226 research outputs found
Bridging in-class participation with innovative instruction: Use and implications in a Turkish university classroom
Student-centred university classrooms not only support student learning but also provide a forum to practise the skills of democratic participation, a particularly important set of skills for citizens in young democracies like Turkey where this study takes place. Yet, often classroom assessment methods do not match these innovative teaching methods and, therefore, do not encourage students to increase and learn from their participation. This paper describes how two professors bridged innovative classroom instruction and student participation through the use of a detailed, written description of in-class participation. They document the changes in their classroom practices and the student responses to these innovations and assessments
Theoretical study of the absorption spectra of the sodium dimer
Absorption of radiation from the sodium dimer molecular states correlating to
Na(3s)-Na(3s) is investigated theoretically. Vibrational bound and continuum
transitions from the singlet X Sigma-g+ state to the first excited singlet A
Sigma-u+ and singlet B Pi-u states and from the triplet a Sigma-u+ state to the
first excited triplet b Sigma-g+ and triplet c Pi-g states are studied
quantum-mechanically. Theoretical and experimental data are used to
characterize the molecular properties taking advantage of knowledge recently
obtained from ab initio calculations, spectroscopy, and ultra-cold atom
collision studies. The quantum-mechanical calculations are carried out for
temperatures in the range from 500 to 3000 K and are compared with previous
calculations and measurements where available.Comment: 19 pages, 8 figures, revtex, eps
Cosmic microwave background anisotropies in multi-connected flat spaces
This article investigates the signature of the seventeen multi-connected flat
spaces in cosmic microwave background (CMB) maps. For each such space it
recalls a fundamental domain and a set of generating matrices, and then goes on
to find an orthonormal basis for the set of eigenmodes of the Laplace operator
on that space. The basis eigenmodes are expressed as linear combinations of
eigenmodes of the simply connected Euclidean space. A preceding work, which
provides a general method for implementing multi-connected topologies in
standard CMB codes, is then applied to simulate CMB maps and angular power
spectra for each space. Unlike in the 3-torus, the results in most
multi-connected flat spaces depend on the location of the observer. This effect
is discussed in detail. In particular, it is shown that the correlated circles
on a CMB map are generically not back-to-back, so that negative search of
back-to-back circles in the WMAP data does not exclude a vast majority of flat
or nearly flat topologies.Comment: 33 pages, 19 figures, 1 table. Submitted to PR
Mutations of the BRAF gene in human cancer
Cancers arise owing to the accumulation of mutations in critical genes that alter normal programmes of cell proliferation, differentiation and death. As the first stage of a systematic genome-wide screen for these genes, we have prioritized for analysis signalling pathways in which at least one gene is mutated in human cancer. The RAS RAF MEK ERK MAP kinase pathway mediates cellular responses to growth signals. RAS is mutated to an oncogenic form in about 15% of human cancer. The three RAF genes code for cytoplasmic serine/threonine kinases that are regulated by binding RAS. Here we report BRAF somatic missense mutations in 66% of malignant melanomas and at lower frequency in a wide range of human cancers. All mutations are within the kinase domain, with a single substitution (V599E) accounting for 80%. Mutated BRAF proteins have elevated kinase activity and are transforming in NIH3T3 cells. Furthermore, RAS function is not required for the growth of cancer cell lines with the V599E mutation. As BRAF is a serine/threonine kinase that is commonly activated by somatic point mutation in human cancer, it may provide new therapeutic opportunities in malignant melanoma
Single Spin Asymmetry in Polarized Proton-Proton Elastic Scattering at GeV
We report a high precision measurement of the transverse single spin
asymmetry at the center of mass energy GeV in elastic
proton-proton scattering by the STAR experiment at RHIC. The was measured
in the four-momentum transfer squared range \GeVcSq, the region of a significant interference between the
electromagnetic and hadronic scattering amplitudes. The measured values of
and its -dependence are consistent with a vanishing hadronic spin-flip
amplitude, thus providing strong constraints on the ratio of the single
spin-flip to the non-flip amplitudes. Since the hadronic amplitude is dominated
by the Pomeron amplitude at this , we conclude that this measurement
addresses the question about the presence of a hadronic spin flip due to the
Pomeron exchange in polarized proton-proton elastic scattering.Comment: 12 pages, 6 figure
Longitudinal double-spin asymmetry and cross section for inclusive neutral pion production at midrapidity in polarized proton collisions at sqrt(s) = 200 GeV
We report a measurement of the longitudinal double-spin asymmetry A_LL and
the differential cross section for inclusive Pi0 production at midrapidity in
polarized proton collisions at sqrt(s) = 200 GeV. The cross section was
measured over a transverse momentum range of 1 < p_T < 17 GeV/c and found to be
in good agreement with a next-to-leading order perturbative QCD calculation.
