Two sides of the same story: staff and student perceptions of the non-native speakers experience of the British academic system

This paper draws on a research and materials development project undertaken at the University of Leicester. The project’s aims were to identify problems encountered by non-native speaking students (NNS) and to offer academic departments a toolkit for overcoming these problems. The paper will discuss the student and staff experience of dealing with linguistic and cultural difficulties and suggest pedagogic and institutional strategies for improving in-sessional support. The paper will suggest that academics frequently have difficulty in diagnosing the nature of the problems that their NNS students have and that a greater focus on language is necessary. The paper will go on to argue that the high number of NNS studying at British universities creates an imperative for academic departments to mainstream the support that they offer for international students. As many of the recommendations for support for NNS are essentially ‘best practice’ teaching and learning they also are likely to have positive knock-on effects for other students

On the rotating surge and stall and the polar control method

In this paper, the polar controller is applied to the three-state, one-mode Moore-Greitzer Compressor model. A benchmark is first established with a backstepping controller. The polar control method is then explained, and compared to the backstepping controller. The polar controller is used successfully to control the surge and stall problem in the presence of both disturbances and uncertainties

TouchDevelop: Programming on the Go

Mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets are set to become the main computers that virtually all people will own and carry with them at all times. And yet,mobile devices are not yet used for all computing tasks. A project at Microsoft Research was created to answer a simple question: “It is possible to create interesting apps directly on a smartphone or tablet, without using a separate PC or a keyboard?” The result is TouchDevelop, a programming environment that runs on all modern mobile devices such as Windows Phone, iPhone, iPad, Android phones and tablets, and also on PCs and Macs. This book walks you through all of the screens of the TouchDevelop app, and it points out similarities and differences of the TouchDevelop language compared to other programming languages. For users, the book can serve as a handyreference next to the phone. The book systematically addresses all programming language constructs, starting from the very basic constructs such as variables and loops. The book also explores many of the phone sensors and data sources which make creating apps for mobile devices so rewarding. If you are new to programming with TouchDevelop, or if you have not yet worked on touchscreen devices, we suggest that you read the book starting from Chapter 1. If you are already familiar with the basic paradigm of the TouchDevelop programming environment, then feel free to jump ahead to the later chapters that address particular topic areas. This book is written from the perspective of a person developing their code using a web browser. The TouchDevelop Web App runs in many modern browsers on many different devices including smartphones and tablets, Macs, PC. All screenshots and navigation instructions refer to the TouchDevelop Web App running in a browser. For Windows Phone, there is a dedicated TouchDevelop app in the Windows Phone Store which gives access to many more sensors and data sources. Starting with the TouchDevelop app v3.0 for Windows Phone 8, the phone app will share the same look and navigation structure and all features of the Web App

TouchDevelop

Computer scienc

Development of corrosion fatigue testing in sour oilfield environments

The development of flexible pipelines and risers has been a key driver in allowing the oil and gas industry to develop fields in deeper and deeper waters, utilising floating production technologies. During service, the annulus environment located between the two polymer layers of the pipe may become corrosive. Permeation of corrosive species from the produced fluids along with permeation and subsequent condensation of water in the annulus of the pipe may result in the development of an acidic aqueous environment. If this situation occurs in service the integrity of the carbon steel tensile armour wires located in the annulus may be at risk. As such, it is the aim of the current research project to investigate the effect of simulated corrosive oilfield environments on the fatigue life of the tensile armour wire component of the pipe

