Modified gas bearing is adjustable to optimum stiffness ratio

Inexpensive and rapid-adjustments of the radial to axial stiffness ratio of a spherical gas bearing are achieved by a series of gas passages in the equatorial plane of the sphere which feed into orifices that can be readily changed in size

Methodologies for the Automatic Location of Academic and Educational Texts on the Internet

Traditionally online databases of web resources have been compiled by a human editor, or though the submissions of authors or interested parties. Considerable resources are needed to maintain a constant level of input and relevance in the face of increasing material quantity and quality, and much of what is in databases is of an ephemeral nature. These pressures dictate that many databases stagnate after an initial period of enthusiastic data entry. The solution to this problem would seem to be the automatic harvesting of resources, however, this process necessitates the automatic classification of resources as ‘appropriate’ to a given database, a problem only solved by complex text content analysis. This paper outlines the component methodologies necessary to construct such an automated harvesting system, including a number of novel approaches. In particular this paper looks at the specific problems of automatically identifying academic research work and Higher Education pedagogic materials. Where appropriate, experimental data is presented from searches in the field of Geography as well as the Earth and Environmental Sciences. In addition, appropriate software is reviewed where it exists, and future directions are outlined

Phase Diagrams for Deformable Toroidal and Spherical Surfaces with Intrinsic Orientational Order

A theoretical study of toroidal membranes with various degrees of intrinsic orientational order is presented at mean-field level. The study uses a simple Ginzburg-Landau style free energy functional, which gives rise to a rich variety of physics and reveals some unusual ordered states. The system is found to exhibit many different phases with continuous and first order phase transitions, and phenomena including spontaneous symmetry breaking, ground states with nodes and the formation of vortex-antivortex quartets. Transitions between toroidal phases with different configurations of the order parameter and different aspect ratios are plotted as functions of the thermodynamic parameters. Regions of the phase diagrams in which spherical vesicles form are also shown.Comment: 40, revtex (with epsf), M/C.TH.94/2

Transforming from time to frequency without artefacts

I review a simple method, recently introduced to convert rheological compliance measurements into frequency-dependent moduli. New experimental data are presented, and the scientific implications of various data conversion methods discussed

Diagnosis and the management constituency of small-scale fisheries

Diagnosis and adaptive management can help improve the ability of small-scale fisheries (SSF) in the developing world to better cope with and adapt to both external drivers and internal sources of uncertainty. This paper presents a framework for diagnosis and adaptive management and discusses ways of implementing the first two phases of learning: diagnosis and mobilising an appropriate management constituency. The discussion addresses key issues and suggests suitable approaches and tools as well as numerous sources of further information. Diagnosis of a SSF defines the system to be managed, outlines the scope of the management problem in terms of threats and opportunities, and aims to construct realistic and desired future projections for the fishery. These steps can clarify objectives and lead to development of indicators necessary for adaptive management. Before management, however, it is important to mobilize a management constituency to enact change. Ways of identifying stakeholders and understanding both enabling and obstructive interactions and management structures are outlined. These preliminary learning phases for adaptive SSF management are expected to work best if legitimised by collaborative discussion among fishery stakeholders drawing on multiple knowledge systems and participatory approaches to assessment. (PDF contains 33 pages

Methodologies for the Automatic Location of Academic and Educational Texts on the Internet

Traditionally online databases of web resources have been compiled by a human editor, or though the submissions of authors or interested parties. Considerable resources are needed to maintain a constant level of input and relevance in the face of increasing material quantity and quality, and much of what is in databases is of an ephemeral nature. These pressures dictate that many databases stagnate after an initial period of enthusiastic data entry. The solution to this problem would seem to be the automatic harvesting of resources, however, this process necessitates the automatic classification of resources as ‘appropriate’ to a given database, a problem only solved by complex text content analysis. This paper outlines the component methodologies necessary to construct such an automated harvesting system, including a number of novel approaches. In particular this paper looks at the specific problems of automatically identifying academic research work and Higher Education pedagogic materials. Where appropriate, experimental data is presented from searches in the field of Geography as well as the Earth and Environmental Sciences. In addition, appropriate software is reviewed where it exists, and future directions are outlined

Approaches and frameworks for management and research in small-scale fisheries in the developing world

Commonly adopted approaches to managing small-scale fisheries (SSFs) in developing countries do not ensure sustainability. Progress is impeded by a gap between innovative SSF research and slower-moving SSF management. The paper aims to bridge the gap by showing that the three primary bases of SSF management--ecosystem, stakeholders’ rights and resilience--are mutually consistent and complementary. It nominates the ecosystem approach as an appropriate starting point because it is established in national and international law and policy. Within this approach, the emerging resilience perspective and associated concepts of adaptive management and institutional learning can move management beyond traditional control and resource-use optimization, which largely ignore the different expectations of stakeholders; the complexity of ecosystem dynamics; and how ecological, social, political and economic subsystems are linked. Integrating a rights-based perspective helps balance the ecological bias of ecosystem-based and resilience approaches. The paper introduces three management implementation frameworks that can lend structure and order to research and management regardless of the management approach chosen. Finally, it outlines possible research approaches to overcome the heretofore limited capacity of fishery research to integrate across ecological, social and economic dimensions and so better serve the management objective of avoiding fishery failure by nurturing and preserving the ecological, social and institutional attributes that enable it to renew and reorganize itself. (PDF contains 29 pages

Aeration-destratification of Lake Eureka Using a Low Energy Destratifier

published or submitted for publicationis peer reviewedOpe

The remote sensing of Saturn's rings. 1: The magnetic alinement of the ring particles

Because of the potential implications for the optical properties of Saturn's rings, the orientation of nonspherical ring particles at equilibrium is investigated with respect to four stochastic influences: interactions with the interplanetary medium, interactions with the expected magnetic field of Saturn, thermal fluctuations due to the internal temperature of the ring particles; collisions between ring particles. The solution of the homogeneous Fokker-Planck equation for nearly spherical spheroids is presented and investigated in general. Values of the pertinent physical parameters in the vicinity of Saturn are estimated, and the implications for the alignment of the ring particles are investigated. It is concluded that for some alignment mechanisms, small ring particles can be expected to be almost completely aligned. This alignment results in each particle spinning around its shortest body axis with this axis parallel to the magnetic field direction (perpendicular to the ring plane)