Showing papers by "University of Huddersfield published in 1991"

Sediment yield and delivery in the blanket peat moorlands of the southern Pennines

Abstract: In contrast to much previous research on blanket peat moorland, which has concentrated upon studies of the form and causes of gully erosion, this paper attempts to investigate sediment transport and to estimate both short-term and long-term sediment yields in such terrain. The research was conducted on Wessenden Head Moor to the west of Huddersfield, Yorkshire, where automatic stream sampling continued over a period of two years. Use of corrected rating curves (Ferguson, 1988) provided a mean estimate of sediment yield over this period of 55 t km−2 yr−1. In addition an estimate of longer-term sediment yield was derived from four reservoir sediment surveys in the Wessenden Valley. Total yield was 203.69 t km−2 yr−1, including an organic fraction of 38.82 t km −2 yr−1. Stream sampling at three sites on Shiny Brook, including headwaters and the outflow to the reservoir, suggested that there is great temporal and spatial variability in mineral and organic inputs to the reservoirs. Although not excessive in gravimetric terms, the low density of peat means that there is a serious erosion problem. Estimates of erosion rates for the peat gully network at Shiny Brook appear to confirm earlier evidence concerning the relatively recent occurrence of this erosion, within the last two centuries.

Noninvasive measurement of lumbar sagittal mobility. An assessment of the flexicurve technique.

Abstract: The use of flexicurves to measure lumbar sagittal mobility was subjected to a series of reliability and validation experiments. Appropriate statistical methods were described and used to quantify intraobserver and intrasubject variability and to determine limits of agreement with measurements from radiographs. It was shown that the traditional use of correlation coefficients can produce misleading or inadequate information. The flexicurve technique had an intraobserver variability of 3-4[degrees] of movement, was not significantly influenced by intrasubject variability, and provided measurements typically within 6[degrees] of radiographic measurements. The data suggest that the flexicurve technique is less biased than the inclinometric method. These results demonstrate the use of suitable statistical methods to assess the clinical usefulness, or level of interchangeability, of spinal measurement instruments.

Characterizing the program design activity : neither strictly top-down nor globally opportunistic

Abstract: Early studies of programming and of other more general planning and problem-solving activities emphasized the hierarchical nature of such tasks. For instance, the dominant approach to problem-solving and planning views such processes as top-down focused activities which start from high level goals that are in turn decomposed into achievable actions via a successive refinement process. Similarly, empirical studies of the programming activity have highlighted such top-down and breadth-first decomposition strategies. These processes are also clearly mirrored in prescriptive accounts of the programming task. More recent characterizations of the programming activity present an alternative view—one which emphasizes the broadly opportunistic nature of the programming process. From this perspective, program design is seen to deviate from the top-down, breadth-first model proposed by previous studies. Here, program design is viewed as opportunistic in the sense that elements of the design can be created a...

Action research in information systems development

Abstract: . Action research is located within a spectrum of problem-solving activity that ranges from pure basic scientific research, the purpose of which is to add to knowledge, to human action designed to achieve a purpose without thought of contributing to knowledge. Action research both adds to knowledge and applies it in practice. Action research is particularly appropriate information systems development. A number of alternative methodologies for action research exist that make differing philosophical assumptions. A body of theory exists that enables a choice to be made among methodologies. This theory is useful in analysing information system problems.

Prediction of the clinical course of low-back trouble using multivariable models.

Abstract: The inability to predict outcome in patients with low-back pain seriously impedes clinical trials and leads to inappropriate or unnecessary treatment. This prospective study investigated the value of multivariable mathematical models to predict the 1-year clinical course of 109 patients with low-back trouble (LBT). Discriminant analysis was used to determine predictive models for outcome groups at 1 month, 3 months and 1 year. The variables selected in the analyses were subsets of 29 items from a clinical interview at presentation. These included anamnestic features of the first episode as well as symptomatic details and results from clinical tests for the current spell. The derived models successfully discriminated outcome groups with estimates of sensitivity and specificity ranging from 63 to 99%. When models from one set of patients were tested for predictive accuracy by the application of them to a different set, nonrecovery and satisfactory improvement were predicted with a 76-100% success rate. The results affirmed the importance of considering combinations of interrelated variables for prediction and discrimination in LBT. This work has demonstrated that outcome can be predicted successfully by the use of mathematic models based just on presentation data. The ability to determine homogenous groups in respect to outcome is seen as an important aid to therapeutic research; further work will enable refinement of these models for general clinical use and for incorporation into computer-based interview systems.

