Musings From a Year of STE[a]M...How It Looks Walking Down the Path

This is a follow up article to one in the inaugural issue which describes the beginnings of implementing a STE[a]M curriculum in a school with a high at-risk student population. This article discusses the outcomes and the future after a year of STE[a]M

What’s Wrong with Interpretive Dance? Embracing the Promise of Integrating the Arts into STEM Learning

Curriculum developers Ruth Catchen and Carolyn DeCristofano explore the benefit and protocol to integrate the arts into STEM

Reflections ~ How STEM becomes STEAM

Reflections from designing a STEAM class for high-risk students

First-principles study of orthorhombic CdTiO3 perovskite

In this work we perform an ab-initio study of CdTiO3 perovskite in its orthorhombic phase using FLAPW method. Our calculations help to decide between the different cristallographic structures proposed for this perovskite from X-Ray measurements. We compute the electric field gradient tensor (EFG) at Cd site and obtain excellent agreement with available experimental information from a perturbed angular correlation (PAC) experiment. We study EFG under an isotropic change of volume and show that in this case the widely used "point charge model approximation" to determine EFG works quite well.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figure. Accepted in Physical Review

Perturbed angular correlation study of Ta-181-doped PbTi1-xHfxO3 compounds

In this work, the hyperfine quadrupole interaction at Ta-doped PbTi1-xHfxO3 polycrystalline samples is studied for the first time. Powders with x=0.25, 0.50 and 0.75 were prepared and characterized by X-ray diffraction analysis. Perturbed Angular Correlation (PAC) analyses were done as a function of temperature, using low concentration Ta-181 nuclei as probes. In the ferroelectric and paraelectric phases of these compounds two sites were occupied by the probes. For each site the quadrupole frequency, asymmetry and relative distribution width parameters were obtained as a function of temperature above and below the Curie temperature (T-C). One of these sites was assigned to the regular Ti-Hf site, while the other one was assigned to some kind of defect. The behavior of the hyperfine parameters as a function of temperature was analyzed in terms of a recent published phase diagram and the presence of disorder below and above T-C. For the three compositions measured, the obtained hyperfine parameters present discontinuities which correspond to the ferroelectric-paraelectric phase transition. In both phases it was found broad frequency distributed interactions. The disorder in the electronic distribution would be responsible for the broad line width of the hyperfine interaction. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Transport Properties, Thermodynamic Properties, and Electronic Structure of SrRuO3

SrRuO$_3$ is a metallic ferromagnet. Its electrical resistivity is reported for temperatures up to 1000K; its Hall coefficient for temperatures up to 300K; its specific heat for temperatures up to 230K. The energy bands have been calculated by self-consistent spin-density functional theory, which finds a ferromagnetic ordered moment of 1.45$\mu_{{\rm B}}$ per Ru atom. The measured linear specific heat coefficient $\gamma$ is 30mJ/mole, which exceeds the theoretical value by a factor of 3.7. A transport mean free path at room temperature of $\approx 10 \AA$ is found. The resistivity increases nearly linearly with temperature to 1000K in spite of such a short mean free path that resistivity saturation would be expected. The Hall coefficient is small and positive above the Curie temperature, and exhibits both a low-field and a high-field anomalous behavior below the Curie temperature.Comment: 6 pages (latex) and 6 figures (postscript, uuencoded.) This paper will appear in Phys. Rev. B, Feb. 15, 199

Coalescent-based species delimitation in the sand lizards of the Liolaemus wiegmannii complex (Squamata: Liolaemidae)

