Gender Differences in Fields of Study: The Role of Comparative Advantage for Trajectory Choices in Upper Secondary Education

Absolute ability/achievement does not explain gender differences in educational trajectories, but the role of comparative advantage (i.e., being better in one subject compared to another) has received much less attention. To study this, longitudinal data collected among 1,352 individuals (age 15-16) in upper secondary education in the Netherlands are used. Multinomial path analyses showed that compared to girls, boys are on average 15% more likely to enter the most male-typical trajectory and 16% less likely to enter the most female-typical trajectory. Although having a comparative advantage affects trajectory choices, it does not explain gender differences in trajectory choices in secondary education.

Practical Energy Dissipation Control of Near Space Glider on Independent Longitudinal Plane

The near-space hypersonic aerodynamic glider has strong maneuverability in wide flight envelope. The glide is generally achieved in a smooth manner with no or weak altitude oscillations in the altitude. The maximum lift-to-drag ratio glide is a typical trajectory that can approximate the maximum glide range, which is a crucial indicator for a glider. However, another important indicator, the minimum glide range, which is used in some time-sensitive missions and is expected to reduce the velocity to a specified threshold in a short longitudinal range, is difficult to be realized. In practice, the excessive velocity or energy is usually dissipated during lateral manipulation, wherein either the entire glide range or the glide time is not shortened. An innovative guidance strategy is proposed for achieving the minimum glide range based on a typical maximum glide scheme and bang-bang control scheme only on the longitudinal plane, and the flight time can be reduced considerably. Then, a practical extended state observer based pitch control is utilized to efficiently track the bang-bang command within a wide velocity envelope to achieve the guidance objective. Extensive simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed methods.

MATHEMATICAL MODELING OF DESTRUCTION OF FIBERGLASS-BASED THERMAL-PROTECTION MATERIAL

The paper proposes physical and mathematical models of heat and mass transfer in fiberglass used as a destructive heat-shielding material for capsule type descent vehicles. To provide the mathematical model with the initial data, experimental studies of the thermophysical characteristics of the material and the kinetic parameters of destruction have been carried out. There has been made a simulation of the destruction of a material sample during descent in the Earth's atmosphere along a typical trajectory for various areas of the heat shield; as a result, the dependences of temperatures on the flight time and the depth of the coked layer have been determined.

Dynamic Parameters and Friction Model Identification of an Industrial Hybrid Robot

To obtain higher performance for an industrial hybrid robot, the dynamic control method is utilized to control the robot. For dynamic control, the control performance is directly affected by the accuracy of the dynamic model. This paper investigated a method to establish and identify an accurate dynamic model. First, based on the Lagrangian dynamic equation and the Stribeck friction model, the unidentified dynamic model of the five-DOF hybrid robot is established. Second, identification experiments are carried out. Each of the driving joints performs frequent reciprocating motions individually. In the meantime, the moving speed is gradually increased to obtain driving torques of the respective joint at different moving speeds. Then the dynamic parameters with lower coupling are identified by using the standard deviation index and the least squares methods until all parameters are gradually determined. Finally, the hybrid robot moves a typical trajectory, while the currents of each joint are collected to obtain the driving forces. The actual driving forces, the identified dynamic model, and the unidentified dynamic model are compared. The results show that the identified method could significantly improve the accuracy of the dynamic model. The method proposed in this paper is general and can be applied to the other robots without adding any sensors.

Gentrifiers, distinction, and social preservation: A case study in consumption on Mount Pleasant Street in Washington, DC

Mount Pleasant, a neighbourhood of Washington, DC that has experienced several decades of residential gentrification (Gale, 1980; Modan, 2007; Williams, 1988), nonetheless possesses a commercial corridor where local stores far outnumber boutique retail and corporate chain outlets. Its situation challenges a critical strain within the commercial gentrification literature that emphasises the likelihood of retail displacement during the gentrification process and characterises gentrifier consumers as primarily interested in retail outlets that are familiar or carefully designed to suit their taste. This study investigates gentrifiers’ consumption practices in Mount Pleasant to ascertain how they differ from those of peers in neighbourhoods where gentrification has followed a more typical trajectory. Using theories of distinction (Bourdieu, 1984) and social preservation (Brown-Saracino, 2009), I argue that many local gentrifiers, contradictorily, seek to accrue cultural capital by consuming ‘authentic’ local culture and products while paying attention to the costs of turnover and displacement.

Understanding Emotion in Adolescents: A Review of Emotional Frequency, Intensity, Instability, and Clarity

Adolescence is a time of transition from childhood to adulthood during which significant changes occur across multiple domains, including emotional experience. This article reviews the relevant literature on adolescents’ experience of four specific dimensions of emotion: emotional frequency, intensity, instability, and clarity. In an effort to examine how emotional experiences change as individuals approach adulthood, we examine these dimensions across ages 10 to 19, and review how the emotional functioning of adolescents compares to that of adults. In addition, we explore whether and how gender and puberty explain age differences in emotional experience. Finally, we discuss how these findings could inform future research on both the typical trajectory of emotional experience and the development of psychopathology in adolescence.

A Kite Simulator Based on Aerodynamic Model

Kite simulator is important for training air borne wind energy controllers. A kite model based on aerodynamics and ordinary differential equation has been proposed to calculate kites’ trajectory in the air. A constant problem solver has also been developed to study the system’s stability and cross validate the simulators behaviour. Elementary evaluation shows a typical trajectory of a kite and verifies the system’s stability.

On waiting, hauntings and surviving: Chronicling life with cancer through solicited diaries

The ‘typical’ trajectory of a person with cancer has been from diagnosis, through treatment, and towards cure (life) or the end of life (death). Yet, cancer survivorship as a social practice is no longer contained by such neat categorisations. Much of the lived experience of cancer now centres on: living with, rather than beyond, disease; the perpetuity of treatment rather than the spectre of disease; and, making sense of incurability. Using a solicited diary methodology, in this article the authors seek to chronicle life with cancer for those living in the in-between – the often-overlooked lives of incurable survivors. In the analysis of survivors’ diaries, the authors argue for an emphasis on the phenomenology of waiting and sociological exploration of how clinical prognostications affectively haunt the present. This, they posit, will further sociological understandings of the lived experience of affliction and care, especially within relations of chronicity and perpetuity, in this case focusing on advanced cancer and the steadily changing oncological milieu.