University education in archaeology in Britain : an overview

In Britain Archaeology is recognised as an independent academic subject, with a higher level of funding than Arts subjects. There are three levels of degree, the Bachelor, traditionally the entry point into the profession, the Taught Masters (increasingly the entry level), and the PhD. Degrees are considered only part of the training needed by archaeologists, a practical experience working in the profession is equally important. Degrees are increasingly seen as only the start of a process of 'life long learning', and there is a great need to integrate this learning into defined career structures. Given the great variation in expertise needed by different types of archaeologists, a modular approach to the acquisition of skills is being explored by the Institute of Field Archaeologists, which will encompass the courses offered by universities.En el Reino Unido la arqueología está reconocida como una materia académica independiente, con un nivel de subvención mayor que las materias artísticas. Existen tres tipos de titulación, el Bachelor, que ha constituido tradicionalmente la vía de acceso a la profesión, los Taught Masters (que se está conviertiendo de forma creciente en la titulación de acceso profesional), y el Doctorado. Las titulaciones se consideran tan sólo una parte de la formación que necesitan los arqueólogos, ya que una formación práctica es de igual importancia. Las titulaciones tienden a considerarse cada vez más como el inicio de un proceso de formación continua y existe la necesidad de integrar esta formación en carreras estructuradas y definidas. Dada la gran variedad de especializaciones que necesitan los diferentes tipos de arqueólogos, se está ensayando una aproximación modular a la adquisición de habilidades por parte del Intitute of Field Archaeologists, que complementará los cursos ofrecidos por las universidades.Al Regne Unit l'arqueologia està reconeguda com una matèria acadèmica independent amb un grau de subvenció més gran que les matèries artístiques. Existeixen tres tipus de titulació, el Bachelor, que ha constituit tradicionalment la via d'accés a la professió, els Taught Masters (que s'estan convertint de forma creixent en la titulació d'accés professional) i el Doctorat. Les titulacions es consideren tan sols una part de la formació que necessiten els arqueòlegs, ja que una formació pràctica és d'igual importància. Les titulacions tendeixen a considerar-se cada vegada més com l'inici d'un procés de formació continuada i existeix la necessitat d'integrar aquesta formació en carreres estructurades i definides. Donada la gran varietat d'especialitzacions que necessiten els diferents tipus d'arqueòlegs, s'està assajant una aproximació modular a l'adquisició d'habilitats per part de l'Intitute of Field Archaeologists, que complementarà els cursos oferts per les universitats

Sudden cardiac death in inherited cardiomyopathy

Cardiomyopathy is an important cause of sudden cardiac death particularly in adolescents and young adults. The risk of sudden cardiac death varies between individual cardiomyopathies and is dependent on the severity of disease, age and gender. Although rare in cardiomyopathies, a fundamental aspect of clinical management is a systematic and thorough clinical assessment to identify the small number of individuals who are at risk and who can be protected with prophylactic ICD therapy

Lidar Development at SRI - The First Decade

On 22 July 1963 the first lidar observations of the lower atmosphere were made at SRI with a pulsed ruby system developed by a team led by the late Myron G. H. Ligda. Since that time SRI has carried out a continuous program of exploration and development of the technique, primarily related to applications in atmospheric research in the troposphere. In this frankly personal retrospective, some of the highlights of this ten years are reviewed, both in terms of progress made and difficulties experienced. Topics discussed will include the technological aspects of the lidar systems used, the range of applications identified and explored and the various forms of information recovery and display that have been developed

A fistful of dollars or the sting? Considering academic–industry collaborations in the production of feature films

Increasingly universities and film schools are looking for ways to provide richer experiences for students to enhance their employability as well as find ways to make their programmes stand out in a competitive marketplace. Likewise, economic pressure on commercial feature film production companies, particularly independents, is forcing them to consider alternative means of production and new sources of cost-effective project support. This paper looks at the emergence of formal academic-industry collaboration in the creation, production and support of commercial feature films. Looking at a wide range of examples from collaborations worldwide, it considers three basic models: University as film production company with 'soft' investment; University as film production company with 'hard' investment; and University as film production service provider. It is argued that all three models can be viable but that alignment with corporate and institutional objectives, as well as realistic expectations, are essential to success

