Nano-Engineering Defect Structures on Graphene

We present a new way of nano-engineering graphene using defect domains. These regions have ring structures that depart from the usual honeycomb lattice, though each carbon atom still has three nearest neighbors. A set of stable domain structures is identified using density functional theory (DFT), including blisters, ridges, ribbons, and metacrystals. All such structures are made solely out of carbon; the smallest encompasses just 16 atoms. Blisters, ridges and metacrystals rise up out of the sheet, while ribbons remain flat. In the vicinity of vacancies, the reaction barriers to formation are sufficiently low that such defects could be synthesized through the thermally activated restructuring of coalesced adatoms.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figure

Selection, Stability and Renormalization

We illustrate how to extend the concept of structural stability through applying it to the front propagation speed selection problem. This consideration leads us to a renormalization group study of the problem. The study illustrates two very general conclusions: (1) singular perturbations in applied mathematics are best understood as renormalized perturbation methods, and (2) amplitude equations are renormalization group equations.Comment: 38 pages, LaTeX, two PostScript figures available by anonymous ftp to gijoe.mrl.uiuc.edu (128.174.119.153) files /pub/front_kkfest_fig

Using Semantic Web Technologies to Support Enhanced Situation Awareness

The AKTiveSA project is using Semantic Web technologies to support information fusion and enhanced situational awareness in a simulated humanitarian relief scenario. We have developed an application that shows how situational awareness can be supported during humanitarian relief situations; often occurring alongside military conflict. Semantic Web technologies provide new opportunities for harvesting information from numerous, disparate and often heterogeneous information sources and can be used to better support complex knowledge fusion

How Can Autonomous and Connected Vehicles, Electromobility, BRT, Hyperloop, Shared Use Mobility and Mobility-As-A-Service Shape Transport Futures for the Context of Smart Cities?

A smarter transport system that caters for social, economic and environmental sustainability is arguably one of the most critical prerequisites for creating pathways to more livable urban futures. This paper aims to provide a state-of-the-art analysis of a selection of mobility initiatives that may dictate the future of urban transportation and make cities smarter. These are mechanisms either recently introduced with encouraging uptake so far and much greater potential to contribute in a shift to a better transport paradigm or still in an embryonic stage of their development and yet to be embraced as powerful mechanisms that could change travel behaviour norms. Autonomous and connected vehicles are set to revolutionise the urban landscape by allowing machines to take over driving that for over a century has been exclusively a human activity, while electrical vehicles are already helping decarbonising the transport sector. Bus rapid transit has been steadily reinventing and rebranding conventional bus services revitalising the use of the humblest form of public transport, while hyperloop is an entirely new, disruptive, and somewhat provocative, travel mode proposition based on the use of sealed tube systems through which pods could travel free of air resistance with speeds exceeding 1000 km/h. Shared use mobility mechanisms like car-sharing, ride-sharing, ride-sourcing and public bicycles can help establishing a culture for using mobility resources on an as-needed basis, while mobility-as-a-service will take this sharing culture a step further, offering tailored mobility and trip planning packages that could entirely replace the need for privately owned modes of transport

Written evidence from the NCECJS to the HoC Justice Committee: implications of Brexit for justice

Forensic biometric sharing within the EU (Prüm) is a specialist form of cooperation. Nevertheless research into this activity and the context in which it occurs places some of the implications of Brexit into sharp relief: a) Brexit (in any form) will not result in a major reduction in the need for effective criminal justice and security cooperation. The UK will still receive millions of foreign citizens a year and a very small proportion of them will be serious criminals who present major threats. The challenge is to identify this small group within the generally law-abiding and tax-paying crowd. b) The effectiveness, continued extension and form of such cooperation will also have a major impact on the safety and rights of UK citizens abroad, whether they are in the diaspora or simply travelling for work or holidays. c) The value of individual criminal justice and security cooperation agreements (however good) will only be realised fully within a comprehensive framework (e.g. with access to the European Arrest Warrant (EAW)) that is underpinned institutionally (e.g. by Europol and Eurojust) and subject to parliamentary and legal scrutiny. d) UK global economic and political status was significantly reduced on 23rd June and a badly handled Brexit will further diminish this country’s influence. There will be little or no scope for UK bespoke arrangements for police and judicial cooperation or scientific standardisation. e) The resilience of both UK science and technology, and our criminal justice system – including responses to transnational cybercrime - are likely to be weakened significantly if British forensic scientists are no longer influential within EU collaborative scientific research, professional working groups and standardisation decisions. Opting-out of the EU arrangements, such as Prüm, the European Criminal Records Information System (ECRIS) and EAW, to which the UK belongs only after recent Protocol 36 reviews by criminal justice professionals, government and Parliament would be inexplicable and may prove to be reckless

