Mature-aged men’s experiences of higher education: Australia and England compared

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Students' decisions to use an eLearning system: a structural equation modelling analysis

This research investigates and identifies some of the major factors affecting studentsâ?? adoption of an e-learning system at Arab Open University in Jordan. E-learning adoption is approached from the information systems acceptance point of view. An extended version of the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) was developed to investigate the underlying factors that influence studentsâ?? decisions to use an e-learning system. The proposed model uses the actual use of an e-learning system. It is different from most of the prior TAM studies, which only used a single dependent variable (intention to use). The model was estimated using Structural Equation Modelling (SEM). The final models derived from this study indicated that beliefs of usefulness and ease of use partially mediate the relationship between external factors and intention to use and actual use of e-learning systems

K-Ras and β-catenin mutations cooperate with Fgfr3 mutations in mice to promote tumorigenesis in the skin and lung, but not in the bladder

The human fibroblast growth factor receptor 3 (FGFR3) gene is frequently mutated in superficial urothelial cell carcinoma (UCC). To test the functional significance of FGFR3 activating mutations as a ‘driver’ of UCC, we targeted the expression of mutated Fgfr3 to the murine urothelium using Cre-loxP recombination driven by the uroplakin II promoter. The introduction of the Fgfr3 mutations resulted in no obvious effect on tumorigenesis up to 18 months of age. Furthermore, even when the Fgfr3 mutations were introduced together with K-Ras or β-catenin (Ctnnb1) activating mutations, no urothelial dysplasia or UCC was observed. Interestingly, however, owing to a sporadic ectopic Cre recombinase expression in the skin and lung of these mice, Fgfr3 mutation caused papilloma and promoted lung tumorigenesis in cooperation with K-Ras and β-catenin activation, respectively. These results indicate that activation of FGFR3 can cooperate with other mutations to drive tumorigenesis in a context-dependent manner, and support the hypothesis that activation of FGFR3 signaling contributes to human cancer

Stepped vitrification technique for human ovarian tissue cryopreservation

The advantage of stepped vitrification (SV) is avoiding ice crystal nucleation, while decreasing the toxic effects of high cryoprotectant concentrations. We aimed to test this method for human ovarian tissue cryopreservation. Ovarian cortex was taken from 7 fertile adult women. Samples were subjected to an SV protocol performed in an automatic freezer, which allowed sample transfer to ever higher concentrations of dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) as the temperature was reduced. Histological evaluation of the vitrified-warmed tissue showed large numbers of degenerated follicles after 24 hours of in vitro culture. We therefore evaluated DMSO perfusion rates by X-ray computed tomography, ice crystal formation by freeze-substitution, and cell toxicity by transmission electron microscopy, seeking possible reasons why follicles degenerated. Although cryoprotectant perfusion was considered normal and no ice crystals were formed in the tissue, ultrastructural analysis detected typical signs of DMSO toxicity, such as mitochondria degeneration, alterations in chromatin condensation, cell vacuolization and extracellular matrix swelling in both stromal and follicular cells. The findings indicated that the method failed to preserve follicles due to the high concentrations of DMSO used. However, adaptations can be made to avoid toxicity to follicles caused by elevated levels of cryoprotectants.Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP) 2016/22947-

Monte Carlo and Renormalization Group Effective Potentials in Scalar Field Theories

We study constraint effective potentials for various strongly interacting $\phi^4$ theories. Renormalization group (RG) equations for these quantities are discussed and a heuristic development of a commonly used RG approximation is presented which stresses the relationships among the loop expansion, the Schwinger-Dyson method and the renormalization group approach. We extend the standard RG treatment to account explicitly for finite lattice effects. Constraint effective potentials are then evaluated using Monte Carlo (MC) techniques and careful comparisons are made with RG calculations. Explicit treatment of finite lattice effects is found to be essential in achieving quantitative agreement with the MC effective potentials. Excellent agreement is demonstrated for $d=3$ and $d=4$, O(1) and O(2) cases in both symmetric and broken phases.Comment: 16 pages, 4 figures appended to end of this fil

Climate-resilient water infrastructure: A call to action

The effects of climate change have put tremendous stress on our existing water infrastructure and necessitate rethinking of how we govern and manage these systems. This commentary is a call to action for placing a holistic understanding of climate resilience at the center of water governance, understanding and approaching the issues as contextual and interdisciplinary in nature. Drawing from experiences from the Netherlands and the United States, this commentary outlines climate adaptation as policy dilemma and the role and characteristics of engineering, nature-based, and community-focused approaches. It concludes with some thoughts on pathways forward and an invitation for future research and dialog

Complete factorization of equations of motion in Wess-Zumino theory

We prove that the equations of motion describing domain walls in a Wess-Zumino theory involving only one chiral matter multiplet can be factorized into first order Bogomol'nyi equations, so that all the topological defects are of the Bogomol'nyi-Prasad-Sommerfield type.Comment: Revtex, 3 pages. Written after hep-th/0103041, to appear in PL

Complete factorization of equations of motion in supersymmetric field theories

We investigate bosonic sectors of supersymmetric field theories. We consider superpotentials described by one and by two real scalar fields, and we show how the equations of motion can be factorized into a family of first order Bogomol'nyi equations, so that all the topological defects are of the Bogomol'nyi-Prasad-Sommerfield type. We examine explicit models, that engender the Z_N symmetry, and we identify all the topological sectors, illustrating their integrability.Comment: Revtex, 6 pages; version to be published in Nucl. Phys.

Lorentz-violating effects on topological defects generated by two real scalar fields

The influence of a Lorentz-violation on soliton solutions generated by a system of two coupled scalar fields is investigated. Lorentz violation is induced by a fixed tensor coefficient that couples the two fields. The Bogomol'nyi method is applied and first-order differential equations are obtained whose solutions minimize energy and are also solutions of the equations of motion. The analysis of the solutions in phase space shows how the stability is modified with the Lorentz violation. It is shown explicitly that the solutions preserve linear stability despite the presence of Lorentz violation. Considering Lorentz violation as a small perturbation, an analytical method is employed to yield analytical solutions.Comment: (9 pages, 11 figures