Instrumentalization in the Public Smart Bikeshare Sector

This thesis is concerned with understanding how smart technologies are conceived, created and implemented, and explores the ways these processes are shaped by historical, geo-political, economic and technical contexts. At its core the thesis is concerned with understanding how technical citizenship and democracy can be preserved within the design process against a backdrop of increasing neoliberalism and technocracy. This is investigated by means of a comparative study of smart public bikeshare schemes in Dublin, Ireland and Hamilton, Canada. These schemes are configured and systemized using a variety of technical and ideological rationales and express the imaginaries of place in significantly different ways. Utilising a conceptual framework derived from Andrew Feenberg’s critical theory of technology, the thesis unpacks and problematizes the innovation process in order to understand how the outcomes of these schemes support the way of life of one or another influential social group. The philosophical orientation of the study is critical constructivism which combines a form of constructivism with more systematic and socially critical views of technology. The axis of comparison between the schemes is democratization and the manner in which the rationalizations and embedded cultural assumptions characterizing particular places operate to support or resist more egalitarian forms of participation. Methodologically, Feenberg’s critical framework is supported both by theory-driven thematic coding and critical hermeneutics which is an interpretative process that compliments the theoretical framework and positions issues of power and ideology within a wider, macro-level context. Data sources supporting the research comprise interviews, a variety of documentary sources and the architectures and technical specifications of both smart bikeshare systems. The findings from the research illustrate that despite the pervasiveness of a neoliberal orthodoxy conditioning technology production, citizen-centric design is still possible within a climate of consensus building and cooperation. As such, the thesis adds to the body of knowledge on philosophy of technology, critical urbanism, smart city development, democratic engagement and collaborative infrastructuring. In addition, the conceptual framework, developed in response to the empirical cases, represents an elaboration of Feenberg’s work and so the thesis also makes an important contribution to the analytic and methodological potential of critical theory of technology

A grammar of Doromu-Koki: a Papuan language of Papua New Guinea

Robert Bradshaw conducted research on the Doromu-Koki language of Papua New Guinea. He produced a grammatical analysis of this Papuan (Southeast Manubaran) language, spoken by 2,000 speakers. His research encompasses aspects of the language and promotes preservation of an endangered language for the benefit of speakers and linguistic scholarship

Moosehead Lake: Gateway to Happiness

A travel brochure published with support of the merchants, hotels and camps of the Moosehead Region of Maine. Please note: Libraries and archives collect materials from different cultures and time periods to preserve and make available the historical record. As a result, materials such as those presented here may reflect sexist, misogynistic, abusive, or discriminatory attitudes or actions that some may find harmful or difficult to view

An update on MALDI Mass Spectrometry based technology for the analysis of fingermarks - stepping into operational deployment

Since in 2009, when Matrix Assisted Laser Desorption Ionisation Mass Spectrometry Imaging (MALDI MSI) was firstly reported for the molecular mapping of latent fingermarks, the range of information and operational capabilities have steadily increased. Pioneering work from our Fingermark Research Group exploited different modalities, including Profiling (MALDI MSP), tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) and Ion Mobility MS/MS; a number of methodologies were also developed to conquer a main challenge, namely profiling the suspect and their actions prior to or whilst committing the crime. Suspect profiling here is no longer based on behavioural science but complements this discipline and the investigations by detecting and visualising the molecular make-up of fingermarks onto the identifying ridges. This forensic opportunity provides the link between the biometric information (ridge detail) and the corpus delicti or intelligence on the circumstances of the crime. In 2013, a review was published covering the research work and developments of four years supported by the Home Office, UK and the local regional Police with some insights (and comparison) into similar research being reported employing other mass spectrometric techniques. The present review is an extensive update on the MALDI MS based methods' achievements, limitations and work in progress; it also offers an outlook on further necessary research into this subject. The main highlights are the increased number of possible information retrievable around a suspect and the more extended compatibility of this technology. The latter has allowed MALDI MS based methods to integrate well with current forensic fingerprinting, leading to the investigation of real police casework

Implementation of MALDI MS profiling and imaging methods for the analysis of real crime scene fingermarks

