202 research outputs found
Seeing Double: Assessing Kendall Walton’s Views on Painting and Photography
In this paper I consider Kendall Walton’s provocative views on the visual arts, including his approaches to understanding both figurative and nonfigurative painting. I introduce his central notion of fictionality, illustrating its advantages in explaining the phenomenon of ‘perceptual twofoldness’. I argue that Walton’s position treats abstract artwork reductively, and I outline two essential components of our aesthetic encounters with the nonfigurative that Walton excludes. I then offer some criticisms of his commitment to photographic realism, emphasising its theoretical inconsistencies with his account of representation. My own proposal is that in our apprehension of non-figurative artworks, our attention is drawn to the underlying structures of both emotive and perceptual experience. In this way, paintings, particularly abstract ones, disclose human cognition in a manner that makes fictionality an inappropriate tool for their analysis
Observations and predictions at CesrTA, and outlook for ILC
In this paper, we will describe some of the recent experimental measurements
[1, 2, 3] performed at CESRTA [4], and the supporting simulations, which probe
the interaction of the electron cloud with the stored beam. These experiments
have been done over a wide range of beam energies, emittances, bunch currents,
and fill patterns, to gather sufficient information to be able to fully
characterize the beam-electron-cloud interaction and validate the simulation
programs. The range of beam conditions is chosen to be as close as possible to
those of the ILC damping ring, so that the validated simulation programs can be
used to predict the performance of these rings with regard to electroncloud-
related phenomena. Using the new simulation code Synrad3D to simulate the
synchrotron radiation environment, a vacuum chamber design has been developed
for the ILC damping ring which achieves the required level of photoelectron
suppression. To determine the expected electron cloud density in the ring, EC
buildup simulations have been done based on the simulated radiation environment
and on the expected performance of the ILC damping ring chamber mitigation
prescriptions. The expected density has been compared with analytical estimates
of the instability threshold, to verify that the ILC damping ring vacuum
chamber design is adequate to suppress the electron cloud single-bunch
head-tail instability.Comment: 11 pages, contribution to the Joint INFN-CERN-EuCARD-AccNet Workshop
on Electron-Cloud Effects: ECLOUD'12; 5-9 Jun 2012, La Biodola, Isola d'Elba,
Ital
Intrabeam Scattering Studies at CesrTA
Intrabeam scattering (IBS) limits the emittance and single-bunch current that
can be achieved in electron or positron storage ring colliders, damping rings,
and light sources. Much theoretical work on IBS exists, and while the theories
have been validated in hadron and ion machines, the presence of strong damping
makes IBS in lepton machines a different phenomenon. We present the results of
measurements at CesrTA of IBS dominated beams, and compare the data with
theory. The beams we study have parameters typical of those specified for the
next generation of wiggler dominated storage rings: low emittance, small bunch
length, and few GeV energy. Our measurements are in good agreement with IBS
theory, provided a tail-cut procedure is applied.Comment: 14 pages, 15 figure
Insights into the function of silver as an oxidation catalyst by ab initio, atomistic thermodynamics
To help understand the high activity of silver as an oxidation catalyst,
e.g., for the oxidation of ethylene to epoxide and the dehydrogenation of
methanol to formaldehyde, the interaction and stability of oxygen species at
the Ag(111) surface has been studied for a wide range of coverages. Through
calculation of the free energy, as obtained from density-functional theory and
taking into account the temperature and pressure via the oxygen chemical
potential, we obtain the phase diagram of O/Ag(111). Our results reveal that a
thin surface-oxide structure is most stable for the temperature and pressure
range of ethylene epoxidation and we propose it (and possibly other similar
structures) contains the species actuating the catalysis. For higher
temperatures, low coverages of chemisorbed oxygen are most stable, which could
also play a role in oxidation reactions. For temperatures greater than about
775 K there are no stable oxygen species, except for the possibility of O atoms
adsorbed at under-coordinated surface sites Our calculations rule out thicker
oxide-like structures, as well as bulk dissolved oxygen and molecular
ozone-like species, as playing a role in the oxidation reactions.Comment: 15 pages including 9 figures, Related publications can be found at
http://www.fhi-berlin.mpg.de/th/paper.htm
Does patient satisfaction of general practice change over a decade?
