790 research outputs found
Modelling knowledge in Electronic Study Books
Knowledge graphs are a new form of knowledge representation. They are closely related to semantic networks and can be looked upon as in line with Schank's conceptual dependency theory and Sowa's conceptual graphs. The special feature of knowledge graphs is the use of a very restricted set of types of relations, that is considered to be the basic set of primitive relations. The theory of knowledge graphs is outlined in the first part of the paper. In the second part the possibilities of knowledge graphs for solving problems posed by Electronic (Study) Books will be discussed
WHO’S ZOOMIN’ WHO? STUDENT ENGAGEMENT DURING A FACELESS PANDEMIC
COVID-19 brought about a faceless threat that impacted Higher Education, and the whole of Society, in a way that had not been seen in our lifetimes - faceless nanoscopic threat to humanity and to the way we facilitate learning as passionate educators.
The impacts on students, especially those of international status, were substantial. Isolation, enforced by the Federal Government, was as new to us all as the coronavirus was to our species. As a social species, we had no prior ‘immunity’ to the experience and the scramble to adapt within the teaching and learning environment that raised many difficulties experienced by all participants. However, nowhere was this more adversely felt than in our Transitioning First Year Student (TFYS) cohort. Students, already having to adapt to the foreign experience of learning in a higher education landscape, were dealt the additional blow of doing so under Australian government enforced isolation. Most, far from home and from their social networks, found themselves living an experience devoid of the social experience that is expected during their first year of university. A time where many form peer groups which last beyond higher education; a time when you have the opportunity to ‘navigate your identity’ amongst peers, was taken from them.
Regardless of the impact on grade distributions, the effects of isolation were seen in overt and distressing declines in mental health across the first-year cohort (pers obs.). But what about those that did not feel they could, or did not know how to, reach out and engage? Here we show how collegiality, honesty and a peer-like approach to Coordination helped lessen this. However, despite these efforts, many students remained ‘invisible’ – hiding behind the smokescreens of upheaval and workloads, and most evidently behind the black square of a faceless Zoom. We also explore alternate ways of fostering inclusion through the scaffolding of ‘social engagement’ amongst the students themselves
Brane/flux annihilation transitions and nonperturbative moduli stabilization
By extending the calculation of Kahler moduli stabilization to account for an
embiggened antibrane, we reevaluate brane/flux annihilation in a warped throat
with one stabilized Kahler modulus. We find that depending on the relative size
of various fluxes three things can occur: the decay process proceeds
unhindered, the anti-D3-branes are forbidden to decay classically, or the
entire space decompactifies. Additionally, we show that the Kahler modulus
receives a contribution from the collective 3-brane tension. This allows for a
significant change in compactified volume during the transition and possibly
mitigates some fine tuning otherwise required to achieve large volume.Comment: 25 pages, 6 figures, LaTeX. v2: references adde
Nucleus-mediated spin-flip transitions in GaAs quantum dots
Spin-flip rates in GaAs quantum dots can be quite slow, thus opening up the
possibilities to manipulate spin states in the dots. We present here
estimations of inelastic spin-flip rates mediated by hyperfine interaction with
nuclei. Under general assumptions the nucleus mediated rate is proportional to
the phonon relaxation rate for the corresponding non-spin-flip transitions. The
rate can be accelerated in the vicinity of a singlet-triplet excited states
crossing. The small proportionality coefficient depends inversely on the number
of nuclei in the quantum dot. We compare our results with known mechanisms of
spin-flip in quantum dot.Comment: RevTex 4 pages, 1 figure, submitted to Phys. Rev.
