The pros and cons of using SDL for creation of distributed services

In a competitive market for the creation of complex distributed services, time to market, development cost, maintenance and flexibility are key issues. Optimizing the development process is very much a matter of optimizing the technologies used during service creation. This paper reports on the experience gained in the Service Creation projects SCREEN and TOSCA on use of the language SDL for efficient service creation

Visual representations of women in a Jamaican school science textbook

The gender gap in post-compulsory science education remains a key concern for educators in many countries. Over the last two decades significant effort has been placed in a number of initiatives aimed not only at raising the profile of science in schools, but also at widening female participation. Despite these initiatives, the rate of female participation in science has typically remained below that of males. Although many reasons have been advanced to explain this, visual representations in school science textbooks remain under-researched. Against a background of gender disparity in the Jamaican education system, this article examines the extent to which visual representations in a widely used school science textbook reinforce or ameliorate gender stereotypes. The results indicate that the textbook presents implicit support for gender-biased messages, though in ways that are more subtle than might be supposed. There were a number of ways in which the images did not favour males over females but there were also other ways in which males were more likely to be portrayed as powerful and in high-status ‘positions’, while females were more likely to be depicted in inferior situations. Such gender representations may affect how students see themselves in relation to science

An investigation op the electrical resistance of thin films of rare earth metals

Measurements have been made of the electrical resistivity in the film plane of rare earth metal films over a thickness range of 130 A to 250O A. The films are deposited onto glass substrates by high vacuum evaporation at pressures better than 10(^-6) torr and are protected by an over coating of silicon monoxide. The resistivity has been examined between 4.2 K and room temperature; the magnetoresistance has also been studied in the presence of applied transverse fields up to 15 KOe and longitudinal fields up to 10 KOe. The variation of resistance with temperature is similar in form to that obtained for bulk specimens for all film thicknesses. However, in films less than about 400 A thick, the spin-disorder resistivity shows a pronounced decrease in magnitude but the degree of variation did not appear to be consistent with thickness. The spin-disorder resistivity is obtained by computing a least-squares fit to the linear high temperature part of the resistance curve and extrapolating to 0 K. The results show that in the temperature region where spin-wave theory is applicable, at very low temperatures pspin ɚ T(^2) in accordance with spin-wave theory but at higher temperatures, this falls off, so that It is found that pspin ɚ T(^2) in the first case, the variation of Pspin(T) can be better explained in terms of an anisotropy energy gap and the change to a T(^3/2) proportionality has been related to the behaviour of the spontaneous magnetization and the anomalous Hall effect. In addition, the variation of pSpin of dysprosium is examined in detail and it is suggested that the observed fall off of spin resistivity with thickness, which can be extrapolated to zero at zero thickness, is related to the variation of magnetization with thickness in the film. Finally, magnetoresistive studies detected negative effects with fields applied transversely to the electric field. The anomalous peak at the Neel point is suppressed in dysprosium and terbium and a small demagnetizing field effect is observed in dysprosium

Intensive modes of study and the need to focus on the process of learning in Higher Education

In the context of a constantly evolving international higher education sector, this commentary emphasises the need for consilience between basic research on learning processes and observations from intensive modes of study. Following a discussion of conflicting evidence on optimal learning time frames, we advocate for seeking alignment between classroom practices with underlying learning mechanisms. We argue for a unified understanding of effective learning beyond notions of the credit point hour or volume of learning, focusing on processes rather than mere inputs and outputs. A collaborative approach between researchers, educators, and policymakers aiming for consilience has the potential to provide practical insights and strategies to enhance student learning and success. Understanding the mechanisms beneath the impact of intensive modes of study, as outlined in this special issue, has the potential to advance the conversation about quality higher education for the 21st century

Diffusion in a generalized Rubinstein-Duke model of electrophoresis with kinematic disorder

Using a generalized Rubinstein-Duke model we prove rigorously that kinematic disorder leaves the prediction of standard reptation theory for the scaling of the diffusion constant in the limit for long polymer chains $D \propto L^{-2}$ unaffected. Based on an analytical calculation as well as Monte Carlo simulations we predict kinematic disorder to affect the center of mass diffusion constant of an entangled polymer in the limit for long chains by the same factor as single particle diffusion in a random barrier model.Comment: 29 pages, 3 figures, submitted to PR

Measuring financial conditions in major non-euro area economies

In this paper, we develop financial conditions indices (FCIs) for 3 industrialized (US, Japan, UK) and 5 emerging (China, Brazil, Russia, India, Turkey) economies. The FCIs are formed as the principal component of a range of financial series for each country and are constructed to account for fluctuations in the business cycle. We show that these FCIs can help predict growth developments and thereby provide a potential leading indicator for the external environment of the Euro area. While we draw upon established methodological considerations in the literature, our main contribution lies in providing FCIs which are available for a broad set of countries, including many emerging economies, and whose movements can intuitively be interpreted. This latter fact allows us to track developments in the 8 investigated financial markets over the last decade