Motion of a Particle with Isospin in the Presence of a Monopole

From a consistent expression for the quadriforce describing the interaction between a coloured particle and gauge fields, we investigate the relativistic motion of a particle with isospin interacting with a BPS monopole and with a Julia-Zee dyon. The analysis of such systems reveals the existence of unidimensional unbounded motion and asymptotic trajectories restricted to conical surfaces, which resembles the equivalent case of Electromagnetism.Comment: 10 pages, 2 figures, onecolum

The universal functorial equivariant Lefschetz invariant

We introduce the universal functorial equivariant Lefschetz invariant for endomorphisms of finite proper G-CW-complexes, where G is a discrete group. We use K_0 of the category of "phi-endomorphisms of finitely generated free RPi(G,X)-modules". We derive results about fixed points of equivariant endomorphisms of cocompact proper smooth G-manifolds.Comment: 33 pages; shortened version of the author's PhD thesis, supervised by Wolfgang Lueck, Westfaelische Wilhelms-Universitaet Muenster, 200

A mammalian Wnt5a-Ror2-Vangl2 axis controls the cytoskeleton and confers cellular properties required for alveologenesis.

Alveolar formation increases the surface area for gas-exchange and is key to the physiological function of the lung. Alveolar epithelial cells, myofibroblasts and endothelial cells undergo coordinated morphogenesis to generate epithelial folds (secondary septa) to form alveoli. A mechanistic understanding of alveologenesis remains incomplete. We found that the planar cell polarity (PCP) pathway is required in alveolar epithelial cells and myofibroblasts for alveologenesis in mammals. Our studies uncovered a Wnt5a-Ror2-Vangl2 cascade that endows cellular properties and novel mechanisms of alveologenesis. This includes PDGF secretion from alveolar type I and type II cells, cell shape changes of type I cells and migration of myofibroblasts. All these cellular properties are conferred by changes in the cytoskeleton and represent a new facet of PCP function. These results extend our current model of PCP signaling from polarizing a field of epithelial cells to conferring new properties at subcellular levels to regulate collective cell behavior

Restorative justice as a disciplinary tool: Aperspective from Singapore

This thesis focuses on the use of Restorative Practices (RP) in two Singapore Secondary Schools. Relying mainly on the use of in-depths interviews with 149 students and 30 teachers, this study examines how the two schools’ contexts and cultural demands affect the definitions, adaptations and practices of RP. The research shows that RP is predominantly used as a disciplinary tool in order to uphold existing social norms. Many teachers could articulate the non-negotiables that must be secured in all circumstances such as those of ‘non-domination’ and ‘respectful listening’. Teachers spoke of RP as primarily about building relationships and it is about doing things with (and not to) students. However we see instances of teachers’ domination over students when teachers dictated the type of answers students were to write down on their RP forms. The relationship between corporal punishment and RP is also examined. While many teachers believed that ‘pure RP’ should not co-exist with caning, they still preferred the status quo and argued that RP should be taken as a complementary framework alongside existing corrective practices and punishment, rather than as a replacement to the existing disciplinary framework. Through an analysis of a case conference, we see how caning is retained in part because it is taken to be the utmost symbol of hard treatment that is required to express condemnation in cases of major offences. Finally, the specific context of the school is important in analysing participants’ ability to engage in RP processes such as class conferences or circles. The class is not a homogenous community that is resolving issues collectively but consists of a group of individuals who belong to a class that is attempting to resolve things but the very coming together as a class to resolve and discuss issues creates difficulty for things to get done because of the group dynamics involved

Transforming the supervision of Hong Kong’s English language teachers

Uni-directional top-down traditional, approaches to the supervision of teachers limit the engagement of the teachers in reflecting upon their own practice and professional growth. Acheson & Gall (1992) recommend a three-phase approach to teacher supervision which includes […] classroom observation and feedback conference. Such […] emphasizes a more dynamic and constructivist approach to empower teachers to transform their practice and identify directions […] professional development. What happens when this and other approaches are adapted and applied by teachers in different contexts? This as well as other issues and concerns related to the supervision of language teachers in Hong Kong are addressed in this paper […] secondary school teachers of English with different roles, along with their course tutor discuss the strengths and problems of applying different supervisory approaches in a three-week practicum. The writer […] that the clinical supervision approach was conducive to support teachers\u27 professional development when used in conjunction with directive as well as· non-directive approaches. However, the teaching the non-directive approaches to be most difficult to carry out part with less-experienced teachers. From critiques of supervisor transcriptions, recommendations are made for improving the clinical supervision and teacher professional development in Hong Kong

Secondary intention healing with satisfactory outcome after nodular basal cell carcinoma excision on the face

AbstractSecondary intention healing on concave areas of the face may provide acceptable cosmetic outcome after tumor excision but is underused. We evaluated cosmetic outcome and tumor recurrence of this technique in 10 patients with nodular basal cell carcinoma and one patient with basosquamous carcinoma on the face. The average size of these tumors was 1 cm. Subjective evaluations included patients' satisfaction on the degree of wound pain, ease of wound care, and satisfaction with cosmetic outcome. Objective evaluations included physician's scoring on the time to complete wound healing, wound infection, cosmetic outcome, and tumor recurrence after operation. The operations were completed in 30 minutes on average. All wounds healed well without infection within 4 weeks. Postoperation wound pain was absent to mild. Wound care was neither difficult nor troublesome. All patients were satisfied with the cosmetic outcome. Physicians scored good or excellent cosmetic outcome in 91% of patients. No tumor recurred during 3–60 months (median, 13 months) of follow-up. Secondary intention healing appears to be a good option after excision of nodular basal cell carcinomas located on concave areas of the face. Good to excellent cosmetic results can be expected after wound healing

My Research Online: What\u27s in it for me?

ECU’s world class research is showcased in the institutional repository, Research Online. Research Online can help you expand the reach of your work and raise your research profile.https://ro.ecu.edu.au/ecuposters/1000/thumbnail.jp