First-year composition and transfer: a quantitative study

The present study investigated the effect of writing pedagogy on transfer by examining the effect of pedagogical orientation (WAC/WID or ‘traditional’) on content-area grades. Participants were 1,052 undergraduates from 17 schools throughout the United States. Hypothesis was that the WAC/WID orientation would lead to higher transfer levels as measured by participants’ higher content-area performance. Composition grades were collected in year one; content-area grades where collected in year two. Propensity scores were calculated to stratify the groups and minimize selection bias of writing-class assignment, thereby allowing quasi-causal inference. An ANOVA was performed on the resulting 2-by-5 stratified data. Results indicated that students who completed the WAC/WID composition classes received significantly higher content grades than those in the ‘traditional’ writing classes. The results confirmed the hypothesis

Equivalence between two-dimensional alternating/random Ising model and the ground state of one-dimensional alternating/random XY chain

It is derived that the two-dimensional Ising model with alternating/random interactions and with periodic/free boundary conditions is equivalent to the ground state of the one-dimensional alternating/random XY model with the corresponding periodic/free boundary conditions. This provides an exact equivalence between a random rectangular Ising model, in which the Griffiths-McCoy phase appears, and a random XY chain.Comment: 10 page

Phase transition in compressible Ising systems at fixed volume

Using a Ginzburg-Landau model, we study the phase transition behavior of compressible Ising systems at constant volume by varying the temperature $T$ and the applied magnetic field $h$. We show that two phases can coexist macroscopically in equilibrium within a closed region in the $T$-$h$ plane. It occurence is favored near tricriticality. We find a field-induced critical point, where the correlation length diverges, the difference of the coexisting two phases and the surface tension vanish, but the isothermal magnetic susceptibility does not diverge in the mean field theory. We also investigate phase ordering numerically.Comment: 13 figure

Spin-1/2 Ising-Heisenberg model with the pair XYZ Heisenberg interaction and quartic Ising interactions as the exactly soluble zero-field eight-vertex model

The spin-1/2 Ising-Heisenberg model with the pair XYZ Heisenberg interaction and quartic Ising interactions is exactly solved by establishing a precise mapping relationship with the corresponding zero-field (symmetric) eight-vertex model. It is shown that the Ising-Heisenberg model with the ferromagnetic Heisenberg interaction exhibits a striking critical behavior, which manifests itself through re-entrant phase transitions as well as continuously varying critical exponents. The changes of critical exponents are in accordance with the weak universality hypothesis in spite of a peculiar singular behavior to emerge at a quantum critical point of the infinite order, which occurs at the isotropic limit of the Heisenberg interaction. On the other hand, the Ising-Heisenberg model with the antiferromagnetic Heisenberg interaction surprisingly exhibits less significant changes of both critical temperatures as well as critical exponents upon varying a strength of the exchange anisotropy in the Heisenberg interaction.Comment: 11 pages, 9 figure

ARSENIC REMOVAL FROM GROUNDWATER USING INDIGENOUS IRON AND MANGANESE OXDIZING BACTERIA

Joint Research on Environmental Science and Technology for the Eart

Multimodality Treatment for Early-Stage Hepatocellular Carcinoma: A Bridging Therapy for Liver Transplantation

Purpose: To evaluate the efficiency of a multimodality approach consisting of transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) and radiofrequency ablation (RFA) as bridging therapy for patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) awaiting orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) and to evaluate the histopathological response in explant specimens. Materials and Methods: Between April 2001 and November 2011, 36 patients with 50 HCC nodules (1.4-5.0 cm, median 2.8 cm) on the waiting list for liver transplantation were treated by TACE and RFA. The drop-out rate during the follow-up period was recorded. The local efficacy was evaluated by histopathological examination of the explanted livers. Results: During a median follow-up time of 29 (4.0-95.3) months the cumulative drop-out rate for the patients on the waiting list was 0, 2.8, 5.5, 11.0, 13.9 and 16.7% at 3, 6, 12, 24, 36 and 48 months, respectively. 16 patients (with 26 HCC lesions) out of 36(44.4%) were transplanted by the end of study with a median waiting list time of 13.7 (2.5-37.8) months. The histopathological examination of the explanted specimens revealed a complete necrosis in 20 of 26 HCCs (76.9%), whereas 6 (23.1%) nodules showed viable residual tumor tissue. All transplanted patients are alive at a median time of 29.9 months. Imaging correlation showed 100% specificity and 66.7% sensitivity for the depiction of residual or recurrent tumor. Conclusion: We conclude that TACE.combined with RFA could provide an effective treatment to decrease the drop-out rate from the OLT waiting list for HCC patients. Furthermore, this combination therapy results in high rates of complete tumor necrosis as evaluated in the histopathological analysis of the explanted livers. Further randomized trials are needed to demonstrate if there is a benefit in comparison with a single-treatment approach. copyright (C) 2012 S. Karger AG, Base

Thermodynamic properties of a tetramer ferro-ferro-antiferro-antiferromagnetic Ising-Heisenberg bond alternating chain as a model system for Cu(3-Clpy)2_2(N3_3)2_2

Thermodynamic properties of a tetramer ferro-ferro-antiferro-antiferromagnetic Ising-Heisenberg bond alternating chain are investigated by the use of an exact mapping transformation technique. Exact results for the magnetization, susceptibility and specific heat in the zero as well as nonzero magnetic field are presented and discussed in detail. The results obtained from the mapping are compared with the relevant experimental data of Cu(3-Clpy)$_2$(N$_3$)$_2$ (3-Clpy=3-Chloropyridine).Comment: 10 pages, 1 table, 14 figures, to be presented at CSMAG04 conferenc