Prospective elementary teachers use of representation to reason algebraically

We used a teaching experiment to evaluate the preparation of preservice teachers to teach early algebra concepts in the elementary school with the goal of improving their ability to generalize and justify algebraic rules when using pattern-finding tasks. Nearly all of the elementary preservice teachers generalized explicit rules using symbolic notation but had trouble with justifications early in the experiment. The use of isomorphic tasks promoted their ability to justify their generalizations and to understand the relationship of the coefficient and y-intercept to the models constructed with pattern blocks. Based on critical events in the teaching experiment, we developed a scale to map changes in preservice teachers’ understanding. Features of the tasks emerged that contributed to this understanding.     

NUMERICAL INVESTIGATION ON FLOW STABILITY OF RAYLEIGH-B?NARD CONVECTION OF COLD WATER IN A RECTANGULAR CAVITY COOLED AND HEATED SYMMETRICALLY RELATIVE TO THE TEMPERATURE OF DENSITY MAXIMUM

为了解具有密度极值流体瑞利-贝纳德对流特有现象和规律,利用有限容积法对长方体腔内关于密度极值温度对称加热-冷却时冷水瑞利-贝纳德对流的分岔特性进行了三维数值模拟,得到了不同条件下的对流结构型态及其分岔序列,分析了密度极值特性、瑞利数、热边界条件以及宽深比对瑞利-贝纳德对流的影响. 结果表明:具有密度极值冷水瑞利-贝纳德对流系统较常规流体更加稳定,且流动型态及其分岔序列更加复杂;相同瑞利数下多种流型可以稳定共存,各流型在相互转变中存在滞后现象;随着宽深比的增加,流动更易失稳,对流传热能力增强;系统在导热侧壁时比绝热侧壁更加稳定,对流传热能力有所减弱;基于计算结果,采用线性回归方法,得到了热壁传热关联式.     

A power law for the duration of high-flow states and its interpretation from a heterogeneous traffic flow perspective

We study the duration of “high-flow states” in freeway traffic, defined as the time periods for which traffic flows exceed a given flow threshold. Our empirical data are surprisingly well represented by a power law. Moreover, the power law exponent for a two-lane freeway seems to be independent of the chosen flow threshold. In order to interpret this discovery, we investigate a simple theoretical model of heterogeneous traffic with overtaking maneuvers, which is able to reproduce both, the empirical power law and its exponent.     

Spatial disorder and pattern formation in lattices of coupled bistable elements

The spatio-temporal dynamics of discrete lattices of coupled bistable elements is considered. It is shown that both regular and chaotic spatial field distributions can be realized depending on parameter values and initial conditions. For illustration, we provide results for two lattice systems: the FitzHugh-Nagumo model and a network of coupled bistable oscillators. For the latter we also prove the existence of phase clusters, with phase locking of elements in each cluster.     

A new failure mechanism in thin film by collaborative fracture and delamination: Interacting duos of cracks

When a thin film moderately adherent to a substrate is subjected to residual stress, the cooperation between fracture and delamination leads to unusual fracture patterns, such as spirals, alleys of crescents and various types of strips, all characterized by a robust characteristic length scale. We focus on the propagation of a duo of cracks: two fractures in the film connected by a delamination front and progressively detaching a strip. We show experimentally that the system selects an equilibrium width on the order of 25 times the thickness of the coating and independent of both fracture and adhesion energies. We investigate numerically the selection of the width and the condition for propagation by considering Griffith's criterion and the principle of local symmetry. In addition, we propose a simplified model based on the criterion of maximum of energy release rate, which provides insights of the physical mechanisms leading to these regular patterns, and predicts the effect of material properties on the selected width of the detaching strip.     

Extremal patterns of distinct entries in vectors in the range of a matrix

For an m × n matrix A over a field F we consider the following quantities: μ(A), the maximum multiplicity of a field element as a component of a nonzero vector in the range of A, and δ(A), the minimum number of distinct entries in a nonzero vector in the range of A. In terms of ramk(A), we describe the set of possible values of μand δ and discuss the possible relations between them. We also develop a general affine geometric structure in which the sets of values of μ and δ may be characterized linear algebraically.     

Finite Element Analysis of the Field Patterns of Higher-Order TE and TM Modes in Rectangular-Groove Guide

The field patterns of the different TE and TM modes in a rectangular-groove guide are analysed by finite element method. The electric field, magnetic field and energy distributions in the groove guide for the dominant TE mode, the lowest TM mode and the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd higher-order TE,TM modes are presented. The results show that the low-loss characteristic of rectangular-groove guide seems unreliable. The results in this paper will be of benefit for us to understand the transmission characteristics of rectangular-groove guide, and will be of practical significance in designing groove guide components.     

Enumeration of Łukasiewicz paths modulo some patterns

For any pattern $\alpha$ of length at most two, we enumerate equivalence classes of ?ukasiewicz paths of length $n\ge 0$ where two paths are equivalent whenever the occurrence positions of $\alpha$ are identical on these paths. As a byproduct, we give a constructive bijection between Motzkin paths and some equivalence classes of ?ukasiewicz paths.     

The Patterns of Surface Capillary-gravity Short-crested Waves with Uniform Current Fields in Coastal Waters

A fully three-dimensional surface gravity-capillary short-crested wave system is studied as two progressive wave-trains of equal amplitude and frequency, which are collinear with uniform currents and doubly-periodic in the horizontal plane, are propagating at an angle to each other. The first- and second-order asymptotic analytical solutions of the short-crested wave system are obtained via a perturbation expansion in a small parameter associated with the wave steepness, therefore depicting a series of typical three-dimensional wave patterns involving currents, shallow and deep water, and surface capillary waves, and comparing them with each other.The project supported by the Foundation for the Author of National Excellent Doctoral Dissertation of China (200428), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (10272072 and 50424913), the Shanghai Natural Science Foundation (05ZR14048), and the Shanghai Leading Academic Discipline Project (Y0103). The English text was polished by Yunming Chen.     

Statistical Process Control using Shewhart Control Charts with Supplementary Runs Rules

The aim of this paper is to present the basic principles and recent advances in the area of statistical process control charting with the aid of runs rules. More specifically, we review the well known Shewhart type control charts supplemented with additional rules based on the theory of runs and scans. The motivation for this article stems from the fact that during the last decades, the performance improvement of the Shewhart charts by exploiting runs rules has attracted continuous research interest. Furthermore, we briefly discuss the Markov chain approach which is the most popular technique for studying the run length distribution of run based control charts.