IOME, A Toolkit for Distributed and Collaborative Computational Science and Engineering

The internet provides a media rich communications platform enabling communities to share content. Alongside the increased activity in collaborative work, recent developments on workflow tools are now enabling researchers from different disciplines to collaborate by feeding data and results between large multi-disciplinary, optimization problems. Researchers developing computational models require development kits and tools enabling them to provide simulations with a range of methods that facilitate collaboration. This paper presents a unique, multi-purpose tool-kit, enabling researchers to easily develop simulations which may be run as web services and accessed interactively. The development kit is based on a protocol that uses an XML markup called IOME ML, "the Interactive Object Management Environment Markup Language". The paper describes the IOME ML and it's development kit. We illustrate the capabilities of IOME with two case studies. Firstly, a medical image processing application which is wrapped as a web service and accessed through a web browser offering medical professionals image analysis tools. Secondly, a method of collaborative visualisation and computational steering of a tsunami simulation based on a shallow water wave model. The paper concludes with a review of further developments including refinements to the mark up language and the development of a service factory enabling dynamic invocation of published simulations as IOME web service applications

Development of a Yoga Program for Type-2 Diabetes Prevention (YOGA-DP) Among High-Risk People in India

Introduction: Many Indians are at high-risk of type-2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Yoga is an ancient Indian mind-body discipline, that has been associated with improved glucose levels and can help to prevent T2DM. The study aimed to systematically develop a Yoga program for T2DM prevention (YOGA-DP) among high-risk people in India using a complex intervention development approach. / Materials and Methods: As part of the intervention, we developed a booklet and a high-definition video for participants and a manual for YOGA-DP instructors. A systematic iterative process was followed to develop the intervention and included five steps: (i) a systematic review of the literature to generate a list of Yogic practices that improves blood glucose levels among adults at high-risk of or with T2DM, (ii) validation of identified Yogic practices by Yoga experts, (iii) development of the intervention, (iv) consultation with Yoga, exercise, physical activity, diet, behavior change, and/or diabetes experts about the intervention, and (v) pretest the intervention among Yoga practitioners and lay people (those at risk of T2DM and had not practiced Yoga before) in India. / Results: YOGA-DP is a structured lifestyle education and exercise program, provided over a period of 24 weeks. The exercise part is based on Yoga and includes Shithilikarana Vyayama (loosening exercises), Surya Namaskar (sun salutation exercises), Asana (Yogic poses), Pranayama (breathing practices), and Dhyana (meditation) and relaxation practices. Once participants complete the program, they are strongly encouraged to maintain a healthy lifestyle in the long-term. / Conclusions: We systematically developed a novel Yoga program for T2DM prevention (YOGA-DP) among high-risk people in India. A multi-center feasibility randomized controlled trial is in progress in India

Multi-layer scintillation detector for the MOON double beta decay experiment: Scintillation photon responses studied by a prototype detector MOON-1

An ensemble of multi-layer scintillators is discussed as an option of the high-sensitivity detector Mo Observatory Of Neutrinos (MOON) for spectroscopic measurements of neutrino-less double beta decays. A prototype detector MOON-1, which consists of 6 layer plastic-scintillator plates, was built to study the sensitivity of the MOON-type detector. The scintillation photon collection and the energy resolution, which are key elements for the high-sensitivity experiments, are found to be 1835+/-30 photo-electrons for 976 keV electrons and sigma = 2.9+/-0.1% (dE/E = 6.8+/-0.3 % in FWHM) at the Qbb ~ 3 MeV region, respectively. The multi-layer plastic-scintillator structure with good energy resolution as well as good background suppression of beta-gamma rays is crucial for the MOON-type detector to achieve the inverted hierarchy neutrino mass sensitivity.Comment: 8 pages, 16 figures, submitted to Nucl.Instrum.Met

Determination of the Gamow-Teller Quenching Factor from Charge Exchange Reactions on 90Zr

Double differential cross sections between 0-12 degrees were measured for the 90Zr(n,p) reaction at 293 MeV over a wide excitation energy range of 0-70 MeV. A multipole decomposition technique was applied to the present data as well as the previously obtained 90Zr(p,n) data to extract the Gamow-Teller (GT) component from the continuum. The GT quenching factor Q was derived by using the obtained total GT strengths. The result is Q=0.88+/-0.06 not including an overall normalization uncertainty in the GT unit cross section of 16%.Comment: 11 papes, 4 figures, submitted to Physics Letters B (accepted), gzipped tar file, changed content

Challenges of Early Years leadership preparation: a comparison between early and experienced Early Years practitioners in England

Leadership has been under-researched in the Early Years (EY) sector of primary schools in England, especially in leading change for professional development. The aim of this paper is to theorise what the leadership culture for EY practitioners looks like, and how Initial Teacher Training providers and schools are preparing practitioners for leadership. Using case studies of EY practitioners in different stages of their career in primary schools, we offer an insight into their preparedness for leadership in EY, the implication being that leadership training requires an understanding and embedding of the EY culture and context. Interviews with both sample groups allowed for deeper insight into the lived world. Interviews were also conducted with the head teachers to gain an overview of the leadership preparation they provided. The main findings suggest that newer EY practitioners are better prepared for leadership from their university training in comparison to more experienced EY practitioners

