Library Impact Data Project: hit, miss or maybe

Purpose In February 2011 the University of Huddersfield along with 7 partners were awarded JISC funding through the Activity Data programme to investigate the hypothesis that: “There is a statistically significant correlation across a number of universities between library activity data and student attainment” The Library Impact Data Project aimed to analyse users’ actions with regards to library usage and then linking those to final degree award. By identifying a positive correlation in this data those subject areas or courses which exhibit high usage of library resources can be used as models of good practice. Design, methodology or approach The overall approach of the project is to extract anonymised activity data from partners’ systems and analyse the findings. For each student who graduated in the sample years, the following data was required: final grade achieved; number of books borrowed; number of times e-resources were accessed; number of times each student entered the library and school or faculty. This data was then collated, normalised, and then analysed. In addition all partners were asked to hold a number of focus groups in order to secure qualitative data from students on library usage to provide a holistic picture of how students engage with library resources. Findings This paper will report on the findings of the project which ran from February to July 2011. It will consider whether the hypothesis was proven for the three indicators of library usage. Research or practical limitations or implications The main aim of the project was to support the hypothesis. The project acknowledges however, that the relationship between the two variables is not a causal relationship and there will be other factors which influence student attainment. Conclusions The paper will discuss the implications of the results and suggest further work that could result from the projects findings

Comparison of stimulation patterns for FES-cycling using measures of oxygen cost and stimulation cost

<b>Aim</b><p></p> The energy efficiency of FES-cycling in spinal cord injured subjects is very much lower than that of normal cycling, and efficiency is dependent upon the parameters of muscle stimulation. We investigated measures which can be used to evaluate the effect on cycling performance of changes in stimulation parameters, and which might therefore be used to optimise them. We aimed to determine whether oxygen cost and stimulation cost measurements are sensitive enough to allow discrimination between the efficacy of different activation ranges for stimulation of each muscle group during constant-power cycling. <p></p> <b>Methods</b><p></p> We employed a custom FES-cycling ergometer system, with accurate control of cadence and stimulated exercise workrate. Two sets of muscle activation angles (“stimulation patterns”), denoted “P1” and “P2”, were applied repeatedly (eight times each) during constant-power cycling, in a repeated measures design with a single paraplegic subject. Pulmonary oxygen uptake was measured in real time and used to determine the oxygen cost of the exercise. A new measure of stimulation cost of the exercise is proposed, which represents the total rate of stimulation charge applied to the stimulated muscle groups during cycling. A number of energy-efficiency measures were also estimated. <p></p> <b>Results</b><p></p> Average oxygen cost and stimulation cost of P1 were found to be significantly lower than those for P2 (paired <i>t</i>-test, <i>p</i> < 0.05): oxygen costs were 0.56 ± 0.03 l min<sup>−1</sup> and 0.61 ± 0.04 l min<sup>−1</sup>(mean ± S.D.), respectively; stimulation costs were 74.91 ± 12.15 mC min<sup>−1</sup> and 100.30 ± 14.78 mC min<sup>−1</sup> (mean ± S.D.), respectively. Correspondingly, all efficiency estimates for P1 were greater than those for P2. <p></p> <b>Conclusion</b><p></p> Oxygen cost and stimulation cost measures both allow discrimination between the efficacy of different muscle activation patterns during constant-power FES-cycling. However, stimulation cost is more easily determined in real time, and responds more rapidly and with greatly improved signal-to-noise properties than the ventilatory oxygen uptake measurements required for estimation of oxygen cost. These measures may find utility in the adjustment of stimulation patterns for achievement of optimal cycling performance. <p></p&gt

Hierarchical incremental class learning with reduced pattern training

Hierarchical Incremental Class Learning (HICL) is a new task decomposition method that addresses the pattern classification problem. HICL is proven to be a good classifier but closer examination reveals areas for potential improvement. This paper proposes a theoretical model to evaluate the performance of HICL and presents an approach to improve the classification accuracy of HICL by applying the concept of Reduced Pattern Training (RPT). The theoretical analysis shows that HICL can achieve better classification accuracy than Output Parallelism [1]. The procedure for RPT is described and compared with the original training procedure. RPT reduces systematically the size of the training data set based on the order of sub-networks built. The results from four benchmark classification problems show much promise for the improved model

Biharmonic pattern selection

A new model to describe fractal growth is discussed which includes effects due to long-range coupling between displacements $u$. The model is based on the biharmonic equation $\nabla^{4}u =0$ in two-dimensional isotropic defect-free media as follows from the Kuramoto-Sivashinsky equation for pattern formation -or, alternatively, from the theory of elasticity. As a difference with Laplacian and Poisson growth models, in the new model the Laplacian of $u$ is neither zero nor proportional to $u$. Its discretization allows to reproduce a transition from dense to multibranched growth at a point in which the growth velocity exhibits a minimum similarly to what occurs within Poisson growth in planar geometry. Furthermore, in circular geometry the transition point is estimated for the simplest case from the relation $r_{\ell}\approx L/e^{1/2}$ such that the trajectories become stable at the growing surfaces in a continuous limit. Hence, within the biharmonic growth model, this transition depends only on the system size $L$ and occurs approximately at a distance $60 \%$ far from a central seed particle. The influence of biharmonic patterns on the growth probability for each lattice site is also analysed.Comment: To appear in Phys. Rev. E. Copies upon request to [email protected]

Pattern recognition technique

Technique operates regardless of pattern rotation, translation or magnification and successfully detects out-of-register patterns. It improves accuracy and reduces cost of various optical character recognition devices and page readers and provides data input to computer

Descent pattern avoidance

We extend the notion of consecutive pattern avoidance to considering sums over all permutations where each term is a product of weights depending on each consecutive pattern of a fixed length. We study the problem of finding the asymptotics of these sums. Our technique is to extend the spectral method of Ehrenborg, Kitaev and Perry. When the weight depends on the descent pattern we show how to find the equation determining the spectrum. We give two length $4$ applications. First, we find the asymptotics of the number of permutations with no triple ascents and no triple descents. Second, we give the asymptotics of the number of permutations with no isolated ascents or descents. Our next result is a weighted pattern of length $3$ where the associated operator only has one non-zero eigenvalue. Using generating functions we show that the error term in the asymptotic expression is the smallest possible.Comment: 16 page