Solid Inflammability Boundary At Low-Speed (SIBAL)

This research program is concerned with the effect of low-speed flow on the spreading and extinction processes over solid fuels. The project has passed the Science Concept Review and the experiment is currently scheduled to be performed in the ISS Combustion Integrated Rack. We present an overview of recent and ongoing experimental and theoretical efforts

Isoelectric focusing of proteins in the native and denatured states. Anomalous behaviour of plasma albumin

1. An analytical technique of isoelectric focusing in thin layers of polyacrylamide gel has been used to determine the isoelectric point, pI, of several proteins in the presence and in the absence of concentrated urea. 2. The presence of urea did not greatly affect pI except for bovine plasma albumin, where an increase of approx. 1pH unit was found. 3. Evidence is presented that this change in the pI of bovine plasma albumin is due to the normalization of certain ionizable groups on unfolding of the protein in urea. 4. Evidence is also presented that prolonged exposure of bovine plasma albumin to urea results in intramolecular disulphide interchange and that, on removal of urea, the new patterns of disulphide bonding stabilize abnormal conformations with pI values intermediate between those of the native and denatured states. 5. The studies demonstrate heterogeneity in bovine plasma albumin based on primary-sequence differences. 6. Isoelectric focusing of proteins in urea appears to be useful in the study of various aspects of protein structure

Malaysian Chinese speakers' attitudes towards Foochow, Hokkien and Mandarin

The study examines the influence of gender, age and socio-economic status on attitudes of Foochow and Hokkien towards their ethnic language and Mandarin. The matched guise test results of 120 Foochow and 120 Hokkien participants in Kuching, Malaysia, showed positive attitudes towards Mandarin on all the 15 traits. The Hokkien participants were more positive than the Foochow participants towards speakers of their own ethnic language. Foochow speakers were perceived as loud, and the male Foochow speaker was rated unfavourably on five other traits. Multivariate analysis of variance results showed that gender significantly influenced the Foochow participants' ratings of the wealth of Foochow speakers and the Hokkien participants' ratings of the easy-going nature of Mandarin speakers, the gentleness and solidarity of the male Mandarin speaker, and the height and intelligence of the male Hokkien speaker. Age influenced the attributions of status to the female Foochow speaker and solidarity with the female Mandarin speaker. Socio-economic status influenced the ratings of the most number of traits. Interaction effects were also found. The underlying dimensions loaded onto one factor each for Foochow (easy-going and rich) and Hokkien (formal, strong solidarity) and two different factors for Mandarin, suggesting different stereotypes of dialect and Mandarin speakers