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'Check the Google resource': the library view on demystifying the process of acquiring and retaining electronic resources
No full textThis session aims to demystify the process of providing electronic resources to our library users. Electronic resources can be very expensive to purchase and present with them a number of challenges that can have a significant impact on the way in which the resources are accessed and maintained. The preferred lifecycle of an electronic resource will be presented and how it can be used to inform matters of library collection management. It will be seen that the provision of electronic resources and the way in which it is undertaken is essential to contributing to the overall experience of students. The role of the library in providing resources will be explored by examining both the picture at the University of Bolton and in the wider context. The paper will also consider the importance of delivering user education and heightening awareness of electronic resources to ensure the resources not only provide good value for money in terms of usage, but also that they serve our students in the best way possible. By undertaking a continuous assessment of resource provision, the library can ensure that the resources it provides remain fit for purpose
Game over? Assisting transition from FE to HE level studies for Games Art students
No full textThis article describes a case study of the process, implementation, delivery and outcomes of a half-day workshop designed to improve the transition from further education (FE) to higher education (HE) for new first-year students studying on a Games Art undergraduate degree programme. Held in student induction week, the purpose of the workshop was to: spark initial interest and motivation in research activities relevant to the student's subject area of Games Art; enhance the first-year student experience, and; to assist retention of students, especially at first-year level. As a work in progress, this workshop is part of a larger university wide project to improve the first-year student experience, raise standards in research and scholarship, and aid retention. The implications of this workshop as a preliminary activity to work towards the continued increase of academic standards and confidence in research is discussed, also if this workshop may be used as a model across other subject areas and in other institutions
FORD MADOX FORD: THE GOOD COLLABORATOR
No full text[...]both of them provided an inclusive and "disinterested" space in which different generations of writers were able to enter into productive dialogue with one another and both of them played a vital mediating role between modernism and tradition'. One prospered for decades, the other for a season. Ford negotiated a transition from the fin de siècle taste of his boyhood environment to the disciplines of early modernism and then, as Greene puts it, after World War I in the transatlantic review he bridged the great gap, publishing the early Hemingway, Cocteau, Stein, Pound, the music of Antheil, and the drawings of Braque' and smoking those bent Gauloises that tasted and smelled of dust and dung'. It is less that he moved with the times than that he understood change and its consequences in art. The adjective 'clubbable' suggests a character who delights in social intercourse; it entails very English tones of politeness, irony, satire, sarcasm, the good laugh, the quietly struck understanding, with the emollient of tobacco smoke, spirits and wine, an agreeable and relatively secure closed environment. In Joseph Conrad: A Personal Remembrance (1924), which Mrs Conrad made such a fuss about, Ford remembers the publication of their 1903 collaboration Romance and its succès d'estime' - or rather, Not much of that even, for the critics of our favoured land do not believe in collaboration'. And Ford was by instinct a collaborative artist, sometimes across generations and cultures (Conrad was 41, he was 24 when they met), sometimes across media. Who in this world knows anything of any other heart - or of his own?' Greene regarded Ford's success as rooted in his failure, yet, I don't suppose failure disturbed him much: he had never really believed in human happiness, his middle life had been made miserable by passion, and he had come through - with his humour intact, his stock of unreliable anecdotes, the kind of enemies a man ought to have, and a half-belief in a posterity which would care for good writing.' It has proven an intermittent and not very populous prosperity where his novels are concerned
Inertial-aided sequential 3D metric surface reconstruction from monocular image streams
No full textThe self-acting digital reconstruction of 3D objects from monocular image streams, generally known as Structure-from-Motion (SfM), has been a subject of computer vision research for several decades. Most classical SfM approaches are off-line methods which implement a huge optimisation problem, based on a complete image sequence (often referred to as bundle adjustment (BA)). Such an iterative non-linear optimisation is very costly, in terms of computation time and cannot be used under real-time conditions.Recently, ideas from vision-based Simultaneous Localisation and Mapping (SLAM) were used to develop sequential-SfM frameworks for real-time applications. SLAM typically consist of two stages: the generation of an initial 3D scene model and then sequential SfM. BA requires an initial estimate, relatively close to the actual solution, to converge in a reasonable amount of time. This paper suggests a novel concept for sequential 3D scene reconstruction based on the integration of inertial measurements, as an aiding modality, in order to provide a reasonable initial guess for bundle adjustment. This new approach is able to outperform other techniques, in terms of accuracy and computational complexity
Context is everything: Supporting young people taking medication for arthritis.
