New Pedagogical Models Facilitated by Technology

This paper discusses the outcome of research conducted to assess the effectiveness of Work-Based Learning (WBL) from the perspective of stakeholders. WBL has increasingly become an area of interest for the higher education (HE) sector. It can support the personal and professional development of students who are already in work. The focus of the learning and development tends to be on the student’s workplace activities. Previous research has mainly considered only two stakeholder contexts, namely the learner and the academic institution. The significance of the study stems from extending the stakeholder contexts to include the employer and the professional body. The aim of this study was to assess the effectiveness of delivery of WBL from the perspective of a range of stakeholders including students, programme leaders (PLs), tutors, university support services, employers and representatives of professional bodies. Case study research methodology was adapted with mixed method research techniques for data capture and analysis using both qualitative and quantitative approaches. The study examined five (5) WBL programmes at Northumbria University in the UK. The three most influential factors in the effectiveness of WBL were found to be: quality, access and support. The contribution to new knowledge in WBL research is through a “Four-Pillar model” which has been developed to reflect the stakeholder contexts. Consideration of this model helps ensure WBL programmes cater for the current demands from the labour market. The findings of this study include factors which facilitate and/or obstruct the effective implementation of WBL programmes whilst identifying feasible strategies to overcome those challenges and share them with all stakeholders of WBL. Recommendations are made on resolving the identified issues and to extend and improve the effectiveness of WBL. Finally this paper looks at how these results could apply to encourage WBL uptake in a third world developing country like Sri Lanka where you are starting from a zero base. Sri Lanka is yet to embark on WBL formally although online distance learning is more of a reality

Wideband magnetic losses and their interpretation in HGO steel sheets

The magnetic properties of high-permeability grain-oriented (HGO) Fe-Si sheets have been investigated in the frequency range 1 Hz-10 kHz, with attention devoted to the role of thickness on the behavior of the magnetic losses and the phenomenology of skin effect. The study is focused on the wideband response of 0.174 mm and 0.289 mm thick sheets, comparatively tested at peak polarization values ranging between 0.25 T and 1.7 T. The experiments associate fluxmetric measurements with direct Kerr observations of the dynamics of the domain walls. A picture of the magnetization process comes to light, where the dynamics of the flux reversal takes hold under increasing frequencies through the motion of increasingly bowed 180 degrees walls, eventually merging at the sheet surface for a fraction of the semi-period. This effect can be consistently predicted, starting from the Kerrbased knowledge of the equilibrium wall spacing, by the numerical modeling of the motion of an extended array of 180 degrees domain walls, subjected to the balanced action of the applied and eddy current fields, and the elastic reaction of the bowed walls. This model can be incorporated into the general concept of loss separation, by calculating the classical loss component through the solution of the Maxwell's diffusion equation under a magnetic constitutive law identified with the normal DC curve. The numerical domain wall model and the loss decomposition consistently predict that the excess loss component, playing a major role in these grain-oriented materials at power frequencies, tends to disappear in the upper induction-frequency corner

A sulfur-rich pi-electron acceptor derived from 5,5 '-bithiazolidinylidene: charge-transfer complex vs. charge-transfer salt

International audienceNovel pi-electron acceptors are still highly desirable for the formation of conducting salts or as n-dopable semiconductors. We describe here two synthetic approaches to substitute a dicyanovinylidene group, C=C(CN)(2) to a thioketone (C=S) in the recently described DEBTTT acceptor where DEBTTT stands for (E)-3,3'-diethyl-5,5'-bithiazolidinylidene-2,4,2',4'-tetrathione. These electron withdrawing groups enhance the electron accepting ability as demonstrated through electrochemical investigations, without hindering the formation of short intra-and intermolecular S center dot center dot center dot S contacts in the solid state. Association of this acceptor 1 with tetramethyltetrathiafulvalene (TMTTF) and decamethylferrocene (Fe(Cp*)(2)) afforded 1 : 1 adducts which were analyzed by single crystal X-ray diffraction. Combined with vibrational and magnetic properties, it appears that [TMTTF][1] behaves as a neutral charge-transfer complex while [Fe(Cp*)(2)][1] is an ionic salt. The concentration of the spin density on the exocyclic sulfur atoms in 1(-center dot) favors the setting of direct anti-ferromagnetic interactions in [Fe(Cp*)(2)][1

Ascaroside Expression in Caenorhabditis elegans Is Strongly Dependent on Diet and Developmental Stage

Background: The ascarosides form a family of small molecules that have been isolated from cultures of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. They are often referred to as “dauer pheromones” because most of them induce formation of long-lived and highly stress resistant dauer larvae. More recent studies have shown that ascarosides serve additional functions as social signals and mating pheromones. Thus, ascarosides have multiple functions. Until now, it has been generally assumed that ascarosides are constitutively expressed during nematode development. Methodology/Principal Findings: Cultures of C. elegans were developmentally synchronized on controlled diets. Ascarosides released into the media, as well as stored internally, were quantified by LC/MS. We found that ascaroside biosynthesis and release were strongly dependent on developmental stage and diet. The male attracting pheromone was verified to be a blend of at least four ascarosides, and peak production of the two most potent mating pheromone components, ascr#3 and asc#8 immediately preceded or coincided with the temporal window for mating. The concentration of ascr#2 increased under starvation conditions and peaked during dauer formation, strongly supporting ascr#2 as the main population density signal (dauer pheromone). After dauer formation, ascaroside production largely ceased and dauer larvae did not release any ascarosides. These findings show that both total ascaroside production and the relative proportions of individual ascarosides strongly correlate with these compounds' stage-specific biological functions. Conclusions/Significance: Ascaroside expression changes with development and environmental conditions. This is consistent with multiple functions of these signaling molecules. Knowledge of such differential regulation will make it possible to associate ascaroside production to gene expression profiles (transcript, protein or enzyme activity) and help to determine genetic pathways that control ascaroside biosynthesis. In conjunction with findings from previous studies, our results show that the pheromone system of C. elegans mimics that of insects in many ways, suggesting that pheromone signaling in C. elegans may exhibit functional homology also at the sensory level. In addition, our results provide a strong foundation for future behavioral modeling studies

Antibody responses to the full-length VAR2CSA and its DBL domains in Cameroonian children and teenagers

Additional file 2. IgG levels to VAR2CSA domains in 10–15 year old Cameroonian girls living in Ngali II and Ntouessong villages. IgG levels to VAR2CSA DBL domains and full-length protein (FV2) were measured in 11–15 year old girls residing in Ngali II and Ntouessong villages. DBL1 domain was from 3D7 strain and all the other proteins from FCR3 parasite strain. Median MFI and Inter-Quartile Range (IQR) are plotted