Characteristics of Ten Tropical Hardwoods from Certified Forests in Bolivia Part I Weathering Characteristics and Dimensional Change

Ten tropical hardwoods from Bolivia were evaluated for weathering performance (erosion rate, dimensional stability, warping, surface checking, and splitting). The wood species were Amburana cearensis (roble), Anadenanthera macrocarpa (curupau), Aspidosperma cylindrocarpon (jichituriqui), Astronium urundeuva (cuchi), Caesalpinia cf. pluviosa (momoqui), Diplotropis purpurea (sucupira), Guibourtia chodatiana (sirari), Phyllostylon rhamnoides (cuta), Schinopsis cf. quebracho-colorado (soto), and Tabebuia spp. (lapacho group) (tajibo or ipe). Eucalyptus marginata (jarrah) from Australia and Tectona grandis (teak), both naturally grown from Burma and plantation-grown from Central America, were included in the study for comparison. The dimensional change for the species from Bolivia, commensurate with a change in relative humidity (RH) from 30% to 90%, varied from about 1.6% and 2.0% (radial and tangential directions) for Amburana cearensis to 2.2% and 4.1% (radial and tangential) for Anadenanthera macrocarpa. The dimensional change for teak was 1.3% and 2.5% (radial and tangential) for the same change in relative humidity. None of the Bolivian species was completely free of warp or surface checks; however, Anadenanthera macrocarpa, Aspidosperma cylindrocarpon, and Schinopsis cf. quebracho-colorado performed almost as well as teak. The erosion rate of several of the wood species was considerably slower than that of teak, and there was little correlation between wood density and erosion rate. Part 2 of this report will include information on the decay resistance (natural durability) of these species

Space station wardroom habitability and equipment study

Experimental designs in life-size mock-up form for the wardroom facility for the Space Station Habitability Module are explored and developed. In Phase 1, three preliminary concepts for the wardroom configuration are fabricated and evaluated. In Phase 2, the results of Phase 1 are combined with a specific range of program design requirements to provide the design criteria for the fabrication of an innovative medium-fidelity mock-up of a wardrobe configuration. The study also focuses on the design and preliminary prototyping of selected equipment items including crew exercise compartments, a meal/meeting table and a portable workstation. Design criteria and requirements are discussed and documented. Preliminary and final mock-ups and equipment prototypes are described and illustrated

Characteristics of Ten Tropical Hardwoods from Certified Forests in Bolivia. Part II. Natural Durability to Decay Fungi

The natural durability of 10 lesser known, commercially available Bolivian hardwoods to decay fungi was evaluated using a modified ASTM soil-block analysis for 12 weeks. The blocks were then retested for an additional 12 weeks to determine their level of decay resistance, as determined by percentage of weight loss. Astronium urundeuva, Caesalpinia cf. pluviosa, Schinopsis quebrachocolorado, and Tabebuia sp. (Iapacho group) were found to be highly resistant to decay; Amburana cearensis, Anadenanthera colubrina (syn: A. macrocarpa), Aspidosperma cylindrocarpon, Diplotropis purpurea, and Guibourtia chodatiana, resistant to decay; and Phyllostylon rhamnoides, moderately resistant to decay. We conclude that an extended soil-bottle test is an effective tool for assessing the level of natural durability of these and other tropical species

Fabrication of Ultrasensitive Transition Edge Sensor Bolometric Detectors for HIRMES

The high resolution mid-infrared spectrometer (HIRMES) is a high resolving power (R approx. 100,000) instrument operating in the 25-122 micron spectral range and will fly on board the Stratospheric Observatory for Far-Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) in 2019. Central ot HIRMES are its two transition edge sensor (TES) bolometric cameras, an 8x16 detector high resolution array and a 64x16 detector low resolution array. Both types of detectors consist of MoAu TES fabricated on leg-isolated Si membranes. Whereas the high resolution detectors, with noise equivalent power (NEP) approx. 2 aW/square root of (Hz), are fabricated on 0.45 micron Si substrates, the low resolution detectors, with NEP approx. 10 aW/square root of (Hz), are fabricated on 1.40 micron Si. Here we discuss the similarities and difference in the fabrication methodologies used to realize the two types of detectors

Competing Life Narratives: Portraits of Vita Sackville-West

This article sets out to examine the fraught, often contested relationship between multiple and competing life narratives, taking as its focus the case of Vita Sackville-West and her infamous love affair with Violet Trefusis. Vita wrote her account of this relationship in a short, autobiographical fragment (1920–21), and this text now forms the basis of nearly all subsequent accounts of her life. By examining how Vita's confession has been appropriated and revised by successive generations of the Nicolson family—in Nigel Nicolson's biography of his parents, Portrait of a Marriage (1973) and Adam Nicolson's recent television documentary, Sissinghurst (2009)—this article will identify the relational structures that exist between texts and across different life-writing genres and media. Contemporary studies of life writing and relationality have emphasised the intratextual connections between subjects. By contrast, the example of Vita Sackville-West highlights the importance of intertextuality. This article explores how intertextual relations—the construction of lives in response to extant accounts; the repetition, revision and accumulation of life narratives—has served to sustain an open-ended industry of life writing

Approaching Charlotte Brontë in the Twenty-First Century

This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Wynne, D. (2017). Approaching Charlotte Brontë in the Twenty-First Century. Literature Compass, 14(12), e12355. DOI: 10.1111/lic3.12355, which has been published in final form at http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/lic3.12355/abstract. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Self-ArchivingThis essay offers an overview of recent criticism in Charlotte Brontë studies. In the year of Brontë's bicentenary, it takes stock of some of the latest approaches and topics covered, including material culture, disability, screen and stage adaptations, sexuality, regional identity, education, trading networks, the periodical press, and the law. Although much of this new criticism contributes to a fresh understanding of Charlotte Brontë's work and legacy, Jane Eyre continues to dominate most critical discussions, and this essay calls for more attention to be paid to The Professor, Shirley, and Villette. It welcomes those historicist readings that continue the important work of contextualizing Brontë's oeuvre, a project that has transformed her from the reticent provincial writer of semi‐autobiographical fiction presented by early critics into a political and socially engage

The metabolic basis of adolescent idiopathic scoliosis: 2011 report of the “metabolic” workgroup of the Fondation Yves Cotrel

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this review is to elucidate the metabolic processes involved in the pathogenesis of adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) in light of research by the present authors as well as current literature. METHODS: Pathogenetic mechanism