Electronic orders near the type-II van Hove singularity in BC3_3

Using the functional renormalization group, we investigate the electron instability in the single-sheet BC$_3$ when the electron filling is near a type-II van Hove singularity. For a finite Hubbard interaction, the ferromagnetic-like spin density wave order dominates in the immediate vicinity of the singularity. Elsewhere near the singularity the p-wave superconductivity prevails. We also find that a small nearest-neighbor Coulomb repulsion can enhance the superconductivity. Our results show that BC$_3$ would be a promising candidate to realize topological $p+ip'$ superconductivity, but the transition temperature is practically sizable only if the local interaction is moderately strong.Comment: 6 pages, 6 color figures. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1503.0047

Expression patterns of chondrocyte genes cloned by differential display in tibial dyschondroplasia

AbstractTibial dyschondroplasia (TD) appears to involve a failure of the growth plate chondrocytes within growing long bones to differentiate fully to the hypertrophic stage, resulting in a mass of prehypertrophic chondrocytes which form the avascular TD lesion. Many biochemical and molecular markers of chondrocyte hypertrophy are absent from the lesion, or show reduced expression, but the cause of the disorder remains to be identified. As differentiation to the hypertrophic state is impaired in TD, we hypothesised that chondrocyte genes that are differentially expressed in the growth plate should show altered expression in TD. Using differential display, four genes, B-cadherin, EF2, HT7 and Ex-FABP were cloned from chondrocytes stimulated to differentiate to the hypertrophic stage in vitro, and their differential expression confirmed in vivo. Using semi-quantitative RT-PCR, the expression patterns of these genes were compared in chondrocytes from normal and TD growth plates. Surprisingly, none of these genes showed the pattern of expression that might be expected in TD lesion chondrocytes, and two of them, B-cadherin and Ex-FABP, were upregulated in the lesion. This indicates that the TD phenotype does not merely reflect the absence of hypertrophic marker genes, but may be influenced by more complex developmental mechanisms/defects than previously thought

Faculty Participation in Teaching Improvement Programs

A study undertaken to explore faculty nonparticipation in teaching improvement programs is described. Faculty nonparticipation was viewed as a function of interacting personal and situational factors. Questionnaire results, representing 30 percent of the academic faculty at a major university, were compared along disciplinary lines and according to participation in instructional workshops. Responses of past participants and nonparticipants were compared in order to identify variables associated with nonparticipation in instructional development activities. Approximately one-quarter of the 213 respondents had participated in teaching improvement workshops at least once since 1971. Respondents from the Professions and Applied Sciences appeared generally most supportive of the concept of T.I.P. 's while respondents from the Faculty of Science appeared to be the least positive. The study results suggest that faculty nonparticipation in T.I.P. 's may be associated with: the professor's views about teaching and teaching improvement; the relative personal priority assigned to teaching; the perceived need for improvement in teaching skills; attitudes towards the teaching improvement program; awareness of available programs; and the perceived convenience of available programs. The perceived level of university support for good teaching was less clearly associated with nonparticipation, and perceived situational barriers were not found to be associated.Dans ce travail, l'auteur décrit une étude tentant d'explorer la non-participation des enseignants d'une université au programme de perfectionnement de l'enseigne-ment (T.I.P.). La non-participation des enseignants se voit comme étant la consé-quence de l'interaction de facteurs personnels et de facteurs de situations d'enseignement dans lesquelles se trouvent les professeurs. L'auteur a analysé les résultats d'un questionnaire, représentant 30 pour cent du personnel académique d'une université de grande taille selon les disciplines enseignées par les professeurs et selon leur participation aux ateliers d'enseignement. La comparaison des réactions des anciens participants et des non-participants fut effectuée afin d'identifier les variables reliées à la non-participation aux activités de perfectionne-ment. Environ un quart des 213 réponses venaient de professeurs qui avaient participé au moins line fois d des ateliers de perfectionnement de l'enseignement depuis 1971. Les réponses du personnel des professions et des Sciences Appliquées semblaient en général appuyer le concept des ateliers de perfectionnement de l'enseignement tandis que celles du personnel de la Faculté des Sciences semblaient être les moins positives au concept. L'enquête suggère que la non-participation des professeurs aux ateliers de perfectionnement de l'enseignement peut être due aux facteurs suivants: à la philosophie du professeur envers l'enseignement et envers le perfectionnement de son enseignement; à.la priorité personnelle qu'il accorde à l'enseignement; au besoin qu'il éprouve de se perfectionner dans les techniques d'enseignement; aux attitudes qu 'il a envers le programme de perfec-tionnement de l'enseignement; d la connaissance qu 'il a des programmes disponi-bles; et à la disponibilité du professeur vis-â-vis l'horaire des programmes. La per-ception de l'appui universitaire pour un bon enseignement était moins nettement reliée à la non-participation et les difficultés de situations redoutées n 'étaient pas valables

