374 research outputs found
Chemical Equilibrium in Collisions of Small Systems
The system-size dependence of particle production in heavy-ion collisions at
the top SPS energy is analyzed in terms of the statistical model. A systematic
comparison is made of two suppression mechanisms that quantify strange particle
yields in ultra-relativistic heavy-ion collisions: the canonical model with
strangeness correlation radius determined from the data and the model
formulated in the canonical ensemble using chemical off-equilibrium strangeness
suppression factor. The system-size dependence of the correlation radius and
the thermal parameters are obtained for p-p, C-C, Si-Si and Pb-Pb collisions at
sqrt(s_NN) = 17.3 AGeV. It is shown that on the basis of a consistent set of
data there is no clear difference between the two suppression patterns. In the
present study the strangeness correlation radius was found to exhibit a rather
weak dependence on the system size.Comment: 9 pages, 8 figures, submitted to Physical Review
The effects of room design on computer-supported collaborative learning in a multi-touch classroom.
While research indicates that technology can be useful for supporting learning and collaboration, there is still relatively little uptake or widespread implementation of these technologies in classrooms. In this paper, we explore one aspect of the development of a multi-touch classroom, looking at two different designs of the classroom environment to explore how classroom layout may influence group interaction and learning. Three classes of students working in groups of four were taught in the traditional forward-facing room condition, while three classes worked in a centered room condition. Our results indicate that while the outcomes on tasks were similar across conditions, groups engaged in more talk (but not more off-task talk) in a centered room layout, than in a traditional forward-facing room. These results suggest that the use of technology in the classroom may be influenced by the location of the technology, both in terms of the learning outcomes and the interaction behaviors of students. The findings highlight the importance of considering the learning environment when designing technology to support learning, and ensuring that integration of technology into formal learning environments is done with attention to how the technology may disrupt, or contribute to, the classroom interaction practices
Centrality Dependence of Thermal Parameters Deduced from Hadron Multiplicities in Au + Au Collisions at sqrt{s_{NN}} = 130 GeV
We analyse the centrality dependence of thermal parameters deduced from
hadron m ultiplicities in Au + Au collisions at .
While the chemical freeze-out temperature and chemical potentials are found to
be roughly centrality-independent, the strangeness saturation factor
increases with participant number towards unity, supporting the assumption of
equilibrium freeze-out conditions in central collisions
Strangeness counting in high energy collisions
The estimates of overall strange quark production in high energy e+e-, pp and
ppbar collisions by using the statistical-thermal model of hadronisation are
presented and compared with previous works. The parametrization of strangeness
suppression within the model is discussed. Interesting regularities emerge in
the strange/non-strange produced quark ratio which turns out to be fairly
constant in elementary collisions while it is twice as large in SPS heavy ion
collision.Comment: talk given at Strangeness in Quark Matter 98, submitted to J. Phys.
Hepatic resection of non-colorectal and non-neuroendocrine liver metastases â Survival benefit for patients with non-gastrointestinal primary cancers â A case-controlled study
AbstractPurposeWhereas resection of colorectal liver metastases is gold standard, there is an ongoing debate on benefit of resection of non-colorectal (NCRC) and non-neuroendocrine (NNEC) liver metastases.MethodsThe potential survival benefit of patients undergoing resection of NCRC or NNEC liver metastases was investigated. Data from a prospectively maintained database were reviewed over a 7-year period. KaplanâMeier method was used for the evaluation of outcome following resection.Results101 patients underwent 116 surgical procedures for synchronous and metachronous NCRC or NNEC liver metastases with a morbidity of 23% and a mortality of âŒ1%. 11 patients underwent repeated liver resection procedures. Overall 5-year survival after liver resection was 30% depending on primary tumour site. Median survival was significantly increased after resection of hepatic metastases from non-gastrointestinal primaries compared to gastrointestinal primaries. Resection of hepatic metastases from non-gastrointestinal primaries resulted in significantly increased median survival compared to exploration only. Patients with hepatic metastases from gastrointestinal primaries did not benefit from hepatic surgery.ConclusionHepatic resection for liver metastases from NCRC or NNEC cancers is a save treatment procedure. However, the decision to perform surgery should depend on the primary cancer. Especially patients with liver metastases from non-gastrointestinal primaries profit from hepatic surgery
