Abstract

JODE purposes to deliver international readers with high quality peer-reviewed academic articles on a wide variety of issues related to open and distance learning, in areas such as technology-assisted learning, computer based training, computer-aided instruction or computer assisted instruction, internet-based training, web-based training, online training, virtual training, virtual learning environments, m-learning, digital education, education on social networking, massive online open courses, game-based learning, active learning, content design, e-assessment, mobile applications, e-video, the quality of open and distance education and accreditation etc. Document type: Part of book or chapter of book

Abstract

mong the several findings deriving from the application of complex network formalism to the investigation of natural phenomena, the fact that linguistic constructions follow power laws presents special interest for its potential implications for psychology and brain science. By corresponding to one of the most essentially human manifestations, such language-related properties suggest that similar dynamics may also be inherent to the brain areas related to language and associative memory, and perhaps even consciousness. The present work reports a preliminary experimental investigation aimed at characterizing and modeling the flow of sequentially induced associations between words from the English language in terms of complex networks. The data is produced through a psychophysical experiment where a word is presented to the subject, who is requested to associate another word. Complex network and graph theory formalism and measurements are applied in order to characterize the experimental data. Several interesting results are identified, including the characterization of attraction basins, association asymmetries, context biasing, as well as a possible power-law underlying word associations, which could be explained by the appearance of strange loops along the hierarchical structure underlying word categories. Comment: 5 pages, 6 figures, 3 table Document type: Preprint

Abstract

A boundary element formulation based on the consistent couple stress theory is used to analyze two-dimensional size-dependent piezoelectric response in isotropic dielectric materials. In this approach, there exist a size-dependent piezoelectricity or flexoelectricity effect for centrosymmetric materials. The size-dependent effect is specified by one characteristic length scale parameter l, and the electromechanical effect is specified by one flexoelectric coefficient f. This phenomenon is a coupled problem involving mechanical and electrical effects. A boundary-only formulation is used for which the primary variables are displacements, rotations, force-tractions, couple-tractions, electric potential, and normal electric displacement. This BEM formulation is applied to a bimaterial computational problem to confirm the validity of the numerical implementation and to explore the physics of the flexoelectric coupling.