20,449 research outputs found
New ways of being public: the experience of foundation degrees
This article explores the recent development of new spheres of public engagement within UK higher education through an analysis of the foundation degree qualification. These, according to the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE), were designed to equip students with the combination of technical skills, academic knowledge, and transferable skills increasingly being demanded by employers, and they have been identified as being at the forefront of educational agendas aimed at increasing employer engagement in the higher education (HE) sector. As such, they might be regarded as an expression of the 'increasing privatisation' of HE. However, this article argues that, on the contrary, they have enabled the development of new areas of public engagement relating to the design and delivery of courses as well as providing new opportunities for the pursuit of public policy goals such as widening participation. Such outcomes, it is argued, are the result of a number of factors that explain the 'publicness' of the qualification and that should be sustained to ensure the implementation of the 2006 Leitch Report in a manner that further develops public engagement
When is electromagnetic spectrum fungible?
Fungibility is a common assumption for market-based spectrum management. In this paper, we explore the dimensions of practical fungibility of frequency bands from the point of view of the spectrum buyer who intends to use it. The exploration shows that fungibility is a complex, multidimensional concept that cannot casually be assumed. We develop two ideas for quantifying fungibility-(i) of a fungibility space in which the 'distance' between two slices of spectrum provides score of fungibility and (ii) a probabilistic score of fungibility. © 2012 IEEE
Computational complexity of Ό calculation
The structured singular value Ό measures the robustness of uncertain systems. Numerous researchers over the last decade have worked on developing efficient methods for computing Ό. This paper considers the complexity of calculating Ό with general mixed real/complex uncertainty in the framework of combinatorial complexity theory. In particular, it is proved that the Ό recognition problem with either pure real or mixed real/complex uncertainty is NP-hard. This strongly suggests that it is futile to pursue exact methods for calculating Ό of general systems with pure real or mixed uncertainty for other than small problems
Optical IP switching a solution to dynamic lightpath establishment in disaggregated network architectures
The landscape of the telecommunications environment is constantly evolving; in terms of architecture and increasing data-rate. Ensuring that routing decisions are taken at the lowest possible layer offers the possibility of greatest data throughput. We propose using wavelengths in a DWDM scheme as dedicated channels that bypass the routing lookup in a router. The future trend of telecommunications industry is, however, toward larger numbers of interlinked competing operator networks. This in turn means there is a lack of a unified control plane to allow current networks to dynamically provision optical paths. This paper will report on the concept of optical IP switching. This concept seeks to address optical control plane issues in disaggregated networks while providing a means to dynamically provision optical paths to cater for large data flows
Regional Evidence regarding U.S. Residential Electricity Consumption
Regional economic, demographic, and climatic data are used to analyze residential electricity demand in the United States. Results indicate that electricity is an inferior good for households in the United States. This confirms earlier research compiled using data for less geographically extensive regional and metropolitan markets. The results imply that demographic growth may place fewer pressures on electricity generation capacity than was previously assumed.Residential Electricity Demand, Regional Economics
Calculating effective resistances on underlying networks of association schemes
Recently, in Refs. \cite{jsj} and \cite{res2}, calculation of effective
resistances on distance-regular networks was investigated, where in the first
paper, the calculation was based on stratification and Stieltjes function
associated with the network, whereas in the latter one a recursive formula for
effective resistances was given based on the Christoffel-Darboux identity. In
this paper, evaluation of effective resistances on more general networks which
are underlying networks of association schemes is considered, where by using
the algebraic combinatoric structures of association schemes such as
stratification and Bose-Mesner algebras, an explicit formula for effective
resistances on these networks is given in terms of the parameters of
corresponding association schemes. Moreover, we show that for particular
underlying networks of association schemes with diameter such that the
adjacency matrix possesses distinct eigenvalues, all of the other
adjacency matrices , can be written as polynomials of ,
i.e., , where is not necessarily of degree . Then, we use
this property for these particular networks and assume that all of the
conductances except for one of them, say , are zero to give a
procedure for evaluating effective resistances on these networks. The
preference of this procedure is that one can evaluate effective resistances by
using the structure of their Bose-Mesner algebra without any need to know the
spectrum of the adjacency matrices.Comment: 41 page
Aerobic Stability of Grass Silage Mixed with a Range of Concentrate Feedstuffs at Feed-Out
Mixing supplementary concentrates with silage at feed-out could shorten aerobic stability or increase the rate or extent of aerobic deterioration of silage. This experiment quantified such possible effects by twelve contrasting feedstuffs. Four samples (each 6 kg) of unwilted, precision-chop, well preserved grass silage (216 g dry matter (DM) kg-1 and pH 4.0) were incubated at 20oC for 6 days in polystyrene containers alone or with the addition of 400 g (solid ingredients were milled) of wheat grain, barley grain, maize grain, molasses beet pulp, citrus pulp, molasses, soybean meal, maize gluten, sunflower meal, rapeseed meal, dry distillers grains or sunflower oil. Daily temperature profiles were recorded. Silage alone was unstable under aerobic conditions, with an accumulated daily temperature rise during 5 days aerobiosis of 57oC. None of the added ingredients altered (P\u3e 0.05) any of the indices of aerobic deterioration. For the treatments as listed above, the interval until temperature rise commenced was 2.0, 2.0, 2.0, 2.3, 2.0, 2.0, 2.3, 2.0, 2.3, 2.0, 2.0, 2.0 and 2.0 (s.e.m. 0.11) days, the interval until the maximum temperature was reached was 3.8, 3.5, 4.5, 3.5, 4.0, 3.3, 3.5, 3.8, 4.3, 4.0, 3.8, 3.8 and 3.5 (s.e.m, 0.44) days and the accumulated temperature rise to day 5 was 57, 58, 57, 54, 58, 59, 50, 57, 53, 61, 52, 51 and 58 (s.e.m. 3.1)oC. It is concluded that mixing the above feedstuffs with grass silage did not alter the aerobic deterioration of grass silage
Collaboration and contestation in further and higher education partnerships in England: a Bourdieusian field analysis
Internationally, âCollege for Allâ policies are creating new forms of vocational higher education (HE), and shifting relationships between HE and further education (FE) institutions. In this paper, we consider the way in which this is being implemented in England, drawing on a detailed qualitative case study of a regional HEâFE partnership to widen participation. We focus on the complex mix of collaboration and contestation that arose within it, and how these affected socially differentiated groups of students following high- and low-status routes through its provision. We outline Bourdieuâs concept of âfieldâ as a framework for our analysis and interpretation, including its theoretical ambiguities regarding the definition and scale of fields. Through hermeneutic dialogue between data and theory, we tentatively suggest that such partnerships represent bridges between HE and FE. These bridges are strong between higher-status institutions, but highly contested between lower-status institutions competing closely for distinction. We conclude that the trajectories and outcomes for socially disadvantaged students require attention and collective action to address the inequalities they face, and that our theoretical approach may have wider international relevance beyond the English case
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