Advanced Strain-Isolation-Pad Material with Bonded Fibrous Construction

The feasibility of utilizing air lay and liquid lay felt deposition techniques to fabricate strain isolation pad (SIP) materials for the Space Shuttle Orbiter was demonstrated. These materials were developed as candidate replacements for the present needled felt SIP used between the ceramic tiles and the aluminum skin on the undersurface of the Orbiter. The SIP materials that were developed consisted of high temperature aramid fibers deposited by controlled fluid (air or liquid) carriers to form low density unbonded felts. The deposited felts were then bonded at the fiber intersections with a small amount of high temperature polyimide resin. This type of bonded felt construction can potentially eliminate two of the problems associated with the present SIP, viz., transmittal of localized stresses into the tiles and load history dependent mechanical response. However, further work is needed to achieve adequate through thickness tensile strength in the bonded felts

Land use change: implications for Australian Capital Territory Water use

Managing water resources to ensure environmental values are maintained, whilst allowing for continued economic development is a major challenge facing many areas including the Australian Capital Territory (ACT). This paper reports on a GIS based investigation of the implications of land use change on ACT water use. The paper describes a suite of tools that are collectively termed PLUCA (Platform for Land use Change Assessment). Areas with the potential for land use change were identified through land capability assessment and by investigation of the suitability of land for development of alternate industries. Spatial data including slope, aspect, a wetness index, climatic surfaces, geology and consideration of the minimum viable scale of industry were analysed in the study. A coarse land use class – water use relationship estimated for the ACT was used to determine the maximum potential water use resulting from land use change. Three scenarios, based on different levels of land use change were constructed to simulate high, medium and low levels of potential landuse change in the ACT. The estimated reduction in streamflow for the maximum development scenario, was around 6.8% of the average annual runoff from the ACT. This scenario represented modification of only 3.9% of the total land area. This study demonstrates the potential for the use of GIS in the optimisation of landuse from biophysical characteristics. The implications of such changes should they occur were calculated through investigation of the annual average reduction in streamflow. The study demonstrates the use of GIS techniques in quantifying interactions at appropriate scales for decision making. The development of improved decision support tools is also outlined. <br

The Labour Government, the Treasury and the £6 pay policy of July 1975

The 1974-79 Labour Government was elected in a climate of opinion that was fiercely opposed to government intervention in the wage determination process, and was committed to the principles of free collective bargaining in its manifestoes. However, by December 1974 the Treasury was advocating a formal incomes policy, and by July 1975 the government had introduced a £6 flat rate pay norm. With reference to archival sources, the paper demonstrates that TUC and Labour Party opposition to incomes policy was reconciled with the Treasury's advocacy by limiting the Bank of England‟s intervention in the foreign exchange market when sterling came under pressure. This both helped to achieve the Treasury's objective of improving the competitiveness of British industry, and acted as a catalyst for the introduction of incomes policy because the slide could be attributed to a lack of market confidence in British counter-inflation policy

Analysis of detector performance in a gigahertz clock rate quantum key distribution system

We present a detailed analysis of a gigahertz clock rate environmentally robust phase-encoded quantum key distribution (QKD) system utilizing several different single-photon detectors, including the first implementation of an experimental resonant cavity thin-junction silicon single-photon avalanche diode. The system operates at a wavelength of 850 nm using standard telecommunications optical fibre. A general-purpose theoretical model for the performance of QKD systems is presented with reference to these experimental results before predictions are made about realistic detector developments in this system. We discuss, with reference to the theoretical model, how detector operating parameters can be further optimized to maximize key exchange rates

Modelagem do crescimento e da colheita periódica do aguapé (Eichhornia crassipes) para produção de biocombustíveis.

Este estudo analisou o crescimento do aguapé em sistemas fechados por meio da análise ecossistêmica permitindo assim o desenvolvimento de um modelo para a simulação do crescimento da biomassa do aguapé, remoção de nutrientes e efeitos da colheita

Food geographies I: relational foodscapes and the busy-ness of being more-than-food

The study of foodscapes has spread throughout geography at the same time as food scholarship has spearheaded post-disciplinary research. This report argues that geographers have taken to post-disciplinarity to explore the ways that food is ‘more-than-food’ through analyses of the visceral nature of eating and politics and the vital (re)materializations of food’s cultural geographies. Visceral food geographies illuminate what I call the ‘contingent relationalities’ of food in the critical evaluation of the indeterminate, situated politics of ‘feeling food’ and those of the embodied collectivities of obesity. Questions remain, however, about how a visceral framework might be deployed for broader critiques within foodscapes and the study of human geography. The study of food’s vital materialisms opens up investigation into the practices of the ‘makings’ of meat, food waste and eating networks. Analysis of affect, embodiment and cultural practices is central to these theorizations and suggests consideration of the multiple materialisms of food, space and eating. There is, I contend, in the more radical, ‘post-relational’ approaches to food, the need for a note of caution. Exuberant claims for the ontological, vital agency of food should be tempered by, or at least run parallel to, critical questions of the real politik of political and practical agency in light of recent struggles over austerity, food poverty and food justice

Epidemiology, co-infections, and outcomes of viral pneumonia in adults an observational cohort study

