Scanned Imaging Techniques for Surface NDE

A phase sensitive laser probe in which the focussed spot is small, as compared with the acoustic wavelength, is capable of measuring the complex distributions of a SAW field along prescribed scan lines. Using the probe, it is possible, on a defect free sample, to measure the SAW velocity surface with an accuracy of a few parts in 105. Such accuracy suggests that the technique is sufficiently sensitive to detect small changes in surface characteristics; the presence of a defect is revealed by perturbations in the relationship between various scans. The scattered radiation patterns from a surface crack irradiated by acoustic surface waves can be utilised to determine the defect size and location with improved accuracy. Results on deliberate and real cracks are presented

Covid-19: Emerging needs for unemployed and economically inactive individuals

This Voices article presents emerging findings from research investigating the consequences of Covid-19 on individuals engaged on employability programmes in the United Kingdom. It outlines the challenges presented by ‘lockdown’ restrictions, as introduced to reduce the spread of Covid-19, on the delivery of employability programmes. Individuals engaged on such programmes experience a wealth of needs that have been compounded by Covid-19, resulting in new, emerging needs relating to personal wellbeing, social isolation, and confidence. Without effective and innovative support, individuals experiencing unemployment and economic inactivity will undoubtedly experience increased inequality; this inequality impacts on family, with individuals experiencing isolation from such, which in turn reduces wellbeing and stimuli, and indeed work, with Covid-19 compounding challenges in securing employment

Industrial constructions of publics and public knowledge: a qualitative investigation of practice in the UK chemicals industry

This is a post print version of the article. The official published version can be obtained from the link below - © 2007 by SAGE PublicationsWhile the rhetoric of public engagement is increasingly commonplace within industry, there has been little research that examines how lay knowledge is conceptualized and whether it is really used within companies. Using the chemicals sector as an example, this paper explores how companies conceive of publics and "public knowledge," and how this relates to modes of engagement/communication with them. Drawing on qualitative empirical research in four companies, we demonstrate that the public for industry are primarily conceived as "consumers" and "neighbours," having concerns that should be allayed rather than as groups with knowledge meriting engagement. We conclude by highlighting the dissonance between current advocacy of engagement and the discourses and practices prevalent within industry, and highlight the need for more realistic strategies for industry/public engagement.Funding was received from the ESRC Science in Society Programme

A palaeoenvironmental study of particle size-specific connectivity- new insights and implications from the West Sussex Rother Catchment, United Kingdom

Connectivity has become an important conceptual and practical framework for understanding and managing sediment transfers across hillslopes, between hillslopes and rivers and between rivers and other compartments along the river corridor (e.g. reservoirs, channel substrate, floodplain). Conventionally, connectivity focuses on the quantity of sediment transferred but here we also consider the size of the finer sediment (typically particles < 500 µm diameter). We examine the role of small rapidly silting reservoirs in the River Rother on storing sediment and disrupting downstream sediment transfers. Spatial and temporal changes in the particle size characteristics of sediment deposited in one of the ponds is explored in detail. Downstream of this pond we collected sediment from the river on nine occasions over 17 months using two sampling methods at two locations; one immediately downstream of the pond and a second ~700 m further downstream but upstream of the confluence with the Rother. Results showed a significant depletion in sand sized particles immediately downstream of the pond but the sand had been recovered from an in-channel source before the river reached the downstream sampling point

MerTK expressing hepatic macrophages promote the resolution of inflammation in acute liver failure

Objective: Acute liver failure (ALF) is characterised by overwhelming hepatocyte death and liver inflammation with massive infiltration of myeloid cells in necrotic areas. The mechanisms underlying resolution of acute hepatic inflammation are largely unknown. Here, we aimed to investigate the impact of Mer tyrosine kinase (MerTK) during ALF and also examine how the microenvironmental mediator, secretory leucocyte protease inhibitor (SLPI), governs this response. Design: Flow cytometry, immunohistochemistry, confocal imaging and gene expression analyses determined the phenotype, functional/transcriptomic profile and tissue topography of MerTK+ monocytes/macrophages in ALF, healthy and disease controls. The temporal evolution of macrophage MerTK expression and its impact on resolution was examined in APAP-induced acute liver injury using wild-type (WT) and Mer-deficient (Mer−/−) mice. SLPI effects on hepatic myeloid cells were determined in vitro and in vivo using APAP-treated WT mice. Results: We demonstrate a significant expansion of resolution-like MerTK+HLA-DRhigh cells in circulatory and tissue compartments of patients with ALF. Compared with WT mice which show an increase of MerTK+MHCIIhigh macrophages during the resolution phase in ALF, APAP-treated Mer−/− mice exhibit persistent liver injury and inflammation, characterised by a decreased proportion of resident Kupffer cells and increased number of neutrophils. Both in vitro and in APAP-treated mice, SLPI reprogrammes myeloid cells towards resolution responses through induction of a MerTK+HLA-DRhigh phenotype which promotes neutrophil apoptosis and their subsequent clearance. Conclusions: We identify a hepatoprotective, MerTK+, macrophage phenotype that evolves during the resolution phase following ALF and represents a novel immunotherapeutic target to promote resolution responses following acute liver injury

Partial costs of global climate change adaptation for the supply of raw industrial and municipal water: a methodology and application

Despite growing recognition of the importance of climate change adaptation, few global estimates of the costs involved are available for the water supply sector. We present a methodology for estimating partial global and regional adaptation costs for raw industrial and domestic water supply, for a limited number of adaptation strategies, and apply the method using results of two climate models. In this paper, adaptation costs are defined as those for providing enough raw water to meet future industrial and municipal water demand, based on country-level demand projections to 2050. We first estimate costs for a baseline scenario excluding climate change, and then additional climate change adaptation costs. Increased demand is assumed to be met through a combination of increased reservoir yield and alternative backstop measures. Under such controversial measures, we project global adaptation costs of $12 bn p.a., with 83-90$73 bn p.a.), which supports the notion of mainstreaming climate change adaptation into broader policy aims. The method provides a tool for estimating broad costs at the global and regional scale; such information is of key importance in international negotiations. © 2010 IOP Publishing Ltd