The Journey Experience of Visually Impaired People on Public Transport in London

The use of public transport is critical for Visually Impaired People (VIP) to be independent and have access to out-of-home activities. Despite government policies promoting accessible transport for everyone, the needs of VIP are not well addressed, and journeys can be very difficult to negotiate. Journey requirements can often differ from those of other categories of people on the disability spectrum. Therefore, the aim of this research is to evaluate the journey experience of VIP using public transport. Semi-structured interviews conducted in London are used. The results show that limited access to information, inconsistencies in infrastructure and poor availability of staff assistance are the major concerns. Concessionary travel, on the other hand, encourages VIP to make more trips and hence has a positive effect on well-being. The findings suggest that more specific policies should be introduced to cater to the special needs of particular disabilities rather than generalising the types of aids available. It is also concluded that the journey experience of VIP is closely related to an individual’s independence and hence inclusion in society

Maintenance of electrical systems

The Guide to Electrical Maintenance provides guidance on carrying out maintenance activities and using good practice techniques. It examines the operational risks, mitigations and processes that may be used in carrying out electrical maintenance, and also provides insights and philosophies to ensure that electrical maintenance activities are not only safe, but are satisfactorily planned and properly carried out. The Guide also draws together key guidance from other IET inspection safety and maintenance titles to provide a practical overview for duty holders responsible for maintaining electrical systems, electrical contractors and building service engineers. Good maintenance regimes do not happen by accident: they need careful planning, proactive management and comprehensive reporting. The tone for good maintenance is also established beforehand by considerate design, intelligent construction and satisfactory commissioning. A good maintenance regime also has its part to play in a more sustainable world where correctly maintained electrical systems keep operating at their maximum energy efficiency and are disposed of correctly at the end of their lifecycle. This Guide is aimed at electrical contractors, engineering technicians, maintenance engineers and managers, design engineers, building service engineers and duty holders responsible for electrical maintenance

Oscillator circuits: frontiers in design, analysis and applications

This book surveys recent developments in the design, analysis and applications of oscillator circuit design. It highlights developments in the analysis of synchronization and wave phenomena, new analytical and design methods and their application, and novel engineering applications of oscillator circuits

Diamond-microchip GaInNAs vertical external-cavity surface-emitting laser operating CW at 1315nm

What is believed to be the first microchip-format vertical external-cavity surface-emitting laser (VECSEL) operating at 1.3 μm is reported. Fundamental-mode continuous-wave output powers >120 mW were achieved from a cavity volume ∼0.001 mm3 using a diode-pumped GaInNAs VECSEL structure capillary-bonded to a dielectric-mirror-coated single-crystal diamond heatspreader

Hygroscopic properties of smoke-generated organic aerosol particles emitted in the marine atmosphere

During the Eastern Pacific Emitted Aerosol Cloud Experiment (E-PEACE), a plume of organic aerosol was produced by a smoke generator and emitted into the marine atmosphere from aboard the R/V Point Sur. In this study, the hygroscopic properties and the chemical composition of the plume were studied at plume ages between 0 and 4 h in different meteorological conditions. In sunny conditions, the plume particles had very low hygroscopic growth factors (GFs): between 1.05 and 1.09 for 30 nm and between 1.02 and 1.1 for 150 nm dry size at a relative humidity (RH) of 92%, contrasted by an average marine background GF of 1.6. New particles were produced in large quantities (several 10 000 cm−3), which lead to substantially increased cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) concentrations at supersaturations between 0.07 and 0.88%. Ratios of oxygen to carbon (O : C) and water-soluble organic mass (WSOM) increased with plume age: from < 0.001 to 0.2, and from 2.42 to 4.96 μg m−3, respectively, while organic mass fractions decreased slightly (~ 0.97 to ~ 0.94). High-resolution aerosol mass spectrometer (AMS) spectra show that the organic fragment m/z 43 was dominated by C2H3O+ in the small, new particle mode and by C3H7+ in the large particle mode. In the marine background aerosol, GFs for 150 nm particles at 40% RH were found to be enhanced at higher organic mass fractions: an average GF of 1.06 was observed for aerosols with an organic mass fraction of 0.53, and a GF of 1.04 for an organic mass fraction of 0.35