Teaching the Communication Course: Intercultural Communication

Intercultural Communication is a course that can help individuals gain the knowledge and tools to be an effective communicator in a globalized world. This article seeks to answer the question about what students enrolled in an Intercultural Communication course should learn. Specifically, the Intercultural Communication course is examined by examining its foundations, content areas, applied assignments, and issues to consider

Model-Independent Comparisons of Pulsar Timings to Scalar-Tensor Gravity

Observations of pulsar timing provide strong constraints on scalar-tensor theories of gravity, but these constraints are traditionally quoted as limits on the microscopic parameters (like the Brans-Dicke coupling, for example) that govern the strength of scalar-matter couplings at the particle level in particular models. Here we present fits to timing data for several pulsars directly in terms of the phenomenological couplings (masses, scalar charges, moment of inertia sensitivities and so on) of the stars involved, rather than to the more microscopic parameters of a specific model. For instance, for the double pulsar PSR J0737-3039A/B we find at the 68% confidence level that the masses are bounded by 1.28 < m_A/m_sun < 1.34 and 1.19 < m_B/m_sun < 1.25, while the scalar-charge to mass ratios satisfy |a_A| < 0.21, |a_B| < 0.21 and |a_B - a_A| < 0.002$. These constraints are independent of the details of the scalar tensor model involved, and of assumptions about the stellar equations of state. Our fits can be used to constrain a broad class of scalar tensor theories by computing the fit quantities as functions of the microscopic parameters in any particular model. For the Brans-Dicke and quasi-Brans-Dicke models, the constraints obtained in this manner are consistent with those quoted in the literature.Comment: 19 pages, 7 figure

MICROSPOROGENESIS AND EMBRYOGENESIS IN QUERCUS

Representative species from two subgenera in the genus Quercus were examined for floral structure and phenology, microsporogenesis, and embryogenesis. The species selected for investigation were: Quercus alba in the Lepidobalanus subgenera, and Quercus coccinea and Quercus ilicifolia from the Erythrobalanus group. Photographs of flowering and photomicrographs of microsporogensis and embryogenesis are used for illustration. The male flowers of the three species are borne on catkins which develop in the scale leaf axils of the current vegetative bud or in separate male buds. Meiosis occurred in the spring at the beginning of bud enlargement; division figures were regular in all the material observed. A haploid chromosome number of 12 was confirmed for the three species. Pollen was shed on May 10, 1962, from trees of Quercus coccinea and Quercus ilicifolia; and on May 26, 1962 from Quercus alba. The female flowers are located in the axils of the new leaves. Seed development requires one growing season in Quercus alba, but two growing seasons are required to mature seed of Quercus coccinea and Quercus ilicifolia. The chronology of embryo development was similar for Quercus coccinea and Quercus ilicifolia; embryo development of Quercus alba was about two weeks behind that of the other two species. Definition of ovule dominance within a seed occurred at the time of early embryo development. Failure of this physiological expression of dominance results in multiseeded acorns. No abnormal embryogenesis per se was observed in relation to multiple embryo development. (auth

Probing the Masses of the PSR J0621+1002 Binary System Through Relativistic Apsidal Motion

Orbital, spin and astrometric parameters of the millisecond pulsar PSR J0621+1002 have been determined through six years of timing observations at three radio telescopes. The chief result is a measurement of the rate of periastron advance, omega_dot = 0.0116 +/- 0.0008 deg/yr. Interpreted as a general relativistic effect, this implies the sum of the pulsar mass, m_1, and the companion mass, m_2, to be M = m_1 + m_2 = 2.81 +/- 0.30 msun. The Keplerian parameters rule out certain combinations of m_1 and m_2, as does the non-detection of Shapiro delay in the pulse arrival times. These constraints, together with the assumption that the companion is a white dwarf, lead to the 68% confidence maximum likelihood values of m_1 = 1.70(+0.32 -0.29) msun and m_2 =0.97(+0.27 - 0.15) msun and to the 95% confidence maximum likelihood values of m_1 = 1.70(+0.59 -0.63) msun and m_2 = 0.97(+0.43 -0.24) msun. The other major finding is that the pulsar experiences dramatic variability in its dispersion measure (DM), with gradients as steep as 0.013 pc cm^{-3} / yr. A structure function analysis of the DM variations uncovers spatial fluctuations in the interstellar electron density that cannot be fit to a single power law, unlike the Kolmogorov turbulent spectrum that has been seen in the direction of other pulsars. Other results from the timing analysis include the first measurements of the pulsar's proper motion, mu = 3.5 +/- 0.3 mas / yr, and of its spin-down rate, dP/dt = 4.7 x 10^{-20}, which, when corrected for kinematic biases and combined with the pulse period, P = 28.8 ms, gives a characteristic age of 1.1 x 10^{10} yr and a surface magnetic field strength of 1.2 x 10^{9} G.Comment: Accepted by ApJ, 10 pages, 5 figure

The Parkes Multibeam Pulsar Survey - II. Discovery and Timing of 120 Pulsars

The Parkes Multibeam Pulsar Survey is a sensitive survey of a strip of the Galactic plane with |b| \u3c 5° and 260° \u3c l \u3c 50° at 1374 MHz. Here we report the discovery of 120 new pulsars and subsequent timing observations, primarily using the 76-m Lovell radio telescope at Jodrell Bank. The main features of the sample of 370 published pulsars discovered during the multibeam survey are described. Furthermore, we highlight two pulsars: PSR J1734−3333, a young pulsar with the second highest surface magnetic field strength among the known radio pulsars, Bs= 5.4 × 1013 G, and PSR J1830−1135, the second slowest radio pulsar known, with a 6-s period