Consciousness complexity

Copyright © 2015 by author and Scientific Research Publishing Inc. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution International License (CC BY). http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0

Mind the Gap? : An Intensive Longitudinal Study of Between-Person and Within-Person Intention-Behavior Relations

Acknowledgments This work was supported by the University of Konstanz, Germany. The first author was supported by a fellowship of the Swiss National Science Foundation (Fellowship P2ZHP1_155103).Peer reviewedPostprin

Validity of the Cauchy-Born rule applied to discrete cellular-scale models of biological tissues

The development of new models of biological tissues that consider cells in a discrete manner is becoming increasingly popular as an alternative to PDE-based continuum methods, although formal relationships between the discrete and continuum frameworks remain to be established. For crystal mechanics, the discrete-to-continuum bridge is often made by assuming that local atom displacements can be mapped homogeneously from the mesoscale deformation gradient, an assumption known as the Cauchy-Born rule (CBR). Although the CBR does not hold exactly for non-crystalline materials, it may still be used as a first order approximation for analytic calculations of effective stresses or strain energies. In this work, our goal is to investigate numerically the applicability of the CBR to 2-D cellular-scale models by assessing the mechanical behaviour of model biological tissues, including crystalline (honeycomb) and non-crystalline reference states. The numerical procedure consists in precribing an affine deformation on the boundary cells and computing the position of internal cells. The position of internal cells is then compared with the prediction of the CBR and an average deviation is calculated in the strain domain. For centre-based models, we show that the CBR holds exactly when the deformation gradient is relatively small and the reference stress-free configuration is defined by a honeycomb lattice. We show further that the CBR may be used approximately when the reference state is perturbed from the honeycomb configuration. By contrast, for vertex-based models, a similar analysis reveals that the CBR does not provide a good representation of the tissue mechanics, even when the reference configuration is defined by a honeycomb lattice. The paper concludes with a discussion of the implications of these results for concurrent discrete/continuous modelling, adaptation of atom-to-continuum (AtC) techniques to biological tissues and model classification

The spiral of applied research: A methodological view on integrated design research

Abstract not available

Understanding Communication Patterns in MOOCs: Combining Data Mining and qualitative methods

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) offer unprecedented opportunities to learn at scale. Within a few years, the phenomenon of crowd-based learning has gained enormous popularity with millions of learners across the globe participating in courses ranging from Popular Music to Astrophysics. They have captured the imaginations of many, attracting significant media attention - with The New York Times naming 2012 "The Year of the MOOC." For those engaged in learning analytics and educational data mining, MOOCs have provided an exciting opportunity to develop innovative methodologies that harness big data in education.Comment: Preprint of a chapter to appear in "Data Mining and Learning Analytics: Applications in Educational Research

How Interactive can a Lecture Become?

The uses of technology have been well documented and many people have tried to use the available technology. In an age of increasingly idevices dependent generation where on average students check their portable devices at least every 15 minutes for 15 seconds, the way students engage with the lecture and the lecturer has changed. The dynamic environment of the lecture is one which can be very enjoyable, demanding and noisy. It requires the attention of the student, note taking skills, teaching techniques, audio visual aids and timing of the lecture to work seamlessly. However, not only the student attitudes have changed but also their approach to learning and demands for more summarized information. They want less to read, eBook style information but mostly in the form of PowerPoint rather than books. They want access to the Google search engine and the algorithm to generate the correct answers in the very first search results. Unfortunately the standard social media interfaces are not particularly designed for lectures and there is always the temptation to read and answer the threads on your Facebook. A pilot study has been implemented in order to facilitate the use of social media, portable devices, forums and the good old chalk and talk technique to bring the big lectures back to life. Improve the student experience and the learning by engaging everyone. The dynamic environment of the lectures would be enhanced by allowing interaction on all levels from delivery of the unit to questions and answers to setting and sitting examinations and assignments. Even the feedback mechanism would need to change. The research would require a huge shift in the way everything is done and the cultural consequences of the change may be more of effect towards the academics, especially ones with longer teaching experience

Physical activity attitudes, intentions and behaviour among 18-25 year olds: a mixed method study

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Developing theory-informed interventions to implement evidence into practice: a systematic approach using the Theoretical Domains Framework

Background: There is little systematic operational guidance about how best to develop complex interventions to reduce the gap between practice and evidence. This article is one in a series of articles documenting the development and use of the Theoretical Domains Framework (TDF) to advance the science of implementation research. Methods: The intervention was developed considering three main components: theory, evidence, and practical issues. We used a four-step approach, consisting of guiding questions, to direct the choice of the most appropriate components of an implementation intervention: Who needs to do what, differently? Using a theoretical framework, which barriers and enablers need to be addressed? Which intervention components (behaviour change techniques and mode(s) of delivery) could overcome the modifiable barriers and enhance the enablers? And how can behaviour change be measured and understood? Results: A complex implementation intervention was designed that aimed to improve acute low back pain management in primary care. We used the TDF to identify the barriers and enablers to the uptake of evidence into practice and to guide the choice of intervention components. These components were then combined into a cohesive intervention. The intervention was delivered via two facilitated interactive small group workshops. We also produced a DVD to distribute to all participants in the intervention group. We chose outcome measures in order to assess the mediating mechanisms of behaviour change. Conclusions: We have illustrated a four-step systematic method for developing an intervention designed to change clinical practice based on a theoretical framework. The method of development provides a systematic framework that could be used by others developing complex implementation interventions. While this framework should be iteratively adjusted and refined to suit other contexts and settings, we believe that the four-step process should be maintained as the primary framework to guide researchers through a comprehensive intervention development process