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Errand into the wilderness: the cursed earth as apocalyptic road narrativ
No full textMobility is a significant feature of American history and culture. This is reflected in the literature and cinema of the road genre, in influential novels such as Jack Kerouac's On the Road and John Steinbeck's Grapes of Wrath, and in films like Bonnie and Clyde (1967) and Easy Rider (1969). However, when non-Americans create road stories they tend to employ symbols and narratives that are often considered intrinsically American. These storytellers appear to have absorbed or internalized aspects of American national identity, and this is reflected in their work. This is demonstrated in The Cursed Earth, an apocalyptic road story in twenty-five parts, which was published in the British weekly comic 2000AD from May to October 1978. Written by British writer Pat Mills, with contributions from John Wagner and Chris Lowder, The Cursed Earth features the character Judge Dredd, perhaps the most popular and most recognizable icon of British comics of the last thirty years. Through close textual analysis of the Cursed Earth story, this article reveals how thematic elements of the road genre are linked to significant themes in American history and culture
Violent street crime: making sense of seemingly senseless acts
No full textThis paper explores the extent to which street crime can be explained by rational factors associated with the successful commission of the offence or social factors related to street culture. The study is based on qualitative interviews with 55 violent street offenders who were serving sentences for street robbery and assault in six prisons in the UK. The findings identified five main motives for street violence: (1) instrumental motives relating to the specific objectives of the offence (for example, obtaining cash or goods in the case of robbery or inflicting harm in the case of assault), (2) for the buzz and excitement, (3) to express anger, (4) to achieve status and honour, and (5) to inflict informal justice. The implications of the findings are discussed in relation to research and crime prevention
When worlds collide: developing game design partnerships in universities
No full textA growing body of evidence suggests that relevant, well-designed simulations can make a valuable contribution to students' experiences in training and education and go some way toward meeting the expectations of students who have grown up with immersive, computer-mediated games. Within universities, many barriers exist that may prevent the effective development of this work, in part because of the nature of the traditional roles of both academics and developers who undertake these activities. Through a discussion of the experiences of working within a successful cross-functional team, the authors discuss the practice of developing an innovative eLearning simulation tool for an undergraduate course and how the challenges of combining the developer and educationalist roles were overcome. By synthesizing theories in educational philosophy and game design processes, a conceptual framework for ensuring quality in creative education projects is outlined that may be applied to the development of eLearning and adaptive game projects
Welsh-language provision on party web sites during the 2007 Welsh Assembly election
No full textPurpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the extent of Welsh-language provision on the web sites of political parties contesting the 2007 Welsh Assembly elections. Design/methodology/approach – Expert inspection was carried out on the web sites of 18 of the 19 parties contesting the election. Goal-directed walkthroughs were conducted on four web sites judged to be making a bilingual provision. Findings – Overall, the Welsh language was highly marginalised. While Welsh-language elements were identified on ten of the 18 web sites, only four web sites attempted to make a bilingual provision. On three of these, a user intending to interact with the web site through the medium of Welsh would still encounter English language content and/or navigation. Only one web site offered a fully Welsh-language experience. Research limitations/implications – This paper only considers the web sites of political parties and presents only a high level analysis. It does not consider the impact of Welsh-language provision on the electorate. Originality/value – This is the first paper to systematically examine Welsh-language provision on party web sites during elections for the National Assembly for Wales. In contrast to many studies of election-related internet activity in the UK, it considers a regional election rather than a UK general election
Exploring How Social Media Can Enhance the Teaching of Action Research
No full textAction research has an extensive history of being used to improve teaching and learning in many different professional settings e.g. schools, colleges, universities health and social care services. Educational action research embodies a process that necessitates honesty and openness and which lends itself to the betterment of one’s practice; in the current e-learning climate, where education is rapidly changing and the role and practice of the educator is evolving yet uncertain, action research has never been more valuable. This paper explores and presents how social media have been used to enhance the teaching of action research and also how students gained an understanding, appreciation and an evolving experience of action research. Exploring the intricate relationships between action research, new technologies and the learning that took place during an Understanding Action Research module, this paper is written from the perspective that the module team was interested in ensuring that students acquired a fully rounded understanding of action research in order to utilise it in the improvement of their own practice
