A pilot study examining garment severance damage caused by a trained sharp-weapon user

The pilot study summarized in this paper aimed to raise awareness of a gap that exists in the forensic textile science literature about damage caused to clothing by trained sharp-weapon users. A male trained in the Filipino martial arts discipline of Eskrima performed attack techniques on a physical model of a male torso covered with a 97% cotton/3% elastane knitted T-shirt, that is, a garment commonly worn by males. Fabric severance appearance created by three different, but commonly available, knives was evaluated. High-speed video was used to capture each attack. After each attack the resulting damage to the garment was assessed. This pilot study highlighted differences in severances associated with weapon selection, that is, not all knives resulted in similar patterns of textile damage. In addition, a mixture of stab and slash severances were observed. The findings demonstrated the possible misinterpretation of textile damage under these circumstances compared to damage patterns reported in the existing forensic textile science literature for more commonly occurring knife attacks (i.e. stabbings)

Alignment model for trunk road network maintenance outsourcing

Road maintenance outsourcing is now the foremost strategy by which road authorities procure maintenance works. Despite growing application of road maintenance outsourcing, there are conflicting estimates on the effective­ness of road maintenance outsourcing and shortage of appropriate models to align over optimistic expectations of road authorities from road maintenance outsourcing with substantiated benefits. This paper investigates the efficacy of road maintenance outsourcing. In this paper, the different variants of road maintenance outsourcing and road maintenance works are evaluated with a SWOT analysis and a comprehensive literature review respectively. In addition, a road main­tenance outsourcing alignment model based on a decision tree and Balance Score Card is proposed and illustrated with a Nigerian trunk road network authority as a case study. The result of the SWOT analysis and comprehensive literature review establishes fresh insight into road maintenance outsourcing dynamics. The presented road maintenance outsourc­ing alignment model provides adequate pathways that could assist road authorities identify the most appropriate road maintenance outsourcing variant for road maintenance procurement. In addition it aligns actual benefits and expectations of road maintenance outsourcing and facilitates development of SMART metrics for effective assessment of road main­tenance outsourcing. The proposed model is applicable across other infrastructures. First published online: 01 Sep 201

Conjugative transfer frequencies of mef(A)-containing Tn1207.3 to macrolide-susceptible Streptococcus pyogenes belonging to different emm types

The aim of this study was to examine the gene transfer potential of mef(A)-containing Tn120.3 to macrolide-susceptible Streptococcus pyogenes belonging to different emm types. Using the filter mating technique, Tn1207.3 was transferred by conjugation to 23 macrolide-susceptible recipients representing 11 emm types. PCR analysis confirmed the presence of the mef(A) gene and the comEC junction regions of the Tn1207.3 insertion in resultant transconjugants. Significant variation was found in the transfer frequency of Tn1207.3 to different Strep. pyogenes strains, and this phenomenon may contribute to the differences in mef(A) frequency observed among clinical isolates. Significance and Impact of the Study: The spread of antimicrobial resistance among pathogenic bacteria is an important problem, but the mechanisms of horizontal transfer between strains and species are often poorly understood. For instance, little is known on how macrolide resistance spreads between strains of the human pathogen Strep. pyogenes and why certain strains more commonly display resistance than others. Here, we show that Strep. pyogenes strains vary greatly in their ability to acquire a transposon encoding macrolide resistance by horizontal gene transfer in vitro. These data provide a novel insight into the transfer of antibiotic resistance between bacterial strains and offer an explanation for the differences in the frequency of resistance determinates and resistance seen among clinical isolates. © 2014 The Authors Letters in Applied Microbiology

Heisenberg exchange in magnetic monoxides

The superexchange intertacion in transition-metal oxides, proposed initially by Anderson in 1950, is treated using contemporary tight-binding theory and existing parameters. We find also a direct exchange for nearest-neighbor metal ions, larger by a factor of order five than the superexchange. This direct exchange arises from Vddm coupling, rather than overlap of atomic charge densities, a small overlap exchange contribution which we also estimate. For FeO and CoO there is also an important negative contribution, related to Stoner ferromagnetism, from the partially filled minority-spin band which broadens when ionic spins are aligned. The corresponding J1 and J2 parameters are calculated for MnO, FeO, CoO, and NiO. They give good accounts of the Neel and the Curie-Weiss temperatures, show appropriate trends, and give a reasonable account of their volume dependences. For MnO the predicted value for the magnetic susceptibility at the Neel temperature and the crystal distortion arising from the antiferromagnetic transition were reasonably well given. Application to CuO2 planes in the cuprates gives J=1220oK, compared to an experimental 1500oK, and for LiCrO2 gives J1=4 50oK compared to an experimental 230oK.Comment: 21 pages, 1 figure, submitted to Phys. Rev. B 1/19/07. Realized J=4V^2/U applies generally, as opposed to J=2V^2/U from one-electron theory (1/28 revision

A study into the design of a pre-laboratory software resource in effectively assisting in the chemistry proficiency of students of chinese origin undertaking post 16 chemistry in the UK

This qualitative study indicates that Chinese origin students completing their pre-university education in a British school have particular difficulties related to sociocultural change, pedagogical differences, affective aspects, cognitive demand and language learning. These are discussed. The use of a pre-laboratory software resource to support pre-university practical work in chemistry offers considerable benefits a number of the challenges faced by these students in studying in an English setting, most notably in building confidence and cognition through the use of videos of techniques, simulations and glossaries

Finite pseudo orbit expansions for spectral quantities of quantum graphs

We investigate spectral quantities of quantum graphs by expanding them as sums over pseudo orbits, sets of periodic orbits. Only a finite collection of pseudo orbits which are irreducible and where the total number of bonds is less than or equal to the number of bonds of the graph appear, analogous to a cut off at half the Heisenberg time. The calculation simplifies previous approaches to pseudo orbit expansions on graphs. We formulate coefficients of the characteristic polynomial and derive a secular equation in terms of the irreducible pseudo orbits. From the secular equation, whose roots provide the graph spectrum, the zeta function is derived using the argument principle. The spectral zeta function enables quantities, such as the spectral determinant and vacuum energy, to be obtained directly as finite expansions over the set of short irreducible pseudo orbits.Comment: 23 pages, 4 figures, typos corrected, references added, vacuum energy calculation expande