1,980 research outputs found
From manuscript catalogues to a handbook of Syriac literature: Modeling an infrastructure for Syriaca.org
Despite increasing interest in Syriac studies and growing digital
availability of Syriac texts, there is currently no up-to-date infrastructure
for discovering, identifying, classifying, and referencing works of Syriac
literature. The standard reference work (Baumstark's Geschichte) is over ninety
years old, and the perhaps 20,000 Syriac manuscripts extant worldwide can be
accessed only through disparate catalogues and databases. The present article
proposes a tentative data model for Syriaca.org's New Handbook of Syriac
Literature, an open-access digital publication that will serve as both an
authority file for Syriac works and a guide to accessing their manuscript
representations, editions, and translations. The authors hope that by
publishing a draft data model they can receive feedback and incorporate
suggestions into the next stage of the project.Comment: Part of special issue: Computer-Aided Processing of Intertextuality
in Ancient Languages. 15 pages, 4 figure
Measuring What Matters Most
An argument that choice-based, process-oriented educational assessments are more effective than static assessments of fact retrieval. If a fundamental goal of education is to prepare students to act independently in the worldâin other words, to make good choicesâan ideal educational assessment would measure how well we are preparing students to do so. Current assessments, however, focus almost exclusively on how much knowledge students have accrued and can retrieve. In Measuring What Matters Most, Daniel Schwartz and Dylan Arena argue that choice should be the interpretive framework within which learning assessments are organized. Digital technologies, they suggest, make this possible; interactive assessments can evaluate students in a context of choosing whether, what, how, and when to learn. Schwartz and Arena view choice not as an instructional ingredient to improve learning but as the outcome of learning. Because assessments shape public perception about what is useful and valued in education, choice-based assessments would provide a powerful lever in this reorientation in how people think about learning. Schwartz and Arena consider both theoretical and practical matters. They provide an anchoring example of a computerized, choice-based assessment, argue that knowledge-based assessments are a mismatch for our educational aims, offer concrete examples of choice-based assessments that reveal what knowledge-based assessments cannot, and analyze the practice of designing assessments. Because high variability leads to innovation, they suggest democratizing assessment design to generate as many instances as possible. Finally, they consider the most difficult aspect of assessment: fairness. Choice-based assessments, they argue, shed helpful light on fairness considerations
Syriaca.org: New Digital Tools for the Study of the Medieval Middle East
National Endowment for the Humanities, International Balzan Foundation, Mellon Foundatio
Measuring What Matters Most
An argument that choice-based, process-oriented educational assessments are more effective than static assessments of fact retrieval.If a fundamental goal of education is to prepare students to act independently in the worldâin other words, to make good choicesâan ideal educational assessment would measure how well we are preparing students to do so. Current assessments, however, focus almost exclusively on how much knowledge students have accrued and can retrieve. In Measuring What Matters Most, Daniel Schwartz and Dylan Arena argue that choice should be the interpretive framework within which learning assessments are organized. Digital technologies, they suggest, make this possible; interactive assessments can evaluate students in a context of choosing whether, what, how, and when to learn.Schwartz and Arena view choice not as an instructional ingredient to improve learning but as the outcome of learning. Because assessments shape public perception about what is useful and valued in education, choice-based assessments would provide a powerful lever in this reorientation in how people think about learning.Schwartz and Arena consider both theoretical and practical matters. They provide an anchoring example of a computerized, choice-based assessment, argue that knowledge-based assessments are a mismatch for our educational aims, offer concrete examples of choice-based assessments that reveal what knowledge-based assessments cannot, and analyze the practice of designing assessments. Because high variability leads to innovation, they suggest democratizing assessment design to generate as many instances as possible. Finally, they consider the most difficult aspect of assessment: fairness. Choice-based assessments, they argue, shed helpful light on fairness considerations
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Re-entrant Appearance of Phases in a Relaxed Langmuir Monolayer of Tetracosanoic Acid as Determined by X-Ray Scattering
The structure of the fully relaxed phases of a Langmuir monolayer of tetracosanoic acid is determined by xâray diffraction and reflection along an isotherm at âŒ20.5â°C. Isotherms taken by allowing the surface pressure to stabilize between incremental compressions are seen to be qualitatively different from the constantârate nonrelaxed isotherms typically seen in the literature. At low densities the monolayer consists of an inhomogeneous film of islands of a crystalline (or hexatic) phase with molecular tilt ordering that is analogous to that of the smectic I liquid crystal. Small amounts of impurities (âŒ0.5% of the monolayer) account for the change in surface pressure with area in this region. Upon compression to the point that the free space between islands becomes negligible the film appears homogeneous. On further compression the time required for full relaxation becomes long (i.e., ⌠hours), the tilt angle of the molecular axis decreases and the xâray unit cell is compressed. Including this homogeneous I phase the phase sequence observed by diffraction upon compression is IâUâIâU, where U refers to an untilted orthorhombic phase. The outer two phases of this sequence are pure phases which form homogeneous monolayers, but the inner two are inhomogeneous phases each coexisting with an amorphous phase that does not have an observable diffraction signal. At the boundaries demarcating the I and U phases, a phase whose tilt ordering is analogous to that of a smectic F phase is seen to coexist. The preceding phase sequence is sensitive to the degree of relaxation permitted the monolayer after an incremental compression. In particular, if the monolayer is not allowed to relax completely after each compression, the untilted U phase may never appear. The UâI transition is shown to be reversible for a relaxed monolayer.Engineering and Applied Science
