The electron plasma - Experiment theory and applications

Production, stability, and control of pure electron and electron rich plasmas - crossed field electron bea

Beyond ‘ignorance’: using the cultural stereotypes of Americans studying in the UK as a resource for learning and teaching about British culture

A course introducing British culture is a standard component of many study abroad programmes running in this country that are aimed at international students who will be spending a limited amount of time in the United Kingdom. However, it is not often acknowledged that such students possess a range of strong pre-conceptions about British culture and society prior to their arrival. Conventional teaching strategies assume student ignorance of the subject. However, an alternative approach which makes us of pre-arrival stereotypes can be more productive in terms of engaging students in active processes of comparative analysis of their new and existing knowledge. A case study of American student stereotypes of the British monarchy is presented and it is suggested that these can be used as the basis for refining student understanding of cultural politics in the United Kingdom. International students, therefore, should not be treated as being culturally ignorant of Britain in the sense of having no knowledge or opinions at all. Rather, it should be understood that they possess a culturally mediated state of subjectivity which I refer to as ‘ignorance’ and that this can become a valuable resource for teaching and learning

Experiments on the injection and containment of electron clouds in a toroidal apparatus

Injection and containment of electron clouds in azimuthally symmetric, toroidal apparatu

Crack barriers improve the mechanical and thermal properties of non-metallic sinter materials

Means of improving the tensile strength of ceramic composites by introducing ductile intermediate layers capable of absorbing the elastic energy at the rupture front are studied. Tests with an Al203 laminate with niobium inclusions showed that crack propagation could be successfully precluded by dissipation of the energy by deformation and/or delamination at the inclusion/matrix interface

The production of BeV potential wells

Production of billion electron volt potential wells by cloud of electrons suspended in magnetic fiel

Older drivers' requirements for navigation and route guidance information

This thesis examines older drivers and navigation. Over more recent times the proportion of older people in the UK population has risen. This effect is carrying over into the driving population. Due to changing demographics, increased longevity and the increased universality of driving there will be many more older drivers than before. Older drivers find the navigation task of finding their way on unfamiliar routes very demanding due to declines in sensory and cognitive abilities. New technology such as route guidance systems could aid the older driver in this task, by reducing uncertainty when meeting decision points on the road network. However such systems can also cause distraction. This has led to concern over the safety implications of the implementation of route guidance systems into cars. If route guidance systems are to be designed safely then the characteristics and needs of the driver have to be identified. The aim of this thesis was to provide human factors knowledge in this area so that route guidance systems can be designed to meet the needs of older drivers. [Continues.

Letter from E.S. Janes to James B. Finley

Bishop E.S. Janes sends Finley a wonderful letter concerning the joys of preaching. Abstract Number - 488https://digitalcommons.owu.edu/finley-letters/1686/thumbnail.jp

Insights into Latent Class Analysis

Latent class analysis is a popular statistical technique for estimating disease prevalence and test sensitivity and specificity. It is used when a gold standard assessment of disease is not available but results of multiple imperfect tests are. We derive analytic expressions for the parameter estimates in terms of the raw data, under the conditional independence assumption. These expressions indicate explicitly how observed two- and three-way associations between test results are used to infer disease prevalence and test operating characteristics. Although reasonable if the conditional independence model holds, the estimators have no basis when it fails. We therefore caution against using the latent class approach in practice

Adjusting for Covariate Effects on Classification Accuracy Using the Covariate-Adjusted ROC Curve

Recent scientific and technological innovations have produced an abundance of potential markers which are being investigated for their use in disease screen- ing and diagnosis. In evaluating these markers, it is often necessary to account for covariates which are associated with the marker of interest. These covariates may include subject characteristics, expertise of the test operator, test proce- dures, or aspects of specimen handling. In this paper, we propose the AROC, a covariate-adjusted measure of the classification accuracy. The AROC is the common covariate-specific ROC curve, when the covariate does not affect dis- crimination, and a weighted average of covariate-specific ROC curves, when the covariate does affect discrimination. We propose non-parametric and semi- parametric estimators for the AROC, provide asymptotic distribution theory for these estimators, and investigate their finite sample performance. We illus- trate our methods using data from the Physicians’ Health Study. The AROC is used to characterize the age-adjusted discriminatory accuracy of prostate- specific antigen as a biomarker for prostate cancer

Salience and default mode network coupling predicts cognition in aging and Parkinson’s disease

OBJECTIVES: Cognitive impairment is common in Parkinson’s disease (PD). Three neurocognitive networks support efficient cognition: the salience network, the default mode network, and the central executive network. The salience network is thought to switch between activating and deactivating the default mode and central executive networks. Anti-correlated interactions between the salience and default mode networks in particular are necessary for efficient cognition. Our previous work demonstrated altered functional coupling between the neurocognitive networks in non-demented individuals with PD compared to age-matched control participants. Here, we aim to identify associations between cognition and functional coupling between these neurocognitive networks in the same group of participants. METHODS: We investigated the extent to which intrinsic functional coupling among these neurocognitive networks is related to cognitive performance across three neuropsychological domains: executive functioning, psychomotor speed, and verbal memory. Twenty-four non-demented individuals with mild to moderate PD and 20 control participants were scanned at rest and evaluated on three neuropsychological domains. RESULTS: PD participants were impaired on tests from all three domains compared to control participants. Our imaging results demonstrated that successful cognition across healthy aging and Parkinson’s disease participants was related to anti-correlated coupling between the salience and default mode networks. Individuals with poorer performance scores across groups demonstrated more positive salience network/default-mode network coupling. CONCLUSIONS: Successful cognition relies on healthy coupling between the salience and default mode networks, which may become dysfunctional in PD. These results can help inform non-pharmacological interventions (repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation) targeting these specific networks before they become vulnerable in early stages of Parkinson’s disease.Published versio