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The behaviour of optical solitons at planar nonlinear boundaries is a problem rich in intrinsically nonparaxial regimes that cannot be fully addressed by theories based on the nonlinear Schrodinger equation. For instance, large propagation angles are typically involved in external refraction at interfaces. Using a recently proposed generalized Snell's law for Helmholtz solitons, we analyse two such effects: nonlinear external refraction and total internal reflection at interfaces where internal and external refraction, respectively, would be found in the absence of nonlinearity. The solutions obtained from the full numerical integration of the nonlinear Helmholtz equation show excellent agreement with the theoretical predictions.

Peer observation has been advocated as a means of monitoring and improving the quality of teaching within Higher Education, whilst peer support and review have been used to provide feedback and monitoring within the clinical context. The process of peer observation of practice within educational, managerial and clinical settings could facilitate improvements in all aspects of practice, have relevance as a tool for continuing professional development (CPD) and help improve the quality of care for service users. This article presents the background and relevance of peer observation to health care professionals, suggests a process that can be implemented and considers relevant contextual issues. Finally it suggests that peer observation has potential benefits for all areas and levels of health care practice.

The paper is addressed to AI workers with an interest in biomolecular genetics and also to biomolecular geneticists interested in what AI tools may do for them. The authors are engaged in a collaborative enterprise aimed at partially automating some aspects of scientific work. These aspects include the processes of forming hypotheses, devising trials to discriminate between these competing hypotheses, physically performing these trials and then using the results of these trials to converge upon an accurate hypothesis. As a potential component of the reasoning carried out by an "artificial scientist" this paper describes ASE-Progol, an Active Learning system which uses Inductive Logic Programming to construct hypothesised first-order theories and uses a CART-like algorithm to select trials for eliminating ILP derived hypotheses. In simulated yeast growth tests ASE-Progol was used to rediscover how genes participate in the aromatic amino acid pathway of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The cost of the chemicals consumed in converging upon a hypothesis with an accuracy of around 88% was reduced by five orders of magnitude when trials were selected by ASE-Progol rather than being sampled at random. While the naive strategy of always choosing the cheapest trial from the set of candidate trials led to lower cumulative costs than ASE-Progol, both the naive strategy and the random strategy took significantly longer to converge upon a final hypothesis than ASE-Progol. For example to reach an accuracy of 80%, ASE-Progol required 4 days while random sampling required 6 days and the naive strategy required 10 days.

Inbred mouse strains, living in simple laboratory environments far removed from nature, have been shown to vary consistently in their immune response. However, wildlife populations are typically outbreeding and face a multiplicity of challenges, parasitological and otherwise. In this study we seek evidence of consistent difference in immunological profile amongst individuals in the wild. We apply a novel method in this context, using longitudinal (repeated capture) data from natural populations of field voles, Microtus agrestis, on a range of life history and infection metrics, and on gene expression levels. We focus on three immune genes, IFN-γ, Gata3, and IL-10, representing respectively the Th1, Th2 and regulatory elements of the immune response. Our results show that there was clear evidence of consistent differences between individuals in their typical level of expression of at least one immune gene, and at most all three immune genes, after other measured sources of variation had been taken into account. Furthermore, individuals that responded to changing circumstances by increasing expression levels of Gata3 had a correlated increase in expression levels of IFN-γ. Our work stresses the importance of acknowledging immunological variation amongst individuals in studies of parasitological and infectious disease risk in wildlife populations.

Despite a thriving tradition of critical scholarship in United Kingdom-based sociology of work, Burawoy’s call for a partisan organic public sociology that is part of ‘a social movement beyond the academy’ and Bourdieu’s plea for committed scholarship in the service of the social movement against neo-liberalism have received scant attention. This article seeks to stimulate debate by presenting a framework for a left-radical organic public sociology of work based on Gramsci’s concept of the connected organic intellectual rather than Bourdieu’s expert committed scholar. The latter, it is argued, is ultimately incompatible with activist partisan scholarship based on democratized relations between researchers and researched. Participatory action research is offered as a methodological orientation that underpins and enables organic scholars of work to engage actively with the marginalized and labour in the co-creation of knowledge that aids their struggles for change.

This is the first full-length study of sentential negation phenomena in French. Paul Rowlett assesses, from a generative perspective, the respective contribution made to the expression of clausal polarity by ne , pas , and elements such as jamais and personne . His conclusions have far-reaching implications, leading to the controversial hypothesis that, despite widespread belief, French is not a negative concord language.

