2,026 research outputs found
Improving the student experience in higher education: An action research approach to implementing collaborative learning strategies
Although higher education institutions (HEIs) tend to use traditional teaching formats,
such as Lectures, this teaching strategy clashed with our commitment to a studentcentred
approach. Using an action research approach, we sought to promote greater
student engagement via the implementation of collaborative learning activities. Previous
literature has found largely positive effects of collaborative learning on student
engagement and attainment, the present study therefore sought to extend on this prior
research to examine whether there were positive effects of collaborative learning on the
student experience. A qualitative and quantitative module evaluation was carried out
using a questionnaire designed specifically for the study. The sample consisted of 30,
second year, undergraduate students, enrolled on a particular psychology module. The
module evaluation was administered during the last class of the module. Data were
analysed through use of thematic analysis and t-tests. Results found collaborative
learning to have a positive effect on the student experience, the details of this effect will
be discussed further
The Road to Quantum Computational Supremacy
We present an idiosyncratic view of the race for quantum computational
supremacy. Google's approach and IBM challenge are examined. An unexpected
side-effect of the race is the significant progress in designing fast classical
algorithms. Quantum supremacy, if achieved, won't make classical computing
obsolete.Comment: 15 pages, 1 figur
CoQ10 Deficient Endothelial Cell Culture Model for the Investigation of CoQ10 Blood–Brain Barrier Transport
Primary coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) deficiency is unique among mitochondrial respiratory chain disorders in that it is potentially treatable if high-dose CoQ10 supplements are given in the early stages of the disease.While supplements improve peripheral abnormalities, neurological symptoms are only partially or temporarily ameliorated. The reasons for this refractory response to CoQ10 supplementation are unclear, however, a contributory factor may be the poor transfer of CoQ10 across the blood–brain barrier (BBB). The aim of this study was to investigate mechanisms of CoQ10 transport across the BBB, using normal and pathophysiological (CoQ10 deficient) cell culture models. The study identifies lipoprotein-associated CoQ10 transcytosis in both directions across the in vitro BBB. Uptake via SR-B1 (Scavenger Receptor) and RAGE (Receptor for Advanced Glycation Endproducts), is matched by efflux via LDLR (Low Density Lipoprotein Receptor) transporters, resulting in no “net” transport across the BBB. In the CoQ10 deficient model, BBB tight junctions were disrupted and CoQ10 “net” transport to the brain side increased. The addition of anti-oxidants did not improve CoQ10 uptake to the brain side. This study is the first to generate in vitro BBB endothelial cell models of CoQ10 deficiency, and the first to identify lipoprotein-associated uptake and efflux mechanisms regulating CoQ10 distribution across the BBB. The results imply that the uptake of exogenous CoQ10 into the brain might be improved by the administration of LDLR inhibitors, or by interventions to stimulate luminal activity of SR-B1 transporters
Fast b-tagging at the high-level trigger of the ATLAS experiment in LHC Run 3
The ATLAS experiment relies on real-time hadronic jet reconstruction and b-tagging to record fully hadronic events containing b-jets. These algorithms require track reconstruction, which is computationally expensive and could overwhelm the high-level-trigger farm, even at the reduced event rate that passes the ATLAS first stage hardware-based trigger. In LHC Run 3, ATLAS has mitigated these computational demands by introducing a fast neural-network-based b-tagger, which acts as a low-precision filter using input from hadronic jets and tracks. It runs after a hardware trigger and before the remaining high-level-trigger reconstruction. This design relies on the negligible cost of neural-network inference as compared to track reconstruction, and the cost reduction from limiting tracking to specific regions of the detector. In the case of Standard Model HH → bb̅bb̅, a key signature relying on b-jet triggers, the filter lowers the input rate to the remaining high-level trigger by a factor of five at the small cost of reducing the overall signal efficiency by roughly 2%
Physics, Astrophysics and Cosmology with Gravitational Waves
Gravitational wave detectors are already operating at interesting sensitivity
levels, and they have an upgrade path that should result in secure detections
by 2014. We review the physics of gravitational waves, how they interact with
detectors (bars and interferometers), and how these detectors operate. We study
the most likely sources of gravitational waves and review the data analysis
methods that are used to extract their signals from detector noise. Then we
