Peer Observation Reports and Student Evaluations of Teaching: Who Are the Experts?

This study is an exploratory inquiry into the perceptions of university faculty regarding two forms of teaching evaluations, student evaluations of teaching (SET), and peer observation reports (POR). Which, if either, better assesses the quality of instruction? Who are the real experts in judging teaching quality: peers who are experts in their field or students who are the recipients of instruction? Results suggest that it is better not to rely on a single source of information as evidence of teaching effectiveness. SET and POR provide complementary information from differing perspectives. Advantages and disadvantages of both are discussed.Ce projet de recherche est une enquête portant sur les perceptions des professeurs universitaires relatives à deux formes d’évaluations de l’enseignement : les évaluations par les étudiants et les rapports d’observation par les pairs. Quelle méthode évalue le mieux la qualité de l’instruction? Qui sont réellement les experts en matière d’évaluation de la qualité d’enseignement : les pairs, experts dans leur domaine, ou les étudiants qui a qui on transmet l’instruction? Les résultats donnent à penser qu’il vaut mieux ne pas se fier à une seule source d’information comme preuves de l’efficacité de l’enseignement. L’information découlant des évaluations par les étudiants et celle que fournissent les rapports d’observation par les pairs proposent des perspectives différentes qui se complètent. Une discussion des avantages et des inconvénients des deux méthodes d’évaluation vient terminer l’article

The catalog of radial velocity standard stars for the Gaia RVS: status and progress of the observations

A new full-sky catalog of Radial Velocity standard stars is being built for the determination of the Radial Velocity Zero Point of the RVS on board of Gaia. After a careful selection of 1420 candidates matching well defined criteria, we are now observing all of them to verify that they are stable enough over several years to be qualified as reference stars. We present the status of this long-term observing programme on three spectrographs : SOPHIE, NARVAL and CORALIE, complemented by the ELODIE and HARPS archives. Because each instrument has its own zero-point, we observe intensively IAU RV standards and asteroids to homogenize the radial velocity measurements. We can already estimate that ~8% of the candidates have to be rejected because of variations larger than the requested level of 300 m/s.Comment: Proceedings of SF2A2010, S. Boissier, M. Heydari-Malayeri, R. Samadi and D. Valls-Gabaud (eds), 3 pages, 2 figure

Affine convex body semigroups

In this paper we present a new kind of semigroups called convex body semigroups which are generated by convex bodies of R^k. They generalize to arbitrary dimension the concept of proportionally modular numerical semigroup of [7]. Several properties of these semigroups are proven. Affine convex body semigroups obtained from circles and polygons of R^2 are characterized. The algorithms for computing minimal system of generators of these semigroups are given. We provide the implementation of some of them

Nonlinear Blind Parameter Estimation

This note deals with parameter estimation of nonlinear continuous-time models when the input signals of the corresponding system are not measured. The contribution of the note is to show that, with simple priors about the unknown input signals and using derivatives of the output signals, one can perform the estimation procedure. As an illustration, we consider situations where the simple priors, e.g., independence or Gaussianity of the unknown inputs, is assumed

Novel psychrophiles and exopolymers from permafrost thaw lake sediments

Thermokarst lakes are one of the most abundant types of microbial ecosystems in the circumpolar North. These shallow basins are formed by the thawing and collapse of ice-rich permafrost, with subsequent filling by snow and ice melt. Until now, permafrost thaw lakes have received little attention for isolation of microorganisms by culture-based analysis. The discovery of novel psychrophiles and their biomolecules makes these extreme environments suitable sources for the isolation of new strains, including for potential biotechnological applications. In this study, samples of bottom sediments were collected from three permafrost thaw lakes in subarctic Québec, Canada. Their diverse microbial communities were characterized by 16S rRNA gene amplicon analysis, and subsamples were cultured for the isolation of bacterial strains. Phenotypic and genetic characterization of the isolates revealed affinities to the genera Pseudomonas, Paenibacillus, Acinetobacter, Staphylococcus and Sphingomonas. The isolates were then evaluated for their production of extracellular enzymes and exopolymers. Enzymes of potential biotechnological interest included α and β-glucosidase, α and β-maltosidase, β-xylosidase and cellobiohydrolase. One isolate, Pseudomonas extremaustralis strain 2ASCA, also showed the capability to produce, in the loosely bound cell fraction, a levan-type polysaccharide with a yield of 613 mg/L of culture, suggesting its suitability as a candidate for eco-sustainable alternatives to commercial polymers

