A Scheme to Numerically Evolve Data for the Conformal Einstein Equation

This is the second paper in a series describing a numerical implementation of the conformal Einstein equation. This paper deals with the technical details of the numerical code used to perform numerical time evolutions from a "minimal" set of data. We outline the numerical construction of a complete set of data for our equations from a minimal set of data. The second and the fourth order discretisations, which are used for the construction of the complete data set and for the numerical integration of the time evolution equations, are described and their efficiencies are compared. By using the fourth order scheme we reduce our computer resource requirements --- with respect to memory as well as computation time --- by at least two orders of magnitude as compared to the second order scheme.Comment: 20 pages, 12 figure

Nonfatal Strangulation in a Sample of Domestically Violent Stalkers: The Importance of Recognizing Coercively Controlling Behaviors

© 2019 International Association for Correctional and Forensic Psychology. Strangulation is different to other types of physical violence as it often leaves no visible injuries and is frequently motivated by coercive control. Few studies have explored nonfatal strangulation and coercive control, and no studies have explored these factors within a sample of stalkers. Given that stalking perpetrators exhibit many of the coercively controlling behaviors related to nonfatal strangulation, the current study explored nonfatal strangulation and other coercively controlling behaviors in a stalking sample. A police dataset of 9,884 cases of domestic violence that involved stalking was analyzed. Results revealed that coercive control and related behaviors of excessive jealousy, victim isolation, victim fear, and victim’s belief that the perpetrator will kill them were associated with higher likelihood of having experienced nonfatal strangulation. These results may help first responders to identify victims at risk of nonfatal strangulation and suggest a need for nonfatal strangulation to be a criminal offense

Analysis of preconditioning and multigrid for Euler flows with low-subsonic regions

For subsonic flows and upwind-discretized, linearized 1-D Euler equations, the smoothing behavior of multigrid-accelerated point Gauss-Seidel relaxation is analyzed. Error decay by convection across domain boundaries is also discussed. A fix to poor convergence rates at low Mach numbers is sought in replacing the point relaxation applied to unconditioned Euler equations, by locally implicit “time”-stepping applied to preconditioned Euler equations. The locally implicit iteration step is optimized for good damping of high-frequency errors. Numerical inaccuracy at low Mach numbers is also addressed.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/41714/1/10444_2005_Article_BF02123476.pd

Factors Associated with the Rapid and Durable Decline in Malaria Incidence in El Salvador, 1980-2017

A decade after the Global Malaria Eradication Program, El Salvador had the highest burden of malaria in Mesoamerica, with approximately 20% due to Plasmodium falciparum. A resurgence of malaria in the 1970s led El Salvador to alter its national malaria control strategy. By 1995, El Salvador recorded its last autochthonous P. falciparum case with fewer than 20 Plasmodium vivax cases annually since 2011. By contrast, its immediate neighbors continue to have the highest incidences of malaria in the region. We reviewed and evaluated the policies and interventions implemented by the Salvadoran National Malaria Program that likely contributed to this progress toward malaria elimination. Decentralization of the malaria program, early regional stratification by risk, and data-driven stratum-specific actions resulted in the timely and targeted allocation of resources for vector control, surveillance, case detection, and treatment. Weekly reporting by health workers and volunteer collaborators-distributed throughout the country by strata and informed via the national surveillance system-enabled local malaria teams to provide rapid, adaptive, and focalized program actions. Sustained investments in surveillance and response have led to a dramatic reduction in local transmission, with most current malaria cases in El Salvador due to importation from neighboring countries. Additional support for systematic elimination efforts in neighboring countries would benefit the region and may be needed for El Salvador to achieve and maintain malaria elimination. El Salvador's experience provides a relevant case study that can guide the application of similar strategies in other countries committed to malaria elimination

Instructional design of smart technology use in teacher digital educational environment

