Dispelling the myths of online education: learning via the information superhighway

There continues to be a perception that online education is inferior to traditional education. In the U.S. online learning is more developed than in the U.K. This paper provides insights into a U.S. provision and takes a close look at what are perceived as weaknesses of on line learning and argues that these are not necessarily inherent weaknesses of this form of educational delivery. Then, results of two major studies, undertaken in the U.S. are provided comparing the effectiveness of online education to traditional education as perceived by current MBA students and past graduates. Results of these studies suggest that students of MBA modules and MBA graduates perceive the quality and effectiveness of online education to be similar to, if not higher than, the quality and effectiveness of traditional modules and programmes

The Generalized Jacobi Equation

The Jacobi equation in pseudo-Riemannian geometry determines the linearized geodesic flow. The linearization ignores the relative velocity of the geodesics. The generalized Jacobi equation takes the relative velocity into account; that is, when the geodesics are neighboring but their relative velocity is arbitrary the corresponding geodesic deviation equation is the generalized Jacobi equation. The Hamiltonian structure of this nonlinear equation is analyzed in this paper. The tidal accelerations for test particles in the field of a plane gravitational wave and the exterior field of a rotating mass are investigated. In the latter case, the existence of an attractor of uniform relative radial motion with speed $2^{-1/2}c\approx 0.7 c$ is pointed out. The astrophysical implications of this result for the terminal speed of a relativistic jet is briefly explored.Comment: LaTeX file, 4 PS figures, 28 pages, revised version, accepted for publication in Classical and Quantum Gravit

The role of mutation rate variation and genetic diversity in the architecture of human disease

Background We have investigated the role that the mutation rate and the structure of genetic variation at a locus play in determining whether a gene is involved in disease. We predict that the mutation rate and its genetic diversity should be higher in genes associated with disease, unless all genes that could cause disease have already been identified. Results Consistent with our predictions we find that genes associated with Mendelian and complex disease are substantially longer than non-disease genes. However, we find that both Mendelian and complex disease genes are found in regions of the genome with relatively low mutation rates, as inferred from intron divergence between humans and chimpanzees, and they are predicted to have similar rates of non-synonymous mutation as other genes. Finally, we find that disease genes are in regions of significantly elevated genetic diversity, even when variation in the rate of mutation is controlled for. The effect is small nevertheless. Conclusions Our results suggest that gene length contributes to whether a gene is associated with disease. However, the mutation rate and the genetic architecture of the locus appear to play only a minor role in determining whether a gene is associated with disease

Experts' Judgments of Management Journal Quality:An Identity Concerns Model

Many lists that purport to gauge the quality of journals in management and organization studies (MOS) are based on the judgments of experts in the field. This article develops an identity concerns model (ICM) that suggests that such judgments are likely to be shaped by the personal and social identities of evaluators. The model was tested in a study in which 168 editorial board members rated 44 MOS journals. In line with the ICM, respondents rated journal quality more highly to the extent that a given journal reflected their personal concerns (associated with having published more articles in that journal) and the concerns of a relevant ingroup (associated with membership of the journal’s editorial board or a particular disciplinary or geographical background). However, judges’ ratings of journals in which they had published were more favorable when those journals had a low-quality reputation, and their ratings of journals that reflected their geographical and disciplinary affiliations were more favorable when those journals had a high-quality reputation. The findings are thus consistent with the view that identity concerns come to the fore in journal ratings when there is either a need to protect against personal identity threat or a meaningful opportunity to promote social identity

Wave envelopes with second-order spatiotemporal dispersion : I. Bright Kerr solitons and cnoidal waves

We propose a simple scalar model for describing pulse phenomena beyond the conventional slowly-varying envelope approximation. The generic governing equation has a cubic nonlinearity and we focus here mainly on contexts involving anomalous group-velocity dispersion. Pulse propagation turns out to be a problem firmly rooted in frames-of-reference considerations. The transformation properties of the new model and its space-time structure are explored in detail. Two distinct representations of exact analytical solitons and their associated conservation laws (in both integral and algebraic forms) are presented, and a range of new predictions is made. We also report cnoidal waves of the governing nonlinear equation. Crucially, conventional pulse theory is shown to emerge as a limit of the more general formulation. Extensive simulations examine the role of the new solitons as robust attractors

