Examining spirituality and intrinsic religious orientation as a means of coping with exam anxiety

Spirituality and religiosity have traditionally had a troubled relationship with psychology. However, a new field of study has emerged that is examining the health benefits of spirituality and religion. The current study examined the relationship between spirituality, religiosity and coping among a group of university students facing exams. Participants completed the Spiritual Well-Being Scale, Age Universal Religious Orientation Scale, Spiritual Transcendence Scale, Brief COPE, Test Anxiety Inventory, and State Trait Anxiety Inventory. Regression analyses found that existential well-being as measured by the Spiritual Well Being Scale was the best predictor of reduced anxiety. Maladaptive coping, however, was found to be inversely related to spirituality and religiosity, but highly predictive of elevated anxiety in this sample. Strengths and limitations of this study along with recommendations for further research are made.

Volume estimation from multiplanar 2D ultrasound images using a remote electromagnetic position and orientation sensor

A system is described for calculating volume from a sequence of multiplanar 2D ultrasound images. Ultrasound images are captured using a video digitising card (Hauppauge Win/TV card) installed in a personal computer, and regions of interest transformed into 3D space using position and orientation data obtained from an electromagnetic device (Polbemus, Fastrak). The accuracy of the system was assessed by scanning 10 water filled balloons (13-141 ml), 10 kidneys (147  200 ml) and 16 fetal livers (8  37 ml) in water using an Acuson 128XP/10 (5 MHz curvilinear probe). Volume was calculated using the ellipsoid, planimetry, tetrahedral and ray tracing methods and compared with the actual volume measured by weighing (balloons) and water displacement (kidneys and livers). The mean percentage error for the ray tracing method was 0.9 ± 2.4%, 2.7 ± 2.3%, 6.6 ± 5.4% for balloons, kidneys and livers, respectively. So far the system has been used clinically to scan fetal livers and lungs, neonate brain ventricles and adult prostate glands.

The accuracy of a new system for estimating organ volume using ultrasound

A new system is described for estimating volume from a series of multiplanar 2D ultrasound images. Ultrasound images are captured using a personal computer video digitizing card and an electromagnetic localization system is used to record the pose of the ultrasound images. The accuracy of the system was assessed by scanning four groups of ten cadaveric kidneys on four different ultrasound machines. Scan image planes were oriented either radially, in parallel or slanted at 30 C to the vertical. The cross-sectional images of the kidneys were traced using a mouse and the outline points transformed to 3D space using the Fastrak position and orientation data. Points on adjacent region of interest outlines were connected to form a triangle mesh and the volume of the kidneys estimated using the ellipsoid, planimetry, tetrahedral and ray tracing methods. There was little difference between the results for the different scan techniques or volume estimation algorithms, although, perhaps as expected, the ellipsoid results were the least precise. For radial scanning and ray tracing, the mean and standard deviation of the percentage errors for the four different machines were as follows: Hitachi EUB-240, −3.0 ± 2.7%; Tosbee RM3, −0.1 ± 2.3%; Hitachi EUB-415, 0.2 ± 2.3%; Acuson, 2.7 ± 2.3%.

In vitro estimation of foetal liver volume using ultrasound, x-ray computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging

Sixteen formalin-fixed foetal livers were scanned in vitro using a new system for estimating volume from a sequence of multiplanar 2D ultrasound images. Three different scan techniques were used (radial, parallel and slanted) and four volume estimation algorithms (ellipsoid, planimetry, tetrahedral and ray tracing). Actual liver volumes were measured by water displacement. Twelve of the sixteen livers also received x-ray computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance (MR) scans and the volumes were calculated using voxel counting and planimetry. The percentage accuracy (mean ± SD) was 5.3 ± 4.7%, −3.1 ± 9.6% and −0.03 ± 9.7% for ultrasound (radial scans, ray volumes), MR and CT (voxel counting) respectively. The new system may be useful for accurately estimating foetal liver volume in utero.

