501 research outputs found
The design and evaluation of Link: a CAL system designed to address psychology students' misconceptions about correlation
This thesis describes the design, development and evaluation of Link, a computerassisted learning program for correlation, which is targeted at psychology students in higher education. Computer technology is being increasingly used on statistics courses, suggesting that computer-assisted learning programs on statistical concepts will be increasingly used by students in higher education.
To inform the design of Link, an empirical study was conducted to investigate students’ difficulties with correlation. It was found that psychology students held misconceptions relating to negative correlations, the strength of correlations and that they infer causality. The design of Link was also informed by research-based principles of learning, research and developments in computer-assisted learning and a review of computer-assisted learning programs that cover correlation. A formative evaluation study involving eighteen psychology students found that having used the program, students’ general understanding of correlation was significantly improved.
Unlike previously existing computer-assisted learning programs that were reviewed, Link makes use of data from two authentic studies in psychology. In addition. Link provides learner activities specifically designed to address students’ misconceptions about correlation. A summative evaluation study of Link involving fifty psychology students was undertaken to assess the effect on students’ understanding of correlation. The findings of this evaluation provided further qualitative data on students’ misconceptions. Moreover, it was found that the use of Link significantly contributed to students’ general understanding of correlation
Single-filament Composite MgB2/SUS Ribbons by Powder-In-Tube Process
We report the successful fabrication of single-filament composite MgB2/SUS
ribbons, as an ultra-robust conductor type, employing the powder-in-tube (PIT)
process, by swaging and cold rolling only. The remarkable transport critical
current (Ic) of the non-sintered MgB2/SUS ribbon has observed, as an unexpected
result. Transport critical currents Ic ~ 316 A at T = 4.2 K and Ic ~ 82 A at T
= 20 K were observed at self-field, for the non-sintered composite MgB2/SUS
ribbon. In addition, the persistent current density Jp values, that were
estimated by Bean formula, were more than ~ 7  105 A/cm2 at T = 5 K,
and ~ 1.2  105 A/cm2 at T = 30 K, for the sintered composite MgB2/SUS
ribbon, at H = 0 G.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figure
Movement of cerebrospinal fluid tracer into brain parenchyma and outflow to nasal mucosa is reduced at 24 h but not 2 weeks post-stroke in mice
Background Recent data indicates that cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) dynamics are disturbed after stroke. Our lab has previously shown that intracranial pressure rises dramatically 24 h after experimental stroke and that this reduces blood flow to ischaemic tissue. CSF outflow resistance is increased at this time point. We hypothesised that reduced transit of CSF through brain parenchyma and reduced outflow of CSF via the cribriform plate at 24 h after stroke may contribute to the previously identified post-stroke intracranial pressure elevation. Methods Using a photothrombotic permanent occlusion model of stroke in C57BL/6 adult male mice, we examined the movement of an intracisternally infused 0.5% Texas Red dextran throughout the brain and measured tracer efflux into the nasal mucosa via the cribriform plate at 24 h or two weeks after stroke. Brain tissue and nasal mucosa were collected ex vivo and imaged using fluorescent microscopy to determine the change in CSF tracer intensity in these tissues. Results At 24 h after stroke, we found that CSF tracer load was significantly reduced in brain tissue from stroke animals in both the ipsilateral and contralateral hemispheres when compared to sham. CSF tracer load was also reduced in the lateral region of the ipsilateral hemisphere when compared to the contralateral hemisphere in stroke brains. In addition, we identified an 81% reduction in CSF tracer load in the nasal mucosa in stroke animals compared to sham. These alterations to the movement of CSF-borne tracer were not present at two weeks after stroke. Conclusions Our data indicates that influx of CSF into the brain tissue and efflux via the cribriform plate are reduced 24 h after stroke. This may contribute to reported increases in intracranial pressure at 24 h after stroke and thus worsen stroke outcomes.K. E. Warren, K. G. Coupland, R. J. Hood, L. Kang, F. R. Walker, and N. J. Sprat
Stabilities of nanohydrated thymine radical cations: insights from multiphoton ionization experiments and ab initio calculations
Multi-photon ionization experiments have been carried out on thymine-water clusters in the gas phase. Metastable H2O loss from T+(H2O)n was observed at n ≥ 3 only. Ab initio quantum-chemical calculations of a large range of optimized T+(H2O)n conformers have been performed up to n = 4, enabling binding energies of water to be derived. These decrease smoothly with n, consistent with the general trend of increasing metastable H2O loss in the experimental data. The lowest-energy conformers of T+(H2O)3 and T+(H2O)4 feature intermolecular bonding via charge-dipole interactions, in contrast with the purely hydrogen-bonded neutrals. We found no evidence for a closed hydration shell at n = 4, also contrasting with studies of neutral clusters
Holographic principle in the BDL brane cosmology
We study the holographic principle in the brane cosmology. Especially we
describe how to accommodate the 5D anti de Sitter Schwarzschild (AdSS)
black hole in the Binetruy-Deffayet-Langlois (BDL) approach of brane cosmology.
