Two-dimensional graphics tools for a transputer based display board

A package of 2-D graphics routines has been developed in an effort to standardize and simplify the user interface for a transputer based graphics display board. The routines available take advantage of the graphic board's capabilities while also presenting an intuitive approach for generating drawings. The routines allow a user to perform graphics rendering in a 2-D real-coordinate space without regard to the actual screen coordinates. Multiple windows, which can be placed arbitrarily on the screen as well as the ability to use double-buffering techniques for smooth animations are also supported. The routines are designed to be run on a transputer other than the graphics display board. The window and screen parameters are maintained locally. The conversion to device coordinates is also performed locally. The only data sent to the display board are control and device coordinate display commands. The routines available include: rotation translation, and scaling commands; absolute and relative point and line commands; circle, rectangle and polygon commands; and window and viewpoint definition commands

Multiprocessor graphics computation and display using transputers

A package of two-dimensional graphics routines was developed to run on a transputer-based parallel processing system. These routines were designed to enable applications programmers to easily generate and display results from the transputer network in a graphic format. The graphics procedures were designed for the lowest possible network communication overhead for increased performance. The routines were designed for ease of use and to present an intuitive approach to generating graphics on the transputer parallel processing system

Pursuing the Principalship: Factors in Assistant Principals’ Decisions

School administrators who are hired to lead and guide schools and districts must possess a number of characteristics that allow them to become successful leaders. The presence or absence of a strong educational leader can make all the difference in school climate and student achievement (Kelley, Thornton, & Daugherty, 2005). Educational leaders need to be cognizant of what constitutes an effective leader and which characteristics have the most effective impact on student achievement. Alford et al. (2011) stated, while principals are engaged in the managerial tasks of the school, securing the building for safety, ensuring bus routes, student schedules, and the day-to-day management tasks, the instructional needs of the faculty and students compete for attention (p. 29)

Persistent homology of groups

We introduce and investigate notions of persistent homology for p-groups and for coclass trees of p-groups. Using computer techniques we show that persistent homology provides fairly strong homological invariants for p-groups of order at most 81. The strength of these invariants, and some elementary theoretical properties, suggest that persistent homology may be a useful tool in the study of prime-power groups.Comment: 12 pages, 6 figure

