Moderate-Luminosity Growing Black Holes From 1.25 < z < 2.7: Varied Accretion In Disk-Dominated Hosts

We compute black hole masses and bolometric luminosities for 57 active galactic nuclei (AGN) in the redshift range 1.25 < z < 2.67, selected from the GOODS-South deep multi-wavelength survey field via their X-ray emission. We determine host galaxy morphological parameters by separating the galaxies from their central point sources in deep HST images, and host stellar masses and colors by multi-wavelength SED fitting. 90% of GOODS AGN at these redshifts have detected rest-frame optical nuclear point sources; bolometric luminosities range from 2e43 - 2e46 erg/s. The black holes are growing at a range of accretion rates, with at least 50% of the sample having L/L_Edd < 0.1. 70% of host galaxies have stellar masses M* > 1e10 M_sun, with a range of colors suggesting a complex star formation history. We find no evolution of AGN bolometric luminosity within the sample, and no correlation between AGN bolometric luminosity and host stellar mass, color or morphology. Fully half the sample of host galaxies is disk-dominated, with another 25% having strong disk components. Fewer than 15% of the systems appear to be at some stage of a major merger. These moderate-luminosity AGN hosts are therefore inconsistent with a dynamical history dominated by mergers strong enough to destroy disks, indicating minor mergers or secular processes dominate the co-evolution of galaxies and their central black holes at z ~ 2.Comment: 11 pages, 6 figures, accepted to ApJ. Sersic indices, AGN/galaxy luminosity ratios, stellar masses etc. provided in Table

One Touchy Topic: Targeting Students’ Sense of Touch through Multiple Activities

This article provides exploratory experiences for First Grade students to refine their understanding of their sense of touch and develop their observation skills. The activities scaffold from open-ended exploratory investigations to application activities in which students categorize items using their understanding of touch. The activities also make explicit links to help students develop language and writing skills. This activity promotes National Science Education Content Standards A and B, and Iowa Teaching Standards 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6

Infant Mortality and Issue Framing in South Linden, Columbus

When public-private partnerships are utilized as a tool for proposing policy solutions to “wicked problems” in cities, frame asymmetry can arise as a result of competing stakeholder interpretations of the problem itself. In the case of Columbus, Ohio, a community health partnership was created to address the growing infant mortality crisis in neighborhoods such as South Linden. This approach to developing a city-wide policy solution brought about the following questions: How are the mobility needs of pregnant women in South Linden, an area notable for high rates of infant mortality, assessed by public decision makers? How does this differ from the ways in which these needs are assessed by service providers? If there are differences between the ways in which service providers and decision makers frame the issue of infant mortality reduction, are there differences between perceptions of resource accessibility and neighborhood needs for reducing infant mortality? Using a purposive, theoretical sampling approach to select key informants from pools of both decision makers and service providers directly related to the infant mortality crisis, key informant interviews were conducted to better understand how each group framed the issue of infant mortality, and how, if at all, these frames differed by informant groups. It was found that while decision makers in Columbus were more focused on addressing the infant mortality crisis through a series of mobility innovations, service providers spoke to the importance of the built environment and accessible neighborhood resources as a key part of reducing mortality rates. As a result, it is recommended that the community health partnership engage in frame reconciliation techniques to better address the asymmetries in their policy goals and issue framing.No embargoAcademic Major: Political ScienceAcademic Major: Public Policy Analysi

Unproceedings of the Fourth .Astronomy Conference (.Astronomy 4), Heidelberg, Germany, July 9-11 2012

The goal of the .Astronomy conference series is to bring together astronomers, educators, developers and others interested in using the Internet as a medium for astronomy. Attendance at the event is limited to approximately 50 participants, and days are split into mornings of scheduled talks, followed by 'unconference' afternoons, where sessions are defined by participants during the course of the event. Participants in unconference sessions are discouraged from formal presentations, with discussion, workshop-style formats or informal practical tutorials encouraged. The conference also designates one day as a 'hack day', in which attendees collaborate in groups on day-long projects for presentation the following morning. These hacks are often a way of concentrating effort, learning new skills, and exploring ideas in a practical fashion. The emphasis on informal, focused interaction makes recording proceedings more difficult than for a normal meeting. While the first .Astronomy conference is preserved formally in a book, more recent iterations are not documented. We therefore, in the spirit of .Astronomy, report 'unproceedings' from .Astronomy 4, which was held in Heidelberg in July 2012.Comment: 11 pages, 1 figure, .Astronomy 4, #dotastr

Heavily Obscured Quasar Host Galaxies at z~2 are Disks, Not Major Mergers

We explore the nature of heavily obscured quasar host galaxies at z~2 using deep Hubble Space Telescope WFC3/IR imaging of 28 Dust Obscured Galaxies (DOGs) to investigate the role of major mergers in driving black hole growth. The high levels of obscuration of the quasars selected for this study act as a natural coronagraph, blocking the quasar light and allowing a clear view of the underlying host galaxy. The sample of heavily obscured quasars represents a significant fraction of the cosmic mass accretion on supermassive black holes as the quasars have inferred bolometric luminosities around the break of the quasar luminosity function. We find that only a small fraction (4%, at most 11-25%) of the quasar host galaxies are major mergers. Fits to their surface brightness profiles indicate that 90% of the host galaxies are either disk dominated, or have a significant disk. This disk-like host morphology, and the corresponding weakness of bulges, is evidence against major mergers and suggests that secular processes are the predominant driver of massive black hole growth. Finally, we suggest that the co-incidence of mergers and AGN activity is luminosity dependent, with only the most luminous quasars being triggered mostly by major mergers.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, 1 table. To appear as a Letter in MNRA

