Inorganic thermal control pigment Patent

White paint production by heating impure aluminum silicate clay having low solar absorptanc

Intended or unintended? Issues arising from the implementation of the UK Government’s 2003 Schools Workforce Remodelling Act

The United Kingdom (UK) Government's 2003 Workforce Remodelling Act (DfES, 2003) contained nine key points aimed at supporting teachers and schools to raise educational standards without adding additional workload responsibilities. In September 2005 planning, preparation and assessment (PPA) time was introduced. This allows for all teachers to have 10% of their timetable to plan lessons, prepare resources and assess pupils' work. This raises issues of what 10% of their time, with pupils, teachers relinquish for PPA. One common solution in primary schools seems to have been to employ coaches (particularly football coaches) to teach Physical Education (PE) lessons. The purpose of this study was therefore to identify the knowledge, skill and understanding of a group of community-based football coaches working in PPA time in primary schools and to understand the implications for schools, coaches and coach educators. Results showed that these coaches had very little knowledge of the National Curriculum Physical Education (NCPE) and used a narrow range of teaching methods. Some of their pedagogical decision making had a negative consequence on pupils' learning. Thirteen of the twenty-one coaches studied did not plan in the short, medium or long term. There was evidence of routine action (Dewey, 1933) although there was some evidence of reflection. These findings are discussed in relation to the implications of employing coaches to teach the NCPE in schools and also in relation to what Continuing Professional Development (CPD) coaches need to develop the necessary knowledge, skills and understanding for working in schools. Although there is a clear PE focus to this current study, there are implications for the teaching of other subjects in primary schools in England and for the use of sports coaches within education in other national contexts. Despite differences in government policies and practices in schools, in many countries there are likely to be issues with the status, delivery and resourcing of PE

Making physical education relevant: Increasing the impact of initial teacher training

This paper is developed from concern that, despite a number of developments and initiatives in physical education over recent years, there has been little change in the teaching of the subject. This has resulted in many young people being alienated from physical education and therefore physical activity. The paper focuses on how initial teacher training (ITT) contributes to this lack of change by focusing on the development of knowledge for teaching and the technical competence to deliver this. It then considers ways in which ITT could contribute to developing ‘knowledgeable teachers’ who are able to make change. The paper focuses on two aspects identified as relevant for trainee physical education teachers: socialisation and knowledge for teaching. It recognises that the issues are complex and that change is difficult. It also recognises that ITT cannot change things by itself. However, it argues that by maintaining the status quo, the subject will not develop so that it is relevant to today’s youngsters

One application of mega-geomorphology in education

One advantage of a synoptic view displaying landform assemblages provided by imagery is that one can often identify geomorphic processes which have shaped the region and which may affect the habitability of the area over a human life time. Considering the continued growth of the world population and the resultant pressure and the exploitation of land, usually without any consideration given to geologic processes, it is imperative that we attempt to educate as large a segment of the population as we can about geologic processes and how they influence land use. Space platform imagery which exhibits regional landscapes can be used: (1) to show students the impact of geologic processes over relatively short periods of time (e.g., the Mount St. Helens lateral blast); (2) to display the effects of poor planning because of a lack of knowledge of the local geologic processes (e.g., the 1973 image of the Mississippi River flood around St. Louis, MO); and (3) to show the association of certain types of landforms with building materials and other resources (e.g., drumlins and gravel deposits)

Measurement of airfoil heat transfer coefficients on a turbine stage

The primary basis for heat transfer analysis of turbine airfoils is experimental data obtained in linear cascades. A detailed set of heat transfer coefficients was obtained along the midspan of a stator and a rotor in a rotating turbine stage. The data are to be compared to standard analyses of blade boundary layer heat transfer. A detailed set of heat transfer coefficients was obtained along the midspan of a stator located in the wake of a full upstream turbine stage. Two levels of inlet turbulence (1 and 10 percent) were used. The analytical capability will be examined to improve prediction of the experimental data

Digital multishaker modal testing

A review of several modal testing techniques is made, along with brief discussions of their advantages and limitations. A new technique is presented which overcomes many of the previous limitations. Several simulated experiments are included to verify the validity and accuracy of the new method. Conclusions are drawn from the simulation studies and recommendations for further work are presented. The complete computer code configured for the simulation study is presented

B-Physics at the Tevatron (Proceedings of PASCOS2010)

We report on recent B-Physics results from the Tevatron. The topics covered include measurement of the polarization amplitudes in $B_s^0 \to \phi \phi$, the search for rare flavor-changing neutral-current decays, CP violation in $B_s^0 \to J/\psi \phi$ and semileptonic $B_s^0$ decays, and a new measurement of the like-sign asymmetry in dimuon events.Comment: 6 pages, proceedings paper, 16th International Symposium on Particles, Strings, and Cosmology, Valencia, Spain, July 19 - 23, 201

Using temporal distributions of transient events to characterize cosmological source populations

The brightest events in a time series of cosmological transients obey an observation time dependence which is often overlooked. This dependence can be exploited to probe the global properties of electromagnetic and gravitational wave transients (Howell et al. 2007a, Coward & Burman 2005). We describe a new relation based on a peak flux--observation time distribution and show that it is invariant to the luminosity distribution of the sources (Howell et al. 2007b). Applying this relation, in combination with a new data analysis filter, to \emph{Swift} gamma-ray burst data, we demonstrate that it can constrain their rate density.Comment: published in proceedings of FRONTIERS OF FUNDAMENTAL AND COMPUTATIONAL PHYSICS: 10th International Symposium, AIP,1246,203, (2010

An improved method for estimating source densities using the temporal distribution of Cosmological Transients

It has been shown that the observed temporal distribution of transient events in the cosmos can be used to constrain their rate density. Here we show that the peak flux--observation time relation takes the form of a power law that is invariant to the luminosity distribution of the sources, and that the method can be greatly improved by invoking time reversal invariance and the temporal cosmological principle. We demonstrate how the method can be used to constrain distributions of transient events, by applying it to Swift gamma-ray burst data and show that the peak flux--observation time relation is in good agreement with recent estimates of source parameters. We additionally show that the intrinsic time dependence allows the method to be used as a predictive tool. Within the next year of Swift observation, we find a 50% chance of obtaining a peak flux greater than that of GRB 060017 -- the highest Swift peak flux to date -- and the same probability of detecting a burst with peak flux > 100 photons s^{-1} cm^{-2} within 6 years.Comment: Submitted to ApJ Letter