12,604 research outputs found
Examining the skills debate in Scotland
This study examines the skills debate influenced by the accounting profession, higher education funding bodies and accounting academics, detailing the parameters for the skills debate and subsequent agenda
Shape Fluctuations of a Droplet Containing a Polymer
We consider the problem of an ideal polymer confined in a droplet. When the
droplet radius is smaller than the (unconfined) polymer radius of gyration, the
polymer entropy will depend on the droplet shape. We compute the resulting
surface free energy. Using parameters appropriate for polymers confined in
microemulsions, we find that the polymer and bending surface energies are
comparable for the lowest modes. Finally, we argue that chain self-avoidance
will decrease the strength of the polymer contribution to the surface energy.Comment: Revtex, 12 pages, one figur
Predicting the conformations of peptides and proteins in early evolution. A review article submitted to Biology Direct
Considering that short, mainly heterochiral, polypeptides with a high glycine content are expected to have played a prominent role in evolution at the earliest stage of life before nucleic acids were available, we review recent knowledge about polypeptide three-dimensional structure to predict the types of conformations they would have adopted. The possible existence of such structures at this time leads to a consideration of their functional significance, and the consequences for the course of evolution
A study of changes in fishing effort, abundance, and yield for yellowfin and skipjack tuna in the Eastern Tropical Pacific Ocean
ENGLISH: The rapid growth of the Eastern Pacific fishery for yellowfin and skipjack tuna since the end of World War II has given rise to questions concerning the rational utilization of these resources. As part of the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission's program of research designed to investigate these problems, a study was undertaken to determine from the historical records of the fishery the effects of fishing upon the stocks of yellowfin and skipjack tuna of the Eastern Pacific region and to evaluate the present condition of these stocks with respect to the maximum equilibrium yield. SPANISH: EI rápido crecimiento, desde la terminación de la Segunda Guerra Mundial, de la pesquería de atún aleta amarilla y barrilete en el Pacifico Oriental, ha dado lugar a que se hagan algunos comentarios sabre la racional utilización de estos recursos. Como parte del programa de la Comisión Interamericana del Atún Tropical designado para la investigación de estos problemas, un estudio fué llevado a cabo para determinar, de los informes historicós de la pesquería, los efectos de la pesca sobre los stocks de atún aleta amarilla y barrilete de la región del Pacifico Oriental y para evaluar la presente condición de estos stocks con respecto al máximo rendimiento de equilibria.
(PDF contains 123 pages.
Science for Global Ubiquitous Computing
This paper describes an initiative to provide theories that can underlie the development of the Global Ubiquitous Computer, the network of ubiquitous computing devices that will pervade the civilised world in the course of the next few decades. We define the goals of the initiative and the criteria for judging whether they are achieved; we then propose a strategy for the exercise. It must combine a bottom-up development of theories in directions that are currently pursued with success, together with a top-down approach in the form of collaborative projects relating these theories to engineered systems that exist or are imminent
Embedding generic employability skills in an accounting degree: development and impediments
This paper explores and analyses the views of, and effects on, students of a project that integrated the development of employability skills within the small group classes of two compulsory courses in the first year of an accounting degree at a UK university. The project aimed to build, deliver and evaluate course materials designed to encourage the development of a broad range of employability skills: skills needed for life-long learning and a successful business career. By analysing students' opinions gathered from a series of focus groups spread throughout the year, three prominent skill areas of interest were identified: time management, modelling, and learning to learn. Further analysis highlighted the complex nature of skills development, and brought to light a range of impediments and barriers to both students' development of employability skills and their subject learning. The analysis suggests the need for accounting educators to see skills development as being an essential element of the path to providing a successful accounting education experience
Two-message quantum interactive proofs and the quantum separability problem
Suppose that a polynomial-time mixed-state quantum circuit, described as a
sequence of local unitary interactions followed by a partial trace, generates a
quantum state shared between two parties. One might then wonder, does this
quantum circuit produce a state that is separable or entangled? Here, we give
evidence that it is computationally hard to decide the answer to this question,
even if one has access to the power of quantum computation. We begin by
exhibiting a two-message quantum interactive proof system that can decide the
answer to a promise version of the question. We then prove that the promise
problem is hard for the class of promise problems with "quantum statistical
zero knowledge" (QSZK) proof systems by demonstrating a polynomial-time Karp
reduction from the QSZK-complete promise problem "quantum state
distinguishability" to our quantum separability problem. By exploiting Knill's
efficient encoding of a matrix description of a state into a description of a
circuit to generate the state, we can show that our promise problem is NP-hard
with respect to Cook reductions. Thus, the quantum separability problem (as
phrased above) constitutes the first nontrivial promise problem decidable by a
two-message quantum interactive proof system while being hard for both NP and
QSZK. We also consider a variant of the problem, in which a given
polynomial-time mixed-state quantum circuit accepts a quantum state as input,
and the question is to decide if there is an input to this circuit which makes
its output separable across some bipartite cut. We prove that this problem is a
complete promise problem for the class QIP of problems decidable by quantum
interactive proof systems. Finally, we show that a two-message quantum
interactive proof system can also decide a multipartite generalization of the
quantum separability problem.Comment: 34 pages, 6 figures; v2: technical improvements and new result for
the multipartite quantum separability problem; v3: minor changes to address
referee comments, accepted for presentation at the 2013 IEEE Conference on
Computational Complexity; v4: changed problem names; v5: updated references
and added a paragraph to the conclusion to connect with prior work on
separability testin
Application of integration algorithms in a parallel processing environment for the simulation of jet engines
The application of Predictor corrector integration algorithms developed for the digital parallel processing environment are investigated. The algorithms are implemented and evaluated through the use of a software simulator which provides an approximate representation of the parallel processing hardware. Test cases which focus on the use of the algorithms are presented and a specific application using a linear model of a turbofan engine is considered. Results are presented showing the effects of integration step size and the number of processors on simulation accuracy. Real time performance, interprocessor communication, and algorithm startup are also discussed
Performance of a J85-13 compressor with clean and distorted inlet flow
The results presented are of a series of experimental tests in which a J85-13 turbojet engine was subjected to both distorted and undistorted inlet total pressure conditions. A distinctive feature of the data base obtained is that it includes compressor interstage information not previously recorded for a J85-13 engine. Each of the eight compressor stages was instrumented to obtain the characteristics of the individual stages for undistorted inlet conditions, and these data are documented in the report along with the undistorted compressor overall performance. Also included in the report is the overall performance of the compressor exposed to 14 different distorted-inlet conditions - 10 circumferential patterns and 4 radial patterns. The distortion patterns were introduced using screens that spoiled from 8 to 50 percent of the compressor face area; the distortion screen density, or the area blocked by the screen wire per unit area of screen, varied from 26 to 69 percent
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