consider the consequences of gravitational wave detections and observations for
physics, astrophysics, and cosmology.Comment: 137 pages, 16 figures, Published version
<http://www.livingreviews.org/lrr-2009-2
Uptake and metabolism of sulphated steroids by the blood-brain barrier in the adult male rat
Little is known about the origin of the neuroactive steroids dehydroepiandrosterone sulphate (DHEAS) and pregnenolone sulphate (PregS) in the brain or of their subsequent metabolism. Using rat brain perfusion in situ, we have found (3) H-PregS to enter more rapidly than (3) H-DHEAS and both to undergo extensive (>50%) desulphation within 0.5 min of uptake. Enzyme activity for the steroid sulphatase catalysing this deconjugation was enriched in the capillary fraction of the blood-brain barrier and its mRNA expressed in cultures of rat brain endothelial cells and astrocytes. Although permeability measurements suggested a net efflux, addition of the efflux inhibitors GF120918 and/or MK571 to the perfusate reduced rather than enhanced the uptake of (3) H-DHEAS and (3) H-PregS; a further reduction was seen upon the addition of unlabelled steroid sulphate, suggesting a saturable uptake transporter. Analysis of brain fractions after 0.5 min perfusion with the (3) H-steroid sulphates showed no further metabolism of PregS beyond the liberation of free steroid pregnenolone. By contrast, DHEAS underwent 17-hydroxylation to form androstenediol in both the steroid sulphate and the free steroid fractions, with some additional formation of androstenedione in the latter. Our results indicate a gain of free steroid from circulating steroid sulphates as hormone precursors at the blood-brain barrier, with implications for ageing, neurogenesis, neuronal survival, learning and memory. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved
The complete mitochondrial genome of the foodborne parasitic pathogen Cyclospora cayetanensis
Cyclospora cayetanensis is a human-specific coccidian parasite responsible for several food and water-related outbreaks around the world, including the most recent ones involving over 900 persons in 2013 and 2014 outbreaks in the USA. Multicopy organellar DNA such as mitochondrion genomes have been particularly informative for detection and genetic traceback analysis in other parasites. We sequenced the C. cayetanensis genomic DNA obtained from stool samples from patients infected with Cyclospora in Nepal using the Illumina MiSeq platform. By bioinformatically filtering out the metagenomic reads of non-coccidian origin sequences and concentrating the reads by targeted alignment, we were able to obtain contigs containing Eimeria-like mitochondrial, apicoplastic and some chromosomal genomic fragments. A mitochondrial genomic sequence was assembled and confirmed by cloning and sequencing targeted PCR products amplified from Cyclospora DNA using primers based on our draft assembly sequence. The results show that the C. cayetanensis mitochondrion genome is 6274 bp in length, with 33% GC content, and likely exists in concatemeric arrays as in Eimeria mitochondrial genomes. Phylogenetic analysis of the C. cayetanensis mitochondrial genome places this organism in a tight cluster with Eimeria species. The mitochondrial genome of C. cayetanensis contains three protein coding genes, cytochrome (cytb), cytochrome C oxidase subunit 1 (cox1), and cytochrome C oxidase subunit 3 (cox3), in addition to 14 large subunit (LSU) and nine small subunit (SSU) fragmented rRNA genes
The AdS(5)xS(5) Semi-Symmetric Space Sine-Gordon Theory
The generalized symmetric space sine-Gordon theories are a series of
1+1-integrable field theories that are classically equivalent to superstrings
on symmetric space spacetimes F/G. They are formulated in terms of a
semi-symmetric space as a gauged WZW model with fermions and a potential term
to deform it away from the conformal fixed point. We consider in particular the
case of PSU(2,2|4)/Sp(2,2)xSp(4) which corresponds to AdS(5)xS(5). We argue
that the infinite tower of conserved charges of these theories includes an
exotic N=(8,8) supersymmetry that is realized in a mildy non-local way at the
Lagrangian level. The supersymmetry is associated to a double central extension
of the superalgebra psu(2|2)+psu(2|2) and includes a non-trivial R symmetry
algebra corresponding to global gauge transformations, as well as 2-dimensional
spacetime translations. We then explicitly construct soliton solutions and show
that they carry an internal moduli superspace CP(2|1)xCP(2|1) with both bosonic
and Grassmann collective coordinates. We show how to semi-classical quantize
the solitons by writing an effective quantum mechanical system on the moduli
space which takes the form of a co-adjoint orbit of SU(2|2)xSU(2|2). The
spectrum consists of a tower of massive states in the short, or atypical,
symmetric representations, just as the giant magnon states of the string world
sheet theory, although here the tower is truncated.Comment: 39 pages, references adde
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