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Group rings: Units and their applications in self-dual codes
Get PDFThe initial research presented in this thesis is the structure of the unit group of the group ring Cn x D6 over a field of characteristic 3 in terms of cyclic groups, specifically U(F3t(Cn x D6)). There are numerous applications of group rings, such as topology, geometry and algebraic K-theory, but more recently in coding theory. Following the initial work on establishing the unit group of a group ring, we take a closer look at the use of group rings in algebraic coding theory in order to construct self-dual and extremal self-dual codes.
Using a well established isomorphism between a group ring and a ring of matrices, we construct certain self-dual and formally self-dual codes over a finite commutative Frobenius ring. There is an interesting relationships between the Automorphism group of the code produced and the underlying group in the group ring. Building on the theory, we describe all possible group algebras that can be used to construct the well-known binary extended Golay code.
The double circulant construction is a well-known technique for constructing self-dual codes; combining this with the established isomorphism previously mentioned, we demonstrate a new technique for constructing self-dual codes. New theory states that under certain conditions, these self-dual codes correspond to unitary units in group rings. Currently, using methods discussed, we construct 10 new extremal self-dual codes of length 68.
In the search for new extremal self-dual codes, we establish a new technique which considers a double bordered construction. There are certain conditions where this new technique will produce self-dual codes, which are given in the theoretical results. Applying this new construction, we construct numerous new codes to verify the theoretical results; 1 new extremal self-dual code of length 64, 18 new codes of length 68 and 12 new extremal self-dual codes of length 80.
Using the well established isomorphism and the common four block construction, we consider a new technique in order to construct self-dual codes of length 68. There are certain conditions, stated in the theoretical results, which allow this construction to yield self-dual codes, and some interesting links between the group ring elements and the construction. From this technique, we construct 32 new extremal self-dual codes of length 68.
Lastly, we consider a unique construction as a combination of block circulant matrices and quadratic circulant matrices. Here, we provide theory surrounding this construction and conditions for full effectiveness of the method. Finally, we present the 52 new self-dual codes that result from this method; 1 new self-dual code of length 66 and 51 new self-dual codes of length 68. Note that different weight enumerators are dependant on different values of β. In addition, for codes of length 68, the weight enumerator is also defined in terms of γ, and for codes of length 80, the weight
enumerator is also de ned in terms of α
Differences in the vertical and horizontal force-velocity profile between academy and senior professional rugby league players, and the implications for strength and speed training.
Get PDFBACKGROUND: This study compared the vertical and horizontal force-velocity (FV) profile of academy and senior rugby league players.
METHODS: Nineteen senior and twenty academy players from one professional club participated in this study. The vertical FV profile was determined using a series of loaded squat jumps (0.4 to 80 kg) with jump height recorded. The horizontal FV profile involved a 30-m over-ground sprint with split times recorded at 5, 10, 15, 20 and 30 m. Theoretical maximal force (F0), velocity (V0) and power (Pmax), optimal F0 and V0, and activity specific variables (e.g. vertical FV imbalance) were determined.
RESULTS: Absolute F0 and Pmax from the vertical and horizontal profile were moderately different between groups (standardised mean difference (SMD) = 0.64-1.20, P <0.001-0.026), whilst for V0, differences were small (SMD = 0.33-0.41, P = 0.149-0.283). Differences in relative F0, Pmax and optimal F0 during both assessments were trivial to moderate (SMD = 0.03-0.82, P = 0.021-0.907).
CONCLUSION: These results highlight senior and academy players present with different FV profiles and highlight some potential developmental opportunities for senior and academy rugby league players that sport scientists, strength and conditioning and rugby coaches can implement when designing programmes and considering long-term athlete development
PREOCCUPIED: The role of peacebuilding in formal education in the West Bank
No full textThis thesis is an ethnographic study of six teacher educators working in university settings in the West Bank, an Occupied Palestinian Territory. It explores these teacher educators’ perceptions, values, and attitudes about the role of peacebuilding in Formal Education (FE). It focuses particularly on the teacher educators’ practice, which is to train student teachers to be certified as competent to work in schools either managed or run by the Ministry of Education and Higher Education (MoEHE). The research shows that there are tensions surrounding the conceptualisation of the meaning of teacher competency among contributors to teacher education. The tension lies most noticeably between schools and universities. This thesis thus captures the (dis)continuities of an FE system caught between the conditions of colonial and military occupation and performative measures and strategies enforced by the MoEHE. These problems are compounded by the complex associations of FE with Palestinian liberation.