Double diffusive magneto-convection fluid flow in a strong cross magnetic field with uniform surface heat and mass flux

In this study, magnetohydrodynamic natural convection boundary layer flow of an electrically conducting and viscous incompressible fluid along a heated vertical flat plate with uniform heat and mass flux in the presence of strong cross magnetic field has been investigated. For smooth integrations the boundary layer equations are transformed in to a convenient dimensionless form by using stream function formulation as well as the free variable formulation. The nonsimilar parabolic partial differential equations are integrated numerically for Pr ≪1 that is appropriate for liquid metals against the local Hartmann parameter ξ . Further, asymptotic solutions are obtained near the leading edge using regular perturbation method for smaller values of ξ . Solutions for values of ξ ≫ 1 are also obtained by employing the matched asymptotic technique. The results obtained for small, large and all ξ regimes are examined in terms of shear stress, τw, rate of heat transfer, qw, and rate of mass transfer, mw, for important physical parameter. Attention has been given to the influence of Schmidt number, Sc, buoyancy ratio parameter, N and local Hartmann parameter, ξ on velocity, temperature and concentration distributions and noted that velocity and temperature of the fluid achieve their asymptotic profiles for Sc ≥ 10:0.

The effect of mill orientation angle on bagasse moisture content

THIS PAPER DESCRIBES an experimental investigation to explore a concept designed to reduce the moisture content of bagasse. It takes advantage of gravity to separate juice from bagasse by feeding bagasse upwards into the nip of the mill while juice drains downwards under gravity. The investigation found that orienting the feed to a mill upwards does reduce bagasse moisture content and that the benefit is expected to be greater than two units of moisture. While an advantage was found in orienting the feed up to 50° above the horizontal, no extra benefit was found in increasing the angle higher (up to 60° was explored) and so a 50° orientation was identified as the preferred angle for this design concept.

Integrated vision-based attitude estimation

For many years, computer vision has lured researchers with promises of a low-cost, passive, lightweight and information-rich sensor suitable for navigation purposes. The prime difficulty in vision-based navigation is that the navigation solution will continually drift with time unless external information is available, whether it be cues from the appearance of the scene, a map of features (whether built online or known a priori), or from an externally-referenced sensor. It is not merely position that is of interest in the navigation problem. Attitude (i.e. the angular orientation of a body with respect to a reference frame) is integral to a visionbased navigation solution and is often of interest in its own right (e.g. flight control). This thesis examines vision-based attitude estimation in an aerospace environment, and two methods are proposed for constraining drift in the attitude solution; one through a novel integration of optical flow and the detection of the sky horizon, and the other through a loosely-coupled integration of Visual Odometry and GPS position measurements. In the first method, roll angle, pitch angle and the three aircraft body rates are recovered though a novel method of tracking the horizon over time and integrating the horizonderived attitude information with optical flow. An image processing front-end is used to select several candidate lines in a image that may or may not correspond to the true horizon, and the optical flow is calculated for each candidate line. Using an Extended Kalman Filter (EKF), the previously estimated aircraft state is propagated using a motion model and a candidate horizon line is associated using a statistical test based on the optical flow measurements and location of the horizon in the image. Once associated, the selected horizon line, along with the associated optical flow, is used as a measurement to the EKF. To evaluate the accuracy of the algorithm, two flights were conducted, one using a highly dynamic Uninhabited Airborne Vehicle (UAV) in clear flight conditions and the other in a human-piloted Cessna 172 in conditions where the horizon was partially obscured by terrain, haze and smoke. The UAV flight resulted in pitch and roll error standard deviations of 0.42° and 0.71° respectively when compared with a truth attitude source. The Cessna 172 flight resulted in pitch and roll error standard deviations of 1.79° and 1.75° respectively. In the second method for estimating attitude, a novel integrated GPS/Visual Odometry (GPS/VO) navigation filter is proposed, using a structure similar to a classic looselycoupled GPS/INS error-state navigation filter. Under such an arrangement, the error dynamics of the system are derived and a Kalman Filter is developed for estimating the errors in position and attitude. Through similar analysis to the GPS/INS problem, it is shown that the proposed filter is capable of recovering the complete attitude (i.e. pitch, roll and yaw) of the platform when subjected to acceleration not parallel to velocity for both the monocular and stereo variants of the filter. Furthermore, it is shown that under general straight line motion (e.g. constant velocity), only the component of attitude in the direction of motion is unobservable. Numerical simulations are performed to demonstrate the observability properties of the GPS/VO filter in both the monocular and stereo camera configurations. Furthermore, the proposed filter is tested on imagery collected using a Cessna 172 to demonstrate the observability properties on real-world data. The proposed GPS/VO filter does not require additional restrictions or assumptions such as platform-specific dynamics, map-matching, feature-tracking, visual loop-closing, gravity vector or additional sensors such as an IMU or magnetic compass. Since no platformspecific dynamics are required, the proposed filter is not limited to the aerospace domain and has the potential to be deployed in other platforms such as ground robots or mobile phones.