A collection of poster abstracts from the Faculty of Science, Engineering & Environment 'Celebration of Research' event held on 30 June 2010 in the Lady Hale Building, University of Salford.

Background:Despite the extensive use of social media, its role in supporting women living with and beyond breast cancer (LwBBC), across the survivorship trajectory, remains underexplored. Existing research has tended to focus on single or dual platform use and utilised secondary data, principally from Facebook and Twitter. In contrast, this study sought to ensure women’s experiences of use took centre stage by adopting a qualitative approach to explore social media use across the survivorship trajectory.\ud Aims:\ud The aims of this thesis were to: a) explore how women LwBBC use social media; b) examine how women use social media as communicative resources in relation to LwBBC; and c) make sense of how women use social media to support their psychosocial health.\ud \ud Methods:\ud Twenty-one women (age range 27-64) participated in semi-structured interviews. Twelve participated in a photo-elicitation study using pre-existing photographs to explore social support. Nine participated in a photo-production study in which they took photographs (n=157) to represent how they communicate their experiences of LwBBC to others. A bricolaged approach to data analysis using thematic, polytextual and voice centred methodological approaches ensured women’s voices were brought to the fore within the analysis process. \ud \ud Findings:\ud Social media use is integral to many, but not all, women’s daily lives and considered by women an appropriate space to explore their own experiences. Women describe using multiple social media platforms, such as Facebook, YouTube, Wikipedia and WhatsApp concurrently. The use of multiple platforms simultaneously to satisfy psychosocial needs demonstrates use to be more fluid and dynamic than the current literature suggests. Through listening to women’s voices, and using photographs to visualise voices, three key themes came to the fore: (i) finding relevant, timely and appropriate support; (ii) navigating disrupted identities; and (iii) (re)gaining a sense of control. Analysis shows these themes to be entangled, interconnected, and dynamic with women’s use shifting across time. Women describe social media use as both empowering but also as dislocating. \ud \ud Conclusions:\ud This is the first in depth qualitative study that takes an overview of women’s engagement across social media platforms to support their experiences of LwBBC. It demonstrates significant digital labour by women through use of social media to support their physical, emotional, and (anti) social experiences of LwBBC. It indicates naturally occurring networked communities as important contributors to the ongoing psychosocial support women need at different stages of LwBBC. Social media enables women to (re) gain a sense of control and can reduce need to draw on health service provision. Knowledge of women’s use can provide insight and guidance for healthcare professionals (HCPs), producers of online content, moderators of social media communities and other women LwBBC.

Toe deformities are highly prevalent in older people with up to 74% of older men and women having some degree of hallux valgus [1]. Despite the well documented hypotheses that atrophied, or weak toe flexor muscles are associated with the formation of toe deformities [2], there has been little evidence to support this theory. Only one study has directly compared the toe flexor strength of individuals with toe deformities to those without, revealing that older people with hallux valgus have reduced hallux strength compared to those without the deformity [3]. Therefore, to further investigate the pathomechanics of hallux valgus, this study aimed to determine whether the size of the abductor hallucis muscle differed in older women with and without hallux valgus deformity.

A major classificatory division of the Arabic vernaculars spoken throughout much of the Arab world is that of the socially-based Sedentary (S) versus Bedouin (B) division. In studies of the Omani dialect area these terms are used to distinguish between the speech of the traditionally settled populace concentrated in and around the mountainous interior of the country (S type), and that of the nomadic and recently settled communities of the deserts (B type). However in some transitional regions the distinction between these dialects is blurred, as the spoken Arabic in these regions contains characteristics of both types. \ud \ud The present contribution examines important structural features of the spoken Arabic of al-Darīz and places the findings within the broader Omani typological context. It is shown that although the dialect exhibits some characteristics of accommodation to the speech of nearby Bedouin communities with respect to certain phonological features, the dialect of al-Darīz retains most of the distinctly S-type features which characterize the traditionally settled communities in and around the mountain region to the north of the country. This is in striking contrast with the situation in the town of al-Mintirib, which is located to the south of al-Darīz. The speech of the sedentary population of al-Mintirib has acquired most of the features which characterize the speech of the surrounding B populace. The differences in the speech of the population in the two towns can be explained by the contrasting socio historical circumstances in which the dialects of each town has developed.