1,507 research outputs found
Health, hygiene and biosecurity: tribal knowledge claims in the UK poultry industry
Since 1997 the world has been facing the threat of a human influenza pandemic that may be caused by an avian virus and the poultry industry around the globe has been grappling with the highly pathogenic strain of avian influenza H5N1, or in more informal terms bird flu. The UK poultry industry has lived with and through this threat and its consequences since 2005. This study investigates knowledge claims about health, hygiene and biosecurity as tools to ward off the threat from this virus. It takes a semi-ethnographic and discourse analytic approach to analyse a small corpus of semi-structured interviews carried out in the wake of one of the most publicised outbreaks of H5N1 in Suffolk in 2007. It reveals that claims about what best to do to protect flocks against the risk of disease are divided along lines imposed on the one hand by the structure of the industry and on the other by more 'tribal' lines drawn by knowledge and belief systems about purity and dirt, health and hygiene
Introductory Strategies for Evaluating Digital Technology Viability in Contemporary Classrooms
This project looks at relevant research and opinions regarding Educational Technology in the classroom. District, teacher, and student perspectives are all taken into account regarding the qualifications a digital instrument should possess in order to be considered appropriate for classroom implementation. The author, after looking at the effects and understandings of many current applications of Educational Technology, finishes the work by aggregating the concerns and providing multiple options for solutions for each. Additional research is suggested to examine familial and corporate effects of the current trends in addition to policies recommended as solutions
Passover and the Lordâs Supper
Once we leave the Gospel accounts of the Passover and come to 1 Corinthians, we find ourselves in the unusual position of going back to the future. Although the Gospels are the written accounts of Yeshuaâs life, it is likely that they were not written down until after the Apostle Paul penned the letter of 1 Corinthians in 54 or 55 c.e...
Paul refers to or alludes to Passover in three separate sections of 1 Corinthians, each of which we will investigate further below. Tis recurring Passover theme is striking due to Paulâs silence on the matter in his other letters. Why did Paul have Passover on his mind in this letter?
Characteristics of multi-h coded modulation
Includes bibliographical references (leaves 74-75).Multi-h Coded Continuous-Phase Frequency Shift Keying (Multi-h CPFSK) has gained interest in recent years because it offers an additional degree of freedom in the coding of CPFSK. Similar to Trellis Coded Modulation (TCM), it does not use redundancy to achieve coding gain. Hence with properly chosen modulation indices, impact to spectral occupancy is kept to a minimum. While there has been less attention given of this method as compared with TCM, this method can also be used with data coding. In cases where data coding is to be implemented, simultaneous use of Multi-h coding can be implemented with very little increase in complexity. In this thesis, a thorough mathematical review of this technique is made. A multi-oscillator multih coded modulator is shown similar to one presented by Massey for MSK. A unique analytical tool called a multi-oscillator trellis is presented. This considers the phase transitions with respect to each of the signalling frequencies instead of the center frequency, fâ. The multi-oscillator trellis is used to determine the state machine that will switch a bank of oscillators. The purpose of the state machine is to maintain continuous phase at the multi-oscillator output while generating the proper signal frequencies according to the data and modulation index. The Maximum Likelihood Detection process at the receiver is shown as a partition of an uncoded CPFSK signal. Finally, an analysis is made to determine if a modulator with a non-linear frequencyvoltage characteristic is suitable in a coherent multi-h coded application. Much of the literature on this topic has been comparative to PSK. It is the intent of this work to use FSK and MSK as the baseline to determine how existing structures may be extended to realize the benefits of multi-h coding. The application of this coding to an 8 Mbps 23 GHz CPFSK point-to-point terrestrial communications system is also a topic of this thesis. It is in this context that the analysis is made
Approximate Analysis of an Unreliable M/M/2 Retrial Queue
This thesis considers the performance evaluation of an M/M/2 retrial queue for which both servers are subject to active and idle breakdowns. Customers may abandon service requests if they are blocked from service upon arrival, or if their service is interrupted by a server failure. Customers choosing to remain in the system enter a retrial orbit for a random amount of time before attempting to re-access an available server. We assume that each server has its own dedicated repair person, and repairs begin immediately following a failure. Interfailure times, repair times and times between retrials are exponentially distributed, and all processes are assumed to be mutually independent. Modeling the number of customers in the orbit and status of the servers as a continuous-time Markov chain, we employ a phase-merging algorithm to approximately analyze the limiting behavior. Subsequently, we derive approximate expressions for several congestion and delay measures. Using a benchmark simulation model, we assess the accuracy of the approximations and show that, when the algorithm assumptions are met, the approximation procedure yields favorable results. However, as the rate of abandonment for blocked arrivals decreases, the performance declines while the results are insensitive to the rate of abandonment of customers preempted by a server failure
