Adventures in Theoretical Physics: Selected Papers of Stephen L. Adler -- Commentaries

These are the commentaries for a volume of reprints of my selected papers with commentaries that I am preparing for publication by World Scientific. Contents: Preface; (1)Early Years, and Condensed Matter Physics; (2) High Energy Neutrino Reactions, PCAC Relations, and Sum Rules; (3) Anomalies: Chiral Anomalies and Their Nonrenormalization, Perturbative Corrections to Scaling, and Trace Anomalies to All Orders; (4) Quantum Electrodynamics; (5) Particle Phenomenology and Neutral Currents; (6) Gravitation; (7) Non-Abelian Monopoles, Confinement Models, and Chiral Symmetry Breaking; (8) Overrelaxation for Monte-Carlo and Other Algorithms; (9) Quaternionic Quantum Mechanics, Trace Dynamics, and Emergent Quantum Theory; (10) Where Next?Comment: Latex 115p; Final version. Book version will differ in reference format and indexing; version 3 differs from version 2 by minor copy-editing correction

CHINA AND ASIA SPACE POLICY UPDATE

You can’t believe everything you hear about the Chinese space program. I worked in Beijing in the late 1990s, and there I encountered a man named Mr. Li. Mr. Li spoke good English, appeared well educated, and claimed to have been in the Chinese Air Force. He would sometimes talk with me about the Chinese space program, particularly about the Chinese space launch facility in Tibet where they were preparing for a mission to the Moon some time before the end of 1999. The purpose of the mission, he said, was to crack open the Moon to allow the Earth to pass through it and enter the next century. The story pretty much went downhill from there. Eventually I had to break off my relationship with Mr. Li, explaining that his version of reality and mine were too far apart

The EDINSOST project: improving sustainability education in spanish higher education

The EDINSOST R+D+i “Society Challenges” Project, funded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness and the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities under the research challenge in the field of social change and innovation, aims to contribute to the improvement of social challenges across the (1) Spanish Strategy for Science, Technology and Innovation, (2) the State Plan of Scientific and Technical Research and Innovation, and (3) the European 2020 Strategy. The research is both highly multidisciplinary and contextualized and is applied in Ten Spanish Universities working together in the “Curriculum sustainability" group of the CRUE Sectorial Commission of Sustainability. The goal of this group is to create synergies and action frameworks agreed at a national level. This is an area of research action whose lack of common criteria for integrating sustainability competencies, learning processes and assessment hinders their achievement. To meet this challenge, frameworks and processes have been designed to facilitate the integration of sustainability into the university curriculum holistically through mapping and validation of pedagogical practices and the diagnosis of the state of Spanish universities, for which building materials for teaching and learning sustainability competencies have been developed. The project objectives and results are focused on: 1) Defining the map of sustainability competencies of the university degrees involved in the project, and establishing the framework to facilitate their integration in a holistic manner; 2) validating teaching strategies for the acquisition of sustainability competencies from a constructivist and community-oriented pedagogical approach; 3) diagnosing the state of faculty sustainability training needs and developing and pilot training proposals; and 4) diagnosing the state of learning of sustainability competencies in university students as well as preparing and piloting training proposals. The research methodology has an interpretive focus and uses quantitative and qualitative techniques to cover a population with three impact levels. Firstly, Bachelor and Master Degrees that integrate the three pillars of sustainability (environmental, social and economic). Secondly, and taking into account their long-term multiplier effect, special emphasis is made on five Bachelor and Master degrees in Education, since these graduates are the future teachers of the next generation of citizens. Finally, seven technological Bachelor Degrees are studied for their great impact on societal challenges.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

