A study of charged particle motion in magnetic radiation shielding fields Final technical report

Charged particle motion in magnetic radiation shielding field

Complexity Bounds for Ordinal-Based Termination

`What more than its truth do we know if we have a proof of a theorem in a given formal system?' We examine Kreisel's question in the particular context of program termination proofs, with an eye to deriving complexity bounds on program running times. Our main tool for this are length function theorems, which provide complexity bounds on the use of well quasi orders. We illustrate how to prove such theorems in the simple yet until now untreated case of ordinals. We show how to apply this new theorem to derive complexity bounds on programs when they are proven to terminate thanks to a ranking function into some ordinal.Comment: Invited talk at the 8th International Workshop on Reachability Problems (RP 2014, 22-24 September 2014, Oxford

Preliminary investigations into the response of O+ twaite shad (alosa fallax) to ultrasound and its potential as an entrainment deterrent

Water is abstracted from riverine, estuarine and marine environments to supply potable water, power stations, hydroelectric facilities and industry. Such abstractions inevitably carry with them the risk of fish entrainment, defined as „the drawing in of fish of any life stage at a water intake‟ (Turnpenny & O‟Keeffe, 2005). It is possible, however, that entrainment losses can be reduced to an acceptable level with the use of appropriate fish screening technologies. Fish protection solutions for water intakes are manifold and include: alterations to intake design; management of the abstraction regime; modification of existing screens to make them “fish friendly”; provision of fish return systems; and the installation of physical screens or behavioural deterrents to prevent or minimise entrainment. There are however a range of site specific constraints which influence the suitability of each solution

Predicting the large-scale consequences of offshore wind turbine array development on a North Sea ecosystem

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Elsevier via the DOI in this record.Three models were applied to obtaina first assessment of some of the potential impacts of large-scale operational wind turbine arrays on the marine ecosystem in a well-mixed area in a shelf sea: a biogeochemical model,a wave propagation model and an a coustic energy flux model.The results of the models are discussed separately and together to elucidate the combined effects. Overall,all three models suggested relatively weak environmental changes for the mechanisms included in this study, however these are only a subset of all the potential impacts,and a number of assumptions had to be made. Further work is required to address these assumptions and additional mechanisms. All three models suggested most of the changes with in the wind turbine array,and small changes up to several tens of km outside the array. Within the array, the acoustic model indicated the most concentrated, spatially repetitive changes to the environment,followed by the SWAN wave model,and the biogeochemical model being the most diffuse. Because of the different spatial scales of the response of the three models,the combined results suggested a spectrum of combinations of environmental changes with in the wind turbine array that marine organism smight respond to. The SWAN wave model and the acoustic model suggested a reduction in changes with increasing distance between turbines. The SWAN wave model suggested that the biogeochemical model, because of the in ability of its simple wave model to simulate wave propagation,over-estimated the biogeochemical changes by a factor of 2 or more. The biogeochemical model suggested that the benthic system was more sensitive to the environmental changes than the pelagic system. © 2014 Published by Elsevier Ltd.The work was carried out as part of the EBAO project (Optimising Array Form for Energy Extraction and Environmental Benefit, No. NE/J004227/1), and was jointly funded by NERC and Defra (Cefas contract C5325). Sonja van Leeuwen constructed the daily riverine loads database from which the runoff data were used in the GETM-ERSEM model. French water quality data were supplied by the Agence de l’eau Loire-Bretagne, Agence de l’eau Seine-Normandie and IFREMER. UK water quality data were processed from raw data provided by the Environment Agency, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency and the National River Flow Archive. The German river loads are based on data from the ARGE Elbe, the Niedersächsisches Landesamt für Ökologie and the Bundesanstalt für Gewässerkunde. The river load data for the Netherlands were supplied by the DONAR database. The authors gratefully acknowledge the ECMWF (European Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting) for allowing the use of the ERA-40 and Operational Hindcast data used as atmospheric forcing for the GETM-ERSEM model

Establishing the sensitivity of cetaceans and seals to acoustic deterrent devices in Scotland

The aim of the project is to provide the capability to establish potential risks to cetaceans and seals from the use of acoustic deterrent devices in Scottish waters. Acoustic Deterrent Devices (ADDs) are often used on aquaculture sites to reduce predation of seals on fish stocks using acoustic emissions. These acoustic emissions may also have secondary effects on marine mammals (including non-target species) ranging from physical injury, behavioural response and reduced sensory capability. In this project, an attempt is made to investigate the effects of water depth, seabed sediment type and bathymetry on the propagation and received levels of ADDs. It also examines the implications of simplified modelling approaches and associated prediction of a ‘zone of potential risk’. A generalised sensitivity model has been developed to allow prediction of the range to exceed predetermined thresholds (e.g. for hearing injury) based on sound pressure levels and cumulative sound exposure levels for user defined impact criteria based on ADD type, local environments and functional hearing capabilities of species present in Scotland

Endogenous fantasy and learning in digital games.

Many people believe that educational games are effective because they motivate children to actively engage in a learning activity as part of playing the game. However, seminal work by Malone (1981), exploring the motivational aspects of digital games, concluded that the educational effectiveness of a digital game depends on the way in which learning content is integrated into the fantasy context of the game. In particular, he claimed that content which is intrinsically related to the fantasy will produce better learning than that which is merely extrinsically related. However, this distinction between intrinsic and extrinsic (or endogenous and exogenous) fantasy is a concept that has developed a confused standing over the following years. This paper will address this confusion by providing a review and critique of the empirical and theoretical foundations of endogenous fantasy, and its relevance to creating educational digital games. Substantial concerns are raised about the empirical basis of this work and a theoretical critique of endogenous fantasy is offered, concluding that endogenous fantasy is a misnomer, in so far as the "integral and continuing relationship" of fantasy cannot be justified as a critical means of improving the effectiveness of educational digital games. An alternative perspective on the intrinsic integration of learning content is described, incorporating game mechanics, flow and representations

Social orientation of banks

The influence of the bank's orientation on clients and the quality of the services provided on the financial efficiency of the commercial institution (sales volume, profitability, cost reduction) was studied. The development of online banking and Internet banking is considered. The relationship between the profitability of the bank and the level of customercentricity is proved. World experience has been compared and generalized, and country specificity has been singled out in different regions of the world. The dependence between the degree of customer satisfaction and their subsequent loyalty to the bank was studied. Prospective directions of expansion of the market of banking services are outlined, and also changes in the psychology of the client that took place due to scientific and technological progress are noted. The basic directions of increase of efficiency of work of the bank personnel are allocated