Student-produced podcasts as an assessment tool: an example from Geomorphology

The emergence of user-friendly technologies has made podcasting an accessible learning tool in undergraduate teaching. In a geomorphology course, student-produced podcasts were used as part of the assessment in 2008-2010. Student groups constructed radio shows aimed at a general audience to interpret and communicate geomorphological data within the context of relevant social and environmental issues. Questionnaire results suggest that the novel format engaged students, and promoted group working, IT, language and oral communication skills, and a deeper understanding of the context of geomorphic data. For teachers, podcasting technology offers efficient teaching of oral communication, with opportunities for distance and self-directed learning

Alloy Design for a Fusion Power Plant

Fusion power is generated when hot deuterium and tritium nuclei react, producing alpha particles and 14 MeV neutrons. These neutrons escape the reaction plasma and are absorbed by the surrounding material structure of the plant, transferring the heat of the reaction to an external cooling circuit. In such high-energy neutron irradiation environments, extensive atomic displacement damage and transmutation production of helium affect the mechanical properties of materials. Among these effects are irradiation hardening, embrittlement, and macroscopic swelling due to the formation of voids within the material. To aid understanding of these effects, Bayesian neural networks were used to model irradiation hardening and embrittlement of a set of candidate alloys, reduced-activation ferritic-martensitic steels. The models have been compared to other methods, and it is demonstrated that a neural network approach to modelling the properties of irradiated steels provides a useful tool in the future engineering of fusion materials, and for the first time, predictions are made on irradiated property changes based on the full range of available experimental parameters rather than a simplified model. In addition, the models are used to calculate optimised compositions for potential fusion alloys. Recommendations on the most fruitful ways of designing future experiments have also been made. In addition, a classical nucleation theory approach was taken to modelling the incubation and nucleation of irradiation-induced voids in these steels, with a view to minimising this undesirable phenomenon in candidate materials. Using these models, recommendations are made with regards to the engineering of future reduced-activation steels for fusion applications, and further research opportunities presented by the work are reviewed

Diversifying assessment across the ‘Two Cultures’: student-produced podcasts in Geography

Since 2008, following growing collective interest in learning technologies and pedagogy, Geography and History departments at Northumbria and Newcastle Universities have successfully incorporated student-generated podcasting into a mixture of science, humanities and social science modules across all undergraduate levels. This paper presents a number of innovative examples using this approach, with the aim of promoting student creativity and analytical skills in ways different from traditional report- or essay-based assessments. It goes on to consider some of the advantages and challenges of this alternative assessment mode, from both student and tutor perspectives, across the science-humanities divide

A Method for Removal of Bakelite-Impregnated Wire Strain Gages

An increasing interest is being shown in the use of wire-type strain gages to measure static and dynamic stresses in aircraft-engine parts. Bakelite cement has been found satisfactory as a bonding agent for attaching the strain gages to machine parts that must operate at elevated temperatures. On many occasions, it is desired to remove Bakelite-cemented gages from the test parts for the purpose of replacing faulty gages or of returning the parts to service after strain measurements have been completed. Removal of the gages by means of scraping without prior treatment is very unsatisfactory because it is tedious and almost invariably damages the finished surface. Various solvents have been tried, but all attempts in this direction have been unsuccessful inasmuch as Bakelite cement, when properly baked, forms a polymer of very high molecular weight that resists the action of solvents. This report presents a gas-flame method of removal that is rapid and does not inure the structural part

Southern Ocean laminated diatom ooze: mat deposits and potential for palaeo-flux studies, ODP leg 177, Site 1093

International audienceLaminated diatom ooze samples collected during ODP Leg 177 were analysed using scanning electron microscope (SEM) and optical microscopy to test their potential as high-resolution records of Polar Front hydrography, surface production, and export. SEM analysis from two intervals, marine isotope stage (MIS) 29 and 12/11, respectively, recovered from 50°S in the Atlantic Ocean (ODP Site 1093, Hole A, sections 13H-4 0–18 cm and 23H-4 0–22 cm), show abundant and well-preserved Thalassiothrix antarctica mats, thought to be indicative of rapid export from the surface and deposition in the sediment. A preliminary analysis of laminae succession points to a possible annual couplet/triplet succession of laminae, and suggests exceptionally high local sedimentation rates of 57 and 80 cm kyr−1 for MIS 12/11 and 29, respectively. Such high accumulation rates imply that local export from the surface layer and sequestration of biogenic silica and organic matter to the sediments may have been much higher than previously suggested

The Information Security Ownership Question in ISO/IEC 27001 – an Implementation

The information security management standard ISO/IEC 27001 is built on the notion that information security is driven by risk assessment and risk treatment. Fundamental to the success of risk assessment and treatment is the decision making process that takes risk assessment output and assigns decisions to this output in terms of risk treatment actions. It is argued that the effectiveness of the management system lies in its ability to make effective, easytoimplement and measurable decisions. One of the key issues in decision making is ownership. In this paper two aspects of information security ownership are considered: ownership of the asset (as per the ISO/IEC 27001 definition) and ownership of the risk treatment actions. This paper discuses how traditional information security risk assessment methodologies confuse the ownership issue and raises the question as to whether this is simply because they are rebadged computer security risk assessment methodologies or because the significance and the complexity of ownership is underestimated in many forms of information security risk assessment. This paper also presents some observations from practical attempts at implementing an organisationwide information security risk assessment methodology. The observations were made as part of ISO/IEC 27001 certification assessment visits