Study of Noise Generation Mechanisms in a Turbulent Jet through Analysis of Simulation Data

Computational simulation techniques produce considerably more information about turbulent jets than experimentation and have the potential to be effective research tools for reducing the noise footprint of jet engine exhaust. There is a need to exploit the large amount of data generated by such simulations to gain a better understanding of the noise generation mechanisms in a jet. Such information can be vital to the design of future noise-reducing nozzle geometries. This project uses the simulation data generated by a large eddy simulation (LES) tool to investigate the creation and propagation of upstream moving sound waves in the potential core of a subsonic jet. Two tools are implemented to analyze the aforementioned sound waves. The first performs spectral analysis that provides insight about the dominant frequencies associated with these waves. The second determines space-time correlations that can be used to find the velocity of propagation of the waves, and where they originate in the potential core. The results of this study show that there are two dominant low-frequency waves along with their harmonics present within the upstream traveling waves. Near the center of the potential core the wave velocities were found to change sign indicating the point of generation of the upstream propagating waves. These results and developed tools will enable further research on the interactions between the sound waves and the shear layer

Posing Unique and Urgent Challenges to Understandings of Quality: Elucidations through a Froebelian lens

This paper reports on findings from a small pilot study undertaken with early years practitioners in Scotland.  The Scottish Government is currently implementing its key election promise of almost doubling the entitlement to publicly funded early learning and childcare (ELC) for all three and four-year old and eligible two-year old children. A key message from the Scottish Government during this period has been that quality is at the heart of the expansion initiative (Scottish Government, 2017b). However, quality can be a contested and an ill understood concept (Moss, 2019). This pilot study, therefore, explored the perspectives of practitioners in Scotland regarding what quality in early years provision entails, particularly in this time of change and expansion. The paper will make three key arguments based on the findings from the study. First, that although quality is a much-used term in Scottish ELC settings, understandings of the term can be subjective, yet powerful and can leave practitioners with more questions than answers. Second, we argue that Fröbelian principles could ameliorate some of the issues regarding quality in Scotland, particularly in terms of combatting discrimination. Finally, we argue that those principles must be accompanied by a social justice lens in which prejudice and stereotypes are recognized, named, and unpacked and action for change taken

The Effects of Energy Drink Consumption on Cognitive and Physical Performance in Elite League of Legends Players.

To examine the cognitive and physical changes associated with consuming an energy drink concurrent to video gaming, we examined a convenience sample of nine elite League of Legends (LoL) e-sport players (21 ± 2 y, BMI 25.6 ± 3.4 kg/m2) consuming an energy drink (ReloadTM) or placebo (Placebo) in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled cross-over trial. Participants completed the same test battery prior to treatment consumption and after playing each of three competitive LoL games. Primary outcomes included measures of attention (Erikson Flanker Test), reaction time (Go/No-Go test) and working memory (n-back test). Secondary outcomes examined fatigue (hand grip strength and finger tap speed). Statistical analysis was performed by repeated-measures analysis of variance (RM-ANOVA) and reported as the mean (standard deviation [SD]) or mean change (95% confidence interval [CI]). Participants reported sleeping 8.1 (1.2) h/night, playing LoL 10.3 (2.1) h/d, playing other video games 1.8 (2.8) h/d, and exercising 4.2 (1.7) times per week. Overall, we observed no significant time, group, or group-by-time interactions for any measured performance index with the exception of a significant improvement for the n-back test, where the Reload group demonstrated a significant within-group improvement: Reload [-171 ms (95% CI, -327.91, -14.09), p < 0.004], Placebo [-92 ms (95% CI, -213.63, 29.63)]. However, no between-group differences were noted (38.50 ms, 95% CI, -141.89, 64.89, p = 0.803). Our findings suggest that elite eSport athletes do not demonstrate a mental or physical improvement in performance relative to the treatment supplement or indices measured in this study

‘Why am I in all of these pictures?’ From learning stories to lived stories:The politics of children’s participation rights in documentation practices

Caralyn Blaisdell - ORCID: 0000-0002-5491-7346 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5491-7346In this paper, we report on Phase One of a small action research project that examined how Learning Stories were put into practice at one Scottish nursery. Specifically, the paper looks at young children’s participation rights and how they were enacted within the authorship of the stories. The project used an action research approach in which qualitative data about participants’ current experiences with the stories was used to spark reflection, experimentation and change in documentation practices. Drawing on Phase One data from young children, parents and practitioners at the nursery, our findings illustrate the complex enactment of children’s participation rights, including children’s right to information, freedom of expression and their right to express their views and have those views taken into account. The paper concludes that more work needs to be done in the field of Learning stories to (a) acknowledge the complex political and material considerations at play in the creation of pedagogical documentation and (b) to accommodate children’s own authorship, through flexible, non (or less) written methods.The research was funded by The Froebel Trust: Registered Charity No. 1145128 Company Limited by Guarantee Registered in London No. 7862112.https://doi.org/10.1080/1350293X.2021.2007970aheadofprintaheadofprin

Attributional and Relational Processing in Pigeons

Six pigeons were trained using a matching-to-sample procedure where sample and rewarded comparisons matched on both attributional (color) and relational (horizontal or vertical orientation) dimensions. Probes then evaluated the pigeons’ preference to comparisons that varied in these dimensions. A strong preference was found for the attribute of color. The discrimination was not found to transfer to novel colors, however, suggesting that a general color rule had not been learned. Further, when color could not be used to guide responding, some influence of other attributional cues such as shape, but not relational cues, was found. We conclude that pigeons based their performance on attributional properties of but not on relational properties between elements in our matching-to-sample procedure. Future studies should look at examining other attributes to compare attributional versus relational processing

Identification of protein coding genes in genomes with statistical functions based on the circular code

A new statistical approach using functions based on the circular code classifies correctly more than 93 % of bases in protein (coding) genes and non-coding genes of human sequences. Based on this statistical study, a research software called "Analysis of Coding Genes" (ACG) has been developed for identifying protein genes in the genomes and for determining their frame. Furthermore, the software ACG also allows an evaluation of the length of protein genes, their position in the genome, their relative position between themselves, and the prediction of internal frames in protein genes