9,004 research outputs found
Curriculum Studies in the posthuman condition/posthuman curriculum (studies)
In this article we discuss the difference between curriculum studies (as a field of inquiry) in the posthuman condition and posthuman curriculum (studies). The posthuman condition is characterised by both posthumanism and post-anthropocentrism and relates respectively, to how we now define human given humans’ entanglement with new technologies, and the ethical response-ability of humans in intra-action with the more-than-human-world in a context of impending ecological disaster. In this article we shall argue that although Enlightenment humanism has been challenged philosophically/conceptually both in discourses on anti-humanism and posthumanism, humanist approaches to curriculum studies remain with us in the posthuman condition – the ghosts of Dewey, Tyler, Freire, etc., imbue much of curriculum work. However, the posthuman condition also produces posthuman thought that makes it possible to reimagine curriculum studies, that we shall call posthuman curriculum (studies). We shall review different approaches to curriculum studies in the posthuman condition, and then turn our attention to posthuman curriculum (studies). We argue that curriculum (as a vital concept) in posthumanist terms is intelligible and manifests through intra-actions, processes of becoming and experimenting. Set against sedentary states of being that mark curriculum studies in the posthuman condition; becoming, intra-acting and experimenting in posthuman curriculum (studies) are acts, doings in and of this world. The acts and doings in posthuman curriculum (studies) that are mostly written about include: improvisation, theorisation and diffraction. To these we add and specifically discuss quantum tunnelling, tracing, and desiring. Other forms of curriculum experimentation worthy of consideration in posthuman curriculum (studies) but not discussed in the article are queering, imagining, and writing. Towards the end we make the point that although some connections with the past (such as those that haunt curriculum discourses) can be threatening to life, connections of the thick now hold potential and radical openness for newness
Theory of pixel lensing towards M31 I: the density contribution and mass of MACHOs
POINT-AGAPE is an Anglo-French collaboration which is employing the Isaac
Newton Telescope (INT) to conduct a pixel-lensing survey towards M31. In this
paper we investigate what we can learn from pixel-lensing observables about the
MACHO mass and fractional contribution in M31 and the Galaxy for the case of
spherically-symmetric near-isothermal haloes. We employ detailed pixel-lensing
simulations which include many of the factors which affect the observables. For
a maximum MACHO halo we predict an event rate in V of up to 100 per season for
M31 and 40 per season for the Galaxy. However, the Einstein radius crossing
time is generally not measurable and the observed full-width half-maximum
duration provides only a weak tracer of lens mass. Nonetheless, we find that
the near-far asymmetry in the spatial distribution of M31 MACHOs provides
significant information on their mass and density contribution. We present a
likelihood estimator for measuring the fractional contribution and mass of both
M31 and Galaxy MACHOs which permits an unbiased determination to be made of
MACHO parameters, even from data-sets strongly contaminated by variable stars.
If M31 does not have a significant population of MACHOs in the mass range
0.001-1 Solar masses strong limits will result from the first season of INT
observations. Simulations based on currently favoured density and mass values
indicate that, after three seasons, the M31 MACHO parameters should be
constrained to within a factor four uncertainty in halo fraction and an order
of magnitude uncertainty in mass (90% confidence). Interesting constraints on
Galaxy MACHOs may also be possible. For a campaign lasting ten years,
comparable to the lifetime of current LMC surveys, reliable estimates of MACHO
parameters in both galaxies should be possible. (Abridged)Comment: 21 pages, 14 figures. Submitted to MNRA
Is questioning consumers about their behavioural intentions useful? Answers from a study of members of an organic produce basket system
After the success of the Amap (French associations to support local small farmer) since the early 2000s in France, many different, less-binding derivatives of this short food supply model have recently appeared. These different basket systems must all grapple with the same problem, namely, the ability to foresee the number of members in the years to come. From a marketing point of view, these systems consequently all share the same concern, that of retaining their member consumers. The case on which the present research is based, Les Paniers Bio Solidaires, concerns precisely this problem of member retention. A database was created from an annual survey (from 2011 to 2016) of the PBS scheme members, to explore this question. This paper presents the results of the exploratory analyses (PCA), followed by their confirmation (by PLS Path Modeling). We discuss these results and suggest searching for explanations in the area of commitment theories in social psychology
Predicting the solar maximum with the rising rate
The growth rate of solar activity in the early phase of a solar cycle has
been known to be well correlated with the subsequent amplitude (solar maximum).
