Shaping Metrics for HEI Cultural Engagement - Knowledge Transfer

An application was submitted to the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) for support for a project that would identify and define activities deemed relevant to Knowledge Transfer (KT) - Cultural Engagement (CE), and propose appropriate means to evaluate them. It was acknowledged from the outset that efforts at agreeing “metrics” for the impact of such activities had been attempted before, albeit with limited success. (One such notable example has been lately provided by the Higher Education and Business Community Interaction Survey (HEBCIS) which has collected some data on social, community, and cultural engagement for some years; however, the robustness and consistency of the data for these purposes have often been questioned.

Yorkshire fairs and markets to the end of the eighteenth century.

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The optical field angle distortion calibration feasibility study for the Hubble Space Telescope fine guidance sensors

The results of an analytical study to investigate the feasibility of calibrating the Hubble Space Telescope's (HST's) fine guidance sensors (FGSs) within HST mission accuracy limits are presented. The study has two purposes: (1) to determine the mathematical feasibility of the optical field angle distortion (OFAD) calibration algorithm and (2) to confirm that the OFAD, plate scale, and FGS-to-FGS alignment calibration algorithms produced a calibration of the FGSs that satisfied mission requirements. The study concluded that the mathematical specification of the OFAD algorithm is adequate and permits a determination of the FGS calibration parameters (accurate to better than 0.003 arc-second) sufficient to meet the mission requirements. The algorithms implemented, the characteristics of the simulated data and procedures for data analysis, and the study's results are discussed. In addition, several useful techniques for improving the stability and accuracy of the OFAD solution are outlined

An LED-based Flasher System for VERITAS

We describe a flasher system designed for use in monitoring the gains of the photomultiplier tubes used in the VERITAS gamma-ray telescopes. This system uses blue light-emitting diodes (LEDs) so it can be operated at much higher rates than a traditional laser-based system. Calibration information can be obtained with better statistical precision with reduced loss of observing time. The LEDs are also much less expensive than a laser. The design features of the new system are presented, along with measurements made with a prototype mounted on one of the VERITAS telescopes.Comment: Accepted for publication in Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research

Belief and practice in the unified Germanies

'Gegen Ende des Mittelalters wurde die Christenheit in Westeuropa mit der protestantischen Reformation konfrontiert. Heute müssen sich die Christen - wiederum in Deutschland - mit einem weiteren kristenträchtigen Phänomen zunehmend vertraut machen: Der prinzipiellen Ablehnung des traditionellen christlichen Glaubens. In diesem Beitrag werden zunächst die in Westdeutschland längerfristig feststellbare Vereinigung von konfessioneller Mitgliedschaft und der Rückgang des Kirchenbesuchs für verschiedene Kohorten beschrieben. Der Zeitraum für diese Untersuchung ist 1953 bis 1992. Der zweite Abschnitt konzentriert sich auf einen Ost-West-Vergleich für die ersten Jahre nach der deutschen Vereinigung. Die Autoren zeigen, daß der Sozialismus in der DDR zu einem außerordentlich starken Rückgang von kirchlicher Partizipation und religiösen Einstellungen geführt hat. Vergleichbar hohe Schwächungen traditioneller Religiösität konnten bisher in keinem anderen Land mit Erhebungsdaten belegt werden. Im dritten Abschnitt werden die Untersuchungen auf alternative Glaubensformen ausgedehnt. Glücksbringer, Wunderheiler, Wahrsager und Horoskope werden immer noch von einem großen Bevölkerungsteil akzeptiert, ohne daß ein grundlegender Ost-West-Unterschied zu beobachten ist. Dies gilt sogar für Befragte in der jüngsten Kohorte. Weitere Analysen befassen sich mit den potentiellen Beziehungen zwischen Glauben an Gott, kirchlicher Partizipation und alternativen Glaubensformen.' (Autorenreferat)'At the end of the Middle Ages, western christianity was confronted with the Protestant Reformation. Today, and again in Germany, modern western christianity may be preparing to confront another major crisis - the rejection of traditional christian belief. The first part of the article focuses on church membership and church attendance in the western parts of Germany. It describes how far 'unchurching' has progressed among the various cohorts. Observation start in 1953 and end in 1992. The second section contains an East-West comparison of recent religious participation and attitudes in the new and old federal states. The authors show that the socialist influences experienced in the former GDR led to an extraordinarily high degree of explicitly unchurched people in Eastern Germany. This result is unparalleled in the other formerly socialist countries for which we have survey data. Finally, alternative forms of belief are investigated. These are beliefs in good luck charms, faith hearlers, fortune tellers, and horoscopes. Such alternative forms of belief apparently still persist in Germany today, irresspective of the East-West differentiation. They can even be found in the youngest cohorts. Further investigations focus on some of the potential relations between christian and alternative beliefs.' (author's abstract)