A Moment-Based Polarimetric Radar Forward Operator for Rain Microphysics

There is growing interest in combining microphysical models and polarimetric radar observations to improve our understanding of storms and precipitation. Mapping model-predicted variables into the radar observational space necessitates a forward operator, which requires assumptions that introduce uncertainties into model-observation comparisons. These include uncertainties arising from the microphysics scheme a priori assumptions of a fixed drop size distribution (DSD) functional form, whereas natural DSDs display far greater variability. To address this concern, this study presents a moment-based polarimetric radar forward operator with no fundamental restrictions on the DSD form by linking radar observables to integrated DSD moments. The forward operator is built upon a dataset of > 200 million realistic DSDs from one-dimensional bin microphysical rain shaft simulations, and surface disdrometer measurements from around the world. This allows for a robust statistical assessment of forward operator uncertainty and quantification of the relationship between polarimetric radar observables and DSD moments. Comparison of "truth" and forward-simulated vertical profiles of the polarimetric radar variables are shown for bin simulations using a variety of moment combinations. Higher-order moments (especially those optimized for use with the polarimetric radar variables: the 6th and 9th) perform better than the lower-order moments (0th and 3rd) typically predicted by many bulk microphysics schemes

The measurement of Navier slip on individual nanoparticles in liquid

The Navier slip condition describes the motion of a liquid, relative to a neighboring solid surface, with its characteristic Navier slip length being a constitutive property of the solid-liquid interface. Measurement of this slip length is complicated by its small magnitude, expected in the nanometer range based on molecular simulations. Here, we report an experimental technique that interrogates the Navier slip length on individual nanoparticles immersed in liquid, with sub-nanometer precision. Proof-of-principle experiments on individual, citrate-stabilized, gold nanoparticles in water give a constant slip length of 2.7$\pm$0.6 nm (95% C.I.) - independent of particle size. Achieving this feature of size independence is central to any measurement of this constitutive property, which is facilitated through the use of individual particles of varying radii. This demonstration motivates studies that can now validate the wealth of existing molecular simulation data on slip.Comment: 12 pages, 4 figure

In situ hybridisation and S1 mapping show that the presence of infiltrating plasma cells is associated with poor prognosis in breast cancer.

In order to identify potential markers of prognosis in breast cancer, representative cDNA libraries were constructed using RNA isolated from primary breast tumour tissue associated with good and poor prognosis. Cross-screening of these libraries repeatedly identified cloned mRNA species associated with the immune system, in particular B-cells, in libraries derived from tumours of poor prognosis. We have used one of these a kappa IV light chain cDNA probe, in two complementary studies to investigate the relationship between immunoglobin gene expression and prognosis. The results obtained using a combination of S1 mapping, RNA blotting and in situ hybridisation demonstrate that the presence of plasma cells, as defined by infiltrating cells which express high levels of immunoglobulin kappa-chain mRNA, is associated with a poor prognosis

Towards the architecture of an instructional multimedia database

The applicability of multimedia databases in education may be extended if they can serve multiple target groups, leading to affordable costs per unit for the user. In this contribution, an approach is described to build generic multimedia databases to serve that purpose. This approach is elaborated within the ODB Project ('Instructional Design of an Optical DataBase'); the term optical refers to the use of optical storage media to hold the audiovisual components. The project aims at developing a database in which a hypermedia encyclopedia is combined with instructional multimedia applications for different target groups at different educational levels. The architecture of the Optical Database will allow for switching between application types while working (for instance from tutorial instruction via the encyclopedia to a simulation and back). For instruction, the content of the database is thereby organized around so-called standard instruction routes: one route per target group. In the project, the teacher is regarded as the manager of instruction.\ud \ud From that perspective, the database is primarily organized as a teaching facility. Central to the research is the condition that the architecture of the Optical Database has to enable teachers to select and tailor instruction routes to their needs in a way that is perceived as logical and easy to use

Goal-oriented a posteriori error estimation for the travel time functional in porous media flows

In this article we consider the a posteriori error estimation and adaptive mesh refinement for the numerical approximation of the travel time functional arising in porous media flows. The key application of this work is in the safety assessment of radioactive waste facilities; in this setting, the travel time functional measures the time taken for a non-sorbing radioactive solute, transported by groundwater, to travel from a potential site deep underground to the biosphere. To ensure the computability of the travel time functional, we employ a mixed formulation of Darcy's law and conservation of mass, together with Raviart-Thomas H(div) conforming finite elements. The proposed a posteriori error bound is derived based on a variant of the standard Dual-Weighted-Residual approximation, which takes into account the lack of smoothness of the underlying functional of interest. The proposed adaptive refinement strategy is tested on both a simple academic test case and a problem based on the geological units found at the Sellafield site in the UK

An acquired Gerbode defect from the left ventricle to the coronary sinus following mitral valve replacement

We report the management of an acquired Gerbode defect, from the left ventricle to the coronary sinus, following mechanical mitral valve replacement. Following a failed percutaneous closure, surgical patch closure of the defect was performed