The Writing Observation Framework: A Guide for Refining and Validating Writing Instruction

The Writing Observation Framework (WOF) is a new tool for enhancing writing instruction in schools. The WOF organizes principles of writing instruction In a way that improves the evaluation of teachers\u27 writing practices, encourages a shared philosophy of the writing process and its instruction, and assists schools in demonstrating the integrity of their writing programs

Influence of higher d-wave gap harmonics on the dynamical magnetic susceptibility of high-temperature superconductors

Using a fermiology approach to the computation of the magnetic susceptibility measured by neutron scattering in hole-doped high-Tc superconductors, we estimate the effects on the incommensurate peaks caused by higher d-wave harmonics of the superconducting order parameter induced by underdoping. The input parameters for the Fermi surface and d-wave gap are taken directly from angle resolved photoemission (ARPES) experiments on Bi{2}Sr{2}CaCu{2}O{8+x} (Bi2212). We find that higher d-wave harmonics lower the momentum dependent spin gap at the incommensurate peaks as measured by the lowest spectral edge of the imaginary part in the frequency dependence of the magnetic susceptibility of Bi2212. This effect is robust whenever the fermiology approach captures the physics of high-Tc superconductors. At energies above the resonance we observe diagonal incommensurate peaks. We show that the crossover from parallel incommensuration below the resonance energy to diagonal incommensuration above it is connected to the values and the degeneracies of the minima of the 2-particle energy continuum.Comment: 13 pages, 7 figure

The Law of Water Allocation in Kentucky

This study discusses navigability concepts, consumptive rights to surface and ground waters, the disposal of diffused surface waters and the administration of Kentucky\u27s statutory water allocation system. Federal regulatory powers are based on navigability as is state ownership of submerged lands. Kentucky uses the ebb-and-flow test of navigability to determine title to submerged lands but uses a navigability-in-fact test to determine the scope of state regulatory authority. Consumptive uses of water in Kentucky are governed by the riparian landowner to use as much water as he needs as long as his use does not interfere with the legitimate uses of other riparians. Underground streams are subject to the same consumptive use rules, but an overlying landowner can use as much percolating ground water as he needs even though other users are harmed. Kentucky follows the civil law rule with respect to the disposal of diffused surface water, but recent cases seem to have applied the more modern reasonable use rule. In addition to these common-law rules, the Department for Natural Resources and Environmental Protection, under the provisions of KRS Chapter 151, administers a permit system under which both riparian and nonriparian users are allowed to make beneficial uses of water. The permit system, however, is not particularly comprehensive, and is subject to various criticisms

Welfare Impacts of Property Rights in the Seed Industry

The paper examines the welfare impact of different intellectual property right (IPR) regimes in private sector seed research. The model takes into account the period after expiration of IPR protection, and requires a simultaneous equilibrium in the markets for R&D, seeds, and final product (grain). Simulation results show that with the exception of R&D productivity, the optimal level of IPR protection is remarkably insensitive to parameters of the model. There is a range of IPR appropriability levels where the interests of consumers and producers (taken together) are complementary to the interests of R&D firms, and another range of appropriability levels where the welfare of producers and consumers can be increased only at the expense of the welfare R&D firms. These results may explain some of the acrimony in the debate about plant gene patenting and genetic use-restriction technologies (GURTs). Results suggest that the optimum IPR appropriability level is greater than that which exists in the North American seed corn market, but lower than would exist if GURTs were to become widely used. The optimal appropriability level is much higher than that which is achieved in situations where crops are open pollinated or where IPR protection is limited, and this may help explain and justify the relevance of public research in these situations.Crop Production/Industries,

A universal high energy anomaly in angle resolved photoemission spectra of high temperature superconductors - possible evidence of spinon and holon branches

A universal high energy anomaly in the single particle spectral function is reported in three different families of high temperature superconductors by using angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy. As we follow the dispersing peak of the spectral function from the Fermi energy to the valence band complex, we find dispersion anomalies marked by two distinctive high energy scales, E_1=~ 0.38 eV and E_2=~0.8 eV. E_1 marks the energy above which the dispersion splits into two branches. One is a continuation of the near parabolic dispersion, albeit with reduced spectral weight, and reaches the bottom of the band at the gamma point at ~0.5 eV. The other is given by a peak in the momentum space, nearly independent of energy between E_1 and E_2. Above E_2, a band-like dispersion re-emerges. We conjecture that these two energies mark the disintegration of the low energy quasiparticles into a spinon and holon branch in the high T_c cuprates.Comment: accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. Let