The Context, Nature, and Use of Systems Analysis

The International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis is preparing a "Handbook of Systems Analysis," which will appear in three volumes: Volume 1, "Overview," is aimed at a widely varied audience of producers and users of systems analysis; Volume 2, "Methods," is aimed at systems analysts who need basic knowledge of methods in which they are not expert; the volume contains introductory overviews of such methods; Volume 3, "Cases," contains descriptions of actual systems analyses that illustrate the methods and diversity of systems analysis. Volume 1 will have ten chapters: 1) The context, nature, and use of systems analysis; 2) Applied systems analysis: a genetic approach; 3) Examples of systems analysis; 4) The method of applied systems analysis: finding a solution; 5) Formulating problems for systems analysis; 6) Generating alternatives for systems analysis; 7) Estimating and predicting consequences; 8) Guidance for decision; 9) Implementation; 10) Principles of good practice. To these ten chapters will be added a glossary of systems analysis terms and a bibliography of basic books in the field. This Working Paper is the current draft of Chapter 1, which has been revised several times. However, the current version, on which some fairly extensive suggestions have been received, has not been revised since mid-1979. The next revision will take place soon. A word about the format of this Working Paper. In order to make the text of each chapter easily amended, it has been entered into the IIASA computer, from which the current version can be reproduced in a few minute's time whenever needed. This Working Paper was produced from the version current on the date shown on each page

EIPECK: Assessing Educators’ Pedagogical Content Knowledge for Engineering Integration in K-12

Global efforts are underway to include engineering in pre-college curricula. In the USA, this pursuit led to the inclusion of engineering content in the most recent version of the Next Generation Science Standards that guide K-12 science. As these standards become part of the K-12 curriculum, teachers face the challenge of gaining basic engineering literacy, while developing the associated inclusive pedagogies necessary to integrate engineering content into their classrooms. In this context, teacher preparation programs can benefit from easy-to-implement tools that measure preservice teachers’ readiness to integrate engineering content in their future classrooms. This work describes the development and validation of an instrument to help assess educators’ perceived levels of pedagogical content knowledge for engineering integration at single or multiple time points throughout their academic preparation. The proposed instrument can complement other assessment methods, such as classroom observations, interviews, and journal entries. Additionally, the instrument can be used to help discern the effectiveness of teacher preparation programs in preparing future teachers to integrate engineering

Polyimide molding powder, coating, adhesive, and matrix resin

The invention is a polyimide prepared from 3,4'-oxydianiline (3,4'-ODA) and 4,4'-oxydiphthalic anhydride (ODPA), in 2-methoxyethyl ether (diglyme). The polymer was prepared in ultra high molecular weight and in a controlled molecular weight form which has a 2.5 percent offset in stoichiometry (excess diamine) with a 5.0 percent level of phthalic anhydride as an endcap. This controlled molecular weight form allows for greatly improved processing of the polymer for moldings, adhesive bonding, and composite fabrication. The higher molecular weight version affords tougher films and coatings. The overall polymer structure groups in the dianhydride, the diamine, and a metal linkage in the diamine affords adequate flow properties for making this polymer useful as a molding powder, adhesive, and matrix resin

Deliverable DJRA1.2. Solutions and protocols proposal for the network control, management and monitoring in a virtualized network context

This deliverable presents several research proposals for the FEDERICA network, in different subjects, such as monitoring, routing, signalling, resource discovery, and isolation. For each topic one or more possible solutions are elaborated, explaining the background, functioning and the implications of the proposed solutions.This deliverable goes further on the research aspects within FEDERICA. First of all the architecture of the control plane for the FEDERICA infrastructure will be defined. Several possibilities could be implemented, using the basic FEDERICA infrastructure as a starting point. The focus on this document is the intra-domain aspects of the control plane and their properties. Also some inter-domain aspects are addressed. The main objective of this deliverable is to lay great stress on creating and implementing the prototype/tool for the FEDERICA slice-oriented control system using the appropriate framework. This deliverable goes deeply into the definition of the containers between entities and their syntax, preparing this tool for the future implementation of any kind of algorithm related to the control plane, for both to apply UPB policies or to configure it by hand. We opt for an open solution despite the real time limitations that we could have (for instance, opening web services connexions or applying fast recovering mechanisms). The application being developed is the central element in the control plane, and additional features must be added to this application. This control plane, from the functionality point of view, is composed by several procedures that provide a reliable application and that include some mechanisms or algorithms to be able to discover and assign resources to the user. To achieve this, several topics must be researched in order to propose new protocols for the virtual infrastructure. The topics and necessary features covered in this document include resource discovery, resource allocation, signalling, routing, isolation and monitoring. All these topics must be researched in order to find a good solution for the FEDERICA network. Some of these algorithms have started to be analyzed and will be expanded in the next deliverable. Current standardization and existing solutions have been investigated in order to find a good solution for FEDERICA. Resource discovery is an important issue within the FEDERICA network, as manual resource discovery is no option, due to scalability requirement. Furthermore, no standardization exists, so knowledge must be obtained from related work. Ideally, the proposed solutions for these topics should not only be adequate specifically for this infrastructure, but could also be applied to other virtualized networks.Postprint (published version

