THE ECONOMIC IMPACT OF A HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTION – THE STUDY CASE OF THE POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE OF BEJA, PORTUGAL

It is widely recognized that the investment in human capital, innovation, and knowledge transfer is essential to sustainable development and growth. Within this context, the role and action of Higher Education Institutions (HEI) are vital. This paper aims to reflect on the role and the economic impact of a higher education institution, based on the case study of a public HEIs in Portugal namely the Polytechnic Institute of Beja (IPBeja). This institution belongs to the subsystem of polytechnic higher education and is located in a region that has one of the lowest economic and population densities in Europ

Low-Mass and Metal-Poor Gamma-Ray Burst Host Galaxies

Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are cosmologically distributed, very energetic and very transient sources detected in the gamma-ray domain. The identification of their x-ray and optical afterglows allowed so far the redshift measurement of 150 events, from z = 0.01 to z = 6.29. For about half of them, we have some knowledge of the properties of the parent galaxy. At high redshift (z > 2), absorption lines in the afterglow spectra give information on the cold interstellar medium in the host. At low redshift (z < 1.0) multi-band optical-NIR photometry and integrated spectroscopy reveal the GRB host general properties. A redshift evolution of metallicity is not noticeable in the whole sample. The typical value is a few times lower than solar. The mean host stellar mass is similar to that of the Large Magellanic Cloud, but the mean star formation rate is five times higher. GRBs are discovered with gamma-ray, not optical or NIR, instruments. Their hosts do not suffer from the same selection biases of typical galaxy surveys. Therefore, they might represent a fair sample of the most common galaxies that existed in the past history of the universe, and can be used to better understand galaxy formation and evolution.Comment: Invited contribution, to appear in proceedings of IAU Symposium 255: "Low-Metal licity Star Formation: From the First Stars to Dwarf Galaxies", Rapallo June 2008, L.K. Hunt, S. Madden & R. Schneider, ed

