Relationships and School Success: From a Social-Emotional Learning Perspective

There is an increased body of research indicating the importance of social-emotional learning (SEL) in schools. SEL is the processes of acquiring the skills to recognize and manage emotions, develop caring and concern for others, make responsible decisions, establish positive relationships, and handle challenging situations effectively. It is promoted through both direct instruction and the establishment of safe, caring, and supportive learning environments in which all students feel valued, respected, and connected. In support of such arguments are studies linking SEL to a number of positive students’ outcomes, including better academic achievement, social behavior, and emotional well-being. This chapter addresses how SEL, especially relationships as a critical component of SEL, contributes to school success and mental health especially among youth, with research evidence. Further, on the basis that we often do not feel efficacious in fostering SEL due to inadequate training and information, this chapter provides evidence-based practices to support healthy relationships and learning environments

Determination of interfacial fracture toughness of bone–cement interface using sandwich Brazilian disks

AbstractThe long-term stability of cemented total hip replacements critically depends on the lasting integrity of the bond between bone and bone cement. Conventionally, the bonding strength of bone–cement is obtained by mechanical tests that tend to produce a large variability between specimens and test methods. In this work, interfacial fracture toughness of synthetic bone–cement interface has been studied using sandwiched Brazilian disk specimens. Experiments were carried out using polyurethane foams as substrates and a common bone cement as an interlayer. Selected loading angles from 0° to 25° were used to achieve full loading conditions from mode I to mode II. Finite element analyses were carried out to obtain the solutions for strain energy release rates at given phase angles associated with the experimental models. The effects of crack length on the measured interfacial fracture toughness were examined. Microscopic studies were also carried out to obtain the morphology of the fractured interfaces at selected loading angles.The implication of the results on the assessment of fixation in acetabular replacements is discussed in the light of preliminary work on bovine cancellous bone–cement interface

Malaysian general music teachers’ attitudes and practices in multicultural music education

The awareness of the importance of multicultural music in the Malaysian primary music education has increased due to the requirements set by the National Curriculum Standards for Primary School in music education in Malaysia. Therefore, it can be said that multicultural music is not an optional component to be included or disregarded at the discretion of the teacher in the music classroom. Music teachers are expected to foster multicultural music educational programs that address the diverse needs of students. in the context of sustainability of multicultural music education, it is important to know that the current status of music teachers’ attitudes and practices with regard to multicultural music education such as what and how effective are the practices and their perceptions as far as the multicultural music is concerned. Therefore, this study examined Malaysian general music teachers’ utilization of multicultural music education in the music curriculum, specifically exploring the relationship between the general music teachers’ attitudes and their efforts in developing and implementing multicultural music education in music classes. This study utilized an adaptation of the original Music Specialist’s Multicultural Music Education Survey instrument which was administered to 456 of primary schools’ general music teachers in Malaysia. This instrument was used to measure teachers’ attitudes and practices regarding multicultural music education. Data analysis included descriptive statistics, analysis of variance (ANOVA) and correlational analysis (pearson product-moment correlation). Results indicate that there is limited implementation of multicultural music education in the music classrooms due to inadequate preparation and limited resources, and insufficient knowledge in multicultural music. As such, it is important to ensure music teachers develop a more critical understanding of multicultural music education include producing and developing more instructional materials and learning aids, which are suitable for primary students and appropriate for the Malaysian context. Hence, music teacher training programs are needed in order to address both theoretical and practical aspects of multicultural music education throughout the curriculum in a comprehensive and long-term manner

Message passing for distributed optimisation of power allocation with renewable resources

