1,451 research outputs found
Resources and student achievement – evidence from a Swedish policy reform
This paper utilizes a policy change to estimate the effect of teacher density on student performance. We find that an increase in teacher density has a positive effect on student achievement. The baseline estimate – obtained by using the grade point average as the outcome variable – implies that resource increases corresponding to the class-size reduction in the STAR-experiment (i.e., a reduction of 7 students) improves performance by 2.6 percentile ranks (or 0.08 standard deviations). When we use test score data for men, potentially a more objective measure of student performance, the effect of resources appears to be twice the size of the baseline estimate.Student performance; teacher/student ratio; policy reform; differences-in-differences
CEO pay, shareholder returns, and accounting profits
We assess the impact on CEO pay (including salary, cash bonus, and benefits in kind) of changes in both accounting and shareholder returns in 99 British companies in the years 1972-89. After correcting for heterogeneity biases inherent in the standard specifications of the problem, we find a strong positive relationship between CEO pay and within-company changes in shareholder returns, and no statistically significant relationship between CEO pay and within-company changes in accounting returns. Differences between firms in long-term average profitability do appear to have a substantial effect on CEO pay, while differences between firms in shareholder returns add nothing to the within-firm pay dynamics.These findings call into question the rationale for explicitly share-based incentive schemes
D*-->Dpi and D*-->Dgamma decays: Axial coupling and Magnetic moment of D* meson
The axial coupling and the magnetic moment of D*-meson or, more specifically,
the couplings g(D*Dpi) and g(D*Dgamma), encode the non-perturbative QCD effects
describing the decays D*-->Dpi and D*-->Dgamma. We compute these quantities by
means of lattice QCD with Nf=2 dynamical quarks, by employing the Wilson
("clover") action. On our finer lattice (a=0.065 fm) we obtain: g(D*Dpi)=20 +/-
2, and g(D0*D0gamma)=[2.0 +/- 0.6]/GeV. This is the first determination of
g(D0*D0gamma) on the lattice. We also provide a short phenomenological
discussion and the comparison of our result with experiment and with the
results quoted in the literature.Comment: 22 pages, 3 figure
Effect of Mechanical Stimuli on the Phenotypic Plasticity of Induced Pluripotent Stem-Cell-Derived Vascular Smooth Muscle Cells in a 3D Hydrogel
Introduction: Vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) play a pivotal role in vascular homeostasis, with dysregulation leading to vascular complications. Human-induced pluripotent stem-cell (hiPSC)-derived VSMCs offer prospects for personalized disease modeling and regenerative strategies. Current research lacks comparative studies on the impact of three-dimensional (3D) substrate properties under cyclic strain on phenotypic adaptation in hiPSC-derived VSMCs. Here, we aim to investigate the impact of intrinsic substrate properties, such as the hydrogel’s elastic modulus and cross-linking density in a 3D static and dynamic environment, on the phenotypical adaptation of human mural cells derived from hiPSC-derived organoids (ODMCs), compared to aortic VSMCs. Methods and results: ODMCs were cultured in two-dimensional (2D) conditions with synthetic or contractile differentiation medium or in 3D Gelatin Methacryloyl (GelMa) substrates with varying degrees of functionalization and percentages to modulate Young’s modulus and cross-linking density. Cells in 3D substrates were exposed to cyclic, unidirectional strain. Phenotype characterization was conducted using specific markers through immunofluorescence and gene expression analysis. Under static 2D culture, ODMCs derived from hiPSCs exhibited a VSMC phenotype, expressing key mural markers, and demonstrated a level of phenotypic plasticity similar to primary human VSMCs. In static 3D culture, a substrate with a higher Young’s modulus and cross-linking density promoted a contractile phenotype in ODMCs and VSMCs. Dynamic stimulation in the 3D substrate promoted a switch toward a contractile phenotype in both cell types. Conclusion: Our study demonstrates phenotypic plasticity of human ODMCs in response to 2D biological and 3D mechanical stimuli that equals that of primary human VSMCs. These findings may contribute to the advancement of tailored approaches for vascular disease modeling and regenerative strategies.</p
Diagonalization of the neutralino mass matrix and boson-neutralino interaction
We analyze a connection between neutralino mass sign, parity and structure of
the neutralino-boson interaction. Correct calculation of spin-dependent and
spin-independent contributions to neutralino-nuclear scattering should consider
this connection. A convenient diagonalization procedure, based on the
exponetial parametrization of unitary matrix, is suggested.Comment: 21 pages, RevTex
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Beam Diagnostics Using BPM Signals from Injected and Stored Beams in a Storage Ring
