Report for NMDGF Permit: 2018, 2006

Document from New Mexico Department of Game & Fish Scientific permit

Tabulated results of calculated molecule- surface interactions

Numerical results of computer calculations on gas molecular interactions with solid surface

Enhanced charge detection of spin qubit readout via an intermediate state

We employ an intermediate excited charge state of a lateral quantum dot device to increase the charge detection contrast during the qubit state readout procedure, allowing us to increase the visibility of coherent qubit oscillations. This approach amplifies the coherent oscillation magnitude but has no effect on the detector noise resulting in an increase in the signal to noise ratio. In this letter we apply this scheme to demonstrate a significant enhancement of the fringe contrast of coherent Landau-Zener-Stuckleberg oscillations between singlet S and triplet T+ two-spin states.Comment: 3 pages, 3 figure

Systematic relationships of gray wolves (Canis lupus) in southwestern North America

We examined specimens of five subspecies of gray wolves from southwestern North America and assessed their systematic affinities using both univariate and multivariate statistical procedures. Because wolves exhibit considerable sexual dimorphism the sexes were separated for the analyses. Principal components analyses revealed considerable overlap among the individuals, but tended to separate the Mexican wolf (C. l. baileyi) from northern wolves (C. l. youngi). Specimens from other subspecies were intermediate to these two. Discriminant function analyses using various groupings of wolves supported these results. Within the southwestern part of North America, we recognize only three subspecies: C. l. baileyi, C. l. youngi, and C. l. nubilus. Wolves formerly assigned to C. l. mogollonensis and C. l. monstrabilis are referred to C. l. baileyi. As an adjunct to our study, we compared recently collected specimens and captive animals with target groups from the southwest. Recent specimens show clear affinities with C. l. baileyi. Captives, although closest to baileyi, show some tendencies. toward dogs, but whether these tendencies are from hybridization or from the effects of captivity is unknown

How Accurate Is Students’ Self Assessment Of Computer Skills?

Self-evaluation by students is commonly used as a key element in program and course assessment plans. Such instruments are intended to provide crucial feedback for program improvement and thus play a significant role in closing our assessment loop. For many of the program outcomes, self-assessment by current students and graduates augments other, more objective measures. However, for some outcomes there are no practical means of obtaining objective assessment and we must rely on self-assessment. The heavy reliance on this metric begs the question “How accurate is student self-assessment?” This paper provides data from a second-semester engineering course in which students develop proficiency using computer tools to solve typical engineering problems. Students’ self-assessments in several areas are compared with the instructor’s assessment of these students. Some work reported in the literature addresses the accuracy of student self-assessment in specific academic areas. In the medical field, literature exists which addresses medical students’ selfassessment of specific skills. Other comparisons have been published to compare students’ expected grades with actual results. Little was found that is relevant to engineering student and in particular to their assessment of professional skills. The work reported here relates to the assessment of ABET’s program outcome k: “an ability to use the techniques, skills and modern engineering tools necessary for engineering practice. Methods of Engineering Analysis is a course taken by all engineering majors during their second semester at the University of New Haven. In this course, students are introduced to engineering topics and a variety of numerical methods for solving these problems. The current platform used is a spreadsheet with Visual Basic for Applications programming. Students complete a 30- question survey the first day of class in which they rate their expertise in three broad categories: basic spread-sheet usage, advanced spread-sheet usage and programming. The same survey is completed at the end of the class, thus providing a pre and post view from the students perspective. Quizzes given throughout the course and the final exam were structured to enable instructors to assess student performance in these same areas with composite measures. Data is presented to compare the instructor assessment of performance with students’ self-assessment at the individual level

Imaging spectrometry-derived estimates of regional ecosystem composition for the Sierra Nevada, California

