43,349 research outputs found
Independent Educational Evaluations as Issues of Dispute in Special Education Due Process Hearings
This study examined the pertinent details and outcomes of special education due process hearings (n = 100) that addressed independent educational evaluations as an issue of dispute in a 14-state sample. Variables related to the frequency of these cases, the characteristics of students involved, the specific types of IEEs requested, and the other related issues and outcomes were coded and analyzed. Psycho-educational evaluations were addressed in the most due process hearings, followed by speech-language evaluations, and neuro-psychological evaluations. Statistically significant associations were identified between states regarding a) the extent to which IEEs are issues of dispute in due process hearings, b) the prevailing parties in these hearings, and c) the types of legal representation used by parents. Recommendations for policy, practice, and additional research related to IEEs and special education due process hearings are discussed
Effect of the orientational relaxation on the collective motion of patterns formed by self-propelled particles
We investigate the collective behavior of self-propelled particles (SPPs)
undergoing competitive processes of pattern formation and rotational relaxation
of their self-propulsion velocities. In full accordance with previous work, we
observe transitions between different steady states of the SPPs caused by the
intricate interplay among the involved effects of pattern formation,
orientational order, and coupling between the SPP density and orientation
fields. Based on rigorous analytical and numerical calculations, we prove that
the rate of the orientational relaxation of the SPP velocity field is the main
factor determining the steady states of the SPP system. Further, we determine
the boundaries between domains in the parameter plane that delineate
qualitatively different resting and moving states. In addition, we analytically
calculate the collective velocity of the SPPs and show that it
perfectly agrees with our numerical results. We quantitatively demonstrate that
does not vanish upon approaching the transition boundary between the
moving pattern and homogeneous steady states.Comment: 3 Figure
Effects of a radially varying electrical conductivity on 3D numerical dynamos
The transition from liquid metal to silicate rock in the cores of the
terrestrial planets is likely to be accompanied by a gradient in the
composition of the outer core liquid. The electrical conductivity of a volatile
enriched liquid alloy can be substantially lower than a light-element-depleted
fluid found close to the inner core boundary. In this paper, we investigate the
effect of radially variable electrical conductivity on planetary dynamo action
using an electrical conductivity that decreases exponentially as a function of
radius. We find that numerical solutions with continuous, radially outward
decreasing electrical conductivity profiles result in strongly modified flow
and magnetic field dynamics, compared to solutions with homogeneous electrical
conductivity. The force balances at the top of the simulated fluid determine
the overall character of the flow. The relationship between Coriolis and
Lorentz forces near the outer boundary controls the flow and magnetic field
intensity and morphology of the system. Our results imply that a low
conductivity layer near the top of Mercury's liquid outer core is consistent
with its weak magnetic field.Comment: 30 pages, 11 figures, 2 tables. To be published in Physics of Earth
and Planetary Interiors (PEPI)
Truncating the loop series expansion for Belief Propagation
Recently, M. Chertkov and V.Y. Chernyak derived an exact expression for the
partition sum (normalization constant) corresponding to a graphical model,
which is an expansion around the Belief Propagation solution. By adding
correction terms to the BP free energy, one for each "generalized loop" in the
factor graph, the exact partition sum is obtained. However, the usually
enormous number of generalized loops generally prohibits summation over all
correction terms. In this article we introduce Truncated Loop Series BP
(TLSBP), a particular way of truncating the loop series of M. Chertkov and V.Y.
