UNC System Math Pathways’ Digital Course Enhancement Collaboration to Improve Equity, Instruction, and Access During the COVID-19 Pandemic

This study examines how faculty members and students evaluated, perceived, and used a digital course content collection developed to support high quality remote instruction during the Covid-19 pandemic. The collections were the result of a multi-institutional, collaborative effort within the University of North Carolina System to support its students and faculty. Using surveys from faculty and demographically identified students enrolled in their classes, the authors evaluate the perceived utility and impact of the open educational resource collections. Faculty members rated the collections highly and typically found utility in at least some of the components of the collections. They found activities, videos and assessments to be the most useful tools. Students generally responded positively to the classes using the collections. While students who identified as minority found the materials useful or beneficial, they did not do so in proportional numbers to non-minority students

Algebras of Measurements: the logical structure of Quantum Mechanics

In Quantum Physics, a measurement is represented by a projection on some closed subspace of a Hilbert space. We study algebras of operators that abstract from the algebra of projections on closed subspaces of a Hilbert space. The properties of such operators are justified on epistemological grounds. Commutation of measurements is a central topic of interest. Classical logical systems may be viewed as measurement algebras in which all measurements commute. Keywords: Quantum measurements, Measurement algebras, Quantum Logic. PACS: 02.10.-v.Comment: Submitted, 30 page

LRF och Svenskt flyg svarar inte om klimatmålen

Sammantaget ser vi inget i motdebattörernas argument som talar emot att införa styrmedel, till exempel konsumtionsskatter, inom dessa områden där inga stora tekniska lösningar finns i sikte, skriver 14 miljö- och energiforskare i slutrepliken till sin text om flyg- och köttskatt (26/2)

Topical methyl aminolaevulinate photodynamic therapy in patients with basal cell carcinoma prone to complications and poor cosmetic outcome with conventional treatment

Conventional treatment of basal cell carcinoma (BCC) causes morbidity and/or disfigurement in some patients because of the location (e.g. mid-face) and size of the lesion. Following reports that such difficult-to-treat BCC lesions have been treated successfully with topical methyl aminolaevulinate (MAL) photodynamic therapy (PDT), a multicentre study was performed to determine the response of such BCC to MAL-PDT. An open, uncontrolled, prospective, multicentre study was conducted comprising patients with superficial and/or nodular BCC who were at risk of complications, poor cosmetic outcome, disfigurement and/or recurrence using conventional therapy. Patients were given one or two cycles within 3 months of topical MAL-PDT, each consisting of two treatments 1 week apart. Tumour response was assessed clinically at 3 months after the last PDT, with histological confirmation of all lesions in clinical remission. The cosmetic outcome was rated. Patients with a BCC in remission will be followed up for 5 years for recurrence, of which the 24-month follow-up is reported here. Ninety-four patients with 123 lesions were enrolled and treated with MAL-PDT at nine European primary care and referral university hospitals. An independent blinded study review board (SRB) retrospectively excluded nine patients and a total of 15 lesions from the efficacy analysis, for not having a difficult-to-treat BCC according to the protocol. The lesion remission rate at 3 months was 92% (45 of 49) for superficial BCC, 87% (45 of 52) for nodular BCC, and 57% (four of seven) for mixed BCC, as assessed by clinical examination, and 85% (40 of 47), 75% (38 of 51), and 43% (three of seven), respectively, as assessed by histological examination and verified by the SRB. At 24 months after treatment, the overall lesion recurrence rate was 18% (12 of 66). The cosmetic outcome was graded as excellent or good by the investigators in 76% of the cases after 3 months follow-up, rising to 85% at 12 months follow-up, and 94% at 24 months follow-up. Topical MAL-PDT is effective in treating BCC at risk of complications and poor cosmetic outcome using conventional therapy. MAL-PDT preserves the skin and shows favourable cosmetic result

Nu krävs kraftfulla åtgärder mot nötkött och flygresor

Svenskarnas globala utsläpp från köttkonsumtion och flygresor motsvarar hälften av de totala utsläppen på hemmaplan. I vår rapport till ­Naturvårdsverket föreslår vi tydliga styrmedel – som nya skatter – för att begränsa konsumtionen på dessa områden, skriver 14 miljö- och energiforskare

Service quality and consumers' experience: Towards an interpretive approach

As marketers and researchers we understand quality from the consumer's perspective, and throughout contemporary service quality literature there is an emphasis on what the consumer is looking for, or at least that is the intention. Through examining the underlying assumptions of dominant service quality theories, an implicit dualistic ontology is highlighted (where subject and object are considered independent) and argued to effectively negate the said necessary consumer orientation. This fundamental assumption is discussed, as are the implications, following a critical review of dominant service quality models. Consequently, we propose an alternative approach to service quality research that aims towards a more genuine understanding of the consumer's perspective on quality experienced within a service context. Essentially, contemporary service quality research is suggested to be limited in its inherent third-person perspective and the interpretive, specifically phenomenographic, approach put forward here is suggested as a means of achieving a first-person perspective on service quality