Multi-parameter fits to the t-tbar threshold observables at a future e+e- linear collider

A realistic study of the physics reach of a t-tbar threshold scan at a future e+e- linear collider is presented. The results obtained take into account experimental and, to a large extent, theoretical systematic errors, as well as beam effects. Because of the large correlations between the physical parameters that can be extracted from the threshold scan, a multi-parameter fit is seen as mandatory. It is shown that the top mass, the top width and alpha_s(M_Z) can be extracted simultaneously with uncertainties around 20 MeV, 30 MeV and 0.0012, respectively, while the top Yukawa coupling can be measured, with the previous three parameters, to an uncertainty of about 35%, after assuming an external prior on alpha_s of +/-0.001.Comment: 21 pages, 7 figures. v2: Minor changes, mostly to style of figure

Shock Layer Radiation Measurements for Mars and Venus Entry Conditions in an Electric Arc Shock Tube

This work reports on upgrades in the Electric Arc Shock Tube (EAST) Facility and shockwave characterization experiments performed at National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Ames Research Center (ARC). The importance of testing in the EAST Facility is shown, detailing research work that has occurred in the facility. A facility description follows, in order to explain how the facility is structured and how it conducts operations. The EAST Facility upgrade project is summarized to present current advancements in the facility. Calibration techniques are explained, and experimental data is presented. This data is obtained with the use of highly specialized spectroscopic, vacuum, and optical equipment that is unique to this facility and was upgraded as part of the upgrade project. Experimental data is shown for Mars and Venus tests, spanning the Vacuum Ultra Violet (VUV) to Infrared (IR) portions of the spectrum. Shock layer temperature analysis is performed for various data points in both Mars and Venus tests

Long-Wave Infrared Supercontinuum Source and Sensor for Standoff Sensing and Trace Particle Identification

This dissertation is based on the development of a long-wave infrared supercontinuum source, and the utilization of this source in a Fourier transform based standoff optical sensor. The spectra from trace particles deposited on smooth surfaces are measured with the sensor and simulated using a Bobbert-Vlieger model. We create an ultra-broadband, all-fiber supercontinuum source that emits infrared energy from 1.6 - 11μm. We utilize a master oscillator parametric amplifier with Erbium/Ytterbium and Thulium amplifiers to pump a cascade of ZrF4-BaF2-LaF3-AlF3-NaF (ZBLAN), arsenic sulfide, and arsenic selenide fibers. This source is power scalable and can emit up to 417 mW at 800 kHz pulse repetition frequency, with 69 mW beyond 7.5μm. The output from the long-wave infrared supercontinuum source is near-diffraction limited single mode output that can be collimated to a one inch spot.The output of the source is then tested for feasability of use in commercial FTIR based systems. Although not optimized for 1.5 ns pulsed sources, we are able to measure transmission spectra of polystyrene samples, thin films on wafers and 50μL of acetone that has been evaporated in a 10 cm length gas cell and compare to those illuminated with the systems internal globar. We find that even though the input optics are not optimized, the incident energy on the samples is an order of magnitude higher than that of the globar source. We develop a long-wave infrared standoff sensor by coupling the output of the source to a refraction based FTIR interferometer. The modulated energy is then guided to hit targets that are 3.6 m away from the sensor. The system estimates the energy of each pulse and creates an interferogram that is Fourier transformed into resultant spectra. The linearity of the sensor is verified via the measurement of thin films of SiO2 and polyimide on silicon wafers. This sensor is then used for standoff volatile gas and bulk sample scattering measurements. We then focus on the measurement and modeling of trace chemicals that have deposited on smooth substrates. We measure concentrations as low as 6.5 μg/cm2 on glass substrates. Furthermore, we measure the diffuse reflectance of RDX, acetaminophen, and caffeine on glass, aluminum, and silicon substrates. Each of these chemicals exhibit spectral features between 950 and 1800 cm−1 and substrate based dependencies in reflectance spectra. We simulate these effects with a Bobbert-Vlieger model that takes particle size distribution into account. We find that a range of particle sizes smoothens and broadens reflectance features and changes in target orientation and differences in particle shape can strongly impact the spectra between 1800 and 4000 wavenumbers. We use our Bobbert-Vlieger model to create a library of exemplary spectra based on systematically changing the parameters of the particle size distribution. This library is employed to identify unknown powders based on the root mean square error between the second derivative of measured spectra and those in the library.PHDApplied PhysicsUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/163040/1/ramartma_1.pd

Intersectionality and Possibility in the Lives of Latina/o/x Children of Immigrants: Imagining Pedagogies Beyond the Politics of Hate

I first met Alma1 when she was five years old and a kindergarten student in a multi-age Spanish-English dual language classroom in southern California. Alma is the child of immigrants from the Mexican state of Oaxaca. Somewhat shy and soft spoken, she nonetheless had many friends and seemed eager to engage with her peers in class. In interviews with me over the first few years of a longitudinal study that I was conducting at her school, she spent a great deal of time sharing the details of her rich literate life. Among other things, Alma loved poetry. In addition to writing poems in her writer’s notebook for school, she also kept a separate notebook in which she wrote poetry at home. Her face lit up as she told me that she often shared these poems with her father, who she said also wrote poetry. Alma seemed to have an especially strong relationship with her father, and much of the poetry that she shared with me focused on him. She also revealed that her father worked at an Italian restaurant, and that he would often teach her Italian words and phrases that he had learned on the job. She seemed proud of knowing them, and they sometimes popped up in the writing she did both at home and in school. When I met Samantha, she was a first grader in Alma’s multi-age kindergarten/first grade classroom. At six years of age, she was already very proficient in English, which she reported speaking with her older siblings, and Spanish, which she sometimes spoke with her mother and with some friends and teachers at school. In an interview that I conducted with her in second grade, Samantha told me that she also spoke sign language at home with a d/Deaf uncle who lived with her. This revelation alerted me to yet another impressive layer of her expansive linguistic repertoire. Yet being multilingual was not the only thing that stood out about this young child. In addition to being a polyglot, Samantha was also a very kind person and a precociously deep and critical thinker who seemed to be motivated by both genuine intellectual curiosity and a profound commitment to fairness and justice

