Addressing the needs of international postgraduate students: the role of social capital

Self-evidently, international students are likely to have considerable informational and social needs when coming to study in the UK. This paper reports the findings of a small study of such needs among international postgraduate students in the School of Health Sciences. It was an interview study, with twelve students participating. Though the study was designed to support the creation of an online resource, the findings suggest that meeting those needs satisfactorily requires a multi-faceted approach. Both face-to-face and online processes are needed to help students to develop the social capital necessary to success in undertaking the course, getting to know the university, and adjusting to life in England

Aspherical Core-Collapse Supernovae in Red Supergiants Powered by Nonrelativistic Jets

We explore the observational characteristics of jet-driven supernovae by simulating bipolar-jet-driven explosions in a red supergiant progenitor. We present results of four models in which we hold the injected kinetic energy at a constant $10^{51}$ ergs across all jet models but vary the specific characteristics of the jets to explore the influence of the nature of jets on the structure of the supernova ejecta. We evolve the explosions past shock-breakout and into quasi-homologous expansion of the supernova envelope into a red supergiant wind. The oppositely-directed, nickel-rich jets give a large-scale asymmetry that may account for the non-spherical excitation and substructure of spectral lines such as H$\alpha$ and He I 10830\AA. Jets with a large fraction of kinetic to thermal energy punch through the progenitor envelope and give rise to explosions that would be observed to be asymmetric from the earliest epochs, inconsistent with spectropolarimetric measurements of Type II supernovae. Jets with higher thermal energy fractions result in explosions that are roughly spherical at large radii but are significantly elongated at smaller radii, deep inside the ejecta, in agreement with the polarimetric observations. We present shock breakout light curves that indicate that strongly aspherical shock breakouts are incompatible with recent {\it GALEX} observations of shock breakout from red supergiant stars. Comparison with observations indicates that jets must deposit their kinetic energy efficiently throughout the ejecta while in the hydrogen envelope. Thermal energy-dominated jets satisfy this criterion and yield many of the observational characteristics of Type II supernovae.Comment: 21 pages, 19 figures, submitted to ApJ on 4 Nov 200

Recognition Memory Dysfunction Relates to Hippocampal Subfield Volume: A Study of Cognitively Normal and Mildly Impaired Older Adults.

ObjectivesThe current study examined recognition memory dysfunction and its neuroanatomical substrates in cognitively normal older adults and those diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment (MCI).MethodsParticipants completed the Mnemonic Similarity Task, which provides simultaneous measures of recognition memory and mnemonic discrimination. They also underwent structural neuroimaging to assess volume of medial temporal cortex and hippocampal subfields.ResultsAs expected, individuals diagnosed with MCI had significantly worse recognition memory performance and reduced volume across medial temporal cortex and hippocampal subfields relative to cognitively normal older adults. After controlling for diagnostic group differences, however, recognition memory was significantly related to whole hippocampus volume, and to volume of the dentate gyrus/CA3 subfield in particular. Recognition memory was also related to mnemonic discrimination, a fundamental component of episodic memory that has previously been linked to dentate gyrus/CA3 structure and function.DiscussionResults reveal that hippocampal subfield volume is sensitive to individual differences in recognition memory in older adults independent of clinical diagnosis. This supports the notion that episodic memory declines along a continuum within this age group, not just between diagnostic groups

Magnetic and electric phase control in epitaxial EuTiO3_3 from first principles

We propose a design strategy - based on the coupling of spins, optical phonons, and strain - for systems in which magnetic (electric) phase control can be achieved by an applied electric (magnetic) field. Using first-principles density-functional theory calculations, we present a realization of this strategy for the magnetic perovskite EuTiO$_3$.Comment: Significantly revised for clarit

Astrophysical Effects of Scalar Dark Matter Miniclusters

We model the formation, evolution and astrophysical effects of dark compact Scalar Miniclusters (``ScaMs''). These objects arise when a scalar field, with an axion-like or Higgs-like potential, undergoes a second order phase transition below the QCD scale. Such a scalar field may couple too weakly to the standard model to be detectable directly through particle interactions, but may still be detectable by gravitational effects, such as lensing and baryon accretion by large, gravitationally bound miniclusters. The masses of these objects are shown to be constrained by the Ly$\alpha$ power spectrum to be less than $\sim 10^4 M_\odot$, but they may be as light as classical axion miniclusters, of the order of $10^{-12} M_\odot$. We simulate the formation and nonlinear gravitational collapse of these objects around matter-radiation equality using an N-body code, estimate their gravitational lensing properties, and assess the feasibility of studying them using current and future lensing experiments. Future MACHO-type variability surveys of many background sources can reveal either high-amplification, strong lensing events, or measure density profiles directly via weak-lensing variability, depending on ScaM parameters and survey depth. However, ScaMs, due to their low internal densities, are unlikely to be responsible for apparent MACHO events already detected in the Galactic halo. A simple estimate is made of parameters that would give rise to early structure formation; in principle, early stellar collapse could be triggered by ScaMs as early as recombination, and significantly affect cosmic reionization.Comment: 13 pages, 12 figures. Replaced to reflect published versio

Combustor liner construction

A combustor liner is fabricated from a plurality of individual segments each containing counter/parallel Finwall material and are arranged circumferentially and axially to define the combustion zone. Each segment is supported by a hook and ring construction to an opened lattice frame with sufficient tolerance between the hook and ring to permit thermal expansion with a minimum of induced stresses

Ferroelectricity in the Dion-Jacobson CsBiNb2_2O7_7 from first principles

We have studied ferroelectricity in Dion-Jacobson CsBiNb$_2$O$_7$ from first principles. Using group-theoretical analysis and first-principles density functional calculations of the total energy and phonons, we perform a systematic study of the energy surface around a paraelectric prototypic phase. Our results suggest that CsBiNb$_2$O$_7$ is a ferroelectric with a polarization of P$_s$=40$\mu$C cm$^{-2}$. We propose further experiments to clarify this point