Communities of leadership in FE

This working paper highlights the significance of multiple communities as crucial conditions, processes and consequences of FE leadership. Our research suggests that in (almost) all their activities FE colleges engage communities. They make important, but frequently under-estimated contributions to the local community and economy. This is the case within colleges (e.g. students and employees), between colleges and their multiple-partners (e.g. in the local community and economy) and between different colleges (e.g. professional networks and associations between Principals). The paper argues that in the FE sector communities and leadership are inextricably-linked, sometimes in mutually-reinforcing, but also in potentially contradictory ways. These communities are not only both internal and external to colleges themselves, they are also multiple and diverse, frequently shifting, interacting and impacting in complex, simultaneous ways. Our working paper: 1. Outlines (some of) the multiple communities served by FE colleges. In particular, we explore the FE college as: a learning community, a socially inclusive community, an inclusive learning community and a provider of adult and community learning. 2. Examines some of the important challenges for those occupying FE leadership positions in seeking to engage with these multiple communities. Our research findings suggest that on-going attempts to engage diverse communities constitute a crucial challenge for effective FE leadership. 3. Suggests a different way of understanding the nature of FE leadership. This indicates that a ‘blended leadership’ (Collinson and Collinson 2005c) approach may be particularly effective in engaging multiple, shifting communities in sustainable ways. 4. Suggests that the community contribution of FE colleges is frequently neglected and/or under-estimated. Many of the staff we have interviewed argue that important aspects of colleges’ community engagements remain invisible or undervalued, particularly by those who evaluate per

''Blended leadership'': employee perspectives on effective leadership in the U.K. FE sector

This paper draws on research into what constitutes ‘effective leadership’ from the perspective of FE employees. It highlights FE staff’s preference for what we term ‘blended leadership’, an approach that combines specific elements of both traditional hierarchical leadership with more contemporary aspects of distributed leadership. FE staff prefer leadership practices that provide structure, clarity and organization as well as team-working, communication and a shared sense of mission, responsibility and accomplishment. Within the literature on both education and on leadership, distributed and hierarchical models are typically seen as opposing polarities. Frequently, distributed leadership is highly valued whilst traditional approaches are criticised as outmoded. By contrast, this working paper suggests that FE employees continue to value important elements of a directive leadership approach combined and integrated with aspects of a distributed style. Our research finds that in the FE sector, such ‘blended leadership’ practices are routinely accomplished in the context of multiple, conflicting, shifting and contradictory demands on FE colleges

The intensity of the ancient lunar field from magnetic studies on lunar samples

Palaeointensity determination on Apollo 11, 16, and 17 rocks have indicated that from 3.9 to 4.0 AE ago the strength of the surface lunar magnetic field was about 1.3 Oe, while there is evidence from younger rocks that a field of about one quarter of this value was present at a later time (3.6 AE)

On Schwarzschild's Topology in Brane-Worlds

The topological structure of Schwarzschild's space-time and its maximal analytic extension are investigated in context of brane-worlds. Using the embedding coordinates, these geometries are seen as different states of the evolution of a single brane-world. Comparing the topologies and the embeddings it is shown that this evolution must be followed by a signature change in the bulk.Comment: 6 page

`Hidden' Symmetries of Higher Dimensional Rotating Black Holes

We demonstrate that the rotating black holes in an arbitrary number of dimensions and without any restrictions on their rotation parameters possess the same `hidden' symmetry as the 4-dimensional Kerr metric. Namely, besides the spacetime symmetries generated by the Killing vectors they also admit the (antisymmetric) Killing-Yano and symmetric Killing tensors.Comment: 4 pages, slightly extended introductio

Analysis of the relationship between quality and price of yam in Ghana - second round (NRI report no. 2428)

In 1997, NRI staff and officers from the Ghanaian Ministry of Food and Agriculture conducted two quantitative surveys of yam trading in Techiman market. The aim was to establish the importance of financial losses caused by poor yam quality and to measure the relationships between price and a series of quality defect variables. This report summarises the analysis of data gathered during the second survey. Data was analysed using multiple regression. Of the nine quality variables measured in the market, only "rotting" could be proved to have a significant influence on price. This result should not be interpreted to mean that other quality variables do not have an impact on price, merely that there was insufficient variation in quality for the statistical techniques to prove the existence of other price quality relationships. Moreover, at the time of the survey, these findings suggest that the financial losses caused by quality defects were slight. The report concludes with suggestions for improving the data gathering methodology for future surveys. In particular, it recommends extensive qualitative surveys to establish the incidence of quality defect related financial losses throughout the year. If these surveys indicate high financial losses, the research should attempt to establish the quantitative nature of price quality relationships using biased sampling techniques

Mississippian stratotypes

Working Group on the Mississippian of the U.S.A.Ope

Computer simulation of neutral drift among limbal epithelial stem cells of mosaic mice

Acknowledgements We thank Graham West for writing the software that made this study possible and Ronnie Grant for help with some of the figures. Disclosure of potential conflicts of interest The authors indicate no potential conflicts of interest. Funding information This work was supported by the UK Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (grants BB/J015172/1 and BB/J015237/1).Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Prolonging disuse in aged mice amplifies cortical but not trabecular bones’ response to mechanical loading

Objective: Short-term neurectomy-induced disuse (SN) has been shown to restore load responses in aged mice. We examined whether this restoration was further enhanced in both cortical and trabecular bone by simply extending the SN. Methods: Following load: strain calibration, tibiae in female C57BL/J6 mice at 8, 14 and 20 weeks and 18 months (n=8/group) were loaded and bone changes measured. Effects of long-term SN examined in twenty-six 18 months-old mice, neurectomised for 5 or 100 days with/without subsequent loading. Cortical and trabecular responses were measured histomorphometrically or by micro-computed tomography. Results: Loading increased new cortical bone formation, elevating cross-sectional area in 8, 14 and 20 week-old (p <0.05), but not 18 month-old aged mice. Histomorphometry showed that short-term SN reinstated load-responses in aged mice, with significant 33% and 117% increases in bone accrual at 47% and 37%, but not 27% of tibia length. Cortical responses to loading was heightened and widespread, now evident at all locations, following prolonged SN (108, 167 and 98% at 47, 37 and 27% of tibial length, respectively). In contrast, loading failed to modify trabecular bone mass or architecture. Conclusions: Mechanoadaptation become deficient with ageing and prolonging disuse amplifies this response in cortical but not trabecular bone

Spacelike Ricci Inheritance Vectors in a Model of String Cloud and String Fluid Stress Tensor

We study the consequences of the existence of spacelike Ricci inheritance vectors (SpRIVs) parallel to $x^a$ for model of string cloud and string fluid stress tensor in the context of general relativity. Necessary and sufficient conditions are derived for a spacetime with a model of string cloud and string fluid stress tensor to admit a SpRIV and a SpRIV which is also a spacelike conformal Killing vector (SpCKV). Also, some results are obtained.Comment: 11 page