Process versus product? : personal reflection and experimentation in task-based learning with the Hiroshima Teacher Trainees 2008

In my ten years of teaching, I’ve spent a considerable amount of time devising the best ways to teach linguistic elements, such as grammar or pronunciation targets. Increasingly it seems to me that this vantage could be fundamentally flawed, as it focuses too heavily on product rather than process. Here, I’m thinking of classes where teachers strive to develop ‘authentic’ practice situations that require the use of certain targets or products. Their lesson plan focuses on the target and the learners are encouraged to do the same with practice activities. It begs the question, wouldn’t it be more authentic to start with the process? To start with the task and see what kind of linguistic structures this engenders

The Optimal Degree of Reciprocity in Tariff Reduction

This article clari…es the roles played by trade policy, in contrast with iceberg transport cost, in the popular setting of Melitz (2003), and characterizes the optimal reciprocal trade policy in such a setting. I show that import tariffs and iceberg transport cost are not equivalent in the strength of their trade- restricting effects and their welfare implications. With all the conflicting effectsof import tariffs on welfare considered, the optimal degree of reciprocity in multilateral tariff reduction turns out to be free trade.Firm Heterogeneity,Reciprocal Trade Policy

Design of CLARI: A miniature modular origami passive shape-morphing robot

Miniature robots provide unprecedented access to confined environments and show promising potential for novel applications such as search-and-rescue and high-value asset inspection. The capability of body deformation further enhances the reachability of these small robots in complex cluttered terrains similar to those of insects and soft arthropods. Motivated by this concept, we present CLARI, an insect-scale 2.59g quadrupedal robot capable of body deformation with tethered electrical connections for power and control and manufactured using laminate fabrication and assembled using origami pop-up techniques. In order to enable locomotion in multiple shape configurations, we designed a novel body architecture comprising of modular, actuated leg mechanisms. Overall, CLARI has eight independently actuated degrees of freedom (two per modular leg unit) driven by custom piezoelectric actuators, making it mechanically dextrous. We characterize open-loop robot locomotion at multiple stride frequencies (1-10Hz) using multiple gaits (trot, walk, etc.) in three different fixed body shapes (long, symmetric, wide) and illustrate the robot's capabilities. Finally, we demonstrate preliminary results of CLARI locomoting with a compliant body in open terrain and through a laterally constrained gap, a novel capability for legged robots. Our results represent the first step towards achieving effective cluttered terrain navigation with adaptable compliant robots in real-world environments

Pulsating white dwarf stars and asteroseismology

At present, a large number of pulsating white dwarf (WD) stars is being discovered either from Earth-based surveys such as the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, or through observations from space (e.g., the Kepler mission). The asteroseismological techniques allow us to infer details of internal chemical stratification, the total mass, and even the stellar rotation profile. In this paper, we first describe the basic properties of WD stars and their pulsations, as well as the different sub-types of these variables known so far. Subsequently, we describe some recent findings about pulsating low-mass WDs.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figures. To be published in the proceedings of the "THIRD CONFERENCE ON STELLAR ASTROPHYSICS" to honor Prof. Dr. Juan J. Clari\'a, June 21 st to 24rd, 2016, C\'ordoba, Argentina, AAA Workshop Series, Vol. 9, 201

A la recerca del manuscrit del Tirant Lo Blanch. La penombra de la coloma d’ Andreu Sevilla

A la recerca del ms. perdut del "Tirant Lo Blanch": dossier sobre la novel·la d'Andreu Sevilla, La penombra de la coloma, València, Sra. Llavi de Neu, Llibres, 201

On the stellar content of the open clusters Melotte 105, Hogg 15, pismis 21 and Ruprecht 140

