Columbanus, charisma and the revolt of the monks of Bobbio

The account of the revolt of the monks of Bobbio against Columbanus’ successor Attala by Jonas of Bobbio gives only some clues as to why it took place, but suggests that Attala was lacking charisma. Jonas fails to mention the subsequent introduction of the Benedictine Rule to Bobbio and its combination with Columbanian traditions in the Rule of the master; he is also reticent about the deve lopment of cells, or submonasteries, partly as a result of the revolt. It is suggested here that the monastic rule currently known as the Rule of Eugippius was compiled for these cells and that the Rules of the fathers, currently dated to an earlier period, might also be associated with attempts to pacify the monks’ revolt

Powerful partnerships: enhancing the student experience through career long professional learning [Poster]

The School of Education (SofE) recognises the importance of promoting opportunities for students and staff to engage with each other. Higher Education (HE) has been transformed over the last twenty years and the change from teacher-centred pedagogy to a more student-centred approach has been widely adopted (O’Neill and McMahon, 2005). The SofE provides a rich and diverse curriculum of study across a range of degree programmes. We have established a staff and student partnership which has seen a refreshed focus on the student, where their voice is influential in what they learn. This has been the emphasis of many researchers in the past. Both Rogers (1983) and Burnard (1999) illustrate that this is essential in establishing and maintaining student-centred learning. This poster illustrates the benefits to a staff and student partnership as established at The University of Glasgow

Interaction of Stern layer and domain structure on photochemistry of lead-zirconate-titanate.

Perovskite ferroelectric materials such as PZT have long been known to have wideband semiconducting properties. It has also been found that they have interesting spatially controllable surface photochemical effects that are not seen in 'normal' semiconductors. This has led to their being studied as possible tools in areas such as metal salt reduction and oxidation for nanoparticle growth. This paper discusses the effects of incident photon energy on the reduction of Ag0 onto PZT(30/70) surfaces with particular emphasis on the part played by energy band bending and the Stern layer. It was found that for increasing photon energy between 4.4 and 5.0 eV both the [1 1 1] and the [1 0 0] orientations of PZT followed a similar trend in that the average Ag0 cluster cross-sectional area increased by a ratio of ca 1.6 to 1. This increase was put down to the higher energy photons exciting more electrons from deeper in the density of states for the material allowing a greater reduction rate of Ag+ at the surface

Experimental archeology and serious games: challenges of inhabiting virtual heritage

Experimental archaeology has long yielded valuable insights into the tools and techniques that featured in past peoples’ relationship with the material world around them. However, experimental archaeology has, hitherto, confined itself to rigid, empirical and quantitative questions. This paper applies principles of experimental archaeology and serious gaming tools in the reconstructions of a British Iron Age Roundhouse. The paper explains a number of experiments conducted to look for quantitative differences in movement in virtual vs material environments using both “virtual” studio reconstruction as well as material reconstruction. The data from these experiments was then analysed to look for differences in movement which could be attributed to artefacts and/or environments. The paper explains the structure of the experiments, how the data was generated, what theories may make sense of the data, what conclusions have been drawn and how serious gaming tools can support the creation of new experimental heritage environments

Modelling Interdependent Cascading Failures in Real World Complex Networks using a Functional Dependency Model

Infrastructure systems are becoming increasingly complex and interdependent. As a result our ability to predict the likelihood of large-scale failure of these systems has significantly diminished and the consequence of this is that we now have a greatly increased risk of devastating impacts to society. Traditionally these systems have been analysed using physically-based models. However, this approach can only provide information for a specific network and is limited by the number of scenarios that can be tested. In an attempt to overcome this shortcoming, many studies have used network graph theory to provide an alternative analysis approach. This approach has tended to consider infrastructure systems in isolation, but has recently considered the analysis of interdependent networks through combination with percolation theory. However, these studies have focused on the analysis of synthetic networks and tend to only consider the topology of the system. In this paper we develop a new analysis approach, based upon network theory, but accounting for the hierarchical structure and functional dependency observed in real world infrastructure networks. We apply this method to two real world networks, to show that it can be used to quantify the impact that failures within an electricity network have upon a dependent water network

Observation of a cascaded process in intracavity terahertz optical parametric oscillators based on lithium niobate

Cascaded difference frequency generation has been observed in intracavity optical parametric oscillators based on bulk lithium niobate and producing nanosecond pulses of terahertz radiation. Two idler waves are generated, namely: the primary idler wave associated with the parametric down conversion process itself; and a secondary idler wave, due to difference frequency generation. Experimental investigations of the frequency, temporal evolution, propagation direction, intensity, phase matching and oscillation threshold of the generated down-converted waves are reported. The overall generation efficiency for the terahertz radiation is enhanced, thereby overcoming the Manley-Rowe limit. Advantages of the present approach over schemes based on periodically poled lithium niobate are identified.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Swing switching of spin-torque valves

We propose a method for inducing magnetization reversal using an AC spin current polarized perpendicular to the equilibrium magnetization of the free magnetic layer. We show that the critical AC spin current is significantly smaller than the corresponding DC one. The effect is understood as a consequence of the underdamped nature of the spin-torque oscillators. It allows to use the kinetic inertia to overcome the residual energy barrier, rather than suppressing the latter by a large spin current. The effect is similar to a swing which may be set into high amplitude motion by a weak near-resonant push. The optimal AC frequency is identified as the upper bifurcation frequency of the corresponding driven nonlinear oscillator. Together with fast switching times it makes the perpendicular AC method to be the most efficient way to realize spin-torque memory valve.Comment: 8 pages, 11 figure