Development of a carbon fibre composite active mirror: Design and testing

Carbon fibre composite technology for lightweight mirrors is gaining increasing interest in the space- and ground-based astronomical communities for its low weight, ease of manufacturing, excellent thermal qualities and robustness. We present here first results of a project to design and produce a 27 cm diameter deformable carbon fibre composite mirror. The aim was to produce a high surface form accuracy as well as low surface roughness. As part of this programme, a passive mirror was developed to investigate stability and coating issues. Results from the manufacturing and polishing process are reported here. We also present results of a mechanical and thermal finite element analysis, as well as early experimental findings of the deformable mirror. Possible applications and future work are discussed.Comment: Accepted by Optical Engineering. Figures 1-7 on http://www.star.ucl.ac.uk/~sk/OEpaper_files

Inward Motions of the Compact SiO Masers Around VX Sagittarii

We report Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) observations of 43 GHz v=1, J=1-0 SiO masers in the circumstellar envelope of the M-type semi-regular variable star VX Sgr at 3 epochs during 1999 April-May. These high-resolution VLBA images reveal a persistent ringlike distribution of SiO masers with a projected radius of ~3 stellar radii. The typical angular size of 0.5 mas for individual maser feature was estimated from two-point correlation function analysis for maser spots. We found that the apparent size scale of maser features was distinctly smaller than that observed in the previous observations by comparing their fractions of total power imaged. This change in the size scale of maser emission may be related to stellar activity that caused a large SiO flare during our observations. Our observations confirmed the asymmetric distribution of maser emission, but the overall morphology has changed significantly with the majority of masers clustering to the north-east of the star compared to that lying to the south-west direction in 1992. By identifying 42 matched maser features appearing in all the three epochs, we determined the contraction of an SiO maser shell toward VX Sgr at a proper motion of -0.507 mas/yr, corresponding to a velocity of about 4 km/s at a distance of 1.7 kpc to VX Sgr. Such a velocity is on the order of the sound speed, and can be easily explained by the gravitational infall of material from the circumstellar dust shell.Comment: 26 pages, 5 figures, 4 tables, accepted for publication in Ap

Unsung heroes: who supports social work students on placement?

Since the introduction of the three year degree programme in 2003, social work education has undergone a number of significant changes. The time students spend on placement has been increased to two hundred days, and the range of placement opportunities and the way in which these placements have been configured has significantly diversified. A consistent feature over the years, however, has been the presence of a Practice Educator (PE) who has guided, assessed and taught the student whilst on placement. Unsurprisingly, the role of the PE and the pivotal relationship they have with the student has been explored in the past and features in social work literature. This paper, however, concentrates on a range of other relationships which are of significance in providing support to students on placement. In particular it draws on research to discuss the role of the university contact tutor, the place of the wider team in which the student is sited, and the support offered by family, friends and others. Placements and the work undertaken by PE’s will continue to be integral to the delivery of social work education. It is, however, essential to recognise and value the often over looked role of others in providing support to students on placement

Axial Symmetry and Rotation in the SiO Maser Shell of IK Tauri

We observed v=1, J=1-0 43-GHz SiO maser emission toward the Mira variable IK Tauri (IK Tau) using the Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA). The images resulting from these observations show that SiO masers form a highly elliptical ring of emission approximately 58 x 32 mas with an axial ratio of 1.8:1. The major axis of this elliptical distribution is oriented at position angle of ~59 deg. The line-of-sight velocity structure of the SiO masers has an apparent axis of symmetry consistent with the elongation axis of the maser distribution. Relative to the assumed stellar velocity of 35 km/s, the blue- and red-shifted masers were found to lie to the northwest and southeast of this symmetry axis respectively. This velocity structure suggests a NW-SE rotation of the SiO maser shell with an equatorial velocity, which we determine to be ~3.6 km/s. Such a NW-SE rotation is in agreement with a circumstellar envelope geometry invoked to explain previous water and OH maser observations. In this geometry, water and OH masers are preferentially created in a region of enhanced density along the NE-SW equator orthogonal to the rotation/polar axis suggested by the SiO maser velocities.Comment: 17 Pages, 4 figures (2 color); accepted for publication in Ap

Technical assistance, neo-colonialism or mutual trade? The experience of an Anglo/Ukrainian/Russian social work practice learning project

Since the collapse of the Soviet Union there has been a steady stream of Western consultants ready to work in Eastern Europe and Russia and share professional and academic expertise and experience. Social work, unknown as a discrete discipline or profession in the Soviet Union, has been a growth area with funding from a variety of sources to help promote East-West partnerships.Social work theory and practice emphasises critical appraisal of policy and embraces issues of power, discrimination and oppression. Social work educators should therefore be especially alert to the complex ethical questions which these kinds of collaborations raise, and adept at finding practical solutions or workable compromises. This article explores these ethical and political issues with reference to a project to develop social work practice learning in a Russian oblast' (region). The project was an ambitious partnership of British, Ukrainian and Russian educators, involving numerous Russian social work and related agencies, and four Russian universities and colleges in one oblast'. The authors use a series of vignettes to help the reader achieve insights into these East-West transactions. The article concludes with a discussion of different interpretations of these dealings, using three prisms: technical assistance, neo-colonialism and mutual trade

