The Forgotten -ism

“I’d rather not. I don’t like to talk to old people. They make me uncomfortable. They kind of smell weird and make me think about death. Some of them are even racist, so I’d just rather not.” As part of my internship this summer, in which I helped to coordinate the Friday evening dinners at the Gettysburg Senior Center, putting out advertisements to “hang out with old people” wasn’t exactly an easy task. [excerpt

Holding fixture for a hot stamping press

A hand held guide for manually positioning a work piece between the anvil rib and tool of a hot die stamping press is described. A groove completed by interchangeable cover plates attached at one end of the guide conforms to a cross sectional dimension common to similar workpieces and, with a force fit, retentively holds each of the workpieces

Assimilation of MSG land-surface temperature into land-surface model simulations to constrain estimates of surface energy budget in West Africa

In the semi-arid regions of West Africa the surface energy partition is related closely to near surface moisture availability. Such moisture availability exhibits marked heterogeneity at scales of a few kilometres, related to the passage of storm systems during the previous one or two days. The associated variations in surface fluxes affect planetary boundary layer properties at the mesoscale, which may in turn affect rainfall and the seasonal development of the West African monsoon. Atmosphere models used to study this land-atmosphere coupling are sensitive to the soil moisture initial condition. There exists no observation network for soil moisture in West Africa, so models rely on data from atmosphere analyses, which are often unable to describe adequately surface variation at the mesoscale. Additionally, retrospective estimates of the seasonal surface energy and water budgets using land-surface models are biased by persistent model errors in soil moisture. Anomalies in near-surface (top few centimetres) soil moisture are anti-correlated with anomalies in land-surface brightness temperature, which is observed by the SEVIRI thermal infra-red sensors onboard the Meteosat Second Generation (MSG) satellites. Here, we present methods developed for assimilating the MSG land-surface temperature product from the Land SAF to constrain estimates of the surface energy and water budgets using the JULES land-surface model. This MSG temperature product has a pixel size of approximately 3 km in this region, and is known to provide information of surface wetness anomalies at the scales of interest. The results will provide, for a large region of West Africa, improved initial conditions for modelling studies and seasonal estimates of the surface energy and water budgets

Compact source of soft X-rays

Sources of soft X-rays uses alpha particles to fluoresce light elements such as boron, carbon, and magnesium. X-ray wavelengths are varied by changing target. Technique supplies broad range of monoenergetic X-rays whose energy can be adjusted very easily

Rationalizing VICAR within a TAE framework: Some problems and some solutions

Transportable Applications Executive (TAE) implementation may impose a strain on centers with modest resources. This may be eased in a number of ways. The balance of a small number of expert users and a large number of computing novices at the Interactive Planetary Image-Processing System (IPIPS) imposes special constraints. Some solutions to these and other particular problems are described

Price endings and consumer segmentation

Purpose – To investigate the area of price endings to determine which groups of consumers are more likely to use odd-endings as opposed to round-endings. Design/methodology/approach – A questionnaire was developed that tested respondents' use of odd-endings as opposed to round-endings dependent on classification by gender and age. Respondents were required to estimate the price they would be expected to pay in stores for six products. This methodology enabled the researchers to generate a large sample size and to encourage accuracy of response. Findings – The main finding was that there was a difference between gender groups; women were more likely to respond with odd-endings than men and hence segmenting the market is the way forward when investigating price endings. Research limitations/implications – The research only considers segmentation by gender and age. Further research needs to be undertaken to fully understand the consumer responses. Practical implications – Although the difference between 99 cents and a $1.00 is small, for high volume items this can have a significant impact on gross profit and margins, particularly for low value items. If retailers understand which groups of consumers were more likely to be attracted to the round-endings they could use this knowledge to determine the most effective prices. Originality/value – This research follows on from a price trial conducted into price endings and is the second phase of an investigation into whether odd-endings are effective. It proposes a theory that has been empirically tested and points the way forward for future research in this area

Analytic solution of nonlinear fractional Burgers-type equation by invariant subspace method

In this paper we study the analytic solutions of Burgers-type nonlinear fractional equations by means of the Invariant Subspace Method. We first study a class of nonlinear equations directly related to the time-fractional Burgers equation. Some generalizations linked to the forced time-fractional Burgers equations and variable-coefficient diffusion are also considered. Finally we study a Burgers-type equation involving both space and time-fractional derivatives