197 research outputs found
Social media and teacher professional learning communities
peer-reviewed.Background: An extensive and international evidence base positions professional learning communities (PLCs) as an effective continued professional development (CPD) mechanism that can impact on teachers’ practices and, in turn, students’ learning. The landscape of teacher PLCs is continuously developing; notably through teachers’ uses of social media. Yet, there is limited robust evidence identifying the characteristics of social media PLCs that impact on teachers’ learning and practice.
Purpose: This exploratory study examined the characteristics of a specific Twitter-based professional learning community – #pechat. The research questions were: (i) what is the nature of a Twitter-based professional learning community? and (ii) what characteristics of a Twitter-based professional learning community develop learning and practice?
Methods: Data were generated from 901 tweets between 100 participants; and 18 in-depth semi-structured elicitation interviews with participants and moderators of the Twitter-based professional learning community. Data were analysed through a process of deliberation, and a relativist approach informed quality.
Findings: Two themes are reported to explain the nature of the Twitter-based professional learning community and the different types of characteristics of #pechat that developed learning and practice. The first theme engagement shows how different participants of #pechat engaged with discussions and how moderators played a key role in facilitating discussions between participants. The second theme shared practices shows how discussions between participants of #pechat led to the development of new practices that some teachers were able to use to accomplish particular objectives in their physical education lessons.
Conclusion: The analysis of the data provided evidence to suggest that #pechat is a PLC and is representative of an established group of practitioners. These characteristics should be considered in the design of future online professional development experiences. Facilitator or moderator training could support the development of social media based PLCs that subsequently and positively impact on teachers’ practices.ACCEPTEDpeer-reviewe
Complete Genome Sequences of Paenibacillus Larvae Phages BN12, Dragolir, Kiel007, Leyra, Likha, Pagassa, PBL1c, and Tadhana
We present here the complete genomes of eight phages that infect Paenibacillus larvae, the causative agent of American foulbrood in honeybees. Phage PBL1c was originally isolated in 1984 from a P. larvae lysogen, while the remaining phages were isolated in 2014 from bee debris, honeycomb, and lysogens from three states in the USA
Intimate Pride: a Tri-Nation Study on Associations between Positive Minority Identity Aspects and Relationship Quality in Sexual Minorities from German-Speaking Countries
Investigations into the intimate relationships of sexual minorities are proliferating, but often adopt a deficit-oriented and US-centered perspective. In this tri-nation online study with sexual minority participants from Austria, Germany, and Switzerland (N = 571), we (i) assessed the construct validity of the German version of a well-known measure for positive minority identity aspects (the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual Positive Identity Measure; LGB-PIM), and (ii) explored associations between these aspects (self-awareness, authenticity, community, capacity for intimacy, and social justice) and self-reported relationship quality. Model fit of the German version of the LGB-PIM was deemed acceptable. Higher levels of positive minority identity aspects showed small to moderate associations with higher levels of relationship quality in bivariate analyses, but only capacity for intimacy was linked to relationship quality in higher-order models (controlling for country, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, relationship length, and psychological distress). Results remained robust in several sensitivity analyses. Our results highlight the differential role of positive identity aspects for relationship functioning, with capacity for intimacy as a fruitful leverage point for therapeutic work
Action research in physical education: focusing beyond myself through cooperative learning
This paper reports on the pedagogical changes that I experienced as a teacher engaged in an action research project in which I designed and implemented an indirect, developmentally appropriate and child‐centred approach to my teaching. There have been repeated calls to expunge – or at least rationalise – the use of traditional, teacher‐led practice in physical education. Yet despite the advocacy of many leading academics there is little evidence that such a change of approach is occurring. In my role as teacher‐as‐researcher I sought to implement a new pedagogical approach, in the form of cooperative learning, and bring about a positive change in the form of enhanced pupil learning. Data collection included a reflective journal, post‐teaching reflective analysis, pupil questionnaires, student interviews, document analysis, and non‐participant observations. The research team analysed the data using inductive analysis and constant comparison. Six themes emerged from the data: teaching and learning, reflections on cooperation, performance, time, teacher change, and social interaction. The paper argues that cooperative learning allowed me to place social and academic learning goals on an even footing, which in turn placed a focus on pupils’ understanding and improvement of skills in athletics alongside their interpersonal development
Mitochondrial uncoupling links lipid catabolism to Akt inhibition and resistance to tumorigenesis
To support growth, tumour cells reprogramme their metabolism to simultaneously upregulate macromolecular biosynthesis while maintaining energy production. Uncoupling proteins (UCPs) oppose this phenotype by inducing futile mitochondrial respiration that is uncoupled from ATP synthesis, resulting in nutrient wasting. Here using a UCP3 transgene targeted to the basal epidermis, we show that forced mitochondrial uncoupling inhibits skin carcinogenesis by blocking Akt activation. Similarly, Akt activation is markedly inhibited in UCP3 overexpressing primary human keratinocytes. Mechanistic studies reveal that uncoupling increases fatty acid oxidation and membrane phospholipid catabolism, and impairs recruitment of Akt to the plasma membrane. Overexpression of Akt overcomes metabolic regulation by UCP3, rescuing carcinogenesis. These findings demonstrate that mitochondrial uncoupling is an effective strategy to limit proliferation and tumorigenesis through inhibition of Akt, and illuminate a novel mechanism of crosstalk between mitochondrial metabolism and growth signalling
A case of a metastatic SDHA mutated paraganglioma re-presenting twenty-three years after initial surgery.
