55 research outputs found
Cartridge casing ejection patterns from two types of 9 mm self-loading pistols can be distinguished from each other
A degree of recognition across policing: embedding a degree apprenticeship encompassing work-based research
Purpose
As the police service across England and Wales moves towards degree-level study for new recruits as a component of recognising the profession of policing, this paper describes and discusses the introduction of the Police Constable Degree Apprenticeship (PCDA) and the core skills of evidence-based policing (EBP) as an educational theme for solving work-based problems.
Design/methodology/approach
Authored by both policing practitioners and researchers, this paper refers to key literature whilst exploring the implementation of the PCDA as a component of a Policing Education Qualifications Framework (PEQF). It highlights some of the challenges faced with its implementation along with the benefits of the adopting this degree-level education and work-based programme where EBP is embedded in to both study and professional practice.
Findings
There are significant benefits to the police service of adopting the PCDA as one of the entry routes for new police constables and embracing the educational development and professional application of EBP. However, this does not come without a number of challenges for the service and the professional body for policing.
Originality/value
This paper, co-authored by both policing practitioners and researchers, provides a contemporary view on the introduction of the PCDA as an initial entry route for new police constables and the embedding of EBP within both their learning and professional practice. As the first graduates complete their studies, the paper discusses the opportunities the adoption presents and the challenges it faces both locally and nationally
Appointments, pay and performance in UK boardrooms by gender
This article uses UK data to examine issues regarding the scarcity of women in boardroom positions. The article examines appointments, pay and any associated productivity effects deriving from increased diversity. Evidence of gender-bias in the appointment of women as non-executive directors is found together with mixed evidence of discrimination in wages or fees paid. However, the article finds no support for the argument that gender diverse boards enhance corporate performance. Proposals in favour of greater board diversity may be best structured around the moral value of diversity, rather than with reference to an expectation of improved company performance
The Astropy Problem
The Astropy Project (http://astropy.org) is, in its own words, "a community
effort to develop a single core package for Astronomy in Python and foster
interoperability between Python astronomy packages." For five years this
project has been managed, written, and operated as a grassroots,
self-organized, almost entirely volunteer effort while the software is used by
the majority of the astronomical community. Despite this, the project has
always been and remains to this day effectively unfunded. Further, contributors
receive little or no formal recognition for creating and supporting what is now
critical software. This paper explores the problem in detail, outlines possible
solutions to correct this, and presents a few suggestions on how to address the
sustainability of general purpose astronomical software
The Ninth Data Release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey: First Spectroscopic Data from the SDSS-III Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey
The Sloan Digital Sky Survey III (SDSS-III) presents the first spectroscopic
data from the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS). This ninth data
release (DR9) of the SDSS project includes 535,995 new galaxy spectra (median
z=0.52), 102,100 new quasar spectra (median z=2.32), and 90,897 new stellar
spectra, along with the data presented in previous data releases. These spectra
were obtained with the new BOSS spectrograph and were taken between 2009
December and 2011 July. In addition, the stellar parameters pipeline, which
determines radial velocities, surface temperatures, surface gravities, and
metallicities of stars, has been updated and refined with improvements in
temperature estimates for stars with T_eff<5000 K and in metallicity estimates
for stars with [Fe/H]>-0.5. DR9 includes new stellar parameters for all stars
presented in DR8, including stars from SDSS-I and II, as well as those observed
as part of the SDSS-III Sloan Extension for Galactic Understanding and
Exploration-2 (SEGUE-2).
