RAMPAC: a program for analysis of complicated Raman spectra

A computer program for the analysis of complicated (e.g. multi-line) Raman spectra is described. The program includes automatic peak search, various procedures for background determination, peak fit and spectrum deconvolution and extensive spectrum handling procedures

Modeling Space-Charge Limited Currents in Organic Semiconductors: Extracting Trap Density and Mobility

We have developed and applied a mobility edge model that takes into account drift and diffusion currents to characterize the space charge limited current in organic semiconductors. The numerical solution of the drift-diffusion equation allows the utilization of asymmetric contacts to describe the built-in potential within the device. The model has been applied to extract information of the distribution of traps from experimental current-voltage measurements of a rubrene single crystal from Krellner et al. [Phys. Rev. B, 75(24), 245115] showing excellent agreement across several orders of magnitude of current. Although the two contacts are made of the same metal, an energy offset of 580 meV between them, ascribed to differences in the deposition techniques (lamination vs. evaporation) was essential to correctly interpret the shape of the current-voltage characteristics at low voltage. A band mobility 0.13 cm2/Vs for holes was estimated, which is consistent with transport along the long axis of the orthorhombic unit cell. The total density of traps deeper than 0.1 eV was 2.2\times1016 cm-3. The sensitivity analysis and error estimation in the obtained parameters shows that it is not possible to accurately resolve the shape of the trap distribution for energies deeper than 0.3 eV or shallower than 0.1 eV above the valence band edge. The total number of traps deeper than 0.3 eV however can be estimated. Contact asymmetry and the diffusion component of the current play an important role in the description of the device at low bias, and are required to obtain reliable information about the distribution of deep traps

Appreciative evaluation of restorative approaches in schools

A restorative approach to conflict is being increasingly applied in schools around the world. Existing evaluation evidence has tended to focus on the impact on quantifiable outcomes such as number of behaviour incidents and rates of attendance and exclusion. This case-study aimed to broaden the evidence base to capture a richer picture of the implementation and impact of restorative approaches from the perspective of a selection of staff in one inner-London primary school. The study adopted Appreciative Inquiry as the evaluation methodology in order to engage the participants in a meaningful and educative evaluation process. The staff reported with honesty and insight on the complexities of adopting restorative practice in their busy and demanding work context. They identified when, how and why restorative practice works well at their school. The outcomes reported include the impact of RA on climate for learning, life skills, emotional literacy, behaviour and relationships more broadly, and more specifically the impact on speaking, listening, thinking and conflict resolution skills. They equally reported on when and why it is not always either possible or appropriate to engage in a restorative response to conflict. The findings of this evaluation highlight the importance of congruence between the values, practice and outcomes and between different members of the school community. The findings are discussed in relation to other evaluation reports and also in terms of their implications for restorative practitioners and researchers.This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Taylor & Francis via http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02643944.2015.104647

What will Brexit mean for the government's immigration agencies?

After the conclusion of the first phase of Brexit talks, the focus has now moved to the transition deal likely to take effect from 2019. But the impact of leaving the EU on Whitehall's immigration agencies will be permanent, says Matt Bevington (UK in a Changing Europe)

Unrepresentative democracy and how to fix it: the case for a mixed electoral system

The rise of anti-establishment movements and the growing disaffection with politics may be less related to the financial crisis and more to how we elect key decision-makers, explains Matthew Bevington. Looking at the actual level of support for governments across the EU, he makes the case for a mixed electoral system, through which the governments formed would pursue policies closer to the majority view

Requiring Exhaustion: An International Law Perspective of the Alien Tort Claims Act in Sarei v. Rio Tinto

This Note will analyze the opinion of the three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit regarding exhaustion of local remedies in Sarei. The panel majority concluded that the court could not read an exhaustion requirement into the ATCA where Congress has declined to do so, and in an area of international law where the Supreme Court has called for the exercise of judicial caution rather than innovation. The Ninth Circuit has granted en banc rehearing in Sarei, and the matter remained pending as this Note went to press. However, regardless of whether the en banc panel can or should read an exhaustion requirement into the ATCA, Congress should amend the statute to clearly require exhaustion of local remedies before claims alleging a violation of the law of nations can be brought in U.S. courts under the ATCA

Requiring Exhaustion: An International Law Perspective of the Alien Tort Claims Act in Sarei v. Rio Tinto

