Representation in Westminster in the 1990s : The ghost of Edmund Burke

Why are 'trustee' notions of representation still invoked in the UK House of Commons in the 1990s? In answering this question this article analyses the premises of Burkean theory and the arguments that these premises are of little relevance in the late twentieth century. Despite these dismissals of trusteeship, Burkean ideas are still articulated in the Commons some 200 years after they were first voiced. The idea of trusteeship can prove extremely useful to justify the actions of representatives when those actions conflict with constituency 'opinion', party policy or the wishes of interest groups. Examples of the occasions when Burkean notions have been invoked in the 1990s are provided

Ionization potentials in the limit of large atomic number

By extrapolating the energies of non-relativistic atoms and their ions with up to 3000 electrons within Kohn-Sham density functional theory, we find that the ionization potential remains finite and increases across a row, even as $Z\rightarrow\infty$. The local density approximation becomes chemically accurate (and possibly exact) in some cases. Extended Thomas-Fermi theory matches the shell-average of both the ionization potential and density change. Exact results are given in the limit of weak electron-electron repulsion.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figure

Genetic analysis of safflower domestication.

BackgroundSafflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.) is an oilseed crop in the Compositae (a.k.a. Asteraceae) that is valued for its oils rich in unsaturated fatty acids. Here, we present an analysis of the genetic architecture of safflower domestication and compare our findings to those from sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.), an independently domesticated oilseed crop within the same family.We mapped quantitative trait loci (QTL) underlying 24 domestication-related traits in progeny from a cross between safflower and its wild progenitor, Carthamus palaestinus Eig. Also, we compared QTL positions in safflower against those that have been previously identified in cultivated x wild sunflower crosses to identify instances of colocalization.ResultsWe mapped 61 QTL, the vast majority of which (59) exhibited minor or moderate phenotypic effects. The two large-effect QTL corresponded to one each for flower color and leaf spininess. A total of 14 safflower QTL colocalized with previously reported sunflower QTL for the same traits. Of these, QTL for three traits (days to flower, achene length, and number of selfed seed) had cultivar alleles that conferred effects in the same direction in both species.ConclusionsAs has been observed in sunflower, and unlike many other crops, our results suggest that the genetics of safflower domestication is quite complex. Moreover, our comparative mapping results indicate that safflower and sunflower exhibit numerous instances of QTL colocalization, suggesting that parallel trait transitions during domestication may have been driven, at least in part, by parallel genotypic evolution at some of the same underlying genes

Comfort Food for All: The Scalability of LMS-Embedded Librarianship

Embedded librarianship provides information literacy instruction right where students prefer to do course related research: online. The learning management system (LMS) provides an effective arena for librarians to collaborate with professors and reach students with library services alongside course content. How scalable, though, is this service so that it can meet the needs of all students? Presenters will share data from a 2011 international survey, material from the professional literature, and the experiences of LMS embedded librarians to help answer this question. Time will be spent discussing how to reorganize information literacy efforts and workflow within the library to address the scalability question head-on. Observant library administrators would do well to reallocate staff responsibilities to ensure LMS embedded librarianship becomes standard fare, as it reaches the many at their point of need. The presenters will address questions such as the following: Is it just too time-consuming to undertake? Is it meant for a select few classes? Which information literacy instruction methods can be incorporated to innovatively meet the needs of students? What time-saving tools can be employed to sustain the program long-term? Librarians must re-envision themselves as virtual information literacy instructors because that is where users prefer to slice and dice research assignments. Come learn tools, techniques, and staffing innovations to make LMS embedded librarianship sustainable on your campus

College of Graduate Studies News

The Grad Post Program Spotlight For Fall 201

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Genetic map file of consensus genotypes for each contig

Generalized gradient approximation for solids and their surfaces

Successful modern generalized gradient approximations (GGA) are biased toward atomic energies. Restoration of the first-principles gradient expansion for the exchange energy over a wide range of density gradients eliminates this bias. We introduce PBEsol, a revised Perdew-Burke-Ernzerhof GGA that improves equilibrium properties for many densely-packed solids and their surfaces.Comment: 4pages, 2figures,2table