11,022 research outputs found
Putting the Professional into Practice-based Learning
Assessment in an undergraduate physics subject was re-designed to challenge and inspire students to develop and apply their disciplinary and non-disciplinary skills in a practice-based, authentic assignment task. The aims of the re-design were to expose students to workplace practice and increase their engagement in the subject. Traditionally, as a response to its emphasis on disciplinary theory, science is assessed by way of content focussed class tests and examinations, activities not reflected in workplace practice. These summative assessment types measure student attainment of knowledge rather than enable deeper understanding and learning. However, introducing students to âreal-worldâ practice-oriented assessment tasks can enhance student engagement and promote learning. To achieve these aims, the assignment was carefully scaffolded to give students the opportunity to improve their scientific writing skills, develop an approach to systematic research, build a greater understanding of the peer-review process and acquire skills in self and team management. The task required students to work in groups to research and write a research paper based on a meta-study model. Their papers were then compiled and published in a student peerreviewed research journal. The impact of this intervention was evaluated through a focus group discussion, with the majority of the students commenting positively on their learning and engagement in the subject. This reflective article discusses the effectiveness of the assignment design, its scaffolding, the peer-review process and the authenticity of the workplace-setting. Suggestions are made as to how to further improve this type of assignment design. This workplace-focused intervention may be of interest to educators in other disciplines
Optimal Control for Generating Quantum Gates in Open Dissipative Systems
Optimal control methods for implementing quantum modules with least amount of
relaxative loss are devised to give best approximations to unitary gates under
relaxation. The potential gain by optimal control using relaxation parameters
against time-optimal control is explored and exemplified in numerical and in
algebraic terms: it is the method of choice to govern quantum systems within
subspaces of weak relaxation whenever the drift Hamiltonian would otherwise
drive the system through fast decaying modes. In a standard model system
generalising decoherence-free subspaces to more realistic scenarios,
openGRAPE-derived controls realise a CNOT with fidelities beyond 95% instead of
at most 15% for a standard Trotter expansion. As additional benefit it requires
control fields orders of magnitude lower than the bang-bang decouplings in the
latter.Comment: largely expanded version, superseedes v1: 10 pages, 5 figure
Polarimetric Evidence of Non-Spherical Winds
Polarization observations yield otherwise unobtainable information about the
geometrical structure of unresolved objects. In this talk we review the
evidences for non-spherically symmetric structures around Luminous Hot Stars
from polarimetry and what we can learn with this technique. Polarimetry has
added a new dimension to the study of the envelopes of Luminous Blue Variables,
Wolf-Rayet stars and B[e] stars, all of which are discussed in some detail.Comment: 8 pages, 2 encapsulated Postscript figures, uses lamuphys.sty.
Invited review to appear in IAU Coll. 169, Variable and Non-Spherical Stellar
Winds in Luminous Hot Stars, eds. B. Wolf, A.Fullerton and O. Stahl
(Springer
Application of Guggenheim\u27s Short Formula to the Calculation of Dipole Moments
By substituting the actual physical constants of benzene into Guggenheim\u27s short formula for orientation polarization, a simple relation for the dipole moment was obtained. The accuracy of this equation was tested with empirical data of some one hundred dipole moment measurements and the relation was found to agree within 0.02 debyes with calculations made using the Kumler-Halverstadt equations
Current and future opportunities for satellite remote sensing to inform rewilding
Rewilding has been suggested as an effective strategy for addressing environmental challenges such as the intertwined biodiversity and climate change crises, but there is little information to guide the monitoring of rewilding projects. Since rewilding focuses on enhancing ecosystem functionality, with no defined endpoint, monitoring strategies used in restoration are often inappropriate, as they typically focus on assessing species composition, or the ecological transition of an ecosystem towards a defined desired state. We here discuss how satellite remote sensing can provide an opportunity to address existing knowledge and data gaps in rewilding science. We first discuss how satellite remote sensing is currently being used to inform rewilding initiatives and highlight current barriers to the adoption of this type of technology by practitioners and scientists involved with rewilding. We then identify opportunities for satellite remote sensing to help address current knowledge gaps