New ways of being public: the experience of foundation degrees

This article explores the recent development of new spheres of public engagement within UK higher education through an analysis of the foundation degree qualification. These, according to the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE), were designed to equip students with the combination of technical skills, academic knowledge, and transferable skills increasingly being demanded by employers, and they have been identified as being at the forefront of educational agendas aimed at increasing employer engagement in the higher education (HE) sector. As such, they might be regarded as an expression of the 'increasing privatisation' of HE. However, this article argues that, on the contrary, they have enabled the development of new areas of public engagement relating to the design and delivery of courses as well as providing new opportunities for the pursuit of public policy goals such as widening participation. Such outcomes, it is argued, are the result of a number of factors that explain the 'publicness' of the qualification and that should be sustained to ensure the implementation of the 2006 Leitch Report in a manner that further develops public engagement

Substitution of Ti3+ and Ti4+ in hibonite (CaAl12O19)

The structures of eight synthetic samples of hibonite, with variable Ti oxidation state and Ti concentration (2.4–15.9 wt% TiO2) that span the range reported for natural hibonite found in meteorites, were determined by Rietveld refinements of neutron powder diffraction data. Ti3+ was found to exclusively occupy the octahedral face-sharing M4 site irrespective of the presence or absence of Ti4+. Ti4+ partitions between the trigonal bipyramidal M2 site and the M4 site. The ratio (Ti4+ on M2):(Ti4+ on M4) appears to be constant for all the samples, with an average of 0.18(2) irrespective of the concentrations of Ti3+ and Ti4+. These substitutional sites were shown to be the most stable configurations for Ti in hibonite from calculations using density functional theory, although the predicted preference of Ti4+ for M4 over M2 is not as strong as is observed. This is attributed to the different Ti contents of the experimental and calculated structures and suggests that the Ti site occupancies might change between these concentrations. Furthermore, it is shown that Ti has a preference to occupy neighboring M4 sites such that Ti-Ti interactions occur with stabilization energies of 83 kJ/mol for Ti3+-Ti3+ and at least 15 kJ/mol for Ti4+-Ti4+. Features in optical spectroscopy and electron spin resonance data from meteoritic and synthetic hibonites that have been used to infer Ti3+/Ti4+ are shown to actually derive from these Ti-Ti interactions. The amount of Ti4+ in hibonite can be determined from the unit-cell parameters if ∑Ti is determined independently. Ti3+/Ti4+ in hibonite may record the oxygen fugacity (fO2) of the early solar nebula, however, the existence of Ti3+-Ti3+ and Ti4+-Ti4+ interactions and the potential for Ti4+-Ti3+ interactions need to be considered when interpreting spectroscopic data in terms of Ti valence state and fO2. Hibonite as a single-mineral oxybarometer must be used with caution due to the potential role of crystal chemistry (including Ti-Ti interactions) to stabilize Ti oxidation states independently of fO2

Network-wide Configuration Synthesis

Computer networks are hard to manage. Given a set of high-level requirements (e.g., reachability, security), operators have to manually figure out the individual configuration of potentially hundreds of devices running complex distributed protocols so that they, collectively, compute a compatible forwarding state. Not surprisingly, operators often make mistakes which lead to downtimes. To address this problem, we present a novel synthesis approach that automatically computes correct network configurations that comply with the operator's requirements. We capture the behavior of existing routers along with the distributed protocols they run in stratified Datalog. Our key insight is to reduce the problem of finding correct input configurations to the task of synthesizing inputs for a stratified Datalog program. To solve this synthesis task, we introduce a new algorithm that synthesizes inputs for stratified Datalog programs. This algorithm is applicable beyond the domain of networks. We leverage our synthesis algorithm to construct the first network-wide configuration synthesis system, called SyNET, that support multiple interacting routing protocols (OSPF and BGP) and static routes. We show that our system is practical and can infer correct input configurations, in a reasonable amount time, for networks of realistic size (> 50 routers) that forward packets for multiple traffic classes.Comment: 24 Pages, short version published in CAV 201

Effect of Off-Body Laser Discharge on Drag Reduction of Hemisphere Cylinder in Supersonic Flow-Part II

The interaction of on-axis and o -axis laser discharge in front of a hemisphere cylinder in Mach 2.0 ow is investigated numerically. Details of the physics of the interaction of the laser-induced shock and the heated region with the bow shock and its e ect on drag reduction are included. The energetic eciency of the laser discharge in reducing drag is calculated

Developing a Suitable Model for Water Uptake for Biodegradable Polymers Using Small Training Sets

Prediction of the dynamic properties of water uptake across polymer libraries can accelerate polymer selection for a specific application. We first built semiempirical models using Artificial Neural Networks and all water uptake data, as individual input. These models give very good correlations (R2>0.78 for test set) but very low accuracy on cross-validation sets (less than 19% of experimental points within experimental error). Instead, using consolidated parameters like equilibrium water uptake a good model is obtained (R2=0.78 for test set), with accurate predictions for 50% of tested polymers. The semiempirical model was applied to the 56-polymer library of L-tyrosine-derived polyarylates, identifying groups of polymers that are likely to satisfy design criteria for water uptake. This research demonstrates that a surrogate modeling effort can reduce the number of polymers that must be synthesized and characterized to identify an appropriate polymer that meets certain performance criteria

Can China overcome the difficulties of establishing successful global brands?

