12,021 research outputs found
The Influence of professional doctorates on practice and the workplace
This paper investigates the influence that undertaking a professional doctorate has on the practice of the graduate and their workplace or organisation. There is a growing literature on how undertaking such advanced development influences the individual graduate at the personal and professional level but there is little evidence of a wider impact on practice in general or at the organisational level. This study seeks to address this issue through a qualitative study of practitioners from a range of professional arenas and sectors who have graduated from a professional doctorate within the past 10 years. Through thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews and the candidatesā project reports we explore their experience of applying their learning within their workplaces providing insight into the level and degree of influence such development can have on organisational contexts. The paper does not focus on the academic or personal impact of their experience as the intention of these particular doctoral researchers is the creation of new knowledge embedded in practice
Inelastic quantum transport: the self-consistent Born approximation and correlated electron-ion dynamics
A dynamical method for inelastic transport simulations in nanostructures is
compared with a steady-state method based on non-equilibrium Green's functions.
A simplified form of the dynamical method produces, in the steady state in the
weak-coupling limit, effective self-energies analogous to those in the Born
Approximation due to electron-phonon coupling. The two methods are then
compared numerically on a resonant system consisting of a linear trimer weakly
embedded between metal electrodes. This system exhibits enhanced heating at
high biases and long phonon equilibration times. Despite the differences in
their formulation, the static and dynamical methods capture local
current-induced heating and inelastic corrections to the current with good
agreement over a wide range of conditions, except in the limit of very high
vibrational excitations, where differences begin to emerge.Comment: 12 pages, 7 figure
Speckle from phase ordering systems
The statistical properties of coherent radiation scattered from
phase-ordering materials are studied in detail using large-scale computer
simulations and analytic arguments. Specifically, we consider a two-dimensional
model with a nonconserved, scalar order parameter (Model A), quenched through
an order-disorder transition into the two-phase regime. For such systems it is
well established that the standard scaling hypothesis applies, consequently the
average scattering intensity at wavevector _k and time t' is proportional to a
scaling function which depends only on a rescaled time, t ~ |_k|^2 t'. We find
that the simulated intensities are exponentially distributed, with the
time-dependent average well approximated using a scaling function due to Ohta,
Jasnow, and Kawasaki. Considering fluctuations around the average behavior, we
find that the covariance of the scattering intensity for a single wavevector at
two different times is proportional to a scaling function with natural
variables mt = |t_1 - t_2| and pt = (t_1 + t_2)/2. In the asymptotic large-pt
limit this scaling function depends only on z = mt / pt^(1/2). For small values
of z, the scaling function is quadratic, corresponding to highly persistent
behavior of the intensity fluctuations. We empirically establish a connection
between the intensity covariance and the two-time, two-point correlation
function of the order parameter. This connection allows sensitive testing,
either experimental or numerical, of existing theories for two-time
correlations in systems undergoing order-disorder phase transitions. Comparison
between theory and our numerical results requires no adjustable parameters.Comment: 18 pgs RevTeX, to appear in PR
Prediction with Expert Advice under Discounted Loss
We study prediction with expert advice in the setting where the losses are
accumulated with some discounting---the impact of old losses may gradually
vanish. We generalize the Aggregating Algorithm and the Aggregating Algorithm
for Regression to this case, propose a suitable new variant of exponential
weights algorithm, and prove respective loss bounds.Comment: 26 pages; expanded (2 remarks -> theorems), some misprints correcte
A revised edition of the readiness to change questionnaire (treatment version)
The UK Alcohol Treatment Trial provided an opportunity to examine the factor structure of the Readiness to Change Questionnaire-Treatment Version (RCQ[TV]) in a large sample (N = 742) of individuals in treatment for alcohol problems who were given the RCQ[TV] at baseline, 3-months and 12-months follow-up. Confirmatory factor analysis of the previously reported factor structure (5 items for each of Precontemplation, Contemplation and Action scales) resulted in a relatively poor fit to the data. Removal of one item from each of the scales resulted in a 12-item instrument for which goodness-of-fit indices were improved, without loss of internal consistency of the three scales, on all three measurement occasions. Inspection of relationships between stage allocation by the new instrument and negative alcohol outcome expectancies provided evidence of improved construct validity for the revised edition of the RCQ[TV]. There was also a strong relationship between stage allocation at 3-months follow-up and outcome of treatment at 12 months. The revised edition of the RCQ[TV] offers researchers and clinicians a shorter and improved measurement of stage of change in the alcohol treatment population
Analysis of consultants' NHS and private incomes in England in 2003/4
This article has been made available through the Brunel Open Access Publishing Fund and is available from the specified link - Copyright @ 2008 Royal Society of Medicine PressConsultants employed by the NHS in England are allowed to undertake private practice to supplement their NHS income. Until the introduction of a new contract from October 2003, those employed on full-time contracts were allowed to earn private incomes no greater than 10% of their NHS income. In this paper we investigate the magnitude and determinants of consultants' NHS and private incomes
Self-Modification of Policy and Utility Function in Rational Agents
Any agent that is part of the environment it interacts with and has versatile
actuators (such as arms and fingers), will in principle have the ability to
self-modify -- for example by changing its own source code. As we continue to
create more and more intelligent agents, chances increase that they will learn
about this ability. The question is: will they want to use it? For example,
highly intelligent systems may find ways to change their goals to something
more easily achievable, thereby `escaping' the control of their designers. In
an important paper, Omohundro (2008) argued that goal preservation is a
fundamental drive of any intelligent system, since a goal is more likely to be
achieved if future versions of the agent strive towards the same goal. In this
paper, we formalise this argument in general reinforcement learning, and
explore situations where it fails. Our conclusion is that the self-modification
possibility is harmless if and only if the value function of the agent
anticipates the consequences of self-modifications and use the current utility
function when evaluating the future.Comment: Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) 201
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