Investigating the use of Virtual Learning Environments by teachers in schools and colleges

Investigating the use of Virtual Learning Environments by teachers in schools and college

The 'good death' and reduced capacity: A literature review

Research effort into what a ‘good death’ entails has generally concentrated on six themes: pain and symptom management; clear decision-making; preparation for death; completion; contributing to others; and affirmation of the whole person. This review explores these themes, specifically examining their applicability to those who lack mental capacity to make their own decisions. Some appear more relevant than others, with clear decision-making and affirmation of personhood predicating issues related to reduced capacity. Largely, however, the literature on a ‘good death’ builds on an underlying assumption that the dying patient is cognisant and capable of rationalising their death. Those instances where mental capacity is acknowledged within the model have been met by criticism from numerous authors. Factors such as the subjectivity of substitute decision-makers and the complexity associated with medico-legal interpretations of current legislation help to highlight deficiencies in the application of principles of a ‘good death’ in practice. Further specific consideration is required on how to achieve a ‘good death’ for those with reduced capacity

Defining abnormal slow EEG activity in acute ischaemic stroke: delta/alpha ratio as an optimal QEEG index

Objective: Quantitative electroencephalographic (QEEG) indices sensitive to abnormal slow (relative to faster) activity power seem uniquely informative for clinical management of ischaemic stroke (IS), including around acute reperfusion therapies. However these have not been compared between IS and control samples. The primary objective was to identify the QEEG slowing index and threshold value which can most accurately discriminate between IS patients and controls

Spin-Singlet Quantum Hall States and Jack Polynomials with a Prescribed Symmetry

We show that a large class of bosonic spin-singlet Fractional Quantum Hall model wave-functions and their quasi-hole excitations can be written in terms of Jack polynomials with a prescribed symmetry. Our approach describes new spin-singlet quantum Hall states at filling fraction nu = 2k/(2r-1) and generalizes the (k,r) spin-polarized Jack polynomial states. The NASS and Halperin spin singlet states emerge as specific cases of our construction. The polynomials express many-body states which contain configurations obtained from a root partition through a generalized squeezing procedure involving spin and orbital degrees of freedom. The corresponding generalized Pauli principle for root partitions is obtained, allowing for counting of the quasihole states. We also extract the central charge and quasihole scaling dimension, and propose a conjecture for the underlying CFT of the (k, r) spin-singlet Jack states.Comment: 17 pages, 1 figur

Knowledge-based monitoring of the pointing control system on the Hubble space telescope

A knowledge-based system for the real time monitoring of telemetry data from the Pointing and Control System (PCS) of the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) that enables the retention of design expertise throughout the three decade project lifespan by means other than personnel and documentation is described. The system will monitor performance, vehicle status, success or failure of various maneuvers, and in some cases diagnose problems and recommend corrective actions using a knowledge base built using mission scenarios and the more than 4,500 telemetry monitors from the HST

On the interaction of Jupiter's Great Red Spot and zonal jet streams

In this paper, Jupiter's Great Red Spot (GRS) is used to determine properties of the Jovian atmosphere that cannot otherwise be found. These properties include the potential vorticity of the GRS and its neighboring jet streams, the shear imposed on the GRS by the jet streams, and the vertical entropy gradient (i.e., Rossby deformation radius). The cloud cover of the GRS, which is often used to define the GRS's area and aspect ratio, is found to differ significantly from the region of the GRS's potential vorticity anomaly. The westward-going jet stream to the north of the GRS and the eastward-going jet stream to its south are each found to have a large potential vorticity ``jump''. The jumps have opposite sign and as a consequence of their interaction with the GRS, the shear imposed on the GRS is reduced. The east-west to north-south aspect ratio of the GRS's potential vorticity anomaly depends on the ratio of the imposed shear to the strength of the anomaly. The aspect ratio is found to be $\approx$2:1, but without the opposing jumps it would be much greater. The GRS's high-speed collar and quiescent interior require that the potential vorticity in the interior be approximately half that in the collar. No other persistent geophysical vortex has a significant minimum of potential vorticity in its interior and laboratory vortices with such a minimum are unstable.Comment: Manuscript accepted to Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences, March 2007. v2: minor stylistic changes (after journal proof reading

Skein Theory and Topological Quantum Registers: Braiding Matrices and Topological Entanglement Entropy of Non-Abelian Quantum Hall States

We study topological properties of quasi-particle states in the non-Abelian quantum Hall states. We apply a skein-theoretic method to the Read--Rezayi state whose effective theory is the SU(2)_K Chern--Simons theory. As a generalization of the Pfaffian (K=2) and the Fibonacci (K=3) anyon states, we compute the braiding matrices of quasi-particle states with arbitrary spins. Furthermore we propose a method to compute the entanglement entropy skein-theoretically. We find that the entanglement entropy has a nontrivial contribution called the topological entanglement entropy which depends on the quantum dimension of non-Abelian quasi-particle intertwining two subsystems.Comment: 42 pages, many eps file