The Chandra Dust Scattering Halo of Galactic Center transient Swift J174540.7-290015

We report the detection of a dust scattering halo around a recently discovered X-ray transient, Swift J174540.7-290015, which in early February of 2016 underwent one of the brightest outbursts (F_X ~ 5e-10 erg/cm^2/s) observed from a compact object in the Galactic Center field. We analyze four Chandra images that were taken as follow-up observations to Swift discoveries of new Galactic Center transients. After adjusting our spectral extraction for the effects of detector pileup, we construct a point spread function for each observation and compare it to the GC field before the outburst. We find residual surface brightness around Swift J174540.7-290015, which has a shape and temporal evolution consistent with the behavior expected from X-rays scattered by foreground dust. We examine the spectral properties of the source, which shows evidence that the object transitioned from a soft to hard spectral state as it faded below L_X ~ 1e36 erg/s. This behavior is consistent with the hypothesis that the object is a low mass X-ray binary in the Galactic Center.Comment: Accepted for publication in Ap

Constrained action selection in children with developmental coordination disorder

The effect of advance (‘precue’) information on short aiming movements was explored in adults, high school children, and primary school children with and without developmental coordination disorder (n = 10, 14, 16, 10, respectively). Reaction times in the DCD group were longer than in the other groups and were more influenced by the extent to which the precue constrained the possible action space. In contrast, reaction time did not alter as a function of precue condition in adults. Children with DCD showed greater inaccuracy of response (despite the increased RT). We suggest that the different precue effects reflect differences in the relative benefits of priming an action prior to definitive information about the movement goal. The benefits are an interacting function of the task and the skill level of the individual. Our experiment shows that children with DCD gain a benefit from advance preparation in simple aiming movements, highlighting their low skill levels. This result suggests that goal-directed RTs may have diagnostic potential within the clinic

Simulations of Dense Atomic Hydrogen in the Wigner Crystal Phase

Path integral Monte Carlo simulations are applied to study dense atomic hydrogen in the regime where the protons form a Wigner crystal. The interaction of the protons with the degenerate electron gas is modeled by Thomas-Fermi screening, which leads to a Yukawa potential for the proton-proton interaction. A numerical technique for the derivation of the corresponding action of the paths is described. For a fixed density of rs=200, the melting is analyzed using the Lindemann ratio, the structure factor and free energy calculations. Anharmonic effects in the crystal vibrations are analyzed.Comment: Proceedings article of the Study of Matter at Extreme Conditions (SMEC) conference in Miami, Florida; submitted to Journal of Physics and Chemistry of Solids (2005

Future teachers' digital competence: what is the perception of current students teachers'?

En el momento actual, el rol de los docentes resulta fundamental para capacitar a los estudiantes utilizando todas las potencialidades que ofrecen las TIC. Los docentes necesitan disponer, no solo de una alfabetización digital básica, sino también ser capaces de integrarlas en sus prácticas didácticas, y para ello, su formación inicial resulta fundamental. El principal objetivo de este estudio es explorar la competencia digital de futuros docentes a partir de su autopercepción, un factor clave para su posterior desempeño. Para ello, una muestra de 149 estudiantes universitarios de educación respondieron a un cuestionario de autopercepción diseñando siguiendo los estándares de ISTE. Según los resultados, la mayoría de los futuros docentes disponen de un nivel alto de competencia digital docente (especialmente en habilidades digitales básicas más que en su aplicación didáctica), asimismo se evidenciaron ciertas diferencias significativas en cuanto a la edad, en el área de las habilidades digitales básicas.Nowadays, the role of teachers is crucial in empowering students with the advantages of ICT. Teachers are required not only to become basically digitally literate, but they should also be able to integrate technology into their teaching, and initial teacher education is one of the most important factors for this purpose. The main aim of this study was to explore the student teachers’ digital competence through their own self-perceptions, a key factor for their future performance. For this purpose, a sample of 149 student teachers’ completed a self-perception questionnaire constructed in accordance with ISTE standards. The results show that most student teachers have a high level of self-perceived digital competence (better basic digital skills that in didactic use of ICT). However, there were significant differences in basic digital skills according to the age of student teachers

Spectral statistics of the k-body random-interaction model

We reconsider the question of the spectral statistics of the k-body random-interaction model, investigated recently by Benet, Rupp, and Weidenmueller, who concluded that the spectral statistics are Poissonian. The binary-correlation method that these authors used involves formal manipulations of divergent series. We argue that Borel summation does not suffice to define these divergent series without further (arbitrary) regularization, and that this constitutes a significant gap in the demonstration of Poissonian statistics. Our conclusion is that the spectral statistics of the k-body random-interaction model remains an open question.Comment: 17 pages, no figure

