Climate Resilient Concrete Structures in Marine Environment of Bangladesh

Bangladesh has a vast coastal infrastructure seriously affected by climate change and associated extreme environmental conditions. The rural construction sector in Bangladesh will be undergoing rapid growth in the next 10 years through rural infrastructure development programmes funded by the Asian Development Bank and the World Bank. The Local Government Engineering Department (LGED in Bangladesh), owns the rural concrete infrastructure, maintains around 380, 000 linear metres of concrete bridges or culverts in the rural coastal areas and are planning to build more than 200,000 linear metres during the next ten years. In order to design and construct durable concrete structures to withstand the aggressive coastal environment for the intended design life, there is a need to study the local factors that influence the durability of reinforced concrete structures. This paper reports on the findings of a research programme, funded by DfID, to identify the major factors that contribute to premature deterioration of concrete structures, consider future climate change and identify solutions to improve the durability of coastal concrete structures in Bangladesh. A condition survey undertaken for the project of bridges in the coastal districts indicated that the concrete structures were deteriorating rapidly (within 5-10 years of construction) due to exposure to aggressive marine environment, issues related to poor workmanship, limited availability of good quality materials and lack of awareness on good construction practices. The paper also reports on the outcome of an experimental investigation on the performance of local materials aimed at developing concrete mixes which will provide enhanced durability in future concrete structures

Reading, Writing, Resonating: striking chords across the contexts of students’ everyday and college lives

This paper draws on data from an ESRC funded research project on literacies in the context of further education in the UK. Taking a social view of reading and writing moves us away from seeing literacy (singular) as a universal set of transferable skills towards seeing literacies (plural) as emergent practices found in social settings. Taking a situated, socio-cultural approach also leads us to notice how contexts and practice co-emerge. The research project we document sought to inquire into the interface between literacies in students’ everyday lives and their formal college coursework. Findings indicate that if contexts and their associated literacies are co-emergent and co-determined by each other, then literacy skills do not simply ‘transfer’ between contexts but are better seen as resonant across contexts through the manner in which discrete aspects of literacy practices relate. We conclude by delineating some strategies for enacting a critical, situated-yet-polycontextual literacy pedagogy that pays respect to students’ everyday literacies as a valuable resource base in formal coursework

Leading the Entrepreneurial University: Meeting the Entrepreneurial Development Needs of Higher Education (2009,updated 2012)

By way of a substantial review of the literature, the paper sets out the challenges to leadership of universities arising from changes in the global environment and the implications for the entrepreneurial design of the higher education sector. The focus is upon the impact of a growing complex and uncertain environment on key areas of university activity and the leadership challenges involved

Fair and Decent Work in Scotland’s Local Authorities: Evidence and Challenges

Scottish Local Authorities (SLAs) have been and are expected to promote Fair and Decent Work (FDW). Drawing on semi-structured interviews with Human Resource (HR) and Organization Development (OD) personnel the evidence and challenges of FDW are mapped. This study will show that some SLAs seem to be or claim to be leading in FDW yet others may appear reluctant to commit beyond meeting statutory obligations. The status of FDW in SLAs matters to managers, and more broadly if SLAs are to convincingly advocate FDW more widely in local and national contexts

Hypoglycaemia in type 2 diabetes treated with pre-mixed insulin

The burden of hypoglycaemia in type 2 diabetes is increasingly recognised, regardless of treatment regimen.1-3 However, time in hypoglycaemia for individuals with type 2 diabetes who use pre-mixed (biphasic) insulin remains unclear. The aim of our prospective, open-label, single arm, pilot, observational study was to determine the amount of time individuals in this cohort spent in hypoglycaemia (ISRCTN 10603608). The primary endpoint was sensor derived time in hypoglycaemia (TBR

Cyber Security for Microreactors in Advanced Energy Systems

Demand for clean and resilient energy has led to new and advancing frontiers of energy development in nuclear technology, specifically in the development of microreactors. These miniaturised modular reactors are generally \u3c 20 megawatts thermal (MWt) or 10 megawatts electric (MWe) and offer new opportunities to meet energy needs in remote locations and mobile operations. As with the slightly larger small modular reactors (\u3c 300 MWe), microreactor development must demonstrate security and safety, as well as economic competitiveness, to be seen as potential opportunities for new applications. Current research focuses on passive safety features, capital costs, reliability, semi-autonomous or autonomous control, cyber informed design, digital twins and non-proliferation. This paper focuses specifically on microreactor cyber informed design and cyber risk. An overview of microreactor technology provides a basis for examining the cyber nuclear playing field, with an emphasis on the USA. Frameworks for evaluating cyber security threats, and thereby designing for them, are reviewed. Recommendations follow with ideas for future research

