866 research outputs found
Frame Analysis: Studentsâ Construction of Involvement and Noninvolvement in the College Classroom
Frames and frame analysis examines the individualâs constructions of reality instead of societyâs social constructions. The aim of this qualitative study is to explore college studentsâ (N = 434) construction of involvement and noninvolvement in the classroom from a frame analysis perspective. Six themes emerged from studentsâ descriptions of their perceptions of self and other studentsâ in-class involvement (e.g., active involvement), and eight themes emerged from descriptions of self and other studentsâ in-class noninvolvement (e.g., student passivity). Overall, students are likely to perceive themselves as involved and other students as noninvolved, even when the classroom behaviors are similar (e.g., listening, taking notes)
Observation of quantum-Hall effect in gated epitaxial graphene grown on SiC (0001)
Epitaxial graphene films were formed on the Si-face of semi-insulating 4H-SiC
substrates by a high temperature sublimation process. A high-k gate stack on
epitaxial graphene is realized by inserting a fully oxidized nanometer thin
aluminum film as a seeding layer followed by an atomic-layer deposition
process. The electrical properties of epitaxial graphene films are sustained
after gate stack formation without significant degradation. At low
temperatures, the quantum-Hall effect in Hall resistance is observed along with
pronounced Shubnikov-de Hass oscillations in diagonal magneto-resistance of
gated epitaxial graphene on SiC (0001).Comment: 2 new references adde
Solutions of Higher Dimensional Gauss-Bonnet FRW Cosmology
We examine the effect on cosmological evolution of adding a Gauss-Bonnet term
to the standard Einstein-Hilbert action for a (1 + 3)+ d dimensional
Friedman-Robertson-Walker (FRW) metric. By assuming that the additional
dimensions compactify as a power law as the usual 3 spatial dimensions expand,
we solve the resulting dynamical equations and find that the solution may be of
either de Sitter or Kasner form depending upon whether the Gauss-Bonnet term or
the Einstein term dominates.Comment: 10 pages, references added/corrected, accepted for publication in
General Relativity and Gravitatio
Semiclassical States in Quantum Cosmology: Bianchi I Coherent States
We study coherent states for Bianchi type I cosmological models, as examples
of semiclassical states for time-reparametrization invariant systems. This
simple model allows us to study explicitly the relationship between exact
semiclassical states in the kinematical Hilbert space and corresponding ones in
the physical Hilbert space, which we construct here using the group averaging
technique. We find that it is possible to construct good semiclassical physical
states by such a procedure in this model; we also discuss the sense in which
the original kinematical states may be a good approximation to the physical
ones, and the situations in which this is the case. In addition, these models
can be deparametrized in a natural way, and we study the effect of time
evolution on an "intrinsic" coherent state in the reduced phase space, in order
to estimate the time for this state to spread significantly.Comment: 21 pages, 1 figure; Version to be published in CQG; The discussion
has been slightly reorganized, two references added, and some typos correcte
Quantum Gravitational Corrections to the Real Klein-Gordon Field in the Presence of a Minimal Length
The (D+1)-dimensional -two-parameter Lorentz-covariant
deformed algebra introduced by Quesne and Tkachuk [C. Quesne and V. M. Tkachuk,
J. Phys. A: Math. Gen. \textbf {39}, 10909 (2006).], leads to a nonzero minimal
uncertainty in position (minimal length). The Klein-Gordon equation in a
(3+1)-dimensional space-time described by Quesne-Tkachuk Lorentz-covariant
deformed algebra is studied in the case where up to first order
over deformation parameter . It is shown that the modified Klein-Gordon
equation which contains fourth-order derivative of the wave function describes
two massive particles with different masses. We have shown that physically
acceptable mass states can only exist for which
leads to an isotropic minimal length in the interval . Finally, we have shown that the above estimation of
minimal length is in good agreement with the results obtained in previous
investigations.Comment: 10 pages, no figur
String-inspired cosmology: Late time transition from scaling matter era to dark energy universe caused by a Gauss-Bonnet coupling
The Gauss-Bonnet (GB) curvature invariant coupled to a scalar field
can lead to an exit from a scaling matter-dominated epoch to a late-time
accelerated expansion, which is attractive to alleviate the coincident problem
of dark energy. We derive the condition for the existence of cosmological
