59 research outputs found
Competences for democratic culture: An empirical study of an intercultural citizenship project in language pedagogy
This article reports on a pedagogical intervention in foreign language teaching in higher education. It analizes the competences developed by Argentinian and UK-based students as they used Skype to design a leaflet that addressed a real world issue: the Argentinian military dictatorship and its manipulation of the 1978 Football World Cup. The data consists of studentsâ discussions of this highly disturbing human rights issue. A first level of analysis focused on identifying evidence of competences using the Council of Europeâs conceptual model of âcompetences for democratic cultureâ (2016). In a second level of analysis, the data was categorized within the framework of Article 2.2 of the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights Education and Training (2011). This research study provides an empirical test of these two frameworks in the field of language education, an aspect that has not been investigated before. It also contributes to our understanding of the potential of intercultural citizenship projects in achieving the goals of human rights education in foreign language teaching. Results indicate the development of substantial competences for democratic culture defined in the Council of Europeâs model
Competences for democratic culture: An empirical study of an intercultural citizenship project in language pedagogy
This article reports on a pedagogical intervention in foreign language teaching in higher education. It analizes the competences developed by Argentinian and UK-based students as they used Skype to design a leaflet that addressed a real world issue: the Argentinian military dictatorship and its manipulation of the 1978 Football World Cup. The data consists of studentsâ discussions of this highly disturbing human rights issue. A first level of analysis focused on identifying evidence of competences using the Council of Europeâs conceptual model of âcompetences for democratic cultureâ (2016). In a second level of analysis, the data was categorized within the framework of Article 2.2 of the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights Education and Training (2011). This research study provides an empirical test of these two frameworks in the field of language education, an aspect that has not been investigated before. It also contributes to our understanding of the potential of intercultural citizenship projects in achieving the goals of human rights education in foreign language teaching. Results indicate the development of substantial competences for democratic culture defined in the Council of Europeâs model
Power Test of the First Two HL-LHC Insertion Quadrupole Magnets Built at CERN
The High-Luminosity project (HL-LHC) of the
CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC), requires low ÎČ* quadrupole
magnets in NbSn technology that will be installed on each side
of the ATLAS and CMS experiments. After a successful shortmodel magnet manufacture and test campaign, the project has
advanced with the production, assembly, and test of full-size 7.15-
m-long magnets. In the last two years, two CERN-built prototypes
(MQXFBP1 and MQXFBP2) have been tested and magnetically
measured at the CERN SM18 test facility. These are the longest
accelerator magnets based on NbSn technology built and tested
to date. In this paper, we present the test and analysis results
of these two magnets, with emphasis on quenches and training,
voltage-current measurements and the quench localization with
voltage taps and a new quench antenna
Optimizing the use of pressurized bladders for the assembly of HL-LHC MQXFB magnets
The use of pressurized bladders for stress control of superconducting magnets
was firstly proposed at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) in the
early 2000s. Since then, the so-called bladders and keys procedure has become
one of the reference techniques for the assembly of high-field accelerator
magnets and demonstrators. Exploiting the advantages of this method is today of
critical importance for Nb3Sn-based accelerator magnets, whose production
requires the preservation of tight stress targets in the superconducting coils
to limit the effects of the strain sensitivity and brittleness of the
conductor. The present manuscript reports on the results of an experimental
campaign focused on the optimization of the bladders and keys assembly process
in the MQXFB quadrupoles. These 7.2 m long magnets shall be among the first
Nb3Sn cryomagnets to be installed in a particle accelerator as a part of the
High Luminosity upgrade of the LHC. One of the main practical implications of
the bladders technique, especially important when applied to long magnets like
MQXFB, is that to insert the loading keys, the opening of a certain clearance
in the support structure is required. The procedure used so far for MQXF
magnets involved an overstress in the coils during bladder inflation. The work
presented here shows that such an overshoot can be eliminated thanks to
additional bladders properly positioned in the structure. This optimized method
was validated in a short model magnet and in a full-length mechanical model,
becoming the new baseline for the series production at CERN. Furthermore, the
results are supported by numerical predictions using Finite Element models
Challenges and Lessons Learned from fabrication, testing and analysis of eight MQXFA Low Beta Quadrupole magnets for HL-LHC
By the end of October 2022, the US HL-LHC Accelerator Upgrade Project (AUP)
had completed fabrication of ten MQXFA magnets and tested eight of them. The
MQXFA magnets are the low beta quadrupole magnets to be used in the Q1 and Q3
Inner Triplet elements of the High Luminosity LHC. This AUP effort is shared by
BNL, Fermilab, and LBNL, with strand verification tests at NHMFL. An important
step of the AUP QA plan is the testing of MQXFA magnets in a vertical cryostat
at BNL. The acceptance criteria that could be tested at BNL were all met by the
first four production magnets (MQXFA03-MQXFA06). Subsequently, two magnets
(MQXFA07 and MQXFA08) did not meet some criteria and were disassembled. Lessons
learned during the disassembly of MQXFA07 caused a revision to the assembly
specifications that were used for MQXFA10 and subsequent magnets. In this
paper, we present a summary of: 1) the fabrication and test data of all the
MQXFA magnets; 2) the analysis of MQXFA07/A08 test results with
characterization of the limiting mechanism; 3) the outcome of the
investigation, including the lessons learned during MQXFA07 disassembly; and 4)
the finite element analysis correlating observations with test performance
Development of a novel protocol based on blood clot to improve the sensitivity of qPCR detection of toxoplasma gondii in peripheral blood specimens
Quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) for Toxoplasma gondii multicopy genes has emerged as a promising strategy for sensitive detection of parasite DNA. qPCR can be performed from blood samples, which are minimally invasive to collect. However, there is no consensus about what type of blood specimen yields the best sensitivity. The development of a novel protocol for qPCR detection of T. gondii using blood clot, involving an appropriate DNA extraction method and the use of an internal amplification control to monitor the reaction is presented in the current study. Assays directed to the B1 and REP529 genes were performed in spiked specimens of whole blood, guanidineâethylenediaminetetraacetic acid blood, and clot. The clot-based qPCR was shown to be more sensitive when compared with other types of specimens, detecting five and 0.05 T. gondii genomes, using B1 and REP529 targets, respectively. Finally, a comparative analysis with samples from HIV patients with clinical suspicion of toxoplasmosis was performed, demonstrating the detection of four positive suspected cases with clots compared with only one using guanidineâethylenediaminetetraacetic acid blood. The high analytical sensitivity and the cost-effective advantages offered by clot supports this methodology as a good laboratory tool to monitor parasite burden
Double-balloon catheter for induction of labour in women with a previous cesarean section, could it be the best choice?
