922017 research outputs found
Sort by
Legitimacy, Power, and Aesthetics, in the International Baccalaureate
No full textThis paper explores the facilitation of the emancipatory in an International Baccalaureate (IB) context of privilege. It aligns with the idea that capitalism, even in welfare state democracies or ‘do good’ corporations, maintains the interests of the owners of capital. It is by nature unjust and exploitative and must conceal this injustice by securing a (spurious) legitimacy for itself (Edgar, 2006, p. 88). This makes a rare methodological contribution as the article provides critical ‘meta-analysis’ (Card, 2015) of IB research literature by prioritising work that affords insight into the lived reality within the IB-Sphere. It then triangulates this analysis through the work of German Social Philosopher Jürgen Habermas (1970; 1981; 1983; 1989; 1991).This work provides a significant and timely contribution to ‘franchised education’ (Apple, 2000; Ball, 2012) in the 21st Century, and will be of essential reading to scholars, policy makers and leadership whether involved in the IB, or active in the Neo Liberal spaces of education more generally: such as Multi Trust Academies, Free Schools, or Charter Schools. This is thanks to the lessons learned over nearly 60 years of educational franchise in a diverse and globalising sphere as presented here from IB research through critical analysis. <br/
CAST: Learning both Geometric and Texture Style Transfers for Effective Caricature Generation
No full textGiven a photo of a subject, ability to generate a caricature image that captures distinct characteristics of the subject but with certain exaggeration of their prominent features is of fundamental importance to image processing and facial recognition. There are two main challenges in this task: shape exaggeration and style transfer. The former morphs and exaggerates key facial features of the subject, while the latter generates caricature images in a certain artistic style. In this paper, we propose a CAricature Style Transfer (CAST) framework for caricature generation. There are two modules in the proposed framework. The first is a geometric warping module. Different from the existing style transfer methods, we incorporate the Whitening and Coloring Transformation (WCT) in the geometric style transfer. The WCT is learned on photo and caricature landmarks or the caricature landmark space of a specific artist and is capable of transforming input photo landmarks to caricature landmarks. The second module is a texture style rendering module. We propose a new style transfer method by considering a semantic region-aligned style transfer via affinity constraint. Given a reference caricature image as the style reference, this module is capable of transferring styles between the same or similar semantic regions in caricatures and photos. Furthermore, it can transfer visual attributes of the reference caricatures (such as mouth shape and expressions) to the output caricatures. Experiments have shown desirable effects of the proposed method in transferring both the geometric and artistic texture styles of caricatures. Both qualitative and quantitative results show that the CAST framework is more effective compared than the state-of-the-art caricature generation methods
A System Identification Procedure Using Compressive Sensing
No full textThe conventional system identification, which is a branch of machine learning, takes advantages of the whole sampling data to identify the system. To identify a system with less sampling density, compressive sensing is applied on system identification, which randomly extracts the sampling data from the system response. Hence a novel identification procedure is proposed using compressive sensing techniques. Then a second order system is selected as the system to be identified using such identification procedure. The identification performances of estimated systems are investigated from the scenario randomly extracting 10% of total sampling data to the scenario using 90% of total sampling data. Each scenario consists of three noise cases with different levels of SNRs to test the robustness of the signal recovery algorithms of compressive sensing. The results show that the system identification using compressive sensing has are relatively high identification performance and is robust to noise when using 30% or more of total sampling data
Towards an atomistic understanding of polymorphism in molecular solids
No full textAbstract Understanding and controlling polymorphism in molecular solids is a major unsolved problem in crystal engineering. While the ability to calculate accurate lattice energies with atomistic modelling provides valuable insight into the associated energy scales, existing methods cannot connect energy differences to the delicate balances of intra- and intermolecular forces that ultimately determine polymorph stability ordering. We report herein a protocol for applying Quantum Chemical Topology (QCT) to study the key intra- and intermolecular interactions in molecular solids, which we use to compare the three known polymorphs of succinic acid including the recently-discovered γ form. QCT provides a rigorous partitioning of the total energy into contributions associated with topological atoms, and a quantitative and chemically intuitive description of the intra- and intermolecular interactions. The newly-proposed Relative Energy Gradient (REG) method ranks atomistic energy terms (steric, electrostatic and exchange) by their importance in constructing the total energy profile for a chemical process. We find that the conformation of the succinic acid molecule is governed by a balance of large and opposing electrostatic interactions, while the H-bond dimerisation is governed by a combination of electrostatics and sterics. In the solids, an atomistic energy balance emerges that governs the contraction, towards the equilibrium geometry, of a molecular cluster representing the bulk crystal. The protocol we put forward is as general as the capabilities of the underlying quantum-mechanical model and it can provide novel perspectives on polymorphism in a wide range of chemical systems.<br/
Evolution of the Xenon (e,2e) Differential Cross Section from a Coplanar Geometry to the Perpendicular Plane in the Intermediate Energy Regime
No full textNew (e,2e) differential cross section measurements from xenon are presented as the scattering geometry changes from coplanar to the perpendicular plane. Measurements were taken at energies of 60 eV, 80 eV, and 100 eV above the ionization potential. These new data are compared to measurements collected for the first four noble gases and to that from xenon at lower energies. A new technique is used to measure the ratio of relative cross-sections between xenon and helium using a xenon-helium mixture. With this data absolute differential cross sections of xenon can be determined once the helium cross sections have been calculated
