Transforming a 4th year Modern Optics Course Using a Deliberate Practice Framework

We present a study of active learning pedagogies in an upper division physics course. This work was guided by the principle of deliberate practice for the development of expertise, and this principle was used in the design of the materials and the orchestration of the classroom activities of the students. We present our process for efficiently converting a traditional lecture course based on instructor notes into activities for such a course with active learning methods. Ninety percent of the same material was covered and scores on common exam problems showed a 15 % improvement with an effect size greater than 1 after the transformation. We observe that the improvement and the associated effect size is sustained after handing off the materials to a second instructor. Because the improvement on exam questions was independent of specific problem topics and because the material tested was so mathematically advanced and broad (including linear algebra, Fourier Transforms, partial differential equations, vector calculus), we expect the transformation process could be applied to most upper division physics courses having a similar mathematical base.Comment: 31 page

Economic Impacts of Aquatic Vegetation to Angling in Two South Carolina Reservoirs

Angler creel surveys and economic impact models were used to evaluate potential expansion of aquatic vegetation in Lakes Murray and Moultrie, South Carolina. (PDF contains 4 pages.

Determination of Traveltime in the Delaware River, Hancock, New York, to the Delaware Water Gap by Use of a Conservative Dye Tracer

Traveltime of a soluble substance was determined for a 120-mile reach of the Delaware River from the confluence of the East Branch Delaware River and the West Branch Delaware River at Hancock, N.Y. to the Delaware Water Gap. Dye studies were conducted at the 85-95 percent and the 25-30 percent flow durations. Discharges ranged from 500-1,740 cubic feet per second during the 85-95 percent flow duration and 3,070-7,500 cubic feet per second for the 25-30 percent flow duration. The data were used to develop a set of time-concentration curves that would enable estimation of the traveltime of a spill at any point in the river within the study reach for 10 flow durations. The leading edge of a contaminant spill at Buckingham Access would take about 70 hours to reach the Delaware Water Gap when flows are at the 30-percent flow duration. The trailing edge (location of the dye cloud when concentrations would decrease to 10 percent of the peak concentration) would take about 50 hours after the arrival of the leading edge

Electronic and optical properties of beryllium chalcogenides/silicon heterostructures

We have calculated electronic and optical properties of Si/BeSe$_{0.41}$Te$_{0.59}$ heterostructures by a semiempirical $sp^{3}s^{*}$ tight-binding method. Tight-binding parameters and band bowing of BeSe$_{0.41}$Te$_{0.59}$ are considered through a recent model for highly mismatched semiconductor alloys. The band bowing and the measurements of conduction band offset lead to a type II heterostucture for Si/BeSe$_{0.41}$Te$_{0.59}$ with conduction band minimum in the Si layer and valence band maximum in the BeSe$_{0.41}$Te$_{0.59}$ layer. The electronic structure and optical properties of various (Si$_{2})_{n }$/(BeSe$_{0.41}$Te$_{0.59})_{m}$ [001] superlattices have been considered. Two bands of interface states were found within the bandgap of bulk Si. Our calculations indicate that the optical edges are below the fundamental bandgap of bulk Si and the transitions are optically allowed.Comment: 16 pager, 7 figure

Neutron Stars as Type-I Superconductors

In a recent paper by Link, it was pointed out that the standard picture of the neutron star core composed of a mixture of a neutron superfluid and a proton type-II superconductor is inconsistent with observations of a long period precession in isolated pulsars. In the following we will show that an appropriate treatment of the interacting two-component superfluid (made of neutron and proton Cooper pairs), when the structure of proton vortices is strongly modified, may dramatically change the standard picture, resulting in a type-I superconductor. In this case the magnetic field is expelled from the superconducting regions of the neutron star leading to the formation of the intermediate state when alternating domains of superconducting matter and normal matter coexist.Comment: 4 page

