185,086 research outputs found
Equivalent Capacity-Based Joint Multilevel Coding and Space–Time Transmit Diversity Design
No full textAssessment of damage tolerance levels in FRP ship structures
No full textThis work is concerned with the damage tolerance assessment of laminated composite structures used in ship structures. An intensive review has been carried out with regard to current experimental, analytical and numerical work on both laminates and structural elements. Particular attention has been focused on the problem of damage due to delamination and its structural consequences. Strength assessments of top hat stiffeners and tee joints has been carried out with a view to identifying regions most susceptible to delaminations. It has been shown that such regions are contained within the curved region of the overlaminate in both types of structural elements. Strain energy release rates and J-integral values have been calculated for specific cracks to determine their likelihood of propagation under a variety of loading conditions. Overall, a number of conclusions have been drawn with regard to single-skin marine FRP structures. For example, both the strength - and the energy - based approaches have predicted that a tee joint subjected to a 45 degree pull-off load, delaminations which are deep within the overlaminate are more likely to propagate than those close to the surface
Luby Transform Coding Aided Bit-Interleaved Coded Modulation for the Wireless Internet
No full textBit-Interleaved Coded Modulation using Iterative Decoding (BICM-ID) is amalgamated with Luby Transform (LT) coding. The resultant joint design of the physical and data link layer substantially improves the attainable Bit Error Rate (BER) performance. A Cyclic Redundancy Check (CRC) combined with a novel Log-Likelihood Ratio (LLR) based packet reliability estimation method is proposed for the sake of detecting and disposing of erroneous packets. Subsequently, bit-by-bit LT decoding is proposed, which facilitates a further BER improvement at a lower number of BICM-ID iterations. Finally, we revisit the pseudo random generator function used for designing the LT generator matrix
Achieving fitness to practice: contributing to public and patient protection through nurse education
No full textAim:
To determine the impact of reforms to fitness to practice procedures, within preparatory programmes for nurses and midwives, and the implications for public and patient protection.Background:
Professional regulation has seen considerable reform across all health care professions. Higher Education Institutions providing preparatory programmes are required to demonstrate procedures which ensure students are of good health and character in order to ensure public safety.Method:
A critical review and evaluation of fitness to practice systems, operating in one large school of nursing and midwifery delivering a wide range of programmes, was undertaken using a case study approach.Findings:
The review revealed the need for effective collaborative management of fitness to practice panels within achievable timescales and complimentary and responsive communication processes. Good technical support was required to achieve a student friendly, confidential, on-line self-declaration process, with complementary procedures for effective follow-up, to ensure emerging issues were addressed in a timely manner.Conclusion:
Public protection and confidence are high priorities. Case studies are vital to develop good practice, but effective systems challenge available resources. The processes reported contributed positively to a culture of partnership and transparency where self monitoring becomes inculcated into the students’ behaviour, leading to early recognition of the importance of high professional standards
A co-operative inquiry: Participation of mental health service users in the clinical practice decisions of mental health student nurses
No full textThis is a study about participation of mental health service users in the clinical practice decisions of mental health student nurses undertaking their nurse training. The research was undertaken with students, recruited from a higher education institution, in collaboration with mental health service users, recruited from mental health service user organisations, and was conducted over a period of eighteen months.Mental health service users have long been calling for greater involvement in the clinical decisions which affect their lives. Involvement in this context means decisions made collaboratively with service users where there is determined effort, on the part of the nurse, to share decisional power. Concern has also been expressed that current theory used to inform practice is derived predominantly from professional academics rather then those who use services. In order to address these issues, a co-operative inquiry design was adopted which engaged all participants as co-researchers, as well as co-subjects, and involved repeated cycles of action and reflection, using recorded group meetings as the means to collect the data. The aims of the study were to identify strategies for increasing user participation in decisions, to develop a model of good practice and to explore the value of co-operative inquiry as a vehicle for bringing about increased participation.The outcomes of the inquiry have been to identify, from a service user perspective, professional values, behaviours and actions and cultural aspects within organisations which inhibit or enable the sharing of power and participation in decisions. In addition the inquiry has developed the ‘time for change’ model which it is proposed could be used to evaluate aspects of participation within the clinical practice and education environment.The inquiry concludes by demonstrating the potential benefits and challenges of conducting meaningful participatory research. It also reflects on the value of the co-operative inquiry process as a vehicle for developing the students’ practice and moral development, which, it is argued, has wider utility in higher education and the practice learning environment. Finally the inquiry emphasises the need for an organisational culture in which the practice of participation can evolve and be nurtured, in order to overcome the systematic exclusion, or what has been termed ‘institutional userism’, which was a common experience for the inquiry participants
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
No full textWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
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