Charter High Schools' Effects on Educational Attainment and Earnings

This issue brief discusses a new analysis, using data from Florida and Chicago, suggesting that charter high schools are not only increasing postsecondary educational attainment but may also boost students' long-run earnings

The league table of post-war leaders of the opposition according to academics: Corbyn not the worst and Starmer trending below Kinnock

Mark Gill and Kevin Theakston present the results of a survey of academics, asked to give their individual ratings of each UK leader of the opposition since 1945

The Meanings of Communion: Anglican Identities, the Sexuality Debates, and Christian Relationality

Recent discussions of the international Anglican Communion have been dominated by notions of a \'crisis\' and \'schism\' resulting from conflicts over issues of homosexuality. Existing accounts of the Communion have often tended to emphasise the perspectives of those most vocal in the debates (particularly bishops, senior clergy, and pressure groups) or to engage in primarily theological analysis. This article examines the nature of the purported \'crisis\' from the perspectives of Anglicans in local parishes in three different national contexts: England, South Africa, and the US. Unusually for writing on the Communion, attention is simultaneously given to parishes that have clear pro-gay stances, those that largely oppose the acceptance of homosexual practice, and those with more ambivalent positions. In doing so, the article offers new insights for the growing body of literature on lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Christians, as well as wider discussions about the contested nature of contemporary Anglican and other Christian identities. Key themes include the divergent ways in which respondents felt (and did not feel) connections to the spatially distant \'others\' with whom they are in Communion; the complex relationships and discordances between parish, denominational, and Communion-level identities; and competing visions of the role of the Communion in producing unity or preserving diversity amongst Anglicans.Anglican Communion; Sexuality; Christianity; Religious Identities

Junior ministers during the New Labour years tended to enjoy more than just a ‘view from the foothills’

Chris Mullin’s celebrated series of published diaries revolve around his time as a junior minister, and make frequent references to his insignificance in the role, a perspective which has shaped much understanding of the various Ministerial rungs below Cabinet level. Here, Judi Atkins, Kevin Theakston, and Mark Gill argue that though this characterisation is pervasive, it does not tell the whole story, with the New Labour years showing a number of interesting developments in this regard

Track cycling: An analysis of the pacing strategies employed during the devil elimination race

This study aimed to provide a description of the pacing requirements of the track cycling Elimination race, and to identify effective pacing strategies to maximise overall Omnium medal opportunity. Six male, and six female elite competitive races were investigated using half-lap split times. Selected dependant variables were; mean speed and variation in speed. Spearman’s Rho correlations were used to test patterns between dependant variables and the final finishing position of riders. One-way ANOVAs were also applied to test for differences in dependant variables, between successful (top 6 finishers) and unsuccessful groups (7th-12th). Pacing patterns of the men's and women's races were complex, but followed an overall positive and variable pacing pattern, with men's race quarter speeds of 52.8km/h (±1.9), 52.1km/h (±2.1), 51.1km/h (±2.2), and 49.5km/h (±5.5). In general, differences in pacing strategy were not found to significantly influence the success of riders unless employed late in the race. Results are discussed for the application and the development of effective elimination race strategies and tactics

Nanocharacterization of Bio-Silica Using Atomic Force and Ultrasonic Force Microscopy

Nanotechnology has become central to our research efforts to fabricate relatively smaller size devices, which are more versatile than their older and larger predecessors. Silica is a very important material in this regard. Recently, a new biomimetically inspired path to silica production has been demonstrated. This processing technique was inspired from biological organisms, such as marine diatoms, which produce silica at ambient conditions and almost neutral ph with beautiful control over location and structure. Recently, several researchers have demonstrated that positional control of silica formed could be achieved by application of an electric field to locate charged enzymes responsible for the bio catalytic condensation of silica from solution. Secondly, chemical and physical controls of silica structural morphology were achievable. Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) and Ultrasonic Force Microscopy (UFM) techniques are employed for the first time to provide both substantially improved resolution of the morphology and relative measurement of the modulus of elasticity of the structures. In particular, these measurements reveal the positive impact of a shear flow field present during the silica formation on both the ordering of the structure and the mechanical properties

Magnetohydrodynamic Shallow Water Waves: Linear Analysis

We present a linear analysis of inviscid, incompressible, magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) shallow water systems. In spherical geometry, a generic property of such systems is the existence of five wave modes. Three of them (two magneto-Poincare modes and one magneto-Rossby mode) are previously known. The other two wave modes are strongly influenced by the magnetic field and rotation, and have substantially lower angular frequencies; as such, we term them "magnetostrophic modes". We obtain analytical functions for the velocity, height and magnetic field perturbations in the limit that the magnitude of the MHD analogue of Lamb's parameter is large. On a sphere, the magnetostrophic modes reside near the poles, while the other modes are equatorially confined. Magnetostrophic modes may be an ingredient in explaining the frequency drifts observed in Type I X-ray bursts from neutron stars.Comment: 15 pages (emulateapj), 4 figures. Accepted by ApJ (no changes in text from previous versions, but ApJ wants no acronyms in title). To appear in Oct 2009, Vol 703/704 of the Astrophysical Journa