Hyperglycemia and Hyperlipidemia Act Synergistically to Induce Renal Disease in LDL Receptor-Deficient BALB Mice

Diabetic nephropathy is the leading cause of end-stage renal disease in Western countries, but only a portion of diabetic patients develop diabetic nephropathy. Dyslipidemia represents an important aspect of the metabolic imbalance in diabetic patients. In this study, we addressed the impact of combined hyperlipidemia and hyperglycemia on renal pathology. Kidneys from wildtype (WT) or LDL receptor-deficient BALB/cBy mice (BALB. LDLR -/-) were examined at 22 weeks of age. Diabetes was induced by administration of streptozotocin and mice were randomly assigned to either standard chow or Western diet. Chow fed BALB. LDLR -/- mice did not demonstrate renal abnormalities, whereas BALB. LDLR -/- mice fed a Western diet showed occasional glomerular and tubulointerstitial foam cells. Diabetic WT mice had modestly increased glomerular cellularity and extracellular matrix. Hyperlipidemic and diabetic BALB. LDLR -/- mice exhibited an increase in glomerular cellularity and extracellular matrix, accumulation of glomerular and tubulointerstitial foam cells and mesangial lipid deposits. The tubular epithelium demonstrated pronounced lipid induced tubular degeneration with increased tubular epithelial cell turnover. Hyperlipidemia and hyperglycemia seem to act synergistically in inducing renal injury in the BALB. LDLR-/- mouse. This model of diabetic nephropathy is unique in its development of tubular lesions and may represent a good model for hyperlipidemia-exacerbated diabetic nephropathy. Copyright (C) 2004 S. Karger AG, Basel

Indigenous and Non-Indigenous Paraprofessionals: An Empirical Comparison

This paper provides a comparative description of indigenous and nonindigenous paraprofessionals who were employed in a social service capacity in a large urban setting. Personal interviews were conducted with 88 paraprofessionals employed by the Fulton County Department of Family and Children Servives (Atlanta, Ga.). The primary variables discussed include an assessment of the respondent\u27s background, their present employment situation, experience with and attitudes toward welfare and general attitudinal measures. The results provide a basic demographic profile of the indigenous and non-indigenous paraprofessional and indicate their differing characteristics. Briefly, the indigenous respondents were less anomic, felt more efficacious in terms of helping clients, had a less favorable stance toward welfare, had less training and were considerably more more satisfied with their job than were their non-indigenous counterparts. Additionally, the implications of these findings and considerations which need to be explored in future research are discussed

Direct measurement of the flow field around swimming microorganisms

Swimming microorganisms create flows that influence their mutual interactions and modify the rheology of their suspensions. While extensively studied theoretically, these flows have not been measured in detail around any freely-swimming microorganism. We report such measurements for the microphytes Volvox carteri and Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. The minute ~0.3% density excess of V. carteri over water leads to a strongly dominant Stokeslet contribution, with the widely-assumed stresslet flow only a correction to the subleading source dipole term. This implies that suspensions of V. carteri have features similar to suspensions of sedimenting particles. The flow in the region around C. reinhardtii where significant hydrodynamic interaction is likely to occur differs qualitatively from a "puller" stresslet, and can be described by a simple three-Stokeslet model.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in PR

Contemplating Mindfulness at Work: An Integrative Review

Mindfulness research activity is surging within organizational science. Emerging evidence across multiple fields suggests that mindfulness is fundamentally connected to many aspects of workplace functioning, but this knowledge base has not been systematically integrated to date. This review coalesces the burgeoning body of mindfulness scholarship into a framework to guide mainstream management research investigating a broad range of constructs. The framework identifies how mindfulness influences attention, with downstream effects on functional domains of cognition, emotion, behavior, and physiology. Ultimately, these domains impact key workplace outcomes, including performance, relationships, and well-being. Consideration of the evidence on mindfulness at work stimulates important questions and challenges key assumptions within management science, generating an agenda for future research