Viewpoints of elementary principals and their teachers concerning teachers' meetings as they are conducted within schools in five Massachusetts towns

Thesis (Ed.M.)--Boston Universit

The expected background spectrum in NaI dark matter detectors and the DAMA result

Detailed Monte Carlo simulations of the expected radioactive background rates and spectra in NaI crystals are presented. The obtained spectra are then compared to those measured in the DAMA/NaI and DAMA/LIBRA experiments. The simulations can be made consistent with the measured DAMA spectrum only by assuming higher than reported concentrations of some isotopes and even so leave very little room for the dark matter signal. We conclude that any interpretation of the annual modulation of the event rate observed by DAMA as a dark matter signal, should include full consideration of the background spectrum. This would significantly restrict the range of dark matter models capable of explaining the modulation effect.Comment: 17 pages, 6 figure

Long-range triplet proximity effect in multiply connected ferromagnet-superconductor hybrids

Applying the linearized Usadel equations, we consider the nucleation of superconductivity in multiply connected mesoscopic superconductor/ferromagnet (S/F) hybrids such as a thin superconducting ring on a ferromagnet with a uniform in-plane magnetization M and a spin-active S/F interface. We demonstrate that the exchange field in F provokes a switching between superconducting states with different vorticities which may increase the critical temperature ( Tc ) of the superconductor in a magnetic field. We study the interplay between oscillations in Tc due to the Little--Parks effect and oscillations in Tc induced by the exchange field. Furthermore, we analyse the influence of long-range spin-triplet correlations on the switching between different vorticities.Comment: 11 pages, 7 figure

The age of imagination: imagining play and invention: implications for creative development

This paper presents findings from The Irish Neighbourhood Play Study; a national, cross-border research project which recorded children’s play patterns in Ireland during 2012. The study incorporated 1688 families across 240 communities. Data was established on the play choices of children aged from birth to 14 years. Multiple differentials were explored including socio-economic and geographical environments. This paper focuses on the findings within imaginary play patterns for the full cohort. As such, it presents the play patterns for imaginary play in children aged birth-14 years. The findings are discussed in the context of developmental patterns with particular emphasis on the relationship between imaginary play and the development of creativity. Creativity is a key concept within contemporary education. Its central nexus is problem solving in the face of uncertainty. Within a rapidly changing world, it is a key skill requirement for today’s children as they grow towards efficacy within instability. The relationship between the development of creativity and children’s engagement with imaginary play practices are explored in this paper. ©IATED (2017). Reproduced in Research Online with permission

Pure quantum freezing of the 5th^{th} dimension

It is shown that superthin and superlong gravitational flux tube solutions in the 5D Kaluza-Klein gravity have the region $(\approx l_{Pl})$ where the metric signature changes from $\{+,-,-,-,- \}$ to $\{-,-,-,-,+ \}$. Such change is too quickly from one of the paradigms of quantum gravity which tells that the Planck length is the minimal length in the nature and consequently the physical quantities can not change very quickly in the course of this length. For avoiding such dynamic it is supposed that a pure quantum freezing of the dynamic of the $5^{th}$ dimension takes place. As the continuation of the flux tube metric in the longitudinal direction the Reissner-Nordstr\"om metric is proposed. In the consequence of such construction one can avoid the appearance of a point-like singularity in the extremal Reissner-Nordstr\"om solution.Comment: grammar errors are correcte