Optical coherence tomography for the non-invasive investigation of the microstructure of ancient Egyptian faience

Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) is a non-invasive subsurface 3D imaging technique based on the Michelson interferometer. The non-invasive nature of OCT and its speed of acquisition makes it possible to image large volumes of intact objects to yield a complete overview of the microstructure. The production methods for ancient Egyptian faience were first investigated using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) imaging of the microstructure in polished sections and microprobe analysis of the composition of the glass phases. These studies were based on original Egyptian faience objects and laboratory reproductions of faience beads made using three different production methods. The microstructure of the same laboratory samples and the Egyptian faience objects from the British Museum Research Laboratory Collection are re-examined using OCT

Technology Supports for Individuals with Disabilities in New York State: A Survey of Current Status

This exploratory study examines the current use of instructional technology, and assistive technologies for support of individuals with learning disabilities as well as other disabilities in New York State. The researchers used SurveyMonkey and postings on social media websites for various professional organizations to solicit responses to a questionnaire from individuals working with or caring for persons with disabilities. A small sample of responses (N=122) revealed barriers to the use of technology, as well as the preferred type and most convenient for persons with disabilities. School districts may want to use this survey with students, parents and community members

Early Action on HFCs Mitigates Future Atmospheric Change

As countries take action to mitigate global warming, both by ratifying the UNFCCC Paris Agreement and enacting the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol to manage hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), it is important to consider the relative importance of the pertinent greenhouse gases (GHGs), the distinct structure of their atmospheric impacts, and how the timing of potential GHG regulations would affect future changes in atmospheric temperature and ozone. Chemistry-climate model simulations demonstrate that HFCs could contribute substantially to anthropogenic climate change by the mid-21st century, particularly in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere i.e., global average warming up to 0.19K at 80hPa. Three HFC mitigation scenarios demonstrate the benefits of taking early action in avoiding future atmospheric change: more than 90 of the climate change impacts of HFCs can be avoided if emissions stop by 2030

High Temperature Thermosetting Polyimide Nanocomposites Prepared with Reduced Charge Organoclay

The naturally occurring sodium and calcium cations found in bentonite clay galleries were exchanged with lithium cations. Following the cation exchange, a series of reduced charge clays were prepared by heat treatment of the lithium bentonite at 130 C, 150 C, or 170 C. Inductively coupled plasma (ICP) analysis showed that heating the lithium clay at elevated temperatures reduced its cation exchange capacity. Ion exchange of heat-treated clays with either a protonated alkyl amine or a protonated aromatic diamine resulted in decreasing amounts of the organic modifier incorporated into the lithium clay. The level of silicate dispersion in a thermosetting polyimide matrix was dependent upon the temperature of Li-clay heat treatment as well as the organic modification. In general, clays treated at 150 C or 170 C, and exchanged with protonated octadcylamine or protonated 2,2'-dimethlybenzidine (DMBZ) showed a higher degree of dispersion than clays treated at 130 C, or exchanged with protonated dodecylamine. Dynamic mechanical analysis showed little change in the storage modulus or T(sub g) of the nanocomposites compared to the base resin. However, long term isothermal aging of the samples showed a significant decrease in the resin oxidative weight loss. Nanocomposite samples aged in air for 1000 hours at 288 C showed of to a decrease in weight loss compared to that of the base resin. This again was dependent on the temperature at which the Li-clay was heated and the choice of organic modification

Sentence initial bundles: A comparative study between Chinese master’s L2 theses and published writing

Lexical bundles, like recurrent multi-word combinations, act as discourse frames in a register and so are potentially significant as markers of expertise. The present study compared sentence initial lexical bundles (i.e. bundles at the beginning of sentences) in 43 Chinese Master’s theses written in English and 85 published research articles written by L1 or advanced L2 writers of English in terms of their frequency, grammatical structures and related discourse functions. The Chinese Master’s L2 texts showed a number of distinctive features, including but not restricted to an overuse of general nouns, pronoun it and sentence connectors, and an absence of shell nouns, anticipatory-it and some less transparent bundles. This paper discusses some of the possible reasons for these findings and indicates a need for pedagogic attention to cohesive devices and salient bundles which can be implemented with the help of effective corpus-based tools