Explaining Africa’s public consumption procyclicality : revisiting old evidence

This paper compiles a novel dataset of time-varying measures of government consumption cyclicality for a panel of 46 African economies between 1960 and 2014. Government consumption has, generally, been highly procyclical over time in this group of countries. However, sample averages hide serious heterogeneity across countries with the majority of them showing procyclical behavior despite some positive signs of graduation from the “procyclicality trap” in a few cases. By means of weighted least squares regressions, we find that more developed African economies tend to have a smaller degree of government consumption procyclicality. Countries with higher social fragmentation and those are more reliant on foreign aid inflows tend to have a more procyclical government consumption policy. Better governance promotes counter- cyclical fiscal policy whileincreased democracy dampens it. Finally, some fiscal rules are important in curbing the procyclical behavior of government consumption.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Vrije-Elektronen-Laser werk aan de Universiteit van Twente in samenwerking met het Nederlands Centrum voor Laser Research

In de vakgroep Quantum Elektronica van de Faculteit Technische Natuurkunde aan de Universiteit Twente zijn momenteel drie Vrije-Elektronen-Laser projecten operationeel. De projecten worden uitgevoerd in nauwe samenwerking met het Nederlands Centrum voor Laser Research. Het FEL-onderzoek binnen de vakgroep richt zich met name op de fysische aspecten van het FEL-mechanisme en de technologische ontwikkeling van componenten voor een effectieve produktie van straling. Ook wordt veel aandacht besteed aan de ontwikkeling van diagnostiek, zowel voor de elektronenbundel als voor de optische bundel. Veel componenten zijn in huis ontwikkeld en gebouwd. Op deze wijze wordt getracht FEL’s aantrekkelijk te maken voor industriële toepassingen. Dit laatste aspect krijgt met name veel aandacht in de samenwerking met het NCLR. Hieronder volgt een korte beschrijving van de verschillende projecten

Gender and Tahrir Square: contesting the state and imagining a new nation

This article argues that the concepts of ‘State’ and ‘Nation’ should be treated as separate from one another, hence, more than one image of the nation is possible at one given time. During the early days of the January 2011 Egyptian revolution, a contestation emerged between Mubarak’s state and the protesters in Tahrir Square over the image and notion of the Egyptian nation. Both the state and the protesters attempted to exclude one another from their respective discourse of the Egyptian nation. While reflecting back on a number of women’s voices who joined the early days of the Tahrir Square protests and using qualitative fieldwork interviews with Cairo-based feminist and political activists, this article points to the complexity of a newly forged image of Egyptian nationhood. In Tahrir Square, this image appeared to be largely framed within gendered criteria where notions of manhood and hyper visible gender equality were intrinsically linked to the broader objective of removing Mubarak and his regime. This raises the question of whether new gender paradigms of equality can continue to exist beyond Tahrir Square’s imagination of a ‘new’ nation

Addressing the Legacy Costs in an NDC Reform: Conceptualization, Measurement, Financing

The paper provides a framework for the conceptualization, definition and estimation of legacy costs that need to be addressed in a reform that transforms an unfunded defined contribution (NDB) scheme into a notional (or non-financial) defined contribution (NDC) scheme. As the new contribution rate is fixed and, perhaps, reduced, paying for the accrued to date liabilities leaves a financing gap that needs to be estimated and financed, best outside the pension system if a less distorting financing form is available. The paper illustrates the proposed measurement approach with broad estimates under a hypothetical NDC reform in China