Szilard-Chalmers recoil studies in Zeolite L, offretite and erionite

Imperial Users onl

The transformation of hunger revisited: estimating available calories from the budgets of late nineteenth-century British households

Levels of nutrition among British worker's households in the late nineteenth century have been much debated. Trevon Logan (2006, 2009) estimated a very low average level of available calories. This paper re-examines the data and finds average levels of available calories much more in line with existing studies, more in line with what is known about energy requirements, and more in line with other aspects of the data. In sum, British households were likely to have been significantly better fed than Logan reports

Competent and Employed: STEM alumni perspectives on undergraduate research and NACE career-readiness competencies

There have been large increases in the number of STEM graduates in the United States, but the majority of growth in non-healthcare, career opportunities are limited to computer specialists and engineering. Thus, two challenges await STEM students upon graduation: strong competition and employer concerns that applicants lack general competencies and work experience. Universities have responded to employer concerns with initiatives to enhance career readiness by embedding sets of competencies throughout curricula. However, these competencies have not been situated in STEM contexts and are derived largely from surveys of representatives from large companies who are unfamiliar with the job requirements specific to STEM positions. The current study uses a mixed methods approach as a first step to investigate the National Association of Colleges and Employers Career-Readiness Competencies in STEM with alumni who have participated in UREs and are currently employed in STEM careers. We propose that institutions can simultaneously situate skill development in STEM and provide meaningful, work-like experience through undergraduate research experiences (UREs). Findings demonstrate that UREs provide a fertile ground for the integration of career related competencies into undergraduate curricula and suggest institutions should strategically implement career-readiness competencies that reflect the priorities of STEM employers.   Keywords: STEM, career readiness, NACE competencies, alumni, undergraduate research experiences, employment&nbsp

The 'Gender Education Transition': What it Might Mean for the Labour Market.

While overall tertiary education participation has been rising, some groups are lagging. Men, and particularly Maori and Pacific men, are increasingly underrepresented in many education institutions, especially at higher levels of education. For example, in 1994 in the under 30 age group and when foreign students are excluded there were 13% more women than men enrolled in degree courses. By 2004 this had risen to 36%. For Maori undertaking degrees, the difference had risen from 21% to 79% in 2004, while for Pacific students the figures have gone from 27% to 52%. The cohorts that are part of this tertiary ‘education transition’ are now a key part of the population that are forming couples or deciding to live on their own, establishing their careers and deciding whether to have children. Some of the possible implications of this ‘education transition’ for the labour market are explored

Australia and New Zealand Labour Markets: Some Similarities and Differences

There is much media attention given to New Zealand workers migrating to Australia. Less attention has been given to directly comparing the two labour markets. We use Australian and New Zealand census and labour force survey data to build a 2006/2008 centred comparison of labour market attributes and recent trends in both countries. Key areas considered include: how did the restructuring of the New Zealand economy in the 1980s/early 1990s affect the relative rates of prime-aged male employment in New Zealand as compared to Australia; has there been the same growth in employment of women on both sides of the Tasman: how does the liming of retirement by Australians compare with that of New Zealand residents; how similar are our overall occupational patterns; are young New Zealand born tradespeople proportionately more concentrated in the Australian workforce than in New Zealand; is the occupational structure of Auslralia resident Maori similar to that of other Australian resident; and how does the balance of extended metropolitan and other labour market catchment types compare? A 2006 Australasian comparative labour market geography developed using the Coombes algorithm as implemented by Newel/ and Papps 2001 is introduced as a common framework for the comparative study of Australia and New Zealand subnational labour markets

Pattern Formation and Dynamics in Rayleigh-B\'{e}nard Convection: Numerical Simulations of Experimentally Realistic Geometries

Rayleigh-B\'{e}nard convection is studied and quantitative comparisons are made, where possible, between theory and experiment by performing numerical simulations of the Boussinesq equations for a variety of experimentally realistic situations. Rectangular and cylindrical geometries of varying aspect ratios for experimental boundary conditions, including fins and spatial ramps in plate separation, are examined with particular attention paid to the role of the mean flow. A small cylindrical convection layer bounded laterally either by a rigid wall, fin, or a ramp is investigated and our results suggest that the mean flow plays an important role in the observed wavenumber. Analytical results are developed quantifying the mean flow sources, generated by amplitude gradients, and its effect on the pattern wavenumber for a large-aspect-ratio cylinder with a ramped boundary. Numerical results are found to agree well with these analytical predictions. We gain further insight into the role of mean flow in pattern dynamics by employing a novel method of quenching the mean flow numerically. Simulations of a spiral defect chaos state where the mean flow is suddenly quenched is found to remove the time dependence, increase the wavenumber and make the pattern more angular in nature.Comment: 9 pages, 10 figure

MEN1 Surveillance Guidelines:Time to (re)Think?

