The space of Anosov diffeomorphisms

We consider the space \X of Anosov diffeomorphisms homotopic to a fixed automorphism $L$ of an infranilmanifold $M$. We show that if $M$ is the 2-torus $\mathbb T^2$ then \X is homotopy equivalent to $\mathbb T^2$. In contrast, if dimension of $M$ is large enough, we show that \X is rich in homotopy and has infinitely many connected components.Comment: Version 2: referee suggestions result in a better expositio

Transferring a Question-Based Dialog Framework to a Distributed Architecture

Inquiry skills are an essential tool for assessing and integrating knowledge. In facilitated face-to-face settings, inquiry skills were improved successfully by using a “question-based dialog” and its resulting visual representation. However, groups that work without a facilitator, or in which members collaborate asynchronously or in different geographical regions, such as Communities of Practice (CoP), cannot schedule face-to-face inquiry meetings. This paper summarises the unmet requirements of CoPs for a collaborative inquiry tool found by previous research on the Noracle model and proposes a distributed Web architecture as a solution. It mitigates the need for a common infrastructure, central coordination or facilitation, addresses the evolutionary nature of communities of practice and reduces the cognitive load for the individual by filtering and organising the representational artefacts with respect to the social network of the community. The implementation we envision in this paper aims at applying the concept to a much broader audience, ultimately replacing the need for local meetings

Finite field transforms and symmetry groups

AbstractDecoding methods for error-correcting codes which are based on syndrome look-up tables are of limited use due to the rapidly increasing amount of storage that they require as the number of check digits of the code increases. A method is described which uses shortened syndrome look-up tables in an efficient way, thus providing an improvement with respect to classical syndrome decoding methods. The algorithm can be characterised in general as a type of permutation decoding which uses transform domain information, with the interesting variation that permutations not preserving the code are also allowed

Beautiful Bird of Paradise

https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/mmb-vp/4159/thumbnail.jp

On smoothable surgery for 4-manifolds

Under certain homological hypotheses on a compact 4-manifold, we prove exactness of the topological surgery sequence at the stably smoothable normal invariants. The main examples are the class of finite connected sums of 4-manifolds with certain product geometries. Most of these compact manifolds have non-vanishing second mod 2 homology and have fundamental groups of exponential growth, which are not known to be tractable by Freedman-Quinn topological surgery. Necessarily, the *-construction of certain non-smoothable homotopy equivalences requires surgery on topologically embedded 2-spheres and is not attacked here by transversality and cobordism.Comment: 18 pages, separated into two journal submission

Anisotropy parameters of superconducting MgB2_2

Data on macroscopic superconducting anisotropy of MgB$_2$ are reviewed. The data are described within a weak coupling two-gaps anisotropic s-wave model of superconductivity. The calculated ratio of the upper critical fields $\gamma_H=H_{c2,ab}/H_{c2,c}$ increases with decreasing temperature in agreement with available data, whereas the calculated ratio of London penetration depths $\gamma_{\lambda}=\lambda_c/\lambda_{ab}$ decreases to reach $\approx 1.1$ at T=0. Possible macroscopic consequences of $\gamma_{\lambda}\ne\gamma_H$ are discussed.Comment: accepted to Physica C, special MgB2 issu

Surfing or still drowning? Student nurses’ Internet skills

A study into student nurses’ ability to use the Internet was published in Nurse Education Today in 2004. This paper repeats the research with a cohort of students starting their pre-registration programme in a UK university in 2007. In 2004 students were reported as having poor Internet skills, and as not being frequent users of the Internet. In this study students were found to have significantly better ability to carry out basic tasks and significantly higher levels of Internet use. Their ability to apply these skills to more complex information literacy tasks however had not increased, with more than half of all students saying they found far too much irrelevant information when searching for specific information on the Internet. The earlier study found that skills and age were not related, which appears to still be the case. The need for these skills is increasing as education, lifelong learning, and patient information are all increasingly drawing on the developing Internet. Nurse education however is not integrating the skill and knowledge base essential to support this into pre-registration programmes, and the evidence suggests that this will not happen without active management

Social control in online communities of consumption: a framework for community management

Online communities of consumption (OCCs) represent highly diverse groups of consumers whose interests are not always aligned. Social control in OCCs aims to effectively manage problems arising from this heterogeneity. Extant literature on social control in OCCs is fragmented as some studies focus on the principles of social control, while others focus on the implementation. Moreover, the domain is undertheorized. This article integrates the disparate literature on social control in OCCs providing a first unified conceptualization of the topic. The authors conceptualize social control as a system, or configuration, of moderation practices. Moderation practices are executed during interactions operating under different governance structures (market, hierarchy, and clan) and serving different purposes (interaction initiation, maintenance, and termination). From this conceptualization, important areas of future research emerge and research questions are developed. The framework also serves as a community management tool for OCC managers, enabling the diagnosis of social control problems and the elaboration of strategies and tactics to address them

We want drama! The effect of online conflict on social capital in online communities of consumption

Online communities (OC) are an expanding social phenomenon gaining increasing interest from marketing practitioners. Community managers thus aim to increase OCs’ social capital. Diversity of individuals interacting in OCs provokes a lot of conflict. However, the influence of online conflict on OCs’ social capital is not clear as research indicates both positive and negative effects. The research aims to explain these contradictory effects by conceptualizing conflict as drama and developing a typology of online conflict. Based on netnographic investigations of a forum, four types of conflicts are thus distinguished depending on valence of emotions and the type of members involved. The research contributes to literature on OC dynamics and is of particular interest for community managers working in any company or organization

Conflicts and online community social capital:the influence of conflict management practices

Conflicts are part and parcel of online community dynamics (De Valck 2007; Harrison and Jenkins 1996; Kozinets 2001) – from flames about publishing inappropriate content (De Zwart and Lindsay 2009) to battles to win high status positions (Campbell, Fletcher and Greenhill 2009) and stigmatization of illegitimate insiders (Tikkanen, Hietanen, Henttonen, and Rokka 2009) up to bashing and smearing campaigns (Bocij 2002). As the concept of community presumes unity, marketers may be inclined to suppress any dissonance in their online brand communities thinking that it may hurt brand image or community attractiveness. However, Fournier and Lee (2009) advise marketers to embrace the conflicts that make communities thrive. As tensions and conflict cannot be avoided this seems logical advice. Nevertheless, are all tensions and conflicts created equally? Are some not more constructive (or destructive) than others? Thus, should all tensions and conflicts really be embraced, and what can be done to channel tensions and conflicts such that they do not become destructive? These questions form the starting point of this paper