247 research outputs found
Challenging the orthodoxy: union learning representatives as organic intellectuals
Teacher education and continuing professional development have become a key areas of controversy in England since the period of school sector restructuring following the 1988 Education Reform Act. More recently teacher training and professional development have often been used to promote and reinforce a narrow focus on the governmentâs âstandards agendaâ. However, the emerging discourse of ânew professionalismâ has raised the profile of professional development in schools, and together with union learning representatives, there are opportunities to secure real improvements in teachersâ access to continuing professional development. This paper argues however that union learning representatives must go beyond advocating for better access to professional development and should raise more fundamental questions about the nature of professional development and the education system it serves. Drawing on Gramsciâs notion of the âorganic intellectualâ, the paper argues that union learning representatives have a key role as organisers of ideas â creating spaces in which the ideological dominance of current policy orthodoxy might be challenged
Developing music teacher identities: an international multi-site study
This study investigates pre-service music teacherâs (PSMT) perceptions of their professional identities. University-level education students in the United States America (USA), Spain and Australia were all asked interview questions based on general themes relevant to teacher identity development, and their responses were subjected to content analysis. Similarities were found in their perceptions of the role of âmusic teacherâ and their pre-university experiences/influences. Across the sites it seems that there was a dynamic and shifting relationship between PSMTsâ understandings of themselves as âmusiciansâ or as âteachersâ during their university years. This study confirms previous research in the area and contributes to the field in its discovery that these themes are found across three international sites. Implications of the findings are discussed and recommendations made for future research and practice
Vertebral Artery Injury: Case Report and Review of Operative Approaches
Traumatic injury to the upper third of the neck, cephalad to the angle of the mandible, distorts the complexity of normal anatomy and underscores the importance of preoperative arteriography when possible. This report describes the case of a young man who was brought to the Emergency Room of our hospital suffering from a severe gunshot wound to the cervical spine, vertebral artery, and maxillofacial skeleton. His injury was successfully managed by combining a standard arterolateral incision with a procedure that has been described for exposing retro maxillary tumors. This operative technique provided the surgeon with direct access to the injury, controlled the loss of blood, and permitted repair of accompanying pharyngeal and facial injuries. Our report also reviews the technical considerations and pertinent surgical anatomy of this rare combination of Injuries
Teacher unionism in changing times: is this the real ânew unionismâ?
This article provides a case study of union change in an environment in which radical school restructuring is taking place, and active strategies to weaken and marginalize organized teachers are being pursued by the state. The case study union is the National Union of Teachers in England. The article explores a number of different strategies open to teacher unions, utilizing a framework provided by Turner (2004). Drawing on data collected at a national level, and in three local authority areas, I argue that the National Union of Teachersâ response to the erosion of collective bargaining is best presented as an amalgam of strategies focused on workplace organizing, political campaigning, and coalition building. The data demonstrate considerable congruence between national and local strategies, although local data reveal considerable challenges in implementation and consequently considerable unevenness in local experiences
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Characterization of the National Low-Temperature Neutron Irradiation Facility
The National Low-Temperature Neutron Irradiation Facility (NLTNIF) is now operating at the Bulk Shielding Reactor at ORNL. The facility provides high radiation intensities and special environmental and testing conditions for qualified experiments at no cost to users. A general description and major specifications of the NLTNIF are presented along with the results of performance tests. In addition, the hardware and other considerations required to perform experiments in the NLTNIF are described
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Use of the national low-temperature neutron irradiation facility for fusion materials research
The National Low-Temperature Neutron Irradiation Facility (NLTNIF), now constructed and currently being evaluated, will provide high radiation intensities and special environmental and testing conditions for qualified experiments at no cost to users. The NLTNIF will be of interest for both basic and applied research on fusion reactor materials. A general description and major specifications of the facility are presented along with recent results of the performance tests. In addition, a description is given of the procedure and experimental assemblies needed to perform experiments in the NLTNIF
Superconducting MgB(2) films via precursor post-processing approach
Superconducting MgB(2) films with Tc = 38.6 K were prepared using a
precursor-deposition, ex-situ post-processing approach. Precursor films of
boron, ~0.5 micrometer thick, were deposited onto Al(2)O(3) (102) substrates by
e-beam evaporation; a post-anneal at 890 deg C in the presence of bulk MgB(2)
and Mg metal produced highly crystalline MgB(2) films. X-ray diffraction
indicated that the films exhibit some degree of c-axis alignment, but are
randomly oriented in-plane. Transport current measurements of the
superconducting properties show high values of the critical current density and
yield an irreversibility line that exceeds that determined by magnetic
measurements on bulk polycrystalline materials.Comment: PDF file with 10 pages total, including 4 figure
Resistive state of superconducting structures with fractal clusters of a normal phase
The effect of morphologic factors on magnetic flux dynamics and critical
currents in percolative superconducting structures is considered. The
superconductor contains the fractal clusters of a normal phase, which act as
pinning centers. The properties of these clusters are analyzed in the general
case of gamma-distribution of their areas. The statistical characteristics of
the normal phase clusters are studied, the critical current distribution is
derived, and the dependencies of the main statistical parameters on the fractal
dimension are found. The effect of fractal clusters of a normal phase on the
electric field induced by the motion of the magnetic flux after the vortices
have been broken away from pinning centers is considered. The voltage-current
characteristics of fractal superconducting structures in a resistive state for
an arbitrary fractal dimension are obtained. It is found that the fractality of
the boundaries of normal phase clusters intensifies magnetic flux trapping and
thereby increases the current-carrying capability of the superconductor.Comment: 15 pages with 8 figures, revtex3, alternative e-mail of author is
[email protected]
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Flux-line pinning by the grain boundary in niobium bicrystals
Flux-line pinning by the grain boundary in niobium bicrystals was investigated by making four-terminal measurements of the critical current and neutron diffraction measurements of the flux-line bending. The elementary pinning interaction is estimated from the critical current data by using an approximate theory of the current distribution on the grain boundary. The data reported here are mainly for a sample in which the applied magnetic field is parallel to the (111) and the (001) crystal directions in the two grains when it is in the plane of the boundary and perpendicular to the current direction. Evidence is seen of grain boundary faceting and of a flux-flow rectification effect that peaks as a function of temperature below 3/sup 0/K. The scale of the grain-boundary pinning is consistent with the quasiparticle-scattering theory
Triple sign reversal of Hall effect in HgBa_{2}CaCu_{2}O_{6} thin films after heavy-ion irradiations
Triple sign reversal in the mixed-state Hall effect has been observed for the
first time in ion-irradiated HgBa_{2}CaCu_{2}O_{6} thin films. The negative dip
at the third sign reversal is more pronounced for higher fields, which is
opposite to the case of the first sign reversal near T_c in most high-T_c
superconductors. These observations can be explained by a recent prediction in
which the third sign reversal is attributed to the energy derivative of the
density of states and to a temperature-dependent function related to the
superconducting energy gap. These contributions prominently appear in cases
where the mean free path is significantly decreased, such as our case of
ion-irradiated thin films.Comment: 4 pages, 3 eps figures, submitted Phys. Rev. Let
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