Many modern light sources are operating in top-off injection mode or are being upgraded to top-off injection mode. The storage ring always has the stored beam and injected beam for top-off injection mode. So the BPM data is the mixture of both beam positions and the injected beam position cannot be measured directly. We propose to use dedicated wide band BPM electronics in the NSLS II storage ring to retrieve the injected beam trajectory with the singular value decomposition (SVD) method. The beam position monitor (BPM) has the capability to measure bunch-by-bunch beam position. Similar electronics can be used to measure the bunch-by-bunch beam current which is necessary to get the injection beam position. The measurement precision of current needs to be evaluated since button BPM sum signal has position dependence. The injected beam trajectory can be measured and monitored all the time without dumping the stored beam. We can adjust and optimize the injected beam trajectory to maximize the injection efficiency. We can also measure the storage ring acceptance by mapping the injected beam trajectory
Endothelial loss of Fzd5 stimulates PKC/Ets1-mediated transcription of Angpt2 and Flt1
Aims: Formation of a functional vascular system is essential and its formation is a highly regulated process initiated during embryogenesis, which continues to play important roles throughout life in both health and disease. In previous studies, Fzd5 was shown to be critically involved in this process and here we investigated the molecular mechanism by which endothelial loss of this receptor attenuates angiogenesis. Methods and results: Using short interference RNA-mediated loss-of-function assays, the function and mechanism of signaling via Fzd5 was studied in human endothelial cells (ECs). Our findings indicate that Fzd5 signaling promotes neovessel formation in vitro in a collagen matrix-based 3D co-culture of primary vascular cells. Silencing of Fzd5 reduced EC proliferation, as a result of G0/G1 cell cycle arrest, and decreased cell migration. Furthermore, Fzd5 knockdown resulted in enhanced expression of the factors Angpt2 and Flt1, which are mainly known for their destabilizing effects on the vasculature. In Fzd5-silenced ECs, Angpt2 and Flt1 upregulation was induced by enhanced PKC signaling, without the involvement of canonical Wnt signaling, non-canonical Wnt/Ca2+-mediated activation of NFAT, and non-canonical Wnt/PCP-mediated activation of JNK. We demonstrated that PKC-induced transcription of Angpt2 and Flt1 involved the transcription factor Ets1. Conclusions: The current study demonstrates a pro-angiogenic role of Fzd5, which was shown to be involved in endothelial tubule formation, cell cycle progression and migration, and partly does so by repression of PKC/Ets1-mediated transcription of Flt1 and Angpt2
Numerical simulations of the Warm-Hot Intergalactic Medium
In this paper we review the current predictions of numerical simulations for
the origin and observability of the warm hot intergalactic medium (WHIM), the
diffuse gas that contains up to 50 per cent of the baryons at z~0. During
structure formation, gravitational accretion shocks emerging from collapsing
regions gradually heat the intergalactic medium (IGM) to temperatures in the
range T~10^5-10^7 K. The WHIM is predicted to radiate most of its energy in the
ultraviolet (UV) and X-ray bands and to contribute a significant fraction of
the soft X-ray background emission. While O VI and C IV absorption systems
arising in the cooler fraction of the WHIM with T~10^5-10^5.5 K are seen in
FUSE and HST observations, models agree that current X-ray telescopes such as
Chandra and XMM-Newton do not have enough sensitivity to detect the hotter
WHIM. However, future missions such as Constellation-X and XEUS might be able
to detect both emission lines and absorption systems from highly ionised atoms
such as O VII, O VIII and Fe XVII.Comment: 18 pages, 5 figures, accepted for publication in Space Science
Reviews, special issue "Clusters of galaxies: beyond the thermal view",
Editor J.S. Kaastra, Chapter 14; work done by an international team at the
International Space Science Institute (ISSI), Bern, organised by J.S.
Kaastra, A.M. Bykov, S. Schindler & J.A.M. Bleeke
Short time scale pulse stability of the Crab pulsar in the optical band
The fine structure and the variations of the optical pulse shape and phase of
the Crab pulsar are studied on various time scales. The observations have been
carried out on 4-m William Hershel and 6-m BTA telescopes with APD photon
counter, photomultiplier based 4-channel photometer and PSD based panoramic
spectrophotopolarimeter with 1s time resolution in 1994, 1999, 2003 and
2005-2006 years. The upper limit on the pulsar precession on Dec 2, 1999 is
placed in the 10 s - 2 hours time range. The evidence of a varying from set to
set fine structure of the main pulse is found in the 1999 and 2003 years data.
No such fine structure is detected in the integral pulse shape of 1994, 1999
and 2003 years.
The drastic change of the pulse shape in the 2005-2006 years set is detected
along with the pulse shape variability and quasi-periodic phase shifts.Comment: 4 pages, 6 figures. To appear in ApSS, in the proceedings of the
conference "Isolated Neutron Stars: from the Interior to the Surface",
London, April 2006; eds. D. Page, R. Turolla and S. Zan
Total photoproduction cross-section at very high energy
In this paper we apply to photoproduction total cross-section a model we have
proposed for purely hadronic processes and which is based on QCD mini-jets and
soft gluon re-summation. We compare the predictions of our model with the HERA
data as well as with other models. For cosmic rays, our model predicts
substantially higher cross-sections at TeV energies than models based on
factorization but lower than models based on mini-jets alone, without soft
gluons. We discuss the origin of this difference.Comment: 13 pages, 9 figures. Accepted for publication in EPJC. Changes
concern added references, clarifications of the Soft Gluon Resummation method
used in the paper, and other changes requested by the Journal referee which
do not change the results of the original versio
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