This Note will analyze the opinion of the three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit regarding exhaustion of local remedies in Sarei. The panel majority concluded that the court could not read an exhaustion requirement into the ATCA where Congress has declined to do so, and in an area of international law where the Supreme Court has called for the exercise of judicial caution rather than innovation. The Ninth Circuit has granted en banc rehearing in Sarei, and the matter remained pending as this Note went to press. However, regardless of whether the en banc panel can or should read an exhaustion requirement into the ATCA, Congress should amend the statute to clearly require exhaustion of local remedies before claims alleging a violation of the law of nations can be brought in U.S. courts under the ATCA

The Precision Determination of Invisible-Particle Masses at the LHC

We develop techniques to determine the mass scale of invisible particles pair-produced at hadron colliders. We employ the constrained mass variable m_2C, which provides an event-by-event lower-bound to the mass scale given a mass difference. We complement this variable with a new variable m_2C,UB which provides an additional upper bound to the mass scale, and demonstrate its utility with a realistic case study of a supersymmetry model. These variables together effectively quantify the `kink' in the function Max m_T2 which has been proposed as a mass-determination technique for collider-produced dark matter. An important advantage of the m_2C method is that it does not rely simply on the position at the endpoint, but it uses the additional information contained in events which lie far from the endpoint. We found the mass by comparing the HERWIG generated m_2C distribution to ideal distributions for different masses. We find that for the case studied, with 100 fb^-1 of integrated luminosity (about 400 signal events), the invisible particle's mass can be measured to a precision of 4.1 GeV. We conclude that this technique's precision and accuracy is as good as, if not better than, the best known techniques for invisible-particle mass-determination at hadron colliders.Comment: 20 pages, 11 figures, minor correction

The Beautiful Risk of Peace in Education: an application of the Everyday Peace Indicators methodology in four English secondary schools

Schools need peace and peace needs schools. Peace has the potential to re-engage increasingly hardening, standardising and commodifying English schools with the human dimension of education. The qualities and practices associated with peace have the potential to transform individual and thereby collective quality of life. Peace needs schools - the prime societal sites of learning - in order for its ideal to be made real. This study sets out to bridge the worlds of everyday school reality with high peace theory. This study investigates whether and how the ideal of peace can be made real in four English secondary schools. This study is motivated by the desire to contribute to peace practice by applying an innovative methodology for capturing everyday peace in schools. My original contribution to methodological knowledge is to offer a schools-adapted version of the Everyday Peace Indicators methodology that can potentially fulfil multiple research and praxis functions. Equally, this study is motivated by the desire to contribute to peace theory by providing empirically-derived conceptions of everyday peace in schools. My original contribution to theoretical knowledge is to offer an empirically-derived analytical framework for understanding what everyday peace means in the school context. In order to elicit and understand localised conceptions of peace, I develop an adapted version of the Everyday Peace Indicators methodology and apply it in four English secondary schools. The process within each school results in a set of Everyday Peace in School Indicators which are ranked and discussed by student and staff participants. Grounded in the notion of peace as contextual, dynamic and relational, the study explores what conceptions of peace emerge within each of the schools, how those conceptions are understood by the student and staff participants in relation to their lived reality and how the conceptions speak to existing peace and peace education theory. From a methodological perspective, the adapted Everyday Peace in Schools Indicators process was valued by participants for three main reasons. First, the open and engaging participatory nature of the process; second, for challenging them to think about the priorities and practices in their school afresh, through the lens of peace; and third, for translating high-level values into realisable actions. Participants identified ways to publicise, translate, practise and prioritise the conceptions of peace that emerged within their school. The implications of these findings are that the Everyday Peace in Schools Indicators process designed for this study offers potential uses as a research methodology, a peace-building intervention or as a peace education evaluation methodology. From a theoretical perspective, the conceptions of peace that emerged within the four schools contain common core elements, as well as local distinctions. The conceptions of peace from the four schools are synthesised into an analytical framework comprising three categories of peace. Personal peace contains the three dimensions of positive feeling, freedom to be oneself and connection with the teaching and learning function of school. Relational peace comprises the two dimensions of relationships and routine social behaviours. Institutional peace comprises the dimensions of the school environment, curriculum and systems. These three categories of peace are understood as being in dynamic and dialectical relationship with one another. In addition to this synthesised analytical framework for understanding everyday peace in schools, the study offers a synthesised definition of peace. The implications of these theoretical findings for future research in peace and peace education are threefold. First, the findings from this study suggest empirical support for recent peace theory that conceptualises peace in terms of engagement towards difference. Secondly, the synthesised analytical framework of peace can serve as a reference for ongoing definitional debates on the concept of peace. Finally, the study provides an empirically-supported rationale for the concept of peace to be understood as the dynamic process of imagining its ideal forms in actualised real forms