The Positive Role of Negative Emotions: Fear, Anxiety, Conflict and Resistance as Productive Experiences in Academic Study and in the Emergence of Learner Autonomy

Although affect is widely recognized as a powerful force in determining students’ academic success,researchers and practitioners have paid little attention to emotional barriers that often impede college success or how instructors may respond constructively when such barriers arise. The purpose of this paper is to initiate discussion of this important problem by offering a model of how an initially resistant, fearful, and/or anxious student can use emotionally unpleasant experiences to transform himself or herself into a more autonomous and successful learner. We offer prima facie support for this model by presenting the results of two cases of first year students. Although this model may not apply to all anxious first year students, it nevertheless has value (a) as a resource for instructors working with students who fit this pattern and (b) as an example of how the role of emotions in learning can profitably be studied

Effect of Project Team Competences on Performance of Development Projects in Rwanda: A Case of World Vision’s Village Savings Loan Association Project in Gasabo District

Competence is an effective demonstration of a project team in performing certain activities that are related to job relevant behavior, motivation and technical knowledge/skills. The purpose of this research study was to assess the effect of project team competences on performance of development projects in Rwanda; case of World Vision’s Village Saving Loan Association Project in Gasabo District. This study was guided by the following objectives; to assess the effect of project team professional competence on performance of World Vision’s Village Savings Loan Association project in Gasabo District, to determine the effect of project team social competence on performance of World Vision’s Village Savings Loan Association project in Gasabo District, and to determine the effect of project team leadership competence on performance of World Vision’s Village Savings Loan Association project in Gasabo District. In spite of significant investments in project management training and other project team systems and processes, there still exists a high rate of project failure. Majority of these failures have been linked to problems within project teams, lack of skills, lack of expertise and insufficient communication. This study target 120 employees of World Visions’ project team implementing the Village Savings Loan Association Project in Gasabo District. A descriptive research design was adopted in this study. Correlations were used to measure the associations between the dependent and independent variables appropriately. A final sample size of 92 respondents were chosen and structured questionnaires used to collect the data. Study findings revealed a strong positive correlation of 0.613 between professional competence and project performance; a weak positive correlation of 0.465 between social competence and project performance and lastly a rather insignificant positive correlation of 0.041 between leadership competence and project performance. This study therefore concluded that professional competence and social competence had an effect on performance of development projects. This study recommends for increased access to trainings and workshops for professional development; encourage and mentor one another using proved workable social relations to spur implementation of developmental projects and finally, to underline the significance of project leadership competence right from the top. Keywords: Project Team competencies, Development projects, Project performance

ISIS2: Pixel Sensor with Local Charge Storage for ILC Vertex Detector

ISIS (In-situ Storage Imaging Sensor) is a novel CMOS sensor with multiple charge storage capability developed for the ILC vertex detector by the Linear Collider Flavour Identification (LCFI) collaboration. This paper reports test results for ISIS2, the second generation of ISIS sensors implemented in a 0.18 micron CMOS process. The local charge storage and charge transfer were unambiguously demonstrated.Comment: 11 pages, 16 figures, to be included in the Proceedings of International Linear Collider Workshop 201

Editorial: 2022 Retrospective: structural materials

© 2024 The Author(s). This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY), https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Welcome to the Research Topic “2022 Retrospective: Structural Materials.” This curated Research Topic highlights esteemed spontaneous articles from the past few years, personally selected by our Chief Editor, Prof. John L. Provis. The work showcased here underscores the extensive spectrum of research conducted within the section and seeks to illuminate its primary areas of interest. All the studies presented here demonstrate significant advancements in theory, experimentation, and methodology, offering solutions to compelling problems. Therefore, the editorial team deems it crucial to give special attention to these matters.Peer reviewe

