A Survey of University Engineering Departments in the State of Washington to Determine Engineering Drawing Requirements for High Schools

It was the purpose of this study to determine (1) whether a course in engineering drawing designed to parallel part of the first year engineering college drawing requirement could be taught in the high schools in the state of Washington and (2) how much time should be allocated in each of the various areas of such an engineering drawing course

Nanosecond laser processing of Zr41.2Ti13.8Cu12.5Ni10Be22.5 with single pulses

In addition to their attractive mechanical properties, the amorphous structure of bulk metallic glasses (BMGs) leads to favourable conditions for their processing using micro machining operations. At the same time, the generally high hardness and strength of such amorphous metals make short or ultra-short pulsed laser ablation a fabrication technology of interest for generating micro scale features on BMG workpieces in comparison with mechanical material removal means. In spite of this, relatively little research has been reported on the prediction and observation of the thermal phenomena that take place when processing BMGs with pulsed laser irradiation for a range of delivered fluence values and pulse lengths. Such investigations are important however as they underpin reliable laser processing operations, which in turn lead to more predicable material removal at micro scale. In this context, this paper reports complementary theoretical and experimental single pulse laser irradiation analyses conducted in the nanosecond (ns) regime for possibly the most prominent BMG material due to its relatively high glass forming ability, namely Zr41.2Ti13.8Cu12.5Ni10Be22.5, which is also known as Vitreloy 1. To achieve this, different pulse lengths comprised between 15 ns and 140 ns and varied fluence values were considered when delivering single pulses on a Vitreloy 1 substrate using a Yb fibre laser system. A simple thermal model of the laser material interaction process for single pulses was also developed to support the observations and interpretations of the experimental data obtained. One of the main conclusions from this research, with respect to potential micro machining applications, is that shorter pulses, i.e. 25 ns and less, could lead to the formation of relatively clean craters. For higher pulse lengths, the low thermal conductivity and melt temperature of this BMG substrate mean that laser irradiation easily leads to the formation of a relatively large melt pool and thus to the re-solidification of material ejected outside craters

Users’ Knowledge as a Specific Asset: The Case of the Valued Added Services

This article examines the value-added services (VAS) market. The production of these services requires the cooperation of assets and competences owned by different categories of firms. The first part of the paper points out the nature of the services and identifies a number of firms which are involved in the VAS production. The second part of the paper is based on a statistical analysis of an original sample. Three classes of services are discriminated: enhanced communication services, dedicated services, and information services. Then, we focus our attention on the dedicated services. A detailed analysis of this category enables us to identify three sub-groups of services: specialized communication services, community services and on line transaction services. Moreover the production of these dedicated services is driven by users. It is concluded that users have gained control over a wide segment of the VAS market because they own some specific competences and knowledge

Spray coated silver nanowires as transparent electrodes in OPVs for Building Integrated Photovoltaics applications

The application of spray coated silver nanowires (AgNWs) onto OPVs for building Integrated Photovoltaics (BIPVs) is demonstrated. By using AgNWs with PEDOT:PSS, a transparent conductive layer was demonstrated on top of an P3HT:PCBM active layer with a sheet resistance of 30 Ω/⎕ for 90% transparency. This has been applied to two separate configurations; semi-transparent OPVs for solar glazing applications and OPVs onto an opaque substrate, namely steel. For the latter, a novel technique to planarise the steel substrate with an intermediate layer is also presented, with a substantial decrease in surface roughness reported to ensure that the substrate is smooth enough to use for OPV fabrication. The use of SU-8 as an intermediate layer reduced the surface roughness to RA=10 nm, which is one of the lowest values reported to date, and was achieved on a low cost substrate (DC01 low carbon steel) using solution processing

Insight into mechanics of AFM tip-based nanomachining: bending of cantilevers and machined grooves

Atomic force microscope (AFM) tip-based nanomachining is currently the object of intense research investigations. Values of the load applied to the tip at the free end of the AFM cantilever probe used for nanomachining are always large enough to induce plastic deformation on the specimen surface contrary to the small load values used for the conventional contact mode AFM imaging. This study describes an important phenomenon specific for AFM nanomachining in the forward direction: under certain processing conditions, the deformed shape of the cantilever probe may change from a convex to a concave orientation. The phenomenon can principally change the depth and width of grooves machined, e.g. the grooves machined on a single crystal copper specimen may increase by 50% on average following such a change in the deformed shape of the cantilever. It is argued that this phenomenon can take place even when the AFM-based tool is operated in the so-called force-controlled mode. The study involves the refined theoretical analysis of cantilever probe bending, the analysis of experimental signals monitored during the backward and forward AFM tip-based machining and the inspection of the topography of produced grooves

