Alleviation of pressure pulse effects for trains entering tunnels. Volume 1: Summary

The degree to which it is possible to attenuate the effects of pressure pulses on the passengers in trains entering tunnels by modifying the normally abrupt portal of a constant-diameter single track tunnel was investigated. Although the suggested modifications to the tunnel entrance portal may not appreciably decrease the magnitude of the pressure rise, they are very effective in reducing the discomfort to the human ear by substantially decreasing the rate of pressure rise to that which the normal ear can accommodate. Qualitative comparison was made of this portal modification approach with other approaches: decreasing the train speed or sealing the cars. The optimum approach, which is dependent upon the conditions and requirements of each particular rail system, is likely to be the portal modification one for a rapid rail mass transit system

Development of SITU: a survey to measure the impact of outreach activities

The Office for Students' (OfS) aims are clear that it wants to increase robust evidence to understand the impact of outreach activities. There are different mechanisms to collate this evidence which outreach departments can use. To support the collection of robust evidence, this paper outlines the development of Students' Intentions towards University (SITU), a survey that practitioners can use as part of evaluating outreach activities such as ad hoc events or intensive interventions. This paper outlines the four stages that were undertaken to develop SITU to ensure a reliable and valid measure was constructed. At each stage, young people (aged 13 to 18) were consulted to ensure the measure was fit for purpose. The final survey comprises 15 items and is a quick, easy-to-administer survey that practitioners can use confidently. It is proposed that the survey will provide a valid data-collection tool to measure the outcome of outreach activities and the paper will be used as a guide for outreach departments to construct their own measures. Further research is required to test the application of the measure

Applicability of frozen-viscosity models of unsteady wall shear stress

The validity of assumed frozen-viscosity conditions underpinning an important class of theoretical models of unsteady wall shear stress in transient flows in pipes and channels is assessed using detailed computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations. The need for approximate one-dimensional ð1DÞfx; tg models of the wall stress is unavoidable in analyses of transient flows in extensive pipe networks because it would be economically impracticable to use higher order methods of analysis. However, the bases of the various models have never been established rigorously. It is shown herein that a commonly used approach developed by the first authors is flawed in the case of smoothwall flows although it is more plausible for rough-wall flows. The assessment process is undertaken for a particular, but important, unsteady flow case, namely, a uniform acceleration from an initially steady turbulent flow. First, detailed predictions from a validated CFD method are used to derive baseline solutions with which predictions based on approximate models can be compared. Then, alternative solutions are obtained using various prescribed frozen-viscosity distributions. Differences between these solutions and the baseline solutions are used to determine which frozen-viscosity distributions are the most promising starting points for developing 1Dfx; tg models of unsteady components of wall shear stress. It is shown that no frozen-viscosity distribution performs well for large times after the commencement of an acceleration. However, even the simplest approximation (laminar) performs well for short durations—which is when the greatest amplitudes of the unsteady components occu

Face-to-face: Social work and evil

The concept of evil continues to feature in public discourses and has been reinvigorated in some academic disciplines and caring professions. This article navigates social workers through the controversy surrounding evil so that they are better equipped to acknowledge, reframe or repudiate attributions of evil in respect of themselves, their service users or the societal contexts impinging upon both. A tour of the landscape of evil brings us face-to-face with moral, administrative, societal and metaphysical evils, although it terminates in an exhortation to cultivate a more metaphorical language. The implications for social work ethics, practice and education are also discussed

Coleridge, Sara

An encylopaedia article on the life and writings of Sara Coleridge (1802-1852), for an online work of reference and scholarshi