scaling solutions in the presence of the GB coupling for a general scalar-field
Lagrangian density , where is a kinematic
term of the scalar field. The GB coupling and the Lagrangian density are
restricted to be in the form and , respectively, where is a constant and is an
arbitrary function. We also derive fixed points for such a scaling Lagrangian
with a GB coupling and clarify the conditions
under which the scaling matter era is followed by a de-Sitter solution which
can appear in the presence of the GB coupling. Among scaling models proposed in
the current literature, we find that the models which allow such a cosmological
evolution are an ordinary scalar field with an exponential potential and a
tachyon field with an inverse square potential, although the latter requires a
coupling between dark energy and dark matter.Comment: 18 pages, 4 figures, version to appear in JCA
Patient Race/Ethnicity and Patient-Physician Race/Ethnicity Concordance in the Management of Cardiovascular Disease Risk Factors for Patients With Diabetes
OBJECTIVE Patient-physician race/ethnicity concordance can improve care for minority patients. However, its effect on cardiovascular disease (CVD) care and prevention is unknown. We examined associations of patient race/ethnicity and patient-physician race/ethnicity concordance on CVD risk factor levels and appropriate modification of treatment in response to high risk factor values (treatment intensification) in a large cohort of diabetic patients. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS The study population included 108,555 adult diabetic patients in Kaiser Permanente Northern California in 2005. Probit models assessed the effect of patient race/ethnicity on risk factor control and treatment intensification after adjusting for patient and physician-level characteristics. RESULTS African American patients were less likely than whites to have A1C <8.0% (64 vs. 69%, P < 0.0001), LDL cholesterol <100 mg/dl (40 vs. 47%, P < 0.0001), and systolic blood pressure (SBP) <140 mmHg (70 vs. 78%, P < 0.0001). Hispanic patients were less likely than whites to have A1C <8% (62 vs. 69%, P < 0.0001). African American patients were less likely than whites to have A1C treatment intensification (73 vs. 77%, P < 0.0001; odds ratio [OR] 0.8 [95% CI 0.7-0.9]) but more likely to receive treatment intensification for SBP (78 vs. 71%, P < 0.0001; 1.5 [1.3-1.7]). Hispanic patients were more likely to have LDL cholesterol treatment intensification (47 vs. 45%, P < 0.05; 1.1 [1.0-1.2]). Patient-physician race/ethnicity concordance was not significantly associated with risk factor control or treatment intensification. CONCLUSIONS Patient race/ethnicity is associated with risk factor control and treatment intensification, but patient-physician race/ethnicity concordance was not. Further research should investigate other potential drivers of disparities in CVD care
On (Cosmological) Singularity Avoidance in Loop Quantum Gravity
Loop Quantum Cosmology (LQC), mainly due to Bojowald, is not the cosmological
sector of Loop Quantum Gravity (LQG). Rather, LQC consists of a truncation of
the phase space of classical General Relativity to spatially homogeneous
situations which is then quantized by the methods of LQG. Thus, LQC is a
quantum mechanical toy model (finite number of degrees of freedom) for LQG(a
genuine QFT with an infinite number of degrees of freedom) which provides
important consistency checks. However, it is a non trivial question whether the
predictions of LQC are robust after switching on the inhomogeneous fluctuations
present in full LQG. Two of the most spectacular findings of LQC are that 1.
the inverse scale factor is bounded from above on zero volume eigenstates which
hints at the avoidance of the local curvature singularity and 2. that the
Quantum Einstein Equations are non -- singular which hints at the avoidance of
the global initial singularity. We display the result of a calculation for LQG
which proves that the (analogon of the) inverse scale factor, while densely
defined, is {\it not} bounded from above on zero volume eigenstates. Thus, in
full LQG, if curvature singularity avoidance is realized, then not in this
simple way. In fact, it turns out that the boundedness of the inverse scale
factor is neither necessary nor sufficient for curvature singularity avoidance
and that non -- singular evolution equations are neither necessary nor
sufficient for initial singularity avoidance because none of these criteria are
formulated in terms of observable quantities.After outlining what would be
required, we present the results of a calculation for LQG which could be a
first indication that our criteria at least for curvature singularity avoidance
are satisfied in LQG.Comment: 34 pages, 16 figure
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