Portable pallet weighing apparatus

An assembly for use with several like units in weighing the mass of a loaded cargo pallet supported by its trunnions has a bridge frame for positioning the assembly on a transportation frame carrying the pallet while straddling one trunnion of the pallet and its trunnion lock, and a cradle assembly for incrementally raising the trunnion. The mass at the trunnion is carried as a static load by a slidable bracket mounted upon the bridge frame for supporting the cradle assembly. The bracket applies the static loading to an electrical load cell symmetrically positioned between the bridge frame and the bracket. The static loading compresses the load cell, causing a slight deformation and a potential difference at load cell terminals which is proportional in amplitude to the mass of the pallet at the trunnion

A BEAUTY THAT SAVES: DOSTOEVSKY’S THEOLOGY OF BEAUTY THE IDIOT

This paper examines Dostoevsky’s understanding of beauty and its place in The Idiot. Examining the historical and immediate environment in which Dostoevsky wrote the novel provides crucial insights into his conception of beauty. It is argued that the beauty Dostoevsky encountered in Florence colored his use of beauty in The Idiot. The use recent popes have made of Dostoevsky’s works also underscore the Christian theology of his ideal. From the post-Vatican II pontiffs and from Dostoevsky’s own writing it becomes clear that Dostoevsky’s view of beauty flows from the Christian belief that Christ is the Supreme Beauty. The beauty of Prince Myshkin and other characters all flow from this Beauty by reflecting Him in different ways. Ultimately, however, Myshkin fails to bring about salvation. He lacks the perfect beauty and goodness of Christ, the only one who can save. This salvific beauty is noticeably missing from the novel. The Hans Holbein painting of “Christ in the Tomb,” it is argued, lacks beauty because it fails to show forth the Incarnation. Instead, it depicts Christ without any hint of his divinity and without any hope of resurrection. Through this examination of Dostoevsky’s context and theology, it is concluded that the lack of a beauty that saves in The Idiot is meant to underscore mankind’s inability to save itself

Sexual networks and the transmission of HIV in London

Copyright @ 1998 Cambridge University Press.This paper discusses ways in which empirical research investigating sexual networks can further understanding of the transmission of HIV in London, using information from a 24-month period of participant observation and 53 open-ended, in-depth interviews with eighteen men and one woman who have direct and indirect sexual links with each other. These interviews enabled the identification of a wider sexual network between 154 participants and contacts during the year August 1994-July 1995. The linked network data help to identify pathways of transmission between individuals who are HIV + and those who are HIV -, as well as sexual links between 'older' and 'younger' men, and with male prostitutes. There appears to be considerable on-going transmission of HIV in London. The majority of participants reported having had unprotected anal and/or vaginal sex within a variety of relationships. The implications of these findings for policies designed to prevent the transmission of HIV are discussed.The Wellcome Trust and The Health Education Authority

A Volume Clearing Algorithm for Muon Tomography

The primary objective is to enhance muon-tomographic image reconstruction capability by providing distinctive information in terms of deciding on the properties of regions or voxels within a probed volume "V" during any point of scanning: threat type, non-threat type, or not-sufficient data. An algorithm (MTclear) is being developed to ray-trace muon tracks and count how many straight tracks are passing through a voxel. If a voxel "v" has sufficient number of straight tracks (t), then "v" is a non-threat type voxel, unless there are sufficient number of scattering points (p) in "v" that will make it a threat-type voxel. The algorithm also keeps track of voxels for which not enough information is known: where p and v both fall below their respective threshold parameters. We present preliminary results showing how the algorithm works on data collected with a Muon Tomography station based on gas electron multipliers operated by our group. The MTclear algorithm provides more comprehensive information to a human operator or to a decision algorithm than that provided by conventional muon-tomographic reconstruction algorithms, in terms of qualitatively determining the threat possibility from a probed volume. This is quite important because only low numbers of cosmic ray source muons are typically available in nature for tomography, while a quick determination of threats is essential.Comment: 3 pages, 3 figures, submitted to conf. record of 2014 IEEE Nucl. Sci. Symposium, Seattl

Improved electrode gives high-quality biological recordings

To obtain high quality waveforms from a subject engaged in physical activity, an improved electrode assembly has been devised. This consists of a cup containing an electrically conductive paste and a silver electrode. The paste maintains contact between the skin and the plate

Electrode for biological recording

Electrochemically reversible silver-silver chloride electrode for detecting bioelectric potential differences generated by human muscles and organ

ECONOMICS IN THE DESIGN, ASSESSMENT, ADOPTION, AND POLICY ANALYSIS OF I.P.M.

During the past twenty years, economics has played a key role in technology assessment and policy analysis related to integrated pest management (IPM) practices. The paper reviews economic analysis of IPM as applied to evaluating expected profitability, ex ante and ex post adoption, social welfare impacts, returns to research, and policies that affect pest management generally. In specific cases, economic methods have contributed significantly to the development of threshold-based IPM decision support software. Two areas that need greater economic input are assessment of biological pest management practices and the measurement of returns to research in IPM.Crop Production/Industries,