The composition of the plant canopy is a key attribute of terrestrial ecosystems, influencing the fluxes of carbon, water, and energy between the land surface and the atmosphere. Terrestrial ecosystem and biosphere models, which are used to predict how ecosystems are expected to respond to changes in climate, atmospheric CO2, and land-use change, require accurate representations of plant canopy composition at large spatial scales. The ability to accurately specify plant canopy composition is important because it determines the physiological and ecological properties of plants (such as leaf photosynthetic capacity, patterns of plant carbon allocation and tissue turnover, and the resulting dynamics of plant demography) that govern the biophysical and biogeochemical functioning of ecosystems. Traditionally, plant canopy composition has been represented in a coarse-grained manner within terrestrial biosphere models, with ecosystems being comprised of a single plant functional type (PFT). However, models are increasingly seeking to represent fine-scale spatial variation in plant functional diversity. In this study, we show how imaging spectrometry measurements can provide spatially-comprehensive estimates of within-biome heterogeneity in PFT composition across a functionally diverse and topographically heterogeneous ~710 km2 area in the Southern Sierra Mountains of California. AVIRIS (Airborne Visible Infrared Imaging Spectrometer) data at 18 m resolution from the recent HyspIRI Preparatory Mission (Hyperspectral InfraRed Imager) were used to estimate the sub-pixel fractions of seven PFTs represented in the ED2 terrestrial biosphere model: Shrub, Oak, Western Hardwood, Western Pine, Cedar/Fir, and High-elevation Pine, plus a Grass/NPV (Non-Photosynthetic Vegetation) fraction using Multiple Endmember Spectral Mixture Analysis (MESMA). ED2 is an individual-based terrestrial biosphere model capable of representing fine-scale sub-pixel ecosystem heterogeneity. Our results show that this methodology captures important elevation-related shifts in canopy composition that occur within the study area that are not resolved by existing multi-spectral land-cover products. These estimates modestly improved when the putative PFT endmembers considered in the mixture analysis were constrained using available geospatial data about the presence and absence of the PFTs in particular areas: the average RMSEs (root-mean-square errors) with the geospatially-constrained versus conventional method were 11.3% and 11.9% respectively, with larger reductions in the bias (i.e. mean error) in the abundances of Oak, Cedar/Fir, and Western Hardwood PFTs (ranging from 2.0% to 7.8%). At the hectare scale around four flux towers in the Southern Sierra Mountains, the overall composition improved from an RMSE of 18.2% (5.0-24.2% for individual PFTs) to RMSE 9.5% (3.3-13.2% for individual PFTs). Downgrading AVIRIS to 30 m resolution resulted in a reduction in accuracy of the constrained method to an RMSE of 12.7% (0-23.7%) with < 1% change in bias for all tree and shrub PFTs. Our results demonstrate that imaging spectrometry measurements from planned satellite missions such as HyspIRI, EnMAP (Environmental Mapping and Analysis Program), and HISUI (Hyper-spectral Imager SUIte) can provide important and much-needed information about fine-scale heterogeneity in the composition of plant canopies for constraining and improving terrestrial ecosystem and biosphere model simulations of regional- and global-scale vegetation dynamics and function

Generation of high-purity higher-order Laguerre-Gauss beams at high laser power

We have investigated the generation of highly pure higher-order Laguerre-Gauss (LG) beams at high laser power of order 100W, the same regime that will be used by 2nd generation gravitational wave interferometers such as Advanced LIGO. We report on the generation of a helical type LG33 mode with a purity of order 97% at a power of 83W, the highest power ever reported in literature for a higher-order LG mode.Comment: 5 pages, 6 figure

The Current Generation of Integrated Engineering Curriculum

In September of 2004 our university adopted the Multidisciplinary Engineering Foundation Spiral Curriculum as the basis for disciplinary engineering programs in Chemical, Civil, Electrical, Mechanical and General Engineering. The curriculum includes a sequence of first and second year engineering courses, matched closely with the development of students’ mathematical sophistication and analytical capabilities and integrated with course work in the sciences. Students develop a conceptual understanding of engineering basics in this series of courses which stress practical applications of these principles. The new curriculum was designed to provide students with a multidisciplinary perspective while developing basic engineering skills and fostering an understanding of basic engineering concepts. Each of the ten courses in the program were developed and are taught by faculty from several disciplines. Course materials are intended to make students keenly aware of the highly integrated nature of the current practice of engineering. It was also expected that the novel program would prove to be attractive to a broader range of students than those drawn to traditional disciplinary programs. Finally, student retention was expected to be enhanced by the new courses. Students who entered as freshmen in 2004 are currently juniors, taking courses in their disciplinary major. This study attempts to provide early data on the success of the program through the following measures: • Impact of the new curriculum on student recruiting through a survey of newly matriculated students • Impact on student retention from first to second and second to third years • Comparison of student performance in early disciplinary courses with that of students in previous years • Impact of program implementation on faculty attitude

Taxonomic status of Myotis occultus

The taxonomic status of the Arizona myotis (Myotis occultus) is uncertain. Although the taxon was described as a distinct species and currently is regarded as such by some authors, others have noted what they interpreted as intergradation with the little brown bat (M. lucifugus carissima) near the Colorado-New Mexico state line. In this study, we used protein electrophoresis to compare bats of these nominal taxa. We examined 20 loci from 142 specimens referable to M. occultus and M. lucifugus from New Mexico, Colorado, and Wyoming. Nine of the 20 loci were polymorphic. Results show that there were high similarities among samples, no fixed alleles, and minor divergence from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. Our results suggest that the two nominal taxa represent only one species and that M. occultus should be regarded as a subspecies of M. lucifugus