Bette Gray Early Childhood Training and Certification Scholarship Program Evaluation

The Oregon Community Foundation has funded early childhood scholarships at Portland State University's Center for Career Development in Childhood Care and Education (OCCD) since 2002. In 2003, the Betty Gray Early Childhood Training and Certification (BGECTC) Scholarship Program was launched, building on the previous program.The Oregon Community Foundation posed the following questions in its request for the evaluation of the BGECTC Scholarship Program: 1. What are the characteristics of scholarship recipients and the populations they are serving? 2. How do scholarship recipients compare to the entire child care workforce? 3. To what extent does the receipt of a scholarship predict an increase in providers' professional development while controlling for provider characteristics? 4. To what extent does the receipt of a scholarship predict an increase in provider's professional development for minorities or for those whose primary language is not English

Entanglement and interference between different degrees of freedom of photons states

In this paper, photonic entanglement and interference are described and analyzed with the language of quantum information process. Correspondingly, a photon state involving several degrees of freedom is represented in a new expression based on the permutation symmetry of bosons. In this expression, each degree of freedom of a single photon is regarded as a qubit and operations on photons as qubit gates. The two-photon Hong-Ou-Mandel interference is well interpreted with it. Moreover, the analysis reveals the entanglement between different degrees of freedom in a four-photon state from parametric down conversion, even if there is no entanglement between them in the two-photon state. The entanglement will decrease the state purity and photon interference visibility in the experiments on a four-photon polarization state.Comment: 11 pages and 2 figure

Causality and relativistic localization in one-dimensional Hamiltonians

We compare the relativistic time evolution of an initially localized quantum particle obtained from the relativistic Schrodinger, the Klein-Gordon and the Dirac equations. By computing the amount of the spatial probability density that evolves outside the light cone we quantify the amount of causality violation for the relativistic Schrodinger Hamiltonian. We comment on the relationship between quantum field theoretical transition amplitudes, commutators of the fields and their bilinear combinations outside the light cone as indicators of a possible causality violation. We point out the relevance of the relativistic localization problem to this discussion and comment on ideas about the supposed role of quantum field theory as a vehicle of making a theory causal by introducing antiparticles

A mapping approach to synchronization in the "Zajfman trap": stability conditions and the synchronization mechanism

We present a two particle model to explain the mechanism that stabilizes a bunch of positively charged ions in an "ion trap resonator" [Pedersen etal, Phys. Rev. Lett. 87 (2001) 055001]. The model decomposes the motion of the two ions into two mappings for the free motion in different parts of the trap and one for a compressing momentum kick. The ions' interaction is modelled by a time delay, which then changes the balance between adjacent momentum kicks. Through these mappings we identify the microscopic process that is responsible for synchronization and give the conditions for that regime.Comment: 12 pages, 9 figures; submitted to Phys Rev

Time dilation in relativistic two-particle interactions

We study the orbits of two interacting particles described by a fully relativistic classical mechanical Hamiltonian. We use two sets of initial conditions. In the first set (dynamics 1) the system\u27s center of mass is at rest. In the second set (dynamics 2) the center of mass evolves with velocity V. If dynamics 1 is observed from a reference frame moving with velocity-V, the principle of relativity requires that all observables must be identical to those of dynamics 2 seen from the laboratory frame. Our numerical simulations demonstrate that kinematic Lorentz space-time transformations fail to transform particle observables between the two frames. This is explained as a result of the inevitable interaction dependence of the boost generator in the instant form of relativistic dynamics. Despite general inaccuracies of the Lorentz formulas, the orbital periods are correctly predicted by the Einstein\u27s time dilation factor for all interaction strengths

Double Ionization by Strong Elliptically Polarized Laser Pulses

We join the tribute to Professor N.B. Delone in this memorial issue by presenting the results of new calculations on the effects of ellipticity on double ionization by short and strong near-optical laser pulses.Comment: 3 pages, 4 figures, accepted in Professor N.B. Delone's memorial issu

Suppression of peripheral pain by blockade of voltage-gated calcium 2.2 channels in nociceptors induces RANKL and impairs recovery from inflammatory arthritis in a mouse model

Objective: A hallmark of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is the chronic pain that accompanies the inflammation and joint deformation. Patients with RA rate pain relief with highest priority, however, few studies have addressed the efficacy and safety of therapies directed specifically towards pain pathways. The conotoxin MVIIA (Prialt/Ziconotide) is used in humans to alleviate persistent pain syndromes because it specifically blocks the CaV 2.2 voltage-gated calcium channel, which mediates the release of neurotransmitters and proinflammatory mediators from peripheral nociceptor nerve terminals. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether block of CaV 2.2 can suppress arthritic pain, and to examine the progression of induced arthritis during persistent CaV 2.2 blockade. Methods: Transgenic mice (Tg-MVIIA) expressing a membrane-tethered form of the {Omega}-conotoxin MVIIA, under the control of a nociceptor-specific gene, were employed. These mice were subjected to unilateral induction of joint inflammation using the Antigen- and Collagen-Induced Arthritis (ACIA) model. Results: We observed that CaV 2.2-blockade mediated by t-MVIIA effectively suppressed arthritis-induced pain; however, in contrast to their wild-type littermates, which ultimately regained use of their injured joint as inflammation subsides, Tg-MVIIA mice showed continued inflammation with an up-regulation of the osteoclast activator RANKL and concomitant joint and bone destruction. Conclusion: Altogether, our results indicate that alleviation of peripheral pain by blockade of CaV 2.2- mediated calcium influx and signaling in nociceptor sensory neurons, impairs recovery from induced arthritis and point to the potentially devastating effects of using CaV 2.2 channel blockers as analgesics during inflammation

Theoretical Study of Fast Light with Short sech Pulses in Coherent Gain Media

We investigate theoretically the phenomenon of so-called fast light in an unconventional regime, using pulses sufficiently short that relaxation effects in a gain medium can be ignored completely. We show that previously recognized gain instabilities, including superfluorescence, can be tolerated in achieving a pulse peak advance of one full peak width.Comment: 7 pages, 8 figures; Replaced with revised version accepted by JOSA

Studies of group velocity reduction and pulse regeneration with and without the adiabatic approximation

We present a detailed semiclassical study on the propagation of a pair of optical fields in resonant media with and without adiabatic approximation. In the case of near and on resonance excitation, we show detailed calculation, both analytically and numerically, on the extremely slowly propagating probe pulse and the subsequent regeneration of a pulse via a coupling laser. Further discussions on the adiabatic approximation provide many subtle understandings of the process including the effect on the band width of the regenerated optical field. Indeed, all features of the optical pulse regeneration and most of the intricate details of the process can be obtained with the present treatment without invoke a full field theoretical method. For very far off resonance excitation, we show that the analytical solution is nearly detuning independent, a surprising result that is vigorously tested and compared to numerical calculations with very good agreement.Comment: 13 pages, 15 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.