Round-robin sequential forward selection algorithm for prostate cancer classification and diagnosis using multispectral imagery
No full textThis paper proposes an automatic classification system for the use in prostate cancer diagnosis. The system aims to detect and classify prostatic tissue textures captured from microscopic samples taken from needle biopsies. Biopsies are usually analyzed by a trained pathologist with different grades of malignancy typically corresponding to different structural patterns as well as apparent textures. In the context of prostate cancer diagnosis, four major groups have to be accurately recognized: stroma, benign prostatic hyperplasia, prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia, and prostatic carcinoma. Recently, multispectral imagery has been proposed as a new image acquisition modality which unlike conventional RGB-based light microscopy allows the acquisition of a large number of spectral bands within the visible spectrum, resulting in a large feature vector size. Many features in the initial feature set are irrelevant to the classification task and are correlated with each other, resulting in an increase in the computational complexity and a reduction in the recognition rate. In this paper, a Round-Robin (RR) sequential forward selection RR-SFS is used to address these problems. RR is a technique for handling multi-class problems with binary classifiers by training one classifier for each pair of classes. The experimental results demonstrate this finding when compared with classical method based on the multiclass SFS and other ensemble methods such as bagging/boosting with decision tree (C4.5) classifier where it is shown that RR-SFS method achieves the best results with a classification accuracy of 99.9%
Analysis of digital evidence in identity theft investigations
Get PDFIdentity Theft could be currently considered as a significant problem in the modern
internet driven era. This type of computer crime can be achieved in a number of
different ways; various statistical figures suggest it is on the increase. It intimidates
individual privacy and self assurance, while efforts for increased security and
protection measures appear inadequate to prevent it. A forensic analysis of the digital
evidence should be able to provide precise findings after the investigation of Identity
Theft incidents. At present, the investigation of Internet based Identity Theft is
performed on an ad hoc and unstructured basis, in relation to the digital evidence.
This research work aims to construct a formalised and structured approach to digital
Identity Theft investigations that would improve the current computer forensic
investigative practice. The research hypothesis is to create an analytical framework to
facilitate the investigation of Internet Identity Theft cases and the processing of the
related digital evidence.
This research work makes two key contributions to the subject: a) proposing the
approach of examining different computer crimes using a process specifically based
on their nature and b) to differentiate the examination procedure between the victim’s and the fraudster’s side, depending on the ownership of the digital media. The
background research on the existing investigation methods supports the need of
moving towards an individual framework that supports Identity Theft investigations.
The presented investigation framework is designed based on the structure of the
existing computer forensic frameworks. It is a flexible, conceptual tool that will assist
the investigator’s work and analyse incidents related to this type of crime. The
research outcome has been presented in detail, with supporting relevant material for
the investigator. The intention is to offer a coherent tool that could be used by
computer forensics investigators. Therefore, the research outcome will not only be
evaluated from a laboratory experiment, but also strengthened and improved based on
an evaluation feedback by experts from law enforcement.
While personal identities are increasingly being stored and shared on digital media,
the threat of personal and private information that is used fraudulently cannot be
eliminated. However, when such incidents are precisely examined, then the nature of
the problem can be more clearly understood
A critical examination of the effectiveness of faculty-based student learning support
Get PDFThis thesis presents an investigation into the effectiveness of faculty-based student learning support and comprises three volumes. Volume 1 provides an overview of the background literature, research methodology, ethical and reliability considerations linked to two projects whose overarching theme is the support and improvement of the student experience. The overview begins with an outline of the aim of this thesis, followed by a synopsis of the literature concerning student support in higher education and the use of technology to support learners. The methodological framework is then discussed and a brief introduction to the projects is provided. The overview concludes with an exploration of the effectiveness of faculty-based student learning support and the presentation of a new blended approach to the organisation, delivery and typology of advising. This seeks to demonstrate the strength of a blended approach and thus makes a contribution to the practice, theory and method of supporting student learning.
Volume 2 discusses the Advice Shop project and considers the processes, methods and ethics of this student learning support. A summary of eight interventions is presented together with details of how the project was subsequently rolled out across the University. A consideration of the organisational model and personnel involved in student advising is also offered. The volume concludes with student and staff feedback and a discussion of how the project aims have been achieved. Evidence of the research output and components of practice relating to Project 1 can be found in Volume2 Part 2.
