Search

Cardiac fluid dynamics fundamentally involves interactions between complex blood flows and the structural deformations of the muscular heart walls and the thin, flexible valve leaflets. There has been longstanding scientific, engineering, and medical interest in creating mathematical models of the heart that capture, explain, and predict these fluid-structure interactions. However, existing models that account for interactions among the blood, the actively contracting myocardium, and the cardiac valves are limited in their abilities to predict valve performance, resolve fine-scale flow features, or use realistic descriptions of tissue biomechanics. Here we introduce and benchmark a comprehensive mathematical model of cardiac fluid dynamics in the human heart. Our model accounts for all major cardiac structures and is calibrated using tensile tests of human tissue specimens to reflect the influences of myocyte and collagen fiber alignment. It includes biomechanically detailed three-dimensional descriptions of all four cardiac valves, including the chordae tendineae and papillary muscles. We demonstrate that the model generates physiologic dynamics, including realistic pressure-volume loops that automatically capture isovolumetric contraction and relaxation, and predicts fine-scale flow features. Critically, none of these outputs are prescribed; instead, they emerge from interactions within the integrative model. Such models can serve as tools for predicting the impacts of medical devices or clinical interventions, particularly those that fundamentally involve the heart valves. They also can serve as platforms for mechanistic studies of cardiac pathophysiology and dysfunction, including congenital defects, cardiomyopathies, and heart failure, that are difficult or impossible to perform in patients.

Australian brush-turkeys, Alectura lathami, are member of the megapode clade (Family Megapodidae). Uniquely among birds, megapodes incubate their eggs using environmental sources of heat, usually microbial decomposition in a mound of soil and rotting vegetation. On the basis of this ancestral pattern, variations have evolved. Although most megapodes are monogamous, brush-turkeys are both polygynous and polyandrous. In the brush-turkey mating system, males construct incubation mounds, defend them against rival males, control their temperature via ongoing maintenance and mate with multiple females each season. Females visit mounds, often copulate with the male and periodically dig large holes in the mound in order to bury their eggs. Chicks are entirely left to their own devices, including having to dig their own way out of the mound. Females are not subject to mate-guarding, do not pair-bond with the male and also mate multiply, although apparently not as multiply as the male. -- Male behavior toward females in this species is characterized by an unexpectedly high level of aggression. Here I found that males attempt to obtain copulations by harassing females and, contrary to the pattern in most species where sexual coercion is employed, it is dominant mound-owning males rather than subordinates who are coercive (chapter 1). By standing close to the female and periodically delivering pecks to her body (up-close aggression), males also respond aggressively to female digging, probing and scratching in the mound, especially during egg-laying visits, where there is a clear shift from sexual harassment to up-close aggression in the later phase of visits (chapter 2). The explanation for these unusual male behaviors is not immediately clear, but arguably emerges once a broader picture of brush-turkey interactions is developed. Sexual conflict is ubiquitous during female visits to mounds, with females resisting coercive mating attempts and males resisting female digging, probing and scratching in the mound. Females respond to male aggression both tactically during their mound visits and strategically via a visiting pattern which produces a gradual reduction in male aggression over time (chapter 3). The principal cue for female choice in this species is male-mound information such as the degree to which the male maintains his mound, this being the best available source of information about mound quality when females make mate-choice assessments at a distance from aggressive male owners (chapter 4). Female brush-turkeys compete with each other for access to mounds (chapter 5) partly because access is limited by the duration of female visits to mounds, extended duration being a key strategy used by females to reduce male aggression over a series of visits. Male aggression toward females therefore influences copulation (chapter 1), female choice (chapter 4) and sex roles (chapter 5) in this species. It is also a key component in sexual conflict (chapter 3) and constitutes the primary male response to females during egg-laying visits (chapter 2). The most parsimonious explanation for sexual coercion by dominant males, for the male aggression characteristic of egg-laying visits and for a seemingly counter-productive degree of sexual conflict is both a by-product and a life-history one, namely that social interactions are agonistic by default in this species. Brush-turkey chicks lead an independent existence from the time of hatching, generally do not aggregate until they have become juveniles and never develop a pair-bond in a mating system in which both sexes mate multiply. Strong interdependencies between these findings confirm the importance of by-product explanations in behavioural ecology.

