2,434 research outputs found
Mobile learning: benefits of augmented reality in geometry teaching
As a consequence of the technological advances and the widespread use of mobile devices to access information and communication in the last decades, mobile learning has become a spontaneous learning model, providing a more flexible and collaborative technology-based learning. Thus, mobile technologies can create new opportunities for enhancing the pupils’ learning experiences. This paper presents the development of a game to assist teaching and learning, aiming to help students acquire knowledge in the
field of geometry. The game was intended to develop the following competences in primary school learners (8-10 years): a better visualization of geometric objects on a plane and in space; understanding of the properties of geometric solids; and familiarization with the vocabulary of geometry. Findings show that by using the game, students have improved around 35% the hits of correct responses to the classification and differentiation between edge, vertex and face in 3D solids.This research was supported by the Arts and Humanities Research Council Design Star CDT (AH/L503770/1), the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) projects LARSyS (UID/EEA/50009/2013) and CIAC-Research Centre for Arts and Communication.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
Singularity-free two-body equation with confining interactions in momentum space
We are developing a covariant model for all mesons that can be described as
quark-antiquark bound states in the framework of the Covariant Spectator Theory
(CST) in Minkowski space. The kernel of the bound-state equation contains a
relativistic generalization of a linear confining potential which is singular
in momentum space and makes its numerical solution more difficult. The same
type of singularity is present in the momentum-space Schr\"odinger equation,
which is obtained in the nonrelativistic limit. We present an alternative,
singularity-free form of the momentum-space Schr\"odinger equation which is
much easier to solve numerically and which yields accurate and stable results.
The same method will be applied to the numerical solution of the CST
bound-state equations.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, talk presented at the 22nd European Conference on
Few-Body Problems in Physics (EFB22), Krakow, Poland, 9 - 13 September 201
Covariant spectator theory of quark-antiquark bound states: Mass spectra and vertex functions of heavy and heavy-light mesons
We use the covariant spectator theory with an effective quark-antiquark
interaction, containing Lorentz scalar, pseudoscalar, and vector contributions,
to calculate the masses and vertex functions of, simultaneously, heavy and
heavy-light mesons. We perform least-square fits of the model parameters,
including the quark masses, to the meson spectrum and systematically study the
sensitivity of the parameters with respect to different sets of fitted data. We
investigate the influence of the vector confining interaction by using a
continuous parameter controlling its weight. We find that vector contributions
to the confining interaction between 0% and about 30% lead to essentially the
same agreement with the data. Similarly, the light quark masses are not very
tightly constrained. In all cases, the meson mass spectra calculated with our
fitted models agree very well with the experimental data. We also calculate the
mesons wave functions in a partial wave representation and show how they are
related to the meson vertex functions in covariant form.Comment: 23 pages, 10 figures. Minor corrections of previous version. To be
published in Phys. Rev.
BP Reduction, Kidney Function Decline, and Cardiovascular Events in Patients without CKD.
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES:
In the Systolic Blood Pressure Intervention Trial (SPRINT), intensive systolic BP treatment (target <120 mm Hg) was associated with fewer cardiovascular events and higher incidence of kidney function decline compared with standard treatment (target <140 mm Hg). We evaluated the association between mean arterial pressure reduction, kidney function decline, and cardiovascular events in patients without CKD.
DESIGN, SETTING, PARTICIPANTS, & MEASUREMENTS:
We categorized patients in the intensive treatment group of the SPRINT according to mean arterial pressure reduction throughout follow-up: <20, 20 to <40, and ≥40 mm Hg. We defined the primary outcome as kidney function decline (≥30% reduction in eGFR to <60 ml/min per 1.73 m2 on two consecutive determinations at 3-month intervals), and we defined the secondary outcome as cardiovascular events. In a propensity score analysis, patients in each mean arterial pressure reduction category from the intensive treatment group were matched with patients from the standard treatment group to calculate the number needed to treat regarding cardiovascular events and the number needed to harm regarding kidney function decline.
