Development of a co-axial tri-rotor UAV.

This paper discusses the initial design requirements and development of a Small Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (SUAV), sometimes referred to as a Miniature Aerial Vehicle (MAV) or Micro Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (μUAV) as the backdrop to an entry for the MoD Grand Challenge Event 2008 (MoD GC 2008). A review of 61 SUAVs has been undertaken together with the development of a methodology for evaluation, review and rating against specific design criteria. This analysis concludes with a list of the top ten systems currently available which have been found to be best suited to the particular requirements of operating in the cluttered urban environment. Finally, we present a novel design of Co-Axial Tri-Rotor UAV (named HALO™) which has been developed by the i-Spy team at Middlesex University as our entry to the MoD GC 2008

Improving Mekong water resources investment and allocation choices

The CPWF Project PN67 “Improving Mekong Water Allocation” was a key, collaborative activity of the Mekong Program on Water, Environment and Resilience (M-POWER). The goal of contributing to water allocation policy and practice which results in a more optimal and equitable use of water by society has been pursued by research across the Mekong Region and active engagement with policymakers. The project team have examined the use of a wide range of decision-support tools, in many decision-making arenas. In doing so, they have sought to understand decision contexts and drivers

Sustainability assessment of Thailand's electricity planning: Using section 1 of the 2009 hydropower sustainability assessment protocol

We conducted a rapid assessment of the sustainability performance of the Thai power development plan and a number of related planning processes, focusing on the Thai plan’s implications for development of hydropower in the Mekong region. We used the August 2009 draft Hydropower Sustainability Assessment Protocol (HSAP), which is a qualitative multi-criteria audit tool designed to be used by a wide range of interested parties. We applied the HSAP from a public interest perspective: We assumed that aquatic ecosystems in the Mekong region are critically important for less privileged people, and that Thailand’s electricity planners can and should consider the distributional and ecological consequences of planning choices on a Mekong regional scale. Two sets of readers may find the report of interest. Those who seek insight into sustainability challenges posed, when a middle-income Asian country turns to hydropower imports from poorer neighbors, will find a contextualized and empirically rich discussion. Readers interested in the practice of integrated sustainability assessment will find a detailed application of the August 2009 draft Hydropower Sustainability Assessment Protocol (HSAP) – a tool which has been somewhat controversial to date (Bosshard 2010; Foran 2010; Locher, et al. 2010). Does rapid assessment improve our understanding of sustainability challenges? We found a number of significant gaps or weaknesses in the Thai power development plan (PDP). Combined with political instability faced by the Thai government in 2009-10, these challenges resulted in generally low levels of sustainability performance of the 2010 PDP. The Thai Ministry of Energy however appears genuinely willing to cooperate with civil society organizations in ongoing work that may improve the next PDP. The 2009 HSAP was not an easy tool to use. Many indicators required careful re-interpretation. The assessment was time consuming: partly because multiple processes deserved to be assessed in order to derive an adequate picture of multi-level planning processes. Sustainable development needs early-stage planning tools, which allow options to be rethought. Despite its practical difficulties, the 2009 HSAP compresses a range of important issues into one emerging framework. Although the Thai PDP is ultimately a bureaucratic planning process, its sustainability can – and must – be influenced by civil society and regional-level actors. Though careful interpretation of the HSAP is required, this finding is adequately captured by the use of the Protocol

Pink Tooth of Mummery in the Maxillary Left Canine after Fixed Partial Denture (FPD) Preparation

Pink tooth of Mummery is typically found after trauma. However, this case report describes an unusual occurrence of pink tooth in a 67-year-old Caucasian male after fixed partial denture (FPD) tooth preparation. Pink tooth in this case may be due to one or more factors: tooth reduction and heat generation during tooth preparation; heat generation during polymerization of provisional material; and hyperocclusion of a provisional FPD. This case highlights the importance of choosing the appropriate materials and techniques to avoid pulpal complications after dental prosthesis work

Focusing monochromator and imaging-plate camera for grazing-incidence diffraction studies of thin films

