Flammability behaviour of wood and a review of the methods for its reduction

Wood is one of the most sustainable, aesthetically pleasing and environmentally benign materials. Not only is wood often an integral part of structures, it is also the main source of furnishings found in homes, schools, and offices around the world. The often inevitable hazards of fire make wood a very desirable material for further investigation. As well as ignition resistance and a low heat release rate, timber products have long been required to resist burn-through and maintain structural integrity whilst continuing to provide protection when exposed to fire or heat. Various industry standard tests are thus required to ensure adequate protection from fire is provided. When heated, wood undergoes thermal degradation and combustion to produce gases, vapours, tars and char. In order to understand and alter the fire behaviour of wood, it is necessary to know in as much detail as possible about its processes of decomposition. Various thermal analysis and flammability assessment techniques are utilised for this purpose, including thermogravimetric analysis, cone calorimetry and the single burning item test. The results of such tests are often highly dependent on various parameters including changes to the gas composition, temperature, heating rate, and sample shape size. Potential approaches for fire retarding timber are reviewed, identifying two main approaches: char formation and isolating layers. Other potential approaches are recognised, including the use of inorganic minerals, such as sericrite, and metal foils in combination with intumescent products. Formulations containing silicon, nitrogen and phosphorus have been reported, and efforts to retain silicon in the wood have been successful using micro-layers of silicon dioxide. Nano-scale fire retardants, such as nanocomposite coatings, are considered to provide a new generation of fire retardants, and may have potential for wood. Expandable graphite is identified for use in polymers and has potential for wood provided coating applications are preferred

Evaluation of the SSERC Primary Cluster Programme in Science and Technology: Final Report

No abstract available

WP3 Policy Mapping, Review and Analysis

This report presents the mapping, review and analysis of the most relevant LLL policies for young adults in Glasgow City Region and Aberdeen/ Aberdeenshire. The report first reviews the national Scottish LLL policies which influence the implementation of LLL for young adults in the two regions under study. This report provides findings and analysis to comply with the H2020 YOUNG_ADULLLT Research Project, Work Package 3 (WP3). We have used the requirements and guidance in the WP3 proposal to select two appropriate Functional Regions (FRs): The Glasgow City Region and Aberdeen/Aberdeenshire. These FRs provide a focus for the WP3 mapping but also frame the other data gathering for the YOUNG_ADULLLT project. The mapping has provided material to facilitate an understanding of the policy landscape, including the different policy sectors of the two FRs set in the national context. The mapping required the selection of three detailed examples of LLL/Skills policies with their associated material actions in each of the two FRs. Currently, we have mapped four in each FR. Our mapping reflects the distinctiveness of Scottish public policy in that national policies provide the main framework for regional and locally devolved enactment and associated actions

Fisher Summer Global Internship in London

STEP Category: InternshipsDuring Summer 2018, I had the opportunity to travel across the pond and call London home for eight weeks as a part of the Fisher Summer Global Internship Program. While there, I interned with GHO Capital, a Private Equity firm in the mid-market healthcare space. For more information regarding my STEP Project, please visit: https://fisher.osu.edu/blogs/global/2018/09/19/opportunity-not-a-lengthy-visitor/ .The Ohio State University Second-year Transformational Experience Program (STEP)Fisher Office of Global BusinessAcademic Major: Accountin

Optimal Control Applied to a Mathematical Model for Vancomycin-Resistant Enterococci

Enterococci bacteria that cannot be treated effectively with the antibiotic vancomycin are termed Vancomycin-Resistant Enterococci (VRE). In this thesis, we develop a mathematical framework for determining optimal strategies for prevention and treatment of VRE in an Intensive Care Unit (ICU). A system of ve ordinary differential equations describes the movement of ICU patients in and out of different states related to VRE infection. Two control variables representing the prevention and treatment of VRE are incorporated into the system. An optimal control problem is formulated to minimize the VRE-related deaths and costs associated with controls over a nite time period. Pontryagin\u27s Minimum Principle is used to characterize optimal controls by deriving a Hamiltonian expression and differential equations for ve adjoint variables. Numerical solutions to the optimal control problem illustrate how hospital policy makers can use our mathematical framework to investigate optimal cost-effective prevention and treatment schedules during a VRE outbreak

“Bacanora for Bats”: a Multispecies Ethnography in the Sonora-Arizona Borderlands

