Designing for change: mash-up personal learning environments

Institutions for formal education and most work places are equipped today with at least some kind of tools that bring together people and content artefacts in learning activities to support them in constructing and processing information and knowledge. For almost half a century, science and practice have been discussing models on how to bring personalisation through digital means to these environments. Learning environments and their construction as well as maintenance makes up the most crucial part of the learning process and the desired learning outcomes and theories should take this into account. Instruction itself as the predominant paradigm has to step down. The learning environment is an (if not 'the�) important outcome of a learning process, not just a stage to perform a 'learning play'. For these good reasons, we therefore consider instructional design theories to be flawed. In this article we first clarify key concepts and assumptions for personalised learning environments. Afterwards, we summarise our critique on the contemporary models for personalised adaptive learning. Subsequently, we propose our alternative, i.e. the concept of a mash-up personal learning environment that provides adaptation mechanisms for learning environment construction and maintenance. The web application mash-up solution allows learners to reuse existing (web-based) tools plus services. Our alternative, LISL is a design language model for creating, managing, maintaining, and learning about learning environment design; it is complemented by a proof of concept, the MUPPLE platform. We demonstrate this approach with a prototypical implementation and a – we think – comprehensible example. Finally, we round up the article with a discussion on possible extensions of this new model and open problems

Language design for a personal learning environment design language

Approaching technology-enhanced learning from the perspective of a learner, we foster the idea of learning environment design, learner interactions, and tool interoperability. In this paper, we shortly summarize the motivation for our personal learning environment approach and describe the development of a domain-specific language for this purpose as well as its realization in practice. Consequently, we examine our learning environment design language according to its lexis and syntax, the semantics behind it, and pragmatical aspects within a first prototypic implementation. Finally, we discuss strengths, problematic aspects, and open issues of our approach

A LABOCA survey of submillimeter galaxies behind galaxy clusters

Context: Submillimeter galaxies are a population of dusty star-forming galaxies at high redshift. Measuring their properties will help relate them to other types of galaxies, both at high and low redshift. This is needed in order to understand the formation and evolution of galaxies. Aims: We use gravitational lensing by galaxy clusters to probe the faint and abundant submillimeter galaxy population down to a lower flux density level than what can be achieved in blank-field observations. Methods: We use the LABOCA bolometer camera on the APEX telescope to observe five cluster of galaxies at a wavelength of 870 micron. The final maps have an angular resolution of 27.5 arcsec and a point source noise level of 1.2-2.2 mJy. We model the mass distribution in the clusters as superpositions of spherical NFW halos and derive magnification maps that we use to calculate intrinsic flux densities as well as area-weighted number counts. We also use the positions of Spitzer MIPS 24 micron sources in four of the fields for a stacking analysis. Results: We detected 37 submm sources, out of which 14 have not been previously reported. One source has a sub-mJy intrinsic flux density. The derived number counts are consistent with previous results, after correction for gravitational magnification and completeness levels. The stacking analysis reveals an intrinsic 870 micron signal of 390 \pm 27 microJy at 14.5 sigma significance. We study the S_{24 micron} - S_{870 micron} relation by stacking on subsamples of the 24 micron sources and find a linear relation at S_{24 micron} < 300 microJy, followed by a flattening at higher 24 micron flux densities. The signal from the significantly detected sources in the maps accounts for 13% of the Extragalactic Background Light discovered by COBE, and the stacked signal accounts for 11%.Comment: 15 pages, 10 figures, Accepted by A&

Distributed feed networks for learning

Recent studies indicate that blogs are the breakthrough user application of this decade. Yet, the blogosphere in its current form is suffering from various problems. The fuzziness of the audience, disconnectedness, fragmentation, and lack of conversational coherence may have their roots not only in sociological factors but also in technological shortcomings of the current infrastructure. These problems hinder an effective deployment of blogs in collaborative learning activities. Within this contribution, an interface specification for user-centred distribution of feed ggregation activities is proposed which is both a prerequisite and basic infrastructure for blog-based collaboration. By presenting an overview on the current state of the art in feed and interaction standards, a clear lack of support for active network management will be elaborated. The design requirements for a solution to fill this gap will be sketched and complemented by a step by step description of the communication process of the proposed "FeedBack" specification. Preliminary results from a trial with a reference implementation for WordPress provide a proof of concept

