Wild plant and animal genetic resources

Wild resources from ecosystems around the globe have been used for millennia to meet people’s basic needs for food, fuel, medicines, tools and materials, and for spiritual and cultural uses. Today, many species are still used for subsistence and as a basis for trade. This chapter provides an introduction to the range of species gathered from forests, shrub and grasslands, fresh water and oceans, and their uses. Two particularities distinguishing wild genetic resources from cultivated ones are discussed: Many wild species are governed as public goods or common property, raising questions about if and how they are managed, and by whom, and how access to, and benefits from, these resources is arranged. How these resources (and the ecosystems which provide them) are governed affects their sustainability. Sustainability also depends on factors such as (a) the abundance of the species from which a product originates; (b) direct anthropogenic factors such as forest degradation, as well as semi-natural ones such as climate change threats; (c) inherent species vulnerability which depends on the part(s) of the organism used; and (d) a species’ tolerance to harvesting. The chapter illustrates how knowledge of these aspects helps our understanding of why and when wild species have been domesticated and also, when resources are sourced only from the wild, the conservation issues which are likely to arise

Channeling Effects in Direct Dark Matter Detectors

The channeling of the ion recoiling after a collision with a WIMP changes the ionization signal in direct detection experiments, producing a larger signal than otherwise expected. We give estimates of the fraction of channeled recoiling ions in NaI (Tl), Si and Ge crystals using analytic models produced since the 1960's and 70's to describe channeling and blocking effects. We find that the channeling fraction of recoiling lattice nuclei is smaller than that of ions that are injected into the crystal and that it is strongly temperature dependent.Comment: 8 pages, 12 figures, To appear in the Proceedings of the sixth International Workshop on the Dark Side of the Universe (DSU2010) Leon, Guanajuato, Mexico 1-6 June 201

Channeling in direct dark matter detection I: channeling fraction in NaI (Tl) crystals

The channeling of the ion recoiling after a collision with a WIMP changes the ionization signal in direct detection experiments, producing a larger signal than otherwise expected. We give estimates of the fraction of channeled recoiling ions in NaI (Tl) crystals using analytic models produced since the 1960's and 70's to describe channeling and blocking effects. We find that the channeling fraction of recoiling lattice nuclei is smaller than that of ions that are injected into the crystal and that it is strongly temperature dependent.Comment: 37 pages, 35 figures, Accepted for publication in JCAP on 27 October 2010, Minor revisions: added an appendix, updated references, updated Fig. 9, corrected a few typo

Recoiling Ion-Channeling in Direct Dark Matter Detectors

The channeling of the recoiling nucleus in crystalline detectors after a WIMP collision would produce a larger scintillation or ionization signal in direct detection experiments than otherwise expected. I present estimates of channeling fractions obtained using analytic models developed from the 1960's onwards to describe channeling and blocking effects. We find the fractions to be too small to affect the fits to potential WIMP candidates. I also examine the possibility of detecting a daily modulation of the dark matter signal due to channeling.Comment: Talk presented at the DSU 2011 Conference, KITPC, Beijing, China, Sept 26-30, 2011. 8 pages, 14 figures, jpconf.cls and jpconf11.clo necessary to typese

Dynamical correlations in electronic transport through a system of coupled quantum dots

Current auto- and cross-correlations are studied in a system of two capacitively coupled quantum dots. We are interested in a role of Coulomb interaction in dynamical correlations, which occur outside the Coulomb blockade region (for high bias). After decomposition of the current correlation functions into contributions between individual tunneling events, we can show which of them are relevant and lead to sub-/supper-Poissonian shot noise and negative/positive cross-correlations. The results are differentiated for a weak and strong inter-dot coupling. Interesting results are for the strong coupling case when electron transfer in one of the channel is strongly correlated with charge drag in the second channel. We show that cross-correlations are non-monotonic functions of bias voltage and they are in general negative (except some cases with asymmetric tunnel resistances). This is effect of local potential fluctuations correlated by Coulomb interaction, which mimics the Pauli exclusion principle

IguideME: Supporting Self-Regulated Learning and Academic Achievement with Personalized Peer-Comparison Feedback in Higher Education

Personalized feedback is important for the learning process, but it is time consuming and particularly problematic in large-scale courses. While automatic feedback may help for self-regulated learning, not all forms of feedback are effective. Social comparison offers powerful feedback but is often loosely designed. We propose that intertwining meaningful feedback with well-designed peer comparison using a learning analytics dashboard provides a solution. Third-year bachelor students were randomly assigned to have access to the learning analytics dashboard IguideME (treatment, n=31) or no access (control, n=31). Dashboard users were asked to indicate their desired grade, which was used to construct peer-comparison groups. Personalized peer-comparison feedback was provided via the dashboard. The effects were studied using quantitative and qualitative data, including the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ) and the Achievement Goal Questionnaire (AGQ). Compared to the control group, the treatment group achieved higher scores for the MSLQ components “metacognitive self-regulation” and “peer learning,” and for the AGQ component “other-approach” (do better than others). The treatment group performed better on reading assignments and achieved higher grades for high-level Bloom exam questions. These data support the hypothesis that personalized peer-comparison feedback can be used to improve self-regulated learning and academic achievement