Gravity and gravity gradient from spherical harmonics, case 310

Explicit and recursive formulas for acceleration and gravity gradient derived from spherical harmonic

Compensating for severe nuclear accidents: An expert elucidation

We present the results of a structured discussion held in London in July 2014 involving a panel of experts drawn from three communities: specialists on aspects of risk and insurance; lawyers concerned with issues of nuclear law; and safety and environmental regulators. The discussions were held on the basis of participant anonymity. The process emphasised three considerations: conceptions of loss arising from a severe nuclear accident; the specifics of the Fukushima-Daiichi accident and what it means for policy and strategy going forward; and the future of liability regimes. We observe some stoicism from those closest to implementation of policies and procedures associated with nuclear risks, but a lower level of certainty and confidence among those concerned with nuclear energy regulation

Removal of Trace Metal Contaminants from Potable Water by Electrocoagulation

This study investigated the effects of four operational and environmental variables on the removal of trace metal contaminants from drinking water by electrocoagulation (EC). Removal efficiencies for five metals (arsenic, cadmium, chromium, lead and nickel) were compared under varying combinations of electrode material, post-treatment, water composition and pH. Iron electrodes out-performed aluminum electrodes in removing chromium and arsenic. At pH 6.5, aluminum electrodes were slightly more effective at removing nickel and cadmium, while at pH 8.5, iron electrodes were more effective for these metals. Regardless of electrode, cadmium and nickel removal efficiencies were higher at pH 8.5 than at pH 6.5. Post-EC treatment using membrane filtration (0.45 μm) enhanced contaminant removal for all metals but nickel. With the exception of lead, all metals exhibited poorer removal efficiencies as the ionic strength of the background electrolyte increased, particularly in the very high-solids synthetic groundwaters. Residual aluminum concentrations were lowest at pH 6.5, while iron residuals were lowest in low ionic strength waters. Both aluminum and iron residuals required post-treatment filtration to meet drinking water standards. EC with post-treatment filtration appears to effectively remove trace metal contaminants to potable water standards, but both reactor and source water parameters critically impact removal efficiency

Relationships between geographic and inertial coordinates of position

Relationships between geographic and inertial coordinates of positio

Testing the middle ground in Assyro-Anatolian marriages of the kārum period

Central Anatolia in the Middle Bronze Age is marked by an extremely well-documented Assyrian presence during the kārum period (20th-mid 17th c. B.C.),1 a dynamic time of long-distance trade and cultural contact.2 Many Assyrians settled here on a permanent or semi-permanent basis, some marrying locals and raising children in their Anatolian homes, but also maintaining close contact with their home city of Aššur, following business interests and family affairs there. One of the idiosyncrasies of the social history of this period is a special bigamous arrangement which allowed Assyrian men to enter second marriages on the condition that one wife remained at home in Aššur, and the other in Anatolia. So far unattested for other contemporary or later Mesopotamian societies, this appears to be a custom peculiar to Old Assyrian society, designed to accommodate the needs of its travelling men (Michel 2006: 163). The potential role of Anatolian agency3 in the formation of this new custom, however, is seldom considered, despite numerous marriage contracts featuring mixed Assyro-Anatolian couples. This is partly due to the nature of the textual record, which offers very little of the kind of information one would require for reconstructing default conditions for Anatolian marriage practices, or gauging the extent to which these may have differed from Assyrian customs. While it is inevitable that discussions of kārum period marriage rely mostly on the Assyrian perspective, it would be a mistake to accord to it full explanatory capacity for how marriage practices took shape in mixed Assyro-Anatolian communities. Arguably certain aspects of long-distance bigamy cannot be explained as prioritising Assyrian needs, but instead suggest compromise. In other words, in generating a new legal mechanism of second marriages, Assyrians were not simply adapting to the logistics of long-distance life, but also to a new set of social expectations. As already noted by Lumsden (2008) and recently reiterated by Larsen and Lassen (2014), the nexus of intermarriage and cross-cultural compromise aligns Assyro- Anatolian marriage with R. White’s (2011) model of the ‘middle ground.’ This article tests the extent to which a middle ground may be recognisable in Assyro-Anatolian marriage practices, and how the peculiar terminology of bigamous arrangements can be interpreted as the crucial element of misunderstanding (White 2011) in middle ground formation

The porcine, pale, soft, exudative muscle condition - what is the basic biochemical lesion?

No Abstrac

The global nuclear liability regime post Fukushima Daiichi

Nuclear liability regimes are important as they ensure that potential victims will be compensated promptly and efficiently after a nuclear accident. The accident at Fukushima Daiichi in Japan in 2011 prompted a review of the global nuclear liability regime that remains on-going. Progress has been slow, but over the next few years the European Union is set to announce its new proposals. Meanwhile, in 2015, another global nuclear liability regime, the Convention on Supplementary Compensation for Nuclear Damage, has entered into force. This paper aims to move the debate in the literature on nuclear liability and focuses on the four following major issues: (1) reviews third-party nuclear liability regimes currently in operation around the world; (2) analyses the international nuclear liability regime following the accident at Fukushima Daiichi; (3) comparatively assesses the liability regimes for nuclear energy and the non-nuclear energy sector; and (4) presents the future outlook for possible developments in the global nuclear liability regime