The Uncomfortable mix of seduction and inexperience in Vocational Students' decision making

Purpose – This paper aims to explore the process that undergraduates go through in selecting universities and courses in the context of an increasingly marketisated higher education (HE) where students may see themselves as consumers. Design/methodology/approach – The process students go through is examined with reference to the services marketing literature and using a qualitative, phenomenological approach with students encouraged to focus on their lived experiences. Findings – Notable was the reported inexperience of students who suggest an apparent focus on peripheral rather than core aspects of the HE service offering and therefore aim to quickly make “safe” choices. Also there is evidence of “satisficing” and of avoiding risks and choosing options which “feel right” rather than following a more systematic decision-making process which might be expected for such an important decision. Also noted was a tendency to defer the decision to others, including the institutions themselves, and their increasingly seductive marketing approaches. Research limitations/implications – The study is based on a vocational university with a focus on subjects for the new professions (marketing, journalism and media production). Further studies might consider how far the findings hold true for other types of subjects and institutions. Practical implications – The paper considers the implications of these findings for universities and their marketing activities, and invites them to both re-evaluate assumptions that an informed and considered process has taken place, and to further consider the ethics of current practices. Originality/value – The paper's focus on the stories provided by students provides new insights into the complexities and contradictions of decision making for HE and for services in general

The effects of internal resonances in vibration isolators under absolute velocity feedback control

Conventional vibration isolators are usually assumed to be massless for modelling purposes, which tends to overestimate the isolator performance because the internal resonances (IRs) due to the inertia of the isolator are neglected. Previous research on the IR problem does not clarify all the characteristics of distributed parameter isolators. Furthermore, with the development of active vibration isolation, which can avoid the compromise in the choice of damping in conventional passive isolation systems, the effects of IRs in isolators on the control performance and stability for commonly used control strategies need to be quantified. In this study the effects of IRs on the control performance and stability of an absolute velocity feedback (AVF) control system are presented. A stability condition for AVF control system is proposed and a simple approach to stabilize the control system is studied. Experimental work to validate the theoretical results is also presented

May I ask, have any SNC alumni had the opportunity to serve the pope?

Abbot Pennings answers questions about alumni of the college and the pope, archived from the SNC website

Cell patterning on photolithographically defined parylene-C:SiO2 substrates

Cell patterning platforms support broad research goals, such as construction of predefined in vitro neuronal networks and the exploration of certain central aspects of cellular physiology. To easily combine cell patterning with Multi-Electrode Arrays (MEAs) and silicon-based ‘lab on a chip’ technologies, a microfabrication-compatible protocol is required. We describe a method that utilizes deposition of the polymer parylene-C on SiO(2 )wafers. Photolithography enables accurate and reliable patterning of parylene-C at micron-level resolution. Subsequent activation by immersion in fetal bovine serum (or another specific activation solution) results in a substrate in which cultured cells adhere to, or are repulsed by, parylene or SiO(2) regions respectively. This technique has allowed patterning of a broad range of cell types (including primary murine hippocampal cells, HEK 293 cell line, human neuron-like teratocarcinoma cell line, primary murine cerebellar granule cells, and primary human glioma-derived stem-like cells). Interestingly, however, the platform is not universal; reflecting the importance of cell-specific adhesion molecules. This cell patterning process is cost effective, reliable, and importantly can be incorporated into standard microfabrication (chip manufacturing) protocols, paving the way for integration of microelectronic technology

Reviews

The Making of a Mystic: New and Selected Letters of Evelyn Underhill. Ed. Carol Poston. Reviewed by Joe R. Christopher. From Girl to Goddess: The Heroine\u27s Journey through Myth and Legend. Valerie Estelle Frankel. Reviewed by Janet Brennan Croft. The Wizard of Oz and Philosophy: Wicked Wisdom of the West (Popular Culture and Philosophy, Vol. 37). Ed. Randall E. Auxier and Phillip S. Seng. Reviewed by Ruth Berman. C.S. Lewis\u27s Lost Aeneid: Arms and the Exile. Edited with an Introduction by A.T. Reyes. Reviewed by Richard C. West. The Ring and the Cross: Christianity and The Lord of the Rings. Edited by Paul E. Kerry. Reviewed by Harley J. Sims. Fastitocalon: Studies in Fantasticism Ancient to Modern. 1.2 (2010). Ed. Thomas Honegger and Fanfan Chen. Reviewed by Janet Brennan Croft. Journal of Inklings Studies. 1.1 (March 2011). Ed. Judith Wolfe. Reviewed by Janet Brennan Croft. VII: An Anglo-American Literary Review. 27 (2010). Ed. Marjorie Lamp Mead. Reviewed by Janet Brennan Croft. Tolkien Studies: An Annual Scholarly Review. 7 (2010). Ed. Douglas A. Anderson, Michael D.C. Drout, and Verlyn Flieger. Reviewed by Janet Brennan Croft. Tolkien and the Study of His Sources: Critical Essays. Edited by Jason Fisher. Reviewed by Mike Foster

Mapping Brucellosis Increases Relative to Elk Density using Hierarchical Bayesian Models

The relationship between host density and parasite transmission is central to the effectiveness of many management strategies. We applied hierarchical Bayesian methods to an 18-yr dataset on elk (Cervus elaphus) brucellosis in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE) and found that increases in brucellosis seroprevalence were strongly correlated with elk densities. Elk that were densely aggregated on supplemental feeding grounds had higher seroprevalence in 1991, but by 2008 many areas distant from the feeding grounds were of comparable seroprevalence. Thus, brucellosis appears to be expanding its range into areas of higher elk density, which is likely to further complicate the United States brucellosis eradication program. The data could not differentiate among linear and non-linear effects of host density, which is a critical area where research can inform management actions. This study is an example of how the dynamics of host populations can affect their ability to serve as disease reservoirs