Role-Playing Scenarios in the Writing Classroom

Role-playing games have long been part of the corporate world, but they have recently engaged the university curriculum, with dynamic results. First developing in history and other humanities classes, they can also provide FYW and other writing students an engaging context for their work. How to play these games is explained and critiqued, with suggestions for how potential problems may be avoided. Where the curious instructor can fnd micro-games, which can be played in one or two classes, is included, as well as support for developing new games to highlight contemporary issues

Self-similar voiding solutions of a single layered model of folding rocks

In this paper we derive an obstacle problem with a free boundary to describe the formation of voids at areas of intense geological folding. An elastic layer is forced by overburden pressure against a V-shaped rigid obstacle. Energy minimization leads to representation as a nonlinear fourth-order ordinary differential equation, for which we prove their exists a unique solution. Drawing parallels with the Kuhn-Tucker theory, virtual work, and ideas of duality, we highlight the physical significance of this differential equation. Finally we show this equation scales to a single parametric group, revealing a scaling law connecting the size of the void with the pressure/stiffness ratio. This paper is seen as the first step towards a full multilayered model with the possibility of voiding

Failure and the Amiable Lie

This document details the creation and execution of my solo theatrical piece The Man and the Demon. The first chapter serves as an exploration of how the show was conceived, created, rehearsed, and presented before an audience. In the second chapter, I detail why this piece resists traditional standardization for the purpose of repetition. Through both chapters I investigate the intimacy and immediacy of theatre, the benefits of risk, the essence of storytelling, and the usefulness of theatre’s “amiable lie.

Development of a DNA-based microarray for the detection of zoonotic pathogens in rodent species

Emerging infectious diseases are, and have always been, an important threat to human health, animal health and the global economy. Emerging and re-emerging pathogens are opportunists, responding to changes in the host or environment. Therefore, diagnostic tests used for the detection of pathogens either of animal or human origin, must be just as adaptable in utilising new technology. In complex biological situations where multiple pathogens may be present or when using wildlife samples that may be rare or precious, DNA microarray technology is particularly valuable as hundreds or thousands of targets can be screened simultaneously in a single sample. This thesis investigated the potential of a DNA microarray as a screening tool for over 20 pathogens as part of the Novel Technologies for Surveillance of Emerging and Re-emerging Infections of Wildlife project (WildTech), an FP7 EU funded project (www.wildtechproject.com). The pathogens included zoonotic viruses, bacteria and parasites. Publicly available software was used for design of oligonucleotides for the array. Evaluation of the oligonucleotides was carried out using reference samples from a variety of sources. Different rodent species were screened including the principal commensal species Rattus rattus, Rattus norvegicus, and Mus musculus. Nucleic acid extracted from samples of liver, kidney and lung was screened for the presence of pathogens. The array successfully identified Leptospira and Seoul hantavirus positive samples from animals trapped in the United Kingdom, France and Canada. These results were confirmed using previously established methods. It is likely that, over the next few years, diagnostic microarrays will become relatively inexpensive research tools. Molecular testing for emerging pathogens is increasingly being utilised and use of this technology will result in timely, accurate and inexpensive diagnosis to enable effective control of these infectious diseases with important implications for human health. The data contributed here can aid in the steps required to design microarrays for screening purposes

Population ageing, employment practices, the labour market and government policy in Japan.

The thesis is concerned with the impact of population ageing on the future trends of male employment and unemployment in Japan, since it is thought that rising unemployment amongst older people will increase the dependency rate, leading to a reduction in capital accumulation and slower economic growth. The study is based on material and data obtained while researching in Japan for one year and draws heavily on Japanese-language sources. First, the role of rapidly falling fertility in stimulating economic growth in Japan is examined, followed by a detailed analysis of employment practices across different sizes of company in Japan that draws on surveys published by government and private institutions. It is found that existing analyses of Japanese employment practices ignore the importance of workforce age structure in internal labour markets. An efficiency age structure hypothesis that stresses labour demand rigidities is formulated: it is hypothesised that large firms with internal labour markets attempt to maintain a given internal age structure to maximise workforce efficiency. This behaviour implies that as the population ages, the unemployment rate of older men will rise. The implications of this hypothesis are examined at a micro level through an analysis of the adjustments firms have made to employment practices; and at the macro level through an analysis of the macro labour market. The absorptive capacity of small companies and self-employment for older men was examined using cohort analysis. Finally the impact of government policy on the labour market for older men is examined and assessed. Government policy is divided into two main categories: labour market intervention and public pension reform. The thesis indicates that raising the pension eligibility age will not reduce dependency unless employment practices that generate unemployment of older people are changed