Financial Capability: What Is It, and How Can It Be Created?

Note: The final version of this working paper appears as a chapter in Sherraden, M. S. (2013). Building blocks of financial capability. In J. M. Birkenmaier, M. S. Sherraden, & J. C. Curley, J. (Eds.) Financial Capability and Asset Building: Research, Education, Policy, and Practice (pp. 1–43). New York & Oxford: Oxford University Press. Financial literacy has been proposed widely as an effective approach to preparing people to manage their finances. This paper proposes an alternative concept, financial capability. Financial capability includes both the ability to act (knowledge, skills, confidence, and motivation) and the opportunity to act (through access to quality financial products and services). Low-income households, who face lack of financial knowledge and institutional barriers to participation in quality financial services, require both financial literacy and financial inclusion. The paper begins by addressing how people acquire financial knowledge and skills through financial socialization, financial education and guidance, and financial advice and counseling. Next, it addresses how financial inclusion can be achieved through financial services that are accessible, affordable, financially attractive, easy to use, secure, and reliable. Then it illustrates how financial knowledge and skills and financial inclusion are linked. The paper concludes with a call for more research

A Model for Hospital Discharge Preparation: From Case Management to Care Transition

There has been a proliferation of initiatives to improve discharge processes and outcomes for the transition from hospital to home and community-based care. Operationalization of these processes has varied widely as hospitals have customized discharge care into innovative roles and functions. This article presents a model for conceptualizing the components of hospital discharge preparation to ensure attention to the full range of processes needed for a comprehensive strategy for hospital discharge

Emerging Areas of Science: Recommendations for Nursing Science Education from the Council for the Advancement of Nursing Science Idea Festival

The Council for the Advancement of Nursing Science aims to “facilitate and recognize life-long nursing science career development” as an important part of its mission. In light of fast-paced advances in science and technology that are inspiring new questions and methods of investigation in the health sciences, the Council for the Advancement of Nursing Science convened the Idea Festival for Nursing Science Education and appointed the Idea Festival Advisory Committee (IFAC) to stimulate dialogue about linking PhD education with a renewed vision for preparation of the next generation of nursing scientists. Building on the 2005 National Research Council report Advancing The Nation\u27s Health Needs and the 2010 American Association of Colleges of Nursing Position Statement on the Research-Focused Doctorate Pathways to Excellence, the IFAC specifically addressed the capacity of PhD programs to prepare nursing scientists to conduct cutting-edge research in the following key emerging and priority areas of health sciences research: omics and the microbiome; health behavior, behavior change, and biobehavioral science; patient-reported outcomes; big data, e-science, and informatics; quantitative sciences; translation science; and health economics. The purpose of this article is to (a) describe IFAC activities, (b) summarize 2014 discussions hosted as part of the Idea Festival, and (c) present IFAC recommendations for incorporating these emerging areas of science and technology into research-focused doctoral programs committed to preparing graduates for lifelong, competitive careers in nursing science. The recommendations address clearer articulation of program focus areas; inclusion of foundational knowledge in emerging areas of science in core courses on nursing science and research methods; faculty composition; prerequisite student knowledge and skills; and in-depth, interdisciplinary training in supporting area of science content and methods