School Accountability and Administrator Incentives in California

Examines the impact of the No Child Left Behind Act's incentives for principals, superintendents, and school boards on accountability. Calls for transparency on the effectiveness of schools, districts, and interventions in improving student achievement

Position-space cuts for Wilson line correlators

We further develop the formalism for taking position-space cuts of eikonal diagrams introduced in [Phys.Rev.Lett. 114 (2015), no. 18 181602, arXiv:1410.5681]. These cuts are applied directly to the position-space representation of any such diagram and compute its discontinuity to the leading order in the dimensional regulator. We provide algorithms for computing the position-space cuts and apply them to several two- and three-loop eikonal diagrams, finding agreement with results previously obtained in the literature. We discuss a non-trivial interplay between the cutting prescription and non-Abelian exponentiation. We furthermore discuss the relation of the imaginary part of the cusp anomalous dimension to the static interquark potential.Comment: 39+18 pages, 16 figures; elaborated the discussion of the comparison of numerical and analytic results for the three-gluon vertex diagram in the caption of fig. 16; version to be published in JHE

Imaginary parts and discontinuities of Wilson line correlators

We introduce a notion of position-space cuts of eikonal diagrams, the set of diagrams appearing in the perturbative expansion of the correlator of a set of straight semi-infinite Wilson lines. The cuts are applied directly to the position-space representation of any such diagram and compute its imaginary part to the leading order in the dimensional regulator. Our cutting prescription thus defines a position-space analog of the standard momentum-space Cutkosky rules. Unlike momentum-space cuts which put internal lines on shell, position-space cuts constrain a number of the gauge bosons exchanged between the energetic partons to be lightlike, leading to a vanishing and a non-vanishing imaginary part for space- and timelike kinematics, respectively.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures; minor changes; version published in PR

The N-eigenvalue Problem and Two Applications

We consider the classification problem for compact Lie groups $G\subset U(n)$ which are generated by a single conjugacy class with a fixed number $N$ of distinct eigenvalues. We give an explicit classification when N=3, and apply this to extract information about Galois representations and braid group representations.Comment: 30 pages. version 3: many typos fixed, section 6 substantially reorganized. To appear in Int. Math. Res. No

Improving School Accountability in California

Proposes a value-added model for assessing schools that measures contributions to student learning based on whether average test scores are higher or lower than expected, given prior achievement and other characteristics. Outlines implementation issues

A MARKET OPPORTUNITY STUDY FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF A NEW SPORT HORSE SERVICE AT THE MSU VETERINARY TEACHING HOSPITAL

The potential need for several new services within the Veterinary Teaching Hospital (VTH) is unknown. However, based on focus groups and practitioner surveys conducted over the last several years, potential new services were identified: overnight emergency, behavior medicine, equine sports medicine, dentistry, oncology and exotic animal medicine. Michigan State University's College of Veterinary Medicine (MSU-CVM) has recently expanded its equine research, diagnostic and therapy capabilities with the addition of the new Mary Anne McPhail Equine Performance Center. As a result of this expansion, a study was conducted to determine whether the VTH should also broaden its clinical offerings with a new complement of services targeted specifically toward sport horse care.Teaching/Communication/Extension/Profession,

PROJECT REPORT: A MARKET OPPORTUNITY STUDY FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF A NEW ONCOLOGY SERVICE IN THE VETERINARY TEACHING HOSPITAL

Current trends in veterinary medicine indicate the potential need for several new services within the VTH. Based on focus groups and practitioner surveys conducted in late 1998 and early 1999, potential new services could include oncology, overnight emergency, behavior medicine, dentistry, equine sports medicine and exotic animal medicine. Of these, an oncology service is currently being considered based on internal staff recommendations coupled with survey and focus group information supporting demand for the service. Different from past new services, the oncology service was also earmarked to undergo a formal market study to determine the full potential of the opportunity and to more clearly establish the goals and objectives within the service.Teaching/Communication/Extension/Profession,

A Tale of Two Sides: Modeling Great Salt Lake Flows to Help Balance Current Ecosystem Influences

USU senior Eric, hailing from Spanish Fork, studies mechanical engineering and funded this project through an engineering student grant. While there are several sampling stations that measure the waterflow of the Great Salt Lake, there are gaps in the data they collect that limit our ability to predict how water moves between the north and south sides of the lake. Eric has been developing machine learning models that more accurately portray the flows. This has applications for both GSL ecological preservation and the brine shrimp and salt industries. Eric loved how hands-on this project was, seeing the phenomenon that his data portrayed out in the real world. “Our understanding of the world is always expanding, and our research allows us to take part in that expanding knowledge.

Unique Osmoregulatory Morphology in Primitive Sharks: An Intermediate State Between Holocephalan and Derived Shark Secretory Morphology

Discovery of an unusual rectal gland in the Atlantic sixgill shark, Hexanchus vitulus, led to examination of rectal glands in 29 species of epipelagic and deep-sea sharks. Eight of 14 deep-sea species of sharks had digitiform glands that were previously assumed to be characteristic of elasmobranchs (N=281; mean width-length ratio ± SD = 0.18 ± 0.07). Hematoxylin-and-eosin stained sections from deep-sea sharks were similar to those from shallow water sharks. Glands from the family Somniosidae were kidney bean-shaped (N = 3; mean width-length ratio ± SD = 0.46 ± 0.05); whereas those from the families Echinorhinidae and Hexanchidae appeared lobulate (N=39; mean width-length ratio ± SD = 0.58 ± 0.11). Histology of hexanchid rectal glands showed a morphology characterized by smooth muscle dividing the tubules into sections around a lumen. Rectal gland width-length ratios were significantly different among eight species with digitiform morphology and two hexanchids (ANOVA; R2=0.86; df=14, 292; F=125.01; P\u3c0.001). The significant plasma constituents, urea and TMAO, followed the piezolyte hypothesis and were highest in deep-sea sharks with the exception of Cl-, which was highest in species with lobulate rectal glands. This study represents the first histology of the unique rectal gland morphology in Hexanchus sp., and it suggests that the distinct gland morphology seen in species of Hexanchidae and Echinorhinidae is a plesiomorphic trait and is not characteristic of deep-sea sharks as a group. Interestingly, the similarities between lobulate rectal glands and the secretory morphology of holocephalans may represent a secretory morphology intermediate between that of Holocephali and derived shark species