No full textFocal points The aim of this abstract is to describe the psychosocial context of medicine-taking for young people living with arthritis Family partnerships, relationships with peers, and the demands of school life all impact significantly on the medicine-taking practices of young people To be able to provide meaningful advice and services for young people, pharmacists must consider the psychosocial contextual factors in young people's lives that influence medicine-taking Better communication with the local rheumatology team, and an understanding of their prescribing practice, would equip pharmacists to support young people with JI
Crystalline structure effect on the performance of flexible ZnO/polyimide surface acoustic wave devices
No full textThis paper reports the fabrication of flexible surface acoustic wave (SAW) devices on ZnO/polyimide substrates and investigation of the effects of the deposition conditions, crystal quality, and film thickness of the ZnO films on the performance of the SAW devices. The deposition pressure has a significant effect on the crystal quality of the ZnO film, and which in turn affects the transmission of the SAW devices strongly. The device performance improves greatly and is mainly attributed to the better crystal quality of the film deposited at high pressure. The performance of the SAW devices also improves significantly with increase in ZnO film thickness, owing to the reduced defects and improved piezoelectric effect for the films with large grain sizes and better crystallinity as the film thickness increases. Flexible SAW devices with a resonant frequency of 153 MHz, a phase velocity of 1836 m/s, and a coupling coefficient of 0.79% were obtained on the ZnO film of 4 mu m thickness, demonstrated its great potential for applications in electronics and microsystems. (C) 2013 AIP Publishing LLC
Bolton Storyworld - you make the story? Assessing a transmedia narrative/work in progress.
No full textBolton Storyworld' is an online entertainment media environment that has been created and developed by students and tutors at the University of Bolton in association with Bellyfeel, a transmedia company based in Manchester. It is a development that is still in its initial trial stage and includes the narrative outputs of a diorama model of the story characters, a geo-locative website, a Facebook page, competitions, live student events, an online game and sequenced delivery via text and e-mail. This article will concentrate on an investigation of the narrative structures created to date by Bolton Storyworld and is the first in a series that the staff and students of the university will write together to consider issues raised by the project as it continues to develop
Flexible surface acoustic wave resonators built on disposable plastic film for electronics and lab-on-a-chip applications
No full textFlexible electronics are a very promising technology for various applications. Several types of flexible devices have been developed, but there has been limited research on flexible electromechanical systems (MEMS).Surface acoustic wave (SAW) devices are not only an essential electronic device, but also are the building blocks for sensors and MEMS. Here we report a method of making flexible SAW devices using ZnO nanocrystals deposited on a cheap and bendable plastic film. The flexible SAW devices exhibit two wave modes - the Rayleigh and Lamb waves with resonant frequencies of 198.1 MHz and 447.0 MHz respectively, and signal amplitudes of 18 dB. The flexible devices have a high temperature coefficient of frequency, and are thus useful as sensitive temperature sensors. Moreover, strong acoustic streaming with a velocity of 3.4 cm/s and particle concentration using the SAW have been achieved, demonstrating the great potential for applications in electronics and MEMS
New single-layer compression bandage system for chronic venous leg ulcers
No full textA new single-layer bandage system for the treatment of venous leg ulcers has been designed and developed at the University of Bolton. This three-dimensional (3D) knitted spacer fabric structure has been designed by making use of mathematical modelling and Laplace’s law. The sustained graduated compression of the developed 3D knitted spacer bandages were tested and characterized, and compared with that of commercially available compression bandages. It was observed that the developed 3D single-layer bandage meets the ideal criteria stipulated for compression therapy. The laboratory results were verified by carrying out a pilot user study incorporating volunteers from different age groups. This article examines the insight into the design and development of the new 3D knitted spacer bandage, along with briefly discussing the issues of compression therapy systems intended for the treatment of venous leg ulcers