1,071 research outputs found
Representational task formats and problem solving strategies in kinematics and work
Previous studies have reported that students employed different problem solving approaches when presented with the same task structured with different representations. In this study, we explored and compared studentsâ strategies as they attempted tasks from two topical areas, kinematics and work. Our participants were 19 engineering students taking a calculus-based physics course. The tasks were presented in linguistic, graphical, and symbolic forms and requested either a qualitative solution or a value. The analysis was both qualitative and quantitative in nature focusing principally on the characteristics
of the strategies employed as well as the underlying reasoning for their applications. A comparison was also made for the same studentâs approach with the same kind of representation across the two topics.
Additionally, the participantsâ overall strategies across the different tasks, in each topic, were considered. On the whole, we found that the students prefer manipulating equations irrespective of the representational format of the task. They rarely recognized the applicability of a ââqualitativeââ approach to solve the
problem although they were aware of the concepts involved. Even when the students included visual representations in their solutions, they seldom used these representations in conjunction with the
mathematical part of the problem. Additionally, the students were not consistent in their approach for interpreting and solving problems with the same kind of representation across the two topical areas. The representational format, level of prior knowledge, and familiarity with a topic appeared to influence their
strategies, their written responses, and their ability to recognize qualitative ways to attempt a problem. The nature of the solution does not seem to impact the strategies employed to handle the problem
Statistical evolution of isotope composition of nuclear fragments
Calculations within the statistical multifragmentation model show that the
neutron content of intermediate mass fragments can increase in the region of
liquid-gas phase transition in finite nuclei. The model predicts also
inhomogeneous distributions of fragments and their isospin in the freeze-out
volume caused by an angular momentum and external long-range Coulomb field.
These effects can take place in peripheral nucleus-nucleus collisions at
intermediate energies and lead to neutron-rich isotopes produced in the
midrapidity kinematic region.Comment: 14 pages with 4 figures. GSI preprint, Darmstadt, 200
When the relatively poor prosper: the Underdog Effect on charitable donations
In fundraising, it is common for the donor to see how much a charity has received so far. What is the impact of this information on a) how much people choose to donate and b) which charity they choose to donate to? Conditional cooperation suggests that people will donate to the charity that has received the most prior support, while the Underdog Effect suggests increased donations to the charity with the least support. Across 2 laboratory experiments, an online study (combined N = 494) and a qualitative survey (N = 60), a consistent preference to donate to the charity with the least prior support was observed. Thus, the Underdog Effect was supported. We suggest people will show a preference for the underdog if there are two or more charities to donate to, one of the charities is at a disadvantage and people have little pre-existing loyalty to either charity
Assortativity Decreases the Robustness of Interdependent Networks
It was recently recognized that interdependencies among different networks
can play a crucial role in triggering cascading failures and hence system-wide
disasters. A recent model shows how pairs of interdependent networks can
exhibit an abrupt percolation transition as failures accumulate. We report on
the effects of topology on failure propagation for a model system consisting of
two interdependent networks. We find that the internal node correlations in
each of the two interdependent networks significantly changes the critical
density of failures that triggers the total disruption of the two-network
system. Specifically, we find that the assortativity (i.e. the likelihood of
nodes with similar degree to be connected) within a single network decreases
the robustness of the entire system. The results of this study on the influence
of assortativity may provide insights into ways of improving the robustness of
network architecture, and thus enhances the level of protection of critical
infrastructures
Sensors for the monitoring of analytes in the sweat
In the last decade, can be found an exceptional growth in research activity relating to the development of wearable devices, capable of continuously monitoring the health conditions of the wearer by analyzing body fluids such as blood, urine, saliva, tears and sweat. Among the body fluids available, sweat is a biofluid of particular interest, as it allows a non-invasive, continuous and comfortable collection. Human sweat contains useful information on the health of an individual and therefore is an excellent biofluid for the detection of specific analytes. The most abundant ions in the sweat are Na+ and Cl- (10 - 100 mM), and their monitoring is useful in patients with cystic fibrosis. Other constituents are Ca2+, K+, ascorbic acid, glucose (0.1-10 ”M) related to osteoporosis, hypoaldosteronism, scurvy and diabetes disease. The sweat pH is in the range 3 to 8 [1] [2] and indicates the level of metabolism and homeostasis of the body.
