Anisotropic Lattices and Dynamical Fermions

We report results from full QCD calculations with two flavors of dynamical staggered fermions on anisotropic lattices. The physical anisotropy as determined from spatial and temporal masses, their corresponding dispersion relations, and spatial and temporal Wilson loops is studied as a function of the bare gauge anisotropy and the bare velocity of light appearing in the Dirac operator. The anisotropy dependence of staggered fermion flavor symmetry breaking is also examined. These results will then be applied to the study of 2-flavor QCD thermodynamics.Comment: Lattice2001(spectrum

Taking Up Space: A Case Study Exploration of the Relationship Between Citizenship and Free Humanities Programs in Canada

Citizenship is increasingly being utilized as the discourse to discuss inclusive and exclusive realities within a polity. This case study examines free humanities programs in Canada, which offer free university-level courses in the humanities to people experiencing marginalization in society. The stated intention of the programs is that, through education in the humanities, critical reflection, and access to the university space, students will increasingly engage in active citizenship and participate in the public sphere. This thesis explores the extent to which this intention has been realized. Primary data was collected from sixteen students, professors, and program coordinators of free humanities programs. Secondary data was also collected in order to triangulate the primary data. The findings outlined that students experienced an increase in citizenship at multiple levels. Students experienced an increase in sense of self, strengthened societal connections, and more frequent and meaningful access to public space. These findings highlight the mutually reinforcing nature of social inclusion

Nonperturbative study of the two-frequency sine-Gordon model

The two-frequency sine-Gordon model is examined. The focus is mainly on the case when the ratio of the frequencies is 1/2, given the recent interest in the literature. We discuss the model both in a perturbative (form factor perturbation theory) and a nonperturbative (truncated conformal space approach) framework, and give particular attention to a phase transition conjectured earlier by Delfino and Mussardo. We give substantial evidence that the transition is of second order and that it is in the Ising universality class. Furthermore, we check the UV-IR operator correspondence and conjecture the phase diagram of the theory.Comment: Minor corrections, LaTeX2e, 39 pages, 26 figures (4 pslatex, 1 postscript and 21 eps

Experimental performance of a 16.10-centimeter-tip-diameter sweptback centrifugal compressor designed for a 6:1 pressure ratio

A backswept impeller with design mass flow rate of 1.033 kg/sec was tested with both a vaned diffuser and a vaneless diffuser to establish stage and impeller characteristics. Design stage pressure ratio of 5.9:1 was attained at a flow slightly lower than the design value. Flow range at design speed was 6 percent of choking flow. Impeller axial tip clearance at design speed was varied to determine effect on stage and impeller performance

Experimental performance of a 13.65-centimeter-tip-diameter tandem-bladed sweptback centrifugal compressor designed for a pressure ratio of 6

A 13.65 cm tip diameter backswept centrifugal impeller having a tandem inducer and a design mass flow rate of 0.907 kg/sec was experimentally investigated to establish stage and impeller characteristics. Tests were conducted with both a cascade diffuser and a vaneless diffuser. A pressure ratio of 5.9 was obtained near surge for the smallest clearance tested. Flow range at design speed was 6.3 percent for the smallest clearance test. Impeller exit to shroud axial clearance at design speed was varied to determine the effect on stage and impeller performance

Gene fragmentation in bacterial draft genomes: extent, consequences and mitigation

<p/> <p>Background</p> <p>Ongoing technological advances in genome sequencing are allowing bacterial genomes to be sequenced at ever-lower cost. However, nearly all of these new techniques concomitantly decrease genome quality, primarily due to the inability of their relatively short read lengths to bridge certain genomic regions, e.g., those containing repeats. Fragmentation of predicted open reading frames (ORFs) is one possible consequence of this decreased quality. In this study we quantify ORF fragmentation in draft microbial genomes and its effect on annotation efficacy, and we propose a solution to ameliorate this problem.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A survey of draft-quality genomes in GenBank revealed that fragmented ORFs comprised > 80% of the predicted ORFs in some genomes, and that increased fragmentation correlated with decreased genome assembly quality. In a more thorough analysis of 25 <it>Streptomyces </it>genomes, fragmentation was especially enriched in some protein classes with repeating, multi-modular structures such as polyketide synthases, non-ribosomal peptide synthetases and serine/threonine kinases. Overall, increased genome fragmentation correlated with increased false-negative Pfam and COG annotation rates and increased false-positive KEGG annotation rates. The false-positive KEGG annotation rate could be ameliorated by linking fragmented ORFs using their orthologs in related genomes. Whereas this strategy successfully linked up to 46% of the total ORF fragments in some genomes, its sensitivity appeared to depend heavily on the depth of sampling of a particular taxon's variable genome.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Draft microbial genomes contain many ORF fragments. Where these correspond to the same gene they have particular potential to confound comparative gene content analyses. Given our findings, and the rapid increase in the number of microbial draft quality genomes, we suggest that accounting for gene fragmentation and its associated biases is important when designing comparative genomic projects.</p

