A BLOCKCHAIN-BASED EDUCATIONAL RECORD REPOSITORY

The Blockchain technology was initially adopted to implement various cryptocurrencies. Currently, Blockchain is foreseen as a general purpose technology with a huge potential in many areas. Blockchain-based applications have inherent characteristics like authenticity, immutability and consensus. Beyond that, records stored on Blockchain ledger can be accessed any time and from any location. Blockchain has a great potential for managing and maintaining educational records. This paper presents a Blockchain-based Educational Record Repository (BcER²) that manages and distributes educational assets for academic and industry professionals. The BcER² system allows educational records like e-diplomas and e-certificates to be securely and seamless transferred, shared and distributed by parties. The Blockchain technology was initially adopted to implement various cryptocurrencies. Currently, Blockchain is foreseen as a general purpose technology with a huge potential in many areas. Blockchain-based applications have inherent characteristics like authenticity, immutability and consensus. Beyond that, records stored on Blockchain ledger can be accessed any time and from any location. Blockchain has a great potential for managing and maintaining educational records. This paper presents a Blockchain-based Educational Record Repository (BcER²) that manages and distributes educational assets for academic and industry professionals. The BcER² system allows educational records like e-diplomas and e-certificates to be securely and seamless transferred, shared and distributed by partie

Long-term trends in tropical cyclone tracks around Korea and Japan in late summer and early fall

This study investigates long-term trends in tropical cyclones (TCs) over the extratropical western North Pacific (WNP) over a period of 35 years (1982-2016). The area analyzed extended across 30-45 degrees N and 120-150 degrees E, including the regions of Korea and Japan that were seriously affected by TCs. The northward migration of TCs over the WNP to the mid-latitudes showed a sharp increase in early fall. In addition, the duration of TCs over the WNP that migrated northwards showed an increase, specifically in early to mid-September. Therefore, more recently, TC tracks have been observed to significantly extend into the mid-latitudes. The recent northward extension of TC tracks over the WNP in early fall was observed to be associated with changes in environmental conditions that were favorable for TC activities, including an increase in sea surface temperature (SST), decrease in vertical wind shear, expansion of subtropical highs, strong easterly steering winds, and an increase in relative vorticity. In contrast, northward migrations of TCs to Korea and Japan showed a decline in late August, because of the presence of unfavorable environmental conditions for TC activities. These changes in environmental conditions, such as SST and vertical wind shear, can be partially associated with the Pacific decadal oscillation

The Effective Field Theory of Dark Matter Direct Detection

We extend and explore the general non-relativistic effective theory of dark matter (DM) direct detection. We describe the basic non-relativistic building blocks of operators and discuss their symmetry properties, writing down all Galilean-invariant operators up to quadratic order in momentum transfer arising from exchange of particles of spin 1 or less. Any DM particle theory can be translated into the coefficients of an effective operator and any effective operator can be simply related to most general description of the nuclear response. We find several operators which lead to novel nuclear responses. These responses differ significantly from the standard minimal WIMP cases in their relative coupling strengths to various elements, changing how the results from different experiments should be compared against each other. Response functions are evaluated for common DM targets - F, Na, Ge, I, and Xe - using standard shell model techniques. We point out that each of the nuclear responses is familiar from past studies of semi-leptonic electroweak interactions, and thus potentially testable in weak interaction studies. We provide tables of the full set of required matrix elements at finite momentum transfer for a range of common elements, making a careful and fully model-independent analysis possible. Finally, we discuss embedding non-relativistic effective theory operators into UV models of dark matter.Comment: 32+23 pages, 5 figures; v2: some typos corrected and definitions clarified; v3: some factors of 4pi correcte

High-resolution upper Pliocene to Pleistocene calcareous nannofossil biostratigraphy in Ocean Drilling Program Hole 1146A in the South China Sea