Practical application and clinical impact of the WHO histopathological criteria on bone marrow biopsy for the diagnosis of essential thrombocythemia versus prefibrotic primary myelofibrosis

Aims: To evaluate the feasibility of the histopathological diagnosis of prefibrotic–early primary myelofibrosis (PM) as described in the World Health Organization (WHO) classification and to evaluate the clinical implications of prefibrotic–early PM in a series of patients previously diagnosed as having essential thrombocythemia (ET) according to the Polycythemia Vera Study Group criteria. Methods and results: WHO criteria were applied to bone marrow biopsy specimens by two pathologists who then reclassified 127 cases as 102 ET (80.3%), 18 prefibrotic–early PM (14.2%) and seven fibrotic PM (5.5%). In 45 cases (35%), the final diagnosis was only reached by consensus. The megakaryocytic criteria that best discriminated between ET and prefibrotic–early PM were an increased nucleo–cytoplasmic ratio, presence of cloudlike nuclei, hyperchromatic-dysplastic nuclei, paratrabecular megakaryocytes and tight clusters. A histological score discriminated between ET (score ≤3) and PM (score ≥6), but 21 cases showed an intermediate ambiguous score. No significant differences were observed at diagnosis and at follow-up (median time 93 months) for thrombosis, major haemorrhage, laboratory data, transformation into overt myeloid metaplasia and survival. Conclusions: The distinction between ET and prefibrotic–early PM is impaired by subjectivity in pathological practice and is of questionable clinical relevance, at least when considering individual patients

A new process chain for producing bulk metallic glass replication masters with micro- and nano-scale features

YesA novel process chain for serial production of polymer-based devices incorporating both micro- and nano-scale features is proposed. The process chain is enabled by the use of Zr-based bulk metallic glasses (BMG) to achieve the necessary level of compatibility and complementarity between its component technologies. It integrates two different technologies, namely laser ablation and focused ion beam (FIB) milling for micro-structuring and sub-micron patterning, respectively, thus to fabricate inserts incorporating different length scale functional features. Two alternative laser sources, namely nano-second (NS) and pico-second (PS) lasers, were considered as potential candidates for the first step in this master-making process chain. The capabilities of the component technologies together with some issues associated with their integration were studied. To validate the replication performance of the produced masters, a Zr-based BMG insert was used to produce a small batch of micro-fluidic devices by micro-injection moulding. Furthermore, an experimental study was also carried out to determine whether it would be possible by NS laser ablation to structure the Zr-based BMG workpieces with a high surface integrity whilst retaining the BMG's non-crystalline morphology. Collectively, it was demonstrated that the proposed process chain could be a viable fabrication route for mass production of polymer devices incorporating different length scale features

Justifications-on-demand as a device to promote shifts of attention associated with relational thinking in elementary arithmetic

Student responses to arithmetical questions that can be solved by using arithmetical structure can serve to reveal the extent and nature of relational, as opposed to computational thinking. Here, student responses to probes which require them to justify-on-demand are analysed using a conceptual framework which highlights distinctions between different forms of attention. We analyse a number of actions observed in students in terms of forms of attention and shifts between them: in the short-term (in the moment), medium-term (over several tasks), and long-term (over a year). The main factors conditioning students´ attention and its movement are identified and some didactical consequences are proposed

‘Warrant’ revisited: Integrating mathematics teachers’ pedagogical and epistemological considerations into Toulmin’s model for argumentation

In this paper, we propose an approach to analysing teacher arguments that takes into account field dependence—namely, in Toulmin’s sense, the dependence of warrants deployed in an argument on the field of activity to which the argument relates. Freeman, to circumvent issues that emerge when we attempt to determine the field(s) that an argument relates to, proposed a classification of warrants (a priori, empirical, institutional and evaluative). Our approach to analysing teacher arguments proposes an adaptation of Freeman’s classification that distinguishes between: epistemological and pedagogical a priori warrants, professional and personal empirical warrants, epistemological and curricular institutional warrants, and evaluative warrants. Our proposition emerged from analyses conducted in the course of a written response and interview study that engages secondary mathematics teachers with classroom scenarios from the mathematical areas of analysis and algebra. The scenarios are hypothetical, grounded on seminal learning and teaching issues, and likely to occur in actual practice. To illustrate our proposed approach to analysing teacher arguments here, we draw on the data we collected through the use of one such scenario, the Tangent Task. We demonstrate how teacher arguments, not analysed for their mathematical accuracy only, can be reconsidered, arguably more productively, in the light of other teacher considerations and priorities: pedagogical, curricular, professional and personal