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Remarkable lives: Jen Waring in conversation with Jerome Carson
No full textPurpose– The purpose of this paper is to provide a profile of Jen Waring.Design/methodology/approach – Jen provides a short biographical description of her life. She is then interviewed by Jerome.Findings – Jen talks about her long battle with mental health problems and what has sustained her over this time. She talks about the crucial importance of support from both loved ones and professionals, as well as medication.Research limitations/implications – Single case studies are of course just one person’s story. Given Jen is an academic biologist, she not only has a unique way of looking at mental illness, she can see the potential of developing approaches in the biological understanding for people experiencing mental distress.Practical implications – Jen’s account shows the need for long-term support for more severe mental health problems. There are no quick fixes! It also highlights the need for interventions at biological, psychological and social levels.Social implications – People need “somewhere to live, someone to love and something meaningful to do” (Rachel Perkins). Many sufferers do not have all three. Services may only be able to provide two of these.Originality/value – Accounts of mental illness recovery by academics can often provide the authors with amazing insights into the world of the mentally distressed. They can also serve as an inspiration to the many students who experience mental distress
Flexible surface acoustic wave broadband strain sensors based on ultra-thin flexible glass substrate
No full textFlexible SAW devices based on ZnO piezoelectric thin film deposited on ultra-thin flexible glass were fabricated and their performances as a strain sensor have been investigated. The XRD and AFM characterizations showed that the ZnO layers have good crystal quality and smooth surface. The flexible SAW devices show excellent strain sensitivity which increases from ∼87 to ∼137 Hz/με with the increasing ZnO thickness, and the sensors can withstand strains up to ∼3000 με, 4∼6 times larger than those of SAW strain sensors on rigid substrates. The sensors exhibited remarkable stability up to hundreds of times bending under large strains. The effects of environmental variables (temperature, humidity, UV light) on the sensor performance have been investigated. The temperature has a significant effect on the performance of the SAW strain sensor, while humidity and light have limited effect
Thought on the outside: twenty-first century modernism in Will Self’s Umbrella
No full textThis paper seeks to establish what is distinctive about Will Self’s return to techniques of literary modernism in his novel Umbrella (2012). Despite deploying narrative styles typically reserved for the depiction of ‘inner’ worlds, Self’s novel seems more concerned with the concept of thought as a stream than with the psychological introspection afforded by ‘stream of consciousness’ narration. Drawing on William James’s founding ideas about the ‘stream of thought’ in Principles of Psychology (1890), this article suggests that Self’s version of modernism owes a greater debt to James’s philosophy of embodied cognition than to the interior monologue as a literary form. Through a range of stylistic anomalies, including abrupt shifts in grammatical congruence, idiosyncratic italicisation, and surprising jumps mid-sentence between different stories, Self dismantles the novelistic illusion of the isolated mind, returning thinking to a transpersonal affective stream on which conceptual order floats. In capturing a sense of the interflow between mind, body and world, his stream of consciousness serves new political and philosophical ends, challenging us to ask what our bodies are doing and where our minds are going in our present time
The contribution of IMS Learning Design to the creation of reusable learning resources
No full textThe concept of learning object is discussed, and its value assessed. It is proposed that the key factor is use, rather than the inherent characteristics of the object. The eLearning specifications which can be used to define reusable learning objects are then reviewed, and their advantages and disadvantages outlined. IMS Learning Design (LD) is discussed in greater detail, together with its origins in the earlier OUNL EML specification, and analyzed in terms of the debate surrounding learning objects. The feasibility of using IMS LD to support reusability is examined, with reference to studies carried out at Universitat Pompeu Fabra. Appropriate tooling is identified as a key issue, and current initiatives for supporting implementation and adoption of the specification are indicated
The potential for disorientation and disconnection of international students
No full textThere has been a great interest by UK universities in the recruitment of international students. Higher education institutions in the UK have attempted to put measures in place to ensure international students settle quickly when they embark on their studies. This study has noted that when international students start university they are often overwhelmed by the new systems and learning cultures. this can create both academic and social challenges, potentially resulting in poor performance and extra support.This study explores the progress of international undergraduate business students at the University of Bolton during the academic year 2015-2016. In order to undertake this study, data was gathered from students and staff members. This was done using both questionnaires and semi structured interviews focusing on key pedagogical issues faced by international students at the university. The research findings from this study show that the undertaking of education in a new country resents international students with additional challenges, which if not managed effectively can form serious barriers to learning. Potentially, those students who are not effectively supported may become disorientated and disconnected from heir course and the wider university. Based on initial research, the study has established several potential barriers: initial orientation, academic interaction, social integration.The aim of this research is to review some of the key issues facing international students with a view to providing examples of best practice focusing on student centred pedagogy and support at the university
Consumers’ credit card repayment decisions: The role of higher anchors and future repayment concern
No full textWe investigated two aspects of credit card repayment decisions: the extent to which the anchoring effect of minimum repayment information may be mitigated by information on alternative anchors, specifically repayments that would repay the balance in two years (Study 1) or nine months (Study 2); and the role of future repayment concern. In two experiments, three realistic credit card statements were presented with different outstanding balances. Participants, who were randomly allocated to one of four information conditions depending on supplementary information provided on the statements, stated how much they would repay that month. They were then asked about concerns they would have about repayment difficulties if they had a fixed consumer loan over three years. In Study 1 the alternative two-year repayment anchor had a negative effect on percent repayment, whereas in Study 2 the nine-month repayment anchor had a significant positive effect, especially for those with higher future repayment concern. Also, in both studies, future repayment concern had a direct inverse effect on repayment decisions which partially mediated the effect of disposable income. It is concluded that the addition to credit card statements of a table of cost and duration information for a range of repayment amounts may usefully support repayment decisions
Everyday leisure and happiness in worktown: a comparison of 1938 and 2014.
No full textThis paper presents an analytical comparison of two surveys of subjective perceptions of leisure and happiness. The first was undertaken in 1938 by Mass Observation for its ethnographic study of everyday working-class life in Bolton, or “Worktown”. Leisure was found to be important to happiness insofar as it formed part of an everyday communal life, working through friendship, the appreciation of music and enjoyment of nature, reading and involvement in informal active citizenship. The second survey was undertaken in 2014 as a part-replication of the 1938 survey, using the method adopted by Mass Observation of linking a series of everyday situations and experiences to happiness. A total of 489 self-selecting respondents completed a questionnaire modelled on that used in 1938. The 2014 survey revealed a number of important continuities and differences from the survey of 1938 and the importance of leisure as an agent of happiness rose from eighth place in 1938 to third place in 2014