3,922 research outputs found
The contribution of a ‘synergic theory of change’ approach to democratising evaluation
This paper focuses on an evaluation of three projects working with young people in innovative ways to tackle societal alcohol misuse. Rather than presenting the findings of the evaluation per se, the paper presents learning from using theory-based approaches in a collaborative way to evaluate these complex, multi-strand initiatives. Traditional evaluations conducted by academics without collaboration with stakeholders can fail to meet the needs of those delivering interventions. Drawing on interviews with practitioners involved in delivering the projects, the paper adds new evidence to epistemological debates by introducing the notion of a ‘synergic theory of change’, whereby academic expertise and the skills, knowledge and experiences of stakeholders are subject to dialogue, and a theory of change becomes the result of collaborative consensus building. This way of using theory of change in evaluation requires researchers to work in a spirit of co-production and dialogue, and it can move evaluation away from being an exercise that seeks to judge interventions and, by extension, practitioners, to one which prioritises a shared learning journey. Using a synergic theory of change approach has the potential to change the nature of evaluation and lead to a different kind of relationship between researchers and practitioners than traditional methods-based approaches allow
Chandra Observation of M84, Radio Lobe Elliptical in Virgo cluster
We analyzed a deep Chandra observation of M84, a bright elliptical galaxy in
the core of the Virgo cluster. We find that the spatial distribution of the
soft X-ray emission is defined by the radio structure of the galaxy. In
particular we find two low density regions associated with the radio lobes and
surrounded by higher density X-ray filaments. In addition to a central AGN and
a population of galactic sources, we find a diffuse hard source filling the
central 10 kpc region. Since the morphology of the hard source appears round
and is different from that seen in the radio or in soft X-rays, we propose that
it is hot gas heated by the central AGN. Finally, we find that the central
elemental abundance in the X-ray gas is comparable to that measured optically.Comment: accepted to ApJ Letters, Oct 2000. 5 pages in emulateap
The XMM-Newton Detection of Diffuse Inverse Compton X-rays from Lobes of the FR-II Radio Galaxy 3C98
The XMM-Newton observation of the nearby FR-II radio galaxy 3C 98 is
reported. In two exposures on the target, faint diffuse X-ray emission
associated with the radio lobes was significantly detected, together with a
bright X-ray active nucleus, of which the 2 -- 10 keV intrinsic luminosity is
(4 -- 8) \times 10^{42} erg s-1. The EPIC spectra of the northern and southern
lobes are reproduced by a single power law model modified by the Galactic
absorption, with a photon index of 2.2-0.5+0.6 and 1.7-0.6+0.7 respectively.
These indices are consistent with that of the radio synchrotron spectrum, 1.73
+- 0.01 The luminosity of the northern and southern lobes are measured to be
8.3-2.6+3.3 \times 10^{40} erg s-1 and 9.2-4.3+5.7 \times 10^{40} erg s-1,
respectively, in the 0.7 -- 7 keV range. The diffuse X-ray emission is
interpreted as an inverse-Compton emission, produced when the
synchrotron-emitting energetic electrons in the lobes scatter off the cosmic
microwave background photons. The magnetic field in the lobes is calculated to
be about 1.7 \mu G, which is about 2.5 times lower than the value estimated
under the minimum energy condition. The energy density of the electrons is
inferred to exceed that in the magnetic fields by a factor of 40 -- 50.Comment: 23 pages, 7 figures. Accepted for publication in the Astrophysical
Journa
PCR for the detection of pathogens in neonatal early onset sepsis.
BACKGROUND: A large proportion of neonates are treated for presumed bacterial sepsis with broad spectrum antibiotics even though their blood cultures subsequently show no growth. This study aimed to investigate PCR-based methods to identify pathogens not detected by conventional culture. METHODS: Whole blood samples of 208 neonates with suspected early onset sepsis were tested using a panel of multiplexed bacterial PCRs targeting Streptococcus pneumoniae, Streptococcus agalactiae (GBS), Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus pyogenes (GAS), Enterobacteriaceae, Enterococcus faecalis, Enterococcus faecium, Ureaplasma parvum, Ureaplasma urealyticum, Mycoplasma hominis and Mycoplasma genitalium, a 16S rRNA gene broad-range PCR and a multiplexed PCR for Candida spp. RESULTS: Two-hundred and eight samples were processed. In five of those samples, organisms were detected by conventional culture; all of those were also identified by PCR. PCR detected bacteria in 91 (45%) of the 203 samples that did not show bacterial growth in culture. S. aureus, Enterobacteriaceae and S. pneumoniae were the most frequently detected pathogens. A higher bacterial load detected by PCR was correlated positively with the number of clinical signs at presentation. CONCLUSION: Real-time PCR has the potential to be a valuable additional tool for the diagnosis of neonatal sepsis
The iron cage of the profession: a critique on closure in the Australian accounting profession
This paper seeks to contribute to the literature on the process of closure that occurs within the constructs of professions. The discussion in this paper focuses on the professional accounting bodies in Australia and how they have devolved a form of bureaucratic control over the education process through the credentialing of membership and accreditation of accounting degrees. Weber\u27s theory of bureaucracy in conjunction with Closure theory provide the framework upon which this critique is drawn. Implicit in the regulatory role of the accounting bodies is the justification of the practice of accounting and the status of the members of the professional bodies. Once those within the professional associations accept the right of the professional bodies to determine the educational requirements for membership along with the practice of accreditation of curriculum forms the iron cage. The practice of accreditation and credentialing exists in other disciplines such as medicine, engineering and law so that there exists parallels for claiming a legitimate basis for the intervention of the professional accounting bodies
A Chandra detection of diffuse hard X-ray emission associated with the lobes of the radio galaxy 3C 452
An 80 ksec Chandra ACIS observation of the radio galaxy 3C 452 is reported. A
diffuse X-ray emission associated with the lobes has been detected with high
statistical significance, together with the X-ray nucleus of the host galaxy.
