444 research outputs found
Inter-cultural differences in response to a computer-based anti-bullying intervention
Background and purpose: Many holistic anti-bullying interventions have been attempted, with mixed success, while little work has been done to promote a 'self-help' approach to victimisation. The rise of the ICT curriculum and computer support in schools now allows for approaches that benefit from technology to be implemented. This study evaluates the cross-cultural effects of a computer-based anti-bullying intervention on primary school-aged children's knowledge about bullying and relevant coping strategies.
Programme description: FearNot! is an interactive computer-based virtual learning environment designed for use as an anti-bullying intervention. It includes interactive virtual agents who assume the most common participant roles found in episodes of bullying. FearNot! was used by children over three consecutive weeks to allow its effectiveness to be evaluated in a longitudinal in situ programme.
Sample: Two comparable samples were drawn from the UK and Germany. In the UK, 651 participants (aged 8-11) were recruited from primary schools in Hertfordshire, Coventry and Warwickshire, whereas the 535 German participants (aged 7-10) were sourced from Grundschulen in the Bayern and Hessen regions. Because of lack of parental consent, late joiners and absences/missing responses, data from 908 participants (UK 493; Germany 415) were analysed.
Design and methods: A quasi-experimental, pre/post-tests control group design employed pre-published and bespoke questionnaires to collect data. Descriptive and inferential analyses were conducted.
Results: UK students possessed higher coping strategy knowledge scores than German participants, but German children's scores improved over time and as a result of the FearNot! intervention.
Conclusions: Overall, while not effective at increasing children's coping strategy knowledge in this study, the FearNot! intervention could prove a useful classroom tool to approach the issue of bullying as part of a wider initiative. Cultural differences at baseline and reactions to the intervention are discussed
Adverse events associated with peanut oral immunotherapy in children – a systematic review and meta-analysis
While peanut oral immunotherapy (POIT) represents a promising treatment for peanut allergies in children, safety concerns remain a common barrier to widespread adoption. We aimed to systematically assess available evidence to determine the risk and frequency of adverse events occurring during POIT, and examine study-level characteristics associated with their occurrence and severity. A systematic search of MEDLINE, EMBASE, and Web of Science was conducted through April 2019. Controlled and non-controlled studies evaluating POIT were eligible. Twenty-seven studies, involving 1488 subjects, were included. Adverse events to POIT were common and led to treatment discontinuation in 6.6% of children (95% CI 4.4–9.0; 27 studies, I² = 48.7%). Adverse events requiring treatment with epinephrine occurred among 7.6% (4.5–11.4; 26 studies, I² = 75.5%) of participants, at a rate of 2.0 per 10,000 doses (0.8–3.7; 15 studies, I² = 64.4). Use of a rush treatment phase and targeting a higher maintenance dose were associated with a higher risk and frequency of epinephrine use, while using co-treatments in addition to POIT was associated with a lower risk of treatment discontinuation due to adverse events. While adverse events to POIT are common, this study provides promising explorative evidence that certain modifications to existing treatment protocols could significantly improve treatment outcomes.Luke E. Grzeskowiak, Billy Tao, Emma Knight, Sarah Cohen-Woods, Timothy Chatawa
Contractions, deformations and curvature
The role of curvature in relation with Lie algebra contractions of the
pseudo-ortogonal algebras so(p,q) is fully described by considering some
associated symmetrical homogeneous spaces of constant curvature within a
Cayley-Klein framework. We show that a given Lie algebra contraction can be
interpreted geometrically as the zero-curvature limit of some underlying
homogeneous space with constant curvature. In particular, we study in detail
the contraction process for the three classical Riemannian spaces (spherical,
Euclidean, hyperbolic), three non-relativistic (Newtonian) spacetimes and three
relativistic ((anti-)de Sitter and Minkowskian) spacetimes. Next, from a
different perspective, we make use of quantum deformations of Lie algebras in
order to construct a family of spaces of non-constant curvature that can be
interpreted as deformations of the above nine spaces. In this framework, the
quantum deformation parameter is identified as the parameter that controls the
curvature of such "quantum" spaces.Comment: 17 pages. Based on the talk given in the Oberwolfach workshop:
Deformations and Contractions in Mathematics and Physics (Germany, january
2006) organized by M. de Montigny, A. Fialowski, S. Novikov and M.
