An in-depth examination of the implementation of the Disability Equality Duty - Executive Summary. A research report for the Office for Disability Issues

In 2007 the Office for Disability Issues commissioned this seven-month study to examine the implementation of the Disability Equality Duty (DED) in England. The research was conducted by teams from the universities of Glasgow and Strathclyde. The full report is available at www.officefordisability.gov.u

Chemometric modelling to relate antioxidants, neutral lipid fatty acids and flavour components in chicken breast

Relationships among quality factors in retailed free-range, corn-fed, organic, and conventional chicken breasts (9) were modeled using chemometric approaches. Use of principal component analysis (PCA) to neutral lipid composition data explained the majority (93%) of variability (variance) in fatty acid contents in 2 significant multivariate factors. PCA explained 88 and 75% variance in 3 factors for, respectively, flame ionization detection (FID) and nitrogen phosphorus (NPD) components in chromatographic flavor data from cooked chicken after simultaneous distillation extraction. Relationships to tissue antioxidant contents were modeled. Partial least square regression (PLS2), interrelating total data matrices, provided no useful models. By using single antioxidants as Y variables in PLS (1), good models (r2 values > 0.9) were obtained for alpha-tocopherol, glutathione, catalase, glutathione peroxidase, and reductase and FID flavor components and among the variables total mono and polyunsaturated fatty acids and subsets of FID, and saturated fatty acid and NPD components. Alpha-tocopherol had a modest (r2 = 0.63) relationship with neutral lipid n-3 fatty acid content. Such factors thus relate to flavor development and quality in chicken breast meat

Gravity-driven draining of a thin rivulet with constant width down a slowly varying substrate

The locally unidirectional gravity-driven draining of a thin rivulet with constant width but slowly varying contact angle down a slowly varying substrate is considered. Specifically, the flow of a rivulet in the azimuthal direction from the top to the bottom of a large horizontal cylinder is investigated. In particular, it is shown that, despite behaving the same locally, this flow has qualitatively different global behaviour from that of a rivulet with constant contact angle but slowly varying width. For example, whereas in the case of constant contact angle there is always a rivulet that runs all the way from the top to the bottom of the cylinder, in the case of constant width this is possible only for sufficiently narrow rivulets. Wider rivulets with constant width are possible only between the top of the cylinder and a critical azimuthal angle on the lower half of the cylinder. Assuming that the contact lines de-pin at this critical angle (where the contact angle is zero) the rivulet runs from the critical angle to the bottom of the cylinder with zero contact angle, monotonically decreasing width and monotonically increasing maximum thickness. The total mass of fluid on the cylinder is found to be a monotonically increasing function of the value of the constant width

Noise of a model helicopter rotor due to ingestion of turbulence

A theoretical and experimental investigation of the noise of a model helicoper rotor due to ingestion of turbulence was conducted. Experiments were performed with a 0.76 m dia, articulated model rotor for a range of inflow turbulence and rotor operating conditions. Inflow turbulence levels varied from approximately 2 to 19 percent and tip Mach number was varied from 0.3 to 0.52. Test conditions included ingestion of a atmospheric turbulence in outdoor hover as well as ingestion of grid generated isotropic turbulence in the wind tunnel airstream. In wind tunnel testing, both forward flight and vertical ascent (climb) were simulated. Far field noise spectra and directivity were measured in addition to incident turbulence intensities, length scales, and spectra. Results indicate that ingestion of atmospheric turbulence is the dominant helicopter rotor hover noise mechanism at the moderate to high frequencies which determine perceived noise level

Hybrid Lateral Transshipments in a Multi-Location Inventory System

In managing networks of stock holding locations, two approaches to the pooling of inventory have been proposed. Reactive transshipm nts respond to stockouts at a location by moving inventory from elsewhere within the network, while proactive redistribution of stock seeks to minimise the chance of future shocks. This paper is the first to propose a hybrid approach in which transshipments are viewed as an opportunity for stock redistribution. We adopt a quasi-myopic approach to the development of a strongly performing hybrid transshipment policy. Numerical studies which utilise dynamic programming and simulation testify to the benefits of using transshipments proactively. In comparison to a purely reactive approach to transshipment, service levels are improved while a reduction in safety stock levels is achieved. The aggregate costs incurred in managing the system are significantly reduced, especially so for large networks facing high levels of demand.

