Experiencing space–time: the stretched lifeworlds of migrant workers in India

In the relatively rare instances when the spatialities of temporary migrant work, workers’ journeys, and labour-market negotiations have been the subject of scholarly attention, there has been little work that integrates time into the analysis. Building on a case study of low-paid and insecure migrant manual workers in the context of rapid economic growth in India, we examine both material and subjective dimensions of these workers’ spatiotemporal experiences. What does it mean to live life stretched out, multiplyattached to places across national space? What kinds of place attachments emerge for people temporarily sojourning in, rather than moving to, new places to reside and work? Our analysis of the spatiotemporalities of migrant workers’ experiences in India suggests that, over time, this group of workers use their own agency to seek to avoid the experience of humiliation and indignity in employment relations. Like David Harvey, we argue that money needs to be integrated into such analysis, along with space and time. The paper sheds light on processes of exclusion, inequality and diff erentiation, unequal power geometries, and social topographies that contrast with neoliberalist narratives of ‘Indian shining

Recent Development and Results with the MERLIN Tracking Code

MERLIN is a high performance accelerator simulation code which is used for modelling the collimation system at the LHC. It is written in extensible object-oriented C++ so new physics processes can be easily added. In this article we present recent developments needed for the Hi-Lumi LHC and future high energy colliders including FCC, such as hollow electron lenses and composite materials. We also give an overview of recent simulation work, validation against LHC data from run 1 and 2, and loss maps for Hi-Lumi LHC

Oštećenja u aluminiju proizvedena zračenjem iz CO2 i Nd:YAG lasera

The change in the electrical properties of pure aluminium (Al 99.999%) after exposure to CO2 (energy = 2.5 J/pulse, wavelength = 10.6 µm, pulse duration = 200 nsec) and Nd:YAG (energy = 10 mJ/pulse, wavelength = 1.06 µm and pulse duration = 12 nsec) laser radiation is investigated. The samples were exposed to laser radiations for different numbers of pulses. The change in electrical characteristics of Al is studied under different ambient conditions, after irradiating the samples in air, vacuum and hydrogen at different pressures. After exposure, the electrical conductivity of Al is measured by the four probe method. The electrical conductivity decreases with increasing number of pulses. The damage in air and in hydrogen is more pronounced than in vacuum which can be attributed to collisionnal sputtering of Al by plasma ions of air molecules and hydrogen, respectively. The change in the conductivity in hydrogen is pressure-dependent. Some theoretical considerations are also made, e.g. the phonon speed in Al during the photon interaction, minimal melting and evaporation energy per volume, damage threshold energy, penetration depth, the mass of heated volume and average temperature rise at the Al surface during laser irradiation.Proučavamo promjene električnih svojstava čistog aluminija (Al 99.999%) nakon obasjavanja CO2 (energija = 2.5 J/puls, valna duljina = 10.6 µm, trajanje pulsa = 200 nsec) i Nd:YAG (energija = 10 mJ/puls, valna duljina = 1.06 µm, trajanje pulsa = 12 nsec) laserima. Uzorci su izloženi različitim brojevima pulseva. Proučavali smo promjene električne vodljivosti Al s uzorcima u zraku, vakuumu i u vodiku. Nakon obasjavanja mjerili smo električnu vodljivost metodom četiriju spojišta. Električna se vodljivost smanjuje nakon povećanog broja pulseva. Oštećenja u zraku i vodiku veća su nego u vakuumu, što se pripisuje sudarnom rasprašivanju Al ionima molekula zraka odnosno vodika u plazmi. Promjena vodljivosti uzoraka obasjanih u vodiku ovisna je o tlaku. Razmotrili smo neke teorijske rezultate, npr. fononsku brzinu u Al tijekom obasjavanja, minimalnu energiju taljenja i isparavanja po jedinici volumena, energijski prag oštećenja, dubinu prodiranja, masu zagrijanog volumena i prosječno povećanje temperature površine Al tijekom obasjavanja