Schlichenmaie
Expansions of algebras and superalgebras and some applications
After reviewing the three well-known methods to obtain Lie algebras and
superalgebras from given ones, namely, contractions, deformations and
extensions, we describe a fourth method recently introduced, the expansion of
Lie (super)algebras. Expanded (super)algebras have, in general, larger
dimensions than the original algebra, but also include the Inonu-Wigner and
generalized IW contractions as a particular case. As an example of a physical
application of expansions, we discuss the relation between the possible
underlying gauge symmetry of eleven-dimensional supergravity and the
superalgebra osp(1|32).Comment: Invited lecture delivered at the 'Deformations and Contractions in
Mathematics and Physics Workshop', 15-21 January 2006, Mathematisches
Forschungsinstitut Oberwolfach, German
Gaussian Tunneling Model of c-Axis Twist Josephson Junctions
We calculate the critical current density for c-axis Josephson
tunneling between identical high temperature superconductors twisted an angle
about the c-axis. We model the tunneling matrix element squared as a
Gaussian in the change of wavevector q parallel to the junction, . The
obtained for the s- and extended-s-wave order parameters (OP's) are consistent
with the BiSrCaCuO data of Li {\it et al.}, but only
for strongly incoherent tunneling, . A -wave OP
is always inconsistent with the data. In addition, we show that the apparent
conventional sum rule violation observed by Basov et al. might be
understandable in terms of incoherent c-axis tunneling, provided that the OP is
not -wave.Comment: 6 pages, 6 figure
Measurement of single pi0 production in neutral current neutrino interactions with water by a 1.3 GeV wide band muon neutrino beam
Neutral current single pi0 production induced by neutrinos with a mean energy
of 1.3 GeV is measured at a 1000 ton water Cherenkov detector as a near
detector of the K2K long baseline neutrino experiment. The cross section for
this process relative to the total charged current cross section is measured to
be 0.064 +- 0.001 (stat.) +- 0.007 (sys.). The momentum distribution of
produced pi0s is measured and is found to be in good agreement with an
expectation from the present knowledge of the neutrino cross sections.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures, Submitted to Phys. Lett.
Search for Gravitational Waves from Primordial Black Hole Binary Coalescences in the Galactic Halo
We use data from the second science run of the LIGO gravitational-wave
detectors to search for the gravitational waves from primordial black hole
(PBH) binary coalescence with component masses in the range 0.2--.
The analysis requires a signal to be found in the data from both LIGO
observatories, according to a set of coincidence criteria. No inspiral signals
were found. Assuming a spherical halo with core radius 5 kpc extending to 50
kpc containing non-spinning black holes with masses in the range 0.2--, we place an observational upper limit on the rate of PBH coalescence
of 63 per year per Milky Way halo (MWH) with 90% confidence.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures, to be submitted to Phys. Rev.
Ergonomics and sustainability: Towards and embrace of complexity and emergence
Technology offers a promising route to a sustainable future, and ergonomics can serve a vital role. The argument of this article is that the lasting success of sustainability initiatives in ergonomics hinges on an examination of ergonomics' own epistemology and ethics. The epistemology of ergonomics is fundamentally empiricist and positivist. This places practical constraints on its ability to address important issues such as sustainability, emergence and complexity. The implicit ethical position of ergonomics is one of neutrality, and its positivist epistemology generally puts value-laden questions outside the parameters of what it sees as scientific practice. We argue, by contrast, that a discipline that deals with both technology and human beings cannot avoid engaging with questions of complexity and emergence and seeking innovative ways of addressing these issues.No Full Tex
Studies of Neutron Stars at Optical/IR Wavelengths
In the last years, optical studies of Isolated Neutron Stars (INSs) have expanded from the more classical rotation-powered ones to other categories, like the Anomalous X-ray Pulsars (AXPs) and the Soft Gamma-ray Repeaters (SGRs), which make up the class of the magnetars, the radio-quiet INSs with X-ray thermal emission and, more recently, the enigmatic Compact Central Objects (CCOs) in supernova remnants. Apart from 10 rotation-powered pulsars, so far optical/IR counterparts have been found for 5 magnetars and for 4 INSs. In this work we present some of the latest observational results obtained from optical/IR observations of different types of INSs
XUV Photometer System (XPS): Improved Solar Irradiance Algorithm Using CHIANTI Spectral Models
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