Spitzer Science Center within an Enterprise Architecture

The Spitzer Science Center’s (SSC) evolutionary development approach, coupled with a flexible, scaleable hardware and software architecture has been key in Spitzer’s ability to handle an explosion of data products, evolving data definitions, and changing data quality requirements. Spitzer is generating (depending on the campaign and instrument) about 10 TB of pre-archive data every 14 to 20 days. This generally reduces to between 3 TB and 6 TB of standard products, again depending on the campaign and instrument. This paper will discuss (1) the Spitzer Science Center’s responses to evolving data, quality, and processing requirements and (2) how robust or not was the original architecture to allow Spitzer to accommodate on-going change

On (Not) Being Milton: Tony Harrison’s Liminal Voice

The paper examines the relation between poetic identity, whose ongoing construction remains one of the most persistently reoccurring themes of Harrison’s work, and the liminal position occupied by the speaker of Harrison’s verse. In the context of the sociological thought of such scholars as Zygmunt Bauman and Stuart Hall, the following paper discusses the way in which the idea of being in-between operates in “On Not Being Milton,” an initial poem from Harrison’s widely acclaimed sonnet sequence The School of Eloquence, whose unique character stems partly from the fact that it constitutes an ongoing poetic project which has continued from 1978 onwards, reflecting the social and cultural changes of contemporary Britain

V-slotted screw head and matching driving tool facilitate insertion and removal of screw fasteners

A V-slotted designed screw and a screwdriver with a V-shaped tang facilitate driving the screw into difficult locations and minimize axial forces thus avoiding damage to the screw

Gender, networks and talent management : interim findings of a narrative inquiry

Despite an enduring concern with the acquisition, development and retention of talent, literature in the field has tended to retain a practitioner focus. More recent work, however, includes attempts to develop a more robust empirical and critical perspective, with occasional calls for an analysis of the gendered aspect of talent management. This paper is aimed at partially filling the ‘gender gap’ in talent management research. Part of a larger narrative study, findings presented here focus particularly on the role of networks in gendering the translation of talent management into practice

Beyond model answers: learners’ perceptions of self-assessment materials in e-learning applications

The importance of feedback as an aid to self‐assessment is widely acknowledged. A common form of feedback that is used widely in e‐learning is the use of model answers. However, model answers are deficient in many respects. In particular, the notion of a ‘model’ answer implies the existence of a single correct answer applicable across multiple contexts with no scope for permissible variation. This reductive assumption is rarely the case with complex problems that are supposed to test students’ higher‐order learning. Nevertheless, the challenge remains of how to support students as they assess their own performance using model answers and other forms of non‐verificational ‘feedback’. To explore this challenge, the research investigated a management development e‐learning application and investigated the effectiveness of model answers that followed problem‐based questions. The research was exploratory, using semi‐structured interviews with 29 adult learners employed in a global organisation. Given interviewees’ generally negative perceptions of the model‐answers, they were asked to describe their ideal form of self‐assessment materials, and to evaluate nine alternative designs. The results suggest that, as support for higher‐order learning, self‐assessment materials that merely present an idealised model answer are inadequate. As alternatives, learners preferred materials that helped them understand what behaviours to avoid (and not just ‘do’), how to think through the problem (i.e. critical thinking skills), and the key issues that provide a framework for thinking. These findings have broader relevance within higher education, particularly in postgraduate programmes for business students where the importance of prior business experience is emphasised and the profile of students is similar to that of the participants in this research

Quantifying tensions in cosmological parameters: Interpreting the DES evidence ratio

