127 research outputs found
The design and construction of a microprocessor- based educational computer
No full textSince digital computers came into widespread use in the early 1960's there has been the need to educate Engineers and Scientists in the areas of logic, machine organisation and programming. The computer described is aimed primarily at the teaching of machine organisation while offering useful facilities in the other areas. In the past, machines demonstrating computer architecture have been special purpose machines, they are now rather dated and have proved to be very expensive. The new machine uses a microprocessor to simulate the operation of an educational computer in which the content of all registers and states of gates are simultaneously displayed. The computer has an order code and architecture which is typical of modern small computers and has four modes of operation, viz:- 'Manual' in which individual parts of the machine can be manipulated manually by push buttons. 'One bit' in which the machine will obey an instruction one-step at a time and return to manual mode on completion of the instruction. 'One Instruction' when the machine will carry out the sequence of steps forming an instruction at a selected speed and will return to manual mode on completion of the instruction. 'Continuous' in which the machine obeys sequential instructions taken from the store until it is stopped manually or reaches a 'halt' instruction when it returns to manual mode. While such a computer could be a specially built machine as in the past, use of a microprocessor reduces the display to a series of lamps and push buttons interfaced to the processor and the apparent operation of the computer is determined by the program held in Read-only memory. Thus changes in the architecture of the order code of the educational computer can be achieved by re-writing part or all of the program and it is therefore anticipated that the machine described will be capable of enhancement both easily and cheaply
Comment on : 'multi-element signatures of stream sediments and sources under moderate to low flow conditions' by M.I. Stutter, S.J. Langan, D.G. Lumsdon, L.M. Clark
No full textIn a recent paper on ‘Multi-element signatures of stream sediments and sources under moderate to low flow conditions’, Stutter et al., 2009 M.I. Stutter, S.J. Langan, D.G. Lumsdon and L.M. Clark, Multi-element signatures of stream sediments and sources under moderate to low flow conditions, Appl. Geochem. 24 (2009), pp. 800–809. Article | PDF (392 K) | View Record in Scopus | Cited By in Scopus (2)Stutter et al. (2009) presented results of a simple sediment source tracing method based on major and trace elements for a small agricultural catchment in NE Scotland. The authors reported statistically significant, larger concentrations of four trace elements (Ce, Nd, Th and Y) in bank subsoils (n = 5) and stream bed sediments (n = 3) compared to topsoils from both pasture (n = 5) and arable (n = 5) land. They used these differences to aid discrimination between topsoil and subsoil (stream bank erosion) contributions to bed sediment. These elements may be more depleted in topsoil compared to subsoil because the former have been subject to more intense weathering over a longer period. If these naturally occurring trace elements could be used to understand the relative proportions of topsoil and subsoil contributions to headwater bed sediments this approach might be applied more widely to elucidate transport pathways for the transfer of agricultural contaminants such as particulate phosphorus to streams (Walling et al., 2008). This approach warrants further investigation across a range of catchments at different scales with contrasting land use and bedrock types. This can be undertaken using data from regional-scale geochemical surveys (Johnson et al., 2005) which include analyses of both stream bed sediments and subsoil samples. Previous studies have shown that much of lowland central England is at risk of topsoil transfer to watercourses via land drains (Chapman et al., 2003). A geochemical survey across part of central England covering 15 400 km2 was recently undertaken and these data are well-suited to testing whether three of the four trace elements identified by Stutter et al. (2009) might be used to discriminate between topsoil and subsoil in sediments more widely. Specifically, if the concentrations of these elements are significantly smaller in stream bed sediments than in the subsoil, this may be due to mixing with topsoils which have lower concentrations of these elements. Below the regional-scale survey, the methods the author used to compare the geochemical data in subsoil and bed sediments described, and the findings and their implications discussed
Comment on "Citrate adsorption can decrease soluble phosphate concentration in soils : Results of theoretical modelling'' by Marek Duputel, Nicolas Devau, Michel Brossard, Benoit Jaillard, Davey L. Jones, Philippe Hinsinger and Frederic Gerard (2013)
