Deformation mechanism map of Cu/Nb nanoscale metallic multilayers as a function of temperature and layer thickness

The mechanical properties and deformation mechanisms of Cu/Nb nanoscale metallic multilayers (NMMs) manufactured by accumulative roll bonding (ARB) are studied at 25C and 400C. Cu/Nb NMMs with individual layer thicknesses between 7 and 63 nm were tested by in-situ micropillar compression inside a scanning electron microscope Yield strength, strain-rate sensitivities and activation volumes were obtained from the pillar compression tests. The deformed micropillars were examined under scanning and transmission electron microscopy in order to examine the deformation mechanisms active for different layer thicknesses and temperatures. The analysis suggests that room temperature deformation was determined by dislocation glide at larger layer thicknesses and interface-related mechanisms at the thinner layer thicknesses. The high temperature compression tests, in contrast, revealed superior thermo-mechanical stability and strength retention for the NMMs with larger layer thicknesses with deformation controlled by dislocation glide. A remarkable transition in deformation mechanism occurred as the layer thickness decreased, to a deformation response controlled by diffusion processes along the interfaces, which resulted in temperature-induced softening. A deformation mechanism map, in terms of layer thickness and temperature, is proposed from the results obtained in this investigation

Welfare state reform and in-work poverty in the Netherlands

This paper describes the development of in-work poverty in the Netherlands from 1996 until 2005 and examines whether in-work poverty is related to recent social security and welfare state reforms (a new ideology of an ‘activating welfare state’ and numerous policy measures to reduce the number of social benefit claimants and to promote work). Using large-scale administrative data (from the Dutch tax services) we found that the in-work poverty risk in the Netherlands was quite constant (fluctuating between 5.3 and 6.6 percent). We expected that because of the social security reforms more individuals with vulnerable labour market positions are pushed into the labour market but are nevertheless unable to escape from poverty. This would result in more working individuals below the poverty line. However, this is not the case. But even with a constant in-work poverty risk the number of working poor individuals increases over the years. As a result, there is a gradual shift within the Dutch poverty population from non-working to working poor. We conclude that in-work poverty – once the typical face of poverty in liberal welfare states such as the USA – also became a familiar phenomenon in the Netherlands. The majority of the Dutch working poor belongs to this category for only one year. However, a limited but significant number of individuals is working poor for three years or more. In-work poverty occurs relatively often after individuals experience a transition from social benefits (particularly social assistance) to work

Арагонитовые и кальцитовые жеоды из пещеры Ботовская

В статье описываются необычные вторичные минеральные образования, обнаруженные в Ботовской пещере в Восточной Сибири, которые представляют собой жеоды, выполненные арагонитом, а в отдельных случаях – кальцитом. Приведены два предположения о формирование жеод: за счет стекающих растворов, размывающих рыхлые пещерные отложения и заполняющих образовавшиеся пустоты, в которых затем происходила кристаллизация минералов, и за счет растворения центрального тела сформированных ранее конкреций и последующего отложения арагонита и кальцита в получившейся полости. Впоследствии жеоды были вскрыты при выносе из пещеры большого объема осадков водными потоками. Вследствие особенностей своей морфологии и генезиса данные образования могут рассматриваться как новый тип спелеотем.У статті описуються незвичайні вторинні мінеральні утворення, виявлені у Ботовской печері у Східному Сибіру, якими є жеоди, виповнені арагонітом, а в окремих випадках - кальцитом. Наведені два припущення про формування жеод: за рахунок стікаючих розчинів, що розмивають пухкі печерні відклади і заповнюють порожнини, що утворилися, в яких потім відбувалася кристалізація мінералів, і за рахунок розчинення центрального тіла сформованих раніше конкрецій і подальшого відкладення арагоніту і кальциту у порожнини, що утворилися. Згодом жеоди були розкриті при винесенні з печери великого об'єму відкладень водними потоками. Внаслідок особливостей своєї морфології і генезису ці утворення можуть розглядатися як новий тип спелеотем.The article describes unusual secondary mineral formation found in Botovskaya Cave in Eastern Siberia, which are geodes, lined byaragonite and, in some cases, by calcite. Two assumptions of the geode formation are put forward: 1) at the expense of draining solutions that erode loose sediments and fill formed cavities, where then mineral crystallization occurs; 2) at the expense of dissolution of the central body of concretions formed earlier, followed by precipitation of aragonite and calcite in the cavity formed. Later on, the geodes were uncovered during erosion of large volumes of sediments by water flows. Due to peculiar features of their morphology and genesis, these formations can be regarded as a new type of speleothems

Werkende minima in Amsterdam. Kwalitatief onderzoek naar situatie van werkende armen in Amsterdam