Genetic variation in dairy cattle claw health traits recorded by claw trimmers

Claw health has been recorded by claw trimmers at trimming in Sweden since 1996, but data was then captured at each AI association. From 2003 data was captured by central scanning and entered directly to the national cow data base at the Swedish Dairy Association (SDA). This reporting was introduced because SDA wanted to be able to use these records to improve dairy cow claw health by breeding. It is desirable with cows that have healthy claws, because poor claw health can contribute to impaired production and fertility. The claw health report begins with some information about herd, claw trimmer, date et cetera and continues with the part where the claw health is recorded. Here the ID of each cow is filled in and on the same row the conditions for dermatitis, heel horn erosion, sole haemorrhage and sole ulcer are recorded as no lesion (blank), slight lesion (/) or severe lesion (X). The aim of this study was to estimate genetic parameters and repeatabilities between lactations for dermatitis, heel horn erosion, sole haemorrhage and sole ulcer from the reported claw health records. Data collected between 2003 and June 2007 for Swedish Holstein (SH)and Swedish Red dairy cattle (SR) were used in the study. The edited data sets consisted of 65 816 records from first and 24 121 records from second lactation of SH, and of 58 457 records from first and 22 282 records from second lactation of SR. Results show that heritabilities for the claw diseases were relatively low. For SH, heritabilities in first lactation were between 0.035 (sole ulcer) and 0.079 (dermatitis) and in second lactation between 0.032 (sole ulcer) and 0.079 (sole haemorrhage). For SR they were between 0.038 (sole ulcer) and 0.059 (sole haemorrhage) in first lactation and between 0.028 (sole ulcer) and 0.085 (heel horn erosion)in second lactation. Correlations between the claw diseases were estimated and showed highest correlations between dermatitis and heel horn erosion (0.86 for SR and 0.64 for SH)and also between sole haemorrhage and sole ulcer (0.70 for SR and 0.72 for SH). The genetic correlation for the same disease between lactations was high (0.84 and higher). The conclusions of this study are that the claw health reports are very useful. Heritabilities was relatively low but were sufficient enough to be possible to improve claw health through breeding. Correlations were very high within disease between lactations and also high between dermatitis and heel horn erosion as well as between sole haemorrhage and sole ulcer.Klövhälsan har sedan 1997 registrerats av klövverkare i Sverige i samband med klövverkning. Data har sedan rapporterats in till Svensk Mjölk. Denna rapportering introducerades på grund av en önskan att kunna använda registreringarna för att förbättra klövhälsan hos mjölkkor genom avel. Det är önskvärt med kor som har friska klövar då försämrad klövhälsa kan bidra till försämrad produktion och nedsatt fertilitet. Klövrapporterna börjar med information om gård, lövverkare, datum etc. och fortsätter med delen där klövhälsan fylls i. Här skrivs djurets ID-nummer upp och på samma rad fylls bedömningen för klöveksem, klövröta och sulblödning i, som ingen skada (tom ruta), lättare skada (/) eller svårare skada (X). Syftet med denna studie var att skatta genetiska parametrar och upprepbarhet för klöveksem, klövröta, sulblödning och klövsulesår utifrån de inrapporterade klövrapporterna. Data insamlade mellan 2003 och juni 2007 för både SH och SRB användes i studien. Efter editering bestod data setet av 65 816 resp. 24 121 observationer från 1:a och 2:a laktationen för SH, och 58 457 resp. 22 282 observationer från 1:a och 2:a laktationen för SRB Resultaten visade att arvbarheten för de olika klövsjukdomarna var relativt låg, för SRB låg de mellan 0,038 (klövsulesår)och 0,059 (sulblödning) i laktation ett och i laktation två mellan 0,028 (klövsulesår) och 0,085 (klövröta). För SH låg arvbarheterna i laktation ett mellan 0,035 (klövsulesår) och 0,079 (klöveksem) och i laktation två mellan 0,032 (klövsulesår) och 0,079 (sulblödning). Korrelationerna mellan de olika sjukdomarna skattades och var högst mellan eksem och röta (0,86 för SRB och 0,64 för SH) och mellan sulblödning och klövsulesår (0,70 för SRB och 0,72 för SH). Genetiska korrelationer mellan laktation 1 och 2 för en och samma sjukdom var höga (0,84 och högre). Slutsatsen av studien var att klövhälsorapporterna är mycket användbara. Arvbarheterna för klövsjukdomarna i studien var relativt låga men tillräckliga för att kunna förbättra klövhälsa genom avel. Korrelationerna var höga inom sjukdom mellan laktationer och dessutom höga mellan eksem och klövröta likväl som mellan sulblödning och klövsulesår

Maintaining the Human Touch in Educational Leadership

It is a pleasure to be invited to contribute to this special edition of the TCPEA School Leadership Review. TCPEA has been a valuable organization for me as the relationships that have been fostered through it have enabled me to grow personally and professionally. This has led me to consider some of the issues that educational leaders are facing today and will continue to face in the years to come which are focused on the notion of how to effectively maintain human relationships. While few leaders agree on everything, there is no doubt that we all agree this is a complex time for our schools. My focus of this article is to consider three of the challenges before us to maintain the human touch in our profession: Identifying appropriate responses to the dilemmas that are occurring due to technology advances which include movement to hybrid/blended and fully on-line teaching venues, Establishing covenant communities in our diverse classrooms and beyond, and Nurturing our professional relationships as educational leaders. While these three topics might seem unrelated, I believe they all are connected to our shared humanity and all have the potential to develop or diminish the human touch

Choosing Law for Attributing Liability Under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act: A Proposal for Uniformity

