Collaborative learning and individual work performance in coworking spaces

Coworking spaces are becoming increasingly popular. Throughout literature, coworking spaces are commonly known as collaborative environments. Yet, there is a lack of research on the mechanisms of the collaborative practices within coworking spaces. This research identifies collaborative learning as a major collaborative practice within coworking spaces, and develops a conceptual framework including two other variables: individual motivation to learn and individual work performance. Exploratory factor analysis to establish the reliability and validity of this framework. Next, a survey study was conducted of 169 coworking space members and PLS-SEM was used to do a factor analysis and evaluate the structural model created. It is found that individual motivation to learn positively impacts collaborative learning, collaborative learning positively impacts individual work performance, and that collaborative learning acts as a full mediator between individual motivation to learn and individual work performance. These findings demonstrate how collaborative learning can be key in improving individual work performance in coworking spaces. Furthermore, these findings position collaborative learning as a theory that deserves further attention in coworking space research. These findings also suggest that coworking space operators may want to further encourage collaboration and incentivize learning in their space. First published online 14 December 202

Crowdsourcing in the Digital Humanities: An Action Research on the Shengxuanhuai Manuscript Transcription

In recent years, there has been an emerging trend in the GLAMs (Galleries, Libraries, Archives and Museums) to leverage crowdsourcing to improve the collection, organization, and evaluation of valuable resources. Although a se-ries of notable crowdsourcing projects in the digital humanities have been launched worldwide, there are few academic studies on investigating the im-plementation and evaluation of such cases. To fill up the research gap, this study aims at conducting a field exploration on the real case called the Shengxuanhuai Manuscript Transcription Initiative (Transcribe Sheng for short). In this poster, action research will be carried out to explore the vari-ous stages of Transcribe Sheng project. Our attempts may shed light on the design and evaluation principles of the crowdsourcing in the digital humani-ties

Unsupervised Object-Centric Voxelization for Dynamic Scene Understanding

Understanding the compositional dynamics of multiple objects in unsupervised visual environments is challenging, and existing object-centric representation learning methods often ignore 3D consistency in scene decomposition. We propose DynaVol, an inverse graphics approach that learns object-centric volumetric representations in a neural rendering framework. DynaVol maintains time-varying 3D voxel grids that explicitly represent the probability of each spatial location belonging to different objects, and decouple temporal dynamics and spatial information by learning a canonical-space deformation field. To optimize the volumetric features, we embed them into a fully differentiable neural network, binding them to object-centric global features and then driving a compositional NeRF for scene reconstruction. DynaVol outperforms existing methods in novel view synthesis and unsupervised scene decomposition and allows for the editing of dynamic scenes, such as adding, deleting, replacing objects, and modifying their trajectories

Microfluidic flow direction and rate vector sensor based on a partially gold-coated TFBG

In microfluidic chips applications, the monitoring of the rate and the direction of a microfluidic flow is very important. Here, we demonstrate a liquid flow rate and a direction sensor using a partially gold-coated tilted fiber Bragg grating (TFBG) as the sensing element. Wavelength shifts and amplitude changes of the TFBG transmission resonances in the near infrared reveal the direction of the liquid flowing along the fiber axis in the vicinity of the TFBG due to a nanoscale gold layer over part of the TFBG. For a device length of 10 mm (and a diameter of 125 µm for easy insertion into microfluidic channels), the flow rates and the direction can be detectable unequivocally. The TFBG waveguiding properties allow such devices to function in liquids with refractive indices ranging from 1.33 to about 1.40. In addition, the proposed sensor can be made inherently temperature-insensitive by referencing all wavelengths to the wavelength of the core mode resonance of the grating, which is isolated from the fiber surroundings

Wave diffraction of a hybrid wind turbine foundation with a double-layer aquaculture cage