Benefit of insecticide-treated nets, curtains and screening on vector borne diseases, excluding malaria: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Introduction Insecticide-treated nets (ITNs) are one of the main interventions used for malaria control. However, these nets may also be effective against other vector borne diseases (VBDs). We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to estimate the efficacy of ITNs, insecticide-treated curtains (ITCs) and insecticide-treated house screening (ITS) against Chagas disease, cutaneous and visceral leishmaniasis, dengue, human African trypanosomiasis, Japanese encephalitis, lymphatic filariasis and onchocerciasis. Methods MEDLINE, EMBASE, LILACS and Tropical Disease Bulletin databases were searched using intervention, vector- and disease-specific search terms. Cluster or individually randomised controlled trials, non-randomised trials with pre- and post-intervention data and rotational design studies were included. Analysis assessed the efficacy of ITNs, ITCs or ITS versus no intervention. Meta-analysis of clinical data was performed and percentage reduction in vector density calculated. Results Twenty-one studies were identified which met the inclusion criteria. Meta-analysis of clinical data could only be performed for four cutaneous leishmaniasis studies which together showed a protective efficacy of ITNs of 77% (95%CI: 39%–91%). Studies of ITC and ITS against cutaneous leishmaniasis also reported significant reductions in disease incidence. Single studies reported a high protective efficacy of ITS against dengue and ITNs against Japanese encephalitis. No studies of Chagas disease, human African trypanosomiasis or onchocerciasis were identified. Conclusion There are likely to be considerable collateral benefits of ITN roll out on cutaneous leishmaniasis where this disease is co-endemic with malaria. Due to the low number of studies identified, issues with reporting of entomological outcomes, and few studies reporting clinical outcomes, it is difficult to make strong conclusions on the effect of ITNs, ITCs or ITS on other VBDs and therefore further studies be conducted. Nonetheless, it is clear that insecticide-treated materials such as ITNs have the potential to reduce pathogen transmission and morbidity from VBDs where vectors enter houses
Differential epitope recognition in the immunodominant staphylococcal antigen A of Staphylococcus aureus by mouse versus human IgG antibodies
The immunodominant staphylococcal antigen A (IsaA) is a potential target for active or passive immunization against the important human pathogen _Staphylococcus aureus_. Consistent with this view, monoclonal antibodies against IsaA were previously shown to be protective against _S. aureus_ infections in mouse models. Further, patients with the genetic blistering disease epidermolysis bullosa (EB) displayed high IsaA-specific IgG levels that could potentially be protective. Yet, mice actively immunized with IsaA were not protected against _S. aureus_ infection. The present study was aimed at explaining these differences in IsaA-specific immune responses. By epitope mapping, we show that the protective human monoclonal antibody (humAb) 1D9 recognizes a conserved 62-residue N-terminal domain of IsaA. The same region of IsaA is recognized by IgGs in EB patient sera. Further, we show by immunofluorescence microscopy that this N-terminal IsaA domain is exposed on the _S. aureus_ cell surface. In contrast to the humAb 1D9 and IgGs from EB patients, the non-protective IgGs from mice immunized with IsaA were shown to predominantly bind the C-terminal domain of IsaA. Altogether, these observations focus attention on the N-terminal region of IsaA as a potential target for future immunization against _S. aureus_
Supersymmetry and Integrability in Planar Mechanical Systems
We present an N=2-supersymmetric mechanical system whose bosonic sector, with
two degrees of freedom, stems from the reduction of an SU(2) Yang-Mills theory
with the assumption of spatially homogeneous field configurations and a
particular ansatz imposed on the gauge potentials in the dimensional reduction
procedure. The Painleve test is adopted to discuss integrability and we focus
on the role of supersymmetry and parity invariance in two space dimensions for
the attainment of integrable or chaotic models. Our conclusion is that the
relationships among the parameters imposed by supersymmetry seem to drastically
reduce the number of possibilities for integrable interaction potentials of the
mechanical system under consideration.Comment: 20 pages, 3 figure
Enhancement of the Near-Side Component in Quasi-Adiabatic Calculations of the 66-Zn(d,p)67-Zn Reaction
This research was sponsored by the National Science Foundation Grant NSF PHY-931478
Monte Carlo Methods for Estimating Interfacial Free Energies and Line Tensions
Excess contributions to the free energy due to interfaces occur for many
problems encountered in the statistical physics of condensed matter when
coexistence between different phases is possible (e.g. wetting phenomena,
nucleation, crystal growth, etc.). This article reviews two methods to estimate
both interfacial free energies and line tensions by Monte Carlo simulations of
simple models, (e.g. the Ising model, a symmetrical binary Lennard-Jones fluid
exhibiting a miscibility gap, and a simple Lennard-Jones fluid). One method is
based on thermodynamic integration. This method is useful to study flat and
inclined interfaces for Ising lattices, allowing also the estimation of line
tensions of three-phase contact lines, when the interfaces meet walls (where
"surface fields" may act). A generalization to off-lattice systems is described
as well.
The second method is based on the sampling of the order parameter
distribution of the system throughout the two-phase coexistence region of the
model. Both the interface free energies of flat interfaces and of (spherical or
cylindrical) droplets (or bubbles) can be estimated, including also systems
with walls, where sphere-cap shaped wall-attached droplets occur. The
curvature-dependence of the interfacial free energy is discussed, and estimates
for the line tensions are compared to results from the thermodynamic
integration method. Basic limitations of all these methods are critically
discussed, and an outlook on other approaches is given
Bounce and cyclic cosmology in extended nonlinear massive gravity
We investigate non-singular bounce and cyclic cosmological evolutions in a
universe governed by the extended nonlinear massive gravity, in which the
graviton mass is promoted to a scalar-field potential. The extra freedom of the
theory can lead to certain energy conditions violations and drive cyclicity
with two different mechanisms: either with a suitably chosen scalar-field
potential under a given Stuckelberg-scalar function, or with a suitably chosen
Stuckelberg-scalar function under a given scalar-field potential. Our analysis
shows that extended nonlinear massive gravity can alter significantly the
evolution of the universe at both early and late times.Comment: 20 pages, 5 figures, version published at JCA
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