The south west economy and the "1992" internal market: Some tentative predictions of a general and a specific nature

There has occurred a growing, il somewhat belated, recognition of the possible regional impacts of the planned further liberalisation of the trading regime within the European Community (EC). This process of liberalisation, the Internal Market programme, will have significant effects, not only on the national economy of the UK but also on the South-West economy

Introduction to Graphene Electronics -- A New Era of Digital Transistors and Devices

The speed of silicon-based transistors has reached an impasse in the recent decade, primarily due to scaling techniques and the short-channel effect. Conversely, graphene (a revolutionary new material possessing an atomic thickness) has been shown to exhibit a promising value for electrical conductivity. Graphene would thus appear to alleviate some of the drawbacks associated with silicon-based transistors. It is for this reason why such a material is considered one of the most prominent candidates to replace silicon within nano-scale transistors. The major crux here, is that graphene is intrinsically gapless, and yet, transistors require a band-gap pertaining to a well-defined ON/OFF logical state. Therefore, exactly as to how one would create this band-gap in graphene allotropes is an intensive area of growing research. Existing methods include nano-ribbons, bilayer and multi-layer structures, carbon nanotubes, as well as the usage of the graphene substrates. Graphene transistors can generally be classified according to two working principles. The first is that a single graphene layer, nanoribbon or carbon nanotube can act as a transistor channel, with current being transported along the horizontal axis. The second mechanism is regarded as tunneling, whether this be band-to-band on a single graphene layer, or vertically between adjacent graphene layers. The high-frequency graphene amplifier is another talking point in recent research, since it does not require a clear ON/OFF state, as with logical electronics. This paper reviews both the physical properties and manufacturing methodologies of graphene, as well as graphene-based electronic devices, transistors, and high-frequency amplifiers from past to present studies. Finally, we provide possible perspectives with regards to future developments.Comment: This is an updated version of our review article, due to be published in Contemporary Physics (Sept 2013). Included are updated references, along with a few minor corrections. (45 pages, 19 figures

Using Hands-On Activities and Manipulatives in Kindergarten

This is a study exploring how hands-on activities, including the use of physical and virtual manipulatives, facilitate students’ learning. The research was conducted during a student teaching semester in a rural elementary school, specifically in a Kindergarten classroom. There were sixteen students in the classroom, all between the ages of five and six years old. Three major data sources were analyzed: photographs, sample student work, and teacher journals. Photographs were content analyzed and students’ work and teacher journals were analyzed using Glaser and Strauss’s (1967) Grounded Theory. Additional supplemental data sources included student verbal responses and lesson plans. Students’ participation, engagement, collaboration, and performance were emerging themes from the data analysis. Findings support that hands-on activities have positive influence on students’ learning when supplemented with other teaching practices

The prediction and back analysis of excavation behaviour in Oxford Clay.

The work described in this thesis involved the prediction and back-analysis of ground movements and pore water pressures around a temporary excavation, lOm deep, 105m long and 35m wide (50m long and lOm wide at its base) in the heavily overconsolidated Oxford Clay. An experimental programme was carried out which was designed to investigate the nonlinearity and the anisotropy in the soil's response. A series of computer controlled triaxial stress path tests were carried out on specimens of Oxford Clay trimmed from block samples. The initial anisotropic stress state resulted in a highly stress path dependent stiffness, and the stressstrain behaviour was closely linked to the time at which the specimen had been held at constant stress prior to a change in loading. In the triaxial apparatus, shear wave propagation tests using square wave input functions into bender element apparatus were significantly affected by near-field effects and by additional wave components. Tests carried out using sine wave inputs provided a far more consistent output allowing correlation analyses and easier visual identification of the travelling shear wave. The shear modulus of the soil at very small strains could then be determined. A stress path dependent, non-linear, cross-anisotropic elastic model was developed and implemented into the finite element program CRISP. A genuine prediction of the Elstow excavation was carried out while the instrumentation data from the site investigation were temporarily withheld. It was found that the horizontal displacements were modelled satisfactorily but that the vertical displacements were in error by as much as 2 or 3 times. This discrepancy was attributed to volumetric changes suggested by the instrumentation data. A parametric analysis was carried out in which the effects of the initial stress state, the degree of anisotropy, and the degree of non-linearity were investigated. This showed that although it was possible to improve the accuracy of the prediction locally, it was not possible to improve on the overall pattern of behaviour predicted by the first non-linear cross-anisotropic analysis

