Ion cyclotron resonance studies of radiative and dissociative electron attachment processes at low pressures

Ion cyclotron resonance spectroscopy is used to measure nondissociative electron attachment rate constants for C6F6 (perfluorobenzene), C7F8 (perfluorotoluene), c-C4F8 (perfluorocyclobutane), and C7F14 (perfluoromethylcyclohexane) at low pressure (<10−6 Torr). Infrared emission is assumed to stabilize excited species leading to long-lived molecular negative ions. Combining the present data with negative ion lifetimes measured at low pressures by time-of-flight methods and electron attachment rates measured at high pressures in swarm experiments allows estimates of radiative lifetimes to be made. These all fall in the range from 0.4 to 1.5 msec, which are typical of infrared radiative lifetimes. Data are also presented for dissociative electron attachment to CCl4, where the rate limiting step is shown to be thermalization of the electron energy distribution. A number of different buffer gases are examined and the ion cyclotron resonance results extrapolate to yield the attachment rate measured in high pressure swarm experiments

The effects of H2SO4 and (NH4)2SO4 treatments on the chemistry of soil drainage water and pine seedlings in forest soil microcosms

International audienceAn experiment comparing effects of sulphuric acid and reduced N deposition on soil water quality and on chemical and physical growth indicators for forest ecosystems is described. Six H2SO4 and (NH4)2SO4 treatment loads, from 0 ? 44 and 0 ? 25 kmolc ha-1 yr-1, respectively, were applied to outdoor microcosms of Pinus sylvestris seedlings in 3 acid to intermediate upland soils (calc-silicate, quartzite and granite) for 2 years. Different soil types responded similarly to H2SO4 loads, resulting in decreased leachate pH, but differently to reduced N inputs. In microcosms of calc-silicate soil, nitrification of NH4 resulted in lower pH and higher cation leaching than in acid treatments. By contrast, in quartzite and granite soils, (NH4)2SO4 promoted direct cation leaching, although leachate pH increased. The results highlighted the importance of soil composition on the nature of the cations leached, the SO4 adsorption capacities and microbial N transformations. Greater seedling growth on calc-silicate soils under both treatment types was related to sustained nutrient availability. Reductions in foliar P and Mg with higher N treatments were observed for seedlings in the calc-silicate soil. There were few treatment effects on quartzite and granite microcosm tree seedlings since P limitation precluded seedling growth responses to treatments. Hence, any benefits of N deposition to seedlings on quartzite and granite soils appeared limited by availability of co-nutrients, exacerbated by rapid depletion of soil exchangeable base cations. Keywords: acidification, manipulation, nitrogen, ammonium, deposition, soil, drainage, pine, microcosms, fores

Extension and reconstruction theorems for the Urysohn universal metric space

We prove some extension theorems involving uniformly continuous maps of the universal Urysohn space. We also prove reconstruction theorems for certain groups of autohomeomorphisms of this space and of its open subsets.Comment: Final and shortened version, 25 pages, to appear in Czechoslovak Math.

Does interspecific competition affect offspring provisioning?

Offspring size is one of the most well-studied life-history traits, yet it is remarkable that few field studies have examined the manner in which the relationship between offspring size and performance (and thus, optimal offspring size) is affected by the local environment. Furthermore, while offspring size appears to be plastic in a range of organisms, few studies have linked changes in offspring size to changes in the relationship between offspring size and performance in the field. Interspecific competition is a major ecological force in both terrestrial and marine environments, but we have little understanding of its role in shaping selection on offspring size. Here we examine the effect of interspecific competition on the relationship between offspring size and performance in the field for the marine bryozoan Watersipora subtorquata along the south coast of Australia. Both interspecific competition and offspring size had strong effects on the post-metamorphic performance of offspring in the field, but importantly, they acted independently. While interspecific competition did not affect the offspring size-performance relationship, mothers experiencing competition still produced larger offspring than mothers that did not experience competition. Because larger offspring are more dispersive in this species, increasing offspring size may represent a maternal strategy whereby mothers produce more dispersive offspring when they experience high competition themselves. This study shows that, while offspring size is plastic in this species, post-metamorphic factors alone may not determine the size of offspring that mothers produce

The Obliteration of Truth by Management: Badiou, St. Paul and the Question of Economic Managerialism in Education

This paper considers the questions that Badiou’s theory of the subject poses to cultures of economic managerialism within education. His argument that radical change is possible, for people and the situations they inhabit, provides a stark challenge to the stifling nature of much current educational climate. In 'Saint Paul: The Foundation of Universalism', Badiou describes the current universalism of capitalism, monetary homogeneity and the rule of the count. Badiou argues that the politics of identity are all too easily subsumed by the prerogatives of the marketplace and unable to present, therefore, a critique of the status quo. These processes are, he argues, without the potential for truth. What are the implications of Badiou’s claim that education is the arranging of ‘the forms of knowledge in such a way that truth may come to pierce a hole in them’ (Badiou, 2005, p. 9)? In this paper, I argue that Badiou’s theory opens up space for a kind of thinking about education that resists its colonisation by cultures of management and marketisation and leads educationalists to consider the emancipatory potential of education in a new light

Authority, Power and Distributed Leadership

This is the Accepted Manuscript version of an article accepted for publication in Management and Education following peer review. The version of record, Philip Woods, ‘Authority, power and distributed leadership’, Management and Education, Vol 30(4): 155-160, first published online 28 September 2016, is available online via doi: 10.1177/0892020616665779 © 2016 British Educational Leadership, Management & Administration Society (BELMAS) Published by SAGE.A much greater understanding is needed of power in the practice of distributed leadership. This article explores how the concept of social authority might be helpful in achieving this. It suggests that the practice of distributed leadership is characterized by multiple authorities which are constructed in the interactions between people. Rather than there being a uniform hierarchy (relatively flat or otherwise) of formal authority, organizational members may be ‘high’ in some authorities and ‘low’ in others, and people’s positioning in relation to these authorities is dynamic and changeable. The article maps different forms of authorities, provides illustrations from educational institutions, and concludes with implications for educational leadership. A key conclusion is that everyone is involved in the ongoing production of authorities by contributing to who is accepted as or excluded from exercising authority and leadershipPeer reviewedFinal Accepted Versio

GPs are from Mars, Administrators are from Venus: The Role of Misaligned Occupational Dispositions in Inhibiting Mandated Role Change

Research on mandated occupational role change focuses on jurisdictional conflict to explain change failure. Our study of the English National Health Service highlights the role of occupational dispositions in shaping how mandated role change is implemented by members of multiple occupational groups. We find that tension stemming from misaligned dispositions may emerge as members of different occupations interact during their role change implementation efforts. Depending on dispositional responses to tension, change may fail as members of the different occupations avoid interactions. This suggests that effective role change can be elusive even in the initial absence of conflicting occupational interests

The logic of the marketplace and the ethic of co-operation: a case study of a co-operative school

Over the previous decade, Co-operative schools have emerged as a feature of, and resistance to, processes of marketisation in the English schools sector. The Co-operative schools project, an education initiative of the UK Co-operative movement, has been positioned as a ‘values-based alternative’ to the controversial academies programme. This paper examines the claim of the Co-operative alternative and questions whether the Co-operative schools project risks reproducing neoliberal values through a reliance on the ideal of the ‘self-improving school’. The discussion focuses on the evolution of one inner-city Co-operative school. Through a close examination of its sociohistorical context, and with attention to the experiences of those involved, this case study explores the realities of a Co-operative school striving to operate within in a competitive system