Laser Based Mid-Infrared Spectroscopic Imaging – Exploring a Novel Method for Application in Cancer Diagnosis

A number of biomedical studies have shown that mid-infrared spectroscopic images can provide both morphological and biochemical information that can be used for the diagnosis of cancer. Whilst this technique has shown great potential it has yet to be employed by the medical profession. By replacing the conventional broadband thermal source employed in modern FTIR spectrometers with high-brightness, broadly tuneable laser based sources (QCLs and OPGs) we aim to solve one of the main obstacles to the transfer of this technology to the medical arena; namely poor signal to noise ratios at high spatial resolutions and short image acquisition times. In this thesis we take the first steps towards developing the optimum experimental configuration, the data processing algorithms and the spectroscopic image contrast and enhancement methods needed to utilise these high intensity laser based sources. We show that a QCL system is better suited to providing numerical absorbance values (biochemical information) than an OPG system primarily due to the QCL pulse stability. We also discuss practical protocols for the application of spectroscopic imaging to cancer diagnosis and present our spectroscopic imaging results from our laser based spectroscopic imaging experiments of oesophageal cancer tissue

Average liar count for degree-2 Frobenius pseudoprimes

In this paper we obtain lower and upper bounds on the average number of liars for the Quadratic Frobenius Pseudoprime Test of Grantham, generalizing arguments of Erd\H{o}s and Pomerance, and Monier. These bounds are provided for both Jacobi symbol plus and minus cases, providing evidence for the existence of several challenge pseudoprimes.Comment: 19 pages, published in Mathematics of Computation, revised version fixes typos and made a minor correction to the proof of Lemma 18 (result remains unchanged

Scrutinising the secret state: parliamentary oversight of the intelligence and security agencies

This article considers the growing parliamentary scrutiny of the intelligence and security agencies. It raises a number of questions about the role and effectiveness of the Intelligence and Security Committee, Parliament and parliamentarians

Negotiating the in-between : how two foreigners living in rural Japan narrated changes in their identities : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Masters in Education (Guidance Studies), Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand

This thesis used narrative inquiry to find out how two foreigners, who had resided in rural Japan for a long period of time, narrated reflectively how they had changed as a result of their cross-cultural transitions. This thesis came about through my own transition experiences in Japan leading to a hybrid, bicultural notion of myself, and my subsequent curiosity as to how others underwent changes in identity, possibly leading also to hybrid selves. Each participant was interviewed twice. Their changes were contextualised within dominant themes arising from their life stories. In addition, they were analysed using a modified version of Herbert Hermans' personal position repertoire (2001), which was able to identify key identity positions and underlying beliefs that aided or hindered their transitions. This research found that the participants' respective dominant life themes of estrangement and communion had major impacts on their cross cultural transitions, local relationships, and life satisfaction. The first participant followed a theme of estrangement and evoked identity positions and imagined audiences to justify his stance. The second participant took on a learning model to enhance her relationships with the local Japanese, resulting in alterity, the incorporation of a Japanese identity position in her own personal position repertoire and subsequently a hybrid self. In both participants some identity positions were aligned to Japanese ways of being, consequently coming to the fore in their psyches, whereas others were subjugated. Also new positions were incorporated, while others were lost, with affective outcomes. The participants' transitions were impacted on by their environments. The first participant initially worked within a foreign enclave and had no close personal Japanese friends. The second participant was immersed in local public schools and enjoyed high recognition in her small, rural town. Motivating factors for being in Japan were also found to be of consequence for the participants' cross-cultural transitions. This thesis was able to capture the complexity of the participants' cross-cultural transitions through considering them as having multiple selves that were revealed through reflective life stories and collated within a personal position repertoire