Continuous Casting Development for Steel

Continuous casting processes for steel have all had their origin in some form of pilot Plant development and experience, the importance of gaining "know-how" being a Predominant feature. The first pilot plant to cast metal continuously was built by Henry Bessemer just over one hundred years ago. Whilst machines were developed for non-ferrous metals, progress with liquid steel was more difficult, mainly due to the high handling temperatures and to its low thermal conductivity when solidified

On the use of low-cost computer peripherals for the assessment of motor dysfunction in Parkinson’s disease – Quantification of bradykinesia using target tracking tasks

The potential of computer games peripherals to measure the motor dysfunction in Parkinson’s diseases is assessed. Of particular interest is the quantification of bradykinesia. Previous studies used modified or custom haptic interfaces, here an unmodified force feedback joystick and steering wheel are used with a laptop. During testing an on screen cursor moves in response to movements of the peripheral, the user has to track a continuously moving target (pursuit tracking), or move to a predetermined target (step tracking). All tasks use movement in the horizontal axis, allowing use of joystick or steering wheel. Two pursuit tracking tasks are evaluated, pseudo random movement, and a swept frequency task. Two step tracking tasks are evaluated, movement between two or between two of five fixed targets. Thirteen patients and five controls took part on a weekly basis. Patients were assessed for bradykinesia at each session using standard clinical measures. A range of quantitative measures was developed to allow comparison between and within patients and controls using ANOVA. Both peripherals are capable of discriminating between controls and patients, and between patients with different levels of bradykinesia. Recommendations for test procedures and peripherals are given

Online leadership discourse in higher education: a digital multimodal discourse perspective

As leadership discourses in higher education are increasingly being mediated online, texts previously reserved for staff are now being made available in the public domain. As such, these texts become accessible for study, critique and evaluation. Additionally, discourses previously confined to the written domain are now increasingly multimodal. Thus, an approach is required that is capable of relating detailed, complex multimodal discourse analyses to broader sociocultural perspectives to account for the complex meaning-making practices that operate in online leadership discourses. For this purpose, a digital multimodal discourse approach is proposed and illustrated via a small-scale case study of the online leadership discourse of an Australian university. The analysis of two short video texts demonstrates how a digital multimodal discourse perspective facilitates the identification of key multimodal systems used for meaning-making in online communication, how meaning arises through combinations of semiotic choices (not individual choices), and how the results of multimodal discourse analysis using digital technology can reveal larger sociocultural patterns – in this case, divergent leadership styles and approaches as reflected in online discourse, at a time of immense change within the higher education sector

Patient and Family Caregivers’ Experiences of Living With a Jejunostomy Feeding Tube After Surgery for Esophagogastric Cancer

BACKGROUND: Jejunostomy feeding tubes (JFTs) can be used to provide nutrition support to patients who have had surgery for esophagogastric cancer. Although previous research reports how patients cope with a gastrostomy tube, little is known about the impact of having a JFT. The aim of this qualitative study was to explore how patients and their informal caregivers experience living with a JFT in the first months following surgery. METHODS: Participants were purposively sampled from a cohort of patients recruited to a trial investigating home enteral nutrition vs standard care after esophagogastric surgery for cancer. The sampling framework considered age, sex, and marital status. Informal caregivers were also invited to participate. Interviews were audio recorded, transcribed verbatim, and anonymized. Inductive thematic analysis was used to identify key themes related to living with a JFT. RESULTS: Fifteen patient interviews were conducted; 8 also included a family caregiver. Analysis of the data resulted in 2 main themes: "challenges" and "facilitators" when living with a JFT. While "physical effects," "worries" and "impact on routine" were the main challenges, "support," "adaptation" and "perceived benefit" were what motivated continuation of the intervention. CONCLUSION: Findings suggest that participants coped well with a JFT, describing high levels of compliance with stoma care and the feeding regimen. Nonetheless, disturbed sleep patterns and stoma-related problems proved troublesome. A better understanding of these practical challenges, from the patient and family caregiver perspective, should guide healthcare teams in providing proactive support to avoid preventable problems

Variability of Cu 2 ZnSnS 4 nanoparticle hot injection synthesis and modifications by thin film annealing

