Measuring students’ information skills through concept mapping

This paper seeks to develop a methodology that will discover, specify and measure students’ abilities and skills in creating concept maps. Because competencies are the key factor in higher education, the paper analyses the role of concept maps as a tool to diagnose and improve information analysis, synthesis, organisation and representation skills and competencies. We propose a methodology that enables these skills to be evaluated by observing, analysing and measuring the stages involved in creating a concept map: identification of the main and secondary subjects; subject codification by concepts; grading of concepts; and representation of the concepts and their relationships with labels. A case study using action-research methodology tests the usefulness of the methodology on a group of university students of Library and Information Science. The method proposed provides information on the strengths and weaknesses of the students’ skills analysed, thus enabling their training to be improved by means of specific actions

Mucociliary clearance, airway inflammation and nasal symptoms in urban motorcyclists

OBJECTIVES: There is evidence that outdoor workers exposed to high levels of air pollution exhibit airway inflammation and increased airway symptoms. We hypothesized that these workers would experience increased airway symptoms and decreased nasal mucociliary clearance associated with their exposure to air pollution. METHODS: In total, 25 non-smoking commercial motorcyclists, aged 18-44 years, were included in this study. These drivers work 8-12 hours per day, 5 days per week, driving on urban streets. Nasal mucociliary clearance was measured by the saccharine transit test; airway acidification was measured by assessing the pH of exhaled breath condensate; and airway symptoms were measured by the Sino-nasal Outcome Test-20 questionnaire. To assess personal air pollution exposure, the subjects used a passive-diffusion nitrogen dioxide (NO2) concentration-monitoring system during the 14 days before each assessment. The associations between NO2 and the airway outcomes were analyzed using the Mann-Whitney test and the Chi-Square test. Clinicaltrials.gov: NCT01976039. RESULTS: Compared with clearance in healthy adult males, mucociliary clearance was decreased in 32% of the motorcyclists. Additionally, 64% of the motorcyclists had airway acidification and 92% experienced airway symptoms. The median personal NO2 exposure level was 75 mg/m3 for these subjects and a significant association was observed between NO2 and impaired mucociliary clearance (p = 0.036). CONCLUSION: Non-smoking commercial motorcyclists exhibit increased airway symptoms and airway acidification as well as decreased nasal mucociliary clearance, all of which are significantly associated with the amount of exposure to air pollution

Systematics of K-pi=8(-) isomers in N=74 nuclei

An isomer with a half-life of 6+/-1 mu s has been observed in the N=74 nucleus Gd-138, populated following the reaction Cd-106(Cl-35,p2n)Gd-138. Th, isomer decays via a 583 keV EI transition with a hindrance per degree of K forbiddenness, f(v)=24. This value is similar to the values measured for the N=74 isotones Nd-134 and Sm-136 but markedly different from that measured for Ba-130. This suggests that there is some change in structure across the N=74 isotones and possible explanations of this feature are discussed

Critical exponents and equation of state of the three-dimensional Heisenberg universality class

We improve the theoretical estimates of the critical exponents for the three-dimensional Heisenberg universality class. We find gamma=1.3960(9), nu=0.7112(5), eta=0.0375(5), alpha=-0.1336(15), beta=0.3689(3), and delta=4.783(3). We consider an improved lattice phi^4 Hamiltonian with suppressed leading scaling corrections. Our results are obtained by combining Monte Carlo simulations based on finite-size scaling methods and high-temperature expansions. The critical exponents are computed from high-temperature expansions specialized to the phi^4 improved model. By the same technique we determine the coefficients of the small-magnetization expansion of the equation of state. This expansion is extended analytically by means of approximate parametric representations, obtaining the equation of state in the whole critical region. We also determine a number of universal amplitude ratios.Comment: 40 pages, final version. In publication in Phys. Rev.

Rotation of an eight-quasiparticle isomer

A T-1/2 = 220 ns, eight-quasiparticle isomer, with four unpaired neutrons and four unpaired protons, has been established at an excitation energy of 6576 keV in the prolate deformed nucleus, W-178. The associated rotational band has also been identified, revealing the collective properties in the presence of blocked pairing correlations, with expected quenching of the nuclear superfluidity. The band retains a small degree of rotational alignment, and has a less-than-rigid dynamic moment of inertia

Primordialists and Constructionists: a typology of theories of religion

This article adopts categories from nationalism theory to classify theories of religion. Primordialist explanations are grounded in evolutionary psychology and emphasize the innate human demand for religion. Primordialists predict that religion does not decline in the modern era but will endure in perpetuity. Constructionist theories argue that religious demand is a human construct. Modernity initially energizes religion, but subsequently undermines it. Unpacking these ideal types is necessary in order to describe actual theorists of religion. Three distinctions within primordialism and constructionism are relevant. Namely those distinguishing: a) materialist from symbolist forms of constructionism; b) theories of origins from those pertaining to the reproduction of religion; and c) within reproduction, between theories of religious persistence and secularization. This typology helps to make sense of theories of religion by classifying them on the basis of their causal mechanisms, chronology and effects. In so doing, it opens up new sightlines for theory and research

