Burgess's Bounds for Character Sums

We prove that Burgess's bound gives an estimate not just for a single character sum, but for a mean value of many such sums.Comment: Minor changes and addition of reference to Gallagher & Montgomer

Shared Care Contributions to Self-Care and Quality of Life in Chronic Cardiac Patients

Shared care is an interpersonal interaction system composed of communication, decision making, and reciprocity; it is used by patients and family caregivers (care dyads) to exchange social support. This study’s purpose was to describe the contributions of shared care to outcomes for individuals with cardiac disease. A secondary data analysis was used to answer the following questions. What is the association between elements of shared care and patient outcomes? Do dyad perceptions of shared care differentially contribute to patient outcomes? Participants in this study were 93 individuals with a cardiac disease and 93 family caregivers. Composite index structured equation modeling was the analytic tool. Caregiver communication and reciprocity were related to patient mental quality of life. Patient communication and reciprocity were related to their own mental and physical quality of life and self-care confidence. Findings from this study contribute a better understanding of how care dyads are integral to patient outcomes

The myth of student choice

The UK Coalition Government believes that the key to raising educational quality is to empower students in various ways, especially by providing them with substantially increased amounts of information about provision and quality. The Myth of Student Choice examines the thinking behind this policy in the light of the available evidence about higher education as a process and about the nature of student decision making. It argues that, so far from raising quality, the present push on student information will actually damage quality, not least by reinforcing the reconstitution of the identity of the student from apprentice learner to that of novice consumer

The marketisation of higher education: issues and ironies

Higher education has been subject to a gradual process of marketisation since the early 1980s. This paper explores the paradoxes inherent in a market-driven HE system

Hot gas cleanup of biomass-derived syngas from a pilot-scale, air-blown, fluidized bed gasifier

The purpose of this research was to evaluate hot gas cleanup of physical and chemical contaminants in biomass-derived syngas from a fluidized bed gasifier. The first series of experiments examined the effect of in-situ limestone to catalytically reduce tar concentrations, remove hydrogen sulfide, and improve the hydrogen content of syngas. The second series of experiments was designed to remove hydrogen sulfide in the syngas through reaction with metal-based sorbents in a fixed bed reactor. In-situ limestone experiments were designed to determine the most favorable gasification temperature and ratio of sand to limestone in the fluidized bed for contaminant removal. The fixed bed reactor experiments investigated the effect of hydrogen sulfide removal via metal-based sorbent by varying several important operating parameters including sorbent material, temperature, reaction time, and bed depth. The in-situ limestone experiments succeeded in reducing syngas tar concentrations from nearly 20g/m3 with no limestone present to less than 6.5 g/m3 with 33% in-situ limestone. This reduction was due to the ability of limestone to catalytically reduce tars into hydrogen, water, and carbon monoxide. Steady-state gasification temperature was found to play an important role in the ability of limestone to reduce contaminants. At 7880C (14500F) in-situ limestone was much more reactive than at 7320C (13500F); however, increasing the gasifier temperature to 8430C (15500F) resulted in decreased limestone effectiveness. The fixed bed reactor experiments successfully reduced hydrogen sulfide levels from around 200 ppm to less than 20 ppm. These tests were performed with 1 mm zinc oxide particles with a reactor residence time about 0.25 seconds

Paleoecological evidence of pre-contact human impacts on fire and vegetation in northern New York State, U.S.A.

The impacts of indigenous populations on fire and vegetation dynamics in North America prior to European contact are the subject of considerable debate. They have been overlooked by many researchers, but possibly given more emphasis than is due by others. Interpretations suffer from preconceptions regarding the nature of Native American activities and landscapes, shortages of paleoecological and archaeological data from key locations, and a tendency for researchers to not fully integrate available information. This study investigates the influence of pre-Contact inrugenous populations on fire and vegetation dynamics, using paleoecological evidence from lake sediment studies together with archaeological data

Does optimism pass on to the employees? the impact of supervisor optimism on employees in small and medium sized businesses

The focus of this dissertation primarily examines the optimism contagion from the supervisor to his/her employees. Though the literature has discussed different types of optimism such as dispositional optimism (Scheier & Carver, 2006; Chang, 1998; Segerstrom, 2006) and unrealistic optimism (Weinstein, 1980; McKenna, 1993; Radcliffe & Klein, 2002), this paper will focus on trait and state optimism. State optimism (which relates to particular situation) is theorized as being easily transferrable when compared to trait optimism. The level of the transfer will depend on the emotional expressivity of the supervisor. The facets of emotional expressivity are impulse strength, positive expressivity and negative expressivity. Affecting the optimism contagion are factors such as relationship quality, perceived authenticity and the clarity of vision. The data used in this dissertation will be collected via a questionnaire in which respondents will consist of employees of small businesses. The questionnaire will gather questions reflecting the supervisor’s expressivity, the level of optimism of the employee when he/she started their job and the level of optimism after months of interaction with the supervisor. It is anticipated that the results will indicate that supervisors with high positive expressivity will produce the strongest transfer of optimism when compared to supervisors with high negative expressivity. Also expected is the finding that perceived authenticity, clarity of vision, and relationship quality are moderators of the optimism contagion

John Aito Pihlainen (1926-1964)

John Aito Pihlainen, civil engineer and a Fellow of the Arctic Institute since 1960, died suddenly in Ottawa in January of this year. He was born in Finland and emigrated to Canada with his parents in 1928. In 1950 he obtained his B.Eng. degree at McGill University and his M.Sc. at Purdue University two years later. He joined the Division of Building Research of the National Research Council in 1950 and pioneered the Division's investigations of permafrost and associated construction problems in northern Canada, beginning with a survey in 1950 of the construction and performance of buildings in the Mackenzie River valley. The following year he worked again in the Mackenzie Valley with an expedition examining the applicability of air photo interpretation methods for engineering site surveys in permafrost areas. In 1952 he established the Division's Northern Research Station at Norman Wells, N.W.T. from which numerous permafrost field projects were carried out in the Mackenzie Valley over a number of years. The Aklavik Relocation Survey of 1954 took him and his colleagues to the Mackenzie Delta where he was in charge of permafrost investigations to select a new townsite. For the next few years he was closely associated with the varied and comprehensive permafrost engineering studies being carried out by the Division of Building Research at Inuvik using this new town as a field laboratory. He also carried out field investigations in other parts of Canada's permafrost region and during his ten years with the National Research Council he became widely known for his broad knowledge of permafrost and associated engineering problems, and development of the philosophy of carefully executed site investigations prior to construction. In December 1960 he left the National Research Council and entered into private practice as an arctic consulting engineer based in Ottawa. During the three years prior to his death he was engaged in various engineering projects throughout northern Canada. Through his field work and many published papers he made notable contributions to the advancement of engineering site investigations and construction in permafrost areas. John Pihlainen was universally liked and respected for his practical approach mixed with an unusual sense of good humour. By many people living in the North, he was affectionately known as "Johnny Permafrost". His unexpected and tragic death cut short a successful career which had promised to add many more notable contributions to the development of Canada's permafrost region