The effect of precursor composition and sintering additives on the formation of ß-sialon from Al, Si and Al2O3 powders

A study was performed to investigate the effect of increasing the Al or Al2O3 precursor content, above the stoichiometric amount, on the formation of β-sialon by pressureless sintering of Al, Si and Al2O3 powders in flowing nitrogen gas. The effect of adding Y2O3 or Fe to the precursor mixture, on the β-sialon formation, was also studied. The phase morphology and yield produced by the various compositions were examined using X-ray diffraction (XRD). Additional Al2O3 decreases the β-sialon phase yield and results in a greater amount of Al2O3 in the final sintered material. Additional Al improved the conversion to β-sialon up to a maximum of 4 wt% Al beyond which the β-sialon:15R sialon ratio in the sintered material decreases. 1 wt% Y2O3 was determined to be the optimum sintering additive content, as yttrium aluminium garnet (YAG) was found to be present in materials formed from higher Y2O3 containing precursors. The presence of Fe in the precursor powder retards the formation of β-sialon by preferentially forming Fe silicides at low temperatures, thus depleting the reaction system of elemental Si, favouring the formation of 15R sialon

Using Your Library’s Objectives as the Organizational Framework for Library Documentation in Planning, Assessment, and Accreditation

The San Diego Christian/Southern California Seminary Library1 uses its objectives as the organizational framework for its strategic plan, annual report, assessment plan, and policies and procedures manual. This article describes how the library’s objectives compare to the Association of College and Research Libraries’ Standards (to ensure best practices), relate to the areas covered in the library strategic plan, annual report, and operations manual, and correspond to the standards and criteria from their respective accrediting agencies, showing how easy it is to identify supporting evidence for a program review or self-study when using this organizing method

Can Memoirs Be Used For Spiritual Development in a Book Group?

Biographies have historically been used by Christians for instruction and encouragement. The current trend in biographical writing is the memoir. Can spiritual memoirs be used as an effective tool for learning more about Scripture, doctrine or the Christian life? Approximately twenty spiritual memoirs were read and evaluated to determine if there was a central theme or series of themes that provided a story-based context for exploring greater biblical truths. This article reviews the genre of spiritual memoirs, discusses their strengths and weaknesses, and suggests a method for preparing them for a book group format

Tolerance in the Peer Review of Interdisciplinary Research in Architectural Journal Publishing

In order to consider how to negotiate the publication space of interdisciplinary research in architecture in academic journals, this essay reflects on the current forms of writing in architectural discourse, the history of a “critique militante” architectural (peer) review process within the academy, and the future possibilities of a feminist oriented process that seeks to accommodate otherness. These reflections emerge from our experience as academics and as women editors of the interdisciplinary, multimedia journal, Architecture and Culture, first published in 2013. The essay argues that peer review for interdisciplinary research in architecture needs to be re-negotiated as publishing tolerance through a contingency approach to evaluation. We conclude that academic architectural journal publishing can flourish through broader conversational modes of open, non-hierarchical knowledge exchange and editorial practice where published work undergoes a process of becoming

Large-Scale Assessment of Polygon-Edge Boulder Clustering in the Martian Northern Lowlands

Two features evident in many images of the martian northern low-lands are polygonal fractures (especially northwards of 60N) and meter-scale surface boulders. Since their first observation, several attempts have been made to classify and study these polygons as well as how the forces that form these polygons may modify the surface. Surface boulders have been used as a potential indicator of such modification, though current studies find evidence both for and against their association with the underlying polygons. Both these investigations are limited by the same fundamental challenge: map-ping the location of surface boulders manually is not practical at large scales. Here, we use the Martian Boulder Automatic Recognition System (MBARS) to provide image-wide assessments of boulder location and size, enabling large-scale assessment of boulder populations. To compare these boulder locations with the underlying polygons, we modified the 2-D Fourier analysis described by Orloff in 2013 to analyze boulder locations. When compared with Orloffs observations of polygon scales, this provides an avenue for large-scale comparison of boulder-cluster scale and polygon scale

Tolerance in the Peer Review of Interdisciplinary Research in Architectural Journal Publishing

In order to consider how to negotiate the publication space of interdisciplinary research in architecture in academic journals, this essay reflects on the current forms of writing in architectural discourse, the history of a “critique militante” architectural (peer) review process within the academy, and the future possibilities of a feminist oriented process that seeks to accommodate otherness. These reflections emerge from our experience as academics and as women editors of the interdisciplinary, multimedia journal, Architecture and Culture, first published in 2013. The essay argues that peer review for interdisciplinary research in architecture needs to be re-negotiated as publishing tolerance through a contingency approach to evaluation. We conclude that academic architectural journal publishing can flourish through broader conversational modes of open, non-hierarchical knowledge exchange and editorial practice where published work undergoes a process of becoming

Love is . . . an abstract word: the influence of phonological and semantic factors on verbal short-term memory in Williams syndrome

It has been claimed that verbal short-term memory in Williams syndrome is characterised by an over-use of phonological coding alongside a reduced contribution of lexical semantics. We critically examine this hypothesis and present results from a memory span task comparing performance on concrete and abstract words, together with a replication of a span task using phonologically similar and phonologically dissimilar words. Fourteen participants with Williams syndrome were individually matched to two groups of typically developing children. The first control group was matched on digit span and the second on vocabulary level. Significant effects were found for both the semantic and the phonological variables in the WS group as well as in the control groups, with no interaction between experimental variable and group in either experiment. The results demonstrate that, despite claims to the contrary, children and adults with WS are able to access and make use of lexical semantics in a verbal short-term memory task in a manner comparable to typically developing individuals