From the expressions the teacher educators used to convey their ideas, metaphors provide a powerful analytical device. The thesis employs a narrative analysis to foreground these metaphors as more than a rhetorical device. The metaphors provide reflexive insight into the (extra)ordinary lives of the teacher educators and the specificities of the cultural and political context from which their understandings of peacebuilding arise. The data shows that the teacher educators have individual and shared tensions about the underlying principles of peace, which consequently inform the roles of peacebuilding in FE from complex and contradictory positions. These metaphors expose an FE system that is a victim and a perpetrator both of forms of violence, and of the complex conditions under which peacebuilding either thrives or is diminished. The data also shows that peacebuilding in FE is most contentious where there is a disconnect with social justice and a connection with tatbi’a (normalisation) and counterinsurgency.
In its final analysis, this thesis draws on the perspectives of Johan Galtung, Paulo Freire and Pierre Bourdieu to disturb deep-rooted thinking about peacebuilding in the West Bank. As a consequence of exploring the data through these theoretical lenses, the thesis exposes deep fractures in thinking and beliefs which are perpetuated by deeply entrenched, competing discourses that cannot be easily resolved. This thesis encourages academics and policy makers in the fields of critical peace education and education in conflict to consider generative peacebuilding frameworks that focus on conflicts within Palestinian society as well as those arising from the Occupation, and see them as mutually reinforcing rather than treating them purely as separate issues
Single step synthesis of WO 3 nanoparticles by wire explosion process and its photocatalytic behaviour
Get PDFFrom IOP Publishing via Jisc Publications RouterHistory: received 2020-12-21, rev-recd 2021-04-07, oa-requested 2021-04-14, accepted 2021-04-30, open-access 2021-05-11, epub 2021-05-11, ppub 2021-06-01Publication status: PublishedTungsten (W) wires are exploded in oxygen ambience to get tungsten oxide (WO3) nanoparticles (NPs). Energy stored in the capacitors (EC) is used to overcome the sublimation energy of wire. Energy ratio (K, ratio of EC and sublimation energy) and oxygen pressure (P) are two control parameters for the particle phase and morphology in the wire explosion process. X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns confirmed the partial oxidation of W for low values of K. For K = 2, oxidation increases with increase in P. For K = 10, complete oxidation was achieved irrespective of P. Particles are spherical in shape as observed from scanning electron microscope (SEM) and transmission electron microscope (TEM) micrographs. Particle size follows a log-normal distribution with a least mean size of 24.1 nm. UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS) was used to measure the absorbance of NPs (complete WO3 with least mean size) for band gap measurement. The band gap was found to be 2.92 eV (visible region). NPs are used as photocatalyst to degrade aqueous solution of methylene blue (MB) under visible light irradiation. 500 mg l−1 of WO3 NPs were optimum to degrade 10 mg l−1 MB in 120 min
Toward ‘Vaccine Internationalism’: The Need for an Equitable and Coordinated Global Vaccination Approach to Effectively Combat COVID-19
Get PDFFrom Frontiers via Jisc Publications RouterHistory: collection 2021, received 2021-03-10, accepted 2021-03-15, epub 2021-04-14Publication status: Publishe
Using process data to generate an optimal control policy via apprenticeship and reinforcement learning
Get PDFFrom Wiley via Jisc Publications RouterHistory: received 2020-10-04, rev-recd 2021-04-23, accepted 2021-05-03, pub-electronic 2021-05-15Article version: VoRPublication status: PublishedAbstract: Reinforcement learning (RL) is a data‐driven approach to synthesizing an optimal control policy. A barrier to wide implementation of RL‐based controllers is its data‐hungry nature during online training and its inability to extract useful information from human operator and historical process operation data. Here, we present a two‐step framework to resolve this challenge. First, we employ apprenticeship learning via inverse RL to analyze historical process data for synchronous identification of a reward function and parameterization of the control policy. This is conducted offline. Second, the parameterization is improved online efficiently under the ongoing process via RL within only a few iterations. Significant advantages of this framework include to allow for the hot‐start of RL algorithms for process optimal control, and robust abstraction of existing controllers and control knowledge from data. The framework is demonstrated on three case studies, showing its potential for chemical process control
Adolescents' Understanding of What Causes Emotional Distress: A Qualitative Exploration in a Non-clinical Sample Using Ideal-Type Analysis
