Digital Commons Network^™

Plasticity Of Visual Attention In Isha Yoga Meditation Practitioners Before And After A 3-Month Retreat, C Braboszcz, Br Cahn, B Balakrishnan, Et Al

School of Psychology

Meditation has lately received considerable interest from cognitive neuroscience. Studies suggest that daily meditation leads to long lasting attentional and neuronal plasticity. We present changes related to the attentional systems before and after a 3 month intensive meditation retreat. We used three behavioral psychophysical tests - a Stroop task, an attentional blink task, and a global-local letter task-to assess the effect of Isha yoga meditation on attentional resource allocation. 82 Isha yoga practitioners were tested at the beginning and at the end of the retreat. Our results showed an increase in correct responses specific to incongruent stimuli in the Stroop …

The Effectiveness And Cost-Effectiveness Of Shared Care: Protocol For Realist Review, R Hardwick, M Pearson, R Anderson, R Byng

Peninsula Medical School

No abstract provided.

Online And Local Television Networks: A New Pedagogy For A Changing Media., Phil Ellis, John Fitzsimons, David Hilton, Allister Gall

School of Art, Design and Architecture

To investigate campus-based and local TV focused on innovative opportunities for students, employers and community groups to contribute to the design of learning pedagogies and course structures.To utilize the strong element of collaboration within and across creative courses in the UPC Partnership encouraging students to explore the medium of TV and establish new learning cultures that broaden the context of the student experience, encouraging creative work-based/related collaboration with local communities and employers.Research outcomes will enhance understanding of a fluid and dynamic growth area for a new media, new educational and employment possibilities and arts practice, which in turn will inform …

Interaction And Influence In Culturally-Mixed Groups., Dre Cotton, R George, M Joyner

School of Law, Humanities and Social Sciences

Graduates are increasingly expected to work in international contexts, therefore skills in intercultural interaction are crucial. Previous research suggests that overseas students anticipate positive intercultural interaction but are often disappointed, as some home students are unwilling to work in intercultural groups without explicit encouragement. In this study, we investigated interactions in three group work settings with home (UK) and international students in order to explore differing patterns of participation. The findings suggest that in culturally mixed groups, the UK students (particularly males) dominated discussions, with limited input from overseas students. In a group consisting solely of international students, the interactions …

Language And Cultural Meaning: Establishing Dialogical Learning In A Internationalised Teaching And Learning Environment, Robert Brown, Mia Papaefthimiou

School of Art, Design and Architecture

We live in an increasingly interconnected world, in which not only goods but also ideas and people are exchanged ever more extensively and rapidly. That this condition extends into educational settings is no surprise. (As two notable examples, both the student body and the teaching staff in architecture at Plymouth are now approximately 40% international; within Accounting and Finance the Year 3 student cohort is approximately 70% international.) Owing to this enhanced interconnection, we are now able to acquire instantly knowledge and skills locally (including via virtual networks) that were once previously all but unobtainable. There is however a danger …

Developing Student Nurse Retention Using Action Research, Graham Williamson, Val Heath, Tracey Proctor-Childs

School of Nursing and Midwifery

Aims of project: to understand students’ and staff concerns about this pre-registration nurse education programme and placements as part of developing our retention strategies.There is international concern about retention of student nurses on undergraduate programmes. United Kingdom Higher Education Institutions are monitored on their attrition statistics and can be penalised financially, so they have an incentive to help students remain on their programmes. Moreover, it is incumbent on healthcare education providers to ensure that students receive the best possible educational experience whilst they are studying for their professional qualifications. It is in this context that we designed our study to …

Identifying Deterioration In A Simulated Environment: Testing Of A Pedagogic Model, Ruth Endacott, Louise Winfield, Martyn Bradbury, Annie Jenkin, J Scholes, S Cooper, L Kinsman

School of Nursing and Midwifery

The purpose of this study is to test a pedagogic model, developed in Australia, with participants in the UK. Over the past three years, we have worked with collaborators at Monash University, Australia and at the University of Brighton on four funded exploratory studies (total income >AU$100k). The main outcome of this work is a pedagogic model of simulation delivery (FIRST2ACT - Feedback Incorporating Review and Simulation Techniques to Act on Clinical Trends) incorporating feedback via video review (Buykx et al 2010, Endacott et al in press, Endacott et al 2010, Cooper et al 2010). Work to date has used …

Simulation And Assessment Of Dental Extraction Proficiency Type Of Project : Self Administered Postal Questionnaire, D. R. Moles, Nigel Honey, Tom Gale

