Exploring different 'perspectives' in secondary geography: Professional development options

Significant changes have occurred in the worlds of geography since 1973, and a substantial literature has emerged about these changes and their effects on the 'divide' between secondary and tertiary geographers. We suggest that while the divide has not had much effect on the content taught in secondary geography in New Zealand and Britain, exposure to a range of perspectives on this content is a neglected area of professional development. Post-Fordism and deep ecology are described as perspectives that are not widely used in delivering secondary geography content. We argue firstly that effective use of different perspectives needs to be based on professional, personal and social change, and secondly that the Internet is a powerful tool in the engineering of such change

A lower bound on the probability of error in quantum state discrimination

We give a lower bound on the probability of error in quantum state discrimination. The bound is a weighted sum of the pairwise fidelities of the states to be distinguished.Comment: 4 pages; v2 fixes typos and adds remarks; v3 adds a new referenc

A Note on Language Learning and Study Abroad

This letter from returnee Ashley Bennett explains the value of studying abroad in Austria

The Evolution of Giving: Considerations for Regulation of Cryptocurrency Donation Deductions

This Issue Brief looks at the rapidly growing area of cryptocurrency donations to nonprofit organizations. Given the recent IRS guidance issued on taxation of Bitcoin, specifically its decision to treat cryptocurrencies as property, questions now arise as to how charitable contributions of the coins will be valued for tax deductions. Though Bitcoin resembles most other capital gain property, its volatility, general decline in value, anonymity, and potential for abuse require specific guidance on valuation and substantiation so as to handle its unique nature and prevent larger deductions for charitable contributions than those to which taxpayers are entitled

Verbatim and Gist Extraction Among University Colleges

Fuzzy Trace Theory (FTT) posits that individuals use two different cognitive processes in encoding, storing, and retrieving information. One process (verbatim) encodes the details of the information, applying cost/benefit analysis when used for a decision. The other process (gist) encodes relational information extracted from the information and uses more intuition when applied to decisions. Often, use of one process over another can lead to different decisions. Further, there exists individual differences in the skill and preference for using these processes. The current study examined whether differences in verbatim, and gist skill or preference would vary by university college (STEM, or Liberal and Applied Arts). FTT states differences in verbatim or gist affect performance on learning tasks. Given the preponderance of verbatim type requirements in the STEM fields versus other majors, it was hypothesized that STEM majors would have higher preference and performance in verbatim processing

Influence of Fluoride and Stress on the Electrochemical Properties of Nickel-Titanium Coils

The aim of this study was to examine the effects of fluoride and stress on the electrochemical properties of nickel-titanium coils. Forty Dentsply GAC NiTi coils were divided into four groups of ten and individually tested. Twenty coils were placed in a solution of artificial saliva, where ten of the twenty were compressed and the other ten were not stressed. The other twenty coils were placed in a 1500 ppm NaF solution, where ten were compressed and ten were not. The coils were connected to a computer driven potentiostat and three tests were conducted: open circuit potential monitoring for 2 hours, a linear polarization scan, and a cyclic polarization test. The results showed the coils to possess a more noble OCP when in artificial saliva compared to fluoride. The non-compressed, artificial saliva group possessed the greatest polarization resistance (

Diving on the Great Barrier Reef

Postcard from Ashley Tobiska, during the Linfield College Semester Abroad Program at James Cook University in Australi