12,597 research outputs found
What makes a 'good group'? Exploring the characteristics and performance of undergraduate student groups
Group work forms the foundation for much of student learning within higher education, and has many educational, social and professional benefits. This study aimed to explore the determinants of success or failure for undergraduate student teams and to define a ‘good group’ through considering three aspects of group success: the task, the individuals, and the team. We employed a mixed methodology, combining demographic data with qualitative observations and task and peer evaluation scores. We determined associations between group dynamic and behaviour, demographic composition, member personalities and attitudes towards one another, and task success. We also employed a cluster analysis to create a model outlining the attributes of a good small group learning team in veterinary education. This model highlights that student groups differ in measures of their effectiveness as teams, independent of their task performance. On the basis of this, we suggest that groups who achieve high marks in tasks cannot be assumed to have acquired team working skills, and therefore if these are important as a learning outcome, they must be assessed directly alongside the task output
Volatile compound diversity and conserved alarm behaviour in Triatoma dimidiata
Background: Triatoma dimidiata (Latreille) is a key vector complex of Trypanosoma cruzi, etiologic agent of Chagas disease, as it spans North, Central, and South America. Although morphological and genetic studies clearly indicate existence of at least five clades within the species, there has been no robust or systematic revision, or appropriate nomenclature change for species within the complex. Three of the clades (haplogroups) are distributed in Mexico, and recent evidence attests to dispersal of clades across previously "presumed"monotypic geographic regions. Evidence of niche conservatism among sister species of this complex suggests that geographic dispersal is possible for non-sympatric populations, although no information is available on the behavioural aspects of potential interclade interactions, for instance whether differentiation of chemical signaling or response to these signals could impede communication among the haplogroups. Methods: Volatiles emitted by disturbed bugs, Brindley's (BGs), and metasternal (MGs) glands were identified using solid-phase micro-extraction (SPME) and gas chromatography coupled mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Volatile compounds emitted by BGs and MGs, and those secreted by disturbed nymphs and adults, of the three Mexican T. dimidiata haplogroups were tested for avoidance behaviour by conspecific nymphs and adults using an olfactometer. Results: Triatoma dimidiata haplogroups all have three age-related alarm responses: absence of response by early stage nymphs, stage-specific response by 4-5th stage nymphs, and a shared 4-5th nymph and adult response to adult compounds. Disturbed bugs released 15 to 24 compounds depending on the haplogroup, among which were three pyrazines, the first report of these organoleptics in Triatominae. Isobutyric acid from BGs was the most abundant molecule in the response in all haplogroups, in addition to 15 (h1) to 21 (h2 and h3) MG compounds. Avoidance behaviour of disturbed bugs and volatiles emitted by BGs were haplogroup specific, while those from the MG were not. Conclusions: Discriminant and cluster analysis of BG +MG compounds indicate significant separation among the three haplogroups, while alarm response compounds were similar between h2 and h3, both distinct from h1. This latter haplogroup is ancestral phylogenetically to the other two. Our results suggest that alarm responses are a conserved behaviour in the Triatoma dimidiata complex.Fil: May Concha, Irving Jesus. Provincia de Entre Ríos. Centro de Investigaciones Científicas y Transferencia de Tecnología a la Producción. Universidad Autónoma de Entre Ríos. Centro de Investigaciones Científicas y Transferencia de Tecnología a la Producción. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Santa Fe. Centro de Investigaciones Científicas y Transferencia de Tecnología a la Producción; Argentina. Instituto Nacional de Salud Pública; MéxicoFil: Rojas, Julio C.. El Colegio de la Frontera Sur; MéxicoFil: Cruz López, Leopoldo. El Colegio de la Frontera Sur; MéxicoFil: Ibarra-Cerdeña, Carlos N.. Instituto Politécnico Nacional. Centro de Investigación y de Estudios Avanzados; MéxicoFil: Ramsey, Janine. Instituto Nacional de Salud Pública; Méxic
The open cluster NGC 6520 and the nearby dark molecular cloud Barnard 86
Wide field BVI photometry and CO(10) observations are presen ted
in the region of the open cluster NGC 6520 and the dark molecular cloud
Barnard~86. From the analysis of the optical data we find that the cluster is
rather compact, with a radius of 1.00.5 arcmin, smaller than previous
estimates. The cluster age is 15050 Myr and the reddening
E=0.420.10. The distance from the Sun is estimated to be
