Preparation and properties of polypropylene composites reinforced with wheat and flax straw fibres - Part 1: Fibre characterization

Copyright @ 1997 Chapman and Hall. This article is the author version of the published article which can be accessed at the link below.The microstructure, thermal and mechanical properties of flax and wheat straw fibres have been examined with a view to using these natural fibres as reinforcing additives for thermoplastics. In this regard, the fibres were characterized prior to incorporation into the polymer, using a range of techniques, including SEM, image analysis, thermogravimetric analysis and micro-mechanical tensile testing, at room and elevated temperatures. The thermal and mechanical properties obtained have been discussed in relation to the measured composition and structural form of the fibres.This work was supported by the EPSRC, DTI and Cookson Plantpak Ltd through the LINK Crops for Industrial Use programme

Preparation and properties of polypropylene composites reinforced with wheat and flax straw fibres - Part 2: Analysis of composite microstructure and mechanical properties

Copyright @ 1997 Chapman and Hall. This article is the author version of the published article which can be accessed at the link below.The microstructure and mechanical properties of polypropylene composites containing flax and wheat straw fibres are discussed. Particular emphasis has been given to determining the nature and consequences of fibre damage induced during melt-processing operations, fibre orientation occurring in mouldings, and possible interfacial adhesion between the matrix and fibres. Compared to unfilled polypropylene, addition of flax and wheat straw caused a significant increase in tensile modulus, particularly, in the case of flax fibres, which also gave higher tensile yield strength and Charpy toughness, despite a lack of interfacial bonding. Tensile strength was increased further through inclusion of 5% by weight of maleic anhydride-modified polypropylene, which was shown to promote adhesion between fibres and matrix.This work was supported by the EPSRC, DTI and Cookson Plantpak Ltd through the LINK Crops for Industrial Use programme

Development of IL-17A-associated autoimmunity

Autoimmunity results from a breakdown in tolerance to self-antigens. Interleukin-17A (IL-17A) is a cytokine that has been implicated in the development of certain autoimmune disorders, notably multiple sclerosis and its mouse model experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE). In order to further understand mechanisms that lead to the development of autoimmunity, the objectives of this study were to investigate the sequence of immunological events that lead to the development of an autoimmune response and to generate and characterise a reporter mouse for IL-17A. EAE is a well-established model of an autoimmune response directed against selfantigens in the central nervous system and mimics many aspects of the human disease multiple sclerosis. EAE is a CD4 T cell-mediated disease, in that these cells can be used to transfer disease to naïve recipient mice. Following EAE induction, IL-17A-expressing cells were increased in frequency within the CD4 and γδ T cell populations in the draining lymph nodes, with a simultaneous increase in the number of these cell populations in the blood. Disease development was associated with the appearance of IL-17A and IFN-γ-expressing CD4 T cells, as well as IL-17Aexpressing γδ T cells in the spinal cord. EAE induction requires the systemic administration of pertussis toxin for disease development. It was found that pertussis toxin enhanced antigen-specific IL-17A and IFN-γ production in the periphery. An IL-17A reporter mouse was generated in which activation of the IL-17A promoter is reported by expression of Enhanced Yellow Fluorescence Protein (EYFP). In order to generate the mouse, a strain was first generated in which Cre recombinase expression is driven by the IL-17A promoter. This mouse was then crossed with a ROSA-26_EYFP strain in which expression of EYFP in the ubiquitously expressed ROSA-26 locus is usually inhibited by the presence of a LoxP-flanked-transcriptional stop sequence. Expression of Cre recombinase would remove the transcriptional stop sequence, leading to irreversible expression of EYFP in all cells that had activated IL-17A and their progeny. The results from this study suggest that pertussis toxin can amplify antigen-specific cytokine responses in EAE, an effect which could be attributed to enhancing disease pathogenesis. The IL-17A reporter mouse will be an invaluable tool to investigate the generation, lifespan and function of IL-17A-expressing cells in the development of immune responses

