23,197 research outputs found
'It Depends on the Students Themselves': Independent Language Learning at an Indonesian State School
There is continuing interest in the notion of learner autonomy, both as an effective means and valid goal of a language learning curriculum. However, the concept is recognised as emanating from Western tertiary educational contexts and as open to question in different sociocultural settings. This paper reports on a study of language learning attitudes and activity among adolescents in provincial Indonesia, during their first year in junior high school. Combining questionnaire, interview and classroom observation data, the study found that even younger learners are already learning English independently of their teacher's prescriptions, both inside the classroom and outside formal school. Their openness to the increasing learning opportunities in the local environment is often not recognised in local curricula, however, which instead impose a rigid diet of language items transmitted by teachers and their textbooks and assessed in national exams. In this local context, it seems that the promotion of appropriate forms of learner autonomy is essential if the majority of school pupils are not to be frustrated in their struggle to learn English
Effects of Simulated Damage on Stability and Control Characteristics of a Fixed-wing Twin-vertical-tail Fighter Mode at Mach Numbers from 2.50 to 4.63
No abstract availabl
Origin of intermittent accretion-powered X-ray oscillations in neutron stars with millisecond spin periods
We have shown previously that many of the properties of persistent
accretion-powered millisecond pulsars can be understood if their X-ray emitting
areas are near their spin axes and move as the accretion rate and structure of
the inner disk vary. Here we show that this "nearly aligned moving spot model"
may also explain the intermittent accretion-powered pulsations that have been
detected in three weakly magnetic accreting neutron stars. We show that
movement of the emitting area from very close to the spin axis to about 10
degrees away can increase the fractional rms amplitude from less than about 0.5
percent, which is usually undetectable with current instruments, to a few
percent, which is easily detectable. The second harmonic of the spin frequency
usually would not be detected, in agreement with observations. The model
produces intermittently detectable oscillations for a range of emitting area
sizes and beaming patterns, stellar masses and radii, and viewing directions.
Intermittent oscillations are more likely in stars that are more compact. In
addition to explaining the sudden appearance of accretion-powered millisecond
oscillations in some neutron stars with millisecond spin periods, the model
explains why accretion-powered millisecond oscillations are relatively rare and
predicts that the persistent accretion-powered millisecond oscillations of
other stars may become undetectable for brief intervals. It suggests why
millisecond oscillations are frequently detected during the X-ray bursts of
some neutron stars but not others and suggests mechanisms that could explain
the occasional temporal association of intermittent accretion-powered
oscillations with thermonuclear X-ray bursts.Comment: 5 pages, 1 figure; includes additional discussion and updated
references; accepted for publication in ApJ
A simplified method for calculating temperature time histories in cryogenic wind tunnels
Average temperature time history calculations of the test media and tunnel walls for cryogenic wind tunnels have been developed. Results are in general agreement with limited preliminary experimental measurements obtained in a 13.5-inch pilot cryogenic wind tunnel
A framework for the forensic investigation of unstructured email relationship data
Our continued reliance on email communications ensures that it remains a major source of evidence during a digital investigation. Emails comprise both structured and unstructured data. Structured data provides qualitative information to the forensics examiner and is typically viewed through existing tools. Unstructured data is more complex as it comprises information associated with social networks, such as relationships within the network, identification of key actors and power relations, and there are currently no standardised tools for its forensic analysis. Moreover, email investigations may involve many hundreds of actors and thousands of messages. This paper posits a framework for the forensic investigation of email data. In particular, it focuses on the triage and analysis of unstructured data to identify key actors and relationships within an email network. This paper demonstrates the applicability of the approach by applying relevant stages of the framework to the Enron email corpus. The paper illustrates the advantage of triaging this data to identify (and discount) actors and potential sources of further evidence. It then applies social network analysis techniques to key actors within the data set. This paper posits that visualisation of unstructured data can greatly aid the examiner in their analysis of evidence discovered during an investigation
Are The Four Gamma-Ray Bursts of 1996 October 27-29 Due to Repetition of a Single Source?
BATSE, Ulysses, and TGRS and KONUS on WIND detected four gamma-ray events
within 1.8 days during 1996 October 27-29, consistent with coming from the same
location on the sky. We assess the evidence that these events may be due to a
series of bursts from a single source by calculating the probability that such
a clustering in position and in time of occurrence might happen by chance. The
calculation of this probability is afflicted by the usual problem of a
posteriori statistics. We introduce a clustering statistic, which is formed
from the "minimum circle radius" (i.e. the radius of the smallest circle that
just encloses the positions of all the events) and the minimum time lapse (i.e.
the time elapsed between the first and last event). We also introduce a second
clustering statistic, which is formed from the "cluster likelihood function"
and the minimum time lapse. We show that the use of these statistics largely
eliminates the "a posteriori" nature of the problem. The two statistics yield
significances of the clustering of and ,
respectively, if we interpret the four events as four bursts, whereas the
clustering is not significant if we interpret the four events as only three
bursts. However, in the latter case one of the bursts is the longest ever
observed by BATSE.Comment: 5 pages, 1 PostScript figure. Uses AIP conference proceedings LaTeX
macros. To appear in the Proceedings of the Fourth Huntsville Gamma-Ray Burst
Symposiu
Two-dimensional Stokes flow driven by elliptical paddles
A fast and accurate numerical technique is developed for solving the biharmonic equation in a multiply connected domain, in two dimensions. We apply the technique to the computation of slow viscous flow (Stokes flow) driven by multiple stirring rods. Previously, the technique has been
restricted to stirring rods of circular cross section; we show here how the prior method fails for noncircular rods and how it may be adapted to accommodate general rod cross sections, provided only that for each there exists a conformal mapping to a circle. Corresponding simulations of the flow are described, and their stirring properties and energy requirements are discussed briefly. In particular the method allows an accurate calculation of the flow when flat paddles are used to stir a fluid chaotically
Rapid X-Ray Variability of Neutron Stars in Low-Mass Binary Systems
The dramatic discovery with the Rossi X-Ray Timing Explorer satellite of
remarkably coherent 300--1200 Hz oscillations in the X-ray brightness of
some sixteen neutron stars in low-mass binary systems has spurred theoretical
modeling of these oscillations and investigation of their implications for the
neutron stars and accretion flows in these systems. High-frequency oscillations
are observed both during thermonuclear X-ray bursts and during intervals of
accretion-powered emission and appear to be a characteristic feature of
disk-accreting neutron stars with weak magnetic fields. In this review we focus
on the high-frequency quasi-periodic oscillations (QPOs) seen in the
accretion-powered emission. We first summarize the key properties of these
kilohertz QPOs and then describe briefly the models that have been proposed to
explain them. The existing evidence strongly favors beat-frequency models. We
mention several of the difficulties encountered in applying the magnetospheric
beat-frequency model to the kilohertz QPOs. The most fully developed and
successful model is the sonic-point beat-frequency model. We describe the work
on this model in some detail. We then discuss observations that could help to
distinguish between models. We conclude by noting some of the ways in which
study of the kilohertz QPOs may advance our understanding of dense matter and
strong gravitational fields.Comment: 10 pages LaTeX including six figures, uses espcrc2.sty (included),
invited talk at "The Active X-Ray Sky", eds. L. Scarsi, H. Bradt, P. Giommi,
and F. Fior
- …
