979 research outputs found
The Dramatization of Children Literature Books for the Development of the Second/Foreign Language: An Implementation of a Drama-Based Project to Students of Primary School
This paper presents and outlines the design and implementation of a pilot program based on activities of dramatization of children literary books aiming at developing language skills of primary school students in English as a foreign language, participating in interactive, drama play and creative activities This project was implemented to students of the fifth grade of primary schools of Larissa (Greece) in a sample of 15 students. The collaboration, creativity, and the engagement with English literature were the main features of the program. The learning environment of the program was either the municipal center of creativity âKalikatzoura Pasalidouâ or the municipal gym. When the center of creativity was the place of learning, students analyzed the English childrenâs literature books, achieving the acquisition of the new vocabulary and participating in creative writing activities. When the municipal gym was the place of instruction, students participated in activities of performing theatrical plays developing spoken language and intonation of the words. The evaluation and feasibility of the program has been realized through a) a pre- and a post - test and b) by keeping a Journal by the teacher. It became so obvious that the particular application had a beneficial effect on the development of speaking and writing skills of learners and enhanced their motivation to participate in drama activities
Some properties of the "String gas" with the equation of state
We show that the string gas - a perfect fluid with the equation of state possesses rather interesing properties. In Friedmann universes
its presence can can change the observable topology of the space; in the
spherically symmetric spacetimes it produces rather bizzare geometries and in a
way its influence on the rotation curves mimics the dark matter effects.Comment: 9 pages, 1 figur
Complexity and hierarchical game of life
Hierarchical structure is an essential part of complexity, important notion
relevant for a wide range of applications ranging from biological population
dynamics through robotics to social sciences. In this paper we propose a simple
cellular-automata tool for study of hierarchical population dynamics
Thermoelastic Properties of Ringwoodite [Fe_x,Mg_(1-x)]_2SiO_4: Its Relationship to the 520 km Seismic Discontinuity
We combine density functional theory (DFT) within the local density
approximation (LDA), the quasiharmonic approximation (QHA), and a model
vibrational density of states (VDoS) to calculate elastic moduli and sound
velocities of gamma-[Fe_x,Mg_(1-x)]_2SiO_4 (ringwoodite), the most abundant
mineral of the lower Earth's transition zone (TZ). Comparison with experimental
values at room-temperature and high pressure or ambient-pressure and high
temperature shows good agreement with our first-principles findings. Then, we
investigate the contrasts associated with the
beta-to-gamma-[Fe_x,Mg_(1-x)]_2SiO_4 transformation at pressures and
temperatures relevant to the TZ. This information offers clearly defined
reference values to advance the understanding of the nature of the 520 km
seismic discontinuity.Comment: 29 pages, 6 figures, 2 tables. Under Revie
Why latrines are not used : communities' perceptions and practices regarding latrines in a Taenia solium endemic rural area in Eastern Zambia
Taenia solium cysticercosis is a neglected parasitic zoonosis occurring in many developing countries. Socio-cultural determinants related to its control remain unclear. Studies in Africa have shown that the underuse of sanitary facilities and the widespread occurrence of free-roaming pigs are the major risk factors for porcine cysticercosis. The study objective was to assess the communities' perceptions, practices and knowledge regarding latrines in a T. solium endemic rural area in Eastern Zambia inhabited by the Nsenga ethno-linguistic group, and to identify possible barriers to their construction and use. A total of 21 focus group discussions on latrine use were organized separately with men, women and children, in seven villages of the Petauke district. The themes covered were related to perceived latrine availability (absence-presence, building obstacles) and perceived latrine use (defecation practices, latrine management, socio-cultural constraints). The findings reveal that latrines were not constructed in every household because of the convenient use of existing latrines in the neighborhood. Latrines were perceived to contribute to good hygiene mainly because they prevent pigs from eating human feces. Men expressed reluctance to abandon the open-air defecation practice mainly because of toilet-associated taboos with in-laws and grown-up children of the opposite gender. When reviewing conceptual frameworks of people's approach to sanitation, we found that seeking privacy and taboos hindering latrine use and construction were mainly explained in our study area by the fact that the Nsenga observe a traditionally matrilineal descent. These findings indicate that in this local context latrine promotion messages should not only focus on health benefits in general. Since only men were responsible for building latrines and mostly men preferred open defecation, sanitation programs should also be directed to men and address related sanitary taboos in order to be effective