Does Leisure Sports Activity Influence Lumbar Mobility or the Risk of Low Back Trouble

Abstract: In order to look for relationships between leisure sports activity and both low back trouble and back flexibility, 958 people, aged 10-84 years, were examined. Their history of low back trouble and leisure sports participation was recorded, together with measurements of maximal lumbar sagittal mobility. No evidence was found to suggest that the extent of sports participation either during childhood or as an adult was related to the development, frequency, or onset-age of low back trouble. Although sports participation was not associated with flexibility in schoolchildren, adults who had continued leisure sports for greater than 5 years showed relatively reduced lumbar mobility. On the basis of the results presented here, it is concluded that sporting pursuits at amateur/leisure level do not, in themselves, represent a major risk factor for low back trouble. On the contrary, it was found that adults typically continued leisure sports participation for some years after developing low back trouble. Sports participation, in general terms, is not contraindicated for those who have experienced low back trouble, but regular exercise does not apparently result in increased lumbar flexibility.

An Evaluation of Hotel Design Practice

Abstract: Levels of investment in hotel design projects are huge. During 1986 the hotel industry worldwide spent over $2 million with the thirty-six largest design companies. This article examines and establishes design as an important function, and reports on the design management practices of seven major UK hotel companies. A pilot survey shows that contract designers play a major role within the hotel design process. This article highlights the structure of services offered and puts forward the views of the five main hotel design contractors participating in the survey on how the hotel companies manage this process. Both hoteliers and designers noted the need for more effective management of resources invested in design. Their suggestions are formalised into a set of initiatives on which both parties could take action.

Sea-Level Change in Vestfirđir, North West Iceland

Abstract: Recent observations in the Vestfirðir area of Iceland have revealed a wealth of raised marine features from ca 70 m a.s.l. to 1m a.s.l. that may reveal a different isostatic uplift pattern from that of the rest of Iceland. At 8.5 m a.s.l. at Hvitahlið, microplanktonrich marine silts are capped by a peat layer with a radiocarbon age of 6,910 B.P. At Smahamrar nearby, a suite of raised beaches between ca 70m a.s.l. and present sea level are older than 8,875 B.P. It appears that sea-level dropped rapidly from 70m to 1m some time before ca 10,000 B.P. However, arise of sea-level to 8.5m occurred at about 9,000 B.P., and peat began to accumulate on beaches at about 8,800 B.P. The ensuing regression was temporarily halted at 6,900 B.P. by a high energy marine event, possibly caused by waves from the 7,000 B.P. Storegga landslide, which deposited a beach ridge full of marine taxa on top of freshwater peats at ca 6m a.s.l. As new regional deglaciation chronologies emerge for Iceland, there is a need to re-evaluate the relative sea-level histories of these regions.

The energetics of intramolecular reactions and enzyme catalysis.

Abstract: The relative rates of reactions should always be examined by an awareness of differential effects. The magnitude and variation of the relative rates of intramolecular reactions can be rationalized by the differences in entropy and strain energy. The relative rates of enzyme-catalysed reactions are sometimes due to groundstate effects. The $\beta $ -lactamase-catalysed hydrolysis of $\beta $ -lactam antibiotics may require a unique disposition of catalytic groups owing to an unusual process of bond fission in the four membered ring.

Sliding window or door

Abstract: The movable panel (12) of a sliding window has runners (30,31) which extend into a channel of the frame (10). Head portions (32) of the runners are a snap-fit in a carrier (28) bonded onto a lower marginal portion of the panel (12).

