What do others think is the point of design and technology education?

As a result of a national curriculum review in England (Department for Education [DfE], 2011), a new curriculum for design and technology (D&T) is being taught in secondary schools from September 2014 (Department of Education [DoE], 2013a). This curriculum is compulsory for a decreasing number of schools; two potential consequences are the nature of D&T in secondary schools changing to reflect local perceptions of the subject and maybe D&T being removed from the curriculum completely. The pressure on D&T’s curriculum content is likely to come from different stakeholders such as senior school leaders, D&T teachers, and pupils. D&T school departments could respond to this pressure by adapting the curriculum to popularise the subject or produce high exam results with a consequence that much of the subject’s value is lost. This paper reports on a small research project conducted in two secondary schools where stakeholder representatives were interviewed to identify their values of D&T. These different stakeholders were interviewed using the active interview method (Holstein & Gubrium, 1995), coded following Aurebach and Silverstein’s method (2003) and their values compared to Hardy’s values framework (Hardy, 2013b). Analysis shows most stakeholders believe a key value of D&T is to provide ‘practical life skills’ (Hardy, p.226), whilst only one recognizes that learning in D&T involves ‘identifying problems to be solved’. The outcomes from the research are being used to support critically reflective conversations within both D&T departments (Zwozdiak-Myers, 2012) framing their evaluation of their local curriculum and making changes to their curriculum

Impact of the various spin and orbital ordering processes on multiferroic properties of orthovanadate DyVO3

The orthovanadate DyVO3 crystal, known to exhibit multiple structural, spin and orbital ordering transitions, is presently investigated on the basis of magnetization, heat capacity, resistivity, dielectric and polarization measurements. Our main result is experimental evidence for the existence of multiferroicity below a high TC of 108 K over a wide temperature range including different spin-orbital ordered states. The onset of ferroelectricity is found to coincide with the antiferromagnetic C-type spin ordering transition taking place at 108 K, which indicates that DyVO3 belongs to type II multiferroics exhibiting a coupling between magnetism and ferroelectricity. Some anomalies detected on the temperature dependence of electric polarization are discussed with respect to the nature of the spin-orbital ordered states of the V sublattice and the degree of spin alignment in the Dy sublattice. The orthovanadates RVO3 (R = rare earth or Y) form an important new category for searching for high-TC multiferroics.Comment: 25 pages, 7 figures, 68 references, one supplementary material, Physical Review B, Published 23 July 201

Regionalisation of climate impacts on flood flows to support the development of climate change guidance for Flood Management

Current Defra / Environment Agency guidance (FCDPAG3 supplementary note: http://www.defra.gov.uk/environ/fcd/pubs/pagn/climatechangeupdate.pdf) requires all flood management plans to allow for climate change by incorporating, within a sensitivity analysis, an increase in river flows of up 20% over the next 50 years, and beyond. This guidance is the same for all of England and Wales, making no allowance for regional variation in climate change or catchment type. This reflects the lack of scientific evidence to resolve the spatial distribution of potential impacts on flood flows with enough confidence to set such policy regionally. The 20% allowance was first raised in 1999 for MAFF and subsequently reviewed following the release of the UKCIP02 scenarios. Although the 20% figure is a memorable precautionary target, there is the risk that it leads to a significant under- or over-estimation of future flood risk in individual catchments. Defra and the Environment Agency procured project FD2020 (Regionalisation of climate change impacts on flood flows) to provide a more rigorous science base for refreshing the FCDPAG3: supplementary note guidance. The FD2020 approach is exploring the relationships between catchment characteristics and climate change impacts on peak flows in a “scenario neutral” way. This is done by defining a regular set of changes in climate that encompass all the current knowledge from the new scenarios available from the IPCC Fourth Assessment Report. For each of the 155 catchments included in the research, this broad approach will provide multiple scenarios to produce a “vulnerability surface” for change in the metrics of peak flows (e.g. the 20-year flood flow). Some of the UKCP09 products have also been used to understand what these projections may mean for changes to peak flow. The catchment-based analysis will be used to generalise to other gauged sites across Britain, using relationships with catchment characteristics, providing the scientific evidence for the development of regional guidance on climate change allowances. Specifically the project is: Investigating the impact of climate change on peak river flows in over 150 catchments across Britain to assess the suitability of the FCDPAG3 20% climate change allowance. Investigating catchment response to climate change to identify potential similarities such that the FCDPAG3 nationwide allowance could be regionalised. Investigating the uncertainty in changes to future peak river flows from climate change. Developing an approach that has longevity beyond the project timeframe and the lifetime of the latest generation of climate model results

