Introducing the SAPS System and a Corresponding Allocation Mechanism for Synchronous Online Reciprocal Peer Support Activities

While student populations in higher education are becoming more heterogeneous, recently several attempts have been made to introduce online peer support to decrease the tutor load of teachers. We propose a system that facilitates synchronous online reciprocal peer support activities for ad hoc student questions: the Synchronous Allocated Peer Support (SAPS) system. Via this system, students with questions during their learning are allocated to competent fellow-students for answering. The system is designed for reciprocal peer support activities among a group of students who are working on the same fixed modular material every student has to finish, such as courses with separate chapters. As part of a requirement analysis of online reciprocal peer support to succeed, this chapter is focused on the second requirement of peer competence and sustainability of our system. Therefore a study was conducted with a simulation of a SAPS-based allocation mechanism in the NetLogo simulation environment and focuses on the required minimum population size, the effect of the addition of extra allocation parameters or disabling others on the mechanism\'s effectiveness, and peer tutor load spread in various conditions and its influence on the mechanism\'s effectiveness. The simulation shows that our allocation mechanism should be able to facilitate online peer support activities among groups of students. The allocation mechanism holds over time and a sufficient number of students are willing and competent to answer fellow-students\' questions. Also, fine-tuning the parameters (e.g. extra selection criteria) of the allocation mechanism further enhances its effectiveness.Peer Support, Peer Allocation, Computational Simulations, System Dynamics, Distance Learning

Electromagnetic form factors of the (rho) meson in light cone QCD sum rules

We investigate the electromagnetic form factors of the (rho) meson in light cone QCD sum rules. We find that the ratio of the magnetic and charge form factors is larger than two at all values of Q^2, (Q^2 >= 0.5 GeV^2). The values of the individual form factors at fixed values of Q^2 predicted by the light cone QCD sum rules are quite different compared to the results of other approaches. These results can be checked in future, when more precise data on (rho) meson form factors is available.Comment: 12 pages, 6 figures, LaTeX formatte

Spectral geometry as a probe of quantum spacetime

Employing standard results from spectral geometry, we provide strong evidence that in the classical limit the ground state of three-dimensional causal dynamical triangulations is de Sitter spacetime. This result is obtained by measuring the expectation value of the spectral dimension on the ensemble of geometries defined by these models, and comparing its large scale behaviour to that of a sphere (Euclidean de Sitter). From the same measurement we are also able to confirm the phenomenon of dynamical dimensional reduction observed in this and other approaches to quantum gravity -- the first time this has been done for three-dimensional causal dynamical triangulations. In this case, the value for the short-scale limit of the spectral dimension that we find is approximately 2. We comment on the relevance of these results for the comparison to asymptotic safety and Horava-Lifshitz gravity, among other approaches to quantum gravity.Comment: 25 pages, 6 figures. Version 2: references to figures added, acknowledgment added

Юридичний зміст та ознаки фінансово-правової санкції

У статті проведено аналіз теоретичних засад поняття фінансово-правової відповідальності та її складового елементу - фінансово-правової санкції. Автор досліджує наукові думки щодо понять «фінансово-правові санкції», «економічні санкції», «штрафні санкції», «штраф», «пеня» тощо; розглядає функції фінансово-правових санкцій з урахування засад загальної теорії права та фінансового права, зокрема, та виокремлює найхарактерніші ознаки фінансово-правової санкції. Ключові слова: фінансово-правова відповідальність, фінансово-правова санкція, ознаки фінансово-правової санкції.В статье проведен анализ теоретических основ понятия финансово-правовой ответственности и ее составляющего элемента - финансово-правовой санкции. Автор исследует существующие научные взгляды на понятия «финансово-правовая санкция», «экономическая санкция», «штрафная санкция», «штраф» и т.д.; рассматривает функции финансово-правовых санкций с позиций общей теории права и финансового права, в частности, и выделяет наиболее характерные признаки финансово-правовой санкции. Ключевые слова: финансово-правовая ответственность, финансово-правовая санкция, признаки финансово-правовой санкции.This article deals with the analysis of theoretical background of the notion in the sphere of both financial and law responsibility and its structural element - the financial and law sanction. The author researches the real scientific ideas as to the notions «financial and law sanction», «fine». The author also analyses the functions of financial and law sanctions including as the basement of common law theory so as financial law in particular. His special task is to analyses the most characteristic determinants of financial and law sanction. Key words: financial and law responsibility; financial and law sanction; signs of financial and law sanction

