Experimental exploration of five-qubit quantum error-correcting code with superconducting qubits

Quantum error correction is an essential ingredient for universal quantum computing.Despite tremendous experimental efforts in the study of quantum error correc...     

Hydrodynamics of undulatory underwater swimming: A review

Undulatory underwater swimming (UUS) occurs in the starts and turns of three of the four competitive swimming strokes and plays a significant role in overall swimming performance. The majority of research examining UUS is comparative in nature, dominated by studies comparing aquatic animals' undulatory locomotion with the UUS performance of humans. More recently, research directly examining human forms of UUS have been undertaken, providing further insight into the factors which influence swimming velocity and efficiency. This paper reviews studies which have examined the hydromechanical, biomechanical, and coordination aspects of UUS performance in both animals and humans. The present work provides a comprehensive evaluation of the key factors which combine to influence UUS performance examining (1) the role of end-effector frequency and body amplitudes in the production of a propulsive waveform, (2) the effects of morphology on the wavelength of the propulsive waveform and its subsequent impact on the mode of UUS adopted, and (3) the interactions of the undulatory movements to simultaneously optimise propulsive impulse whilst minimising the active drag experienced. In conclusion, the review recommends that further research is required to fully appreciate the complexity of UUS and examine how humans can further optimise performance.     

Including the other: regulation of the human rights of mobile students in a nation-bound world

The world’s three million cross-border international students are located in a ‘gray zone’ of regulation with incomplete human rights, security and capabilities. Like other mobile persons such as short-term business and labour entrants, and refugees, students located on foreign soil do not enjoy the same protections and entitlements as do citizens. International students are affected by two different national regulatory regimes, in the nations of citizenship and of education. But they are fully covered by neither. Their position is vulnerable and uncertain, mediated by non-citizen status and the related facts of cultural difference, information asymmetry and communication difficulties. Referring to research on international education in Australia, which has the world’s fifth largest international student population, the article focuses on the manner in which the subordinated outsider status of international students magnifies the problems they face. It considers what might be done to enable them to access comprehensive protections, empowerment and human rights as defined in the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights.     

Sustainability and distance learning: a diverse European experience?

Higher Education (HE) is experiencing disruption from technologies, demographics, the globalising world and longer life expectancy. Historically Higher Education has had a legacy of being seen as the requirement for an educated ‘elite’, there has been a policy ambition set in various countries (including the UK) for it to become the expectation for much wider segments of the population as a whole. As students become ‘everyone’ and learning becomes ‘all the time’ Distance Teaching and Research Institutions have a tremendous opportunity but there are also many disruptions and barriers to overcome. Higher Education institutions have an important role within Education for Sustainable Development and sustainable lifestyles; one of the important goals and targets of the United Nations Sustainable Development goals for 2030. Higher Education can contribute to sustainability in many ways – social, technical and environmental; globally and locally. In particular distance-learning universities due to the flexibility in the learning process, use of technologies, and inter-disciplinary approach to teaching and learning, constitute key factors in education for sustainable development. But what will this contribution look like? In this paper, the responses from senior leaders in four major European distance-learning universities are presented, compared and discussed. The tentative conclusions draw out some strategic imperatives for sustainable higher education in the twenty first century.     

Conceptualizing impact in academic development: finding a way through

This paper explores the notion of impact in the context of academic development programs and considers how it can be described and understood. We argue that impact has a range of meanings and academic development programs such as graduate certificates have a broad group of stakeholders and hence the impact is different for each group depending on how the program aims and objectives are defined and understood. In finding a way through the difficulties of evaluating impact in academic development we point to the importance of clearly conceptualizing the notion of impact, a careful identification of the assumptions underpinning any program and an understanding of who academic development will benefit and how. We suggest that impact in academic development cannot be understood without taking account of the range of possible impacts and the difficulty of attributing simple cause and effect to a complex environment.     

Associations of Number Line Estimation With Mathematical Competence: A Meta‐analysis

The number line estimation task is widely used to investigate mathematical learning and development. The present meta‐analysis statistically synthesized the extensive evidence on the correlation between number line estimation and broader mathematical competence. Averaged over 263 effect sizes with 10,576 participants with sample mean ages from 4 to 14 years, this correlation was r = .443. The correlation increased with age, mainly because it was higher for fractions than for whole numbers. The correlation remained stable across a wide range of task variants and mathematical competence measures (i.e., counting, arithmetic, school achievement). These findings demonstrate that the task is a robust tool for diagnosing and predicting broader mathematical competence and should be further investigated in developmental and experimental training studies.     

Acute short-term sleep deprivation does not affect metacognitive monitoring captured by confidence ratings: a systematic literature review

This article presents the results of a systematic review of the literature surrounding the effects that acute sleep deprivation has on metacognitive monitoring. Metacognitive monitoring refers to the ability to accurately assess one’s own performance and state of knowledge. The mechanism behind this assessment is captured by subjective feelings of confidence concerning the accuracy of our judgments or performance. These judgments influence decision behavior. How well these subjective feelings fit with reality is critical for good decision making. For example, a driver who is overconfident in their ability to remain vigilant after a night without sleep is at risk of having an accident. A learner who is overconfident in their ability to perform well on an exam without sleep is at risk of failing. A break down in metacognitive monitoring might be responsible for the increase in poor decision making observed when people are sleep deprived. Using defined search terms and exclusion criteria, electronic database searches identified ten empirical studies suitable for review. Participants in these studies completed performance-based tasks, typically cognitive, while remaining awake for 28–63 hours. In all studies, metacognitive monitoring was assessed via confidence ratings either pre-, on-, or post-task. Extended wakefulness had a significant negative effect on performance in most studies. Evidencing good monitoring, however, the monitoring estimates such as confidence also tended to decline. Moreover, two critical variables that assess the fit of these estimates to actual performance (bias and discrimination) were mostly unaffected by the number of hours awake. Still, some results indicated that these variables may be affected by substances intended to fight sleep deprivation, such as modafinil. Within the limitations of extant literature (e.g., a sampling bias towards young adult male participants), empirical observations to date converge to suggest that metacognitive monitoring remains largely unaffected by the examined quantities of acute sleep deprivation (up to 63 hours).     

