Studies of cycles for liquid-metal magnetohydrodynamic generation of power

Studies of liquid-metal magnetohydrodynamic power cycles indicate that the overall efficiency of a binary cycle, employing a liquid-metal topping cycle and a bottoming steam cycle, may reach 60 percent. Details of analyses and data on cycles are presented, and the commercial potential of the binary cycle is discussed

Evolving IT management frameworks towards a sustainable future

Information Technology (IT) Management Frameworks are a fundamental tool used by IT professionals to efficiently manage IT resources and are globally applied to IT service delivery and management. Sustainability is a recent notion that describes the need for economic, environmental and social development with- out compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs; this applies to businesses as well as society in general. Unfortunately, IT Management Frameworks do not take sustainability into account. To the practitioner this paper demonstrates sustainability integration thereby allowing CIOs and IT managers to improve the sustainability of their organisation. To the researcher this paper argues that sustainability concerns need to be provided to IT Management through its integration into the mainstream of IT Management Frameworks. This is demonstrated through the high-level integration of sustainability in Six Sigma, C OBI T, ITIL and PRINCE2

Contemplating workplace change: evolving individual thought processes and emergent story lines

Drawing on topical life histories of physicians in a particularly volatile public health sector environment, we build theory around the contemplation of workplace change. Overall, our study provides evidence as to why single or multiple independent factors, such as pay or job structure, may fail to predict or explain individual decisions to stay in or change workplaces. Instead, the contemplation process we argue is a complex, evolutionary, and context-dependent one that requires individualized interventions. Our findings reveal the prevalence of episodic context-self fit assessments prompted by triggering stimuli, two mechanisms by which thought processes evolved (reinforcement and recalibration), and four characteristic story lines that explain why the thought processes manifested as they did (exploring opportunities, solving problems, reconciling incongruence, and escaping situations). Based on our findings, we encourage practitioners to regularly engage in story-listening and dialogic conversations to better understand, and potentially affect the evolving socially constructed realities of staff members

An infrared proper motion study of the Orion bullets

We report the first IR proper motion measurements of the Herbig-Haro objects in the Orion Molecular Cloud--One using a four-year time baseline. The [Fe II] emitting bullets are moving of order 0.08 arcsec per year, or at about 170 \kms. The direction of motion is similar to that inferred from their morphology. The proper motions of \h2 emitting wakes behind the [Fe II] bullets, and of newly found \h2 bullets, are also measured. \h2 bullets have smaller proper motion than [Fe II] bullets, while \h2 wakes with leading [Fe II] bullets appear to move at similar speeds to their associated bullets. A few instances of variability in the emission can be attributed to dense, stationary clumps in the ambient cloud being overrun, setting up a reverse--oriented bullet. Differential motion between [Fe II] bullets and their trailing \h2 wakes is not observed, suggesting that these are not separating, and also that they have reached a steady--state configuration over at least 100 years. The most distant bullets have, on average, larger proper motions, but are not consistent with free expansion. Nevertheless an impulsive, or short--lived ($\ll$ 1,000 years) duration for their origin seems likely.Comment: 9 pages, 8 figure

Talon cusp affecting primary dentition in two siblings: a case report

The term talon cusp refers to a rare developmental dental anomaly characterized by a cusp-like structure projecting from the cingulum area or cement-enamel junction. This condition can occur in the maxillary and mandibular arches of the primary and permanent dentitions. The purpose of this paper is to report on the presence of talon cusps in the primary dentition of two southern Chinese siblings. The 4 years and 2 months old girl had a talon cusp on her maxillary right primary central incisor, while her 2 years and 9 months old brother had bilateral talon cusps on the maxillary primary central incisors. The presence of this rare dental anomaly in two siblings has scarcely been reported in the literature and this may provide further evidence of a hereditary etiology.Article Link: http://www.rjme.ro/RJME/resources/files/540113211213.pd

Gender differences in health-related quality of life following total laryngectomy

Background: The impact of a total laryngectomy on an individual's life has primarily been measured from a male viewpoint reflecting the demographics of a diagnosis of laryngeal cancer. A small number of studies have looked specifically at females, but very few are comparison studies. Consequently, there is little consistent research regarding any potential gender differences. Aims: To investigate whether there are gender differences in perceptions of health-related quality of life and functional abilities following total laryngectomy. Methods & Procedures: A total of 43 participants (22 males, 21 females), who had undergone a total laryngectomy procedure at least one year previously, took part in the study. They completed The European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer Core Questionnaire Version 3.0 (EORTC QLQ-C30) in conjunction with the disease-specific Head & Neck Cancer Module (QLQ-H&N35). Outcomes & Results: There were no significant differences between males and females on demographic and disease-related variables, except for the following: significantly more females lived alone and changed their employment status following surgery. Males had a significantly higher global health status/quality of life than females (p < 0.05) and significantly higher levels of physical (p = 0.01), emotional (p < 0.01), cognitive (p < 0.05) and social functioning (p < 0.05). After adjusting for differences in living arrangements and change in employment status, differences in emotional and social functioning remained significant. There was a general trend for females to have higher symptom/impairment levels and to report more treatment-related problems, but the majority of these differences were not significant. Conclusions & Implications: Following total laryngectomy, females appear to be worsely affected in aspects of quality of life than males. Emotional and social functioning are particularly vulnerable. The findings imply that rehabilitation programmes after total laryngectomy need to evaluate quality of life and address these specific areas in order to improve patient-reported long-term outcomes

A Generalized Circle Theorem on Zeros of Partition Function at Asymmetric First Order Transitions

We present a generalized circle theorem which includes the Lee-Yang theorem for symmetric transitions as a special case. It is found that zeros of the partition function can be written in terms of discontinuities in the derivatives of the free energy. For asymmetric transitions, the locus of the zeros is tangent to the unit circle at the positive real axis in the thermodynamic limit. For finite-size systems, they lie off the unit circle if the partition functions of the two phases are added up with unequal prefactors. This conclusion is substantiated by explicit calculation of zeros of the partition function for the Blume-Capel model near and at the triple line at low temperatures.Comment: 10 pages, RevTeX. To be published in PRL. 3 Figures will be sent upon reques