In the study presented here, four examples of crime scene fingermarks analysed by Matrix Assisted Laser Desorption Ionisation Mass Spectrometry Imaging (MALDI MSI), in collaboration with the local Police Force, are reported. These marks are associated to high profile crimes such as drug dealing, murder and harassment. Following the application of forensic enhancement techniques by the CSI or the crime lab, one of the marks could be directly analysed on the surface of deposition and the others were analysed as primary lifts. In one case, no physical or molecular information was obtained whereas in two cases both ridge detail (albeit not useful for identification purposes) and molecular information could be retrieved. In one case, the intelligence gathered around the suspect's state of mind is, to date the most accomplished demonstration of the benefits and the operational feasibility MALDI MS based methods. These four casework examples are to be considered a first insight into the limitations, benefits and feasibility of MALDI MS based methods in the field; due to the extreme variability in the state of the mark, comprehensive evaluation of these aspects can only be undertaken upon the analysis of a large number of crime scene marks. However, this work does represent a significant advancement, compared to previous published work, as it demonstrates operational feasibility, with different levels of success, despite uncontrollable, unknown and unaccountable environmental and donor variability

Corrosion resistance of stainless steels during thermal cycling in alkali nitrate molten salts.

The corrosion behavior of three austenitic stainless steels was evaluated during thermal cycling in molten salt mixtures consisting of NaNO{sub 3} and KNO{sub 3}. Corrosion tests were conducted with Types 316, 316L and 304 stainless steels for more than 4000 hours and 500 thermal cycles at a maximum temperature of 565 C. Corrosion rates were determined by chemically descaling coupons. Metal losses ranged from 5 to 16 microns and thermal cycling resulted in moderately higher corrosion rates compared to isothermal conditions. Type 316 SS was somewhat more corrosion resistant than Type 304 SS in these tests. The effect of carbon content on corrosion resistance was small, as 316L SS corroded only slightly slower than 316 SS. The corrosion rates increased as the dissolved chloride content of the molten salt mixtures increased. Chloride concentrations approximating 1 wt.%, coupled with thermal cycling, resulted in linear weight loss kinetics, rather than parabolic kinetics, which described corrosion rates for all other conditions. Optical microscopy and electron microprobe analysis revealed that the corrosion products consisted of iron-chromium spinel, magnetite, and sodium ferrite, organized as separate layers. Microanalysis of the elemental composition of the corrosion products further demonstrated that the chromium content of the iron-chromium spinel layer was relatively high for conditions in which parabolic kinetics were observed. However, linear kinetics were observed when the spinel layer contained relatively little chromium

Development of operational protocols for the analysis of primary and secondary fingermark lifts by MALDI-MS Imaging

Eight years of intensive research have demonstrated that Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption/Ionisation Mass Spectrometry Profiling and Imaging (MALDI-MSI and MSP) are powerful tools to gather intelligence around a suspect lifestyle, directly from the identifying ridges of a latent fingermark. In the past three years, many efforts have been invested into translating laboratory methodologies to the field; this was undertaken by devising protocols either for (a) enabling initial fingermark visualisation, such as through the Dry-Wet method, recovery and subsequent MALDI MS based analysis, or for (b) rendering the MS methodologies compatible with the prior application of commonly employed fingermark enhancement techniques (FET). In the present work a major point of interest concerned the sample treatment of FET visualised-lifted fingermarks and the subsequent MS performance of primary tape lifted fingermarks ("primary lifts") versus secondary tape lifted fingermarks (recovery from the surface a second time following the initial primary lift). This was necessary since it may not always be possible to obtain primary lifts of marks visualised at crime scenes for remote MALDI-MSP and MSI. The work illustrated here has provided methodological insights into establishing how to best treat a few types of developed marks in preparation for MALDI-MSI when presented as both secondary and primary lifts; it was demonstrated, as expected, that primary lifts generally yield much higher quality chemical/physical information and are therefore crucial to maximise chances of suspect identification and of retrieval of chemical intelligence. When analysing secondary lifted marks that have been initially developed using aluminium or carbon powders, any of the trialled sample preparation methodologies can be employed except the Dry-Wet method. In the case of TiO2 powder developed marks, the best ridge coverage was achieved by re-enhancing the mark using the initial powder and spray-coating with MALDI matrix. Primary lifts of fingermarks contaminated with an exogenous substance (used as a reference model) yielded the best ridge detail quality whilst for secondary lifts of natural marks pre-enhanced with aluminium powder, significantly greater intensity of the ion image was observed for the sections subjected to either no further enhancement or re-enhancement using aluminium powder. Keywords: Fingermarks; MALDI; Imaging; powders; lift