Radio-frequency plasma and heat treatment of human fecal matter

Low temperature ashing of human feces for solid waste management onboard spacecraf

Rebels leading London: the mayoralties of Ken Livingstone and Boris Johnson compared

This article compares the mayoralties of the first two directly elected Mayors of London, Ken Livingstone and Boris Johnson. The position offers a commanding electoral platform, but weak powers to lead a city regarded as ‘ungovernable’ (Travers 2004). The two mayors had some obvious points of comparison: both were party rebels, mavericks and skilled media operators. Both also used publicity to make up for weak powers, but courted controversy and faced charges of corruption and cronyism. Utilising Hambleton and Sweeting (2004), this article compares their mayoralties in terms of vision, leadership style and policies. Livingstone had a powerful vision that translated into clear policy aims while Johnson was more cautious, shaped by a desire for higher office. In terms of style, Livingstone built coalitions but proved divisive whereas Johnson retained remarkable levels of popularity. Where Livingstone bought experience and skill, Johnson delegated. In policy terms, the two mayors found themselves pushed by their institutional powers towards transport and planning while struggling with deeper issues such as housing. Livingstone introduced the radical congestion charge and a series of symbolic policies. Johnson was far more modest – championing cycling, the 2012 Olympics and avoiding difficult decisions. The two used their office to negotiate, but also challenge, central government. Livingstone’s rebel mayoralty was a platform for personalised change, Johnson’s one for personal ambition

Universality of Decay out of Superdeformed Bands in the 190 Mass Region

Superdeformed nuclei in the 190 mass region exhibit a striking universality in their decay-out profiles. We show that this universality can be explained in the two-level model of superdeformed decay as related to a strong separation of energy scales: a higher scale related to the nuclear interactions, and a lower scale caused by electromagnetic decay. Furthermore, we present the results of the two-level model for all decays for which sufficient data are known, including statistical extraction of the matrix element for tunneling through the potential barrier.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures. v2: some minor clarifications, minor correction to Fig.

Study of a soft lander/support module for Mars missions. Volume 3 - Appendixes Final summary report

Soft lander support module for Mars missions - lunar module radar evaluation and vernier phase simulatio

How to measure the spreading width for decay of superdeformed nuclei

A new expression for the branching ratio for the decay via the E1 process in the normal-deformed band of superdeformed nuclei is given within a simple two-level model. Using this expression, the spreading or tunneling width Gamma^downarrow for superdeformed decay can be expressed entirely in terms of experimentally known quantities. We show how to determine the tunneling matrix element V from the measured value of Gamma^downarrow and a statistical model of the energy levels. The accuracy of the two-level approximation is verified by considering the effects of the other normal-deformed states.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

Fit for work? Health, employability and challenges for the UK welfare reform agenda

This article introduces a special issue of Policy Studies entitled “Fit for work? Health, employability and challenges for the UK welfare reform agenda”. Growing from a shared concern over the need to expand the evidence base around the processes that led to large numbers of people claiming disability benefits in the UK, it brings together contributions from leading labour market and social policy researchers providing evidence and commentary on major reforms to Incapacity Benefit (IB) in the UK. This special issue address three key questions: what are the main causes of the long-term rise in the number of people claiming IBs; what will reduce the number of claimants; and what is likely to deliver policy effectively and efficiently? This introduction first explains and examines the challenges to reforms to IB in the UK, and then, in conclusion, highlights the answers to the previous three questions – first, labour market restructuring and marginalisation have driven the rise in numbers claiming IBs. Second, economic regeneration in the Britain’s less prosperous areas coupled with intensive and sustained supply-side support measures will bring numbers down. Third, delivery need to be flexible and tailored to individual needs and needs to be able to access local and expert knowledge in a range of organisations, including Job Centre Plus, the NHS as well as the private and voluntary sectors

Quantum Necking in Stressed Metallic Nanowires

When a macroscopic metallic wire is subject to tensile stress, it necks down smoothly as it elongates. We show that nanowires with radii comparable to the Fermi wavelength display remarkably different behavior. Using concepts from fluid dynamics, a PDE for nanowire shape evolution is derived from a semiclassical energy functional that includes electron-shell effects. A rich dynamics involving movement and interaction of kinks connecting locally stable radii is found, and a new class of universal equilibrium shapes is predicted.Comment: 4 pages, 3 postscript figures. New result on universal equilibrium shape

Estimation of Attendance at a Large Outdoor Event

Accurately estimating program attendance in large, undefined areas is difficult. Yet attendance is an important factor in effective impact assessment and accountability reporting. A simple method, consisting of a combined activity count and exit poll, can be used to produce reasonable results with a measurable assurance of accuracy. A case study application of this method at a major university campus horticulture event is included to summarize the method