Can school competition improve standards? The case of faith schools in England

This paper measures the extent to which the presence of religious state-funded secondary schools in England impacts on the educational experiences of pupils who attend neighbouring schools, whether through school effort induced by competition or changes in peer groups induced by sorting. National administrative data is used to estimate pupil test score growth models between the ages of 11 and 16, with instrumental variable methods employed to avoid confounding the direct causal effect of religious schools. It finds significant evidence that religious schools are associated with higher levels of pupil sorting across schools, but no evidence that competition from faith schools raises area-wide pupil attainment.school choice, school competition, educational outcomes

What Should an Index of School Segregation Measure?

Segregation, Choice, Schools, School Admissions

Fluid leadership in a multi-user virtual environment educational project with teenagers: Schome Park

This paper examines leadership practices in a virtual community, the Schome Park project. Schome Park, based at the Open University, UK, was the first European closed (i.e. protected) island in Teen Second Life, a multi-user 3D virtual environment. This fully realised, complex interactive 3D environment has no imposed narrative and offers significant engagement for educational projects. The Schome (‘not school not home’) third space community – i.e. not placed in the first space of home or second space of work/school (Oldenburg, 1989) - was set up with the explicit aim of challenging the instructional models and pedagogic practices of the formal, state educational system. In this disembodied environment identities, represented in the virtual world by personalised avatars, possess usefully ambivalent valences. Often adults will join ‘inworld’ educational events organised and delivered by the younger members of the community. Schome makes flexible use of a wiki (collaboratively designed website), asynchronous discussion fora and other communicative media to support learning processes and enhance the development of a physically distanced yet authentic learning community. The authors propose that the community design in these new spaces created an opportunity for leaders to emerge regardless of contextual hierarchy and to forge a developing culture. The paper makes use of evidence from varied datasets to examine manifestations of leadership in the community and issues arising. Young people have been engaged in proposing, planning, executing and reflecting on teaching and learning and governance without deference to adults. Our analysis contributes to understandings of the development of leadership within carefully designed educational online communities and some of the challenges involved for adults in facilitating an appropriately supportive environment for young people. While aware that this innovative experiment continues to face many challenges, we propose that the design of the project offers much to encourage an approach to education in which collaborative, situated engagement in learning and teaching is perceived as a more fruitful model for the twenty-first century than reproduction of traditional hierarchies of teachers and the taught of conventional classrooms

Analyzing patterns of writing and sketching in the product design process

Thesis (S.B.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 2009."June 2009." Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.Includes bibliographical references (p. 23).Design notebooks, or logbooks, are typically used to record notes during the design process. These notes consist of text entries as well as sketches with varying levels of detail. Previous research on the design process has focused on sketches, including their effect on design outcome, differences based on prior sketching experience, and more. This paper looks at the interplay between text entries and sketches in design notebooks, and analyzes patterns that appear over the course of the design process. Data collected from eighteen logbooks from the class Design-a-palooza shows that trends exist between writings and drawings in the design process. The results of analysis of this data show that the number of sketches in a logbook increases following drawing instruction, and the design process typically starts with more text entries in logbooks, including customer needs research, followed by this increased number of sketches and then a decrease in all entries as prototyping occurs. The analysis was inconclusive in determining if students who write more ideas with text will sketch fewer ideas, as well as the relationship between partners' logbook entries. Recommendations for future research in these areas of design research are presented.by Rebecca A. Smith.S.B

Perturbative and non-perturbative studies in low dimensional quantum field theory

A relevant perturbation of a conformal field theory (CFT) on the half-plane, by both a bulk and boundary operator, often leads to a massive theory with a particle description in terms of the bulk S-matrix and boundary reflection factor R. The link between the particle basis and the CFT in the bulk is usually made with the thermodynamic Bethe ansatz effective central charge C(_eff). This allows a conjectured S-matrix to be identified with a specific perturbed CFT. Less is known about the links between the reflection factors and conformal boundary conditions, but it has been proposed that an exact, off-critical version of Affleck and Ludwig's g-function could be used, analogously to C(_eff), to identify the physically realised reflection factors and to match them with the corresponding boundary conditions. In the first part of this thesis, this exact g-function is tested for the purely elastic scattering theories related to the ADET Lie algebras. Minimal reflection factors are given, and a method to incorporate a boundary parameter is proposed. This enables the prediction of several new flows between conformal boundary conditions to be made. The second part of this thesis concerns the three-parameter family of PT-symmetric Hamiltonians H(M,o,1) = p(^2) – (ix) (^2M) – α(ix) The positions where the eigenvalues merge and become complex correspond to quadratic and cubic exceptional points. The quasi-exact solvability of the models for M = 3 is exploited to exploreaway from M = 3 is investigated using both numerical and perturbative approaches