Volume 3 presents a discussion of Project 2 - the use of technology to support learners. The project presents two technology-enhanced interventions - an electronic student attendance monitoring scheme, and the development of two online learner support tools using QuestionMark Perception as the delivery software. The methods and ethical considerations used to establish and implement these interventions are present together with feedback from students and staff. The volume concludes with a discussion of how the aims of the project have been achieved. Evidence of the research output and components of practice relating to Project 2 can be found in Volume 3 Part 2
Effect of acute and chronic exercise on immunoendocrine responses in professional rugby union
Get PDFProlonged and intense exercise is known to modulate and suppress certain aspects of the immunoendocrine system. Such effects are thought to be largely mediated by the release of stress hormones and regulatory cytokines which originate from a variety of stress related paradigms in sport. These include acute physical exertion, chronic and repetitive exercise as well as other psychological and psychosocial aspects of training and competing in an elite environment. It may be of particular interest to study the effects of regular competition and training on immunoendocrine markers in rugby union players. At the professional level, rugby is an intense and physically demanding game where a significant amount of tissue trauma occurs as a result of the many game collisions. The aims of the studies outlined in this thesis were to determine the effects of acute, repeated and chronic exercise exposure on immunoendocrine markers and illness incidence in professional rugby union. Additional case studies were also undertaken to supplement main study findings.
The first part of the thesis documented the effects of acute and repeated exercise on immunoendocrine markers in a cohort of international rugby union players. Data in study 1 showed that large disturbances in immunoendocine and hormone levels occur in players (n = 10) following game play. The magnitude of this response appeared dependent on game physicality (number of rucks/mauls, tackles) and the number of collisions players received during match play. Findings also showed suppression in host immunity, and in particular, innate immune function (neutrophil degranulation) which was not resolved 38 h (-29%) into the recovery period. In study 2, bloods were taken from players (n = 8) across a 21-day international rugby series. Data revealed that players entered the international camp with residual muscle damage (creatine kinase; CK) and inflammation (hs-CRP) following previous club involvement in European cup rugby. Further increases in stress related markers (cortisol, IL-6, CK, CRP) were not evident throughout the players time at the international training base. Conversely, a progressive increase in anabolic-catabolic balance (T/C ratio) was observed across time. In comparison to values on camp-entry (day 1), increases in T/C ratio were evident on day-5 (9.8%), day-7 (13%), day-19 (35%) and day-21 (45%) (P < 0.05). This data is suggestive of improved physiological recovery and was commensurate with team fitness goals (reduced volume + maintenance of training intensity) for that time. Findings suggest that monitoring of player club activities and training load preceding international duty is pertinent if they are required to represent their country inside 7 days.
The second part of the thesis evaluated the stress induced effects of chronic rugby exposure in professional club players. Questionnaire data analysed from study 3 showed that players (n = 65) perceived current season length as being ‘too long’ (55%), ‘poorly structured’ (56%) and that game demands are increasing with time (52%). Furthermore, the majority of players (80%) felt that time ‘away’ from rugby was not sufficiently long enough and were in favour of a mid-season break (2 wks in duration).
Investigation into the effects of chronic exercise on illness incidence, immunological and psychological state was carried out in a squad of club players (n = 30) over a competitive season (n = 48 wks) in studies 4-6. Findings revealed that specific periods in a rugby season resulted in disturbances to hormonal and immune status. These periods occurred following breaks in club game fixtures [November international and Six-nations period: February/early March], times of increased training intensity and increased ratio of conditioning/rugby activity. Peaks in number of upper respiratory illnesses (URIs) and disturbances in psychometric variables also occurred during these time periods. In 23% of all URIs, players reported that the presence of the illness either reduced activity (14.4%) or felt the need to go to bed (8.6%). Positional differences in variables were also observed. A higher incidence of URIs (3.4 vs 4.3) and lower concentrations of resting immune markers [salivary lysozyme: s-Lys (-31%); immunoglobulin A: s-IgA (-27%)] was observed in ‘backs’ (vs forwards) over the season. Higher mid-season cortisol levels was also observed in backs (P < 0.05) while conversely, greater concentrations of plasma CK and CRP were found in forwards throughout the season. These findings indicate positional specific differences in response to exercise load and point to the role of group specific recovery at certain times during the season. Data from study 6 showed that the number of training related complaints decreased across the season, findings which closely resembled corresponding decreases in plasma CRP values. This data is suggestive of a ‘repeated-bout’ effect or ‘contact adaptation’ in rugby union.
Finally, comparison of methods used in the recording of illness data revealed that players were more honest when disclosing the existence of banal infections to a web-based training diary and under-reported infections to medical staff