Negotiating A Flexible Retirement: Further Paid Work and the Quality of Life in Early Retirement

Abstract: The economic participation rates of older men have fallen dramatically over the last decade. Early retirements have accounted for much although not all of this reduction and yet early retirement has been a somewhat neglected aspect of the social scientific literature. Initially the prerogative of managers and white-collar workers, early retirement has spread to wider sections of the work force and has generally been seen by managers and trade unions as an uncontentious way of achieving ‘headcount reduction'. Research into the experiences of early retirees is sparse but such survey data as does exist suggests relatively high levels of satisfaction. This paper presents some of the findings of a small, qualitative study of the experience of early retirement from the chemical industry of a sample of 40 men from the West Riding of Yorkshire. An attempt was made to construct a quality-of-life index with which to compare and contrast their experiences and investigate some of the major factors in determining the outcome of early retirement. The paper highlights the role of further paid work in enabling healthy men with marketable skills to effectively negotiate their own ‘flexible retirements’. Those with ill health and a lack of skills were unable to do this and these factors were associated with a relatively low quality of life.

Conceptions of the nursing process amongst nurse teachers and clinical nurses.

Abstract: This is a report of an empirical study whose aim was to investigate the conceptual nature of the nursing-process approach to the delivery of nursing care. The report includes a selective review of the literature on the subject to determine how the nursing-process approach is characterized by people who write about it. Details of the grounded theory research methodology used are outlined. So are the hierarchically focused interviews used to collect the data. Details of the data analysis are also given, including the use of a cluster analysis technique. In the results section, areas of concordance between conceptions of the nursing-process approach as they appear in the literature and those held by the interviews have been identified. Areas where conceptions are at variance with those in the literature have also been identified.

Intranasal budesonide once daily in seasonal allergic rhinitis

Abstract: A double-blind, parallel-group, multi-centre study was carried out in 248 patients with symptomatic seasonal allergic rhinitis to assess the effectiveness and tolerability of intranasal aqueous budesonide given as a single daily dose each morning of 400 micrograms compared with the conventional dosage regimen of 200 micrograms twice daily. After a 1-week run-in period during which only oral terfenadine was allowed for intolerable symptom relief, symptomatic patients were allocated at random to receive budesonide in one or other dosage regimen for 3 weeks. The results of assessments made by the physician at clinic visits and by patients recording daily data on diary record cards showed that specific nasal symptom incidence and severity were significantly (p less than 0.001) reduced in both treatment groups. The proportions of patients symptom-free at 3 weeks were 40% in the 400 micrograms once daily and 45% in the 200 micrograms twice daily group; in addition, mean nasal symptom scores from the daily diary cards were significantly (p less than 0.001) reduced in both groups, with a reduction in total symptom scores of 53% and 60%, respectively. The differences between the groups were not statistically significant. Total symptom scores were significantly (p less than 0.01) reduced in both dosage groups at all levels of pollen exposure. Patients rated treatment overall as being highly effective, mean scores being very similar in both groups, and tolerability was similar and good whether budesonide was given as a 400 micrograms once daily dose or as 200 micrograms twice daily. Assuming equal symptom control, 74% of patients stated they would prefer once daily to twice daily treatment.

Protestant Patriarchy and the Catholic Priesthood in Nineteenth Century England

Abstract: In April 1989, The Sun, a right-wing daily newspaper published the "exclusive" story of how a Catholic priest had allegedly seduced and "ran off' with the wife of a Guernsey flower-grower.2 To a modern audience with decreased sectarian sensitivities the story may have represented an unusual scenario for titillation, but a century ago the headline "PRIEST STOLE MY WIFE" was so much more likely to have been accepted by a proportion of the readership as the inevitable effect of clerical celibacy and the confessional, that even in an age which prided itself on its sensibilities, any surprise may have been affected. If the sub-title "RANDY PRIEST" would have outraged the Victorian public, for many the horror would more probably have resulted from the terminology and not its meaning. To a Victorian readership this story was old news, circulated many times over. The characters in the modern "exclusive" had all the attributes familiar to a Victorian audience; the faithless wife was "blonde" and young, the priest a sophisticate with an Italian name, and the husband, "a humble flower-grower." The plot is a forgery of a cultural currency familiar to the Victorians; the husband suspected nothing until it was too late and the couple had fled into hiding abroad, leaving him heartbroken and rueing the day he had placed his faith in the Catholic priest. To the modem press the story no doubt represented the chance for a novel angle on the prurient report, justified by a tone of mild concern, but to the historian it is an fascinating anachronism which invites further investigation of its Victorian antecedent which portrayed the Catholic priesthood as a band of opportunist seducers and the convent as a place of torture and orgy. The aim of this paper therefore is to explore the significance of the Protestant Victorian's villification of the Catholic priest.3 To a significant portion of the Victorian public the Catholic priest was the object of a mixture of hatred, fear and morbid curiosity. A professional leisure industry sprang up in the 1830's to satisfy this need for stories about the misbehaviour of the Catholic priest and his lascivious practices in confessional and convent, as a great torrent of public performers in the character of "escaped nuns" and "reformed priests" toured the British Isles lecturing to delightedly shocked audiences with accounts of their own "personal experiences."4 The basic premise for the "exposures" was that priests were a band of rapists and seducers who would stop at nothing (including kidnap and murder) to hide their true character. As a Catholic institution beyond everyday scrutiny, the convent