Photolysis of phenol derivatives

On irradiation di-p-t-butylphenyl carbonate has been shown to rearrange via a novel photo-catalysed double Fries reaction to yield 5,5-di-t-buty1-2,2'-dihydroxybenzophenone. The nsubstituted phenyl carbonate gave rise to 2,2,-dihydroxy and 2,4,-dihydroxybenzophonone. An indication that the mechanism of the reaction involved the formation and eventual rearrangement of the corresponding salicylate was obtained by isolation of 5-t-butylsalicylie acid and by the irradiation of phenyl salioylate. The photolysis of aryl formate esters has indicated that the primary decomposition process may well be intramolecular extrusion of carbon monoxide although there is some evidence that other dissociation processes are in operation. The irradiation of ?-naphthyls phenylp p-t-butylphenyl, 2,6-xyly1 and p-chloro-phenyl formates in oyolohexene gave rise to the corresponded; aryl cyclohevl ether. This photooatalysed addition to an olefin is not restricted to cyclohexene and irradiation of p-t-butylphenyl formate in pant-2-one and 2-methylpent-l-one gave rise to the respective ethers. Attempts were made to elucidate the mechanism by irradiation of 2-aIly1-4-t-butylphenyl formate and 2-(3,3-dimethylallyl)phenol. Both irradiations gave rise to good yields of the normal addition products. Another route to the generation of aryloxy radicals was investigated involving the synthesis and decomposition of peroxy compounds containing phonoxy ether groups. The synthesis and decomposition of Bis-phenoxypropionyl)peroxide has been carried out showing the generation of phenoxyethyl radicals. 0,0-t-Buty1-o-phenylmonopercarbonate has been synthesised and analysis of the mixture obtained from its decomposition in cyclohexene has shown the presence of phenyl cyciohoxyl ether. Methyl and ethyl 5-phenoxypenta-2,4-dienoate were synthesized, the former by condensation of phenol with methyl but-l-on-3-yne-1-oarboxylate, the latter by reuotion of carbethony-methylene-triphenyl aosphorane and 3-phenozyacrolein. Attempts to synthesise this system by reaction of 3-phonoxyacrolein with several compounds having an active methylene group were unsuccessful. Diels-Alder reactions were carried out on the ethyl ester to give l-ethyl 2v5-dimethylbenzeno-12v3-tricarboxylate with dimethylacetylenedicar.boxylate7 ethyl 1-naphthoate 171th benzyne and 3-oarbethoxy-6-phenoxy-1,2,6-tetrahydrophthalic anhydride and the corresponding acid with maleic allydride. Ethyl 2-methy1-5-phenoxypenta-204-dienoateg synthesised by reaction of 3-phenoxyacrolein and 1-carbethoxyethylidene-triphenyl phosphorane did not react with the above dienophiles

Economic Evaluations Alongside Efficient Study Designs Using Large Observational Datasets: the PLEASANT Trial Case Study

BACKGROUND: Large observational datasets such as Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD) provide opportunities to conduct clinical studies and economic evaluations with efficient designs. OBJECTIVES: Our objectives were to report the economic evaluation methodology for a cluster randomised controlled trial (RCT) of a UK NHS-delivered public health intervention for children with asthma that was evaluated using CPRD and describe the impact of this methodology on results. METHODS: CPRD identified eligible patients using predefined asthma diagnostic codes and captured 1-year pre- and post-intervention healthcare contacts (August 2012 to July 2014). Quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs) 4 months post-intervention were estimated by assigning utility values to exacerbation-related contacts; a systematic review identified these utility values because preference-based outcome measures were not collected. Bootstrapped costs were evaluated 12 months post-intervention, both with 1-year regression-based baseline adjustment (BA) and without BA (observed). RESULTS: Of 12,179 patients recruited, 8190 (intervention 3641; control 4549) were evaluated in the primary analysis, which included patients who received the protocol-defined intervention and for whom CPRD data were available. The intervention's per-patient incremental QALY loss was 0.00017 (bias-corrected and accelerated 95% confidence intervals [BCa 95% CI] -0.00051 to 0.00018) and cost savings were £14.74 (observed; BCa 95% CI -75.86 to 45.19) or £36.07 (BA; BCa 95% CI -77.11 to 9.67), respectively. The probability of cost savings was much higher when accounting for BA versus observed costs due to baseline cost differences between trial arms (96.3 vs. 67.3%, respectively). CONCLUSION: Economic evaluations using data from a large observational database without any primary data collection is feasible, informative and potentially efficient. Clinical Trials Registration Number: ISRCTN03000938