Natural Genetic Variation Affecting Calcium Homeostasis

Calcium (Ca) is essential for multiple functions within the body including skeletal health. The level of Ca in the serum is tightly regulated. During periods of habitual low Ca intake, the body senses a decrease in serum Ca and increases renal conversion of 25 hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) to 1,25 dihydroxyvitamin D (1,25(OH)2D). 1,25(OH)2D acts through the vitamin D receptor (VDR) to increase intestinal Ca absorption, renal Ca reabsorption and skeletal Ca resorption. Efficient intestinal Ca absorption, especially during periods of low Ca intake, is critical for protecting bone mass. Ca absorption and its primary regulator, 1,25(OH)2D, are affected by both genetic and environmental factors. However, the genetic architecture of these phenotypes has not been carefully studied in a controlled environment. Using genetically characterized mouse models in a controlled environment the studies in this dissertation characterize the natural genetic variation affecting intestinal Ca absorption, 25(OH)D, and 1,25(OH)2D under normal and low dietary Ca conditions. This dietary intervention allowed for the study of gene-by-diet interactions (i.e. variability in the adaptation of these parameters to habitual low Ca intake). The relationship of Ca absorption to known regulators and cellular mediators is examined, elucidating significant effects of genetics on these relationships and identifying gaps in our current knowledge of intestinal Ca absorption. In addition, specific genetic loci affecting intestinal Ca absorption, 1,25(OH)2D, 25(OH)D, and diet-induced adaptation are identified in the mouse genome. These quantitative trait loci (QTLs) represent novel variation affecting Ca absorption and vitamin D metabolites. Identification of the causal variation underlying these QTLs will expand our knowledge of Ca homeostatic pathways. These studies serve as a foundation for identification of individual variation in Ca homeostasis and personalized dietary recommendations

The crisis-Image: rites of passage in American independent cinema (Coppola, Jarmusch and Van Sant 1994-2004)

My aim in this thesis is to examine a corpus of six films as loose representations or investigations of various rites of passage: adolescence, death and life-choice. In order to do this, I will draw upon a synthesis of theoretical texts: primarily the film-philosophy of Gilles Deleuze (1925-1995) (in particular his theory of crisis, cinematic time and thought) and the anthropological writings of Arnold van Gennep (1973-1957) and Victor Turner (1920-1983) on rites of passage. More specifically, I will focus on the concept of liminality as a state in which one is ‘betwixt and between’ (Turner 1995: 95) categories. Any rite of passage, as we will see, can be separated out into a tripartite structure: separation, liminality and re-integration. The films discussed in this thesis centre on the stage of liminality as one of inherent ambiguity, metamorphosis and transition. More often than not, the passage is not completed so the liminal stage is never resolved. As I will demonstrate in the following chapters, film is the ultimate medium for presenting crisis and liminality because its very essence as an art form is being as change. Through close analysis of the six films to be discussed, I will demonstrate that contemporary American Independent cinema has produced some of the prime examples of film as the medium of crisis, liminality, evolution, mutation or becoming-other. At this stage, I will outline the corpus of films to be examined in this thesis and then elaborate on the main theoretical framework I will employ in order to draw out the specificity and complexity of this kind of cinema

Regenerative medicine applications in paediatric urology : barriers and solutions

Tissue engineering and regenerative medicine offers opportunities to introduce new techniques into paediatric urology practice.In this thesis, two experimental approaches were used. The initial approach considered improvements to the concept of composite cystoplasty; where high pressure in end-stage disease bladders is alleviated by augmentation using bowel smooth muscle lined by an autologous in vitro-grown bladder epithelium. Secondly, a porcine bladder acellular matrix (PABM) was tested as a free graft in a surgical model as proof of principle for its use in hypospadias repair.Immunohistochemical characterisation of neuropathic bladders was performed. A disease-model was created in order to mimic the disease phenotype using propagated normal urothelial cells and tissue in vitro. Trans-epithelial electrical resistance was used to measure barrier function in differentiated urothelium. Immunocytochemistry, immunoblotting and RTPCR was utilised to identify any mechanistic pathways leading to heritable changes in phenotype.Assessment of human neuropathic bladder biopsies demonstrated significant labelling of a hypoxia-related transcription factor. In vitro hypoxia significantly reduced the proliferation and differentiation capacity of urothelial cells. The proliferative capacity recovered upon switching to normoxia, however, the differentiation-associated compromise persisted. Repressive epigenetic marks were found to alter location and abundance in the compromised urothelium. These marks were targeted using an epigenetic-modifying agent, which significantly recovered the differentiated urothelial phenotype. Importantly this was replicated in urothelium from diseased bladders.Integration of the PABM was superior to Pelvicol™. A subpopulation of CD45⁻ CD163⁺ cells was identified, which were believed to be important in biomaterial remodelling.It is proposed that hypoxia results in persistent heritable compromise in differentiated urothelium. The urothelial phenotype is recoverable by the application of an epigenetic modifying agent. By using an integrated approach both the epigenetic–modifying agent and PABM may provide strategies to improve the efficacy of autologous tissue engineering approaches in paediatric and adult urology

How does trade liberalization affect the intensity of conflicts?

This thesis studies how changes in regional exposure to international competition affect the level of violence in Mexico. I calculate local industry-weighted tariffs based on initial employment distributions and exploit changes from two rounds of import tariff reductions before and during Mexico’s violent drug war. Based on a difference-in-differences approach using data on 2,351 municipalities over 15 years, I find that municipalities which experienced greater declines in their regional tariffs also saw significantly higher homicide rates. Furthermore, tariff declines of capital-intensive industries seem to increase violence while such declines of the labor-intensive ones might decrease it