As of June, 2021, the UK population is only partly vaccinated against COVID-19, with many people having received just one vaccination dose (either BNT162b2 [Pfizer–BioNTech]) or ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 [AZD1222; Oxford–AstraZeneca]). Tracking the spread of SARS-CoV-2 Variants of Concern (VOCs) remains important for understanding the levels of vaccine-induced immunity and for identifying the emergence of vaccine escape variants. The immune correlates of protection to SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 established in phase 3 clinical trials following two doses of vaccine was the titre of neutralising antibodies (NAbs) to SARS-CoV-2 in study groups, before the VOCs emerged.1 Vaccination programmes are leading to promising reductions in disease severity and mortality in vaccinated populations. However, the combined situation of ongoing transmission within communities, including in some vaccine recipients, alongside newly arising VOCs, continues to pose a serious threat to public health and the efficacy of these vaccines. As of Jan 11, 2021, in the UK, the interval between the first and second dose of vaccination was extended to 12 weeks. This extension achieved the aim of maximising population coverage by immunising the greatest possible number of individuals to prevent disease and hospital admissions. Encouragingly, a growing number of studies have reported a marked reduction in the number of individuals with moderate-to-severe clinical symptoms and a substantial decline in the number of hospitalised patients with COVID-19 in the UK, underscoring the success of this strategy.

The Research in Teacher Education publication is published twice a year by the School of Education and Communities, University of East London, Water Lane, London E15 4LZ. The periodical offers a forum for informed debate and discussion on all aspects of teacher education. The publication showcases work from the teacher education teams at the School of Education and Communities and the wider teacher education community in the UK. The definition of ���research���, in its broadest sense includes any gathering of data, information and ���facts��� designed to advance knowledge. While nurturing and publicising the creative talent within teacher education the periodical seeks to stimulate, provoke and extend discussion and debate with other professionals associated with this field. In addition to contributions from the team of teacher educators at the School, each edition of Research in Teacher Education will publish research findings, book reviews and/or opinion pieces from guest writers associated with the School of Education and Communities.

In some animal species, individuals regularly breed with relatives, including siblings and parents. Given the high fitness costs of inbreeding, evolutionary biologists have found it challenging to understand the persistence of these inbred societies in nature. One appealing but untested explanation is that early life care may create a benign environment that offsets inbreeding depression, allowing inbred societies to evolve. We test this possibility using 21 years of data from a wild cooperatively breeding mammal, the banded mongoose, a species where almost one in ten young result from close inbreeding. We show that care provided by parents and alloparents mitigates inbreeding depression for early survival. However, as adults, inbred individuals provide less care, reducing the amount of help available to the next generation. Our results suggest that inbred cooperative societies are rare in nature partly because the protective care that enables elevated levels of inbreeding can be reduced by inbreeding depression.

Description of work done on IBAMR and related software under NSF award #1450327.

Description of work done on IBAMR and related software under NSF award #1450327.

Poster exhibiting work done on grant #1450327. Work includes simulation of heart valves, jellyfish swimming, and the full cardiac cycle.

Description of work done on IBAMR and related software under NSF award #1450327.

Una de las aplicaciones más extendidas en el uso de UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) es el seguimiento de objetivos, ya que aquellos permiten tomar imágenes desde posiciones remotas o inalcanzables mediante otros métodos. En este proyecto, se desarrolla una aplicación parametrizable de seguimiento automatizado con un sistema de UAVs a un conjunto de objetivos que poseen una trayectoria estimada definida por una serie de puntos y tiempos con incertidumbre. Esta aplicación, mediante el uso de una heurística de asignación secuencial, proporciona dos resultados: una asignación rápida e individualizada de cada UAV a una parte definida de la ruta de cada objetivo y una primera identificación del cruce de trayectorias planificadas como potencial dificultad en llevar a la realidad los planes. One of the most widespread applications in UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) usage is objectives tracking, due to their capability of taking images from remote or unreachable positions through other methods. This project develops a UAV system customizable and automated objective tracking application. The objectives’ trajectories are defined by sets of points and timings with uncertainty. This application, through the usage of a sequential task assignment heuristic, provides two results: a fast and individualized assignment of each UAV to a specific part of each objective’s route and a first identification of the planned trajectories crossings as a potential difficulty when it comes to real execution. Universidad de Sevilla. Máster en Organización Industrial y Gestión de Empresas

