Chapter 7: Learners with Disabilities and Video-Based Instructional Message Design

Learners with disabilities are entitled to public education that supports their unique needs, but unfortunately, they experience poor post-secondary outcomes when compared to their peers, including lower rates of post-secondary education engagement and employment. Individuals with low incidence disabilities experience lower employment rates when compared to other individuals with disabilities, due to the impact of difficulties with social/communication, self-determination, and executive functioning skills. Researchers have developed video-based instruction with various message design and technology features to support independence for individuals with disabilities, including basic to complex vocational task completion. This chapter will provide useful information for designers, educators, state and private service providers, and families of individuals with disabilities

Dualities and loops on squashed S3S^3

We consider $\mathcal{N}=4$ supersymmetric gauge theories on the squashed three-sphere with six preserved supercharges. We first discuss how Wilson and vortex loops preserve up to four of the supercharges and we find squashing independence for the expectation values of these $\frac{2}{3}$-BPS loops. We then show how the additional supersymmetries facilitate the analytic matching of partition functions and loop operator expectation values to those in the mirror dual theory, allowing one to lift all the results that were previously established on the round sphere to the squashed sphere. Additionally, on the squashed sphere with four preserved supercharges, we numerically evaluate the partition functions of ABJM and its dual super-Yang-Mills at low ranks of the gauge group. We find matching values of their partition functions, prompting us to conjecture the general equality on the squashed sphere. From the numerics we also observe the squashing dependence of the Lee-Yang zeros and of the non-perturbative corrections to the all order large $N$ expression for the ABJM partition function.Comment: v2 added references and corrected typos, 17 pages, 3 appendices, 18 figures, 3 videos availabe at https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL2-qyK_VoDsL0T98yxySNCW-QFVaNNNo

The ABJM Hagedorn Temperature from Integrability

We use the quantum spectral curve to compute the Hagedorn temperature for ABJM theory in terms of the interpolating function $h(\lambda)$. At weak coupling we compute this temperature up to eight-loop order, showing that it matches the known tree-level and two-loop results. At strong coupling we compute the dependence numerically, showing that it is consistent with expectations from supergravity and the plane-wave limit for the four leading terms in the strong coupling expansion, up to an overall shift of the zero-point energy for type IIA string theory on AdS$_4\times \mathbb{C}\textrm{P}^3$. We conjecture an analytic form for this shift to leading order that is consistent with our numerical results.Comment: 19 pages, 5 figures, 2 ancillary files. V2: references added, typos corrected, updated numerical dat

The asymptotic form of the Hagedorn temperature in planar N=4\mathcal{N}=4 super Yang-Mills

Using the supergravity dual and the plane-wave limit as a guide, we conjecture the asymptotic large coupling form of the Hagedorn temperature for planar $\mathcal{N}=4$ super Yang-Mills to order $1/\sqrt{\lambda}$. This is two orders beyond the presently known behavior. Using the quantum spectral curve procedure of Harmark and Wilhelm, we show that our conjectured form is in excellent agreement with the numerical results.Comment: 15 pages, 3 figures. V2: Added references and fixed minor typo

Past Precedent Reconciling Established Multimedia Principles in 3D Virtual Learning Environments

This design case documents the inception, development, and installation of a virtual exhibit on ethical use of learning analytics (LA) for the Museum of Instructional Design (MID), hosted in Mozilla Hubs. Tension emerged as the design team attempted to negotiate established principles of multimedia design theory (see Mayer, 2014; Mayer & Fiorella, 2021; Richardson, 2014) within an emerging learning environment. A rapid prototyping model, combined with elements of critical museology and dialectics, allowed for ongoing formative evaluation of design fidelity. Exhibit artifacts consisted of scenarios illustrating the ethical ambiguities of LA; a data justice timeline pairing recent peer-reviewed articles on LA with significant contemporaneous milestones in data privacy; audio zones highlighting the dialectical dialogue between those who support LA use and those who advise caution; and a response wall for museum visitors to extend the discussion. Beyond application of multimedia design principles to artifacts, 3D spaces also demand consideration of space and movement flow. Lacking precedent, this exhibit design was guided by the Smithsonian’s (2018) recommendations for in-person exhibits. It is the intention of the design team that this design case highlights the need for a reconsideration of established multimedia theory when designing for emerging learning environments

Instructional Message Design: Theory, Research, and Practice

Message design is all around us, from the presentations we see in meetings and classes, to the instructions that come with our latest tech gadgets, to multi-million-dollar training simulations. In short, instructional message design is the real-world application of instructional and learning theories to design the tools and technologies used to communicate and effectively convey information. This field of study pulls from many applied sciences including cognitive psychology, industrial design, graphic design, instructional design, and human performance technology to name just a few. In this book we visit several foundational theories that guide our research, look at different real-world applications, and begin to discuss directions for future best practice. For instance, cognitive load and multimedia learning theories provide best practice, PowerPoint and simulations are only a few of the multitude of applications, and special needs learners and designing for cultural inclusiveness are only two of many areas where effective messages design can improve outcomes. Studying effective instructional message design tools and techniques has and will continue to be a critical aspect of the overall instructional design process. Hopefully, this book will serve as an introduction to these topics and inspire your curiosity to explore further

The FANCM:p.Arg658* truncating variant is associated with risk of triple-negative breast cancer.

