University of Birmingham
University of Birmingham Research Archive, E-papers RepositoryNot a member yet
3085 research outputs found
Sort by
The metro system of future megacities
Get PDFThe recent quick urbanisation process has led to a situation where metro systems are no longer able to offer the necessary speeds to cover the ever increasing distances travelled. This reinforces the vicious circle that promotes private mobility and threatens the sustainability of cities. Even though metro systems can achieve higher top speeds than permitted on roads, their main disadvantage lies in the coverage paradox: when stations are close together, the time to walk to stations is short but the speed in the metro is also reduced for stopping more times. Conversely, if stations are far apart for higher speeds on the line, the time to access stations is also increased. Consequently, a journey using the metro always takes more time than it would on private modes. Using a systems engineering process, this research proposes a novel operational model where autonomous vehicles stop in different patterns at stations along a line. These vehicles travel in convoys instead of trains and are controlled by vehicle-to-vehicle communication similarly to those developed for automated highways. Simulations show that this strategy can simultaneously reduce by half the time to access stations and increase by 130% the average speed on the line, thus shortening journey times by up to 45% compared to conventional operations. Moreover, capacity is also increased by 30% compared to the busiest lines in operation. In conclusion, the model can meet the speed requirements of megacities, while increasing the capacity of systems to cope with the demographic trends of the twenty-first century
Synthetic analogues of Fe(II)-Fe(III) minerals containing a pentagonal ‘Cairo’ magnetic lattice.
No full textSupplementary material to "Replacement of GroEL in Escherichia coli by the group II chaperonin from the archaeon Methanococcus maripaludis"
Get PDFGeneral principles of EU law as a passe-partout key within the constitutional edifice of the European Union: are the benefits worth the side effects?
No full text
Modelling the dissolution of structured particle for enhance wash performance
Get PDFA growing amount of soluble materials (granules, tablets or pellets) are commonly used in the daily life. The dissolution process* of these materials is a complex sequence of physical and chemical transformations, however they sometimes happen simultaneously. This fact increases the difficulty of studying this phenomenon.
Procter and Gamble, P&G, (sponsor of this project) is well-known for producing the best quality soluble materials such as washing powder. The main aim of this work is studying the role of granule structure in the dissolution behaviour of washing powder. This knowledge would allow us to predict how today’s particles dissolve and to design detergents with defined release components.
The evolution of imagining technics like X-ray tomography lets researchers visualise and characterise (pore size, fraction of each component, location of these components, etc.). Combining X-ray tomography and dissolution kinetics technics (the study of chemical and physical reaction rates), we have analysed the dissolution performance of intermediate products of detergent granules. The effect of pores size and location as well as components size and location has been correlated with dissolution kinetics
Repairs to Jabba at Carnarvon in 2016 March
Get PDFThe signal to noise performance of spectrometer-J (Jabba) has been deteriorating since it was installed in 2009 July. The fault was identified as being a failed Schott KG4 short-pass infra-red filter. Since KG4 has been discontinued and no spares are available, it was decided to simply remove the filter and run with only the Schott RG9 coarse red pre-filter installed. Additional work identified a failed rain detector which was removed and returned to Birmingham, with a replacement to be shipped out as soon as possible. The batteries in the UPS were also replaced
‘It doesn’t happen… and I’ve never thought it was necessary for it to happen’: Barriers to vulnerable defendants giving evidence by live link in Crown Court trials
No full textWitnesses and defendants are able to give evidence by live link provided that they meet the vulnerability criteria set out in the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act (1999). Findings from interviews undertaken with 18 criminal practitioners indicate that, even when a defendant is sufficiently vulnerable to qualify for the use of live link, the provision is rarely invoked. Drawing on this data, this article identifies a series of barriers which contribute heavily to the inaccessibility of the live link provision to vulnerable defendants giving evidence in their trials
Workplace wellbeing programmes and their impact on employees and their employing organisations: a scoping review of the evidence base
No full textThis report constitutes a scoping literature review that identifies and critically examines the evidence base surrounding health and wellbeing programmes conducted in the workplace and their impact on employees and their employing organisations. The review drew on a broad range of sources covering multiple sectors. However, the report additionally highlights evidence that relates specifically to the retail and construction industries. The review offers an analysis of the current evidence base and discusses the implications of implementing different types of workplace health and wellbeing schemes. Some recommendations for supporting and promoting the health and wellbeing of employees in organisations are made on the basis of this review and, where gaps in knowledge are identified, recommendations for further research are made
Who Has The Potential To Benefit From Higher Education?
No full textHigher Education is framed as something that should benefit the many opposed to the few. This is emphasised in policy that supports the belief that everyone who has the potential to benefit from Higher Education should be able to (HEFCE and OFFA, 2014a). This notion of ‘potential’ however is adopted in varying ways across institutions.
This paper draws on a Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) of two access agreements from two institutions (one pre-1992 and one post-1992) situated within the same city. Whilst there were many differences within these agreements, this paper focuses on the notion of potential and who is targeted for these interventions. Examining this in the context of recent evidence on student attainment trajectories within compulsory education, this paper will explore how errant assumptions relating to how to identify potential may contribute to reproductions of inequality opposed to widening participation within Higher Education
Data sources:
Access Repository Dashboard
Do you manage Open Research Online? Become a CORE Member to access insider analytics, issue reports and manage access to outputs from your repository in the CORE Repository Dashboard! 👇