M-learning mainly addresses informal learning aiming at the creation of knowledge outside curricula or courses. In this paper we present an investigation into whether and how a formal structure like a university can promote and guide informal learning. A mobile infrastructure allows learners to overcome space/time difficulties and to enter in a virtual community in which individuals share some ...

We investigate empirical scaling relations between the thermal Sunyaev-Zeldovich effect (SZE) and cluster mass in simulated clusters of galaxies. The simulated clusters have been compiled from four different samples that differ only in their assumed baryonic physics. We show that the strength of the thermal SZE integrated over a significant fraction of the virialized region of the clusters is r...

The method of enhanced assumed strains (EAS) is a popular tool for avoiding locking phenomena, e.g., a remedy for shear locking in plane elasticity. We consider bending-dominated problems on thin bodies which can be treated as beams and prove that the degree of approximation of the EAS method is at least as good as that of a beam model. The hypercircle method is combined with arguments of nonco...

We develop a finite-element method for the simulation of dynamic shell fracture and fragmentation based on cohesive models of fracture. We assume the shells to be thin and to obey the Kirchhoff-Love theory. The shell is spatially discretized by means of subdivision shell elements. Fracture is allowed only along element edges and is assumed to be governed by a cohesive law. When coupled to the s...

Analyzing fault diagnosability performance for a given model, before developing a diagnosis algorithm, can be used to answer questions like “How difficult is it to detect a fault fi?” or “How difficult is it to isolate a fault fi from a fault fj?”. The main contributions are the derivation of a measure, distinguishability, and a method for analyzing fault diagnosability performance of discrete-...

This study investigates natural frequency analysis of an FG composite rectangular plate partially contacting with a bounded fluid. The material properties are assumed to be varying continuously through the thickness direction according to a simple power law distribution in terms of volume fraction of material constituents. Wet dynamic transverse displacements of the plate are approximated by a ...

A four-dimensional variational (4D-Var) data assimilation method is implemented in an improved intermediate coupled model (ICM) of the tropical Pacific. A twin experiment is designed to evaluate the impact of the 4D-Var data assimilation algorithm on ENSO analysis and prediction based on the ICM. The model error is assumed to arise only from the parameter uncertainty. The “observation” of the S...

Aims. We present an investigation into how the cooling of the background plasma influences the propagation of slow and fast MHD wave modes supported by an unbounded, homogenous plasma. Previous investigations have suggested that the cooling of the plasma and a reduction in density could lead to the damping of fast magneto-acoustic oscillations. We aim to investigate whether cooling of the backg...

Nuclear pore complexes provide the sole gateway for the exchange of material between nucleus and cytoplasm of interphase eukaryotic cells. They support two modes of transport: passive diffusion of ions, metabolites, and intermediate-sized macromolecules and facilitated, receptor-mediated translocation of proteins, RNA, and ribonucleoprotein complexes. It is generally assumed that both modes of ...