Don’t get involved: an examination of how public sector organisations in England are involving disabled people in the Disability Equality Duty

The Disability Equality Duty (DED) came into force in December 2006. It stipulated that all public sector organisations were to develop policies to promote the equality of disabled people as staff members, consumers or visitors. Its emergence comes as part of a network of social policies developed over the last 20 years to promote disability rights and citizenship in the UK. However unlike previous legislation, the DED set in place the need for organisations to be pro-active in their policies and work with disabled people to move towards change in public sector cultures and working practices. This article reports on this early stage of implementation in England. Findings show that whilst some progress has been made in securing change, practice varied greatly. Therefore if a fundamental change in the culture of work and service provision is to be secured, this key requirement will need to be given a higher priority by organisations

A thin rivulet or ridge subject to a uniform transverse shear stress at its free surface due to an external airflow

We use the lubrication approximation to analyse three closely related problems involving a thin rivulet or ridge (i.e. a two-dimensional droplet) of fluid subject to a prescribed uniform transverse shear stress at its free surface due to an external airflow, namely a rivulet draining under gravity down a vertical substrate, a rivulet driven by a longitudinal shear stress at its free surface, and a ridge on a horizontal substrate, and find qualitatively similar behaviour for all three problems. We show that, in agreement with previous numerical studies, the free surface profile of an equilibrium rivulet/ridge with pinned contact lines is skewed as the shear stress is increased from zero, and that there is a maximum value of the shear stress beyond which no solution with prescribed semi-width is possible. In practice, one or both of the contact lines will de-pin before this maximum value of the shear stress is reached, and so we consider situations in which the rivulet/ridge de-pins at one or both contact lines. In the case of de-pinning only at the advancing contact line, the rivulet/ridge is flattened and widened as the shear stress is increased from its critical value, and there is a second maximum value of the shear stress beyond which no solution with a prescribed advancing contact angle is possible. In contrast, in the case of de-pinning only at the receding contact line, the rivulet/ridge is thickened and narrowed as the shear stress is increased from its critical value, and there is a solution with a prescribed receding contact angle for all values of the shear stress. In general, in the case of de-pinning at both contact lines there is a critical “yield” value of the shear stress beyond which no equilibrium solution is possible and the rivulet/ridge will evolve unsteadily. In an Appendix we show that an equilibrium rivulet/ridge with prescribed flux/area is quasi-statically stable to two-dimensional perturbations

The Economic Co-Operation Agreement between Canada and ASEAN: Charting a Foreign Investment Course in Southeast Asia

In September 1981 Canada and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) signed the first economic co-operation agreement between ASEAN and an individual country. The Agreement was indicative of the changing focus in Canadian international economic relations towards the Pacific area. It also underlines Canadian recognition of an important new regional organization whose member countries contain some of the world\u27s fastest growing economies. This 1985 paper examines the Agreement against the international legal framework for economic relations between states, assess its overall effectiveness in that context and explore where new initiatives are still needed

Museums and the Dilemmas of Deaccessioning

One of the most controversial aspects of museum governance has been the practice of deaccessioning, whereby museums sell or otherwise part with possession of objects forming part of their collections. Though such transfers are usually legal, they can sometimes engender heated debate. Much of the controversy surrounding deaccessioning by museums seems to arise from the perception that they are public institutions impressed with the role of protecting and preserving their collections intact for future generations.However, the enormous market prices for certain works of art in recent years have created tempting options for museums to raise funds by selling objects from their collections. This article aims at illustrating the problems institutions face when considering the disposition of objects in their collections. The legal framework that governs such sales will be outlined and the question posed as to whether these existing laws are adequate to address concerns surrounding sales, or whether new laws or other strategies are needed to resolve contentious dispositions