Al – Qaeda and the international politics: a teorical Reflection

Through the study of the relationship between non-state actors and states, is pretended to analyze the role of Al-Qaeda in international politics. It is argued that Al-Qaeda tries or has the ability to promote or accelerate changes in the power  structure, where stands the American hegemony and the pursuit of balance by  various actors, implementing asymmetric strategies as counter-hegemonic responses.

Percepción de residentes de medicina de urgencias en Colombia del ambiente educativo en los servicios de urgencias

Introducción: La atención de calidad en urgencias sólo es posible si los médicos han recibido una enseñanza de alta calidad. La escala PHEEM (Postgraduate Hospital Educational Environment Measure) es un instrumento válido y fiable, utilizado internacionalmente para medir el entorno educativo, en la formación médica de posgrado. Materiales y métodos: Estudio de corte trasversal que utilizó la escala PHEEM versión en español para conocer el entorno educativo de los programas de urgencias. El coeficiente alfa de Cronbach se calculó para determinar la consistencia interna. Se aplicó estadística descriptiva a nivel global, por categorías e ítems de la escala PHEEM y se compararon resultados por sexo, año de residencia y programa. Resultados: 94 (94%) residentes llenaron el cuestionario. La puntuación media de la escala PHEEM fue 93,91 ± 23,71 (58,1% de la puntuación máxima) que se considera un ambiente educativo más positivo que negativo, pero con margen de mejora. Hubo una diferencia estadísticamente significativa en la percepción del ambiente educativo entre los programas de residencia (p =0,01). El instrumento es altamente confiable (alfa de Cronbach = 0,952). La barrera más frecuente en la enseñanza fue el hacinamiento y la evaluación fue percibida con el propósito de cumplir normas. Discusión: Los resultados de este estudio aportaron evidencia sobre la validez interna de la escala PHEEM en el contexto colombiano. Este estudio demostró cómo la medición del ambiente educativo en una especialidad médico-quirúrgica, con el uso de una herramienta cuantitativa, puede proporcionar información en relación a las fortalezas y debilidades de los programas.

Building Professional Capacity Aiming to Improve the Educational Position of Migrant Children : a reflection on the Sirius network activities

Resumen basado en el de la publicaci??n

Evolving definition of sociomuseology : proposal for reflection

Sociomuseology expresses a considerable amount of the effort made to suit museological facilities to the conditions of contemporary society. The process of opening up the museum, as well as its organic relation with the social context that infuses it with life, has resulted in the need to structure and clarify the relations, notions and concepts that may define this process. Sociomuseology is thus a scientific field of teaching, research and performance which emphasizes the articulation of museology, in particular, with the areas of knowledge covered by Human Sciences, Development Studies, Services Science, and Urban and Rural Planning. The multidisciplinary approach of Sociomuseology aims to strengthen the acknowledgement of museology as a resource for the sustainable development of Humanity, based on equal opportunities as well as social and economic inclusion. Sociomuseology bases its social intervention on mankind’s cultural and natural heritage, both tangible and intangible. What characterizes Sociomuseology is not so much the nature of its premises and its goals, as is the case with other areas of knowledge, but the interdisciplinary focus which makes it draw on perfectly consolidated areas of knowledge and relate them with Museology itself.

Transformative museology

“…we have to take into account the fact that museology and museums are two completely different things.” Martin R. Shärer[1] In the 20th century, growing populations produced a growing body of heritage. The transmission of this heritage to succeeding generations coalesced into three major modern institutions: universities, library/archives and museums. Traditional systems of social and cultural memory had become overloaded and therefore evolved conceptually. This evolution took place within the primary context of a naturally occurring museology through the process I call museogenesis. The term museogenesis refers to the origin and development of museological thought in a specific cultural context. By museological thought, I refer to ideas and theories surrounding the parameters of “the natural and cultural heritage, the activities concerned with the preservation and communication of this heritage, the institutional frame-work, and society as a whole” (Mensch 1992). This broadly inclusive definition relates museology to another broadly defined concept: cultural context. By cultural context, I refer to the “webs of significance and systems of meaning which is the collective property of a group” (Geertz 1973). [1] ICOFOM Study Series – ISS 34, 2003, ISS 34_03.pdf, p.7

A similarity solution for a shock reflection problem in isentropic gas dynamics

A one-dimensional shock-reflection test problem in the case of slab, cylindrical, or spherical symmetry is discussed. The differential equations for a similarity solution are derived and solved numerically in conjunction with the Rankie-Hugoniot shock relations.