RESULTS:
In the intensive treatment group, 1138 (34%) patients attained mean arterial pressure reduction <20 mm Hg, 1857 (56%) attained 20 to <40 mm Hg, and 309 (9%) attained ≥40 mm Hg. Adjusted hazard ratios for kidney function decline were 2.10 (95% confidence interval, 1.22 to 3.59) for mean arterial pressure reduction between 20 and 40 mm Hg and 6.22 (95% confidence interval, 2.75 to 14.08) for mean arterial pressure reduction ≥40 mm Hg. In propensity score analysis, mean arterial pressure reduction <20 mm Hg presented a number needed to treat of 44 and a number needed to harm of 65, reduction between 20 and <40 mm Hg presented a number needed to treat of 42 and a number needed to harm of 35, and reduction ≥40 mm Hg presented a number needed to treat of 95 and a number needed to harm of 16.
CONCLUSIONS:
In the intensive treatment group of SPRINT, larger declines in mean arterial pressure were associated with higher incidence of kidney function decline. Intensive treatment seemed to be less favorable when a larger reduction in mean arterial pressure was needed to attain the BP target.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
Application of the Covariant Spectator Theory to the study of heavy and heavy-light mesons
As an application of the Covariant Spectator Theory (CST) we calculate the
spectrum of heavy-light and heavy-heavy mesons using covariant versions of a
linear confining potential, a one- gluon exchange, and a constant interaction.
The CST equations possess the correct one-body limit and are therefore
well-suited to describe mesons in which one quark is much heavier than the
other. We find a good fit to the mass spectrum of heavy-light and heavy-heavy
mesons with just three parameters (apart from the quark masses). Remarkably,
the fit parameters are nearly unchanged when we fit to experimental
pseudoscalar states only or to the whole spectrum. Because pseudoscalar states
are insensitive to spin-orbit interactions and do not determine spin-spin
interactions separately from central interactions, this result suggests that it
is the covariance of the kernel that correctly predicts the spin-dependent
quark-antiquark interaction
A covariant constituent-quark formalism for mesons
Using the framework of the Covariant Spectator Theory (CST) [1] we are
developing a covariant model formulated in Minkowski space to study mesonic
structure and spectra. Treating mesons as effective states, we
focused in [2] on the nonrelativistic bound-state problem in momentum space
with a linear confining potential. Although integrable, this kernel has
singularities which are difficult to handle numerically. In [2] we reformulate
it into a form in which all singularities are explicitely removed. The
resulting equations are then easier to solve and yield accurate and stable
solutions. In the present work, the same method is applied to the relativistic
case, improving upon the results of the one-channel spectator equation (1CSE)
given in [3].Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures, Presented at EEF70, Workshop on Unquenched Hadron
Spectroscopy: Non-Perturbative Models and Methods of QCD vs. Experimen
Quarkonia and heavy-light mesons in a covariant quark model
Preliminary calculations using the Covariant Spectator Theory (CST) employed
a scalar linear confining interaction and an additional constant vector
potential to compute the mesonic mass spectra. In this work we generalize the
confining interaction to include more general structures, in particular a
vector and also a pseudoscalar part, as suggested by a recent study. A
one-gluon-exchange kernel is also implemented to describe the short-range part
of the interaction. We solve the simplest CST approximation to the complete
Bethe-Salpeter equation, the one-channel spectator equation, using a numerical
technique that eliminates all singularities from the kernel. The parameters of
the model are determined through a fit to the experimental pseudoscalar meson
spectra, with a good agreement for both quarkonia and heavy-light states.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures; 21st International Conference on Few-Body
Problems in Physics, May 18 - 22, 2015, Chicago, US
Relativistic phenomenology of meson spectra with a covariant quark model in Minkowski space
In this work, we perform a covariant treatment of quark-antiquark systems. We
calculate the spectra and wave functions using a formalism based on the
Covariant Spectator Theory (CST). Our results not only reproduce very well the
experimental data with a very small set of global parameters, but they also
allow a direct test of the predictive power of covariant kernels
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