The calibration of the quartz crystal microbalance cascade impactor using the berglund-liu monodisperse aerosol generator for aerosol studies in the atmosphere

The Quartz Crystal Microbalance was calibrated and its response to particle size and mass concentration was determined

The very model of a modern travel agency? : the Polytechnic Touring Association 1888-1962

This thesis provides an original contribution to the history of modern British travel and tourism, in the form of the first full-length analysis of the Polytechnic Touring Association (PTA). It seeks to establish whether the PTA was distinctive among contemporary travel agencies; whether it was successful; and in what senses it might be considered as ‘modern’. Apart from Thomas Cook, virtually no modern British travel agency has been the subject of detailed historical investigation. Beginning with an examination of the PTA’s late Victorian origins in its parent institution, Quintin Hogg’s Polytechnic, the thesis contextualises both organisations within a wider history of leisure, with specific reference to ‘rational recreation’ and respectability. Using Polytechnic records and comparative material from other emerging travel agencies, it builds a profile of the early PTA’s operations including the key managers and staff members, the finances and the evolving portfolio of UK and foreign destinations. It considers accounts of Polytechnic/PTA tours from the inhouse magazine, again in conjunction with comparative material from other agencies, situating those accounts in the context of postcolonial theories relating to travel writing, in particular Orientalism and anti-conquest. Finally, it traces the PTA’s history as a privately owned company between 1911 and 1962, siting the company within historiographical debates on modernity. The overall conclusion is that the PTA was a distinctive, significant and successful player in the growing British travel and tourism industry. While other travel agencies had ‘rational recreational’ and educational origins, the PTA was distinctive in terms of the numbers of tourists for whom it catered and the balance of its portfolio. Polytechnic/PTA travel accounts up to 1911, considered as a body of writing, formed an ideology of ‘collective Continentalism’ which represented aspects of modernity. Their emphasis on simple fun and enjoyment suggested a degree of willingness to edge close to the boundaries of respectability while on holiday. After its change of status in 1911, the PTA became an effective adaptor to changing economic and social conditions – if not the pioneer it claimed to be, in emulation of the Polytechnic. By its latter days in the 1950s, now known as Poly Travel, it was a sizeable and well-respected firm, though not as modern – in the sense of being new and innovative – as perhaps it had been in its early years

A pilot study of problem gambling among student online gamblers: mood states as predictors of problematic behaviour

Within the last decade, interest in online gambling has increased. This pilot study examined online gambling among students to identify the extent to which student Internet gamblers manifest a propensity for problem gambling and to understand if mood states at various times are predictors of problem gambling. A questionnaire was administered to 127 student Internet gamblers. In addition to questions asking for basic demographic data, the questionnaire included the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) and the South Oaks Gambling Screen (SOGS). Results showed that approximately one in five online gamblers (19%) was defined as a probable pathological gambler using the SOGS. Among this sample, results also showed that problem gambling was best predicted by negative mood states after gambling online and negative mood states more generally

Scattering Theory for Quantum Hall Anyons in a Saddle Point Potential

We study the theory of scattering of two anyons in the presence of a quadratic saddle-point potential and a perpendicular magnetic field. The scattering problem decouples in the centre-of-mass and the relative coordinates. The scattering theory for the relative coordinate encodes the effects of anyon statistics in the two-particle scattering. This is fully characterized by two energy-dependent scattering phase shifts. We develop a method to solve this scattering problem numerically, using a generalized lowest Landau level approximation.Comment: 5 pages. Published version, with clarified presentatio

Bisphosphonate-related bilateral atypical femoral fractures : be aware and beware

Although bisphosphonates have a well established therapeutic role in the prevention of osteoporosis-related fractures, several reports published over the past 5-6 years suggest a possible causative relationship between long-term use of bisphosphonates and development of ‘atypical’ subtrochanteric and femoral diaphyseal fractures. A high level of clinical suspicion and prompt imaging when these patients present with groin/thigh pain should lead to a timely diagnosis. Appropriate elective management to mitigate against the increased risks of these fractures becoming complete could then be instituted. We present a case of complete bilateral atypical subtrochanteric fractures in a patient on long-term bisphosphonates for osteoporosis. Our objective is to highlight the fracture risk of this patient population; present the current knowledge; and discuss the dilemmas in management of both femora.peer-reviewe