Oštećenja u aluminiju proizvedena zračenjem iz CO2 i Nd:YAG lasera

The change in the electrical properties of pure aluminium (Al 99.999%) after exposure to CO2 (energy = 2.5 J/pulse, wavelength = 10.6 µm, pulse duration = 200 nsec) and Nd:YAG (energy = 10 mJ/pulse, wavelength = 1.06 µm and pulse duration = 12 nsec) laser radiation is investigated. The samples were exposed to laser radiations for different numbers of pulses. The change in electrical characteristics of Al is studied under different ambient conditions, after irradiating the samples in air, vacuum and hydrogen at different pressures. After exposure, the electrical conductivity of Al is measured by the four probe method. The electrical conductivity decreases with increasing number of pulses. The damage in air and in hydrogen is more pronounced than in vacuum which can be attributed to collisionnal sputtering of Al by plasma ions of air molecules and hydrogen, respectively. The change in the conductivity in hydrogen is pressure-dependent. Some theoretical considerations are also made, e.g. the phonon speed in Al during the photon interaction, minimal melting and evaporation energy per volume, damage threshold energy, penetration depth, the mass of heated volume and average temperature rise at the Al surface during laser irradiation.Proučavamo promjene električnih svojstava čistog aluminija (Al 99.999%) nakon obasjavanja CO2 (energija = 2.5 J/puls, valna duljina = 10.6 µm, trajanje pulsa = 200 nsec) i Nd:YAG (energija = 10 mJ/puls, valna duljina = 1.06 µm, trajanje pulsa = 12 nsec) laserima. Uzorci su izloženi različitim brojevima pulseva. Proučavali smo promjene električne vodljivosti Al s uzorcima u zraku, vakuumu i u vodiku. Nakon obasjavanja mjerili smo električnu vodljivost metodom četiriju spojišta. Električna se vodljivost smanjuje nakon povećanog broja pulseva. Oštećenja u zraku i vodiku veća su nego u vakuumu, što se pripisuje sudarnom rasprašivanju Al ionima molekula zraka odnosno vodika u plazmi. Promjena vodljivosti uzoraka obasjanih u vodiku ovisna je o tlaku. Razmotrili smo neke teorijske rezultate, npr. fononsku brzinu u Al tijekom obasjavanja, minimalnu energiju taljenja i isparavanja po jedinici volumena, energijski prag oštećenja, dubinu prodiranja, masu zagrijanog volumena i prosječno povećanje temperature površine Al tijekom obasjavanja

Role of CO2, climate and land use in regulating the seasonal amplitude increase of carbon fluxes in terrestrial ecosystems: A multimodel analysis

© Author(s) 2016.We examined the net terrestrial carbon flux to the atmosphere (FTA) simulated by nine models from the TRENDY dynamic global vegetation model project for its seasonal cycle and amplitude trend during 1961-2012. While some models exhibit similar phase and amplitude compared to atmospheric inversions, with spring drawdown and autumn rebound, others tend to rebound early in summer. The model ensemble mean underestimates the magnitude of the seasonal cycle by 40g% compared to atmospheric inversions. Global FTA amplitude increase (19g±g8g%) and its decadal variability from the model ensemble are generally consistent with constraints from surface atmosphere observations. However, models disagree on attribution of this long-term amplitude increase, with factorial experiments attributing 83g±g56g%, ĝ'3g±g74 and 20g±g30g% to rising CO2, climate change and land use/cover change, respectively. Seven out of the nine models suggest that CO2 fertilization is the strongest control - with the notable exception of VEGAS, which attributes approximately equally to the three factors. Generally, all models display an enhanced seasonality over the boreal region in response to high-latitude warming, but a negative climate contribution from part of the Northern Hemisphere temperate region, and the net result is a divergence over climate change effect. Six of the nine models show that land use/cover change amplifies the seasonal cycle of global FTA: some are due to forest regrowth, while others are caused by crop expansion or agricultural intensification, as revealed by their divergent spatial patterns. We also discovered a moderate cross-model correlation between FTA amplitude increase and increase in land carbon sink (R2 Combining double low line g0.61). Our results suggest that models can show similar results in some benchmarks with different underlying mechanisms; therefore, the spatial traits of CO2 fertilization, climate change and land use/cover changes are crucial in determining the right mechanisms in seasonal carbon cycle change as well as mean sink change.This study was funded by NOAA, NASA and NSF. This study was partly supported by a Laboratory Directed Research and Development project by Pacific Northwest National Laboratory that is being managed by Battelle Memorial Institute for the US Department of Energy. We thank the TRENDY coordinators and participating modeling teams, NOAA ESRL and Jena/CarbonTracker inversion teams

Customizable Ceramic Nanocomposites Using Carbon Nanotubes

A novel tweakable nanocomposite was prepared by spark plasma sintering followed by systematic oxidation of carbon nanotube (CNT) molecules to produce alumina/carbon nanotube nanocomposites with surface porosities. The mechanical properties (flexural strength and fracture toughness), surface area, and electrical conductivities were characterized and compared. The nanocomposites were extensively analyzed by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) for 2D qualitative surface morphological analysis. Adding CNTs in ceramic matrices and then systematically oxidizing them, without substantial reduction in densification, induces significant capability to achieve desirable/application oriented balance between mechanical, electrical, and catalytic properties of these ceramic nanocomposites. This novel strategy, upon further development, opens new level of opportunities for real-world/industrial applications of these relatively novel engineering materials

Synthesis of Selenium-Quinone Hybrid Compounds with Potential Antitumor Activity via Rh-Catalyzed C-H Bond Activation and Click Reactions

In continuation of our quest for new redox-modulating catalytic antitumor molecules, selenium-containing quinone-based 1,2,3-triazoles were synthesized using rhodium-catalyzed C-H bond activation and click reactions. All compounds were evaluated against five types of cancer cell lines: HL-60 (human promyelocytic leukemia cells), HCT-116 (human colon carcinoma cells), SF295 (human glioblastoma cells), NCIH-460 (human lung cells) and PC3 (human prostate cancer cells). Some compounds showed good activity with IC50 values below 1 µM. The cytotoxic potential of the naphthoquinoidal derivatives was also evaluated in non-tumor cells, exemplified by L929 cells. Overall, these compounds represent promising new lead derivatives and stand for a new class of chalcogenium-containing derivatives with potential antitumor activity