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Synthesis of cationic alkylated chitosans and an investigation of their rheological properties and interaction with anionic surfactant
Get PDFTwo methods were used to alkylate high MW chitosan with glycidyltrimethylammonium chloride (GTAC) in order to produce chitosan derivatives that are water-soluble throughout the pH range. In addition, a novel chitosan derivative was created by alkylating one of the products with the GTAC analogue Quab 342 containing C12 alkyl chains. The phase behaviour and rheological characteristics of the chitosan derivatives were studied in the presence of anionic surfactant. The derivatives were found to form soluble complexes at low and high SDS concentrations and that the Quab 342 derivative was able to form gels
Living inquiry in higher education: Nomadic interbeing
Get PDFThis paper provides insights about the problems of finding oneself at home in the neoliberalized international Higher Education sector through a visual autobiographical narrative. Within an increasingly mobile sector, I reflect on my experience as international lecturer in the UK to generate a dialogue between text and image though the sequential art of comic. I acknowledge the problematic aspects of a displaced migrant subjectivity. The story proposes meditation as the mental training to find a stable home in oneself instead of making oneself feel at home depending on uncertain changing circumstances. With a transdisciplinary approach, this proposal takes theoretical elements from political and social studies, Art Education, postfeminist theories and Buddhist philosophy to merge them in a creative narrative. To do so, I apply aspects of the arts-based educational research methodology of a/r/tography and living inquiry. The paper takes the invitation of a/r/tography to live between the coexistent and interdependent practices of the artist/ researcher/ teacher. A/r/tographers become involved in processes of inquiry that recognizes subjectivity, autobiography, reflection, meditation and story-telling as valid forms of constructing meaning through art making. I commit to the process of embracing both the personal, the professional and the spiritual, where the professional-personal are in a continuous process of becoming. The struggle to belong to the new place-culture might point to an awareness of the network of interdependent relationships that challenges the modern notion of the individual self. Therefore, relationality and Buddhist concept of interbeing can lead to the proposal of meditation as a methodology of inquiry. Following this approach, the comic narrative aspires to construct an emergent dialogic space with the reader that allows me to embrace my vulnerability, pain and discomfort of searching for one’s place in the world. There is a strong communicative potential in graphic narratives to engage with readers-viewers and generate a meaningful subjective connection. This connection has the potential to allow the singular-plural to emerge, with no intention to provide generalizable universal truths. The limitations of the study rely on the limited ability of the narrative to touch the reader-viewer. The success of the work depends on its ability to disrupt previous conceptions of “being at home”
Development of a novel remanufacturing architecture for lithium-ion battery packs
Get PDFWith a rapid growth in the lithium-ion battery technology, particularly in the automotive sector, remanufacturing concepts to ensure maximum efficiency levels may be seen as an attractive option. Such a process does not currently exist and the opportunity to undercut cost-intensive batteries and support green credentials is one which the market is now ready for, namely, an alternative to buying new. A feasible remanufacturing concept can further reduce the current total cost of ownership with an adequate solution under consideration of the current amount of battery pack returners. With this in mind, this research provides a transparent remanufacturing architecture, which can handle a capacity of 5,000 up to 20,000 battery packs per year, depending on the selected degree of automation, manual, hybrid or fully automated. Furthermore, different tools from a factory planning structures will be applied on purpose of an industrial feasible concept. In addition, the assessment considers diverse scenarios of the battery module reusability to ensure a realistic forecast. Consequently, the potential for this outlined concept will compete for an increasing sector of a global market, which is expected to rise to 1.3 billion cars by 2030 and there is a growing interest in electric vehicles. Therefore, any innovations in battery production (and which will include the concept of remanufacturing) have the opportunity to challenge existing business models of practice while further reducing costs for the future customer of tomorrow
Which Version™? Exploring the digital modelling of architecturally important sites and the implications on the understanding of the historical narrative the model reflects
Get PDFThe preservation of architecturally important buildings and monuments takes on various forms, with the reasons for the need to retain them varying from region to region, nation by nation. The parameters and criteria for this preservation can be informed by politics, economic considerations, the prevailing zeitgeist etc. Similarly, the wanton destruction of architecture can be influenced by numerous agendas, with recent examples including the destruction of the monumental Buddha statues in Afghanistan by the Taliban and the damage to the ancient city of Palmyra by daesh during the ongoing Syrian civil war.
