GAELS Project Final Report: Information environment for engineering

The GAELS project was a collaboration commenced in 1999 between Glasgow University Library and Strathclyde University Library with two main aims:· to develop collaborative information services in support of engineering research at the Universities of Glasgow and Strathclyde· to develop a CAL (computer-aided learning package) package in advanced information skills for engineering research students and staff The project was funded by the Scottish Higher Education Funding Council (SHEFC) from their Strategic Change Initiative funding stream, and funding was awarded initially for one year, with an extension of the grant for a further year. The project ended in June 2001.The funding from SHEFC paid for two research assistants, one based at Glasgow University Library working on collaborative information services and one based at Strathclyde University Library developing courseware. Latterly, after these two research assistants left to take up other posts, there has been a single researcher based at Glasgow University Library.The project was funded to investigate the feasibility of new services to the Engineering Faculties at both Universities, with a view to making recommendations for service provision that can be developed for other subject areas

The optical polarization of Epsilon Aurigae through the 1982-84 eclipse

About 350 nights observations on the 61-cm telescope at Pine Mt. Observatory were made of the variable polarization of Eps. Aurigae during 1982-85, in the U, B, and V color bands. The V data are the most complete and are shown. In terms of the overall features the curves in all three colors are quite similar. The typical errors per nightly point in the V curves are about 0.015% for either of the two normalized, equatorial Stokes parameters Q and U. Note that there is a large background or constant component of some 2.5%, position angle around 135 deg. This is presumably largely interstellar, and the intrinsic polarization probably does not much exceed the amplitude of the variable component, approx. 0.5%. A few field-star polarizations were measured but a very clear pattern was not obtained in this part of the sky

Microwave oven fabricated hybrid memristor devices for non-volatile memory storage

© 2014 IOP Publishing Ltd. Novel hybrid non-volatile memories made using an ultra-fast microwave heating method are reported for the first time. The devices, consisting of aligned ZnO nanorods embedded in poly (methyl methacrylate), require no forming step and exhibit reliable and reproducible bipolar resistive switching at low voltages and with low power usage. We attribute these properties to a combination of the high aspect ratio of the nanorods and the polymeric hybrid structure of the device. The extremely easy, fast and low-cost solution based method of fabrication makes possible the simple and quick production of cheap memory cells

X-discontinuity and transition zone structure beneath Hawaii suggests a heterogeneous plume

The Hawaiian Island chain in the middle of the Pacific Ocean is a well-studied example of hotspot volcanism caused by an underlying upwelling mantle plume. The thermal and compositional nature of the plume alters the mantle phase transitions, which can be seen in the depth and amplitude of seismic discontinuities. This study utilises $>$ 5000 high quality receiver functions from Hawaiian island stations to detect P-to-s converted phases to image seismic discontinuities between 200 to 800 km depth. Common-conversion point stacks of the data are used to map out lateral variations in converted phase observations, while slowness stacks allow differentiation between true conversions from discontinuities and multiples. We find that the 410 discontinuity is depressed by 20 km throughout our study region, while the main 660 is around average depth throughout most of the area. To the southwest of the Big Island we observe splitting of the 660, with a major peak at 630 km, and a minor peak appearing at 675 km depth. This is inferred to represent the position of the hot plume at depth, with the upper discontinuity caused by an olivine phase transition and the lower by a garnet phase transition. In the upper mantle, a discontinuity is found across the region at depths varying between 290 to 350 km. Identifying multiples from this depth confirms the presence of a so-called X-discontinuity. To the east of the Big Island the X-discontinuity lies around 336 km and the associated multiple is particularly coherent and strong in amplitude. Strikingly, the discontinuity around 410 km disappears in this area. Synthetic modelling reveals that such observations can be explained by a silica phase transition from coesite to stishovite, consistent with widespread ponding of silica-saturated material at these depths around the plume. This material could represent eclogite enriched material, which is relatively silica-rich compared to pyrolite, spreading out from the plume to the east as a deep eclogite pool, a hypothesis which is consistent with dynamical models of thermochemical plumes. Therefore these results support the presence of a significant garnet and eclogite component within the Hawaiian mantle plume