8,301 research outputs found
Best Practices In Asynchronous Online Course Discussions
Along with an increasing number of online courses offered via the Internet, online discussions have become a ubiquitous component in such courses. With the increased use of online discussions comes a corresponding need for the discussions to be of high quality. Online discussions need to be structured so that they are positive communication and learning environments. New online instructors often struggle knowing just what the proper “structure” really is. In order to assist instructors realize what works best in online discussions, this study sought to find best practice suggestions regarding discussions in asynchronous online courses. These best practices were culled from the literature and from the author’s personal experiences in teaching some 60 online courses
Effects of Turbulence Induced Scattering on Underwater Optical Wireless Communications
This paper presents a comprehensive description of the relative effect of
optical underwater turbulence in combination with absorption and scattering.
Turbulence induced scattering is shown to cause and increase both spatial and
temporal spreading at the receiver plane. It is also demonstrated that the
relative impact of turbulence on a received signal is lower in a highly
scattering channel. Received intensity distributions are presented confirming
that fluctuations in received power from this method follow the commonly used
Log-Normal fading model. The impact of turbulence induced scattering on maximum
achievable data rate in the underwater channel is investigated.Comment: 9 pages, 10 figures and 3 table
Epidemiology and Impact of Abdominal Oblique Injuries in Major and Minor League Baseball.
BACKGROUND: Oblique injuries are known to be a common cause of time out of play for professional baseball players, and prior work has suggested that injury rates may be on the rise in Major League Baseball (MLB).
PURPOSE: To better understand the current incidence of oblique injuries, determine their impact based on time out of play, and to identify common injury patterns that may guide future injury prevention programs.
STUDY DESIGN: Descriptive epidemiological study.
METHODS: Using the MLB Health and Injury Tracking System, all oblique injuries that resulted in time out of play in MLB and Minor League Baseball (MiLB) during the 2011 to 2015 seasons were identified. Player demographics such as age, position/role, and handedness were included. Injury-specific factors analyzed included the following: date of injury, timing during season, days missed, mechanism, side, treatment, and reinjury status.
RESULTS: A total of 996 oblique injuries occurred in 259 (26%) MLB and 737 (74%) MiLB players. Although the injury rate was steady in MiLB, the MLB injury rate declined (P = .037). A total of 22,064 days were missed at a mean rate of 4413 days per season and 22.2 days per injury. The majority of these occurred during batting (n = 455, 46%) or pitching (n = 348, 35%), with pitchers losing 5 days more per injury than batters (P \u3c .001). The leading side was injured in 77% of cases and took 5 days longer to recover from than trailing side injuries (P = .009). Seventy-nine (7.9%) players received either a corticosteroid or platelet-rich plasma injection, and the mean recovery time was 11 days longer compared with those who did not receive an injection (P \u3c .001).
CONCLUSION: Although the rate of abdominal oblique injuries is on the decline in MLB, this is not the case for MiLB, and these injuries continue to represent a significant source of time out of play in professional baseball. The vast majority of injuries occur on the lead side, and these injuries result in the greatest amount time out of play. The benefit of injections for the treatment of oblique injuries remains unknown
A Search for the Damped Ly-alpha Absorber at z=1.86 toward QSO 1244+3443 with NICMOS
We have carried out a high-resolution imaging search for the galaxy
associated with the damped Lyman-alpha (DLA) absorber at z=1.859 toward the
z_{em}=2.48 quasar QSO 1244+3443, using the HST and the NICMOS. Images were
obtained in the broad filter F160W and the narrow filter F187N with camera 2 on
NICMOS with the goal of detecting the rest-frame optical continuum and the
H-alpha line emission from the DLA. After PSF subtraction, two weak features
are seen at projected separations of 0.16-0.24" from the quasar. Parts of these
features may be associated with the DLA absorber, although we cannot completely
rule out that they could be artifacts of the point spread function (PSF). If
associated with the DLA, the objects would be ~1-2 h_{70}^{-1} kpc in size with
integrated flux densities of 2.5 and 3.3 mu Jy in the F160W filter, implying
luminosities at lambda_{central}=5600 A in the DLA rest frame of 4.4-5.9 x
10^{9} h_{70}^{-2} L_{solar} at z=1.86, for q0=0.5. However, no significant
H-alpha line emission is seen from these objects, suggesting low star formation
rates (SFRs). Our 3 sigma upper limit on the SFR in the DLA is 1.3 h_{70}^{-2}
M_{solar}/yr for q0 = 0.5 (2.4 h_{70}^{-2} M_{solar} yr^{-1} for q0 = 0.1).
This together with our earlier result for LBQS 1210+1731 mark a significant
improvement over previous constraints on the star formation rates of DLAs. A
combination of low SFR and some dust extinction is likely to be responsible for
the lack of H-alpha emission. Alternatively, the objects, may be associated
with the quasar host galaxy. In any case, our observations suggest that the DLA
is not a large bright proto-disk, but a compact object or a low-surface
brightness galaxy. If the two features are PSF artifacts then the constraints
on DLA properties are even more severe.Comment: 28 pages, 9 figures. Accepted for publication in The Astrophysical
Journal. Figures are given at a slightly lower resolution here, to decrease
file sizes. The higher resolution versions can be found in the Ap
Exoplanet Catalogues
One of the most exciting developments in the field of exoplanets has been the
progression from 'stamp-collecting' to demography, from discovery to
characterisation, from exoplanets to comparative exoplanetology. There is an
exhilaration when a prediction is confirmed, a trend is observed, or a new
population appears. This transition has been driven by the rise in the sheer
number of known exoplanets, which has been rising exponentially for two decades
(Mamajek 2016). However, the careful collection, scrutiny and organisation of
these exoplanets is necessary for drawing robust, scientific conclusions that
are sensitive to the biases and caveats that have gone into their discovery.
The purpose of this chapter is to discuss and demonstrate important
considerations to keep in mind when examining or constructing a catalogue of
exoplanets. First, we introduce the value of exoplanetary catalogues. There are
a handful of large, online databases that aggregate the available exoplanet
literature and render it digestible and navigable - an ever more complex task
with the growing number and diversity of exoplanet discoveries. We compare and
contrast three of the most up-to-date general catalogues, including the data
and tools that are available. We then describe exoplanet catalogues that were
constructed to address specific science questions or exoplanet discovery space.
Although we do not attempt to list or summarise all the published lists of
exoplanets in the literature in this chapter, we explore the case study of the
NASA Kepler mission planet catalogues in some detail. Finally, we lay out some
of the best practices to adopt when constructing or utilising an exoplanet
catalogue.Comment: 14 pages, 6 figures. Invited review chapter, to appear in "Handbook
of Exoplanets", edited by H.J. Deeg and J.A. Belmonte, section editor N.
Batalh
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