The development of a self-disintegrating core-body for use in an art bronze-casting foundry which employs the ceramic-shell investment technique

The development of a disintegrating core-body for use in an art bronze foundry, which employs the ceramic shell investment process, begins with an investigation of four principal materials that will constitute the core formula. The specifications for the disintegration of the designed core-body formula fall within the parameters that are normally set and used in the ceramic shell art bronze casting process. The raison d’ être for the disintegrating formula is based on the premise that cement breaks down (spalling) after being subjected to heat above a certain temperature. It was shown that pure cement in the form of naked test bars 100 mm x 20 mm x 20 mm does indeed break down into separate pieces when fired to and above 9000C; where 9000C is the lowest recommended temperature required for sintering the ceramic shell investment mould. The addition of calcium carbonate to pure cement in the form of naked test bars, produced a more unified formula that did not break into separate pieces when fired to 9450C. However this combination of cement and calcium carbonate had a slow setting time of 12 hours and a shrinkage value of 2,3%, which were both above the parameters being sought for a quick-setting formula with a shrinkage value of below 1%. The combination of cement, plaster of paris and silica produced formulae that set within six hours and had shrinkage values of less than 1% but did not disintegrate within 72 hours. It was only after the addition of calcium carbonate to the these mixes that formulae resulted that set within six hours, had relatively low shrinkage values and showed signs of breaking up after 60 hours. It was further shown that by altering the ratios of cement, plaster of paris, calcium carbonate and silica, that the parameters for quick-setting formulae with shrinkage values of 1% and below, that also disintegrated within 55 hours, could be achieved. xvi It was also proved by subjecting these formulae to higher relative humidity conditions that the disintegrating times could be reduced and brought to below 48 hours. Selected formulae were then subjected to temperatures of between 9000C and 10000C. It was found that as the temperatures were increased so the disintegration times were reduced and were even further reduced under higher relative humidity conditions. It was found from the above experiments that the selected formula determined to be suitable in all respects as a disintegrating core-body was too difficult to remove from the hollow bronze cast when subjected to an actual bronze pour. Further experimentation using increased proportions of silica in the formula resulted in a final core-body that could be quickly and easily removed from its bronze cast as soon as the core-body had cooled to room temperature. The selected core-body formula (F21D) that was used in the final set of bronze casting procedures was found to function optimally when fired to a temperature of 9000C and could be quickly and easily removed from the bronze casts leaving a clean inner bronze surface, free from any remnants of the fired core. The document concludes by recording the delimitations and advantages of the final core-body formula F21D, as well as making recommendations based on these parameters for further study relating to disintegrating core-body formulations

Squirrel Monkeys’ Response to Inequitable Outcomes Indicates a Behavioural Convergence Within the Primates

Although several primates respond negatively to inequity, it is unknown whether this results from homology or convergent processes. Behaviours shared within a taxonomic group are often assumed to be homologous, yet this distinction is important for a better understanding of the function of the behaviour. Previous hypotheses have linked cooperation and inequity responses. Supporting this, all species in which inequity responses have been documented are cooperative. In this study, we tested this hypothesis by investigating the response to inequity in squirrel monkeys, which share a phylogenetic Family with capuchin monkeys, but do not cooperate extensively. Subjects exchanged tokens to receive food rewards in conditions in which the level of effort required and reward received varied. Squirrel monkeys did not respond negatively to inequity. However, the monkeys were sensitive to the variation present in the task; male subjects showed a contrast effect and, as in previous studies, subjects were more sensitive to differences in reward in the context of a task than when rewards were given for free. Taken with other results, these results support the hypothesis that a negative response to inequity evolved convergently in primates, probably as a mechanism for evaluating outcomes relative to one’s partners in cooperative species

Different Responses to Reward Comparisons by Three Primate Species

Background: Recently, much attention has been paid to the role of cooperative breeding in the evolution of behavior. In many measures, cooperative breeders are more prosocial than non-cooperatively breeding species, including being more likely to actively share food. This is hypothesized to be due to selective pressures specific to the interdependency characteristic of cooperatively breeding species. Given the high costs of finding a new mate, it has been proposed that cooperative breeders, unlike primates that cooperate in other contexts, should not respond negatively to unequal outcomes between themselves and their partner. However, in this context such pressures may extend beyond cooperative breeders to other species with pair-bonding and bi-parental care. Methods: Here we test the response of two New World primate species with different parental strategies to unequal outcomes in both individual and social contrast conditions. One species tested was a cooperative breeder (Callithrix spp.) and the second practiced bi-parental care (Aotus spp.). Additionally, to verify our procedure, we tested a third confamilial species that shows no such interdependence but does respond to individual (but not social) contrast (Saimiri spp.). We tested all three genera using an established inequity paradigm in which individuals in a pair took turns to gain rewards that sometimes differed from those of their partners. Conclusions: None of the three species tested responded negatively to inequitable outcomes in this experimental context. Importantly, the Saimiri spp responded to individual contrast, as in earlier studies, validating our procedure. When these data are considered in relation to previous studies investigating responses to inequity in primates, they indicate that one aspect of cooperative breeding, pair-bonding or bi-parental care, may influence the evolution of these behaviors. These results emphasize the need to study a variety of species to gain insight in to how decision-making may vary across social structures

