The period change of the Cepheid Polaris suggests enhanced mass loss

Polaris is one of the most observed stars in the night sky, with recorded observations spanning more than 200 years. From these observations, one can study the real-time evolution of Polaris via the secular rate of change of the pulsation period. However, the measurements of the rate of period change do not agree with predictions from state-of-the-art stellar evolution models. We show that this may imply that Polaris is currently losing mass at a rate of $\dot{M} \approx 10^{-6} M_\odot$ yr$^{-1}$ based on the difference between modeled and observed rates of period change, consistent with pulsation-enhanced Cepheid mass loss. A relation between the rate of period change and mass loss has important implications for understanding stellar evolution and pulsation, and provides insight into the current Cepheid mass discrepancy.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, compiled using emulateapj, Accepted for publication in ApJ Letters. Fixed correction in titl

Why study psychology at Massey University?: a thesis presented in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts, Massey University

The present study examined why students choose to study psychology at Massey University. In particular, the present study wished to determine whether or not students were driven by personality as stated in research carried out by J. L. Holland, or whether or not they were driven by the market-related model of career choice. That is, the present study wished to assess how effective the marketing of Massey University and/or psychology was in attracting students to these areas. The present study found that the marketing of Massey University and psychology did attract students. Further studies may research what keeps students interested in psychology and why there are large numbers of students enrolling in postgraduate courses in this area

Making history beyond neoliberalism: Response to Roper

Roper (2011a, p. 39) sums up his account of neoliberalism in New Zealand with the following conclusion: “In the absence of a major upsurge in working class and social movement struggle, the neoliberal policy regime is likely to remain firmly in place.” The bulk of his article lends weight to this conclusion in the course of offering a detailed analysis of National’s neoliberalism and New Zealand’s social inequality. In his final assessment Roper turns to list mid-range factors that underpin his conclusion. In particular, he refers to structural constraints resulting from the neoliberalisation of New Zealand’s financial regime; neoliberalisation of the outlooks of successive New Zealand Governments since 1984; and the balance of class forces in favour of capital (pp.37-8). This response focuses, first, on building a sympathetic analysis of these mid-range factors which are linked here with the form and dynamic of the ‘neoliberal model of development’ (Neilson, 2011). In his conclusion Roper also states that if there is an upsurge in social movement and working class politics ‘then the question of alternatives to neoliberalism will come to the forefront of New Zealand politics’ (Roper, 2011a, p. 39). The second theme of this essay is linked to an exploratory discussion of why this might or might not happen and how more specifically a ‘counter-hegemonic project’ could be more consciously constructed and actively pursued

Identification of a suspect before being charged: legitimate freedom of speech or a threat to a fair trial?

Identification of a person suspected of a heinous crime before being charged risks prejudicing a fair trial. Present laws place this type of publicity outside the reach of sub judice contempt. This thesis argues there should be a change in the law of sub judice contempt making it an offence for the media to publish the fact that a person is under investigation until the person has been charged

Calibration results for rank-dependent expected utility

If its utility function is everywhere increasing and concave, rank-dependent expected utility shares a troubling property with expected utility aversion to the same moderate-stakes risk at every wealth level implies an extreme aversion to large-stakes risks. In fact, the problem may be even worse for rank-dependent expected utility, since the moderate-stakes risk need not be actuarially fair.

Homework and performance for time-constrained students

Most studies of homework effectiveness relate time spent on homework to test performance, and find a nonmonotonic relationship. A theoretical model shows that this can occur even when additional homework helps all students because of the way in which variables are defined. However, some students are time-constrained, limiting the amount of homework they can complete. In the presence of time constraints, additional homework can increase the spread between the performance of the best and worst students, even when homework would reduce the spread in the unconstrained case.

Not choosing nursing: work experience and career choice of high academic achieving school leavers

Work experience has been a feature of the secondary school curriculum in the United Kingdom for a number of years. Usually requested by the pupil, it aims to provide opportunities for school pupils to enhance their knowledge and understanding of an occupation. The main benefits are claimed to be that it can help pupils develop an insight into the skills and attitudes required for an occupation and an awareness of career opportunities. However the quality and choice of placements are considered to be of great importance in this process and in influencing career choice [Department for Education and Skills (DfES), 2002a. Work Experience: A Guide for Employers. Department for Education and Skills, London]. As university departments of nursing experience a decline in the number of school pupils entering student nurse education programmes, and with the competition for school leavers becoming even greater, it is important to consider whether school pupils have access to appropriate work placements in nursing and what influence their experience has on pursuing nursing as a career choice. This paper is based on interview data from 20 high academic achieving fifth and sixth year school pupils in Scotland, paradigmatic cases from a larger survey sample (n=1062), who had considered nursing as a possible career choice within their career preference cluster, but then later disregarded nursing and decided to pursue medicine or another health care profession. This was partly reported by Neilson and Lauder [Neilson, G.R., Lauder, W., 2008. What do high academic achieving school pupils really think about a career in nursing: analysis of the narrative from paradigmatic case interviews. Nurse Education Today 28(6), 680-690] which examined what high academic achieving school pupils really thought about a career in nursing. However, the data was particularly striking in revealing the poor quality of nursing work experience for the pupils, and also their proposal that there was a need for work experience which was more representative of the reality of nursing. Participants reported that proper work experience in nursing could make it more attractive as a career choice but that there were difficulties and barriers in obtaining an appropriate work experience in nursing. These included unhelpful attitudes of teachers towards work experience in nursing in general and the placements themselves which were typically in a nursing home or a care home. They felt that departments of nursing within universities should have an input into organising more realistic work placements and that their involvement could foster greater interest amongst pupils in nursing as a career

Study of iron-borate materials systems processed in space

It was calculated that an FeBO3B2O3 glass-ceramic containing only 1 mole% FeBO3 would be equivalent for magnetooptic application to a YIG crystal of equal thickness. An Fe2O3B2O3 composition containing 2 mole% FeBO3 equivalent (98B) could be converted largely to a dense green, though opaque, FeBO3 glass-ceramic through suitable heat treatments. However, phase separation (and segregation) and Fe+3 reduction could not be entirely avoided with the various procedures that were employed. From light scattering calculations, it was estimated that about 100 A to allow 90% light transmission through a 1 cm thick sample. However, the actual FeBO3 crystallite sizes obtained in 98B were of the order of 1 micron or greater

CHINA'S ACCESSION TO WTO: IMPLICATIONS FOR US AGRICULTURAL EXPORTS

Agricultural and Food Policy,

Full Issue 10.3

Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad Co.The original of this document is in the Stevens Family Papers, #1210, at the Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, Cornell University Library, Ithaca, New York 14853