Simulation of Cosmic Ray neutrinos Interactions in Water

The program CORSIKA, usually used to simulate extensive cosmic ray air showers, has been adapted to a water medium in order to study the acoustic detection of ultra high energy neutrinos. Showers in water from incident protons and from neutrinos have been generated and their properties are described. The results obtained from CORSIKA are compared to those from other available simulation programs such as Geant4.Comment: Talk presented on behalf of the ACoRNE Collaboration at the ARENA Workshop 200

Predictions of selected flavour observables within the Standard Model

This letter gathers a selection of Standard Model predictions issued from the metrology of the CKM parameters performed by the CKMfitter group. The selection includes purely leptonic decays of neutral and charged B, D and K mesons. In the light of the expected measurements from the LHCb experiment, a special attention is given to the radiative decay modes of B mesons as well as to the B-meson mixing observables, in particular the semileptonic charge asymmetries a^d,s_SL which have been recently investigated by the D0 experiment at Tevatron. Constraints arising from rare kaon decays are addressed, in light of both current results and expected performances of future rare kaon experiments. All results have been obtained with the CKMfitter analysis package, featuring the frequentist statistical approach and using Rfit to handle theoretical uncertainties.Comment: 8 pages, 1 figure, 2 tables. Typos corrected and discussion of agreement between SM and data update

The Quality of Mathematics Education Technology Literature

Background: The present study evaluated the quality of 1,165 scholarly literature papers about mathematics education technology literature.Purpose: The purpose of the present study was to determine the extent to which mathematics education technology literature reports the information needed to support the scientific basis of a study.Setting: N/AIntervention: N/AResearch Design: A systematic review was used to organize the data collection and analysis processes Data Collection and Analysis: A literature search was conducted to identify scholarly papers that addressed the use of technology in mathematics education. A coding process was developed to record descriptive information about each paper. The Quality Framework developed for this process provided a structure to identify key information across research types based on types of analyses conducted, assigning a certain number of possible points based on the type of research conducted.Findings: Dissertations accounted for a surprisingly high portion of the literature and research: 39.7% of the available literature and 57.0% of the research studies. The overall quality of the mathematics education technology literature was lower than we expected, averaging only 48.9% of the points possible. We noted that the quality of research papers, with respect to possible point values averaged 54.6% over four decades. For mathematics education technology researchers, manuscript reviewers, and editors, these results suggest that more attention is needed on the information being included and excluded from scholarly papers, especially with regard to connections to theoretical frameworks and research designs

Research in Mathematics Educational Technology: Current Trends and Future Demands

This systematic review of mathematics educational technology literature identified 1356 manuscripts addressing the integration of educational technology into mathematics instruction. The manuscripts were analyzed using three frameworks (Research Design, Teacher Knowledge, and TPACK) and three supplementary lenses (Data Sources, Outcomes, and NCTM Principles) to produce a database to support future research syntheses and meta-analyses. Preliminary analyses of student and teacher outcomes (e.g., knowledge, cognition, affect, and performance) suggest that the effects of incorporating graphing calculator and dynamic geometry technologies have been abundantly studied; however, the usefulness of the results was often limited by missing information regarding measures of validity, reliability, and/or trustworthiness

Frequent use of paracetamol and risk of allergic disease among women in an Ethiopian population

Introduction The hypothesis that paracetamol might increase the risk of asthma and other allergic diseases have gained support from a range of independent studies. However, in studies based in developed countries, the possibility that paracetamol and asthma are associated through aspirin avoidance is difficult to exclude. Objectives To explore this hypothesis among women in a developing country, where we have previously reported aspirin avoidance to be rare. Methods In 2005/6 a population based cohort of 1065 pregnant women was established in Butajira, Ethiopia and baseline demographic data collected. At 3 years post birth, an interview-based questionnaire administered to 945 (94%) of these women collected data on asthma, eczema, and hay fever in the past 12 month, frequency of paracetamol use and potential confounders. Allergen skin tests to Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus and cockroach were also performed. The independent effects of paracetamol use on allergic outcomes were determined using multiple logistic regression analysis. Findings The prevalence of asthma, eczema and hay fever was 1.7%, 0.9% and 3.8% respectively; of any one of these conditions 5.5%, and of allergen sensitization 7.8%. Paracetamol use in the past month was reported by 29%, and associations of borderline significance were seen for eczema (adjusted OR (95% CI) = 8.51 (1.68 to 43.19) for 1–3 tablets and 2.19 (0.36 to 13.38) for ≥4 tablets, compared to no tablets in the past month; overall p = 0.055) and for ‘any allergic condition’ (adjusted OR (95% CI) = 2.73 (1.22 to 6.11) for 1–3 tablets and 1.35 (0.67 to 2.70) for ≥4 tablets compared to 0 in the past month; overall p = 0.071). Conclusions This study provides further cross-sectional evidence that paracetamol use increases the risk of allergic disease

