TechTrends 2008 - Recently Updated Pages

Table Test

ses@austincc.edu — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 16:38:09 CDT

There is no abstract available for this page revision.

Steve's Intro

ses@austincc.edu — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 15:19:28 CDT

Name: Steve Self

Department: Library Services

Reason I'm Taking this Class: I need to know more about this stuff...

Masood's Intro

Anonymous — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 15:11:58 CDT

Name: Masood Salami

Department: Computer Studies

Reason I'm Taking this Class: Would like to learn about wiki

Here is my favorite links:

Kitteny Link: Kitties
ACC's Home Page: Austin community College:
Yahoo: Yahoo

Trichotillomania Articles

Anonymous — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 15:10:47 CDT

Trichotillomania is a compulsive behavior to pull one's hair out.

What Is Trichotillomania?

Trichotillomania (pronounced: trik-oh-till-oh-may-nee-ah) is a type of psychological condition that involves strong urges to pull hair. Doctors used to believe trichotillomania was rare. But that thinking is now changing as experts gain a better understanding of the condition and more people come forward for help. Trichotillomania affects more girls than guys. Most people who have it develop it during adolescence. But trichotillomania can start when a person is as young as 1 year old.

What Happens With Trichotillomania?

People with trichotillomania pull hair out at the root from places like the scalp, eyebrows, eyelashes, or pubic area. Some people pull large handfuls of hair, which can leave bald patches on the scalp or eyebrows. Other people pull out their hair one strand at a time. Some inspect the strand after pulling it out, or play with the hair after it's been pulled. About half of people with the condition put the hair in their mouths after pulling it. It might be hard to understand why someone would pull their own hair or eyelashes out — or why they wouldn't just stop. But trichotillomania isn't just an ordinary habit that a person can easily stop. It's a medical condition. Trichotillomania is a type of compulsive behavior. This means that people with the condition feel an overwhelming urge to pull their hair. People with trichotillomania also may have other compulsive habits, such as nail biting or skin picking. Some people with trichotillomania also have problems like depression, anxiety, or obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Compulsive behaviors like trichotillomania can sometimes run in families. People with trichotillomania may feel embarrassment, frustration, shame, or depression about the condition. They may worry about what others will think or say. They may feel nagged by people who don't understand that they're not doing this on purpose. They usually try to hide the behavior from other people, and thiscan make it difficult to get help. Having trichotillomania can affect how people feel about themselves. Some people areself-conscious about how hair pullingaffects their appearance. Because of this, they might feel less confident about making friends or dating. Others might feel powerless to control the urge to pull or blame themselves for not being able to stop. Feelings like these can cause a person's self esteem to suffer.

Why Do People Feel Compelled to Pull Their Hair?

Doctors don't know for certain what causes trichotillomania. Some think it might be related to OCD since OCD and trichotillomania both involve compulsions. Since compulsions arise as an effort to reduce tension, the urges that lead to hair pulling can be stronger when a person is stressed out or worried. Experts think that compulsive behaviors like hair pulling may be caused by an imbalance of chemicals in the brain. These chemicals, called neurotransmitters (pronounced: nur-oh-tranz-mit-urs), are part of the brain's communication center. When something interferes with how neurotransmitters work, it can cause problems like compulsive behaviors. Some people with trichotillomania say that they notice sensations in their scalp or skin. For example, it may bea tingling feeling that can only berelieved by pulling, likethe feeling of relief that comes from scratching an itch. Some people say that they notice a satisfying feeling when they pull their hair. Others don'teven notice when they pull, and do it without thinking. Any relief that comes with hair pulling usually only lasts for a moment. The urge almost always returns. That's because when the mind becomes used to giving in to the powerful urges that go with compulsive behaviors, the behavior is reinforced The mind gets trapped in a cycle of expecting to have the urge satisfied. The longer this goes on, the harder it can become to resist the urge.

How Do People Overcome the Hair-Pulling Urge?