Wearable sensor needs to be flexible, compact and easily applicable. It must also offer a stable response, with high sensitivity and selectivity towards specific analytes [3]. Over the years, many wearable sensors for sweat monitoring have been developed, combining different form factors, substrates and sensing mechanism. In this work, electrochemical sensors based on polyaniline (PANi), which is pH sensitive, were studied. First, the best conditions of electrochemical deposition of PANi were studied [4], using as flexible substrate polyethylene terephthalate coated with indium-tin oxide (ITO-PET). In order to improve the sensor performance electrodes were also modified by electrochemical deposition of reduced graphene oxide (rGO). All samples were characterized by XRD, SEM and EDS analysis in order to study morphology and evaluate the crystalline phases of the deposited PANi. The electrodes were tested as pH sensors using different buffer solutions, from 2 to 8, by Open Circuit Potential (OCP) technique. The ITO-PET/rGO/PANi electrodes show good behavior in terms of sensitivity (62.3 mV/pH), very close to Nernstian response of 59 mV/pH and reproducibility of 3.8%. Flexibility and mechanical stability tests were carried out on the sensor to evaluate both the wearability and mechanical resistance. In addition, interference tests, in the presence of competing ions such as Na+, Cl-, K+, NH4+, aimed to verify the selectivity were also performed
Analysis of fragment yield ratios in the nuclear phase transition
The critical phenomena of the liquid-gas phase transition has been
investigated in the reactions 78,86Kr+58,64Ni at beam energy of 35 MeV/nucleon
using the Landau free energy approach with isospin asymmetry as an order
parameter. Fits to the free energy of fragments showed three minima suggesting
the system to be in the regime of a first order phase transition. The relation
m =-{\partial}F/{\partial}H, which defines the order parameter and its
conjugate field H, has been experimentally verified from the linear dependence
of the mirror nuclei yield ratio data, on the isospin asymmetry of the source.
The slope parameter, which is a measure of the distance from a critical
temperature, showed a systematic decrease with increasing excitation energy of
the source. Within the framework of the Landau free energy approach, isoscaling
provided similar results as obtained from the analysis of mirror nuclei yield
ratio data. We show that the external field is primarily related to the minimum
of the free energy, which implies a modification of the source concentration
\Delta used in isospin studies
Critical Temperature for the Nuclear Liquid-Gas Phase Transition
The charge distribution of the intermediate mass fragments produced in p (8.1
GeV) + Au collisions is analyzed in the framework of the statistical
multifragmentation model with the critical temperature for the nuclear
liquid-gas phase transition as a free parameter. It is found that
MeV (90% CL).Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, published in Phys. Rev.
Equation of State, Spectra and Composition of Hot and Dense Infinite Hadronic Matter in a Microscopic Transport Model
Equilibrium properties of infinite relativistic hadron matter are
investigated using the Ultrarelativistic Quantum Molecular Dynamics (UrQMD)
model. The simulations are performed in a box with periodic boundary
conditions. Equilibration times depend critically on energy and baryon
densities. Energy spectra of various hadronic species are shown to be isotropic
and consistent with a single temperature in equilibrium. The variation of
energy density versus temperature shows a Hagedorn-like behavior with a
limiting temperature of 13010 MeV. Comparison of abundances of different
particle species to ideal hadron gas model predictions show good agreement only
if detailed balance is implemented for all channels. At low energy densities,
high mass resonances are not relevant; however, their importance raises with
increasing energy density. The relevance of these different conceptual
frameworks for any interpretation of experimental data is questioned.Comment: Latex, 20 pages including 6 eps-figure
ASCORE: an up-to-date cardiovascular risk score for hypertensive patients reflecting contemporary clinical practice developed using the (ASCOT-BPLA) trial data.
A number of risk scores already exist to predict cardiovascular (CV) events. However, scores developed with data collected some time ago might not accurately predict the CV risk of contemporary hypertensive patients that benefit from more modern treatments and management. Using data from the randomised clinical trial Anglo-Scandinavian Cardiac Outcomes Trial-BPLA, with 15â955 hypertensive patients without previous CV disease receiving contemporary preventive CV management, we developed a new risk score predicting the 5-year risk of a first CV event (CV death, myocardial infarction or stroke). Cox proportional hazard models were used to develop a risk equation from baseline predictors. The final risk model (ASCORE) included age, sex, smoking, diabetes, previous blood pressure (BP) treatment, systolic BP, total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol, fasting glucose and creatinine baseline variables. A simplified model (ASCORE-S) excluding laboratory variables was also derived. Both models showed very good internal validity. User-friendly integer score tables are reported for both models. Applying the latest Framingham risk score to our data significantly overpredicted the observed 5-year risk of the composite CV outcome. We conclude that risk scores derived using older databases (such as Framingham) may overestimate the CV risk of patients receiving current BP treatments; therefore, 'updated' risk scores are needed for current patients
Isotopic Scaling in Nuclear Reactions
A three parameter scaling relationship between isotopic distributions for
elements with Z has been observed that allows a simple description of
the dependence of such distributions on the overall isospin of the system. This
scaling law (termed iso-scaling) applies for a variety of reaction mechanisms
that are dominated by phase space, including evaporation, multifragmentation
and deeply inelastic scattering. The origins of this scaling behavior for the
various reaction mechanisms are explained. For multifragmentation processes,
the systematics is influenced by the density dependence of the asymmetry term
of the equation of state.Comment: 10 Pages, 2 Figure
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