Spamming for Legal Services: A Constitutional Right Within a Regulatory Quagmire, 22 J. Marshall J. Computer & Info. L. 97 (2003)

This article addresses the regulatory schemes applied to lawyers who advertise their legal services to consumers through electronic communications. Concerns have arisen about lawyers using electronic communications to offer their services to their targeted communities. Since the Supreme Court’s 1977 decision in Bates, lawyers have been able to advertise their services without state permission. However, states have imposed ethical regulations in an effort to ensure that lawyers do not over reach their boundaries during such advertising efforts. The question is raised as to whether states’ spam rules also apply to lawyers who choose to advertise over the Internet. This article analyzes the problems of enforcing individual state spam regulations. For instance, multi-state law firms would have to ensure their advertising efforts conforms to each individual state they send their advertisement into, which could lead to costly confusion

Engine monitoring display study

The current study is part of a larger NASA effort to develop displays for an engine-monitoring system to enable the crew to monitor engine parameter trends more effectively. The objective was to evaluate the operational utility of adding three types of information to the basic Boeing Engine Indicating and Crew Alerting System (EICAS) display formats: alphanumeric alerting messages for engine parameters whose values exceed caution or warning limits; alphanumeric messages to monitor engine parameters that deviate from expected values; and a graphic depiction of the range of expected values for current conditions. Ten training and line pilots each flew 15 simulated flight scenarios with five variants of the basic EICAS format; these variants included different combinations of the added information. The pilots detected engine problems more quickly when engine alerting messages were included in the display; adding a graphic depiction of the range of expected values did not affect detection speed. The pilots rated both types of alphanumeric messages (alert and monitor parameter) as more useful and easier to interpret than the graphic depiction. Integrating engine parameter messages into the EICAS alerting system appears to be both useful and preferred

Gaming the System: Approaching 100% Access to Legal Services through Online Games

By all measures, the American Legal System falls short of providing access to justice for all. Legal needs studies show that people often do not recognize when they have a problem for which there is a legal solution and therefore do not seek out lawyers or the justice system to provide assistance with their problems. Some assert that the costs of legal services are beyond the means of many people. While that is true for the poor in some areas of law, both the marketplace and specific programs, such as lawyer referral modest means panels, provide affordable legal services for many types of legal matters. For many, it is not affordability but lack of engagement that causes people to forego legal solutions. Technology has addressed efficiencies in the legal process, once again driving down costs, but has not fulfilled its potential for creating engagement. Even though the public finds the courtroom a focal point of popular culture, from novels to movies to daytime television, the legal profession has not done a good job of using the Internet to engage the public about their legal needs. The Army has used Massive Multi-player Online Games (MMOGs) to engage potential recruits and in fact serve as an effective recruiting tool. Others have used MMOGs as platforms to explore societal crises such as petroleum dependency and crowdsource solutions to medical issues. Law schools, which are leading the creative use of technology for legal matters, are well-positioned to take the lead in the development of online gaming to advance engagement in ways that enable people to recognize the circumstances under which they have legal solutions to their problems

Ad Rules Infinitum: The Need for Alternatives to State-Based Ethics Governing Legal Services Marketing

For most of the Twentieth Century, lawyer advertising was prohibited. Beginning with the Canons of Ethics ( Canons ), adopted by the American Bar Association (the ABA or Association ) in 1908, it was unethical for lawyers to advertise or engage in most forms of marketing. The 1977 United States Supreme Court decision of Bates v. State Bar of Arizona held that, under the First Amendment doctrine of commercial speech, states did not have the right to ban lawyer advertising. The decision, however, gave states the responsibility to regulate this activity. This began an experiment to balance consumer protection with the flow of legal commerce that continues on a state-by-state basis today

