Clinical solutions: not always what they seem?

Brenner and colleagues, in their article published in Critical Care, showed elevated levels of the reactive carbonyl species (RCS) methylglyoxal (MG) in the circulation of patients with septic shock. We commend the authors’ bravery in launching this molecule into a field well-populated with biomarkers and where clinical diagnosis persists as the ‘gold standard’

Quality factors of deformed dielectric cavities

An analysis is provided of the degradation that arises in the quality factor of a whispering gallery mode when a circular or spherical dielectric cavity is deformed. The large quality factors of such resonators are important to their use in applications such as sensors, wavelength filters or lasers. Yet a straightforward analysis of the effect of shape deformation on quality factors cannot given because the underlying complex ray data demanded by a standard eikonal approximation frequently does not exist. In this paper we exploit an approach that has been successfully used elsewhere to describe the strong directional emission of such systems, based on a perturbative treatment of the relevant complex ray families. Applicable when the radial perturbation is formally of the order of a wavelength, the resulting approximation successfully describes changes to the quality factor using the ray geometry in a neighbourhood of a discrete set of escaping rays guiding the directions of maximum emitted intensity.Comment: 16 pages, 4 figure

The Statistics of Chaotic Tunnelling

We discuss the statistics of tunnelling rates in the presence of chaotic classical dynamics. This applies to resonance widths in chaotic metastable wells and to tunnelling splittings in chaotic symmetric double wells. The theory is based on using the properties of a semiclassical tunnelling operator together with random matrix theory arguments about wave function overlaps. The resulting distribution depends on the stability of a specific tunnelling orbit and is therefore not universal. However it does reduce to the universal Porter-Thomas form as the orbit becomes very unstable. For some choices of system parameters there are systematic deviations which we explain in terms of scarring of certain real periodic orbits. The theory is tested in a model symmetric double well problem and possible experimental realisations are discussed.Comment: Submitted to PR

The stimulation of creative writing on a third grade level

Thesis (Ed.M.)--Boston Universit

Applying a social justice framework to ensure good practice in monitoring student learning engagement

A current Australian Learning and Teaching Council (ALTC) funded action research project aims to provide a set of practical resources founded on a social justice framework, to guide good practice for monitoring student learning engagement (MSLE) in higher education. The project involves ten Australasian institutions, eight of which are engaged in various MSLE type projects. A draft framework, consisting of six social justice principles which emerged from the literature has been examined with reference to the eight institutional approaches for MSLE in conjunction with the personnel working on these initiatives during the first action research cycle. The cycle will examine the strategic and operational implications of the framework in each of the participating institutions. Cycle 2 will also build capacity to embed the principles within the institutional MSLE program and will identify and collect examples and resources that exemplify the principles in practice. The final cycle will seek to pilot the framework to guide new MSLE initiatives. In its entirety, the project will deliver significant resources to the sector in the form of a social justice framework for MSLE, guidelines and sector exemplars for MSLE. As well as increasing the awareness amongst staff around the criticality of transition to university (thereby preventing attrition) and the significance of the learning and teaching agenda in enhancing student engagement, the project will build leadership capacity within the participating institutions and provide a knowledge base and institutional capacity for the Australasian HE sector to deploy the deliverables that will safeguard student learning engagement At this early stage of the project the workshop session provides an opportunity to discuss and examine the draft set of social justice principles and to discuss their potential value for the participants’ institutional contexts. Specifically, the workshop will explore critical questions associated with the principles

Scarring and the statistics of tunnelling

We show that the statistics of tunnelling can be dramatically affected by scarring and derive distributions quantifying this effect. Strong deviations from the prediction of random matrix theory can be explained quantitatively by modifying the Gaussian distribution which describes wavefunction statistics. The modified distribution depends on classical parameters which are determined completely by linearised dynamics around a periodic orbit. This distribution generalises the scarring theory of Kaplan [Phys. Rev. Lett. {\bf 80}, 2582 (1998)] to describe the statistics of the components of the wavefunction in a complete basis, rather than overlaps with single Gaussian wavepackets. In particular it is shown that correlations in the components of the wavefunction are present, which can strongly influence tunnelling-rate statistics. The resulting distribution for tunnelling rates is tested successfully on a two-dimensional double-well potential.Comment: 20 pages, 4 figures, submitted to Ann. Phy

Using a maturity model to move student engagement practices beyond the generational approach

This paper proposes that the generational approach to conceptualising first year student learning behaviour, while it has made a very useful contribution to understanding that behaviour, can be expanded upon. The generational approach has an explicit focus on student behaviour and it is suggested that a capability maturity model interpretation may provide a complementary extension of that as it allows an assessment of institutional capability to initiate, plan, manage and evaluate institutional student engagement practices. The development of a Student Engagement, Success and Retention Maturity Model (SESR-MM) is discussed along with Australasian FYE generational data and Australian SESR-MM data

National standardised testing and the diluting of English as a second language (ESL) in Australia

The Australian field of English as a Second Language (ESL) teaching is globally respected for its research and practice achievements over a period of some 30 years. However, this essential field of pedagogy is being diluted in the current Australian reform agenda which is firmly founded on a traditional vision of English as first language, and national standardised testing which maps progress in a one-size-fits-all "English as first language" development only. This paper will argue that the de-prioritising of ESL is directly related to the statistical processes which form the architecture of the National Assessment Program: Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) test. The paper first explores the economic rationalism which drives the need for standardised assessment, which in turn enables measurement of school performance according to broad statistical categories. Language Background Other than English (LBOTE) are examined, as the only statistical category used in NAPLAN for the apparent disaggregation of language effect on test performance. The limitations of the LBOTE category definition are contrasted with the complex understandings about second language acquisition, which have informed ESL pedagogy and assessment for some time in Australia. The paper draws on the author's recent PhD research, from which quantitative data will be discussed to show that the LBOTE category hides a heterogeneous group of ESL students and that understanding and responding appropriately to these needs is within the domain of ESL specialist knowledge. The paper argues that the LBOTE category is highly problematic to the Australian education reforms, to the professional knowledge that characterises the work of ESL educators and to the goal of equity for all Australian students