Interacting Bose and Fermi gases in low dimensions and the Riemann hypothesis

We apply the S-matrix based finite temperature formalism to non-relativistic Bose and Fermi gases in 1+1 and 2+1 dimensions. In the 2+1 dimensional case, the free energy is given in terms of Roger's dilogarithm in a way analagous to the relativistic 1+1 dimensional case. The 1d fermionic case with a quasi-periodic 2-body potential provides a physical framework for understanding the Riemann hypothesis.Comment: version 3: additional appendix explains how the $\nu$ to $1-\nu$ duality of Riemann's $\zeta (\nu)$ follows from a special modular transformation in a massless relativistic theor

Measuring Teacher Engagement: Development of the Engaged Teachers Scale (ETS)

The goal of this study was to create and validate a brief multi-dimension scale of teacher engagement—the Engaged Teachers Scale (ETS)—that reflects the particular characteristics of teachers’ work in schools. We collected data from four separate samples of teachers (total N = 823), and followed five steps in developing and validating the ETS.  The result of our five steps of analysis was a 16-item, 4-factor scale of teacher engagement that shows evidence of reliability, validity, and usability for further research. The four factors of the ETS consist of: cognitive engagement, emotional engagement, social engagement: students, and social engagement: colleagues. The ETS was found to correlate positively with a frequently used work engagement measure (the UWES) and to be positively related to, but empirically distinct, from a measure of teachers’ self-efficacy. Our key contribution to the measurement of teacher engagement is the novel inclusion of social engagement with students as a key component of overall engagement at work for teachers. We propose that social engagement should be considered in future iterations of work engagement measures in a range of settings

A “Swiss paradox” in the United States? Level of spatial aggregation changes the association between income inequality and morbidity for older Americans

Although a preponderance of research indicates that increased income inequality negatively impacts population health, several international studies found that a greater income inequality was associated with better population health when measured on a fine geographic level of aggregation. This finding is known as a “Swiss paradox”. To date, no studies have examined variability in the associations between income inequality and health outcomes by spatial aggregation level in the US. Therefore, this study examined associations between income inequality (Gini index, GI) and population health by geographic level using a large, nationally representative dataset of older adults. We geographically linked respondents’ county data from the 2012 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System to 2012 American Community Survey data. Using generalized linear models, we estimated the association between GI decile on the state and county levels and five population health outcomes (diabetes, obesity, smoking, sedentary lifestyle and self-rated health), accounting for confounders and complex sampling. Although state-level GI was not significantly associated with obesity rates (b = − 0.245, 95% CI − 0.497, 0.008), there was a significant, negative association between county-level GI and obesity rates (b = − 0.416, 95% CI − 0.629, − 0.202). State-level GI also associated with an increased diabetes rate (b = 0.304, 95% CI 0.063, 0.546), but the association was not significant for county-level GI and diabetes rate (b = − 0.101, 95% CI − 0.305, 0.104). Associations between both county-level GI and state-level GI and current smoking status were also not significant. These findings show the associations between income inequality and health vary by spatial aggregation level and challenge the preponderance of evidence suggesting that income inequality is consistently associated with worse health. Further research is needed to understand the nuances behind these observed associations to design informed policies and programs designed to reduce socioeconomic health inequities among older adults

Emerging Mental Health Diagnoses and School Disruption: An Examination Among Clinically Referred Children and youth

Previous research linking school disruption with mental health problems has largely relied on assessments of academic achievement to measure school disruption. Early disruptive classroom behaviour (e.g., conflict with school staff, negative attitudes toward school), however, may precipitate poor academic performance and may stem from emerging mental health concerns, particularly among young children. To address this gap in the literature, 912 clinically referred children and youth (ages 4–18 years old) were assessed using the interRAI Child and Youth Mental Health (ChYMH) assessment utilizing a cross-sectional study design. The ChYMH assessment evaluates school disruption independently of academic achievement, and includes a comprehensive assessment of the child’s mental health functioning, needs, and preferences. A logistic regression analysis revealed that various provisional mental health diagnoses (i.e., attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, disruptive behaviour, mood disorders, and, to a lesser extent, anxiety) were associated with disruption in the classroom. Implications for school-based care planning are discussed