1,242 research outputs found
Textbooks designed for students’ learning in the digital age
No full textKnight, BA ORCiD: 0000-0001-6627-378XIn this paper the author challenges the thoughts, practices and assumptions related to the creation, acquisition and use of textbooks and digital learning resources in the digital age. Firstly, the discussion centres on student characteristics in the culture of the knowledge society, and then examines the efficacy of
textbooks. Sophisticated Individualised Data Delivery Systems (SIDDS) (Knight 2015) are then introduced as the new “textbooks” to utilise the benefits of digital learning resources. The chapter will describe principles underpinning a learner-centred design framework as aspects to consider when designing learning experiences for diverse learners in textbooks incorporating new media formats (Fasso, Knight & Knight 2013)
Conformational dependence of through-space tellurium-tellurium spin-spin coupling in peri-substituted bis(tellurides)
No full textThe work in this project was supported by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC). M.B. wishes to thank EaStCHEM and the University of St Andrews for support.Three related series of peri‐substituted bis(tellurides) bearing naphthalene, acenaphthene and acenaphthylene backbones (Nap/Acenap/Aceyl(TeY)2 (Nap=naphthalene‐1,8‐diyl N ; Acenap=acenaphthene‐5,6‐diyl A ; Aceyl=acenaphthylene‐5,6‐diyl Ay ; Y=Ph 1 ; Fp 2 ; Tol 3 ; An‐p 4 ; An‐o 5 ; Tp 6 ; Mes 7 ; Tip 8 ) have been synthesised and their solid‐state structures determined by X‐ray crystallography. Molecular conformations were classified as a function of the two C9‐C‐Te‐C(Y) dihedral angles (θ); in the solid all members adopt AB or CCt configurations, with larger Te(aryl) moieties exclusively imposing the CCt variant. Exceptionally large J(125Te,125Te) spin–spin coupling constants between 3289–3848 Hz were obtained for compounds substituted by bulky Te(aryl) groups, implying these species are locked in a CCt‐type conformation. In contrast, compounds incorporating smaller Te(aryl) moieties are predicted to be rather dynamic in solution and afford much smaller J values (2050–2676 Hz), characteristic of greater populations of AB conformers with lower couplings. This conformational dependence of through‐space coupling is supported by DFT calculations.Peer reviewe
Studies in Figured Tours of Knight in Two and Higher Dimensions
No full textTour of knight is over a millennium year old puzzle but ‘Figured tour’ of knight is a recent field of research. T. R. Dawson, an English chess problemist and the father of Fairy Chess, coined the term in 1940s. The name figured tour is appropriate for any numbered tour in which certain arithmetically related numbers are arranged in a geometrical pattern. Figured tours have been only looked into two-dimensional boards, mostly on 8x8 board. The author has constructed knight tour with square numbers in fiveleaper {3, 4} + {0, 5} path and various other figured tours on 6x6 board and extended it in three and four dimensional space. Construction of figured tours is a mathematical recreation and can also be used in pedagogy of higher mathematics
Potential use of Dicyphus hesperus Knight (Heteroptera: Miridae) for biological control of pests of greenhouse tomatoes
No full textThe potential of Dicyphus hesperus Knight as a predator of greenhouse whitefly, Trialeurodes vaporariorum (Westwood), and two-spotted spider mites, Tetranychus urticae Koch, was assessed in the laboratory and in a tomato greenhouse. D. hesperus adults fed readily upon both pest species in the laboratory, and nymphs completed development from egg to adult on either whitefly or mites. Whitefly, however, were a superior food for growth and development of D. hesperus compared to mites. Development time was shorter and resulting adult body size was larger for nymphs reared on whitefly compared to those reared on mites. In a greenhouse release, adults oriented to and oviposited on whitefly-infested sentinel plants but did not orient to mite-infested sentinel plants. D. hesperus adults oviposited on greenhouse tomatoes and their progeny completed development in a greenhouse in which both whitefly and mites were present. The results are discussed as they relate to the use of D. hesperus for biological control of pests of greenhouse vegetables.Peer reviewedFinal article publishedDicyphus hesperusgreenhouse vegetablestomatoomnivoresgeneralist predatorsHeteropterazoophytophagousTetranychus urticaeTrialeurodes vaporarioru
Battle of the Blockbusters: Joss Whedon as Public Pedagogue
No full textThis article discusses the concept of public pedagogy and the reasons for considering it relevant to the work of the writer/ director/ producer Joss Whedon, creator of numberous TV programmes, such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel and Firefly, and Films Serenity, Marvel's The Avengers and The Age of Ultron. It analyzes Marvel’s The Avengers (Whedon, 2012) and Christopher Nolan’s (2012b) The Dark Knight Rises as competing public pedagogies.It suggests that popular films can be seen as important educational projects; filmmakers have tremendous resources at their disposal and their creations have a global reach that cannot be matched by individual teachers or national education systems. Whedon can be seen as a radical educator; he enables his audiences to experience ways of looking at the world that challenge aspects of neo-liberal hegemony, and also encourages them to become critical thinkers who have to reflect on their own feelings and perspectives and resist simplistic perspectives on morality and the difficult political choices facing global society
Economic Growth in China: Productivity and Policy. Editorial Introduction.
