A late-time transition in the equation of state versus Lambda-CDM

We study a model of the dark energy which exhibits a rapid change in its equation of state w(z), such as occurs in vacuum metamorphosis. We compare the model predictions with CMB, large scale structure and supernova data and show that a late-time transition is marginally preferred over standard Lambda-CDM.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figure, to appear in the proceedings of XXXVIIth Rencontres de Moriond, "The Cosmological Model", March 200

Spin Readout Techniques of the Nitrogen-Vacancy Center in Diamond

The diamond nitrogen-vacancy (NV) center is a leading platform for quantum information science due to its optical addressability and room-temperature spin coherence. However, measurements of the NV center's spin state typically require averaging over many cycles to overcome noise. Here, we review several approaches to improve the readout performance and highlight future avenues of research that could enable single-shot electron-spin readout at room temperature.Comment: 21 pages, 7 figure

The role and effects of teaching assistants in English primary schools (Years 4 to 6) 2000-2003. Results from the Class Size and Pupil-Adult Ratios (CSPAR) KS2 Project

It is widely assumed that increasing the number of Teaching Assistants (TAs) in the classroom will be beneficial to children, and this is one important aim of the recently implemented Workforce Agreement. But there are still significant gaps in knowledge about many aspects of their deployment and impact. The Class Size and Pupil-Adult Ratio (CSPAR) KS2 study built on earlier findings when the pupils were in reception and KS1 and investigated: 1. the deployment of TAs in classrooms and how key parties involved perceived this; 2. the effect of TAs on interactions involving pupils and teachers in the same classrooms, and on pupil attainments. The study had a longitudinal, mixed method and multi-informant design. There were 202 schools, 332 classes and 8728 pupils in Y4. Methods of data collection included: for the whole sample) questionnaires completed by TAs, teachers and head teachers, assessments of pupil attainments in mathematics, English and science, data on pupil background, and (for a sub-sample) case studies and a systematic observation study. This study found that the TA’s role in KS2 is predominantly a direct one, in the sense of face-to-face interactions supporting certain pupils. There was no evidence that the presence of TAs, or any characteristic of TAs, had a measurable effect on pupil attainment. However, results were clear in showing that TAs had an indirect effect on teaching, e.g., pupils had a more active form of interaction with the teacher and there was more individualised teacher attention. This supported teachers’ views that TAs are effective in supporting them in this way. We conclude that more attention needs to be paid to what we call the pedagogical role of TAs so that they can be used effectively to help teachers and pupils, particularly in the context of the enhanced roles for TAs being introduced as part of the Government’s remodeling agenda

The development of higher education in Leeds: the emergence of a system of secondary education 1800-1907

Not availabl

Buckets in a Deep Well: Essays About Shakespeare’s History Play Characters and an Original Drama

Buckets in a Deep Well is a set of essays that examines various characters portrayed in Shakespeare’s history plays, as well as parallel figures in 20th and 21st century works. Each essay primarily focuses on a single character’s response to a power structure: Richard Gloucester to the Tudor England of his audience in Richard III; Richard Nixon’s campaign-produced version of himself to 20th century American democracy in “Checkers;” Falstaff to organized society in Henry IV, Part 1; Marlo Stanfield to the drug economy of early 2000’s Baltimore in The Wire; the Duke of York to the disrupted monarchy of The Plantagenet era in Richard II; and Antony Jay and Jonathan Lynn’s Humphrey Appleby to the world of competing interests that makes up the fictionalized English government of Yes, Minister

Electrical Tuning of Single Nitrogen-Vacancy Center Optical Transitions Enhanced by Photoinduced Fields

We demonstrate precise control over the zero-phonon optical transition energies of individual nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers in diamond by applying multiaxis electric fields, via the dc Stark effect. The Stark shifts display surprising asymmetries that we attribute to an enhancement and rectification of the local electric field by photoionized charge traps in the diamond. Using this effect, we tune the excited-state orbitals of strained NV centers to degeneracy and vary the resulting degenerate optical transition frequency by >10 GHz, a scale comparable to the inhomogeneous frequency distribution. This technique will facilitate the integration of NV-center spins within photonic networks.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figure