Creativity and Autonomy in Swarm Intelligence Systems

This work introduces two swarm intelligence algorithms -- one mimicking the behaviour of one species of ants (\emph{Leptothorax acervorum}) foraging (a `Stochastic Diffusion Search', SDS) and the other algorithm mimicking the behaviour of birds flocking (a `Particle Swarm Optimiser', PSO) -- and outlines a novel integration strategy exploiting the local search properties of the PSO with global SDS behaviour. The resulting hybrid algorithm is used to sketch novel drawings of an input image, exploliting an artistic tension between the local behaviour of the `birds flocking' - as they seek to follow the input sketch - and the global behaviour of the `ants foraging' - as they seek to encourage the flock to explore novel regions of the canvas. The paper concludes by exploring the putative `creativity' of this hybrid swarm system in the philosophical light of the `rhizome' and Deleuze's well known `Orchid and Wasp' metaphor

Factors associated with self-care activities among adults in the United Kingdom: a systematic review

Background: The Government has promoted self-care. Our aim was to review evidence about who uses self-tests and other self-care activities (over-the-counter medicine, private sector,complementary and alternative medicine (CAM), home blood pressure monitors). Methods: During April 2007, relevant bibliographic databases (Medline, Embase, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, Applied Social Sciences Index and Abstracts, PsycINFO,British Nursing Index, Allied and Complementary Medicine Database, Sociological Abstracts, International Bibliography of the Social Sciences, Arthritis and Complementary Medicine Database, Complementary and Alternative Medicine and Pain Database) were searched, and potentially relevant studies were reviewed against eligibility criteria. Studies were included if they were published during the last 15 years and identified factors, reasons or characteristics associated with a relevant activity among UK adults. Two independent reviewers used proformas to assess the quality of eligible studies. Results: 206 potentially relevant papers were identified, 157 were excluded, and 49 papers related to 46 studies were included: 37 studies were, or used data from questionnaire surveys, 36 had quality scores of five or more out of 10, and 27 were about CAM. Available evidence suggests that users of CAM and over-the-counter medicine are female, middle-aged, affluent and/or educated with some measure of poor health, and that people who use the private sector are affluent and/or educated. Conclusion: People who engage in these activities are likely to be affluent. Targeted promotion may, therefore, be needed to ensure that use is equitable. People who use some activities also appear to have poorer measures of health than non-users or people attending conventional services. It is, therefore, also important to ensure that self-care is not used as a second choice for people who have not had their needs met by conventional service

Culture and moral leadership in education

I begin by arguing that East Asia is different from the West in many aspects and that the main contributing factor is societal culture. Only recently have scholars in the field of educational administration begun to pay attention to societal culture as a theoretical construct for the analysis of educational theories. The emerging theme of moral leadership that Sergiovanni, Green-field, and others in the West discuss is consonant with a long intellectual tradition in CHinese culture. The Chinese have a history of both valuing moral leadership an dpreparing leaders on moral grounds. I examine the early Confucian thought on moral leadership and suggest how the Chinese experience could provide additional examples of how scholars might conceive of moral leadership in modern times.published_or_final_versio

Yoga programme for type-2 diabetes prevention (YOGA-DP) among high risk people in India: a multicentre feasibility randomised controlled trial protocol.

INTRODUCTION: A huge population in India is at high risk of type-2 diabetes (T2DM). Physical activity and a healthy diet (healthy lifestyle) improve blood glucose levels in people at high risk of T2DM. However, an unhealthy lifestyle is common among Indians. Yoga covers physical activity and a healthy diet and can help to prevent T2DM. The research question to be addressed by the main randomised controlled trial (RCT) is whether a Yoga programme for T2DM prevention (YOGA-DP) is effective in preventing T2DM among high risk people in India as compared with enhanced standard care. In this current study, we are determining the feasibility of undertaking the main RCT. INTERVENTION: YOGA-DP is a structured lifestyle education and exercise programme. The exercise part is based on Yoga and includes Shithilikarana Vyayama (loosening exercises), Surya Namaskar (sun salutation exercises), Asana (Yogic poses), Pranayama (breathing practices) and Dhyana (meditation) and relaxation practices. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: This is a multicentre, two-arm, parallel-group, feasibility RCT with blinded outcome assessment and integrated mixed-methods process evaluation. Eligible participants should be aged 18-74 years, at high risk of T2DM (fasting plasma glucose level 5.6-6.9 mmol/L) and safe to participate in physical activities. At least 64 participants will be randomised to intervention or control group with final follow-up at 6 months. Important parameters, needed to design the main RCT, will be estimated, such as SD of the outcome measure (fasting plasma glucose level at 6-month follow-up), recruitment, intervention adherence, follow-up, potential contamination and time needed to conduct the study. Semistructured qualitative interviews will be conducted with up to 20-30 participants, a sample of those declining to participate, four YOGA-DP instructors and around eight study staff to explore their perceptions and experiences of taking part in the study and of the intervention, reasons behind non-participation, experiences of delivering the intervention and running the study, respectively. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: Ethics approval has been obtained from the following Research Ethics Committees: Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Nottingham (UK); Centre for Chronic Disease Control (CCDC, India); Bapu Nature Cure Hospital and Yogashram (BNCHY, India) and Swami Vivekananda Yoga Anusandhana Samsthana (S-VYASA, India). The results will be widely disseminated among key stakeholders through various avenues. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: CTRI/2019/05/018893