Complex hyperbolic free groups with many parabolic elements

We consider in this work representations of the of the fundamental group of the 3-punctured sphere in ${\rm PU}(2,1)$ such that the boundary loops are mapped to ${\rm PU}(2,1)$. We provide a system of coordinates on the corresponding representation variety, and analyse more specifically those representations corresponding to subgroups of $(3,3,\infty)$-groups. In particular we prove that it is possible to construct representations of the free group of rank two \la a,b\ra in ${\rm PU}(2,1)$ for which $a$, $b$, $ab$, $ab^{-1}$, $ab^2$, $a^2b$ and $[a,b]$ all are mapped to parabolics.Comment: 21 pages, 11 figure

Process for curing bismaleimide resins

This invention relates to vinyl pyridine group containing compounds and oligomers, their advantageous copolymerization with bismaleimide resins, and the formation of reinforced composites based on these copolymers. When vinyl pyridines including vinyl stilbazole materials and vinyl styrylpyridine oligomer materials are admixed with bismaleimides and cured to form copolymers the cure temperatures of the copolymers are substantially below the cure temperatures of the bismaleimides alone

Excellence in teaching and learning: A review of the literature for the Higher Education Academy

The Higher Education Academy commissioned a review of the literature on excellence in learning and teaching in higher education to enhance the higher education sector’s understanding of the varied conceptualisations and usages of the term ‘excellence’ and consider the implications for future policy and practice in relation to promoting and developing excellence. The literature searched included published research in the form of journal articles; books; reports from UK policy bodies and other agencies; as well as ‘grey’ literature. It covered conceptual studies, academic critiques and research studies on learning and teaching, as well as policy documents. Within a diverse and expanding system of higher education, such as in the UK, discourse on teaching and student learning highlights the tensions between different notions of excellence – for example, excellence as a positional good for students, as an aspirational target for continuous quality enhancement, as a form of reputational advantage for higher education institutions or as a means for achieving governmental economic and social goals. The review addressed questions of conceptualisations and usage at different (but interlinked) levels: system-wide; institutional; departmental; individual, and from two different perspectives, teaching and student learning