Two-dimensional model of dynamical fermion mass generation in strongly coupled gauge theories

We generalize the $N_F=2$ Schwinger model on the lattice by adding a charged scalar field. In this so-called $\chi U\phi_2$ model the scalar field shields the fermion charge, and a neutral fermion, acquiring mass dynamically, is present in the spectrum. We study numerically the mass of this fermion at various large fixed values of the gauge coupling by varying the effective four-fermion coupling, and find an indication that its scaling behavior is the same as that of the fermion mass in the chiral Gross-Neveu model. This suggests that the $\chi U\phi_2$ model is in the same universality class as the Gross-Neveu model, and thus renormalizable and asymptotic free at arbitrary strong gauge coupling.Comment: 18 pages, LaTeX2e, requires packages rotating.sty and curves.sty from CTA

Ginsparg-Wilson Fermions: A study in the Schwinger Model

Qualitative features of Ginsparg-Wilson fermions, as formulated by Neuberger, coupled to two dimensional U(1) gauge theory are studied. The role of the Wilson mass parameter in changing the number of massless flavors in the theory and its connection with the index of the Dirac operator is studied. Although the index of the Dirac operator is not related to the geometric definition of the topological charge for strong couplings, the two start to agree as soon as one goes to moderately weak couplings. This produces the desired singularity in the quenched chiral condensate which appears to be very difficult to reproduce with staggered fermions. The fermion determinant removes the singularity and reproduces the known chiral condensate and the meson mass within understandable errors.Comment: Corrected a few typos and changed some references. Minor changes to the conten

W(h)ither the academy? An exploration of the role of university social work in shaping the future of social work in Europe

A controversial proposal to pilot the training of child protection social workers through an intensive work-based route in England is being supported and funded by the UK Government. Frontline, the brainchild of a former teacher, locates social work training within local authorities (‘the agency’) rather than university social work departments (‘the academy’) and has stimulated debate amongst social work academics about their role in shaping the direction of the profession. As a contribution to this debate, this paper explores the duality of social work education, which derives its knowledge from both the academic social sciences and the experience of practice within social work agencies. While social work education has traditionally been delivered by the academy, this paper also explores whether the delivery of training in the allied professions of probation and nursing by ‘the agency’ is equally effective. Finally, this paper explores the Helsinki model which achieves a synergy of ‘academy’ and ‘agency’. It suggests that there are alternative models of social work education, practice and research which avoid dichotomies between the ‘academy’ and the ‘agency’ and enable the profession to be shaped by both social work academics and practitioners

Correlation between Infrared Colors and Intensity Ratios of SiO Maser Lines

We present the results of SiO millimeter-line observations of a sample of known SiO maser sources covering a wide dust-temperature range. A cold part of the sample was selected from the SiO maser sources found in our recent SiO maser survey of cold dusty objects. The aim of the present research is to investigate the causes of the correlation between infrared colors and SiO maser intensity ratios among different transition lines. In particular, the correlation between infrared colors and SiO maser intensity ratio among the J=1-0 v=1, 2, and 3 lines are mainly concerned in this paper. We observed in total 75 SiO maser sources with the Nobeyama 45m telescope quasi-simultaneously in the SiO J=1-0 v=0, 1, 2, 3, 4 and J=2-1 v=1, 2 lines. We also observed the sample in the 29SiO J=1-0 v=0 and J=2-1 v=0, and 30SiO J=1-0 v=0 lines, and the H2O 6(1,6)-5(2,3) line. As reported in previous papers, we confirmed that the intensity ratios of the SiO J=1-0 v=2 to v=1 lines clearly correlate with infrared colors. In addition, we found possible correlation between infrared colors and the intensity ratios of the SiO J=1-0 v=3 to v=1&2 lines. Two overlap lines of H2O (i.e., 11(6,6) nu_2=1 -> 12(7,5) nu_2=0 and 5(0,5) nu_2=2 -> 6(3,4) nu_2=1) might explain these correlation if these overlap lines become stronger with increase of infrared colors, although the phenomena also might be explained by more fundamental ways if we take into account the variation of opacity from object to object.Comment: 49 pages, 7 figures, 3 tables, accepted for publication in ApJ. Full resolution version available at http://www.asiaa.sinica.edu.tw/~junichi/paper

Using VLBI to Probe the Orion-KL Outflow on AU Scales

We present the first contemporaneous 43GHz and 86GHz VLBI images of the v=1 J=2-1 and J=1-0 SiO masers in the Orion-KL nebula. Both maser species exhibit the same general morphology of earlier J=1-0 maser images which appear to trace the edges of a bi-polar conical outflow. Surprisingly, the J=2-1 masers form further from the central protostar than the J=1-0 masers, a fact not readily explained by current SiO maser pumping models. The average magnitude of offsets between corresponding regions of the two masing transitions is approximately 14% of the total radial extent of the SiO maser emission. This offset indicates that each transition must trace different physical conditions.Comment: 20 pages, 4 figure