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Quantification of polymer degradation during melt dripping of thermoplastic polymers
No full textThis work reports measurement of temperatures of the melting drops in the previously designed and presented melt dripping experiments of thermoplastic polymers. A simple heat transfer model has been used to compute the surface temperatures of the polymer sample at various furnace temperatures and thus the temperatures of the molten drops dripping from the melting surface. The model has been validated by experimental results. The temperatures of the molten drops could help in predicting the degree of degradation in a polymer during melt dripping. By conducting thermogravimetric analysis of both the polymers and their molten drops, a degree of degradation could also be predicted. The values obtained from both approaches have been compared in order to understand the melt dripping/degradation behaviour of polymer
Loneliness and attention to social threat in young adults: findings from an eye tracker study
No full textCacioppo and Hawkley (2009) have hypothesized that lonely people are hyper-vigilant to social threat, with earlier work (Jones & Carver, 1991) linking this bias specifically to threats of social rejection or social exclusion. The current study examined this hypothesis in eighty-five young adults (mean age = 18.22;SD = 0.46; 17–19 years in age) using eye-tracking methodology, which entailed recording their visual attention to social rejecting information. We found a quadratic relation between the participants’ loneliness, as assessed by the revised UCLA loneliness scale, and their visual attention to social threat immediately after presentation (2 s). In support of Cacioppo and Hawkley’s (2009) hypothesis, it was found that young adults in the upper quartile range of loneliness exhibited visual vigilance of socially threatening stimuli compared to other participants. There was no relation between loneliness and visual attention to socially threatening stimuli across an extended subsequent period of time. Implications for intervention are considered
Surface smoothing effect of an amorphous thin film deposited by atomic layer deposition on a surface with nano-sized roughness
No full textPreviously, Lau (one of the authors) pointed out that the deposition of an amorphous thin film by atomic layer deposition (ALD) on a substrate with nano-sized roughness probably has a surface smoothing effect. In this letter, polycrystalline zinc oxide deposited by ALD onto a smooth substrate was used as a substrate with nano-sized roughness. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) and cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy (XTEM) were used to demonstrate that an amorphous aluminum oxide thin film deposited by ALD can reduce the surface roughness of a polycrystalline zinc oxide coated substrate. (C) 2014 Author(s). All article content, except where otherwise noted, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License
High performance AlScN thin film based surface acoustic wave devices with large electromechanical coupling coefficient
No full textAlN and AlScN thin films with 27% scandium (Sc) were synthesized by DC magnetron sputtering deposition and used to fabricate surface acoustic wave (SAW) devices. Compared with AlN-based devices, the AlScN SAW devices exhibit much better transmission properties. Scandium doping results in electromechanical coupling coefficient, K2, in the range of 2.0% ∼ 2.2% for a wide normalized thickness range, more than a 300% increase compared to that of AlN-based SAW devices, thus demonstrating the potential applications of AlScN in high frequency resonators, sensors, and high efficiency energy harvesting devices. The coupling coefficients of the present AlScN based SAW devices are much higher than that of the theoretical calculation based on some assumptions for AlScN piezoelectric material properties, implying there is a need for in-depth investigations on the material properties of AlScN
Differing lifestyles of Staphylococcus epidermidis as revealed through Bayesian clustering of multilocus sequence types
No full textStaphylococcus epidermidis is part of the normal bacterial flora of human skin and a leading cause of infections associated with indwelling medical devices. Previous phylogenetic analyses of subgenomic data have been unable to distinguish between S. epidermidis strains with nosocomial or commensal lifestyles, despite the identification of specific phenotypes and accessory genes that may contribute to such lifestyles. To attempt to better define the population structure of this species, the international S. epidermidis multilocus sequence typing database was analyzed with the Bayesian clustering programs STRUCTURE and BAPS. A total of six genetic clusters (GCs) were identified. A local population of S. epidermidis from clinical specimens was classified according to these six GCs, and further characterized for antibiotic susceptibilities, biofilm, and various genetic markers. GC5 was abundant and significantly enriched for isolates that were resistant to four classes of antibiotics, high biofilm production, and positive for the virulence markers icaA, IS256, and sesD/bhp, indicating its potential clinical relevance. In contrast, GC2 was rare and contained the only isolates positive for the putative commensal marker, fdh. GC1 and GC6 were abundant but not significantly associated with any of the examined characteristics, except for sesF/aap and GC6. GC3 was rare and identified as a potential genetic sink that received, but did not donate, core genetic material from other GCs. In conclusion, population genetics analyses were essential for identifying clusters of strains that may differ in their adaptation to nosocomial or commensal lifestyles. These results provide a new, population genetics framework for studying S. epidermidis
