D

    The Intelligent Transport team at Newcastle University have turned an electric car into a mobile laboratory named “DriveLAB” in order to understand the challenges faced by older drivers and to discover where the key stress points are.

    Research shows that giving up driving is one of the key reasons for a fall in health and well-being among older people, leading to them becoming more isolated(隔绝) and inactive.

    Led by Professor Phil Blythe, the Newcastle team are developing in-vehicle technologies for older drivers which they hope could help them to continue driving into later life.

    These include custom-made navigation(导航) tools, night vision systems and intelligent speed adaptations. Phil Blythe explains: “For many older people, particularly those living alone or in the country, driving is important for preserving their independence, giving them the freedom to get out and about without having to rely on others.”

    “But we all have to accept that as we get older our reactions slow down and this often results in people avoiding any potentially challenging driving conditions and losing confidence in their driving skills. The result is that people stop driving before they really need to.”

    Dr Amy Guo, the leading researcher on the older driver study, explains, “The DriveLAB is helping us to understand what the key points and difficulties are for older drivers and how we might use technology to address these problems. “For example, most of us would expect older drivers always go slower than everyone else but surprisingly, we found that in 30mph zones they struggled to keep at a constant speed and so were more likely to break the speed limit and be at risk of getting fined. We're looking at the benefits of systems which control their speed as a way of preventing that.

    “We hope that our work will help with technological solutions(解决方案) to ensure that older drivers stay safer behind the wheel.”

Students and Technology in the Classroom

    I love my blackberry—it's my little connection to the larger world that can go anywhere with me.I also love my laptop computer,as it holds all of my writing and thoughts.Despite this love of technology,I know that there are times when I need to move away from these devices（设备）and truly communicate with others.

    On occasion,I teach a course called History Matters for a group of higher education managers.My goals for the class include a full discussion of historical themes and ideas.Because I want students to thoroughly study the material and exchange their ideas with each other in the classroom,I have a rule—no laptop,iPads,phones,etc.When students were told my rule in advance of the class,some of them were not happy.

    Most students assume that my reasons for this rule include unpleasant experiences in the past with students misusing technology.There's a bit of truth to that.Some students assume that I am anti-technology.There's no truth in that at all.I love technology and try to keep up with it so I can relate to my students.

The real reason why I ask students to leave technology at the door is that I think there are very few places in which we can have deep conversions（转变）and truly engage complex ideas.Interruptions by technology often break concentration and allow for too much dependence on outside information for ideas.I want students to dig deep within themselves for inspiration and ideas.I want them to push each other to think differently and make connections between the course,the material and the class discussion.

    I've been teaching my history class in this way for many years and the evaluations reflect student satisfaction with the environment that I create.Students realize that with deep conversation and challenge,they learn at a level that helps them keep the course material beyond the classroom.

    I'm not saying that I won't ever change my mind about technology use in my history class,but until I hear a really good reason for the change,I'm sticking to my plan.A few hours of technology-free dialogue is just too sweet to give up.

    Travis is the manager of G&G where he is responsible for forty employees (雇员)and profits (利润) of over $2 million per year. He's never late to work. He does not get upset on the job. When one of his employees started crying after a customer screamed at her, Travis took her away. "Your working uniform is your shelter," he told her. "Nothing anyone says will ever hurt you. You will always be as strong as you want to be."

    Travis picked up that lecture in one of his G&G training courses, an education program that began on his first day and continues throughout an employee's occupation. The training has, Travis says, changed his life. G&G has taught him how to live, how to focus, how to get to work on time, and how to master his emotions (情绪). Most importantly, it taught him willpower.

    At the center of that education is an extreme focus on an all-important habit; willpower. Dozens of cases show that willpower is the single most important habit for a person's success.

    And the best way to strengthen willpower is to make it into a habit. "Sometimes it looks like people with great self-control aren't working hard—but that's because they've made it automatic," Angela Duckworth, one of the University of Pennsylvania researchers said. "Their willpower occurs without them having to think about it."

    The company spent millions of dollars developing programs of study to train employees on self-control. Managers wrote workbooks that serve as guides to how to make willpower a habit in workers' lives. Those courses arc, in part, why G&G has grown from a sleepy company into a large one with more than seventeen thousand stores and profits of more than $10 billion a year.