Microstructural magnetic resonance imaging of articular cartilage

The focus of this Editorial is recent developments in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) modalities for evaluation of the microstructure and macromolecular organisation of articular cartilage. We place a specific emphasis on three types of measurements: (1) MRI transverse spin-relaxation mapping (T2 mapping); (2) diffusion-tensor imaging; and (3) compression micro-MRI (uMRI) measurements of articular cartilage in vitro. Such studies have a significant role to play in improving the understanding of the fundamental biomechanics of articular cartilage and in the development of in vitro models of early osteoarthritis. We discuss how the supramolecular organisation of the cartilage extracellular matrix and its behaviour under mechanical compression can be inferred from diffusion-tensor and T2 maps with in-plane resolution ~100 um. The emphasis is on in vitro studies performed under controlled physiological conditions but in vivo applications of T2 mapping and DTI are also briefly discussed.

Market orientation in the nonprofit sector

As the nonprofit sector moves into a more competitive environment it is being required by the community to become more efficient and effective. One response is for nonprofit organisations to become market oriented, which is the familiar response in the for-profit sector. Two components of market orientation, that is market segmentation and customer oriented products, fit well within the peculiarities of a nonprofit organisation. This is usually accompanied by the desire to obtain a competitive advantage causes problems for various stakeholders within the organisation. This paper contends that three factors, management, scarcity of resources, and conflict between organisational objectives and market orientation, are major influences on the adoption of a market oriented culture for a nonprofit organisation.

A gamified mobile application for engaging new students at university orientation

The term gamification describes the addition of game elements to non-game contexts as a means to motivate and engage users. This study investigates the design, delivery and pilot evaluation of a gamified, smartphone application built to introduce new students to the campus, services and people at university during their first few weeks. This paper describes changes to the application made after an initial field study was undertaken and provides an evaluation of the impact of the redesign. Survey responses were collected from thirteen students and usage data was captured from 105 students. Results indicate three levels of user engagement and suggest that there is value in adding game elements to the experience in this way. A number of issues are identified and discussed based on game challenges, input, and facilitating game elements in an event setting such as university orientation.

2005 pedagogical orientation program in the School of Architecture and Built Environment : a case study

The University of Newcastle (UoN) offers various access and support programs for a range of students through the English Language and Foundation Studies Centre and a University orientation for students. At UoN, students are required to engage in a learning experience, meet program outcomes and demonstrate the core attributes of the University at each graduation point. For a University with a strong focus on access is there a missing facet to the access programs where students are required to study within a teaching delivery style which may be vastly different to their previous educational experience? This paper will describe a pedagogical orientation program currently delivered at UoN School of Architecture and Built Environment in 2005 to assist in the transition of students from different cultural and pedagogical backgrounds into “Problem Based Learning” as delivered by this School. Furthermore the paper will analyse how this program has enabled students from diverse backgrounds to understand and successfully embrace the new learning opportunities.

The financial services cultural orientation matrix

With saturation within domestic marketplaces and increased growth opportunities overseas, many financial service providers are investing in foreign markets. However, cultural attitudes towards money can present market entry challenges to financial service providers. The industry would therefore benefit from a strategic model that helps to align financial marketing mixes with the cultural dimensions of a foreign market. The Financial Services Cultural Orientation (FSCO) Matrix has therefore been designed, with three cultural dimensions identified which influence preference for financial products; preference for cash, aversion to debt and savings orientation. Based on a combination of these dimensions and their relative strength within a culture, eight different consumer segments for financial products are identified, and marketing strategies for each consumer segment are then proposed. Three cultural clusters from the GLOBE Project House et al. (2002) are used to highlight possible geographic markets for each of these consumer segments. In particular, this paper focuses on GLOBE’s Confucian Asia, Southern Asia and Anglo cultural clusters, as these clusters represent the most well established financial markets in the world and the fastest growing financial markets for the future. The FSCO Matrix provides the financial services industry with an innovative and practical tool for addressing cross-cultural challenges and developing successful marketing strategies for entry into foreign markets.