Xiphias: Using a Multidimensional Approach towards Creating Meaningful Gamification-Based Badge Mechanics

This paper shows the design and initial testing of three new Xiphias Badges --Presence; Mastery; and Antifragility – based on the merging of the salient features from James Clear’s Behavior Change model (2016); Johann Hari’s Lost Connections model (2018); and Jordan Peterson’s recent interpretation of the Big Five model of Personality Traits (2007). This multidimensional approach is an attempt to cater to the multidimensionality of a user and aims to be a more universal gamification approach that taps into internal motivations. The badge mechanics were tested on 69 undergraduate students using a Low-Fidelity Gamified Tracker. The results of a survey that sought their insights on the utility of the badges showed their potential to be motivating factors in the classroom

The GRAAL high resolution BGO calorimeter and its energy calibration and monitoring system

We describe the electromagnetic calorimeter built for the GRAAL apparatus at the ESRF. Its monitoring system is presented in detail. Results from tests and the performance obtained during the first GRAAL experiments are given. The energy calibration accuracy and stability reached is a small fraction of the intrinsic detector resolution.Comment: 19 pages, 14 figures, submitted to Nuclear Instruments and Method

Polarization Asymmetry In The Photodisintegration Of The Deuteron

The reaction ²(γ,p)n has been studied using a monochromatic and polarized gamma ray beam at energies E(γ)=19.8, 29.0, 38.6, and 60.8 MeV. The beam of an intensity ∼4×10⁵ γ/sec was obtained by Compton back scattering of mode-locked laser light off electron bunches in the Adone storage ring. Photoneutron yields were measured at nine neutron angles thetan≃15, 30, 45, 60, 90, 120, 135, 150, and 165 deg in the center of mass (c.m.) for E(γ)=19.8, 29.0, and 38.6 MeV, and at thetan≃30, 60, 90, 120, and 150 deg c.m. for E(γ)=60.8 MeV. The polarization independent component Iₒ(theta) of the differential cross section and the polarization dependent component PI₁(theta) were deduced and the angular distribution of the azimuthal asymmetry factor Σ(theta)=I₁(theta)/Iₒ(theta) was obtained. An extensive comparison with theory has been carried out and the inclusion of corrections due to meson exchange currents and to Δ-isobar configurations have been shown to be mandatory at energies E(γ)≳40 MeV. Theoretical and experimental implications of intermediate energy deuteron photo- disintegration studies are discussed in some detail

Mimesis stories: composing new nature music for the shakuhachi

Nature is a widespread theme in much new music for the shakuhachi (Japanese bamboo flute). This article explores the significance of such music within the contemporary shakuhachi scene, as the instrument travels internationally and so becomes rooted in landscapes outside Japan, taking on the voices of new creatures and natural phenomena. The article tells the stories of five compositions and one arrangement by non-Japanese composers, first to credit composers’ varied and personal responses to this common concern and, second, to discern broad, culturally syncretic traditions of nature mimesis and other, more abstract, ideas about the naturalness of sounds and creative processes (which I call musical naturalism). Setting these personal stories and longer histories side by side reveals that composition creates composers (as much as the other way around). Thus it hints at much broader terrain: the refashioning of human nature at the confluence between cosmopolitan cultural circulations and contemporary encounters with the more-than-human world

Deuteron photo-disintegration with polarised photons in the energy range 30 - 50 MeV

The reaction d(\vec\gamma,np) has been studied using the tagged and polarised LADON gamma ray beam at an energy 30 - 50 MeV to investigate the existence of narrow dibaryonic resonances recently suggested from the experimental measurements in a different laboratory. The beam was obtained by Compton back-scattering of laser light on the electrons of the storage ring ADONE. Photo-neutron yields were measured at five neutron angle \vartheta_n = 22, 55.5, 90, 125 and 157 degrees in the center of mass system.Our results do not support the existence of such resonances.Comment: 16 pages, Latex, 22 figures, 1 table. Nucl. Phys. A to appea

