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Fifty at fifty: long term patterns of participation and volunteering
No full textFifty at Fifty (50 at 50) combined longitudinal quantitative data from the 1958 British Birth Cohort Survey, i.e. the National Child Development Study (NCDS), with qualitative biographical interview data from the associated Social Participation and Identity Study (SPIS) to investigate long term patterns of participation and volunteering
Birmingham Environment for Academic Research : Case studies volume 2
Get PDFThe work within this case study was brought together to publicise the different types of work that was done on the University’s high performance computer called BlueBEAR2 and on the many systems that help researchers. This computer system is part of the University of Birmingham’s environment for academic research (BEAR), which helps staff and students of the University delve deeper into their research than has been done before.
Traditional research has always been to experiment or theorise, BlueBEAR is used to deliver a third option, computer based modeling. Computer based modeling is used to underpin the physical and theoretical research. Sometimes computer based modeling is the only way (e.g. colliding galaxies, nuclear explosions), where safety and cost is prohibitive.
This is a small set of case studies taken from the vast research that is being done on BlueBEAR2 and generally
around the University.
BlueBEAR2 is the next generation of hardware from BlueBEAR and includes large memory, GPGPU, database and data mining services
Tanzanian teacher’s constructions and perceptions of ‘inclusive education’ for girls and girls with disabilities
No full textThe benefits of the inclusion of girls and girls with disability in mainstream education in Tanzania have been well documented, yet it is this demographic which remain the most at risk of exclusion (Lewin and Little, 2011). Quantitative research has demonstrated some success for the government’s target of all children to be enrolled in primary education, regardless of gender or disability. However, qualitative research “is recommended to complement, confirm and contradict statistics” (Okkolin, Lehtomäki, Bhalalusea, 2010) in order to divulge and analyse contributory factors to inequalities in the education of girls and girls with disabilities.
The research aims to expand this current state of knowledge by employing Action Research as a qualitative methodology, interviewing a sample of Tanzanian teachers to seek their constructions and perceptions of ‘inclusion’, ‘girls’ and ‘girls with disability’. The analysis of these constructions will contribute to a context sensitive, socio-cultural understanding of disability, inclusion and gender issues. This understanding will raise contributory factors to inequalities and promote informed inclusive action in the contexts in which it is conducted. It will also contribute to the wider analysis of the success of the inclusive agenda for girls and girls with disabilities in Tanzania schools
A Note on learning in a credit economy
No full textThis paper studies the interaction of agents' collateral price beliefs, credit constraint and aggregate economic activity over the business cycle. Learning strengthens the role of collateral constraints in aggregate fluctuations. Under heterogeneous learning rules, numerical simulations illustrate that bankruptcy on the part of borrowers arises sooner as they track the economy faster
Blind and mount controller repairs in Las Campanas in 2014 June
No full textThe blind open/close limit-switch, and the shutter-down limit-switch were both re-placed. The mount controller motor current-limits were increased. The water-cooling pump and motor were restored
It’s all in your head! The uncoupling of psychological and biological stress responses
Get PDFIntroduction: Stress triggers psychological and biological responses that, among the general public, are perceived to be intimately linked. However, few studies have directly examined the relationship between actual and perceived psychological and biological stress responses.
Study 1: Participants (N = 276) completed a 10-minute mental arithmetic stressor while heart rate (HR) was recorded at baseline and during stress. Participants graphed their perceived HR and task stressfulness. Areas under the curve (AUC) for stressfulness and perceived HR were significantly related (p < .001) while neither AUCs for perceived HR nor task stressfulness were related to actual HR AUC.
Study 2: High school students (N=180) reported, in response to a 10-minute mental arithmetic stressor, levels of perceived control, somatic anxiety, perceived threat and stressfulness. HR was measured at baseline and during stress and HR reactivity was calculated (stress-baseline). Again, stressfulness was related to increased somatic anxiety (p < .001) but neither was related to HR. Increased perceived stressfulness was found to result from an increased level of perceived threat caused by a perceived loss of control. Conclusion: Results suggest that the accepted notion that stress should cause increases in HR is not always true indicating dissociation between psychological and physiological stress responses
Am I delusional?
No full textBackground
Delusions are a significant feature of mental illnesses and can occur in many clinical conditions (Maher, 2001) yet the standard clinical definition (American Psychiatric Association. DSM-5 Task Force, 2013) is highly contentious.
Much of the literature holds elements such as bizarreness of content and incorrigibility of belief as defining factors of delusion. However, on closer inspection, delusions are not so easy to pin down. The difficulty in defining delusion is not a new one as “…we are all capable of having convictions and it is a universal human characteristic to hold on to our own mistaken judgements.” (Jaspers, 1963, p.63).
Objective
I intend to highlight some of the difficulties associated with the definition of delusion and perhaps clarify the phenomenology.
Methodology
I examine some of the philosophical, psychological and psychiatric literature with regard to the definition of delusion. I also consider my experience of my own mental activity and experiences from my therapeutic work.