This thesis describes several approaches for stabilizing POD-ROMs (that is, reduced order models based on basis functions derived from the proper orthogonal decomposition) for both the CDR (convection-diffusion-reaction) equation and the NSEs (Navier-Stokes equations). Stabilization is necessary because standard POD-ROMs of convection-dominated problems usually display numerical instabilities. The first stabilized ROM investigated is a streamline-upwind Petrov-Galerkin ROM (SUPG-ROM). I prove error estimates for the SUPG-ROM and derive optimal scalings for the stabilization parameter. I test the SUPG-ROM with the optimal parameter in the numerical simulation of a convection-dominated CDR problem. The SUPG-ROM yields more accurate results than the standard Galerkin ROM (G-ROM) by eliminating the inherent numerical artifacts (noise) in the data and dampening spurious oscillations. I next propose two regularized ROMs (Reg-ROMs) based on ideas from large eddy simulation and turbulence theory: the Leray ROM (L-ROM) and the evolve-then-filter ROM (EF-ROM). Both Reg-ROMs use explicit POD spatial filtering to regularize (smooth) some of the terms in the standard G-ROM. I propose two different POD spatial filters: one based on the POD projection and a novel POD differential filter. These two new Reg-ROMs and the two spatial filters are investigated in the numerical simulation of the three-dimensional flow past a circular cylinder problem at Re = 100. The numerical results show that EF-ROM-DF is the most accurate Reg-ROM and filter combination and the differential filter generally yields better results than the projection filter. The Reg-ROMs perform significantly better than the standard G-ROM and decrease the CPU time (compared against the direct numerical simulation) by orders of magnitude (from about four days to four minutes). Ph. D.

This article aims to deliberate the current position of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in the English secondary (11–16) school curriculum. The arrival of a new National Curriculum Programme of Study in Computing, and a much greater emphasis placed on computing and computer science, potentially terminates ICT as a dedicated subject and an area of important and significant learning for our pupils. However, could this herald a new opportunity for schools to productively embed ICT across their curricula, thus allocating time for Computing to be developed as the fundamental subject it is required to be while still allowing essential ICT skills and capability to be taught? This article briefly considers historical United Kingdom (UK) approaches to cross-curricular ICT provision. It also presents, and draws some conclusions from, results of broad research investigating secondary teacher colleagues’ – and schools’ – ability, technical knowledge and capacity in promoting the successful delivery of a focused cross-curricular ICT programme for their pupils.

This paper presents a Streamline-Upwind Petrov--Galerkin (SUPG) reduced order model (ROM) based on Proper Orthogonal Decomposition (POD). This ROM is investigated theoretically and numerically for convection-dominated convection-diffusion-reaction equations. The SUPG finite element method was used on realistic meshes for computing the snapshots, leading to some noise in the POD data. Numerical analysis is used to propose the scaling of the stabilization parameter for the SUPG-ROM. Two approaches are used: One based on the underlying finite element discretization and the other one based on the POD truncation. The resulting SUPG-ROMs and the standard Galerkin ROM (G-ROM) are studied numerically. For many settings, the results obtained with the SUPG-ROMs are more accurate. Finally, one of the choices for the stabilization parameter is recommended.

This paper presents a conforming finite element semi-discretization of the streamfunction form of the one-layer unsteady quasi-geostrophic equations, which are a commonly used model for large-scale wind-driven ocean circulation. We derive optimal error estimates and present numerical results.

Editorial for Vol 4, No 2 of Research in Teacher Education outlines the contents of the issue.

The Research in Teacher Education publication is published twice a year by the School of Education and Communities, University of East London, Water Lane, London E15 4LZ. The periodical offers a forum for informed debate and discussion on all aspects of teacher education. The publication showcases work from the teacher education teams at the School of Education and Communities and the wider teacher education community in the UK. The definition of ‘research’, in its broadest sense includes any gathering of data, information and ‘facts’ designed to advance knowledge. While nurturing and publicising the creative talent within teacher education the periodical seeks to stimulate, provoke and extend discussion and debate with other professionals associated with this field. In addition to contributions from the team of teacher educators at the School, each edition of Research in Teacher Education will publish research findings, book reviews and/or opinion pieces from guest writers associated with the School of Education and Communities.

The quasi-geostrophic equations (QGE) are a model of large-scale ocean flows. We consider a pure stream function formulation and cite results for optimal error estimates for finding approximate solutions with the finite element method. We examine both the time dependent and steady-state versions of the equations. Numerical experiments verify the error estimates. We examine the Argyris finite element and derive the transformation matrix necessary to perform calculations on the reference triangle. We use the Argyris element because it is a high-order, conforming finite element for fourth order problems. In order to increase computational efficiency, we consider a two-level method to linearize the system of equations. This allows us to solve a small, nonlinear system and then use the result to linearize a larger system. Master of Science

Introduction to issue 3(1) of RiTE, including announcement of international advisory board membership.