With the destruction of architecturally important buildings and monuments, the photographic, archaeological and academic studies related to them have been used to restore as much of the original form as possible. With the advent of digital methods of recording and creating Computer Aided Design models, with the capacity for producing virtual immersive versions, the capacity to both preserve and then share remotely those buildings expands. With particular reference to Palmyra, a city very much on the front line with no guarantee Daesh will not recapture it and recommence their deliberate, targeted cultural destruction, digital models may be the only way to study the city, and preserve it, for the foreseeable future.
Cultural vandalism, the destruction or modification of architecture and monuments, the wanton eradication of buildings considered important to some but inconvenient blocks to further development to others, are part of architectural history’s long story. Other instances, such as the destruction of buildings associated with the Nazi regime, can be seen as part of a cathartic exercise of renewal and understandable revenge. However, versions of these buildings exist in fiction and museum models and are likely the source of veneration for those of a particular political perspective.
With the range of complexities surrounding what is preserved and why it is preserved, there are questions which arise as to who has control over the preserved model, what time period does it cover, how is ‘Disneyfication’, or the ‘Vegas’ version avoided etc. These will be explored as part of this paper with its aim being the examination of the themes set out here to begin a conversation on how sites like Palmyra can be preserved and recorded. For example, the restoration of Palmyra to a pre-daesh state could arguably include the Tadmur prison, a notorious site for alleged torture since the Assad family came to power. Is it an honest reflection of modern Palmyra, a site made up of influences from civilisations across a 2,000-year period, if its modern reflection as an example of the failure of civilisation is not also recognised and preserved? As will be set out in the emerging conclusions of the paper, the importance of establishing a multifaceted context, and engaging in an inclusive dialogue with all the affected parties is key to attempting to establish What Version™ eventually emerges
Practical Characterisation of the Piezo electric Properties of a 3K T300 Carbon Fibre for Impact Sensoring
Get PDFThis paper discusses the results obtained during the practical characterization of the piezo electric properties of a commonly used carbon fibre. The aim of the investigation was to prepare the grounds for the feasibility of a low cost impact sensor that could be included in any carbon fibre structure (megalithic or thin structure) without interfering the integrity of the actual structure itself. The entire measurement loop as well as the techniques of connectivity of the fibres to the loop is described within. The piezo electric effects and all factors which affect the measurements are reflected in the analysis. The results obtained shown that in normal laboratory conditions the piezo-electric response of a T300 carbon fibre is consistent and directly proportional to the impact applied to the fibre
A combined time-resolved infrared and density functional theory study of the lowest excited states of 9-fluorenone and 2-naphthaldehyde
Get PDFA combined experimental and theoretical study of the infrared (IR) spectra of 2-naphthaldehyde and 9-fluorenone in their ground and first excited singlet and triplet electronic states is presented. IR studies have also been carried out using supercritical krypton (scKr) as a solvent to measure spectra in the ground and triplet excited states. This solvent provides a weakly interacting environment that is closer to the gas phase and allows a direct comparison with the calculated spectra for a single molecule. The IR spectra for the three different states are computed with Kohn-Sham density functional theory. For the first excited singlet state it is necessary to use an overlap procedure that allows the excited state to be studied by preventing variational collapse to the ground state. This allows the excited singlet state to be studied in an analogous approach to the ground and excited triplet state, in contrast to using time-dependent density functional theory. The good agreement between the calculated excited state spectra and the experiment provides insight into the nature of the excited states. For the ground and excited triplet state the anharmonic vibrational frequencies are computed using the transition optimized shifted Hermite method, and for these molecules the hybrid B97-1 functional is found to provide the closest agreement with experiment in the ground state
The Singularity Isn’t Simple! (However We Look at It) A Random Walk between Science Fiction and Science Fact