A comparison of the in vitro and in planta responses of Phytophthora cinnamomi isolates to phosphite

Research in plant pathology often relies on testing interactions between a fungicide and a pathogen in vitro and extrapolating from these results what may happen in planta. Likewise, results from glasshouse experiments are used to estimate what will happen if the fungicide is applied in the field. However, it is difficult to obtain conditions in vitro and in the glasshouse which reflect the conditions where the fungicide may eventually be used, in the field. The aim of this paper is to compare results of the effect of phosphite on P. cinnamomi isolates in vitro and in planta

An evaluation of the spatial resolution of soil moisture information

Rainfall-amount patterns in the central regions of the U.S. were assessed. The spatial scales of surface features and their corresponding microwave responses in the mid western U.S. were investigated. The usefulness for U.S. government agencies of soil moisture information at scales of 10 km and 1 km. was ascertained. From an investigation of 494 storms, it was found that the rainfall resulting from the passage of most types of storms produces patterns which can be resolved on a 10 km scale. The land features causing the greatest problem in the sensing of soil moisture over large agricultural areas with a radiometer are bodies of water. Over the mid-western portions of the U.S., water occupies less than 2% of the total area, the consequently, the water bodies will not have a significant impact on the mapping of soil moisture. Over most of the areas, measurements at a 10-km resolution would adequately define the distribution of soil moisture. Crop yield models and hydrological models would give improved results if soil moisture information at scales of 10 km was available

Detection of moisture and moisture related phenomena from Skylab

The author had identified the following significant results. Soil moisture and precipitation variations were not detectable as tonal variations on the S19OA IR B and W photography. Some light tonal areas contained high precipitation .83 inches and high moisture content 21.1% while other light tonal areas contained only .02 inches precipitation and as little as 0.7% moisture. Similar variations were observed in dark tonal areas. This inconsistency may be caused by a lapse of 3 to 4 days from the time precipitation occurred until the photographs were taken and the fact that in the first inch of soil the measured soil moisture was generally less than 5.0%. For overall tonal contrast, the aerial color, color IR and aerial B and W appear to be the best. Cities stand out from the landscape best in the aerial color and color IR, however, to see major street patterns a combination of the two aerial B and W bands and the two IR B and W bands may be desirable. For mapping roads it is best use all 6 bands. For lake detection, the IR B and W bands would be the best but for streams the aerial B and W band would be better. The aerial color, color IR, and the two IR B and W bands are best for distinguishing cultivated and non-cultivated areas, whereas the two aerial B and W bands are better for seeing local relief. Clouds may be best seen in the aerial color and color IR bands

Half-life of the electron-capture decay of 97Ru: Precision measurement shows no temperature dependence

We have measured the half-life of the electron-capture (ec) decay of 97Ru in a metallic environment, both at low temperature (19K), and also at room temperature. We find the half-lives at both temperatures to be the same within 0.1%. This demonstrates that a recent claim that the ec decay half-life for 7Be changes by $0.9% +/- 0.2% under similar circumstances certainly cannot be generalized to other ec decays. Our results for the half-life of 97Ru, 2.8370(14)d at room temperature and 2.8382(14)d at 19K, are consistent with, but much more precise than, previous room-temperature measurements. In addition, we have also measured the half-lives of the beta-emitters 103Ru and 105Rh at both temperatures, and found them also to be unchanged.Comment: 6 pages, 6 figure

Detection of moisture and moisture related phenomena from Skylab

There are no author-identified significant results in this report