Stony Brook University

About: Stony Brook University is a education organization based out in Stony Brook, New York, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Poison control. The organization has 32534 authors who have published 68218 publications receiving 3035131 citations. The organization is also known as: State University of New York at Stony Brook & SUNY Stony Brook.

The Spirit Rover's Athena Science Investigation at Gusev Crater, Mars

Abstract: The Mars Exploration Rover Spirit and its Athena science payload have been used to investigate a landing site in Gusev crater. Gusev is hypothesized to be the site of a former lake, but no clear evidence for lacustrine sedimentation has been found to date. Instead, the dominant lithology is basalt, and the dominant geologic processes are impact events and eolian transport. Many rocks exhibit coatings and other characteristics that may be evidence for minor aqueous alteration. Any lacustrine sediments that may exist at this location within Gusev apparently have been buried by lavas that have undergone subsequent impact disruption.

A comparison of methods for mapping species ranges and species richness

Abstract: Aim Maps of species richness are the basis for applied research and conservation planning as well as for theoretical research investigating patterns of richness and the processes shaping these patterns. The method used to create a richness map could influence the results of such studies, but differences between these methods have been insufficiently evaluated. We investigate how different methods of mapping species ranges can influence patterns of richness, at three spatial resolutions. Location California, USA. Methods We created richness maps by overlaying individual species range maps for terrestrial amphibians and reptiles. The methods we used to create ranges included: point-to-grid maps, obtained by overlaying point observations of species occurrences with a grid and determining presence or absence for each cell; expert-drawn maps; and maps obtained through species distribution modelling. We also used a hybrid method that incorporated data from all three methods. We assessed the correlation and similarity of the spatial patterns of richness maps created with each of these four methods at three different resolutions. Results Richness maps created with different methods were more correlated at lower spatial resolutions than at higher resolutions. At all resolutions, point-to-grid richness maps estimated the lowest species richness and those derived from species distribution models the highest. Expert-drawn maps and hybrid maps showed intermediate levels of richness but had different spatial patterns of species richness from those derived with the other methods. Main conclusions Even in relatively well-studied areas such as California, different data sources can lead to rather dissimilar maps of species richness. Evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of different methods for creating a richness map can provide guidance for selecting the approach that is most appropriate for a given application and region.

The Association between Student Ratings of Specific Instructional Dimensions and Student Achievement: Refining and Extending the Synthesis of Data from Multisection Validity Studies.

Abstract: This synthesis extends part of Peter Cohen's well-known examination of the association between student ratings of instruction and student achievement. The results of increasing the number of specific instructional dimensions considered and of preserving more of the information in the evaluations by multiple coding into these dimensions are compared with Cohen's findings. Extending the analysis further by changing the unit of analysis and the method of averaging correlations generally decreases the size of the associations. The instructor's preparation and organization, clarity and understandableness, stimulation of interest, motivation of students to reach high standards, encouragement of discussion and openness to others' opinions, and elocutionary skills consistently explain 10% or more of the variance in student achievement regardless of the method of averaging or the unit of analysis used. The size of the association between an instructional characteristic and student achievement, as one indicator of the characteristic's importance, is compared with three other indicators (extent to which students say the characteristic is important, extent to which faculty say it is important, and size of its correlation with the overall evaluation of the instructor).