INTRODUCTION: We analysed the efficacy and safety of double-balloon catheter for cervical ripening in women with a previous cesarean section and which were the most important variables associated with an increased risk of repeated cesarean delivery. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We designed an observational retrospective study of 418 women with unfavourable cervices (Bishop Scoreâ<5), a prior cesarean delivery, and induction of labour with a double-balloon catheter. Baseline maternal data and perinatal outcomes were recorded for a descriptive, bivariate, and multivariate analysis. A p valueâ<0.05 was considered statistically significant. RESULTS: Most women improved their initial Bishop Score (89.5%) although only a 20.8% of them went into spontaneous active labour. Finally, 51.4% of the women achieved a vaginal delivery. Five cases of intrapartum uterine rupture (1.2%) occurred. After multivariate analysis, main risk factors for repeated cesarean section were dystocia in the previous pregnancy (OR 1.744; CI 95% 1.066â2.846), the absence of previous vaginal delivery (OR 2.590; CI 95% 1.066â6.290), suspected fetal macrosomia (OR 2.410; CI 95% 0.959â6.054), and duration of oxytocin induction period (OR 1.005; CI 95% 1.004â1.006). The area under the curve was 0.789 (pâ<â0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Double-balloon catheter seems to be safe and effective for cervical ripening in women with a previous cesarean delivery and unfavourable cervix. In our study, most women could have a vaginal delivery in spite of their risk factors for cesarean delivery. A multivariate model based on some clinical variables has moderate predictive value for intrapartum cesarean section
HE-LHC: The High-Energy Large Hadron Collider â Future Circular Collider Conceptual Design Report Volume 4
In response to the 2013 Update of the European Strategy for Particle Physics (EPPSU), the Future Circular Collider (FCC) study was launched as a world-wide international collaboration hosted by CERN. The FCC study covered an energy-frontier hadron collider (FCC-hh), a highest-luminosity high-energy lepton collider (FCC-ee), the corresponding 100 km tunnel infrastructure, as well as the physics opportunities of these two colliders, and a high-energy LHC, based on FCC-hh technology. This document constitutes the third volume of the FCC Conceptual Design Report, devoted to the hadron collider FCC-hh. It summarizes the FCC-hh physics discovery opportunities, presents the FCC-hh accelerator design, performance reach, and staged operation plan, discusses the underlying technologies, the civil engineering and technical infrastructure, and also sketches a possible implementation. Combining ingredients from the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), the high-luminosity LHC upgrade and adding novel technologies and approaches, the FCC-hh design aims at significantly extending the energy frontier to 100 TeV. Its unprecedented centre-of-mass collision energy will make the FCC-hh a unique instrument to explore physics beyond the Standard Model, offering great direct sensitivity to new physics and discoveries
HE-LHC: The High-Energy Large Hadron Collider: Future Circular Collider Conceptual Design Report Volume 4
In response to the 2013 Update of the European Strategy for Particle Physics (EPPSU), the Future Circular Collider (FCC) study was launched as a world-wide international collaboration hosted by CERN. The FCC study covered an energy-frontier hadron collider (FCC-hh), a highest-luminosity high-energy lepton collider (FCC-ee), the corresponding 100 km tunnel infrastructure, as well as the physics opportunities of these two colliders, and a high-energy LHC, based on FCC-hh technology. This document constitutes the third volume of the FCC Conceptual Design Report, devoted to the hadron collider FCC-hh. It summarizes the FCC-hh physics discovery opportunities, presents the FCC-hh accelerator design, performance reach, and staged operation plan, discusses the underlying technologies, the civil engineering and technical infrastructure, and also sketches a possible implementation. Combining ingredients from the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), the high-luminosity LHC upgrade and adding novel technologies and approaches, the FCC-hh design aims at significantly extending the energy frontier to 100 TeV. Its unprecedented centre-of-mass collision energy will make the FCC-hh a unique instrument to explore physics beyond the Standard Model, offering great direct sensitivity to new physics and discoveries
- âŠ