1,109 research outputs found

    Facing the Future: the Changing Shape of Academic Skills Support at Bournemouth University

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    This paper explores the potential impact of changes to higher education in England on student expectations, engagement, lifestyles and diversity, and outlines implications for the development of digital literacy within academic skills support at Bournemouth University (BU). We will investigate how tackling resource constraints with organisational change can also enable efficient, centralised provision of support materials that utilise networks to overcome the risk of fragmented support for digital literacy. We will also look at how changing delivery modes for support can accommodate changing student lifestyles whilst tackling a weakness of centralised support for digital literacy: that it can become detached from the student’s subject-focused academic practice. Finally we will explore how involving students in developing support can help us to face changes to student expectations and engagement whilst ensuring that materials are authentic and speak to learners in their own voice

    Dissimilarity is used as evidence of category membership in multidimensional perceptual categorization: a test of the similarity-dissimilarity generalized context model

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    In exemplar models of categorization, the similarity between an exemplar and category members constitutes evidence that the exemplar belongs to the category. We test the possibility that the dissimilarity to members of competing categories also contributes to this evidence. Data were collected from two 2-dimensional perceptual categorization experiments, one with lines varying in orientation and length and the other with coloured patches varying in saturation and brightness. Model fits of the similarity-dissimilarity generalized context model were used to compare a model where only similarity was used with a model where both similarity and dissimilarity were used. For the majority of participants the similarity-dissimilarity model provided both a significantly better fit and better generalization, suggesting that people do also use dissimilarity as evidence

    Hematodinium infection seasonality in the Firth of Clyde (Scotland) nephrops norvegicus population: a re-evaluation

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    Hematodinium infections in Norway lobster Nephrops norvegicus from the Clyde Sea area (CSA) population, Scotland, UK, have previously been undetected in summer. This study aimed to establish if the CSA is actually devoid of infected N. norvegicus in this season. Two PCR assays, an ELISA and 2 tests that detect only patent infection (pleopod and body colour methods) were applied in a 21 mo study. Patent infection was seasonal, appearing predominantly in spring, while subpatent infection diagnosed by ELISA and PCR was highly prevalent in all seasons. Generalised linear modelling supported this assertion, as sampling in September and February significantly increased the probability of finding infected N. norvegicus (p < 0.01); infections were predominantly subpatent and patent respectively, at these times. Therefore, Hematodinium seasonality in N. norvegicus populations is likely to have been an artefact of insensitive diagnostic tests. Light Hematodinium infections were found using PCR assays when patent infections were at their most prevalent and intense, suggesting that infection develops at different rates in different N. norvegicus individuals and that only a portion of the total number of infected N. norvegicus die within a single year. These new data were added to a long-term data series for the CSA (1990 to 2008), which showed that after an initial 5 yr epidemic period, prevalence stabilised at 20 to 25%. Comparisons with ‘susceptible-infected-recovered/removed’ (SIR) models suggest that this high prevalence is maintained through high birth rates of susceptible host N. norvegicus

    Millisecond accuracy video display using OpenGL under Linux

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    To measure people’s reaction times to the nearest millisecond, it is necessary to know exactly when a stimulus is displayed. This article describes how to display stimuli with millisecond accuracy on a normal CRT monitor, using a PC running Linux. A simple C program is presented to illustrate how this may be done within X Windows using the OpenGL rendering system. A test of this system is reported that demonstrates that stimuli may be consistently displayed with millisecond accuracy. An algorithm is presented that allows the exact time of stimulus presentation to be deduced, even if there are relatively large errors in measuring the display time

    Hearing Faces and Seeing Voices: The Integration and Interaction of Face and Voice Processing

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    Cognitive understanding of voice recognition has borrowed much from the area of face processing, both in terms of the theoretical framework within which results are interpreted, and the methodology used to assess performance. A considerable body of research now exists to suggest that voice recognition may proceed in parallel with face recognition, and that the two pathways may combine to inform person recognition. However, rather than being independent or equivalent, these parallel pathways appear to interact to reveal interesting interference effects. The present paper reviews a series of studies that focus on a considerable and growing literature. The vulnerability of voice processing will be explored relative to face processing, and the interaction of these two pathways will be examined with reference to broader theoretical frameworks for person recognition