Because trichotillomania is a medical condition, it's not something most people can just stop doing when they feel like it. People with trichotillomania usually need help from medical experts before they can stop. With the right help, though, most overcome their hair-pulling urges. When someone is able to stop pulling, hair usually grows back. Overcoming hair-pulling urges may involve talk therapy, medication, or a combination of both. Therapists teach people with trichotillomania special behavior techniques that help them recognize the urge to pull hair before it becomes too strong to resist. The person learns ways to resist the urge so that it eventually grows weaker and then goes away. A therapist can also help a person regain confidence and self-esteem. Because the urges behind compulsive habits like hair pulling are so strong, someone may feel more tension or anxiety when first trying to resist the urge. That's why it helps to work with an expert who can offer support and practical advice about how to reverse this powerful habit. Some doctors may prescribe medications that can help the brain deal better with urges, making them easier to resist. Medication therapy can help to correct the imbalance of chemicals in the brain. Many people find it helpful to keep their hands busy with a different activity (like squeezing a stress ball or drawing) during times when pulling is the worst. In the beginning, Daria found that knitting while watching TV helped keep her hands busy at a time when she might feel the urge to pull her hair. Homework time was harder, though. Daria worked with her therapist to realize that she tended to pull more during homework because she was worrying about doing well on a project or test. Daria and her therapist talked about ways to deal homework stress. Daria discovered that being a perfectionist was adding to her tension. When she began to feel more relaxed — and still do excellent work — her confidence blossomed. If you're worried about hair pulling, talk to a parent, school counselor, or someone you trust about getting help overcoming the problem. Reviewed by: D'Arcy Lyness, PhD
Date reviewed: January 2008

Read the following four articles and be prepared to discuss them in class. Note that you may have to look for a link that reads "full text" or "PDF full text" to get to the actual article.

Chamberlain, S. R., Menzies, L., Sahakian, B. J., & Fineberg, N. A. (2007). Lifting the Veil on Trichotillomania. American Journal of Psychiatry, 164(4), 568-574. doi: 10.1176/appi.ajp.164.4.568.

Grant, J. E., Odlaug, B. L., & Potenza, M. N. (2007). Addicted to Hair Pulling? How an Alternate Model of Trichotillomania May Improve Treatment Outcome. Harvard Review of Psychiatry, 15(2), 80-85. doi: Article.

Miller, M. (2007). Questions & answers: Is there an effective treatment for hair pulling (trichotillomania)?. Harvard Mental Health Letter, 23(10), 8.

Shelleh, H. H., Khan, S. A., & Al-Hatiti, H. S. (2006). Trichotillomania or alopecia areata?. International Journal of Dermatology, 45(10), 1196-1198. doi: Article.

teresa's intro

Anonymous — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 15:10:26 CDT

Name:

Department: tutoting lab

Reason I'm Taking this Class:
the apple pie recipe
syllabus

Geology: Big Bend National Park

Anonymous — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 15:09:51 CDT

Big Bend National Park

Structural Features

When massive tectonic plates beneath the Earth's surface shift, slide, and collide. These powerful effects can cause many different deformations of the Earth's crust. Faulting, folding, and jointing are the three different kinds of common structural features that can be found within the park.

	Normal Faults -- Faults are fractures in the Earth's crust (Earth's Crust should not be confused with Apple Pie crust) in which a reasonable amount of displacement has occurred. Normal faults occur as a result of tensional stress (pulling apart) in the Earth's crust. Many of the cliffs in the Big Bend area are actually the result of faulting that occurred in the park shortly after the mountain building episodes that created the Rocky Mountains.

Boquillas Canyon -- Located in the southeastern corner of Big Bend, Boquillas Canyon contains a perfect example of a normal fault. In the picture to the right, a fault cuts across beds of Santa Elena limestone from the top right to the bottom left. The layers of rock on the left hand side are in a vertically lower position than those on the right. Many different faults can be found scattered around the Boquillas area, all aligned to the north/south, meaning that there was a east/west tensional force on the Earth's crust at some time in Big Bend's geologic history. (Boqillas is a fun little town for cheap beer and mule rides!)

	Thrust Fault -- Thrust faults are a result of compressional forces in the Earth's crust. When the crust is being pushed from opposing sides, compressional forces are released by faulting. If the resulting faults are at a near horizontal (typically less than 20 degrees) angle, continued compressional forces can sometimes thrust the layers of rock on one side of the fault up onto the corresponding layers of rock on the other side of the fault.

One of the mountains that stands guard over the north entrance of Big Bend National Park is a really good example of a thrust fault. The red line drawn onto the mountain indicates the position of the fault. The composition of the mountain to the right of the red line is Glen Rose formation. The rock layers to the left of the red line are (starting from the bottom to the top) Glen Rose formation, the Maravillas, and Tesnus formations.

	Fault Block Mountains -- When numerous normal faults occur and a layer of rock slides down between them, the "mountains" created are called fault block mountains. The layers of rocks that slide down are known as grabens and the layers that remain elevated are called horsts. The basin and range regions that stretch to the west side of Rocky Mountains were formed by these forces. Many of the fault block ranges in Big Bend are in fact extensions of the basin and range.

