Varactor diode assembly with low parasitic reactances

Development of varactor diode assembly overcomes parasitic reactances of conventional varactor packages. In specially constructed assembly very high idler-frequency to signal-frequency ratios are used to obtain low-noise operation over maximum bandwidth

Integrated-circuit balanced parametric amplifier

Amplifier, fabricated on single dielectric substrate, has pair of Schottky barrier varactor diodes mounted on single semiconductor chip. Circuit includes microstrip transmission line and slot line section to conduct signals. Main features of amplifier are reduced noise output and low production cost

Opportunities for Achieving Competence in Personal Attributes for Personal & Professional Developments

This document lists descriptions of generic skills / personal attributes that are useful to consider in personal and professional development. It also describes some general competencies and offers some thoughts on how to create opportunities to achieve competence with a bias towards computer science & IT students. It is based on advice given by Career Destinations at the University of Southampton and other universitie

Versioning RLOs as ‘study skills toolkits’ for different user groups and developing community tools to support sharing and customisation

As patterns of need in twenty-first century higher education change so must the solutions. E-learning solutions, in particular, need to be adaptive to fit a range of teaching and learning situations. eLanguages, a research and development unit at the University of Southampton, develops online toolkits of reusable learning objects (RLOs) in Study Skills that can be versioned for different student user groups. Underpinning them is an approach which seeks to deliver high quality content and be cost-effective. Reusability and versatility are central to this. With the creation of a large base of RLOs has come recognition of the need to manage and customise these resources easily and a suite of tools enabling such actions has been developed. This paper will present the toolkits and the pedagogic design of the RLOs. The web-based tools to support management and customisation of RLOs, and potentially facilitate new toolkit creation, will also be introduced

Using wage council data to identify the effect of recessions on the impact of the minimum wage

Up until now the National Minimum Wage (NMW) introduced in April 1999 appears to have been a policy success. So far there has been little evidence of a negative effect on employment. However, to date, the NMW has largely been operating in a period of prolonged economic expansion. Since the spring of 2008 the UK economy has experienced a downturn of significant proportions. In this report we examine the impact of the UK minimum wages in force during the 1980s and 1990s recessions when a system of Wages Councils was in operation. Wages Councils set (different) minimum rates of pay in a range of low-paying industries. However there were still a large number of low-wage industries not covered by the legislation. This project analyses the impact of the two previous recessions on employment and wages in Wages Council sectors relative to other similar but uncovered low-wage industries using data from the New Earnings Survey and Workforce in Employment Survey form the panel. The findings are informative about the likely consequences of the NMW in the current recession. We can find no significant detrimental impact on employment from the Wages Councils. We do find some evidence of negative hours effects from the Wages Councils, although we cannot find any further detrimental impacts through the recessions of the 1980s or 1990s. In addition, our individual level results are consistent with higher turnover in the Wages Councils sectors. We do find some evidence of a slowdown in turnover through the recessions, and some evidence that hiring increased in the 1990s recession in these low wage sectors. None of the results here indicate that the National Minimum Wage will have any more detrimental impacts on employment through the recent Credit Crunch recession. However, one must be mindful of the fact that recessions can be very different. Our individual results suggest this. So the recent recession that the UK has experienced may play out differently across different sectors than have recessions of the past

Crime and Punishment Again: The Economic Approach with a Psychological Twist

Akerlof and Dickens (1982) suggested that in a model of criminal behavior which considered the effects of cognitive dissonance, increasing the severity of punishment could increase the crime rate. This paper demonstrates that that conjecture was correct. With cognitive dissonance, people may have to rationalize not committing crimes under normal circumstances if punishment is not severe. The rationalization may lead them to underestimate the expected utility of committing crimes when opportunities present themselves. If punishment is severe, then rationalization may not be necessary and people may be more likely to commit crimes when opportunities arise.

Technique for using a geometry and visualization system to monitor and manipulate information in other codes

A technique was developed to allow the Aero Grid and Paneling System (AGPS), a geometry and visualization system, to be used as a dynamic real-time geometry monitor, manipulator, and interrogator for other codes. This technique involves the direct connection of AGPS with one or more external codes through the use of Unix pipes. AGPS has several commands that control communication with the external program. The external program uses several special subroutines that allow simple, direct communication with AGPS. The external program creates AGPS command lines and transmits the line over the pipes or communicates on a subroutine level. AGPS executes the commands, displays graphics/geometry information, and transmits the required solutions back to the external program. The basic ideas discussed in this paper could easily be implemented in other graphics/geometry systems currently in use or under development