Bounds for the chi-square approximation of the power divergence family of statistics
No full textIt is well-known that each statistic in the family of power divergence statistics, across n trials and r classifications with index parameter λ ∈ R (the Pearson, likelihood ratio and Freeman-Tukey statistics correspond to λ = 1, 0, −1/2, respectively) is asymptotically chi-square distributed as the sample size tends to infinity. In this paper, we obtain explicit bounds on this distributional approximation, measured using smooth test functions, that hold for a given finite sample n, and all index parameters (λ > −1) for which such finite sample bounds are meaningful. We obtain bounds that are of the optimal order n¯¹. The dependence of our bounds on the index parameter λ and the cell classification probabilities is also optimal, and the dependence on the number of cells is also respectable. Our bounds generalise, complement and improve on recent results from the literature
Hierarchical zeolites: controllable synthesis, diffusion study and catalysis
No full textHierarchical zeolites refer to zeolitic materials having bi-/multi-modal interconnective pores arranged in order of certain ranks, which improve the molecular diffusion within their frameworks, and hence the performance in their applications such as adsorption and heterogeneous catalysis. Hierarchical zeolites are commonly produced via the ‘top-down’ post-synthetic treatments (such as dealumination and/or desilication) of pre-synthesised zeolites (i.e. the parent zeolites) and the ‘bottom-up’ synthesis-by-design methods (such as soft/hard templating). This review presents the recent advances (from 2001 to 2020) in the strategies of making hierarchical zeolites, with the emphasis on the ‘top-down’ approaches due to their relatively high practicality. Since hierarchical zeolites are proposed to improve intracrystalline diffusion, experimental studies of guest molecules diffusion in hierarchical zeolites is also reviewed. Additionally, catalytic applications of hierarchical zeolites, in comparison with the conventional microporous pristine zeolites, are also commented to highlight the advantages of hierarchical zeolites to improve catalysis.Keywords Hierarchical zeolites; Post-synthetic treatment; Diffusion; Pulsed-field gradient nuclear magnetic resonance (PFG-NMR); Catalysis<br/
The role of solvation in proton transfer reactions: implications for predicting salt/co-crystal formation using the ΔpKa rule
No full textThe ΔpKa rule is commonly applied by chemists and crystal engineers as a guideline for the rational design of molecular salts and co-crystals. For multi-component crystals containing acid and base constituents, empirical evidence has shown that ΔpKa > 4 almost always leads to salts, ΔpKa < –1 almost always leads to co-crystals and ΔpKa between –1 and 4 can be either. This paper reviews the theoretical background of the ΔpKa rule and highlights the crucial role of solvation in determining the outcome of the potential proton transfer from acid to base. New data on the frequency of occurrence of co-crystals and salts in multi-component crystal structures containing acid and base constituents show that the relationship between ΔpKa and the frequency of salt/co-crystal formation is influenced by the composition of the crystal. For unsolvated co-crystals/salts, containing only the principal acid and base components, the point of 50% probability for salt/co-crystal formation occurs at ΔpKa ≈ 1.4, while for hydrates of co-crystals and salts, this point is shifted to ΔpKa ≈ –0.5. For acid-base crystals with the possibility for two proton transfers, the overall frequency of occurrence of any salt (monovalent or divalent) versus a co-crystal is comparable to that of the whole data set, but the point of 50% probability for observing a monovalent salt vs a divalent salt lies at ΔpKa,II ≈ –4.5. Hence, where two proton transfers are possible, the balance is between co-crystals and divalent salts, with monovalent salts being far less common. Finally, the overall role played by the “crystal” solvation is illustrated by the fact that acid-base complexes in the intermediate region of ΔpKa tip towards salt formation if ancillary hydrogen bonds can exist. Thus, the solvation strength of the lattice plays a key role in the stabilisation of the ions
Stitches and patches: The Franciscan habit in an engraving by Lucas Vorsterman
No full textAn early seventeenth century engraving by Lucas Vorsterman held by the National Gallery of Victoria and catalogued as the ‘Death of Saint Francis’ depicts the saint in a habit which shows clear wear and repair: there are frayed edges at the ends of the sleeves and several patches have been added. Focusing on Vorsterman’s engraving, this article explores the importance ascribed to the making and mending of the Franciscan habit - and the ways in which this could be indicated in prints from the late sixteenth to mid seventeenth century - with particular reference to the value placed on stitching
Connecting Communities GM PCIE Forum 2021 Sharing Event Week of the 18th October 2021
No full textThe aim of this session will be to describe how we have co-produced a guide for patients and carers to help to address key patient safety questions and identify key points where they can make their care safer. We worked with patients, carers, general practitioners and pharmacists from across Greater Manchester. Background: Patients and carers should be actively involved in their patient safety and empowered to use person-centred approaches where they are asked to both identify safety concerns and partner in preventing them.Approach: We conducted three workshops with patients, carers, community pharmacists and general practitioners to develop and refine the patient safety guide. Alongside these workshops we worked with a public involvement group to develop the approach and the guide.Results: Co-developing the patient safety guide provided insight to improve care. The approach helped to identify the main factors that influenced people’s engagement with patient safety and actions that people could do to improve their patient safety. The importance of communication, understanding roles and responsibilities, and developing partnerships between patients and healthcare providers were considered essential for actively involving patients in patient safety. Discussion:Using a co-design approach identified important points where patient safety in routine primary care can be improved using patient and clinician experiences with a key focus on how the guide could be used in practice. The patient safety guide is the first guide to be developed for primary care, co-designed with patients, carers, general practitioners and pharmacists. <br/