A hybrid wind turbine foundation combined with a double-layer offshore net cage for marine aquaculture is proposed in this paper. To study the diffraction and hydrodynamic loads on the structure for waves with small steepness, a numerical model was established using linear potential theory and solved using the eigenfunction expansion method. A porosity parameter was introduced to describe the hydrodynamic characteristics of the net panels. The model was validated based on existing numerical results and experimental data. An empirical formula was derived to calculate the porosity parameter based on the opening ratios of the nets. The wavefield and wave force were calculated and analyzed by setting different porosity parameters, spacings between the exterior net and interior net, radius ratios of the exterior net to the wind turbine tower and thicknesses of the friction wheel. Noticeable differences in the wave elevation were observed between the upstream and downstream sides of the nets. At downstream sites, the wavefield exhibits different profiles, particularly for structures with low porosities. Sloshing modes were observed that impacted the force and wave elevation at certain frequencies. For the common fishing nets with large porosities, the spacing between the nets does not have a significant impact on the wavefield and wave force acting on the structure. Moreover, the radius and thickness of the friction wheel have a non-negligible influence on the force acting on the structure, which also narrows the intervals between adjacent sloshing frequencies. In summary, this study provides a perspective for the engineering design and hydrodynamic analysis of a hybrid wind turbine foundation with a double-layer aquaculture cage

Retention in Treated Wastewater Affects Survival and Deposition of Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli in Sand Columns

The fate and transport of pathogenic bacteria from wastewater treatment facilities in the Earth's subsurface have attracted extensive concern over recent decades, while the impact of treated-wastewater chemistry on bacterial viability and transport behavior remains unclear. The influence of retention time in effluent from a full-scale municipal wastewater treatment plant on the survival and deposition of Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli strains in sand columns was investigated in this paper. In comparison to the bacteria cultivated in nutrient-rich growth media, retention in treated wastewater significantly reduced the viability of all strains. Bacterial surface properties, e.g., zeta potential, hydrophobicity, and surface charges, varied dramatically in treated wastewater, though no universal trend was found for different strains. Retention in treated wastewater effluent resulted in changes in bacterial deposition in sand columns. Longer retention periods in treated wastewater decreased bacterial deposition rates for the strains evaluated and elevated the transport potential in sand columns. We suggest that the wastewater quality should be taken into account in estimating the fate of pathogenic bacteria discharged from wastewater treatment facilities and the risks they pose in the aquatic environment

Anaerobic copper toxicity and iron-sulfur cluster biogenesis in Escherichia coli

© 2017 American Society for Microbiology. While copper is an essential trace element in biology, pollution of groundwater from copper has become a threat to all living organisms. Cellular mechanisms underlying copper toxicity, however, are still not fully understood. Previous studies have shown that iron-sulfur proteins are among the primary targets of copper toxicity in Escherichia coli under aerobic conditions. Here, we report that, under anaerobic conditions, iron-sulfur proteins in E. coli cells are even more susceptible to copper in medium. Whereas addition of 0.2 mM copper(II) chloride to LB (Luria-Bertani) medium has very little or no effect on iron-sulfur proteins in wild-type E. coli cells under aerobic conditions, the same copper treatment largely inactivates iron-sulfur proteins by blocking iron-sulfur cluster biogenesis in the cells under anaerobic conditions. Importantly, proteins that do not have iron-sulfur clusters (e.g., fumarase C and cysteine desulfurase) in E. coli cells are not significantly affected by copper treatment under aerobic or anaerobic conditions, indicating that copper may specifically target iron-sulfur proteins in cells. Additional studies revealed that E. coli cells accumulate more intracellular copper under anaerobic conditions than under aerobic conditions and that the elevated copper content binds to the iron-sulfur cluster assembly proteins IscU and IscA, which effectively inhibits iron-sulfur cluster biogenesis. The results suggest that the copper-mediated inhibition of iron-sulfur proteins does not require oxygen and that iron-sulfur cluster biogenesis is the primary target of anaerobic copper toxicity in cells