CCD observations in the B, V and I passbands have been used to generate colour-magnitude diagrams reaching down to V = 19 mag for two slightly characterized (Melotte 105 and Hogg 15) and two almost unstudied (Pismis 21 and Ruprecht 140) open clusters. The sample consists of about 1330 stars observed in fields of about 4'x4'. Our analysis shows that neither Pismis 21 nor Ruprecth 140 are genuine open clusters since no clear main sequences or other meaningful features can be seen in their colour-magnitude diagrams. Melotte 105 and Hogg 15 are open clusters affected by E(B-V) = 0.42 +/- 0.03 and 0.95 +/- 0.05, respectively. Their distances to the Sun have been estimated as 2.2 +/- 0.3 kpc and 2.6 +/- 0.8 kpc, respectively, while the corresponding ages estimated from empirical isochrones fitted to the main sequence cluster sequences are approximately 350 Myr and 300 Myr, respectively. The present data are not consistent with the membership of the WN6 star HDE 311884 to Hogg 15.Fil: Piatti, Andres Eduardo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciónes Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Astronomía y Física del Espacio. - Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Astronomía y Física del Espacio; ArgentinaFil: Claria Olmedo, Juan Jose. Universidad Nacional de Cordoba. Observatorio Astronomico de Cordoba; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentin

Integrated spectral properties of 7 galactic open clusters

This paper presents flux-calibrated integrated spectra in the range 3600 - 9000 Å for 7 concentrated, relatively populous Galactic open clusters. We perform simultaneous estimates of age and foreground interstellar reddening by comparing the continuum distribution and line strengths of the cluster spectra with those of template cluster spectra with known parameters. For five clusters these two parameters have been determined for the first time (Ruprecht 144, BH 132, Pismis 21, Lyngå11 and BH 217), while the results here derived for the remaining two clusters (Hogg 15 and Melotte 105) show very good agreement with previous studies based mainly on colour-magnitude diagrams. We also provide metallicity estimates for six clusters from the equivalent widths of CaII triplet and TiO features. The present cluster sample improves the age resolution around solar metal content in the cluster spectral library for population synthesis. We compare the properties of the present sample with those of clusters in similar directions. Hogg 15 and Pismis 21 are among the most reddened clusters in sectors centered at l = 270° and l = 0°, respectively. Besides, the present results would favour an important dissolution rate of star clusters in these zones.Fil: Ahumada, Andrea Veronica. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Observatorio Astronómico de Córdoba; ArgentinaFil: Claria Olmedo, Juan Jose. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Observatorio Astronómico de Córdoba; ArgentinaFil: Bica, Eduardo. Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul; BrasilFil: Piatti, Andres Eduardo. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Observatorio Astronómico de Córdoba; Argentin

Carnapian Explication and the Canberra Plan’s Conceptual Analysis: a Comparison and Critique

Conceptual analysis has been a traditional methodology within analytic philosophy, but it also has been the target of numerous attacks. On the other hand, explication has been undergoing a revival as a methodological alternative due to the revisionary element associated with it. This allows for a scientific reconstruction of our ordinary notions, which would share virtues associated with scientific concepts. However, there is now a popular variant of conceptual analysis which resembles closely the explicative methodology: the two-step methodology advanced by the advocates of the Canberra Plan. Although explication is a wider and more ambitious program, I will argue that both methodologies can be regarded as attempts to bring philosophical methodology and its products closer to scientific ones. However, I will also point out that, although the goal is advantageous, there still remain some theoretical problems

Conditioning Circuit Analysis for Slimes Management in Quarries

Driven by increasingly stringent environmental regulations on water usage, many European quarries are in the process of adding thickening circuits to their wash plants for managing clayey tailings. One of the critical components of this circuit is slurry conditioning. With typical water consumption over 1 m3 per ton of washed aggregates, quarries produce dilute streams that are conditioned with high flocculant dosages to maintain water clarification rates as high as possible. At present, conditioning systems used in the quarrying industry are designed from elementary rules-of-thumb derived from experience. Practitioners acknowledge that conditioning system design criteria should be investigated further in order to design more efficient full-scale conditioning systems. This work focuses on weir-based conditioning tanks used in European quarries. The paper presents an applied analysis of such conditioning systems based on a comparison between a full-scale conditioning circuit and a controlled laboratory conditioning set-up. Within the range of plant operating conditions, this approach shows that full-scale conditioning is essentially governed by average shear rate and conditioning time. However, fine floc size distribution measurements reveal that quarry slimes conditioning is a dynamic process. This explains the high sensitivity of the process to variations in hydrodynamics, and the challenges in industrial conditioning system design