2,840 research outputs found
Examining the Effects of a Virtual Character on Learning and Engagement in Serious Games
Virtual characters have been employed for many purposes including interacting with players of serious games, with a purpose to increase engagement. These characters are often embodied conversational agents playing diverse roles, such as demonstrators, guides, teachers or interviewers. Recently, much research has been conducted into properties that affect the realism and plausibility of virtual characters, but it is less clear whether the inclusion of interactive agents in serious applications can enhance a userâs engagement with the application, or indeed increase efficacy. In a first step towards answering these questions, we conducted a study where a Virtual Learning Environment was used to examine the effect of employing a virtual character to deliver a lesso
Microborings in mid Cretaceous fish teeth
Fish teeth and other remains from the British Cretaceous contain abundant evidence for post-mortem colonization by endolithic organisms. The borings are here recognised as occurring in three morphotypes, including a flask-shaped form not previously recorded. There is strong evidence to suggest that each of these boring types shows a strong preference for a particular substrate histology. The damage and destruction of vertebrate remains by microborings is here considered to exert a major taphonomic control on microvertebrate assemblages. The relationships between the intensity of colonization of vertebrate material by endolithic organisms and palaeoenvironment have implications for using these bone microborings as palaeoenvironmental indicators
Weakly (I, J)-continuous multifunctions and contra (I, J)-continuous multifunctions
The purpose of the present paper is to introduce, study
and characterize upper and lower weakly (I, J)-continuous multifunctions and contra (I, J)-continuous multifunctions.
Also, we investigate its relation with another class of continuous multifunctions.
AMS Subject Classification: 54C10, 54C08, 54C05,
54C6
Î-modifications on weak spaces
In this article, we want to study and investigate if it is
possible to use the notions of weak structures to develop a new theory
of - modi cations in weak spaces and study their properties, nally we
study some forms of weak continuity using this modi cations
Search for resonances in the mass distribution of jet pairs with one or two jets identified as b -jets in proton-proton collisions at s=13 TeV with the ATLAS detector
What is the contribution of physician associates in hospital care in England? A mixed methods, multiple case study.
OBJECTIVES: To investigate the deployment of physician associates (PAs); the factors supporting and inhibiting their employment and their contribution and impact on patients' experience and outcomes and the organisation of services. DESIGN: Mixed methods within a case study design, using interviews, observations, work diaries and documentary analysis. SETTING: Six acute care hospitals in three regions of England in 2016-2017. PARTICIPANTS: 43 PAs, 77 other health professionals, 28 managers, 28 patients and relatives. RESULTS: A key influencing factor supporting the employment of PAs in all settings was a shortage of doctors. PAs were found to be acceptable, appropriate and safe members of the medical/surgical teams by the majority of doctors, managers and nurses. They were mainly deployed to undertake inpatient ward work in the medical/surgical team during core weekday hours. They were reported to positively contribute to: continuity within their medical/surgical team, patient experience and flow, inducting new junior doctors, supporting the medical/surgical teams' workload, which released doctors for more complex patients and their training. The lack of regulation and attendant lack of authority to prescribe was seen as a problem in many but not all specialties. The contribution of PAs to productivity and patient outcomes was not quantifiable separately from other members of the team and wider service organisation. Patients and relatives described PAs positively but most did not understand who and what a PA was, often mistaking them for doctors. CONCLUSIONS: This study offers new insights concerning the deployment and contribution of PAs in medical and surgical specialties in English hospitals. PAs provided a flexible addition to the secondary care workforce without drawing from existing professions. Their utility in the hospital setting is unlikely to be completely realised without the appropriate level of regulation and authority to prescribe medicines and order ionising radiation within their scope of practice
Instabilities in the dissolution of a porous matrix
A reactive fluid dissolving the surrounding rock matrix can trigger an
instability in the dissolution front, leading to spontaneous formation of
pronounced channels or wormholes. Theoretical investigations of this
instability have typically focused on a steadily propagating dissolution front
that separates regions of high and low porosity. In this paper we show that
this is not the only possible dissolutional instability in porous rocks; there
is another instability that operates instantaneously on any initial porosity
field, including an entirely uniform one. The relative importance of the two
mechanisms depends on the ratio of the porosity increase to the initial
porosity. We show that the "inlet" instability is likely to be important in
limestone formations where the initial porosity is small and there is the
possibility of a large increase in permeability. In quartz-rich sandstones,
where the proportion of easily soluble material (e.g. carbonate cements) is
small, the instability in the steady-state equations is dominant.Comment: to be published in Geophysical Research Letter
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