Agreement between mothers and children with malocclusion in rating children's oral health-related quality of life

Introduction: The aim of this study was to compare the assessment of oral health-related quality of life (OH-QoL) between children with malocclusion and their mothers, by using responses to the child perceptions questionnaire and the parental-caregivers perceptions questionnaire. Methods: The study was conducted in 90 children, aged 11 to 14 years, with a malocclusion grade of 4 or 5 according to the index of orthodontic treatement need dental health component. The children and their mothers completed the questionnaires independently. Results: The mean ratings were similar for total scores (children, 20.4; mothers, 20.1), oral symptoms (children, 5.2; mothers, 4.7), and social well-being (children, 4.3; mothers, 4.8). However, the mothers group had a lower mean score for functional limitations (children, 5.3; mothers, 3.6) and a higher mean score for emotional well-being (children, 5.6; mothers, 7.1). The correlations between children's and mothers' responses ranged from rs = 0.545 for total score and emotional well-being to rs = 0.357 for functional limitations. There were good correlations between their responses to global (rs = 0.466) and life overall (rs = 0.427) questions, but poor correlations between the 2 questions, suggesting that these concepts were considered differently. Conclusions: Maternal opinions were similar to those of their children for the overall impact on OH-QoL of malocclusion, but mothers were more dissatisfied with the appearance of their children's teeth and overestimated the emotional impact of malocclusion. It would be useful to develop a specific measure to assess OH-QoL in children with malocclusion. (Am J Orthod Dentofacial Orthop 2010;137:631-8

Current profiles and AC losses of a superconducting strip with elliptic cross-section in perpendicular magnetic field

The case of a hard type II superconductor in the form of strip with elliptic cross-section when placed in transverse magnetic field is studied. We approach the problem in two steps, both based on the critical-state model. First we calculate numerically the penetrated current profiles that ensure complete shielding in the interior, without assuming an a priori form for the profiles. In the second step we introduce an analytical approximation that asumes that the current profiles are ellipses. Expressions linking the sample magnetization to the applied field are derived covering the whole range of applied fields. The theoretical predictions are tested by the comparison with experimental data for the imaginary part of AC susceptibility.Comment: 12 pages; 3 figure

The discrete fragmentation equations : semigroups, compactness and asynchronous exponential growth

In this paper we present a class of fragmentation semigroups which are compact in a scale of spaces defined in terms of finite higher moments. We use this compactness result to analyse the long time behaviour of such semigroups and, in particular, to prove that they have the asynchronous growth property. We note that, despite compactness, this growth property is not automatic as the fragmentation semigroups are not irreducible

Corporate responsibility, supply chain partnership and performance: An empirical examination

This is the post-print version of the final paper published in International Journal of Production Economics. The published article is available from the link below. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. Copyright @ 2012 Elsevier B.V.Unlike corporate and business levels, there is little research examining corporate responsibility (CR) at the functional level of the firm including supply chain strategy. The results of a firm-level survey show that CR internal awareness, and monitoring CR performance are positively related to the supply chain partnership approach, however sharing CR best practices is negatively associated. Furthermore, the impact of CR on firm performance is mediated by the functional behaviour of supply chain partnership formation. Our study provides support for including CR awareness building and monitoring in the development of partnerships but cautions against imposing CR best practices on suppliers

Observational Constraints on Open Inflation Models

We discuss observational constraints on models of open inflation. Current data from large-scale structure and the cosmic microwave background prefer models with blue spectra and/or Omega_0 >= 0.3--0.5. Models with minimal anisotropy at large angles are strongly preferred.Comment: 4 pages, RevTeX, with 2 postscript figures included. Second Figure correcte