Alien Registration- Ericson, Eric J. (New Sweden, Aroostook County)

https://digitalmaine.com/alien_docs/34340/thumbnail.jp

The Relationship Between Student Use of Socially Interactive Technology and Engagement and Involvement in the Undergraduate Experience

Thesis advisor: Karen ArnoldTraditional aged college students currently enrolled at institutions of higher education have never known a time without technology and through social media, can interact and engage with one another regardless of physical space. Technology provides fast, easy, efficient, and constant means of communication, and students use social media while simultaneously engaging in campus activities. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between student use of socially interactive technology (SIT) and engagement and involvement in the undergraduate experience. Social media included in this study refers to cell phones, text messaging, Instant Messaging, email, and social networking sites (SNS). Borrowing items from the Net Generation Survey and the National Study for Student Engagement (NSSE) an instrument was created to analyze time dedicated to technology, use by demographics, technology as a predictor student of engagement, as well as qualitative data. Results from 154 participants show that students use technology for approximately eight hours per day, male students in the sample are overrepresented at the lowest levels of social media use, and social media types are correlated with one another. Following a factor analysis on the independent technology items and the dependent engagement items, regression analyses were employed to explore this relationship. Qualitative data illustrate that technology use can distract students from academic activities, and limits interpersonal communication. Conversely, it is beneficial in that students are constantly updated on class discussions, campus events, and with peers and family. Given these findings, because of students' frequent use of technology while engaged or involved in campus activities, concerns regarding the quality of these experiences are discussed. Additionally, redefining the traditional meaning of campus involvement is appropriate.Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2011.Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education.Discipline: Educational Leadership and Higher Education

How Precisely can we Determine the \piNN Coupling Constant from the Isovector GMO Sum Rule?

The isovector GMO sum rule for zero energy forward pion-nucleon scattering iscritically studied to obtain the charged pion-nucleon coupling constant usingthe precise negatively charged pion-proton and pion-deuteron scattering lengthsdeduced recently from pionic atom experiments. This direct determination leadsto a pseudoscalar charged pion-nucleon coupling constant of 14.23 +- 0.09(statistic) +- 0.17 (systematic). We obtain also accurate values for thepion-nucleon scattering lengths

Precise strength of the π\piNN coupling constant

We report here a preliminary value for the piNN coupling constant deduced from the GMO sumrule for forward piN scattering. As in our previous determination from np backward differential scattering cross sections we give a critical discussion of the analysis with careful attention not only to the statistical, but also to the systematic uncertainties. Our preliminary evaluation gives $g^2_c$(GMO) = 13.99(24)

Low temperature sensitivity CMOS transconductor based on GZTC MOSFET condition

Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS) Transconductors, or Gm cells, are key building blocks to implement a large variety of analog circuits such as adjustable filters, multipliers, controlled oscillators and amplifiers. Usually temperature stability is a must in such applications, and herein we define all required conditions to design low thermal sensitivity Gm cells by biasing MOSFETs at Transconductance Zero Temperature Condition (GZTC). This special bias condition is analyzed using a MOSFET model which is continuous from weak to strong inversion, and it is proved that this condition always occurs from moderate to strong inversion operation in any CMOS fabrication process. Additionally, a few example circuits are designed using this technique: a single-ended resistor emulator, an impedance inverter, a first order and a second order filter. These circuits have been simulated in a 130 nm CMOS commercial process, resulting in improved thermal stability in the main performance parameters, in the range from 27 to 53 ppm/ºC

MOSFET ZTC condition analysis for a self-biased current reference design

In this paper a self-biased current reference based on Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor Field Effect Transistor (MOSFET) Zero Temperature Coefficient (ZTC) condition is proposed. It can be imple mented in any Complementary Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor (CMOS) fabrication process and pro vides another alternative to design current references. In order to support the circuit design, ZTC condition is analyzed using a MOSFET model that is continuous from weak to strong inversion, show ing that this condition always occurs from moderate to strong inversion in any CMOS process. The proposed topology was designed in a 180 nm process, operates with a supply voltage from 1.4V to 1.8 V and occupies around 0.010mm2 of silicon area. From circuit simulations our reference showed a temperature coefficient (TC) of 15 ppm/o C from -40 to +85o C, and a fabrication process sensitivity of σ/μ = 4.5% for the current reference, including average process and local mismatch variability analysis. The simulated power supply sensitivity is estimated around 1%/V

Darwin’s wind hypothesis: does it work for plant dispersal in fragmented habitats?

