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The purpose of this study was to identify international trends in K-12 computer science curricula in countries that have introduced computer science education. Content analysis method was used to analyse the country-wide curricula of 10 countries which have introduced computer science education at the primary level. The K-12 Computer Science Framework was used as a theoretical frame to analyse the curricula. The results show that most countries begin their curricula with sub concepts of "algorithms," "program development," and under "impact of computing," along with the practice of creating computational artifacts; then, countries expand upon computer science concepts and practices as learners progressed through the higher grades. Further, countries tend to introduce computer science concepts and practices in stages; once concepts and practices are introduced, they continue across multiple grades. Three approaches to implementing computer science education into the country-wide curriculum were found: introducing computer science (a) as an independent subject, (b) within multiple subjects, and/or (c) as a part of transversal competencies or an independent computer science curriculum with a cross-curricular approach. These study findings can contribute to a worldwide effort to introduce computer science education at the primary level.

Abstract: The recent up to of data from the ATLAS and CMS experiments at the CERN Large Hadron Collider at 7 TeV put an upper bound on the production cross section of a Higgs-like particle. We translate the results of the and as well as the combined analysis by the ATLAS and CMS into an allowed region for the Kaluza–Klein (KK) mass and the Higgs mass for all the known Universal Extra Dimension (UED) models in five and six dimensions. Our bound is insensitive to the detailed KK mass splitting and mixing and hence complementary to all other known signatures. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: We suggest a simple one-Higgs-doublet model living in the bulk of five-dimensional spacetime compactified on , in which the top Yukawa coupling can be smaller than the naive standard-model expectation, i.e. the top quark mass divided by the Higgs vacuum expectation value. If we find only single Higgs particle at the LHC and also observe the top Yukawa deviation, our scenario becomes a realistic candidate beyond the standard model. The Yukawa deviation comes from the fact that the wave function profile of the free physical Higgs field can become different from that of the vacuum expectation value, due to the presence of the brane-localized Higgs potentials. In the Brane-Localized Fermion scenario, we find sizable top Yukawa deviation, which could be checked at the LHC experiment, with a dominant Higgs production channel being the WW fusion. We also study the Bulk Fermion scenario with brane-localized Higgs potential, which resembles the Universal Extra Dimension model with a stable dark matter candidate. We show that both scenarios are consistent with the current electroweak precision measurements. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The ATLAS level1 endcap muon trigger system at the LHC selects interesting events containing muons with transverse momenta greater than 6GeV/c from 40MHz proton–proton collisions. This system consists of 3588 Thin Gap Chambers (TGC) and the total number of readout channels is 3.18×105. The trigger logic is based on the coincidence between 7 layers of TGC. All processes are performed using hardware within the maximum latency of for the level1 trigger. To be ready for the first beam collisions scheduled in 2009, we have succeeded in sending trigger signals of cosmic ray muons with the synchronous operation at 40MHz and fine signal timing alignments. During the single proton beam circulation at the LHC in 2008, we have also confirmed that the timing of the endcap muon trigger for tracks of beam halo muons produced at the collimator was well aligned. We report on the status of the commissioning and results from runs with cosmic ray muons and single beams. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Humans use facial comparisons to identify their relatives and adjust their behavior accordingly. However, the mechanisms underlying the assessment of facial similarities are poorly known. Here, we investigate the role of exposure to particular faces for the detection of facial similarities by asking judges to detect parent-child pairs using faces from different origins. In a first phase, French and Senegalese judges assessed facial resemblance in French and Senegalese families. In a second phase, Senegalese judges who had immigrated to France, as well as French and Senegalese stationary judges, were asked to rate a second set of Senegalese and French families. The judges showed no differences in their ability to detect parent-child pairs in French and Senegalese families in both the first and second phases. For judges who changed their country of residence, the answer time and duration of stay in the new country were not associated with correct assignment rates. Our results suggest that exposure has a limited role in the ability to process facial resemblance in others, which contrasts with facial recognition processing. We also discuss whether processing facial similarities is a by-product of the facial recognition system or an evolved ability to assess kinship relationships.