4,523 research outputs found
R.J. Sommers
No full textThe single-spaced paragraph on the “About the Author” page of R.J. Sommers’ latest novel says she lives in a one-story house on the edge of a city. It says she is renowned for writing relatable characters and compelling relationships. It says nothing about her own friends.
Gazing from a photo at the top of the page, R.J. Sommers appears to point a camera toward her readers..
Toward a reconnection model for solar flare statistics
No full textA model to account for observed solar flare statistics in terms of a superposition of independent random flaring elements (assumed to be sites of magnetic reconnection in the coronal magnetic field and hence termed “separators”) is described. A separator of length is assumed to flare as a Poisson process in time, with a rate v(l) inversely proportional to the Alfvén transit time for the structure. It is shown that a relationship ξ∞lk between the mean energy of events ξ at a separator and the separator length implies a relationship E∞Tk between individual waiting times τ and energies E of events at the separator. The most plausible K=2 model is found to be compatible with simple pictures for magnetohydrodynamic energy storage prior to magnetic reconnection in a current sheet with anomalous (turbulent) resistivity. Formal inversion of the observed flare frequency-energy distribution is shown to imply a distribution P(l) ∞l-1 of the separator lengths in active regions. A simulation confirms the basic results of the model. It is also demonstrated that a model comprising time-dependent separator numbers N=N(t) can reproduce an observed power-law tail in the flare waiting-time distribution, for large waiting times
Psychiatry in Zambia
No full textThe World Health Organisation\u27s definition of health is "a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being". However competing demands for limited resources have marginalised provisions for mental health in many Third World countries. Dr R.J. Craig recently visited Zambia and examines the extent of the country\u27s psychiatric services.A holiday in Zambia provided a fresh and gripping look at life, medicine and psychiatry. I was made most welcome by Professor Alan Haworth, head of the Department of Psychiatry in the local university, and spent an engrossing few days with him and his colleagues
Determining the human origin of fragments of burnt bone: a comparative study of histological, immunological and DNA techniques
No full textIn situations where badly burnt fragments of bone are found, identification of their human or non-human origin may be impossible by gross morphology alone and other techniques have to be employed. In order to determine whether histological methods were redundant and should be superseded by biomolecular analyses, small fragments of artificially burnt bone (human and non-human) were examined by quantitative and standard light microscopy, and the findings compared with newer biomolecular analyses based on identifying specific human albumin by ELISA and amplifying human mitochondrial DNA by PCR. For quantitative microscopy, reference data were first created using burnt bones from 15 human and 20 common domestic and farm animals. Measured osteon and Haversian canal parameters were analysed using multivariate statistical methods. Highly significant differences were found between values for human and non-human bone, and a canonical discriminant function equation was derived, giving a predicted correct classification of 79%. For the main study, samples of cortical bone were taken from three fresh cadavers, six human skeletons and ten freshly slaughtered animals and burnt by exposure to temperatures ranging from 800 to 1200 degrees C; charred fragments of human cortical bone from two forensic cases were also tested. Quantitative microscopy and canonical discriminant function gave the correct origin of every sample. Standard microscopy falsely assigned burnt bone from one human skeleton and one forensic case to a non-human source, but otherwise gave correct results. Human albumin was identified in five individuals, including one of the forensic cases, but mitochondrial DNA could not be amplified from any of the human bone. No false positive test results were seen with either biomolecular method; and human albumin and mitochondrial DNA were correctly identified in all unburnt control specimens. It was concluded that histological methods were not redundant and that quantitative microscopy provided an accurate and consistent means of determining the human or non-human origin of burnt bone and was more reliable than standard microscopy or the newer immunological and DNA techniques tested here
Author Co-Citation Analysis (ACA): a powerful tool for representing implicit knowledge of scholar knowledge workers
No full textIn the last decade, knowledge has emerged as one of the most important and valuable organizational assets. Gradually this importance caused to emergence of new discipline entitled ―knowledge management‖. However one of the major challenges of knowledge management is conversion implicit or tacit knowledge to explicit knowledge. Thus Making knowledge visible so that it can be better accessed, discussed, valued or generally managed is a long-standing objective in knowledge management. Accordingly in this paper author co- citation analysis (ACA) will be proposed as an efficient technique of knowledge visualization in academia (Scholar knowledge workers)
