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Metaphors and identities on an online forum dedicated to pain
Get PDFBecoming seriously and/or chronically ill can challenge and disrupt our sense of who we are, in terms of our bodies, minds, and social roles. While a substantial literature exists on metaphor and illness, the use of metaphor to represent identities has received little attention. This paper focuses on similes as a particularly relevant manifestation of metaphoricity in language. An 8-million word corpus of contributions to the online forum Pain Concern is investigated via a combination of corpus linguistic methods and in-depth qualitative analysis. We explore how contributors to the forum use similes to describe their own (changing) self-perceptions due to living with pain and its consequences. To this end, we introduce and demonstrate a multi-component analytical framework, which, as we show, is equally applicable to the analysis of metaphorical expressions. The framework includes a consideration of: source concept; type of identity; and viewpoint. With regard to our data, we show how similes are used to convey mostly unwelcome changes in the persons’ perception of themselves in physical, psychological and/or social terms, potentially resulting in estrangement, low self-esteem, isolation and disempowerment. More broadly, we suggest that our framework is applicable to the study of metaphorical representations of identities in the context of illness generally
Experimental thermodynamic modelling study of RbF-CeF3 system and its application to the RbF-PuF3 system
No full textThe thermodynamic characterisation of the RbF-PuF3 system was undertaken using CeF3 as a non-radioactive surrogate for PuF3, a promising candidate fuel component for Molten Salt Reactors (MSRs). The UK's existing plutonium stockpile, if converted to PuF3, represents a viable option for molten salt reactor fuels. Incorporating PuF3 into multicomponent systems may optimise both thermophysical and neutronic properties, making the binary RbF-PuF3 system a key foundation for more complex fuel salt compositions. Novel DSC data from the RbF-CeF3 binary, combined with literature sources, enabled a systematic description of phase equilibria across different compositions and temperatures. Particular emphasis was placed on compound purity, phase coexistence, and the use of lightweight custom-designed crucibles, which proved essential for reliable phase diagram reconstruction. In the absence of complete experimental data for intermediate compounds, their thermodynamic properties were estimated using the Neumann–Kopp relation and the CALPHAD method. The liquid phase was described using the Modified Quasichemical Model in the Quadruplet Approximation (MQMQA), applied here for the first time to include liquid complexes of the type [MF6]3− (M = Ce, Pu). Raman spectroscopy has independently confirmed the presence of these species for M = La and Ce, revealing specific short-range ordering at X(MF3) = 0.33. This structural information serves as an important reference for the reliable optimisation of more complex RbF-MF3 systems in future thermodynamic modelling. CeF3 was selected over LaF3 in this study due to its closer similarity to PuF3 in melting point, enthalpy of fusion, and ionic radius. Its use revealed eutectics at lower temperatures and higher actinide solubility than comparable AlkF-MF3 (Alk = Li, Na; M = Ce, Pu) systems. Finally, RbmMnF3n+m solid complexes were shown to strongly affect phase behaviour and eutectics, offering greater thermodynamic stability relative to single-eutectic systems such as LiF-PuF3 and NaF-PuF3, albeit with slightly higher melting points. The optimised RbF-PuF3 liquid solution was further assessed with an Ellingham diagram to evaluate redox potentials and possible corrosion resistance improvements
NOS-Gate : Queue-Aware Streaming IDS for Consumer Gateways under Timing-Controlled Evasion
No full textTiming and burst patterns can leak through encryption, and an adaptive adversary can exploit them. This undermines metadata-only detection in a stand-alone consumer gateway. Therefore, consumer gateways need streaming intrusion detection on encrypted traffic using metadata only, under tight CPU and latency budgets. We present a streaming IDS for stand-alone gateways that instantiates a lightweight two-state unit derived from Network-Optimised Spiking (NOS) dynamics per flow, named NOS-Gate. NOS-Gate scores fixed-length windows of metadata features and, under a -of- persistence rule, triggers a reversible mitigation that temporarily reduces the flow's weight under weighted fair queueing (WFQ). We evaluate NOS-Gate under timing-controlled evasion using an executable 'worlds' benchmark that specifies benign device processes, auditable attacker budgets, contention structure, and packet-level WFQ replay to quantify queue impact. All methods are calibrated label-free via burn-in quantile thresholding. Across multiple reproducible worlds and malicious episodes, at an achieved false-positive operating point, NOS-Gate attains 0.952 incident recall versus 0.857 for the best baseline in these runs. Under gating, it reduces p99.9 queueing delay and p99.9 collateral delay with a mean scoring cost of ~ 2.09 {\mu}s per flow-window on CPU