Coalescent-based algorithms coupled with the access to genome-wide data have become powerful tools forassessing questions on recent or rapid diversification, as well as delineating species boundaries in the absence of reciprocal monophyly. In southern South America, the diversification of Liolaemus lizards during the Pleistocene is well documented and has been attributed to the climatic changes that characterized this recent period of time. Past climatic changes had harsh effects at extreme latitudes, including Patagonia, but habitat changes at intermediate latitudes of South America have also been recorded, including expansion of sand fields over northern Patagonia and Pampas). In this work, we apply a coalescent-based approach to study the diversification of the Liolaemus wiegmannii species complex, a morphologically conservative clade that inhabits sandy soils across northwest and south-central Argentina, and the south shores of Uruguay. Using four standard sequence markers (mitochondrial DNA and three nuclear loci) along with ddRADseq data we inferred species limits and a time calibrated species tree for the L. wiegmannii complex in order to evaluate the influence of Quaternary sand expansion/retraction cycles on diversification. We also evaluated the evolutionary independence of the recently described L. gardeli and inferred its phylogenetic position relative to L. wiegmannii. We find strong evidence for six allopatric candidate species within L. wiegmannii, which diversified during the Pleistocene. The Great Patagonian Glaciation (∼1 million years before present) likely split the species complex into two main groups: one composed of lineages associated with sub-Andean sedimentary formations, and the other mostly related to sand fields in the Pampas and northern Patagonia. We hypothesize that early speciation within L. wiegmannii was influenced by the expansion of sand dunes throughout central Argentina and Pampas. Finally, L. gardeli is supported as a distinct lineage nested within the L. wiegmannii complex.Fil: Villamil, Joaquín. Universidad de la República. Facultad de Ciencias; UruguayFil: Avila, Luciano Javier. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Centro Nacional Patagónico. Instituto Patagónico para el Estudio de los Ecosistemas Continentales; ArgentinaFil: Morando, Mariana. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Centro Nacional Patagónico. Instituto Patagónico para el Estudio de los Ecosistemas Continentales; ArgentinaFil: Sites, Jack W.. University Brigham Young; Estados UnidosFil: Leaché, Adam D.. University of Washington; Estados UnidosFil: Maneyro, Raúl. Universidad de la República. Facultad de Ciencias; UruguayFil: Camargo Bentaberry, Arley. Universidad de la República; Urugua

Comparison of the Electronic Structures and Energetics of Ferroelectric LiNbO3 and LiTaO3

This paper explains the origin of the ferroelectric instability in LiNbO3 and LiTaO3 and compares the electronic structures and energetics of the two materials.Comment: 31 pages, 11 Postscript figure

Lost in parameter space: A road map for Stacks

PublishedThis is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Wiley via the DOI in this record.1.Restriction site-Associated DNA sequencing (RAD-seq) has become a widely adopted method for genotyping populations of model and non-model organisms. Generating a reliable set of loci for downstream analysis requires appropriate use of bioinformatics software, such as the program stacks. 2.Using three empirical RAD-seq datasets, we demonstrate a method for optimising a de novo assembly of loci using stacks. By iterating values of the program's main parameters and plotting resultant core metrics for visualisation, researchers can gain a much better understanding of their dataset and select an optimal set of parameters; we present the 80% rule as a generally effective method to select the core parameters for stacks. 3.Visualisation of the metrics plotted for the three RAD-seq datasets shows that they differ in the optimal parameters that should be used to maximise the amount of available biological information. We also demonstrate that building loci de novo and then integrating alignment positions is more effective than aligning raw reads directly to a reference genome. 4.Our methods will help the community in honing the analytical skills necessary to accurately assemble a RAD-seq dataset.This work was co-funded by the Environment Agency, Westcountry Rivers Trust and the University of Exeter. Overseas collaboration for the project was made possible by funding from The Genetics Society, Santander and the University of Exeter. Thank you to many RAD-seq workshop participants for invaluable insight and new ideas. We thank Dr Nicolas Rochette for his insights into parameter analysis. Thanks also to Dr Andy King for assistance with the brown trout data molecular work and analysis, and Guy Freeman and Martin Young for the species illustrations. Prof Peter Kille and Dr Luis Cunha, Cardiff School of Biosciences, Cardiff University, kindly provided the reference genome of L. rubellus

Angular momentum sharing in dissipative collisions

Light charged particles emitted by the projectile-like fragment were measured in the direct and reverse collision of $^{93}$Nb and $^{116}$Sn at 25 AMeV. The experimental multiplicities of Hydrogen and Helium particles as a function of the primary mass of the emitting fragment show evidence for a correlation with net mass transfer. The ratio of Hydrogen and Helium multiplicities points to a dependence of the angular momentum sharing on the net mass transfer.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figure