Electronic excitations of benzene from the equations of motion method

We have used the equations of motion method to calculate the excitation energies and intensities of several transitions in benzene. The ordering of the singlet and triplet states of B_(2u), B_(1u), and E_(1u) symmetry agrees with experiment and the error in the calculated frequencies ranges from 3% to 25%. This error range is reasonable considering the relatively small basis set used. The most extensive calculation included 10 hole and 28 particle states and shows the effect of changes in the sigma core for each transition. The calculated transition moment of 1.74 a.u. for the ^1A_(1g)→^1E_(1u) transition agrees well with the experimental value of 1.61 a.u

In or Out? Seeing exclusions from Constitutional Law from the theory of constitutional game

Session IIAccording to the theory of constitutional game, constitutional practices including the interpretation of constitutional provisions and application of constitutional provisions to real life situations are the result of interactive processes among different political actors enjoying constitutional powers under the constitution. Ideological, institutional and strategic factors affect how the political actors interpret or apply the constitutional provisions on the basis of their own constitutional goals. Political actors are constrained by the perception of other political actors on the legitimacy of their actions or non-actions. The theory of constitutional game provides a perspective to understand the ambit of constitutional law (on paper as well as in action). Whether a certain social phenomena or social activity is excluded from or covered by the provisions of the constitution, it is resulted from the complicated process of game-like interactions among the political actors within its unique constitutional environment.published_or_final_versio

Is 'Final' Really Final?

Recently, the Appeal Committee of the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal raised the question of whether that court had the power to hear an appeal against a decision of the Court of Appeal. The decision in question concerned a judgment of professional misconduct against an accountant by a disciplinary committee under the Professional Accountants Ordinance. The ordinance clearly states that the decision of the Court of Appeal is final. This article examines whether the Court of Final Appeal has the constitutional jurisdiction to hear appeals against Court of Appeal decisions. The author concludes that for appeals that are statutory in nature, if the relevant statute specifically excludes appeals to the Court of Final Appeal then that court has no jurisdiction to hear any such appeal.published_or_final_versio

Coupled-channel study of gamma p --> K+ Lambda

A coupled-channel (CC) approach has been developed to investigate kaon photoproduction on the nucleon. In addition to direct K+ Lambda production, our CC approach accounts for strangeness production including K+ Lambda final state interactions with both pi0 p and pi+ n intermediate states. Calculations for the gamma p --> K+ Lambda reaction have been performed, and compared with the recent data from SAPHIR, with emphasis on the CC effects. We show that the CC effects are significant at the level of inducing 20% changes on total cross sections; thereby, demonstrating the need to include pi N channels to correctly describe the gamma p --> K+ Lambda reaction.Comment: 12 pages, 6 eps figures, uses elsart.cls, submitted to Phys.Lett.B; v2: added paragraph in section

A micro-electro-mechanical-system-based thermal shear-stress sensor with self-frequency compensation

By applying the micro-electro-mechanical-system (MEMS) fabrication technology, we developed a micro-thermal sensor to measure surface shear stress. The heat transfer from a polysilicon heater depends on the normal velocity gradient and thus provides the surface shear stress. However, the sensitivity of the shear-stress measurements in air is less than desirable due to the low heat capacity of air. A unique feature of this micro-sensor is that the heating element, a film 1 µm thick, is separated from the substrate by a vacuum cavity 2 µm thick. The vacuum cavity prevents the conduction of heat to the substrate and therefore improves the sensitivity by an order of magnitude. Owing to the low thermal inertia of the miniature sensing element, this shear-stress micro-sensor can provide instantaneous measurements of small-scale turbulence. Furthermore, MEMS technology allows us make multiple sensors on a single chip so that we can perform distributed measurements. In this study, we use multiple polysilicon sensor elements to improve the dynamic performance of the sensor itself. It is demonstrated that the frequency-response range of a constant-current sensor can be extended from the order of 100 Hz to 100 kHz

Micro Balloon Actuators for Aerodynamic Control

A robust, large-force, large-deflection micro balloon actuator for aerodynamic (manoeuvring) control of transonic aircraft has been developed. Using a novel process, high yield linear arrays of silicone balloons on a robust silicon substrate have been fabricated that can deflect vertically in excess of one mm. Balloon actuators have been tested under cyclic conditions to assess reliability. The actuators have been characterized in a wind tunnel to assess their suitability as aerodynamic control surfaces and flight-tested on a jet fighter to assess their resistance to varied temperatures and pressures at high velocity

Does the use of summative peer assessment in collaborative group work inhibit good judgement?

The accuracy and consistency of peer marking, particularly when students have the power to reward (or penalise) during formative and summative assessment regimes, is largely unknown. The objective of this study is to evaluate students’ ability and behaviour in marking their peers’ teamwork performance in a collaborative group assessment context both when the mark is counted and not counted towards their final grade. Formative and summative assessment data were obtained from 98 participants in anonymous self and peer assessment of team members’ contributions to a group assessment in business courses. The findings indicate that students are capable of accurately and consistently judging their peers’ performance to a large extent, especially in the formative evaluation of the process component of group work. However, the findings suggest significant peer grading bias when peer marks contribute to final grades. Overall, findings suggest that students are reluctant to honestly assess their peers when they realise that their actions can penalise non-contributing students. This raises questions about the appropriateness of using peer marks for summative assessment purposes. To overcome the problems identified, this paper proposes a number of measures to guide educators in effectively embedding summative peer assessment in a group assessment contex