Peninsula Medical School

This study aimed to determine the confidence of recently qualified Foundation Dentists (FDs) in elements of the dental extraction process and to compare this with the assessment of their Foundation Trainers. Also the study aimed to investigate the foundation dentists’ views of their undergraduate training relating to exodontia and any aspects of which they found lacking or alternatively any experiences which they found particularly useful. The dental extraction needs of the UK population are changing with the development of an elderly dentate generation (McHarg and Kay 2009). The 2009 Adult Dental Health Survey observed that a very significant proportion of …

Effect Of Stitch Density On Tensile Properties And Damage Mechanisms Of Stitched Carbon/Epoxy Composites, Arief Yudhanto, Naoyuki Watanabe, Yutaka Iwahori, Hikaru Hoshi

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Experimental investigation is performed to study tensile properties, damage initiation and development in stitched carbon/epoxy composites subjected to tensile loading. T800SC-24kf dry preforms with tow orientation of [+45/90/-45/02/+45/902/-45/0]s are stitched using 200 denier Vectran® thread. Modified-lock stitch pattern is adopted, and stitch density is varied, viz. moderate density (stitched 6 x 6: stitch density = 2.8 cm-2) and high density (stitched 3 x 3: stitch density = 11.1 cm-2). The stitched preforms are then infiltrated by epoxy XNR/H6813 using resin transfer molding process. Tensile test is conducted to obtain in-plane mechanical properties (tensile strength, failure strain, tensile modulus and Poisson's …

Discussion Of Christine C. Shepard, Vera N. Agostini, Ben Gilmer, Tashya Allen, Jeff Stone, William Brooks And Michael W. Beck. Reply: Evaluating Alternative Future Sea-Level Rise Scenarios, Natural Hazards, 2012 Doi:10.1007/S11069-012-0160-2, A. Boretti

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

No abstract provided.

Robustness Of A Derivative-Free Adaptive Control Law In The Presence Of Unmodeled Dynamics, Tansel Yucelen, Anthony J. Calise

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Although adaptive control theory offers mathematical tools to achieve required system performance without excessive dependence on modeling, its application to safety-critical systems can be limited by the presence of unmodeled dynamics. This paper examines the robustness to unmodeled dynamics of a recently developed derivative-free adaptive control law. In contrast to derivative-based adaptive laws it is shown, using a Lyapunov-Krasovskii functional, that robustness to unmodeled dynamics is improved by increasing the adaptation gain. This is accomplished by including a bias term in the set of basic functions employed by the adaptive control law. It is shown that derivative-based adaptive laws do …

Neuropredictive Control And Trajectory Generation For Slung Load Systems, Gerardo De La Torre, Eric N. Johnson, Tansel Yucelen

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

This paper presents a neuropredictive trajectory generation architecture for slung load systems. The presented architecture integrates the real-time trajectory generation method with a system uncertainty identifying neural network. It is shown that the effect of system uncertainty on a model predictive control approach can be mitigated by the use of neural networks. A numerical example of an uncertain slung load system is shown to demonstrate the effectiveness of the presented framework.

Separate-Channel Integrated Guidance And Autopilot For Automatic Path-Following, Takeshi Yamasaki, S. N. Balakrishnan, Hiroyuki Takano

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

An integrated guidance and autopilot scheme for a path-following uninhabited aerial vehicle is presented in this study. A fixed-wing aircraft usually performs a bank-to-turn maneuver to change its flight direction. The novel approach presented here, however, assumes that each of the three channels of the integrated guidance and autopilot can be independently designed. This concept makes the design process simple. A virtual target moving on the prespecified path for the uninhabited aerial vehicle is introduced to facilitate the algorithm development. A first-/ second order sliding structure with a second order sliding mode and a high-order sliding mode differentiator for the …

Uterine Cervical Cancer Histology Image Feature Extraction And Classification, Cheng Lu

Masters Theses

"Cervical cancer, the second most common cancer affecting women worldwide and the most common in developing countries can be cured in almost all patients, if detected early and treated. However, cervical cancer incidence and mortality remain high in resource-poor regions, where early detection systems often cannot be maintained because of inherent complexity. The National Cancer Institute (NCI) has collected a vast amount of visual information, 100,000 cervigrams (35 mm color slides), screening thousands of women by this technique. In addition to the cervigrams, large digitized histology images are being archived.