Using the wind-dispersed plant Mycelis muralis, we examined how landscape fragmentation affects variation in seed traits contributing to dispersal. Inverse terminal velocity (Vt−1) of field-collected achenes was used as a proxy for individual seed dispersal ability. We related this measure to different metrics of landscape connectivity, at two spatial scales: in a detailed analysis of eight landscapes in Spain and along a latitudinal gradient using 29 landscapes across three European regions. In the highly patchy Spanish landscapes, seed Vt−1 increased significantly with increasing connectivity. A common garden experiment suggested that differences in Vt−1 may be in part genetically based. The Vt−1 was also found to increase with landscape occupancy, a coarser measure of connectivity, on a much broader (European) scale. Finally, Vt−1 was found to increase along a south–north latitudinal gradient. Our results for M. muralis are consistent with ‘Darwin’s wind dispersal hypothesis’ that high cost of dispersal may select for lower dispersal ability in fragmented landscapes, as well as with the ‘leading edge hypothesis’ that most recently colonized populations harbour more dispersive phenotypes.

Television news and the symbolic criminalisation of young people

This is an Author's Accepted Manuscript of an article published in Journalism Studies, 9(1), 75 - 90, 2008, copyright Taylor & Francis, available online at: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/14616700701768105.This essay combines quantitative and qualitative analysis of six UK television news programmes. It seeks to analyse the representation of young people within broadcast news provision at a time when media representations, political discourse and policy making generally appear to be invoking young people as something of a folk devil or a locus for moral panics. The quantitative analysis examines the frequency with which young people appear as main actors across a range of different subjects and analyses the role of young people as news sources. It finds a strong correlation between young people and violent crime. A qualitative analysis of four “special reports” or backgrounders on channel Five's Five News explores the representation of young people in more detail, paying attention to contradictions and tensions in the reports, the role of statistics in crime reporting, the role of victims of crime and the tensions between conflicting news frames.Arts and Humanities Research Counci

The New Heavy Mesons: A Status Report

A survey of the experimental, phenomenological, and theoretical status of the new heavy mesons is presented. States discussed are the $B_c$, $h_c$, $\eta_c'$, $D_s(2317)$, $D_s(2460)$, X(3872), X(3940), Y(3940), Z(3930), and Y(4260). Quark models for spectra, strong decays, and hadronic interactions are reviewed and used to interpret the new states. New results for strong decay models, bound state decays, mesonic molecules, properties of the X(3872), and the chiral doublet model are also presented.Comment: 62 page, 40 figs, 16 tables. v3 corrects typos, adds references. Version to appear in Physics Report

Interpretation of the sonic hedgehog morphogen gradient by a temporal adaptation mechanism

Morphogens act in developing tissues to control the spatial arrangement of cellular differentiation(1,2). The activity of a morphogen has generally been viewed as a concentration-dependent response to a diffusible signal, but the duration of morphogen signalling can also affect cellular responses(3). One such example is the morphogen sonic hedgehog (SHH). In the vertebrate central nervous system and limbs, the pattern of cellular differentiation is controlled by both the amount and the time of SHH exposure(4-7). How these two parameters are interpreted at a cellular level has been unclear. Here we provide evidence that changing the concentration or duration of SHH has an equivalent effect on intracellular signalling. Chick neural cells convert different concentrations of SHH into time-limited periods of signal transduction, such that signal duration is proportional to SHH concentration. This depends on the gradual desensitization of cells to ongoing SHH exposure, mediated by the SHH-dependent upregulation of patched 1 (PTC1), a ligand-binding inhibitor of SHH signalling(8). Thus, in addition to its role in shaping the SHH gradient(8-10), PTC1 participates cell autonomously in gradient sensing. Together, the data reveal a novel strategy for morphogen interpretation, in which the temporal adaptation of cells to a morphogen integrates the concentration and duration of a signal to control differential gene expression.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/62511/1/nature06347.pd