Mapping the origins of time: Scalar errors in infant time estimation

Time is central to any understanding of the world. In adults, estimation errors grow linearly with the length of the interval, much faster than would be expected of a clock-like mechanism. Here we present the first direct demonstration that this is also true in human infants. Using an eye-tracking paradigm, we examined 4-, 6-, 10-, and 14-month-olds' responses to the omission of a recurring target, on either a 3- or 5-s cycle. At all ages (a) both fixation and pupil dilation measures were time locked to the periodicity of the test interval, and (b) estimation errors grew linearly with the length of the interval, suggesting that trademark interval timing is in place from 4 months

The Use of Three Dimensional Laser Imaging for Facial Reconstruction

This thesis outlines the examination and test of a method developed by the University College, London, Department of Medical Physics and Bioengineering for facial reconstruction using the latest technology in three dimensional laser imaging. The University College technique involves a skull on a rotating platform as the focal point of a laser beam fanned out into a straight line. A video camera placed obliquely to the skull records the distortions in the laser beam created by the surface contours. These distortions are recorded from two directions through the use of four surface-silvered mirrors which allows for the triangulation of all the points along the laser beam. As the skull rotates numerous points are measured in order to create a three dimensional computer image of the skull. In the second phase of the process, a living individual of comparable age, race, sex, and stature to the skull under examination is scanned using the same process. The two separate images are then combined to form a third which is assumed to represent a reconstructed image of the skeletal material. Although the results of the faces that have been created by this method have thus far been successful, University College has not been able to conduct adequate testing of this process. This is largely due to the mainly historic nature of the subjects, and an inability to gain access to modern remains. This lack constitutes a possible flaw in what would otherwise be a highly beneficial system. In order to conduct such tests, five skulls were used from the Anthropological Research Facility at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville that had been photographed prior to decomposition. A blind test of the system with a comparison of the final computer generated image to the individual\u27s photograph would provide results that can confirm or reject the validity of the technique. The skepticism voiced over the use of the data taken from live individuals, specifically its combination with the remains to create the final image, has been shown to have grounds for concern. Preliminary results indicate that both the use of older living subjects, with more prominent facial features (necessary due to the aged nature of the skeletal remains), and an over-weight subject provide problems with which the system has difficulty in coping. Also the use of a living subject with a facial expression creates a further feature for which the computer is unable to compensate. However, it is possible to instruct the system to produce a result using the more traditional skin depth measurement tables, as well as adding a program to enable the computer to \u27average out\u27 any distinct features of the living subject used. These aspects provide further avenues for experimentation and testing. The implications of this system could be far reaching. If the accuracy of the technique can be enhanced then the potential for the method to provide a quick, realistic, and affordable image of a set of skeletal remains can be realized. In addition, this technique could provide a reliable and beneficial service to many law enforcement agencies. The somewhat negative results offer valuable information on which aspects of the system need to be revised. This factor is especially important because this technique is growing in popularity, and the accuracy of its methodology must continue to be assessed and improved

Improving the quality of academic reflective writing in Nursing: a comparison of three different interventions

Students are rarely explicitly taught how to develop their writing within a subject discipline, as there is usually a focus on teaching content. However, academic writing, and in particular Academic Reflective Writing (ARW), is very challenging for most students. In this study, a series of three embedded writing development interventions were trailed with successive cohorts of postgraduate Nursing students writing a summative 4000 word piece of ARW. The interventions included the use of example texts to make task requirements more explicit, formative peer feedback on draft texts and facilitating increased dialogue between staff and students regarding expectations of this task. Overall the interventions represented a shift towards assessment for learning. Quantitative results showed a decrease in the number of students investigated for plagiarism, a rise in pass rates and mean grades, and an increased uptake of academic supervision over the three cohorts. In addition, complementary findings from a self-selected focus group interview indicated that respondents perceived the writing development activities to be very useful. In particular, the formative peer and tutor review of written drafts, was valued. However, a limitation of this pragmatic mixed method study was that the three cohorts were non-equivalent. Despite this, it is argued that, as ARW is so complex, disciplinary academics should embed explicit guidance and scaffolding in their teaching in order to enhance written reflection and learning. Failure to do so may lead ARW to become an exclusive educational practice leading to unintentional plagiarism and poor written reflection on practice

Open Research for Academics: how to be an academic in the twenty-first century

Open research is about more than open access. It is about making all aspects of the research process open to all possible interested parties. Ahead of a workshop and hackathon later this week, Bianca Elena Ivanof and Caspar Addyman outline some steps towards being a successful academic in the 21st century; from writing clearly and engaging with the public to opening up your research to your peers

