291 research outputs found
Reading and Parental Involvement
This Research focused on the effect parental involvement has on student performance when parents are taught the skills necessary. Students whose parents had received advice on methods for reading to their children performed significantly better on a standardized reading test (Fitton & Gredler, 1996). The data illustrated that when parents and teachers unite, students reading scores improves. Statement of Problem The recent changes to Dade County Public schools curriculum require more focus on literacy in the early grades. As educators we wanted to find a way in which we can help our students become better readers, and at the same time involve their parents in the process. As teachers, we want to engage parents to support their children to be successful readers. Through this Participatory Action Research we want to find out the impact parental support has on a child’s reading achievement through the involvement in reading activities? We believe there are many factors affecting parental involvement in reading, one of them being lack of home-school communication, lack of parental confidence when it comes to offering home assistance in reading, language barrier and students ’ attitudes towards reading. Purpose We implemented an after school reading club which teaches parents the skills they needed to help their kids at home. The workshops consisted of teaching parents different skills such as paired reading, phonological awareness activities, sight word activities, etc. We applied the I-DO, WE-DO, YOU-DO method during all workshops
Evolutionary Approaches to Optimization Problems in Chimera Topologies
Chimera graphs define the topology of one of the first commercially available
quantum computers. A variety of optimization problems have been mapped to this
topology to evaluate the behavior of quantum enhanced optimization heuristics
in relation to other optimizers, being able to efficiently solve problems
classically to use them as benchmarks for quantum machines. In this paper we
investigate for the first time the use of Evolutionary Algorithms (EAs) on
Ising spin glass instances defined on the Chimera topology. Three genetic
algorithms (GAs) and three estimation of distribution algorithms (EDAs) are
evaluated over hard instances of the Ising spin glass constructed from
Sidon sets. We focus on determining whether the information about the topology
of the graph can be used to improve the results of EAs and on identifying the
characteristics of the Ising instances that influence the success rate of GAs
and EDAs.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures, 3 table
Determinación cinética de consumo de ozono disuelto en agua
Se propone un método basado en el consumo de ozono disuelto por espectrofotometría UV, el cual permite determinar el valor de la constante efectiva de velocidad (kr) para un agua de interés, con alta precisión y relativa facilidad respecto a otros métodos. Se comparan los valores de kr obtenidos por el método de la decoloración del índigo y por relaciones empíricas (reportados en la literatura) que estiman el valor de kr a partir del valor de parámetros de calidad del agua, el pH, la alcalinidad total y el carbono orgánico total disuelto en el agua a analizar, se verifica la diferencia de los resultados y las limitaciones de estos métodos. Los bajos valores de kr obtenidos para el agua de acueducto filtrada por carbón activado, se corresponden con la buena calidad del agua y con la alta 1 alcalinidad total que posee; los valores están dentro del intervalo de 1,69 a 6,12 h-(con un error estándar menor del 10 %) y se corresponden con el criterio reportado por otros autores de 1que para aguas limpias el valor de la constante efectiva resulta menor de 5 h-. Se determina el valor de kr para aguas de diferentes fuentes lo que permite analizar la efectividad del método propuesto, así como la relación estrecha entre la calidad del agua, consumo de ozono y el tiempo de vida media del ozono residual. Estos parámetros son necesarios para el diseño de los sistemas de ozonización de aguas
Faint recombination lines in Galactic PNe with [WC] nucleus
We present spatially resolved high-resolution spectrophotometric data for the
planetary nebulae PB8, NGC2867, and PB6. We have analyzed two knots in NGC2867
and PB6 and one in PB8. The three nebulae are ionized by [WC] type nuclei:
early [WO] for PB6 and NGC2867 and [WC 5-6] in the case of PB8. Our aim is to
study the behavior of the abundance discrepancy problem (ADF) in this type of
PNe. We measured a large number of optical recombination (ORL) and
collisionally excited lines (CEL), from different ionization stages (many more
than in any previous work), thus, we were able to derive physical conditions
from many different diagnostic procedures. We determined ionic abundances from
the available collisionally excited lines and recombination lines. Based on
both sets of ionic abundances, we derived total chemical abundances in the
nebulae using suitable ionization correction factors. From CELs, we have found
abundances typical of Galactic disk planetary nebulae. Moderate ADF(O++) were
found for PB8 (2.57) and NGC2867 (1.63). For NGC2867, abundances from ORLs are
higher but still consistent with Galactic disk planetary nebulae. On the
contrary, PB8 presents a very high O/H ratio from ORLs. A high C/O was obtained
from ORLs for NGC2867; this ratio is similar to C/O obtained from CELs and with
the chemical composition of the wind of the central star, indicating that there
was no further C-enrichment in the star, relative to O, after the nebular
material ejection. On the contrary, we found C/O<1 in PB8. Interestingly, we
obtain (C/O)ORLs/(C/O)CELs < 1 in PB8 and NGC2867; this added to the similarity
between the heliocentric velocities measured in [OIII] and OII lines for our
