The effects of Peru's push to improve education

From the mid-1950s to the 1960s, the Government of Peru undertook a major expansion of public education, increasing the number of schools, requiring primary schools that offered an incomplete cycle to add grades, and increasing school inputs (principally teachers and textbooks). The paper examines the effects of Peru's educational policies, and the effects of family background and community characteristics on the schooling levels of a number of adults. Data on males and females were analyzed seperately by birth cohort.Teaching and Learning,Primary Education,Gender and Education,Health Monitoring&Evaluation,Education Reform and Management

Dielectric molding apparatus Patent

Dielectric apparatus for heating, fusing, and hardening of organic matrix to form plastic material into shaped produc

Model for the unidirectional motion of a dynein molecule

Cytoplasmic dyneins transport cellular organelles by moving on a microtubule filament. It has been found recently that depending on the applied force and the concentration of the adenosine triphosphate (ATP) molecules, dynein's step size varies. Based on these studies, we propose a simple model for dynein's unidirectional motion taking into account the variations in its step size. We study how the average velocity and the relative dispersion in the displacement vary with the applied load. The model is amenable to further extensions by inclusion of details associated with the structure and the processivity of the molecule.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figure

Spectral evidence for carbonates on Mars: Hydrous carbonates

Although many of the spectral features of the Martian samples studied are not unique mineralogical indicators, much of the current spectral data is consistent with (possibly abundant) hydrous carbonates on the surface of Mars. The absorption features in the measured samples were quite weak compared with those of anhydrous carbonates. The weak features imply that significantly more hydrous carbonates can be incorporated onto the surface before becoming spectrally evident; however, exact limits have yet to be determined. The stability of these materials in the Martian environment is not known, but their formation and occurrence in low temperature terrestrial environments makes them appealing candidates for weathering products on Mars

High Redshift Standard Candles: Predicted Cosmological Constraints

We investigate whether future measurements of high redshift standard candles (HzSCs) will be a powerful probe of dark energy, when compared to other types of planned dark energy measurements. Active galactic nuclei and gamma ray bursts have both been proposed as potential HzSC candidates. Due to their high luminosity, they can be used to probe unexplored regions in the expansion history of the universe. Information from these regions can help constrain the properties of dark energy, and in particular, whether it varies over time. We consider both linear and piecewise parameterizations of the dark energy equation of state, $w(z)$, and assess the optimal redshift distribution a high-redshift standard-candle survey could take to constrain these models. The more general the form of the dark energy equation of state $w(z)$ being tested, the more useful high-redshift standard candles become. For a linear parameterization of $w(z)$, HzSCs give only small improvements over planned supernova and baryon acoustic oscillation measurements; a wide redshift range with many low redshift points is optimal to constrain this linear model. However to constrain a general, and thus potentially more informative, form of $w(z)$, having many HzSCs can significantly improve limits on the nature of dark energy.Comment: Accepted MNRAS, 27 Pages, 15 figures, matches published versio

Development of a mechatronic sorting system for removing contaminants from wool

Automated visual inspection (AVI) systems have been extended to many fields, such as agriculture and the food, plastic and textile industries. Generally, most visual systems only inspect product defects, and then analyze and grade them due to the lack of any sorting function. This main reason rests with the difficulty of using the image data in real time. However, it is increasingly important to either sort good products from bad or grade products into separate groups usingAVI systems. This article describes the development of a mechatronic sorting system and its integration with a vision system for automatically removing contaminants from wool in real time. The integration is implemented by a personal computer, which continuously processes live images under the Windows 2000 operating system. The developed real-time sorting approach is also applicable to many other AVI systems

Revealing the Archetype: The Journey of a Trecento Madonna and Child at the National Museum of Scotland

The National Museums Scotland Madonna and Child project sought to uncover and document the history of a fine polychrome wood carving attributed to The Master of the Gualino St Catherine and to prepare it for display. A new body of knowledge has been assembled by the interdisciplinary team. The conservation treatment was informed by this work and led to further discoveries: the removal of overpaint exposing a previously hidden underdrawing. The ethics of the treatment decisions, including the removal of the Christ Child’s 1960s’ fingers required team dialogue and was opened up for the public to respond to in a series of blogs. The discovery of a rich polychromy including gold and glazed tin has led to further plans to produce a 3-D colour reconstruction. The collaborations developed during this project will facilitate future joint ventures for polychrome sculpture in Scottish collections

New spectral observations of Callisto and leading/trailing hemisphere distinctions

In December 1989 and January 1990, new observations of the leading and trailing edges of Callisto were made from the NASA Infrared Telescope Facility on Mauna Kea in Hawaii. Using the Cool Grating Array Spectrometer, spectral coverage was obtained from 1.89 to 2.46 microns and from 2.8 to 4.2 microns for both the leading and trailing hemispheres. In addition, spectral coverage of the leading hemisphere was obtained from 1.30 to 2.55 microns and from 4.2 to 4.8 microns. Interpretations of the data are given

On character generators for simple Lie algebras

We study character generating functions (character generators) of simple Lie algebras. The expression due to Patera and Sharp, derived from the Weyl character formula, is first reviewed. A new general formula is then found. It makes clear the distinct roles of ``outside'' and ``inside'' elements of the integrity basis, and helps determine their quadratic incompatibilities. We review, analyze and extend the results obtained by Gaskell using the Demazure character formulas. We find that the fundamental generalized-poset graphs underlying the character generators can be deduced from such calculations. These graphs, introduced by Baclawski and Towber, can be simplified for the purposes of constructing the character generator. The generating functions can be written easily using the simplified versions, and associated Demazure expressions. The rank-two algebras are treated in detail, but we believe our results are indicative of those for general simple Lie algebras.Comment: 50 pages, 11 figure

String-Inspired Triplet See-Saw from Diagonal Embedding of SU(2)_L in SU(2)_A x SU(2)_B

Motivated by string constructions, we consider a variant on the Type II see-saw mechanism involving the exchange of triplet representations of SU(2)_L in which this group arises from a diagonal embedding into SU(2)_A x SU(2)_B. A natural assignment of Standard Model lepton doublets to the two underlying gauge groups results in a bimaximal pattern of neutrino mixings and an inverted hierarchy in masses. Simple perturbations around this leading-order structure can accommodate the observed pattern of neutrino masses and mixings.Comment: 8 pages; uses RevTe