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In this study, we evaluate the impact of a game-based supplemental fraction curriculum on student engagement, fraction knowledge, and STEM interest in inclusive elementary mathematics classrooms. Utilizing a robust experimental design, the research explores how a game-based interventions can augment traditional fraction instruction and promote STEM interest among students, including those with disabilities. The curriculum, grounded in Scheme Theory and Learning Trajectories, significantly improved students’ fraction understanding and STEM interest. These findings highlight the potential of integrating game-based learning into mathematics education to address foundational STEM concepts and advocate for further research to explore scalability and broader applicability. The results of the study underscore the potential of innovative educational strategies to enhance learning outcomes and fostering interest in STEM careers among diverse student populations. 

Abstract As demonstrated at Anak Krakatau on December 22 nd , 2018, tsunamis generated by volcanic flank collapse are incompletely understood and can be devastating. Here, we present the first high-resolution characterisation of both subaerial and submarine components of the collapse. Combined Synthetic Aperture Radar data and aerial photographs reveal an extensive subaerial failure that bounds pre-event deformation and volcanic products. To the southwest of the volcano, bathymetric and seismic reflection data reveal a blocky landslide deposit (0.214 ± 0.036 km 3 ) emplaced over 1.5 km into the adjacent basin. Our findings are consistent with en-masse lateral collapse with a volume ≥0.175 km 3 , resolving several ambiguities in previous reconstructions. Post-collapse eruptions produced an additional ~0.3 km 3 of tephra, burying the scar and landslide deposit. The event provides a model for lateral collapse scenarios at other arc-volcanic islands showing that rapid island growth can lead to large-scale failure and that even faster rebuilding can obscure pre-existing collapse. 

Life history theory is based on the assumption that resources are finite so that traits competing for this common pool of resources will experience a trade-off. The shared resource most commonly studied is food and studies typically manipulate resource acquisition by varying diet quantity or quality without considering the specific nutrients involved. Recent studies using the Geometric Framework (GF), however, suggest that life-history trade-offs are often regulated by the intake of specific nutrients. Despite this, a robust framework documenting the existence and quantifying the strength of nutritionally based trade-offs currently does not exist for studies using the GF. Here, we provide a conceptual framework showing that such trade-offs occur when life-history traits are maximised in different regions of nutrient space and that this divergence can be quantified by the overlap in the 95% confidence region (CR) of the global maxima, the angle (θ) between the linear nutritional vectors and the Euclidean distance (d) between the global maxima for each trait. We then empirically tested this framework by examining the effects of protein (P) and carbohydrate (C) intake on the trade-off between reproduction and immune function in male and female decorated crickets (Gryllodes sigillatus). Encapsulation ability and egg production in females increased with the intake of both nutrients, being maximised at a P:C ratio of 1.04:1 and 1:1.17, respectively. In contrast, encapsulation ability in males only increased with the intake of P being maximised at a P:C ratio of 5.14:1, whereas calling effort increased with the intake of C but decreased with the intake of P and was maximized at a P:C ratio of 1:7.08. Consequently, the trade-off between reproduction and encapsulation ability is much larger in males than females, a view supported by the non-overlapping 95% CRs on the global maxima for these traits in males and the larger estimates of θ and d. The sexes regulated their intake of nutrients in a similar way under dietary choice, at a P:C ratio of 1:2 and 1:1.84 in males and females, respectively. Although this ratio was more closely aligned with the optima for immune function and reproduction in females than males, neither sex optimally regulated their nutrient intake. Collectively, our study highlights that greater consideration should be given to the intake of specific nutrients when examining nutritionally based life-history trade-offs and how this varies across the sexes. 

Abstract Protein therapeutics are powerful tools in the fight against diabetes, cancers, growth disorders, and many other debilitating diseases. However, availability is limited due to cost and complications of production from living organisms. To make life‐saving protein therapeutics more available to the world, the possibility of magistral or point‐of‐care protein therapeutic production has gained focus. The recent invention and optimization of lyophilized “cell‐free” protein synthesis reagents and its demonstrated ability to produce highly active versions of FDA‐approved cancer therapeutics have increased its potential for low‐cost, single‐batch, magistral medicine. Here we present for the first time the concept of increased oxygen mass transfer in small‐batch, cell‐free protein synthesis (CFPS) reactions through air‐water foams. These “hydrofoam” reactions increased CFPS yields by up to 100%. Contrary to traditional protein synthesis using living organisms, where foam bubbles cause cell‐lysis and production losses, hydrofoam CFPS reactions are “cell‐free” and better tolerate foaming. Simulation and experimental results suggest that oxygen transfer is limiting in even small volume batch CFPS reactors and that the hydrofoam format improved oxygen transfer. This is further supported by CFPS reactions achieving higher yields when oxygen gas replaces air in the headspace of batch reactions. Improving CFPS yields with hydrofoam reduces the overall cost of biotherapeutic production, increasing availability to the developing world. Beyond protein therapeutic production, hydrofoam CFPS could also be used to enhance other CFPS applications including biosensing, biomanufacturing, and biocatalysis.