The value of adaptive link annotation in e-learning: A study of a portal-based approach

This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here for your personal use. Not for redistribution. The definitive Version of Record was published in Proceedings of the 21st ACM conference on Hypertext and hypermedia, http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/1810617.1810657Adaptive link annotation is one of the most popular adaptive educational hypermedia techniques. It has been widely studied and demonstrated its ability to help students to acquire knowledge faster, improve learning outcomes, reduce navigation overhead, increase motivation, and encourage the beneficial non-sequential navigation. However, almost all studies of adaptive link annotation have been performed in the context of dedicated adaptive educational hypermedia systems. The role of this technique in the context of widely popular learning portals has not yet been demonstrated. In this paper, we attempt to fill this gap by investigating the value of adaptive navigation support embedded into the learning portal. We compare the effect of portal-based adaptive navigation support to both the effect of the adaptive navigation support in adaptive educational hypermedia systems and to non-adaptive learning portals.This work is supported by National Science Foundation under Grant IIS-0447083, Spanish Ministry of Science and Education (TIN2007-64718) and the Comunidad Autónoma de Madrid (S2009/TIC-1650

Brownian diffusion and thermophoresis mechanisms in Casson fluid over a moving wedge

The effect of Brownian diffusion and thermophoresis on electrically conducting mixed convection flow of Casson fluid induced by moving wedge is investigated in this paper. It is assumed that the wedge is saturated in a porous medium and experiences the thermal radiation and chemical reaction effects. The transformed nonlinear governing equations are solved numerically by Keller box scheme. Findings reveal that increase in Casson and magnetic parameters reduced the boundary layer thickness. The effect of Brownian motion and thermophoresis parameters are more pronounced on temperature profile as compared to nanoparticles concentration. The presence of thermal radiation assisted the heat transfer rate significantly. The influence of magnetic parameter is observed less significant on temperature and nanoparticles concentration

The Association of Virulence Factors with Genomic Islands

Background: It has been noted that many bacterial virulence factor genes are located within genomic islands (GIs; clusters of genes in a prokaryotic genome of probable horizontal origin). However, such studies have been limited to single genera or isolated observations. We have performed the first large-scale analysis of multiple diverse pathogens to examine this association. We additionally identified genes found predominantly in pathogens, but not non-pathogens, across multiple genera using 631 complete bacterial genomes, and we identified common trends in virulence for genes in GIs. Furthermore, we examined the relationship between GIs and clustered regularly interspaced palindromic repeats (CRISPRs) proposed to confer resistance to phage. Methodology/Principal Findings: We show quantitatively that GIs disproportionately contain more virulence factors than the rest of a given genome (p,1E-40 using three GI datasets) and that CRISPRs are also over-represented in GIs. Virulence factors in GIs and pathogen-associated virulence factors are enriched for proteins having more ‘‘offensive’ ’ functions, e.g. active invasion of the host, and are disproportionately components of type III/IV secretion systems or toxins. Numerous hypothetical pathogen-associated genes were identified, meriting further study. Conclusions/Significance: This is the first systematic analysis across diverse genera indicating that virulence factors are disproportionately associated with GIs. ‘‘Offensive’ ’ virulence factors, as opposed to host-interaction factors, may more ofte

Spectral Models for Early Time SN 2011fe Observations

We use observed UV through near IR spectra to examine whether SN 2011fe can be understood in the framework of Branch-normal SNe Ia and to examine its individual peculiarities. As a benchmark, we use a delayed-detonation model with a progenitor metallicity of Z_solar/20. We study the sensitivity of features to variations in progenitor metallicity, the outer density profile, and the distribution of radioactive nickel. The effect of metallicity variations in the progenitor have a relatively small effect on the synthetic spectra. We also find that the abundance stratification of SN 2011fe resembles closely that of a delayed detonation model with a transition density that has been fit to other Branch-normal Type Ia supernovae. At early times, the model photosphere is formed in material with velocities that are too high, indicating that the photosphere recedes too slowly or that SN 2011fe has a lower specific energy in the outer ~0.1 M_sun than does the model. We discuss several explanations for the discrepancies. Finally, we examine variations in both the spectral energy distribution and in the colors due to variations in the progenitor metallicity, which suggests that colors are only weak indicators for the progenitor metallicity, in the particular explosion model that we have studied. We do find that the flux in the U band is significantly higher at maximum light in the solar metallicity model than in the lower metallicity model and the lower metallicity model much better matches the observed spectrum.Comment: 9 pages, 14 figures, MNRAS, in press, fixed typ

Near-infrared observations of type Ia supernovae: The best known standard candle for cosmology

We present an analysis of the Hubble diagram for 12 Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) observed in the near-infrared J and H bands. We select SNe exclusively from the redshift range 0.03 < z < 0.09 to reduce uncertainties coming from peculiar velocities while remaining in a cosmologically well-understood region. All of the SNe in our sample exhibit no spectral or B-band light-curve peculiarities and lie in the B-band stretch range of 0.8-1.15. Our results suggest that SNe Ia observed in the near-infrared (NIR) are the best known standard candles. We fit previously determined NIR light-curve templates to new high-precision data to derive peak magnitudes and to determine the scatter about the Hubble line. Photometry of the 12 SNe is presented in the natural system. Using a standard cosmology of (H_0, Omega_m, Lambda) = (70,0.27,0.73) we find a median J-band absolute magnitude of M_J = -18.39 with a scatter of 0.116 and a median H-band absolute magnitude of M_H = -18.36 with a scatter of 0.085. The scatter in the H band is the smallest yet measured. We search for correlations between residuals in the J- and H-band Hubble diagrams and SN properties, such as SN colour, B-band stretch and the projected distance from host-galaxy centre. The only significant correlation is between the J-band Hubble residual and the J-H pseudo-colour. We also examine how the scatter changes when fewer points in the near-infrared are used to constrain the light curve. With a single point in the H band taken anywhere from 10 days before to 15 days after B-band maximum light and a prior on the date of H-band maximum set from the date of B-band maximum, we find that we can measure distances to an accuracy of 6%. The precision of SNe Ia in the NIR provides new opportunities for precision measurements of both the expansion history of the universe and peculiar velocities of nearby galaxies.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figures. Accepted for publication in MNRA

