School Grades: Identifying Albert's Best Public Schools

The study identifies which Alberta elementary schools are worthy of emulation, as well as those where large improvements are possible, by removing the influence of local socio-economic factors on a school's performance.social policy, education, Alberta

Capillary forces in the acoustics of patchy-saturated porous media

A linearized theory of the acoustics of porous elastic formations, such as rocks, saturated with two different viscous fluids is generalized to take into account a pressure discontinuity across the fluid boundaries. The latter can arise due to the surface tension of the membrane separating the fluids. We show that the frequency-dependent bulk modulus $\tilde{K}(\omega)$ for wave lengths longer than the characteristic structural dimensions of the fluid patches has a similar analytic behavior as in the case of a vanishing membrane stiffness and depends on the same parameters of the fluid-distribution topology. The effect of the capillary stiffness can be accounted by renormalizing the coefficients of the leading terms in the low-frequency asymptotic of $\tilde{K}(\omega)$.Comment: 27 pages, 3 figure

Valencies of the lanthanides

The valencies of the lanthanides vary more than was once thought. In addition to valencies associated with a half-full shell, there are valencies associated with a quarter- and three-quarter-full shell. This can be explained on the basis of Slater’s theory of many-electron atoms. The same theory explains the variation in complexing constants in the trivalent state (the “tetrad effect”). Valency in metallic and organometallic compounds is also discussed

Lanthanide Ionization Energies and the Sub-Shell Break. Part 2. The Third and Fourth Ionization Energies

By interpolating a 4fq6s → 4fq7s transition within the sequence f1 → f14 rather than between f0 and f14, revised third and fourth ionization energies of the lanthanides have been obtained. The revised values, together with the second ionization energies calculated in a previous paper, are used to calculate values of the standard enthalpies of formation of the gaseous tripositive ions, ΔfHƟ(M3+,g), and of the lattice and hydration enthalpies of some lanthanide compounds and ions in the trivalent and tetravalent states. The displacements of f0 values from nearly smooth f1 → f14 variations exceed 30 kJ mol-1 and indicate substantial subshell breaks

Computer‐based interactive tutorial versus traditional lecture for teaching introductory aspects of pain

In the health sciences, a wide range of computer‐based courseware is now available. The aim of the study described in this paper has been to compare the effectiveness of a computer‐based learning (CBL) software package and a traditional lecture (TL) for the delivery, of introductory material on pain. Nineteen undergraduate nursing students were divided into two groups to attend a one‐hour learning session which introduced clinical aspects of pain and which was delivered by either CBL or TL. Students were assessed for prior knowledge by a pre‐session test, and for knowledge gain by an identical post‐session test. In addition, a multiple‐choice question paper was used to examine differences in pain knowledge between the two groups, and a questionnaire was used to examine the students’ views on their experience during the learning session. The results demonstrated that both groups showed significant knowledge gain after their respective learning sessions. No significant differences between the groups in the magnitude of knowledge gain were found for clinical aspects of pain delivered during the learning sessions. The attitude questionnaire revealed that students attending CBL reported similar learning experiences to those attending the lecture