Assessment of Student Problem-Solving on Ill-Defined Tasks

Investigations of formal problem-solving are conducted with the expectation that they will predict or at least help understand informal or everyday problem-solving. For instance, if a student scores well on a multiple-choice physics exam, the expectation is that the student will also do well on an everyday physics problem. Traditionally the evaluation of problem-solving skills in educational testing and cognitiw psychology has been dominated by formal, objectively scored tests, for example, multiple-choice tests (Garnham & Oakhill, 1994; Hambleton & Murphy, 1992). The relationship between formal and informal processes is questionable, however (Galotti, 1989). Formal tests may not elicit the same cognitive processes as informal tasks because they lack the process authenticity of informal tasks (Royer, Cisero, & Carlo, 1993). To address the lack of process authenticity, problem-solving skills can be directly evaluated using tasks that are "ill defined" and therefore more likely to elicit the cognitive processes associated with informal, everyday tasks. The purpose of the present study was to construct informal, performance tasks to evaluate both junior and senior high school students' problem-solving in mathematics. The task for students was to evaluate other students' solutions to two questions in mathematics. Results indicate that higher-achieving students generally preferred responses reflecting multiple approaches to problem-solving. A smaller number of students were also interviewed individually and asked to think aloud as they evaluated the solutions. Results indicate that students found multiple approaches to problem-solving desirable, while at the same time exhibiting problem-solving biases.Les études sur la résolution formelle de problèmes sont entreprises dans l'attente qu'elles prédiront, ou du moins aideront à comprendre, la résolution quotidienne ou informelle de problèmes. Par exemple, si un élève réussit bien à un examen de physique à choix multiples, on s'attend à ce que sa performance soit aussi positive lors de la résolution d'un problème quotidien concernant la physique. Traditionnellement, l'évaluation des habiletés de résolution de problèmes dans les tests de rendement et dans la psychologie cognitive a été dominée par des examens formels et objectifs tels ceux à choix multiples (Garnham & Oakhill, 1994; Hambleton & Murphy, 1992). Cependant, le rapport entre les processus formel et informel est discutable (Galotti, 1989). Les examens formels, n'ayant pas l'authenticité procédurale des tâches informelles, pourraient ne pas faire appel aux mêmes processus cognitifs que les examens informels (Royer, Cisero, & Carlo, 1993). Pour parer au manque d'authenticité procédurale, on peut évaluer les habiletés de résolution de problèmes en employant des tâches qui sont "mal définies" et donc plus aptes à faire appel aux processus cognitifs associés aux tâches informelles de tous les jours. Le but de la présente étude était de créer des tâches informelles pour évaluer la capacité de résolution de problèmes en mathématiques d'élèves de la 7e à la 12e année. La tâche des élèves était d'évaluer les solutions que les autres élèves avaient fournies à deux questions de mathématiques. Les résultats indiquent qu'en général, les élèves les plus performants préfirent les réponses impliquant des approches multiples à la résolution de problèmes. Lors d'entrevues individuelles avec un plus petit nombre d'élèves, on leur a demandé de réfléchir à haut voix en évaluant les solutions. Les résultats indiquent que les élèves jugent désirables les approches multiples à la résolution de problèmes, tout en démontrant des préjugés quant au processus de résolution

Hubble Space Telescope studies of low-redshift Type Ia supernovae: Evolution with redshift and ultraviolet spectral trends

