Share and share alike: Encouraging the reuse of academic resources through the Scottish electronic staff development library

This paper reports on the findings of a consultancy procedure conducted within the Scottish Higher Education staff development community and focusing on the reuse and sharing of communications and information technology resources for teaching and learning. While this consultancy was conducted primarily to inform the development of the Scottish electronic Staff Development Library (SeSDL), its findings, will be of relevance to colleagues working in the fields of staff development and C&IT and all those involved in the creation of shared teaching and learning resources. The consultancy identified general staff development demands, specific pedagogical requirements, and concerns relating to the provision, reuse and sharing of staff development resources. The SeSDL Project will attempt to address these demands through the development of a Web‐based resource centre, which will facilitate the reuse and sharing of high‐quality staff development resources. Library materials are stored in the form of granules which are branded with IMS compatible metadata and which are classified using a controlled educational taxonomy. Staff developers will be able to assemble these granular components to build customized lessons tailored to meet the needs of their own departments and institutions

Inside Money, Procyclical Leverage, and Banking Catastrophes

We explore a model of the interaction between banks and outside investors in which the ability of banks to issue inside money (short-term liabilities believed to be convertible into currency at par) can generate a collapse in asset prices and widespread bank insolvency. The banks and investors share a common belief about the future value of certain long-term assets, but they have different objective functions; changes to this common belief result in portfolio adjustments and trade. Positive belief shocks induce banks to buy risky assets from investors, and the banks finance those purchases by issuing new short-term liabilities. Negative belief shocks induce banks to sell assets in order to reduce their chance of insolvency to a tolerably low level, and they supply more assets at lower prices, which can result in multiple market-clearing prices. A sufficiently severe negative shock causes the set of equilibrium prices to contract (in a manner given by a cusp catastrophe), causing prices to plummet discontinuously and banks to become insolvent. Successive positive and negative shocks of equal magnitude do not cancel; rather, a banking catastrophe can occur even if beliefs simply return to their initial state. Capital requirements can prevent crises by curtailing the expansion of balance sheets when beliefs become more optimistic, but they can also force larger price declines. Emergency asset price supports can be understood as attempts by a central bank to coordinate expectations on an equilibrium with solvency.Comment: 31 pages, 10 figure

DOES FCS ASSOCIATION SIZE AFFECT CREDIT AVAILABILITY?

An analysis of the characteristics of farm businesses by size of FCS direct lending association suggests that further consolidation of FCS lending should have limited negative impacts on credit availability. Commercial-sized farm businesses with FCS real estate debt appeared similar to those who obtained credit from competing lenders, but smaller associations and those with fewer stockholders per branch appeared to serve larger and more wealthy commercial-sized farms.credit availability, direct lending association, Agricultural Finance,

A non-perturbative study of fermion propagators and their interactions in gauge theories

In this thesis we study the non-perturbative behaviour of the fermion propagator in an Abelian gauge theory, namely four dimensional, quenched QED –where by quenched we mean that we neglect the effect of the fermion loops in the boson propagator. What is of primary interest is the dynamical generation of mass. In order to carry out this study we need to make use of the Schwinger-Dyson equations, which are the field equations of the theory. For the investigation of the fermion propagator, the form of the three point interaction is of critical importance. We study the usual ansatz, the Ball-Chiu form, for the three point function, that is obtained from the Ward-Takahashi identities, and improve upon it. This is done by making use of the powerful constraints that Multiplicative Renormalizability place upon the theory in the perturbative (high energy) region. We initially study the theory in the massless case, for simplicity, where we find that using our improved ansatz we can obtain an exact, non-perturbative solution for the renormalised wave function. Moving on, we then study the theory in the massive case -where we have a brief interlude to look at the ladder approximation. We solve the theory in the case where there is a finite cutoff and reproduce the well-known critical coupling point. We then consider the case where there is an infinite cutoff, when we find no critical coupling. We discuss and explain the differences. Returning to our improved ansatz for the fermion-boson vertex we solve the renormalised theory for both the wavefunction and mass function and find that there is no critical coupling. In doing this having a form for the fermion-boson vertex that satisfies both the Ward-Takahashi identity and Multiplicative Renormalizability is essential. These studies suggest that full QED may turn out to be a theory without a critical coupling and thus be free of phase changes

The Bee Genus Chilicola in the Tropical Andes, with Observations on Nesting Biology and a Phylogenetic Analysis of the Subgenera (Hymenoptera: Colletidae, Xeromelissinae)1

