Search for lepton flavor violating decays of a heavy neutral particle in p-pbar collisions at root(s)=1.8 TeV

We report on a search for a high mass, narrow width particle that decays directly to e+mu, e+tau, or mu+tau. We use approximately 110 pb^-1 of data collected with the Collider Detector at Fermilab from 1992 to 1995. No evidence of lepton flavor violating decays is found. Limits are set on the production and decay of sneutrinos with R-parity violating interactions.Comment: Figure 2 fixed. Reference 4 fixed. Minor changes to tex

Risk, commercialism and social purpose: Repositioning the English housing association sector

Originally seen as the ‘third arm’ of UK housing policy, the independent, not-for-profit housing association sector had long been seen as effective in ‘filling the gap’ where the state or market were unable to provide for households in need. Since the 1980s in particular, successive governments had viewed housing associations in favourable terms as efficient, semi-autonomous social businesses, capable of leveraging significant private funding. By 2015, in contrast, central government had come to perceive the sector as inefficient, bureaucratic and wasteful of public subsidy. Making use of institutional theory, this paper considers this paradigm shift and examines the organisational responses to an increasingly challenging operating environment. By focusing, in particular, on large London housing associations, the paper analyses their strategic decision-making to address the opportunities and threats presented. The paper argues that in facing an era of minimal subsidy, low security and high risk, the 2015 reforms represent a critical juncture for the sector. Housing organisations face a stark dilemma about whether to continue a strategy of ‘profit for purpose’ or to embrace an unambiguously commercial ethos. The article contends that the trajectory of decision-making (although not unidirectional) leads ultimately towards an increased exposure to risk and vulnerability to changes in the housing market. More fundamentally, the attempt to reconcile social and commercial logics is likely to have wider consequences for the legitimacy of the sector

Trafficking of Migrant Workers from Romania: Issues of Labor and Sexual Exploitation

Part of a major research project on the forms of forced labor today developed by the ILO Special Action Programme to Combat Forced Labour (SAP-FL), this paper argues that trafficking for labor exploitation is an emerging issue in Europe and in particular in Romania. Features a detailed comparison of living conditions prior to the emergence of immigration, trafficking, and/or forced labor

The orbit space of groupoids whose C∗C^*-algebras are GCR

Let $G$ be second countable locally compact Hausdorff groupoid with a continuous Haar system. We remove the assumption of amenability in a theorem by Clark about GCR groupoid $C^*$-algebras. We show that if the groupoid $C^*$-algebra of $G$ is GCR then the orbits of $G$ are locally closed.Comment: 1

Hoger onderwijs voor de digitale eeuw

‘Will universities survive the e-learning revolution?’ ‘De klassieke universiteit ligt op sterven!’ ‘Vermoord de universiteit niet!’ De krantenkoppen van het voorbije jaar liegen er niet om. Moeten onze universiteiten en hogescholen de digitale revolutie omhelzen als de sleutel tot een nieuwe toekomst of moeten ze die juist afhouden als een bedreiging voor hun wezen zelf? Hebben ze de boot misschien al gemist? Dat laatste zeker (nog) niet. De Vlaamse instellingen zijn zeer intensief met e-learning bezig: door wetenschappelijk onderzoek, via een uitgebreide waaier aan pilootexperimenten en door grondige discussie en reflectie. In 2014 hebben zij in het kader van het ‘denkersprogramma’ van de KVAB hun visies en ervaringen uitgewisseld met twee gerenommeerde buitenlandse experten (denkers): Diana Laurillard van de University of London en Pierre Dillenbourg van de Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne. Een jaar lang hebben de twee denkers intensief samengewerkt met een expertengroep waarin o.m. ook de VLIR, VLOR, NVAO en de studentenkoepel VVS vertegenwoordigd waren. Ze namen ook deel aan seminaries en werksessies bij de vijf Vlaamse universiteiten en de UCL (Université Catholique de Louvain). Sluitstuk van deze samenwerking was het druk bijgewoonde symposium van 19 november 2014: ‘21st Century Learning in Higher Education: The Campus Blended online? The Flanders Case’. Hun eindrapporten liggen aan de basis van de eigen visie, voorstellen en aanbevelingen die de KVAB-reflectiegroep “Blended Learning” uitgewerkt heeft in het voorjaar 2015. Deze worden geformuleerd in dit Standpunt. (De position papers van de denkers zelf werden gepubliceerd als KVAB Standpunt 33: ‘Higher Education in the digital era. A thinking Exercise in Flanders’.) Het uitgangspunt is als volgt: het lijdt geen twijfel dat de digitalisering ongekende mogelijkheden biedt voor onderwijs en leren, in de breedte zowel als in de diepte. Dankzij de nieuwe mogelijkheden in de breedte kunnen universiteiten en hogescholen onderling cursussen uitwisselen en hun maatschappelijke functie uitbreiden naar nieuwe doelgroepen. Ze kunnen hun internationale dimensie versterken door cursussen aan te bieden en af te nemen in het kader van internationale netwerken (“virtuele mobiliteit”). De nieuwe mogelijkheden in de diepte zullen zich niet vanzelf realiseren: niet de technologie op zich zal de onderwijskwaliteit verbeteren, maar wel de doordachte combinaties van ‘traditioneel’ contactonderwijs (met zijn onschatbare rijkdom aan persoonlijke en sociale contacten en ervaringen) met online learning. Deze combinaties hebben een naam: blended learning. Om het digitale potentieel optimaal te valoriseren zijn krachtige acties nodig op de verschillende niveaus: dat van de docent en zijn klas, dat van de instelling en dat van de overheid. Zonder die krachtige acties missen onze universiteiten en hogescholen wellicht deze unieke kans om via de digitale revolutie hun onderwijs grondig te vernieuwen, te verbreden en te verbeteren en op die manier hun maatschappelijke functie op te krikken