A Pebbling Game on Powers of Paths
Two Player Graph Pebbling is an extension of graph pebbling. Players Mover and Defender use pebbling moves, the act of removing two pebbles from one vertex and placing one pebble on an adjacent vertex, to win. If a specified vertex has a pebble on it, then Mover wins. If a specified vertex is pebble-free and there are no more valid pebbling moves, then Defender wins. The Two-Player Pebbling Number of a graph G, η(G), is the minimum m such that for every arrangement of m pebbles and for any specified vertex, Mover can win. We specify the winning player for powers of a path
Mid-J CO Emission in Nearby Seyfert Galaxies
We study for the first time the complete sub-millimeter spectra (450 GHz to
1550 GHz) of a sample of nearby active galaxies observed with the SPIRE Fourier
Transform Spectrometer (SPIRE/FTS) onboard Herschel. The CO ladder (from Jup =
4 to 12) is the most prominent spectral feature in this range. These CO lines
probe warm molecular gas that can be heated by ultraviolet photons, shocks, or
X-rays originated in the active galactic nucleus or in young star-forming
regions. In these proceedings we investigate the physical origin of the CO
emission using the averaged CO spectral line energy distribution (SLED) of six
Seyfert galaxies. We use a radiative transfer model assuming an isothermal
homogeneous medium to estimate the molecular gas conditions. We also compare
this CO SLED with the predictions of photon and X-ray dominated region (PDR and
XDR) models.Comment: Proceedings of the Torus Workshop 2012 held at the University of
Texas at San Antonio, 5-7 December 2012. C. Packham, R. Mason, and A.
Alonso-Herrero (eds.); 6 pages, 3 figure
Emission-Line Properties of z > 4 Quasars
We present results of a program of high signal-to-noise spectroscopy for 44
QSOs at redshifts > 4 using the MMT and Keck observatories. The quasar spectra
cover 1100 -- 1700 A in the rest frame for sources spanning a luminosity range
of approximately 2 orders of magnitude. Comparisons between these data and
spectra of lower redshift quasars reveal a high degree of similarity, although
differences are present in the profiles and the strengths of some emission
features. An examination of the luminosity dependence of the emission lines
reveals evidence for a weak or absent Baldwin effect among z > 4 QSOs. We
compare measurements for objects in our sample with results from other high
redshift surveys characterized by different selection techniques. Distributions
of equivalent widths for these different ensembles are consistent with a common
parent population, suggesting that our sample is not strongly biased, or in any
case, subject to selection effects that are not significantly different from
other surveys, including the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. Based on this
comparison, we tentatively conclude that the trends identified here are
representative of high z QSOs. In particular, the data bolster indications of
supersolar metallicities in these luminous, high-z sources, which support
scenarios that assume substantial star formation at epochs preceding or
concurrent with the QSO phenomena.Comment: 26 pages (incl. 9 figures), AASTeX v5.0, to appear in The
Astrophysical Journa
The decay of quadrupole-octupole states in Ca and Ce
Background: Two-phonon excitations originating from the coupling of two
collective one-phonon states are of great interest in nuclear structure
physics. One possibility to generate low-lying excitations is the coupling
of quadrupole and octupole phonons.
Purpose: In this work, the -decay behavior of candidates for the
state in the doubly-magic nucleus Ca and in
the heavier and semi-magic nucleus Ce is investigated.
Methods: experiments have been carried out at the
High Intensity -ray Source (HIS) facility in combination with
the high-efficiency -ray spectroscopy setup consisting of
HPGe and LaBr detectors. The setup enables the acquisition of
- coincidence data and, hence, the detection of direct decay
paths.
Results: In addition to the known ground-state decays, for Ca the
decay into the state was observed, while for Ce the direct
decays into the and the state were detected. The experimentally
deduced transition strengths and excitation energies are compared to
theoretical calculations in the framework of EDF theory plus QPM approach and
systematically analyzed for isotones. In addition, negative parities for
two states in Ca were deduced simultaneously.
Conclusions: The experimental findings together with the theoretical
calculations support the two-phonon character of the excitation in the
light-to-medium-mass nucleus Ca as well as in the stable even-even
nuclei.Comment: 11 pages, 6 figures, as accepted in Phys. Rev.
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