A review of the mallet impact test for small scale explosive formulations

Presented at 19th Seminar on New Trends of Energetic Materials (NTREM 2016); 20-22/04/2016, Pardubice Czech RepublicDevelopment of new explosive formulations begins with the generation of only a few milligrams of material which is investigated using a number of small scale tests such as DSC, TGA, response to flame, mallet impact (mallet friction either glancing or direct blow) to determine whether the formulation is safe to scale up to 10 g. The latter of these tests, mallet impact, can be particularly subjective as the result is directly influenced by the operator carrying out the assessment. Not only can there be a change from one operator to another but there can also be a change in the force applied during each strike potentially leading to inconsistent results. This study highlights this encountered variation and assesses the load applied by a variety of operators with varying levels of explosive experience. This paper also proposes the use of a small scale laboratory based impact test which would provide improved confidence in the assessment of impact sensitiveness of explosive formulations and assist in justifying whether a formulation can be taken to the next scale. A small scale version of the BAM impact test (EMTAP Test 43) has been devised that allows the comparison of the sensitiveness of small scale formulations relative to RDX (8.7 J, EMTAP Test 43B) whilst also ensuring a reproducible result

The Practitioner\u27s Corner: An exploration of municipal active living charter development and advocacy

Background: Numerous municipal active living-­‐related charters have been adopted to promote physical activity in Canada throughout the past decade. Despite this trend, there are few published critical examinations of the process through which charters are developed and used. Purpose: Thus, the purpose of this study was to establish greater understanding of active living charter development and advocacy. Methods: Semi-­‐structured interviews were conducted with eight primary contributors to different active living-­‐related charters across Ontario, Canada. Interview questions explored participants’ experiences developing and advocating for an active living charter. Interviews were analyzed using open, axial, and selective coding. Results and Conclusions: Participants consistently described a process whereby an impetus triggered the development of a charter, which was subsequently adopted by regional or municipal council. Continued advocacy to develop awareness of the charter and to promote desired outcomes in the community was valued and the capacity of the working group as well as the local political context played pivotal roles in determining how the charter was implemented. Outcomes were, however, only objectively evaluated in one case that was described – evaluation being a process that many participants thought was omitted in regard to their own charter. This work provides practical guidance for health professionals developing regional active living charters as a component of broader advocacy efforts

Recent Developments in the Law Relating to the Physician\u27s Assistant

The potential source of physician\u27s assistants is enormous. In addition to the frequently cited Vietnam medic, many highly intelligent, motivated individuals could be attracted to these training programs. For example, in 1970, 24,987 people applied to medical schools although there was space for only 11,348. According to the Association of American Medical Colleges, as many as one-half of the remaining 13,639 were fully qualified to become physicians, and many probably would be eager and able to deliver excellent primary health care as a physician\u27s assistant if given the opportunity. Many of the 650,000 registered nurses in retirement might be induced back to work by programs offering increased opportunity and responsibility in primary patient care. Other health care professionals, such as pharmacists, inhalation therapists, and laboratory technologists, might see the physician\u27s assistant role as a way out of dead-end career patterns and into more active patient care management. This article will review the important recent developments in the law relating to the physician\u27s assistant. Special emphasis will be placed on one of the most fundamental and yet complex issues surrounding the physician\u27s assistant--the appropriate scope of his practice

Qualitative evaluation of a flush air data system at transonic speeds and high angles of attack

Flight tests were performed on an F-14 aircraft to evaluate the use of flush pressure orifices on the nose section for obtaining air data at transonic speeds over a large range of flow angles. This program was part of a flight test and wind tunnel program to assess the accuracies of such systems for general use on aircraft. It also provided data to validate algorithms developed for the shuttle entry air data system designed at NASA Langley. Data were obtained for Mach numbers between 0.60 and 1.60, for angles of attack up to 26.0 deg, and for sideslip angles up to 11.0 deg. With careful calibration, a flush air data system with all flush orifices can provide accurate air data information over a large range of flow angles. Several orificies on the nose cap were found to be suitable for determination of stagnation pressure. Other orifices on the nose section aft of the nose cap were shown to be suitable for determination of static pressure. Pairs of orifices on the nose cap provided the most sensitive measurements for determining angles of attack and sideslip, although orifices located farther aft on the nose section could also be used

On transversally elliptic operators and the quantization of manifolds with ff-structure

An $f$-structure on a manifold $M$ is an endomorphism field \phi\in\Gamma(M,\End(TM)) such that $\phi^3+\phi=0$. Any $f$-structure $\phi$ determines an almost CR structure E_{1,0}\subset T_\C M given by the $+i$-eigenbundle of $\phi$. Using a compatible metric $g$ and connection $\nabla$ on $M$, we construct an odd first-order differential operator $D$, acting on sections of $\S=\Lambda E_{0,1}^*$, whose principal symbol is of the type considered in arXiv:0810.0338. In the special case of a CR-integrable almost $\S$-structure, we show that when $\nabla$ is the generalized Tanaka-Webster connection of Lotta and Pastore, the operator $D$ is given by D = \sqrt{2}(\dbbar+\dbbar^*), where \dbbar is the tangential Cauchy-Riemann operator. We then describe two "quantizations" of manifolds with $f$-structure that reduce to familiar methods in symplectic geometry in the case that $\phi$ is a compatible almost complex structure, and to the contact quantization defined in \cite{F4} when $\phi$ comes from a contact metric structure. The first is an index-theoretic approach involving the operator $D$; for certain group actions $D$ will be transversally elliptic, and using the results in arXiv:0810.0338, we can give a Riemann-Roch type formula for its index. The second approach uses an analogue of the polarized sections of a prequantum line bundle, with a CR structure playing the role of a complex polarization.Comment: 31 page

General practitioner provision of preventive child health care: analysis of routine consultation data

<b>Background</b> GPs contribute to preventive child health care in various ways, including provision of child health surveillance (CHS) reviews, opportunistic preventive care, and more intensive support to vulnerable children. The number of CHS reviews offered in Scotland was reduced from 2005. This study aimed to quantify GPs’ provision of different types of preventive care to pre-school children before and after the changes to the CHS system.<p></p> <b>Methods</b> GP consultation rates with children aged 0–4 years were examined for the 2½ years before and after the changes to the CHS system using routinely available data from 30 practices in Scotland. Consultations for CHS reviews; other aspects of preventive care; and all reasons were considered.<p></p> <b>Results:</b> Prior to the changes to the CHS system, GPs often contributed to CHS reviews at 6–8 weeks and 8–9 and 39–42 months. Following the changes, GP provision of the 6–8 week review continued but other reviews essentially ceased. Few additional consultations with pre-school children are recorded as involving other aspects of preventive care, and the changes to CHS have had no impact on this. In the 2½ years before and after the changes, consultations recorded as involving any form of preventive care accounted for 11% and 7.5% respectively of all consultations with children aged 0–4 years, with the decline due to reductions in CHS reviews.<p></p> <b>Conclusions:</b> Effective preventive care through the early years can help children secure good health and developmental outcomes. GPs are well placed to contribute to the provision of such care. Consultations focused on preventive care form a small minority of GPs’ contacts with pre-school children, however, particularly since the reduction in the number of CHS reviews

Maturation of the gilt\u27s uterus before puberty: response to progesterone at different ages

We determined the age at which progesterone induced certain responses in the gilt\u27s uterus. The prepubertal maturation permitting each response is being studied currently with the intent of using the information to develop methods to improve litter size in pigs, perhaps by identifying markers for uterine function that could be used before gilts enter the breeding herd.; Swine Day, Manhattan, KS, November 16, 199