It is easy to make a connection between a mass of the AdSS black hole
and a conformal field theory (CFT)-radiation dominated universe on the brane in
the moving domain wall approach. But this is not established in the BDL
approach. In this case we use two parameters in the Friedmann
equation. These arise from integration and are really related to the choice of
initial bulk matter. If one chooses a bulk energy density to account
for a mass of the AdSS black hole and the static fifth dimension, a
CFT-radiation term with comes out from the bulk
matter without introducing a localized matter distribution on the brane. This
means that the holographic principle can be established in the BDL brane
cosmology.Comment: 9 pages, a version to appear in PR
Development of a population-based microsimulation model of osteoarthritis in Canada
OBJECTIVES: The purpose of the study was to develop a population-based simulation model of osteoarthritis (OA) in Canada that can be used to quantify the future health and economic burden of OA under a range of scenarios for changes in the OA risk factors and treatments. In this article we describe the overall structure of the model, sources of data, derivation of key input parameters for the epidemiological component of the model, and preliminary validation studies. DESIGN: We used the Population Health Model (POHEM) platform to develop a stochastic continuous-time microsimulation model of physician-diagnosed OA. Incidence rates were calibrated to agree with administrative data for the province of British Columbia, Canada. The effect of obesity on OA incidence and the impact of OA on health-related quality of life (HRQL) were modeled using Canadian national surveys. RESULTS: Incidence rates of OA in the model increase approximately linearly with age in both sexes between the ages of 50 and 80 and plateau in the very old. In those aged 50+, the rates are substantially higher in women. At baseline, the prevalence of OA is 11.5%, 13.6% in women and 9.3% in men. The OA hazard ratios for obesity are 2.0 in women and 1.7 in men. The effect of OA diagnosis on HRQL, as measured by the Health Utilities Index Mark 3 (HUI3), is to reduce it by 0.10 in women and 0.14 in men. CONCLUSIONS: We describe the development of the first population-based microsimulation model of OA. Strengths of this model include the use of large population databases to derive the key parameters and the application of modern microsimulation technology. Limitations of the model reflect the limitations of administrative and survey data and gaps in the epidemiological and HRQL literature
Glueballs of Super Yang-Mills from Wrapped Branes
In this paper we study qualitative features of glueballs in N=1 SYM for
models of wrapped branes in IIA and IIB backgrounds. The scalar mode, 0++ is
found to be a mixture of the dilaton and the internal part of the metric. We
carry out the numerical study of the IIB background. The potential found
exhibits a mass gap and produces a discrete spectrum without any cut-off. We
propose a regularization procedure needed to make these states normalizable.Comment: 22 pages plus a appendixes, 2 figure
Search for lepton-flavor-violating decays at Belle
We have searched for neutrinoless lepton decays into and ,
where stands for an electron or muon, and for a vector meson
(, , , or ), using 543 fb
of data collected with the Belle detector at the KEKB asymmetric-energy
collider. No excess of signal events over the expected background has
been observed, and we set upper limits on the branching fractions in the range
at the 90% confidence level. These upper limits
include the first results for the mode as well as new limits that
are significantly more restrictive than our previous results for the , , and modes.Comment: 7 pages, 16 figure
Measurement of the ratio B(D0->pi+pi-pi0)/B(D0->K-pi+pi0) and the time-integrated CP asymmetry in D0->pi+pi-pi0
We report a high-statistics measurement of the relative branching fraction
B(D0->pi+pi-pi0)/B(D0->K-pi+pi0) using a 532 fb^{-1} data sample collected with
the Belle detector at the KEKB asymmetric-energy e+e- collider. The measured
value of the relative branching fraction is B(D0->pi+pi-pi0)/B(D0->K-pi+pi0) =
(10.12 +/- 0.04(stat) +/- 0.18(syst))x10^{-2} which has an accuracy comparable
to the world average. We also present a measurement of the time-integrated CP
asymmetry in D0->pi+pi-pi0 decay. The result, A_{CP} = (0.43 +/- 1.30)%, shows
no significant CP violation.Comment: 15 pages, 11 figures, submitted to Physics Letters
Search for B -> h(*) nu nubar Decays at Belle
We present a search for the rare decays B -> h(*) nu nubar, where h(*) stands
for a light meson. A data sample of 535 million BBbar pairs collected with the
Belle detector at the KEKB e+e- collider is used. Signal candidates are
required to have an accompanying B meson fully reconstructed in a hadronic mode
and signal-side particles consistent with a single h(*) meson. No significant
signal is observed and we set upper limits on the branching fractions at 90%
confidence level. The limits on B0 -> K*0 nu nubar and B+ -> K+ nu nubar decays
are more stringent than the previous constraints, while the first searches for
B0 -> K0 nu nubar, pi0 nu nubar, rho0 nu nubar, phi nu nubar and B+ -> K*+ nu
nubar, rho+ nu nubar are reported.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figures, submit to PR
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