“Ir-riċerka hija r-ruħ tal-Università”

L-ewwelnett nixtieq nirringrazzja lil Dr Alfred Sant ta' l-istedina li għoġbu jagħmilli. Jiena u hu iggradwajna kważi tletin sena ilu flimkien mill-istess istituzzjoni, hu mill-fakultà tax-xjenza u jien mill-fakultà tal-mediċina. Meta rċevejt l-istedina ħabbilt ftit rasi, għaliex ma kienx hemm indikat is-suġġett li xtaquni niddiskuti. Forsi ma kinitx tkun idea ħażina kieku l-meeting seta' jkun ftit iżjed strutturat, għalkemm is-sessjoni ta' dal-għodu kienet interessanti ħafna, smajna bosta ideat fuq ħafna affarijiet. Mhux qed ngħid bi kritika, imma naħseb kienet tinħoloq forsi aktar direzzjoni u diskussjoni. Ma kontx naf jekk għandix nitkellem fuq l-Università, fuq l-edukazzjoni Universitarja, fuq mediċina, jew fuq edukazzjoni medika. Bosta mill-kelliema ta' qabli diġà messew dawn is-suġġetti. Meta kelliem ikun minn ta' l-aħħar, ikollu ċerti vantaġġi iżda jkollu wkoll ċerti żvantaġġi. Il-vantaġġi jkunu li jkun ftit jew wisq sema' x'ingħad qabel, jispera li dak li tkellmu qabel ħallewlu xi ħaġa xi jgħid u jkun jista' b'xi mod jikkonkludi. L-iżvantaġġ hu li n-nies jibdew jagħjew u jsiru aktar irritabbli. Issa niġu għall-punt. Qiegħed hawn f'kapaċità personali. Dawn l-aħħar ħames snin kont l-ewwel viċi-chairman u mbagħad chairman tal-kumitat fuq Higher Education and Research tal-Kunsill ta' l-Ewropa fi Strasbourg. Ġejt f'kuntatt mill-qrib ma' Universitajiet fl-Ewropa bil-problemi kollha tagħhom. Allura se nipprova nitkellem fil-qosor kemm jista' jkun fuq l-Università bħala istituzzjoni, fuq l-Università mhux tagħna biss. X'inhuma l-problemi li Universitajiet ser ikollhom fis-seklu li ġej?peer-reviewe

Beryllium in Ultra-Lithium-Deficient Halo Stars - The Blue Straggler Connection

There are nine metal-deficient stars that have Li abundances well below the Li plateau that is defined by over 100 unevolved stars with temperatures above 5800 K and values of [Fe/H] $<$ $-$1.0. Abundances of Be have been determined for most of these ultra-Li-deficient stars in order to investigate the cause of the Li deficiencies. High-resolution and high signal-to-noise spectra have been obtained in the Be II spectral region near 3130 \AA for six ultra-Li-deficient stars with the Keck I telescope and its new uv-sensitive CCD on the upgraded HIRES. The spectrum synthesis technique has been used to determine Be abundances. All six stars are found to have Be deficiencies also. Two have measurable - but reduced - Be and four have only upper limits on Be. These results are consistent with the idea that these Li- and Be-deficient stars are analogous to blue stragglers. The stars have undergone mass transfer events (or mergers) which destroy or dilute both Li and Be. The findings cannot be matched by the models that predict that the deficiencies are due to extra-mixing in a subset of halo stars that were initially rapid rotators, with the possible exception of one star, G 139-8. Because the ultra-Li-deficient stars are also Be-deficient, they appear to be genuine outliers in population of halo stars used to determine the value of primordial Li; they no longer have the Li in their atmospheres that was produced in the Big Bang.Comment: 17 pages of text, 12 figures, 3 tables Submitted to Ap

Stichprobe der Integrierten Arbeitsmarktbiografien. Regionalfile 1975-2008 (SIAB-R 7508)

"This FDZ data report describes the 'Regionalfile' of the Sample of Integrated Labour Market Biographies 1975-2008 (SIAB-R 7508). This dataset represents the factual anonymous version of the Sample of Integrated Labour Market Biographies (SIAB) and may be delivered to scientific research institutions after concluding a use agreement with the IAB." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))<br><br><b>Additional Information</b><ul><li><a href='http://doku.iab.de/fdz/reporte/2011/DR_07-11_frequencies_DE.zip'>Fallzahlen</a></li><li><a href='http://doku.iab.de/fdz/reporte/2011/DR_07-11_frequencies_EN.zip'>Frequencies labels</a></li><li><a href='http://fdz.iab.de/de/FDZ_Individual_Data/integrated_labour_market_biographies.aspx'>Weitere Informationen zum Datensatz Integrierte Arbeitsmarktbiografien</a></li><li><a href='http://doku.iab.de/fdz/reporte/2011/DR_07-11_EN.pdf'>Englische Version</a></li></ul>Integrierte Arbeitsmarktbiografien, Datenzugang, Stichprobe, Datenaufbereitung, Datenqualität, Regionalgliederung, Datenanonymisierung, Stichprobe

New Keck Observations of Lithium in Very Metal-poor Stars

Lithium abundances have been determined in more than 100 metal-poor halo stars both in the field and in clusters. From these data we find trends of Li with both temperature and metallicity and a real dispersion in Li abundances in the Spite Li plateau. We attribute this dispersion primarily to Li depletion (presumably due to extra mixing induced by stellar rotation) and to Galactic chemical evolution. We derive a primordial Li of 2.44 $\pm$0.18 for A(Li)$_p$ = log N(Li/H) + 12.00. This agrees with the Li abundances predicted by the $WMAP$ results. For stars cooler than the Li plateau we have evidence that Li depletion sets in at hotter temperatures for the higher metallicity stars than for the low-metal stars. This is the opposite sense of predictions from stellar models. The smooth transition of the Li content from the Li plateau stars to the cool stars adds weight to the inference of Li depletion in the plateau stars.Comment: Invited talk for IAU Symposium 228 "From Lithium to Uranium..." held in Paris in May, 2005. 6 pages, 6 figure

Boron-10 loaded inorganic shielding material

Shielding material containing Boron 10 and gadoliunium for neutron absorption has been developed to reduce interference from low energy neutrons in measurement of fission neutron spectrum using Li-6 fast neutron spectrometer

L-arka ta’ Noe u l-ħmira : ir-rilevanza tal-Vanġelu għall-ġejjieni

Nistqarr magħkom li meta qrajt l-istedina ta' Dr Sant, li qalli li għandi nitkellem fuq kif nara l-futur fl-oqsma li jikkonċernawni, ma tantx kelli ċar quddiem għajnejja x'inhu l-qasam tiegħi. Wara ftit taż-żmien intella' u nniżżel, qtajt li nitkellem xi ftit magħkom fuq kif jien nara l-futur tar-relazzjoni bejn il-Knisja u s-soċjeta'. Spiċċa ż-żmien meta noqogħdu nitkellmu biss fuq il-Knisja u l-Istat, bħallikieku dan kien l-uniku aspett interessanti. Mill-Konċilju Vatikan lI, u bis-saħħa ta' l-esperjenza li kellha l-Knisja matul dawn l-aħħar għoxrin jew tletin sena, rajna li r-relazzjoni bejn il-Knisja u l-Istat hija parti waħda, għalkemm importanti ħafna, mir-relazzjoni ħafna aktar wiesgħa u bażika bejn il-Knisja u s-soċjeta'.peer-reviewe