Belize: Decoding the Census

Report on demographic, social, and economic trends in Belize based on the 2010 Census. Written under the auspices of the Bridging Disciplines Programs at The University of Texas at Austin with mentor David V. Gibson of the IC² Institute.IC2 Institut

Unfolding Rates for the Diffusion-Collision Model

In the diffusion-collision model, the unfolding rates are given by the likelihood of secondary structural cluster dissociation. In this work, we introduce an unfolding rate calculation for proteins whose secondary structural elements are $\alpha$-helices, modeled from thermal escape over a barrier which arises from the free energy in buried hydrophobic residues. Our results are in good agreement with currently accepted values for the attempt rate.Comment: Shorter version of cond-mat/0011024 accepted for publication in PR

Moduli spaces of coherent systems of small slope on algebraic curves

Let $C$ be an algebraic curve of genus $g\ge2$. A coherent system on $C$ consists of a pair $(E,V)$, where $E$ is an algebraic vector bundle over $C$ of rank $n$ and degree $d$ and $V$ is a subspace of dimension $k$ of the space of sections of $E$. The stability of the coherent system depends on a parameter $\alpha$. We study the geometry of the moduli space of coherent systems for $0<d\le2n$. We show that these spaces are irreducible whenever they are non-empty and obtain necessary and sufficient conditions for non-emptiness.Comment: 27 pages; minor presentational changes and typographical correction

The effect of a writing course on the English language arts state assessment examination in a South Texas high school

The purpose of this study is to analyze the impact a writing course will have on test scores for At-Risk students who are taking the English I and/or English II State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness End-of-Course exam. The group analyzed was comprised of 2nd and 3rd year cohort students

Fill Your Gaps of the Spectrum

Fill Your Gaps of the Spectrum presents the responsibilities of an intern from the Pediatric Developmental Center (PDC), as well as the mission that the center works towards accomplishing for the community. The current intern responsibilities range, depending on their availability, and allow for different learning opportunities as the PDC offers an array of services for children and families with special needs. The PDC reaches many families in the Chicago area, as centers like such are in high demand. As an intern, Yesenia is developing a podcast to support English and Spanish speaking families with a diagnosis of autism

Size effects in multiferroic BiFeO3 nanodots: A first-principles-based study

An effective Hamiltonian scheme is developed to investigate structural and magnetic properties of BiFeO3 nanodots under short-circuit-like electrical boundary conditions. Various striking effects are discovered. Examples include (a) scaling laws involving the inverse of the dots' size for the magnetic and electric transition temperatures; (b) the washing out of some structural phases present in the bulk via size effects; (c) the possibility of tailoring the difference between the Neel and Curie temperatures, by playing with the size and electrical boundary conditions; and (d) an universal critical thickness of the order of 1.6 nm below which the dots do not possess any long-range ordering for the electrical and magnetic dipoles, as well as, for the oxygen octahedral tiltings.Comment: 3 figure