The Medieval Kirk, Cemetery and Hospice at Kirk Ness, North Berwick

Between 1999-2006 Addyman Archaeology carried out extensive archaeological excavations on the peninsular site of Kirk Ness, North Berwick, during the building, landscaping and extension of the Scottish Seabird Centre. This book presents the results of these works but its scope is much broader. Against the background of important new discoveries made at the site it brings together and re-examines all the evidence for early North Berwick – archaeological, historical, documentary, pictorial and cartographic – and includes much previously unpublished material. An essential new resource, it opens a fascinating window on the history of the ancient burgh. Kirk Ness is well known as the site of the medieval church of the parish and later royal burgh of North Berwick but it has long been suggested that it was also a centre of early Christian activity. The dedication of the church to St Andrew was speculatively linked to the translation of the Saint's relics to St Andrews in Fife in the 8th century. An early medieval component of the site was indeed confirmed by the excavation, with structural remains, individual finds and an important new series of radiocarbon dates. Occupation of a domestic character may possibly reflect a monastic community associated with an early church. Individual finds included stone tools, lead objects, ceramic material and a faunal assemblage that included bones of butchered seals, fish and seabirds such as the now-extinct Great Auk. The site continued in use as the medieval and early post-medieval parish and burgh church of St Andrew. In this period Kirk Ness and its harbour was an important staging point for pilgrims on route to the shrine of St Andrew in Fife. Domestic occupation discovered in the excavations is likely to be associated with a pilgrims’ hospice, also suggested in historical sources. This publication also provides a new analysis of the church ruin and an account of the major unpublished excavation of the site carried out in 1951-52 by the scholar and antiquary Dr James Richardson, Scotland's first Inspector of Ancient Monuments and resident of North Berwick. The excavations also revealed areas of the cemetery associated with the church, dating to the 12th–17th centuries, where inhumations presented notable contrasts in burial practice. Osteological study shed much light upon the health and demographics of North Berwick’s early population and identified one individual who met with a particularly violent death

Re-Creating Organizational Routines to Transition Through the Project Life Cycle: A Case Study of the Reconstruction of London’s Bank Underground Station

This article provides new insights into the project life cycle by proposing an alternative image to the predefined time boundary between life cycle stages. It makes a theoretical contribution by identifying how project organizations re-create patterns of action—organizational routines—as they transition through life cycle stages. It presents the findings of an autoethnographic empirical study and, through the lens of routine dynamics, contributes to the project management literature by identifying a five-stage process model of transitioning and the generative mechanisms involved in re-creating patterns of action

The timing of patterning or the patterning of timing? Organisational routines in temporary organisations

Large, or mega, construction project organisations are temporary in nature and traditionally structured around a life cycle model consisting of predefined, time bound sequential stages of work that are designed to process information and reduce uncertainty. Yet as organising through projects becomes both more prevalent and challenging, it could be argued that such a model constrains our understanding and representation of what ‘actually’ happens beyond these deterministic structures and prescriptive routines, specifically in understanding ‘how’ construction project organisations transition through the predefined time boundaries of the sequential stages. This thesis contributes to this knowledge by identifying an alternative image of the life cycle model through empirically investigating the ‘transition’ between life cycle stages, with ‘incomplete’ information. It identifies a five stage ‘recursive process model of transitioning’ that highlights the underlying generative mechanisms involved in the (re)creation of organisational routines in managing the incompleteness associated with transitioning from one life cycle stage to the next. It presents an empirical autoethnographic case study over one year, observing a construction project organisation as it sought to transition from its design stage, through formal sanction, and into its construction stage. Informed ontologically by process metaphysics, and through challenging the underlying theoretical temporal assumptions of temporary organisations - ‘newness’, and organisational routines - ‘repetition’, it describes managing project transitions as ‘dialogical action’, influenced by the spatiotemporal aspects of the organising inquiry. It identifies the patterning of action within six transition routines, that when mapped over time present the five stage recursive process model of transition. Despite a successful three-year relationship in developing organisational capability between the client and the contractor in the design stage, as the pre-defined date for the commencement of the construction stage neared, there emerged a realisation of the impending uncertainty that this new stage would bring. Triggered by various formal and informal transition ‘rituals’, the organisations’ search for, and assumptions about the ‘sufficient completeness’, or ‘necessary incompleteness’ of information led to both the effortful and emergent (re)creation in the ‘patterning of dialogic action’ from the design stage, into the construction stage

How Crucial are Multi-Cultural Texts to Social Awareness and Acceptance in the Universal Pre-Kindergarten Setting?: A Study on Views on Family Structure

This study examined the impact that multi-cultural picture books have on students’ views on different family structures in the Universal Pre-Kindergarten setting. Research was conducted in a Universal Pre-Kindergarten classroom in a whole and small group setting. Data was collected through informal observations, student work, and pre and post interviews. The findings showed that the students could benefit greatly from multi-cultural picture books when coupled with meaningful discussions and/or extending activities. In order to determine the full potential of using multi-cultural picture books within the classroom to impact students’ views on different family structures, more research needs to be conducted