Juniper Canyon is an example of a fault block structure. The walls of the canyon are horsts and the floor of the canyon is a graben. Notice how other fault block structures can be seen extending out toward the horizon.

	Syncline -- A syncline is a feature that is formed by the folding of the Earth's crust, usually associate with compressional tectonic forces. Synclines are features created when those compressional forces cause layers of rock to bend down. Synclines can have a dip of a few meters or several kilometers.

If you look closely at the picture of the mountain to the right, you will notice that the right side of the mountain is a good example of a syncline. This mountain is located along Ross Maxwell drive on the east side of the road. It lies directly to the west of Ward Mountain, one of the principle peaks of the Chisos Mountains.

	Anticline -- An anticline is another deformational folding feature akin to synclines. Instead of the layer of rock bending in a downward arc, the layers of rock are bent in an upward arc. Like synclines, anticlines form as a result from compressional forces. These compressional forces can be the result of wide scale plate tectonic activity or a regional intrusion of lava that folds the overlying beds. Can you spot the anticline in the picture above?

Jointing -- Joints, much like faults, occur when a fracture cuts across layers of rock. However, unlike faults, no displacement occurs on either side of the fracture. Sometimes these fractures are filled with superheated solutions during volcanic activity. The joint pictured to the left has been filled in by calcite crystals. This joint can be found on the Boquillas Canyon hike.

Information taken from the Texas A&M geology department's BIg Bend structural features page:
http://www.maroon.com/bigbend/struct/index.html

Heather's Intro

Anonymous — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 15:09:26 CDT

Name: Heather

Department: ESOL

Reason I'm Taking this Class: To learn how to use wikis in the classroom, especially for a writing class
I like pie.

Apple Pie Recipe

Anonymous — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 15:05:41 CDT

CRUST (recipe makes one double crust):

2 1/2 cups white flour
2 tbsp. sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup cold butter, broken into small pieces
5 tbsp. cold vegetable shortening
8 tbsp. ice water

Measure the flour, sugar and salt togetherl. Stir to combine.
Add the chilled butter pieces and shortening to the bowl. Cut them in with a pastry cutter or knife. Don't over mix them.
Add the ice water. Mix until the dough holds together (add a bit more water, if necessary).
Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface, knead it together, then divide in half.
Flatten each half into a disk, wrap in saran wrap and chill for at least half an hour.
Roll out one of the disks on a lightly floured surface until you have a circle that's about 12 inches in diameter.
Put the circle in a 9" pie plate, trimming any extra dough from the edges with a sharp knife (parents only). Return it to the refrigerator until you are ready to make the pie.
Add filling (see below)
Roll out the second ball of dough and cover top. Use a fork or your fingers to pinch the edges together. cut a couple slits in the top.

FILLING

1/3 to 2/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Pinch of salt
8 medium sized apples (a medium apple = about 1 cup)
2 tablespoons margarine

Heat oven to 425 degrees.
Peel, core and slice the apples. Try to keep the size of the slices even.
Mix sugar, flour, nutmeg, cinnamon, and salt in large bowl.
Stir in apples.
Pour into pastry-lined pie plate.
Dot with margarine.
Cover with top crust and seal the edges. Cut slits in the top.
OPTIONAL: Cover edge with 3-inch strip of aluminum foil to prevent too much browning.
- Remove foil during last 15 minutes of baking.
Bake 40 to 50 minutes or until crust is brown and juice begins to bubble through slits in crust.

Heather B's Intro.
text from DLTK's Growing Together
http://www.dltk-teach.com/alphabuddies/recipe/apple_pie_recipe.htm

Latitude & Longitude

Anonymous — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 15:03:36 CDT

Where in the world is this?

This picture was taken near Wimberley, TX. It is a picture of the place on our planet where the 30th degree of longitude north crosses the 98th degree of latitude west. It is the closest point to Austin where two whole degrees of latitude and longitude cross.

Geography and GPS enthusiasts are busy documenting this and other confluence points around the planet, armed with only a map, a GPS device, and a camera.

What is the nearest degree of latitude to your home town? IUse the Conflence Project web site (confluence.org) to locate the confluence point nearest where you grew up. If that point is the one show here, pick another, anywhere in the world. Describe what you see in the picture. What did you think you would see?

Start a threaded discussion below with your answers.

Picture and data taken from the Degree Conflence Project website:
http://confluence.org/confluence.php?lat=30&lon=-98

Kittens!

Anonymous — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 15:02:49 CDT

Is it nap time yet??

Napping nicely!

