UK regional scale modelling of natural geohazards and climate change

For over 10 years, the British Geological Survey (BGS) has been investigating geotechnical and mineralogical factors controlling volume change behaviour of UK clay soils and mudrocks. A strong understanding of the relationship between these parameters and the clays' shrink-swell properties has been developed. More recently, partly resulting from concerns of users of this knowledge, a study of the relationships between climate change and shrink-swell behaviour over the last 30 years has been carried out. Information on subsidence insurance claims has been provided by the Association of British Insurers (ABI) and the UK Meteorological Office (UKMO) historical climate station data has also been utilised. This is being combined with the BGS's GeoSure national geohazard data, to build a preliminary GIS model to provide an understanding of the susceptibility of the Tertiary London Clay to climate change. This paper summarises the data analysis and identifies future work for model construction and refinement

Managing creative eco-innovation: Structuring outputs from eco-innovation projects

Increasing legislative pressures and consumer awareness of environmentally efficient products are causing businesses to look at Sustainable Product Design (SPD) as an opportunity to improve their products and processes. Business and academia have identified a need for strategic approaches to SPD that will result in ‘step-change’ improvements in the design of products and services. Eco-innovation aims to develop new products and processes which provide customer and business value but significantly decrease environmental impact. Eco-innovation considers environmental aspects of the product at early stages of the New Product Development process. The research presented in this paper looks at the use of eco-innovation tools and focuses on idea generation within ecoinnovation processes. Two novel tools were developed to help review the results from previously conducted eco-innovation workshops: the Standard Design Process Form and the Product Ideas Tree (PIT) diagram. This paper shows the development of these two tools and demonstrates their potential to assist in structuring and documenting ideas throughout the eco-innovation process. The paper discusses the benefits of using such documentation and how it may subsequently improve the management of eco innovation throughout the design process

A farm level assessment of the profitability of Entry Level Scheme participation in the Lincolnshire Wolds

The paper builds on the results of previous studies investigating whether farmers profit by participation in the Entry Level Scheme (ELS). Standard payment levels (derived from points) under ELS are fixed at rates that are expected only to compensate farmers for income foregone and costs incurred. There is no profit element as such. There is therefore no reason to expect participation to be profitable. However farm level examination of the income foregone and costs incurred in previous studies based in other parts of England have shown that this can be achieved. The study is based in the Lincolnshire Wolds, an area dominated by arable farming but with topography and associated natural features that offer some variety in the mix of farming and the measures that can qualify for environmental prescriptions under the scheme. The study concluded that farmers were able to profit by ELS participation but that the extent of this varied according to the type of environmental features on the farm and whether arable land was taken out of production. These conclusions have potential implications for scheme design, farmer uptake and additionality in the use of public funds to acquire environmental benefits.Entry Level Scheme, agri-environmental payments, income forgone, partial budgets, profitability., Farm Management, Q58,

A qualitative evaluation of home based contraceptive and sexual health care for teenage mothers

This paper reports on the findings from a qualitative study exploring the experiences of teenage mothers using a nurse-led, home-based contraceptive service designed to prevent repeat unplanned pregnancies. The aim was to understand if, and how the service was effective in equipping teenage mothers to make informed choices about contraception, thus preventing a second pregnancy. Unplanned teenage pregnancy remains a significant focus of health and social policy in the United Kingdom (UK). Despite the long-term pattern of declining conception rates, the UK continues to report higher rates than comparable countries elsewhere in Europe. Current estimates suggest that approximately one fifth of births amongst under 18’s are repeat pregnancies (Teenage Pregnancy Independent Advisory Group, 2009). Services that are designed to reduce second unplanned pregnancies are an important element in promoting teenage sexual health. However, there has been no UK research that explores this kind of service and the experiences of service users. We conducted a qualitative interview study. From 2013–2014 we interviewed 40 teenage mothers who had engaged with the nurse-led, home-based contraceptive service. The data demonstrates that the service was effective in preventing repeat pregnancies in a number of cases. Among the aspects of the service which were found to contribute to its effectiveness were privacy, convenience, flexibility, appropriately timed access, the non-judgemental attitude of staff and ongoing support