On the dynamics of vortex modes within magnetic islands

Recent work investigating the interaction of magnetic islands with micro-turbulence has uncovered the striking observation of large scale vortex modes forming within the island structure [W.A. Hornsby {\it et al.}, Phys. Plasmas {\bf 17} 092301 (2010)]. These electrostatic vortices are found to be the size of the island and are oscillatory. It is this oscillatory behaviour and the presence of turbulence that leads us to believe that the dynamics are related to the Geodesic Acoustic Mode (GAM), and it is this link that is investigated in this paper. Here we derive an equation for the GAM in the MHD limit, in the presence of a magnetic island modified three-dimensional axisymmetric geometry. The eigenvalues and eigenfunctions are calculated numerically and then utilised to analyse the dynamics of oscillatory large-scale electrostatic potential structures seen in both linear and non-linear gyro-kinetic simulations

Human Performance Assessments in Cadet Populations

This study assessed potential physiological differences between the Ranger Challenge (RC) Competition team and junior year cadets in an Army Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) program. The method included: RC (m = 11, f = 2) and junior year cadets (m = 7, f = 3) were assessed in the following areas: 1) quickness and agility (5-10-5 shuttle run), 2) total-body power (standing broad jump), and 3) grip strength (hand grip dynamometry) assessed. The 5-10-5 shuttle run was performed twice (opening once to the left and once to the right). The standing broad jump required that cadets stand with their toes behind a line, perform a maximum of three preparatory movements, triple extend their knees, hips, and ankles while using their upper body to propel them as far forward as possible. After the jump the distanced reached was measured from the line to the heel of the nearest foot. Hand grip dynamometry was performed once on each hand. The cadet held the dynamometer out to his or her side and squeezed it as they lowered it to their hip. The results were that there were no significant differences between groups for the 5-10-5 shuttle run (p = 0.91), standing broad jump (p = 0.49), or grip strength (p = 0.31). RC did not outperform

Effects of Degree and Configuration of Hearing Loss on the Contribution of High- and Low-Frequency Speech Information to Bilateral Speech Understanding

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of degree and configuration of hearing loss on the use of, and benefit from, information in amplified high- and low-frequency speech presented in background noise. Design: Sixty-two adults with a wide range of high- and low-frequency sensorineural hearing loss (5 to 115+ dB HL) participated in the study. To examine the contribution of speech information in different frequency regions, speech understanding in noise was assessed in multiple low- and high-pass filter conditions, as well as a band-pass (713 to 3534 Hz) and wideband (143 to 8976 Hz) condition. To increase audibility over a wide frequency range, speech and noise were amplified based on each individual\u27s hearing loss. A stepwise multiple linear regression approach was used to examine the contribution of several factors to (1) absolute performance in each filter condition and (2) the change in performance with the addition of amplified high- and low-frequency speech components. Results: Results from the regression analysis showed that degree of hearing loss was the strongest predictor of absolute performance for low- and high-pass filtered speech materials. In addition, configuration of hearing loss affected both absolute performance for severely low-pass filtered speech and benefit from extending high-frequency (3534 to 8976 Hz) bandwidth. Specifically, individuals with steeply sloping high-frequency losses made better use of low-pass filtered speech information than individuals with similar low-frequency thresholds but less high-frequency loss. In contrast, given similar high-frequency thresholds, individuals with flat hearing losses received more benefit from extending high-frequency bandwidth than individuals with more sloping losses. Conclusions: Consistent with previous work, benefit from speech information in a given frequency region generally decreases as degree of hearing loss in that frequency region increases. However, given a similar degree of loss, the configuration of hearing loss also affects the ability to use speech information in different frequency regions. Except for individuals with steeply sloping high-frequency losses, providing high-frequency amplification (3534 to 8976 Hz) had either a beneficial effect on, or did not significantly degrade, speech understanding. These findings highlight the importance of extended high-frequency amplification for listeners with a wide range of high-frequency hearing losses, when seeking to maximize intelligibility