An experimental rock mechanics investigation into shear discontinuities and their influence in the hydrocarbon resevoir environment
Abstract unavailable please refer to PD
Assessing the Accuracy and Power of Population Genetic Inference from Low-Pass Next-Generation Sequencing Data
Next-generation sequencing (NGS) technologies have made it possible to address population genetic questions in almost any system, but high error rates associated with such data can introduce significant biases into downstream analyses, necessitating careful experimental design and interpretation in studies based on short-read sequencing. Exploration of population genetic analyses based on NGS has revealed some of the potential biases, but previous work has emphasized parameters relevant to human population genetics and further examination of parameters relevant to other systems is necessary, including situations where sample sizes are small and genetic variation is high. To assess experimental power to address several principal objectives of population genetic studies under these conditions, we simulated population samples under selective sweep, population growth, and population subdivision models and tested the power to accurately infer population genetic parameters from sequence polymorphism data obtained through simulated 4Ă, 8Ă, and 15Ă read depth sequence data. We found that estimates of population genetic differentiation and population growth parameters were systematically biased when inference was based on 4Ă sequencing, but biases were markedly reduced at even 8Ă read depth. We also found that the power to identify footprints of positive selection depends on an interaction between read depth and the strength of selection, with strong selection being recovered consistently at all read depths, but weak selection requiring deeper read depths for reliable detection. Although we have explored only a small subset of the many possible experimental designs and population genetic models, using only one SNP-calling approach, our results reveal some general patterns and provide some assessment of what biases could be expected under similar experimental structures
Creative practice as mutual recovery in mental health
Abstract
Purpose â The purpose of this paper is to examine the value of approaches to mental health based on
creative practice in the humanities and arts, and explore these in relation to the potential contribution to
mutual recovery.
Design/methodology/approach â The paper is a conceptual analysis and literature review.
Findings â Recovery can embrace carers and practitioners as well as sufferers from mental health
problems. Divisions tend to exist between those with mental health needs, informal carers and health, social
care and education personnel. Mutual recovery is therefore a very useful term because it instigates a more
fully social understanding of mental health recovery processes, encompassing diverse actors in the field of
mental health. Research demonstrates the importance of arts for ârecovery orientated mental health
servicesâ, how they provide ways of breaking down social barriers, of expressing and understanding
experiences and emotions, and of helping to rebuild identities and communities. Similarly, the humanities
can advance the recovery of health and well-being.
Originality/value â The notion of mutual recovery through creative practice is more than just a set of
creative activities which are believed to have benefit. The idea is also a heuristic that can be useful to
professionals and family members, as well as individuals with mental health problems themselves. Mutual
recovery is perhaps best seen as a relational construct, offering new opportunities to build egalitarian,
appreciative and substantively connected communities â resilient communities of mutual hope, compassion
and solidarity.
Keywords Mental health, Recovery, Mutuality, Health humanities, Arts, Humanities, Mental health service
Factors Contributing to Students Seeking an Alternative Secondary School Setting
This is a case study of six students who chose to leave a comprehensive high school that has a reputation for academic excellence. Through a triangulation of data from semi-structured private interviews with the students and their school counselors and the studentsâ academic records, the details of the studentsâ experiences at a high school exposed some of the personal factors and school-based factors that influenced their decision to leave. All of these students struggled academically, socially, or emotionally. The major thematic categories for reasons the students left that emerged from the interviews were student mobility, mental illness, socio-economic pressure, academic pressure, and availability of school-based interventions. Interviews revealed the likelihood that if more school-based supports were available at the high school, all six of the students in the study could have found a way to be academically successful without leaving the school. The major recommendation for practice and policy is that school districts could learn from the students who choose to leave their school system so that they can identify specific school-based interventions and educational opportunities that will support their at-risk students
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