73 research outputs found
Secondary education reform in Lesotho and Zimbabwe and the needs of rural girls: Pronouncements, policy and practice
Analysis of the educational needs of rural girls in Lesotho and Zimbabwe suggests a number of shortcomings in the current form of secondary education, and ways in which it might be modified so as to serve this sizeable group of students better. Several of the shortcomings, notably in relation to curricular irrelevance and excessive focus on examinations, have long been recognised, including by politicians. Yet political pronouncements are seldom translated into policy, and even where policy is formulated, reforms are seldom implemented in schools. This paper makes use of interviews with educational decision-makers in the two southern African countries and a range of documentary sources to explore why, despite the considerable differences between the two contexts, much needed educational reforms have been implemented in neither
High-energy cosmic ray fluxes in the Earth atmosphere: calculations vs experiments
A new calculation of the atmospheric fluxes of cosmic-ray hadrons and muons
in the energy range 10-10^5 GeV has been performed for the set of hadron
production models, EPOS 1.6, QGSJET II-03, SIBYLL 2.1, and others that are of
interest to cosmic ray physicists. The fluxes of secondary cosmic rays at
several levels in the atmosphere are computed using directly data of the
ATIC-2, GAMMA experiments, and the model proposed recently by Zatsepin and
Sokolskaya as well as the parameterization of the primary cosmic ray spectrum
by Gaisser and Honda. The calculated energy spectra of the hadrons and muon
flux as a function of zenith angle are compared with measurements as well as
other calculations. The effect of uncertainties both in the primary cosmic ray
flux and hadronic model predictions on the spectra of atmospheric hadrons and
muons is considered.Comment: 30 pages elsart, 18 figures; discussion extended, tables and
references added, figures improved, typos corrected; final version accepted
for publication in Astroparticle Physic
Weber and church governance: religious practice and economic activity
The debate about the relationship between religion and economic activity in the wake of Weber has been cast largely in terms of belief and values. This article suggests an alternative focus on practice. It argues that taken for granted practices of church governance formed to-hand resources for the organization of economic activity. The argument is developed through an examination of the historical development of church governance practices in the Presbyterian Church of Scotland, with particular emphasis on the way in which theological belief gave rise to practices of accountability and record keeping. In turn such practices contributed to a ‘culture of organization’ which had implications for economic activity. A focus on governance practices can help to illuminate enduring patterns of difference in the organization of economic activity
Meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies identifies common susceptibility polymorphisms for colorectal and endometrial cancer near SH2B3 and TSHZ1
High-risk mutations in several genes predispose to both colorectal cancer (CRC) and endometrial cancer (EC). We therefore hypothesised that some lower-risk genetic variants might also predispose to both CRC and EC. Using CRC and EC genome-wide association series, totalling 13,265 cancer cases and 40,245 controls, we found that the protective allele [G] at one previously-identified CRC polymorphism, rs2736100 near TERT, was associated with EC risk (odds ratio (OR) = 1.08, P = 0.000167); this polymorphism influences the risk of several other cancers. A further CRC polymorphism near TERC also showed evidence of association with EC (OR = 0.92; P = 0.03). Overall, however, there was no good evidence that the set of CRC polymorphisms was associated with EC risk, and neither of two previously-reported EC polymorphisms was associated with CRC risk. A combined analysis revealed one genome-wide significant polymorphism, rs3184504, on chromosome 12q24 (OR = 1.10, P = 7.23 × 10−9) with shared effects on CRC and EC risk. This polymorphism, a missense variant in the gene SH2B3, is also associated with haematological and autoimmune disorders, suggesting that it influences cancer risk through the immune response. Another polymorphism, rs12970291 near gene TSHZ1, was associated with both CRC and EC (OR = 1.26, P = 4.82 × 10−8), with the alleles showing opposite effects on the risks of the two cancers
Open data from the third observing run of LIGO, Virgo, KAGRA, and GEO
The global network of gravitational-wave observatories now includes five detectors, namely LIGO Hanford, LIGO Livingston, Virgo, KAGRA, and GEO 600. These detectors collected data during their third observing run, O3, composed of three phases: O3a starting in 2019 April and lasting six months, O3b starting in 2019 November and lasting five months, and O3GK starting in 2020 April and lasting two weeks. In this paper we describe these data and various other science products that can be freely accessed through the Gravitational Wave Open Science Center at https://gwosc.org. The main data set, consisting of the gravitational-wave strain time series that contains the astrophysical signals, is released together with supporting data useful for their analysis and documentation, tutorials, as well as analysis software packages
Switching between distinct modes of synaptic vesicle exocytosis depends upon changes in protein phosphorylation
Orientation and bonding of benzoic acid, phthalic anhydride and pyromellitic dianhydride on Cu(110)
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