Quantum Networks for Concentrating Entanglement

If two parties, Alice and Bob, share some number, n, of partially entangled pairs of qubits, then it is possible for them to concentrate these pairs into some smaller number of maximally entangled states. We present a simplified version of the algorithm for such entanglement concentration, and we describe efficient networks for implementing these operations.Comment: 15 pages, 2 figure

Evaluating the effectiveness of virtual reality learning in a mining context

UNSW’s Schools of Mining Engineering and Psychology have developed training modules for working at heights in above-ground mines. These modules implement best-available, evidence-based instructional methods combined with a range of immersion. The present paper describes a controlled evaluation of this approach for training novices in the safe operating procedure for a basic maintenance task. All participants received a sequence of instructions using a large-screen, computer-driven visual display accompanied by audio narration in one of three modes: (1) an animated depiction of the target procedure for which the pace of instruction was controlled by the individual participant (Animated + Individual, AI), (2) the same animated depiction but presented to a group with the pace controlled by the trainer (Animated + Group, AG), and (3) a sequence of static slide images presented to a group with trainer pacing (Static + Group, SG).During the training, the participants’ active processing of the information was encouraged by preceding each step of the instruction with a challenge question and feedback. Immediately following the module, the participants were given a multiple-choice test, which was repeated after a one-week retention interval. Across all three modes of presentation, the module yielded a high level of acquisition and retention. Among the three modes of presentation, the AI mode produced the highest level of test performance relative to both the AG and SG modes. When the participants were surveyed regarding their immersion in the virtual environment, they generally reported a moderate level of “presence,” with the animations (AI, AG) producing higher levels than the static images (SG). These positive outcomes provide a foundation for the further development and testing of additional modules combined with different levels of immersion aimed ultimately at economically producing personnel who can safely and proficiently apply their knowledge and skills in real mines

The effects of raising learners' awareness of metaphorical vocabulary on written production in the content-based classroom

It is widely recognised that language learners require extensive vocabulary knowledge to cope with the demands of studying content fields in English. As well as being rich in general academic and technical terms, academic discourse has been shown to make frequent use of metaphor to express abstract concepts and to achieve rhetorical goals. While research has shown the benefits of raising learners' awareness of the underlying motivation of metaphorical expressions, these findings have yet to be applied to authentic classrooms over longer periods of study. This thesis examines the effects of raising Japanese learners' awareness of metaphorical expressions in a CLIL anthropology course. It examines the written work from two groups of learners: a control group whose language instruction focussed on academic and high frequency vocabulary and an experimental group who received instruction on course-specific metaphorical themes. Variation in metaphor production is compared for the two conditions and across learner abilities, and the interaction between the frequency, dispersion and salience of metaphors in classroom input and learner output is considered. The study then investigates the influences of word frequency, part of speech, phraseology and the L1 on learner metaphor production before concluding with recommendations for pedagogic practice and further study

How Eye-Tracking and Instructor Experiences Can Help Us Become Better STEM and Geoscience Instructors

Geoscience education research (GER) is a growing field concerned with understanding the unique needs of instructors and students for success in teaching and learning geoscience topics, respectively. My integrative literature review of the use of eye-tracking in the geosciences provides evidence that fixation duration within task-relevant areas of interest is among the most effective predictors of performance of learners, that top-down cognitive processes tend to outweigh bottom-up cognitive processes when a display is presented with a task to complete, and that saliency of display variables affects where learners allocate their attention. My analysis of survey data collected from 317 instructors at a large public research university in the central mid-west United States regarding their experiences with non-sexual/physical academic contrapower harassment (nsp-ACPH) from students show that female instructors experience significantly more distress from cases of nsp-ACPH compared to male instructors. Additionally, for the majority of nsp-ACPH behaviors analyzed, the majority of instructors reported they did not receive support in dealing with the behaviors when needed. The results from these studies provide insight into how geoscience departments can better equip instructors to teach geoscience concepts and what steps can be taken to reduce nsp-ACPH in STEM classrooms

