627 research outputs found
Leading the evaluation of institutional online learning environments for quality enhancement in times of change
This paper reports on findings from a nationally funded project which aims to design and implement a quality management framework for online learning environments (OLEs). Evaluation is a key component of any quality management system and it is this aspect of the framework that is the focus of this paper. In developing the framework initial focus groups were conducted at the five participating institutions. These revealed that, although regarded as important, there did not appear to be a shared understanding of the nature and purpose of evaluation. A second series of focus groups revealed there were multiple perspectives arising from those with a vested interest in online learning. These perspectives will be outlined. Overall, how evaluation was undertaken was highly variable within and across the five institutions reflecting where they were at in relation to the development of their OLE
Multiwaveband analysis of brightest GRB070125
We present a comprehensive multiwavelength analysis of the bright, long duration gamma-ray burst GRB 070125, comprised of observations in gamma-ray, X-ray, optical, millimeter and centimeter wavebands. Radio light curves show rapid flux variations, which are interpreted as due to interstellar scintillation, and are used to derive an upper limit of 2.4×10^17 cm on the radius of the fireball. Radio light curves and spectra suggest that the afterglow shock wave is moving in a dense medium. Our broadband modeling favors a constant density profile for the circumburst medium over a wind-like profile (R^−2). GRB 070125 is a burst with high radiative efficiency (>60%)
The ACS Nearby Galaxy Survey Treasury. X. Quantifying the Star Cluster Formation Efficiency of Nearby Dwarf Galaxies
We study the relationship between the field star formation and cluster
formation properties in a large sample of nearby dwarf galaxies. We use optical
data from the Hubble Space Telescope and from ground-based telescopes to derive
the ages and masses of the young (t_age < 100Myr) cluster sample. Our data
provides the first constraints on two proposed relationships between the star
formation rate of galaxies and the properties of their cluster systems in the
low star formation rate regime. The data show broad agreement with these
relationships, but significant galaxy-to-galaxy scatter exists. In part, this
scatter can be accounted for by simulating the small number of clusters
detected from stochastically sampling the cluster mass function. However, this
stochasticity does not fully account for the observed scatter in our data
suggesting there may be true variations in the fraction of stars formed in
clusters in dwarf galaxies. Comparison of the cluster formation and the
brightest cluster in our sample galaxies also provide constraints on cluster
destruction models.Comment: 16 pages, 9 figures, Accepted to Ap
VLA-ANGST: A high-resolution HI Survey of Nearby Dwarf Galaxies
We present the "Very Large Array survey of Advanced Camera for Surveys Nearby
Galaxy Survey Treasury galaxies (VLA-ANGST)." VLA-ANGST is a National Radio
Astronomy Observatory Large Program consisting of high spectral (0.6-2.6 km/s)
and spatial (~6") resolution observations of neutral, atomic hydrogen (HI)
emission toward 35 nearby dwarf galaxies from the ANGST survey. ANGST is a
systematic HST survey to establish a legacy of uniform multi-color photometry
of resolved stars for a volume-limited sample of nearby galaxies (D\lesssim4
Mpc). VLA-ANGST provides VLA HI observations of the sub-sample of ANGST
galaxies with recent star formation that are observable from the northern
hemisphere and that were not observed in the "The HI Nearby Galaxy Survey"
(THINGS). The overarching scientific goal of VLA-ANGST is to investigate
fundamental characteristics of the neutral interstellar medium (ISM) of dwarf
galaxies. Here we describe the VLA observations, the data reduction, and the
final VLA-ANGST data products. We present an atlas of the integrated HI maps,
the intensity-weighted velocity fields, the second moment maps as a measure for
the velocity dispersion of the HI, individual channel maps, and integrated HI
spectra for each VLA-ANGST galaxy. We closely follow the observational setup
and data reduction of THINGS to achieve comparable sensitivity and angular
resolution. A major difference, however, is the high velocity resolution of the
VLA-ANGST observations (0.65 and 1.3km/s for the majority of the galaxies). The
VLA-ANGST data products are made publicly available at:
https://science.nrao.edu/science/surveys/vla-angst. With available star
formation histories from resolved stellar populations and lower resolution
ancillary observations from the FIR to the UV, VLA-ANGST will enable detailed
studies of the relationship between the ISM and star formation in dwarf
galaxies on a ~100 pc scale.Comment: 64 figures, grouped into 32. 115 pages, accepted for publication in
the Astronomical Journa
Does Stellar Feedback Create HI Holes? An HST/VLA Study of Holmberg II
We use deep HST/ACS F555W and F814W photometry of resolved stars in the M81
Group dwarf irregular galaxy Ho II to study the hypothesis that the holes
identified in the neutral ISM (HI) are created by stellar feedback. From the
deep photometry, we construct color-magnitude diagrams (CMDs) and measure the
star formation histories (SFHs) for stars contained in HI holes from two
independent holes catalogs, as well as select control fields, i.e., similar
sized regions that span a range of HI column densities. Converting the recent
SFHs into stellar feedback energies, we find that enough energy has been
generated to have created all holes. However, the required energy is not always
produced over a time scale that is less than the estimated kinematic age of the
hole. The combination of the CMDs, recent SFHs, and locations of young stars
shows that the stellar populations inside HI holes are not coherent,
single-aged, stellar clusters, as previously suggested, but rather multi-age
populations distributed across each hole. From a comparison of the modeled and
observed integrated magnitudes, and the locations and energetics of stars
