Spin state dependence of electrical conductivity of spin crossover materials

We studied the spin state dependence of the electrical conductivity of the spin crossover compound [Fe(Htrz)2(trz)](BF4) (Htrz = 1H-1,2,4-triazole) by means of dc electrical measurements. The low spin state is characterized by higher conductance and lower thermal activation energy of the conductivity, when compared to the high spin state

A Novel Outcome-Based Educational Model and its Effect on Student Learning, Curriculum Development, and Assessment

Introduction We live in a rapidly changing world driven by technology and economy necessitating the production of qualified and well-prepared professionals. Employers are demanding that university graduates not only have the knowledge, but the appropriate skills to be effective and productive in the workplace. In order to adapt to these challenges, universities worldwide are thinking about how to redesign their academic models. A recent US national panel report calls for a dramatic reorganization of undergraduate education to ensure that all college students receive not just access to college, but an education of lasting value. The report also recommends colleges help students become intentional life-long learners, and to create new assessments that require students to apply their learning to the real world (Greater Expectation, 2002). Zayed University (ZU), a laptop university (each student and faculty owns a laptop) based in the United Arab Emirates, has adopted a new educational concept in the region, which is an Outcome-Based learning approach. This new Academic Program Model (APM) is designed to continuously improve the curriculum and provide students with the knowledge and skills to succeed in a rapidly changing world. The life-long learning outcomes, being the kernel of the courses, provide focus to the curriculum in the APM. Furthermore, all courses are designed to clearly show the experiences that students draw upon achieving a Learning Outcome. The ZU OBE learning approach is framed by three sets of learning outcomes. Two are course embedded (general education and major learning outcomes), and the third (the ZU learning outcomes (ZULO)) is a set of higher intellectual outcomes. To fulfill their ZULO requirements, students compile evidence of their achievement in electronic portfolios, which are assessed by a faculty panels. The APM is driven by five critical components: the outcome based curriculum, the e-portfolios, the learning communities, the use of information technology, and the support of the center for teaching and learning assessment. Universities in the USA and worldwide are taking a critical look at their educational systems. A recent US national panel report calls for a dramatic reorganization of undergraduate education to ensure that all college aspirants receive not just access to college, but an education of lasting value. The report also recommends colleges help students become intentional life-long learners, and to create new assessments that require students to apply their learning to the real world (Greater Expectation, 2002). Furthermore, universities in the US and worldwide are complaining about the problem of grade inflation (Rosovsky & Hartley, 2002). A number of academic institutions in the US have moved to an outcome-based education framework to move away from the grade point average driven academic framework. In North America, accreditations institutions (such as North Central Association) are asking academic institutions to present a method to assess students learning outcomes in the general education courses. In Columbia College, Columbia, Missouri, assessment of the student learning outcomes in the Information Literacy course is done by giving them a pre-test and a post-test. During the first day of the course, students are given a multiple-choice test about computer literacy. The same test is given to the students during the last week of the course as part of their final examination. The difference between the two grades is used as a measure of their progress. A new academic institution in the gulf region has tackled the above issues by adopting an academic framework that is based on the outcome-based education while still using the grade point average. This academic model is a hybrid approach that accommodates learning outcomes to measure the learning process and uses grades to accommodate the classic academic system. We anticipate that this model will insure that grade inflation is under control and that students are achieving the learning outcomes to become life-long learners (Bouslama, Lansari, Al-Rawi, & Abonamah, 2002).

A Novel Outcome-Based Educational Model and its Effect on Student Learning, Curriculum Development, and Assessment

Introduction We live in a rapidly changing world driven by technology and economy necessitating the production of qualified and well-prepared professionals. Employers are demanding that university graduates not only have the knowledge, but the appropriate skills to be effective and productive in the workplace. In order to adapt to these challenges, universities worldwide are thinking about how to redesign their academic models. A recent US national panel report calls for a dramatic reorganization of undergraduate education to ensure that all college students receive not just access to college, but an education of lasting value. The report also recommends colleges help students become intentional life-long learners, and to create new assessments that require students to apply their learning to the real world (Greater Expectation, 2002). Zayed University (ZU), a laptop university (each student and faculty owns a laptop) based in the United Arab Emirates, has adopted a new educational concept in the region, which is an Outcome-Based learning approach. This new Academic Program Model (APM) is designed to continuously improve the curriculum and provide students with the knowledge and skills to succeed in a rapidly changing world. The life-long learning outcomes, being the kernel of the courses, provide focus to the curriculum in the APM. Furthermore, all courses are designed to clearly show the experiences that students draw upon achieving a Learning Outcome. The ZU OBE learning approach is framed by three sets of learning outcomes. Two are course embedded (general education and major learning outcomes), and the third (the ZU learning outcomes (ZULO)) is a set of higher intellectual outcomes. To fulfill their ZULO requirements, students compile evidence of their achievement in electronic portfolios, which are assessed by a faculty panels. The APM is driven by five critical components: the outcome based curriculum, the e-portfolios, the learning communities, the use of information technology, and the support of the center for teaching and learning assessment. Universities in the USA and worldwide are taking a critical look at their educational systems. A recent US national panel report calls for a dramatic reorganization of undergraduate education to ensure that all college aspirants receive not just access to college, but an education of lasting value. The report also recommends colleges help students become intentional life-long learners, and to create new assessments that require students to apply their learning to the real world (Greater Expectation, 2002). Furthermore, universities in the US and worldwide are complaining about the problem of grade inflation (Rosovsky & Hartley, 2002). A number of academic institutions in the US have moved to an outcome-based education framework to move away from the grade point average driven academic framework. In North America, accreditations institutions (such as North Central Association) are asking academic institutions to present a method to assess students learning outcomes in the general education courses. In Columbia College, Columbia, Missouri, assessment of the student learning outcomes in the Information Literacy course is done by giving them a pre-test and a post-test. During the first day of the course, students are given a multiple-choice test about computer literacy. The same test is given to the students during the last week of the course as part of their final examination. The difference between the two grades is used as a measure of their progress. A new academic institution in the gulf region has tackled the above issues by adopting an academic framework that is based on the outcome-based education while still using the grade point average. This academic model is a hybrid approach that accommodates learning outcomes to measure the learning process and uses grades to accommodate the classic academic system. We anticipate that this model will insure that grade inflation is under control and that students are achieving the learning outcomes to become life-long learners (Bouslama, Lansari, Al-Rawi, & Abonamah, 2002).