Securities Regulation - An SEC-mandated Asset Verification System for Unaccredited Investors Must Be Added to the Proposed Regulatory Regime Under Title III of the JOBS Act

Once fully implemented, Title III of the JOBS Act will allow general solicitation of equity investments from the general public. Anyone with access to a computer will now also have access to registered funding portals where they can request and receive capital contributions. The most optimistic proponents of Title III estimate that it will unleash a new wave of capital into the U.S. investing market to the tune of $300 billion. As currently written, the income-cap regulations for unaccredited investors lack teeth. By failing to create an asset verification process for unaccredited investors, the Securities and Exchange Commission has created a perfect storm of factors, which will allow everyday consumers to overextend their finances on junk-investments

Shape memory alloy actuators for active disassembly using ‘smart’ materials of consumer electronic products

This paper reports the preliminary to current development of Shape Memory Alloy (SMA) actuators within their application in ‘Active Disassembly using Smart Materials’ (ADSM). This non-destructive self-dismantling process is to aid recycling of consumer electronic products. Actuators were placed in single and multi-stage hierarchical temperature regimes after being embedded into macro and sub-assemblies of electronic product assemblies. Findings include active disassembly and a hierarchical dismantling regime for product dismantling using developed SMA actuators embedded into candidate products

Absorption characteristics of a quantum dot array induced intermediate band: implications for solar cell design

We present a theoretical study of the electronic and absorption properties of the intermediate band (IB) formed by a three dimensional structure of InAs/GaAs quantum dots (QDs) arranged in a periodic array. Analysis of the electronic and absorption structures suggests that the most promising design for an IB solar cell material, which will exhibit its own quasi-Fermi level, is to employ small QDs (~6–12 nm QD lateral size). The use of larger QDs leads to extension of the absorption spectra into a longer wavelength region but does not provide a separate IB in the forbidden energy gap

A Case History of Pickard High School, Brenham, Texas

It is the problem of this thesis to discover the extent to which educational services are rendered available to the Negro population of Washington and adjoining counties by Pickard High School. This problem involves the consideration of the structure of the school so as to determine the personnel and the machinery through which it performs its functions. An attempt at an analysis of educational functions is made to determine how much the services of the school are rendered to those outside of its jurisdiction. The objectives of this study may be stated as follows: To discover some of the basic facts concerning the organization and functions of the school. To search for the relationship between the curriculum offered in Pickard High School and the community. The problem is limited to Pickard High School which includes both the Elementary and High School Departments, and those educational activities sponsored by the High School in its effort to serve the population of Washington and adjoining counties. Information concerning the personnel, classification and functions of the school was secured from personal interviews with the principal, teachers, and patrons, and from Pickard High School records. Data concerning the school population and changes in Negro school population were taken from the Public School Directory, 1933-34 and 1938-39. Population and agricultural census (1890-1935) were used as a basis for discussing background factors

Type II superconductivity and magnetic flux transport in neutrons stars

The transition to a type II proton superconductor which is believed to occur in a cooling neutron star is accompanied by changes in the equation of hydrostatic equilibrium and by the formation of proton vortices with quantized magnetic flux. Analysis of the electron Boltzmann equation for this system and of the proton supercurrent distribution formed at the transition leads to the derivation of a simple expression for the transport velocity of magnetic flux in the liquid interior of a neutron star. This shows that flux moves easily as a consequence of the interaction between neutron and proton superfluid vortices during intervals of spin-down or spin-up in binary systems. The differences between the present analysis and those of previous workers are reviewed and an error in the paper of Jones (1991) is corrected.Comment: 7 pages, no figures. To be published in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Societ