Mental health, resilience and the recession in Bradford

Which coping strategies helped unemployed people in Bradford during times of recession? This research explores the mental health impacts of unemployment. Researchers spoke to 16 focus groups in Bradford that included 73 unemployed people to find out how job losses affected everyday well-being and which personal coping strategies and financial support opportunities were helpful. Participants revealed how financial losses could affect mental health and how aspects such as the loss of a previously valued social role and a lack of structure during the day also played a part. The study: - examines the impact of involuntary unemployment across different groups; - identifies the dangers to mental health associated with unemployment; and - presents the different coping strategies used by men and women and by different age groups. It identifies five main issues that require further policy attention to ensure that people who are unemployed do not also suffer from mental ill-health

Computation of forces in strongly nonlinear magnetic fields using higher-order eggshell algorithm

A novel version of the eggshell-based procedure for numerical computation of magnetic forces and torques acting on ferromagnetic bodies in highly nonlinear magnetic fields is presented. The procedure works with a fully adaptive higher-order finite element method developed for years in our research group, that is implemented in own code Agros2D and library Hermes. The power of the methodology and both codes is demonstrated on the solution of two typical examples: computation of the static characteristic of a magnetic actuator and torque characteristic of a flux-switched permanent-magnet machine. The results obtained are compared with data calculated by several other available codes

System for Virtual Server Administration

S nárůstem výkonu počítačových sestav se rozvíjí trend virtualizace počítačů. Na jednom fyzickém počítači může být virtualizováno i několik samostatných počítačů virtuálních. Toho se využívá v mnoha oblastech, ve vývoji jader operačních systémů, testování nového software, výzkumu chování virů, pro úspory na HW. Na druhé straně se zvyšují nároky na správu takového počítače. Tato práce se zabývá vytvořením systému, který by umožnil zmenšit negativní dopady virtualizace na správu virtuálních počítačů. Cílem práce je vytvořit obecné rozhraní pro ovládání virtualizovaných počítačů s možností přizpůsobení na konkrétní konfigurace. Práce popisuje vývoj takového systému od specifikace požadavků, přes analýzu a návrh aplikace až k její implementaci.There is coming trend of virtualization on modern computers. One computer may act like host for several guest virtualized computers. This has many advantages, like for kernel development, software testing, virus behaviour testing, saving HW resources. On the other hand, complexity of computer maintenance is growing too. This bachelor thesis describes a system, that can be used for management of many virtual servers and lower the manageability overhead. This work will create a generic control interface for virtualized computers. Interface will be adaptable and extendible. The development of this system is described from specification through analysis to concept and implementation of application.

The ecology and evolution of induced responses to herbivory and how plants perceive risk

1. Plants perceive herbivore damage or increased risk and respond. These changes may increase plant fitness, although effects on fitness have often been assumed without supporting evidence. 2. Three models have been proposed to explain induced rather than constitutive defence. The optimal defence model posits that induction allow plants to reduce allocation costs; it predicts demonstrably lower costs when defences are not needed. The moving target model posits that induction increases spatial and temporal variability; it predicts that variability will be difficult for herbivores and will provide defence. The information transfer model posits that induced responses provide cues to other tissues on that individual plant and to other organisms in the community; it predicts that induced cues will provide systemic resistance, deter herbivores, and/or attract enemies of herbivores, thereby benefiting the induced plant. 3. All three models predict that cues must be reliable to be useful. In some cases, cues provide specific information about the damaged plant tissue and the herbivore and this specific information may allow plants to fine-tune responses. Recent theory posits that selection should favour plants that minimise recognition errors and reduce fitness costs associated with errors. 4. Future research should focus on exploring different modalities used by plants to perceive herbivore risk, the benefits and costs of perceiving cues and inducing resistance, and the basic natural history of these phenomena. Induced responses have great unrealised potential in agriculture, and research should focus on host plant resistance rather than attempting to involve other trophic levels

The ecosystem and evolutionary contexts of allelopathy

Plants can release chemicals into the environment that suppress the growth and establishment of other plants in their vicinity, a process known as ‘allelopathy’. However, chemicals with allelopathic functions have other ecological roles, such as plant defense, nutrient chelation, and regulation of soil biota in ways that affect decomposition and soil fertility. These ecosystem-scale roles of allelopathic chemicals can augment, attenuate or modify their community-scale functions. In this review we explore allelopathy in the context of ecosystem properties, and through its role in exotic invasions consider how evolution might affect the intensity and importance of allelopathic interactions

Plant structural complexity and mechanical defenses mediate predator-prey interactions in an odonate-bird system.

Habitat-forming species provide refuges for a variety of associating species; these refuges may mediate interactions between species differently depending on the functional traits of the habitat-forming species. We investigated refuge provisioning by plants with different functional traits for dragonfly and damselfly (Odonata: Anisoptera and Zygoptera) nymphs emerging from water bodies to molt into their adult stage. During this period, nymphs experience high levels of predation by birds. On the shores of a small pond, plants with mechanical defenses (e.g., thorns and prickles) and high structural complexity had higher abundances of odonate exuviae than nearby plants which lacked mechanical defenses and exhibited low structural complexity. To disentangle the relative effects of these two potentially important functional traits on nymph emergence-site preference and survival, we conducted two fully crossed factorial field experiments using artificial plants. Nymphs showed a strong preference for artificial plants with high structural complexity and to a lesser extent, mechanical defenses. Both functional traits increased nymph survival but through different mechanisms. We suggest that future investigations attempt to experimentally separate the elements contributing to structural complexity to elucidate the mechanistic underpinnings of refuge provisioning

Developing critical reflection within an interprofessional learning programme

Reflective practice is accepted as being a key component of professional education and practice in health and social care. However an emphasis on self reflection frequently fails to broaden the lens to take into account wider issues of power and inequality, to move beyond technical rationalism and remains at the individual level rather than being embedded within relational notions of dialogue both within teams and across professions. This paper will challenge traditional uniprofessional models of reflection through the development of an approach to interprofessional learning informed by models of critical practice that seek to critique and transcend traditional professional boundaries. Attention will also be paid to the central importance of service users as the essential focus of collaborative team working. The implications of embedding critical reflection as a key component of an integrated strategy for interprofessional learning will be discussed with reference to the development of a new interprofessional learning strategy for pre registration students within which reflective practice is introduced as both a discrete unit and a continuing theme throughout the curriculum. The paper will conclude that a model of critical and reflective practice will enable future practitioners to respond to the transformation of previously compartmentalised ways of thinking and working and the challenge of new ways of working