The James Webb Space Telescope Mission

Twenty-six years ago a small committee report, building on earlier studies, expounded a compelling and poetic vision for the future of astronomy, calling for an infrared-optimized space telescope with an aperture of at least $4m$. With the support of their governments in the US, Europe, and Canada, 20,000 people realized that vision as the $6.5m$ James Webb Space Telescope. A generation of astronomers will celebrate their accomplishments for the life of the mission, potentially as long as 20 years, and beyond. This report and the scientific discoveries that follow are extended thank-you notes to the 20,000 team members. The telescope is working perfectly, with much better image quality than expected. In this and accompanying papers, we give a brief history, describe the observatory, outline its objectives and current observing program, and discuss the inventions and people who made it possible. We cite detailed reports on the design and the measured performance on orbit.Comment: Accepted by PASP for the special issue on The James Webb Space Telescope Overview, 29 pages, 4 figure

Apprentice Reading – Equipping Parents to Prevent the “Summer Set-Back”

Struggling readers typically lose reading skill over the summer, accounting for up to 80% of the “achievement gap,” especially for poorer children. Learn how parents or volunteers, with only limited training and support, can use Apprentice Reading, a natural, enjoyable, research-proven method, to effectively prevent “summer set-back,” and help many students actually gain reading skill and motivation over the summer, and throughout the school year

Ethical issues in conducting literacy research in school and out-of-school settings

This invited paper, authored by members of the National Reading Conference Ethics Innovative Community Group (ICG), discusses ethical issues involved in conducting literacy research in formal and informal school and out-of-school settings. The researchers ground their work in Noddings’ ethics of care applied to educational settings (1984, 1999, 2002). The authors introduce each literacy research section with a vignette that illustrates ethical issues under consideration, followed by an analysis of the types of issues that arise in each setting. The analyses raise questions about ethical research practices for the field of literacy research

Assessment of Range Planting as a Conservation Practice

Natural Resource Conservation Service Range Planting - Conservation Practice Standards provide guidelines for making decisions about seedbed preparation, planting methods, plant materials selection, seeding rate, seeding depth, timing of seeding, postplanting management, and weed control. Adoption of these standards is expected to contribute to successful improvement of vegetation composition and productivity of grazed plant communities. Also expected are some specific conservation effects, such as improved forage for livestock; improved forage, browse, or cover for wildlife; improved water quality and quantity; reduced wind or water erosion; and increased carbon sequestration. The success of specific conservation practices and the magnitude of conservation effects are highly dependent on ecological-site characteristics, the initial degree of deviation from desired site characteristics, and weather, all of which are highly variable in both time and space. Previous research has produced few studies directly linking range planting conservation practices to conservation effects. Assessment of conservation effects attributed to rangeland planting practices must, therefore, be separated into two components: 1) evidence of the degree to which specific management practices have been shown to result in desirable vegetation change and 2) evidence supporting positive conservation effects of alternative vegetation states. The aggregate literature generally supports both 1) the existing conservation practice recommendations for rangeland seeding and 2) the inherent assumption that if these practices are successful, they will result in beneficial conservation effects. High spatial and temporal variability in these systems, however, may limit the success of generic or prescriptive management practices. Current conservation practice recommendations could be improved by incorporating more direct linkages to the ecologically based technical literature, more up-to-date information on adaptive management strategies in highly variable rangeland systems, and integration of monitoring strategies designed to directly test the efficacy of specific conservation practices.The Rangeland Ecology & Management archives are made available by the Society for Range Management and the University of Arizona Libraries. Contact [email protected] for further information

The James Webb Space Telescope Mission

Twenty-six years ago a small committee report, building on earlier studies, expounded a compelling and poetic vision for the future of astronomy, calling for an infrared-optimized space telescope with an aperture of at least 4 m. With the support of their governments in the US, Europe, and Canada, 20,000 people realized that vision as the 6.5 m James Webb Space Telescope. A generation of astronomers will celebrate their accomplishments for the life of the mission, potentially as long as 20 yr, and beyond. This report and the scientific discoveries that follow are extended thank-you notes to the 20,000 team members. The telescope is working perfectly, with much better image quality than expected. In this and accompanying papers, we give a brief history, describe the observatory, outline its objectives and current observing program, and discuss the inventions and people who made it possible. We cite detailed reports on the design and the measured performance on orbit

Angular analysis of the decay B0→K∗0μ+μ− \mathrm{ B^0 \to K^{*0} \mu^{+} \mu^{-} } from pp collisions at s=\sqrt{s}= 8 TeV

The angular distributions and the differential branching fraction of the decay $\mathrm{ B^0 \to K^{*}(892)^0 \mu^{+} \mu^{-} }$ are studied using data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 20.5 fb$^{-1}$ collected with the CMS detector at the LHC in pp collisions at $\sqrt{s} =$ 8 TeV. From 1430 signal decays, the forward-backward asymmetry of the muons, the $\mathrm{ K^{*}(892)^0 }$ longitudinal polarization fraction, and the differential branching fraction are determined as a function of the dimuon invariant mass squared. The measurements are among the most precise to date and are in good agreement with standard model predictions