Numerical simulation of ratcheting and fatigue behaviour of mitred pipe bends under in-plane bending and internal pressure

This paper investigates the ratcheting and fatigue behaviour of 90 degree single unreinforced mitred pipe bends subjected to a cyclic in-plane closing moment with a non-zero mean value and constant internal pressure. An experiment was conducted to induce ratcheting and low cycle failure of the mitred pipe bend. Material and structural response is considered both locally and globally using strain gauges at the locations of highest strain and also by measuring the displacement of the mitre end. These results along with the number of cycles to failure are compared with those produced from nonlinear finite element analysis. The predicted crosshead displacement from the multi linear model showed a good agreement with the test results. However, the finite element model failed to accurately replicate the strain level or trend from the tests, indicating the weakness of the material model used in simulating the cyclic hardening effect. It was also found that the FE models proposed were not able to model the final failure mode of the mitre due to the exclusion of crack simulation in the analysis, i.e. interaction between ratcheting and low cycle fatigue cracking was not considered in the idealised numerical model

Countdown to 2010: Can we assess Ireland’s insect species diversity and loss?

peer-reviewedThe insects are the most diverse organisms on this planet and play an essential role in ecosystem functioning, yet we know very little about them. In light of the Convention on Biological Diversity, this paper summarises the known insect species numbers for Ireland and questions whether this is a true refl ection of our insect diversity. The total number of known species for Ireland is 11,422. Using species accumulation curves and a comparison with the British fauna, this study shows that the Irish list is incomplete and that the actual species number is much higher. However, even with a reasonable knowledge of the species in Ireland, insects are such speciose, small, and inconspicuous animals that it is diffi cult to assess species loss. It is impossible to know at one point in time the number of insect species in Ireland and, although it is useful to summarise the known number of species, it is essential that biodiversity indicators, such as the Red List Index, are developed

Optical reflectance of solution processed quasi-superlattice ZnO and Al-doped ZnO (AZO) channel materials

The angle-resolved reflectance of high crystalline quality, c-axis oriented ZnO and AZO single and periodic quasi-superlattice (QSL) spin-coated TFT channels materials are presented. The data is analysed using an adapted model to accurately determine the spectral region for optical thickness and corresponding reflectance. The optical thickness agrees very well with measured thickness of 1–20 layered QSL thin films determined by transmission electron microscopy if the reflectance from lowest interference order is used. Directional reflectance for single layers or homogeneous QSLs of ZnO and AZO channel materials exhibit a consistent degree of anti-reflection characteristics from 30 to 60° (~10–12% reflection) for thickness ranging from ~40 nm to 500 nm. The reflectance of AZO single layer thin films is  <10% from 30 to 75° at 514.5 nm, and  <6% at 632.8 nm from 30–60°. The data show that ZnO and AZO with granular or periodic substructure behave optically as dispersive, continuous thin films of similar thickness, and angle-resolved spectral mapping provides a design rule for transparency or refractive index determination as a function of film thickness, substructure (dispersion) and viewing angle

Completing the Translation

Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/154355/1/onco13114_am.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/154355/2/onco13114.pd

"Im not Racist but...": Discovering Bias in the Internal Knowledge of Large Language Models

Large language models (LLMs) have garnered significant attention for their remarkable performance in a continuously expanding set of natural language processing tasks. However, these models have been shown to harbor inherent societal biases, or stereotypes, which can adversely affect their performance in their many downstream applications. In this paper, we introduce a novel, purely prompt-based approach to uncover hidden stereotypes within any arbitrary LLM. Our approach dynamically generates a knowledge representation of internal stereotypes, enabling the identification of biases encoded within the LLM's internal knowledge. By illuminating the biases present in LLMs and offering a systematic methodology for their analysis, our work contributes to advancing transparency and promoting fairness in natural language processing systems.Comment: Warning: This paper discusses and contains content that is offensive or upsettin

Teaching philosophies revalued:beyond personal development to academic and institutional capacity building

This research investigates the value of teaching philosophies (TP) for today’s academics and their institutions. It offers a new framework to enhance academic development, personal resilience, and institutional capacity building. Since the 1990s, TPs have been formalised as personally constructed and reflectively written statements of educational values, beliefs, and practices. Whereas within universities, TPs have been institutionalised for academic performance reviews, awards, and promotions. In-depth personal interviews on TPs and their value on personal journeys and institutional experiences were conducted with academics from Australia and Canada. The findings highlight the value and future potential of TPs beyond a formulaic role