Kinesthetic teaching methods in the traditional classroom comparative spelling and vocabulary techniques

Spelling and vocabulary performance as measured by pre-tests and post-intervention performance for the two strategies showed that average overall improvements resulted from the use of kinesthetic teaching methodologies when compared with visual (only) methods

Proper motion of very low mass stars and brown dwarfs in the Pleiades cluster

We report proper motion measurements for 25 very-low mass (VLM) star and brown dwarf (BD) candidates of the Pleiades cluster previously identified by Bouvier et al. (1998). Proper motions are measured with an accuracy of 9 mas/yr, compared to an expected tangential motion of about 50 mas/yr for Pleiades members. Of the 25 candidates, 15 have a membership probability of 95% or more and 7 are rejected as being field dwarfs. The 3 remaining candidates exhibit independent evidence for membership (lithium absorption or long-term proper motion). From the firm identification of Pleiades VLM and BD members, the cluster's substellar mass function is revised to dN/dM \propto M^{-0.5} in the mass range from 0.04 to 0.3 M_solar.Comment: 7 pages, 2 tables, 2 figures, accepted by A&

Low Mass Stars and Brown Dwarfs in Praesepe

Presented are the results of a large and deep optical-near-infrared multi-epoch survey of the Praesepe open star cluster using data from the UKIDSS Galactic Clusters Survey. Multiple colour magnitude diagrams were used to select potential members and proper motions were used to assign levels of membership probability. From our sample, 145 objects were designated as high probability members (p >= 0.6) with most of these having been found by previous surveys although 14 new cluster members are also identified. Our membership assignment is restricted to the bright sample of objects (Z < 18). From the fainter sample, 39 candidates were found from an examination of multiple colour magnitude plots. Of these, 2 have small but significant membership probabilities. Finally, using theoretical models, cluster luminosity and mass functions were plotted with the later being fitted with a power law of alpha = 1.11 +/- 0.37 for the mass range 0.6 to 0.125 Msun and an assumed cluster age of 500 Myrs in the UKIDSS Z photometric band. Likewise taking an assumed cluster age of 1 Gyr we find alpha = 1.10 +/- 0.37. Similar values were also found for the J and K bands. These results compare favourably with the result of Kraus & Hillenbrand (2007) (alpha = 1.4 +/- 0.2) but are significantly lower than that of the more recent study conducted by Boudreault et al. (2009) (alpha = 1.8 +/- 0.1).Comment: 21 pages, 11 figures, 3 tables and 4 appendices. Accepted for publication in MNRAS, corrected a missing referenc

Effects of feeding fat on lactation performance of the laboratory mouse, Mus musculus

Laboratory mice (strain MF1) were used to investigate the effects of dietary fat intake on lactation performance. The specific dynamic action (SDA) for high fat (HF), medium fat (MF) and a low fat (LF) diets was measured using open-flow respirometry at 4.5%, 3.9% and 6.1%, respectively. The same three diets were fed ad libitum to mice between days 4 and 18 of lactation. Mice fed HF, MF and LF diets reached plateau in their daily food intake at 14.95±1.14 g day-1, 16.30±0.61 g day-1 and 16.57±0.26 g day-1, respectively between days 12-17 of lactation. At weaning, litters from HF and MF-fed mice were significantly heavier than pups on LF diet. This was because the HF and MF-fed mice not only consumed more energy at peak lactation but also delivered more milk energy to their pups than the LF-fed mice. Evidence suggested that the positive effects of feeding fat to mice were in part due to the low SDA and probably low heat production for milk synthesis. Probably, the ability of the HF and MF-fed mice to directly transfer absorbed fat into the milk might have reduced the heat production of lactogenesis. The HF and MF diets had beneficial effects on lactation because they increased the capacity of mice to generate milk more efficiently and wean heavier offspring than mice fed LF diet. The daily energy expenditure (DEE) of mice in the three dietary groups was fixed.KEY WORDS: Laboratory mouse, dietary fat, specific dynamic action, doubly labelled water, daily energy expenditure, milk energy output, reproductive performanc

The Masses Of The B-Stars In The High Galactic Latitude Eclipsing Binary IT Lib

A number of blue stars which appear to be similar to Population I B-stars in the star forming regions of the galactic disk are found more than 1 kpc from the galactic plane. Uncertainties about the true distances and masses of these high latitude B-stars has fueled a debate as to their origin and evolutionary status. The eclipsing binary IT Lib is composed of two B-stars, is approximately one kiloparsec above the galactic plane, and is moving back toward the plane. Observations of the light and velocity curves presented here lead to the conclusion that the B-stars in this system are massive young main-sequence stars. While there are several possible explanations, it appears most plausible that the IT Lib system formed in the disk about 30 million years ago and was ejected on a trajectory taking it to its present position.Comment: 26 pages, 3 figures, accepted for publication in the PASP (January 2003

Effects of dietary protein intake on lactation performance of the laboratory mouse, Mus musculus

Laboratory mice (strain MF1) were used to investigate the effects of dietary protein content on lactation performance to test the heat dissipation limit hypothesis. The specific dynamic action (SDA) for high protein (HP) and high carbohydrate (HC) diets was measured using open-flow respirometry at 9.4% and 6.1%, respectively. The same two diets were fed ad libitum to mice during lactation. Mice fed on HP and HC diets at 21 ºC reached a plateau in their daily food intake at 12.3±0.2 g day-1 and 16.6±0.2 g day-1, respectively between days 12-17 of lactation. HP-fed mice had a significantly higher daily energy expenditure (DEE) measured by doubly labelled water and higher water turnover than HC-fed mice but the energy they exported as milk was significantly lower than that of HC-fed mice and therefore resulted in poor growth rate of their offspring. The urea production of HP-fed mice from their daily protein intake of 7.1 g was estimated at 1994 mg which required 10.2 mls of water per day to be cleared. The mice increased their urine production by 14.4 mls probably to eliminate this urea. High protein diet had negative effects on lactation, indicating the growth of pups in previous studies was not protein limited. The negative effects of the HP diet were due to the high DEE that greatly reduced the energy available for milk production, rather than a toxicity effect of the urea production. The different DEE of the two diets suggests that other factors were involved in the delivery of energy to the offspring.KEY WORDS: Laboratory mouse, dietary protein, specific dynamic action, and daily energy expenditur

Observations of Ultracool White Dwarfs

We present new spectroscopic and photometric measurements of the white dwarfs LHS 3250 and WD 0346+246. Along with F351-50, these white dwarfs are the coolest ones known, all with effective temperatures below 4000 K. Their membership in the Galactic halo population is discussed, and detailed comparisons of all three objects with new atmosphere models are presented. The new models consider the effects of mixed H/He atmospheres and indicate that WD 0346+246 and F351-50 have predominantly helium atmospheres with only traces of hydrogen. LHS 3250 may be a double degenerate whose average radiative temperature is between 2000 and 4000 K, but the new models fail to explain this object

Existence of a Meromorphic Extension of Spectral Zeta Functions on Fractals

We investigate the existence of the meromorphic extension of the spectral zeta function of the Laplacian on self-similar fractals using the classical results of Kigami and Lapidus (based on the renewal theory) and new results of Hambly and Kajino based on the heat kernel estimates and other probabilistic techniques. We also formulate conjectures which hold true in the examples that have been analyzed in the existing literature