Advanced technologies using polymerase-chain reaction have allowed for increased recognition of viral respiratory infections including pneumonia. Co-infections have been described for several respiratory viruses, especially with influenza. Outcomes of viral pneumonia, including cases with co-infections, have not been well described. This was observational cohort study conducted to describe hospitalized patients with viral pneumonia including co-infections, clinical outcomes, and predictors of mortality. Patients admitted from March 2013 to November 2014 with a positive respiratory virus panel (RVP) and radiographic findings of pneumonia within 48 h of the index RVP were included. Co-respiratory infection (CRI) was defined as any organism identification from a respiratory specimen within 3 days of the index RVP. Predictors of in-hospital mortality on univariate analysis were evaluated in a multivariate model. Of 284 patients with viral pneumonia, a majority (51.8%) were immunocompromised. A total of 84 patients (29.6%) were found to have a CRI with 48 (57.6%) having a bacterial CRI. Viral CRI with HSV, CMV, or both occurred in 28 patients (33.3%). Fungal (16.7%) and other CRIs (7.1%) were less common. Many patients required mechanical ventilation (54%) and vasopressor support (36%). Overall in-hospital mortality was high (23.2%) and readmissions were common with several patients re-hospitalized within 30 (21.1%) and 90 days (36.7%) of discharge. Predictors of in-hospital mortality on multivariate regression included severity of illness factors, stem-cell transplant, and identification of multiple respiratory viruses. In conclusion, hospital mortality is high among adult patients with viral pneumonia and patients with multiple respiratory viruses identified may be at a higher risk

Cancer and thrombosis: Managing the risks and approaches to thromboprophylaxis

Patients with cancer are at increased risk of venous thromboembolism (VTE) compared with patients without cancer. This results from both the prothrombotic effects of the cancer itself and iatrogenic factors, such as chemotherapy, radiotherapy, indwelling central venous devices and surgery, that further increase the risk of VTE. Although cancer-associated thrombosis remains an important cause of morbidity and mortality, it is often underdiagnosed and undertreated. However, evidence is accumulating to support the use of low-molecular-weight heparins (LMWHs) in the secondary prevention of VTE in patients with cancer. Not only have LMWHs been shown to be at least as effective as coumarin derivatives in this setting, but they have a lower incidence of complications, including bleeding, and are not associated with the practical problems of warfarin therapy. Furthermore, a growing number of studies indicate that LMWHs may improve survival among patients with cancer due to a possible antitumor effect. Current evidence suggests that LMWHs should increasingly be considered for the long-term management of VTE in patients with cancer

Factors Affecting European Farmers’Participation in Biodiversity Policies

This article reports the major findings from an interdisciplinary research project that synthesises key insights into farmers’ willingness and ability to co-operate with biodiversity policies. The results of the study are based on an assessment of about 160 publications and research reports from six EU member states and from international comparative research.We developed a conceptual framework to systematically review the existent literature relevant for our purposes. This framework provides a common structure for analysing farmers’ perspectives regarding the introduction into farming practices of measures relevant to biodiversity. The analysis is coupled and contrasted with a survey of experts. The results presented above suggest that it is important to view support for practices oriented towards biodiversity protection not in a static sense – as a situation determined by one or several influencing factors – but rather as a process marked by interaction. Financial compensation and incentives function as a necessary, though clearly not sufficient condition in this process

Under New Management: Share Ownership and the Growth of UK Asset Manager Capitalism

Over the past several decades, asset management firms – financial intermediaries who invest assets on behalf of ultimate beneficiaries such as pension holders or wealthy individuals – have surged to become the dominant shareholders in corporations throughout the global economy, supplanting individuals and other institutional investors such as pension funds. This growth has been accompanied by a second trend: significant concentration within asset management itself. BlackRock and Vanguard, the two largest asset managers worldwide, control $9 trillion and$8 trillion in assets, respectively – or more than four times the value of all UK corporations. We argue the emerging dominance of asset managers constitutes a new corporate governance regime, a clear understanding of which is vital to addressing corporations’ roles in societal challenges from the climate crisis to wage stagnation and inequality. This new regime – asset manager capitalism - is the product of two related trends in ownership without historical precedent: the combination of significant reconcentration of ownership within a small top cohort of minority shareholders, and the universal nature of these shareholders, meaning their ownership of assets is distributed across all geographies and industries. In contrast to the image of the activist shareholder, on which the prevailing ‘shareholder primacy’ regime of corporate governance is based, asset manager capitalism is defined by a structure of ownership in which the dominant owners of a corporation are motivated not by the performance of individual portfolio companies, but by the accumulation of further assets under management. In the US, the rise of the asset management industry and increasing domination of ownership by elite asset management firms of corporate shares, bonds, and numerous other asset classes is well documented. In the UK, this transition is less well documented. To address this gap, we analysed shareholding data in the FTSE350 index of UK companies from the end of 2000 to the end of 2020, assessing trends in ownership distribution as well as corresponding shifts in corporate behaviour. We found that although the total share of FTSE350 value controlled by the 10 largest investors remained relatively stable at approximately 20% over this period, concentration within the Top 10 became substantially more pronounced, with BlackRock and Vanguard now controlling 10%. At the level of individual firms, we found a substantial upward trend with respect to the fraction of shares outstanding held by the top 10 investors in a given firm. With respect to corporate behaviour over this period, our analysis found that while productive investment had declined, shareholder payouts as a proportion of profits had risen substantially, reaching nearly 80% of pre-tax profits at the end of 2020. These results suggest the UK is following the US in the solidification of an economy defined by asset manager capitalism, with implications for policymakers and others concerned with corporations’ roles in inequality, productivity and sustainability.Executive Summary 1 Introduction 2 Corporate ownership: The last 100 years 2.1 Institutionalization 1.0: Dispersion 2.2 Institutionalization 2.0: Internationalization and Reconcentration 3 Asset manager capitalism as corporate governance regime 4 Zooming in: The top of the shareholder crop 4.1 The age of the asset manager 4.2 The Rise of the Big 10 5 Corporate governance under asset manager capitalism: what do asset managers want? 6 Conclusions and Recommendations 6.1 What’s the purpose of shareholders, anyway? 6.2 Cutting out the middleman? Alternative models of ownershi