Observed antiprotons and energy dependent confinement of cosmic rays: A conflict?

In the frame work of energy dependent confinement for cosmic rays, the energy spectrum inside the source is flatter than that observed. Antiproton observation suggests large amount of matter is being traversed by cosmic rays in some sources. As a result, secondary particles are produced in abundance. Their spectra was calculated and it is shown that the energy dependent confinement model is in conflict with some observations

Supernova explosion in dense clouds in the galaxy and the COS-B gamma-ray sources

Supernova (SN) exploding in dense cloudlets produce large fluxes of gamma-rays. They would shine on gamma-ray sources, but their life time is small. Flux distribution of these sources in the Galaxy are calculated and compared with the COS-B catalogue of sources

Electrons and positrons from expanding supernova envelopes in dense clouds

If antiprotons in cosmic rays are produced as secondary particles in sources, it is expected that positrons are also created by the same process. The interstellar spectra of positrons and electrons are calculated by taking into account such sources. Spectra are then compared with observations

Spectral evolution of gamma-rays from adiabatically expanding sources in dense clouds

The excess of antiprotons (P) observed in cosmic ray was attributed to their production in supernova (SN) envelopes expanding in dense clouds. While creating P, gamma rays are also produced and these clouds would shine as gamma-ray sources. The evolution of the gamma-ray spectrum is calculated for clouds of r sub H = 10.000 and 100.000/cu cm

The impact of corporate provision of social welfare on the legitimacy of the state: providing anti-retroviral drugs in South Africa

This thesis considers the effect of corporate provision of social welfare on the legitimacy of the state. This research consists of a literature review, quantitative and qualitative research. The following research questions are addressed 1. What is the relationship between social welfare provision and the legitimacy of a) the state and b) the corporation? 2. What are the consequences when some of these social welfare responsibilities are assumed by corporations in terms of a) The legitimacy of the corporation and b) The legitimacy of the state – i.e. have corporations adopted some of the legitimacy of the state along with the functions of the state? The questions were addressed with case study research conducted in South Africa, in to the provision of anti-retroviral drugs to HIV positive employees by their employers. This case study was chosen because South Africa, a newly democratic country was facing a significant challenge in HIV to which the state did not initially respond well. Many large companies, and the mining industry in particular, have been involved in providing treatment to employees, their families and to the wider community since the early stages of the crisis. Therefore the South African context offers a clear example of where corporations have assumed some of the social welfare responsibilities of the state. The first research stage consisted of quantitative analysis of public and private investment in health, corporate social investment spending and attitudes to the government and to major corporations over a sixteen year period. The second research stage consisted of interviews and a focus group with people receiving anti-retroviral treatment from their employers, those involved in the provision of the treatment, representatives of the broader South African community and academic experts. The findings from both stages were considered together in order to gain an understanding of the relationship between the involvement of corporations in providing healthcare and attitudes to the legitimacy of the state. These questions were addressed by appealing to the social contract, both as it is used in traditional political philosophy and how it has been applied more recently to business ethics. The research questions were based on an implicit assumption that there was a direct, and probably negative relationship between the corporate provision of social welfare and the legitimacy of the state because it was assumed that the state and the corporation would be competing for legitimacy in a zero sum game. The findings of the research suggest a more complex relationship, where corporations are seen to fulfil some terms of the social contract on the behalf are the state. This means that rather than usurping the legitimacy of the state, corporations may actually be bolstering the legitimacy of the state. Therefore the risk initially identified, that the provision of ARVs by employers will de-legitimise the state, was not realised. The findings were much more positive, with significant implications. Specifically, if corporations have the power to lend legitimacy to states they may also have a responsibility to ensure that this power is used wisely, and further consideration is required of the conditions under which such legitimation is appropriate

Ultra-high molecular sink vacuum chamber

Double-wall vacuum chamber can be separated from the remainder of the system and pumped by ultra-clean techniques. Ultrahigh vacuum is maintained by the cryogenic effect of a cold wall and titanium chemisorption

The Ethical Professor: A Practical Guide to Research, Teaching and Professional Life, by Lorraine Eden, Kathy Lund Dean, and Paul M. Vaaler. New York, NY: Routledge, 2018. 234 pages, paperback [Book review]

Adapted from the author’s contributions to the Academy of Management’s ‘The Ethicist’ blog, The Ethical Professor: A Practical Guide to Research, Teaching and Professional Life is an entertaining and accessible discussion of the key ethical dilemmas an academic is likely to encounter in their career

Health and sustainable development

If sustainable development is to mean anything, people must be healthy enough to benefit from it and not have their lives cut off prematurely. Development without health is meaningless. But the processes which are likely to occur in a world undergoing globalisation, climate change, urbanisation, population increase and many other changes, will impact upon human health in complex ways. Some of them will benefit us, others will create new or augmented threats to survival and health, while many others will have a complex mixture of effects

Structural analyses for the modification and verification of the Viking aeroshell

The Viking aeroshell is an extremely lightweight flexible shell structure that has undergone thorough buckling analyses in the course of its development. The analytical tools and modeling technique required to reveal the structural behavior are presented. Significant results are given which illustrate the complex failure modes not usually observed in simple models and analyses. Both shell-of-revolution analysis for the pressure loads and thermal loads during entry and a general shell analysis for concentrated tank loads during launch were used. In many cases fixes or alterations to the structure were required, and the role of the analytical results in determining these modifications is indicated