Introduction. According to the provisions mentioned in Digital Kazakhstan Programme and Digital Teacher national project, the teacher today is regarded not just as an active user of the novel digital and smart technologies, but as the creator and transmitter of the authors’ digital educational content. The modern teacher is supposed both to adapt to and perform the professional activity within the digital setting of the educational institution and be able to design his/her own digital educational environment to transfer the educational content and organise effective “educator-learner” educational interaction. This situation brings us to the issue of the necessity for the teacher to be aware and master the potential possibilities provided by the smart technologies in realisation of the educational activity in terms of online and mixed learning; this, in its turn, conditions the search for the solutions for the effective instructional design of smart technology application in a teacher digital educational environment. Aim. The present study aims to substantiate the instructional design of the implementation model of smart technologies when designing teacher personal digital educational environment (on the example of the authors’ Smart Assistant software as a means of optimising teacher activities and organising an online and mixed educational process). Methodology and research methods. The following categories of research methods were used to reach the goal set: 1) theoretical: cybernetics method, generalisation, analogy, abstraction, visualisation, modelling, and classification; 2) empirical: surveys and interviews techniques, as well as mathematical and statistical data analysis approaches. During the experimental part of the study an online questionnaire survey on “Implementation of smart technologies in designing a teacher personal digital educational environment in the conditions of distance learning at a university” was conducted among 201 teachers of Karaganda Buketov University (Republic of Kazakhstan) and Dokuz Eylul University (Turkey) from 12 December 2022 to 30 April 2023. The aim of the experiment was to identify problems with the adaptation and implementation of smart technologies in designing a digital educational environment. For this purpose, the respondents answered fifteen questions and made suggestions for improving the university digital educational environment. Results and scientific novelty. The article substantiates the design of smart technology implementation in a teacher digital educational environment as a means of optimising his/her activity in organising online and mixed learning process (on the example of the authors’ software Smart Assistant), and identifies the problems with the adaptation and implementation of professional activities in the context of a digital educational environment. The characteristic features of the problems of teachers’ adaptation in a digital educational environment and the difficulties of smart technologies implementation in their professional activity are defined. Practical significance. The Smart Assistant software product was developed as a means of optimising the teacher’s activities in organising an online and mixed educational process.Введение. Согласно положениям, приведенным в программе «Цифровой Казахстан» и нацпроекте «Цифровой учитель», реализуемых в Казахстане, педагог сегодня рассматривается не только в качестве активного пользователя последних цифровых и смарттехнологий, но и как создатель и транслятор авторского цифрового образовательного контента. Современный педагог должен как адаптироваться и осуществлять профессиональную деятельность в цифровой среде образовательного учреждения, так и уметь проектировать собственную цифровую образовательную среду для передачи образовательного контента и организации эффективного образовательного взаимодействия «педагог – ученик». Сложившаяся ситуация подводит нас к вопросу о необходимости овладения учителем возможностями, предоставляемыми смарттехнологиями в реализации образовательной деятельности в условиях онлайн- и смешанного обучения, что, в свою очередь, обуславливает поиск решений по эффективному проектированию применения смарт-технологий в цифровой образовательной среде учителя. Цель заключается в обосновании педагогического дизайна модели имплементации смарттехнологий при проектировании персональной цифровой образовательной среды педагогов (на примере разработки авторского программного обеспечения Smart Assistant как средства оптимизации деятельности педагога по организации онлайн- и смешанного образовательного процесса). Методология, методы и методика. Для достижения цели исследования нами были применены следующие группы методов исследования: теоретические: кибернетический метод, метод обобщения, метод аналогии, метод абстрагирования, метод визуализации, метод моделирования, метод классификации; эмпирические: методы анкетирования и интервьюирования; методы математической и статистической обработки данных. В ходе экспериментальной части исследования был проведен анкетный онлайн-опрос на тему «Внедрение смарт-технологий в дизайне в персональной цифровой образовательной среде преподавателя в условиях дистанционного обучения в вузе» среди 201 преподавателя Карагандинского университета имени академика Е. А. Букетова (Республика Казахстан) и Университета Докуз Эйлюль (Турция) в период с 12 декабря 2022 года по 30 апреля 2023 года. Цель эксперимента заключалась в выявлении проблем адаптации преподавателей при осуществлении профессиональной деятельности в контексте цифровой образовательной среды и применении ими смарт-технологий в профессиональной деятельности. Для этого респондентам было предложно ответить на 15 вопросов и внести предложения-рекомендации в совершенствование цифровой образовательной среды вуза. Результаты и научная новизна. В статье изучен и обоснован педагогический дизайн имплементации смарт-технологий при проектировании персональной цифровой образовательной среды педагогов, представлены результаты разработки авторского программного обеспечения Smart Assistant как средства оптимизации деятельности педагога по организации онлайн- и смешанного образовательного процесса, а также выявляются проблемы преподавателей вуза при адаптации и осуществлении профессиональной деятельности в контексте цифровой образовательной среды. Определены характерные черты проблем адаптации педагогов в цифровой образовательной среде и сложности применения смарт-технологий в профессиональной деятельности. Практическая значимость. Был разработан программный продукт Smart Assistant как средство оптимизации деятельности учителя при организации онлайн- и смешанного образовательного процесса.The study was funded by the Science Committee of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Republic of Kazakhstan (grant no. AP13068185). The authors express their sincere gratitude to the Education and Science Journal Editorial Board for the support and assistance in publishing the research results. The authors also thank the reviewers, whose comments allowed improving the structure and content of the material presented in the article.Данное исследование финансируется Комитетом науки Министерства образования и науки Республики Казахстан (грант № AP13068185). Авторский коллектив выражает искреннюю признательность редакционной коллегии журнала «Образование и наука» за оказанную поддержку и содействие в публикации результатов исследования, а также благодарность рецензентам, чьи замечания и комментарии позволили улучшить структуру и содержание представленного в статье материала