    Design and testing of a thick-film dual-modality sensor for composition measurements in heterogeneous mixtures

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    The current paper focuses on design and laboratory evaluation of a dual-modality sensor, developed for the needs of oil and gas extraction industry to measure the composition of heterogeneous mixtures in harsh conditions. The sensor combines ultrasonic and electrical measurement techniques, which are non-destructive, rapid and can potentially provide an on-line industrial measurement. Such a ‘dual-modality’ measurement could potentially be reliable in a wider range of process conditions. A distinct feature of the sensors presented here is their construction, which makes use of the thick-film technology, enabling the construction of multi-layered structures of both conductive and non-conductive layers, some of which may exhibit piezoelectric properties for ultrasonic measurement purposes. These are later fired on a ceramic substrate to provide rugged sensors, capable of working in aggressive industrial environments. Laboratory experiments to investigate the feasibility of the dual-modality sensors were conducted and some comparisons with the theoretical predictions are presented

    Whole tourism systems: An academic portrait of Neil Leiper

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    Hing, N ORCiD: 0000-0002-2150-9784We are honoured and delighted to have the opportunity to write an academic portrait on Professor Neil Leiper who dedicated three decades of his life to academe prior to passing away on the 14 February 2010 from a brain tumour. He earned an international reputation as a leading tourism scholar. The contribution that he made was captured brilliantly by Pheroza Daruwalla, whose statement appeared on the back cover of the third edition of Neil’s Tourism Management textbook (Leiper, 2004): Neil Leiper is one of the best, most profound thinkers and writers internationally in his field. Especially noteworthy is his ability to clearly explain and describe their relevance to real world practices and issues. Neil is perhaps best known for his whole tourism systems work, which can be found as the basis for understanding tourism in any foundation tourism textbook. However, for those who had the opportunity to know Neil either through working with him as a colleague, being supervised by him, or talking to him at a conference, he is also known for his deep intellect, humour, and humbleness. Such an example of humbleness is evidenced by his extraordinarily brief biography supporting his Tourism Management book (Leiper, 2004), which is restricted to his affiliation:- “Neil Leiper is Professor of Tourism Management at Southern Cross University, New South Wales”. He wouldn’t have seen the point of saying anything more about himself. The structure of this academic portrait is in four main sections. It begins by providing a brief outline regarding Neil’s life. This portrait then provides personal reflections to give the readers insights into the person. This portrait then provides an outline of the history of some of Neil’s publications, before outlining Neil’s key research achievements. These authors have deliberately chosen to offer personal reflections prior to the research achievements to provide a more insightful narrative for the reader regarding his achievements. The personal insights outline some of Neil’s mentoring, thinking, idiosyncrasies, and ideas that these authors enjoyed in their capacities as colleagues, and in the case of this paper’s lead author, PhD student. These authors felt that appreciation of Neil’s research would be heightened through appreciating the individual

    Improving the piezoelectric properties of thick-film PZT: the influence of paste composition, powder milling process and electrode material

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    This paper details improvements of the d33 coefficient for thick-film Lead–Zirconate–Titanate (PZT) layers. In particular, the effect that the powder milling process has on particle size, shape and distribution has been investigated. Ball milled, jet milled and attritor milled powders were obtained from Morgan Electro-Ceramics Ltd. These powders were mixed with various ratios of lead borosilicate glass in the range of 5–20% by weight and an appropriate quantity of Electro-Science Laboratories (ESL) 400 solvent to formulate a screen printable thixotropic paste. The use of a polymer top electrode to reduce the number of firing cycles the PZT layer is subjected to was also investigated. The results show that the highest values of d33 were obtained from the ball milled powder with 10% glass content, but the most consistent results were obtained from the attritor milled samples. The samples printed with a polymer top electrode have shown an average increase of around 15% in the value of d33

    Astrophysical Hydrodynamics: An Introduction

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    This latest edition of the proven and comprehensive treatment on the topic -- from the bestselling author of ""Tapestry of Modern Astrophysics"" -- has been updated and revised to reflect the newest research results. Suitable for AS0000 and AS0200 courses, as well as advanced astrophysics and astronomy lectures, this is an indispensable theoretical backup for studies on celestial body formation and astrophysics. Includes exercises with solutions
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