A Chip-Level BSOR-based linear GSIC multiuser Detector for Long-Code CDMA Systems

In this work, we introduce a chip-level linear group-wise successive interference cancellation (GSIC) multi-user structure that is asymptotically equivalent to block successive over-relaxation (BSOR) iteration, which is known to outperform the conventional block Gauss-Seidel iteration by an order of magnitude in terms of convergence speed. The main advantage of the proposed scheme is that it uses directly the spreading codes instead of the cross-correlation matrix and thus doesn’t require the calculation of the cross-correlation matrix (requires 2NK2 floating point operations (flops), where N is the processing gain and K is the number of users) which reduces significantly the overall computational complexity. Thus it is suitable for long-code CDMA systems such as IS-95 and UMTS where the cross-correlation matrix is changing every symbol. We study the convergence behavior of the proposed scheme using two approaches and prove that it converges to the decorrelator detector if the over-relaxation factor is in the interval ]0, 2[. Simulation results are in excellent agreement with theory

A Chip-Level BSOR-based linear GSIC multiuser Detector for Long-Code CDMA Systems

In this work, we introduce a chip-level linear group-wise successive interference cancellation (GSIC) multi-user structure that is asymptotically equivalent to block successive over-relaxation (BSOR) iteration, which is known to outperform the conventional block Gauss-Seidel iteration by an order of magnitude in terms of convergence speed. The main advantage of the proposed scheme is that it uses directly the spreading codes instead of the cross-correlation matrix and thus doesn’t require the calculation of the cross-correlation matrix (requires 2NK2 floating point operations (flops), where N is the processing gain and K is the number of users) which reduces significantly the overall computational complexity. Thus it is suitable for long-code CDMA systems such as IS-95 and UMTS where the cross-correlation matrix is changing every symbol. We study the convergence behavior of the proposed scheme using two approaches and prove that it converges to the decorrelator detector if the over-relaxation factor is in the interval ]0, 2[. Simulation results are in excellent agreement with theory

Observation of rogue waves in a 980nm-laser diode subject to filtered optical feedback

International audienceIn this work, rogue waves are observed in a 980 nm laser diode subject to filtered optical feedback via an fibre Bragg grating. A rogue-wave map is established for the first time experimentally as functions of optical feedback ratio and laser current. Rogue waves in our laser system are identified as a part of low frequency fluctuation jump-ups

A Chip-Level BSOR-based linear GSIC multiuser Detector for Long-Code CDMA Systems

In this work, we introduce a chip-level linear group-wise successive interference cancellation (GSIC) multi-user structure that is asymptotically equivalent to block successive over-relaxation (BSOR) iteration, which is known to outperform the conventional block Gauss-Seidel iteration by an order of magnitude in terms of convergence speed. The main advantage of the proposed scheme is that it uses directly the spreading codes instead of the cross-correlation matrix and thus doesn’t require the calculation of the cross-correlation matrix (requires 2NK2 floating point operations (flops), where N is the processing gain and K is the number of users) which reduces significantly the overall computational complexity. Thus it is suitable for long-code CDMA systems such as IS-95 and UMTS where the cross-correlation matrix is changing every symbol. We study the convergence behavior of the proposed scheme using two approaches and prove that it converges to the decorrelator detector if the over-relaxation factor is in the interval ]0, 2[. Simulation results are in excellent agreement with theory

Mutations in SPG11, encoding spatacsin, are a major cause of spastic paraplegia with thin corpus callosum.

Autosomal recessive hereditary spastic paraplegia (ARHSP) with thin corpus callosum (TCC) is a common and clinically distinct form of familial spastic paraplegia that is linked to the SPG11 locus on chromosome 15 in most affected families. We analyzed 12 ARHSP-TCC families, refined the SPG11 candidate interval and identified ten mutations in a previously unidentified gene expressed ubiquitously in the nervous system but most prominently in the cerebellum, cerebral cortex, hippocampus and pineal gland. The mutations were either nonsense or insertions and deletions leading to a frameshift, suggesting a loss-of-function mechanism. The identification of the function of the gene will provide insight into the mechanisms leading to the degeneration of the corticospinal tract and other brain structures in this frequent form of ARHSP