Abstract It is clear to most observers that China is taking an increasing role in world trade not only through political interventions but as a result of its strategy regarding acquisitions. There have been a significant number of these recently, some of which like the Rover take over in the UK and more recently Geely taking over Volvo, have been high profile. This paper provides a brief overview of these developments. It is then argued that an important issue facing the Chinese companies involved in these take overs is one of brand equity and country of origin effects. This issue is of equal importance to China’s global competitors as well. A review of the literature shows that consumer perception constructs, such as perceived quality, have been well researched through numerous country-of-origin papers. A key issue to explore here however, is the extent to which the new nationality of brand ownership will have an impact on consumer perception constructs of brand equity. This paper discusses these two areas and examines their relationship in conceptual terms. A research agenda is then suggested, which forms the basis of a proposed interpretative project aimed at establishing the views of consumers regarding the phenomenon of well known brands being taken over by a new country of origin - evidence from the car industry draws on the progress being made in this area. The research aims to examine the implications for consumer based valuations of brand equity and the types of new strategic thinking this could engender. It is argued that the Chinese brand lacks the main components for global success in several areas though in time these factors will be addressed. .In the short term more focus will be made on supplying the local Chinese market though experienced gained from increased exports of components and collaboration in research from abroad as shown in the examples of the car industry will help strengthen the reputation of Chinese products in the longer term as well as helping to establish more Chinese global brands

Association of Genetic Variation to Healthfulness of Beef

The objective was to determine the natural variability in beef fatty acid composition and to identify single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the stearoyl-CoA desaturase (SCD) gene to test the association of SNPs with fatty acid composition. We have used common gas chromatographic techniques to determine the fatty acid composition of phospholipids and triacylglycerols (TAGs) extracted from beef muscle (longissimus dorsi) from 800 sire-identified cattle originating from Iowa State University beef cattle breeding selection projects. Heritability of individual fatty acids and indexes of fatty acid desaturase and elongase systems were calculated by evaluating specific ratios of fatty acids (product/precursor). In general, we found that TAG composition is heritable, but phospholipid composition is not. The atherogenic index of TAGs as proposed by Ulbright and Southgate had a heritability estimate of 0.55 and 0.45 for the TAG and total lipids, respectively. Individual fatty acids of TAGs also had high heritability estimates. For example, the heritability estimates of 14:0 and 16:0 in TAG were 0.49 and 0.40, respectively. Monounsaturates 16:1 and 18:1 in TAGs both had heritability estimates greater than 0.5. Future research will focus on DNA sequencing of candidate genes from sires that are phenotypically divergent for a trait of interest. Ultimately, we plan to develop DNA markers for use in selecting breeding stock to improve healthfulness of fatty acids in beef. Three SNP candidates in the SCD gene were tested by using Iowa State University beef cattle. Two of the potential SNPs were homozygous in this population (n=123). We have classified 172 cattle into two genotypes, VA and VV, based on the third SNP. The ratio of palmitoleic acid (C16:1) concentration vs palmitic acid (C16:0) concentration of TAG is significantly associated with the SNP (P=0.02). There is no significant association of the SNP with the fatty acid composition of phospholipids

Redesigning Beef Cattle to Have a More Healthful Fatty Acid Composition

The objective was to determine the natural variability in beef fatty acid composition. We have used common gas chromatographic techniques to determine the fatty acid composition of phospholipids and triacylglycerols (TAGs) extracted from beef muscle (longissimus dorsi) from 800 sire-identified cattle originating from Iowa State University beef cattle breeding selection projects. Heritability of individual fatty acids and indexes of fatty acid desaturase and elongase systems were calculated by evaluating specific ratios of fatty acids (product/precursor). In general, we found that TAG composition is heritable, but phospholipid composition is not. The atherogenic index of TAGs as proposed by Ulbright and Southgate had a heritability estimate of 0.55 and 0.45 for the TAG and total lipids, respectively. Individual fatty acids of TAGs also had high heritability estimates. For example, the heritability estimates of 14:0 and 16:0 in TAG were 0.49 and 0.40, respectively. Monounsaturates 16:1 and 18:1 in TAGs both had heritability estimates greater than 0.5. Future research will focus on DNA sequencing of candidate genes from sires that are phenotypically divergent for a trait of interest. Ultimately, we plan to develop DNA markers for use in selecting breeding stock to improve healthfulness of fatty acids in beef

Redesigning Beef Cattle to Have a More Healthful Fatty Acid Composition

We propose to improve the fatty acid composition of beef by capitalizing on the natural genetic differences among animals. It is our thought that improvements in the healthfulness of the fatty acid composition of beef can be made while maintaining other positive attributes. Stearoyl-CoA desaturase is responsible for the conversion of 16:0 and 18:0 to 16:1 and 18:1, respectively, the two major monounsaturated fatty acids of bovine lipids