Ionization energies of beryllium in strong magnetic fields: a frozen core approximation

An effective frozen core approximation has been developed and applied to the calculation of energy levels and ionization energies of the beryllium atom in magnetic field strengths up to 2.35 x 10(5) T. Systematic improvement over the existing results for the beryllium ground and low-lying states has been accomplished by taking into account most of the correlation effects in the four-electron system. To our knowledge, this is the first calculation of the electronic properties of the beryllium atom in a strong magnetic field carried out using a configuration interaction approximation and thus allowing a treatment beyond that of Hartree-Fock. Differing roles played by strong magnetic fields in intrashell correlation within different states are observed. In addition, possible ways to gain further improvement in the energies of the states of interest are proposed and discussed briefly.

Multi-state CDW approximation to electron capture during slow p-H collisions

The first complete multi-state CDW close coupling calculations which use a fully normalized basis set are performed. The results obtained at impact energies in the region of 10 keV for total and n = 2 capture cross sections are in reasonably good accord with experiment despite the fact that only the ground states of both species and the n = 2 states of the projectile are incorporated into the model. The theory has significant advantages over other atomic and molecular expansions which may require extensive bases to obtain similar accuracy.

Constructing Difference in Northern Ireland: Ulster Scots Before and After the Agreement

Martin Dowling, in what is perhaps the most comp[elling essay of the collection, deploys Slavoj Zizek's concept of the suture to think through the Other in Northern Irish cultural politics. Dowling identifies Ulster Scots as a suturing element--a cultural body harnessed to fill an inherent political "lack"--that stabilises Unionist identity in times of crisis. His essay considers more broadly the inherent limitations of the suture, whose logic functions like a "straightjacket on cultural life," and he proposes an alternative, genuinely open approach to Irish culture." From a review by Sarah Townsend in the Irish Literary Supplement, Spring 2010.

Difference, Diversity and Difficulty: Problems in Adult Peace Education in Northern Ireland

The peace process in Northern Ireland has been hailed, variously, as the successful resolution to one of the world's most intractable conflicts, and as a failed attempt to reconcile the conflciting claims of the two main ethnonationalist communities. At both these points, and at every other point along the continuum, recognition is given to the centrality of education. This article looks at the role played by adult learning, and contrasts two fundamentally different apporaoches. In one, Enlightenment assumptions about the power of knowledge to dispel prejudice have run alongside attempts to create a world of shared values; in the other, a postmodern acceptance of different cultures has accompnaied a peace process that builds upon ethnic diistinctions. As with the Dayton Accord and with other peace agreements brokered with international assistance, the consociational model of governance has been chosen for Northern Ireland in order to create a political equilibrium between the unionists and nationalists. Such a political framework reverses the direction of previous integrationist educational policies in favour of a celebration of difference, an approach that is fraught with difficulties.

Disabled Children Negotiating School Life: Agency, Difference and Teaching Practice

This paper explores the school experiences of seven 11–14 year old disabled children, and focuses on their agency as they negotiated a complex, changing, and often challenging social world at school where “difference” was experienced in negative ways. The paper draws on ethnographic data from a wider three-year study that explores the influence of school experiences on both disabled and non-disabled children’s identity as they make the transition from primary to secondary school in regular New Zealand schools (although the focus of the present paper is only on the experiences of disabled children). The wider study considers how Maori (indigenous people of Aotearoa/New Zealand) and Pakeha (New Zealanders of NZ European descent) disabled children and their non- disabled matched peers (matched for age, gender and classroom) understand their personal identity, and how factors relating to transition (from primary to secondary school); culture; impairment (in the case of disabled children); social relationships; and school experience impact on children’s identities. Data on Maori children’s school experiences is currently being collected, and is not yet available for inclusion in this paper. On the basis of our observations in schools we will illustrate how disabled children felt and were made to feel different through an array of structural barriers such as separate provision for disabled students, and peer and teacher attitudes to diversity. However, we agree with Davis, Watson, Shakespeare and Corker’s (2003) interpretation that disabled children’s rights and participation at school are also under attack from a “deeper cultural division” (p. 205) in schools based on discourses of difference and normality. While disabled students in our study were trying to actively construct and shape their social and educational worlds, our data also show that teachers and peers have the capacity to either support or supplant these attempts to be part of the group of “all children”. We suggest that finding solutions that support disabled children’s full inclusion and participation at school requires a multi-faceted and systemic approach focused on a pedagogy for diverse learners, and on a consistent and explicitly inclusive policy framework centred on children’s rights.

Difference equation sensor characterization algorithms for two-thermocouple probes

The characterization of thermocouple sensors for temperature measurement in variable flow environments is a challenging problem. In this paper, novel difference equation-based algorithms are presented that allow in situ characterization of temperature measurement probes consisting of two-thermocouple sensors with differing time constants. Linear and non-linear least squares formulations of the characterization problem are introduced and compared in terms of their computational complexity, robustness to noise and statistical properties. With the aid of this analysis, least squares optimization procedures that yield unbiased estimates are identified. The main contribution of the paper is the development of a linear two-parameter generalized total least squares formulation of the sensor characterization problem. Monte-Carlo simulation results are used to support the analysis.