The longitudinal double-spin asymmetry was measured in the range of 3.7 < p_T <
11 GeV/c and excludes a maximal positive gluon polarization in the proton. The
mean transverse momentum fraction of Pi0's in their parent jets was found to be
around 0.7 for electromagnetically triggered events.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev. D (RC
High non-photonic electron production in + collisions at = 200 GeV
We present the measurement of non-photonic electron production at high
transverse momentum ( 2.5 GeV/) in + collisions at
= 200 GeV using data recorded during 2005 and 2008 by the STAR
experiment at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC). The measured
cross-sections from the two runs are consistent with each other despite a large
difference in photonic background levels due to different detector
configurations. We compare the measured non-photonic electron cross-sections
with previously published RHIC data and pQCD calculations. Using the relative
contributions of B and D mesons to non-photonic electrons, we determine the
integrated cross sections of electrons () at 3 GeV/10 GeV/ from bottom and charm meson decays to be = 4.0({\rm
stat.})({\rm syst.}) nb and =
6.2({\rm stat.})({\rm syst.}) nb, respectively.Comment: 17 pages, 17 figure
Evolution of the differential transverse momentum correlation function with centrality in Au+Au collisions at GeV
We present first measurements of the evolution of the differential transverse
momentum correlation function, {\it C}, with collision centrality in Au+Au
interactions at GeV. {\it C} exhibits a strong dependence
on collision centrality that is qualitatively similar to that of number
correlations previously reported. We use the observed longitudinal broadening
of the near-side peak of {\it C} with increasing centrality to estimate the
ratio of the shear viscosity to entropy density, , of the matter formed
in central Au+Au interactions. We obtain an upper limit estimate of
that suggests that the produced medium has a small viscosity per unit entropy.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures, STAR paper published in Phys. Lett.
Measurement of Transverse Single-Spin Asymmetries for Di-Jet Production in Proton-Proton Collisions at GeV
We report the first measurement of the opening angle distribution between
pairs of jets produced in high-energy collisions of transversely polarized
protons. The measurement probes (Sivers) correlations between the transverse
spin orientation of a proton and the transverse momentum directions of its
partons. With both beams polarized, the wide pseudorapidity () coverage for jets permits separation of Sivers functions for the valence
and sea regions. The resulting asymmetries are all consistent with zero and
considerably smaller than Sivers effects observed in semi-inclusive deep
inelastic scattering (SIDIS). We discuss theoretical attempts to reconcile the
new results with the sizable transverse spin effects seen in SIDIS and forward
hadron production in pp collisions.Comment: 6 pages total, 1 Latex file, 3 PS files with figure
Longitudinal scaling property of the charge balance function in Au + Au collisions at 200 GeV
We present measurements of the charge balance function, from the charged
particles, for diverse pseudorapidity and transverse momentum ranges in Au + Au
collisions at 200 GeV using the STAR detector at RHIC. We observe that the
balance function is boost-invariant within the pseudorapidity coverage [-1.3,
1.3]. The balance function properly scaled by the width of the observed
pseudorapidity window does not depend on the position or size of the
pseudorapidity window. This scaling property also holds for particles in
different transverse momentum ranges. In addition, we find that the width of
the balance function decreases monotonically with increasing transverse
momentum for all centrality classes.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figure
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