We present an analysis of the maximum light, near ultraviolet (NUV; 2900-5500 A) spectra of 32 low redshift (0.001<z<0.08) Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia), obtained with the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). We combine this spectroscopic sample with high-quality gri light curves obtained with robotic telescopes to measure photometric parameters, such as stretch, optical colour, and brightness. By comparing our data to a comparable sample of SNe Ia at intermediate-z (0.4<z<0.9), we detect modest spectral evolution (3-sigma), in the sense that our mean low-z NUV spectrum has a depressed flux compared to its intermediate-z counterpart. We also see a strongly increased dispersion about the mean with decreasing wavelength, confirming the results of earlier surveys. These trends are consistent with changes in metallicity as predicted by contemporary SN Ia spectral models. We also examine the properties of various NUV spectral diagnostics in the individual spectra. We find a general correlation between stretch and the velocity (or position) of many NUV spectral features. In particular, we observe that higher stretch SNe have larger Ca II H&K velocities, that also correlate with host galaxy stellar mass. This latter trend is probably driven by the well-established correlation between stretch and stellar mass. We find no trends between UV spectral features and optical colour. Mean spectra constructed according to whether the SN has a positive or negative Hubble residual show very little difference at NUV wavelengths, indicating that the NUV evolution and variation we identify do not directly correlate with Hubble residuals. Our work confirms and strengthens earlier conclusions regarding the complex behaviour of SNe Ia in the NUV spectral region, but suggests the correlations we find are more useful in constraining progenitor models than improving the use of SNe Ia as cosmological probes.Comment: 22 pages, 14 figures, accepted in MNRAS with minor changes - Spectra are available on WISeREP, http://www.weizmann.ac.il/astrophysics/wiserep

Therapeutic Neonatal Hepatic Gene Therapy in Mucopolysaccharidosis VII Dogs

Dogs with mucopolysaccharidosis VII (MPS VII) were injected intravenously at 2–3 days of age with a retroviral vector (RV) expressing canine β-glucuronidase (cGUSB). Five animals received RV alone, and two dogs received hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) before RV in an attempt to increase transduction efficiency. Transduced hepatocytes expanded clonally during normal liver growth and secreted enzyme with mannose 6-phosphate. Serum GUSB activity was stable for up to 14 months at normal levels for the RV-treated dogs, and for 17 months at 67-fold normal for the HGF/RV-treated dog. GUSB activity in other organs was 1.5–60% of normal at 6 months for two RV-treated dogs, which was likely because of uptake of enzyme from blood by the mannose 6-phosphate receptor. The body weights of untreated MPS VII dogs are 50% of normal at 6 months. MPS VII dogs cannot walk or stand after 6 months, and progressively develop eye and heart disease. RV- and HGF/RV-treated MPS VII dogs achieved 87% and 84% of normal body weight, respectively. Treated animals could run at all times of evaluation for 6–17 months because of improvements in bone and joint abnormalities, and had little or no corneal clouding and no mitral valve thickening. Despite higher GUSB expression, the clinical improvements in the HGF/RV-treated dog were similar to those in the RV-treated animals. This is the first successful application of gene therapy in preventing the clinical manifestations of a lysosomal storage disease in a large animal

The Atmospheric Chemistry Suite (ACS) of Three Spectrometers for the ExoMars 2016 Trace Gas Orbiter

The Atmospheric Chemistry Suite (ACS) package is an element of the Russian contribution to the ESA-Roscosmos ExoMars 2016 Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) mission. ACS consists of three separate infrared spectrometers, sharing common mechanical, electrical, and thermal interfaces. This ensemble of spectrometers has been designed and developed in response to the Trace Gas Orbiter mission objectives that specifically address the requirement of high sensitivity instruments to enable the unambiguous detection of trace gases of potential geophysical or biological interest. For this reason, ACS embarks a set of instruments achieving simultaneously very high accuracy (ppt level), very high resolving power (>10,000) and large spectral coverage (0.7 to 17 μm—the visible to thermal infrared range). The near-infrared (NIR) channel is a versatile spectrometer covering the 0.7–1.6 μm spectral range with a resolving power of ∼20,000. NIR employs the combination of an echelle grating with an AOTF (Acousto-Optical Tunable Filter) as diffraction order selector. This channel will be mainly operated in solar occultation and nadir, and can also perform limb observations. The scientific goals of NIR are the measurements of water vapor, aerosols, and dayside or night side airglows. The mid-infrared (MIR) channel is a cross-dispersion echelle instrument dedicated to solar occultation measurements in the 2.2–4.4 μm range. MIR achieves a resolving power of >50,000. It has been designed to accomplish the most sensitive measurements ever of the trace gases present in the Martian atmosphere. The thermal-infrared channel (TIRVIM) is a 2-inch double pendulum Fourier-transform spectrometer encompassing the spectral range of 1.7–17 μm with apodized resolution varying from 0.2 to 1.3 cm−1. TIRVIM is primarily dedicated to profiling temperature from the surface up to ∼60 km and to monitor aerosol abundance in nadir. TIRVIM also has a limb and solar occultation capability. The technical concept of the instrument, its accommodation on the spacecraft, the optical designs as well as some of the calibrations, and the expected performances for its three channels are described