Breast cancer is a common disease partially caused by genetic risk factors. Germline pathogenic variants in DNA repair genes BRCA1, BRCA2, PALB2, ATM, and CHEK2 are associated with breast cancer risk. FANCM, which encodes for a DNA translocase, has been proposed as a breast cancer predisposition gene, with greater effects for the ER-negative and triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) subtypes. We tested the three recurrent protein-truncating variants FANCM:p.Arg658*, p.Gln1701*, and p.Arg1931* for association with breast cancer risk in 67,112 cases, 53,766 controls, and 26,662 carriers of pathogenic variants of BRCA1 or BRCA2. These three variants were also studied functionally by measuring survival and chromosome fragility in FANCM -/- patient-derived immortalized fibroblasts treated with diepoxybutane or olaparib. We observed that FANCM:p.Arg658* was associated with increased risk of ER-negative disease and TNBC (OR = 2.44, P = 0.034 and OR = 3.79; P = 0.009, respectively). In a country-restricted analysis, we confirmed the associations detected for FANCM:p.Arg658* and found that also FANCM:p.Arg1931* was associated with ER-negative breast cancer risk (OR = 1.96; P = 0.006). The functional results indicated that all three variants were deleterious affecting cell survival and chromosome stability with FANCM:p.Arg658* causing more severe phenotypes. In conclusion, we confirmed that the two rare FANCM deleterious variants p.Arg658* and p.Arg1931* are risk factors for ER-negative and TNBC subtypes. Overall our data suggest that the effect of truncating variants on breast cancer risk may depend on their position in the gene. Cell sensitivity to olaparib exposure, identifies a possible therapeutic option to treat FANCM-associated tumors

The FANCM:p.Arg658* truncating variant is associated with risk of triple-negative breast cancer

Abstract: Breast cancer is a common disease partially caused by genetic risk factors. Germline pathogenic variants in DNA repair genes BRCA1, BRCA2, PALB2, ATM, and CHEK2 are associated with breast cancer risk. FANCM, which encodes for a DNA translocase, has been proposed as a breast cancer predisposition gene, with greater effects for the ER-negative and triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) subtypes. We tested the three recurrent protein-truncating variants FANCM:p.Arg658*, p.Gln1701*, and p.Arg1931* for association with breast cancer risk in 67,112 cases, 53,766 controls, and 26,662 carriers of pathogenic variants of BRCA1 or BRCA2. These three variants were also studied functionally by measuring survival and chromosome fragility in FANCM−/− patient-derived immortalized fibroblasts treated with diepoxybutane or olaparib. We observed that FANCM:p.Arg658* was associated with increased risk of ER-negative disease and TNBC (OR = 2.44, P = 0.034 and OR = 3.79; P = 0.009, respectively). In a country-restricted analysis, we confirmed the associations detected for FANCM:p.Arg658* and found that also FANCM:p.Arg1931* was associated with ER-negative breast cancer risk (OR = 1.96; P = 0.006). The functional results indicated that all three variants were deleterious affecting cell survival and chromosome stability with FANCM:p.Arg658* causing more severe phenotypes. In conclusion, we confirmed that the two rare FANCM deleterious variants p.Arg658* and p.Arg1931* are risk factors for ER-negative and TNBC subtypes. Overall our data suggest that the effect of truncating variants on breast cancer risk may depend on their position in the gene. Cell sensitivity to olaparib exposure, identifies a possible therapeutic option to treat FANCM-associated tumors

On squashed spheres and warm strings : Applications of supersymmetric localization and integrability in gauge and string theory

Non-perturbative aspects of quantum field theories are notoriously hard to explore. In this thesis we study applications of two different techniques that give non-perturbative results for supersymmetric quantum field theories. The first exact technique we use is supersymmetric localization which allows for the exact computation of partition functions on compact manifolds and squashed spheres of various dimensions are the manifolds of our choice. In three dimensions we use the squashed sphere partition functions to test dualities of N=4 gauge theories. For a squashed sphere preserving six supercharges we lift analytic results from the round sphere. On a squashed sphere preserving 4 supercharges we numerically evaluate the ABJM and N=8 super Yang-Mills (SYM) partition functions at low rank and find equality within estimated error margins. In four dimensions we present a framework to obtain partially integrated correlators of 4d N=2 gauge theories from their localized partition functions. Moreover we discuss the general form of the free energy of N=2 superconformal field theories on deformed four-dimensional spheres and use localization in N=4 SYM for an explicit example. In seven dimensions we study the super Yang-Mills on a sphere and propose a contribution of three-dimensional membrane instantons to its localized partition function. We then outline an approach to study the weak negative coupling limit of the SYM theory on the seven-sphere. As the second approach to exact results we use the integrability of N=4 SYM and ABJM theory in the planar limit. Using the quantum spectral curve we compute the Hagedorn temperature for finite coupling both in N=4 SYM and ABJM theory. On the dual AdS side we use an effective model to compute subleading terms in the curvature expansion of the Hagedorn temperature. We use the numeric CFT calculation to conjecture the analytic form of an unfixed coefficient in the effective model