inside of HI holes, we propose a potential new model: a viable mechanism for
creating the observed HI holes in Ho II is stellar feedback from multiple
generations of SF spread out over tens or hundreds of Myr, and thus, the
concept of an age for an HI hole is intrinsically ambiguous. We further find
that \halpha and 24 micron emission, tracers of the most recent star formation,
do not correlate well with the positions of the HI holes. However, UV emission,
which traces star formation over roughly the last 100 Myr, shows a much better
correlation with the locations of the HI holes.Comment: Accepted for Publication in The Astrophysical Journal; 28 Pages, 31
Figures, a version of this paper with full resolution figures is available at
http://homepages.spa.umn.edu/~dweisz/ho_ii_weisz.pd
Status of Muon Collider Research and Development and Future Plans
The status of the research on muon colliders is discussed and plans are
outlined for future theoretical and experimental studies. Besides continued
work on the parameters of a 3-4 and 0.5 TeV center-of-mass (CoM) energy
collider, many studies are now concentrating on a machine near 0.1 TeV (CoM)
that could be a factory for the s-channel production of Higgs particles. We
discuss the research on the various components in such muon colliders, starting
from the proton accelerator needed to generate pions from a heavy-Z target and
proceeding through the phase rotation and decay ()
channel, muon cooling, acceleration, storage in a collider ring and the
collider detector. We also present theoretical and experimental R & D plans for
the next several years that should lead to a better understanding of the design
and feasibility issues for all of the components. This report is an update of
the progress on the R & D since the Feasibility Study of Muon Colliders
presented at the Snowmass'96 Workshop [R. B. Palmer, A. Sessler and A.
Tollestrup, Proceedings of the 1996 DPF/DPB Summer Study on High-Energy Physics
(Stanford Linear Accelerator Center, Menlo Park, CA, 1997)].Comment: 95 pages, 75 figures. Submitted to Physical Review Special Topics,
Accelerators and Beam
The FLASHForward Facility at DESY
The FLASHForward project at DESY is a pioneering plasma-wakefield
acceleration experiment that aims to produce, in a few centimetres of ionised
hydrogen, beams with energy of order GeV that are of quality sufficient to be
used in a free-electron laser. The plasma wave will be driven by high-current
density electron beams from the FLASH linear accelerator and will explore both
external and internal witness-beam injection techniques. The plasma is created
by ionising a gas in a gas cell with a multi-TW laser system, which can also be
used to provide optical diagnostics of the plasma and electron beams due to the
<30 fs synchronisation between the laser and the driving electron beam. The
operation parameters of the experiment are discussed, as well as the scientific
program.Comment: 19 pages, 9 figure
FEMA: fast and efficient mixed-effects algorithm for large sample whole-brain imaging data
The linear mixed-effects model (LME) is a versatile approach to account for dependence among observations. Many large-scale neuroimaging datasets with complex designs have increased the need for LME; however LME has seldom been used in whole-brain imaging analyses due to its heavy computational requirements. In this paper, we introduce a fast and efficient mixed-effects algorithm (FEMA) that makes whole-brain vertex-wise, voxel-wise, and connectome-wide LME analyses in large samples possible. We validate FEMA with extensive simulations, showing that the estimates of the fixed effects are equivalent to standard maximum likelihood estimates but obtained with orders of magnitude improvement in computational speed. We demonstrate the applicability of FEMA by studying the cross-sectional and longitudinal effects of age on region-of-interest level and vertex-wise cortical thickness, as well as connectome-wide functional connectivity values derived from resting state functional MRI, using longitudinal imaging data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive DevelopmentSM Study release 4.0. Our analyses reveal distinct spatial patterns for the annualized changes in vertex-wise cortical thickness and connectome-wide connectivity values in early adolescence, highlighting a critical time of brain maturation. The simulations and application to real data show that FEMA enables advanced investigation of the relationships between large numbers of neuroimaging metrics and variables of interest while considering complex study designs, including repeated measures and family structures, in a fast and efficient manner. The source code for FEMA is available via: https://github.com/cmig-research-group/cmig_tools/
Rearrangement, amplification, and assortment of mitochondrial DNA molecules in cultured cells of Brassica campestris
We compared Brassica campestris mitochondrial and chloroplast DNAs from whole plants and from a 2-year-old cell culture. No differences were observed in the chloroplast DNAs (cpDNAs), whereas the culture mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) was extensively altered. Hybridization analysis revealed that the alterations are due entirely to rearrangement. At least two inversions and one large duplication are found in the culture mtDNA. The duplication element is shown to have the usual properties of a plant mtDNA high frequency “recombination repeat”. The culture mtDNA exists as a complex heterogeneous population of rearranged and unrearranged molecules. Some of the culture-associated rearranged molecules are present in low levels in native plant tissue and appear to have sorted out and amplified in the culture. Other mtDNA rearrangements may have occurred de novo. In addition to alterations of the main mitochondrial genome, an 11.3 kb linear mtDNA plasmid present in whole plants is absent from the culture. Contrary to findings in cultured cells of other plants, small circular mtDNA molecules were not detected in the B. campestris cell culture.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/46005/1/122_2004_Article_BF00292310.pd
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