730 research outputs found
A social work education outcome measure: the Evaluation Self-Efficacy Scale-II
The Evaluation Self-Efficacy (ESE) scale was designed as an outcome measure for evaluation research courses in social work. A revised version of the Social Cognitive Theory–based ESE (ESE-II) was developed and evaluated in the current study including both new and revised items. The ESE-II was evaluated in a final sample of 168 masters level students using a pretest–posttest design. Exploratory factor analysis revealed a single-factor structure underlying the 14 self-efficacy items at both assessment points. Cronbach’s alphas for the ESE-II were high at pre- and posttest. An argument underpinning content validity was developed and convergent validity was demonstrated. The ESE-II was also sensitive to change over time both at the item and scale level. The current study provides evidence supporting select psychometric properties of the ESE-II and the flexibility of self-efficacy as an outcome measure for social work education
Clones with finitely many relative R-classes
For each clone C on a set A there is an associated equivalence relation
analogous to Green's R-relation, which relates two operations on A iff each one
is a substitution instance of the other using operations from C. We study the
clones for which there are only finitely many relative R-classes.Comment: 41 pages; proofs improved, examples adde
Height and risk of death among men and women: aetiological implications of associations with cardiorespiratory disease and cancer mortality
OBJECTIVES: Height is inversely associated with cardiovascular disease mortality risk and has shown variable associations with cancer incidence and mortality. The interpretation of findings from previous studies has been constrained by data limitations. Associations between height and specific causes of death were investigated in a large general population cohort of men and women from the West of Scotland.
DESIGN: Prospective observational study.
SETTING: Renfrew and Paisley, in the West of Scotland.
SUBJECTS: 7052 men and 8354 women aged 45-64 were recruited into a study in Renfrew and Paisley, in the West of Scotland, between 1972 and 1976. Detailed assessments of cardiovascular disease risk factors, morbidity and socioeconomic circumstances were made at baseline.
MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Deaths during 20 years of follow up classified into specific causes.
RESULTS: Over the follow up period 3347 men and 2638 women died. Height is inversely associated with all cause, coronary heart disease, stroke, and respiratory disease mortality among men and women. Adjustment for socioeconomic position and cardiovascular risk factors had little influence on these associations. Height is strongly associated with forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) and adjustment for FEV1 considerably attenuated the association between height and cardiorespiratory mortality. Smoking related cancer mortality is not associated with height. The risk of deaths from cancer unrelated to smoking tended to increase with height, particularly for haematopoietic, colorectal and prostate cancers. Stomach cancer mortality was inversely associated with height. Adjustment for socioeconomic position had little influence on these associations.
CONCLUSION: Height serves partly as an indicator of socioeconomic circumstances and nutritional status in childhood and this may underlie the inverse associations between height and adulthood cardiorespiratory mortality. Much of the association between height and cardiorespiratory mortality was accounted for by lung function, which is also partly determined by exposures acting in childhood. The inverse association between height and stomach cancer mortality probably reflects Helicobacter pylori infection in childhood resulting inor being associated withshorter height. The positive associations between height and several cancers unrelated to smoking could reflect the influence of calorie intake during childhood on the risk of these cancers
Identified particles in Au+Au collisions at sqrt{s_NN} = 200 GeV
The yields of identified particles have been measured at RHIC for Au+Au
collisions at sqrt{s_NN} = 200 GeV using the PHOBOS spectrometer. The ratios of
antiparticle to particle yields near mid-rapidity are presented. The first
measurements of the invariant yields of charged pions, kaons and protons at
very low transverse momenta are also shown.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, Contribution to Quark Matter 2002, Nantes,
France, July 200
Universal Behavior of Charged Particle Production in Heavy Ion Collisions
The PHOBOS experiment at RHIC has measured the multiplicity of primary
charged particles as a function of centrality and pseudorapidity in Au+Au
collisions at sqrt(s_NN) = 19.6, 130 and 200 GeV. Two kinds of universal
behavior are observed in charged particle production in heavy ion collisions.
The first is that forward particle production, over a range of energies,
follows a universal limiting curve with a non-trivial centrality dependence.
The second arises from comparisons with pp/pbar-p and e+e- data.
