Northern Illinois University

About: Northern Illinois University is a education organization based out in DeKalb, Illinois, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Large Hadron Collider & Population. The organization has 8818 authors who have published 20008 publications receiving 632341 citations. The organization is also known as: NIU.

The classroom environment and students' reports of avoidance strategies in mathematics: A multimethod study.

Abstract: The relation between the learning environment (e.g., students’ perceptions of the classroom goal structure and teachers’ instructional discourse) and students’ reported use of avoidance strategies (selfhandicapping, avoidance of help seeking) and preference to avoid novelty in mathematics was examined. Quantitative analyses indicated that students’ reports of avoidance behaviors varied significantly among classrooms. A perceived emphasis on mastery goals in the classroom was positively related to lower reports of avoidance. Qualitative analyses revealed that teachers in high-mastery/low-avoidance and low-mastery/high-avoidance classrooms used distinctively different patterns of instructional and motivational discourse. High incidence of motivational support was uniquely characteristic of high-mastery/ low-avoidance classrooms, suggesting that mastery goals may include an affective component. Implications of the results for both theory and practice are discussed.

Progressive Resistance Exercise and Resting Blood Pressure: A Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials

Abstract: Hypertension is a major public health problem affecting an estimated 43 million civilian, noninstitutionalized adults in the United States (24% of this population). The purpose of this study was to use the meta-analytic approach to examine the effects of progressive resistance exercise on resting systolic and diastolic blood pressure in adult humans. Studies were retrieved via (1) computerized literature searches, (2) cross-referencing from original and review articles, and (3) review of the reference list by 2 experts on exercise and blood pressure. Inclusion criteria were as follows: (1) trials that included a randomized nonexercise control group; (2) progressive resistance exercise as the only intervention; (3) adult humans; (4) journal articles, dissertations, and masters theses published in the English-language literature; (5) studies published and indexed between January 1966 and December 1998; (6) resting systolic and/or diastolic blood pressure assessed; and (7) training studies lasting a minimum of 4 weeks. Across all designs and categories, fixed-effects modeling yielded decreases of approximately 2% and 4% for resting systolic and diastolic blood pressure, respectively (mean+/-SD systolic, -3+/-3 mm Hg; 95% bootstrap CI, -4 to -1 mm Hg; mean+/-SD diastolic, -3+/-2 mm Hg; 95% bootstrap CI, -4 to -1 mm Hg). It was concluded that progressive resistance exercise is efficacious for reducing resting systolic and diastolic blood pressure in adults. However, a need exists for additional studies that limit enrollment to hypertensive subjects as well as analysis of data with an intention-to-treat approach before the effectiveness of progressive resistance exercise as a nonpharmacological intervention can be determined.

Measurements of the Higgs boson production and decay rates and constraints on its couplings from a combined ATLAS and CMS analysis of the LHC pp collision data at √s = 7 and 8 TeV

Abstract: Combined ATLAS and CMS measurements of the Higgs boson production and decay rates, as well as constraints on its couplings to vector bosons and fermions, are presented. The combination is based on the analysis of five production processes, namely gluon fusion, vector boson fusion, and associated production with a $W$ or a $Z$ boson or a pair of top quarks, and of the six decay modes $H \to ZZ, WW$, $\gamma\gamma, \tau\tau, bb$, and $\mu\mu$. All results are reported assuming a value of 125.09 GeV for the Higgs boson mass, the result of the combined measurement by the ATLAS and CMS experiments. The analysis uses the CERN LHC proton--proton collision data recorded by the ATLAS and CMS experiments in 2011 and 2012, corresponding to integrated luminosities per experiment of approximately 5 fb$^{-1}$ at $\sqrt{s}=7$ TeV and 20 fb$^{-1}$ at $\sqrt{s} = 8$ TeV. The Higgs boson production and decay rates measured by the two experiments are combined within the context of three generic parameterisations: two based on cross sections and branching fractions, and one on ratios of coupling modifiers. Several interpretations of the measurements with more model-dependent parameterisations are also given. The combined signal yield relative to the Standard Model prediction is measured to be 1.09 $\pm$ 0.11. The combined measurements lead to observed significances for the vector boson fusion production process and for the $H \to \tau\tau$ decay of $5.4$ and $5.5$ standard deviations, respectively. The data are consistent with the Standard Model predictions for all parameterisations considered.

Significance Testing of the Spearman Rank Correlation Coefficient

Abstract: A table of critical values of the Spearman rank correlation coefficient, r8, is given for n = 4(1)50(2) 100, for nine levels of significance: α = 0.50, 0.20, 0.10, 0.05, 0.02, 0.01, 0.005, 0.002, 0.001.