This is a revision of the species of the genus Chilicola found in the South American Andes, Peru to Venezuela, above elevations of 1000 m. In addition to the four previously described species known from this area, 23 new species are recognized and described. They fall into three groups: (1) The C. ashmeadi group of the subgenus Anoediscelis, for C. ashmeadi (Crawford) and the following new species: C. colombiana, mistica, venezuelana, wygodzinskyi, xanthostoma, xanthognatha, cooperi, pedunculata; (2) Subgenus Hylaeosoma for C aequatoriensis Benoist and the following new species: C. involuta, umbonata, canei, belli, smithpardoi; (3) The new subgenus Oroediscelis (type species, Chilicola styliventris) for C. styliventris Friese, quitensis Benoist, and the following new species: C. espeleticola, brooksi, benoistiana, cuzcoensis, bigibbosa, maculipes, transversaria, gibbosa, brzoskai, simplex. Phylogenetic analyses are presented for the subgenera of Chilicola and for the species of the subgenus Oroediscelis. Aspects of nesting biology are presented for C. espeleticola and C. styliventris

Modeling of the head-related transfer functions for reduced computation and storage

The synthesis of three-dimensional sound via headphones generally requires the implementation of rather complex filters based on the head-related transfer functions (HRTFs), direction-specific transfer functions which simulate the transformation of sound pressure between a sound source and the eardrums of the listener. Current implementations generally rely on FIR filtering techniques, resulting in high computational complexity. The main objective of this work was to develop a set of computationally efficient filters which would be capable of emulating the head-related transfer functions. To accomplish this objective, a modification of conventional system modeling techniques through the application of psychoacoustic principles has been applied to the design of low-order IIR filters, resulting in the reduction of computation and storage requirements without significantly sacrificing perceptual performance. Results presented will include objective measurements based on a critical band distance measure and subjective measurements based on sound localization tests

Flood flows; a comparison of various methods of analysis as applied to rivers of the southeastern United States

Professional degre

Notes on male and female facial patterns in bees (Hymenoptera: Apoidea), with comments on other aculeates

This is the published version.Pallid (frequently yellow) integumental areas characterize faces of many bees and related wasps. Some species lack such markings, others lack them only in females, while others have them in both sexes. A rule applicable to thousands of species is that, if present, yellow areas are more extensive in males than in females. In different groups, yellow areas can be either expanded or reduced, both have occurred repeatedly in the Aculeata. In some groups that lack integumental yellow facial areas, males have brushes of yellow or brassy facial hairs that hide the integument. Behavior associated with presence or abscence of facial yellow areas is not recognized, for mating males usually approach females from above and behind so that neither can see the face of the other. Possibly male-to-male interactions are involved

The development and validation of the screening test for the early prediction of school success (STEPSS) : a screen of cognitive functioning in four- and five-year old children with varying health conditions

The purpose of the present study was to construct and validate a brief screening instrument to support parent(s) and preschool/kindergarten teachers in monitoring and screening for cognitive impairment and/or delay in preschoolers. The target population of interest is all preschoolers at-risk for poor psychosocial and school outcomes due to chronic and acute dysfunction of the central nervous system (CNS). The accessible populations of interest to the present study are pediatric cancer survivors, preschoolers with alcohol related neurodevelopmental disorder (ARND), being preterm low birth weight, and/or diagnosed with various learning disabilities. The past practice of waiting until an at-risk child experienced poor school outcomes before being referred for cognitive assessment toward tailoring an intervention is no longer defensible. For the present study, a 61-item screening instrument (18 memory items, 19 verbal ability items, 15 attention items, and 9 demographic items) was pilot tested with parents, playschool teachers, and kindergarten teachers to rate preschoolers on overt behaviours associated with cognitive functioning. A criterion-referenced framework was used to establish a performance standard and set a cut score based on a sample of 151 normally functioning preschoolers aged 4:0- to 5:11-years. The various empirical and substantive analyses conducted resulted in a revised scale of 28 items (10 memory, 11 verbal ability, and 7 attention) titled, Screening Test for the Early Prediction of School Success (STEPSS). Given the need for a future study to validate the STEPSS with clinical groups of preschoolers, the screening instrument is intended to provide the empirical evidence needed to refer at-risk preschoolers for assessment with more comprehensive cognitive batteries. Constructing and validating the STEPSS is important for two reasons: 1) to fill a gap in the types of instruments available for monitoring and assessing cognitive functioning in at-risk preschool populations; and 2) to alleviate the current delay in targeting interventions for preschoolers because of the practice of depending upon the school system to monitor and identify poor cognitive functioning