Combining factorial and multi-arm multi-stage platform designs to evaluate multiple interventions efficiently

BACKGROUND: Factorial-MAMS design platform designs have many advantages, but the practical advantages and disadvantages of combining the two designs have not been explored. METHODS: We propose practical methods for a combined design within the platform trial paradigm where some interventions are not expected to interact and could be given together. RESULTS: We describe the combined design and suggest diagrams that can be used to represent it. Many properties are common both to standard factorial designs, including the need to consider interactions between interventions and the impact of intervention efficacy on power of other comparisons, and to standard multi-arm multi-stage designs, including the need to pre-specify procedures for starting and stopping intervention comparisons. We also identify some specific features of the factorial-MAMS design: timing of interim and final analyses should be determined by calendar time or total observed events; some non-factorial modifications may be useful; eligibility criteria should be broad enough to include any patient eligible for any part of the randomisation; stratified randomisation may conveniently be performed sequentially; and analysis requires special care to use only concurrent controls. CONCLUSION: A combined factorial-MAMS design can combine the efficiencies of factorial trials and multi-arm multi-stage platform trials. It allows us to address multiple research questions under one protocol and to test multiple new treatment options, which is particularly important when facing a new emergent infection such as COVID-19

A new era of wide-field submillimetre imaging: on-sky performance of SCUBA-2

SCUBA-2 is the largest submillimetre wide-field bolometric camera ever built. This 43 square arc-minute field-of-view instrument operates at two wavelengths (850 and 450 microns) and has been installed on the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope on Mauna Kea, Hawaii. SCUBA-2 has been successfully commissioned and operational for general science since October 2011. This paper presents an overview of the on-sky performance of the instrument during and since commissioning in mid-2011. The on-sky noise characteristics and NEPs of the 450 and 850 micron arrays, with average yields of approximately 3400 bolometers at each wavelength, will be shown. The observing modes of the instrument and the on-sky calibration techniques are described. The culmination of these efforts has resulted in a scientifically powerful mapping camera with sensitivities that allow a square degree of sky to be mapped to 10 mJy/beam rms at 850 micron in 2 hours and 60 mJy/beam rms at 450 micron in 5 hours in the best weather.Comment: 18 pages, 15 figures.SPIE Conference series 8452, Millimetre, Submillimetre and Far-infrared Detectors and Instrumentation for Astronomy VI 201

Seismological structure of the 1.8 Ga Trans-Hudson Orogen of North America

Precambrian tectonic processes are debated: what was the nature and scale of orogenic events on the younger, hotter, and more ductile Earth? Northern Hudson Bay records the Paleoproterozoic collision between the Western Churchill and Superior plates—the ∼1.8 Ga Trans-Hudson Orogeny (THO)—and is an ideal locality to study Precambrian tectonic structure. Integrated field, geochronological, and thermobarometric studies suggest that the THO was comparable to the present-day Himalayan-Karakoram-Tibet Orogen (HKTO). However, detailed understanding of the deep crustal architecture of the THO, and how it compares to that of the evolving HKTO, is lacking. The joint inversion of receiver functions and surface wave data provides new Moho depth estimates and shear velocity models for the crust and uppermost mantle of the THO. Most of the Archean crust is relatively thin (∼39 km) and structurally simple, with a sharp Moho; upper-crustal wave speed variations are attributed to postformation events. However, the Quebec-Baffin segment of the THO has a deeper Moho (∼45 km) and a more complex crustal structure. Observations show some similarity to recent models, computed using the same methods, of the HKTO crust. Based on Moho character, present-day crustal thickness, and metamorphic grade, we support the view that southern Baffin Island experienced thickening during the THO of a similar magnitude and width to present-day Tibet. Fast seismic velocities at >10 km below southern Baffin Island may be the result of partial eclogitization of the lower crust during the THO, as is currently thought to be happening in Tibet