Alignment and Articulation Work in Computer Mediated Organization
No full textThe concept of ‘alignment’ has been commonly used to refer to the re-organizations of the world deemed necessary in order to accommodate the workings of complex technological systems. However, such re-organizations also, and inevitably, dis-organize the settings where such technologies are deployed. This, in turn, incites further orderings – and thus further dis-orderings. Complex (if often invisible) patterns of ‘articulation work’ typically emerge in order to handle such tensions. The article sets out to highlight the patterns of articulation work associated with the corporate ‘digital transformations’ and alignments enacted around Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) technologies in a multinational glass manufacturing company. Our investigation shows how technologically mediated order and disorder, organization and disorganization, are both opposed and parasitic upon one another
Flexible MIL-53(Al)/Biochar composite for enhanced norfloxacin Removal : Synergistic effects and adsorption mechanisms
Get PDFThe presence of antibiotic contaminants, particularly norfloxacin (NRFX) in aquatic environments poses a significant threat to ecosystems and public health, due to their persistence, bioaccumulation, and contribution to antimicrobial resistance. In this study, a novel MIL-53(Al)/biochar composite was synthesized and applied for NRFX removal from wastewater. The synthesized composite exhibited a high surface area (806 m2/g) and mesopore structure, promoting to improved dispersion and adsorption efficiency. Under optimal conditions (20 mg/L NRFX, 40 mg/L adsorbent, 30 °C, 120 min), the composite achieved a maximum adsorption capacity of 357 mg/g, surpassing most reported antibiotic sorbents (< 250 mg/g). The superior performance was attributed to the synergistic integration of MIL-53(Al) flexible “wine-rack” framework with the oxygen-functionalized, mesoporous carbon matrix of bamboo-derived biochar, facilitating multiple adsorption mechanisms, including electrostatic attraction, hydrogen bonding, π–π interactions, and pore-filling effects. These findings highlight the potential of MIL-53(Al)/BC as a cost‑effective, sustainable, and high‑performance adsorbent with strong potential for real-world remediation of antibiotic-contaminated wastewater under diverse environmental conditions
Sub-THz Traveling Wave Tubes: A Route Towards Ultra Capacity 6G Wireless Networks
Get PDFWhen we imagine wireless communications in the next ten or twenty years, we picture a ubiquitous stream of data moving at unlimited speed, to enabling a new ecosystem where real and virtual merge. Vastly and endlessly increase of data volume in the sixth generation of wireless networks 6G (G stands for generation of mobile networks) will fuel disruptive applications, immersive user experience, creativity and societal enhancements. Terrestrial and satellite networks, already cooperating, will be intimately integrated in a multidimensional datasphere. While computational power has grown enormously, enabling the processing of huge amounts of data, data wireless transmission is presently a bottleneck of communication infrastructures confined to the microwave spectrum. Wireless links with tens or hundreds gigabits per second (Gb/s) will be possible only by the widespread adoption of the sub-THz spectrum (0.1 – 0.4 THz) for paving the way to a new era of wireless communications
Sequential design for the efficient estimation of offshore structure failure probability