Experimental results on suboptimal filtering for optical digital pulse-position modulation

Abstract: Original practical and theoretical results ( = 1.523 µm) are presented for both optimal and suboptimal detection of digital PPM. When operating with 16 slots of 20 ns duration, the sensitivity was measured to be −46.6 dBm for optimal detection, and −45.9 dBm for suboptimal detection. It is concluded that suboptimal filtering significantly reduces receiver complexity, and results in a degradation in sensitivity of only 0.7 dB

Information Systems Development : Introduction

Abstract: A number of issues are considered important in the development of organisational information systems, and the papers in this section reflect these. Firstly, there is a need to develop business plans within organisations and then plans for the enhancement and development of information systems that support the business plans. Business planning logically precedes information systems planning, and enables applications to be selected for investment and developed with appropriate priority. Decisions must be taken during information systems planning that have a global effect on the organisation, such as centralisation or decentralisation of data processing and systems development, and standardisation on hardware and software. Increasingly, information is regarded as a resource within organisations, that needs professional management, in the same way that financial and material resources are managed. Investment in information technology must be carefully justified in terms of individual and organisational efficiency and effectiveness.

Attitudes of Trade Union Activists: Some Evidence on the Theory of Workplace Incorporation:

Abstract: Using results from an empirical study of four trade union branches, evidence is presented to show that over time, activist attitudes towards management become more favourable, and views of rank and...

Optical fiber n-ary PPM: approaching fundamental limits in receiver sensitivity

Abstract: The n-ary pulse position modulation is a means by which excess optical fiber bandwidth can be exchanged for improved receiver sensitivity. Here, we consider both direct detection (PIN- BJT and PIN-FET) and coherent n-ary PPM over a range of fiber bandwidths and PPM word sizes. Our results illustrate that n-ary PPM offers an improvement of between 5 - 11 dB over equivalent PCM systems. Assuming an optical fiber attenuation of 0.2 dB/km this represents an increase in regenerator spacing of between 25 - 55 km. The theoretical results demonstrate that n-ary PPM is a promising modulation format and may have potential for future telecommunication routes.© (1991) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.

Using Student-Centred Workshops to Develop Hospitality Management Competencies

Abstract: (1991). Using Student-Centred Workshops to Develop Hospitality Management Competencies. Hospitality & Tourism Educator: Vol. 3, No. 3, pp. 39-42.

Sub-optimal detection of digital PPM employing PIN-BJT receivers

Abstract: Digital PPM has been shown to be a promising modulation format in that it is a means of exchanging excess channel bandwidth for improved receiver sensitivity. The optimum pre-detection filter is a matched filter in cascade with a proportional-derivative-delay pulse shaping network. This is quite a complicated structure and is fairly difficult to implement. This paper examines the penalty incurred in receiver sensitivity when sub-optimum filtering is used. It is shown that receiver sensitivity can be significantly simplified without incurring enormous penalties in receiver sensitivity. >

The Chemistry and Solid State Properties of Nickel, Palladium, and Platinum Bis(maleonitriledithiolate) Compounds

Abstract: Travaux concernant la reactivite de complexes vis a vis au cours de reactions intramoleculaires, d'echange, d'oxydoreduction. Etudes structurales. Synthese bibliographique