Chernyak by considering generalized loops as compositions of simple loops. We
analyze the performance of TLSBP in different scenarios, including the Ising
model, regular random graphs and on Promedas, a large probabilistic medical
diagnostic system. We show that TLSBP often improves upon the accuracy of the
BP solution, at the expense of increased computation time. We also show that
the performance of TLSBP strongly depends on the degree of interaction between
the variables. For weak interactions, truncating the series leads to
significant improvements, whereas for strong interactions it can be
ineffective, even if a high number of terms is considered.Comment: 31 pages, 12 figures, submitted to Journal of Machine Learning
Researc
Shape Memory Alloy Nanostructures With Coupled Dynamic Thermo-Mechanical Effects
Employing the Ginzburg-Landau phase-field theory, a new coupled dynamic
thermo-mechanical 3D model has been proposed for modeling the
cubic-to-tetragonal martensitic transformations in shape memory alloy (SMA)
nanostructures. The stress-induced phase transformations and thermo-mechanical
behavior of nanostructured SMAs have been investigated. The mechanical and
thermal hysteresis phenomena, local non-uniform phase transformations and
corresponding non-uniform temperature and deformations distributions are
captured successfully using the developed model. The predicted microstructure
evolution qualitatively matches with the experimental observations. The
developed coupled dynamic model has provided a better understanding of
underlying martensitic transformation mechanisms in SMAs, as well as their
effect on the thermo-mechanical behavior of nanostructures.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figure
The Competitive Causes and Consequences of Customer Satisfaction
We conduct two studies to test three hypotheses: (1) Competition increases a firm's customer satisfaction; (2) Rivals' customer satisfaction increases a firm's customer satisfaction; (3) Rivals' customer satisfaction reduces a firm's sales. First, we use store-level customer satisfaction data from a supermarket chain. Next, we consider a range of industries, using brand-level customer satisfaction ratings from the American Customer Satisfaction Index. Results from both studies provide support for the latter two hypotheses, while we only find support for the first hypothesis in the second study.Customer Satisfaction, Food retailing, Competitive Strategy, Consumer/Household Economics,
The First Simultaneous 3.5 and 1.3mm Polarimetric Survey of Active Galactic Nuclei in the Northern Sky
Short millimeter observations of radio-loud AGN offer the opportunity to
study the physics of their inner relativistic jets, from where the bulk
millimeter emission is radiated. Millimeter jets are significantly less
affected by Faraday rotation and depolarization than in radio. Also, the
millimeter emission is dominated by the innermost jet regions, that are
invisible in radio owing to synchrotron opacity. We present the first dual
frequency simultaneous 86GHz and 229GHz polarimetric survey of all four Stokes
parameters of a large sample of 211 radio loud active galactic nuclei, designed
to be flux limited at 1Jy at 86GHz. The observations were most of them made in
mid August 2010 using the XPOL polarimeter on the IRAM 30 m millimeter radio
telescope. Linear polarization detections above 3 sigma median level of ~1.0%
are reported for 183 sources at 86GHz, and for 23 sources at 229GHz, where the
median 3 sigma level is ~6.0%. We show a clear excess of the linear
polarization degree detected at 229GHz with regard to that at 86GHz by a factor
of ~1.6, thus implying a progressively better ordered magnetic field for blazar
jet regions located progressively upstream in the jet. We show that the linear
polarization angle, both at 86 and 229GHz, and the jet structural position
angle for both quasars and BL Lacs do not show a clear preference to align in
either parallel or perpendicular directions. Our variability study with regard
to the 86GHz data from our previous survey points out a large degree variation
of total flux and linear polarization in time scales of years by median factors
of ~1.5 in total flux, and ~1.7 in linear polarization degree -maximum
variations by factors up to 6.3, and ~5, respectively-, with 86% of sources
showing linear polarization angles evenly distributed with regard to our
previous measurements.Comment: Submitted for Publication in Astronomy & Astrophysics. 14 pages
(including 2 tables and 18 figures
Radiative decays of mesons in the NJL model
We revisit the theoretical predictions for anomalous radiative decays of
pseudoscalar and vector mesons. Our analysis is performed in the framework of
the Nambu-Jona-Lasinio model, introducing adequate parameters to account for
the breakdown of chiral symmetry. The results are comparable with those
obtained in previous approaches.Comment: 19 pages incl. 4 figure
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