2,775 research outputs found
Drawing and writing on the screen
No full textThis chapter focuses on the physicality of the iPad as an object, and how that physicality affects the interactions children have with the device generally, and the apps specifically. Thinking about the physicality of the iPad is important because the materials, size, weight and appearance make the iPad quite unlike most other toys and equipment in the kindergarten space. Most strikingly, this physicality does not ‘represent’ the virtual vast dimensions of the iPad brought about through the diverse functions and contents of the apps contained in it. While the iPad is small enough and functional enough to be easily handled and operated even by young children, it is capable of performing highly complex, highly technological tasks that take it beyond its diminutive dimensions. \ud
This virtual-actual contrast is interesting to consider in relation to the other resources more commonly found in a kindergarten space. While objects such as toys, bricks, building materials often do prompt the child to imagine and invent beyond the physical boundaries of the toy, they not have the same types of virtual-actual contrasts of a digital device such as the iPad. \ud
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How then, might children be drawn to the iPad because of its physical, technological and virtual difference? \ud
Particularly, how might this virtual-actual difference impact on the physical skills associated with writing and drawing: skills usually learnt through the use of a pencil and paper? While the research project did not set out to compare how digital and paper-based resources affect writing and drawing skills there was great interest to see how young children negotiated drawing and writing on the shiny glass surface of the iPad
An experiment for observing quantum gravity phenomena using twin table-top 3D interferometers
No full textTheories of quantum gravity based on the holographic principle predict the existence of quantum fluctuations of distance measurements that accumulate and exhibit correlations over macroscopic distances. This paper models an expected signal due to this phenomenology, and details the design and estimated sensitivity of co-located twin table-top 3D interferometers being built to measure or constrain it. The experiment is estimated to be sensitive to displacements in a frequency band between 1 and 250 MHz, surpassing previous experiments and enabling the possible observation of quantum gravity phenomena. The experiment will also be sensitive to MHz gravitational waves and various dark matter candidates
Adaptive equalisation in oversampled subbands
No full textThe potential presence of fractional delays, non-minimum phase parts, and a colouring of the channel output can require adaptive equalizers to adapt very long filters, which can have slow convergence for LMS-type adaptive algorithms. This paper presents a novel oversampled subband approach to adaptive equalization, which can both significantly reduce computational complexity, and improve convergence speed
Non-Lorentzian line shapes for interfering rotational resonances in the predissociation of O(2)
No full textRotationally resolved measurements are presented of interacting predissociating resonances in the Schumann-Runge bands of O₂that exhibit destructive quantum interference for energies between the line centers. The interacting resonances are described using a coupled line shape derived by treating simultaneously the perturbation and predissociation processes using the method of Fano.B. R. Lewis, P. M. Dooley, J. P. England, S. T. Gibson, and K. G. H. Baldwin, L. W. Toro
Seasonal activities of the phyllosphere microbiome of perennial crops
No full textUnderstanding the interactions between plants and microorganisms can inform microbiome management to enhance crop productivity and resilience to stress. Here, we apply a genome-centric approach to identify ecologically important leaf microbiome members on replicated plots of field-grown switchgrass and miscanthus, and to quantify their activities over two growing seasons for switchgrass. We use metagenome and metatranscriptome sequencing and curate 40 medium- and high-quality metagenome-assembled-genomes (MAGs). We find that classes represented by these MAGs (Actinomycetia, Alpha- and Gamma- Proteobacteria, and Bacteroidota) are active in the late season, and upregulate transcripts for short-chain dehydrogenase, molybdopterin oxidoreductase, and polyketide cyclase. Stress-associated pathways are expressed for most MAGs, suggesting engagement with the host environment. We also detect seasonally activated biosynthetic pathways for terpenes and various non-ribosomal peptide pathways that are poorly annotated. Our findings support that leaf-associated bacterial populations are seasonally dynamic and responsive to host cues.This article is published as Howe, Adina, Nejc Stopnisek, Shane K. Dooley, Fan Yang, Keara L. Grady, and Ashley Shade. "Seasonal activities of the phyllosphere microbiome of perennial crops." Nature Communications 14, no. 1 (2023): 1039.
DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-36515-y.
Copyright 2023 The Author(s).
Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0).
