1,367,233 research outputs found

    John Hinchcliffe

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    This is a monograph on the designer-maker John Hinchcliffe and charts his work from textiles to ceramics. This was published to coincide with a major exhibtion of his work at the Crafts Study Centre. The book is written by Simon Olding the Director of the Centre

    A Noise-Shifting Differential Colpitts VCO

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    A novel noise-shifting differential Colpitts VCO is presented. It uses current switching to lower phase noise by cyclostationary noise alignment and improve the start-up condition. A design strategy is also devised to enhance the phase noise performance of quadrature coupled oscillators. Two integrated VCOs are presented as design examples

    Flexibility and access: implications of blended learning for higher education

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    Many institutions are developing policies aimed at widening participation and encouraging students from non-traditional backgrounds to engage in Higher Education. A number of studies have noted the potential benefits possible in this context through the use of online learning as part of overall blended approaches, to offer students flexibility in when and where they engage with study materials. Little research, however, has been undertaken in to whether students with significant levels of home commitment find such flexibility of particular use. This paper reports on a small scale exploratory study involving a group of postgraduate students which investigated how the student’s perception of the benefits of flexibility offered by online learning related to their level of home commitment. Analysis of the data gives some initial support to the idea that students with a greater level of home commitments are more likely to view flexibility of access as being of benefit. Consideration is given to the implications of the results for balancing face to face and online component in blended approaches and proposals are made for possible more in depth studies that could provide useful information for those involved in course design in the Higher Education context

    Influence of diesel fuel on seed germination

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    The use of plant-based systems to remediate contaminated soils has become an area of intense scientific study in recent years and it is apparent that plants which grow well in contaminated soils need to be identified and screened for use in phytoremediation technologies. This study investigated the effect of diesel fuel on germination of selected plant species. Germination response varied greatly with plant species and was species specific, as members of the same plant family showed differential sensitivity to diesel fuel contamination. Differences were also seen within plant subspecies. At relatively low levels of diesel fuel contamination, delayed seed emergence and reduced percentage germination was observed for the majority of plant species investigated. Results suggest the volatile fraction of diesel fuel played an influential role in delaying seed emergence and reducing percentage germination. In addition, the remaining diesel fuel in the soil Lidded to this inhibitory effect on germination by physically impeding water and oxygen transfer between the seed and the surrounding soil environment, thus hindering the germination response

    Does organic farming face distinctive livestock welfare issues? - A conceptual analysis

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    The recent development and growth of organic livestock farming and the related development of national and international regulations has fuelled discussions among scientists and philosophers concerning the proper conceptualisation of animal welfare. These discussions on livestock welfare in organic farming draw on the conventional discussions and disputes on animal welfare, which involve issues such as different definitions of welfare (clinical health, absence of suffering, sum of positive and negative experiences, etc.), the possibility for objective measures of animal welfare and the acceptable level of welfare. It seems clear that livestock welfare is a value-laden concept and that animal welfare science cannot be made independent of questions of values and ethics. The question investigated here is whether those values that underpin organic farming, in particular, also affect the interpretation of livestock welfare and, if so, how. While some of the issues raised in connection with organic farming are relatively uncontroversial, others are not. The introduction of organic farming values seems to introduce new criteria for what counts a good animal welfare, as well as a different ethical basis for taking moral decisions on welfare. Organic farming embodies distinctive systemic or communitarian ethical ideas and the organic values are connected to a systemic conception of nature, of agriculture, of the farm and of the animal. The new criteria of welfare are related to concepts such as naturalness, harmony, integrity and care. While the organic values overlap with those involved in the conventional discussion of animal welfare, some of them suggest a need to set new priorities and to re-conceptualise animal welfare – for example, with respect to 'naturalness', in relation to the possibilities for expression of natural behaviour and in relation to animal integrity as a concept for organismic harmony. The organic perspective also seems to suggest a wider range of solutions to welfare problems than changes in farm routines or operations on the animals. The systemic solutions include the choice and reproduction of suitable breeds, changes in the farm structure, and changes in the larger production and consumption system - including consumer perceptions and preferences. But the organic values may also call for sacrifices of individual welfare in a conventional sense in order to advance welfare from the perspective of organic farming. Whether this is good or bad cannot be decided without entering into an inquiry and discussion of the values and ethics involved

    Low-Pressure CVD of Germanium-Silicon films using Silane and Germane sources

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    In this work a study of Low Pressure Chemical Vapour Deposition (LPCVD) of Germanium-Silicon films has been carried out. The films were deposited on thermally oxidised silicon wafers using a horizontal hot-wall LPCVD system, at deposition temperatures ranging from 430 to 480 oC and total pressures from 3 to 200 Pa. Pure GeH4 and SiH4 gas sources were used for the experiments. Growth kinetics and texture of GexSi1-x films versus varying deposition conditions, resulting in different film properties, were investigated. The effect of Germanium content in the layers on deposition rate at 430 oC and the change in the film crystallinity caused by deposition at different deposition pressures were studied

    Zgaga, P., Teichler, U., Schuetze, H. G., Wolter, A. (Eds.) (2015). Higher education reform: Looking back – looking forward. Frankfurt/M.: Peter Lang. [Book review]

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    Book review of: Zgaga, P., Teichler, U., Schuetze, H. G., Wolter, A. (Eds.) (2015). Higher education reform: Looking back - looking forward. Frankfurt/M.: Peter Lang. 430 pp. ISBN 978-3-631-66275-

    Direct Mass Limits for Chiral Fourth-Generation Quarks in All Mixing Scenarios

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    Present limits on chiral fourth-generation quark masses mb′m_{b'} and mt′m_{t'} are broadly generalized and strengthened by combining both t′t' and b′b' decays and considering the full range of t′t' and b′b' flavor-mixing scenarios (with the lighter generations). Various characteristic mass-splitting choices are considered. With mt′>mb′m_{t'} > m_{b'} we find that CDF limits on the b′b' mass vary by no more than 10-20% with any choice of flavor-mixing, while for the t′t' mass, we typically find stronger bounds, in some cases up to mt′>430m_{t'} > 430 GeV. For mb′>mt′m_{b'} > m_{t'} we find mb′>380−430m_{b'} > 380 - 430 GeV, depending on the flavor-mixing and the size of the mt′−mb′m_{t'} - m_{b'} mass splitting
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