Investigating the performance of TiN and TiAIN coatings on milling cutter used for machining bimetal steel strip

Surface engineering of cutting tools (single point or multipoint) through advanced coatings (e.g., TiN) has contributed towards considerable improvement of tool life, productivity and machining quality [1] by modifying the tool substrate. New coating species (e.g., TiAlN) are also being developed to further improve the performance of cutting tools. In this study, milling tests were carried out with a TiN and TiAlN coated milling cutter to compare their performance. Physical Vapour Deposition (PVD) technique was used to deposit the coatings after carefully preparing the cutting edges. Flank wear measurement in the milling cutter teeth was used as the criterion for assessing performance of the coatings. It has been found that TiAlN coating has significantly reduced the flank wear in the milling cutter teeth compared to TiN coating both at new and reground conditions of the cutter. Abrasive and adhesive wear were identified as the main mechanisms of the flank wear in both TiAlN and TiN coated teeth. The information should be useful for tool designers, coating suppliers and manufacturing engineers

Assessing the Gap between Theory and Practice in Implementing CLT at Secondary Level in Bangladesh: A Case Study

The Ministry of Education (MOE) of Bangladesh introduced Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) at the Primary and Secondary levels in 1990s in a hope to bring a qualitative change in the field of language teaching. But the outcome has not been up to the mark. There is a gap between theory of CLT and its implementation in our language teaching scheme. Some mismatches are reported in CLT implementation process in Bangladesh. This study aims at identifying the mismatches –factors- that hinder the implementation of CLT at the Secondary level of Bangladesh with a view to drawing the attention of the education administrators to bring necessary changes towards making language teaching more effectiv

Product Enhancement with a systems approach, utilising Time Compression Technologies

In the current competitive market of introducing new products and processes it is absolutely vital to reduce lead times, produce a prototype which is right first time and produce design specifications which will ensure that the products are eventually produced to a quality requirement at a competitive price. In order to achieve this the Centre For rapid Product Development at Northumbria University has undertaken a number of assignments to assist SME’s in the region using a traditional systems approach combining modern engineering technologies such as Rapid Prototyping , Reverse Engineering , Computer Aided Design , Computer Aided manufacturing and Surface engineering

Clientelism, rent-seeking and protection :a study of corruption in Iraq after 2003

PhD ThesisThis thesis examines corruption in post-2003 Iraq. As an oil-rich country with a factionalised political system based on sectarian appointments along ethnic and religious lines, Iraq is an interesting case for studying corruption. The core argument of this thesis is not about whether corruption exists in Iraq, but about the nature and forms it takes and why. The central claim is that corruption in Iraq takes three forms: clientelism, rent-seeking and corruption protection. Clientelism centres on the trading of state funds by multiple parties in return for political support or ‘buy affiliation and buy vote’. Rent-seeking is corrupt if it arises from an artificial monopolistic situation. Corruption protection is action to counter a primary form of corruption - i.e. clientelism or rent-seeking- and to prevent perpetrators from being brought to justice. Two factors make corruption distinctive in Iraq. The first factor is that these three forms of corruption may or may not be illegal, but I argue against regarding the law as a standard for defining corruption, because otherwise, some forms and ways of practising corruption could be deemed corrupt in one legal system but not corrupt in another. The reason why these three forms of corruption are labelled as corruption is because they are practised to promote mutual benefit between two parties, thereby subverting the public interest for sectional interest. In other words, people who are involved in such forms of corruption gain a mutual benefit which is private, and this means privatising the public interest by a particular segment of the community. The second factor follows on from the first, in that corruption has a political rather than a legal foundation, based on the sectarian and partisan line appointments muhasassa political system which is not necessarily illegal, but is a politically damaging (undemocratic) political process which is against the public interest. Over 100 years ago, Brooks (1909) argued that corruption is intentional action, and I agree that privatising the public interest by particular segments of the population subverting the public interest is definitely intentional action. My view, therefore, is that corruption in Iraq has only one condition -intentional action for sectional interests- and that the issue of legality/illegality is not relevant to the definition of corruption. The study uses data from key informant interviews and focus groups that were carried out during 2014-2015 in Iraq. The thesis concludes that the three forms of corruption that have plagued Iraq cannot be easily eliminated, because reconciliation between the different groups in power is needed to make institutions for anti-corruption work, and that would require a process of democratisation which is unlikely to take place in the near future.Ministry of Higher Education in Kurdistan region for providing me with a scholarship. I have gratefully received funding form the Human Capacity v Development Progra

