The Common Link: An Exploration of the Social Cognitive Dimensions of Meaning-Making in Algebra and the Visual Arts Using a Case Study Approach

It is commonplace to hold that algebra and the visual arts are mutually exclusive activities. In this thesis, an attempt was made to connect how we learn in algebra and the visual arts from the social cognitive perspective proposed by Bandura (1986, 1997). That is, the personal, social, and behavioural dimensions of learning in algebra and the visual arts were considered. Also, the issue of a connection between algebra and the visual arts was tackled by taking into account the most recent advances in cognitive science, like the situated movement, the notion, in a nutshell, that cognition is extended throughout our social relations and practices. Making the connection between, what Snow (1959) called generally the two cultures (cited in Stent, 2001, p. 31) of art and science, has precedence. There have been attempts, as interpreted in this thesis, to consider what learning in the arts and sciences have in common from various quarters, be they philosophical, psychological, or historical. Identifying the link between algebra and the visual arts involved several things. First, the historical context for the schism between our understanding of learning in algebra and the visual arts was considered. Second, a detailed review-cum-analysis of the literature was undertaken, and this yielded the themes upon which the connections between algebra and the visual arts were made. Turning to the fieldwork, four probing case studies were utilized to explore how those in algebra or the visual arts learn in their fields. By analyzing the data from the case studies, pattern regularities between learning in algebra and the visual arts were extracted. Finally, the theoretical and pedagogical consequences of having made the common link between algebra and the visual arts were addressed. Theoretically, by considering the role of, for instance, aesthetics and identity as reasons to pursue algebra or the visual arts, Bandura\u27s (1986, 1997) social cognitive theory was corroborated and enlarged. Practically, recommendations were offered for the pedagogy of algebra and the visual arts

Is Academics Inclusive?

The following question was discussed, “Is academics inclusive?” The method was archival and autoethnographic. Immanuel Kant’s racist views were discussed in relation to his ethics, for the purpose of considering how biographical material could shed light on understanding his ethics. In addition, the author focused upon their own experience as a racialized Canadian student from about 1989 to 2002, about 12 years, cumulating in a doctorate, specializing in the philosophy of mathematics, and further work he did in the social sciences, thereafter, leading to another doctorate in educational studies and sessional work. Finally, some suggestions are offered to make academics more inclusive: (1) Use diverse materials to teach, specifically, from non-Western sources. (2) Explore the racist views of those that are studied to help us better understand their work. And (3), involve diverse students, teachers, and researchers in education

Kierkegaard's Romantic Legacy

In Kierkegaard's Romantic Legacy, Anoop Gupta develops an original theory of the self based on Kierkegaard's writings. Gupta proceeds by historical exegesis and considers several important ways of thinking about self outside of the natural sciences. His study moves theories of the self from theology toward sociology, from a God-relationship to a social one, and illustrates how a loss in theological underpinnings partly contributes to the rise in the popularity of cultural relativism. By drawing on Kierkegaard's writings, Gupta develops a metaphysical account of the self that provides an alternative to the idea that there is no such thing as human nature

Kierkegaard's Romantic Legacy

In Kierkegaard's Romantic Legacy, Anoop Gupta develops an original theory of the self based on Kierkegaard's writings. Gupta proceeds by historical exegesis and considers several important ways of thinking about self outside of the natural sciences. His study moves theories of the self from theology toward sociology, from a God-relationship to a social one, and illustrates how a loss in theological underpinnings partly contributes to the rise in the popularity of cultural relativism. By drawing on Kierkegaard's writings, Gupta develops a metaphysical account of the self that provides an alternative to the idea that there is no such thing as human nature

Idiopathic Fascicular Ventricular Tachycardia

Idiopathic fascicular ventricular tachycardia is an important cardiac arrhythmia with specific electrocardiographic features and therapeutic options. It is characterized by relatively narrow QRS complex and right bundle branch block pattern. The QRS axis depends on which fascicle is involved in the re-entry. Left axis deviation is noted with left posterior fascicular tachycardia and right axis deviation with left anterior fascicular tachycardia. A left septal fascicular tachycardia with normal axis has also been described. Fascicular tachycardia is usually seen in individuals without structural heart disease. Response to verapamil is an important feature of fascicular tachycardia. Rare instances of termination with intravenous adenosine have also been noted. A presystolic or diastolic potential preceding the QRS, presumed to originate from the Purkinje fibers can be recorded during sinus rhythm and ventricular tachycardia in many patients with fascicular tachycardia. This potential (P potential) has been used as a guide to catheter ablation. Prompt recognition of fascicular tachycardia especially in the emergency department is very important. It is one of the eminently ablatable ventricular tachycardias. Primary ablation has been reported to have a higher success, lesser procedure time and fluoroscopy time