It provides very useful information for a new solar cycle as its variation
reflects the temporal evolution of the dynamic process of solar magnetic
activities from the initial phase to the peak phase of the cycle. The
correlation coefficient between the solar maximum (Rmax) and the rising rate
({\beta}a) at {\Delta}m months after the solar minimum (Rmin) is studied and
shown to increase as the cycle progresses with an inflection point (r = 0.83)
at about {\Delta}m = 20 months. The prediction error of Rmax based on {\beta}a
is found within estimation at the 90% level of confidence and the relative
prediction error will be less than 20% when {\Delta}m \geq 20. From the above
relationship, the current cycle (24) is preliminarily predicted to peak around
October 2013 with a size of Rmax =84 \pm 33 at the 90% level of confidence.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures, accepted for publication in SCIENCE CHINA
Physics,Mechanics & Astronom
AgapeZ1: a Large Amplification Microlensing Event or an Odd Variable Star Towards the Inner Bulge of M31
AgapeZ1 is the brightest and the shortest duration microlensing candidate
event found in the Agape data. It occured only 42" from the center of M31. Our
photometry shows that the half intensity duration of the event6 is 4.8 days and
at maximum brightness we measure a stellar magnitude of R=18.0 with B-R=0.80
mag color. A search on HST archives produced a single resolved star within the
projected event position error box. Its magnitude is R=22.Comment: 4 pages with 5 figure
Preparation and Foliar Application of Oligochitosan - Nanosilica on the Enhancement of Soybean Seed Yield
Oligochitosan with weight average molecu-lar weight (Mw) of 5000 g/mol was prepared by gamma Co-60 radiation degradation of 4% chitosan solution containing 0.5% H2O2 at 21 kGy. Nanosilica with size of 10 – 30 nm was synthesized by calcination of acid treated rice husk at 700o C for 2 h. The mixture of 2% oligo-chitosan-2% nanosilica was prepared by dispersion of nanosilica in oligochitosan solution. Oligochitosan, nanosilica and their mixture were characterized by gel permeation chromatography (GPC), transmission electr-on microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (EDX), Ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy (UV-Vis), and Furrier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR). Effect of foliar application of oli-gochitosan and oligochitosan-nanosilica on soybean seed yield was conducted in experimental field. Results indi-cated that soybean seed yield increased 10.5 and 17.0% for oligochitosan and oligochitosan-nanosilica, respect-tively for the control. Radiation degraded oligo-chitosan and its mixture with nanosilica can be potentially used for cultivation of soybean with enhanced seed yield
Nature and evolution of the dominant carbonaceous matter in interplanetary dust particles: effects of irradiation and identification with a type of amorphous carbon
Aims.Interplanetary dust particle (IDP) matter probably evolved under irradiation in the interstellar medium (ISM) and the solar nebula. Currently IDPs are exposed to irradiation in the Solar System. Here the effects of UV and proton processing on IDP matter are studied experimentally. The structure and chemical composition of the bulk of carbon matter in IDPs is characterized. Methods: .Several IDPs were further irradiated in the laboratory using ultraviolet (UV) photons and protons in order to study the effects of such processing. By means of infrared and Raman spectroscopy, IDPs were also compared to different materials that serve as analogs of carbon grains in the dense and diffuse ISM. Results: .The carbonaceous fraction of IDPs is dehydrogenated by exposure to hard UV photons or 1 MeV protons. On the other hand, proton irradiation at lower energies (20 keV) leads to an efficient hydrogenation of the carbonaceous IDP matter. The dominant type of carbon in IDPs, observed with Raman and infrared spectroscopy, is found to be either a form of amorphous carbon (a-C) or hydrogenated amorphous carbon (a-C:H), depending on the IDP, consisting of aromatic units with an average domain size of 1.35 nm (5-6 rings in diameter), linked by aliphatic chains. Conclusions: .The D- and 15N-enrichments associated to an aliphatic component in some IDPs are probably the result of chemical reactions at cold temperatures. It is proposed that the amorphous carbon in IDPs was formed by energetic processing (UV photons and cosmic rays) of icy grains, maybe during the dense cloud stage, and more likely on the surface of the disk during the T Tauri phase of our Sun. This would explain the isotopic anomalies and morphology of IDPs. Partial annealing, 300-400°C, is required to convert an organic residue from ice photoprocessing into the amorphous carbon with low heteroatom content found in IDPs. Such annealing might have occurred as the particles approached the Sun and/or during atmospheric entry heating
Compressive Earth Observatory: An Insight from AIRS/AMSU Retrievals
We demonstrate that the global fields of temperature, humidity and
geopotential heights admit a nearly sparse representation in the wavelet
domain, offering a viable path forward to explore new paradigms of
sparsity-promoting data assimilation and compressive recovery of land
surface-atmospheric states from space. We illustrate this idea using retrieval
products of the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) and Advanced Microwave
Sounding Unit (AMSU) on board the Aqua satellite. The results reveal that the
sparsity of the fields of temperature is relatively pressure-independent while
atmospheric humidity and geopotential heights are typically sparser at lower
and higher pressure levels, respectively. We provide evidence that these
land-atmospheric states can be accurately estimated using a small set of
measurements by taking advantage of their sparsity prior.Comment: 12 pages, 8 figures, 1 tabl
Star formation histories and evolution of 35 brightest E+A galaxies from SDSS DR5
We pick out the 35 brightest galaxies from Goto's E+A galaxies catalogue
which are selected from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 5. The
spectra of E+As are prominently characterized by the strong Balmer absorption
lines but little [Oii] or H_alpha emission lines. In this work we study the
stellar populations of the sample galaxies by fitting their spectra using
ULySS, which is a robust full spectrum fitting method. We fit each of the
sample with 1-population (a single stellar population-a SSP) and 3-population
(3 SSPs) models, separately. By 1-population fits, we obtain SSP-equivalent
ages and metallicities which correspond to the `luminosity-weighted' averages.
By 3-population fits, we divide components into three groups in age (old
stellar population-OSP, intermediate-age stellar population-ISP, and young
stellar population-YSP), and then get the optimal age, metallicity and
population fractions in both mass and light for OSP, ISP and YSP. During the
fits, both Pegase.HR/Elodie3.1 and Vazdekis/Miles are used as two independent
population models. The two models result in generally consistent conclusions as
follows: for all the sample galaxies, YSPs (< 1Gyr) make important
contributions to the light. However, the dominant contributors to mass are
OSPs. We also reconstruct the smoothing star formation histories (SFHs) by
giving star formation rate (SFR) versus evolutionary age. In addition, we fit
the E+A sample and 34 randomly selected elliptical galaxies with 2-population
(2 SSPs) model. We obtain the equivalent age of old components for each of the
E+A sample and elliptical galaxies. By comparison, the old components of E+As
are statistically much younger than those of ellipticals. From the standpoint
of the stellar population age, this probably provides an evidence for the
proposed evolutionary link from E+As to early-types (E/S0s).Comment: 16 pages, 9 figures, Accepted for publication on MNRA
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