In this research, a framework for automatic recognition and classification …

Significance And Analysis Of Milia-Like Cysts In Dermoscopy Skin Lesion Images, Sneha K. Mahajan

Masters Theses

“Milia-like cysts (MLCs) are dermoscopic structures frequently observed in seborrheic keratoses(SKs), which are the most common type of skin lesions. Diverse appearances of these skin lesions make them difficult to differentiate from melanoma, a deadly type of skin cancer. Classified by size into two main groups, starry MLCs and cloudy MLCs, the presence of these structures in a skin lesion has been known to help differentiate benign lesions from melanoma. Though the presence of cloudy MLCs is not exclusively associated with SKs, they can be a useful tool to differentiate SKs from melanoma. This research study determines the statistical occurrence …

Rotary Displacement Piezoelectric Energy Harvester, Headman Sanei

Masters Theses

“This study proposes a novel piezoelectric energy harvester for rotary motion applications. It is based on an annular unimorph plate, mounted on a shaft rotating at a constant angular velocity, under constant amplitude point-wise force. The mathematical model and the analysis was proposed for the inverse problem of a rotating disk under a static stationary force. The disk, however, is assumed to be stationary subjected to a traveling force. The distributed parameter electromechanical equations governing the behavior of the system are provided in closed-form, incorporating both an AC and a simple rectifier circuit. The performance of the energy harvester was …

Pre-Intermediate Accounting, Christopher M. Fairchild

Syllabus Repository

No abstract provided.

Pre-Intermediate Accounting, Christopher M. Fairchild

Syllabus Repository

No abstract provided.

Managerial Cost Accounting, Christopher M. Fairchild

Syllabus Repository

No abstract provided.

Special Topics In Accounting: Advanced Accounting Case Study, Christopher M. Fairchild

Syllabus Repository

No abstract provided.

Accounting Internship, Christopher M. Fairchild

Syllabus Repository

No abstract provided.

Accounting Internship, Christopher M. Fairchild

Syllabus Repository

No abstract provided.

Biblical Hermeneutics, Unknown N/A

Syllabus Repository

No abstract provided.

Old Testament Theology, Steven M. Fettke

Syllabus Repository

No abstract provided.

New Testament Theology, Robby Waddell Dr.

Syllabus Repository

No abstract provided.

Introduction To The Bible, Margaret Alminana

Syllabus Repository

No abstract provided.

Life Of Christ, Robby Waddell Dr.

Syllabus Repository

No abstract provided.

Meckel Gruber Syndrome: Second Trimester Diagnosis Of A Case In A Non-Consanguineous Marriage, Areej Alam, Mehreen Adhi, Raffat Bano, Aisha Zubair, Ammara Mushtaq

Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology

Meckel-Gruber Syndrome (MKS) is a rare, autosomal recessive genetic disorder, incompatible with life. It is characterized by enlarged polycystic kidneys and post axial polydactyly. Foetal or neonatal death is caused by pulmonary hypoplasia. We report a case of a 35 year old woman who presented at 7 weeks of gestation of her sixth pregnancy. A transabdominal anomaly ultrasound performed for her current pregnancy at 18 weeks of gestation showed features consistent with MKS. The termination of pregnancy was declined and a live newborn female was delivered via an emergency caeserean section at 34 weeks of gestation due to previous history …

A Review Of Comparison Of Complications Of Vaginal Hysterectomy With And Without Concomitant Surgery For Sui: A 5 Years’ Experience At A Tertiary Care Hospital Of Pakistan, Raheela Mohsin Rizvi, Munnazza Akhtar, Nadeem F. Zuberi

Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology

Objective. The study was performed to review the complications of surgery for POP with or without surgery for SUI. This included the need for second procedure two years after the primary surgery. Study Design. We conducted a retrospective cross-sectional comparative study at the Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan. International Classification of Diseases, 9th revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-9-CM) was used to identify women who underwent vaginal hysterectomy with anterior/posterior repair alone and those with concomitant tension-free vaginal tape surgery for urodynamic stress incontinence. Results. The 28 cases of VH/repair combined with TVT were compared for complications with 430 cases of VH …

Frequent Hypomethylation Of Ptgs2 Gene Promoter In Human Term Placenta, Nuruddin Mohammad, Ahmed Yaqinuddin, Fatima Kakal, Lumaan Sheikh, Rahat Qureshi, Mehreen Soman

Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology

Background: Gene expression profiles of several tumor suppressor genes are regulated by the methylation and demethylation of their promoters. Here, we aim to identify and quantify the methylation status of four tumor suppressor genes from placentas at term and compare them with the maternal white-blood-cells.

Methods: In order to achieve this objective, DNA enriched from twenty placentas at term and maternal white blood cells was bisulfite-converted and amplified using quantitative real-time methyl-light polymerase chain reaction for the four-genes studied (RASSF1A, APC, RAR-beta, and PTGS2).

Results: Among the four genes examined, RASSF1A, APC and RAR-beta promoter regions were hypermethylated in all …