Making mathematics on paper : constructing representations of stories about related linear functions

This dissertation takes up the problem of applied quantitative inference as a central question for cognitive science, asking what must happen during problem solving for people to obtain a meaningful and effective representation of the problem. The core of the dissertation reports exploratory empirical studies that seek to answer the descriptive question of how quantitative inferences are generated, pursued, and evaluated by problem solvers with different mathematical backgrounds. These are framed against a controversy, described in Chapter 2, over the theoretical and empirical validity of current cognitive science accounts of problems, solutions, knowledge, and competent human activity outside of laboratory or school settings.Chapter 3 describes a written protocol study of algebra story problem solving among advanced undergraduates in computer science. A relatively open-ended interpretive framework for "problem-solving episodes" is developed and applied to their written solution attempts. The resulting description of problem-solving activities gives a surprising image of competence among an important occupational target for standard mathematics instruction.Chapter 4 follows these results into detailed verbal problem-solving interviews with algebra students and teachers. These provide a comparison across settings and levels of competence for the same set of problems. The results corroborate similar generative activities outside the standard formalism of algebra across levels of competence. Notable among these nonalgebraic problem-solving activities are "model-based reasoning tactics," in which people reason about quantitative relations in terms of the dimensional structure of functional relations described in the problem. These tactics support different activities within surrounding solution attempts and usually describe "states" in the problem's situational structure.Chapter 5 holds these activities accountable to local combinations of notation and quantity, reinterpreting results for model-based reasoning in an ecological analysis of material designs for constructing and evaluating quantitative inferences. This analysis brings forward important relations between what material designs afford problem solvers and the complexity of episodic structure observed in their solution attempts. The dissertation closes with a reappraisal of the relationship between knowledge, person, and setting and, I will argue, puts us on a more promising track for a descriptively adequate theoretical account of constructing mathematical representations that support applied quantitative inference

Appropriate practice? : a study of the role and co-ordination of volunteer appropriate adults for young suspects

Merged with duplicate record (10026.1/858) on 03.01.2017 by CS (TIS)This is a digitised version of a thesis that was deposited in the University Library. If you are the author please contact PEARL Admin ([email protected]) to discuss options.This thesis reports on the first empirical study of the volunteer appropriate adult service for young suspects and the first attempt to determine the extent and nature of volunteer appropriate adult provision nationally. The investigation provides an original insight into the philosophy, role, practice and co-ordination of the appropriate adult. At an empirical level, the investigation fills a gap in the current work on the appropriate adult by considering the use of volunteers in the role, in terms of their practice and co-ordination and the extent and nature of their use. The empirical research is based on a detailed case study of the Plymouth Youth Enquiry Service (henceforth YES) volunteer appropriate adult service and a national survey of YOT managers. The case study included participant observation, documentary analysis and a self-administered questionnaire survey at the YES volunteer appropriate adult service. The national study of YOT managers was based on a postal survey. At a theoretical level, this thesis uses theoretical perspectives from the fields of youth justice (for example, Brown, 1998; Muncie, 1999a) and criminal process (for example, Packer, 1968; McBarnet, 1981; Choongh, 1997) to explain the philosophy, role and practice of the appropriate adult. It argues that role has been constructed to serve different, and sometimes conflicting, purposes, ranging from due process, crime control, welfare, crime prevention and managerialism. In terms of practice, parents rarely contribute in interviews and, when they do, their contributions tend to be consistent with the crime control model. Social workers may act according to a welfare or control ideology. The volunteer's role has included elements of due process, crime prevention and welfare.Department of Social Policy and Social Work, University of Plymouth, and the School of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Glamorga

Do Pennsylvania Food Safety Inspections Ensure our Safety? The Stats Say No.

Imagine cutting the grass once a year. The lawn would look good for a week, but gradually it would grow unkempt. Currently, all food businesses and dairy product manufacturers in the state of Pennsylvania must undergo state-mandated safety inspections. In the eyes of the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, safety inspections every 12 months is sufficient in ensuring the health of the public. Simply put, the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture is fine with cutting the grass once a year. With the growing concerns for food safety and research becoming more worrying, the need for reform is greater now than ever before. This unkempt lawn can potentially lead to the rapid transmission of infectious gastrointestinal diseases. To lower the risks of enteric outbreaks and ensure statewide health, the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture should implement stricter safety inspection regulations