280 research outputs found
Challenging the orthodoxy: union learning representatives as organic intellectuals
Teacher education and continuing professional development have become a key areas of controversy in England since the period of school sector restructuring following the 1988 Education Reform Act. More recently teacher training and professional development have often been used to promote and reinforce a narrow focus on the governmentâs âstandards agendaâ. However, the emerging discourse of ânew professionalismâ has raised the profile of professional development in schools, and together with union learning representatives, there are opportunities to secure real improvements in teachersâ access to continuing professional development. This paper argues however that union learning representatives must go beyond advocating for better access to professional development and should raise more fundamental questions about the nature of professional development and the education system it serves. Drawing on Gramsciâs notion of the âorganic intellectualâ, the paper argues that union learning representatives have a key role as organisers of ideas â creating spaces in which the ideological dominance of current policy orthodoxy might be challenged
Teacher unionism in changing times: is this the real ânew unionismâ?
This article provides a case study of union change in an environment in which radical school restructuring is taking place, and active strategies to weaken and marginalize organized teachers are being pursued by the state. The case study union is the National Union of Teachers in England. The article explores a number of different strategies open to teacher unions, utilizing a framework provided by Turner (2004). Drawing on data collected at a national level, and in three local authority areas, I argue that the National Union of Teachersâ response to the erosion of collective bargaining is best presented as an amalgam of strategies focused on workplace organizing, political campaigning, and coalition building. The data demonstrate considerable congruence between national and local strategies, although local data reveal considerable challenges in implementation and consequently considerable unevenness in local experiences
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Characterization of the National Low-Temperature Neutron Irradiation Facility
The National Low-Temperature Neutron Irradiation Facility (NLTNIF) is now operating at the Bulk Shielding Reactor at ORNL. The facility provides high radiation intensities and special environmental and testing conditions for qualified experiments at no cost to users. A general description and major specifications of the NLTNIF are presented along with the results of performance tests. In addition, the hardware and other considerations required to perform experiments in the NLTNIF are described
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Use of the national low-temperature neutron irradiation facility for fusion materials research
The National Low-Temperature Neutron Irradiation Facility (NLTNIF), now constructed and currently being evaluated, will provide high radiation intensities and special environmental and testing conditions for qualified experiments at no cost to users. The NLTNIF will be of interest for both basic and applied research on fusion reactor materials. A general description and major specifications of the facility are presented along with recent results of the performance tests. In addition, a description is given of the procedure and experimental assemblies needed to perform experiments in the NLTNIF
Long-range nonlocal flow of vortices in narrow superconducting channels
We report a new nonlocal effect in vortex matter, where an electric current
confined to a small region of a long and sufficiently narrow superconducting
wire causes vortex flow at distances hundreds of inter-vortex separations away.
The observed remote traffic of vortices is attributed to a very efficient
transfer of a local strain through the one-dimensional vortex lattice, even in
the presence of disorder. We also observe mesoscopic fluctuations in the
nonlocal vortex flow, which arise due to "traffic jams" when vortex
arrangements do not match a local geometry of a superconducting channel.Comment: a slightly longer version of a tentatively accepted PR
Superconducting MgB(2) films via precursor post-processing approach
Superconducting MgB(2) films with Tc = 38.6 K were prepared using a
precursor-deposition, ex-situ post-processing approach. Precursor films of
boron, ~0.5 micrometer thick, were deposited onto Al(2)O(3) (102) substrates by
e-beam evaporation; a post-anneal at 890 deg C in the presence of bulk MgB(2)
and Mg metal produced highly crystalline MgB(2) films. X-ray diffraction
indicated that the films exhibit some degree of c-axis alignment, but are
randomly oriented in-plane. Transport current measurements of the
superconducting properties show high values of the critical current density and
yield an irreversibility line that exceeds that determined by magnetic
measurements on bulk polycrystalline materials.Comment: PDF file with 10 pages total, including 4 figure
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Experimental determination of the temperature-dependent penetration depth in V/sub 3/Si
Small angle neutron diffraction from the flux-line lattice (FLL) in a high quality, single crystal of superconducting V/sub 3/Si has been used to deduce the low-field penetration depth lambda (T). An absolute determination is possible because the FLL form factor F/sub hk/ is essentially single-valued in the scattering vector magnitude absolute value of K/sub hk/, as well as nearly London-like at low field. We obtain lambda (0) = 102 +- 1 nm, 20% to 30% larger than previous determinations of the London penetration depth lambda/sub L/ (0). The temperature dependence of lambda (T) is found to deviate from that of the BCS theory. An assessment of the data indicates the most prominent source of the discrepancy is due to strong electron-phonon coupling, and we find 2..delta..(0)/k/sub B/T/sub c/ = 3.88 +- 0.07, in reasonable agreement with values found in the literature
Resistive state of superconducting structures with fractal clusters of a normal phase
The effect of morphologic factors on magnetic flux dynamics and critical
currents in percolative superconducting structures is considered. The
superconductor contains the fractal clusters of a normal phase, which act as
pinning centers. The properties of these clusters are analyzed in the general
case of gamma-distribution of their areas. The statistical characteristics of
the normal phase clusters are studied, the critical current distribution is
derived, and the dependencies of the main statistical parameters on the fractal
dimension are found. The effect of fractal clusters of a normal phase on the
electric field induced by the motion of the magnetic flux after the vortices
have been broken away from pinning centers is considered. The voltage-current
characteristics of fractal superconducting structures in a resistive state for
an arbitrary fractal dimension are obtained. It is found that the fractality of
the boundaries of normal phase clusters intensifies magnetic flux trapping and
thereby increases the current-carrying capability of the superconductor.Comment: 15 pages with 8 figures, revtex3, alternative e-mail of author is
[email protected]
Dynamics of the magnetic flux trapped in fractal clusters of normal phase in a superconductor
The influence of geometry and morphology of superconducting structure on
critical currents and magnetic flux trapping in percolative type-II
superconductor is considered. The superconductor contains the clusters of a
normal phase, which act as pinning centers. It is found that such clusters have
significant fractal properties. The main features of these clusters are studied
in detail: the cluster statistics is analyzed; the fractal dimension of their
boundary is estimated; the distribution of critical currents is obtained, and
its peculiarities are explored. It is examined thoroughly how the finite
resolution capacity of the cluster geometrical size measurement affects the
estimated value of fractal dimension. The effect of fractal properties of the
normal phase clusters on the electric field arising from magnetic flux motion
is investigated in the case of an exponential distribution of cluster areas.
The voltage-current characteristics of superconductors in the resistive state
for an arbitrary fractal dimension are obtained. It is revealed that the
fractality of the boundaries of the normal phase clusters intensifies the
magnetic flux trapping and thereby raises the critical current of a
superconductor.Comment: revtex, 16 pages with 1 table and 5 figures; text and figures are
improved; more detailed version with geometric probability analisys of the
distribution of entry points into weak links over the perimeter of a normal
phase clusters and one additional figure is published in Phys.Rev.B;
alternative e-mail of author is [email protected]
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