Gluon Radiation and Coherent States in Ultrarelativistic Nuclear Collisions
We explore the correspondence between classical gluon radiation and quantum
radiation in a coherent state for gluons produced in ultrarelativistic nuclear
collisions. The expectation value of the invariant momentum distribution of
gluons in the coherent state is found to agree with the gluon number
distribution obtained classically from the solution of the Yang-Mills
equations. A criterion for the applicability of the coherent state formalism to
the problem of radiation in ultrarelativistic nucleus-nucleus collisions is
discussed. This criterion is found to be fulfilled for midrapidity gluons with
perturbative transverse momenta larger than about 1-2 GeV and produced in
collisions between valence partons.Comment: 15 pages, 6 figures, RevTeX (with epsf, psfig style files
S-COL: A Copernican turn for the development of flexibly reusable collaboration scripts
Collaboration scripts are usually implemented as parts of a particular collaborative-learning platform. Therefore, scripts of demonstrated effectiveness are hardly used with learning platforms at other sites, and replication studies are rare. The approach of a platform-independent description language for scripts that allows for easy implementation of the same script on different platforms has not succeeded yet in making the transfer of scripts feasible. We present an alternative solution that treats the problem as a special case of providing support on top of diverse Web pages: In this case, the challenge is to trigger support based on the recognition of a Web page as belonging to a specific type of functionally equivalent pages such as the search query form or the results page of a search engine. The solution suggested has been implemented by means of a tool called S-COL (Scripting for Collaborative Online Learning) and allows for the sustainable development of scripts and scaffolds that can be used with a broad variety of content and platforms. The toolâs functions are described. In order to demonstrate the feasibility and ease of script reuse with S-COL, we describe the flexible re-implementation of a collaboration script for argumentation in S-COL and its adaptation to different learning platforms. To demonstrate that a collaboration script implemented in S-COL can actually foster learning, an empirical study about the effects of a specific script for collaborative online search on learning activities is presented. The further potentials and the limitations of the S-COL approach are discussed
System-size dependence
The final state in The final state in heavy-ion collisions has a higher
degree of strangeness saturation than the one produced in collisions between
elementary particles like p-p or p-. A systematic analysis of this
phenomenon is made for C-C, Si-Si and Pb-Pb collisions at the CERN SPS collider
and for collisions at RHIC and at AGS energies. Strangeness saturation
is shown to increase smoothly with the number of participants at AGS, CERN and
RHIC energies.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figures, presented at SQM2003 conferenc
Quantum radiation in external background fields
A canonical formalism is presented which allows for investigations of quantum
radiation induced by localized, smooth disturbances of classical background
fields by means of a perturbation theory approach. For massless,
non-selfinteracting quantum fields at zero temperature we demonstrate that the
low-energy part of the spectrum of created particles exhibits a non-thermal
character. Applied to QED in varying dielectrics the response theory approach
facilitates to study two distinct processes contributing to the production of
photons: the squeezing effect due to space-time varying properties of the
medium and of the velocity effect due to its motion. The generalization of this
approach to finite temperatures as well as the relation to sonoluminescence is
indicated.Comment: 20 page
Strange Messages: Chemical and Thermal Freeze-out in Nuclear Collisions
Thermal models are commonly used to interpret heavy-ion data on particle
yields and spectra and to extract the conditions of chemical and thermal
freeze-out in heavy-ion collisions. I discuss the usefulness and limitations of
such thermal model analyses and review the experimental and theoretical
evidence for thermalization in nuclear collisions. The crucial role of
correlating strangeness production data with single particle spectra and
two-particle correlation measurements is pointed out. A consistent dynamical
picture for the heavy-ion data from the CERN SPS involves an initial
prehadronic stage with deconfined color and with an appreciable isotropic
pressure component. This requires an early onset of thermalization.Comment: 15 pages, 2 figures, talk given at Strange Quark Matter '98, Padova,
Italy, 20-24 July 1998, to be published in J. Phys. G 25; final version with
updated reference
- âŠ