The astrometry error introduced in the DR8 imaging catalogs has been
corrected in the DR9 data products. The next data release for SDSS-III will be
in Summer 2013, which will present the first data from the Apache Point
Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment (APOGEE) along with another year of
data from BOSS, followed by the final SDSS-III data release in December 2014.Comment: 9 figures; 2 tables. Submitted to ApJS. DR9 is available at
http://www.sdss3.org/dr
LSST Science Book, Version 2.0
A survey that can cover the sky in optical bands over wide fields to faint
magnitudes with a fast cadence will enable many of the exciting science
opportunities of the next decade. The Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST)
will have an effective aperture of 6.7 meters and an imaging camera with field
of view of 9.6 deg^2, and will be devoted to a ten-year imaging survey over
20,000 deg^2 south of +15 deg. Each pointing will be imaged 2000 times with
fifteen second exposures in six broad bands from 0.35 to 1.1 microns, to a
total point-source depth of r~27.5. The LSST Science Book describes the basic
parameters of the LSST hardware, software, and observing plans. The book
discusses educational and outreach opportunities, then goes on to describe a
broad range of science that LSST will revolutionize: mapping the inner and
outer Solar System, stellar populations in the Milky Way and nearby galaxies,
the structure of the Milky Way disk and halo and other objects in the Local
Volume, transient and variable objects both at low and high redshift, and the
properties of normal and active galaxies at low and high redshift. It then
turns to far-field cosmological topics, exploring properties of supernovae to
z~1, strong and weak lensing, the large-scale distribution of galaxies and
baryon oscillations, and how these different probes may be combined to
constrain cosmological models and the physics of dark energy.Comment: 596 pages. Also available at full resolution at
http://www.lsst.org/lsst/sciboo
An Eccentric Massive Jupiter Orbiting a Subgiant on a 9.5-day Period Discovered in the <i>Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite</i> Full Frame Images
We report the discovery of TOI-172 b from the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) mission, a massive hot Jupiter transiting a slightly evolved G star with a 9.48-day orbital period. This is the first planet to be confirmed from analysis of only the TESS full frame images, because the host star was not chosen as a two-minute cadence target. From a global analysis of the TESS photometry and follow-up observations carried out by the TESS Follow-up Observing Program Working Group, TOI-172 (TIC 29857954) is a slightly evolved star with an effective temperature of T eff = 5645 ± 50 K, a mass of M ⋆ = {1.128}-0.061+0.065 M ⊙, radius of R ⋆ = {1.777}-0.044+0.047 R ⊙, a surface gravity of log g ⋆ = {3.993}-0.028+0.027, and an age of {7.4}-1.5+1.6 {Gyr}. Its planetary companion (TOI-172 b) has a radius of R P = {0.965}-0.029+0.032 R J, a mass of M P = {5.42}-0.20+0.22 M J, and is on an eccentric orbit (e={0.3806}-0.0090+0.0093). TOI-172 b is one of the few known massive giant planets on a highly eccentric short-period orbit. Future study of the atmosphere of this planet and its system architecture offer opportunities to understand the formation and evolution of similar systems
A Giant Planet Candidate Transiting a White Dwarf
Astronomers have discovered thousands of planets outside the solar system,
most of which orbit stars that will eventually evolve into red giants and then
into white dwarfs. During the red giant phase, any close-orbiting planets will
be engulfed by the star, but more distant planets can survive this phase and
remain in orbit around the white dwarf. Some white dwarfs show evidence for
rocky material floating in their atmospheres, in warm debris disks, or orbiting
very closely, which has been interpreted as the debris of rocky planets that
were scattered inward and tidally disrupted. Recently, the discovery of a
gaseous debris disk with a composition similar to ice giant planets
demonstrated that massive planets might also find their way into tight orbits
around white dwarfs, but it is unclear whether the planets can survive the
journey. So far, the detection of intact planets in close orbits around white
dwarfs has remained elusive. Here, we report the discovery of a giant planet
candidate transiting the white dwarf WD 1856+534 (TIC 267574918) every 1.4
days. The planet candidate is roughly the same size as Jupiter and is no more
than 14 times as massive (with 95% confidence). Other cases of white dwarfs
with close brown dwarf or stellar companions are explained as the consequence
of common-envelope evolution, wherein the original orbit is enveloped during
the red-giant phase and shrinks due to friction. In this case, though, the low
mass and relatively long orbital period of the planet candidate make
common-envelope evolution less likely. Instead, the WD 1856+534 system seems to
demonstrate that giant planets can be scattered into tight orbits without being
tidally disrupted, and motivates searches for smaller transiting planets around
white dwarfs.Comment: 50 pages, 12 figures, 2 tables. Published in Nature on Sept. 17,
2020. The final authenticated version is available online at:
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-020-2713-
Understanding Landscape: Cultural Perceptions of Environment in the UK and China
Different philosophical traditions in China and the UK have contributed to the establishment of a multi-dimensional discussion of perceptions of nature. This has influenced the approach of landscape architects and planners in the design and planning of the built environment and continues to affect the treatment of private and public space design. With rapid urbanisation in the twentieth century, there has been a growing discussion (emanating from North America but also permeating discussions in the UK, Europe and more recently East Asia) of how we create places that satisfy the need and desire from the public for contact with ‘nature’. This chapter presents a comparative discussion of historical perceptions of landscape within urban development located within the UK and China. We reflect on how urban ecology has been integrated into development practices, debate the interaction of people with urban landscape and consider responses to demands for nature in cities. The chapter concludes with a review on the current practice surrounding the development and management of urban public space in China and the UK, reflecting the cultural context of nature in cities and the work of urban planning and design authorities
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