A multiple-imaging-plate detector system and focusing monochromator have been developed and successfully applied to the time-resolved study of phase transitions in Langmuir-Blodgett films by grazing-incidence X-ray diffraction (GIXD). The monochromator described here combines fixed-exit-beam height with sagittal focusing of the second crystal. The design is similar to that of Matsushita et nl. [Matsushita, Ishikawa & Oyanagi (1986). Nucl. Instrum. Methods, A246, 377-379], with the exception that the motion of the first crystal is achieved via a computer-controlled X-Y translation table rather than a set of cams. The second crystal is a ribbed Si(111) wafer mounted in a four-point bending mechanism. The first reported application of imaging plates to a GIXD study was carried out by our group and proved to be very successful in the determination of thin-film structure [Foran, Peng, Steitz, Barnes & Gentle (1996). Langmuir, 12, 774-777]. To extend the capabilities of this system, an imaging-plate camera was designed and built which can accommodate up to 13 imaging plates (40 x 20 cm) inside the vacuum chamber of the main diffractometer at the Australian Beamline at the Photon Factory

The galactic population of white dwarfs

Original paper can be found at: http://www.iop.org/EJ/conf DOI: 10.1088/1742-6596/172/1/012004 [16th European White Dwarfs Workshop]The contribution of white dwarfs of the different Galactic populations to the stellar content of our Galaxy is only poorly known. Some authors claim a vast population of halo white dwarfs, which would be in accordance with some investigations of the early phases of Galaxy formation claiming a top-heavy initial– mass– function. Here, I present a model of the population of white dwarfs in the Milky Way based on observations of the local white dwarf sample and a standard model of Galactic structure. This model will be used to estimate the space densities of thin disc, thick disc and halo white dwarfs and their contribution to the baryonic mass budget of the Milky Way. One result of this investigation is that white dwarfs of the halo population contribute a large fraction of the Galactic white dwarf number count, but they are not responsible for the lion's share of stellar mass in the Milky Way. Another important result is the substantial contribution of the – often neglected – population of thick disc white dwarfs. Misclassification of thick disc white dwarfs is responsible for overestimates of the halo population in previous investigations.Peer reviewe

Neuroprotective Activity of Leukemia Inhibitory Factor Is Relayed through Myeloid Zinc Finger-1 in a Rat Model of Stroke

The aim of this study was to determine whether leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF) exerts its neuroprotective effects through signal transduction of the transcription factor myeloid zinc finger-1 (MZF-1). According to the hypothesis of this study, MZF-1 mediates LIF-induced neuroprotective signaling during ELVO through increased expression and transcriptional activity. To determine the in vivo role of MZF-1 in LIF-induced neuroprotection, we used Genomatix software was used to MZF-1 sites in the promoter region of the rat superoxide dismutase 3 (SOD3) gene. Stroke was induced via middle cerebral artery occlusion, and animals were administered PBS or 125 μg/kg LIF at 6, 24, and 48 h after the injury. MZF-1 binding activity was measured using electrophoretic mobility shift assay (EMSA) and its expression/localization were determined using western blot and immunohistochemical analysis. To determine whether MZF-1 relays LIF-induced neuroprotection in vitro, primary cultured neurons were subjected to oxygen-glucose deprivation (OGD) after treatment with PBS or LIF. MZF-1 expression was measured in vitro using real time PCR and immunohistochemical staining. Transfection with siRNA was used to determine whether LIF protected cultured neurons against OGD after silencing MZF-1 expression. Four MZF-1 binding sites were identified by Genomatix, and EMSA confirmed in vivo binding activity in brain after MCAO. LIF significantly increased MZF-1 protein levels compared to PBS treatment at 72 h post-MCAO. In vivo nuclear localization of MZF-1 as well as co-localization of SOD3 and MZF-1 was observed in the cortical neurons of LIF-treated rats. Primary cultured neurons treated with LIF had significantly higher levels of MZF-1 mRNA and protein after LIF treatment compared to neurons treated with PBS. Finally, knockdown MZF-1 using siRNA counteracted the neuroprotective effects of LIF in vitro. These data demonstrate that LIF-mediated neuroprotection is dependent upon MZF-1 activity. Furthermore, these findings identify a novel neuroprotective pathway that employs MZF-1, a transcription factor associated with hematopoietic gene expression