these complex settings and how they profoundly shape their digital lives and experiences, one we characterize as digital home-lessness. In this article, we identify three themes that characterize the relationship between library computer use and digital home-lessness: lifeline encompasses the diverse set of activities that require computer and broadband access; negotiating access focuses on usability, privacy, and security disadvantages among these users; and risky business concentrates on the multiplicities of insecure Internet and computing practices exacerbated by low technological capital. Our findings push forward literature on the digital divide by illuminating how the experience of digital home-lessness limits social inclusion and reproduces socioeconomic inequality. 

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5. Hardware Implementation of Digital Memcomputing on Small-Size FPGAs

   https://doi.org/10.1109/MWSCAS57524.2023.10405845  

   Nguyen, Dyk Chung; Zhang, Yuan-Hang; Di Ventra, Massimiliano; Pershin, Yuriy V. (August 2023, 2023 IEEE 66th International Midwest Symposium on Circuits and Systems (MWSCAS))

   Memcomputing is a novel computing paradigm beyond the von–Neumann one. Its digital version is designed for the efficient solution of combinatorial optimization problems, which emerge in various fields of science and technology. Previously, the performance of digital memcomputing machines (DMMs) was demonstrated using software simulations of their ordinary differential equations. Here, we present the first hardware realization of a DMM algorithm on a low-cost FPGA board. In this demonstration, we have implemented a Boolean satisfiability problem solver. To optimize the use of hardware resources, the algorithm was partially parallelized. The scalability of the present implementation is explored and our FPGA-based results are compared to those obtained using a python code running on a traditional (von–Neumann) computer, showing one to two orders of magnitude speed-up in time to solution. This initial small-scale implementation is projected to state-of-the-art FPGA boards anticipating further advantages of the hardware realization of DMMs over their software emulation. 

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