On the origin of the high capacitance of nitrogen-containing carbon nanotubes in acidic and alkaline electrolytes
No full textThe synthesis of nitrogenated carbon nanotubes (N-CNTs) with up to 6.1 wt% N, via the use of pyridine as the nitrogen containing carbon precursor, can provide a facile route to significantly enhance the low intrinsic specific capacitance of carbon nanotubes. The nitrogen functionalities determine this, at least, five-fold increase of the specific capacitance
The only girl in the class!: female students' experiences of gaming courses and views of the industry
No full textFour female students studying a games course at one UK University took part in a qualitative study of face-to-face semi-structured interviews. Although a small sample, the study provided an interesting insight into the experiences of the females on the course as well as their views of entering (or at least potentially entering) the male dominated computer games industry. The findings related by the chapter reveal that females choose to study games because they enjoyed playing games. Despite all participants experiencing the course positively, there was some apprehension about going into the industry. Interestingly, the study suggests the male dominated working environment may be off-putting to women, even to women studying and interested in going into that area of work. The main themes that emerged in regard to the negativity associated with the industry were the long hours culture and potential sexism within the industry
Embedding information literacy into the curriculum
No full textInformation literacy (IL) skills, the ability to search for, analyse and use information effectively, are key skills in achieving academic success as well as contributing to factors such as employability. The University’s IL framework was developed in 2008. It was to be formally embedded into the University curriculum, but this has only been achieved on a limited basis.As responsibility for IL is included in the Library remit, a solution was to incorporate IL within an existing library service. The redevelopment of BISSTO in 2013 provided an opportunity to include interactive IL tests at appropriate points in the tutorial, covering all aspects of the framework. An IL section was also included to provide general information about IL for academics and students.The first part of the session will outline the content changes. The second part will focus on how BISSTO can be used in the classroom to improve student competencies. The outcome of this session is that participants should know how to use BISSTO successfully in the curriculum to improve student information literacy competencies
Sign bilingualism in education-policy and practice
No full textThe document ‘Sign Bilingualism: A Model’ (1998) by leading proponents Pickersgill and Gregory described sign bilingual education (SBE) and clarified definitions and principles for those working in the education sector (Swanwick, 2006).The goals of SBE are that deaf children become linguistically competent, have a wider access to curriculum, facilitate literacy skills and provide a positive sense of identity (Gregory, 2006). This report focused on relevant theories proposed by Pickersgill, Gregory and Swanwick, seeking to identify and demonstrate how the move to SBE has positively made a difference to the education of deaf pupils and identify any weaknesses that remain. Key findings were that whilst their original model laid out the idea for educating deaf pupils within mainstream, giving equal status and access to English (spoken and written) and British Sign Language (BSL), the application was challenging. Their model presented extensive explanations and guidance to the education community of how best to support, teach and communicate with deaf pupils but this failed to take place. Variances in practice from the SBE model (1998) were partly due to medical advice, instructing parents of deaf children with CI to avoid using sign language believing it would hinder the development of oralism/auralism (Nussbaum and Scott, 2004). An updated model explained what was occurring at ground level and how to continue practice using Sign Supported English (SSE). It ignored research showing that the acquisition of BSL is as easy as spoken language if access is equal and available (Swanwick, 2000) and that deaf children with deaf BSL-using-parents achieve academically higher than deaf peers with hearing parents. This is due to well established pre-linguistic skills demonstrating that sign language is of benefit for the education of deaf pupils (Gregory, 1996)