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Karl Popper and Pentecostal Historiography
Get PDFKarl Popper argued that science proceeds not by induction but by offering explanatory theories which scientists then attempt to falsify. What cannot be falsified, falls outside the realm of science. In applying his ideas to the writing of history Popper was particularly scathing about Marxist predictions of future historical development. But he did believe history could be written by looking at the situations historical figures found themselves in and the problems they attempted to solve. Pentecostal historiography has been divided into four main types: the providential, the historical roots, the multicultural and the functional. When each of these types is analysed and judged against Popper’s strictures against induction, we find, among other things, that the unfashionable providential account need not be ruled out
Abortion Care: The Staff Perspective
Get PDFWorking in abortion care presented a unique set of social, emotional and practical challenges for staff. Because of working in abortion care some staff expressed a sense of isolation from other colleagues. They said that those who didn’t work in abortion care considered it an unpopular job and perceived patients requesting abortion as more ‘challenging ‘and ‘problematic’ than other patients, partly because of the additional time required but also because of the emotional investment which is associated with the role. Staff’s sense of isolation was manifested because they felt they couldn’t talk to others about their job. Irrespective of their perceived sense of isolation the desire to provide a service for women in need was a motivational factor for those staff who had chosen to work in this area.
Although staff, said personal opinions did not have a place in the delivery of care some were unable to disassociate themselves professionally from their own deeply held personal convictions. In addition, some said that they felt unable to voice opposition to an expectation that they would work in this area if it was included as part of a wider women’s health remit. They indicated that sometimes their feelings were compromised by this aspect of the role indicating they felt unable to exercise their right to conscientious objection.
The subject of repeat abortion provoked particularly negative staff emotions for personal and professional reasons, especially if patients repeatedly accessed abortion services because of non use of contraception. Often staff admitted they wanted to ‘lecture’ patients about the issue and some implied that eventually patients may be less likely to receive good care in these instances. However staff reported that women who requested abortion for foetal abnormality were likely to receive more sympathy, understanding and care.
The practical challenges mainly concerned whether facilities were appropriate, available and accessible for patient care. Staff recommended that facilities ideally shouldn’t be sited near ante-natal or post-natal areas and there should be provision locally for late gestation abortion and swift access
My 'Best' Teacher
No full textThis article reports the analysis of 59 articles entitled 'my best teacher' printed in the UK Times Educational Supplement January 2000 - August 2003. The research identifies the common qualities/characteristics of ‘best’ teachers, compares the field of endeavour of the interviewee with the discipline of their 'best teacher' and examines 'light-bulb' moments; times when teachers especially inspired their students. A qualitative thematic analysis of the interviews in the articles has been utilised. The most frequently identified personal qualities contributing to a ‘best teacher’ are also reported. Finally, a model to illustrate dimensions of a 'best' teacher is presented
A qualitative study to evaluate breast care nursing in North Wales from the user perspective
No full textBackground to the study: Breast care services for Wales developed in response to government requirements that breast cancer care should be delivered only by specialist multi-disciplinary teams in cancer units treating at least 100 new breast cancer patients per year.
Study aims: A study was conducted to evaluate the Breast Care Nursing Service within North Wales from the perspectives of both staff and patients. This paper presents the findings of the second stage of the patient survey, the aim of which was to investigate patients’ experiences using a qualitative interview.
Methodological issues: Thirteen patients were interviewed using a semi-structured interview guide developed from the findings of the patient questionnaire survey.
