1,261 research outputs found
Improving School Accountability in California
Proposes a value-added model for assessing schools that measures contributions to student learning based on whether average test scores are higher or lower than expected, given prior achievement and other characteristics. Outlines implementation issues
Near-optimal labeling schemes for nearest common ancestors
We consider NCA labeling schemes: given a rooted tree , label the nodes of
with binary strings such that, given the labels of any two nodes, one can
determine, by looking only at the labels, the label of their nearest common
ancestor.
For trees with nodes we present upper and lower bounds establishing that
labels of size , are both sufficient and
necessary. (All logarithms in this paper are in base 2.)
Alstrup, Bille, and Rauhe (SIDMA'05) showed that ancestor and NCA labeling
schemes have labels of size . Our lower bound
increases this to for NCA labeling schemes. Since
Fraigniaud and Korman (STOC'10) established that labels in ancestor labeling
schemes have size , our new lower bound separates
ancestor and NCA labeling schemes. Our upper bound improves the
upper bound by Alstrup, Gavoille, Kaplan and Rauhe (TOCS'04), and our
theoretical result even outperforms some recent experimental studies by Fischer
(ESA'09) where variants of the same NCA labeling scheme are shown to all have
labels of size approximately
Seasonal Patterns of Flight and Attack of Maple Saplings by the Ambrosia Beetle \u3ci\u3eCorthylus Punctatissimus\u3c/i\u3e (Coleoptera: Scolytidae) in Central Michigan
Window traps with ethanol were used to observe seasonal flight patterns of Corthylus punctatissimus in central Michigan. Flights peaked in early July with a second peak seven weeks later in late August. Similarly, wilting of attacked maple (Acer) saplings began to appear a week after initial Corthylus flights, and showed twopeaks, one in mid-July and again with another peak, seven weeks later, in early September. The second peak of activity is presumably from reemerged adults, and not a second generation
The Thousand Asteroid Light Curve Survey
We present the results of our Thousand Asteroid Light Curve Survey (TALCS)
conducted with the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope in September 2006. Our
untargeted survey detected 828 Main Belt asteroids to a limiting magnitude of
g'~22.5 corresponding to a diameter range of 0.4 km <= D <= 10 km. Of these,
278 objects had photometry of sufficient quality to perform rotation period
fits. We debiased the observations and light curve fitting process to determine
the true distribution of rotation periods and light curve amplitudes of Main
Belt asteroids. We confirm a previously reported excess in the fraction of fast
rotators but find a much larger excess of slow rotating asteroids (~15% of our
sample). A few percent of objects in the TALCS size range have large light
curve amplitudes of ~1 mag. Fits to the debiased distribution of light curve
amplitudes indicate that the distribution of triaxial ellipsoid asteroid shapes
is proportional to the square of the axis-ratio, (b/a)^2, and may be bi-modal.
Finally, we find six objects with rotation periods that may be less than 2
hours with diameters between 400 m and 1.5 km, well above the break-up limit
for a gravitationally-bound aggregate. Our debiased data indicate that this
population represents <4% of the Main Belt in the 1-10 km size range.Comment: Accepted to Icarus. Full tables to appear there in electronic format,
or contact autho
Integration of technologies for understanding the functional relationship between reef habitat and fish growth and production
Functional linkage between reef habitat quality and fish growth and production has remained elusive. Most current research is focused on correlative relationships between a general habitat type and presence/absence of a species,
an index of species abundance, or species diversity. Such descriptive information largely ignores how reef attributes
regulate reef fish abundance (density-dependent habitat selection), trophic interactions, and physiological performance (growth and condition). To determine the
functional relationship between habitat quality, fish abundance, trophic interactions, and physiological performance, we are using an experimental reef system in
the northeastern Gulf of Mexico where we apply advanced sensor and biochemical technologies. Our study site controls for reef attributes (size, cavity space, and reef
mosaics) and focuses on the processes that regulate gag grouper (Mycteroperca microlepis) abundance, behavior and performance (growth and condition), and the availability of their pelagic prey. We combine mobile and fixed-active (fisheries) acoustics, passive acoustics, video cameras,
and advanced biochemical techniques. Fisheries acoustics quantifies the abundance of pelagic prey fishes associated
with the reefs and their behavior. Passive acoustics and video allow direct observation of gag and prey fish behavior and the acoustic environment, and provide a
direct visual for the interpretation of fixed fisheries acoustics measurements. New application of biochemical techniques, such as Electron Transport System (ETS) assay,
allow the in situ measurement of metabolic expenditure of gag and relates this back to reef attributes, gag behavior, and prey fish availability. Here, we provide an overview of our integrated technological approach for understanding and quantifying the functional relationship between reef habitat quality and one element of production – gag grouper growth on shallow coastal reefs
Wide-Field Imaging from Space of Early-Type Galaxies and Their Globular Clusters
Wide-field imaging from space will reveal a wealth of information about the
globular cluster systems of any galaxies in the local universe that are
observed by such a mission. Individual globular clusters around galaxies in the
local universe have compact sizes that are ideal for the excellent spatial
resolution afforded by space-based imaging, while systems of these globular
clusters have large spatial extent that can only be fully explored by
wide-field imaging. One example of the science return from such a study is the
determination of the major formation epoch(s) of galaxies from the ages of
their globular clusters determined via their optical to near-infrared colors. A
second example is determining the sites of metal-poor globular cluster
formation from their cosmological bias, which constrains the formation of
structures early in the universe.Comment: To appear in the conference proceedings of "Wide Field Imaging from
Space" published in New Astronomy Reviews, eds. T. McKay, A. Fruchter, & E.
Linde
Magic angle spinning (MAS) NMR linewidths in the presence of solid-state dynamics
In solid-state NMR, the magic angle spinning (MAS) technique fails to suppress anisotropic spin interactions fully if reorientational dynamics are present, resulting in a decay of the rotational-echo train in the time-domain signal. We show that a simple analytical model can be used to quantify this linebroadening effect as a function of the MAS frequency, reorientational rate constant, and magnitude of the inhomogeneous anisotropic broadening. We compare this model with other theoretical approaches and with exact computer simulations, and show how it may be used to estimate rate constants from experimental NMR data
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Effects of 4-Chloroglutaranilic Acid on Growth and Development of Sunflower Seedlings
The potential growth-regulating compound 4-chloroglutaranilic acid (CGA) was tested in whole-plant bioassay systems which utilized sunflower seedlings (Helianthus annuus, L.). Test systems included the growth of plants in soil , solid inert (Vermiculite) substrate, and hydroponic (Seed-Pak) pouches
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