Budgetary reform

With an impeccable sense of timing, you have given me the opportunity to talk, as you say, about something outside the immediate day-to-day concerns of the Government over the last few days, and for that, much thanks. I would like, if I may, to begin by welcoming the continuing interest of the Institute for Fiscal Studies in this issue of budgetary reform and the institutional arrangements by which we seek to decide these issues in government, and in Parliament. The Institute has a long-standing interest in this subject, and it is useful for a Minister, and also for one or two other faces I recognise in the audience from Parliament and outside, to have a forum in which these important issues can be discussed and where the practitioners, the civil servants, the politicians can also meet and discuss them with people from the wider interested communities. So I am grateful to the Institute for providing such an opportunity.

Growing up with HIV: The experiences of young people living with HIV since birth in the UK

About the book: This book draws together a range of both classic and newly commissioned pieces on the multidisciplinary study of death and dying. Organized into five parts, the book begins with a general exploration of the meaning of death, before moving on to consider caring at the end-of-life. Further readings explore the moral and ethical dilemmas in the context of death and dying. The fourth part of the book examines the issue of grief and ritual after death. The final part considers some of the issues that arise when researching the field of death and dying. By drawing together information, reflection, and experience this authoritative text will broaden your understanding of the subject area. The book is designed as a core text for students in nursing, medicine, social work, counseling, and health and social care. It will also be essential reading for all professionals and care givers who come into contact with death and bereavement

Permanent magnet generators for renewable energy devices with wide speed range and pulsating power delivery

This paper describes the design of a direct-drive permanent-magnet generator for use in a novel sea-wave electrical generator. The basic system is briefly described and the target specification derived from the device and the wave tank performance. The design for the brushless permanent-magnet generators is then developed using SPEED PC-BDC and verified using Finite Element Analysis (PC-FEA). A diode bridge model is also tested using Portunus system simulation. Copyright © 2009 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd

Growing Up With HIV: Exploring the Experiences of the First Generation of Perinatally Infected Young People in the UK

This thesis explores the experiences of young people perinatally infected with HIV in the UK. Although advances in medical treatment have made a major difference to the life expectancy of these young people this may not be matched by their 'lived experience' insofar as they face the consequences of a stigmatised disease as well as an uncertain future. This is the first study to critically analyse young peoples' accounts of growing up with HIV in the UK. This thesis considers the experiences of twenty-eight young people between the ages of fifteen and twenty-four recruited from a London hospital. Drawing on Bury's (1982) concept of 'biographical disruption' and the concept of 'critical moments' (Thomson et al. 2002), it explores how HIV affects a young person's biography. Findings from the study demonstrate that a diagnosis of HIV disrupts biography and this experience is interspersed by 'critical moments' that serve to bring into sharp relief difference and forces young people to continually re-evaluate and make sense of being HIV positive. Young people make sense of disruption in order to construct and maintain a new identity as they become adults; this process is influenced by the stigma attached to HIV as well as by the disease trajectory. They use a range of strategies to adjust to and manage living with a stigmatised identity. This study raises important questions about the impact of HIV on young people, their families and their relationships. It demonstrates that most young people learn to 'pass' (Goffman 1963) as uninfected and conceal their HIV status. They withdraw from social relationships which increases their isolation and loneliness and affects their well-being. Findings also reveal that young people report little support to help them manage the impact of HIV. The study also highlights the urgent need for future research focusing on young people with HIV

Matrix analysis techniques in cage induction machines

Modern analysis techniques for electrical machines are either analytical or use finite element analysis. Both methods are implemented using computational techniques to solve the magnetic circuit and produce performance predictions. This paper puts forward a steady-state impedance matrix method for analysing a split-phase induction machine that is at the leading edge of analytical modelling of induction motors. The method is implemented and verified against an example to illustrate the asynchronous torques in a non-sinusoidal winding. In the second half of the paper it is shown how the technique can be applied to a three-phase machine and the classical per-phase model is obtained from the derivation. The steady-state model derives a mathematical rigorous equivalent circuit that includes the skew reactance term in the rotor circuit. Copyright © 2009 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd

Insight Into How College Freshmen Understand Their Reading and Text Experiences

This qualitative case study was designed to add insight to the scholarly literature about how college freshmen understand and describe their reading experiences. Two research questions guided this study: How do college freshmen understand and describe their educational reading experiences, and how do college freshmen understand the difference between college level reading and the reading experiences they had in high school. The researcher utilized semistructured interviews with a sample of 13 participants in a rural county in the western portion of the United States. Participants also provided textual samples from their freshman level college courses. Each participant had completed at least one semester of postsecondary education at either a community college, technical school, or four-year university. The key findings in this study were that despite warnings of increased rigor and volume, students were ultimately overwhelmed with the substantial reading requirements upon entering college. Class participation based on the course reading was rigorous and deep. The most common way to manage the amount of required college reading was to just skim the text and highlight the main ideas. Nearly all participants indicated that they completed high school with little or no reading of textbooks or prose fiction. College freshmen who attended technical schools experienced the biggest gap in preparation for the reading experiences that they faced in college. Community college students indicated the least amount of personal responsibility for their reading skills or abilities. Conversely, attendees of four-year universities shared the most personal responsibility for their learning and reading skills or practice

Insight Into How College Freshmen Understand Their Reading and Text Experiences

This qualitative case study was designed to add insight to the scholarly literature about how college freshmen understand and describe their reading experiences. Two research questions guided this study: How do college freshmen understand and describe their educational reading experiences, and how do college freshmen understand the difference between college level reading and the reading experiences they had in high school. The researcher utilized semistructured interviews with a sample of 13 participants in a rural county in the western portion of the United States. Participants also provided textual samples from their freshman level college courses. Each participant had completed at least one semester of postsecondary education at either a community college, technical school, or four-year university. The key findings in this study were that despite warnings of increased rigor and volume, students were ultimately overwhelmed with the substantial reading requirements upon entering college. Class participation based on the course reading was rigorous and deep. The most common way to manage the amount of required college reading was to just skim the text and highlight the main ideas. Nearly all participants indicated that they completed high school with little or no reading of textbooks or prose fiction. College freshmen who attended technical schools experienced the biggest gap in preparation for the reading experiences that they faced in college. Community college students indicated the least amount of personal responsibility for their reading skills or abilities. Conversely, attendees of four-year universities shared the most personal responsibility for their learning and reading skills or practice