An econometric analysis of SARS and Avian flu on international tourist arrivals to Asia

This paper compares the impacts of SARS and human deaths arising from Avian Flu on international tourist arrivals to Asia. The effects of SARS and human deaths from Avian Flu will be compared directly according to human deaths. The nature of the short run and long run relationship is examined empirically by estimating a static line fixed effect model and a difference transformation dynamic model, respectively. Empirical results from the static fixed effect and difference transformation dynamic models are consistent, and indicate that both the short run and long run SARS effect have a more significant impact on international tourist arrivals than does Avian Flu. In addition, the effects of deaths arising from both SARS and Avian Flu suggest that SARS is more important to international tourist arrivals than is Avian Flu. Thus, while Avian Flu is here to stay, its effect is currently not as significant as that of SARS

Characteristic patterns of inter- and intra-hemispheric metabolic connectivity in patients with stable and progressive mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease

The change in hypometabolism affects the regional links in the brain network. Here, to understand the underlying brain metabolic network deficits during the early stage and disease evolution of AD (Alzheimer disease), we applied correlation analysis to identify the metabolic connectivity patterns using 18F-FDG PET data for NC (normal control), sMCI (stable MCI), pMCI (progressive MCI) and AD, and explore the inter- and intra-hemispheric connectivity between anatomically-defined brain regions. Regions extracted from 90 anatomical structures were used to construct the matrix for measuring the inter- and intra-hemispheric connectivity. The brain connectivity patterns from the metabolic network show a decreasing trend of inter- and intra-hemispheric connections for NC, sMCI, pMCI and AD. Connection of temporal to the frontal or occipital regions is a characteristic pattern for conversion of NC to MCI, and the density of links in the parietal-occipital network is a differential pattern between sMCI and pMCI. The reduction pattern of inter and intra-hemispheric brain connectivity in the metabolic network depends on the disease stages, and is with a decreasing trend with respect to disease severity. Both frontal-occipital and parietal-occipital connectivity patterns in the metabolic network using 18F-FDG PET are the key feature for differentiating disease groups in AD

Optical and near infrared observations of SN 2014ck: an outlier among the Type Iax supernovae

We present a comprehensive set of optical and near-infrared photometric and spectroscopic observations for SN 2014ck, extending from pre-maximum to six months later. These data indicate that SN 2014ck is photometrically nearly identical to SN 2002cx, which is the prototype of the class of peculiar transients named SNe Iax. Similar to SN 2002cx, SN 2014ck reached a peak brightness $M_B=-17.37 \pm 0.15$ mag, with a post-maximum decline-rate $\Delta m_{15} (B) = 1.76 \pm 0.15$ mag. However, the spectroscopic sequence shows similarities with SN 2008ha, which was three magnitudes fainter and faster declining. In particular, SN 2014ck exhibits extremely low ejecta velocities, $\sim 3000$ km s$^{-1}$ at maximum, which are close to the value measured for SN 2008ha and half the value inferred for SN 2002cx. The bolometric light curve of SN 2014ck is consistent with the production of $0.10^{+0.04}_{-0.03} M_{\odot}$ of $^{56}$Ni. The spectral identification of several iron-peak features, in particular Co II lines in the NIR, provides a clear link to SNe Ia. Also, the detection of narrow Si, S and C features in the pre-maximum spectra suggests a thermonuclear explosion mechanism. The late-phase spectra show a complex overlap of both permitted and forbidden Fe, Ca and Co lines. The appearance of strong [Ca~II] $\lambda\lambda$7292, 7324 again mirrors the late-time spectra of SN 2008ha and SN 2002cx. The photometric resemblance to SN 2002cx and the spectral similarities to SN 2008ha highlight the peculiarity of SN 2014ck, and the complexity and heterogeneity of the SNe Iax class.Comment: MNRAS Accepted 2016 March 22. Received 2016 March

Motivational Social Visualizations for Personalized E-Learning

A large number of educational resources is now available on the Web to support both regular classroom learning and online learning. However, the abundance of available content produces at least two problems: how to help students find the most appropriate resources, and how to engage them into using these resources and benefiting from them. Personalized and social learning have been suggested as potential methods for addressing these problems. Our work presented in this paper attempts to combine the ideas of personalized and social learning. We introduce Progressor + , an innovative Web-based interface that helps students find the most relevant resources in a large collection of self-assessment questions and programming examples. We also present the results of a classroom study of the Progressor +  in an undergraduate class. The data revealed the motivational impact of the personalized social guidance provided by the system in the target context. The interface encouraged students to explore more educational resources and motivated them to do some work ahead of the course schedule. The increase in diversity of explored content resulted in improving students’ problem solving success. A deeper analysis of the social guidance mechanism revealed that it is based on the leading behavior of the strong students, who discovered the most relevant resources and created trails for weaker students to follow. The study results also demonstrate that students were more engaged with the system: they spent more time in working with self-assessment questions and annotated examples, attempted more questions, and achieved higher success rates in answering them