Looking for new gluon physics at the Tevatron

The impact of nonrenormalizable gluon operators upon inclusive jet cross sections is studied. Such operators could arise in an effective strong interaction Lagrangian from gluon substructure and would induce observable cross section deviations from pure QCD at high transverse jet energies. Comparison of the theoretical predictions with recent CDF data yields a lower limit on the gluon compositeness scale $\Lambda$. We find \Lambda > 2.03 \TeV at $95\%$~CL

The influence of climate and population structure on East Asian skeletal morphological variation

Objectives: Recent studies have shown that global variation in body proportions is more complex than previously thought as some traits formerly associated with climate adaptation are better explained by geographic proximity and neutral evolutionary forces. While the recent incorporation of quantitative genetic methodologies has improved understanding of selection due to climate in Africa, Europe, and the Americas; Asia remains underrepresented in recent and historic studies of body form. As ecogeographic studies tend to focus on male morphology, potential sex differences in features influenced by climate and magnitude of selection remain largely unexplored. Materials and Methods: Skeletal measurements encompassing the dimensions of the skull, pelvis, limbs, hands, and feet were collected from male (N = 459) and female (N = 442) remains curated in 13 collections across seven countries in East Asia (N = 901). Osteological data were analyzed with sex and minimum temperature as covariates adjusted by autosomal SNP population genetic distance using univariate Bayesian linear mixed models, and credible intervals were calculated for each trait. Results: Analysis confirmed a relationship between specific traits and climate as well as the magnitude of response in both sexes. After accounting for genetic distance between populations, greater evidence for selection was found acting upon postcranial traits, with the influence of climate on the skull limited primarily to breadth measurements. Larger body size is selected for in colder climates with most measurements increasing with decreased temperature. Selection did not always act upon the same traits in males and females or with the same intensity for both sexes. Discussion: The varied directional selection pressure of climate for different regions of the skeleton and between the sexes underscores the necessity of future ecogeographic research to holistically evaluate body form and to look for sex-specific patterns to better represent population responses to environmental stresses.Includes bibliographical references

Open Access and Global Inclusion: A Look at Cuba

Is the Open Access movement meeting its goal of equalizing access to research worldwide? What we learned in libraries and archives during a delegation to Cuba inspired us to pursue this question. Latin America has long used OA to share its research, but it still has not achieved parity in access and contribution with the developed world. We consider what the OA movement can do to relieve some of these global inequities

Bar coding MS2 spectra for metabolite identification

[Image: see text] Metabolite identifications are most frequently achieved in untargeted metabolomics by matching precursor mass and full, high-resolution MS(2) spectra to metabolite databases and standards. Here we considered an alternative approach for establishing metabolite identifications that does not rely on full, high-resolution MS(2) spectra. First, we select mass-to-charge regions containing the most informative metabolite fragments and designate them as bins. We then translate each metabolite fragmentation pattern into a binary code by assigning 1’s to bins containing fragments and 0’s to bins without fragments. With 20 bins, this binary-code system is capable of distinguishing 96% of the compounds in the METLIN MS(2) library. A major advantage of the approach is that it extends untargeted metabolomics to low-resolution triple quadrupole (QqQ) instruments, which are typically less expensive and more robust than other types of mass spectrometers. We demonstrate a method of acquiring MS(2) data in which the third quadrupole of a QqQ instrument cycles over 20 wide isolation windows (coinciding with the location and width of our bins) for each precursor mass selected by the first quadrupole. Operating the QqQ instrument in this mode yields diagnostic bar codes for each precursor mass that can be matched to the bar codes of metabolite standards. Furthermore, our data suggest that using low-resolution bar codes enables QqQ instruments to make MS(2)-based identifications in untargeted metabolomics with a specificity and sensitivity that is competitive to high-resolution time-of-flight technologies

Heavy Meson Masses in Chiral Perturbation Theory with Heavy Quark Symmetry

The $SU(3)$ and hyperfine mass splittings of mesons containing a single heavy quark are computed to one-loop order in chiral perturbation theory with heavy quark spin symmetry. Electromagnetic contributions of order $\alpha_em$ are included. The observed values of the mass splittings are consistent with the one-loop chiral perturbation theory calculation. The $d-u$ hyperfine splitting $(D^{* +} - D^+) - (D^{*0} - D^0)$ is equal to $(m_d - m_u)/ m_s$ times the $s-d$ hyperfine splitting $(D_s^{* +} - D_s^+) - (D^{*+} - D^+)$ upto electromagnetic contributions. The small observed value of the $s-d$ hyperfine splitting implies that the $d-u$ hyperfine splitting is completely dominated by electromagnetic mass contributions.Comment: (28 pages, 2 figures included using uufiles, uses harvmac), CERN-TH.6765/9

Home Literacy Initiatives of Middle School Families During the 2020 Quarantine Period: Transformation in Education?

The coronavirus pandemic changed everything almost overnight for students and their families. The purpose of this qualitative case study, thus, was to investigate the views of families about the sudden change in education for their middle school children, particularly literacy practices, during the pandemic. Drawing upon Bourdieu’s theoretical framework of cultural capital, coupled with socioeconomic status, funds of knowledge, and crisis management, we conducted interviews with 4 parents. Using the in vivo coding data analysis method, we identified some key preliminary findings: all-day-happy-hour, the strange disconnection between teachers and parents, and soft and hard approaches to school-home literacy. Participants revealed very distinctive dispositions to make this “school-home” education work on their own. These parental dispositions and new meaning-making from their children’s education developed into what we referred to as parentagogy, as they determined for themselves the skills they would need and use to help their children succeed in their new roles as parent and educator. This study confirms the importance of parental value in education

Looking for Gluon Substructure at the Tevatron

The impact of nonrenormalizable gluon operators upon inclusive jet cross sections is studied. Such operators could arise in an effective strong interaction Lagrangian from gluon substructure and would induce observable cross section deviations from pure QCD at high transverse jet energies. Comparison of the theoretical predictions with recent CDF data yields a lower limit on the gluon compositeness scale $\Lambda$. We find \Lambda > 2.03 \TeV at $95\%$~CL.Comment: 12 pages with 2 figures not included but available upon request, CALT-68-1872, HUTP-93/A01

New Evidence of Success for Community College Remedial English Students: Tracking the Outcomes of Students in the Accelerated Learning Program (ALP)

This paper presents the findings from a follow-up quantitative analysis of the Community College of Baltimore County’s Accelerated Learning Program (ALP). Our results suggest that among students who enroll in the highest level developmental writing course, participation in ALP is associated with substantially better outcomes in terms of English 101 completion and English 102 completion (college-level English courses), which corroborates the results of a similar analysis completed in 2010. These results were consistent, and in some cases, even stronger, when we used propensity score matching. Moreover, using a larger number of cohorts and tracking students over a longer period of time, we also found that ALP students were more likely to persist to the next year than non-ALP students. Specific subgroup analyses for earlier versus later cohorts, as well as for Black and low-income students, revealed relationships between ALP participation and student outcomes that were similar to those found in the larger sample, although ALP appeared to be more effective for White and high-income students on some outcomes. Finally, we compared college-ready students enrolled in ALP sections of English 101 with their counterparts in wholly college-ready sections, and found that those in ALP sections had equivalent performance within English 101 itself, but slightly lower subsequent college-level course enrollment and completion