Recent advances in understanding schizophrenia

Schizophrenia is a highly disabling disorder whose causes remain to be better understood, and treatments have to be improved. However, several recent advances have been made in diagnosis, etiopathology, and treatment. Whereas reliability of diagnosis has improved with operational criteria, including Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, (DSM) Fifth Edition, validity of the disease boundaries remains unclear because of substantive overlaps with other psychotic disorders. Recent emphasis on dimensional approaches and translational bio-behavioral research domain criteria may eventually help move toward a neuroscience-based definition of schizophrenia. The etiology of schizophrenia is now thought to be multifactorial, with multiple small-effect and fewer large-effect susceptibility genes interacting with several environmental factors. These factors may lead to developmentally mediated alterations in neuroplasticity, manifesting in a cascade of neurotransmitter and circuit dysfunctions and impaired connectivity with an onset around early adolescence. Such etiopathological understanding has motivated a renewed search for novel pharmacological as well as psychotherapeutic targets. Addressing the core features of the illness, such as cognitive deficits and negative symptoms, and developing hypothesis-driven early interventions and preventive strategies are high-priority goals for the field. Schizophrenia is a severe, chronic mental disorder and is among the most disabling disorders in all of medicine. It is estimated by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) that 2.4 million people over the age of 18 in the US suffer from schizophrenia. This illness typically begins in adolescence and derails the formative goals of school, family, and work, leading to considerable suffering and disability and reduced life expectancy by about 20 years. Treatment outcomes are variable, and some people are successfully treated and reintegrated (i.e. go back to work). Despite the effort of many experts in the field, however, schizophrenia remains a chronic relapsing and remitting disorder associated with significant impairments in social and vocational functioning and a shortened lifespan. Comprehensive treatment entails a multi-modal approach, including psychopharmacology, psychosocial interventions, and assistance with housing and financial sustenance. Research to date suggests a network of genetic, neural, behavioral, and environmental factors to be responsible for its development and course. This article aims to summarize and explain recent advancements in research on schizophrenia, to suggest how these recent discoveries may lead to a better understanding and possible further development of effective therapies, and to highlight the paradigm shifts that have taken place in our understanding of the diagnosis, etiopathology, and treatment

The C-Band All-Sky Survey: Instrument design, status, and first-look data

The C-Band All-Sky Survey (C-BASS) aims to produce sensitive, all-sky maps of diffuse Galactic emission at 5 GHz in total intensity and linear polarization. These maps will be used (with other surveys) to separate the several astrophysical components contributing to microwave emission, and in particular will allow an accurate map of synchrotron emission to be produced for the subtraction of foregrounds from measurements of the polarized Cosmic Microwave Background. We describe the design of the analog instrument, the optics of our 6.1 m dish at the Owens Valley Radio Observatory, the status of observations, and first-look data.Comment: 10 pages, 11 figures, published in Proceedings of SPIE MIllimeter, Submillimeter, and Far-Infrared Detectors and Instrumentation for Astronomy V (2010), Vol. 7741, 77411I-1 - 77411I-1

Contrast-Induced Neurotoxicity following Cardiac Catheterization

We report a case of probable contrast-induced neurotoxicity that followed a technically challenging cardiac catheterization in a 69-year-old woman. The procedure had involved the administration of a large cumulative dose of an iodinated, nonionic contrast medium into the innominate artery: twelve hours following the catheterization, the patient developed a seizure followed by a left hemiplegia, and an initial computed tomography (CT) scan showed sulcal effacement in the right cerebral hemisphere due to cerebral swelling. The patient’s clinical symptoms resolved within 24 hours, and magnetic resonance imaging at 32 hours showed resolution of swelling. Contrast-induced neurotoxicity should be found in the differential diagnosis of acute neurological deficits occurring after radiological procedures involving iodinated contrast media, whether ionic or nonionic

Design and test of optical payload for polarization encoded QKD for Nanosatellites

Satellite based Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) is currently the only viable technology to span thousands of kilometres. Since the typical overhead pass of a satellite lasts for a few minutes, it is crucial to increase the the signal rate to maximise the secret key length. For the QUARC CubeSat mission due to be launched within two years, we are designing a dual wavelength, weak-coherent-pulse decoy-state Bennett-Brassard '84 (WCP DS BB84) QKD source. The optical payload is designed in a $12{\times}9{\times}5 cm^3$ bespoke aluminium casing. The Discrete Variable QKD Source consists of two symmetric sources operating at 785 nm and 808 nm. The laser diodes are fixed to produce Horizontal,Vertical, Diagonal, and Anti-diagonal (H,V,D,A) polarisation respectively, which are combined and attenuated to a mean photon number of 0.3 and 0.5 photons/pulse. We ensure that the source is secure against most side channel attacks by spatially mode filtering the output beam and characterising their spectral and temporal characterstics. The extinction ratio of the source contributes to the intrinsic Qubit Error Rate(QBER) with $0.817 \pm 0.001\%$. This source operates at 200MHz, which is enough to provide secure key rates of a few kilo bits per second despite 40 dB of estimated loss in the free space channe