The influence of a high power diode laser (HPDL) generated glaze on the wetting characteristics and the subsequent HPDL enamelling of ordinary Portland cement

High power diode laser (HPDL) surface glazing of the ordinary Portland cement (OPC) surface of concrete was found to effect significant changes in the wettability characteristics of the OPC. This behaviour was identified as being primarily due to: (i) the polar component of the OPC surface energy increasing after HPDL glazing from 3.46 to 15.56 mJm-2, (ii) the surface roughness of the OPC decreasing from an Ra value of 21.91 to 2.88 m after HPDL glazing and (iii) the relative surface O2 content of the OPC increasing by 4.5at% after HPDL glazing. HPDL glazing was consequently identified as occasioning a decrease in the enamel contact angle from an initial value of 1090 to 310, thus allowing the vitreous enamel to wet the OPC surface

Fiber optic detector and depth sensor and method for doing same

A fiber optic sensor for determining the presence and/or measuring the depth of a first substance capable of transmitting light. The fiber optic sensor includes a plurality of light receiving fibers, a plurality of light transmitting fibers surrounding the light receiving fibers and structure for refracting light from the light transmitting fibers at a predetermined angle for total internal reflection of the light from an interface of the first substance with a second substance.https://digitalcommons.mtu.edu/patents/1073/thumbnail.jp

Assessing the Sociology of Sport: On the Trajectory, Challenges, and Future of the Field

This document is the Accepted Manuscript version of the following article: Elizabeth C. J. Pike, Steven J. Jackson, and Lawrence A. Wenner, 'Assessing the sociology of sport: On the trajectory, challenges, and future of the field'. The final, definitive version of this paper has been published in International Review for the Sociology of Sport, Vol. 50 (4-5), May 2015, doi: https://doi.org/10.1177/1012690215574127, published by SAGE Publishing, All rights reserved. © The Author(s) 2015.On the fiftieth anniversary of the International Sociology of Sport Association and the International Review for the Sociology of Sport, the three guest editors for this special fiftieth anniversary issue of the IRSS, current ISSA president, Elizabeth CJ Pike, the immediate past president, Steven J Jackson, and current IRSS editor, Lawrence A Wenner, introduce the issue’s genesis and theme: ‘50@50: Assessing the trajectory and challenges of the sociology of sport’. In considering the trajectory of the sociology of sport, the ISSA and the IRSS, they reflect on the early development of the field and the founding of an international association and journal aimed at understanding sport in the social and cultural dynamic; they note early and ongoing challenges concerning the academic seating of the field, its legitimacy and impact, and its engagement with the public sphere and the ‘sociological imagination’. Speaking to the challenges of fashioning a special issue to represent the breadth of 50 years of the sociology of sport, the editors outline how a ‘50@50’ strategy was implemented to bring perspectives from 50 notable scholars and to ensure that a diversity of voices was heard, not only on a range of themes, theories and methods, but from diverse identities and locales. Addressing two overarching challenges – the global dominance of English as the lingua franca of scholarly discourse and the need to advance interdisciplinarity and engagement with scholars beyond the sociology of sport – will be key to broadening dialogue to help ensure the future sustainability and progress of the sociology of sport.Peer reviewedFinal Accepted Versio

Investigation of rising nitrate concentrations in groundwater in the Eden Valley, Cumbria: Phase 1 project scoping study

This is the Investigation of rising nitrate concentrations in groundwater in the Eden Valley, Cumbria report produced by the Environment Agency in 2003. This report focuses on groundwater nitrate concentrations in the Eden Valley. Most boreholes in the Eden Valley had nitrate concentrations less than 20 mg/l but a significant number had higher concentrations, some exceeding the EC maximum admissible concentration for drinking water of 50 mg/l. The main objectives of this report were to investigate the causes of rising nitrate concentrations in groundwater in the Permo-Triassic sandstone aquifers of the Eden Valley area and provide sufficient understanding of the groundwater and surface water flow system, including the sources of the nitrate contamination and the processes controlling nitrate movement, so that possible management options for reversing this trend can be considered

Amygdala and ventromedial prefrontal cortex are inversely coupled during regulation of negative affect and predict the diurnal pattern of cortisol secretion among older adults

Among younger adults, the ability to willfully regulate negative affect, enabling effective responses to stressful experiences, engages regions of prefrontal cortex (PFC) and the amygdala. Because regions of PFC and the amygdala are known to influence the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, here we test whether PFC and amygdala responses during emotion regulation predict the diurnal pattern of salivary cortisol secretion. We also test whether PFC and amygdala regions are engaged during emotion regulation in older (62- to 64-year-old) rather than younger individuals. We measured brain activity using functional magnetic resonance imaging as participants regulated (increased or decreased) their affective responses or attended to negative picture stimuli. We also collected saliva samples for 1 week at home for cortisol assay. Consistent with previous work in younger samples, increasing negative affect resulted in ventral lateral, dorsolateral, and dorsomedial regions of PFC and amygdala activation. In contrast to previous work, decreasing negative affect did not produce the predicted robust pattern of higher PFC and lower amygdala activation. Individuals demonstrating the predicted effect (decrease s attend in the amygdala), however, exhibited higher signal in ventromedial prefrontal cortex (VMPFC) for the same contrast. Furthermore, participants displaying higher VMPFC and lower amygdala signal when decreasing compared with the attention control condition evidenced steeper, more normative declines in cortisol over the course of the day. Individual differences yielded the predicted link between brain function while reducing negative affect in the laboratory and diurnal regulation of endocrine activity in the home environment