E-learning for Networked Living

Networked Living is a Level 1 course in Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) offered by the UK Open University. The first two presentation of the course, in 2005 and 2006, attracted over 3000 students between them. Networked Living introduces students to ICT concepts and issues in a range of contexts. The course adopts a blended learning approach, using printed texts, web resources, DVD and computer conferencing. All the above media are used where appropriate to support students' learning. About 60% of the material is print-based – teaching texts, together with selected third-party articles. About 20% is web-based – using a comprehensive course web site, but also requiring students to find and use third-party sites. The remaining 20% is based on offline computer resources (e.g. spreadsheets) and collaborative activities using computer conferencing. The course web site contains short animations, quizzes and several interactive activities where students contribute information and commentaries, and can then see the collated contributions of other students. The DVD contains longer animations, simulations and software. Computer conferencing is used for tutor-group and whole-cohort conferences, and for online tutorials, with both asynchronous and synchronous discussion. The course web site provides a new, shareable 'online journal' facility, where students can record their work for the course. This paper discusses the various e-learning elements of Networked Living, based on the first two presentations of the course. The paper considers how e-learning can be combined with printed resources to create a successful blended learning experience for students

GOVERNMENT PAYMENTS TO FARMERS AND REAL AGRICULTURAL ASSET VALUES IN THE 1980S

This study determines the effect of government payments on real agricultural asset values using Bayesian vector autoregression. In developing the empirical model, special attention is focused on the informational content of government payments. The results indicate that government payments to farmers have little effect on real asset values in the long run. In the short run, an increase in government payments to farmers may be associated with decline in asset values.Agricultural Finance,

The interactions of general anaesthetics and high pressure with firefly luciferase

Imperial Users onl

Automating managers : The implications of information technology for managers in five manufacturing companies

Managers are universally regarded as key to the fortunes of organizations, yet there has been little focus on the effects of information technology (I.T.) on this group. In this research, the implications of I.T. for the work and roles of managers were studied, permanently in office settings, in five manufacturing companies in the Northern Home Counties. The cases provided a wide range of both organizational cultures and I.T. use. Data were obtained largely through 101 semistructured interviews with managers in various hierarchical and functional positions. Supporting material came from questionnaires and documents. and through informal observation on the 49 visits to companies. I.T. consists of several interwoven and rapidly developing computing and communications technologies, and is interacting with the extremely varied environments found in the companies. There is no revolution. Rather I.T. use is growing from its precursors - telex, punched-card machines and earlier computers, and is conditioned powerfully by existing cultures. Gradually, however, the inherent character of the technology is changing practices in general, and management work in particular, in radical ways. The fundamental nature of managers' work is little altered by I.T. It remains fragmented; weakly defined; oral; action orientated. Increased productivity and reduced numbers of staff are consequences of I.T., and these, together with the increase in conceptual and systems skills amongst the work-force, are reducing the hierarchical-authority model of people management, and creating a more "professional-team" culture. The increasing effectiveness of information management that I.T. confers is producing other major consequences for managers. Information management is becoming a central component of their work. Overall, managers are having to adapt to increasingly technological systematised environments, with smaller, more skilled staff teams. The transitions for managers are difficult. especially as companies have given slight attention to preparing managers for these changes, or indeed to management development in general

Extremal Problems in Matroid Connectivity

Matroid k-connectivity is typically defined in terms of a connectivity function. We can also say that a matroid is 2-connected if and only if for each pair of elements, there is a circuit containing both elements. Equivalently, a matroid is 2-connected if and only if each pair of elements is in a certain 2-element minor that is 2-connected. Similar results for higher connectivity had not been known. We determine a characterization of 3-connectivity that is based on the containment of small subsets in 3-connected minors from a given list of 3-connected matroids. Bixby’s Lemma is a well-known inductive tool in matroid theory that says that each element in a 3-connected matroid can be deleted or contracted to obtain a matroid that is 3-connected up to minimal 2-separations. We consider the binary matroids for which there is no element whose deletion and contraction are both 3-connected up to minimal 2-separations. In particular, we give a decomposition for such matroids to establish that any matroid of this type can be built from sequential matroids and matroids with many fans using a few natural operations. Wagner defined biconnectivity to translate connectivity in a bicircular matroid to certain connectivity conditions in its underlying graph. We extend a characterization of biconnectivity to higher connectivity. Using these graphic connectivity conditions, we call upon unavoidable minor results for graphs to find unavoidable minors for large 4-connected bicircular matroids

Address, 86th Annual Meeting of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, Atlanta, Georgia, October 15, 1973

https://egrove.olemiss.edu/aicpa_assoc/1955/thumbnail.jp

Validation of a new spectrometer for noninvasive measurement of cardiac output

Acetylene is a blood-soluble gas and for many years its uptake rate during rebreathing tests has been used to calculate the flow rate of blood through the lungs (normally equal to cardiac output) as well as the volume of lung tissue. A new, portable, noninvasive instrument for cardiac output determination using the acetylene uptake method is described. The analyzer relies on nondispersive IR absorption spectroscopy as its principle of operation and is configured for extractive (side-stream) sampling. The instrument affords exceptionally fast (30 ms, 10%–90%, 90%–10%, at 500 mL min–1 flow rates), interference-free, simultaneous measurement of acetylene, sulfur hexafluoride (an insoluble reference gas used in the cardiac output calculation), and carbon dioxide (to determine alveolar ventilation), with good (typically ±2% full-scale) signal-to-noise ratios. Comparison tests with a mass spectrometer using serially diluted calibration gas samples gave excellent (R2>0.99) correlation for all three gases, validating the IR system's linearity and accuracy. A similar level of agreement between the devices also was observed during human subject C2H2 uptake tests (at rest and under incremental levels of exercise), with the instruments sampling a common extracted gas stream. Cardiac output measurements by both instruments were statistically equivalent from rest to 90% of maximal oxygen consumption; the physiological validity of the measurements was confirmed by the expected linear relationship between cardiac output and oxygen consumption, with both the slope and intercept in the published range. These results indicate that the portable, low-cost, rugged prototype analyzer discussed here is suitable for measuring cardiac output noninvasively in a point-of-care setting

An investigation of training and mentoring of emerging contractors in the Eastern Cape

Having an effective mentoring programme in place in the construction industry is critical to the development and growth of emerging contractors as well as the industry as a whole. A survey was undertaken among the mentees who attended a specific mentoring programme in the Eastern Cape to establish the need for training, mentoring and monitoring of emerging contractors. Primary data was collected by means of a telephonic survey of the emerging contractors as well as the mentors and service providers regarding the mentoring programme. Secondary data was obtained from the survey of the literature. The main findings were that there is a huge need for training and mentoring of emerging contractors and that monitoring after completion of the programme is a necessity. Furthermore, although it was determined that all facets of training and mentoring are important, in order to ensure the overall development of emerging contractors, the development of financial and management skills on site requires the most attention.&nbsp

Financial Appraisal of the Banks for Cooperatives

This study examines the financial situation of the Farm Credit System Banks for Cooperatives using comparative analysis for the period 1978 through 1991. Profitability and leverage measures of the Banks for Cooperatives are compared with similar measures of large commercial banks. The Banks for Cooperatives were found to have performed as well as large commercial banks. Some differences can be explained as compatible with differences in the goals and objectives of a cooperative versus an investor-owned firm. Most differences can be attributed to the financial strength of the Banks for Cooperatives relative to the commercial banking industry.Agribusiness, Agricultural Finance,