The increase in renewable energy generators introduced into the electricity grid is putting pressure on its stability and management as predictions of renewable energy sources cannot be accurate or fully controlled. This, with the additional pressure of fluctuations in demand, presents a problem more complex than the current methods of controlling electricity distribution were designed for. A global approximate and distributed optimisation method for power allocation that accommodates uncertainties and volatility is suggested and analysed. It is based on a probabilistic method known as message passing [1], which has deep links to statistical physics methodology. This principled method of optimisation is based on local calculations and inherently accommodates uncertainties; it is of modest computational complexity and provides good approximate solutions.We consider uncertainty and fluctuations drawn from a Gaussian distribution and incorporate them into the message-passing algorithm. We see the effect that increasing uncertainty has on the transmission cost and how the placement of volatile nodes within a grid, such as renewable generators or consumers, effects it

Network optimisation - A statistical physics perspective

Inference and optimisation of real-value edge variables in sparse graphs are studied using the tree based Bethe approximation optimisation algorithms. Equilibrium states of general energy functions involving a large set of real edge-variables that interact at the network nodes are obtained for networks in various cases. These include different cost functions, connectivity values, constraints on the edge bandwidth and the case of multiclass optimisation

From the physics of interacting polymers to optimizing routes on the London Underground

Optimizing paths on networks is crucial for many applications, ranging from subway traffic to Internet communication. Because global path optimization that takes account of all path choices simultaneously is computationally hard, most existing routing algorithms optimize paths individually, thus providing suboptimal solutions. We use the physics of interacting polymers and disordered systems to analyze macroscopic properties of generic path optimization problems and derive a simple, principled, generic, and distributed routing algorithm capable of considering all individual path choices simultaneously. We demonstrate the efficacy of the algorithm by applying it to: (i) random graphs resembling Internet overlay networks, (ii) travel on the London Underground network based on Oyster card data, and (iii ) the global airport network. Analytically derived macroscopic properties give rise to insightful new routing phenomena, including phase transitions and scaling laws, that facilitate better understanding of the appropriate operational regimes and their limitations, which are difficult to obtain otherwise

Distributed optimization in transportation and logistics networks

Many important problems in communication networks, transportation networks, and logistics networks are solved by the minimization of cost functions. In general, these can be complex optimization problems involving many variables. However, physicists noted that in a network, a node variable (such as the amount of resources of the nodes) is connected to a set of link variables (such as the flow connecting the node), and similarly each link variable is connected to a number of (usually two) node variables. This enables one to break the problem into local components, often arriving at distributive algorithms to solve the problems. Compared with centralized algorithms, distributed algorithms have the advantages of lower computational complexity, and lower communication overhead. Since they have a faster response to local changes of the environment, they are especially useful for networks with evolving conditions. This review will cover message-passing algorithms in applications such as resource allocation, transportation networks, facility location, traffic routing, and stability of power grids

Storytelling as a pedagogical strategy for culturally responsive mathematics teaching

This paper reports an intervention study with 60 Primary three students in Hong Kong mathematics classrooms in which the language of instruction (English) was not the first language for neither the teachers nor their students. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of storytelling to develop fraction language and concepts based on the theory of culturally responsive teaching. The pre-test scores of the intervention group was significantly lower than the control group, yet post-test scores showed that both groups performed comparably well. These initial findings suggested that integrating storytelling with a culturally responsive teaching approach can reduce the achievement gap between culturally and linguistically diverse students in rural settings and their peers in urban districts

Optimal load shedding in electricity grids with renewable sources via message passing

The increased penetration of volatile and intermittent renewable energy sources challenges existing power-distribution methods as current dispatch methods were not designed to consider high levels of volatility. We suggest a principled algorithm called message passing, which complements existing techniques. It is based on statistical physics methodology and passes probabilistic messages locally to find the approximate global optimal solution for a given objective function. The computational complexity of the algorithm increases linearly with the system size, allowing one to solve large-scale problems. We show how message passing considers fluctuations effectively and prioritise consumers in the event of insufficient resource. We demonstrate the efficacy of the algorithm in managing load-shedding and power-distribution on synthetic benchmark IEEE data and discuss the role of weights in the trade-off between minimising load-shedding and transmission costs