Evaluation of the possibility of obtaining welded joints of plates from Al-Mg-Mn aluminum alloys, strengthened by the introduction of TiB2 particles

In the work, the possibility of obtaining strong welded joints of aluminum alloys modified with particles is demonstrated. For research, strengthened aluminum alloys of the Al-Mg-Mn system with the introduction of TiB2 particles were obtained. TiB2 particles in specially prepared Al-TiB master alloys obtained by self-propagating high-temperature synthesis were introduced ex situ into the melt according to an original technique using ultrasonic treatment. Plates from the studied cast alloys were butt-welded by one-sided welded joints of various depths. To obtain welded joints, the method of electron beam welding was used. Mechanical properties of the studied alloys and their welded joints under tension were studied. It was shown that the introduction of particles resulted in a change in the internal structure of the alloys, characterized by the formation of compact dendritic structures and a decrease in the average grain size from 155 to 95 µm. The change in the internal structure due to the introduction of particles led to an increase in the tensile strength of the obtained alloys from 163 to 204 MPa. It was found that the obtained joints have sufficient relative strength values. Relative strength values reach 0.9 of the nominal strength of materials already at the ratio of the welded joint depth to the thickness of the welded plates, equal to 0.6 for the initial alloy and in the range of 0.67–0.8 for strengthened alloys

Employing culturally responsive pedagogy to foster literacy learning in schools

 In recent years it has become increasingly obvious that, to enable students in schools from an increasingly diverse range of cultural backgrounds to acquire literacy to a standard that will support them to achieve academically, it is important to adopt pedagogy that is responsive to, and respectful of, them as culturally situated. What largely has been omitted from the literature, however, is discussion of a relevant model of learning to underpin this approach. For this reason this paper adopts a socio-cultural lens (Vygotsky, 1978) through which to view such pedagogy and refers to a number of seminal texts to justify of its relevance. Use of this lens is seen as having a particular rationale. It forces a focus on the agency of the teacher as a mediator of learning who needs to acknowledge the learner’s cultural situatedness (Kozulin, 2003) if school literacy learning for all students is to be as successful as it might be. It also focuses attention on the predominant value systems and social practices that characterize the school settings in which students’ literacy learning is acquired. The paper discusses implications for policy and practice at whole-school, classroom and individual student levels of culturally-responsive pedagogy that is based on a socio-cultural model of learning. In doing so it draws on illustrations from the work of a number of researchers, including that of the author

Painlev\'e structure of a multi-ion electrodiffusion system

A nonlinear coupled system descriptive of multi-ion electrodiffusion is investigated and all parameters for which the system admits a single-valued general solution are isolated. This is achieved \textit{via} a method initiated by Painleve' with the application of a test due to Kowalevski and Gambier. The solutions can be obtained explicitly in terms of Painleve' transcendents or elliptic functions.Comment: 9 p, Latex, to appear, J Phys A FT

Evaporation and fission decay of (132)Ce compound nuclei at E(x)=122 MeV: some limitations of the statistical model

Light charged particle (LCP) emission in the evaporation residue (ER) and fusion fission (FF) channels have been studied for the 200 MeV 32S + 100Mo reaction, leading to 132Ce composite nuclei at E x =122 MeV. The main goal was to study the decay of 132 Ce on the basis of an extended set of observables, to get insights on the fission dynamics. The proton and alpha particle energy spectra, their multiplicities, ER-LCP angular correlations, ER and FF angular distributions, and ER and FF cross-sections were measured. The measured observables were compared with the Statistical Model (SM). Using standard parameters, the model was able to reproduce only the pre-scission multiplicities and the FF and ER cross-sections. The calculation was observed to strongly overestimate the proton and alpha particle multiplicities in the ER channel. Disagreements were also observed for the ER-LCP correlations, the LCP energy spectra and the ER angular distribution. By varying the SM input parameters over a wide range of values, it is shown that it is not possible to reproduce all the observables simultaneously with a unique set of parameters. The inadequacy of the model in reproducing the ER particle multiplicities is also observed analysing data from the literature for other systems in the A ≈ 150 and E x ≈ 100−200 MeV region. These results indicate serious limitations about the use of the SM in extracting information on fission dynamics

Beyond Antagonism? The Discursive Construction of ‘New’ Teachers in the United Arab Emirates

The UAE, which celebrated independence in 1971, is a rapidly changing environment where aspects of traditional Bedouin culture co-exist with the immense changes being wrought by the forces of globalization and the wealth brought about by the development of the oil industry. Emirati nationals are a minority within the UAE, comprising approximately 20% of the population, and the majority of the schoolteachers are expatriates drawn from other Arabic speaking countries. Within this context, the Higher Colleges of Technology's Bachelor of Education degree in Teaching English to Young Learners prepares young UAE national women for English language teaching positions in local government schools. The research presented in this paper is drawn from this two-year study of student teachers and explores the discursive construction of the students' systems of knowledge and belief. The paper concludes with a critical consideration of the study's implications and some possible recommendations for teacher education in the UAE that may also have resonance for teacher education programs in other contexts

Duplication events downstream of IRX1 cause North Carolina macular dystrophy at the MCDR3 locus

Autosomal dominant North Carolina macular dystrophy (NCMD) is believed to represent a failure of macular development. The disorder has been linked to two loci, MCDR1 (chromosome 6q16) and MCDR3 (chromosome 5p15-p13). Recently, non-coding variants upstream of PRDM13 (MCDR1) and a duplication including IRX1 (MCDR3) have been identified. However, the underlying disease-causing mechanism remains uncertain. Through a combination of sequencing studies on eighteen NCMD families, we report two novel overlapping duplications at the MCDR3 locus, in a gene desert downstream of IRX1 and upstream of ADAMTS16. One duplication of 43 kb was identified in nine families (with evidence for a shared ancestral haplotype), and another one of 45 kb was found in a single family. Three families carry the previously reported V2 variant (MCDR1), while five remain unsolved. The MCDR3 locus is thus refined to a shared region of 39 kb that contains DNAse hypersensitive sites active at a restricted time window during retinal development. Publicly available data confirmed expression of IRX1 and ADAMTS16 in human fetal retina, with IRX1 preferentially expressed in fetal macula. These findings represent a major advance in our understanding of the molecular genetics of NCMD and provide insights into the genetic pathways involved in human macular development

Towards a knowledge-rich learning environment in preparatory secondary education

In this case study a novel educational programme for students in preparatory vocational education was studied. The research questions were: (1) Which teaching/learning processes occur in a simulated workplace using the concept of a knowledge-rich workplace? (2) What is the role of models and modelling in the teaching/learning processes? The curriculum project consisted of design and construction tasks. The students were collaboratively involved in the process of designing a tricycle for a real customer. This real-life activity creates opportunities for students to develop and use models, which can be used in more than in one context. The case study explored how the teachers deal with the students' explicit and implicit need for knowledge and skills. The main findings are that teachers more often provide this knowledge, rather than guide the students in reconstructing it, and towards the end of the project, knowledge tended to remain situated

A study on the dependence of nuclear viscosity on temperature

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