in rewilding, including gaining a better understanding of the role of animals in ecosystem functioning; improving the monitoring of landscape-scale connectivity; and assessing the impacts of rewilding on the conservation status of rewilded sites. Though significant barriers remain to the widespread use of satellite remote sensing to monitor rewilding projects, we argue that decisions on monitoring approaches and priorities need to be part of implementation plans from the start, involving both remote sensing experts and ecologists. Making use of the full potential of satellite remote sensing for rewilding ultimately requires integrating species and ecosystem perspectives at the monitoring, knowledge-producing and decision-making levels. Such an integration will require a change in know-how, necessitating increased inter-disciplinary interactions and collaborations, as well as conceptual shifts in communities and organizations traditionally involved in biodiversity conservation
Development of the Modified Yale Food Addiction Scale Version 2.0
The Yale Food Addiction Scale (YFAS) operationalizes indicators of addictiveâlike eating, originally based on the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders 4th edition Text Revision (DSMâIVâTR) criteria for substanceâuse disorders. The YFAS has multiple adaptations, including a briefer scale (mYFAS). Recently, the YFAS 2.0 was developed to reflect changes to diagnostic criteria in the DSMâ5. The current study developed a briefer version of the YFAS 2.0 (mYFAS 2.0) using the participant sample from the YFAS 2.0 validation paper (nâ=â536). Then, in an independent sample recruited from Mechanical Turk, 213 participants completed the mYFAS 2.0, YFAS 2.0, and measures of eatingârelated constructs in order to evaluate the psychometric properties of the mYFAS 2.0, relative to the YFAS 2.0. The mYFAS 2.0 and YFAS 2.0 performed similarly on indexes of reliability, convergent validity with related constructs (e.g. weight cycling), discriminant validity with distinct measures (e.g. dietary restraint) and incremental validity evidenced by associations with frequency of binge eating beyond a measure of disinhibited eating. The mYFAS 2.0 may be an appropriate choice for studies prioritizing specificity when assessing for addictiveâlike eating or when a briefer measurement of food addiction is needed. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and Eating Disorders Association.Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/137291/1/erv2515.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/137291/2/erv2515_am.pd
The CLIC Programme: Towards a Staged e+e- Linear Collider Exploring the Terascale : CLIC Conceptual Design Report
This report describes the exploration of fundamental questions in particle
physics at the energy frontier with a future TeV-scale e+e- linear collider
based on the Compact Linear Collider (CLIC) two-beam acceleration technology. A
high-luminosity high-energy e+e- collider allows for the exploration of
Standard Model physics, such as precise measurements of the Higgs, top and
gauge sectors, as well as for a multitude of searches for New Physics, either
through direct discovery or indirectly, via high-precision observables. Given
the current state of knowledge, following the observation of a 125 GeV
Higgs-like particle at the LHC, and pending further LHC results at 8 TeV and 14
TeV, a linear e+e- collider built and operated in centre-of-mass energy stages
from a few-hundred GeV up to a few TeV will be an ideal physics exploration
tool, complementing the LHC. In this document, an overview of the physics
potential of CLIC is given. Two example scenarios are presented for a CLIC
accelerator built in three main stages of 500 GeV, 1.4 (1.5) TeV, and 3 TeV,
together with operating schemes that will make full use of the machine capacity
to explore the physics. The accelerator design, construction, and performance
are presented, as well as the layout and performance of the experiments. The
proposed staging example is accompanied by cost estimates of the accelerator
and detectors and by estimates of operating parameters, such as power
consumption. The resulting physics potential and measurement precisions are
illustrated through detector simulations under realistic beam conditions.Comment: 84 pages, published as CERN Yellow Report
https://cdsweb.cern.ch/record/147522
Testing the Higgs Mechanism in the Lepton Sector with multi-TeV e+e- Collisions
Multi-TeV e+e- collisions provide with a large enough sample of Higgs bosons
to enable measurements of its suppressed decays. Results of a detailed study of
the determination of the muon Yukawa coupling at 3 TeV, based on full detector
simulation and event reconstruction, are presented. The muon Yukawa coupling
can be determined with a relative accuracy of 0.04 to 0.08 for Higgs bosons
masses from 120 GeV to 150 GeV, with an integrated luminosity of 5 inverse-ab.
The result is not affected by overlapping two-photon background.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figures, submitted to J Phys G.: Nucl. Phy
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