We established a high-resolution calcareous nannofossil biostratigraphy for the late Pliocene–Pleistocene by analyzing a 242 m-thick, continuous sedimentary succession from Ocean Drilling Program Site 1146, Hole A, in the South China Sea (SCS). A total of 14 calcareous nannofossil datums were detected in the SCS succession. They are, in descending order: first occurrence (FO) of Emiliania huxleyi, last occurrence (LO) of Pseudoemiliania lacunosa, LO of Reticulofenestra asanoi, FO of Gephyrocapsa parallela, FO of R. asanoi, LO of large Gephyrocapsa spp., FO of large G. spp., FO of Gephyrocapsa oceanica, FO of Gephyrocapsa caribbeanica, LO of Calcidiscus macintyrei, LO of Discoaster brouweri, LO of Discoaster pentaradiatus, LO of Discoaster surculus, and LO of Discoaster tamalis. The FO of E. huxleyi was not precisely detected due to poor preservation and dissolution of nannofossils in the underlying strata. We refined the previous calcareous nannofossil biostratigraphy in the SCS by identifying Gephyrocapsa species and four evolutionary extinction events of the genus Discoaster. The proposed calcareous nannofossil biostratigraphy correlates with those reported in other terrestrial and marine areas/sites and global benthic foraminiferal δ18O records. The age–depth curves based on nannofossil biostratigraphy indicate a significant increase in the sedimentation rates at the LO of R. asanoi (0.91–0.85 Ma). The timing of this increase corresponds to reef expansion in the Ryukyu Islands linked to a stepwise increase in Kuroshio Current intensity. This timing is broadly coeval with a sea surface temperature increase of ∼2°C in the northwestern Pacific due to expansion of the Western Pacific Warm Pool towards the north and south subtropical regions. This can be explained by increased weathering and erosion of terrestrial areas in glacial periods and increased rainfall causing higher sediment transport in interglacial periods, which were both linked to Middle Pleistocene Transition-related climatic changes

Etiological spectrum, injury characteristics and treatment outcome of maxillofacial injuries in a Tanzanian teaching hospital

Background: Maxillofacial injuries pose a therapeutic challenges to trauma, maxillofacial and plastic surgeons practicing in developing countries. This study was carried out to determine the etiology, injury characteristics and management outcome of maxillofacial injuries at our teaching hospital. Patients and Methods: A prospective hospital based study of maxillofacial injury patients was carried out at Bugando Medical Centre from November 2008 to October 2009. Data was collected using a structured questionnaire and analyzed using SPPS computer software version 11.5. Results: A total of 154 patients were studied. Males outnumbered females by a ratio of 2.7:1. Their mean age was 28.32 ± 16.48 years and the modal age group was 21-30 years. Most injuries were caused by road traffic crushes (57.1%), followed by assault and falls in 16.2% and 14.3% respectively. Soft tissue injuries and mandibular fractures were the most common type of injuries. Head/neck (53.1%) and limb injuries (28.1%) were the most prevalent associated injuries. Surgical debridement (95.1%) was the most common surgical procedures. Closed reduction of maxillofacial fractures was employed in 81.5% of patients. Open reduction and internal fixation was performed in 6.8% of cases. Complications occurred in 24% of patients, mainly due to infection and malocclusion. The mean duration of hospital stay was 18.12 ± 12.24 days. Mortality rate was 11.7%. Conclusion: Road traffic crashes remain the major etiological factor of maxillofacial injuries in our setting. Measures on prevention of road traffic crashes should be strongly emphasized in order to reduce the occurrence of these injuries

Cold‐pool‐driven convective initiation: using causal graph analysis to determine what convection‐permitting models are missing

Cold‐pool‐driven convective initiation is investigated in high‐resolution, convection‐permitting simulations with a focus on the diurnal cycle and organization of convection and the sensitivity to grid size. Simulations of four different days over Germany were performed using the ICON‐LEM model with grid sizes from 156 to 625 m. In these simulations, we identify cold pools, cold‐pool boundaries and initiated convection. Convection is triggered much more efficiently in the vicinity of cold pools than in other regions and can provide as much as 50% of total convective initiation, in particular in the late afternoon. By comparing different model resolutions, we find that cold pools are more frequent, smaller and less intense in lower‐resolution simulations. Furthermore, their gust fronts are weaker and less likely to trigger new convection. To identify how model resolution affects this triggering probability, we use a linear causal graph analysis. In doing so, we postulate a graph structure with potential causal pathways and then apply multi‐linear regression accordingly. We find a dominant, systematic effect: reducing grid sizes directly reduces upward mass flux at the gust front, which causes weaker triggering probabilities. These findings are expected to be even more relevant for km‐scale, numerical weather prediction models. We thus expect that a better representation of cold‐pool‐driven convective initiation will improve forecasts of convective precipitation