Kat's Intro

Anonymous — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 14:46:50 CDT

Name:

Department:

Reason I'm Taking this Class:

kim's intro

ses@austincc.edu — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 14:46:49 CDT

Name: Kim Oliver

Department: ESOL

Reason I'm Taking this Class: Want to Wiki!!

Vanessa's Intro

Anonymous — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 14:44:21 CDT

Name: Vanessa McNamara-Long

Department: English

Reason I'm Taking this Class: This is my attempt to keep up with technology!

Jim's Intro Page

Anonymous — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 14:44:07 CDT

Name: Jim H.

Department: DL

Reason I'm taking this Class: to learn more about this technology to assist faculty members.

gale's intro

Anonymous — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 14:43:42 CDT

Name: Gale

Department: Child Development

Reason I'm Taking this Class: Determine if I want to use wikis in courses

Robin's Intro

Anonymous — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 14:43:29 CDT

Name: Robin Garza

Department: Sonography EVC

Reason I'm Taking this Class: I thought it might be a good idea for the class to do a group research project. I am here to see if that is possible.

Heather B.'s Intro.

Anonymous — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 14:43:10 CDT

Name: Heather Biagas

Department: Hosp. Mgmt. & Culinary Arts

Reason I'm Taking this Class:Professional Development

Suzie's Intro

ses@austincc.edu — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 14:42:18 CDT

Name:

Department:

Reason I'm Taking this Class:

Egil's Saga

ses@austincc.edu — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 19:00:02 CDT

1893, English, transl. W. C. Green, from the original 'Egils saga Skallagrímssonar'.)

Chapter 1

Of Kveldulf and his sons.

There was a man named Ulf, son of Bjalf, and Hallbera, daughter of Ulf the fearless; she was sister of Hallbjorn Half-giant in Hrafnista, and he the father of Kettle Hæing. Ulf was a man so tall and strong that none could match him, and in his youth he roved the seas as a freebooter. In fellowship with him was one Kari of Berdla, a man of renown for strength and daring; he was a Berserk. Ulf and he had one common purse, and were the dearest friends.

But when they gave up freebooting, Kari went to his estate at Berdla, being a man of great wealth. Three children had Kari, one son named Eyvind Lambi, another Aulvir Hnuf, and a daughter Salbjorg, who was a most beautiful woman of a noble spirit. Her did Ulf take to wife, and then he too went to his estates. Wealthy he was both in lands and chattels; he took baron's rank as his forefathers had done, and became a great man. It was told of Ulf that he was a great householder; it was his wont to rise up early, and then go round among his labourers or where his smiths were, and to overlook his stalk and fields, and at times he would talk with such as needed his counsel, and good counsel he could give in all things, for he was very wise. But everyday as evening drew on he became sullen, so that few could come to speak with him. He was an evening sleeper, and it was commonly said that he was very shape strong. He was called Kveldulf.

Kveldulf and his wife had two sons, the elder was named Thorolf, the younger Grim; these, when they grew up, were both tall men and strong, as was their father. But Thorolf was most comely as well as doughty, favoring his mother's kin; very cheery was he, liberal, impetuous in everything, a good trader, winning the hearts of all men. Grim was swarthy, ill-favoured, like his father both in face and mind; he became a good man of business; skilful was he in wood and iron, an excellent smith. In the winter he often went to the herring fishing, and with him many house-carles.

But when Thorolf was twenty years old, then he made him ready to go a harrying. Kveldulf gave him a long-ship, and Kari of Berdla's sons, Eyvind and Aulvir, resolved to go on that voyage, taking a large force and another long-ship; and they roved the seas in the summer, and got them wealth, and had a large booty to divide. For several summers they were out roving, but stayed at home in winter with their fathers. Thorolf brought home many costly things, and took them to his father and mother; thus they were well-to-do both for possessions and honour. Kveldulf was now well stricken in years, and his sons were grown men.

Excerpt from Egil's Saga, from the Icelandic Saga Database
http://sagadb.org/egils_saga.en

Population Pyramid: Dominican Republic

ses@austincc.edu — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 18:57:15 CDT

Take a look a the following three population pyramids for the Dominican Republic, one from 2000 and projections for 2025 and 2050. What is the one major trend that you can determine over the course of the next 42 years. According to these charts, will birth rates remain steady over the next 25 years, go lower or rise? By using this chart, would you predict that the overall health and longevity of Dominicans will improve during the early 21st century? Compare this population pyramid with the one for Italy.

Image generated by the U.S. Census Bureau International Data Base
http://www.census.gov/ipc/www/idb/pyramids.html