Globalización, Políticas económicas en los mercados emergentes

La globalización es un proceso que contrae el crecimiento económico y el bieneslar social de la población, lo cual liene sus efectos económicos, sociales y políticos de orden considerable. Es un proceso paradójico porque no ha logrado construir un mecanismo real que garantice un modo de regulación entre el crecimiento de la oferta y la demanda del sistema, entre el capital productivo, mercado de capitales y capital financiero. Todo esto nos lleva a considerar que el orden económico globalizado no se presenta en este momento como un régimen de acumulación de capital demostrablemente viable. En este sentido, el pensamiento liberal esta totalmente perdido en una gravísima crisis frente a las exigencias actuales, derivándose de esta situación, la necesidad de operar cambios teóricos, ideológicos y políticos dentro de| contexto planteado

Una aproximación teórica a la cultura de la innovación en el contexto universitario

La cultura de la innovación vista como un valor institucional, surge como consecuencia de la necesidad de romper viejos paradigmas educativos, que apunta a la transformación organizacional, es decir, busca el camino para acortar el pensamiento individualista y el pensamiento integrador, como un cambio sustantivo en los esquemas tradicionales. Uno de los pilares fundamentales de la innovación es el aprendizaje, el mismo, debe ser profundo, y el resultado de un análisis crítico, donde se confronta el conocimiento del pasado con el presente, al establecer una relación reciproca entre las teorías y la experiencia cotidiana. La innovación no debe ser el fruto de un proceso individual sino colectivo. En este sentido el presente trabajo, pretende ofrecer una aproximación sobre referentes teóricos de la cultura de la innovación, bajo la perspectiva universitaria, que puedan coadyuvar al fortalecimiento de las funciones bá- sicas, Docencia, Investigación y Extensión. Para ello se empleo una metodología descriptiva con un diseño documental, donde se abordo la variable cultura de la innovación en el contexto de la Universidad del Zulia y se considero, que para impulsar a la misma se requiere de la suma de compromisos entre las instituciones de la educación superior y el gobierno con base a su fortalecimiento y transformación para alcanzar una visión compartida, de manera que permitan generar sinergia y establecer políticas explicitas institucionales para fomentarla y de asegurar el ambiente propicio para desarrollarla

Orden económico internacional y la globalización

El objetivo general del presente artículo fue el de analizar la reconfiguración del nuevo orden económico internacional en el marco de la globalización a inicios del siglo XXI. Para tal fin, se examino el orden económico internacional a partir de la segunda guerra mundial. Se caracterizo las instituciones internacionales tomando en cuenta su estructura y los principales actores. Se estudió las diferentes etapas del orden económico internacional de la posguerra. La metodología aplicada fue el método hipotético deductivo y caracterizó por realizar una revisión documental –teórica y crítica. El tipo de investigación es descriptivo y su diseño no experimental transeccional. El resultado obtenido se concluye que después de la segunda guerra mundial la expansión del capitalista originó cambios en el sistema mundial con tendencia entre los dos milenios con el de proceso de globalización va ha a caracterizar el orden económico internacional en la primera parte del siglo XXI

ANALYSIS OF GEOGRAPHIC VARIABILITY OF FECAL MICROBIOMES OF FRATERCULA ARCTICA AND CROSS-COMPARISON OF FECAL MICROBIOMES OF DIFFERENT AVIAN FEEDING TYPES

Gastrointestinal (gut) microbiota have a multitude of effects on their host, from aiding in digestion, to facilitating nutrient uptake, detoxification, and interactions with the immune system. Multiple factors have been identified that influence the composition of vertebrate microbiomes; these include host genetics, environmental conditions, diet and age, sex, and geography. However, broad inferences about wild avian gut microbial diversity and function under natural conditions are limited. Most knowledge on avian microbiomes is derived from studies on domestic poultry. Information on non-model taxa may provide important contextual information about vertebrate host-microbiome interactions and aid in future management of vulnerable species. Here, the Atlantic puffin’s (Fratercula arctica) fecal microbiome was characterized in an effort to expand current knowledge on gut microbial diversity and function in wild birds. Additionally, Atlantic puffin fecal samples were used to assess how geographic locality affects the abundance of taxa present in the gut microbiomes of wild avian species. The second aim of this study was to assess distinctions in microbiome diversity as a function of feeding type using Atlantic puffins, Anna’s hummingbird (Calypte anna), the small tree finch (Camarhynchus parvulus), the vampire ground finch (Geospiza septentrionalis), gentoo penguins (Pygoscelis papua), and chinstrap penguins (Pygoscelis antarcticus). At the phylum level, Atlantic puffin fecal microbiota was dominated by Firmicutes, Proteobacteria, Fusobacteria, Actinomycetota, and Bacteroidetes. Additionally, puffin microbial communities not only differed among locations but within locations as well, suggesting that each individual has its own unique microbial community that is affected by a multitude of extrinsic and intrinsic factors. Results from the avian metaanalysis revealed statistically significant associations between dietary specializations and fecal microbiota. However, host taxonomy and phylogeny may also play a significant role and preclude diet specializations in determining fecal microbial composition. The three hypercarnivorous piscivores were expected to possess similar fecal microbiota, but the two penguin species were observed to cluster together and distinctively from puffin samples suggesting host taxonomy plays a larger role than dietary specialization