Product design and business model strategies for a circular economy

© 2016 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. The transition within business from a linear to a circular economy brings with it a range of practical challenges for companies. The following question is addressed: What are the product design and business model strategies for companies that want to move to a circular economy model? This paper develops a framework of strategies to guide designers and business strategists in the move from a linear to a circular economy. Building on Stahel, the terminology of slowing, closing, and narrowing resource loops is introduced. A list of product design strategies, business model strategies, and examples for key decision-makers in businesses is introduced, to facilitate the move to a circular economy. This framework also opens up a future research agenda for the circular economy.Part of this work was supported by ResCoM, which is co-funded by the European Union under EU Seventh Framework Programme (FP7), Grant agreement number: 603843. We would like to thank the ResCoM team for their support and encouraging discussions on the topic of the circular economy

Focusing on the Fixed Point of 4D Simplicial Gravity

Our earlier renormalization group analysis of simplicial gravity is extended. A high statistics study of the volume and coupling constant dependence of the cumulants of the node distribution is carried out. It appears that the phase transition of the theory is of first order, contrary to what is generally believed.Comment: Latex, 20 pages, 6 postscript figures, published versio

Relativistic quantum mechanics: A Dirac's point-form inspired approach

This paper describes a tentative relativistic quantum mechanics approach inspired by Dirac's point-form, which is based on the physics description on a hyperboloid surface. It is mainly characterized by a non-standard relation of the constituent momenta of some system to its total momentum. Contrary to instant- and front-form approaches, where it takes the form of a 3-dimensional delta function, the relation is given here by a Lorentz-scalar constraint. Thus, in the c.m. frame, the sum of the constituent momenta, which differs from zero off-energy shell, has no fixed direction, in accordance with the absence of preferred direction on a hyperboloid surface. To some extent, this gives rise to an extra degree of freedom entering the description of the system of interest. The development of a consistent formalism within this picture is described. Comparison with other approaches is made.Comment: 26 pages, 3 figures, to be submitte

Crisis signaling: how Italy's coronavirus lockdown affected incumbent support in other European countries

The COVID-19 pandemic is an unparalleled global crisis. Yet, despite the grave adversity faced by citizens, incumbents around the world experienced a boost in popularity during the onset of the outbreak. In this study, we examine how the response to the COVID-19 outbreak in one country affected incumbent support in other countries. Specifically, we leverage the fact that the first country-wide lockdown on European soil, in Italy on 9 March 2020, happened during the fieldwork of surveys conducted in four other European countries, France, Germany, Poland and Spain. This allows us to examine how an event abroad that alerted citizens to an imminent crisis-prior to a similar domestic government response-influenced incumbent support. Our results indicate a crisis signal effect of Italy's COVID-19 lockdown, as support for the incumbent increased domestically in other European countries after the lockdown. Importantly, these findings suggest that incumbents can benefit from a crisis unfolding in other countries, even when their own performance in response to the same crisis is not yet fully clear. They illustrate the importance of developments abroad for incumbent approval and the difficulty facing citizens seeking to disentangle performance signals from exogenous shocks

Job crafting and playful work design: Links with performance during busy and quiet days

This study uses proactive work behavior and job demands–resources (JD-R) theories to propose that employees can use two proactive behavioral strategies to improve the internal organizational environment, namely job crafting and playful work design (PWD). Whereas job crafting concerns the proactive adjustment of the job, PWD refers to the active creation of conditions at work that foster play. We hypothesize that individuals perform better on the days they seek job resources and challenges, or design their work to be playful. In addition, we propose that seeking job resources and reducing job demands are most effective when work pressure is high, and that seeking challenges and PWD are most effective when work pressure is low. A total of 77 Norwegian naval cadets completed a diary questionnaire for 30 consecutive days (total N = 2310). Results of multilevel modeling showed that daily seeking job resources, seeking challenges, and playful work design were each positively related to colleague-ratings of job performance. Reducing job demands was negatively related to performance. Furthermore, as hypothesized, seeking challenges and PWD were most effective when the work pressure was low. These findings contribute to the proactive work motivation and JD-R literatures by showing which work strategies are positively related to job performance, and under which conditions.acceptedVersio