Get PDFFrom Frontiers via Jisc Publications RouterHistory: collection 2021, received 2021-02-27, accepted 2021-04-21, epub 2021-05-24Publication status: PublishedBackground: There is increased interest in early intervention and prevention of mental health difficulties during adolescence; thus, we are seeing increased efforts to optimize well-being during this epoch. Positive emotional experiences are a central component of overall well-being. However, research exploring what adolescents perceive to be the cause(s) of their emotional difficulties is lacking. Improving understanding of this issue within non-clinical adolescent groups may provide useful insight into how to develop strategies to support young people as they navigate emotional difficulties. Objectives: The aim of this research was to explore if meaningful categories of perceived cause(s) for emotional distress exist for non-clinical adolescent groups. Methods: The data for this study were drawn from interviews across 6 sites in England conducted as part of the 5-year national evaluation of the HeadStart Learning Programme. The sample comprised of 32 young people aged 11–12 years from the first annual wave of qualitative data collection in 2017. Ideal type analysis—a qualitative form of person-centered analysis—was used to construct a typology of adolescents perceived cause(s) for emotional distress. Findings: We identified five distinct categories of perceived cause: (1) perceived lack of control; (2) unfair treatment; (3) others, their actions and judgements as the catalyst; (4) concerns for self and others; and, (5) self as cause. Conclusions: Our findings illustrate that distinct categories for perceived cause of emotional distress exist among adolescents considered to be “at risk” of developing mental health difficulties, which provides a foundation for future necessary work seeking to investigate the possible link between perceived cause for emotional distress and help-seeking behavior among sub-clinical groups
Effect of massage therapy on pain and quality of life in dogs: A cross sectional study
Get PDFFrom Wiley via Jisc Publications RouterHistory: received 2020-07-09, rev-recd 2021-05-23, accepted 2021-05-30, pub-electronic 2021-06-13Article version: VoRPublication status: PublishedAbstract: Background: Clinical canine massage involves muscle tissue manipulation and fascial release techniques to rehabilitate injured soft tissues. Quantitative efficacy data are lacking. This cross‐sectional study aimed to determine how dogs respond to canine massage therapy practiced by Canine Massage Guild UK practitioners. Methods: In 2018, case notes from a convenience sample of 527 dogs were shared, with permission from owners, by a self‐selected sample of 65 practitioners. Changes in number and severity of issues for five pain indicators (gait, posture, daily activity, behaviour, performance) and quality of life score, reported by owner and practitioners, were investigated. Results: Significant reductions in reported pain severity scores were recorded for all pain indicators over successive treatments (p < 0.001), with each treatment causing further significant reduction in pain severity. Number of pain indicators recorded over successive treatment sessions remained constant, in keeping with a cohort presenting with degenerative disease and chronic pain. All dogs and diagnostic variables responded similarly. Post‐treatment a dog was significantly more likely to have a ‘positive’ quality of life. Conclusions: This cross‐sectional study indicates canine massage therapy may effectively reduce myofascial and musculoskeletal pain severity reported by owners and practitioners associated with gait, posture, behavioural and performance issues and reduction in daily activities. Although this is not a double‐blind trial, and there is no control group, this study suggests massage therapy may be a valid treatment for myofascial and musculoskeletal pain typically derived from muscular injuries, arthritis/other orthopaedic conditions
Exploring the 'talk' of suicide: Using discourse-informed approaches in exploring suicide risk
Get PDF"This is an Accepted Manuscript of a book chapter published by Routledge in [Improving Communication in Mental Health Settings] on [25/03/2021], available online: http://www.routledge.com/Improving-Communication-in-Mental-Health-Settings-Evidence-Based-Recommendations/OReilly-Lester/p/book/9780367456054#:~:text=s)%20Support%20Material-,Book%20Description,clients%20in%20mental%20health%20settingsThis chapter considers how discourse-based approaches can help facilitate mental health work with clients/patients who present at risk of suicide. This is discussed in the context of a predominant and traditional risk assessment questionnaire approach, increasingly acknowledged as having low predictive quality
Risk of harm to others: subjectivity and meaning of risk in mental health practice
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