The Paradox of State-Funded Higher Education: Does the Winner Still Take It All?

Contrary to the overall tendency to increase student participation in the financing of higher education, Estonia abolished student tuition fees in 2013. We study the effects of this reform on the students’ access to and progress in higher education, concentrating mostly on the changes in probabilities of rural and remote students being admitted (extensive margin) and graduating within a nominal time (intensive margin). We distinguish between four different outcomes: admission in general, admission to vocational education, admission to high-rank curricula, and graduation within nominal time. We confirm the tendency that a high socioeconomic status increases the probability of being admitted to high-rank curricula and reduces the probability of choosing an applied curriculum, and the 2013 reform did not change that. While the reform weakly improved rural students’ tendency to graduate on time, it diminished the probability that they were admitted to high-rank curricula. So, paradoxically and contrary to the intention of the reform, higher state involvement in higher education financing has not improved the equity in university admission in Estonia in terms of either socioeconomic background or regional disparities. We claim that part of the explanation of that paradox lies in the conditionality of this reform and the combination of a scarce needs-based and a competitive merit-based student support system in Estonia. We see our broader contribution in emphasising the important role of support systems in the future analysis of the potential to improve students’ access.

On Maximum-Sized Golden-Mean Matroids

<p>A rank-r simple matroid is maximum-sized in a class if it has the largest number of elements out of all simple rank-r matroids in that class. Maximum-sized matroids have been classified for various classes of matroids: regular (Heller, 1957); dyadic (Kung and Oxley, 1988-90); k-regular (Semple, 1998); near-regular and sixth-root-of-unity (Oxley, Vertigan, and Whittle, 1998). Golden-mean matroids are matroids that are representable over the golden-mean partial field. Equivalently, a golden-mean matroid is a matroid that is representable over GF(4) and GF(5). Archer conjectured that there are three families of maximum-sized golden-mean matroids. This means that a proof of Archer’s conjecture is likely to be significantly more complex than the proofs of existing maximum-sized characterisations, as they all have only one family. In this thesis, we consider the four following subclasses of golden-mean matroids: those that are lifts of regular matroids, those that are lifts of nearregular matroids, those that are golden-mean-graphic, and those that have a spanning clique. We close each of these classes under minors, and prove that Archer’s conjecture holds in each of them. It is anticipated that the last of our theorems will lead to a proof of Archer’s conjecture for golden-mean matroids of sufficiently high rank.</p>

On Maximum-Sized Golden-Mean Matroids

<p>A rank-r simple matroid is maximum-sized in a class if it has the largest number of elements out of all simple rank-r matroids in that class. Maximum-sized matroids have been classified for various classes of matroids: regular (Heller, 1957); dyadic (Kung and Oxley, 1988-90); k-regular (Semple, 1998); near-regular and sixth-root-of-unity (Oxley, Vertigan, and Whittle, 1998). Golden-mean matroids are matroids that are representable over the golden-mean partial field. Equivalently, a golden-mean matroid is a matroid that is representable over GF(4) and GF(5). Archer conjectured that there are three families of maximum-sized golden-mean matroids. This means that a proof of Archer’s conjecture is likely to be significantly more complex than the proofs of existing maximum-sized characterisations, as they all have only one family. In this thesis, we consider the four following subclasses of golden-mean matroids: those that are lifts of regular matroids, those that are lifts of nearregular matroids, those that are golden-mean-graphic, and those that have a spanning clique. We close each of these classes under minors, and prove that Archer’s conjecture holds in each of them. It is anticipated that the last of our theorems will lead to a proof of Archer’s conjecture for golden-mean matroids of sufficiently high rank.</p>

Die geographische und familiäre Herkunft der Ordensgebietiger Konrad von Kyburg und Rudolf von Kyburg

The geographical and familial origins of the Teutonic Order’s officials Konrad von Kyburg and Rudolf von Kyburg The researchers of the Teutonic Order have placed the brethren Konrad (before 1336 – 12. April 1402) and Rudolf (before 1337–1404) von Kyburg in the north-eastern part of present-day Switzerland – either in the castle of Kyburg near Winterthur in the eastern Canton of Zurich, or in the Canton of Turgovia, lying in the East of Canton Zurich and to the South of Lake Bodensee. Their family lost those areas by 1265, after a sudden death of Hartmann V von Kyburg (1263) and the childless death of his uncle, Hartmann IV (1264). The only successor, the minor daughter of Hartmann V, Anna von Kyburg, was not able to keep her inheritance, which was quickly taken by her nephew Rudolf IV von Habsburg, latter known as German King Rudolf I. He arranged a marriage between Anna and his relative, Eberhard von Habsburg-Laufenburg, leaving them only Burgdorf and Thun in the nowadays Canton Berne. Their son, Hartmann, had taken the name of the maternal dynasty, calling himself since 1297 Hartmann I von Kyburg. His son, Eberhard II von Kyburg, succeeded him. He was the father of eleven children with Konrad von Kyburg and Rudolf von Kyburg among them. Despite their name, they came from Burgdorf and had joined the Teutonic Order because the poor parents could not guarantee them a subsistence. The carreer of Konrad von Kyburg started in the late 1380s. In 1392 he was promoted to the Comtur of Balga and from 1396–1402 had even reached the high rank of the Great Hospitaller. The carrier of his younger brother, Rudolf, was less impressive for he became 1391–1402 the Comtur of Rehden.

LNMR Study on Microstructure Characteristics and Pore Size Distribution of High-Rank Coals with Different Bedding

In order to study the pore structure characteristics of high-rank coals with different bedding, NMR experiments were carried out for high-rank coals with different bedding angles (0°, 30°, 45°, 60°, and 90°). The results show that the distribution of T2 map of high-rank coal with different bedding is similar to some extent, showing a double peak or triple peak distribution, and the first peak accounts for more than 97% of the total, indicating that small holes are developed in high-rank coal with different bedding, while macropores are not developed. The influence of bedding angle on the fracture proportion is less than 0.3%. Compared with the fracture proportion, the effect of bedding angle on the proportion of microhole, medium hole, and large hole is greater and presents a certain rule. There are certain differences in T2 cutoff value (T2C) of high-rank coal with different bedding. The relationship between bedding angle and T2C conforms to exponential function, and the correlation degree R2 is 0.839. The research results provide a theoretical basis for gas extraction and utilization and prevention of gas disaster in coal mines in China.