No full textBy use of a multi-site surface complexation model, Duputel et al. (2013) showed that citrate can decrease the solubility of phosphorus in soils, in contrast to what is commonly expected. We have identified several major errors in their model, which put the conclusions in doubt. We argue that major re-evaluation of their modelling approach is needed.QC 20140702</p
Exploring small area demand for grocery retailers in tourist areas
No full textNewing, A., Clarke, G.P. and Clarke, M. 2014. Exploring small area demand for grocery retailers in tourist areas. Tourism Economics, 20(2), pp.407-427This paper uses data from a major loyalty card scheme to draw insights about the characteristics of grocery expenditure by tourists. The authors explore the volume, value and composition of store based visitor expenditure using consumer data from the loyalty card scheme. They focus on grocery spending at selected stores in Cornwall, a popular tourist destination in South West England. Theloyalty card data provide a valuable source rarely available for academic investigations. The authors are able to analyse visitor spend by socio-economic and geodemographic characteristics, drawing a range of comparisons with residential demand from within the store catchment areas. They demonstrate that visitor grocery expenditure is complex and varies by store, destination and type of customer. The paper presents evidence to suggest that the current approaches used to estimate sales uplift and local-level economic impact from visitor demand are unable to account for the complexities of this form of expenditure. Based on these insights, the authors recommend that sophisticated modelling is employed to estimate the impact of visitor expenditure
A New Sesterterpene Tetronic Acid and a Pentaprenylated Para-Quinol From An Australian Marine Sponge, Spongia Sp
No full textThe sesterterpene tetronic acid (1) and the pentaprenylated p-quinol (2) have been isolated from a specimen of sponge, Spongia sp., collected at a depth of 23 m from Port Phillip Bay, Australia. Structures were assigned on the basis of detailed spectroscopic analysis
Transport for Tourism: can public transport encourage a modal shift in the day visitor market?
No full textEditorial: Transport and Tourism: a Weak Symbiosis. An Introduction to the Special Issue
No full text“Tourism’s very existence depends on transport. Still, researchers in transportation and logistic
Making Research Outputs Accessible to People with Kidney Disease: Implementing the Dialysis Decision Aid Booklet.
No full textPurpose: To assess the impact of implementation activities on decision aid use by people making dialysis decisions. The Dialysis Decision Aid booklet was launched by a UK kidney disease charity when the research assessing its acceptability to patients with established kidney disease and predialysis services ended.
Method(s): observational study tracking use of decision aid by stakeholders. From September 2014, the researchers and charity team carried out activities known to lower barriers and facilitate use of patient decision aids. The decision aid’s use was monitored. Activities focused on a) raising awareness of the resource across stakeholder groups (e.g. distribution to clinical directors, at conferences and staff training), b) enabling accessibility (e.g. open-access on-line, post and via services; free), c) ensuring acceptability to service providers and users (e.g. research findings), d) encouraging motivation to use a decision aid (e.g. endorsement by professional organisations).
Result(s): during its first year (2015), the booklet was endorsed best practice for predialysis education by four medical professional organisations, two UK and two international; it was translated by one professional organisation for use in Spain, and one patient organisation for use in Italy; 350 booklets were requested directly by staff, carers and patients, and 450 downloaded via web-pages in the UK; nine UK renal units bulk ordered copies for their usual predialysis education resources; the paper describing its development and acceptability to staff and patients was accepted for publication in a peer-reviewed journal. Staff and patients using the decision aid comment it provides a “particularly patient friendly”, well written, accurate, balanced and comprehensive resource supporting peoples’ treatment decision making within, and/or independently of, predialysis programmes.
Conclusion(s): people accessing this decision aid find it enables them to think differently about dialysis treatment decisions in the context of their life, or that of their patient. It meets clinical guidelines enabling staff to support patients making informed decisions between dialysis options. However, there is practice variation in its adoption across services in the UK. This observational method is not able to capture data from those staff and patients who do not use an evidence-based, decision aid. There is a need for further research evaluating variations in use and its impact on both care quality and service outcomes
Reply to comment on: ‘Multi-element signatures of stream sediments and sources under moderate to low flow conditions’ by Barry Rawlins
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