Get PDFIt seems to be accepted that intelligence—artificial or otherwise—and ‘the singularity’ are inseparable concepts: ‘The singularity’ will apparently arise from AI reaching a, supposedly particular, but actually poorly-defined, level of sophistication; and an empowered combination of hardware and software will take it from there (and take over from us). However, such wisdom and debate are simplistic in a number of ways: firstly, this is a poor definition of the singularity; secondly, it muddles various notions of intelligence; thirdly, competing arguments are rarely based on shared axioms, so are frequently pointless; fourthly, our models for trying to discuss these concepts at all are often inconsistent; and finally, our attempts at describing any ‘post-singularity’ world are almost always limited by anthropomorphism. In all of these respects, professional ‘futurists’ often appear as confused as storytellers who, through freer licence, may conceivably have the clearer view: perhaps then, that becomes a reasonable place to start. There is no attempt in this paper to propose, or evaluate, any research hypothesis; rather simply to challenge conventions. Using examples from science fiction to illustrate various assumptions behind the AI/singularity debate, this essay seeks to encourage discussion on a number of possible futures based on different underlying metaphysical philosophies. Although properly grounded in science, it eventually looks beyond the technology for answers and, ultimately, beyond the Earth itself
Not All Managers Are Managerial: A Self-Evaluation of Women Middle-Managers' Experiences in a UK University
Get PDFThe focus of this small-scale self-evaluation is the implementation of a new middle-management role in a post-92 UK university. A realist appreciative inquiry was undertaken with five women who had been promoted to a middle-management role 18 months prior to the inquiry. This evaluation for knowledge offered an opportunity to reflect on experiences in practice and sought to understand the experiences of the women in this role and how they cope with the challenges middle-management brings. Particular challenges (instability-generating) accorded with existing literature and included: lack of role clarity, lack of pre-preparation for management role, colleagues’ views of management, including perceptions of women in management roles and malicious intent of managed academics in rare cases. Supportive factors (provisional-stability-generating) included: personal resilience, informal peer support, external support and reflection. The co-evaluators offered reflections for the future from this co-evaluation. These suggest that training may contribute to provisional-stability in role and should be considered for new entrants to middle-management. The alternative construct of humanistic management is proposed as a way of understanding these women’s values-based decision-making practices in complex situations
A computational study of the influence of surface roughness on material strength
Get PDFIn machine component stress analysis, it usually assumed that the geometry specified in CAD provides a fair representation of the geometry of the real component. While in particular circumstances, tolerance information, such as minimum thickness of a highly stressed region, might be taken into consideration, there is no standard practice for the representation of surface quality. It is known that surface roughness significantly influences fatigue life, but for this to be useful in the context of life prediction, there is a need to examine the nature of surface roughness and determine how best to characterise it. Non-smooth geometry can be represented in mathematics by fractals or other methods, but for a representation to have a practical value for a manufactured component, it is necessary to accept that there is a lower limit to surface profile measurement resolution. Resolution and mesh refinement also play a part in any computational analysis undertaken to assess surface profile effects: in the analyses presented, a nominal axi-symmetric geometry has been taken, with a finite non-smooth region on the boundary. Various surface roughness representations are modelled, and the significance of the characterized surface roughness type is investigated. It is shown that the applied load gives rise to a nominally uni-axial stress state of 90% of the yield, although surface roughness features have the effect of modifying the load path, and give rise to localized regions of plasticity near to the surface. The material of the test model is assumed to be elasto-plastic, and the development and evolution of plastic zones formed within the geometry are shown for multiple load cycles
Modelling of a photovoltaic array using Analog System Lab Kit Pro board
Get PDFThis paper discusses modelling and parameters investigation of a photovoltaic array using Analog System Lab Kit Pro board offered by Texas Instrument for instructional laboratories on Electric and Electronic Engineering. The modelling of PV array is based on representation of the current-voltage characteristic by an analogue circuit developed using the components available on the Lab Kit board. The model is applicable for instructional laboratory investigation on the array current-voltage characteristic and its performance at maximum power point. This investigation expands the portfolio of the laboratory works available through Analog System Lab Kit Pro board