Giant dipole resonance with exact treatment of thermal fluctuations

The shape fluctuations due to thermal effects in the giant dipole resonance (GDR) observables are calculated using the exact free energies evaluated at fixed spin and temperature. The results obtained are compared with Landau theory calculations done by parameterizing the free energy. The Landau theory is found to be insufficient when the shell effects are dominating.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figure

Teachers speak their minds about abortion during adolescence

Debates on abortion have escalated following the implementation in 1997 of the new law that legalises abortion from the age of twelve years in South Africa. Very often the person that opts for an abortion is merely an adolescent, who is still en route to adulthood. The adolescent's teacher shares the responsibility of the parent to accompany the adolescent to this procedure. The primary objective of the research was to determine from a socio-educational perspective what specific view teachers have of an abortion during adolescence. In order to achieve this, a qualitative method of research was used, with data being collected by means of focus-group interviews, through purposive sampling. The transcriptions were subjected to descriptive analysis. The findings of the research are presented and guidelines offered to teachers on more effectively accompanying the adolescent of our present-day society who plans to have an abortion or has had one. South African Journal of Education Vol.24(3) 2004: 177-18

Should IS Management Courses Provide Hands-On Experience in Computer and Network Installation?

Recently a group of IS Management students attending an Australian university either studying, or had studied, e-commerce, networking or computer programming units in the Faculty of Business were interviewed whilst completing a questionnaire. These students were asked to express their opinion on a number of issues relating to their course. Some questions were asked using an open PC and associated equipment as a reference. Students were asked a range of questions about the setting up of Internet sites, LANs

Student opinions on their development of non-technical skills in IT education

It is recognized that non-technical or soft skills are a vital part of the IT curriculum and hence are considered to be core curriculum components, particularly in the USA and Australia and is also an important worldwide issue. An extensive analysis within an Australian university context found a mismatch between employer expectations and the university-based instruction in these skills. However, it was noted that this unpreparedness in soft skills may be because students may not have appreciated the importance of these skills – a result confirmed by this study, which used a questionnaire delivered to project students undertaking a range of IT based courses. Internships are not common in Australia and hence to address this problem guest speakers from industry are now regularly invited to give presentations to project students. Furthermore it was also found that those students who had workplace experience more fully appreciated the role of workplace soft skills than those who did not have such experience. This study clearly indicates the importance of a team based project unit for teaching soft skills. A further implication is that students need to be made aware of the importance of soft skills in the workplace as a part of their studies

Applicability of shape parameterizations for giant dipole resonance in warm and rapidly rotating nuclei

We investigate how well the shape parameterizations are applicable for studying the giant dipole resonance (GDR) in nuclei, in the low temperature and/or high spin regime. The shape fluctuations due to thermal effects in the GDR observables are calculated using the actual free energies evaluated at fixed spin and temperature. The results obtained are compared with Landau theory calculations done by parameterizing the free energy. We exemplify that the Landau theory could be inadequate where shell effects are dominating. This discrepancy at low temperatures and high spins are well reflected in GDR observables and hence insists on exact calculations in such cases.Comment: 10 pages, 2 figure

Network Security Devices and Protocols Using State Model Diagrams

Network security is concerned with protecting sensitive information, limiting unauthorised access, and reinforcing network performance. An important factor in network security is encryption. Internet Security Protocol (IPSec) is the de facto open standard for encryption and replaces the older Cisco Encryption Technology (CET). Both encryption protocols are typically implemented and managed using the text based Command Line Interface (CLI). A graphical user interface (GUI) is available; however, it is not routinely used. Regardless of whether the CLI or GUI is used, both encryption suites are complex to implement and manage. State Model Diagrams (SMDs) were developed and successfully used as the pedagogical foundation of internetworking technologies. SMDs integrate pertinent output from devices and protocol finite state information. SMDs are modular and hierarchical models thereby providing top down deconstruction as a cascaded structure. In terms of ease of use, hyperlinks may be used to navigate between different state tables and diagrams. Moreover, as hierarchical model characteristics allow technical detail to be presented and integrated to assist in managing devices. In this paper, SMDs were used to evaluate CET and IPSec via experiments in order to determine their potential value as network management tool

Economic Sustainability of Remote Access Networking Classrooms

Within the higher education domain, there is a prevalent belief that e-learning, virtual classroom and tele-education are essential requirements for the long-term effectiveness and success of educational institutions. Many information technologies have been adopted to assist studying and learning remotely and are hence potentially beneficial to students, teachers and educational providers. For educational providers, the benefits are that there are no physical or geographical limits to the number of students that can be enrolled in a course of study. However, within the field of network technology, students must actually use network devices during their studies. This is important not only because it significantly enhances student learning, but also within this field, employers expect students to have practical ‗hands-on‘ experience. Software simulators are available but they cannot provide students with the necessary practical experience of connecting together the physical devices. Despite the requirements to provide a ‗hands-on\u27 approach it effectively eliminates remote on-line students. Edith Cowan University (ECU) invested over AUD$350,000 in dedicated network teaching laboratories, which are considered to be of a \u27world-class\u27 standard. An access server has been used to provide remote students with access to this equipment. Significantly it is also possible to view the actual network devices by means of a webcam. Whilst remote access to equipment has been possible students only interact via a computer screen. This work allows students to interact by means of Webcam (visual) and Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) (audio). Work to date has consisted of establishing the appropriate infrastructure and testing the communication links. Further trials are planned for semester 2, 2008. Traditional remote access can only operate via Command Line Interface (CLI), this can be difficult for many students to practice and gain experience in computer network and internetworking. In effect on-line students will be able to conduct their workshops on a remotely located \u27world class\u27 network laboratory. For students, the on-line curriculum is available twenty four hours a day; there is typically on-line support, and software is now available allowing access to recorded lectures

World Class Curriculum – on a budget

Universities must compete in an increasingly difficult global market place. In order to successfully do so they must identify and profile market segments in order to achieve a unique selling position. Partnering may provide only part of the solution. The Cisco Network Academy Program (CNAP) is the world‘s largest network curriculum developed at an initial cost of US$75 million. There are advantages to becoming a Cisco academy such as access to on-line curriculum and low cost equipment. However, with over 10,000 Cisco academies world wide it is difficult to achieve a marketing advantage. Cisco provides low cost equipment but academies are responsible for laboratory design. Accordingly, a state-wide, national and international analysis was conducted of Cisco academy laboratories and hence two new laboratories designed and commissioned. These laboratories have been independently recognized to be of international standing. Significantly, other laboratories investigated were better equipped. Secondly the Cisco curriculum was analysed and found to lack a coherent and uniform pedagogical framework. A new diagrammatic model, State Model Diagrams (SMDs), was therefore designed. Curriculum based on SMDs was implemented and evaluated. Extensive evaluations of students taught using SMDs clearly resulted in better learning outcomes that those achieved by the standard Cisco curriculum. Furthermore, as a diagrammatic technique SMDs are substantially language independent – confirmed by a detailed analysis of overseas students taught using SMDs. By invitation, this research was presented to Cisco educational experts at the annual Cisco Asia/Pacific conference. The feedback was excellent. The initial trials of curriculum based on SMDs are now being extended internationally. All research to date (eleven publications), and feedback from Cisco Asia/Pacific strongly indicates that SMDs has the potential to be used as the pedagogical basis of the CNAP curriculum and hence affect the learning experience of over 500,000 students in more than 10,000 academies