Posted with permission
Capital flight and war
No full textThe author provides empirical evidence on the effects of inflation on post-war capital flight flows. He tests the hypothesis that inflation has a positive additional impact on capital flight flows after war. He uses a new panel dataset of 77 developing countries, of which 35 experienced at least one episode of war between 1971 and 2000. The author uses a range of estimation methods and four capital flight measures-Cline, World Bank Residual, Morgan Guarantee, and Dooley. The results consistently support the research hypothesis: Post-war inflation increases annual capital flight flows by about 0.005 to 0.01 percentage points of GDP. This effect is substantial in total at high inflation rates. The implication is that low inflation helps to curb capital flight in post-conflict economies.Economic Theory&Research,Banks&Banking Reform,Investment and Investment Climate,Settlement of Investment Disputes,Achieving Shared Growth
Honor Roll World War II, Nolan County
No full textPhotograph of a World War II veterans memorial in Sweetwater, Texas. It reads: "Honor Roll World War II: Jose A. Alcala, Norman P. Alston, Walter P. Anderson, Jr., Robert Anthony, Odis L. Apple, Jr., James W. Barkley, Johnny C. Belt, Oscar A. Bennett, James Lee Berry, Winston J. Bradford, Arlin W. Brown, Deverle Brown, Earl A. Bryant, William R. Burkett, Earl Brown, Brown Thomas B., R. C. Chapman, Roy Clay, Jr., Valton C. Clayton, Chester V. Crain, Edward E. Davis, Neal C. Davison, Jr., Ollie G. Dismuke, Jess W. Dooley, Troy R. Dooley, Jimmie Doyle, Sie S. Edwards, Jack C. Elliston, Forest F. Gartman, Raymond George, Billy B. Gibbs, Willie E. Ingram, Leroy Giesler, James V. Gillenwater Thomas T. Gillilan, Thomas P. Glass, Ernest W. Hagar, James A. Hall, David Hanks, Alfred C. Harris, Burnhard K. Hart, Lee R. Hill, Harold G. Hudgins, Robert L. Hyde, William D. Johnson, Matias M. Juarez, Johnny M. Hurd, CHarlie H. McCormick.
Improved quality of life in patients with refractory or recidivant ascites after insertion of transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunts
No full textBackground. We have recently shown that the transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS) is more effective than paracentesis in the treatment of cirrhotic patients with severe ascites and can prolong survival in selected patients. Although an improved quality of life (QOL) has been suggested in these patients after the TIPS procedure, so far there are no data available to substantiate this assumption. Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine the effect of TIPS on the QOL in cirrhotic patients with refractory or recidivant ascites. Methods: 21 cirrhotic patients who underwent TIPS for refractory or recidivant ascites were investigated. All patients were pretreated with repeated paracentesis for at least 1 year. Before the procedure and at 3 and 6 months during follow-up, the patients themselves rated QOL, fatigue and physical performance on a visual analogue scale (range 0-100). Furthermore, QOL was determined by the QOL index (range 0-10) according to Spitzer. Results: Patients' rating of the QOL on the visual analogue scale significantly increased from 35 +/- 25 (baseline) to 64 +/- 28 (3 months), and 66 +/- 24 (6 months; p = 0.02). Similarly, the QOL index significantly increased from 6.9 +/- 2.0 (baseline) to 8.3 +/- 2.1 (3 months), and 8.6 +/- 1.7 (6 months; p < 0.001). The increase of QOL was more pronounced in patients with complete response to TIPS. Conclusions: We demonstrate that TIPS for refractory or recidivant ascites improves the QOL in patients with cirrhosis. Our data indicates that this improvement is dependent on the response to therapy. Copyright (C) 2002 S. Karger AG, Basel
Parental engagement in children's transition to school: A Bourdieusian analysis of a Chinese sample in Beijing
No full textThis chapter investigates the patterns and dynamics of Chinese parents’ engagement practices in transition to school. The chapter uses multiple correspondence analysis to explore survey data collected from 274 parent questionnaires. Drawing on Bourdieu's theory, the study probes the correspondence between parental engagement and parental socioeconomic status measured through family income and parents’ occupation and educational qualification. For the surveyed parents, three different forms of habituses were found to engineer their engagement in children's transition to school. These are selective retreat, self-presence, and indifference. This finding challenges the monolithic notion of ‘parental habitus’ found in the literature that fails to capture the complex engagement patterns hidden behind the correspondence between parents’ positions and their dispositions. The chapter purposefully avoids using ‘class’—a highly contentious notion in the Chinese context. The chapter ends with a reflexive coda that proactively speaks to research on parenting in disrupted and disruptive contexts such as the global pandemic of COVID-19 raging across the globe at the time of writin
Learning English by walking down the street
No full textWith internationalisation and globalisation, English has proliferated in urban spaces around the world. This creates new opportunities for EFL learning and teaching. An English literacy walk is one activity that can be used productively to capitalise on this potential. The activity has roots in: (i) long-established approaches to emergent literacy education for young children; and (ii) pedagogic projects inspired by recent research on linguistic landscapes. Drawing on these traditions, teachers can target reading outcomes involving code, semantic, pragmatic and critical knowledge and skills. We use the four resources model of literate practices to systematically map some of the potential of literacy walks in multilingual, multimodal linguistic landscapes. We suggest tasks and teacher questions that might be used for purposes of explicit teaching of reading during and after literacy walks. Although grounded in Taipei, our ideas might be of interest to EFL teachers in other globalised cities around the world
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