Artificially Intelligent Technology for the Margins: A Multidisciplinary Design Agenda

There has been increasing interest in socially just use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) in the development of technology that may be extended to marginalized people. However, the exploration of such technologies entails the development of an understanding of how they may increase and/or counter marginalization. The use of AI/ML algorithms can lead to several challenges, such as privacy and security concerns, biases, unfairness, and lack of cultural awareness, which especially affect marginalized people. This workshop will provide a forum to share experiences and challenges of developing AI/ML health and social wellbeing technologies with/for marginalized people and will work towards developing design methods to engage in the re-envisioning of AI/ML technologies for and with marginalized people. In doing so we will create cross-research area dialogues and collaborations. These discussions build a basis to (1) explore potential tools to support designing AI/ML systems with marginalized people, and (2) develop a design agenda for future research and AI/ML technology for and with marginalized people

Clinical Implication of Targeting of Cancer Stem Cells

The existence of cancer stem cells (CSCs) is receiving increasing interest particularly due to its potential ability to enter clinical routine. Rapid advances in the CSC field have provided evidence for the development of more reliable anticancer therapies in the future. CSCs typically only constitute a small fraction of the total tumor burden; however, they harbor self-renewal capacity and appear to be relatively resistant to conventional therapies. Recent therapeutic approaches aim to eliminate or differentiate CSCs or to disrupt the niches in which they reside. Better understanding of the biological characteristics of CSCs as well as improved preclinical and clinical trials targeting CSCs may revolutionize the treatment of many cancers. Copyright (c) 2012 S. Karger AG, Base

A portal of educational resources: providing evidence for matching pedagogy with technology

The TPACK (Technology, Pedagogy and Content Knowledge) model presents the three types of knowledge that are necessary to implement a successful technology-based educational activity. It highlights how the intersections between TPK (Technological Pedagogical Knowledge), PCK (Pedagogical Content Knowledge) and TCK (Technological Content Knowledge) are not a sheer sum up of their components but new types of knowledge. This paper focuses on TPK, the intersection between technology knowledge and pedagogy knowledge – a crucial field of investigation. Actually, technology in education is not just an add-on but is literally reshaping teaching/learning paradigms. Technology modifies pedagogy and pedagogy dictates requirements to technology. In order to pursue this research, an empirical approach was taken, building a repository (back-end) and a portal (front-end) of about 300 real-life educational experiences run at school. Educational portals are not new, but they generally emphasise content. Instead, in our portal, technology and pedagogy take centre stage. Experiences are classified according to more than 30 categories (‘facets’) and more than 200 facet values, all revolving around the pedagogical implementation and the technology used. The portal (an innovative piece of technology) supports sophisticated ‘exploratory’ sessions of use, targeted at researchers (investigating the TPK intersection), teachers (looking for inspiration in their daily jobs) and decision makers (making decisions about the introduction of technology into schools)

The ANTARES Optical Beacon System

ANTARES is a neutrino telescope being deployed in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of a three dimensional array of photomultiplier tubes that can detect the Cherenkov light induced by charged particles produced in the interactions of neutrinos with the surrounding medium. High angular resolution can be achieved, in particular when a muon is produced, provided that the Cherenkov photons are detected with sufficient timing precision. Considerations of the intrinsic time uncertainties stemming from the transit time spread in the photomultiplier tubes and the mechanism of transmission of light in sea water lead to the conclusion that a relative time accuracy of the order of 0.5 ns is desirable. Accordingly, different time calibration systems have been developed for the ANTARES telescope. In this article, a system based on Optical Beacons, a set of external and well-controlled pulsed light sources located throughout the detector, is described. This calibration system takes into account the optical properties of sea water, which is used as the detection volume of the ANTARES telescope. The design, tests, construction and first results of the two types of beacons, LED and laser-based, are presented.Comment: 21 pages, 18 figures, submitted to Nucl. Instr. and Meth. Phys. Res.

To respond or not to respond - a personal perspective of intestinal tolerance

For many years, the intestine was one of the poor relations of the immunology world, being a realm inhabited mostly by specialists and those interested in unusual phenomena. However, this has changed dramatically in recent years with the realization of how important the microbiota is in shaping immune function throughout the body, and almost every major immunology institution now includes the intestine as an area of interest. One of the most important aspects of the intestinal immune system is how it discriminates carefully between harmless and harmful antigens, in particular, its ability to generate active tolerance to materials such as commensal bacteria and food proteins. This phenomenon has been recognized for more than 100 years, and it is essential for preventing inflammatory disease in the intestine, but its basis remains enigmatic. Here, I discuss the progress that has been made in understanding oral tolerance during my 40 years in the field and highlight the topics that will be the focus of future research