Bulk oxygen in a-silicon nitride and its effect on IR absorption

The existence of bulk oxygen in the lattice of silicon nitride is studied. In the study, silicon nitride, primarily ?-phase, is prepared by different methods and either powder or whiskers obtained, depending upon the method of preparation. On characterizing the samples, it is observed that they have almost identical XRD patterns, whereas there IR absorption spectra shows significant differences. This prompted another investigation and its results are presented

Bulk oxygen in alpha-silicon nitride and its effect on IR absorption

Results of an IR absorption characterization of alpha silicon nitride specimens prepared in the laboratory by several different procedures are presented. The results suggest the presence of bulk oxygen in the silicon nitride lattice. It is concluded that, although it is not necessary that alpha silicon nitride have bulk oxygen to stabilize its structure, it can accommodate a considerable amount of bulk oxygen without becoming oxynitride structurally

Hybrid concrete: improved processes and performance

This paper presents the results of a study of three very successful Hybrid concrete projects. Supply chain analyses are described and, in the event, the situations found are typified as networks. Problem areas are identified together with various illustrations of good practice, with a particular stress on the necessity for intensive and effective informal communications. The particular problems attendant on the design side of the process, rooted in role confusion and a lack of design fixity are highlighted. This links to the suggestion that as the knowledge of Hybrid systems becomes better understood and is more fully communicated through codification then many of these problems should evaporate. That is, Hybrid can move from being a disruptive technology and become a sustaining technology for the industry and its clients

The neural string network: An interactive collaborative drawing ‘machine’

An interactive collaborative drawing ‘machine’ designed on the concept of a neural network, allowing participants to experience a shared creative process, using the principles of open-source and social networked communication through an analogue string system. The underlying concept of the String Neural Network is to introduce participants to the idea of collaborative-shared drawing practice, as a dispersed collective that alludes to Roland Barthes ‘The Death of the Author’ (Barthes 1967) whereby each participant plays an equal role as both viewer and artist. Played out like a surrealist ‘Exquisite Corpse’ game of consequences or as a piece of Haiku poetry, the drawing participants contribute marks, signs and signifiers to an open-content drawing, akin to the development of open-source software. The string network consists of five drawing table ‘nodes’ within a room/ studio space measuring eight by eight metres square. Each node is linked to the other four via pulleys and washing lines, making it possible to peg a sheet of A4 paper to a line and winch it across to any one of the other nodes. The network system uses 10 string connections between the five drawing tables, creating a pentagram within a pentagon neural network design. Representing the interconnected synapses and neurons of the brain, the role of each participant is that of cause and effect. A single instruction initiates a series of consequences that unfold in drawings, marks and patterns that are created whilst being hoisted simultaneously across the room in quick succession. The Neural String Network project was first set up in March 2012 to coincide with ‘DecodeRecode’, a telematic art project undertaken by students at MediaCityUK Salford University, as part of the centenary celebration of Alan Turing. Each participating student was given a single word drawn from the Turing theme, such as machine, brain, code and apple that were interpreted and communicated as a drawing by a collective consciousness

ESPERANZA’S PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENT AS REFLECTED IN SANDRA CISNEROS’ THE HOUSE ON MANGO STREET

This study discusses The House on Mango Street, a novel written by Sandra Cisneros. This novel presents a main character named Esperanza who experiences personality development. This study is meant to answer three problems concerning the main character’s personality development. The first problem is Esperanza’s basic personality in the novel. The second problem is Esperanza’s personality development. The third problem is the influencing factors toward Esperanza’s personality development. This study is a qualitative study applying content analysis method. This study applies the theory of personality and personality development emphasizing on Hurlock’s theory on personality development. The object of this study is Sandra Cisneros’ The House on Mango Street. The data collected are lines related to the topic under study found in the novel. The data analysis was conducted by analyzing the required lines found in The House on Mango Street in accordance with the theory. In achieving reliability, the researcher read and reread the novel comprehensively, then recorded the data. The triangulation method was applied to gain the trustworthiness of the data through consulting the finding with first and second consultant. The result of this study shows that Esperanza’s personality develops. There are two significant factors that influence Esperanza’s personality development. The first is the early experiences within family. The second is the important events outside home. Early experience within family gives influence toward Esperanza through supportive parents and family’s financial difficulty, while important events outside home also gives influence toward Esperanza’s personality mostly through the peers and neighborhood. From the analysis on the factors that influence Esperanza’s personality, the researcher finds that Esperanza is unconfident, pessimistic, and naïve at the beginning of the story, and then she turns into a confident, optimistic, and sophisticated person at the end

Decompactifications and Massless D-Branes in Hybrid Models

A method of determining the mass spectrum of BPS D-branes in any phase limit of a gauged linear sigma model is introduced. A ring associated to monodromy is defined and one considers K-theory to be a module over this ring. A simple but interesting class of hybrid models with Landau-Ginzburg fibres over CPn are analyzed using special Kaehler geometry and D-brane probes. In some cases the hybrid limit is an infinite distance in moduli space and corresponds to a decompactification. In other cases the hybrid limit is at a finite distance and acquires massless D-branes. An example studied appears to correspond to a novel theory of supergravity with an SU(2) gauge symmetry where the gauge and gravitational couplings are necessarily tied to each other.Comment: PDF-LaTeX, 34 pages, 2 mps figure

Computational protein design with backbone plasticity

The computational algorithms used in the design of artificial proteins have become increasingly sophisticated in recent years, producing a series of remarkable successes. The most dramatic of these is the de novo design of artificial enzymes. The majority of these designs have reused naturally occurring protein structures as “scaffolds” onto which novel functionality can be grafted without having to redesign the backbone structure. The incorporation of backbone flexibility into protein design is a much more computationally challenging problem due to the greatly increase search space but promises to remove the limitations of reusing natural protein scaffolds. In this review, we outline the principles of computational protein design methods and discuss recent efforts to consider backbone plasticity in the design process

The management of academic workloads: improving practice in the sector

Final report of HEFCE projec