Problematika Guru Dalam Menerapkan Kurikulum Merdeka

This study aims to describe the teacher's problems in implementing the independent curriculum in schools. This study uses a literature review or literature review approach. The results of this study indicate that there are many problems that become obstacles for teachers in schools. In the independent learning curriculum, teachers are more required to be creative in making or designing the learning process so that learning goes according to what is determined by the Minister of Education. The results showed that: First, SMA Negeri 3 Sungai Full has implemented the Independent Learning Curriculum by implementing project-based learning, diagnostic, formative and summative assessments in learning. Second, the teacher's problems in implementing the Free Learning Curriculum in planning, implementing and evaluating learning are difficulties analyzing CP, formulating TP and compiling ATP and Teaching Modules, determining learning methods and strategies, lack of ability to use technology, lack of ability to use learning methods and media, materials teaching is too broad, determine the class project

PELATIHAN PENGGUNAAN APLIKASI MICROSOFT EXCEL UNTUK OLAHDATA PENELITIAN DALAM PENYUSUNAN KARYA ILMIAH

Kegiatan pengabdian masyarakat ini bertujuan untuk memberikan pelatihan mengenai penggunaan aplikasi Microsoft Excel untuk olahdata penelitian dalam penyusunan karya ilmiah. Pelatihan ini dilaksanakan secara online pada bulan Februari 2023 di Kabupaten Gunung Kidul, Provinsi Yogyakarta, dan diikuti oleh 49 peserta dari berbagai kalangan seperti guru, dosen, dan mahasiswa. Metode pelatihan meliputi identifikasi kebutuhan, penyusunan materi pelatihan yang komprehensif, pelaksanaan pelatihan secara virtual, bimbingan dan pendampingan, serta evaluasi kegiatan. Peserta diberikan pemahaman mendalam tentang fitur dan fungsi Excel yang relevan untuk olahdata penelitian, serta keterampilan praktis dalam mengelola dan menganalisis data penelitian menggunakan Excel. Pelatihan juga membahas teknik penyusunan karya ilmiah dengan menggunakan Excel sebagai alat bantu. Hasil kegiatan menunjukkan bahwa peserta berhasil mengembangkan pemahaman dan keterampilan dalam penggunaan Excel untuk olahdata penelitian dan penyusunan karya ilmiah. Pelatihan ini memberikan manfaat yang signifikan dalam meningkatkan kompetensi peserta dalam pengelolaan data penelitian dan penghasilan karya ilmiah yang berkualitas. Kesimpulannya, pelatihan penggunaan aplikasi Microsoft Excel ini memberikan dampak positif dalam pengembangan penelitian dan penyusunan karya ilmiah. Penggunaan Excel sebagai alat bantu yang efektif memungkinkan peserta untuk bekerja dengan efisiensi dan akurasi tinggi dalam mengelola dan menganalisis data penelitian. Dengan demikian, peserta dapat meningkatkan kualitas dan daya tarik karya ilmiah mereka serta berkontribusi pada perkembangan ilmiah di bidang yang relevan

Semi-classical buckling of stiff polymers

A quantitative theory of the buckling of a worm like chain based on a semi-classical approximation of the partition function is presented. The contribution of thermal fluctuations to the force-extension relation that allows to go beyond the classical Euler buckling is derived in the linear and non-linear regime as well. It is shown that the thermal fluctuations in the nonlinear buckling regime increase the end-to-end distance of the semiflexible rod if it is confined to 2 dimensions as opposed to the 3 dimensional case. Our approach allows a complete physical understanding of buckling in D=2 and in D=3 below and above the Euler transition.Comment: Revtex, 17 pages, 4 figure

A Simple Explanation for DAMA with Moderate Channeling

We consider the possibility that the DAMA signal arises from channeled events in simple models where the dark matter interaction with nuclei is suppressed at small momenta. As with the standard WIMP, these models have two parameters (the dark matter mass and the size of the cross-section), without the need to introduce an additional energy threshold type of parameter. We find that they can be consistent with channeling fractions as low as about ~ 15%, so long as at least ~70% of the nuclear recoil energy for channeled events is deposited electronically. Given that there are reasons not to expect very large channeling fractions, these scenarios make the channeling explanation of DAMA much more compelling.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figure