No full textEstimation of the failure probability of offshore structures exposed to extreme ocean environments is critical to their safe design and operation. The conditional density of the environment (CDE) quantifies regions of the space of long term environment responsible for extreme structural response. Moreover, the probability of structural failure is obtained by simply integrating the CDE over the environment space. In this work, two methodologies for estimation of the CDE and failure probability are considered. The first (IS-PT) combines parallel tempering MCMC (Markov chain - Monte Carlo, for CDE estimation) with important sampling (for eventual estimation of failure probability). The second (AGE) combines adaptive Gaussian emulation with Bayesian quadrature. Both approaches provide large reductions in the number of function evaluations of the complex structural response to fluid loading, relative to naive brute-force calculations. We evaluate IS-PT and two variants of the AGE procedure in application to a simple synthetic structure with multimodal CDE, and a monopile structure exhibiting non-linear resonant response. IS-PT provides reliable results for both applications. The AGE procedures require balancing exploration and exploitation of the environment space, using a typically-unknown weight parameter, λ. When λ is known, perhaps from prior engineering knowledge, AGE provides an order of magnitude reduction in computational cost relative to IS-PT. However, with λ unknown, IS-PT is more reliable
Chlorinated Paraffins in Global Air : First Results from the GAPS and GAPS-Megacities Networks
Get PDFThis study presents the first global data set of measured chlorinated paraffins (CPs), including short-chain (SCCPs), medium-chain (MCCPs), and long-chain chlorinated paraffins (LCCPs) in ambient air, derived from a single coordinated sampling network, i.e., the Global Atmospheric Passive Sampling (GAPS) network, using a passive sampling approach. Concentrations exhibited pronounced regional disparities, with the combined levels in two megacities─Lagos, Nigeria (512,000 pg/m3) and Beijing, China (258,000 pg/m3) exceeding by more than 1.5-fold the combined total levels observed across the rest of the world (∼459,000 pg/m3). Evidence of long-range atmospheric transport was observed at remote sites in western Canada (Little Fox Lake and Whistler), influenced by trans-Pacific air trajectories during the sampling period. These findings underscore the substantial global heterogeneity in the spatial distribution of CPs and the heavily disproportionate contributions of a few regions. Notably, the major producers/emitters, such as China, had several years of delay in ratifying the SCCP listing under the Stockholm Convention (Annex A, elimination since 2017 for congeners with > 48% chlorine content), and some countries have yet to ratify. Without the timely implementation of regulatory measures in these jurisdictions, global concentrations are expected to remain stagnant or even increase if emissions persist at current levels. These results further suggest that substantial time lags are likely before measurable declines in SCCP concentrations, and potentially in recently listed MCCPs, are observed even in regions where control measures are already in place. Hence, this global data set serves as a baseline for future assessments of temporal and spatial trends
Non-Invasive Detection of Internal Potato Defects for Reduction of Food Loss in The Fresh Produce Supply Chain
Get PDFThe potato (Solanum tuberosum) is the most important non-grain vegetable in the world, playing a major role in human nutrition worldwide. Half of all potato grown, however, does not reach the fork of the consumer. Food waste and losses represent a substantial challenge to potato supply chains, as well as to global food systems in general. Food waste and losses negatively impact the world in a variety of ways, contributing to food insecurity, environmental degradation and economic losses. A leading cause of potato waste and losses is tuber defects, which result in produce failing to meet safety, storage or consumer standards. While defects with external symptoms are effectively screened for via optical grading lines, many defects exhibit only internal defects, which is a barrier to their detection. Internal defects are widely screened for by solely destructive means; novel non-destructive approaches are needed to improve the detection and screening of internal potato defects. Work carried out in this thesis investigates the potential for non-invasive non-destructive approaches to detect internal potato defects to address the challenges they pose to the fresh potato supply chain. This research uncovers promising avenues of non-invasive non-destructive detection of internal potato defects, applying optical and electrical spectroscopy. NIR reflectance spectroscopy successfully provided a means of detecting blackheart and spraing in intact potatoes. Blackheart was also successfully detected with a novel approach to impedance spectroscopy. In addition to these findings this work develops an exciting novel method for extending the shelf-life of fresh produce such as tomatoes to reduce losses in homes, retail and transit