Background The Patient Participation Program (PPP) was a patient satisfaction survey endorsed by the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners and designed to assist general practitioners in continuous quality improvement (CQI). The survey was been undertaken by 3500 practices and over a million patients between 1994 and 2003. This study aimed to use pooled patient questionnaire data to investigate changes in satisfaction with primary care over time. Methods The results of 10 years of the PPP surveys were analyzed with respect to 10 variables including the year of completion, patient age, gender, practice size, attendance at other doctors, and whether the practice had previously undertaken the survey. Comparisons were made using Logistic Generalized Estimating Equations (LGEE). Results There was a very high level of satisfaction with general practice in Australia (99% of respondents). An independent indicator of satisfaction was created by pooling the results of 12 questions. This new indicator had a greater variance than the single overall satisfaction question. Participants were shown to have higher levels of satisfaction if they were male, older, did not attend other practitioners or the practice was small in size. A minimal improvement in satisfaction was detected in this pooled indicator for the second or third survey undertaken by a practice. There was however no statistically significant change in pooled satisfaction with the year of survey. Conclusion The very high level of satisfaction made it difficult to demonstrate change. It is likely that this and the presentation of results made it difficult for GPs to use the survey to improve their practices. A more useful survey would be more sensitive to detect negative patient opinions and provide integrated feedback to GPs. At present, there are concerns about the usefulness of the PPP in continuous quality improvement in general practice.James Allan, Peter Schattner, Nigel Stocks and Emmae Ramsa
Does patient satisfaction of general practice change over a decade?
Background The Patient Participation Program (PPP) was a patient satisfaction survey endorsed by the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners and designed to assist general practitioners in continuous quality improvement (CQI). The survey was been undertaken by 3500 practices and over a million patients between 1994 and 2003. This study aimed to use pooled patient questionnaire data to investigate changes in satisfaction with primary care over time. Methods The results of 10 years of the PPP surveys were analyzed with respect to 10 variables including the year of completion, patient age, gender, practice size, attendance at other doctors, and whether the practice had previously undertaken the survey. Comparisons were made using Logistic Generalized Estimating Equations (LGEE). Results There was a very high level of satisfaction with general practice in Australia (99% of respondents). An independent indicator of satisfaction was created by pooling the results of 12 questions. This new indicator had a greater variance than the single overall satisfaction question. Participants were shown to have higher levels of satisfaction if they were male, older, did not attend other practitioners or the practice was small in size. A minimal improvement in satisfaction was detected in this pooled indicator for the second or third survey undertaken by a practice. There was however no statistically significant change in pooled satisfaction with the year of survey. Conclusion The very high level of satisfaction made it difficult to demonstrate change. It is likely that this and the presentation of results made it difficult for GPs to use the survey to improve their practices. A more useful survey would be more sensitive to detect negative patient opinions and provide integrated feedback to GPs. At present, there are concerns about the usefulness of the PPP in continuous quality improvement in general practice.James Allan, Peter Schattner, Nigel Stocks and Emmae Ramsa
Functional polymorphisms in the TERT promoter are associated with risk of serious ovarian and breast cancer
Methods for specifying the target difference in a randomised controlled trial : the Difference ELicitation in TriAls (DELTA) systematic review
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Spirit, mind and body: the archaeology of monastic healing
Archaeology and material culture are used in this chapter to consider how monastic experience responded to illness, ageing and disability. The approach taken is influenced by the material study of religion, which interrogates how bodies and things engage to construct the sensory experience of religion, and by practice-based approaches in archaeology, which examine the active role of space and material culture in shaping religious agency and embodiment. The archaeology of monastic healing focuses on the full spectrum of healing technologies, from managing the body in order to prevent illness, through to the treatment of the sick and preparation of the corpse for burial
Exponential random graph models for management research: a case study of executive recruitment
We introduce a recent development in the statistical analysis of relational data that offers rigorous discrimination of a variety of structural and behavioural effects of interest to management research. Exponential Random Graph Models (ERGMs) account for the highly interdependent nature of network data that is problematic for the predominant inferential statistical analysis used in management research. We illustrate the value of the approach with an application focused on executive recruitment by large UK firms, modelling migrations of managers among firms as a network of relationships. We find rigorous statistical support for the influences of industry origin in executive recruitment, particularly in relation to legal and accounting activities. The flexibility and sophisticated relational variables available in the models offer considerable analytical power of value to a wide range of management applications
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