Scheduling Super Rugby

We develop scheduling models of Super Rugby, the existing Super 14 (2006–2010) and the proposed Super 15 (from 2011), and the revised national provincial ITM Cup competition (from 2011). Developing schedules for these competitions involves a large number of competition design decisions and scheduling compromises between team welfare, travel, television, and revenue management. We show that Super 15 addresses some of the complications that arose in scheduling Super 14. The 2011 ITM cup features a very tight scheduling window due to the Rugby World Cup, with 10 matches per team over a 7 week period. The schedules developed show that it is possible to accommodate most of the (assumed) preferences of teams and organisers

From Regulation to Results: Shifting American Education from Inputs to Outcomes

Ten years after the passage of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), its mention now stirs as much bipartisan grumbling as it initially boasted bipartisan celebration. At its signing ceremony, the late liberal lion Ted Kennedy and newly minted conservative President George W. Bush stood shoulder-to-shoulder, embracing a new framework for American education. It seemed that perhaps we had removed politics from education and had finally commenced the work of improving educational outcomes for all children

Prior analysis and scheduling of the 2011 Rugby Union ITM Cup in New Zealand.

This paper describes work done for the New Zealand Rugby Union (NZRU) in preparation for their most important wholly domestic competition in 2011. This competition had to be played during a shorter timescale than usual because of the 2011 Rugby Union World Cup, and the NZRU were keen to ensure that they could incorporate the format they wanted into this timescale without unfortunate consequences. In addition, they wanted to introduce a novel feature into this tournament. Thus some detailed prior experimental, or "what-if", analysis was necessary. This paper describes this analysis and its results. As a result of this analysis, the NZRU was persuaded to abandon one of its design ideas, but was able to proceed with others, enabling them to announce the detailed format of the competition in the confidence that it would work well in practice. Subsequent scheduling of the competition in this format proved successful, and the resulting schedule is shown together with detailed analysis of its notional costs. The paper demonstrates how important it can be for schedulers to be closely involved in tournament design in advance of the actual scheduling

The Grizzly, December 9, 2021

Bears Walk for Project Healing Hive • Basement Fire in BWC • Phi Psi Fundraiser Gets Messy • Senior Spotlight: Zenya Yanoff • Meet Connor Donovan • Opinions: First Year Check In; Chem Night Exams • Leaving a Player, Returning a Coach • Men and Women\u27s BB Recaphttps://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/grizzlynews/1976/thumbnail.jp

Triple oxygen isotope insight into terrestrial pyrite oxidation.

The mass-independent minor oxygen isotope compositions (Δ'17O) of atmospheric O2 and [Formula: see text] are primarily regulated by their relative partial pressures, [Formula: see text]/[Formula: see text] Pyrite oxidation during chemical weathering on land consumes [Formula: see text] and generates sulfate that is carried to the ocean by rivers. The Δ'17O values of marine sulfate deposits have thus been proposed to quantitatively track ancient atmospheric conditions. This proxy assumes direct [Formula: see text] incorporation into terrestrial pyrite oxidation-derived sulfate, but a mechanistic understanding of pyrite oxidation-including oxygen sources-in weathering environments remains elusive. To address this issue, we present sulfate source estimates and Δ'17O measurements from modern rivers transecting the Annapurna Himalaya, Nepal. Sulfate in high-elevation headwaters is quantitatively sourced by pyrite oxidation, but resulting Δ'17O values imply no direct tropospheric [Formula: see text] incorporation. Rather, our results necessitate incorporation of oxygen atoms from alternative, 17O-enriched sources such as reactive oxygen species. Sulfate Δ'17O decreases significantly when moving into warm, low-elevation tributaries draining the same bedrock lithology. We interpret this to reflect overprinting of the pyrite oxidation-derived Δ'17O anomaly by microbial sulfate reduction and reoxidation, consistent with previously described major sulfur and oxygen isotope relationships. The geologic application of sulfate Δ'17O as a proxy for past [Formula: see text]/[Formula: see text] should consider both 1) alternative oxygen sources during pyrite oxidation and 2) secondary overprinting by microbial recycling

Viewers base estimates of face matching accuracy on their own familiarity: Explaining the photo-ID paradox

Matching two different images of a face is a very easy task for familiar viewers, but much harder for unfamiliar viewers. Despite this, use of photo-ID is widespread, and people appear not to know how unreliable it is. We present a series of experiments investigating bias both when performing a matching task and when predicting other people’s performance. Participants saw pairs of faces and were asked to make a same/different judgement, after which they were asked to predict how well other people, unfamiliar with these faces, would perform. In four experiments we show different groups of participants familiar and unfamiliar faces, manipulating this in different ways: celebrities in experiments 1 to 3 and personally familiar faces in experiment 4. The results consistently show that people match images of familiar faces more accurately than unfamiliar faces. However, people also reliably predict that the faces they themselves know will be more accurately matched by different viewers. This bias is discussed in the context of current theoretical debates about face recognition, and we suggest that it may underlie the continued use of photo-ID, despite the availability of evidence about its unreliability

NASA Strategic Roadmap Summary Report

In response to the Vision, NASA commissioned strategic and capability roadmap teams to develop the pathways for turning the Vision into a reality. The strategic roadmaps were derived from the Vision for Space Exploration and the Aldrich Commission Report dated June 2004. NASA identified 12 strategic areas for roadmapping. The Agency added a thirteenth area on nuclear systems because the topic affects the entire program portfolio. To ensure long-term public visibility and engagement, NASA established a committee for each of the 13 areas. These committees - made up of prominent members of the scientific and aerospace industry communities and senior government personnel - worked under the Federal Advisory Committee Act. A committee was formed for each of the following program areas: 1) Robotic and Human Lunar Exploration; 2) Robotic and Human Exploration of Mars; 3) Solar System Exploration; 4) Search for Earth-Like Planets; 5) Exploration Transportation System; 6) International Space Station; 7) Space Shuttle; 8) Universe Exploration; 9) Earth Science and Applications from Space; 10) Sun-Solar System Connection; 11) Aeronautical Technologies; 12) Education; 13) Nuclear Systems. This document contains roadmap summaries for 10 of these 13 program areas; The International Space Station, Space Shuttle, and Education are excluded. The completed roadmaps for the following committees: Robotic and Human Exploration of Mars; Solar System Exploration; Search for Earth-Like Planets; Universe Exploration; Earth Science and Applications from Space; Sun-Solar System Connection are collected in a separate Strategic Roadmaps volume. This document contains memebership rosters and charters for all 13 committees