    If you are human, you can't help but experience times when everything seems to be going wrong and you feel as if your life is completely out of control. It is during those “down times” that words of encouragement from family, friends, co-workers or even strangers can lighten your spirits. It is also during those times that destructive(有害的) words can sink you deeper and deeper into depression(沮丧).

    For example, consider this story about a group of frogs who were traveling through the woods when two of them fell into a deep pit（坑）. All of the other frogs gathered around the pit. When they saw how deep the pit was, they told the two unfortunate frogs they would never get out.

    The two frogs ignored the comments and tried to jump out of the pit. The other frogs kept telling them to stop. Finally, one of the frogs took heed of what the other frogs were saying and simply gave up. He fell down and died. The other frog continued to jump as hard as he could. Once again the crowd of frogs shouted at him to stop the pain. The more they shouted, the harder he jumped and finally he made it to safety.

    When he got out, the other frogs asked him why he continued to jump when they were all shouting at him to simply quit. The frog explained to them that he was a little bit deaf. He thought they were encouraging him the entire time.

    Every time you have a chance to say either something positive or negative to another human being, do choose the chance to say something positive! Don't let those opportunities get away from you. Your words have a large amount of power. Use them wisely. You really never know just how much they can mean to someone else.

    Like people, plants experience stress. And also, like people, the response to that stress can determine success.

    Bad environmental conditions, such as drought, flood, heat and other stresses, affect yields (产量) more than crop pests and diseases. We are trying to find a way to equip plants with the ability to tolerate environmental stress and maintain high yields, said Stephen Howell, a professor of genetics and cell biology.

    Plant cells produce proteins (蛋白质) and ship them to different parts of the cell. Under normal conditions, these proteins are folded into their normal, healthy structures as they are produced. When a plant is under stress, its cells produce poorly folded or unfolded proteins. Then a built-in system senses this and “sets off an alarm in the cell,” said Howell.

    In response to the alarm, another protein (IRE1) starts working and creates a different process which activates (激活) the stress response genes whose products bring about defensive measures that help the plant survive.

    “As it turns out, responses that are activated under stress conditions actually inhibit the growth of plants,” said Howell. “This allows them to preserve their energy to survive the stress conditions.”

    For plants in the wild, this response is a help for survival, he said. In production of agriculture crops, however, this response reduces yields.

    “You don't want crop plants to stop growing,” Howell said. “You want them to continue to grow and produce even though they are under stress.”

    With the new understanding of this stress response, the next step may be to silence the alarm system, said Howell. “What may be important is to disable some of these stress responses. That may make the plant more productive under stress conditions.”

    If you're encouraged by the tiny house movement and think 160 square feet is just enough for your needs, you may want to contact the Academy of Construction and Design (ACAD) at IDEA Public Charter School in northeast Washington.

    Students in the program built a micro house with a kitchen, a bathroom, a sleeping loft with space for a queen-size bed and a storage loft, all set on a trailer for mobility. The exterior (外部) of the house was part of a continuous living exhibit in 2015and was moved to the IDEA campus so students could work with builders to complete the interior earlier this year.

    McMahon said the D.C. government's approval to push companies to hire District residents (居民) was at odds with the school system not preparing students for careers in construction, exploring or electrical work. McMahon gathered industry and community leaders to establish ACAD in 2005 and he said 100 percent of the companies he contacted responded positively to the idea, including major firms such as JBG, Clark Construction, Hines Construction and Boston Properties.

    "When students make the connection between what they are learning and a potential career, their academics improve dramatically," said Carol Randolph, chief operating officer of the D.C. Students Construction Trades Foundation. "Some of them who didn't think college was an choice now have a better chance because their classes have become relevant to a job."

    "We teach them life skills and explain that even if you start as a laborer, there are opportunities to move up quickly," he said. "We rewrite the story for them and explain that they can work for a few years, make good money, get promoted, and start their own business or go to school with less debts."

    "Parents and school advisors can be the biggest obstacles because of the negative idea of construction as a blue-collar career," Karriem said. "I get middle-school advisors on board to talk about the opportunities this education provides. These kids are learning lifelong skills that can help them in other fields, provide them with income and allow them to take care of their homes."