Report on industrial attachment with R.J. Crocker Consultants Pte Ltd
No full textThis report documents the undertaking of the author’s six months of industrial attachment. It was the industrial attachment that gave him the opportunity to discover the innovative skills and expertise from his fellow colleagues working the organization. Throughout the attachment, the author had learnt a great deal from various trained and experienced engineers. He had been exposed to a variety of training namely (1) reinforcement concrete design, (2) steel and connection design, (3) modelling structures for design and analysis using software, (4) visual inspections for buildings, (5) preparing tender documents, (6) drawing, presentation and attending and (7) handling online submissions for building inspections, structural plans, design calculations, etc. Furthermore, by attending project meetings, preparing materials for presentations, tendering documents and drawings to privatized companies and public sectors all bestowed the author a concrete understanding of the type and quality of work required of and produced by a qualified engineer. Without the industrial attachment, all these practical skills and knowledge might not have been attainable by learning in the university alone. It was overall a fruitful experience
Comparison of three DNA extraction methods on bone and blood stains up to 43 years old and amplification of three different gene sequences
No full textExtraction of amplifiable DNA-from degraded human material in the forensic context remains a problem, and maximization of yield and elimination of inhibitors of the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) are important issues which rarely feature in comparative studies. The present work used PCR amplification of three DNA sequences (HLA DPB1, amelogenin and mitochondrial) to assess the efficiency of three methods for extracting DNA (sodium acetate, magnetic beads and glass-milk) from 32 skeletal samples and 25 blood stains up to 43 years old. The results, analyzed using multivariate statistics, confirmed that the extraction method was crucial to the subsequent detection of amplification products; the glass-milk protocol performed better than sodium acetate, which was better than magnetic beads. Successful amplification also depended on gene sequence, multiple copy mitochondrial sequences performing best; however, with the singly copy sequences, the longer HLA DPB1 (327 bp) being detected just as often as the shorter amelogenin (106/112 bp). Amplification products were obtained more frequently from blood stains than bone, perhaps reflecting differences inherent in the material, and from younger compared with older specimens, though plateauing seemed to occur after 10 years. PCR inhibitors were more frequent in sodium acetate extracts
Information Circular 12. Selected Bibliography of Cuyuna Range Geology, Mining and Metallurgy
No full textThis work is an extension of a bibliography prepared by the author as part of a final report submitted to the U.S. Bureau of Mines for grant # G026/t002 entitled "Manganese-bearing ores of the Cuyuna iron range, east-central Minnesota, Phase 1". This bibliography, though directed primarily towards the geologic and mining literature of the Cuyuna range, does include the major works on the metallurgical aspects of the Cuyuna ores. For historical interest the very earliest publications are included. This list of abbreviations given on pages 2-4 are consistent with those from the "Bibliography and Index of Geology".Beltrame, R.J.. (1977). Information Circular 12. Selected Bibliography of Cuyuna Range Geology, Mining and Metallurgy. Retrieved from the University Digital Conservancy, https://hdl.handle.net/11299/59304
An exploration of the relationship between language choice in CEO letters to shareholders and corporate reputation
No full textThis paper proposes a taxonomy to assist in more clearly locating research on aspects of the association between corporate reputation and corporate accountability reporting. We illustrate how our proposed taxonomy can be applied by using it to frame our exploration of the relationship between measures of reputation and characteristics of the language choices made in CEO letters to shareholders. Using DICTION 5.0 software we analyse the content of the CEO letters of 23 high reputation US firms and 23 low reputation US firms. Our results suggest that company size and visibility each have a positive influence on the extent to which corporate reputation is associated with the language choices made in CEO letters. These results, which are anomalous when compared with those of Geppert and Lawrence (2008), highlight the need for caution when assessing claims about the effects on corporate reputation arising from the language choice in narratives in corporate annual reports. Author has checked copyrightDG 16/11/12Names JG 2012-11-1
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