Clinical practice guidelines for patients with multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1 (MEN1) recommend a variety of surveillance options. Given progress over the past decade in this area, it is timely to evaluate their ongoing utility. MEN1 is characterized by the development of synchronous or asynchronous tumors affecting a multitude of endocrine and nonendocrine tissues, resulting in premature morbidity and mortality, such that the rationale for undertaking surveillance screening in at-risk individuals appears robust. Current guidelines recommend an intensive regimen of clinical, biochemical, and radiological surveillance commencing in early childhood for those with a clinical or genetic diagnosis of MEN1, with the aim of early tumor detection and treatment. Although it is tempting to assume that such screening results in patient benefits and improved outcomes, the lack of a strong evidence base for several aspects of MEN1 care, and the potential for iatrogenic harms related to screening tests or interventions of unproven benefit, make such assumptions potentially unsound. Furthermore, the psychological as well as economic burdens of intensive screening remain largely unstudied. Although screening undoubtedly constitutes an important component of MEN1 patient care, this perspective aims to highlight some of the current uncertainties and challenges related to existing MEN1 guidelines with a particular focus on the role of screening for presymptomatic tumors. Looking forward, a screening approach that acknowledges these limitations and uncertainties and places the patient at the heart of the decision-making process is advocated

The Effects of Special Mule Deer Buck Regulations on Mule Deer Populations and Harvest

We evaluated the effects of 3 restrictive season types on mule deer population and harvest characteristics in 41 Montana hunting districts (HDs). Using a mixed-effects, before-after-control-impact modeling framework, we analyzed 6 harvest and hunter use response variables, and 4 population response variables. Buck : doe ratios increased by 0.42 bucks:100 does and 0.33 bucks :100 does per year, following changes to a shortened season and limited permits, respectively. We found no significant change in buck : doe ratios in unlimited permit HDs. All restrictive season types resulted in declines in hunter numbers and days. HDs with no restrictions, with limited permits and with unlimited permits also showed a downward annual trend in hunter numbers. In shortened season HDs, a significant loss in hunter numbers was followed by a slow return of hunters back to those HDs. Limited permit HDs had a statistically greater proportion of bucks with ?4 points on at least one antler, a lower number of bucks harvested annually, and a smaller total number of ?4 point bucks harvested than in HDs with no buck restrictions. For those same 3 response variables, unlimited and shortened season HDs were not different than HDs without restrictions. In all three restricted regulation HDs there was an annual increase in the observed spring fawn : adult ratios even though the general trend was for a decreasing fawn : adult ratio of 0.83 fawns:100 adults per year in HDs with no restrictions

Native Web Communication Protocols and Their Effects on the Performance of Web Services and Systems

Native Web communication protocols are the pivotal components of Web services, applications and systems. In particular, HTTP is a de facto protocol standard used in almost all Web services and systems. Consequently, it is one of the crucial protocols responsible for the performance of Web services and systems. HTTP/1.1 has been successfully deployed in Web services and systems for the last two decades. However, one of the most significant issues with HTTP/1.1 is the Round Trip Time and Web latency. To resolve this issue, two successor protocols SPDY and HTTP/2 have been developed recently, with some studies suggesting that SPDY improved the performance of Web services and systems, whilst some did not find significant improvements in the performance. HTTP/2 is a relatively new protocol and has yet to be tested with any rigour. Therefore, it is important to investigate the effects of these two enhanced protocols SPDY and HTTP/2 on the performance of Web services and systems. This paper conducts a number of practical investigations to evaluate the performance of Web services and systems with and without the support of SPDY and HTTP/2 protocols at the client and server. This study investigates the impact of SPDY and HTTP/2 on the overall performance of Web services and systems from the end-user's perspective

Physical soil quality indicators for monitoring British soils

The condition or quality of soils determines its ability to deliver a range of functions that support ecosystem services, human health and wellbeing. The increasing policy imperative to implement successful soil monitoring programmes has resulted in the demand for reliable soil quality indicators (SQIs) for physical, biological and chemical soil properties. The selection of these indicators needs to ensure that they are sensitive and responsive to pressure and change e.g. they change across space and time in relation to natural perturbations and land management practices. Using a logical sieve approach based on key policy-related soil functions, this research assessed whether physical soil properties can be used to indicate the quality of British soils in terms of its capacity to deliver ecosystem goods and services. The resultant prioritised list of physical SQIs were tested for robustness, spatial and temporal variability and expected rate of change using statistical analysis and modelling. Six SQIs were prioritised; packing density, soil water retention characteristics, aggregate stability, rate of erosion, depth of soil and soil sealing. These all have direct relevance to current and likely future soil and environmental policy and are appropriate for implementation in soil monitoring programs