A Arquitectura de um Veleiro

O design do veleiro é um assunto que se sobrepõe em muitos níveis com a arquitectura.Um veleiro de cruzeiro tem que executar todas as mesmas funções de uma casa,fornecer abrigo, ter sistemas como aquecimento, canalização e electricidade e realizarisso num espaço muito limitado. Um barco vive num ambiente muito diferente de umacasa, fica na água. Também precisa de se mover. Isso traz muitas complicações.Nesta tese, estudam-se os elementos básicos do design do veleiro, tais como as leisfísicas que regem um barco na água, a organização espacial ou a arquitectura deinteriores, cabine e área do convés, os sistemas a bordo e os métodos de construçãode um barco de fibra de vidro e como esses elementos se influenciam.A pesquisa é então a base para o projecto de um veleiro monocasco de 10 metros decomprimento. Os interiores de veleiros foram antes projectados por arquitectos, masesta tese visa encontrar se houver algo que a abordagem do design holístico ensinadona arquitectura possa ser aplicada ao design do veleiro. Ao pensar sobre a estrutura, osmateriais, a organização do interior e exterior em conexão com o ambiente circundante,todos juntos como um todo e vê-lo influenciar o resultado.O conceito principal do projecto resultante é um barco onde as barreiras entre espaçossão minimizadas. Em vez de anteparos interiores formando cabines, cozinha de bordoe salão em espaços separados, os caixilhos em anel suportam o casco e abrem oespaço abaixo numa área. A conexão entre o interior e o exterior é transformadacompletamente da estritamente padronizada gaiuta de escotilha para uma estruturaampla, translúcida e aberta que forma partes verticais e horizontais do tecto da cabine.Combinado com um painel aberto que liga o mar ou a doca flutuante ao chão docockpit, a linha de espaços ao longo da linha central de trás do barco até a proa sãoutilizáveis juntos, fazendo melhor uso do espaço limitado num veleiro.Sailboat design is a subject that overlaps on many levels with architecture. A cruisingsailboat has to perform all of the same functions as a house, provide shelter, have systemssuch as heating, plumbing and electricity and accomplish this in very limited space. Aboat lives in environment very different from a house, it sits on water. It also needs tomove. This brings many complications.In this thesis the basic elements of sailboat design are studied, such as the physical lawsgoverning a boat in water, the spatial organization or architecture of the interiors, cockpitand deck area, the on-board systems and the construction methods of a fiberglass boat,and how these elements influence each other.The research is then the basis for the design of a 10 meter long, monohull sailboat.Sailboat interiors have been designed by architects before, but this thesis aims findif there is something that the wholistic design approach taught in architecture can beapplied to sailboat design. By thinking about the structure, materials, organization ofthe inside and outside in connection with the surrounding environment all together as awhole and seeing it will influence the result.The main concept of the resulting project is a boat where the barriers between spaces areminimized. Instead of interior bulkheads forming cabins, galley and saloon in separatedspaces, ringframes support the hull and open the space below into one area. Theconnection between the inside and outside is transformed completely from the standardnarrow companionway to a wide, translucent and openable structure forming bothvertical and horizontal parts of the coachroof. Combined with an open transom linkingthe sea or floating dock to the cockpit floor, the row of spaces along the centerline frombehind the boat to the bow are usable together making better use of the limited spaceon a sailboat

Drowning by Numbers. Evaluating Social Capacities

Impact and evaluation of research in the humanities has been the subject of several recent publications (e.g. Benneworth et al. 2016, Ochsner et al. 2016, Severinson 2017). A common theme is the need for a re-evaluation of how the humanities are evaluated, as well as for research on the effects of evaluation practices on the humanities (Ochsner et al. 2016, p. 9). Another important idea is that this re-evaluation should consider the nature of the public value of the humanities (Benneworth et al. 2016, especially ch. 7). The dominant model of research evaluation has as its focus societal economic benefits of research, a focus humanities scholars have mostly been uncomfortable with (Benneworth et al., ch. 2). One of the main tools of research evaluation, bibliometric analysis, is problematic – to say the least – for the humanities (Ochsner et al. 2016). As the policy and practice of research evaluations influences the way research is conducted (van Leeuwen 2016, Severinson 2017) there is a potential danger that the inherent value of the humanities will be eroded and their value to society diminished through evaluation. This problem will be addressed from two sides in this paper. The a theory of societal capacities in Benneworth et al. (2016) and virtue epistemology (particularly as developed by Linda Zagzebski)

Hepatocellular Jaundice due to Hydroxycut in Monozygotic Twins

Publisher Copyright: © 2023 Indian National Association for Study of the LiverLiver injury associated with the use of a number of different of herbal and dietary supplements are increasingly recognized. It is though often unclear which of the sometimes multiple ingredients are responsible for the liver injury. Several case reports have been published on suspected liver injury due to Hydroxycut, which is a multi-ingredient supplement often used to induce weight loss. However, the hepatotoxic potential of Hydroxycut has though been disputed, and steatotic liver disease has also been implicated in patients who are found to have elevated liver enzymes while on Hydroxycut. We report clinically apparent liver injury with jaundice associated with the use of Hydroxycut in monozygotic twins with remarkably similar type of liver injury. Both had the genotype HLA-B 35:01 allele, a risk factor for green-tea extract induced liver injury, which is included in Hydroxycut.Peer reviewe