Electronic Collective Modes and Superconductivity in Layered Conductors

A distinctive feature of layered conductors is the presence of low-energy electronic collective modes of the conduction electrons. This affects the dynamic screening properties of the Coulomb interaction in a layered material. We study the consequences of the existence of these collective modes for superconductivity. General equations for the superconducting order parameter are derived within the strong-coupling phonon-plasmon scheme that account for the screened Coulomb interaction. Specifically, we calculate the superconducting critical temperature Tc taking into account the full temperature, frequency and wave-vector dependence of the dielectric function. We show that low-energy plasmons may contribute constructively to superconductivity. Three classes of layered superconductors are discussed within our model: metal-intercalated halide nitrides, layered organic materials and high-Tc oxides. In particular, we demonstrate that the plasmon contribution (electronic mechanism) is dominant in the first class of layered materials. The theory shows that the description of so-called ``quasi-two-dimensional superconductors'' cannot be reduced to a purely 2D model, as commonly assumed. While the transport properties are strongly anisotropic, it remains essential to take into account the screened interlayer Coulomb interaction to describe the superconducting state of layered materials.Comment: Final version (minor changes) 14 pages, 6 figure

Pain control in healthcare organizations: Developing effective disease management programs

Although medicine possesses the knowledge and technology for preventing or relieving most pain, poor pain control is still widespread. Unrelieved pain causes unnecessary suffering and increases health care expenditures. Among the barriers to improving pain control are poor provider education in pain management, misguided beliefs about the inevitability of pain and the dangers of pain medication, provider resistance to changing practice patterns, and administrative resistance to implementing improvements that incur short-term costs but lead to long-term savings. In short, poor pain relief in America\u27s health care institutions is a system issue, and improvement requires a system-wide change. An effective program for improving pain management requires a multidisciplinary team committed to the task, ideally a triad consisting of a physician, a nurse, and a pharmacist. The triad needs administrative support in order to undertake needs assessment, offer provider and patient education, and perform continuous cycles of assessment, intervention, and reassessment of pain management. A strong information management base and an analytic engine are essential so that the team can evaluate outcomes from multiple perspectives (provider, payer, patient). The triad should identify a service area with clear pain problems, demonstrate improvements in this area, and then systematically move to other service areas. Educating providers and patients about pain and its control is essential for bringing about change. Improved pain management is a win-win situation for patients and institutions alike. Patients and families benefit from reduced suffering and improved quality of life, while institutions can offer more cost-effective care to patients

Influence of the pseudogap on the superconductivity-induced phonon renormalization in high-Tc_c superconductors

We investigate the influence of a d-density wave (DDW) gap on the superconductivity-induced renormalization of phonon frequency and linewidth. The results are discussed with respect to Raman and inelastic neutron scattering experiments. It turns out that the DDW gap can enhance the range of frequencies for $q=0$ phonon softening depending on the underlying band structure. Moreover we show that an anisotropic 'd-wave' pseudogap can also contribute to the q-dependent linewidth broadening of the 340cm$^{-1}$ phonon in YBa$_2$Cu$_3$O$_7$.Comment: 4 page

GAPS IN THE HEISENBERG-ISING MODEL

We report on the closing of gaps in the ground state of the critical Heisenberg-Ising chain at momentum $\pi$. For half-filling, the gap closes at special values of the anisotropy $\Delta= \cos(\pi/Q)$, $Q$ integer. We explain this behavior with the help of the Bethe Ansatz and show that the gap scales as a power of the system size with variable exponent depending on $\Delta$. We use a finite-size analysis to calculate this exponent in the critical region, supplemented by perturbation theory at $\Delta\sim 0$. For rational $1/r$ fillings, the gap is shown to be closed for {\em all} values of $\Delta$ and the corresponding perturbation expansion in $\Delta$ shows a remarkable cancellation of various diagrams.Comment: 12 RevTeX pages + 4 figures upon reques