PREP - Pragmatic Research On Educational Practice

We investigate a concept called PREP – Pragmatic Research on Educational Practice, with the goal of engaging engineering educators in studying, documenting and sharing their initiatives to improve teaching practices. This concept is compared to other methodologies where the researcher and educational practitioner sometimes coincide. The study is based on a pilot, with six participants following the PREP program for three months, which we study autoethnographically. We also carried out a focus group discussion (n=12) to investigate to what extent university teachers regard the ideas from the PREP program as helpful for studying educational activities and sharing what they do and find

Book Review

reviewing Eyal Benvenisti & Moshe Hirsch eds., The Impact of International Law on International Cooperation: Theoretical Perspectives (2004

Boundary estimates for solutions to linear degenerate parabolic equations

Let Ω ⊂ R n be a bounded NTA-domain and let Ω T = Ω × (0, T ) for some T > 0. We study the boundary behaviour of non-negative solutions to the equation We assume that A(x, t) = {a ij (x, t)} is measurable, real, symmetric and that for some constant β ≥ 1 and for some non-negative and real-valued function λ = λ(x) belonging to the Muckenhoupt class A 1+2/n (R n ). Our main results include the doubling property of the associated parabolic measure and the Hölder continuity up to the boundary of quotients of non-negative solutions which vanish continuously on a portion of the boundary. Our results generalize previous results of Fabes, Kenig, Jerison, Serapioni, se

Boundary Estimates for Solutions to Parabolic Equations

This thesis concerns the boundary behavior of solutions to parabolic equations. It consists of a comprehensive summary and four scientific papers. The equations concerned are different generalizations of the heat equation. Paper I concerns the solutions to non-linear parabolic equations with linear growth. For non-negative solutions that vanish continuously on the lateral boundary of an NTA cylinder the following main results are established: a backward Harnack inequality, the doubling property for the Riesz measure associated with such solutions, and the Hölder continuityof the quotient of two such solutions up to the boundary. Paper 2 concerns the solutions to linear degenerate parabolic equations, where the degeneracy is controlled by a Muckenhoupt weight of class 1+2/n. For non-negative solutions that vanish continuously on the lateral boundary of an NTA cylinder the following main results are established: a backward Harnack inequality, the doubling property for the parabolic measure, and the Hölder continuity of the quotient of two such solutions up to the boundary. Paper 3 concerns a fractional heat equation. The first main result is that a solution to the fractional heat equation in Euclidean space of dimension n can be extended as a solution to a certain linear degenerate parabolic equation in the upper half space of dimension n+1. The second main result is the Hölder continuity of quotients of two non-negative solutions that vanish continuously on the latteral boundary of a Lipschitz domain. Paper 4 concerns the solutions to uniformly parabolic linear equations with complex coefficients. The first main result is that under certain assumptions on the opperator the bounds for the single layer potentials associated to the opperator are bounded. The second main result is that these bounds always hold if the opperator is realvalued and symmetric

Extension properties and boundary estimates for a fractional heat operator

The square root of the heat operator $\sqrt{\partial_t-\Delta}$, can be realized as the Dirichlet to Neumann map of the heat extension of data on $\mathbb R^{n+1}$ to $\mathbb R^{n+2}_+$. In this note we obtain similar characterizations for general fractional powers of the heat operator, $(\partial_t-\Delta)^s$, $s\in (0,1)$. Using the characterizations we derive properties and boundary estimates for parabolic integro-differential equations from purely local arguments in the extension problem

Extension properties and boundary estimates for a fractional heat operator

The square root of the heat operator $\sqrt{\partial_t-\Delta}$, can be realized as the Dirichlet to Neumann map of the heat extension of data on $\mathbb R^{n+1}$ to $\mathbb R^{n+2}_+$. In this note we obtain similar characterizations for general fractional powers of the heat operator, $(\partial_t-\Delta)^s$, $s\in (0,1)$. Using the characterizations we derive properties and boundary estimates for parabolic integro-differential equations from purely local arguments in the extension problem

Boundedness of single layer potentials associated to divergence form parabolic equations with complex coefficients

We consider parabolic operators of the form \partial_t+\mathcal{L},\ \mathcal{L}:=-\mbox{div}\, A(X,t)\nabla, in\mathbb R_+^{n+2}:=\{(X,t)=(x,x_{n+1},t)\in \mathbb R^{n}\times \mathbb R\times \mathbb R:\ x_{n+1}>0\}, $n\geq 1$. We assume that $A$ is an $(n+1)\times (n+1)$-dimensional matrix which is bounded, measurable, uniformly elliptic and complex, and we assume, in addition, that the entries of A are independent of the spatial coordinate $x_{n+1}$ as well as of the time coordinate $t$. We prove that the boundedness of associated single layer potentials, with data in $L^2$, can be reduced to two crucial estimates (Theorem \ref{th0}), one being a square function estimate involving the single layer potential. By establishing a local parabolic Tb-theorem for square functions we are then able to verify the two  crucial estimates in the case of real, symmetric operators (Theorem \ref{th2}). Our results are crucial when addressing the solvability of the classical Dirichlet, Neumann and Regularity problems for the operator $\partial_t+\mathcal{L}$ in $\mathbb R_+^{n+2}$, with $L^2$-data on $\mathbb R^{n+1}=\partial\mathbb R_+^{n+2}$, and by way of layer potentials

Boundary estimates for solutions to linear degenerate parabolic equations

Let $\Omega\subset\mathbb R^n$ be a bounded NTA-domain and let $\Omega_T=\Omega\times (0,T)$ for some T>0.  We study the boundary behaviour of non-negativesolutions to the equation$$Hu =\partial_tu-\partial_{x_i}(a_{ij}(x,t)\partial_{x_j}u) = 0, \ (x,t)\in \Omega_T.$$We assume that $A(x,t)=\{a_{ij}(x,t)\}$ is measurable, real, symmetric and that\begin{equation*}\beta^{-1}\lambda(x)|\xi|^2\leq \sum_{i,j=1}^na_{ij}(x,t)\xi_i\xi_j\leq\beta\lambda(x)|\xi|^2\mbox{ for all }(x,t)\in\mathbb R^{n+1},\ \xi\in\mathbb R^{n},\end{equation*}for some constant $\beta\geq 1$ and for some non-negative and real-valued function $\lambda=\lambda(x)$belonging to the Muckenhoupt class $A_{1+2/n}(\mathbb R^n)$.Our main results includethe doubling property of the associated parabolic measure andthe H\"older continuity  up to the boundary of quotients of non-negative solutionswhich vanish continuously on a portion of the boundary. Our resultsgeneralize previous results of Fabes, Kenig, Jerison, Serapioni, see \cite{FKS}, \cite{FJK}, \cite{FJK1}, to a parabolic setting

Analysis of media intervention in development-A survey of Mysore District

Mass media which is a social institution and pervades all these dimensions is yet to get recognition as a dimension to measure development.All development including social development requires some kind of behavior change on the part of stakeholders.The critique of media intervention in development of any kind premised that the overall change of social structure is the fundamental prerequisite for the attainment of genuinely human and demographic development. Media Index is a composite index obtained as a weighted combination of indicators pertaining to variety of dimensions.The focus of this study is to investigate the viability of integrating media dimension in measuring development. The crucial issues of development like Gender, Corruption, RTI, Swacch Bharath Abhyan issues, that have become the flagship programmes of successive governments have been selected to assess media intervention. The study has beenconducted in Mysore district which was declared as cleanest city in India successively for few years