Too Close for Comfort? Isotopic Niche Segregation in New Zealand’s Odontocetes

Species occurring in sympatry and relying on similar and limited resources may partition resource use to avoid overlap and interspecific competition. Aotearoa, New Zealand hosts an extraordinarily rich marine megafauna, including 50% of the world’s cetacean species. In this study, we used carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes as ecological tracers to investigate isotopic niche overlap between 21 odontocete (toothed whale) species inhabiting neritic, mesopelagic, and bathypelagic waters. Results showed a clear niche separation for the bathypelagic Gray’s beaked whales (Mesoplodon grayi) and sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus), but high isotopic niche overlap and potential interspecific competition for neritic and mesopelagic species. For these species, competition could be reduced via temporal or finer-scale spatial segregation or differences in foraging behaviour. This study represents the first insights into the coexistence of odontocetes in a biodiverse hotspot. The data presented here provide a critical baseline to a system already ongoing ecosystem change via ocean warming and subsequent effects on prey abundance and distributions

Two Trebouxia algae with different physiological performances are ever-present in lichen thalli of Ramalina farinacea. Coexistence versus Competition

Ramalina farinacea is an epiphytic fruticose lichen that is relatively abundant in areas with Mediterranean, subtropical or temperate climates. Little is known about photobiont diversity in different lichen populations. The present study examines the phycobiont composition of several geographically distant populations of R. farinacea from the Iberian Peninsula, Canary Islands and California as well as the physiological performance of isolated phycobionts. Based on anatomical observations and molecular analyses, the coexistence of two different taxa of Trebouxia (working names, TR1 and TR9) was determined within each thallus of R. farinacea in all of the analysed populations. Examination of the effects of temperature and light on growth and photosynthesis indicated a superior performance of TR9 under relatively high temperatures and irradiances while TR1 thrived at moderate temperature and irradiance. Ramalina farinacea thalli apparently represent a specific and selective form of symbiotic association involving the same two Trebouxia phycobionts. Strict preservation of this pattern of algal coexistence is likely favoured by the different and probably complementary ecophysiological responses of each phycobiont, thus facilitating the proliferation of this lichen in a wide range of habitats and geographic areas. © 2010 Society for Applied Microbiology and Blackwell Publishing Ltd.This study was funded by the Spanish Ministry of Education and Science (CGL2006-12917-C02-01/02), the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (CGL2009-13429-C02-01/02), the AECID (PCI_A/024755/09) and the Generalitat Valenciana (PROMETEO 174/2008 GVA). We are grateful to Dr J. Gimeno-Romeu (University of California, Davis, USA) and to Dr P. J. G. de Nova (IREC, Ciudad Real, Spain), who were the first to isolate DNA from Ramalina farinacea thalli in our group. 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The Prophylactic Use of Bovine Colostrum in a Murine Model of TNBS-Induced Colitis

This study investigated the eects of a short-term administration of bovine colostrum (BC) in a TNBS model of induced colitis. Colitis was induced by TNBS treatment after seven days of BC (BC group, n = 12) or saline (control group, n = 12) administration in mice. Clinical signs, histopathological characteristics, expression levels of Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4), pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines, and microbial composition were assessed. BC was well tolerated and did not induce any histological damage or clinical symptoms. After TNBS treatment, the BC group showed a reduction in body weight (BW) loss compared to Control (p < 0.05). Moreover, expression levels of TLR4 (p < 0.01), Interleukin-1 (IL-1; p < 0.001), Interleukin-8 (IL-8; p < 0.001), and Interleukin-10 (IL-10; p < 0.001) were lower in mice administered with BC. Finally, Escherichia coli were higher (p < 0.05), while Enterococci (p < 0.001), Lactobacillus spp. (p < 0.001), and Bifidobacterium spp. (p < 0.05) were lower in Control than BC group. This study confirms that pre-treatment with BC modulates the expression of genes and the count of microbes involved in the etiopathogenesis of colitis