The relationship between oestrogen receptor-alpha phosphorylation and the tumour microenvironment in patients with primary operable ductal breast cancer

Aims: Although the role of phosphorylation of oestrogen receptor (ER) at serines 118 (p-S118) and 167 (p-S167) has been studied, the relationship between p-S118, p-S167 and the tumour microenvironment in ER-positive primary operable ductal breast cancers have not been investigated. The aims of this study are to investigate (i) the relationship between p-S118/p-S167 and the tumour microenvironment, and (ii) the effect of p-S118/167 on survival and recurrence in ER-positive primary operable ductal breast cancers. Methods and results: Patients presenting at three Glasgow hospitals between 1995 and 1998 with invasive ductal ER-positive primary breast cancers were studied (n = 294). Immunohistochemical staining of p-S118 and p-S167 was performed and their association with clinicopathological characteristics, cancer-specific survival (CSS) and recurrence-free interval (RFI) were examined. In the whole cohort, tumour size (P < 0.05) and microvessel density (P < 0.05) were associated with high p-S118 while increased micovessel density (P < 0.05), apoptosis (P < 0.05), general inflammatory infiltrate measured using the Klintrup–Makinen score (P < 0.05) and macrophage infiltrate (P < 0.05) were found to be associated with high p-S167. Only high p-S167 was associated with shorter CSS (P < 0.005) and shorter RFI in the whole cohort (P = 0.001) and separately in the luminal A (P < 0.05) and B tumours (P < 0.05). Conclusions: This study showed that both p-S118 and p-S167 were associated with several microenvironmental factors, including increased microvessel density. In particular, p-S167 was associated with reduced RFI and CSS in the whole cohort and RFI in luminal A and B tumours and could possibly be employed to predict response to kinase inhibitors

Developing a new design approach to estimate design flow rate in non-residential buildings

Making an accurate estimation of peak water demand in buildings is essential for engineers and designers in order to ensure proper sizing of water supply systems, storage tanks, boilers, and booster pumps. Over recent years, the amount of potable water used in buildings has reduced considerably as a result of the prevalence of water-efficient appliances and a heightened awareness of the need to conserve water. This has, in part, led to oversizing of water supply networks; a phenomenon that has given cause for concern to those responsible for the design of building plumbing systems. This oversizing problem does not only result in a material and financial cost, it also has negative health consequences. In the UK, despite a clear reduction in consumption at end-use points, traditional design approaches are still used for determining design flow rate. Although different design methods have been presented in various British standards and guidance documents, all use the Loading Unit (LU) approach, which is based on the application of probabilistic techniques, to estimate the design flow for both residential and non-residential buildings. In recent studies, the focus has generally been on residential buildings and there has been little, if any, research to assess the validity of current design methods for non-residential buildings. This study, therefore, focuses on developing a new design approach to estimate demand flow in non-residential buildings. This research starts by providing background information on the water situation in the UK and discusses the reasons for oversizing and its consequences. Water demand is also discussed, as is water conservation, per capita water consumption and the demand from micro-components. In addition, the history of system design and the most commonly used UK design approaches are discussed. After undertaking a critical review and comprehensive investigation of statistical methods and recent studies used to estimate demand flow, a new design methodology for estimating water demand, specifically for non-residential buildings, is introduced. This has also allowed for the presentation of a new stochastic model, namely the Water Demand Estimation Model (WDEM). The model is underpinned by the interaction between users and the provision of sanitary appliances in conjunction with the generation of a comprehensive range of probabilities to capture all possible simultaneous uses of appliances. The Monte Carlo technique has been applied to calculate flow rate values based on a given number of users. A specific type of non-residential building i.e. the ‘workplace’ has been selected for application of the model and for which new design equations have been derived. Taking into account the water saving appliances used in modern plumbing systems, five design equations have been derived based on efficiency levels of corresponding appliances. In order to validate the model and to assess its accuracy, high quality flow rate data was gathered from three case study buildings. The effectiveness of the WDEM and its impact on the oversizing of water systems has been confirmed by comparing simulated, measured and design flow rates. The results show that the simulated demand is very close to the measured flow rate, and that its use results in a significant reduction of design flow rate compared to those determined by using current design codes. The main outcome of this study is hence a novel approach for the estimation of demand flow for non-residential buildings and a set of design equations to estimate the simultaneous demand flow rate for workplaces. This new approach will be of value to all engineers and designers who seek to establish a more accurate estimation of water demand in buildings