three objects, argue against the presence of H-deficient metal-rich knots
coming from a late thermal pulse event.Comment: 25 pages, 13 Tables, 4 Figures Accepted for publication in A&A. First
page is blank for obscure latex reason
Inductive learning spatial attention
This paper investigates the automatic induction of spatial attention
from the visual observation of objects manipulated
on a table top. In this work, space is represented in terms of
a novel observer-object relative reference system, named Local
Cardinal System, defined upon the local neighbourhood
of objects on the table. We present results of applying the
proposed methodology on five distinct scenarios involving
the construction of spatial patterns of coloured blocks
Low and intermediate energy electron collisions with the C molecular anion
Calculations are presented which use the molecular R-matrix with
pseudo-states (MRMPS) method to treat electron impact electron detachment and
electronic excitation of the carbon dimer anion. Resonances are found above the
ionisation threshold of C with , and
symmetry. These are shape resonances trapped by the effect of an attractive
polarisation potential competing with a repulsive Coulomb interaction. The
resonances are found to give structure in the detachment cross section
similar to that observed experimentally. Both excitation and detachment cross
sections are found to be dominated by large impact parameter collisions whose
contribution is modelled using the Born approximation.Comment: 18 pages, 5 figures constructed from 8 file
Multiple scattering approach to elastic electron collisions with molecular clusters
We revisit our multiple-scattering method to treat low energy elastic electron collisions with (H2O)2. Calculations are performed for different geometries of the water dimer with different dipole moments. The effect of the dipole moment of the cluster is analysed. The elastic cross sections are compared to R-matrix results. Good agreement is found above 1 eV for all geometries. Results conrm the validity of the technique
Comparison of gene targets and sampling regimes for SARS-CoV-2 quantification for wastewater epidemiology in UK prisons
Prisons are high-risk settings for infectious disease transmission, due to their enclosed and semi-enclosed environments. The proximity between prisoners and staff, and the diversity of prisons reduces the effectiveness of non-pharmaceutical interventions, such as social distancing. Therefore, alternative health monitoring methods, such as wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE), are needed to track pathogens, including SARS-CoV-2. This pilot study assessed WBE to quantify SARS-CoV-2 prevalence in prison wastewater to determine its utility within a health protection system for residents. The study analysed 266 samples from six prisons in England over a 12-week period for nucleoprotein 1 (N1 gene) and envelope protein (E gene) using quantitative reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction. Both gene assays successfully detected SARS-CoV-2 fragments in wastewater samples, with both genes significantly correlating with COVID-19 case numbers across the prisons (p < 0.01). However, in 25% of the SARS-positive samples, only one gene target was detected, suggesting that both genes be used to reduce false-negative results. No significant differences were observed between 14- and 2-h composite samples, although 2-h samples showed greater signal variance. Population normalisation did not improve correlations between the N1 and E genes and COVID-19 case data. Overall, WBE shows considerable promise for health protection in prison settings
Feature selection and novelty in computational aesthetics
[Abstract] An approach for exploring novelty in expression-based evolutionary art systems is presented. The framework is composed of a feature extractor, a classifier, an evolutionary engine and a supervisor. The evolutionary engine exploits shortcomings of the classifier, generating misclassified instances. These instances update the training set and the classifier is re-trained. This iterative process forces the evolutionary algorithm to explore new paths leading to the creation of novel imagery. The experiments presented and analyzed herein explore different feature selection methods and indicate the validity of the approach.Portugal. Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia; PTDC/EIA–EIA/115667/2009Galicia.Consellería de Innovación, Industria e Comercio ; PGIDIT10TIC105008P
Ab initio calculations of Ca III Stark broadening parameters,transition probabilities and radiative lifetimes
We have determined matrix elements for all experimental configurations of Ca III, including
the 3s3p63d configuration. These values have been obtained using intermediate coupling (IC).
For these IC calculations, we have used the standard method of least-squares fitting from
the experimental energy levels, using the computer code developed by Robert Cowan. In this
paper, using these matrix elements, we report the calculated values of the Ca III Stark widths
and shifts for 148 spectral lines, of 56 Ca III spectral line transition probabilities and of eight
radiative lifetimes of Ca III levels. The Stark widths and shifts, calculated using the Griem
semi-empirical approach, correspond to the spectral lines of Ca III and are presented for an
electron density of 1017 cm?3 and temperatures T = 1.0?10.0 (×104 K). The theoretical trends
of the Stark broadening parameter versus the temperature are presented for transitions that
are of astrophysical interest. There is good agreement between our calculations, for transition
probabilities and radiative lifetimes, and the experimental values presented in the literature.
We have not been able to find any values for the Stark parameters in the references
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