Male access and success in higher education

The gendered landscape of higher education (hereafter HE) has changed significantly over the past two decades. As has long been the case, men are more likely to secure graduatelevel employment after their degree, although the advantage over women in this respect is now marginal. Men still form the majority of faculty and HE managers. Since the early 1990s, however, women are now more likely to start an undergraduate course than men, to successfully complete it and to achieve a ‘good degree’. Although the gender gap is less significant beyond undergraduate study, women are also more likely to undertake post-graduate courses. The speed and scale of the change in undergraduate participation patterns makes it a social phenomenon meriting further attention

Uniformity transition for ray intensities in random media

This paper analyses a model for the intensity of distribution for rays propagating without absorption in a random medium. The random medium is modelled as a dynamical map. After N iterations, the intensity is modelled as a sum S of N contributions from different trajectories, each of which is a product of N independent identically distributed random variables xk, representing successive focussing or de-focussing events. The number of ray trajectories reaching a given point is assumed to proliferate exponentially: N=ΛN, for some Λ>1. We investigate the probability distribution of S. We find a phase transition as parameters of the model are varied. There is a phase where the fluctuations of S are suppressed as N → ∞, and a phase where the S has large fluctuations, for which we provide a large deviation analysis

A parent body association for the carbonaceous chondrite groups.

Accepted versio

The effect of taping versus semi-rigid bracing on patient outcome and satisfaction in ankle sprains: A prospective, randomized controlled trial

Background: Functional treatment is a widely used and generally accepted treatment for ankle sprain. A meta-analysis comparing the different functional treatment options could not make definitive conclusions regarding the effectiveness, and until now, little was known about patient satisfaction in relation to the outcome. Methods: Patients with acute ankle sprain received rest, ice, compression and elevation with an compressive bandage at the emergency department. After 5-7 days, 100 patients with grade II and III sprains were randomized into two groups: one group was treated with tape and the other with a semi-rigid ankle brace, both for 4 weeks. Post-injury physical and proprioceptive training was standardized. As primary outcome parameter patient satisfaction and skin complications were evaluated using a predefined questionnaire and numeric rating scale. As secondary outcome parameter the ankle joint function was assessed using the Karlsson scoring scale and range of motion. Results: Patient-reported comfort and satisfaction during treatment with a semi-rigid brace was significantly increased. The rate of skin complication in this group was significantly lower compared to the tape group (14.6% versus 59.1%, P < 0.0001). Functional outcome of the ankle joint was similar between the two treatment groups, as well as reported pain. Conclusion: Treatment of acute ankle sprain with semi-rigid brace leads to significantly higher patient comfort and satisfaction, both with similar good outcome

Semiclassical trace formulae for systems with spin-orbit interactions: successes and limitations of present approaches

We discuss the semiclassical approaches for describing systems with spin-orbit interactions by Littlejohn and Flynn (1991, 1992), Frisk and Guhr (1993), and by Bolte and Keppeler (1998, 1999). We use these methods to derive trace formulae for several two- and three-dimensional model systems, and exhibit their successes and limitations. We discuss, in particular, also the mode conversion problem that arises in the strong-coupling limit.Comment: LaTeX2e, 25 pages incl. 9 figures, version 3: final version in print for J. Phys.

Realising superoscillations: A review of mathematical tools and their application

Superoscillations are making a growing impact on an ever-increasing number of real-world applications, as early theoretical analysis has evolved into wide experimental realisation. This is particularly true in optics: the first application area to have extensively embraced superoscillations, with much recent growth. This review provides a tool for anyone planning to expand the boundaries in an application where superoscillations have already been used, or to apply superoscillations to a new application. By reviewing the mathematical methods for constructing superoscillations, including their considerations and capabilities, we lay out the options for anyone wanting to construct a device that uses superoscillations. Superoscillations have inherent trade-offs: as the size of spot reduces, its relative intensity decreases as high-energy sidebands appear. Different methods provide solutions for optimising different aspects of these trade-offs, to suit different purposes. Despite numerous technological ways of realising superoscillations, the mathematical methods can be categorised into three approaches: direct design of superoscillatory functions, design of pupil filters and design of superoscillatory lenses. This categorisation, based on mathematical methods, is used to highlight the transferability of methods between applications. It also highlights areas for future theoretical development to enable the scientific and technological boundaries to be pushed even further in real-world applications

On the canonically invariant calculation of Maslov indices

After a short review of various ways to calculate the Maslov index appearing in semiclassical Gutzwiller type trace formulae, we discuss a coordinate-independent and canonically invariant formulation recently proposed by A Sugita (2000, 2001). We give explicit formulae for its ingredients and test them numerically for periodic orbits in several Hamiltonian systems with mixed dynamics. We demonstrate how the Maslov indices and their ingredients can be useful in the classification of periodic orbits in complicated bifurcation scenarios, for instance in a novel sequence of seven orbits born out of a tangent bifurcation in the H\'enon-Heiles system.Comment: LaTeX, 13 figures, 3 tables, submitted to J. Phys.