We provide a new interpretation for the Bayes factor combination used in the Dark Energy Survey (DES) first year analysis to quantify the tension between the DES and Planck datasets. The ratio quantifies a Bayesian confidence in our ability to combine the datasets. This interpretation is prior-dependent, with wider prior widths boosting the confidence. We therefore propose that if there are any reasonable priors which reduce the confidence to below unity, then we cannot assert that the datasets are compatible. Computing the evidence ratios for the DES first year analysis and Planck, given that narrower priors drop the confidence to below unity, we conclude that DES and Planck are, in a Bayesian sense, incompatible under LCDM. Additionally we compute ratios which confirm the consensus that measurements of the acoustic scale by the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (SDSS) are compatible with Planck, whilst direct measurements of the acceleration rate of the Universe by the SHOES collaboration are not. We propose a modification to the Bayes ratio which removes the prior dependency using Kullback-Leibler divergences, and using this statistical test find Planck in strong tension with SHOES, in moderate tension with DES, and in no tension with SDSS. We propose this statistic as the optimal way to compare datasets, ahead of the next DES data releases, as well as future surveys. Finally, as an element of these calculations, we introduce in a cosmological setting the Bayesian model dimensionality, which is a parameterisation-independent measure of the number of parameters that a given dataset constrains.Comment: 16 pages, 9 figures. v2 & v3: updates post peer-review. v4: typographical correction to the reported errors in the log S column of Table II. v5: typographical correction to equation 2

The influence of television on vocabulary, concepts and preferences of children in grades one and two.

Thesis (Ed.M.)--Boston University N.B.: With which is bound Currie, Jamesena. A study of twenty-five first grade children's preferences for television programs

Supporting general hospital staff to provide dementia sensitive care: A realist evaluation

© 2019 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0).Background: There are an increasing number of interventions to improve hospital care for patients with dementia. Evidence for their impact on staff actions and patient outcomes is, however, limited and context dependent. Objective: To explain the factors that support hospital staff to provide dementia sensitive care and with what outcomes for patients with dementia. Design: A realist evaluation using a two-site case study approach. Setting: Two hospital trusts in the East of England. Site 1 had a ward for patients with dementia that would address their medical and mental health needs. Site 2 used a team of healthcare assistants, who had support from dementia specialist nurses, to work with patients with dementia across the hospital. Participants: Hospital staff who had a responsibility for inpatients with dementia (healthcare assistants, nurses, medical staff, allied healthcare professionals and support staff) (n = 36), patients with dementia (n = 28), and family carers of patients with dementia (n = 2). Methods: A three stage realist evaluation: 1) building the programme theory of what works and when; 2) testing the programme theory through empirical data (80 h non-participant observation, 42 interviews, 28 patient medical notes, 27 neuropsychiatric inventory, and documentary review); 3) synthesis and verification of findings with key stakeholders. Findings: The programme theory comprised six interconnected context-mechanism-outcome configurations: 1) knowledge and authority to respond to an unmet need; 2) role relevant training and opportunities for reflection; 3) clinical experts and senior staff promoting practices that are patient-focused; 4) engaging with opportunities to spend time with patients; 5) risk management as an opportunity for person-centred care; 6) valuing dementia care as skilled work. Effective interactions reduced patient distress and supported patient orientation. Training and allocation of staff time were of themselves insufficient to ensure dementia care was prioritised and valued as skilled work. Staff concerns about the consequences of adverse incidents and work pressures on the ward, even with support, took precedence and influenced the quality of their interactions with patients with dementia. A key finding linked to staff retention and developing capacity in the workforce to provide expert dementia care was that despite extra training and organisational endorsement, nursing staff did not regard dementia care as skilled nursing work. Conclusions: There is increased awareness and organisational commitment to dementia-friendly healthcare in general hospitals. However, in addition to training and adapting the environment to the patient, further work is needed to make explicit the specialist skills required for effective dementia care.Peer reviewe

The Effects of Prior Experience on Estimating the Duration of Simple Tasks.

Previous research provides conflicting evidence regarding the effects of prior experience on estimates of task duration. Research supporting the planning fallacy suggests that people tend to ignore information about their previous task performance, whereas other work indicates that time estimates are influenced by the duration of a just-completed similar task. The present research examined whether information about previous tasks was linked to temporal misestimation on subsequent tasks. Experiment 1 revealed that the accuracy of completion time predictions on an anagram task was influenced by the degree of misestimation in the perceived duration of the preceding task. In Experiment 2, prospective estimates were found to exceed actual time, whereas the direction in which predictions were misestimated (under or overestimation) differed according to the duration of the just-completed task. These findings suggest that taskrelated information is not only used when predicting task duration but also affects temporal misestimation. This research is discussed in the context of bias in predictions of task duration and the allocation of attentional resources in dual task situations in the prospective time estimation paradigm