1900100 pc, and it is larger than previous estimates. We finally derive
basic properties of the dark nebula Barnard 86 on the assumption that it lies
at the same distance of the cluster.Comment: 21 pages, 8 eps figures (a few degraded in resolution), accepted for
publication in the Astronomical Journa
Some Like It Hot: Linking Diffuse X-ray Luminosity, Baryonic Mass, and Star Formation Rate in Compact Groups of Galaxies
We present an analysis of the diffuse X-ray emission in 19 compact groups of
galaxies (CGs) observed with Chandra. The hottest, most X-ray luminous CGs
agree well with the galaxy cluster X-ray scaling relations in and
, even in CGs where the hot gas is associated with only the
brightest galaxy. Using Spitzer photometry, we compute stellar masses and
classify HCGs 19, 22, 40, and 42 and RSCGs 32, 44, and 86 as fossil groups
using a new definition for fossil systems that includes a broader range of
masses. We find that CGs with total stellar and HI masses
M are often X-ray luminous, while lower-mass CGs only sometimes exhibit
faint, localized X-ray emission. Additionally, we compare the diffuse X-ray
luminosity against both the total UV and 24 m star formation rates of each
CG and optical colors of the most massive galaxy in each of the CGs. The most
X-ray luminous CGs have the lowest star formation rates, likely because there
is no cold gas available for star formation, either because the majority of the
baryons in these CGs are in stars or the X-ray halo, or due to gas stripping
from the galaxies in CGs with hot halos. Finally, the optical colors that trace
recent star formation histories of the most massive group galaxies do not
correlate with the X-ray luminosities of the CGs, indicating that perhaps the
current state of the X-ray halos is independent of the recent history of
stellar mass assembly in the most massive galaxies.Comment: 20 pages, 7 figures, accepted for publication in Ap
The Clumping Transition in Niche Competition: a Robust Critical Phenomenon
We show analytically and numerically that the appearance of lumps and gaps in
the distribution of n competing species along a niche axis is a robust
phenomenon whenever the finiteness of the niche space is taken into account. In
this case depending if the niche width of the species is above or
below a threshold , which for large n coincides with 2/n, there are
two different regimes. For the lumpy pattern emerges
directly from the dominant eigenvector of the competition matrix because its
corresponding eigenvalue becomes negative. For the lumpy
pattern disappears. Furthermore, this clumping transition exhibits critical
slowing down as is approached from above. We also find that the number
of lumps of species vs. displays a stair-step structure. The positions
of these steps are distributed according to a power-law. It is thus
straightforward to predict the number of groups that can be packed along a
niche axis and it coincides with field measurements for a wide range of the
model parameters.Comment: 16 pages, 7 figures;
http://iopscience.iop.org/1742-5468/2010/05/P0500
Thermal and Mechanical Characteristics of Polymer Composites Based on Epoxy Resin, Aluminium Nanopowders and Boric Acid
The epoxy polymers are characterized by low thermal stability and high flammability. Nanoparticles are considered to be effective fillers of polymer composites for improving their thermal and functional properties. In this work, the epoxy composites were prepared using epoxy resin ED-20, polyethylene polyamine as a hardener, aluminum nanopowder and boric acid fine powder as flame-retardant filler. The thermal characteristics of the obtained samples were studied using thermogravimetric analysis and differential scanning calorimetry. The mechanical characteristics of epoxy composites were also studied. It was found that an addition of all fillers enhances the thermal stability and mechanical characteristics of the epoxy composites. The best thermal stability showed the epoxy composite filled with boric acid. The highest flexural properties showed the epoxy composite based on the combination of boric acid and aluminum nanopowder
Systems, interactions and macrotheory
A significant proportion of early HCI research was guided by one very clear vision: that the existing theory base in psychology and cognitive science could be developed to yield engineering tools for use in the interdisciplinary context of HCI design. While interface technologies and heuristic methods for behavioral evaluation have rapidly advanced in both capability and breadth of application, progress toward deeper theory has been modest, and some now believe it to be unnecessary. A case is presented for developing new forms of theory, based around generic “systems of interactors.” An overlapping, layered structure of macro- and microtheories could then serve an explanatory role, and could also bind together contributions from the different disciplines. Novel routes to formalizing and applying such theories provide a host of interesting and tractable problems for future basic research in HCI
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