The Fabrication, Testing and Simulation of Germanium Thermophotovoltaic Cells
This is the final report on NRL Contract N00173-79-C-0362. The purpose of this investigation was to fabricate germanium photovoltaic cells and to examine the feasibility of using them in a thermophotovoltaic system for the generation of electrical power in space. The energy source was to be solar. Systems aspects of the collection of solar energy and rejection of waste heat were not a part of this study. The strategy employed in this investigation was the following. 1. Fabricate germanium photodiodes. 2. Carefully characterize these photodiodes. 3. Simulate the performance of these photodiodes using a detailed numerical model of the cell and the illuminating spectra. 4. Use this simulation program to project the potential performance of germanium photodiodes in a thermophotovoltaic system under various assumptions about future improvements in diode performance and under various thermophotovoltaic spectral condition
Dealing with Uncertainties in Asteroid Deflection Demonstration Missions: NEOTwIST
Deflection missions to near-Earth asteroids will encounter non-negligible
uncertainties in the physical and orbital parameters of the target object. In
order to reliably assess future impact threat mitigation operations such
uncertainties have to be quantified and incorporated into the mission design.
The implementation of deflection demonstration missions offers the great
opportunity to test our current understanding of deflection relevant
uncertainties and their consequences, e.g., regarding kinetic impacts on
asteroid surfaces. In this contribution, we discuss the role of uncertainties
in the NEOTwIST asteroid deflection demonstration concept, a low-cost kinetic
impactor design elaborated in the framework of the NEOShield project. The aim
of NEOTwIST is to change the spin state of a known and well characterized
near-Earth object, in this case the asteroid (25143) Itokawa. Fast events such
as the production of the impact crater and ejecta are studied via cube-sat
chasers and a flyby vehicle. Long term changes, for instance, in the asteroid's
spin and orbit, can be assessed using ground based observations. We find that
such a mission can indeed provide valuable constraints on mitigation relevant
parameters. Furthermore, the here proposed kinetic impact scenarios can be
implemented within the next two decades without threatening Earth's safety.Comment: Accepted for publication in the proceedings of the IAUS 318 -
Asteroids: New Observations, New Models, held at the IAU General Assembly in
Honolulu, Hawaii, USA 201
A survey of X-ray emission from 100 kpc radio jets
We have completed a Chandra snapshot survey of 54 radio jets that are
extended on arcsec scales. These are associated with flat spectrum radio
quasars spanning a redshift range z=0.3 to 2.1. X-ray emission is detected from
the jet of approximately 60% of the sample objects. We assume minimum energy
and apply conditions consistent with the original Felten-Morrison calculations
in order to estimate the Lorentz factors and the apparent Doppler factors. This
allows estimates of the enthalpy fluxes, which turn out to be comparable to the
radiative luminosities.Comment: Conference Proceedings IAU Symposium No. 313, Extragalactic jets from
every angle, pp. 219-224, 4 figure
Beyond Natural Numbers: Negative Number Representation in Parietal Cortex
Unlike natural numbers, negative numbers do not have natural physical referents. How does the brain represent such abstract mathematical concepts? Two competing hypotheses regarding representational systems for negative numbers are a rule-based model, in which symbolic rules are applied to negative numbers to translate them into positive numbers when assessing magnitudes, and an expanded magnitude model, in which negative numbers have a distinct magnitude representation. Using an event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging design, we examined brain responses in 22 adults while they performed magnitude comparisons of negative and positive numbers that were quantitatively near (difference <4) or far apart (difference >6). Reaction times (RTs) for negative numbers were slower than positive numbers, and both showed a distance effect whereby near pairs took longer to compare. A network of parietal, frontal, and occipital regions were differentially engaged by negative numbers. Specifically, compared to positive numbers, negative number processing resulted in greater activation bilaterally in intraparietal sulcus (IPS), middle frontal gyrus, and inferior lateral occipital cortex. Representational similarity analysis revealed that neural responses in the IPS were more differentiated among positive numbers than among negative numbers, and greater differentiation among negative numbers was associated with faster RTs. Our findings indicate that despite negative numbers engaging the IPS more strongly, the underlying neural representation are less distinct than that of positive numbers. We discuss our findings in the context of the two theoretical models of negative number processing and demonstrate how multivariate approaches can provide novel insights into abstract number representation
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