Jeune syndrome: description of 13 cases and a proposal for follow-up protocol

Jeune syndrome (asphyxiating thoracic dystrophy, ATD) is a rare autosomal recessive skeletal dysplasia characterized by a small, narrow chest and variable limb shortness with a considerable neonatal mortality as a result of respiratory distress. Renal, hepatic, pancreatic and ocular complications may occur later in life. We describe 13 cases with ages ranging from 9 months to 22 years. Most patients experienced respiratory problems in the first years of their life, three died, one experienced renal complications, and one had hepatic problems. With age, the thoracic malformation tends to become less pronounced and the respiratory problems decrease. The prognosis of ATD seems better than described in literature and in our opinion this justifies long term intensive treatment in the first years. We also propose a follow-up protocol for patients with ATD

Dynamic Models of Language Evolution: The Linguistic Perspective

Language is probably the key defining characteristic of humanity, an immensely powerful tool which provides its users with an infinitely expressive means of representing their complex thoughts and reflections, and of successfully communicating them to others. It is the foundation on which human societies have been built and the means through which humanity’s unparalleled intellectual and technological achievements have been realized. Although we have a natural intuitive understanding of what a language is, the specification of a particular language is nevertheless remarkably difficult, if not impossible, to pin down precisely. All languages contain many separate yet integral systems which work interdependently to allow the expression of our thoughts and the interpretation of others’ expressions: each has, for instance, a set of basic meaningless sounds (e.g. [e], [l], [s]) which can be combined to make different meaningful words and parts of words (e.g. else, less, sell, -less ); these meaningful units can be combined to make complex words (e.g. spinelessness, selling ), and the words themselves can then be combined in very many complex ways into phrases, clauses and an infinite number of meaningful sentences; finally each of these sentences can be interpreted in dramatically different ways, depending on the contexts in which it is uttered and on who is doing the interpretation. Languages can be analysed at any of these different levels, which make up many of the sub-fields of linguistics, and the primary job of linguistic theorists is to try to explain the rules which best explain these complex combinations