Data management study, volume 5. Appendix I - Contract or data package overall management /MA/, scheduling /SC/, MANNING and financial /MF/ Final report

Overall management, scheduling, manpower, and financial aspects of Voyager data managemen

Radiative Corrections to K^0_{l3} Decays

We calculate the long-distance radiative corrections \delta^e_{LD} and \delta^{\mu}_{LD} to the K^0 -> \pi^- e^+ \nu_e and the K^0 -> pi^- \mu^+ \nu_{\mu} decay rates. This analysis includes contributions to the long-distance radiative corrections from outside the kinematically-allowed three-body Dalitz region and tests the sensitivity of the radiative corrections to the hadronic K-pi form factors. A program, KLOR, was written to numerically evaluate the radiative corrections and to generate Monte Carlo events for experimental acceptance studies. The K^0_{e3} and the K^0_{\mu 3} long-distance radiative correction parameters are determined to be (1.3 +/- 0.3)% and (1.9 +/- 0.3)%, respectively. We also present predictions for the fraction of radiative K^0_{l3} events satisfying various requirements on final-state photon kinematics.Comment: Accepted in Annals of Physics; 16 pages, 8 figures; v3 contains minor text change

The effectiveness of a technologically facilitated classroom-based early reading intervention: The targeted Reading Intervention

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of a classroom-teacher-delivered reading intervention for struggling readers called the Targeted Reading Intervention (TRI), designed particularly for kindergarten and first-grade teachers and their struggling students in rural, low-wealth communities. The TRI was delivered via an innovative Web-conferencing system using laptop computers and webcam technology. Seven schools from the southwestern United States were randomly assigned to experimental and control conditions in a cluster randomized design. All children in the study (n = 364) were administered a battery of standardized reading skill tests in the fall and spring of the school year. Intent-to-treat analyses were conducted to estimate mixed models of children’s 1-year growth in Word Attack, Letter/Word Identification, Passage Comprehension, and Spelling of Sounds. Results showed that struggling readers from experimental schools outperformed those from control schools on all spring reading outcomes, controlling for fall scores

Superconducting properties of ultrathin Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+x single crystals

We use Ar-ion milling to thin Bi2212 single crystals down to a few nanometers or one-to-two (CuO2)2 layers. With decreasing the thickness, superconducting transition temperature gradually decreases to zero and the in-plane resistivity increases to large values indicating the existence of a superconductor-insulator transition in ultrathin Bi2212 single crystals.Comment: 17 pages, 6 figures, to appear in J. Appl. Phys. 98(3) 200

Collaboration and teamwork: immersion and presence in an online learning environment

In the world of OTIS, an online Internet School for occupational therapists, students from four European countries were encouraged to work collaboratively through problem-based learning by interacting with each other in a virtual semi-immersive environment. This paper describes, often in their own words, the experience of European occupational therapy students working together across national and cultural boundaries. Collaboration and teamwork were facilitated exclusively through an online environment, since the students never met each other physically during the OTIS pilot course. The aim of the paper is to explore the observations that here was little interaction between students from different tutorial groups and virtual teamwork developed in each of the cross-cultural tutorial groups. Synchronous data from the students was captured during tutorial sessions and peer-booked meetings and analysed using the qualitative constructs of ‘immersion’, ‘presence’ and ‘reflection in learning’. The findings indicate that ‘immersion’ was experienced only to a certain extent. However, both ‘presence’ and shared presence were found by the students, within their tutorial groups, to help collaboration and teamwork. Other evidence suggests that communities of interest were established. Further study is proposed to support group work in an online learning environment. It is possible to conclude that collaborative systems can be designed, which encourage students to build trust and teamwork in a cross cultural online learning environment.</p

Life expectancy with and without cognitive impairment by diabetes status among older Americans

Peer reviewe

A Self-Organized Method for Computing the Epidemic Threshold in Computer Networks

In many cases, tainted information in a computer network can spread in a way similar to an epidemics in the human world. On the other had, information processing paths are often redundant, so a single infection occurrence can be easily "reabsorbed". Randomly checking the information with a central server is equivalent to lowering the infection probability but with a certain cost (for instance processing time), so it is important to quickly evaluate the epidemic threshold for each node. We present a method for getting such information without resorting to repeated simulations. As for human epidemics, the local information about the infection level (risk perception) can be an important factor, and we show that our method can be applied to this case, too. Finally, when the process to be monitored is more complex and includes "disruptive interference", one has to use actual simulations, which however can be carried out "in parallel" for many possible infection probabilities