Drilling down to the core: collaborative core content creation

As part of Leeds Metropolitan University’s review of the postgraduate curriculum in 2012–13, Libraries and Learning Innovation (LLI) was asked to lead a project group to create two core content modules for use at Level 7 (Masters level) in Research Practice and Project Management. Core content modules are modules within a virtual learning environment (VLE) that have a clear structure and design, containing generic materials to support the subject. They are intended to serve as a template for academics designing a module, providing a range of high quality, up-to-date content (created by Leeds Metropolitan as well as from other sources) that may be easily inserted and contextualised within the curriculum. The modules have been extremely well received, with very positive feedback being given in the promotional workshops run for staff, through a feedback form and in meetings and events attended by team members. Several academic staff have already used a copy of the Research Practice module as the basis of their own research modules, and it has also been adopted by a new course for distance learners as the core of their Research Practice module, following on from recommendations of colleagues in that faculty. A member of academic staff involved in the MSc in Strategic Project Management is working with the team on re-purposing a number of his own materials to augment the Project Management module, and these re-purposed materials will also be used to enhance and extend the project management content on the Skills for Learning website. The project has been a very rewarding experience for the team involved, and it has led to the development of a set of resources which it seems will be of real worth to the academic community

D-Branes and Spin^c Structures

It was recently pointed out by E. Witten that for a D-brane to consistently wrap a submanifold of some manifold, the normal bundle must admit a Spin^c structure. We examine this constraint in the case of type II string compactifications with vanishing cosmological constant, and argue that in all such cases, the normal bundle to a supersymmetric cycle is automatically Spin^c.Comment: 9 pages, LaTe

Forging Ahead: Early Lessons

Outlines outcomes and lessons of the Scale Academy for Microenterprise Development's operational grants, training, and technical support for microenterprise organizations. Examines grantees' progress in and strategies for expanding services sustainably

Full vs. Light-Handed Regulation of a Network Industry

The access pricing problem emerges when a vertically integrated firm (the incumbent) provides an essential service in the upstream market, to an entrant. Both firms produce a final service and compete in the downstream market. The standard treatment of this problem has been to add the access price to the list of instruments available to a regulator who maximizes a social welfare function. Motivated by the international trend to reduce the number of prices set by regulation, we use a light handed regulation approach in which the only tool available to the regulator is the access price, and where retail prices are set by quantity competition in the downstream market. In this setup, we find that a regulator seeking to maximize total market surplus will set an access price that subsidizes the entrant, so that entrants that are less efficient than the incumbent firm can survive in the market. We then compare the outcomes of the full regulation model with those of the light-handed regulation model, in terms of final prices, firm profits, and consumer surplus. When the regulator faces incomplete information about entrant firms' costs and cannot offer a menu of contracts to potential entrants, we find examples in which light handed regulation can dominate full regulation.

Biofeedback systems for stress reduction: Towards a Bright Future for a Revitalized Field

Stress has recently been baptized as the black death of the 21st century, which illustrates its threat to current health standards. This article proposes biofeedback systems as a means to reduce stress. A concise state-ofthe-art introduction on biofeedback systems is given. The field of mental health informatics is introduced. A compact state-of-the-art introduction on stress (reduction) is provided. A pragmatic solution for the pressing societal problem of illness due to chronic stress is provided in terms of closed loop biofeedback systems. A concise set of such biofeedback systems for stress reduction is presented. We end with the identification of several development phases and ethical concerns

Core content modules at Leeds Metropolitan University

As part of Leeds Metropolitan University’s review of the postgraduate curriculum in 2012–13, Libraries and Learning Innovation (LLI) was asked to lead a project group to create two core content modules for use at Level 7 (Masters level) in Research Practice and Project Management. The rationale for choosing these two areas was the sheer number of modules in these subjects taught across a wide range of disciplines, each of which is currently designed and populated by individual course teams. The group consisted of representatives from the University’s Centre for Teaching and Learning, academic staff, learning technologists and academic librarians, and was chaired by the Associate Director of LLI, Wendy Luker

The fate of NOx emissions due to nocturnal oxidation at high latitudes: 1-D simulations and sensitivity experiments

The fate of nitrogen oxide pollution during high-latitude winter is controlled by reactions of dinitrogen pentoxide (N2O5) and is highly affected by the competition between heterogeneous atmospheric reactions and deposition to the snowpack. MISTRA (MIcrophysical STRAtus), a 1-D photochemical model, simulated an urban pollution plume from Fairbanks, Alaska to investigate this competition of N2O5 reactions and explore sensitivity to model parameters. It was found that dry deposition of N2O5 made up a significant fraction of N2O5 loss near the snowpack, but reactions on aerosol particles dominated loss of N2O5 over the integrated atmospheric column. Sensitivity experiments found the fate of NOx emissions were most sensitive to NO emission flux, photolysis rates, and ambient temperature. The results indicate a strong sensitivity to urban area density, season and clouds, and temperature, implying a strong sensitivity of the results to urban planning and climate change. Results suggest that secondary formation of particulate (PM2.5) nitrate in the Fairbanks downtown area does not contribute significant mass to the total PM2.5 concentration, but appreciable amounts are formed downwind of downtown due to nocturnal NOx oxidation and subsequent reaction with ammonia on aerosol particles

Organizing acquisitions: the Yale University experience

ManuscriptThe acquisition of materials for large research library collections is a complex process requiring large numbers of staff and highly developed management skills. Even in the best of times it is easy for this complicated process to be less than effective. When faced with budget cuts, staff layoffs, or currency fluctuations, the organization of acquisitions functions must be adaptable, flexible, and quick to respond. Organizations must be designed to maximize the library's staff, its automated system, and its network of publishers and vendors. This article will discuss the changes that have occurred in the organization of acquisitions activities at Yale University in the past five years. This case is indicative of the climate of challenge that has prevailed in recent times over the role of acquisitions departments and acquisitions librarians in libraries. Perhaps it will serve to enlighten others who are reevaluating their acquisitions services