As a quaternary semiconductor with a direct energy bandgap of around 1.4 eV, Cu2ZnSnS4 is a promising candidate for absorber layers in next generation thin-film solar PV devices. It has the advantage of being based on low cost earth-abundant elements. Solution based synthesis approaches show the greatest potential for scaling up manufacture. Cu2ZnSnS4 devices are currently limited in efficiency because of a large open circuit voltage deficit, arising predominantly from high concentrations of point defects and charge compensation defect complexes. To drive device efficiency robust, reliable and reproducible synthesis protocols are required. We have produced a series of Cu2ZnSnS4 thin films by spin coating nanoparticle ink suspensions fabricated under nominally identical conditions to investigate the inherent variability in hot injection synthesis of Cu2ZnSnS4 nanoparticles by fabricating 11 batches using the same initial conditions. We use two different chemical routes to extratct nanoparticles from solution after synthesis. We find that the lattice constants of the nanocrystalline material do not change significantly. The relative concentration of the constituent elements varies with S having the largest anion variation of ±3.8% as compared to metal cation variations of Zn ±2.4%, Cu ±1.8%, and Sn ±1.4% with Zn having the largest cation variation. We compare data from energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) and inductively coupled plasma mass spectroscopy (ICPMS) chemical analysis methods and find that the ICPMS analysis has a consistently smaller standard deviation, an average of 0.1 lower, as this technique samples a large volume of material. We observe variation in the kesterite tetragonal lattice constants a and c, and energy bandgap Eg across the different samples, although there is no systematic change in the chemical composition. The average bandgap of as-synthesised films is 1.14 eV. We find that annealing in a sulphur rich environment has no systematic impact on the Cu/(Zn + Sn) cation ratio and leads to a decrease of −0.4 in the Zn/Sn ratio. At higher annealing temperatures, 500–600 °C, the bandgap shows a linear increase of +0.15 eV accompanied by the formation of abnormal grains and an increase in the size of the crystalline scattering domain τ, determined from the X-ray spectra, from 30–100 nm. The most dramatic changes occur in the first 0.5 hours of annealing. These findings will help in the design of fabrication strategies for higher efficiency Cu2ZnSnS4 photovoltaic devices

National Evaluation of the Capacity Building Programme in English Local Government: Evaluation of the National Programmes: Annex 2: Evaluation of the National Programmes

The report is one of a series of outputs from the national evaluation of the CBP, being undertaken by a team of researchers at the Policy Research Institute (PRI) at Leeds Metropolitan University and the Cities Research Unit at the University of West of England. The Capacity Building Programme for local government was launched in 2003 as a joint Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) / Local Government Association (LGA) initiative to support capacity building and improvement activities within local authorities in England. The evaluation of the Capacity Building Programme has been underway since late 2004. A scoping phase was conducted until May 2005, including a short evaluation of the Pilot Programmes. The main phase of the evaluation commenced in September 2005 and encompassed four main phases (see Section 1.3: p10)

Food security, nutrition and health of food bank attendees in an English city: A cross-sectional study

Food banks in contemporary Britain are feeding record numbers of people. Little is known about attendees’ level of food insecurity, background diet quality or health. We surveyed 112 food bank attendees. Over 50% had experienced food shortage with hunger on a weekly basis or more often. Obesity and mental health problems were prevalent in women. Diet quality was poor, with energy, protein, fibre, iron and calcium intakes inadequate, while saturated fat and sugars intake were disproportionate. Women had poorer diet quality than men. Such patterns may lead to ill health

Long-Range Excitons in Optical Absorption Spectra of Electroluminescent Polymer Poly(para-phenylenevinylene)

The component of photoexcited states with large spatial extent is investigated for poly(para-phenylenevinylene) using the intermediate exciton theory. We find a peak due to long-range excitons at the higher-energy side of the lowest main feature of optical spectra. The fact that the onset of long-range excitons is located near the energy gap is related to the mechanisms of large photocurrents measured in such energy regions. We show that a large value of the hopping integral is realistic for characterizing optical excitations.Comment: To be published in J. Phys. Soc. Jpn. (Letters

Open challenges in the management of autoimmune hepatitis

Autoimmune Hepatitis (AIH) is a rare autoimmune disease of the liver with many open questions as regards its aetiopathogenesis, natural history and clinical management. The classical picture of AIH is chronic hepatitis with fluctuating elevation of serum transaminases and Immunoglobulin G levels, the presence of circulating autoantibodies and typical histological features. However, atypical presentations do occur and are not well captured by current diagnostic scores, with important consequences in terms of missed diagnoses and delayed treatments. AIH is treated with corticosteroids and immunosuppressive drugs but up to 40% of patients do not achieve full biochemical response and are at risk of progressing to cirrhosis and liver failure. Moreover, standard therapies are associated by significant side-effects which may impair the quality of life of patients living with AIH. However, advances in the understanding of the underlying immunology of AIH is raising the prospect of novel therapies and optimisation of existing therapeutic approaches to reduce side-effect burdens and potentially restore immunological tolerance. In this review we outline the clinical characteristics, aetiopathogenesis and management of AIH and current challenges in the diagnosis and management of AIH and provide evidence underlying the evolution of diagnostic and clinical management protocols