Evaluating Inter-Bilingual Semantic Parsing for Indian Languages

Despite significant progress in Natural Language Generation for Indian languages (IndicNLP), there is a lack of datasets around complex structured tasks such as semantic parsing. One reason for this imminent gap is the complexity of the logical form, which makes English to multilingual translation difficult. The process involves alignment of logical forms, intents and slots with translated unstructured utterance. To address this, we propose an Inter-bilingual Seq2seq Semantic parsing dataset IE-SEMPARSE for 11 distinct Indian languages. We highlight the proposed task's practicality, and evaluate existing multilingual seq2seq models across several train-test strategies. Our experiment reveals a high correlation across performance of original multilingual semantic parsing datasets (such as mTOP, multilingual TOP and multiATIS++) and our proposed IE-SEMPARSE suite.Comment: 21 pages, 9 figures, 15 table

Study of Surface Modified Silicon Nanoparticles for Printable Optoelectronics

The main objective of the present work is to study the influence of etching and surface functionalization on the optical, electrical and dispersion properties of silicon nanoparticles (Si-NPs) for printable optoelectronic applications. The synthesis of Si-NPs is carried out in a gas-phase microwave plasma reactor via pyrolysis of SiH4. The native oxide layer, covering the surface of as-synthesized Si-NPs after handling in air, is removed by etching them with HF. The surface of Si-NPs is terminated with organic molecules by surface functionalization of freshly etched particles with n-alkenes. Silicon nanoparticles in the size regime of 6 nm and below exhibit photoluminescence (PL) in the visible due to quantum size effects. Etching of as-synthesized Si-NPs with HF increases their photoluminescence intensity and causes a weak blue shift in their luminescence spectrum. During the etching of Si-NPs with a mixture of HF and HNO3, the PL emission can be tuned from red to green by increasing the etching time, whereas blue emission is obtained after the re-oxidation of orange luminescing etched Si-NPs. The freshly etched particles emitting in orange to red and yellow to green regime undergo blue and red shift in emission after their surface functionalization, respectively. The functionalized Si-NPs with different coverage of organic molecules on their surface show difference in the wavelength of their PL emission. The functionalized Si-NPs exhibit higher stability in air against re-oxidation compared to freshly etched Si-NPs. The particles functionalized with different organic molecules show different surface coverage and a difference in long-term stability in air. It is found that functionalization with dodecene exhibits a high long-term stability. The freshly etched Si-NPs show higher electrical conductivity compared to as-synthesized particles covered by a native oxide. The conductivity of etched Si-NPs in air decreases with time due to their surface oxidation. The surface functionalization of freshly etched Si-NPs with organic molecules also decreases their conductivity. The conductivity of functionalized Si-NPs is found to be dependent on the length of organic molecules present on their surface. Best results for functionalized particles with respect to conductivity are found for dodecene-terminated Si-NPs. As-synthesized Si-NPs do not form a stable dispersion in most organic solvents due to the presence of large agglomerates and surface oxides. Etching and functionalization of Si-NPs causes the de-agglomeration of particles and the presence of organic molecules allows them to form stable dispersion in a variety of organic solvents. The stable dispersion of functionalized, luminescing Si-NPs is used to print structure on glass substrate. After printing, the photoluminescence of the printed particles is still present. Printing of Si-NPs arrange particles in two or three dimensions, however, they are not directly connected to each other. For the synthesis of interconnected Si-NPs, functionalization of particle surface with terminal, bifunctional organic molecules is carried out. The successful cross-linked Si-NPs structure is accomplished by functionalization of particles using 1,7-octadiene.Das Ziel der vorliegenden Arbeit war die Untersuchung des