Social Policy Resources for Social Work: Grey Literature and the Internet

Accreditation standards for professional schools offering social work degrees mandate curriculum content that provides students with skills to analyze, formulate, and influence social policies. An important source of analytical thinking about social policy is the “grey” literature issued by public policy organizations, think tanks, university-based research institutions, professional organizations, etc., that is increasingly available via the Internet. This research surveys library social work subject pages for content and links related to the social policy grey literature. A coding scheme was developed that counted the number of paths to relevant grey literature from the libraries’ subject guides. The results of the study suggest that there is a great deal of variance across institutions in how much help they provide users. Libraries must do a better job guiding users to the policy organizations that produce reports, briefs, newsletters, etc., that are important to social policy problem solving and implementation

Run-in with chemical additive protects gear surface

Run-in treatment provides a protective coating on turbopump gear surfaces so that they are capable of operation under marginal conditions in mineral oil and diester lubricants. This treatment protects highly loaded gears during relatively short-term operation

Laboratory oscillator strengths of Sc I in the near-infrared region for astrophysical applications

Context. Atomic data is crucial for astrophysical investigations. To understand the formation and evolution of stars, we need to analyse their observed spectra. Analysing a spectrum of a star requires information about the properties of atomic lines, such as wavelengths and oscillator strengths. However, atomic data of some elements are scarce, particularly in the infrared region, and this paper is part of an effort to improve the situation on near-IR atomic data. Aims. This paper investigates the spectrum of neutral scandium, Sc i, from laboratory measurements and improves the atomic data of Sc i lines in the infrared region covering lines in R, I, J, and K bands. Especially, we focus on measuring oscillator strengths for Sc i lines connecting the levels with 4p and 4s configurations. Methods. We combined experimental branching fractions with radiative lifetimes from the literature to derive oscillator strengths (f - values). Intensity-calibrated spectra with high spectral resolution were recorded with Fourier transform spectrometer from a hollow cathode discharge lamp. The spectra were used to derive accurate oscillator strengths and wavelengths for Sc i lines, with emphasis on the infrared region. Results. This project provides the first set of experimental Sc i lines in the near-infrared region for accurate spectral analysis of astronomical objects. We derived 63 log(g f ) values for the lines between 5300{\AA} and 24300{\AA}. The uncertainties in the f -values vary from 5% to 20%. The small uncertainties in our values allow for an increased accuracy in astrophysical abundance determinations.Comment: Accepted on 25 August 2015 by A&

Microscale application of column theory for high resolution force and displacement sensing

We present the design, fabrication and experimental validation of a novel device that exploits the amplification of displacement and attenuation of structural stiffness in the post-buckling deformation of slender columns to obtain pico-Newton force and nanometer displacement resolution even under an optical microscope. The extremely small size, purely mechanical sensing scheme and vacuum compatibility of the instrument makes it compatible with existing visualization tools of nanotechnology. The instrument has a wide variety of potential applications ranging from electro-mechanical characterization of one dimensional solids to single biological cells

A total life prediction model for stress concentration sites

Fatigue crack growth tests were performed on center crack panels and radial crack hole samples. The data were reduced and correlated with the elastic parameter K taking into account finite width and corner crack corrections. The anomalous behavior normally associated with short cracks was not observed. Total life estimates for notches were made by coupling an initiation life estimate with a propagation life estimate

Wind tunnel tests of Space Shuttle external tank insulation material in the aerothermal tunnel at elevated (1440 deg F) total temperatures

Tests of the space shuttle external tank foam insulation were conducted in the von Karman Gas Dynamics Facility Tunnel C. For these tests, Tunnel C was run at Mach 4 with a total temperature of 1440 F and a total pressure which varied from 30-100 psia. Cold wall heating rates were changed by varying the test article support wedge angle and by adding and removing a shock generator or a cylindrical protuberance. Selected results are presented to illustrate the test techniques and typical data obtained