The effect of term-time employment on UK higher education students

In the UK, participation in higher education has risen over the past two decades, along with a shift of the costs of higher education onto the individual and a move to widening participation among previously underrepresented groups. This has led to changes in the way individuals fund their higher education, in particular a rise in the incidence of term time employment. Term time employment potentially plays a much bigger role than in the past, both as a means for individuals to fund their education and reduce debt, and as a way to gain valuable work experience and increase employability. With the increase in the number of graduates in the UK labour market it is now more important for individuals to be able to differentiate themselves in the labour market.

Evaluation of the time resolved fluorescence immunoassay (TRFIA) for the detection of varicella zoster virus (VZV) antibodies following vaccination of healthcare workers

Determination of varicella zoster virus (VZV) immunity in healthcare workers without a history of chickenpox is important for identifying those in need of vOka vaccination. Post immunisation, healthcare workers in the UK who work with high risk patients are tested for seroconversion. To assess the performance of the time-resolved fluorescence immunoassay (TRFIA) for the detection of antibody in vaccinated as well as unvaccinated individuals, a cut-off was first calculated. VZV-IgG specific avidity and titres six weeks after the first dose of vaccine were used to identify subjects with pre-existing immunity among a cohort of 110 healthcare workers. Those with high avidity (≥60%) were considered to have previous immunity to VZV and those with low or equivocal avidity (<60%) were considered naive. The former had antibody levels ≥400mIU/mL and latter had levels <400mIU/mL. Comparison of the baseline values of the naive and immune groups allowed the estimation of a TRFIA cut-off value of >130mIU/mL which best discriminated between the two groups and this was confirmed by ROC analysis. Using this value, the sensitivity and specificity of TRFIA cut-off were 90% (95% CI 79-96), and 78% (95% CI 61-90) respectively in this population. A subset of samples tested by the gold standard Fluorescence Antibody to Membrane Antigen (FAMA) test showed 84% (54/64) agreement with TRFIA.

Use of the statistical properties of the wavelet-transform coefficients for optimization of integration time in Fourier transform spectrometry

We show that an analysis of the mean and variance of discrete wavelet coefficients of coaveraged time-domain interferograms can be used as a specification for determining when to stop coaveraging. We also show that, if a prediction model built in the wavelet domain is used to determine the composition of unknown samples, a stopping criterion for the coaveraging process can be developed with respect to the uncertainty tolerated in the prediction.

Out of the ivory tower: the impact of wider social contact on the values, religious beliefs and identities of Chinese postgraduate students in the UK

This article explores the impact of wider social contact on the experience of Chinese postgraduate students of adaptation to life in the UK. Focus group and individual interviews were conducted with a group of 11 Chinese students on an MA programme at a university in southern England and individual interviews with three representatives of a local volunteer group (LVG) offering support to the Chinese students. Although it was perceived that the students’ support needs were not adequately met by the University, the additional support offered outside the University was unanimously valued and considered as enriching their cultural and linguistic experiences and meeting their expectations. However, frequent social contact with the LVG, whose members were mostly Christians, also had an impact on their values, religious beliefs and identities. In a discussion framed within the sociological perspective of proselytization or religious conversion and the broad framework of international education and globalization, the different responses to this contact are described in terms of believers, doubters, empathisers and commentators. Implications are considered for universities, people involved in providing social support for international students, and sponsors of international students.

Discrete time representation of continuous time ARMA processes

This paper derives exact discrete time representations for data generated by a continuous time autoregressive moving average (ARMA) system with mixed stock and flow data. The representations for systems comprised entirely of stocks or of flows are also given. In each case the discrete time representations are shown to be of ARMA form, the orders depending on those of the continuous time system. Three examples and applications are also provided, two of which concern the stationary ARMA(2, 1) model with stock variables (with applications to sunspot data and a short-term interest rate) and one concerning the nonstationary ARMA(2, 1) model with a flow variable (with an application to U.S. nondurable consumers’ expenditure). In all three examples the presence of an MA(1) component in the continuous time system has a dramatic impact on eradicating unaccounted-for serial correlation that is present in the discrete time version of the ARMA(2, 0) specification, even though the form of the discrete time model is ARMA(2, 1) for both models.

Effect of cutting time, temperature and calcium on curd moisture, whey fat loses and curd yield by response surface methodology

Response surface methodology was used to study the effect of temperature, cutting time, and calcium chloride addition level on curd moisture content, whey fat losses, and curd yield. Coagulation and syneresis were continuously monitored using 2 optical sensors detecting light backscatter. The effect of the factors on the sensors’ response was also examined. Retention of fat during cheese making was found to be a function of cutting time and temperature, whereas curd yield was found to be a function of those 2 factors and the level of calcium chloride addition. The main effect of temperature on curd moisture was to increase the rate at which whey was expelled. Temperature and calcium chloride addition level were also found to affect the light backscatter profile during coagulation whereas the light backscatter profile during syneresis was a function of temperature and cutting time. The results of this study suggest that there is an optimum firmness at which the gel should be cut to achieve maximum retention of fat and an optimum curd moisture content to maximize product yield and quality. It was determined that to maximize curd yield and quality, it is necessary to maximize firmness while avoiding rapid coarsening of the gel network and microsyneresis. These results could contribute to the optimization of the cheese-making process.

Getting pupils to 'see the point' of school subjects: history, a case study

This paper examines the factors that influence pupil take up of a subject, in this case history, at GCSE. The research indicates that pupils enjoy history but significant factors prevent many from choosing it for further study; these include factors that are beyond the control of teachers, such as government policy and the way this is interpreted by senior managers in school, and factors that are within the control of teachers. The paper suggests that there are lessons that departments can learn from more successful departments but there are also important side effects of government policy that are having unintended consequences.

EMD: A novel technique for the study of tremor time series

This paper introduces the Hilbert Analysis (HA), which is a novel digital signal processing technique, for the investigation of tremor. The HA is formed by two complementary tools, i.e. the Empirical Mode Decomposition (EMD) and the Hilbert Spectrum (HS). In this work we show that the EMD can automatically detect and isolate tremulous and voluntary movements from experimental signals collected from 31 patients with different conditions. Our results also suggest that the tremor may be described by a new class of mathematical functions defined in the HA framework. In a further study, the HS was employed for visualization of the energy activities of signals. This tool introduces the concept of instantaneous frequency in the field of tremor. In addition, it could provide, in a time-frequency-energy plot, a clear visualization of local activities of tremor energy over the time. The HA demonstrated to be very useful to perform objective measurements of any kind of tremor and can therefore be used to perform functional assessment.