Kinematic Measures of Imitation Fidelity in Primary School Children

We sought to develop a method for measuring imitation accuracy objectively in primary school children. Children imitated a model drawing shapes on the same computer-tablet interface they saw used in video clips, allowing kinematics of model and observers' actions to be directly compared. Imitation accuracy was reported as a correlation reflecting the statistical dependency between values of the model's and participant's sets of actions, or as a mean absolute difference between them. Children showed consistent improvement in imitation accuracy across middle childhood. They appeared to rationalize the demands of the task by remembering duration and size of action, which enabled them to reenact speed through motor-planning mechanisms. Kinematic measures may provide a window into the cognitive mechanisms involved in imitation

Children and older adults exhibit distinct sub-optimal cost-benefit functions when preparing to move their eyes and hands

"© 2015 Gonzalez et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited"Numerous activities require an individual to respond quickly to the correct stimulus. The provision of advance information allows response priming but heightened responses can cause errors (responding too early or reacting to the wrong stimulus). Thus, a balance is required between the online cognitive mechanisms (inhibitory and anticipatory) used to prepare and execute a motor response at the appropriate time. We investigated the use of advance information in 71 participants across four different age groups: (i) children, (ii) young adults, (iii) middle-aged adults, and (iv) older adults. We implemented 'cued' and 'non-cued' conditions to assess age-related changes in saccadic and touch responses to targets in three movement conditions: (a) Eyes only; (b) Hands only; (c) Eyes and Hand. Children made less saccade errors compared to young adults, but they also exhibited longer response times in cued versus non-cued conditions. In contrast, older adults showed faster responses in cued conditions but exhibited more errors. The results indicate that young adults (18 -25 years) achieve an optimal balance between anticipation and execution. In contrast, children show benefits (few errors) and costs (slow responses) of good inhibition when preparing a motor response based on advance information; whilst older adults show the benefits and costs associated with a prospective response strategy (i.e., good anticipation)

Spectral Properties of the k-Body Embedded Gaussian Ensembles of Random Matrices for Bosons

We consider $m$ spinless Bosons distributed over $l$ degenerate single-particle states and interacting through a $k$-body random interaction with Gaussian probability distribution (the Bosonic embedded $k$-body ensembles). We address the cases of orthogonal and unitary symmetry in the limit of infinite matrix dimension, attained either as $l \to \infty$ or as $m \to \infty$. We derive an eigenvalue expansion for the second moment of the many-body matrix elements of these ensembles. Using properties of this expansion, the supersymmetry technique, and the binary correlation method, we show that in the limit $l \to \infty$ the ensembles have nearly the same spectral properties as the corresponding Fermionic embedded ensembles. Novel features specific for Bosons arise in the dense limit defined as $m \to \infty$ with both $k$ and $l$ fixed. Here we show that the ensemble is not ergodic, and that the spectral fluctuations are not of Wigner-Dyson type. We present numerical results for the dense limit using both ensemble unfolding and spectral unfolding. These differ strongly, demonstrating the lack of ergodicity of the ensemble. Spectral unfolding shows a strong tendency towards picket-fence type spectra. Certain eigenfunctions of individual realizations of the ensemble display Fock-space localization.Comment: Minor corrections; figure 5 slightly modified (30 pages, 6 figs

Properties of Interfaces in the two and three dimensional Ising Model

To investigate order-order interfaces, we perform multimagnetical Monte Carlo simulations of the $2D$ and $3D$ Ising model. Following Binder we extract the interfacial free energy from the infinite volume limit of the magnetic probability density. Stringent tests of the numerical methods are performed by reproducing with high precision exact $2D$ results. In the physically more interesting $3D$ case we estimate the amplitude $F^s_0$ of the critical interfacial tension $F^s = F^s_0 t^\mu$ to be $F^s_0 = 1.52 \pm 0.05$. This result is in good agreement with a previous MC calculation by Mon, as well as with experimental results for related amplitude ratios. In addition, we study in some details the shape of the magnetic probability density for temperatures below the Curie point.Comment: 25 pages; sorry no figures include

A Numerical Transfer-Matrix Study of Surface-Tension Anisotropy in Ising Models on Square and Cubic Lattices

We compute by numerical transfer-matrix methods the surface free energy $\tau(T),$ the surface stiffness coefficient $\kappa(T),$ and the single-step free energy $s(T)$ for Ising ferromagnets with $(\infty \times L)$ square-lattice and $(\infty \times L \times M)$ cubic-lattice geometries, into which an interface is introduced by imposing antiperiodic or plus/minus boundary conditions in one transverse direction. These quantities occur in expansions of the angle-dependent surface tension, either for rough or for smooth interfaces. The finite-size scaling behavior of the interfacial correlation length provides the means of investigating $\kappa(T)$ and $s(T).$ The resulting transfer-matrix estimates are fully consistent with previous series and Monte Carlo studies, although current computational technology does not permit transfer-matrix studies of sufficiently large systems to show quantitative improvement over the previous estimates.Comment: 40 pages, 17 figures available on request. RevTeX version 2.