In het Nederlandse armoedebeleid van de afgelopen decennia ligt een sterke nadruk op het belang van werk als oplossing van armoede. Uitgangspunt is dat werk moet lonen en dat een voltijdbaan in beginsel voldoende inkomen moet opleveren om als volwaardig burger binnen de samenleving te kunnen participeren. De vraag is echter in hoeverre werk mensen direct uit de armoede haalt. Zo verschijnen er berichten in de pers over werkende armen in Nederland (Tinnemans 2009; Stoker 2010) en is duidelijk dat het verschijnsel ‘werkende armoede’ niet alleen voorkomt in marginale verzorgingsstaten zoals de Verenigde Staten (Newma

Evidence for the Concerted Evolution between Short Linear Protein Motifs and Their Flanking Regions

BACKGROUND: Linear motifs are short modules of protein sequences that play a crucial role in mediating and regulating many protein-protein interactions. The function of linear motifs strongly depends on the context, e.g. functional instances mainly occur inside flexible regions that are accessible for interaction. Sometimes linear motifs appear as isolated islands of conservation in multiple sequence alignments. However, they also occur in larger blocks of sequence conservation, suggesting an active role for the neighbouring amino acids. RESULTS: The evolution of regions flanking 116 functional linear motif instances was studied. The conservation of the amino acid sequence and order/disorder tendency of those regions was related to presence/absence of the instance. For the majority of the analysed instances, the pairs of sequences conserving the linear motif were also observed to maintain a similar local structural tendency and/or to have higher local sequence conservation when compared to pairs of sequences where one is missing the linear motif. Furthermore, those instances have a higher chance to co-evolve with the neighbouring residues in comparison to the distant ones. Those findings are supported by examples where the regulation of the linear motif-mediated interaction has been shown to depend on the modifications (e.g. phosphorylation) at neighbouring positions or is thought to benefit from the binding versatility of disordered regions. CONCLUSION: The results suggest that flanking regions are relevant for linear motif-mediated interactions, both at the structural and sequence level. More interestingly, they indicate that the prediction of linear motif instances can be enriched with contextual information by performing a sequence analysis similar to the one presented here. This can facilitate the understanding of the role of these predicted instances in determining the protein function inside the broader context of the cellular network where they arise

Монастырь Сурб-Хач – очаг национальной армянской культуры

Сегодня современное общество и наука все чаще обращает свои взоры на великую культуру ушедших эпох. Армянский монастырь Сурб-Хач - один из немногих памятников древней архитектуры Крыма, дошедших до наших дней. Поднять из забытья этот уникальный комплекс - одна из задач, которую ставит перед собой авторСьогодні сучасне суспільство і наука все частіше обертає свої погляди на велику культуру епох, що пішли. Вірменський монастир Сурб-Хач - один з небагатьох пам'ятників стародавньої архітектури Криму, що дійшли до наших днів. Підняти із забуття цей унікальний комплекс - одна із задач, яку ставить перед собою авто

Dual electrode stimulation in cochlear implants : from concept to clinical application

With commonly used monopolar or __single electrode stimulation__ (SES) in cochlear implants the perceived pitch depends on the place in the cochlea of the stimulated contact. When two contacts are stimulated simultaneously, __dual electrode stimulation__(DES), intermediate pitches can be elicited. The place and precise pitch can be adjusted by varying the current ratio between these two contacts. In this thesis the mechanism of DES is investigated psychophysically, electrophysiologically and in a computational model of the cochlea. It was concluded that DES and SES are indistinguishable in terms of spread of excitation and sequential channel interaction, while with DES the pitch depends linearly on the current ratio. On adjacent contacts, DES turned out to be effective for the entire dynamic range without the need for any current correction to equalize loudness between pitches. DES is also feasible on non-adjacent contacts (__spanning__) up till 4.4 mm, but with increasing distance between the contacts, such a current correction becomes mandatory, while also the number of discriminable pitches decreases. Finally, spanning was implemented in a speech coding strategy and tested in a take-home trial, which demonstrated that even with two groups of three adjacent defective contacts, speech perception and sound quality were retained.Advanced Bionics (EU), ATOS medical, Beter Horen/Amplifon, Chipshoft BV, Daleco Pharma, GlaxoSmithKline, Med-El, Oticon, SpecsaversUBL - phd migration 201

The silent transformation of the Dutch welfare state and the rise of in-work poverty

INTRODUCTION - Until recently, scholars argued that different welfare state regimes create different kinds of poverty. The typical face of poverty in liberal welfare states such as the USA is that of the working poor. The relatively large number of working poor in the USA is a consequence of the central characteristics of a liberal welfare state (Esping-Andersen, 1990). The combination of marginal social protection and low minimum wages creates a situation in which vulnerable people are often forced to work but remain poor (Jencks, 2005; Neubeck, 2006). On the other hand, because of the low wage levels in the USA, there is ample low-skilled and low-paid work available for those people who depend on this segment of the labour market. Such jobs are often lacking in the more developed welfare states of the European continent. As a result, there are many US citizens who work but are nevertheless poor. Moreover, working poor individuals often have to combine several low-paid jobs in order to make ends meet – a situation that has been vividly described in ethnographic studies about the American working poor (Ehrenreich, 2002; Newman, 1999; Venkatesh, 2006)