NFκB and AP-1 Drive Human Myometrial IL8 Expression

The uterine expression of the chemokine IL8 increases dramatically with the onset of labour both at term and preterm. The IL8 promoter contains binding sites for the transcription factors nuclear factor-kappa B (NFκB), activator protein-1 (AP-1), and CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein (CEBP). In this study we investigated the roles of these transcription factors in IL1B regulation of the IL8 gene in human myometrium. Using chromatin immune precipitation (ChIP) assay, we showed that each of NFκB, CEBP, and AP-1 binds to the IL8 promoter upon IL1B stimulation. To examine the relative importance of each site in IL8 gene expression, site-directed mutagenesis of each of these sites was performed. We found that the NFκB site was essential for basal and IL1B-stimulated gene expression. Mutation of the AP-1 site reduced both basal and IL1B-stimulated expression but to a lesser extent. Mutation of the CEBP site had no effect upon basal expression but eliminated the IL1B response. Small interfering RNA (siRNA) silencing of NFκB abolished the IL8 response to IL1B significantly; siRNA against AP-1 reduced it to a lesser extent whilst knockdown of CEBP enhanced the response. Our data confirms a central and essential role for NFκB in regulation of IL8 in human myometrium

Second-Language Vocabulary Growth in the First Three Semesters of College

This paper describes a project aimed at assessing English as a foreign language lexical knowledge of students in their first three semesters of study at college. Four equivalent forms of an instrument to test written receptive knowledge of the words in the General Service List (GSL) and the Academic List (AWL) were developed for this purpose. A validation study with 334 participants found that the instrument had satisfactory dimensionality, the vast majority of its items displayed good technical quality, and Rasch person reliability estimates ranged from .87 to .93 for the four forms. The main study used this instrument to track the vocabulary growth of 144 students from two cohorts over each of their first three semesters of college. On average, these students entered college with knowledge of approximately 1,440 (56.0%) of the words tested, a figure which increased to 1,790 (69.6%) after three semesters. With a minimum criterion set at 80% for demonstrating satisfactory knowledge of a word list, only a minority of students entered college with satisfactory knowledge of either the first or second half of the GSL or the AWL. After three semesters, the majority of students reached this threshold for the first half of the GSL but not for the other two word bands

The Sanandaj-Sirjan Zone in the Neo-Tethyan suture, western Iran: Zircon U-Pb evidence of late Palaeozoic rifting of northern Gondwana and mid-Jurassic orogenesis

The Zagros Orogen, marking the closure of the Neo-Tethyan Ocean, formed by continental collision beginning in the late Eocene to early Miocene. Collision was preceded by a complicated tectonic history involving Pan-African orogenesis, Late Palaeozoic rifting forming Neo-Tethys, followed by Mesozoic convergence on the ocean\u27s northern margin and ophiolite obduction on its southern margin. The Sanandaj-Sirjan Zone is a metamorphic belt in the Zagros Orogen of Gondwanan provenance. Zircon ages have established Pan-African basement igneous and metamorphic complexes in addition to uncommon late Palaeozoic plutons and abundant Jurassic plutonic rocks. We have determined zircon ages from units in the northwestern Sanandaj-Sirjan Zone (Golpaygan region). A sample of quartzite from the June Complex has detrital zircons with U-Pb ages mainly in 800-1050 Ma with a maximum depositional age of 547 ± 32 Ma (latest Neoproterozoic¿earliest Cambrian). A SHRIMP U-Pb zircon age of 336 ± 9 Ma from gabbro in the June Complex indicates a Carboniferous plutonic event that is also recorded in the far northwestern Sanandaj-Sirjan Zone. Together with the Permian Hasanrobat Granite near Golpaygan, they all are considered related to rifting marking formation of Neo-Tethys. Scarce detrital zircons from an extensive package of metasedimentary rocks (Hamadan Phyllite) have ages consistent with the Triassic to Early Jurassic age previously determined from fossils. These ages confirm that an orogenic episode affected the Sanandaj-Sirjan Zone in the Early to Middle Jurassic (Cimmerian Orogeny). Although the Cimmerian Orogeny in northern Iran reflects late Triassic to Jurassic collision of the Turan platform (southern Eurasia) and the Cimmerian microcontinent, we consider that in the Sanandaj-Sirjan Zone a tectonothermal event coeval with the Cimmerian Orogeny resulted from initiation of subduction and closure of rift basins along the northern margin of Neo-Tethys