This Note argues that federal common law should determine all attribution of liability issues in actions brought under the FSIA. Part I discusses the FSIA, its history and policies, and the sole U.S. Supreme Court decision to discuss the proper choice of law approach for attribution of liability under the FSIA. Part II examines subsequent cases that have either followed or distinguished the Supreme Court\u27s choice of law approach in deciding questions of agency or respondeat superior. Part III argues that congressional intent demands the application of federal common law to determine questions of attribution of liability in actions brought under the FSIA. This Note concludes that federal courts should apply federal common law to determine the limited question of attribution of liability

Underneath the Observational Snapshot: Looking For Sense and Meaning Behind the First Impressions of a Learning Interaction

Education practitioners, including Ofsted inspectors and Teacher Educators, try to make sense of behaviour in the classroom by observing the interaction of teachers and learners. They make judgements about what is good teaching, what is bad learner behaviour and what are inclusive and effective learning experiences. This article argues that such observations are inadequate for assessing and evaluating learning behaviour and insufficient to enable teachers to develop their own personalised teaching and learning strategies and their confidence as professional teachers. The article was written in response to examples of Further Education (FE) teachers describing the college classroom as a war zone and a battlefield (Lebor, 2013). The author argues that such metaphors reinforce the notion that teachers and learners are situated at opposing sides of an education institution with differing interests. They also ignore the position of the teacher as being a learner too. The author advocates using an existentialist approach to understanding and reflecting on the learning process. She models strategies she has used herself to attempt to step outside the conventional paradigm of learning in college and create a new framework for reflecting on what is good behaviour from a teacher and good behaviour from a learner

Potentially semi-stable deformation rings for discrete series extended types

We define deformation rings for potentially semi-stable deformations of fixed discrete series inertial type in dimension $2$. In the case of representations of the Galois group of $\mathbf{Q}_p$, we prove an analogue of the Breuil-M\'ezard conjecture for these rings. As an application, we give some results on the existence of congruences modulo $p$ for newforms in $S_k(\Gamma_0(p))$.Comment: Refereed version ; to appear in Journal de l'\'Ecole Polytechniqu

Singular Kernel Problems in Materials with Memory

In recent years the interest on devising and study new materials is growing since they are widely used in different applications which go from rheology to bio-materials or aerospace applications. In this framework, there is also a growing interest in understanding the behaviour of materials with memory, here considered. The name of the model aims to emphasize that the behaviour of such materials crucially depends on time not only through the present time but also through the past history. Under the analytical point of view, this corresponds to model problems represented by integro-differential equations which exhibit a kernel non local in time. This is the case of rigid thermodynamics with memory as well as of isothermal viscoelasticity; in the two different models the kernel represents, in turn, the heat flux relaxation function and the relaxation modulus. In dealing with classical materials with memory these kernels are regular function of both the present time as well as the past history. Aiming to study new materials integro-differential problems admitting singular kernels are compared. Specifically, on one side the temperature evolution in a rigid heat conductor with memory characterized by a heat flux relaxation function singular at the origin, and, on the other, the displacement evolution within a viscoelastic model characterized by a relaxation modulus which is unbounded at the origin, are considered. One dimensional problems are examined; indeed, even if the results are valid also in three dimensional general cases, here the attention is focussed on pointing out analogies between the two different materials with memory under investigation. Notably, the method adopted has a wider interest since it can be applied in the cases of other evolution problems which are modeled by analogue integro-differential equations. An initial boundary value problem with homogeneneous Neumann boundary conditions is studied.In recent years the interest on devising and study new materials is growing since they are widely used in different applications which go from rheology to bio-materials or aerospace applications. In this framework, there is also a growing interest in understanding the behaviour of materials with memory, here considered. The name of the model aims to emphasize that the behaviour of such materials crucially depends on time not only through the present time but also through the past history. Under the analytical point of view, this corresponds to model problems represented by integro-differential equations which exhibit a kernel non local in time. This is the case of rigid thermodynamics with memory as well as of isothermal viscoelasticity; in the two different models the kernel represents, in turn, the heat flux relaxation function and the relaxation modulus. In dealing with classical materials with memory these kernels are regular function of both the present time as wel