Problems on the road to high skill: a sectoral lesson from the transfer of the dual system of vocational training to eastern Germany

The central challenge of transferring the dual system of education and training to eastern Germany is to convince companies to bear the in-firm costs of apprenticeship training. Two prominent explanatory variables in the social scientificliterature - national institutions and social capital - offer certain predictions aboutwhich factors will be most important in facilitating the transfer of the dual system toeastern Germany. Data from interviews with thirty-four firms in the metal andelectronics industry suggest that institutionalist theory mis-specifies the role ofemployers in coordinated market economies. Employers' associations in both eastern and western Germany have neither the access to inside information nor theinformal sanctioning capacity attributed to them in this literature, nor do they play anyrole in the regular diffusion of strategies of best practice. Ownership by westernGerman companies, however, appears to be of particular significance in the decisionof eastern German companies to train, a link which may support the institutional emphasis on access to long-term finance. Social capital is unable to explainsignificant variance in the ability of companies to cooperate in order to create additional apprenticeship places. The role of policy design in the new federal statesappears to have an important effect in explaining the ability of firms in some states tocooperate in training apprentices. The ability to craft effective policies depends oncoordination among state governments and employers' organizations, but the distributive conflicts inherent in these subsidies can hamper cooperation among employers. -- Die zentrale Herausforderung bei der Übertragung des dualen Berufsausbildungssystems nach Ostdeutschland ist es, die Unternehmen davon zuüberzeugen, die internen Kosten der Ausbildung zu tragen. Besonders zwe iVariablen in der sozialwissenschaftlichen Literatur - das nationale Institutionengefüge und das Sozialkapital - weisen auf vorab benennbare Faktoren hin, die wichtig sind, um den Transfer des dualen Systems nach Ostdeutschland zuerleichtern.Informationen und Daten aus Interviews in 34 Unternehmen der Metall- und Elektronikindustrie führen zu der Annahme, daß die Institutionen-Theorie die Rolle von Unternehmern in koordinierten Marktwirtschaften mißinterpretiert.Unternehmensverbände in Ost- und Westdeutschland haben weder Zugang zu Insider-Informationen noch eine wie auch immer geartete Sanktionsmöglichkeit - wieihnen in der Literatur zugeschrieben wird -, und sie spielen auch keine Rolle in derüblichen Verbreitung von best-practice-Erfahrungen. Wenn ein Unternehmen in Ostdeutschland einem westdeutschen Unternehmen gehört, so scheint dies allerdings eine wichtige Rolle bei der Entscheidung für eine berufliche Erstausbildung in dem ostdeutschen Unternehmen zu spielen. Dies könnte in einemZusammenhang mit der Diskussion um die Bedeutung von Institutionen und dabei um den Zugang zu langfristigem Kapital gesehen werden.Die These vom Sozialen Kapital kann die erheblichen Unterschiede in der Fähigkeitder Unternehmen, durch Kooperation zusätzliche Ausbildungsplätze zu schaffen, nicht erklären. Die je spezifische Art, wie politische Prozesse in den neuen Bundesländern gestaltet werden, scheint dagegen ein wichtiger Indikator zu sein, umdie in einigen Bundesländern vorhandene Kooperationsfähigkeit von Unternehmenbei der Lehrlingsausbildung zu erklären.Die Fähigkeit, wirksame politische Lösungen zu entwickeln, hängt von der Art der Zusammenarbeit zwischen Länderregierungen und Unternehmensverbänden ab, doch können Verteilungskonflikte, die immanent zu Subventionen gehören, dieKooperation zwischen Unternehmern behindern

Thermal desorption study of physical forces at the PTFE surface

Thermal desorption spectroscopy (TDS) of the polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) surface was successfully employed to study the possibile role of physical forces in the enhancement of metal-PTFE adhesion by radiation. The thermal desorption spectra were analyzed without assumptions to yield the activation energy for desorption over a range of xenon coverage from less than 0.1 monolayer to more than 100 monolayers. For multilayer coverage, the desorption is zero-order with an activation energy equal to the sublimation energy of xenon. For submonolayer coverages, the order for desorption from the unirradiated PTFE surface is 0.73 and the activation energy for desorption is between 3.32 and 3.36 kcal/mol; less than the xenon sublimation energy. The effect of irradiation is to increase the activation energy for desorption to as high as 4 kcal/mol at low coverage