‘Build me a male role model!’ A critical exploration of the perceived qualities/characteristics of men in the early years (0–8) in England

Young boys' ‘underachievement’ and their disaffection with learning continue to dominate education agendas [Francis, B. 2006. “Stop That Sex Drive.” Times Educational Supplement 30; Peeters, J. 2007. “Including Men in Early Childhood Education: Insights from the European Experience.” NZ Research in Early Childhood Education, 10. Accessed February 4, 2013. http://stop4-7.be/files/janpeeters10.pdf; Lloyd, T. 2009. Boys’ Underachievement: What Schools Think and Do. A University of Ulster Research Project Funded by the Department of Education and Northern Ireland Office. November. Accessed January 10, 2014. http://www.socsci.ulster.ac.uk/sociology/research/y%20publications/Boys%20underachievement.pdf; Lloyd, T. 2011. Boys’ Underachievement in Schools: Literature Review. Boys Development Project. Belfast: Centre for Young Men's Studies, Ulster University. Accessed February 4, 2013. http://www.boysdevelopmentproject.org.uk/downloads/reports/Boys%20and%20underachievement%20literature%20review%20edited%20in%20pdf.pdf]. In recent years, there has been an eruption of government policy making and public discourse in England [Moran, L. 2011. Quarter of All Primary Schools Have No Male Teachers Despite More Men Entering Profession. Daily Mail, September 2. Accessed February 4, 2013. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2032970/Quarter-primary-schools-NO-male-teachers-despite-men-entering-profession.html#ixzz2JwpQjSL8; DfE (Department for Education). 2012b. Poor White Boys ‘Lagging Behind Classmates at Age Five’. The Telegraph, November 21. Accessed January 10, 2014. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationnews/9693409/Poor-white-boys-lagging-behind-classmates-at-age-five.html; PARITY. 2013. Is Action Overdue on Boys’ Academic Underachievement? Briefing Paper, March. Accessed January 10, 2014. http://www.parity-uk.org/Briefing/BoysEducPaperRev1b.pdf] calling for more men to transform young lives by working in the 0–8 sector and acting as male role models in an attempt to narrow the ‘attainment gap’. This paper critically explores the perceived qualities/characteristics of men who seemingly serve as ‘male role models’ by reporting on select doctoral research findings which sought to investigate the ambiguities of the male role model from the perspective of men who work in the 0–8 sector. Research participants were asked to identify the qualities/characteristics that they felt ‘male role models’ should exhibit for young boys in the early years (0–8). The qualities/characteristics identified were categorised by research participants as being ‘masculine’ (e.g. diplomatic), ‘feminine’ (e.g. caring) or ‘natural’ (meaning authentic). Whilst research evidence suggests that male role models will present a diverse range of personal and professional qualities/characteristics, it is argued that these are likely to be shaped by not only the needs and circumstances of the children that the ‘male role model’ comes into contact with, but also the expectations of others, e.g. parents/carers and staff. This paper argues that there is a real tension between those qualities/characteristics of the male role model that are created as a result of their personality/individual beliefs and those which are anticipated or enforced by others.     

The effect of time‐on‐task on student grades and grade expectations

The effects of students’ attitudes on time devoted to a course (i.e. time‐on‐task), and the subsequent effects of this time‐on‐task on their performance in the course and their overall grade point average (GPA) were studied. Over a three‐year period, engineering students (N = 231) were surveyed in weeks one, three, seven (after midterms) and 10 (before finals) of a 10‐week quarter in six sophomore and junior engineering classes (eight different sections). Results of this study show that most students are optimistic about their future performance in a new course, regardless of their previous overall GPA. All students appear to devote a relatively high and equal amount of time‐on‐task during the first week of the term. The students who earned grades between ‘B+’ and ‘A’ appear to optimise this time by the third week. Students who earned a final grade of ‘B’ study similar to ‘A’ students before midterms but significantly increase their efforts after midterms while the ‘C’ students decrease their time devoted to the course. This study finds that ‘A’ students know they will earn an ‘A’ as long as they do the work. In contrast, ‘C’ students are resigned to the fact that they will earn a ‘C’ and, thus, devote far less time to a course. The ‘B’ students want better grades and will devote the most effort towards achieving these grades.     

Do conservators dream of electric sheep? Replicas and replication

The paper crosses the boundaries between different genres, drawing on key material and emphasising the philosophical challenges around decision-making and values in relation to replication and replicas. In 1968, Philip K. Dick wrote the book Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? which became the inspiration for the 1982 film Bladerunner. The book is set in Los Angeles in a post-apocalyptic future where mankind has left Earth, resulting in androids being created to develop new ‘off-world’ colonies. The book and film create a novel and interesting framework to discuss the subject of replicas and replication within contemporary conservation practice. Key themes are decay promoting replication, original versus replica, creating empathy in replication. The debate focuses on the case study of Naum Gabo's Construction in Space (Crystal) of 1937–39; which was the sculpture replicated in the most recent replication project at Tate, completed in July 2015.