Stroke liaison workers for patients and carers

This thesis has developed to explore a specific intervention in a core context. That context is the transition of stroke from hospital to home and from acute illnesses to chronic disease. This includes the change from a rehabilitation focus on the physical effects and complications of stroke (during in-patient stroke unit care) to the psychological, emotional and social consequences of stroke as well as the risk of recurrence. Specifically it focuses on an intervention in two key problem areas. The first is the risk of stroke or transient ischaemic attack (TIA) recurrence and risk factor modification through lifestyle change. The second is the area of psychosocial problems post stroke. Both these areas may be addressed by a single intervention, and it is that potential intervention that is evaluated in detail in this thesis. Other problem areas such as functional recovery and interventions to affect this are set in context, but not specifically covered here. Chapter One highlights the association in the literature between the well documented social and psychological consequences of stroke and longer term health outcomes for patients. We can see from the literature that there is a strong association between depression and worse outcomes in terms of rehabilitation, reduced cognitive functioning and increased mortality. In addition patients with poor social support or poor family functioning are recognised to have a longer length of hospital stay and poorer rehabilitation profile. Patients who have a poor understanding of their illness are less likely to comply with treatment advice or re-attend for further treatment. There is therefore a setting for evaluating an intervention that might seek to impact the emotional, informational and social needs of patients post stroke. Chapter Two describes a randomised controlled trial of a Stroke Nurse Specialist intervention in a behaviour modification programme. This trial was intended to address the risk of Transient Ischaemic Attack (TIA) or Stroke recurrence by aiming to improve the information needs of post stroke and TIA patients, hoping to improve their compliance, lifestyle modification and ultimately risk factor control. The primary outcome was the proportion of patients who achieved control of all their modifiable risk factors (e.g. smoking, hypertension, diabetes and hypercholesterolaemia) according to predetermined criteria. No significant difference was seen between the groups for the primary outcome (proportion achieving risk factor control: Experiment 46.4% Vs Control 41.7%, p=0.34). Differences were seen between the groups in the reduction in systolic blood pressure (Experiment -9.2mmHg, SD 23.3 Vs Control -1.0mmHg, SD 22.4, p=0.04). In addition patients in the experimental group were more likely to express satisfaction with aspects of liaison and information provision. Chapter Three evaluates the effects of the short term behaviour modification intervention (detailed in Chapter Two) at over three years after initial enrolment. Rates of follow up of the initial cohort were lower than the initial study (50% compared to 94%). No significant difference exists at three years between the intervention and control groups for the primary outcome of risk factor control. Differences were observed between the groups for the rates of admission to nursing homes (Experiment 0 Vs Control 5, p=0.02), however the small size of this follow up sample limits the conclusions that can be drawn from this result. Chapter Four attempts to set the randomised controlled trial evaluated in Chapters Two and Three in the context of other outpatient rehabilitation interventions and tries to establish if there is comparability between the interventions and even combinability for subsequent meta-analysis. This process identifies several core themes: • Physical fitness training after stroke, • Occupational therapy after stroke, • Multidisciplinary rehabilitation post stroke, • Information provision and education post stroke and • Psychological and social support. In addition, several trials targeting intervention aimed at carers only were identified. Chapter Five describes a systematic review and meta-analysis of Stroke Liaison Worker trials – that is trials that evaluated a healthcare worker or volunteer who provided social support, information and liaison with the patient after discharge. This includes the trial described in Chapter Two. Individual patient data meta-analysis was conducted of 16 trials evaluating 18 interventions. Meta-analysis did not demonstrate any benefit of Stroke Liaison Workers compared to usual care for the primary outcomes of subjective health status or extended activities of daily living. In addition there was no benefit from Stroke Liaison Worker on the outcomes of death, institutionalisation, mental health or dependence. Patients were more satisfied that someone had really listened to them. Carers were more satisfied that they had received enough information about the causes of stroke, that they had enough information about recovery, that someone had really listened, and that they did not feel neglected. Subgroup analysis by patient dependence at recruitment revealed that patients with mild to moderate dependence had reduced dependence in the intervention group (OR 0.60, 0.44 – 0.83, p=0.002) as well as a reduction in death or dependence (OR 0.55, 0.39 – 0.78, p=0.0008). In Chapter Six I was keen to evaluate whether the interventions in the literature and the framework for combining and evaluating them could be mapped onto existing services in Scotland. This was done through a questionnaire of the Scottish Stroke Nurses Forum. This identified 58 Stroke Liaison Workers from around Scotland who identified themselves as providing the services described using the review criteria in Chapter Five. These nurses identified that their commonest requests for help relate to psychological or emotional issues. 62% of respondents believed that their role was effective for all their patients. In conclusion, Stroke Liaison Workers result in greater satisfaction with certain aspects of service provision but do not appear to result in changes to patient subjective health, extended ADL or carer subjective health. Subgroup analysis suggests that patients with mild to moderate dependence may benefit. Overall there does not appear to be evidence of effectiveness for this complex intervention when applied to all patients or carers

Magnesium as a factor in nitrogen fixation by soybeans

Publication authorized July 1, 1938.Includes bibliographical references (page 30)

The Influence of Criminalism on Prosecutorial Discretion and Sentence Length

Using the concept of criminalism, this paper addresses the disjunction in the sentencing and prosecution of bodies read as young, racialized as Black, and seen as male. Specifically, using the 2016 Survey of Prison Inmates (SPI), this thesis examines differences in sentence length across multiple intersecting statuses, institutions, and geographies as an empirical outcome. Results demonstrate a significant positive association between being read as young, racialized as Black, seen as male, and punishment in the extremes