Subseasonal statistical forecasts of eastern U.S. hot temperature events

Extreme summer temperatures can cause severe societal impacts. Early warnings can aid societal preparedness, but reliable forecasts for extreme temperatures at subseasonal-to-seasonal (S2S) timescales are still missing. Earlier work showed that specific sea surface temperature (SST) patterns over the northern Pacific are precursors of high temperature events in the eastern United States, which might provide skillful forecasts at long-leads (~50 days). However, the verification was based on a single skill metric and a probabilistic forecast was missing. Here, we introduce a novel algorithm that objectively extracts robust precursors from SST linked to a binary target variable. When applied to reanalysis (ERA-5) and climate model data (EC-Earth), we identify robust precursors with the clearest links over the North-Pacific. Different precursors are tested as input for a statistical model to forecast high temperature events. Using multiple skill metrics for verification, we show that daily high temperature events have no predictive skill at long leads. By systematically testing the influence of temporal and spatial aggregation, we find that noise in the target timeseries is an important bottleneck for predicting extreme events on S2S timescales. We show that skill can be increased by a combination of (1) aggregating spatially and/or temporally, (2) lowering the threshold of the target events to increase the base-rate, or (3) add additional variables containing predictive information (soil-moisture). Exploiting these skill-enhancing factors, we obtain forecast skill for moderate heatwaves (i.e. 2 or more hot days closely clustered together in time) up to 50 days lead-time

The roles of specialist provision for children with specific speech and language difficulties in England and Wales: a model for inclusion?

Children with specific speech and language difficulties pose a challenge to the education and health systems. In addition to their language difficulties they are also at risk of literacy and social, emotional and behavioural difficulties. The main support for children with more severe difficulties has been enhanced provision in mainstream schools (language units or integrated resources) and special schools. The move to an inclusive education system challenges this tradition. The present paper reports the results of interviews with heads of language units/integrated resources and headteachers of special schools (n=57) as part of a larger study within England and Wales. Their views are considered with reference to criteria for entry to specialist provision, the development of collaborative practice between teachers, teaching assistants and speech and language therapists, and the implications for inclusive education

Prevalence of childhood disability and the characteristics and circumstances of disabled children in the UK : secondary analysis of the Family Resources Survey

Background: Robust data on the prevalence of childhood disability and the circumstances and characteristics of disabled children is crucial to understanding the relationship between impairment and social disadvantage. It is also crucial for public policy development aimed at reducing the prevalence of childhood disability and providing appropriate and timely service provision. This paper reports prevalence rates for childhood disability in the United Kingdom (UK) and describes the social and household circumstances of disabled children, comparing these where appropriate to those of non-disabled children. Methods: Data were generated from secondary analysis of the Family Resources Survey, a national UK cross-sectional survey, (2004/5) which had data on 16,012 children aged 0-18 years. Children were defined as disabled if they met the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) definition (1995 and 2005). Frequency distributions and cross-tabulations were run to establish prevalence estimates, and describe the circumstances of disabled children. To establish the association between individual social and material factors and childhood disability when other factors were controlled for, logistic regression models were fitted on the dependent variable 'DDA defined disability'. Results: 7.3% (CI 6.9, 7.7) of UK children were reported by as disabled according to the DDA definition. Patterns of disability differed between sexes with boys having a higher rate overall and more likely than girls to experience difficulties with physical coordination; memory, concentration and learning; communication. Disabled children lived in different personal situations from their non-disabled counterparts, and were more likely to live with low-income, deprivation, debt and poor housing. This was particularly the case for disabled children from black/minority ethnic/ mixed parentage groups and lone-parent households. Childhood disability was associated with lone parenthood and parental disability and these associations persisted when social disadvantage was controlled for. Conclusion: These analyses suggest that UK disabled children experience higher levels of poverty and personal and social disadvantage than other children. Further research is required to establish accurate prevalence estimates of childhood disability among different black and minority ethnic groups and to understand the associations between childhood disability and lone parenthood and the higher rates of sibling and parental disability in households with disabled children