Seeding of Strange Matter with New Physics

At greater than nuclear densities, matter may convert into a mixture of nucleons, hyperons, dibaryons, and strangelets, thus facilitating the formation of strange matter even before the onset of the quark-matter phase transition. From a nonstrange dibaryon condensate, it may even be possible to leapfrog into strange matter with a certain new interaction, represented by an effective six-quark operator which is phenomenologically unconstrained.Comment: 7 pages, no figure (Talk given at SQM97

Double Threefold Degeneracies for Active and Sterile Neutrinos

We explore the possibility that the 3 active (doublet) neutrinos have nearly degenerate masses which are split only by the usual seesaw mechanism from 3 sterile (singlet) neutrinos in the presence of a softly broken $A_4$ symmetry. We take the unconventional view that the sterile neutrinos may be light, i.e. less than 1 keV, and discuss some very interesting and novel phenomenology, including a connection between the LSND neutrino data and solar neutrino oscillations.Comment: 8 pages, no figur

Supersymmetric Higgs Triplets and Bilinear R-Parity Nonconservation

The supersymmetric standard model of particle interactions is extended to include two Higgs triplet superfields at the TeV scale, carrying two units of lepton number. Realistic tree-level Majorana neutrino masses are obtained in the presence of soft, i.e. bilinear, R-parity nonconservation.Comment: 5 pages, no figur

Minimal supergravity radiative effects on the tri-bimaximal neutrino mixing pattern

We study the stability of the Harrison-Perkins-Scott (HPS) mixing pattern, assumed to hold at some high energy scale, against supersymmetric radiative corrections. We work in the framework of a reference minimal supergravity model (mSUGRA) where supersymmetry breaking is universal and flavor-blind at unification. The radiative corrections considered include both RGE running as well as threshold effects. We find that in this case the solar mixing angle can only increase with respect to the HPS reference value, while the atmospheric and reactor mixing angles remain essentially stable. Deviations from the solar angle HPS prediction towards lower values would signal novel contributions from physics beyond the simplest mSUGRA model.Comment: 13 pages, 3 figures; added reference; final version for publicatio

Predicting Neutrinoless Double Beta Decay

We give predictions for the neutrinoless double beta decay rate in a simple variant of the A_4 family symmetry model. We show that there is a lower bound for the neutrinoless double beta decay amplitude even in the case of normal hierarchical neutrino masses, corresponding to an effective mass parameter |m_{ee}| >= 0.17 \sqrt{\Delta m^2_{ATM}}. This result holds both for the CP conserving and CP violating cases. In the latter case we show explicitly that the lower bound on |m_{ee}| is sensitive to the value of the Majorana phase. We conclude therefore that in our scheme, neutrinoless double beta decay may be accessible to the next generation of high sensitivity experiments.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figures, 1 tabl

Normal pressure tests on unstiffened flat plates

Flat sheet panels of aluminum alloy (all 17S-T except for two specimens of 24S-T) were tested under normal pressures with clamped edge supports in the structures laboratory of the Guggenheim Aeronautical Laboratory, California Institute of Technology. The thicknesses used ranged from 0.010 to 0.080 inch; the panel sizes ranged from 10 by 10 inches to 10 by 40 inches; and the pressure range was from 0 to 60-pounds-per-square-inch gage. Deflection patterns were measured and maximum tensile strains in the center of the panel were determined by electric strain gages. The experimental data are presented by pressure-strain, pressure-maximum-deflection, and pressure-deflection curves. The results of these tests have been compared with the corresponding strains and deflections as calculated by the simple membrane theory and by large deflection theories

STEAM (SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING, ART, AND MATHEMATICS) EDUCATION AND TEACHERS’ PEDAGOGICAL DISCONTENTMENT LEVELS

Literature focused on the emerging implementation of STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Mathematics) education within K-12 education programs in the USA emphasizes the need for researchers to address the potential for disrupting the pedagogical contentment of teachers assigned to teach in STEAM disciplines who have no backgrounds in the fields represented by STEAM and/or who have no prior teaching experience in the areas of STEAM. Research objectives for the current study focused on examining the influence of intensive professional development on K-12 teachers’ pedagogical discontentment levels relative to the implementation of STEAM in all classrooms within a rural school district in the southeast region of the United States. Data sources included: (a) pre-post assessments of 93 teachers’ pedagogical discontentment levels; (b) classroom observation data collected by external observers; and (c) teachers’ perceptions of STEAM coaching.  Data retrieved were analyzed using quantitative analyses. Study findings indicated teachers’ pedagogical discontentment levels decreased over time. Future research must support teachers new to STEAM activities

Influence of Teacher Support and Personal Relevance on Academic Self-Efficacy and Enjoyment of Mathematics Lessons: A Structural Equation Modeling Approach

The purpose of our study was to examine the effects of two psychosocial features of the classroom environment (teacher support and personal relevance) on college students’ academic self-efficacy and enjoyment of mathematics lessons. Data collected from 352 mathematics students attending three higher education institutions in the United Arab Emirates were used to validate the questionnaires and to investigate the hypothesized relationships. Structural equation modeling analysis suggests that teacher support and personal relevance are influential predictors of enjoyment of mathematics lessons and academic self-efficacy. L’objectif de cette étude est d’examiner les effets de deux facteurs psychosociaux de la salle de classe (soutien des enseignants et pertinence personnelle) sur l’auto-efficacité académique des étudiants universitaires et du plaisir qu’ils retirent des cours de mathématiques. On a puisé dans des données recueillies chez 352 étudiants en mathématiques de trois institutions d’études supérieures aux Émirats arabes unis pour valider les questionnaires et vérifier les relations postulées. Une analyse de la modélisation par équation structurelle laisse supposer que le soutien des enseignants et la pertinence personnelle ont constitué des facteurs de prévision influents quant au plaisir que retirent les étudiants des cours de mathématiques et à leur auto-efficacité académique