Einflusses der Oberflächenfunktionalisierung auf die optischen und elektrischen Eigenschaften von Silizium Nanopartikeln (Si-NPs), sowie ihrer Dispergiereigenschaften für Anwendungen im Bereich der druckbaren Optoelektronik. Die Synthese der Silizium Nanopartikel wurde durch Pyrolyse von SiH4 in einem Mikrowellen-Plasmareaktor durchgeführt. Durch Handhabung der frischen Partikel an Luft bildete sich ein natürliches Oberflächenoxid, das durch Ätzen der Partikel mit HF entfernt wurde. Die Oberfläche der geätzten Partikel wurde durch Funktionalisierung mit n Alkenen terminiert. Silizium Nanopartikel mit Partikelgrößen von 6 nm und weniger zeigen auf Grund von größenabhängigen Quantisierungseffekten Photolumineszenz (PL) im Sichtbaren. Das Ätzen solcher, frisch hergestellter Partikel erhöht ihre Photolumineszenz Intensität und führt zu einer geringen Blauverschiebung im Emissionsspektrum. Durch das Ätzen der Partikel mit einer Mischung aus HF und HNO3 kann mit zunehmender Ätz-Zeit die PL Emission vom Roten bis ins Grüne selektiv eingestellt werden, während blaue Lumineszenz nach Reoxidation orange leuchtender, geätzter Partikel beobachtet wird. Partikel, die nach dem Ätzen im Roten bis Orangen lumineszieren, zeigen nach der Funktionalisierung eine Blauverschiebung der Lumineszenz, während solche, die nach dem Ätzen im Gelben bis Grünen leuchten, eine Rotverschiebung zeigen. Si-NPs, die mit unterschiedlichen organischen Molekülen funktionalisiert wurden, zeigen Unterschiede bezüglich der Photolumineszenz-Wellenlänge. Funktionalisierte Partikel zeigen eine höhere Stabilität gegen Reoxidation als die nicht funktionalisierten, geätzten Si-NPs. Partikel, die mit unterschiedlichen organischen Molekülen funktionalisiert wurden, zeigen unterschiedliche Oberflächen-Belegungsgrade und Unterschiede bezüglich der Langzeit-Stabilität in Luft. Es wurde festgestellt, dass die Funktionalisierung mit Dodeken zu einer guten Langzeit-Stabilität führt. Frisch geätzte Si-NPs zeigen eine höhere elektrische Leitfähigkeit als solche mit einem natürlichen Oberflächen-Oxid. Durch Reoxidation an Luft nimmt ihre Leitfähigkeit mit der Zeit ab. Durch Oberflächen-Funktionalisierung wird ihre elektrische Leitfähigkeit ebenfalls verringert und ist abhängig von der Länge der an die Oberfläche gebundenen organischen Moleküle. Die besten Ergebnise bezüglich einer guten Leitfähigkeit funktionalisierter Si-NPs wurden für Dodeken-terminierte Partikel erhalten. Aus frisch hergestellten Silizium Nanopartikeln lassen sich auf Grund des Vorliegens großer Agglomerate und des natürlichen Oxids an der Oberfläche mit den meisten organischen Lösungsmitteln keine stabilen Dispersionen herstellen. Das Ätzen und Funktionalisieren der Partikel führt zu einer De-Agglomeration der Si-NPs und durch das Vorhandensein organischer Moleküle an der Oberfläche lassen sich mit zahlreichen organischen Lösungsmitteln stabile Dispersionen herstellen. Stabilen Dispersionen funktionalisierter, lumineszierender Si-NPs wurden zur Herstellung gedruckter Strukturen auf einem Glas-Substrat verwendet. Nach dem Drucken ist die Photolumineszenz der gedruckten Partikel weiterhin vorhanden. Das Drucken von Si-NPs ermöglicht ihre Strukturierung in zwei oder drei Dimensionen, trotzdem sind sie nicht direkt untereinander verbunden. Für die Synthese miteinander verbundener Si-NPs wurde eine Terminierung mit endständigen, bi-funktionalen organischen Molekülen durchgeführt. Die erfolgreiche Vernetzung der Si-NPs konnte durch Funktionalisierung der Partikel mit 1,7-Oktadien gezeigt werden

Confidence ellipsoids based on a general family of shrinkage estimators for a linear model with non-spherical disturbances

AbstractThis paper considers a general family of Stein rule estimators for the coefficient vector of a linear regression model with nonspherical disturbances, and derives estimators for the Mean Squared Error (MSE) matrix, and risk under quadratic loss for this family of estimators. The confidence ellipsoids for the coefficient vector based on this family of estimators are proposed, and the performance of the confidence ellipsoids under the criterion of coverage probability and expected volumes is investigated. The results of a numerical simulation are presented to illustrate the theoretical findings, which could be applicable in the area of economic growth modeling