Transmission Properties of the oscillating delta-function potential

We derive an exact expression for the transmission amplitude of a particle moving through a harmonically driven delta-function potential by using the method of continued-fractions within the framework of Floquet theory. We prove that the transmission through this potential as a function of the incident energy presents at most two real zeros, that its poles occur at energies $n\hbar\omega+\varepsilon^*$ ($0<Re(\varepsilon^*)<\hbar\omega$), and that the poles and zeros in the transmission amplitude come in pairs with the distance between the zeros and the poles (and their residue) decreasing with increasing energy of the incident particle. We also show the existence of non-resonant "bands" in the transmission amplitude as a function of the strength of the potential and the driving frequency.Comment: 21 pages, 12 figures, 1 tabl

Terahertz master-oscillator power-amplifier quantum cascade lasers

We report on the realization of a monolithically integrated master-oscillator power-amplifier architecture in a terahertz quantum cascade laser (THz-QCL) with a metal-metal waveguide. The master-oscillator section is a first-order distributed feedback (DFB) laser. Instead of using a thick anti-reflection coating, we exploit a diffraction grating together with an absorbing boundary in the power-amplifier section to efficiently extract the laser radiation and suppress the self-lasing in it. The devices demonstrate a stable generation and power amplification of single-mode emission. The amplification factor is about 5, and the output power is approximately twice that of the standard second-order DFB lasers fabricated from the same material. Emission beam pattern with a divergence angle of ∼18 × 40° is achieved. Our work provides an avenue for the realization of single-mode THz-QCLs with high output power and good beam quality

Mutualist-Provisioned Resources Impact Vector Competency

ABSTRACT Many symbionts supplement their host’s diet with essential nutrients. However, whether these nutrients also enhance parasitism is unknown. In this study, we investigated whether folate (vitamin B9) production by the tsetse fly (Glossina spp.) essential mutualist, Wigglesworthia, aids auxotrophic African trypanosomes in completing their life cycle within this obligate vector. We show that the expression of Wigglesworthia folate biosynthesis genes changes with the progression of trypanosome infection within tsetse. The disruption of Wigglesworthia folate production caused a reduction in the percentage of flies that housed midgut (MG) trypanosome infections. However, decreased folate did not prevent MG trypanosomes from migrating to and establishing an infection in the fly’s salivary glands, thus suggesting that nutrient requirements vary throughout the trypanosome life cycle. We further substantiated that trypanosomes rely on symbiont-generated folate by feeding this vitamin to Glossina brevipalpis, which exhibits low trypanosome vector competency and houses Wigglesworthia incapable of producing folate. Folate-supplemented G. brevipalpis flies were significantly more susceptible to trypanosome infection, further demonstrating that this vitamin facilitates parasite infection establishment. Our cumulative results provide evidence that Wigglesworthia provides a key metabolite (folate) that is “hijacked” by trypanosomes to enhance their infectivity, thus indirectly impacting tsetse species vector competency. Parasite dependence on symbiontderived micronutrients, which likely also occurs in other arthropod vectors, represents a relationship that may be exploited to reduce disease transmission. IMPORTANCE Parasites elicit several physiological changes in their host to enhance transmission. Little is known about the functional association between parasitism and microbiota-provisioned resources typically dedicated to animal hosts and how these goods may be rerouted to optimize parasite development. This study is the first to identify a specific symbiont-generated metabolite that impacts insect vector competence by facilitating parasite establishment and, thus, eventual transmission. Specifically, we demonstrate that the tsetse fly obligate mutualist Wigglesworthia provisions folate (vitamin B9) that pathogenic African trypanosomes exploit in an effort to successfully establish an infection in the vector’s MG. This process is essential for the parasite to complete its life cycle and be transmitted to a new vertebrate host. Disrupting metabolic contributions provided by the microbiota of arthropod disease vectors may fuel future innovative control strategies while also offering minimal nontarget effects