The 0.5--5 keV ACIS spectrum of the diffuse emission is described by a
two-component model, consisting of a soft thermal plasma emission from the host
galaxy halo and a hard non-thermal power-law component. The hard component is
ascribed to the inverse Comptonization of cosmic microwave background photons
by the synchrotron emitting electrons in the lobes, because its spectral energy
index, 0.68+-0.28, is consistent with the radio synchrotron index, 0.78. These
results reveal a significant electron dominance in the lobes. The electrons are
inferred to have a relatively uniform distribution, while the magnetic field is
compressed toward the lobe periphery.Comment: 4 figures, 2 tables, Accepted by ApJL (to appear in the December 1
issue
Observation of quantum interference as a function of Berry's phase in a complex Hadamard optical network
Emerging models of quantum computation driven by multi-photon quantum
interference, while not universal, may offer an exponential advantage over
classical computers for certain problems. Implementing these circuits via
geometric phase gates could mitigate requirements for error correction to
achieve fault tolerance while retaining their relative physical simplicity. We
report an experiment in which a geometric phase is embedded in an optical
network with no closed-loops, enabling quantum interference between two photons
as a function of the phase.Comment: Comments welcom
Multifrequency VLA observations of the FR I radio galaxy 3C 31: morphology, spectrum and magnetic field
We present high-quality VLA images of the FR I radio galaxy 3C 31 in the
frequency range 1365 to 8440 MHz with angular resolutions from 0.25 to 40
arcsec. Our new images reveal complex, well resolved filamentary substructure
in the radio jets and tails. We also use these images to explore the spectral
structure of 3C 31 on large and small scales. We infer the apparent magnetic
field structure by correcting for Faraday rotation. Some of the intensity
substructure in the jets is clearly related to structure in their apparent
magnetic field: there are arcs of emission where the degree of linear
polarization increases, with the apparent magnetic field parallel to the ridges
of the arcs. The spectral indices are significantly steeper (0.62) within 7
arcsec of the nucleus than between 7 and 50 arcsec (0.52 - 0.57). The spectra
of the jet edges are also slightly flatter than the average for their
surroundings. At larger distances, the jets are clearly delimited from
surrounding larger-scale emission both by their flatter radio spectra and by
sharp brightness gradients. The spectral index of 0.62 in the first 7 arcsec of
3C 31's jets is very close to that found in other FR I galaxies where their
jets first brighten in the radio and where X-ray synchrotron emission is most
prominent. Farther from the nucleus, where the spectra flatten, X-ray emission
is fainter relative to the radio. The brightest X-ray emission from FR I jets
is therefore not associated with the flattest radio spectra, but with a
particle-acceleration process whose characteristic energy index is 2.24. The
spectral flattening with distance from the nucleus occurs where our
relativistic jet models require deceleration, and the flatter-spectra at the
jet edges may be associated with transverse velocity shear. (Slightly abridged)Comment: 17 pages, 13 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA
On the Use of Group Theoretical and Graphical Techniques toward the Solution of the General N-body Problem
Group theoretic and graphical techniques are used to derive the N-body wave
function for a system of identical bosons with general interactions through
first-order in a perturbation approach. This method is based on the maximal
symmetry present at lowest order in a perturbation series in inverse spatial
dimensions. The symmetric structure at lowest order has a point group
isomorphic with the S_N group, the symmetric group of N particles, and the
resulting perturbation expansion of the Hamiltonian is order-by-order invariant
under the permutations of the S_N group. This invariance under S_N imposes
severe symmetry requirements on the tensor blocks needed at each order in the
perturbation series. We show here that these blocks can be decomposed into a
basis of binary tensors invariant under S_N. This basis is small (25 terms at
first order in the wave function), independent of N, and is derived using
graphical techniques. This checks the N^6 scaling of these terms at first order
by effectively separating the N scaling problem away from the rest of the
physics. The transformation of each binary tensor to the final normal
coordinate basis requires the derivation of Clebsch-Gordon coefficients of S_N
for arbitrary N. This has been accomplished using the group theory of the
symmetric group. This achievement results in an analytic solution for the wave
function, exact through first order, that scales as N^0, effectively
circumventing intensive numerical work. This solution can be systematically
improved with further analytic work by going to yet higher orders in the
perturbation series.Comment: This paper was submitted to the Journal of Mathematical physics, and
is under revie
- …