Polyhedral Cosmic Strings

Quantum field theory is discussed in M\"obius corner kaleidoscopes using the method of images. The vacuum average of the stress-energy tensor of a free field is derived and is shown to be a simple sum of straight cosmic string expressions, the strings running along the edges of the corners. It does not seem possible to set up a spin-half theory easily.Comment: 15 pages, 4 text figures not include

Wave envelopes with second-order spatiotemporal dispersion: II. Modulational instabilities and dark Kerr solitons

A simple scalar model for describing spatiotemporal dispersion of pulses, beyond the classic “slowly-varying envelopes + Galilean boost” approach, is studied. The governing equation has a cubic nonlinearity and we focus here mainly on contexts with normal group-velocity dispersion. A complete analysis of continuous waves is reported, including their dispersion relations and modulational instability characteristics. We also present a detailed derivation of exact analytical dark solitons, obtained by combining direct-integration methods with geometrical transformations. Classic results from conventional pulse theory are recovered as-ymptotically from the spatiotemporal formulation. Numerical simulations test new theoretical predictions for modulational instability, and examine the robustness of spatiotemporal dark solitons against perturbations to their local pulse shape

Relativistic Quantum Information in Detectors-Field Interactions

We review Unruh-DeWitt detectors and other models of detector-field interaction in a relativistic quantum field theory setting as a tool for extracting detector-detector, field-field and detector-field correlation functions of interest in quantum information science, from entanglement dynamics to quantum teleportation. We in particular highlight the contrast between the results obtained from linear perturbation theory which can be justified provided switching effects are properly accounted for, and the nonperturbative effects from available analytic expressions which incorporate the backreaction effects of the quantum field on the detector behaviour.Comment: 21 pages, 3 figures. Prepared for the special focus issue on RQ

Forward-backward Asymmetry and Branching Ratio of B \rar K_1 \ell^+ \ell^- Transition in Supersymmetric Models

The mass eigen states $K_1(1270)$ and $K_1(1400)$ are mixture of the strange members of two axial-vector SU(3) octet, $^3P_1(K_1^A)$ and $^1P_1(K_1^B)$. Taking into account this mixture, the forward-backward asymmetry and branching ratio of B \rar K_1(1270,1400) \ell^+ \ell^- transitions are studied in the framework of different supersymmetric models. It is found that the results have considerable deviation from the standard model predictions. Any measurement of these physical observables and their comparison with the results obtained in this paper can give useful information about the nature of interactions beyond the standard model.Comment: 14 pages, 4 figure

Policy, Performativity and Partnership: an Ethical Leadership Perspective

This article identifies the need to think differently about educational partnerships in a changing and turbulent post compulsory policy environment in England. The policy and institutional contexts in which universities and colleges currently operate seem to be fuelling performativity at the expense of educational values. There appears to be a sharp interruption in the steady increase in educational partnerships as a vehicle for increasing and widening participation in higher education. We are witnessing a marked change in university / college relationships that appears to be a consequence of government calling a halt to increased participation in higher education, creating an increasingly competitive market for a more limited pool of student places. The implication that educational policy at the national level determines a particular pattern or mode of leadership decision making throughout an institution should however be resisted. Policy developments that challenge the moral precepts of education should not be allowed to determine how a leader acts, rather they should prompt actions that are truly educational, rooted in morality, and atached to identifiable educational values. Educational leaders have agency to resist restricted discourses in favour of ethical and principled change strategies that are a precondition for sustainable transformative partnerships in post compulsory education. University leaders in particular are called upon to use their considerable influence to resist narrow policy or managerial instrumentalism or performativity and embrace alternatives that are both educationally worthwhile and can enhance institutional resilience