The Power to Change: High Schools that Help All Students Achieve

"The Power to Change: High Schools that Help All Students Achieve," chronicles the stories of three very different high schools that are getting strong results for minority students and students from low-income families. The report demonstrates clearly that some high schools are succeeding, even under challenging circumstances

Granular Flow in a Vertically Vibrating Hopper

The behavior of the flow of glass spheres in a vertically vibrating hopper is examined. A two-dimensional hopper is mounted on a shaker that provides sinusoidal, vertical vibrations. Both the frequency and amplitude of the vibrations are adjustable. Hopper discharge rates and flow patterns are measured as the acceleration amplitude of the vibrations is increased from 0 to 4g's. Comparisons are made with unvibrated hopper flows and with a two-dimensional discrete element simulation model

Fast wavelength switching lasers using two-section slotted Fabry-Pérot structures

Fast wavelength switching of a two-section slotted Fabry–PÉrot laser structure is presented. The slot design enables operation at five discrete wavelength channels spaced by 10 nm by tuning one section of the device. These wavelengths operate with sidemode suppression ratio in excess of 35 dB, and switching times between these channels of approximately 1 ns are demonstrated

Overlaying an Open Journals service onto an Institutional Repository at the School of Advanced Study, University of London

A poster for Open Repositories 2012 describing and illustrating the JISC-funded SAS OJS project and the resulting Open Journals service for the School of Advanced Study

Epistemic authority and the gender lens

Researching 'hidden' forms of social inequality such as gender often poses particular challenges. Not least of these is how to uncover such dimensions of social life whilst preserving the perspectives of research participants, who may not consider such matters relevant to their lives, particularly if other forms of identity or oppression are more prominent for them. Here, I reflect on these issues in the context of researching user involvement in mental health services from a feminist perspective. I show how `uncovering' gender and other forms of social inequality in the field was aided through adopting a wide analytical lens focusing on power, along with reflexivity and openness in discussing my own political analysis and commitments in relation to the study area with the researched. I also describe how I attempted to resolve the epistemological-ethical issues involved through conceptualising these in terms of `situatedness' and gender salience and adopting a feminist standpoint which emphasised what researchers can, and indeed should, bring to the research enterprise. Related issues of power and empowerment in the research process are discussed

The Strange and Spooky Battle over Bats and Black Dresses: The Commodification of Whitby Goth Weekend and the Loss of a Subculture

From counterculture to subculture to the ubiquity of every black-clad wannabe vampire hanging around the centre of Western cities, Goth has transcended a musical style to become a part of everyday leisure and popular culture. The music’s cultural terrain has been extensively mapped in the first decade of this century. In this article, we examine the phenomenon of the Whitby Goth Weekend, a modern Goth music festival, which has contributed to (and has been altered by) the heritage-tourism marketing of Whitby as the holiday resort of Dracula (the place where Bram Stoker imagined the Vampire Count arriving one dark and stormy night). We examine marketing literature and websites that sell Whitby as a spooky town, and suggest that this strategy has driven the success of the Goth festival. We explore the development of the festival and the politics of its ownership, and its increasing visibility as a mainstream tourist destination for those who want to dress up for the weekend. By interviewing Goths from the north of England, we suggest that the mainstreaming of the festival has led to it becoming less attractive to those more established, older Goths who see the subculture’s authenticity as being rooted in the post-punk era, and who believe that Goth subculture should be something one lives full-time

Exploring the usefulness of new technology with new students : a case study

In traditional campus-based universities it is recognised that one factor for student success is that students are physically present, and that therefore one way of encouraging student involvement is to attract them to spend more time on campus. At London Metropolitan University, our students could not be expected to prolong their presence on campus physically due to their multitude of commitments and its inner city location. However, it may be possible to get them to engage with university life virtually. This paper explores the thinking behind encouraging students to develop their online skills whilst at University, and supporting the lecturing staff as role models for this approach

Time-lapse geophysical investigations over a simulated urban clandestine grave

A simulated clandestine shallow grave was created within a heterogeneous, made-ground, urban environment where a clothed, plastic resin, human skeleton, animal products, and physiological saline were placed in anatomically correct positions and re-covered to ground level. A series of repeat (time-lapse), near-surface geophysical surveys were undertaken: (1) prior to burial (to act as control), (2) 1 month, and (3) 3 months post-burial. A range of different geophysical techniques was employed including: bulk ground resistivity and conductivity, fluxgate gradiometry and high-frequency ground penetrating radar (GPR), soil magnetic susceptibility, electrical resistivity tomography (ERT), and self potential (SP). Bulk ground resistivity and SP proved optimal for initial grave location whilst ERT profiles and GPR horizontal "time-slices" showed the best spatial resolutions. Research suggests that in complex urban made-ground environments, initial resistivity surveys be collected before GPR and ERT follow-up surveys are collected over the identified geophysical anomalies

Dissociation of Action and Object Naming: Evidence From Cortical Stimulation Mapping

This cortical stimulation mapping study investigates the neural representation of action and object naming. Data from 13 neurosurgical subjects undergoing awake cortical mapping is presented. Our findings indicate clear evidence of differential disruption of noun and verb naming in the context of this naming task. At the individual level, evidence was found for punctuate regions of perisylvian cortex subserving noun and verb function. Across subjects, however, the location of these sites varied. This finding may help explain discrepancies between lesion and functional imaging studies of noun and verb naming. In addition, an alternative coding of these data served to highlight the grammatical class vulnerability of the target response. The use of this coding scheme implicates a role for the supramarginal gyrus in verb-naming behavior. These data are discussed with respect to a functional-anatomical pathway underlying verb naming