Shaping Metrics for HEI Cultural Engagement - Knowledge Transfer

An application was submitted to the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) for support for a project that would identify and define activities deemed relevant to Knowledge Transfer (KT) - Cultural Engagement (CE), and propose appropriate means to evaluate them. It was acknowledged from the outset that efforts at agreeing “metrics” for the impact of such activities had been attempted before, albeit with limited success. (One such notable example has been lately provided by the Higher Education and Business Community Interaction Survey (HEBCIS) which has collected some data on social, community, and cultural engagement for some years; however, the robustness and consistency of the data for these purposes have often been questioned.

Teaching Livestock Producers to Use Handheld Computers

Mandatory animal ID is a well-discussed topic among livestock producers. A national ID program will probably require animal records to be maintained in electronic format. A 2-day intensive training was held to help cattle producers become proficient in using a handheld computer for animal record keeping. On an end-of-meeting evaluation, 99% of the participants felt a handheld computer would make record keeping tasks easier. A follow-up survey was mailed 1 year after the program generated a 70% response rate. After one year, only 57% of the participants felt that the handheld computer made their record-keeping task easier

Tutors’ Responses to Student Disclosures: From “Suicidal Ideation” to “Feeling a Little Stressed”

Tutors in higher education are receiving and responding to student disclosures that include racism, anxiety, loneliness, legal disputes, family upheavals, physical, emotional, and mental health, bereavement, legal battles, and harassment. In many cases, this caring aspect of the tutor role is not acknowledged, allocated time in job descriptions, or accurately remunerated. This qualitative study explored how tutors experienced and managed student disclosures, the personal and professional impact of responding to disclosures, and how tutors believed they could be better supported. Data was collected from two cohorts of participants tutoring at a University in Aotearoa New Zealand. using interviews and questionnaires and analysed by reflexive thematic analysis. Our findings showed that our participants believed they were positioned vulnerably between a rock and a hard place. At the rock, tutors were told to follow university guidelines and refer distressed students to over-loaded course coordinators or over-subscribed support services. At the hard place, tutors were often the first to be disclosed to, because of their front-facing positioning at the university and once they had heard the disclosure felt it was unethical not to try and help. Tutors believed they could assist students with personal challenges if their precarious positioning within the university was protected and strengthened and if appropriate support was provided by their university through training, time, and remuneration. Findings have implications for higher education providers to reconsider how tutors are supported to support students

Genotypic Diversity In Populations Of A Fungal Endophyte From Douglas-Fir

Rhabdocline parkeri, an endophyte of Douglas fir, forms symptomless infections within single epidermal cells of healthy needles. Rhabdocline parkeri strains were isolated from trees growing in various habitats ranging from virgin old growth forests to a single young tree growing isolated in a meadow. Different genotypes of R. parkeri were distinguished by using the Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA (RAPD) technique. A significantly lower number of R. parkeri genotypes per unit foliage were isolated from trees within a 20-year-old managed stand and from an isolated tree than from old growth trees. Foliage from young trees (20 years old) in a stand directly adjacent to the sampled old growth trees showed levels of genotypic endophyte diversity comparable to that in the old growth trees. Genotypic diversity is estimated to be at least three orders of magnitude greater in foliage of the old growth trees and adjacent young trees than in foliage from the managed stand and from an isolated tree. This difference is ascribed to differences in tree age and access to inoculum