The benefits of art analysis in English 101: multilingual and American writers respond to artwork of their choice

This thesis details a case study carried out in the Summer of 2011 at Eastern Washington University in an English 101 Classroom. The students wrote art analysis essays and the researcher collected the essays and analyzed them for patterns or themes. The students participating in the thesis included Chinese, Saudi Arabian, Mexican-American, Japanese and American students. The essays were categorized and analyzed based on language group --Document

Phonemic Awareness: One Approach To Individualized Instruction

This study examined the effectiveness of a recently developed set of individualized lessons for kindergarten children at-risk for reading problems because of limited phonemic awareness skills. Four participants were selected via teacher referral and a score below the 25th percentile on the Test of Phonological Awareness. Sixteen lessons (focusing on six phonemes) and weekly assessments followed the selection of the participants. Each child was individually instructed in two 10-15 minute sessions each week for eight weeks and then given an assessment at the end of each week. Single case design was utilized to document the effectiveness of the lessons. Results indicated that the lessons were effective for three of the four children. Possible explanations are discussed as to why the fourth child did not progress as well as the other three children. Implications for the use of individualized instruction on phonemic awareness for phonologically at-risk children are discussed

Particle Multiplicity in Jets and Sub-jets with Jet Axis from Color Current

We study the particle multiplicity in a jet or sub-jet as derived from an energy-multiplicity 2-particle correlation. This definition avoids the notion of a globally fixed jet axis and allows for the study of smaller jet cone openings in a more stable way. The results are sensitive to the mean color current $_{A_0}$ in the jet from primary parton $A_0$ which takes into account intermediate partonic processes in the sub-jet production where $C_F< < C >_{A_0} < N_c$ at high energies. We generalize previous calculations in Leading Logarithmic Approximation (LLA). The size of the effects related to this jet axis definition are computed for multiplicities in sub-jets with different opening angles and energies by including contributions from the Modified LLA (MLLA) and Next-to-MLLA to the leading order QCD results

On the high order multiplicity moments

The description of multiplicity distributions in terms of the ratios of cumulants to factorial moments is analyzed both for data and for the Monte Carlo generated events. For the PYTHIA generated events the moments are investigated for the restricted range of phase-space and for the jets reconstructed from single particle momenta. The results cast doubts on the validity of extended local parton-hadron duality and suggest the possibility of more effective experimental investigations concerning the origin of the observed structure in the dependence of moments on their order.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figures; corrected version to be published in JP

ON QUASI-NEWTON FORWARD-BACKWARD SPLITTING: PROXIMAL CALCULUS AND CONVERGENCE

International audienceWe introduce a framework for quasi-Newton forward--backward splitting algorithms (proximal quasi-Newton methods) with a metric induced by diagonal $\pm$ rank-$r$ symmetric positive definite matrices. This special type of metric allows for a highly efficient evaluation of the proximal mapping. The key to this efficiency is a general proximal calculus in the new metric. By using duality, formulas are derived that relate the proximal mapping in a rank-$r$ modified metric to the original metric. We also describe efficient implementations of the proximity calculation for a large class of functions; the implementations exploit the piece-wise linear nature of the dual problem. Then, we apply these results to acceleration of composite convex minimization problems, which leads to elegant quasi-Newton methods for which we prove convergence. The algorithm is tested on several numerical examples and compared to a comprehensive list of alternatives in the literature. Our quasi-Newton splitting algorithm with the prescribed metric compares favorably against state-of-the-art. The algorithm has extensive applications including signal processing, sparse recovery, machine learning and classification to name a few

Deletion within the Src homology domain 3 of Bruton's tyrosine kinase resulting in X-linked agammaglobulinemia (XLA).

The gene responsible for X-linked agammaglobulinemia (XLA) has been recently identified to code for a cytoplasmic tyrosine kinase (Bruton's agammaglobulinemia tyrosine kinase, BTK), required for normal B cell development. BTK, like many other cytoplasmic tyrosine kinases, contains Src homology domains (SH2 and SH3), and catalytic kinase domain. SH3 domains are important for the targeting of signaling molecules to specific subcellular locations. We have identified a family with XLA whose affected members have a point mutation (g--&gt;a) at the 5' splice site of intron 8, resulting in the skipping of coding exon 8 and loss of 21 amino acids forming the COOH-terminal portion of the BTK SH3 domain. The study of three generations within this kinship, using restriction fragment length polymorphism and DNA analysis, allowed identification of the mutant X chromosome responsible for XLA and the carrier status in this family. BTK mRNA was present in normal amounts in Epstein-Barr virus-induced B lymphoblastoid cell lines established from affected family members. Although the SH3 deletion did not alter BTK protein stability and kinase activity of the truncated BTK protein was normal, the affected patients nevertheless have a severe B cell defect characteristic for XLA. The mutant protein was modeled using the normal BTK SH3 domain. The deletion results in loss of two COOH-terminal beta strands containing several residues critical for the formation of the putative SH3 ligand-binding pocket. We predict that, as a result, one or more crucial SH3 binding proteins fail to interact with BTK, interrupting the cytoplasmic signal transduction process required for B cell differentiation

Characterizing web pornography consumption from passive measurements

Web pornography represents a large fraction of the Internet traffic, with thousands of websites and millions of users. Studying web pornography consumption allows understanding human behaviors and it is crucial for medical and psychological research. However, given the lack of public data, these works typically build on surveys, limited by different factors, e.g. unreliable answers that volunteers may (involuntarily) provide. In this work, we collect anonymized accesses to pornography websites using HTTP-level passive traces. Our dataset includes about $15\,000$ broadband subscribers over a period of 3 years. We use it to provide quantitative information about the interactions of users with pornographic websites, focusing on time and frequency of use, habits, and trends. We distribute our anonymized dataset to the community to ease reproducibility and allow further studies.Comment: Passive and Active Measurements Conference 2019 (PAM 2019). 14 pages, 7 figure