Results/Conclusion
I identify that delusions are a heterogeneous group and that there may be more than one ‘class’ of delusion. I also show that delusions are multi-dimensional with characteristics on a continuum with normal beliefs and that further research is needed to clarify the phenomenology
Legislation documentation archive for the University of Birmingham (2014-2015)
No full textZip file containing the following documents:
(1) Memorandum: Changes to University Regulations and Codes of Practice from 1 August 2014
(2) Codes of Practice:
(2a) Code of Practice on admission of students
(2b) Code of Practice on adjusted regulations and Bachelor's degrees
(2c) Code of Practice on adjusted regulations and undergraduate Masters degrees
(2d) Code of Practice on the assessment and award of higher doctorates
(2e) Code of Practice on the assessment and award of PhD by publication
(2f) Code of Practice on the assessment of research degree theses
(2g) Code of Practice on the conduct of centrally co-ordinated formal written examinations
(2h) Code of Practice on discipline in residences
(2i) Code of Practice extenuating circumstances
(2j) Code of Practice on the External Examiner system for taught programmes
(2k) Code of Practice on Distance Learning
(2l) Code of Practice on freedom of speech
(2m) Code of Practice on leave of absence
(2n) Code of Practice on Misconduct and Fitness to Practise Committee
(2o) Code of Practice on Personal Tutoring
(2p) Code of Practice on Placement Learning
(2q) Code of Practice on plagiarism
(2r) Code of Practice on primary appeals procedures
(2s) Code of Practice on Pursuant to requirements of the Education Act 1994
(2t) Code of Practice reasonable adjustments for students
(2u) Code of Practice for research
(2v) Code of Practice on split location study for postgraduate research students
(2w) Code of Practice on student attendance and reasonable diligence
(2x) Code of Practice on student concerns and complaints procedure
(2y)Code of Practice on student representation system
(2z)Code of Practice on student visas
(2ai) Code of Practice on the supervision and monitoring progress of research students
(2aii) Code of Practice on suspension from study on health grounds
(2aiii) Code of Practice on taught programme and module assessment
(2aiv) Code of Practice on the teaching and academic support of undergraduate and postgraduate taught students by postgraduate teaching assistants and undergraduates
(3) Guidance:
(3a) Guidance on Attendance Monitoring
(3b) Guidance on e-mail in relation to data protection
(3c) Guidance on student grievances to Council
(3d) Guidance to students on outside employment
(4) Policies:
(4a) Accommodating student's religious observances policy
(4b) Collaborative provision policy
(4c) Policy on consulting students about major changes
(4d) Drugs and alcohol policy
(4e) Policy on graduate certificates and diplomas
(4f) Harassment and bullying policy
(4g) Policy on professional, statutory and regulatory bodies
(4h) Policy on the use of animals in research
(5) Regulations:
(5a) Full University Regulations excluding Library Regulations
(5b) Section 1 - definitions and interpretation
(5c) Section 2 - organisation and governance
(5d) Section 3 - human resource matters
(5e) Section 4 - estates matters
(5f) Section 5 - admission and registration
(5g) Section 6 - programmes of study
(5h) Section 7 - assessment, progression and award
(5i) Section 8 - student conduct
(5j) Section 9 - documents supplementary to the University legislation
(5k) Code of Ethic
Dedications at Dodona
No full textThe sanctuary of Dodona is located at the middle of a valley, between the imposing mountains of Tomaros and Manoliassa, a few miles away from the modern city of Ioannina at Epirus. Dodona was the oldest oracle of Ancient Greece and the religious and political center of the Epirotic tribes. The sanctuary was dedicated to Zeus Dodonaios and his wife Dione and the cult focused mainly on the sacred oak tree (ΦΗΓΟΣ). The archaeologists found a vast number of offerings, such as tripods, weapons, bronze statues etc.
The presentation aims to shed light on these offerings and discuss the unique character of the cult practices as it can be seen from the archaeological and historical evidences. Moreover, it outlines important religious, political, social, and spatial factors that shaped the reputation of the oracle and affected drastically its fate and its course through time. The primitive cult practices, which survived and formed within the context of the Archaic and Classical Antiquity, played a major role on the identity of the sanctuary. This identity can be decoded through some silent witnesses: the Votive Offerings
Exploring Light Field camera applications through simulation
Get PDFLight Field, or Plenoptic, imaging is an exciting new technique where a user can capture 3-D information about a scene in a single acquisition. By placing a microlens array (thousands of tiny lenses) in between a conventional camera's main lens and image sensor, we can split rays which would have met on a single pixel onto different pixels, storing the direction which the ray has come from. By knowing where rays have come from, we can use computational techniques to produce different images from the captured data. This means we can change viewpoint, aperture, and focus after an image has been taken. We can produce an image with everything in focus or a 3-D reconstruction, all from a single acquisition.
This technology has many potential benefits in normal photography, and also biomedical imaging techniques such as microscopy. However it is difficult to design, implement, and optimise. Therefore, simulation software has been created so that plenoptic designs and applications can be explored without committing to build and calibrate a system.
This will enable advances in biomedical imaging techniques and light field rendering methods to be explored without the need for a physical plenoptic system
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