PTF11eon/SN2011dh: Discovery of a Type IIb Supernova From a Compact Progenitor in the Nearby Galaxy M51

On May 31, 2011 UT a supernova (SN) exploded in the nearby galaxy M51 (the Whirlpool Galaxy). We discovered this event using small telescopes equipped with CCD cameras, as well as by the Palomar Transient Factory (PTF) survey, and rapidly confirmed it to be a Type II supernova. Our early light curve and spectroscopy indicates that PTF11eon resulted from the explosion of a relatively compact progenitor star as evidenced by the rapid shock-breakout cooling seen in the light curve, the relatively low temperature in early-time spectra and the prompt appearance of low-ionization spectral features. The spectra of PTF11eon are dominated by H lines out to day 10 after explosion, but initial signs of He appear to be present. Assuming that He lines continue to develop in the near future, this SN is likely a member of the cIIb (compact IIb; Chevalier and Soderberg 2010) class, with progenitor radius larger than that of SN 2008ax and smaller than the eIIb (extended IIb) SN 1993J progenitor. Our data imply that the object identified in pre-explosion Hubble Space Telescope images at the SN location is possibly a companion to the progenitor or a blended source, and not the progenitor star itself, as its radius (~10^13 cm) would be highly inconsistent with constraints from our post-explosion photometric and spectroscopic data

Investigating the Potential and Pitfalls of EV-Encapsulated MicroRNAs as Circulating Biomarkers of Breast Cancer

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) shuttle microRNA (miRNA) throughout the circulation and are believed to represent a fingerprint of the releasing cell. We isolated and characterized serum EVs of breast tumour-bearing animals, breast cancer (BC) patients, and healthy controls. EVs were characterized using transmission electron microscopy (TEM), protein quantification, western blotting, and nanoparticle tracking analysis (NTA). Absolute quantitative (AQ)-PCR was employed to analyse EV-miR-451a expression. Isolated EVs had the appropriate morphology and size. Patient sera contained significantly more EVs than did healthy controls. In tumour-bearing animals, a correlation between serum EV number and tumour burden was observed. There was no significant relationship between EV protein yield and EV quantity determined by NTA, highlighting the requirement for direct quantification. Using AQ-PCR to relate miRNA copy number to EV yield, a significant increase in miRNA-451a copies/EV was detected in BC patient sera, suggesting potential as a novel biomarker of breast cancer

Absence of system xc⁻ on immune cells invading the central nervous system alleviates experimental autoimmune encephalitis

Background: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune demyelinating disease that affects the central nervous system (CNS), leading to neurodegeneration and chronic disability. Accumulating evidence points to a key role for neuroinflammation, oxidative stress, and excitotoxicity in this degenerative process. System x(c)- or the cystine/glutamate antiporter could tie these pathological mechanisms together: its activity is enhanced by reactive oxygen species and inflammatory stimuli, and its enhancement might lead to the release of toxic amounts of glutamate, thereby triggering excitotoxicity and neurodegeneration. Methods: Semi-quantitative Western blotting served to study protein expression of xCT, the specific subunit of system x(c)-, as well as of regulators of xCT transcription, in the normal appearing white matter (NAWM) of MS patients and in the CNS and spleen of mice exposed to experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), an accepted mouse model of MS. We next compared the clinical course of the EAE disease, the extent of demyelination, the infiltration of immune cells and microglial activation in xCT-knockout (xCT(-/-)) mice and irradiated mice reconstituted in xCT(-/-) bone marrow (BM), to their proper wild type (xCT(+/+)) controls. Results: xCT protein expression levels were upregulated in the NAWM of MS patients and in the brain, spinal cord, and spleen of EAE mice. The pathways involved in this upregulation in NAWM of MS patients remain unresolved. Compared to xCT(+/+) mice, xCT(-/-) mice were equally susceptible to EAE, whereas mice transplanted with xCT(-/-) BM, and as such only exhibiting loss of xCT in their immune cells, were less susceptible to EAE. In none of the above-described conditions, demyelination, microglial activation, or infiltration of immune cells were affected. Conclusions: Our findings demonstrate enhancement of xCT protein expression in MS pathology and suggest that system x(c)- on immune cells invading the CNS participates to EAE. Since a total loss of system x(c)- had no net beneficial effects, these results have important implications for targeting system x(c)- for treatment of MS