The Research in Teacher Education publication is published twice a year by the School of Education and Communities, University of East London, Water Lane, London E15 4LZ. The periodical offers a forum for informed debate and discussion on all aspects of teacher education. The publication showcases work from the teacher education teams at the School of Education and Communities and the wider teacher education community in the UK. The definition of ‘research’, in its broadest sense includes any gathering of data, information and ‘facts’ designed to advance knowledge. While nurturing and publicising the creative talent within teacher education the periodical seeks to stimulate, provoke and extend discussion and debate with other professionals associated with this field. In addition to contributions from the team of teacher educators at the School, each edition of Research in Teacher Education will publish research findings, book reviews and/or opinion pieces from guest writers associated with the School of Education and Communities.

The Research in Teacher Education publication is published twice a year by the School of Education and Communities, University of East London, Water Lane, London E15 4LZ. The periodical offers a forum for informed debate and discussion on all aspects of teacher education. The publication showcases work from the teacher education teams at the School of Education and Communities and the wider teacher education community in the UK. The definition of ‘research’, in its broadest sense includes any gathering of data, information and ‘facts’ designed to advance knowledge. While nurturing and publicising the creative talent within teacher education the periodical seeks to stimulate, provoke and extend discussion and debate with other professionals associated with this field. In addition to contributions from the team of teacher educators at the School, each edition of Research in Teacher Education will publish research findings, book reviews and/or opinion pieces from guest writers associated with the School of Education and Communities.

Introduction to issue 3(2) of RiTE, including as guest writer Michael Fielding, Emeritus Professor of Education at the Institute of Education, University of London, and Visiting Professor of Education at the University of Bristol.

The Research in Teacher Education publication is published twice a year by the School of Education and Communities, University of East London, Water Lane, London E15 4LZ. The periodical offers a forum for informed debate and discussion on all aspects of teacher education. The publication showcases work from the teacher education teams at the School of Education and Communities and the wider teacher education community in the UK. The definition of ‘research’, in its broadest sense includes any gathering of data, information and ‘facts’ designed to advance knowledge. While nurturing and publicising the creative talent within teacher education the periodical seeks to stimulate, provoke and extend discussion and debate with other professionals associated with this field. In addition to contributions from the team of teacher educators at the School, each edition of Research in Teacher Education will publish research findings, book reviews and/or opinion pieces from guest writers associated with the School of Education and Communities.

The Research in Teacher Education publication is published twice a year by the School of Education and Communities, University of East London, Water Lane, London E15 4LZ. The periodical offers a forum for informed debate and discussion on all aspects of teacher education. The publication showcases work from the teacher education teams at the School of Education and Communities and the wider teacher education community in the UK. The definition of ‘research’, in its broadest sense includes any gathering of data, information and ‘facts’ designed to advance knowledge. While nurturing and publicising the creative talent within teacher education the periodical seeks to stimulate, provoke and extend discussion and debate with other professionals associated with this field. In addition to contributions from the team of teacher educators at the School, each edition of Research in Teacher Education will publish research findings, book reviews and/or opinion pieces from guest writers associated with the School of Education and Communities.

Editorial introducing the first issue of Research in Teacher Education, which continues Research in Secondary Teacher Education. This name change recognises the periodical’s rapid expansion of its national and international audience since its inception in April 2011. The success of the print and online versions of the publication to date, coupled with significant changes taking place in teacher education, mean that we feel the time has come to draw on the wider expertise on offer from the Cass School of Education and Communities. In future editions we will draw on colleagues from within the primary, secondary and post-compulsory sectors of teacher education and continue to provoke, stimulate and extend discussions related to the training and education of all teachers.

Editorial introducing the third and last issue of Research in Secondary Teacher Education, to be replaced in October 2012 by the Research in Teacher Education. The success of the publication to date, coupled with significant changes taking place in teacher education, mean that we feel the time has come to draw on the wider expertise on offer from the Cass School of Education and Communities. In future editions we will draw on colleagues from within the primary, secondary and post-compulsory sectors of teacher education and continue to provoke, stimulate and extend discussions related to the training and education of teachers.

This article aims to consider the relative virtues of ICT and/or computing in schools, and present the findings from some research conducted in April/May 2011, with Postgraduate Certificate of Education (PGCE) and Graduate Teacher Programme (GTP) ICT students and ICT teacher colleagues in a sample of the University of East London’s partner secondary schools (educating children from the ages of 11 to 16 and, if a sixth form exists, 11 to 18). The research was to discover what subject knowledge capacity East London ICT teacher contemporaries had to develop and deliver a more computing-based curriculum, and thus perhaps move their pupils beyond a more traditional ICT curriculum.