Theory of Coexistence of Superconductivity and Ferroelectricity : A Dynamical Symmetry Model

We propose and investigate a model for the coexistence of Superconductivity (SC) and Ferroelectricity (FE) based on the dynamical symmetries $su(2)$ for the pseudo-spin SC sector, $h(4)$ for the displaced oscillator FE sector, and $su(2) \otimes h(4)$ for the composite system. We assume a minimal symmetry-allowed coupling, and simplify the hamiltonian using a double mean field approximation (DMFA). A variational coherent state (VCS) trial wave-function is used for the ground state: the energy, and the relevant order parameters for SC and FE are obtained. For positive sign of the SC-FE coupling coefficient, a non-zero value of either order parameter can suppress the other (FE polarization suppresses SC and vice versa). This gives some support to "Matthias' Conjecture" [1964], that SC and FE tend to be mutually exclusive. For such a Ferroelectric Superconductor we predict: a) the SC gap $\Delta$ (and $T_c$) will increase with increasing applied pressure when pressure quenches FE as in many ferroelectrics, and b) the FE polarization will increase with increaesing magnetic field up to $H_c$. The last result is equivalent to the prediction of a new type of Magneto-Electric Effect in a coexistent SC-FE material. Some discussion will be given of the relation of these results to the cuprate superconductors.Comment: 46 page

Rivaroxaban or Aspirin for extended treatment of venous thromboembolism

Background: although many patients with venous thromboembolism require extended treatment, it is uncertain whether it is better to use full- or lower-intensity anticoagulation therapy or aspirin. Methods: in this randomized, double-blind, phase 3 study, we assigned 3396 patients with venous thromboembolism to receive either once-daily rivaroxaban (at doses of 20 mg or 10 mg) or 100 mg of aspirin. All the study patients had completed 6 to 12 months of anticoagulation therapy and were in equipoise regarding the need for continued anticoagulation. Study drugs were administered for up to 12 months. The primary efficacy outcome was symptomatic recurrent fatal or nonfatal venous thromboembolism, and the principal safety outcome was major bleeding. Results: a total of 3365 patients were included in the intention-to-treat analyses (median treatment duration, 351 days). The primary efficacy outcome occurred in 17 of 1107 patients (1.5%) receiving 20 mg of rivaroxaban and in 13 of 1127 patients (1.2%) receiving 10 mg of rivaroxaban, as compared with 50 of 1131 patients (4.4%) receiving aspirin (hazard ratio for 20 mg of rivaroxaban vs. aspirin, 0.34; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.20 to 0.59; hazard ratio for 10 mg of rivaroxaban vs. aspirin, 0.26; 95% CI, 0.14 to 0.47; P<0.001 for both comparisons). Rates of major bleeding were 0.5% in the group receiving 20 mg of rivaroxaban, 0.4% in the group receiving 10 mg of rivaroxaban, and 0.3% in the aspirin group; the rates of clinically relevant nonmajor bleeding were 2.7%, 2.0%, and 1.8%, respectively. The incidence of adverse events was similar in all three groups. Conclusions: among patients with venous thromboembolism in equipoise for continued anticoagulation, the risk of a recurrent event was significantly lower with rivaroxaban at either a treatment dose (20 mg) or a prophylactic dose (10 mg) than with aspirin, without a significant increase in bleeding rates. (Funded by Bayer Pharmaceuticals; EINSTEIN CHOICE ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT02064439)

KAF156 is an antimalarial clinical candidate with potential for use in prophylaxis, treatment, and prevention of disease transmission

Renewed global efforts toward malaria eradication have highlighted the need for novel antimalarial agents with activity against multiple stages of the parasite life cycle. We have previously reported the discovery of a novel class of antimalarial compounds in the imidazolopiperazine series that have activity in the prevention and treatment of blood stage infection in a mouse model of malaria. Consistent with the previously reported activity profile of this series, the clinical candidate KAF156 shows blood schizonticidal activity with 50% inhibitory concentrations of 6 to 17.4 nM against P. falciparum drug-sensitive and drug-resistant strains, as well as potent therapeutic activity in a mouse models of malaria with 50, 90, and 99% effective doses of 0.6, 0.9, and 1.4 mg/kg, respectively. When administered prophylactically in a sporozoite challenge mouse model, KAF156 is completely protective as a single oral dose of 10 mg/kg. Finally, KAF156 displays potent Plasmodium transmission blocking activities both in vitro and in vivo. Collectively, our data suggest that KAF156, currently under evaluation in clinical trials, has the potential to treat, prevent, and block the transmission of malaria