The PHENIX Experiment at RHIC

The physics emphases of the PHENIX collaboration and the design and current status of the PHENIX detector are discussed. The plan of the collaboration for making the most effective use of the available luminosity in the first years of RHIC operation is also presented.Comment: 5 pages, 1 figure. Further details of the PHENIX physics program available at http://www.rhic.bnl.gov/phenix

Study of B−→DK−π+π−B^{-}\to DK^-\pi^+\pi^- and B−→Dπ−π+π−B^-\to D\pi^-\pi^+\pi^- decays and determination of the CKM angle γ\gamma

We report a study of the suppressed $B^-\to DK^-\pi^+\pi^-$ and favored $B^-\to D\pi^-\pi^+\pi^-$ decays, where the neutral $D$ meson is detected through its decays to the $K^{\mp}\pi^{\pm}$ and CP-even $K^+K^-$ and $\pi^+\pi^-$ final states. The measurement is carried out using a proton-proton collision data sample collected by the LHCb experiment, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 3.0~fb$^{-1}$. We observe the first significant signals in the CP-even final states of the $D$ meson for both the suppressed $B^-\to DK^-\pi^+\pi^-$ and favored $B^-\to D\pi^-\pi^+\pi^-$ modes, as well as in the doubly Cabibbo-suppressed $D\to K^+\pi^-$ final state of the $B^-\to D\pi^-\pi^+\pi^-$ decay. Evidence for the ADS suppressed decay $B^{-}\to DK^-\pi^+\pi^-$, with $D\to K^+\pi^-$, is also presented. From the observed yields in the $B^-\to DK^-\pi^+\pi^-$, $B^-\to D\pi^-\pi^+\pi^-$ and their charge conjugate decay modes, we measure the value of the weak phase to be $\gamma=(74^{+20}_{-19})^{\rm o}$. This is one of the most precise single-measurement determinations of $\gamma$ to date.Comment: 22 pages, 9 figures; All figures and tables, along with any supplementary material and additional information, are available at https://lhcbproject.web.cern.ch/lhcbproject/Publications/LHCbProjectPublic/LHCb-PAPER-2015-020.htm

Observation of J/ψpJ/\psi p resonances consistent with pentaquark states in Λb0→J/ψK−p{\Lambda_b^0\to J/\psi K^-p} decays

Observations of exotic structures in the $J/\psi p$ channel, that we refer to as pentaquark-charmonium states, in $\Lambda_b^0\to J/\psi K^- p$ decays are presented. The data sample corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 3/fb acquired with the LHCb detector from 7 and 8 TeV pp collisions. An amplitude analysis is performed on the three-body final-state that reproduces the two-body mass and angular distributions. To obtain a satisfactory fit of the structures seen in the $J/\psi p$ mass spectrum, it is necessary to include two Breit-Wigner amplitudes that each describe a resonant state. The significance of each of these resonances is more than 9 standard deviations. One has a mass of $4380\pm 8\pm 29$ MeV and a width of $205\pm 18\pm 86$ MeV, while the second is narrower, with a mass of $4449.8\pm 1.7\pm 2.5$ MeV and a width of $39\pm 5\pm 19$ MeV. The preferred $J^P$ assignments are of opposite parity, with one state having spin 3/2 and the other 5/2.Comment: 48 pages, 18 figures including the supplementary material, v2 after referee's comments, now 19 figure