Economic development, human development, and the pursuit of happiness, April 1, 2, and 3, 2004

This repository item contains a single issue of the Pardee Conference Series, a publication series that began publishing in 2006 by the Boston University Frederick S. Pardee Center for the Study of the Longer-Range Future. This was the Center's spring conference, which took place during April 1, 2, and 3, 2004.The conference asks the questions, how can we make sure that the benefits of economic growth flow into health, education, welfare, and other aspects of human development; and what is the relationship between human development and economic development? Speakers and participants discuss the role that culture, legal and political institutions, the UN Developmental Goals, the level of decision-making, and ethics, play in development

Literature review of visual representation of the results of benefit–risk assessments of medicinal products

Background The PROTECT Benefit–Risk group is dedicated to research in methods for continuous benefit–risk monitoring of medicines, including the presentation of the results, with a particular emphasis on graphical methods. Methods A comprehensive review was performed to identify visuals used for medical risk and benefit–risk communication. The identified visual displays were grouped into visual types, and each visual type was appraised based on five criteria: intended audience, intended message, knowledge required to understand the visual, unintentional messages that may be derived from the visual and missing information that may be needed to understand the visual. Results Sixty-six examples of visual formats were identified from the literature and classified into 14 visual types. We found that there is not one single visual format that is consistently superior to others for the communication of benefit–risk information. In addition, we found that most of the drawbacks found in the visual formats could be considered general to visual communication, although some appear more relevant to specific formats and should be considered when creating visuals for different audiences depending on the exact message to be communicated. Conclusion We have arrived at recommendations for the use of visual displays for benefit–risk communication. The recommendation refers to the creation of visuals. We outline four criteria to determine audience–visual compatibility and consider these to be a key task in creating any visual. Next we propose specific visual formats of interest, to be explored further for their ability to address nine different types of benefit–risk analysis information

Military, ‘managers’ and hegemonies of management accounting controls: A critical realist interpretation

The paper brings to light the horizontal dimension of hegemony, i.e. the relationship between dominant social groups as they form a ‘power bloc’ and its significance for management accounting control (MAC) changes, drawing on an intensive case study of a public sector unit in Pakistan. The study finds that the political strategies of the two dominant social groups eventually led to a ‘conflicted compromise’, resulting in changes to the MACs in the case organisation. However, the ideologies of both groups were seriously compromised vis-à-vis the enacted MACs. This necessitated the use of coercive measures to compel the dominated groups, such as lower pay-grade employees and labour, to accept the changes. We argue that the use of coercive measures without ideological support resulted in a weak hegemonic arrangement at the level of the firm, with implications for possible resistance from the dominated groups and for the longevity of the MAC changes. The paper is informed by a critical realist interpretation of hegemony which helps improve our understanding of the role of the state in bringing about MAC changes. Based on our analysis, we argue that it would be useful not only to trace the economic compulsions of the state but also to examine the vested interests of powerful social groups engaged in hegemonic struggles within the state for better understanding of NPM-driven MAC changes in an SOE

The Politics of Environmental Dispute Resolution

Also PCMA Working Paper #17.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/51148/1/380.pd

Rhetoric, organizational category dynamics and institutional change : a study of the UK Welfare State

Accounts of institutional change and categorization conventionally assume that high-status change agents can impose change, even to stable category systems, which lower-status actors accommodate in order to ensure social approval and material resources. By exploring the UK Conservative-Liberal Coalition's rhetorical efforts to reform the welfare state, how welfare providers are categorized and the subsequent response of implicated category members, we offer instead an account of institutional change that exposes the agentic limitations of high-status actors. Whilst governments may well be in a position to impose changes in the formal rules of the game through manipulation of material resources (fiscal contraction, privatization, open markets, deregulation), we find that they cannot necessarily monopolize symbolic resources (identities/cultural features). We also find that deviation from cultural expectations is not only available to large, high-status organizations, low-status actors too have discretion over their responses to institutional pressures regarding how they are categorized and subsequently judged

Perceived needs for support among care home staff providing end of life care for people with dementia: a qualitative study.

This study revealed rich and complex understandings of the practice dimensions of caring for people with dementia at the end of life and the impact these have on staff. There is a need to develop effective psychosocial interventions that focus on emotional support for care home staff. There will be challenges in providing this in employment settings that are generally low paid, low status, have high turnover and are reliant on temporary or migrant staff, where training is not rewarded, mandatory or culturally valued