N_tot/(N_part/2) in nuclear collisions at high energy scales with sqrt(s) in a
similar way as N_tot in e+e- collisions and has a very weak centrality
dependence. This feature may be related to a reduction in the leading particle
effect due to the multiple collisions suffered per participant in heavy ion
collisions.Comment: 4 Pages, 5 Figures, contributed to the Proceedings of Quark Matter
2002, Nantes, France, 18-24 July 200
Recent Results from PHOBOS at RHIC
The PHOBOS experiment at RHIC has recorded measurements for Au-Au collisions
spanning nucleon-nucleon center-of-mass energies from 19.6 GeV to 200 GeV.
Global observables such as elliptic flow and charged particle multiplicity
provide important constraints on model predictions that characterize the state
of matter produced in these collisions. The nearly 4 pi acceptance of the
PHOBOS experiment provides excellent coverage for complete flow and
multiplicity measurements. Results including beam energy and centrality
dependencies are presented and compared to elementary systems.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, proceedings from PANIC02 in Osaka, Japa
Global Observations from PHOBOS
Particle production in Au+Au collisions has been measured in the PHOBOS
experiment at RHIC for a range of collision energies. Three empirical
observations have emerged from this dataset which require theoretical
examination. First, there is clear evidence of limiting fragmentation. Namely,
particle production in central Au+Au collisions, when expressed as
(), becomes energy independent at high energy for a
broad region of around . This energy-independent region grows
with energy, allowing only a limited region (if any) of longitudinal
boost-invariance. Second, there is a striking similarity between particle
production in e+e- and Au+Au collisions (scaled by the number of participating
nucleon pairs). Both the total number of produced particles and the
longitudinal distribution of produced particles are approximately the same in
e+e- and in scaled Au+Au. This observation was not predicted and has not been
explained. Finally, particle production has been found to scale approximately
with the number of participating nucleon pairs for . This scaling
occurs both for the total multiplicity and for high \pT particles (3 <\pT<
4.5 GeV/c).Comment: QM2002 plenary talk, 10 pages, 11 figure
Effect of polyethylene mulches on soil temperature and tomato yield in plastic greenhouse
Horizontal Branch Stars: The Interplay between Observations and Theory, and Insights into the Formation of the Galaxy
We review HB stars in a broad astrophysical context, including both variable
and non-variable stars. A reassessment of the Oosterhoff dichotomy is
presented, which provides unprecedented detail regarding its origin and
systematics. We show that the Oosterhoff dichotomy and the distribution of
globular clusters (GCs) in the HB morphology-metallicity plane both exclude,
with high statistical significance, the possibility that the Galactic halo may
have formed from the accretion of dwarf galaxies resembling present-day Milky
Way satellites such as Fornax, Sagittarius, and the LMC. A rediscussion of the
second-parameter problem is presented. A technique is proposed to estimate the
HB types of extragalactic GCs on the basis of integrated far-UV photometry. The
relationship between the absolute V magnitude of the HB at the RR Lyrae level
and metallicity, as obtained on the basis of trigonometric parallax
measurements for the star RR Lyrae, is also revisited, giving a distance
modulus to the LMC of (m-M)_0 = 18.44+/-0.11. RR Lyrae period change rates are
studied. Finally, the conductive opacities used in evolutionary calculations of
low-mass stars are investigated. [ABRIDGED]Comment: 56 pages, 22 figures. Invited review, to appear in Astrophysics and
Space Scienc
Search for composite and exotic fermions at LEP 2
A search for unstable heavy fermions with the DELPHI detector at LEP is
reported. Sequential and non-canonical leptons, as well as excited leptons and
quarks, are considered. The data analysed correspond to an integrated
luminosity of about 48 pb^{-1} at an e^+e^- centre-of-mass energy of 183 GeV
and about 20 pb^{-1} equally shared between the centre-of-mass energies of 172
GeV and 161 GeV. The search for pair-produced new leptons establishes 95%
confidence level mass limits in the region between 70 GeV/c^2 and 90 GeV/c^2,
depending on the channel. The search for singly produced excited leptons and
quarks establishes upper limits on the ratio of the coupling of the excited
fermio
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