Use of high L.E.T. radiation to improve adhesion of metals to polytetrafluoroethylene

MgK alpha X-rays (1254 eV) and 2 keV electrons irradiate the surface of polytetrafluoro ethylene (PTFE). The damage is confined to a few tenths of a micron below the surface, and the doses exceed 10 to the eight power rad. X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) of the irradiated surfaces and mass spectroscopy of the gaseous products of irradiation indicate that the damaged layer is crosslinked or branched PTFE. After either type of irradiation, the surface has enhanced affinity for metals and a lower contact angle with hexadecane. Tape pull tests show that evaporated Ni and Au films adhere better to the irradiated surface. XPS shows the Ni interacts chemically with PTFE forming NiF2 and possibly NiC. However, the gold adhesion and contact angle results indicate that the interaction is, at least in part, chemically nonspecific. Decreased contact angles on FEP Teflon crystallized against gold were attributed to either the presence of a polar oxygen layer or increased physical forces due to greater density. In the case of irradiated PTFE, no oxygen on the surface was observed. The crosslinked structure might, however, have a greater density, thus accounting for the observed increase in adhesion and wettability

The KELT-South Telescope

The Kilodegree Extremely Little Telescope (KELT) project is a survey for new transiting planets around bright stars. KELT-South is a small-aperture, wide-field automated telescope located at Sutherland, South Africa. The telescope surveys a set of 26 degree by 26 degree fields around the southern sky, and targets stars in the range of 8 < V < 10 mag, searching for transits by Hot Jupiters. This paper describes the KELT-South system hardware and software and discusses the quality of the observations. We show that KELT-South is able to achieve the necessary photometric precision to detect transits of Hot Jupiters around solar-type main-sequence stars.Comment: 26 pages, 13 figure

Upper-division Student Understanding of Coulomb's Law: Difficulties with Continuous Charge Distributions

Utilizing the integral expression of Coulomb's Law to determine the electric potential from a continuous charge distribution is a canonical exercise in Electricity and Magnetism (E&M). In this study, we use both think-aloud interviews and responses to traditional exam questions to investigate student difficulties with this topic at the upper-division level. Leveraging a theoretical framework for the use of mathematics in physics, we discuss how students activate, construct, execute and reflect on the integral form of Coulomb's Law when solving problems with continuous charge distributions. We present evidence that junior-level E&M students have difficulty mapping physical systems onto the mathematical expression for the Coulomb potential. Common challenges include difficulty expressing the difference vector in appropriate coordinates as well as determining expressions for the differential charge element and limits of integration for a specific charge distribution. We discuss possible implications of these findings for future research directions and instructional strategies.Comment: 5 pages, 1 figure, 2 tables, accepted to 2012 PERC Proceeding

Excimer lasers

The results of a two-year investigation into the possibility of developing continuous wave excimer lasers are reported. The program included the evaluation and selection of candidate molecular systems and discharge pumping techniques. The K Ar/K2 excimer dimer molecules and the xenon fluoride excimer molecule were selected for study; each used a transverse and capillary discharges pumping technique. Experimental and theoretical studies of each of the two discharge techniques applied to each of the two molecular systems are reported. Discharge stability and fluorine consumption were found to be the principle impediments to extending the XeF excimer laser into the continuous wave regime. Potassium vapor handling problems were the principal difficulty in achieving laser action on the K Ar/K2 system. Of the four molecular systems and pumping techniques explored, the capillary discharge pumped K Ar/K2 system appears to be the most likely candidate for demonstrating continuous wave excimer laser action primarily because of its predicted lower pumping threshold and a demonstrated discharge stability advantage

Sensitivity of the magnetic state of a spin lattice on itinerant electron orbital phase

Spatially extended localized spins can interact via indirect exchange interaction through Friedel oscillations in the Fermi sea. In arrays of localized spins such interaction can lead to a magnetically ordered phase. Without external magnetic field such a phase is well understood via a "two-impurity" Kondo model. Here we employ non-equilibrium transport spectroscopy to investigate the role of the orbital phase of conduction electrons on the magnetic state of a spin lattice. We show experimentally, that even tiniest perpendicular magnetic field can influence the magnitude of the inter-spin magnetic exchange.Comment: To be published in PhysicaE EP2DS proceedin