Findings/Conclusion: Although patients valued the BCNS service for the support offered around the time of diagnosis, improvements were also identified. Initial referral could be improved by training practice nurses and district nurses in recognising early signs of breast cancer. BCNSs could provide support and supervision in this role. During diagnosis and treatment, BCNSs could be more proactive in providing information and support to women and their families. Further research is needed in order to develop a tool to determine how patients would like this need to be assessed. Finally, improvements in follow up care require either additional resources in the form of BCNSs, or more involvement of community nurses in performing certain procedures and offering long-term support
Relationship Management and Lean Analysis in Maintaining Horticulture Supply Chains with Micro-businesses in Wales
Get PDFThe horticulture sector is characterised by variability in production volumes and quality, fluctuating prices and goods of short shelf life. ‘Lean’ analysis is used to identify strengths and weaknesses in relationships between micro-businesses in horticulture. Three case studies of small horticultural enterprises, a scale prevalent in the sector in Wales, describe relationships and supply structures. A model for the generic application of relationship management to smaller enterprises is proposed in which the effects of continued adherence in inter-company relationships, and supply system configuration, are examined in relation to the effectiveness of collaborations. Relationship management needs to be a priority in these small enterprises. Buyer dominance over suppliers may decrease the effectiveness of relationships in small and micro-enterprises in Welsh horticulture
From learning without limits to leading without limits: An autobiographical reflective case study of leading academic development within higher education
Get PDFThis autobiographical case study reflects upon how a senior academic leader repurposed the Learning without Limits pedagogical framework originally developed within UK primary and secondary school settings to inform the development of a new transformational leadership framework within a higher education setting. Kolb’s Experiential Learning Cycle is used to structure an analytically self-reflective account of the leadership behaviours deployed for a distributed model of academic development to be effective, viewed through the lens of Learning without Limits. As a result, a new framework to inform effective approaches to the leadership of change in higher education is suggested: Leading without Limits
Composite repairs to bridge steels demystified
Get PDFThis paper examines crack growth associated with carbon fibre reinforced plastic (CFRP) repairs to cracked bridge steels and boron epoxy composite and fibre metal patch repairs to cracked aluminium alloy structures. It is first shown that the da/dN versus ΔK curves associated with bridge steels is very similar to that seen in the high strength aerospace steel D6ac. The importance of 1st ply failure, which was first observed on a boron epoxy repair to the F-111 D6ac steel wing pivot fitting, and how to alleviate this failure mechanism is then discussed as is the common design approach whereby after patching the repair is designed to have a ΔK beneath the ASTM long crack threshold ΔKth. It is shown that crack growth in bridge steels repaired with CFRP patches and in aluminium alloy structures repaired with either boron epoxy or glare patches exhibit a near linear relationship between the log of the crack length and the number of cycles. We then show that crack growth in these repairs can be represented by the same simple master curve relationship that has been found to hold for cracks growing in both operational aircraft and full scale fatigue tests. These findings are important since they suggest that the methodology used by the Royal Australian Air Force to certify structural modifications to operational aircraft may also be applicable to composite repairs/modifications to steel bridges, which are generally experience significantly lower stresses
Rheological properties of a polysaccharide isolated from Adansonia digitata leaves
Get PDFThe rheological properties of Adansonia digitata leaf polysaccharide were studied in dilute and semi-dilute solutions. The intrinsic viscosity of the polysaccharide obtained by Fedors equation and the combined Huggins and Kraemer extrapolations was ∼3.27 dL/g. The polysaccharide contained random coil macromolecules with mass average molecular mass of 4.01 × 106 g/mol. The polysaccharide in semi-dilute concentrations exhibited strong shear thinning property, and viscoelastic behaviour was observed with solutions within (3–5% (w/w)) consistent with the formation of entangled random coil macromolecules in solution. The polysaccharide solutions were sensitive to temperature and the minimum energy to initiate flow in 4.0% polysaccharide solution calculated from Arrhenius plot of zero shear viscosity as a function of temperature was 48.6 kJ/mol. The FTIR spectral studies of the polysaccharide confirmed the presence of uronic acid groups
MOCVD of Cd(1-x)Zn(x)S/CdTe PV cells using an ultra-thin absorber layer
Get PDFUltra-thin Cd(₁ ₋ ₓ)Zn(ₓ)S/CdTe devices were produced by atmospheric pressure metal organic chemical vapour deposition (AP-MOCVD) with varying CdTe absorber thicknesses ranging from 1.0 to 0.2 mm and compared to baseline cells with total CdTe thickness of 2.25μ. The ultra-thin CdTe layers (≤1 μm) were intentionally doped with As to induce p-type conductivity in the absorber. Cell performance reduced with CdTe thickness, with the magnitude of photo-current generation loss becoming more significant for the very thin CdTe layers. The decline in cell performance was lower than the optically limited performance relating to a decrease in shunt resistance, Rsh, especially for the thinnest cells due to areas of incomplete CdTe coverage and large presence of pin-holes leading to micro-shorts. Incorporation of Zn into the CdS window layer improved cell performance for all devices except when 0.2 μm thick CdTe was used. This improvement was markedly in the blue region owing to enhanced optical transparency of the window layer. External quantum efficiency (EQE) measurements showed a red-shift of the window layer absorption edge due to leaching out of Zn during the CdCl₂ treatment. Reduction of the CdCl₂ deposition time was demonstrated to recover the blue response of the ultra-thin cells
A case study using a methodological approach to developing user interfaces for elderly and disabled people
Get PDFIn this paper, we present a case study on the development of interfaces for elderly and disabled users. The domain of the case study was situated in the home environment, where we focused on producing affordable technologies to enable users to interact with and to control home appliances. We have developed ambient user interfaces that are integrated in familiar home artefacts, such as televisions and digital picture frames. These interfaces are connected remotely to a home network and are adaptive to users’ expected increasing physical and cognitive needs. To support the development of the project, we created a novel methodology that is grounded in the ethical issues associated with a project of this nature. Our success with it has led to us presenting it here as a practical approach to developing user interfaces for a range of interactive applications, especially where there may be diverse user populations. This paper describes our journey through this project, how the methodology has been used throughout and the development of our user interfaces and their evaluation