Search for gravitational waves from binary inspirals in S3 and S4 LIGO data
We report on a search for gravitational waves from the coalescence of compact
binaries during the third and fourth LIGO science runs. The search focused on
gravitational waves generated during the inspiral phase of the binary
evolution. In our analysis, we considered three categories of compact binary
systems, ordered by mass: (i) primordial black hole binaries with masses in the
range 0.35 M(sun) < m1, m2 < 1.0 M(sun), (ii) binary neutron stars with masses
in the range 1.0 M(sun) < m1, m2 < 3.0 M(sun), and (iii) binary black holes
with masses in the range 3.0 M(sun)< m1, m2 < m_(max) with the additional
constraint m1+ m2 < m_(max), where m_(max) was set to 40.0 M(sun) and 80.0
M(sun) in the third and fourth science runs, respectively. Although the
detectors could probe to distances as far as tens of Mpc, no gravitational-wave
signals were identified in the 1364 hours of data we analyzed. Assuming a
binary population with a Gaussian distribution around 0.75-0.75 M(sun), 1.4-1.4
M(sun), and 5.0-5.0 M(sun), we derived 90%-confidence upper limit rates of 4.9
yr^(-1) L10^(-1) for primordial black hole binaries, 1.2 yr^(-1) L10^(-1) for
binary neutron stars, and 0.5 yr^(-1) L10^(-1) for stellar mass binary black
holes, where L10 is 10^(10) times the blue light luminosity of the Sun.Comment: 12 pages, 11 figure
Search for Gravitational Waves Associated with 39 Gamma-Ray Bursts Using Data from the Second, Third, and Fourth LIGO Runs
We present the results of a search for short-duration gravitational-wave
bursts associated with 39 gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) detected by gamma-ray
satellite experiments during LIGO's S2, S3, and S4 science runs. The search
involves calculating the crosscorrelation between two interferometer data
streams surrounding the GRB trigger time. We search for associated
gravitational radiation from single GRBs, and also apply statistical tests to
search for a gravitational-wave signature associated with the whole sample. For
the sample examined, we find no evidence for the association of gravitational
radiation with GRBs, either on a single-GRB basis or on a statistical basis.
Simulating gravitational-wave bursts with sine-gaussian waveforms, we set upper
limits on the root-sum-square of the gravitational-wave strain amplitude of
such waveforms at the times of the GRB triggers. We also demonstrate how a
sample of several GRBs can be used collectively to set constraints on
population models. The small number of GRBs and the significant change in
sensitivity of the detectors over the three runs, however, limits the
usefulness of a population study for the S2, S3, and S4 runs. Finally, we
discuss prospects for the search sensitivity for the ongoing S5 run, and beyond
for the next generation of detectors.Comment: 24 pages, 10 figures, 14 tables; minor changes to text and Fig. 2;
accepted by Phys. Rev.
Smart Contracts in Insurance: A Law and Futurology Perspective
Smart contracts are innovative contracts that differ from traditional ones in that they are self-executing, as they entail the possibility of representing contract terms in programming code that gets automatically executed on a blockchain or other distributed ledgers. Following the latest developments in blockchain technology, smart contracts have been the focus of growing attention and are currently among the major innovations that are taking place in financial services. This paper investigates the scope for their application in insurance both in the near and longer term, exploring the legal challenges that they pose. The analysis shows that in the near term smart contracts will be mainly exploited to automate underwriting, claims handling and payouts. It considers how the automation of these processes will operate at law and emphasises the impact that smart contracts can have especially on the reduction of transaction costs and on the very essence of the insurance contract—the insurer's promise to pay. Building on current technological developments, the paper then turns to role that smart contracts can play in insurance in the longer term, advancing the prospect of the automation of the entire insurance contract. In particular, it argues that the interaction between smart contracts and artificial intelligence and machine learning can challenge traditional frameworks of thought such as incomplete contracting and, in the farther-distant future, will culminate in contracts that will both self-interpret and self-enforce their terms—what can be called the true smart contracts. The analysis identifies and addresses the main legal issues that can arise in this context, exploring how to strike a balance between the goal of fostering innovation and the need to ensure policyholder and investor protection
Searching for gravitational waves from known pulsars
We present upper limits on the amplitude of gravitational waves from 28
isolated pulsars using data from the second science run of LIGO. The results
are also expressed as a constraint on the pulsars' equatorial ellipticities. We
discuss a new way of presenting such ellipticity upper limits that takes
account of the uncertainties of the pulsar moment of inertia. We also extend
our previous method to search for known pulsars in binary systems, of which
there are about 80 in the sensitive frequency range of LIGO and GEO 600.Comment: Accepted by CQG for the proceeding of GWDAW9, 7 pages, 2 figure
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