Onboarding Employees Through Shared Values

How employees are on-boarded and welcomed into their new positions sets the tone for the culture of a place, the people, and the values of a new institution and can have a significant impact on employees sense of belonging. At Ohio University, the Division of Student Affairs employs approximately 400 staff and annually welcomes around 40-50 new employees a year, 25 of which are College Student Personnel (CSP) graduate students. New employees are welcomed with an ethic of care through a five day onboarding process rooted in Bolman and Deal’s human resource frame. This process includes departmental specific welcomes and trainings, along with division-wide team building, sexual misconduct training, social justice training, and suicide prevention training. This session outlined the correlation with Bolman and Deal’s human resource frame and NASPA/ ACPA competencies as well as lessons learned from implementing such a process, specifically include how these trainings intersect with the learning and development of new professionals

Do Moderate-Luminosity Active Galactic Nuclei Suppress Star Formation?

The growth of supermassive black holes and their host galaxies are thought to be linked, but the precise nature of this symbiotic relationship is still poorly understood. Both observations and simulations of galaxy formation suggest that the energy input from active galactic nuclei (AGN), as the central supermassive black hole accretes material and grows, heats the interstellar material and suppresses star formation. In this Letter, we show that most host galaxies of moderate-luminosity supermassive black holes in the local universe have intermediate optical colors that imply the host galaxies are transitioning from star formation to quiescence, the first time this has been shown to be true for all AGN independent of obscuration. The intermediate colors suggest that star formation in the host galaxies ceased roughly 100 Myr ago. This result indicates that either the AGN are very long-lived, accreting for more than 1 Gyr beyond the end of star formation, or there is a ~100 Myr time delay between the shutdown of star formation and detectable black hole growth. The first explanation is unlikely given current estimates for AGN lifetimes, so low-lumiosity AGN must shut down star formation before substantial black hole accretion activity is detected. The scarcity of AGN host galaxies in the blue cloud reported here challenges scenarios where significant star formation and black hole growth are coeval. Lastly, these observations also strongly support the `Unified Model' of AGN as the host galaxy colors are independent of obscuration towards the central engine.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ Letters. 7 pages, 4 figure

Using Prompts to Initiate Behavior

Using prompts to initiate behavior seems to be effective when employed as a component of a classroom behavior management system. Prompts can remind or guide an individual to perform a desired behavior. In the research, there are 7 different types of prompts, as well as 6 rules to follow when administering prompts. The seven different types of prompts are: 1) verbal, 2) written, 3) material, 4) imitative, 5) physical, 6) pictorial, and 7) gestural. The six rules are: 1) timing is everything, 2) select a location that facilitates good timing, 3) prompts should be specific, 4) the prompt should guide the behavior, 5) prompts should remind people of consequences, and 6) reinforce responding to the prompt. For the poster session we provided a scenario displaying a written prompt in the classroom setting. The research recommends using the system of least prompts. Using prompts in a classroom seems to improve appropriate behaviors and desired responses

A controlled study of virtual reality in first-year magnetostatics

Stereoscopic virtual reality (VR) has experienced a resurgence due to flagship products such as the Oculus Rift, HTC Vive and smartphone-based VR solutions like Google Cardboard. This is causing the question to resurface: how can stereoscopic VR be useful in instruction, if at all, and what are the pedagogical best practices for its use? To address this, and to continue our work in this sphere, we performed a study of 289 introductory physics students who were sorted into three different treatment types: stereoscopic virtual reality, WebGL simulation, and static 2D images, each designed to provide information about magnetic fields and forces. Students were assessed using preliminary items designed to focus on heavily-3D systems. We report on assessment reliability, and on student performance. Overall, we find that students who used VR did not significantly outperform students using other treatment types. There were significant differences between sexes, as other studies have noted. Dependence on students' self-reported 3D videogame play was observed, in keeping with previous studies, but this dependence was not restricted to the VR treatment.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures, submitted to the 2019 Physics Education Research Conferenc

For Whom, and for What, is Experience Sampling More Accurate Than Retrospective Report?

The experience sampling method (ESM) is often used in research, and promoted for clinical use, with the rationale that it avoids problematic inaccuracies and biases that attend retrospective measures of mental phenomena. Research suggests that averaged scores from ESM data are more accurate than retrospective ratings. However, it is not known how well individuals can remember information about momentary (rather than averaged) mental states, nor how accurately they estimate the dynamic covariation of these states. Individual differences in retrospective accuracy are also poorly understood. In two pre-registered studies, we examined differences between retrospective memory for stress and self-esteem and data gathered via experience sampling and examined whether alexithymia predicted accuracy. Results of both studies revealed substantial discrepancies between retrospective ratings and ESM ratings, especially for momentary states and their covariation. Alexithymia was positively related to recognition of stress means and variability but unrelated to recall of either stress or self-esteem, their variability, or their covariation. These findings suggest that experience sampling may be more useful than self-report when precise information is needed about the timing of mental states and dynamics among them