Synthesis of broadband anti-reflection coatings for spaceflight infrared optics

A synthesis method is outlined for the design of broadband anti-reflection coatings for use in spaceborne infrared optics. The Golden Section optimisation routine is used to make a search, using designated non-absorptive dielectric thin film combinations, for the coating design which fulfils the required spectral requirements using the least number of layers and different materials. Three examples are given of coatings designed by this method : (I) 1µm to 12µm anti-reflection coating on Zinc Sulphide using Zinc Sulphide and Yttrium Fluoride thin film materials. (ii) 2µm to 14µm anti-reflection coating on Germanium using Germanium and Ytterbium Fluoride thin film materials. (iii) 6µm to 17µm anti-reflection coating on Germanium using Lead Telluride, Zinc Selenide and Barium Fluoride. The measured spectral performance of the manufactured 6µm to 17µm coating on Germanium is given. This is the anti-reflection coating for the germanium optics in the NASA Cassini Orbiter CIRS instrument.

Precision of quasi-optical null-balanced bridge techniques for transmission and reflection coefficient measurements

The precision of quasioptical null-balanced bridge instruments for transmission and reflection coefficient measurements at millimeter and submillimeter wavelengths is analyzed. A Jones matrix analysis is used to describe the amount of power reaching the detector as a function of grid angle orientation, sample transmittance/reflectance and phase delay. An analysis is performed of the errors involved in determining the complex transmission and reflection coefficient after taking into account the quantization error in the grid angle and micrometer readings, the transmission or reflection coefficient of the sample, the noise equivalent power of the detector, the source power and the post-detection bandwidth. For a system fitted with a rotating grid with resolution of 0.017 rad and a micrometer quantization error of 1 μm, a 1 mW source, and a detector with a noise equivalent power 5×10−9 W Hz−1/2, the maximum errors at an amplitude transmission or reflection coefficient of 0.5 are below ±0.025.

Mountain waves in two-layer sheared flows: Critical-level effects, wave reflection, and drag enhancement

Internal gravity waves generated in two-layer stratified shear flows over mountains are investigated here using linear theory and numerical simulations. The impact on the gravity wave drag of wind profiles with constant unidirectional or directional shear up to a certain height and zero shear above, with and without critical levels, is evaluated. This kind of wind profile, which is more realistic than the constant shear extending indefinitely assumed in many analytical studies, leads to important modifications in the drag behavior due to wave reflection at the shear discontinuity and wave filtering by critical levels. In inviscid, nonrotating, and hydrostatic conditions, linear theory predicts that the drag behaves asymmetrically for backward and forward shear flows. These differences primarily depend on the fraction of wavenumbers that pass through their critical level before they are reflected by the shear discontinuity. If this fraction is large, the drag variation is not too different from that predicted for an unbounded shear layer, while if it is small the differences are marked, with the drag being enhanced by a considerable factor at low Richardson numbers (Ri). The drag may be further enhanced by nonlinear processes, but its qualitative variation for relatively low Ri is essentially unchanged. However, nonlinear processes seem to interact constructively with shear, so that the drag for a noninfinite but relatively high Ri is considerably larger than the drag without any shear at all.

Reflection iii: Transnationalisation, Television Formats and the Universal

This reflection argues that, despite various good reasons for approaching the notion of the ‘universal’ with caution, cultural theorists should give up their resistance to the universal. The prominence of formats in today’s television suggests that the time is ripe to do. Intentionally or not, accounts of difference implicitly also often reveal sameness; the more we probe heterogeneity, the more likely we are to encounter something that remains consistent and similar. Thus, it is time to collaborate with scholars from the numerous disciplines for which the universal has long had validity and pertinence.

MOOC experience: a participant's reflection

In this article the author reflects on the experiences of three Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs): Edfuture (CHFE), Learning Design for 21st Century Curriculum (OLDS-MOOC), and Open Education (H817). Discussion draws on the perceived differences between OERs and MOOCs and questions the definitions of 'success', 'engagement', 'completion', and 'drop out' in a MOOC. Some lessons learnt as a participant are also discussed.