Human Sexuality as a Critical Subfield in Social Work

Human sexuality is of vital importance to social work practitioners, educators, and scholars. Yet historically, the profession’s leadership around it has waxed and waned, impacting practice. This article discusses the importance of human sexuality as a critical subfield within social work. It suggests that the mechanisms, namely textbooks, journals, and national conferences, for stimulating human sexuality social work scholarship are limited. The authors assert that the taboo of human sexuality limits the advancement of a cohesive professional discourse and contributes to the continued oppression of marginalized populations. Recommendations for providing better support for those who study, teach, and practice in the arena of human sexuality are offered

Modified eutectic alloys for high temperature service Progress report

Control of modified eutectic cast alloys for high temperature servic

Axial load capacity of cold-formed steel sections.

Cold-formed steel strut purlins are important compression members in metal building wind bracing systems. They are generally located under the roof panel either in the braced bay or between the end wall and the first wind-braced bay in the building. Cold-formed Zee and Cee sections are typically used for strut purlins. The axial capacities of these members are often controlled by local and distortional buckling. These buckling modes can lead to a substantial reduction in the load-bearing capacity of these members. The current trend towards deeper, more slender sections makes this stability problem even more critical.Columns, or compression elements, are fundamental structural elements that exist in all but a few types of structures. Columns, or compression elements, made from cold-formed steel are fairly new products that have not been well studied. The code for the design of cold-formed steel built-up members is based on eleven hot-rolled tests while the code for cold-formed deep purlin design is based on three tests.The current criteria for calculating the axial load capacity of cold-formed Zee section strut purlins is based upon experimental studies conducted with sections up to 10 inches deep and 25 feet long, with h/t ratios between 100 and 135. This study investigates 12 and 14 inch deep strut purlins that are 30 to 40 feet long, with h/t ratios between 120 and 150. The results of full-scale testing of roof systems were compared to the theoretical capacities of the current AISI Specification and the Direct Strength Method. With strut purlins with no lateral bracing, it was found that the current design method is unconservative for sections with depths greater than 10 inches, and the Direct Strength Method tends to yield similar unconservative capacities. For the strut purlins with lateral bracing it was found that the current methods are marginally unconservative for deep Zee purlins and become increasingly unconservative for the heaviest 14 inch deep Zee purlins. Similar unconservative results are seen when the experimental results for built-up members are compared to the AISI Specification and the Direct Strength Method

Discrete-row growth of xenon adsorbed on the vicinal Pt(997) surface: Comparison between theory and experiment

Xe exhibits a discrete-row growth mode on the vicinal Pt(997) surface by sequential attachment to the substrate steps. In order to interpret experimental results obtained by grazing incidence helium scattering, potential calculations are performed. A mean-field Hamiltonian within the two-dimensional Ising model is shown to explain the sequential-row growth observed in helium-atom diffraction studies. More specifically, the calculated temperatures for the occurrence of each row depend mainly on the shape of the potential increment due to the steps and countersteps. They are in good agreement with the experimental values associated with maxima in the scattered He intensity versus coverage curves

USE OF HIGH PERFORMANCE CONCRETE IN OKLAHOMA BRIDGE DECKS

An investigation was performed to develop four different high performance concrete (HPC) mixtures for the Oklahoma Department of Transportation’s (ODOT’s) 2004 Innovative Bridge Research and Construction (IBRC) project funded by the Federal Highway Administration. These HPC mixtures are designed to achieve a greater durability than normal concretes with an emphasis on the shrinkage developed. These mixtures were developed by studying the affects of air entrainment, cementitious materials content, water to cementitious materials (w/cm) ratio, supplemental cementitious materials, fiber reinforcement, and a shrinkage-reducing admixture. Additionally, a large focus of this investigation was developed in the aggregate blend used in the concretes. This study was performed by conducting a separate study of the validity of the Shilstone method of blending aggregates. The research consisted of two parts: a laboratory and a field investigation. The laboratory investigation consisted of an initial system of batching matrices and a succeeding empirical study to develop the four mixtures required. The field investigation consisted of test slabs for the HPC mixtures and actual bridge construction where the University of Oklahoma investigators served as consultants and additional tests were taken to further characterize the mixtures. Based on the results found in these investigations, conclusions and recommendations were made on the local materials and practices used in the HPC mixture.Final Report, May 2005-July 2006N

Grating formation in step flow heterogeneous growth and wavelength selection induced by confinement

Based on kinetic Monte Carlo simulations, we show that modulated wires and island gratings can be formed at vicinal surfaces. The modulation (grating) wavelength along the steps can be tailored by external conditions (coverage and temperature) and intrinsic surface properties (diffusion, terrace width) via a scaling law. Above 220 K a thermodynamic saturation value for the wavelength occurs, which depends only on the terrace width. This morphological behavior can be understood in terms of nucleation arguments applied to heteroepitaxial growth of Ag on stepped Pt(111) surfaces. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Management of cryptorchidism in children: guidelines

QUESTION: To develop clinical guidelines for the management of cryptorchidism in pre-pubertal boys, from early diagnosis through therapy to long-term follow-up and prognosis. METHOD: Systematic review of articles from the medical literature, referenced since 1966, using validated search strategies through the following databases: Medline, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, Cochrane Register of Controlled Trials, EMBASE, DARE, ACP Journal Club, National Guidelines Clearinghouse, Guidelines International Network. Relevant articles published after 1988 were taken as the basis for the statements. Each statement was graded on the basis of the study design and on its methodological quality (GRADE approach). A multidisciplinary panel of local experts discussed and evaluated each statement on the strength of this evidence. RESULTS: 28 statements based on the best available evidence were drafted. The experts agreed with all but two statements, which were rated uncertain. CONCLUSIONS: Cryptorchidism is best diagnosed clinically, and treated by surgical orchiopexy at age 6-12 months, without a routine biopsy. If no testis is palpable, or if other signs of hypovirilisation such as hypospadias are present, the chromosomal sex and hormonal status must be assessed. Laparoscopy is the best way of diagnosing and managing intra-abdominal testes

The effect of starspots on eclipse timings of binary stars

We investigate the effects that starspots have on the light curves of eclipsing binaries and in particular how they may affect the accurate measurement of eclipse timings. Concentrating on systems containing a low-mass main-sequence star and a white dwarf, we find that if starspots exhibit the Wilson depression they can alter the times of primary eclipse ingress and egress by several seconds for typical binary parameters and starspot depressions. In addition, we find that the effect on the eclipse ingress/egress times becomes more profound for lower orbital inclinations. We show how it is possible, in principle, to determine estimates of both the binary inclination and depth of the Wilson depression from light curve analysis The effect of depressed starspots on the O-C diagrams of eclipsing systems is also investigated. It is found that the presence of starspots will introduce a `jitter' in the O-C residuals and can cause spurious orbital period changes to be observed. Despite this, we show that the period can still be accurately determined even for heavily spotted systems.Comment: 7 pages, 9 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA