Challenges in Hadron Physics

In this talk, I address some open problems in hadron physics and stress their importance for a better understanding of QCD in the confinement regime.Comment: Outlook talk at MESON 2004, Krakow, Poland, June 4-8, 2004, typos correcte

How does investor sentiment affect stock market crises? Evidence from panel data

We test the impact of investor sentiment on a panel of international stock markets. Specifically, we examine the influence of investor sentiment on the probability of stock market crises. We find that investor sentiment increases the probability of occurrence of stock market crises within a one-year horizon. The impact of investor sentiment on stock markets is more pronounced in countries that are culturally more prone to herd-like behavior and overreaction or in countries with low institutional involvement. Results also suggest that investors' sentiment is not a reliable predictor of stock market reversal pointsInvestor sentiment ; stock market crises ; reversal points

Assessment and learning outcomes: the evaluation of deep learning in an on-line course

Using an online learning environment, students from European countries collaborated and communicated to carry out problem based learning in occupational therapy. The effectiveness of this approach was evaluated by means of the final assessments and published learning outcomes. In particular, transcripts from peer-to-peer sessions of synchronous communication were analysed. The SOLO taxonomy was used and the development of deep learning was studied week by week. This allowed the quality of the course to be appraised and showed, to a certain extent, the impact of this online international course on the learning strategies of the students. Results indicate that deep learning can be supported by synchronous communication and online meetings between course participants.</p

Attractor Metadynamics in Adapting Neural Networks

Slow adaption processes, like synaptic and intrinsic plasticity, abound in the brain and shape the landscape for the neural dynamics occurring on substantially faster timescales. At any given time the network is characterized by a set of internal parameters, which are adapting continuously, albeit slowly. This set of parameters defines the number and the location of the respective adiabatic attractors. The slow evolution of network parameters hence induces an evolving attractor landscape, a process which we term attractor metadynamics. We study the nature of the metadynamics of the attractor landscape for several continuous-time autonomous model networks. We find both first- and second-order changes in the location of adiabatic attractors and argue that the study of the continuously evolving attractor landscape constitutes a powerful tool for understanding the overall development of the neural dynamics

Collaboration and teamwork: immersion and presence in an online learning environment

In the world of OTIS, an online Internet School for occupational therapists, students from four European countries were encouraged to work collaboratively through problem-based learning by interacting with each other in a virtual semi-immersive environment. This paper describes, often in their own words, the experience of European occupational therapy students working together across national and cultural boundaries. Collaboration and teamwork were facilitated exclusively through an online environment, since the students never met each other physically during the OTIS pilot course. The aim of the paper is to explore the observations that here was little interaction between students from different tutorial groups and virtual teamwork developed in each of the cross-cultural tutorial groups. Synchronous data from the students was captured during tutorial sessions and peer-booked meetings and analysed using the qualitative constructs of ‘immersion’, ‘presence’ and ‘reflection in learning’. The findings indicate that ‘immersion’ was experienced only to a certain extent. However, both ‘presence’ and shared presence were found by the students, within their tutorial groups, to help collaboration and teamwork. Other evidence suggests that communities of interest were established. Further study is proposed to support group work in an online learning environment. It is possible to conclude that collaborative systems can be designed, which encourage students to build trust and teamwork in a cross cultural online learning environment.</p

Boundary element analysis of steady incompressible viscous flow with isogeometric and isoparametric discretisation

In this work the boundary element method (BEM) is applied to steady incom- pressible viscous flow of Newtonian fluids. The boundary integral equation is derived from the continuity and momentum equation and the primary variables involved are velocity and traction. Due to the non-linearity of the governing differencial equation a volume integral arise in the formulation of the final equation system. Thus, iterative techniques, either a full or modified Newton-Raphson algorithm, are applied in the solution procedure. The numerical discretisation is done in two different ways, firstly with the use of clas- sical isoparametric continuous elements of linear and quadratic order. Using this type of elements geometry- and mesh-generation is a significant portion of the overall compu- tation effort. In contrast to this, in a second implementation, the discretisation is done with the isogeometric analysis (IGA). With the IGA geometry data can be taken directly from Computer Aided Design (CAD) programs, potentially eliminating the need for mesh generation. The arising surface and volume integrals of the BEM are evaluated with both techniques, the isoparametric application and with the IGA. Computational results are shown for the two different numerical implementations based on a 2D benchmark example. The accuracy of the results of both methods are compared as well as the computational effort, such as numbers of degrees of freedom and internal point calculations