No full texthttp://gateway.webofknowledge.com/gateway/Gateway.cgi?GWVersion=2&SrcApp=PARTNER_APP&SrcAuth=LinksAMR&KeyUT=WOS:000297470100001&DestLinkType=FullRecord&DestApp=ALL_WOS&UsrCustomerID=8e1609b174ce4e31116a60747a720701EconomicsSocial Sciences, Mathematical MethodsStatistics & ProbabilitySCI(E)SSCI0EDITORIAL MATERIAL6,SI719-7217
Prey feeding increases water stress in the omnivorous predator Dicyphus hesperus
No full textThe effects of water stress (produced by water deprivation and prey feeding) on plant feeding were investigated in the omnivorous predator Dicyphus hesperus Knight (Hemiptera: Miridae). The objective was to determine if prey feeding aggravated water deficits and thus increased plant feeding. We measured plant feeding in a factorial experiment where female D. hesperus were prepared for experiments by providing or withholding water and/or prey for 24 h. We then evaluated the amount of plant feeding on Nicotiana tabacum seedlings by the direct observation of insects at three different densities of the prey, Ephestia kuehniella eggs. The amount of plant feeding, as measured by frequency of plant feeding bouts and time spent plant feeding during observation, was significantly greater for water-deprived individuals than for those that had been provided with water. Individuals that had been provided with prey fed on plants at a significantly higher frequency than prey-deprived individuals at two of the prey densities used in the experiment. These results support the hypothesis that plant feeding in zoophytophagous Hemiptera facilitates prey feeding by providing water that is essential for predation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]Peer reviewedFinal article publishedMiridaezoophytophagous predatortomatoplant feedingomnivorygeneralist predatorDicyphus hesperusbiological controlHeteropter
Olfactory responses of the omnivorous generalist predator Dicyphus hesperusto plant and prey odours
No full textResponses of female Dicyphus hesperus Knight (Heteroptera: Miridae) to the odours of plants and prey were tested in the laboratory using a Y-tube olfactometer. Females were attracted to the odour of tomato leaves infested with nymphs of the greenhouse whitefly, Trialeurodes vaporariorum Westwood (Homoptera: Aleyrodidae), compared to uninfested leaves. No such attraction occurred to tomato leaves infested with two-spotted spider mites, Tetranychus urticae Koch (Acari: Tetranychidae). When females were simultaneously presented with the odours of whitefly and mite-infested leaves, no preference for either odour was recorded. Similarly, females were attracted to the odour of pepper leaves infested with green peach aphids [Myzus persicae (Sulzer) (Homoptera: Aphididae)] compared to uninfested leaves, but were not attracted to the odour of pepper leaves infested with eggs of cabbage loopers, Trichoplusia ni (Hübner) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae). When aphid-infested and looper-egg-infested pepper leaves were presented simultaneously, no preference for either odour was detected. The results are discussed as they relate to the evolution of infochemical use in generalist omnivorous predators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]Peer reviewedfinal article publishedTrialeurodes vaporariorumMiridaeHeteropterabiological controlpeppertomatoTrichoplusia niMyzus persicaeTetranychus urtica
Silver(I) coordination complexes and extended networks assembled from S, Se, Te substituted acenaphthenes
No full textThe work in this project was supported by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC).Six related organo-chalconium silver(I) coordination complexes, including two examples of rare organo-tellurium-silver coordination, have been prepared and structurally characterised by X-ray crystallography. The series of 5-bromo-6-(phenylchalcogeno)acenaphthene ligands L1-L3 [Acenap(Br)(EPh)] (Acenap = acenaphthene-5,6-diyl; E = S, Se, Te) were independently treated with silver(I) salts (AgBF4, AgOTf). In order to keep the number of variables to a minimum, all reactions were carried out using a 1 : 1 ratio of Ag/L and run in dichloromethane. The nature of the donor atoms and the coordinating ability of the respective counter-anion affects the structural architecture of the final silver(I) complex, generating a monomeric dinuclear complex {[(AgBF4(L1)(2))(2)] 1}, monomeric, mononuclear, two-coordinate silver(I) complexes {[AgBF4(L)(2)] (2 L = L2; 3 L = L3)}, a monomeric three-coordinate silver(I) complex {[AgOTf(L2)(2)] 5}, a monomeric four-coordinate silver(I) complex {[AgOTf(L1)(3)] 4} and a 1D extended helical chain polymer {[AgOTf(L3)](n) 6}. The organic acenaphthene ligands L1-L3 all adopt the same ligation mode with the central silver atom (classical monodentate coordination), which employs a variety of coordination geometries (linear, trigonal planar, see-saw, tetrahedral).Peer reviewe
The functions of plant feeding in the omnivorous predator Dicyphus hesperus: Water places limits on predation
No full textSummary 1. Dicyphus hesperus Knight (Heteroptera: Miridae) nymphs were fed from egg hatch to the adult stage on Ephestia kuehniella eggs provided either alone or in combination with tomato leaves or with a supplementary water source. 2. Only 6% of individuals completed nymphal development on a diet of eggs alone. In contrast, a high proportion of nymphs completed development on a diet of eggs when either tomato leaves (97%) or a supplementary water source (88%) were provided. 3. The development times of nymphs given access to leaves were significantly shorter than those of nymphs given access only to supplementary water. 4. Adult female D. hesperus that were given access to tomato leaves prior to feeding trials consumed significantly more eggs in a 4-h period than females that were dehydrated before trials. Dehydrated females that were allowed access to water for 3 h before trials consumed an intermediate number of eggs. 5. Plant feeding or access to some other water source is required for prey feeding, growth, and development in D. hesperus, and acquisition of water is proposed as a primary function of plant feeding. In addition, D. hesperus derives nutrients from plant feeding that increase the rate of nymphal development, although nymphs cannot complete development when provided only with tomato leaves. 6. Three simple models are presented of feeding behaviour in predatory Heteroptera where the amount of plant feeding either decreases, increases, or is constant as a function of the amount of prey feeding. The models are discussed with reference to the results and the probable multifunctional nature of plant feeding in predatory Heteroptera. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]Peer reviewedFinal article publishedplant feedingzoophytophagous predatoromnivoryMiridaeHeteropterageneralist predatorDicyphus hesperustomatoBiological contro
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