This dissertation presents a multispecies ethnography that explores the relationships among agaves, bats and humans in the border region shared by Sonora, Mexico and Arizona, USA. The work follows the lesser long-nosed bat (Leptonycteris yerbabuenae); Agave angustifolia, which is the species of agave used to make bacanora; and the human stakeholders who have become increasingly entangled in these bat-agave relationships. This ethnography de-centers the human actor bringing bats and agaves into the center of the story to provide alternative ways to understand human relationships with other species. In doing so, the ethnography challenges dominant assumptions about the human-nature divide. The first part of the dissertation explores these bat-agave-human relationships more generally. Part two takes a closer look at how the bacanora industry, along with binational conservation efforts, are shaping these human-nonhuman entanglements in the Sonora-Arizona borderlands. Nectar-feeding bats and agaves have co-evolved for millions of years. Lesser long-nosed bats forage for agave nectar, passing pollen from plant to plant, during their migration from southern Mexico to southern Arizona. This mutualistic relationship is threatened by habitat loss and climate change. Additionally, the growing bacanora industry in the state of Sonora is now one of the primary threats to the agave-bat relationship. Bacanora is a type of mezcal originating from the mountains in eastern Sonora. It is a culturally significant beverage that supports local livelihoods in the most marginalized region of the state. As demand for the agave distillate grows, wild agave stocks are disappearing at an unsustainable rate due to overharvesting. This multispecies ethnography follows the entanglements of the lesser long-nosed bat, Agave angustifolia and several human stakeholder groups—bacanora producers, the bacanora regulatory council and binational conservation organizations—at this time of rapid change. Qualitative data gathered from the Sonora-Arizona borderlands provides a depth and richness to these interspecies interlinkages at the local level. Participant observation and semi-structured interviews yield a diversity of stories that illustrate the complexity of changing interspecies connections within a transboundary region. This ethnographic illustration of bat-agave-human entanglements intentionally avoids oversimplified, reductionist interpretations, offering instead a valuable, nuanced understanding of these multispecies relationships that may help local stakeholders and policy makers on both sides of the border consider equitable and sustainable policy relating to the bacanora industry and conservation efforts

Measuring the Impact of the ‘Two Hours/Two Periods of Quality Physical Education’ Programme

No abstract available

An Exploration of Life\u27s Issues That Adolescent Girls Face: Impacting Their Psychological, Physical and Spiritual Wellbeing

As adolescent girls transition in their development they can experience numerous extensive short term and long term personal challenges that impact their mental health and personal wellbeing for themselves and society (Call et al., 2002; Tolman, Impett, Tracy & Michael, 2006). This research utilised interpretative phenomenology to explore insights and interpret the lived experiences of adolescent girls in psychological wellbeing (PWB), physical wellbeing (PhysWB) and spiritual wellbeing (SWB). It discovered coping strategies the girls employ, implied ways to promote resiliency, self esteem and self confidence and highlighted the benefits and ideals that adolescent girls are seeking from prevention or support programs. The research participants consisted of 13 adolescent girls, aged 15 to 16 years old; with the addition of the youth pastor and life group leader. Focus groups and semi-structured in-depth interviews were analysed using interpretive thematic analysis to assist in identification, analysis, and propagation of themes across the complete data set (Braun & Clarke, 2006). Four emerging themes were identified which include: coping techniques, physical wellbeing, support systems and church-based youth programs. In addition, a prominent unforeseen theme was social wellbeing. These themes participants deemed important for issues impacting PWB, PhysWB and SWB. The findings of this research broadens the psychological research literature for female adolescents’ health and wellness; including theoretical knowledge criterion for holistic (i.e. PWB, PhysWB, SWB and social wellbeing) prevention and support programs for adolescent girls. These findings imply that prevention (e.g., school-based programs) and support programs (e.g., church-based youth groups) for adolescent girls should primarily focus on the key social issues of fitting into society, friendship, family and intimate relationships (i.e., boyfriends) to address underlying influences on their self esteem, self confidence, independence and trust or faith in the community. Limitations of this study include the parental feedback not being included and the lived experiences being gender-specific (i.e., female adolescents only). Future research could include evaluating the dialogues of parents, friends and family. Additionally, future research could include an adolescent male sample to form a wider scope of knowledge